diecutting - Right as Rain

Splash! – colourQ challenge #348

I’m playing along with colourQ challenge #348 with a CAS summer-themed card.

I thought about this combination of colors for a bit and kept trying to figure out which color should have the most emphasis and which the least. In the end, I decided to give the colors more or less the same amount of emphasis and employed my design friend – repetition.

I colored Ranger Glossy Cardstock with Distress Inks to cut with the Little Bits – Beach Ball die. I cut the base of the balls and the Mini Caps Alpha & #’s from uncolored Glossy Cardstock. I like how the glossy cardstock emulates the plastic of blow-up beach balls. I colored the background using Loll Thompson’s “splash” watercolor technique using Tumbled Glass Distress Ink- her video is here. I had “splash” on the brain, since that’s what I used for the sentiment!

Supplies: Tim Holtz wave embossing folder, Taylored Expressions Pockets & Pages – Stitched Essentials, TE Little Bits – Beach Ball, TE Mini Caps Alpha & #’s

Celebrating Milestones

Welcome to Day 3 of the Taylored Expressions April 2016 Sneak Peeks! The April products will be released tomorrow – Thursday, April 7 @ 7 AM PST!

This month’s products include stamps and dies geared towards milestones such as graduations – whether from preschool or college. My first card would work for a number of occasions, as it celebrates the beginning of an adventure.

I paired Sky High – Kites die cuts with the Sky High Sentiments and added a small kite cut with the Little Bits – Kite set. The Sky High – Kites die cuts the overlays and the backgrounds, along with the tails. I colored cardstock with Distress Inks for the kite backgrounds, but they could be cut from colored cardstock just as easily.

Supplies Taylored Expression Sky High – Kites, Sky High Sentiments, Little Bits – Kite, Cloud Duo

My second project was created with my youngest son in mind, as he graduates from college in June. That’s him in the grad lineup highlighted with gold cardstock! He’s saying “hooray!” as are we!

I cut the silhouette of graduates from Chalkstock cardstock with the Eventful – Graduation Border. I also cut the lineup with the Eventful – Graduation Border from gold cardstock and then cut off the single grad, adhering him to the border with liquid adhesive. I gold-embossed the Eventful – Graduation sentiment and cut it with the Little Bits – Let’s Talk Bubble 2 die. This would be an easy design to customize to school colors.

Supplies: Taylored Expressions Eventful – Graduation Border, Eventful – Graduation, Little Bits – Let’s Talk Bubble 2

Reverse Confetti “Look for Rainbows”

Today, I’m sharing a CAS encouragement card using Reverse Confetti stamps and dies.

I cut the rainbows out of watercolored paper with one of the dies in the Weather It Together set (I cut a red rainbow, orange rainbow, green rainbow and blue rainbow each nine times) and adhered the rainbows to the card base. I heat-embossed one of the sentiments from the Shine From Within set on black cardstock and cut it with a die in the Class Act set, adhering the panel to the card base with dimensional adhesive.

No matter what the season, this sentiment is always appropriate!

Watercolored Sunflower Die Cut Encouragement Card

Today, I’m sharing an encouragement card featuring the My Favorite Things Sunflower die set. I feel as if August is sunflower month, as the palette of flowers and foliage begins to turn to golds and oranges.

I colored the Distress watercolor cardstock with Peerless watercolors, and once dry, I cut out the pieces. In some cases, I added more paint after die cutting. Once dry, I assembled the sunflowers with dimensional adhesive. After adhering the sunflowers, leaves and flourish to the card base, I intentionally bent the petals and leaves for more dimension.

Supplies: Stampin’ Up sentiment, Stampin’ Up ink, My Favorite Things Sunflower, My Favorite Things Die-namics Leaf-Filled Flourish, My Favorite Things Die-namics Royal Leaves

Using Repetition – Nautical CAS Card

After creating this nautical-themed card, I had many lighthouses left over, as I had experimented with different construction techniques, as well as color combinations, when creating the lighthouses. So I put together a CAS card with the leftovers practicing the design principle of repetition!

Nautical CAS Card

Supplies: Taylored Expressions Little Bits – Lighthouse, Simon Says Stamp sentiment