Combining Dies To Make Shaped Cards

I do love a shaped card, and used to make loads when I first got my silhouette machine, but I don't always want to get that out these days, and for those who don't have one, I thought I would show how you can combine a few dies and with old fashioned scissors create a really fun shaped card.

Here I have combined the new cloud shaker pouches and corresponding dies, with the MFT stitched rainbow and the Reverse Confetti My Sunshine stamp and die set to create a fun weather themed shaped card that stands up on it's own.

To create the card you need a sheet of thick card (I used 300gsm for my card bases) folded in half.  You then arrange the dies on the card to get the shape you want and drawn around them making sure that one of the dies hangs over the fold line to get you a card that won't fall to pieces!

For the "solid" dies like the rainbow die, you draw around the outside but will then need to trim off the excess white space, so for the hollow dies like the cloud, draw around the inside line.  This will mean the card is slightly smaller than your finished die cuts but that doesn't matter and gives a neater overall finish.   Make sure all your dies overlap enough to not create a "floppy" finished card.  Trim around the lines with scissors.

Next cut your die cuts - I used the waste white card from my base and just coloured the elements.  For the sun I used distress oxides and for the rainbow I used copic markers.  Start with the purple layer of the rainbow and build your way up.   When you add your red layer, the fold line is covered and you get your full rainbow shape.

For the shaker element I drew around the pouch to get a layer I could seal my shaker elements into to cover up the rainbow bits.  Adding a layer behind your shaker whilst it's upside down always makes it easier to get your element in place without covering yourself in glitter (trust me - I've done it the hard way!)   I filled it with blue sequins and chunky glitter.   The frame die from the set then covers up all the plastic edge for a professional finish (you could do it in silver for a silver lining cloud too which would be fun!)  I stamped a sentiment from the Reverse Confetti My Sunshine set using oxide inks (they stamp soooooo well on solid stamps!) and then layered all my sun elements up to finish the card which stands up great on it's own despite the complex shape.

Hope that's inspired you to try something different.  Why not take a look through your die collection with new eyes and see what else  you could use to make a shaped card?

NEWS FROM THE STORE

• We've received the new Waffle Flower release and will do our best to get it in store asap this week.
• Neat and Tangled shipped on Friday so there is a chance that will be in store before the end of the week.
• The next arrival will be Mama Elephant on the 15th
• We've ordered the new release from Concord and 9th which is another super-strong release but it never ships to us before the 9th when they release it state-side.  We'll get it online as soon as we receive it but don't know yet when it will ship.
• We are still waiting to hear from Lawn Fawn when our mega-restock order will ship but hope it will be soon.

That's all from me today - lots of cards to make so I'm heading the craft room before lunch.

Tara

Showers and Rainbows

Hi, Jenny here on this rather wet Bank Holiday Monday and it's a pure fluke that I'm bringing you a weather related project today using recently released products from Concord & 9th and Reverse Confetti.... please don't blame me for the rain!!

I love the 'wonky paper cut' style of the Rainbow Wishes stamps and dies from C&9th, even the font for the sentiments is brilliant and I thought it went perfectly with the My Sunshine products from Reverse Confetti. I have made a tri-fold card by attaching an extra flap to a standard card base and this is how the card looks when its closed..

I actually started my card from the inside and worked out so first of all I cut all my rainbow stripes and temporarily adhered them to a piece of scrap paper so I could move the rainbow around and find the best position.

I then started with the middle flap which was still a separate piece of card to make it easier to work on. I stamped two layers of the sun and then added a cut circle on top before adding a couple of pale grey clouds. These elements are all stuck flat to the card so as not to add bulk. I then hand cut around the tops so a small part of the rainbow would show to hint at the layer beneath.

Next came the front of the card and I wanted the pale cloud to peak through an aperture and become part of the cloud cluster on the front so I used a template to place the die in the correct position on the front panel and then ran it through my die-cutting machine. Apologies as I should have taken photos of this step but to be honest it would probably be easier to cut the aperture before adhering the cloud on the centre flap!!

I added two more darker grey clouds to the front and some raindrops too. The stamp set has a pattern you can use for the cloud but I found these patterned papers in my scraps bin ..... in fact the whole card (apart from the base) is made using scraps :)

Then all that was left to do was attach the rainbow permanently and add the greeting which is from the Rainbow wishes set and split across the three layers .... isn't that font just so cool :)

Now all we need is for the wet weather here to do the same!!

                               
                                             

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday weekend break :)

Jenny x