Create a Scene with Die Cuts

Today my project is a cheerful spring card and is a perfect example of how to create a scene with die cuts.  My main goal when using die cuts on a card is to create dimension, balance and interest.  It is important to create balance within the scene so there is something of interest from top to bottom. 

Take a look at my card and you see the chair, grass, flowers and cat on the bottom.  The tree, cat on the branch and sun creates equal balance to offset how heavy the image base is on the bottom portion of the scene.  The balance from top to bottom is far more pleasing to the eye.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve created a scene that didn’t look quite right to my eye and was then easily fixed by adding an additional element- a flying bird in the sky area- an animal playing in the grass- sun and clouds in the sky.

For this project I used the Rubbernecker Inside Scallop Nested Dies, Winter Tree, Spring Leaves, Beach Chairs, Grass, Grass #2, Berries Branches, Small Flowers #1, Cats and Mixable Flower Stack 5107.

The Card and Scene Base

• Cut the rectangle and card base using white cardstock.
• Apply masking tape around the outer edge of the rectangle layer to create a frame.
• Use a blender brush to apply Tumbled Glass ink to create a pretty blue sky background.
• Remove the masking tape and attach the rectangle to the card base using strips of mounting tape.
• Cut two grass strips about 1.25″ high using green cardstock.
• Line up the rectangle die on the bottom of each grass strip and run through the machine.  This step allows the bottom and sides of the grass strips to perfectly match the scene base.
• Attach the back layer of grass to the card base using ATG adhesive and the front layer using strips of mounting tape.

The Tree

• Use Kraft cardstock to cut the tree and green cardstock to cut three sections of the leaves.
• Apply Antique Linen ink to the tree using the direct to paper technique.  Note:  Push down lightly on the tree with the ink pad and swipe over it to apply the ink. 
• Place the leaves face up on the mold pad and form them by push down in the middle of the leaf using the leaf tool. Note:  The leaf tool has a curled metal tip that can be used to create score lines or to form leaves. 
• Use reverse tweezers to pick up the leaves and attach them to the tree branches using glossy accents.
•  You can find leaf tool and reverse tweezers wonderful tool in the Paper Sculpting Kit by Sizzix. 

The Flower Branches

• Cut two of the berry branches using green cardstock.
• Use pink, purple and yellow cardstock to cut the small flowers.
• Place the flowers face up on the molding pad and push down in the flower centers using a small tipped stylus.
• Attach the flowers to the berry branches using glossy accents.

The Chair, Cats and Sun

• Cut the beach chair and cats using white cardstock.
• Use the largest flower in the Mixable Flower Stack and yellow cardstock to cut out the sun.
• Color the cats using a black Copic marker. Note: I like to use black and white cats because they usually stand out far better against dark colors like the grass and leaves.

Assemble The Scene

• Tuck the tree trunk in behind the grass layers and attach to the card base using thin strips of mounting tape and a few rolled up glue dots behind a few key leaf sections.
• Apply mounting tape to the back of the chair, tuck it in behind the grass section and attach to the tree and card base.
• Trim off the bottom section of each of the flower branches, tuck them in behind the grass and attach them to the card base using glossy accents.
• Cut a couple Grass #2 sections and tuck them in behind the grass around the chair and flower branches to soften the grass border.
• Apply a large piece of mounting tape to the back of the sun and attach it to the top corner of the card base.
• Apply pieces of mounting tape to the back of the cats and attach them in the scene.
• Notice how the position of the cats draw the eye up from the bottom cat in the grass to the middle cat climbing up from the chair and on up to the cat in the tree.  I also used the “rule of odds” which suggests that an odd number of subjects in an image is more interesting than an even number.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what my thought processes are when I create a scene with die cuts. Take a look at my Farm Scene and Dog Greeting Card to see good examples of how I balanced the scenes from top to bottom.  You can check out my Scene Category  to find several hundred scene card examples.  And you can find lots more die cut scene card inspiration on Pinterest. Thank you for coming by today and I hope you have a great week.  Please stay home to stay safe and sound.

Here are the dies used for this project.

5305D Inside Scallop Nested Dies [ RBB ] Winter Tree Die Cut 5170D [ RBB ] 5309-06D Spring Leaves Die [ RBB ] 5159D beach chairs [ RBB ] 5210-04D Small Flowers #1 [ RBB ] 5162-01D berries [ RBB ] Tabed Grass Set Die Cut 5152-03D [ RBB ] 5210-02D Grass #2 Die Cut [ RBB ] Cats Die Cut 5142-09D [ RBB ] Mixable Flower Stack Die 5107D [ RBB ]

Here are the tools and supplies used for this project.

Lawn Fawn – 8.5 x 11 Cardstock -… [ SBC ] Bazzill COTTON CANDY Card Shoppe… [ SSS ] Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Sour… [ ELH ] Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Sour… [ ELH ] Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Easter… [ ELH ] Solar White Heavyweight 110 lb – 25… [ ELH ] Antique Linen, Ranger Distress Ink Pad [ ELH ] Tumbled Glass, Ranger Distress Ink Pad [ ELH ] Life Changing Blender Brush Set,… [ ELH ] Twins, Judikins Eclipse [ ELH ] Sizzix Making Tool – Paper Sculpting Kit [ SZZ ] Amazon.com: McGill Paper Blossoms… [ AMZUS ] COPIC Sketch Marker 100, Black [ ELH ] Scotch Foam Mounting Tape [ ELH ] Fiskars 01-005452 Recycled Bypass… [ AMZUS ] ATG Kit, Advanced Tape Glider [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder, Essentials by Ellen [ ELH ] Scor-Pal Measuring & Scoring Board 12×12 [ ELH ] Crossover II Fabric & Paper Cutting… [ RBB ]

How to create a scene with die cuts.