Happy New Year!
When deciding on what to create to kick off the new year, I decided trying out some new dies just might be the ticket. It's always exciting to open a product for the first time and explore its possibilities.
The die set I had ordered was the Clipboard Card Thinlits Die Set and is a sweet set consisting of 5 dies. I love the plastic folder it came it. Now I won't be losing any of the pieces and it's sturdy and durable to hold up to much use in my craft room.
The largest die is the card base and I die-cut it out of kraft cardstock for my card base. I wanted to cover the front of the card with patterned paper so I die-cut another piece of paper with only half the die. This was easy to do by positioning the edge of the paper with the fold mark on the card base die. Often with die-cutting, the paper or die will shift slightly during the cutting process. If you need precision cutting and need to keep the paper and die perfectly aligned a great trick is to use washi tape or tissue tape to adhere the paper to the die before cutting. Afterwards it can be easily removed and discarded.
Here's what my card front and base looked like after cutting. Next step is cutting out the other dies.
These wafer thin dies cut really well. So well in fact that the paper can get perfectly wedged in them and make removal awkward.
If you flip over the die, you'll notice the solution. Each of these dies has a tiny notched area out of each die. For easy removal just use a small pointy object to lightly press out the paper in the die. I like to use a trinket pin as they fit perfectly in the tiny spaces and the end gives me something to grasp onto.
To create the silver look of the clipboard clamp, I covered the die-cut kraft cardstock with a Silver Leafing Pen. In previous projects I've used this pen a lot lately and it's becoming one of my must-have tools on my desk.
This card is super cute put together just how the package sample design suggests. I love how you can change the look just by changing the style of the paper.
The final card measures approximately 2-3/4 x 3-7/8. Looking through my envelope stash I found I didn't have one that would fit that sized card. It's a very small sweet size.
My Envelope Punch Board came to the rescue once again. I wrote a tutorial on it back in July that you can find here if you missed it. I may never buy another envelope again! The 3x4" size turned out to be perfect for this little card and I made it out of coordinating patterned paper. The 6x6 paper pad is perfect for creating envelopes of this size. No cutting involved!
They look so sweet together!
I wasn't quite ready to put this die set away so I decided to create another design with it. Switching over to the Recorded paper pad I decided to try out a more modern graphic look and to only use a couple of the dies from the set.
By just using the smaller rounded rectangle die, I die-cut 9 shapes from various prints and arranged them over a 4"x5.5" Kraft card base. It's easiest to lay them out and adhere them first before cutting the excess off the edges.
Here's the background all trimmed up.
I love the sweet die cut sentiment journaling style card die. It's one I'm going to use over and over. To finish off the card, I die-cut it in white and adhered it with a foam adhesive for an extra visual pop.
That's my start to a creative new year. I'm resolving to get creating right away with new things instead of letting them sit on my to try list for awhile! I'm also resolving to quit stressing about creating and just have fun!
Do you have creative goals or resolutions this year? I'd love to hear them!
Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom and have a wonderful weekend!
Supplies:
