Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – How-To: Partial Die-Cutting To Extend Your Square Dies
Couple of weeks ago I posted on my blog this lovely card and I had an enormous response, and questions on how I turned a square from Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies into the rectangle.
I hoped to post it earlier but as always life got in the way. But finally, I got around to show you how I did it. The technique is called partial die-cutting.
By no means, I didn’t invent this technique. It’s been around for a long time and is usually used to create pop-up elements or intricate borders.
To create a rectangle I took a piece of cardstock and my square die. I’ve used Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies, but you can use any thin square dies for this technique.
I placed the die, with the cutting edge down, on a piece of cardstock. I set the top plate of my cutting sandwich so that is only partially over the die. The portion that is under the top plate is the part that will get cut out. I run it through the Big Shot.
Now I lined up my die with this partially die-cut piece. It’s not difficult at all, as cutting edge of the die slip right into the grove.
And again I placed the top plate so that it’s only partially over the die. Just this time my partially die-cut piece and is on the side that won’t be cut. I run it through the Big Shot.
And voila, you have a stitched rectangle! But as I mentioned before you can use any thin square dies for this technique.
I hope you liked my short ‘how to’ post and that you’ll use this technique to stretch your dies.
Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Faux Watercolour For GDP#072 Case The Designer Challenge
Hello and welcome everyone! Today I’m back with my entry for Global Design Project. This week’s challenge is ‘CASE the Designer’ – we are casing extremely talented Krista Frattin.
If you’re not sure what ‘CASE’ stands for, at least in crafty world, here are few decipherings: Copy And Selectively Edit or Copy And Share Everything. Generally speaking, it means that you take inspiration from someone else’s project, like colours, layout, stamp set used, etc, and add your own twist to it.
I really loved this simple layout and toned palette with a little pop of colour, so this is what I ‘borrowed’ from Krista’s card. But I’ve decided to use a new stamp set from Stampin’ Up! Spring Summer Catalogue called Special Reason.
Faux Watercolour Special Reason card dimensions:
Very Vanilla cardstock: 11-6/8″ x 4-1/8″ scored in half at 5-7/8″ (29.7 x 10.5 cm scored in half at 14.8 cm)
Sahara Sand cardstock: 4″x 5-6/8″(10,2 x 14,5 cm)
Water Colour Paper: 2″ x 3″ (briefly as it will be die-cut later)
Flirty Flaming Ruched Ribbon: length 6″ approx
Very Vanilla Lace Trim: length 6″ approx
I began with dry embossing Sahara Sand panel with a Festive embossing folder. I love this design as it’s really versatile. For my card, I’ve used de-bossed side. I added Flirty Flamingo Ruched ribbon to the panel, briefly in the middle, and secure it at the back with snail adhesive. Next, I added Very Vanilla Lace Trim on top of it, slightly overlapping both ribbons so Flirty Flamingo was peeking from underneath the lace. I adhered my panel to the card base with liquid adhesive and red-lined tape where the ribbons were for extra security.
To create my focal point I’ve used few great techniques: watercolour, faux watercolour, rock’n’roll, masking and partial die-cutting.
I started with stamping my flower onto watercolour paper. I loaded my stamp with Blushing Bride Ink and then ‘rocking’ my stamp I added Flirty Flamingo only on the edges of the stamp – that’s rock’n’roll technique, super easy hey? Once I stamped the image, I took an aqua painter and started blending both colours on each petal creating a faux watercolour effect. I also added Flirty Flamingo ink to the centre of the flower. I build up the colour (but I let it dry completely between layers) by adding more Flirty Flamingo to the top of each petal and blending it down with an aqua painter.
Next, I created a mask. I stamped the same flower onto a post-it note and fussy cut it. I stuck it to my watercolour flower (first, make sure it’s dry) and using Stamp-a-ma-jig I stamped two leaves in Sahara Sand, one below, and one on the side of my flower. Using same faux watercolour technique I blended the ink on my leaves, being careful not to lose subtle veins detail. I also created a leaf mask and added another leaf at the bottom of the flower.
Not taking off the masks, and with help of Stamp-a-ma-jig again, I stamped another flower. This time I only used Blushing Bride ink for a softer shade. But still added a hint of Flirty Flamingo ink to the edges of petals while blending them with water.
Before die-cutting my piece, I decided to add a little bit of shading beneath my composition. Nothing fancy, just a subtle watercolour wash with Sahara Sand ink and aqua painter. I love how it added an extra dimension to my piece.
To die-cut my watercolour panel I’ve used a second smallest square (1-5/8″) from Stitched Shapes Thinlits Dies. But this is a rectangle, you say. Yes, I know, but I extended my die using partial die cutting technique (if you want to know how to do it, please leave me a comment below). The final piece measure 1-5/8″ x 2-5/8″ (4.2 x 6.7 cm).
I assembled my watercolour panel using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
I really like how this card turned out. No need for extra embellishments, it’s beautiful as it is. I hope you like it too, and that I inspired you to try some of the techniques I showed, especially mess-free, faux watercolour.
I really want to encourage you to check the Global Design Project challenge blog. They have a new challenge every week with various themes and extremely talented Design Team – they will simply blow your mind with their creativity! Just click on their logo below to visit the website
As always, if you wish to purchase any of the products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop.
Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set & coordinating dies
For today’s project, I have used once again Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set and Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies. I love this bundle and either together or separate, I just can’t get enough of it. This time though I decided to revisit two of my favourite techniques: watercolour and ink smooching. Bright colours, Cucumber Crush and Island Indigo, seemed perfect combination for a dragonfly card.
Watercolour Dragonfly card dimensions:
Cucumber Crush cardstock: 8-1/4″ x 5-7/8″ scored in half at 4-1/8″ (21 x 14.8 cm scored in half at 10.5 cm)
Island Indigo cardstock: 4″x 5-6/8″(10,2 x 14,5 cm)
Whisper White cardstock: 3-7/8″ x 5-5/8″ (9.8 x 14.2 cm) and 2-7/8″ x 1/2″(7.4 x 1.3 cm) for a sentiment
Scraps of Whisper White, Shimmery White and White Vellum cardstock for die-cutting
First thing first I had to prepare my watercolour panel. And to be honest I risked a bit using regular Whisper White cardstock here.
If you are not confident with water colouring and don’t want to risk, please always use watercolour paper with ink smooshing technique.
I pressed Cucumber Crush ink pad on a craft mat, spritz it with water (not too much) and took a piece of acetate to lift some of this puddle of colour. I smooshed it on my panel and dried it with a heat gun. I repeat this process couple of times, every time drying my panel in-between until I was happy with layers of colour. Next, I switched to Island Indigo but I only added one layer of colour. The last touch was to add few splotches of ink to my panel with help of aqua painter.
I die cut two dragonflies, one from Whisper White cardstock and one from vellum (without the head) for 3D effect. To colour in cardstock dragonfly I used a very similar technique as previously. I pressed some more of Island Indigo ink on the craft mat, spritz it with water and dabbed the dragonfly straight in the puddle, dried and repeat until I was happy with the colour.
I wanted to add more depth and ‘life’ to my dragonfly, so I sponged the edges of wings and the body with Island Indigo ink. I also added few speckles with bronze metallic Sharpie marker.
While sponging I’ve noticed that the dragonfly was bit ‘flimsy’ (note to myself: if you plan to dab your intricate die-cuts in the puddles of coloured water, use paper with the higher grammage, like watercolour perhaps(!?) lol. So I die-cut just the body of a dragonfly from Shimmery White cardstock, watercolour it, sponged the edges and adhered on top of the dragonfly with liquid adhesive. Next, I adhered the vellum dragonfly underneath, offsetting slightly.
The sentiment I chose comes from the same Dragonfly Dreams stamp set. I stamped it in Versamark on the strip of Whisper White, heat embossed it using Copper Embossing Powder and trimmed it diagonally. The sentiment alone seemed a bit dull so I took a very narrow strip of Whisper White (around 1/8″), dabbed it in Versamark and heat embossed in copper as well. Next, I trimmed it and adhered it to the sentiment, underneath the top edge, so it peeks out slightly.
To assemble the card I’ve used my favourite Tombow liquid adhesive. I love it because it gives you some wiggle room before it sets. Also, it’s the best for those slightly warped watercolour panels. Next, I’ve added my sentiment in the top right corner using dimensionals. For dragonfly, I’ve used Tombow again. The last touch was to add some extra shimmer to the dragonfly with Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush. You can’t go wrong with this stuff right?!
I hope you’ve enjoyed my project and that it will give some extra ideas of how to use this beautiful Dragonfly Dreams Bundle. I would love to hear what you think in comments below. As always, if you wish to purchase any of products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop.
Hello and welcome everyone! Something new from me today as it’s the first time when I bite the bullet and decided to take a part in Colour Challenge over at Global Design Project.
I’ve been following this blog for some time now, just never felt confident enough to join in the fun. But hey! It’s just for fun, right?! And when I saw Delightful Dijon (I really, really love this colour) amongst other colours in this week’s challenge, I just knew: now or never. It’s a great colour combination and as my free choice, I simply used Whisper White.
I didn’t craft much lately due to health issues, but I was eager to use a new stamp set from Stampin’ Up! Spring Summer 2017 Catalogue, called Dragonfly Dreams. It comes with coordinating Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies, as a bundle, and is just beautiful. It seemed perfect for the idea I had in my head.
Just forgive me poor photos. I don’t have any fancy equipment and take my photos in the daylight. But the weather is so miserable since few days down here in Midlands, UK, that it was just impossible to take any decent picture.
‘Nearly Inlay’ Dragonfly Dreams card dimensions:
Delightful Dijon cardstock: 11-6/8″ x 4-1/8″ scored in half at 5-7/8″ (29.7 x 10.5 cm scored in half at 14.8 cm)
Whisper White cardstock: 2 panels 4″x 5-5/8″(10,2 x 14,3 cm)
First, I stamped the card base with the polka dot (kinda) background stamp from Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set until it was all covered. I’ve used Delightful Dijon ink for a tone on tone effect.
Next, I die-cut the largest detailed dragonfly, using Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies, from one of the Whisper White panels and adhered that panel (without dragonfly) to the card base. Of course, I forgot to stamp my sentiment before adhering the panel to the card front. Typical, right?! LOL But nothing was lost yet. I picked the beautiful ‘You sure know how to make someone happy’ sentiment from Dragonfly Dreams Stamp Set (I love sentiments and the fonts in in this set) and heat embossed it on my card base with silver embossing powder. Seemed easy, but while heat embossing it, the base ‘curled up’ a bit. So I run it through my Big Shot to straighten it up. Bear in mind if you’ve got worn out plates they will leave an impression on your cardstock – ask how do I know.
For the inside panel, I stamped few dragonflies in Delightful Dijon in the corners before adhered it with liquid adhesive.
I wanted for my dragonfly to carry some silver detail too, so I stamped tiny splotches/dots from Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set all over the die-cut, using Versamark ink, and heat embossed it with silver embossing powder.
My original idea was to inlay the dragonfly die-cut back to the negative on the card base. But I’ve changed my mind along the way as the stamped detail on the card base wouldn’t be really visible through the die cut. So I decided to adhere my dragonfly only on the body length but it didn’t look good either. At the end, I’ve used tiny pieces of dimensionals to pop the dragonfly up.
I’m really pleased how this card turned out and I hope you like it too.
I really want to encourage you to check the Global Design Project challenge blog. They have a new challenge every week with various themes and extremely talented Design Team – they will simply blow your mind with their creativity! Just click on their logo below to visit the website
As always, if you wish to purchase any of the products I have used, simply click the images below to go directly to my online shop.
Anna’ Stampin’ Cave – The Creative Flow Blog Hop -Shaun The Sheep Punch Art
Thank you for joining us on our Creative Flow Blog Hop. Each month we are set a challenge to creatively stretch our imaginations. The products we have used are all available in the current Annual and/or seasonal Stampin’ Up!® catalogues. To hop along, please use the buttons at the bottom of the post to keep hopping.
Hello hello! This is our very first The Creative Flow Blog Hop, and I’m really excited to be a part of it. Today’s theme was a quite a stumper. We’ve been set a challenge to create an ‘animal’ project using Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies. Yes, I know!?!? How is that even possible!!! 😀 But hey, with a little bit of imagination everything is possible!
Because not every one of us had these dies, our lovely Jerim has sent some of us (including me) a foam die-cuts so we could actually use them as stamps! How cool! Thank you, Jerim, you are a ⭐
So I’ve spent some time looking at these shapes and…nothing sparked! Typical, right? And then one day: Eureka!!! I saw a sheep 😉 But not just normal, ordinary sheep. I saw Shaun the Sheep, how wicked is that lol Yet I had to figure out how to bring him to life, not literally of course 😉 After few attempts and different combinations I knew exactly which shapes will become Shaun the Sheep. At this point, I wasn’t sure yet what occasion for this card would be.
First, for tummy, ‘curls’ and tail, I stamped one of the large pinecones twice, using Smoky Slate Ink Pad. I stamp-it-off twice for a lighter shade. To create ‘curls’ for my Shaun the Sheep I cut off the bottom of one of the pinecones. I used what’s left to hand cut his little tail. For the head, I stamped the smallest pinecone using Basic Black Archival Ink Pad. To create legs, rams and ears I’ve used larger mistletoe branch. I stamped it three times, also in Basic Black Archival Ink and cut them apart. For his eyes, I punched two 3/16″ circles from Whisper white cardstock using Crop-a-Dile, and two Basic Black tiny circles using Owl Builder Punch. When I had all my pieces ready I assembled my Shaun the Sheep using liquid glue. To make his eyes ‘pop’ I added Fine-Tip Glue to them. I also used Fine-Tip Glue Pen to create his nostrils.
So now, when I had my sheep created I had to decide what kind of card/sentiment I want to make. And I have to tell you my mind went blank. I only knew it has to be something fun. And while looking for some fun ‘sheepy’ sentiment (if it’s even a word lol) I came across this ‘Christmassy’ sentiment: ‘Bah humbug’ or even ‘Baa humbug’ haha. Yes! That was it! Let it be a Christmas (kinda) card then.
I took a piece of Whisper White cardstock that measures 4″ x 5-6/8″ and stamped a wreath using following colours: Pear Pizzaz and Wild Wasabi for fir branches, Mint Macaron for mistletoe and Cajun Craze for twigs. Mint Macaron and Cajun craze has been stamped off. The sentiment is stamped at the bottom of my panel using Labeler Alphabet stamp set in Basic Black Archival Ink.
I die-cut two ovals: one from vellum using largest of the Layering Ovals Framelits Dies, and the second one from Whisper White cardstock using the largest Oval Stitched Die. I assembled them using dimensionals and adhered Shaun the Sheep on top. I adhered my panel to the Cajun Craze card base.
For the final touch, I took three White Perfect Accents, paint them in black using nail polish (couldn’t find my sharpie doh) and added them to the card. I think it really finished the look of the card. I like how this card turned out. It’s quirky and fun. I hope you like it too. Please let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear from you.
Your next stop is lovely Keila– go and see what she has made for you. Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day
