Spellbinders Modern Essentials Collection

Hi Friends! I was so happy to get a chance to play with some of the new products from the Spellbinders Modern Essentials Collection! Like the name suggests, this collection is all about featuring basic shapes (square, rectangle, circle, oval) and combining them with fun detail options like these dotted lines. I received the set of squares (Nestabilities Essential Squares Etched Dies) and would love to share some projects with you!

Each set comes with four nested shapes and four corresponding dotted line shapes so you can mix and match them. I taped together the second largest set of square dies to cut this cute white border on my card.

The sentiment in the middle is cut with the delicate Die D-lites Floral Hi Etched Dies that I received  at Creativation in January. Love how easy it is to quickly watercolor the florals and allow the white outlined "hi" to stand out. This diecut spans the negative space and is adhered to the edges of square.

Love how the detailed diecut floats in the middle of the card this way! Also love how you can see thru the dotted lines in the frame.

When sending a see-thru card like this, I like to write on the back of the card instead of the inside.

 
Instead of using three of the dies to cut a frame like the first card, I only used two of the dies to cut a solid square on this card. Don't forget you can rotate your square like this to make a diamond!

The sentiment on this card is from the Die De-Lites Bold Type Happy Day Etched Dies. If you're not familiar with "etched dies" take a close look at the letters ... do you see the tiny etched diagonal lines? Yep, it cuts and details in the same step!

One thing to note: originally I just had the "Happy Day" sentiment on the card, but I wasn't satisfied with how it filled the diagonal space. So I cut another "Happy," took some creative liberties, and altered the "a" to be an "o" with a few snips. Now we have "oh Happy Day!"

Although I only have the set of squares dies, you may notice that this is a rectangle shape! With only a little work you can turn your squares into rectangles. Just make a partial square die cut (hanging the edge of the square off your cutting platform works really well), turn the paper 180 degrees, line up the two dies with your previous cut, and make another partial square die cut. This little trick turns your set of squares into a brand new set of rectangles!

The sentiment started out like the "hi" on my first card, but with some selective cutting and gluing, it turned into a "h." I always love when the first initial of a new chapter in a book is fancy, and that's the look I was going for here.

I cut the "h" off the "happy" die and replaced it with my fancy "h." There's also an extra set of sentiments cut in gold foil layered underneath.

Since the card base is melon, I also like that it shows through the dotted lines. 

Sure hope you enjoyed these projects with the newest Spellbinders dies, and maybe picked up a few tips on stretching your supplies (turning squares into rectangles, and making your own words).

Thanks for stopping by!
-Kelly