An idea for die cut cards that they will want to frame!
By now everyone knows that die cut cards are my jam – I love making them, I love sending them. Recently I sent a card to a friend and she told me that she frames the cards I send her. I was a little surprised but realized that when a card is as detailed as I like to make some of them, they could be considered “art. And that led me to this card where all the little details and added dimension take it up a notch. To make this card I used the new Watering Cans, Branches and Leaves and Kittie Says Spring Time paired with the Tall Terracotta Pots, Nested Rectangle Scallop with Holes, Rectangle OPC #3, and Flower Buds.
The Card Base and Sentiment
Use white cardstock to cut an A2 sized card base and scalloped frame.
Use yellow cardstock to cut the eyelet layer and attach it to the card base using ATG adhesive.
Stamp the sentiment on the yellow layer using Nocturne ink.
Apply strips of mounting tape to the back of the white frame and attach it to the card base.
Color the Terracotta Pots and Watering Can
Use bright yellow cardstock to cut the terracotta pots and gray cardstock to cut the watering can.
Apply Autumn, Pumpkin and Pecan Color Fuse ink to the pots using mini applicators.
I’m sharing this short video to show I apply and shade the inks on the cardstock.
I used the same technique to apply the color on the watering can but I only used the Pumpkin ink..
The Flowers and Foliage
Use green cardstock to cut the two smaller sections of foliage in the Branches and Leaves set.
Cut the flower buds using pink and purple cardstock.
Place the flowers face up on a molding pad and form them by pushing down in the center with a small tipped stylus.
Place the foliage sections face up on the molding pad and form their leaves using a leaf tool. Pro Tip: If you don’t have a curved leaf tool then don’t worry. You can use the side of the of your paper piercer or a small tipped stylus. Gently forming the leaves adds dimension and interest to the arrangement.
Attach foliage to the back of the pot using glossy accents. I started by attaching the first row with one straight up, one left and one right.
Continue adding foliage sections using the same center, left and right pattern until you have the size arrangement that you want.
Use glossy accents to attach the small flowers to the foliage.
Attach the tiny die cut circles in the flower centers using glossy accents. Note: I save the tiny circles from the eyelet dies to use as flower centers, falling snow. For this project I cut a small section of yellow cardstock using an eyelet die for the purple flower centers.
I attached the flower pots and watering can using pieces of mounting tape.
Die cut cards are so fun to make and they warm the hearts of the family and friends you send them to. I hope my project today has inspired you to get out your dies and ink and create a a mini piece of art of your own.
Use white cardstock to cut the A2 sized card base and eyelet layer.
Cut the background layer using purple cardstock.
Attach the purple layer to the card base using ATG adhesive.
Apply strips of mounting tape to the back of the scalloped layer and attach it to the card base.
The Flowers and Garden Pot
Cut two sections of the Branches and Leaves using green cardstock.
Use purple cardstock to cut the Large Garden Pot.
Cut one section of the Tulip and Stems, Classic Flower and Stems, Canterbury and Stems, Gentian and Stems and Buchnera and Stems using colors of cardstock of your choice. Note: I particularly used spring colors for my bouquet. I can imagine using lots of different color combinations.
Assemble the individual flowers and stem sections and attach them together using glossy accents. Note: I gently formed the Classic Flower and Buchnera Flowers sections before attaching them together.
Arrange the Flowers and Foliage
I usually create flower arrangements by attaching the flowers and foliage to the back of the pot with glossy accents. For this arrangement I created the arrangement holding the stems and foliage in my hand and attaching them together using glossy accents. My goal was to alternate the flower colors. Once the flowers were attached together I attached four large foliage section to the back of the flowers to complete a green base. I finished the bouquet by adding a few small pieces of foliage in between the flowers to fill in. The bouquet was attached to the card base with a good amount of glossy accents. I attached the garden pot in front of the bouquet and attached using mounting tape. I finished by adding a small piece of foliage with tiny flowers to hang over the edge of the pot.
Who knew a simple flower die cut – or a whole BUNCH of them, could create something so pretty? I loved putting them all together and hope your seeing this inspires you to try out your own flower arrangement on a card. It took me lots longer to write how I created the bouquet than to actually make the bouquet. I will get my phone out this week and make a video to show how it comes together.
The card base was made using a pre scored A2 sized card from the card kit.
Use your bone folder to sharpen the folds of the card.
Cut the blue cardstock sections to fit the card base.
four 1 15/16″ x 5 3/8″ pieces of blue paper.
one 4 1/16″ x 5 3/8″ piece of blue paper.
Apply ATG adhesive to the blue layers and attach to the card base.
Use green cardstock to cut the green mountain background sections and attach them to the card base using ATG adhesive.
The Tree, Leaves and Flowers
Some of you may ask why I don’t just cut my solid colored elements out of that color card stock. I find that inking darker shades over lighter shades offers a more dimensional look as the ink is, by nature of its application, a little varied and here and there the paler base shows through. I find it adds a more realistic look to die cut elements, like there with the tree trunks. For this tree I used a wet baby wipe to apply color because of the twiggy branches. The baby wipe dipped in brown ink makes it so much easier to apply the ink to the trunk and all the branches than trying to color them with a marker or painting with a brush.
I modified the tree sections to fit the card. I trimmed some of the branches so they wouldn’t extend too far past the folds. The tree on the right was flipped. I rubbed my bone folder over the back of the tree to smooth out the rough edges that appear on the back side of a die cut. The middle tree was modified by cutting the branches apart from the trunk and attaching them together using glossy accents.
Cut the trees using Kraft cardstock. Note: you can white or cream cardstock for the trees but I just happen to like the look of Kraft after color has been added. It’s just my preference.
Apply brown ink to the trunks and branches of the trees and dry with a heat gun. Pro Tip: I heat dried the trees to make it easier to attach the leaves. Adhesives don’t stick well on damp cardstock.
Cut the leaves using green cardstock and the tiny flowers using pink cardstock.
Place the leaves face up on the molding pad and form each one by pushing down in the center using the leaf tool. If you don’t have a leaf tool you can use your paper piercer.
Use glossy accents to attach the leaves to the tree branches.
Place the tiny flowers face up on the molding pad and form them by pushing down in the center of each one using a small tipped stylus.
Attach the tiny flowers to the leaves using glossy accents.
Attach the trees to the card base using using rolled up strips of double stick tape.
The Fence
Use white cardstock to cut six fence sections of fence.
Cut the fence rails off the sides of the four fence sections so they wouldn’t overlap the card folds.
Use small pieces of mounting tape on the back of the posts and ATG adhesive on the bottom of the four side sections and attach them to the base. Pro Tip: Attaching the bottom of the fence sections flat to the card keeps the bottom less bulky. Attaching the small pieces of mounting tape to the top of the posts allows the fence to stand away from the card base to create dimension.
Attach two fence sections together using glossy accents to create a fence gate.
Cut one fence post off to use as the connecting section on the right side of the opening.
Cut a small section of the wrought iron fence using black cardstock and cut three tips off to use for the hingers and handle.
Attach the hinges and handle to the gate section using glossy accents.
Set the gate and individual post aside to attach later.
The Grass, Flowers and Foliage
Use green cardstock to cut the grass sections and attach them to the fence sections using ATG adhesive.
Cut six sections of the flower set using pink cardstock for the flowers and green cardstock for the stems.
Gently form the flower sections and attach them together using glossy accents.
Attach the stems to the flowers using glossy accents.
Cut several sections of the foliage using green cardstock.
Tuck foliage in behind the grass sections and attach them using glossy accents.
Attach the flowers in behind the grass sections using glossy accents.
Finish the Card
Attach the individual fence post to the right side of the fence opening using mounting tape and ATG adhesive.
Attach the gate to the left side of the opening using glossy accents the back of the two side rails.
Gently fold the fence gate out a bit from the side rails so it will stand away from the card base. Note: I love leaving fence gates open as a welcome invitation and to draw the eye in.
Cut a single pink butterfly and attach it to the sky area using glossy accents.
This shutter card design is a simple one – something to span the panels and bring them together, details in front and more in the background to make you feel like you are looking at a beautiful scene. It’s all the tiny details that take it up a notch and that’s up to you! Be sure to check out the new Rubbernecker “In the Garden” release if you haven’t already. There are so many new things to play with.
I am SO excited to share projects using some of the latest new dies from Kittie Kraft by Rubbernecker!
Are you ready for some BRAND new dies from Kittie Kraft by Rubbernecker? Yes, that’s ME! As you can tell from all the fun things I share with you all, I LOVE using dies to make my cards. So much so that occasionally, I collaborate with the wonderful people at Rubbernecker to come up with dies for my own line with them. I particularly love all things having to do with nature and these brand new dies reflect that passion. Let’s take a look at a few projects I have to share and see what’s new! I’m not listing a tutorial for any of the cards today but I will be doing individual posts over the next couple of weeks.
First, I created this double shutter card. You will see that I created these new dies in a slightly different size to enable us all to create additional perspective on our cards and to add a TON of creative opportunities mixing the size and scale of the dies to create new arrangements.
Speaking of new arrangements, you can see here how I have mixed some of my new dies with some parts and pieces from other older ones to dramatically increase how many different types of flowers I can add on my cards!
I just love this new fence! And combined with the new tulips, I can get a bigger bang for my buck on a card! Isn’t that new tulip shape just so pretty?
I love trees! And I love how taking a plain “naked” tree with branches and adding whatever I want in any color for any season lets me just put my vision on my cards. I love this new Half The Tree die for its classic shape and it being designed deliberately to sit on one side of a card, leaving plenty of room for details and decoration. And you can see how beautifully older, smaller dies will work so well with this fun die. This card also includes a greeting from my new Kittie Says Spring Time stamp set.
How beautifully do these new flowerpots with all their pretty blossoms fill this slimline card? I am absolutely thrilled with the scale of these new dies because they work so perfectly on standard sized cards AND slimline cards without taking up too much or too little space on either version.
Last today, I had to share a card using one of my new dies along with one of the SIX new word dies from Rubbernecker. They’ve added these six new die sets that include the word plus one of the finest shadow mats I’ve seen. I am not a huge fan of the words that come with the gigantic, balloony shadows and Rubbernecker added the exact ideal shadow width to let the words stand out without taking up a ton of precious real estate on a card. What gorgeous design! I paired it with a couple of flowers from my Gentian and Stems set and they look fantastic together!
Here are all the new, fun things available today including all of MY goodies:
Use white cardstock to cut the A2 Sized card base, scene base and two Picket Fence sections.
Cut two sections of grass using green cardstock.
Use aqua cardstock to cut the scalloped layer.
Use a large blender brush to apply light blue ink to the scene base to create a soft blue sky background.
Attach the scene base to the scalloped layer using ATG adhesive.
Apply strips of mounting tape to the back of the scalloped and scene layer and attach it to the card base.
The Fence and Grass
Connect the two fence sections together, trim to fit across the scene.
Attach one grass layer directly to the scene base using ATG adhesive.
Apply small pieces of mounting tape to the top back pickets of the fence and ATG adhesive to the bottom back of the fence and attach to the scene. Pro Tip: The mounting tape pieces hold the picket sections away from the scene to add dimension and the ATG adhesive on the bottom of the fence allows it to be flat to the scene base.
Use a strip of mounting tape to the back of the second grass layer and attach it to the scene base.
The Tree and Leaves
Cut the tree using Kraft cardstock and the leaves using green cardstock.
Apply brown ink to the tree trunk and branches. Pro Tip: I used a damp baby wipe dabbed in the brown ink pad to color the tree. The damp wipe makes it fast and easy to apply ink to all the thin branches of the tree.
Form the leaves using molding pad and leaf tool.
Attach the leaves to the tree branches using glossy accents.
Terracotta Pots, Watering Can and Garden Tools
Cut the terracotta pots using yellow cardstock an d the watering can and garden tools using gray cardstock.
Apply rusty orange and brown ink to the pots using mini applicators. Pro Tip: Using yellow cardstock for the pots allows you to add the orange and brown ink while allowing the yellow color to create highlights on the pot.
Apply the rusty orange ink to the can and tools using a mini applicator.
The Flower Pots and Butterflies
Use green cardstock to cut several sections of the leaves and greenery.
Cut the flowers using yellow, pink and purple cardstock. and the butterflies using yellow cardstock.
Place the flowers face up on the molding pad and form them using a small tipped stylus.
Attach the foliage sections to the back of the pots using glossy accents.
Use glossy accents to attach the flowers to the foliage.
Attach the tiny white flower centers to the flowers using glossy accents. Pro Tip: Call me crazy but I save all the negative circles in a jar when I cut any eyelet dies using white cardstock. They make the perfect flower centers, adornment for butterflies, snowflakes, etc.
Complete The Scene
Apply a thin strip of mounting tape to the back of the tree trunk and a few rolled up glue dots to a few keys spots on the back of the leaves.
Tuck the tree behind the grass and attach it to the scene base.
Apply pieces of mounting tape to the back of the pots and tuck them behind the grass and attach to the fence.
Attach the watering can to the front of the grass using mounting tape.
Use rolled up glue dots to attach the garden tools to the grass.
Attach the tiny circles to the center of the butterflies using glossy accents.
Finish by attaching the butterflies to the sky, tree and fence using glossy accents.
Click o this Tree Link to see all the different projects I have made using this tree die.
This card, and all the others I have made through the years, is a good example of how tree die cuts can be dressed up with different colored or shaped leaves, different seasonal themes, different coloring techniques and any vignette you can picture. When in doubt, start with a tree!
Another Fun Way For Using Designer Paper For Card Making!
Using designer paper for card making can sometimes present a challenge. We don’t want to hide the pretty patterns, sometimes they are super busy and items get lost on them and we don’t always want to “lose” the beauty of the pattern by cutting it into slivers. I’ve been experimenting and shared this post a bit ago and today I have another pretty card that shows off a beautiful designer paper and has an engaging focal element that doesn’t get lost. To make this card I used the Rubbernecker Cart, Cart Accessories #1, Knob Top Fence,Slimline Grass, Leaves and Greenery and Tiny Flower Buds.
The Card Base, Fence and Grass
Cut an A2 sized card base using white cardstock.
Cut a 5.50″ x 4.25″ piece of designer paper and attach it to the card base using ATG adhesive.
Use white cardstock to cut two fence sections and attach them together using glossy accents and trim to fit across the base.
Attach the fence to the card base using a strip of double stick tape.
Use green cardstock to cut the slimline grass section, trim to 5.50″ wide and attach it to the card base using a strip of mounting tape.
The Flower Cart
Cut the cart body using light blue cardstock and the canopy using light blue and pink cardstock.
Cut the wheel using Kraft cardstock.
Attach the cart parts together using rolled up strips of double stick tape and glossy accents.
Cut a couple sections of the leaves and greenery using green cardstock tiny flowers using light blue and pink cardstock.
Form the tiny flowers using a tiny tipped stylus and molding pad and attach them to the greenery using glossy accents.
Attach the flower stems to the front and back of the cart to create a pretty arrangement
Apply mounting tape to the back of the cart body and attach it to the card base.
Attach the the light blue canopy sections to the pink section using glossy accents.
Apply a single strip of double stick tape to the back top of the canopy and small pieces of mounting tape on the lower back corners.
Attach it to the card base just over the top of the cart poles.
The Accessories
Cut the flower pots using Kraft cardstock and attach small flower stems to the back of the pots using glossy accents.
Apply small pieces of mounting tape to the back of the pots and attach them to the card base.
Use gray cardstock to cut the watering can and attach it to the card base using a small piece of mounting tape.
Cut the garden boots boots using light blue cardstock , color the bottom of the boots using a black marker and add thin strips of pink cardstock.
Attach the the two boots together using a few rolled up glue dots and attach them to the grass using glossy accents.
I hope this project inspires you to use your designer paper for card making so you can both use up your stash AND create beautiful cards!
I have moved all my free tutorials to a special tab at the top of the blog. Please visit this page to see nearly four dozen free tutorials for projects I have created. Enjoy!
FTC Declaration – FTC16CFR, Part 255. In the spirit of full disclosure, I declare that I am a freelance designer. I currently receive or have received in the past products that I promote and endorse as a freelance designer for free or at a discount. Any product that I endorse is a product I have used in my designs and recommend with complete honesty.
I participate in affiliate programs and may receive small compensation, at no additional cost to you, when a purchase is made using my product links. I share products on my blog that I love to use!
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