Floating poinsettias ......

Happy Wednesday evening ......

Half way through the week already!!!  I've spent all day in the craft room and actually got some things finished ..... yeah!   No sitting in the garden enjoying the sun for me today ....... it's been raining!!

I suppose I had to make a start at some point ....... with Christmas that is. Ho! Ho! Ho!
I know, I know ..... it's still only July but, festive themed craft goodies are out there and it'll be here before we know it!

Before I went on holiday I had a little play around with the gorgeous Poinsettia stencil, and matching dies from Sweet Poppy Stencils.
I'd been using them for some up coming magazine projects, and I thought ....... would they work with the Floating Die Cut technique that Jennifer McQuire did a little while ago?  Well .... it would normally be stamps with matching dies but I think stencils work just as well ..... what do you think?

If you haven't seen this technique before check out Jennifer's video, you'll love it!!

I used all three sizes of poinsettia on the stencil and inked through with one of the red Distress Oxide inks.
I then used the matching dies to cut out all the flowers.

I arranged the poinsettias over a piece of white cardstock, placing them close together but not touching, and also leaving some white space.
Once I was happy with the arrangement I placed a piece of Glad Press n Seal over the top and lightly pressed down to secure the die cuts. (If you're not familiar with Press n Seal, it's a bit like cling film but it's tacky, like a Post It note) 
I trimmed off the excess around the edges, placed an oval die in the centre and then ran it through my die cutting machine.
Now I have two pieces, both of which I can use to create two different cards ....... one from the outer frame .......

and one from the die cut oval .....

Once you've die cut the centre, carefully peel off the backing card.  Attach foam pads to the back of each of the die cut pieces ..... these should still be in place, attached to the Press n Seal.

Using the Press n Seal to hold the pieces in place, attach them to the front of a card.  Gently peel off the Press n Seal leaving the 'floating' die cut frame behind ...... clever eh!

I stamped a sentiment in the oval aperature and added a frame to the inside

A sprinkling of Chunky White Embossing Enamel, heated from behind, a few dots of glitter glue in the white spaces, and I also added some festive red glitter to the large poinsettias

The twofer is very CAS ....... attach the foam pads as before and place the oval onto a white cardblank.   I added a simple die cut frame around the edge and some pretty white pearls in the spaces

and finished with a simple Christmas sentiment.

Well that's two for the festive box ...... maybe it's time I made a few more!!

Thanks for popping by.

Cheerio until next time ......

Products used:
Stamps: Joy & Peace clear stamps (Sweet Poppy); Deco Christmas (Tim Holtz)
Inks: Festive Berries Distress Oxide Ink; Delicata Golden Glitz
Others: Poinsettia stencil and matching dies (Sweet Poppy); Nestabilities Oval Die; Glad Press n Seal (Amazon); Stickles Gold Glitter Glue; White flatbacked pearls; Red fine Glitter (Sweet Poppy Stencils)

Time for a Twofer .... which turned into a Four-fer!!!

Happy Wednesday ........

This week is flying by ....... I've been busy in the craft room though.  It's almost time for our annual family holiday so I'm trying to get organised!!
Two weeks on Friday you'll find me on a boat on the Norfolk Broads.  Well actually two weeks on Saturday ..... two weeks on Friday we'll be on a slightly bigger boat, sailing across to the UK, but more about all that some other time.

Last week was workshop weekend.   We took a break from the calendars and had a great time creating cards with Jennifer McQuire's Floating Die Cut Frames technique.
I must say I am hooked on this at the moment, and I think a few more ladies are after last Saturday.

It was a busy day, with lots of stamping, a whole load of colouring and plenty die cutting of course.
We did find time for cake though .....

I used Altenew stamp sets that had matching dies, and ZIG markers for my all of my colouring

I even did a little bit of heat embossing

Stamped sentiments to finish off ......

And a few little gold ink splatters here and there.

I love how you get a twofer everytime .......

Change things up and use different shapes to create the apertures ...... this was my favourite pair from the day

I love this stamp set ...... it's Ruffled Flowers from Altenew,  and of course the matching dies make it so easy to cut them all out

I added a die cut sentiment on this one ......

And of course, another pretty little twofer

In fact ....... from this set of die cuts I actually made FOUR cards, that's 2 sets of twofers!!
These were made from all the cut off pieces from around the edge of the original panel ...... they  just too pretty to throw away

I added the little bees so that I can link these two cards up to this month's Twofer Card Challenge ......

First up ..... a little Thank You card

Smaller than I usually make ..... this is 6x4 inches, but I was using up leftovers.

I arranged the left over die cuts over a panel of white card cut to the size of my card front.  I then covered them with some Glad Press & Seal ...... if you're not familiar with this it's a bit like cling film, but sticky. and then
I ran this through my Big Shot to die cut the centre panel.  The Press & Seal holds everything in place ....... it's fab!  Check out Jennifer McGuire's video it explains everything.

Once you've die cut the centre out, remove the white card from the back, turn over the remaining piece of Press & Seal and put foam pads on the back of all the die cut pieces making up the frame. This then goes onto the front of your card ..... the Press & Seal holds everything in the right place .... clever eh!

Once the die cuts are stuck down, carefully peel off the Press & Seal, and your die cuts will look as if they are floating ...... I love it!!!
The little bees are from a Stampin Up! set called Dragonfly Dreams ..... I'm not sure if it's still a current set.

And here's the twofer ......  a Birthday card made using that die cut centre panel

A simple frame around the edge, and a sentiment banner to finish off

You have to give this technique a go ..... it's so much fun!

Thanks for popping by ..... enjoy the rest of your day.
It's lovely here today, the sun is shining and it's warming up nicely.  It's about time though, it is June afterall!
No sitting in the sun just yet though, it's back to the craft room for me and I'm about to go all festive!
Don't worry, its for a magazine later in the year so I'm not going all Ho! Ho! Ho! just yet!!!

Cheerio until next time .......

Products used:
Stamps: Ruffled Flowers, Leaf Canopy (both with matching dies ) Altenew; Dragonfly Dreams (SU) Penny Black sentiment stamps; Birthday Messages (Mama Elephant)
Inks: Versafine Clair - Nocture; Versamark; Delicata Golden Glitz;
Others: Hello Die (Altenew); Nestabilities die - circles, rectangles, ovals: Gold Embossing Powder (WOW!); ZIG Clean Color Brush Markers; Pearl Drops (Nuvo); Small crystal gemstones