Aloha, all!
This is definitely that time of the year when I'm trying to figure out new and fun ways to use all the new products that Stampin' Up! has in its new catalog! My favorites continue to be the Sizzix Framelits. There is just so much you can do with them even using them just as they're intended to be used. But, of course, I have to try to play around to figure out something fresh to do with them when I've only had them for little over a month. Take today's Fourth of July Card for instance.
Oooh, isn't that a bit bright?! I'm still trying to decide if I like that Daffodil Delight accent color : ). But look at those framelits. They have a border, but there's no border in the Apothecary Accents Framelits for them – how'd I do that? I did it by taking a craft knife and cutting some Real Red Card Stock around the outside edge of the framelit. My first try was with the mat for the Whisper White piece, and I had a few stumbles (which is why it looks like I may have trimmed it a bit). But by the time I got to the large framelit, I was on a roll. Now I can see that it's something I'll do a lot! The left and right edges of the large framelit are even perfectly sized to fit on a 5-1/4" mat as in this card!
I started out the card focusing on the letters. I got the idea for this way of cutting them from a card that I saw in Cardmaker Magazine. Always lots of ideas in that magazine – and lots of Stampin' Up! products used in their samples! Even though this wasn't one of those samples, I could just see the possibilities with Stampin' Up!'s newest Sizzix Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies, I cut 1-1/2" square pieces of both the Real Red and Marina Mist Polka Dot Parade Designer Series Paper and adhered the red to the blue at 1" from the top of the blue piece before cutting each of the letters in my Sizzix.
I didn't have any background paper that had anything that resembled fireworks, so I made my own, using the Confetti Stamp Set and some Real Red, Marina Mist and Daffodil Delight ink to stamp all over a piece of Whisper White Card Stock. I finished by stamping the "Celebrate" sentiment from the Fabulous Phrases Stamp Set in each corner.
Add a few Real Red Brads, and I've got myself a 4th of July Card!
I hope you have a great 4th planned. We're going to a party in the afternoon and I'll get to see some people I haven't seen in awhile, at least one of whom will get a 4th of July card from me!!
What a brilliant idea! I cut a lot of card layers with a craft knife and the Perfect Layers Tool, now I need to get the hang of cutting around curves. That might take some practice!