Technique – die cutting

Featuring die cutting

Perky Flower

Hi everyone!

Today I’m playing along with this week’s challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

I’m continuing to make my way through my ‘new stuff’ box and so after testing a few other dies I chose the Simon Says Stamp Perky Flower die set that I got in their Thanksgiving sale – so not super old!

I tried all sorts of things for the background strips – die cuts, inky strips… but in the end I chose this older Bubble Burst Memory Box die which I adhered on a card base that I’d painted light blue.

The sentiment is also by Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Beyond words

Hello everyone!

Today I’m playing along with the Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration challenge using products kindly sent to me by Penny Black.

I’ve loved the effect of brushstroke stamps since my early stamping days but found it difficult to get it ‘right’ with wood-mounted stamps. Fortunately we now have cling stamps and the misti, which makes things so much easier!

I chose the beautiful Brilliant Berries stamp (40-911) which I coloured using distress inks and markers. I masked off a frame and lightly blended some distress ink over the background before splattering some dark green paint across the image. After removing the mask, I added some glitter to the berries, stamped a couple of sentiments from the Ever Thanks set (30-813) and added a twine bow.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Privet branch

Hi there!

Today I’m playing along in the Color Throwdown challenge which has a fun combo of blue, olive and ivory.

Continuing my quest to Use New Things, I started with my new Simon Says Stamp Privet Branch die set and decided it would nestle nicely in the centre of the Spellbinders Infinity Punch & Pierce Plate, which isn’t in my new stuff box but I’ve only used once.

I created an panel with the Holly Branch distress mica stain for the privet die and cut the background plate from some shimmery ivory card. I then coloured a background panel with various shades of distress in and adhered all the elements.

To complete my card I added a Spellbinders sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

We three birds

Hi everyone!

Today I’m playing along with this week’s challenge at Freshly Made Sketches.

I’m determined to make my way through my ‘new stuff’ box this year and so for my CAS take on the challenge, I used the Simon Says Stamp Layer Bird Bunch dies set that I got in their Thanksgiving sale – so not THAT old, considering what else is in my box!

I created the background with a Taylored Expressions stencil that could have been made for the sketch and coloured the birds with distress inks and coloured pencil. I adhered the birds and a few branches from a Sizzix set to my card base and added a sentiment by Clearly Besotted.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

Christmas Card Throwdown – January 2024 Guest Spot

Hello everyone!

I’m honoured to be the Guest Designer for the first sketch challenge of 2024 over at the 52 Christmas Card Throwdown!

When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of a bauble for the main image and a hanger/bow for the smaller one. Then began the hunt for the ‘perfect’ bauble. I have lots of bauble images but most were either too big or too small! In the end I landed on a die set by Tim Holtz/Sizzix. I cut off the spike at the bottom of my first die cut to make it more similar to the sketch but decided that it looked a bit weird! I coloured the die cut pieces with distress inks and added a few bows to the ornament to reflect the smaller image in the die set.

The background is embossed with a Spellbinders folder and the sentiment is from an older Hero Arts wood-mounted set.

The Design Team have some amazing inspiration over on the challenge blog – you must check it out! Hope you can play along with the challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.

 

Under the Tree

Happy Festive Wednesday (!) everyone!

I know the big day was less than two weeks ago, but making Christmas cards throughout the year definitely reduces my stress levels in November and December. So I’m kicking off my 2024 challenge participation with the 52 Christmas card challenge where the technique is one of my  favourites – clean and simple! I mean, how could I not play along with that one?!

I ‘ve had my eye on the Creative Expressions one liner die collection since 2022 and just before Christmas, I managed to pick up this beautiful die called ‘Under the Tree’ in a great sale. I used it for a card for my dad and decided it would be perfect to use again for this challenge. I coloured the tree with Cracked Pistachio, Rustic Wilderness and Evergreen Bough distress inks and used Unchartered Mariner and Tumbled Glass for the presents. I adhered the tree to a base that I had embossed with a Stampin Up folder and added a sentiment from a set by My Favorite Things.

Thanks for stopping by!

LucieG.