Two Different Ways to Use Stand Alone Dies (Featuring the Spellbinders Deer Etched Dies)

Hi Friends! I was happy to be asked to try out the Spellbinders Deer Etched Dies that were included in the card kit of the month two years ago, and by popular demand are now independently available for purchase. These deer are utterly charming, and I'm loving how they came together!

There is no stamping whatsoever on these cards, so I wanted to feature two basic ways to use your stand alone dies. Although I'm using the deer for both cards, you could use any standalone dies that create a scene.

1) Die Cut White Cardstock, then Watercolor

It's really fun to watercolor die cuts instead of stamped images for one big reason ... you do not have to stay in the lines! Thin antlers to color? No problem! You can use the largest brush you want and color everything in one pass. Then go in for the shadows and contours.

I like using watercolor on the die cuts to bring a little more depth to them, and to keep them from looking too flat with a lot of solid colors. This little lady is on the cutting edge of fashion with her blue eye shadow. Anyone sport this look in the 80's? Anyone horrified it's back now?

For the shiny nose I added Glossy Accents, and in the center of the little flower (which also comes with the die set) I added a pearl. The Season's Greetings sentiment is an adorable font ... did you notice the heart for the dot on the "i"?

2) Die Cut Felt 

There are many reasons I love die cutting with felt. One is the instant texture you get from the fuzziness of the felt. Especially when the subject of your die cutting is a furry animal. It fits perfectly. 

Another reason I like to use felt is the actual dimension you can get, for free! In this case, I'm able to flop the top of her Santa hat over. As you can see, it sticks up from the card quite a bit, does not need pop dots, and will easily flatten when slid into an envelope.

The sentiment on this card is from the Mix and Match Sentiments die set and looks fabulous cut in gold metallic cardstock.

What a sweet face! Another fun way to get a different look would be to cut the dies from patterned paper. You could do this for the whole deer or just one of the parts, like the centers of the ears or the Santa hat.

Lot of different ways to use this set of dies, and all of them end in something ridiculously cute. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!
- Kelly

Supplies Used (affiliate links, thanks for your support!):

Deer Etched Dies

Christmas Mix & Match Sentiments Dies

Altenew Paint-A-Flower: Sunflower & Woodless Watercolor Pencils Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hi Friends! Not only do we have a new installment of the Altenew Paint-a-Flower series, BUT we have a brand new coloring medium to share with you today!

You may have come from the blog of Amber Rain Davis and her gorgeous rainbow of sunflowers, but if not feel free to start at the beginning with the Altenew Card Blog.

 

The new Paint-a-Flower: Sunflower stamp set features a nice cluster of flowers with plenty of petals to try out new coloring techniques. And speaking of new coloring techniques, check out the artistic watercolor pencils that are all pigment!

Not only are these colors vibrant on and off the page, but they are a joy to photograph too! Who wants to look at a tan wood exterior on all your pencils, let's just marvel at the beautiful pigment, right?!

For some of the coloring I laid the color down with the pencil and then moved it around with the wet brush. But for some of the colors, like the deep bits of orange, I just applied the pigment directly to the paper for that intense look.

 

I tend to gravitate to the pan watercolors mostly, so it was fun to switch back to the watercolor pencils again. I forgot how much control you have over where the color goes with the fine tip of the watercolor pencil. 

If you've been enjoying the Paint-a-Flower series, you may want to consider getting a subscription so you don't have to worry about ordering in time, and you save a bit of money as well.

Giveaway Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 10/28/2020 for a chance to win. We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/30/2020.

 

Here's the entire hop list of talented crafters! 

Altenew Card Blog

Nicole Watt

Amber Rain Davis

Kelly Griglione

Erum Tasneem

Lindsay Weirich

LauraJane

Nathalie DeSousa

Jenny Colacicco

Virginia Lu

Tenia Nelson

Lilith Eeckels

Emily Midgett

Norine Borys

Mindy Eggen

Tania Ahmed

Dana Joy

Jaycee Gaspar

Laurie Willison

Maryam Perez

Nenette S. Madero

Svitlana Shayevich 

I'm now happy to send you to Erum Tasneem who has gorgeously colored these sunflowers in the same overall colors, but the desaturated nature of them looks AMAZING!!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly

 

Supplies used (affiliate links used, thanks so much for your support of my projects!)

PAF: Sunflower

Woodless Watercolor Pencils

Satin Gold Sequins

Altenew Winter Essentials Stand-alone Dies Release Blog Hop + Giveaway

Hi Friends! I have to say, the dies in this new Altenew release are going to get you super excited to hole up in your craft space and not emerge for a good couple days : )

You may have come from the one and only Laura Bassen, but if not feel free to start at the beginning with the Altenew Card Blog.

 
Oh. My. Goodness. Can you believe how utterly charming this Modern Fireplace Die Set is?! It comes with a herringbone brick fireplace surround for Pete's sake!

I was so excited putting this scene together and couldn't wait to see what it would look like. All the die cut and embossed fireplace pieces layer on each other (the firebox, the surround, the mantle), and then you get to build the cute little fire and set it in the fireplace grate. I put the fireplace on a dark wood floor, and made baseboards on either side by die cutting another mantle piece.

 

 

The add-on set is the adorable Mantle Decor - Winter Die Set and comes with the stockings (great use of your patterned paper!), candles, candlesticks, and wreath. The detail in the tiny candlesticks is fantastic, and looks great with a gold metallic cardstock. Also, did you notice the embossed details in the wreath?

2020 has been all about being cozy at home, and that's exactly what this set is. Cozy at home.

Although it's a Christmas scene with the stockings and red bow on the wreath, you can certainly remove those items and have a lovely winter scene.

 

 

 

My next project uses the adorable little onesie die to make a garland for a special new baby girl, Celine.

 

 

The best thing about this project is I got to make all these differently patterned onsies from a single sheet of 12x12 cardstock. It had all these different journalling cards that were just the right size for this onesie die, so I didn't have to work at all to find coordinating patterns. 

 

 

After punching a tiny hole on each side and stringing a cute pink fiber thru them, you have a darling banner to hang in the nursery! Although this was made with patterned paper, how cute would it be to make a banner out of felt? Or fabric?

 

 

This would also be a cute baby shower decoration! (note that you can see the other side of the patterned paper in the mirror reflection.)

 

Did you notice the letters? They are from the Linear Pathway Alpha - Solid Die Set and the Linear Pathway Alpha - Outline Die Set. It's great that there's an option to outline the alphas so the letters can stand out more, especially on busy patterned paper like this.

Another of my favorite products, the Jumbo Garden Picks Layering Die Set is an enormous die set that cuts extremely detailed floral layers ... all at the SAME TIME!!

This set has been carefully thought out so the dies of each layer that requires a different color are connected together. How smart is that?! You just put the cluster of dies on the color you want for that layer, and they will all be cut in the same pass of the die machine. Here you can see how two layers fit at the same time, so you will get 8 dies cut at once. 

With all the layers being cut so quickly, it leaves you more time for the fun part, deciding where they will all go!

The dimension on these florals is amazing!

For the leaves I chose a light blue patterned paper to mix things up a bit, and to take some of the warmth out of the card.

Because there are so many different pieces you can create (four complete large flowers, the cluster of smaller flowers, three different clusters of leaves) it's the perfect set for making the larger slimline cards. It's one of my favorite layering sets ever!

 

2 in 1 Precision Glue Pen

 

A quick note before I leave, Altenew is also releasing a new glue pen that I really enjoyed using. It's very sticky without having to use a lot of it ... so much that my fingers were sticky for quite awhile after touching it. This makes me very confident about the adhesion to my paper. It also helps with paper warping. Because I didn't need to use a lot of it, I don't notice any bending of my paper after it dries. I've been searching for a good glue to use with detailed die cuts and I think this is it!

 

 

Receive a FREE Gift (brand new Winter Essentials release mini inspiration guide) with every order through 10/21/2020 at 11:59 pm EDT or while supplies last. Shop here -->https://altenew.com/collections/all-altenew-products The free gift will be added to cart automatically. *Not valid on online class, workshop, print media orders.

Giveaway Prizes:

To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $30 gift certificate to 3 lucky winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog by 10/25/2020 for a chance to win. 

We’ll also draw a winner to receive a $15 gift certificate from the comments left on each designer’s blog on the blog hop list below. All winners will be announced on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/27/2020.

Altenew Card Blog
Jennifer McGuire
Norine Borys
Laura Bassen
Kelly Griglione
Therese Calvird
Jenny Colacicco
Vicky Papaioannou
Nathalie DeSousa
Keisha Charles
Amber Rain Davis
Emily Midgett
Virginia Lu
Amanda Baldwin
Jaycee Gaspar
Dana Joy
Lilith Eeckels
LauraJane
Tania Ahmed
Nenette S. Madero
Nicole Watt
Tenia Nelson
Reiko Tsuchida
Vicki Finger
Maryam Perez

I am now pleased to send you over to Therese Calvird who has made three ridiculously beautiful cards to share with you (check out her use of the negative alpha dies)!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
-Kelly

 

Supplies Used (Affiliate links, thanks for your continued support!):

 

Sentiment Strips Die Set

Modern Fireplace Layering Die Set

Mantle Decor - Winter Die Set

Linear Pathway Alpha - Solid Die

Linear Pathway Alpha - Outline Die

Layered Gift Tag - Onesie Die

Layered Gift Tag - Heart Die

Layered Gift Tag - Graduation Die Set

Layered Gift Tag - Cake Die

Lacy Panel Die

Jumbo Garden Picks Layering Die

Graditent Cardstock Set

2 in 1 Precision Glue Pen