Delightful Dies

Hi!

I'm here today to share three cards I made using a couple of DELIGHTFUL dies I got recently.

First theres the Simon Says Stamp exclusive die called "Perfect Bow" (and can I just say, it really IS perfect)

And secondly the Memory Box "Princess Dress" die.

Now on their own, they're lovely, wonderful and oh-so-cute. But...pair them with some gorgeous Neat and Tangled Stamps?! Well, you're onto a whole new level of fun!

For my cards, I decided to keep them all super simple, all on white card-bases, with the stamped diecuts being the main centre of attention. The only additions are the sentiments, and some score-lines as decoration.

Firstly I played with the bow. I diecut the bow on Neenah Solar White cardstock, then stamped out the thinner solid strip from On the Strip 2, in a rainbow of Hero Arts Cornflower, Bubble Gum and Butter Bar Shadow Inks.

I purposely stamped the main section of the bow on an angle, and the 'tails' stamped straight, so that they would be at different angles when the bow was all put together. This makes it look more realistic (it's supposed to look like a ribbon bow, right?! The pattern would be slightly different direction on the tails.)

To give the card some interest (given how much white space there is) I scored a border around the outside edge of the card, about 1/4 inch in from the edge. I really like this look.

For some added fun, I added a thin coating of Glossy Accents. This bow looks like a store-bought embellishment in real life. It's SO sweet. I love it!

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For this next card, I carefully stamped out the polka-dot panel from On the Strip 2, using Hero Arts Mint Julep Shadow Ink, trying not to overlap the edges. I then diecut our the dress.

I think it looks like a 1950s housewife kinda dress. So pretty!

For some added detail, I gave the dress a thin 'hem' (and the straps) of Mint Green Liquid Pearls.

The sentiment is from Just Hello and for the scoring, I added about an inch worth of scoring at the base of the card (1/8 inch apart) and then two at the top. This is such a simple, fast way to give a very CAS card, a little something extra.

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For my final card, I thought it would be fun to make a card you could give someone going to their ball/formal. This design would work perfectly for a wedding card too (that's being made as soon as I finish writing this blog post!)

I diecut the bow and dress, then stamped with Hero Arts Fresh Peach Shadow Ink (it's showing up a lot more red in this photo--its a delightful peach colour in real life). The stamp is from Little Tangles.

I only stamped the base of the dress, to give the skirt some detail, but it looked a little plain as was, so I used a blending tool to add some ink to the top of the dress.

Finally I added a gentle layer of Smooch Gloss (its basically glittery nail polish but for cards!) and a tiny bit of stickles over the bow and dress, to make them more clearly 'party clothes'. 

Well that's it for me! I hope you'll start looking at your dies with fresh eyes after this, and see all the possibilities when it comes to altering them with some simple stamping!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Linda x