Functional Friday Bonus Material - Combine with a Technique

Hi folks! Are you ready for another Heart Border die idea? I've got a post on the Top Dog Dies blog combining this die with a paper folding technique to create a unique rosette.

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

An Unintended Set of Valentines

I don't make a lot of one-layer cards, but every once in awhile one comes out. 

 

  
Or in this case, four come out. I usually stamp my card on a quartered sheet of copy paper first to see how it will look and then be able to make any spacing/coloring/size adjustments. Sometimes it happens where my initial design on the copy paper turns out better than the actual card, like in this case. It was frustrating to not get the grouping of hearts the way they originally looked. So I made another. And another. And another. Before long, I had a set of Valentines! Luckily they were quick to make.

I used the heart from CAS-ual Fridays 3 in a Row and stamped conversation heart sayings from the same set. 'Nuff said.

These cards are over at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog today.

Thanks for looking!
-Kelly

Functional Friday - A Base for Another Die

Hi all! Time for another Functional Friday installment. In case you missed the post, I'm featuring one die from Top Dog Dies each month, and each Friday I'm sharing a different way to use the die. My hope is that even if you don't own that exact die, the ideas will translate to similar dies you do own.

This technique uses one die as a base for another die. To maximize this effect, the die you pick for the base should have a very dense pattern.

First I cut the Heart Border Die,

and used that to die cut the Dotted Border Tag.

The result is a very holey tag! I call this the "swiss cheese look". Perfect for layering, since everything below it will show through. You can add other dies, embellishments, sequins, etc. to the top of it.

Here it is as an actual tag on a present.

This time, I didn't pair it with another tag, I just left it so you can see through the holes to the present underneath. I love how it looks in person ... it's a different way to make your gift stand out.

Here's the same tag and ribbon on a kraft card base. Only the top of the tag is adhered, so you can really show off the holes on the bottom.

Well, so far we've seen the Heart Border Die used as a home for a stitched heart, as a background, and as a base for another die. Next Friday we'll look at a different way to use this die!

Thanks again for visiting Functional Friday! 

-Kelly

Top Dog Dies: New Release

Hi folks! I've got four different cards to share with you today, in honor of a new release of dies at Top Dog Dies. First up is the cute Elephant Die Set, which also comes with the balloons. For small dies like the balloons it's often easier for me to cut them all out of white paper and then use Copics to color the different pieces. The dotted scallop border on the bottom is also an exclusive die set ... the Dotted Borders Die Set. 

Love this little elephant! I used the die to cut a piece of chipboard to layer behind and lift him off the card. The silver embroidery floss from the balloons is wrapped around his trunk and held down with glossy accents.

Here's card #2 with the elephant die, only this time they're with the mama elephant too. There's one little pink water colored guy who stands out from the crowd, and extends a wish. 

Here's a peek at the inside too. 

 

I've always wanted something to use with my "support you" stamp, and the Corset Die is perfect for that sentiment. Since this die has many detailed cuts, I used the metal adapter plate and the pieces came out so easily. This card is for my dear girlfriend who's having surgery next month. The heart is from the Diaper Card Finishers set. 

Here's a peek at the inside ... full of love!

Finally, one of my favorite die sets in this release is the Top Dog Dies Feathers Die set. Everything came together pretty well on this card, from the pink and gold stars, to the wrapped feathers, to the nicely generic sentiment, to the washi tape wrapped around the bottom. I don't have a ton of washi tape rolls, but I hardly ever use them on anything except envelopes. Trying to force myself to use them on cards more!

There are three sizes of feathers in the set, and they all have long stems so you can easily wrap them together. Here you can see the dotted veining detail in the leaves, and how well the die cut through the pink felt. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Kelly

Functional Friday - Versatile Background

Hi all! Thanks so much for your positive response to the new series I introduced last week ... Functional Fridays. I'm really excited about it! In case you missed the post, I'm featuring one die from Top Dog Dies each month, and each Friday I'm sharing a different way to use the die. My hope is that even if you don't own that exact die, the ideas will translate to similar dies you do own.

This month's featured die is the Heart Border Die. The detail is amazing with hundreds of tiny hearts ... no way I would attempt that on the Silhouette, and I'd venture to say it's impossible with an exacto knife. To take advantage of the detail in a subtle way, I set about to use it as a background.



I cut one strip in the same color as my card base to make the heart shapes less apparent. We're just looking for texture here. Then I tore the border in thirds, making sure to remove all the straight edges. Not too much thought next, I just gathered the three pieces in the center of the card and adhered them down. I used the penguin from Winnie & Walter as the focal point and ended up with ...



... a card that has a little something extra than a penguin standing on a sentiment (which isn't a bad look either, I'm just happy to find ways to make it a little different than some of my other cards.) I think you could get this look with any tiny, densely patterned die.

  

The edges on top are adhered to the card base. I left the edges on the bottom a little loose. While not necessary, I also like that if someone notices that the holes are tiny hearts, it goes with the sentiment's love theme.

Here's the inside of the card. One more thing to point out ... just because it's a heart die doesn't mean that it has to be for Valentine's day. There's not a hint of red or pink on this card and it doesn't look out of place.

Well, so far we've seen the Heart Border Die used as a home for a stitched heart, and as a background. I've got another idea for next week that I can't wait to show you : ) Thanks again for visiting Functional Friday!

- Kelly

Cure for the Monday Blues with Winnie & Walter

Hi folks! I'm very excited about this post, as it involves one of my favorite stamp companies (Winnie & Walter) and one of my favorite blogging friends (Taheerah). This month Winnie & Walter is sponsoring all of Taheerah's Cure for the Monday Blues Challenges with an awesome $30 gift card for the winner each week!

As usual, Taheerah has selected a super-inspiring photo for your crafting delight:

So much to love in this photo ... the charcoal circle, gold dots around the edge, golden pine cone, white base, all great elements together.

I had to incorporate them ALL into my card! (Please do excuse my night time photography, as I really wanted to fit this post in before traveling to CHA.) The base of the card uses a mix of w&w Creative Screenings and freestyle droppings of Heidi Swapp color mist. The pine cones from w&w Winter Wonderland are embossed in gold and fussy cut, with a hole-punched circle of glitter paper on top. The vintage seam binding doesn't really relate to the inspiration photo, but I like the additional interest it adds. Being white like the card base, it doesn't take up too much visual space.




I did feel a sense of delight that the theme of the "Eat Drink And Be Merry" sentiment (w&w Eat Drink Gingerbread Man) ties in with the charcoal dinner plate from the inspiration photo : ) The secondary sentiment is from Bubble Talk.

A final element pulled from the inspiration photo is hidden inside. Not sure if you noticed, but there is a leopard pattern in the lower right hand corner of the photo. Perhaps a chair? That translated to a zebra print on the inside of my card. This is one of my favorite things about playing in challenges. It never would have occurred to me to use that paper were it not for this challenge. In fact I've had the paper for years and it's never been touched. Now I couldn't imagine the card without the zebra inside. A little sassy, I think!

Anyway, I sure hope you get a chance to play along with Taheerah's challenge this week. Remember, Winnie & Walter is sponsoring all of the challenges this month, so if this week doesn't work out for you, be sure to come back later.

Thanks for stopping by!
-Kelly 

Functional Friday - Hollywood Regency Valentine

Hi all! I'm very excited to start a new feature on my blog ... Functional Fridays! 

You may know that I LOVE to think of different ways to use products. Honestly, I am easily distracted, so it helps me be creative if I can just focus on one supply (stamp/die/tool/etc.) and then exhaust the possibilities of it.

Now that I've joined the Top Dog Dies Design Team and will be posting every Friday, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to feature one die for the month in a more structured format. Each Friday I'll post a project that's been made with the die, and at the end show a collage of the different projects. We all like getting mileage out of our supplies, so I figured chances are good that someone out there would be interested in a series like this.

Sound good? I sure hope so!! : )

Here we go ...

 

 This card uses the Heart Border Die cut in a matte gold paper. I really wanted to take advantage of all those tiny holes, so I used this as a guide for a basic stitching project. The style that I was going for on this card is ...

  

source

  Hollywood Regency. 

Black, matte gold, simple lines, but with some flair thrown in ... love this style for something a little different.

In keeping with this style, I chose a ribbon (really sold as a skein for knitting purposes, but SO much more economical than ribbon sold by the yard) with Hollywood Regency style colors and stitched an outline of a heart. It helped to sketch this out ahead of time so I could see what it would look like. I just die cut a sample heart border from copy paper and used a pencil to mark where the ribbon would go. Then I filled the inside of the heart with long stitches. Very easy.

The elegant nature of this style also calls for a tall card, but I like sticking to the standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" size so I just made the panel tall. Hopefully that gives a similar effect. The sentiment (CAS-ual Fridays Smitten) is perfect for this vintage Valentine, as I think "smitten" was probably used in the 1930's. I'm so happy when a sentiment ties in with a card like this!

Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to sharing another project made with the Heart Border Die next Friday!

-Kelly