In my opinion, nothing packs a punch like die cutting! You may ask, “what’s a die?”, “what is it cutting, and why?”. A die can cut out a shape, words, or the full front of a card. Here are some examples of each.

The first example is a plain die - a circle with a word, the second is a card example using that die.

The second is a cover die, it’s made to cover the whole front of a card, and add some textural interest. It’s an easy way to fill in a bare background without having to use color. Another die is used to cut out stamped elements, like the large rose from the Build-a-Flower: Rose stamp and die set.

Now, that you’ve learned a little about dies, let’s see a few in action!

This card is is my submission for my Easy Die Cutting Techniques class.

I placed the pegboard die on a piece of navy cardstock folded into an A2 card. I liked the look of the contrast between the white and the blue, but in small amounts. Again, the cover die brings interest to the card, without being too busy.

For a focal point, I added the die cut rose and leaves from the set above - I like the navy and pink color combination. I made sure to let the elements hang off the sides of the card, and trimmed them it once the elements were glued down.

I needed a sentiment, so I decided to emboss (we’ll get to that another time) one on navy cardstock, with Platinum Crisp embossing powder, and affixed it to the card with foam tape to give it some dimension. It needed a little more sparkle, so I took an extra piece of navy, and trimmed it smaller than the sentiment strip. I embossed the whole strip in the same platinum, and affixed it behind the strip.

And done!!

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to ask questions in the comments!

Take care and be kind.

Sue