Double Duty with Dies

Hi there! I’ve got a fun technique with dies to share on today’s card. Most of the products that I’ve used on this one are My Favorite Things with the exception of a Sizzix embossing folder, so I’ll start at the beginning.

This is an A2 size card and I cut a piece of dark brown cardstock 4 1/8″ x 5 3/8″ for a mat under the rest of the elements. I then cut a piece of kraft cardstock 4″ x 5 1/4″ and taped the MFT Stitched Sentiment Label Strip die-namics cutting edge down towards the top of this cardstock piece.

Once it was die-cut, I was left with 2 separate pieces of cardstock.

I adhered the larger bottom piece with dimensional tape on the outside edges leaving a thin border of the cardstock mat underneath. Then, I die-cut this label strip die again from dark brown cardstock and embossed it with a Sizzix palm leaves embossing folder. I adhered it flat to the mat above my raised cardstock piece and then adhered the top portion of the kraft cardstock above it using dimensional tape again.

I die-cut a total of 5 small palm leaves and 1 large leaf from the MFT Wild Greenery die-namics and colored them with Copics ( 4 of them are colored with G21, G24, G46 and 2 of them are colored with YG01, YG03, YG17). I adhered the large leaf on the bottom portion of the kraft cardstock and one small leaf on the top portion.

Now it was time for my fun die technique. I wanted a thin border of this label strip shape, so I die-cut the shape again from black cardstock. To get this thin strip, I placed the die cutting-edge down slightly below one edge of the shape, taped it in place and die-cut. Do this again with the opposite edge of the shape and you’re left with 2 thin border strips. Pretty cool?

I adhered each strip above and below the die-cut shape area. You could adhere them directly to the edges of the kraft cardstock, but I liked it better slightly offset. It ended up looking less like a mat and more like a neat accent.

I adhered the rest of the leaves around the die-cut area and stamped a leopard image from the MFT Lovable Leopards stamp set on Neenah Desert Storm Environment cardstock. I colored the leopard with Copics and die-cut the image using the coordinating die-namics. I also used dimensional adhesive to adhere the leopard.

For the sentiment, I die-cut the MFT Thanks die-namics from white cardstock and inked them in an ombre color scheme with Memento inks in Cantaloupe, Peanut Brittle and Potter’s Clay. To make them stand out a bit more, I die-cut the Thanks die again from black cardstock and adhered each inked letter slightly offset on a black letter to create a shadow effect.

I hope you enjoyed today’s card and try this die technique out on various shapes! All kinds of possibilities!

Thanks for stopping by!