Technique: Inlaid & Lifted Die Cut Cards - Part 2

 Here are a few pictures of my lanterns when I started. I cut each one 3x out of white and 1x out of black metallic cardstock. I adhered the 3 white layers together and removed the candle parts from the black pieces before I adhered it to the rest. Looking at them I didn't like the white showing on the sides so I used a black marker and colored all the exposed edges. The top left picture shows you the difference with and without black color on the sides. The little lantern is colored and the other two are not. The picture on the top right shows you the colored edge and how thick the pieces are.
The lower left picture gives you an idea on how messy it is to color the edges, but who cares how the backside looks like right? Just make sure you don't color your candles in black too. The last picture again is a nice example of the difference between with or without color and the thickness.



 Before we go on with the two cards I have to apologize for the pictures not being like normal. I have a new laptop and I am still missing some programs.

The base for this card is 4 1/4x5 1/2 and I cut a piece of grey design paper in the same size to cover the front of my card. Next I cut a piece of white cardstock at 4x5 1/4 and run it through my woods embossing folder. I used a circle diffuser in the middle to create and area where the embossing left out. I then cut a circle out of white cardstock and a second one about 1/4 smaller than the white. This one is cut from the design paper we used for the front. Paper saving trip: Cut your design paper circle out of the piece you adhere to the front. No one will noticed since you will be covering the whole up with the wood embossed paper :-)

To make the trees show a bit more, I used a sponge dauber and a light grey ink and lightly when over the raise embossing part. The circles are adhered together and on the card with foam dots. I stamped the phrase and stars on it and decorated them with a few rhinestones. Now you know by now how these lanterns were made. Do to me coloring in the candles with back ink... grrrr... I run the dies through again with some red metallic paper and cut out the candle part to add to the lantern. A little gold glitter glue for the flame and this card is done. Well the little greens and bow come with the lantern set. I too cut them three times, colored them in and adhered them together.


As you can see, more die cutting is needed. I think I gave my arm muscles a pretty good workout LOL. Here are some quick measurements:
Card base 4 1/4 x 5 1/2
White cardstock piece cut with the biggest rectangular stich die from Lawn Fawn (ca 4 x 5 1/4) 
Using a oval diffuser and a dotted embossing folder for the cut out.
The size of the yellow/ gold oval here is measured on the oval created by the diffuser. You can cut it from colored paper or use some distress inks like I did. 
I stamped the phrase in black on the oval after the distress ink had dried.

To assemble the card, adhere the golden oval to the oval left in the embossing. Place your lantern and greens and other decorations on top. Adhere the piece with foam dots to your card base. Stamp a nice phrase on the inside and don't forget to decorate the envelope too.

Well, these lanterns are really cut even if you use them in single layers, but when you layer them they really look like a real lantern. Have fun with this technique and let me know what you came up with. Stay tuned ....more card inspirations are coming soon.

Technique: Inlaid & Lifted Die Cut Cards - Part 1

Hard to believe it is already Friday again and I almost forgot about my blog LOL time flies when you have fun right? I don't know where all of you live, but here in Michigan we have for the past few days 90F and more. Yes, it is the first day of fall and out air conditioner is running! I guess around midweek next week we will be getting back to normal, we will see.

So in any event, here is the first of two posts about my September Blog Hop projects. Inlaid and lifted was the theme and the first thing I had to do was find some dies that would work with this technique. Well, you can pretty much use any dies you have. Inlaid means you place the die cut out back into the paper you cut it from or you fill back in all these little pieces like a puzzle. Lifted on the other hand is when you cut multiple pieces of one kind and adhere them together.


I took two of my big flower dies from Elizabeth Designs and cut them out of white cardstock. I did adhere about three of the cutouts on top of each other just to make them pop up more. I used a white card base measuring 4 1/4"x 5 1/2". I cut a piece of white cardstock measuring 4 1/4x5 1/2 and used my Lawn Fawn dies to cut out the rectangular you see on the left. I wanted to keep the main part white so I decided to color the cut out rectangle with watercolor. Really simple, just three colors and a wide brush.

I also colored the medium and small flower from the set with the same colors. Once dry I adhered the white cardstock to my base and placed the colored part back in the opening. The big flower is kept white. I adhered it inside my colored rectangular and cut the end of.
Before I added the other flowers I stamped my phrase in black ink. Now I placed the two flowers on the other side of the card. All flowers used for this card are each three layers of die-cuts adhered together. 

Here is the second example of my "flower" projects. This time I used the dandelion die from Elisabeth Designs, my Lawn Fawn rectangle die and a scalloped circle die. I covered my card base with a piece of colored cardstock measuring 4 1/4"x5 1/2". Next I cut the rectangle from white cardstock and in the second run I cut out the scalloped circle. I then placed my dandelion die on the scalloped circle and run it through the machine one more time. Again, using watercolor paints, I colored in the scalloped circle, the smaller flower and the stem part of the big flower that is hanging over the scalloped edge.

I adhered the white rectangular piece to my card base, but instead of in the center I moved it to the upper left corner so I had about 1/2" on the right side and bottom of the colored paper showing. The pieces that are hanging over were cut of with scissors. 

Next I placed the colored scallop circle back inside the cut out. The dandelions are assembled from three die cuts adhered together, so they are a little thicker. This makes it easy to fit the flower back into the circle. I didn't bother to cut the stem out as well because it fit just fine on top of the card. Stamp your phrase and add the smaller flower before you place the ribbon bow on top.

 I hope you will give this technique a try. Go through your stack of dies and see what would work best. Next Friday I will show you two more examples. This time I used my Penny Black lanterns which are super for this technique.....check back and let me know how your projects turned out .

Thank you for joining me today and see you soon here 

A Year of Card Techniques ~ September Blog Hop ~ Inlaid & Lifted Die Cut Cards!

Welcome to

Welcome to A Year of Card Techniques Blog Hop where each month we feature a different card technique. We’ve assembled a team of card makers who range from new to advanced, so you’ll see a great variety of cards and ideas.

Die Cuts are certainly popular in the crafting world and there are so many from which to choose. But they can be expensive, so we’re looking at additional ways in which we can use them; specifically, inlaid and lifted die cuts.   Hopefully, we’ll inspire you to try an idea or two that we’ve shared with you.

If you would like to check out our past technique hops, you can do that here:   

• January-Shaving Cream Marbleizing
• February-So Sketchy
• March-no hop this month
• April-Stamp Set Showdown
• May-World of Watercolor
• June-Basic Card Folds
• July-Bleaching Your Card
• August-Stamping on Patterned Paper

We have an amazing sponsor this month, Katydid Cards.

Please take a moment to check out the Katydid Cards blog or Facebook page.

And the awesome prize this month is:

We really appreciate feedback, so please leave a comment on each of the blogs in the hop today. The winner will be announced on Sunday, September 24, 2017, on A Piece of (my) Heart’s blog, so be sure to check her blog on Sunday. The winner will have until October 14, 2017, to claim their prize.

You should have arrived here from my good friend Sharon. If you're visiting here first, you might want to start at the beginning to increase your chances of winning by commenting on each blog.

Die cuts are so much fun and I am sure you have plenty of dies in your stack, right? I had a hard time myself to find the right ones, but I think these examples are perfect. So how did I start with my projects?

I picked two different flower dies and one die with different sizes of lanterns and greens in it. First thing on the list, get the die cutting machine out and start cutting. I chose white cardstock and cut each item about 5x out, just in case. Next I used my Tombow liquid glue to layer multiple cutouts together. I think I ended up with three per project. Yes, simply adhered them together layer by layer. Depending on how thick your paper is you might need more or less layers.

Let's have a look at the lifted die cuts first. To make my lanterns look even more realistic, I run the dies through the machine one more time, this time I used black metallic paper. I then cut away the candle parts. I adhered the layer to the stack of whites and used a black pen to color in the edges. Be careful when you  do this or you end up like me....black color on my white candles, yikes. Now what? I didn't want to start all over, so I ran the die again this time with some red metallic paper and added just the candle part on my white/black candle base. I finished the candle off with some gold glitter glue for the flame. 

These layers adhered together make for a nice sturdy embellishment which will give you an immediate 3-D effect. In stead of adding the different layers of colored paper you can always color everything in, that's why I cut my base elements all in white. Coloring the edges though makes a huge difference....just be careful when coloring them.

Next option are inlaid die cuttings. You simply add one die cutting into another or if you have multiple elements in a die you piece them back together after you cut them. First of are my dandelion flowers. I adhered three layers of white cardstock die cuts together. Next I cut a scalloped circle out of my card topper. I used the same die and cut a scalloped circle from watercolor paper. Then I took the watercolor circle and laid my dandelion die on top and run it through the machine again. Now I was left with my topper with a scalloped hole, a watercolor scalloped circle missing the dandelion piece. I used watercolors to color the circle in. Then I fitter my layered dandelion in the circle, colored just the stem of it and placed it inside the topper. It is a little tricky to get all parts back together, but it is worth it. My tip, use Tombow liquid glue (white bottle).

Last but not least, the poppies. All three flowers are made of three layers. Two are colored in and one stays white. The background is cut of watercolor paper and fitted back into to the topper. This time I added the flower on top and cut the ends off. I am just still debating with myself if I should add a few gold or silver sprinkles on either card. What do you think? Well like always, I hope you had fun and be sure to check back on Fridays for more details, pictures and measurements. This month we are a smaller group due to some family issues, but I think you will still enjoy the hop and bigger chance to win :-) So leave a comment and hop along. Thanks for stopping by

Now you’re off to visit with the talented Kim which always has a surprise for us. Hope you had fun and thanks for stopping by. See you next month with another fabulous technique!

Claudia

Always remember:

"Art comes from the heart.

So there is never a right way or a wrong way;

there is only Your Way."

Here’s the full line-up in case you get lost:

• Sharon
• Claudia
• Kim
• Wilma
• Sandy
• Jodie
• Debbie

Technique: Stamping On Patterned Paper! - Part 2

Welcome back to "Stamping on patterned papers".... while I talked about the little more complicated card I made last Friday, today we will concentrate on a simple but also effective stamping technique.

I had to admit, it is hard to see, but both flower images had been stamped on patterned paper (3 1/2 x 4 1/4). This paper is a marbled kind of paper, so you have different shades of green (the second one is blue) in the background. It doesn't always have to be a strong design. Sometimes these kind of paper patterns work perfectly fine too :-)

First I used the green design paper and stamped my three flowers in black ink on it. The stamp set I used is one of the new Close to My Heart stamp sets called "Many Congratulations" (C1693) and contains beside these flowers some wonderful phrases for many occasions. 

Next I used my ZIG markers to color the flowers and stems in. You can use any coloring pens or pencils you have. I added a few pearl drops to the center of the flowers. Ones the drops were dry, I added a piece of ribbon to the bottom of the flower stems and secured it in the back. The bow is tied separately and added with a glue dot to the ribbon. I cut a piece of dark brown cardstock at 4 1/4 x 3 3/4 and adhered it behind the flower piece, leaving a strip of brown showing on the right and left side.

My card base is cut at 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 scored at 4 1/4 with the fold on top. I covered the front of the base in striped design paper and scored the front at 2 1/8. Make sure to use a bone folder and crease the fold so it stand up easliy. The brown piece is not adhered to the lower 2 1/8 of the fold we created, flush with the bottom and centered. (Easel Card)

















To insure the flowers will stand up, I adhered another piece of brown cardstock (4 x 5 1/4) to the inside of the card. Next I cut a strip of the striped paper and added it with foam dots to the lower part of the inside of the card. This will stop the card from folding together when opened. I added another strip with my phrase on it and a little white cardstock for a note. 

The card base here is a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 with the fold on top. I covered the front of the card with dark brown cardstock and placed another piece on the inside of the card.

The patterned paper (in this case green paper) is stamped and decorated like the first one, but was cut at 3 1/2 x 5 1/2. After the ribbon was adhered, I placed two small strips of gold foiled paper along each side before the piece was added in the center of the front panel.

I added the little phrase on a scalloped oval to the upper right corner.

For the inside, I chose to stamp some of the flowers in a lighter colored ink and added a matching phrase for my card.

I hope you will try this technique yourself and let me know what you think of it. Stay tuned for more to come and for our September Blog Hop.