Die Cut Relief Card Tutorial - for A Vintage Journey

Today I'm sharing a card tutorial over at A Vintage Journey and thought I'd put it here on my blog as well!    I made my card using a technique called Die Cut Relief.  You create the look by layering a die cut scene on an embossed panel and then dry brushing with 3 colors of paint.

So first I got out some dies to create a scene as well as some dimensional snowflake stickers and a Weathered background embossing folder.   I used watercolor paper for the background panel and all of the die cuts.

I embossed the background with the Weathered Embossing Folder, then glued all the die cuts onto the card using Matte Medium, let it dry and then brushed over the panel with the Matte Medium again and let it dry.

 (lots of 'letting it dry' coats here!)

Since the snowflakes and star were silver, I brushed over the whole panel with Gesso to make everything white.

I dry brushed over the full panel with my darkest color - Manganese Blue Hue, and let it dry completely.

Then I dry brushed over the raised and open areas with Burnt Sienna and let it dry completely

My final coat is white which I dry brushed on lightly over the raised bits and open areas - brushing from all angles so all edges of the die cuts got white on them to give the scene dimension.

I adhered my panel to a white card base.

I'm going to try this again with different colors and different dies - I love the look of this!

Paper:  Water Color Paper - Canson Cold Press, white - PapertreyInk.

Accessories:  Liquitex Matte Medium, Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic Manganese Blue Hue and Titanium White, Winsor and Newton Burnt Sienna Acrylic Paint, brushes, Weathered Embossing Folder - Taylored Expressions, Tiny Town Holiday Yard Die, Wonderful Words: Holiday Die - Papertrey Ink.

A Tree of a Different Color - CAS Christmas Challenge - Mid Month Reminder

Christmas isn't just red and green - and this month's CAS Christmas Card Challenge proves just that!  Our hostess Trina wants us to get creative this month and use non-traditional colors!  I'm here to remind you that there is still have time to join in!

I used DOX inks in Iced Spruce (which really looks like dark grey) and Speckled Egg to create my stenciled Christmas Tree.

I used ARTplorations Christmas Trees stencils (two trees in the set!), Distress Oxide Inks and blender brushes. 

I laid the first tree (the darker one here with the star) over a white card panel and applied Iced Spruce DOX over the stencil with a blender brush.  I removed the stencil and then placed the 2nd stencil in the set (all circles) over the first stenciling and applied Speckled Egg DOX over the stencil. 

I don't think the stencils are made to overlay them -  but they match up pretty well!  And make a fun funky tree!

Then I die cut the panel using a Pierced Feature Frame die.  I layered the white panel to a slightly larger panel of Stormy Sea and then to the white card base. 

The stamped sentiment fit perfectly in the largest circle on the bottom right.

I made a second card using the same supplies but die cut the panel using Nordic Frames from The Greetery.   I think I prefer the first one above but both are pretty!

You have until Nov 24th to link up your non-traditional Colours CAS Christmas cards over at the blog.  

This is our last challenge for 2020-  the team will be taking December off to mail out all of the Christmas cards we've been making all year long and to enjoy this wonderful season!

 

See you all in 2021!  I will be glad to say Goodbye to 2020!

Stamps:  Compliments of the Season - Waltzingmouse (retired)

Paper:  White, Stormy Sea - PTI

Ink:  Ranger Distress Oxide  Iced Spruce, Speckled Egg,  Obsidian - Altenew

Accessories:  Trees Stencil - ARTplorations, Blender Brush - Picket Fence, Nordic Frame - The Greetery,

Using Eileen Hull's Sizzix Dies for the Holidays

This month, Eileen Hull's Inspiration Team is making holiday projects using her Sizzix Dies.

Today I created a lovely photo holder for all those Christmas and winter photos taken this season.  I used Eileen's Display Stand Die and a scalloped die cut from her Gift Box Scalloped Edge die.

Here's how the Display Stand looks before I placed photos behind the scallop edge. 

I printed family photos from my computer, cut them to 4"x4" and layered them over a slightly larger panel of red cardstock.

This is my niece Christie skating this fall with my grand niece and grand nephew, Madelyn and James, masks and all!  

They will remember 2020! 

This photo is of all 4 of my grand nephews and nieces from Christmas 2019.  

James and Landon in back, Madelyn and Mila in front.

 And this one is of grand niece Mila from Christmas 2018.  Her mum, Katie, had curled her hair with a curling iron so she looked extra special!

 

 Here's a side view showing the photo tucked behind the scallop piece.  There's plenty of room for lots of photos and you can rotate them so you feature a different one every day or week.

Here are my process photos.

I cut the Display Stand out of matboard (it's just one piece!) then I cut two pieces out of patterned paper to cover the front panels.

Here is the stand folded up with the patterned paper pieces attached.

Then I cut the larger scallop from Eileen's Gift Box Scalloped Edge out of both matboard and patterned paper.

There is a score line on the Scalloped piece where you fold it and I cut off below the score line on the patterned paper piece so the adhesive will be applied to just matboard. I felt it would hold better on the stand than being the two layers of matboard and paper.

This shows the scallop placement on the stand  - I ended up putting another piece of plaid patterned paper on the top of the piece attached to the base just so the white wouldn't show so much!  

(I should have used a straight cut but I had this piece with the scallop edge on my table.)

I adhered two little bottle brush trees and the deer using my glue gun to hold them on securely.  

Because the stand base slopes down a bit, I trimmed off a tiny bit of the right front and back legs on the deer so she is standing up straight and not tilting forward.  The trees are made with wire up their centers so I could bend them back a little bit after the hot glue dried, so they weren't tilting forward either!  I added a sentiment and white flower sequins to the scallop. 

Please check out Eileen's blog every Wednesday in November to see how the Inspiration Team has used her dies for holiday projects!

Stamps:  Winter Snow Globe - PTI

Paper:  White Little Sizzles Matboard - Sizzix, Photo paper, DP Christmas/Noel Paper Stash - Tim Holtz/Idea-ology, Pure Poppy - PTI, watercolor paper - Canson.

Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew

Accessories:  Display Stand Die, Gift Box Scalloped Edge Die - Eileen Hull/Sizzix, Word Window Punch - SU, Mini Trees - JoAnn, hot glue gun, flower sequins - Simon Says Stamp.

November CAS Christmas Challenge - Non-Traditional Colors

It's time for the November CAS Christmas Challenge!  We're almost down to the wire of needing to send out our cards!  I'm so glad I've been making a few every month all year - how about you?!

Trina is our creative Hostess this month and she wants us to use non-traditional colors

 

I used very non-traditional colors I think?!!   Blue, pink, orange and yellow!

I got out a really old set from PTI - City Scene for my stamps and dies.  I've only used a few of the many stamps in this set. 

(they actually still have the stamp set in stock but not the dies)  

That's why I love doing challenges - it makes me use my STUFF!!

So I hope you have been playing along with us all year and that you have at least a good start on your Christmas cards!?! 

You'll find the November CAS Christmas Card Challenge here - along with lots of inspiration from the Design Team and our wonderful Nov. Guest Designer.

Stamps:  O Christmas Tree -  Rubber Soul, City Scene - PTI
Paper:  White - PTI
Ink:  Obsidian - Altenew, Blueberry Sky, Pale Peony, Orange Zest. Harvest Gold - PTI, Gold Pigment - Colorbox.
Accessories:  City Scene Dies, Noted: Scalloped A2 Die - PTI, foam dots. Word Window Punch - SU.

A Vintage Journey - Tag Friday

It's the 5th Friday in October and whenever there is a 5th Friday in a month -  we celebrate by having a Tag Friday over at A Vintage Journey!

My skater got a little lost with the matching colors of the background - so I outlined him with a White Stabilo Pencil to give him some definition.  I actually did cut him out of several different colors to try but this looked the best to my eye.  (He is ONE with the forest!)

Here are a few process photos.

I scooped small amounts of spray inks out of the bottles onto my craft mat leaving some distance in between the colors.  I used Dylusions White Linen Spray Ink and Distress Oxide Spray inks in Cracked Pistachio and Fired Brick.

I pressed a panel of Matte Black Yupo paper onto the colors and rubbed over the panel not moving it around, just wanting to spread the circles of color.  This is how it looked when I lifted it up after the first press.

Then I pressed the black areas, one at a time, into what was left on the craft mat and ended up with this.  You never really know how a panel will look at the end - each time it comes out differently!

I die cut my panel with Tim's Tag and Bookplates die.

Then I die cut the trees and my skater from Tim's Thin Ice Die - cutting the skates and hat again out of the pink.  I cut a holly and berries using dies from Winter Wardrobe to decorate his hat and scarf.

I splattered the trees with black water color paint, colored the skate blades with a Krylon Silver Leafing pen and also added circles of the Krylon to the background for a little shimmer.  I added white berries and skate lace holes using Nuvo Simply White Crystal Drops and a Clipping Stickers:Christmas sentiment!  I adhered my tag to a slightly larger piece of the pink paper and tied a piece of wrinkled seam tape through the hole.  The skater is popped up on foam dots.

Come and see all the beautiful tags the Creative Guides have to share with us over at A Vintage Journey -  you'll find the post here!

Paper:  Kraft Stock Classic Paper Pad - Tim Holtz/Idea-ology, Matte Black Yupo Alcohol Ink Paper - Ranger, white - Papertrey Ink.

Accessories:  Tag and Bookplate Bigz Die, Thin Ice Thinlit Dies, Winter Wardrobe Thinlit Dies - Tim Holtz/Sizzix, Distress Oxide Spray Ink Cracked Pistachio and Fired Brick, Dylusions White Linen Ink Spray, Craft Mat, black water color ink, water, brush, Nuvo Simply White Crystal Drops, Krylon Silver Leafing Pen, White Stabilo Pencil, Clipping Stickers: Christmas - Tim Holtz/Idea-ology, Ultra Bond Adhesive - iCraft, foam dots.

Zoom Class Using Embossing Folders Blog Hop

I recently met on Zoom for a creative craft class with some of my fellow CAS Christmas Card Challenge design team friends - Loll, Marcia, Coleen, and Linda to learn some fun techniques using Embossing Folders.   Nancy was unable to join our zoom but did work with the techniques we discussed.

Here are the cards I made.

Embossing Folder Stamping

For both cards below, I inked the inside top of the embossing folders with a Distress Oxide Ink, spritzed liberally with water  then laid a panel of watercolor paper over the watery inking.  I put a piece of computer paper over the water color panel on the open EF and rubbed gently over the whole piece so the water color panel would absorb the watery ink.  Then I lifted the water color panel off the EF to see how it looked.  Some embossing folder designs work better than others so it can be a hit or miss.   

For the card above I used Peeled Paint DOX ink pad and Holly EF from Provo Craft.  I love how the ink pooled creating darker areas in some spots. You can't control how it will look so it's always a surprise and never the same twice!

For the card above, I used Vintage Photo DOX ink pad and Tall Pines EF from Tim Holtz/Sizzix.  Love how the ink on this one shows bare patches and swirls of lighter and darker color.

Double Dry Embossing

For this technique I embossed a white panel with one embossing folder and then embossed it with another one.  Again you have to play with your various embossing folders to see which ones work best when layered over each other.

For the card above, I embossed with 3D Texture Lumber EF from Tim Holtz/Sizzix and then embossed with Holly EF from Provo Craft.

For the card above, I embossed with Script EF from Provo Craft and then embossed with Tall Pines EF from Tim Holtz/Sizzix

For the card above, I embossed with Dots EF from Darice and again used the Tall Pines EF.  The pines seem to work well as they have a blank space on the right so you can really see the first embossing.

 

I die cut all three cards using Pierced Feature Frames Rectangles from PTI.  And used Small Talk: Occasion Stickers from Tim Holtz/Idea-ology for the sentiments.

Embossing Toilet Paper

We never would have tried this technique in March when there was no TP available!   

I folded over toilet paper to make 4 layers (4-6 layers work well).  I spritzed water over the top of the folded pile, flipped it over and spritzed over the other side and then put it aside to dry thoroughly. Then I embossed it.  It comes out feeling and looking like home made paper!  

I used the same embossing folder on both of my cards using this technique.  The embossing folder is Flower Heart Doodle from Sizzix.   I left the top card plain.   I sponged over the bottom card with Ranger Distress Seedless Preserves and Tumbled Glass.
 

Faux Patina

For this technique you choose 3-4 colors of ink pads to use - I used a light tan ( River Rock - SU), a blue (Taken with Teal - SU), and a green (Always Artichoke - SU).  

First you rub your light ink pad over the inside of the top piece of your embossing folder put a panel of white card in the folder and emboss it.   Then you sponge over the embossing with the other 2 or 3 colors you have chosen.  The last step is to press Versamark ink lightly and randomly over some raised areas and then emboss with gold or silver embossing powder.  

Note: Be sure the ink is dry on your panel and go over it with a powdered Embossing Buddy pillow before putting on the Versamark and embossing powder.  You can brush off any powder that sticks in areas you don't want the gold/silver on before using your heat tool.

Below shows the layers after using each ink -  on the left is the result inking the inside of the EF cover and running the panel of white card in the EF through your machine.  The panel on the right shows the 2nd step of sponging lightly over random areas with the blue.

Below, the left the panel has now been sponged with the darker green.  On the right it has been heat embossed in random areas with gold embossing powder and it's done!

As a variation, I made two more panels using Leaf Veins 3D Embossing Folder from Sizzix. I used Ranger Distress Scattered Straw, Wild Honey and Fired Brick (in that order) on the panel to the left below. I used the same inks as my FA LA LA card on the panel on the right.

Then I used Layered Leaf Die from Sizzix and cut out a leaf on each panel - I tried to line up the center vein on the panel with the center of the leaf as best I could.

Then I laid the green leaf inside the cut out on the yellow panel and the yellow leaf inside the cut out on the green panel.

I really like how both cards look!

I layered both the panel and the gold embossed sentiment strip to metallic gold card

I hope you have found new ways to use your embossing folders here today and will get some of your own EF's out and make some cards!  

You'll find inspiring samples from the other ladies on their blogs linked here!

Loll

Linda

Colleen

Marcia

Nancy