9 June 2013

Die Cut Dreams

Hi everyone. Hope you're having a relaxed and productive weekend. I've been cooking up some backgrounds and playing with that glass bead gel. More of that very soon. In the meantime here's something put together today using a die I won from the fabulous Christine Emberson of Hope and Chances.


This all started with the background - mist and mica spritzing residue lifted from my spray box. You never totally know what you are going to get but it takes about two seconds to achieve. The 'heart in the mouth' bit came when I used my Dyan Reaveley harlequin stencil to add Picket Fence Distress Paint over the top. Initially it went a slightly muddy colour as the ink and mica underneath wicked into it, but fear not - this stuff is truly magical and when dry it returned its familiar white, chalky look.


Working with vellum always makes me nervous. The slightest touch of moisture and it seems to shrivel up and distort immediately. Thankfully it was ok with the mix of WOW! pearlescent EP's and Brilliance/Distress Ink stamping.


The starting point for the rest of the design was the frame underneath the butterfly. It is one of my die cut frames covered in Silver Ferro texture paste, embossed, and then covered in Distress Ink and Indigo Treasure Gold wax.


I layered that frame over a 'Twisted Metal Accent' frame die cut from textured CS which was also covered in Indigo Treasure Gold wax. It is wonderful the way you can layer up die cuts from totally unrelated sets and still get the sense that they were made for each other.


Of course the background needed  far more embellishment so more pieces of coordinating CS were die cut, but not all in the way that was intended. You can see above that I have used half Rose Creations pieces and the edges of Fleur de Lis Squares. Those have been layered over a Sizzix Thinlit strip. Still borrowing scrapping ideas too - many layouts seem to have another layer of CS to frame the main one and adding stitching to it helps to pull the design together somehow.


A touch of ruched seam binding, some stitching and some thin silk cord added some much needed texture to complete the background. I love that there's a lot going on underneath the frame but it doesn't detract from that fabulous butterfly.


I think you can see from this shot that the pearl embossing was done with a mix of several colours from the WOW! Sheena Pearl kit, including White, Green and Red (which magically became more of an aubergine to coordinate with the background even more). And of course that butterfly (from the Fanciful Flight set) cut in a gorgeous glitter CS that has flecks of green and purple works perfectly when shaped slightly.


Rather thoughtfully Hels is asking for purple in her Sunday Stamper challenge - Purple Haze.
They are having a die cut frenzy during June over at the Country View Crafts challenge blog.
The WOW! Embossing Powder challenge is Nature (hopefully a butterfly counts!)

Now I'm off for an exciting evening of cooking, ironing (whilst seeing whether Jason Plato can win his third race of the day) and Poirot on the telly - it's fast and furious here I can tell you:)
Hope you have a wonderful week ahead, take care of yourselves, hugs Jenny xxx

37 comments:

  1. This is really beautiful Jenny, the techniques are brilliant and the lovely butterfly gives it a great finishing touch. Hugs Rita xxx

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  2. Superb and wonderful! I love all the textures and layers, the colours work so well, really lovely :) xx

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  3. So amazing... fantastic materials and techniques, all adding up to another extraordinary make, Jenny. Wonderful!
    Alison xx

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  4. Love the colour palette of this one Jenny and the contrast of the grungy background and frame to the delicate frosted butterfly. Beautifully put together. Poirot eh? Might take a look at that I love Agatha Christie, I started reading them when I was about 12.
    Have a great evening.
    hugs {brenda} x0x

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  5. ...oh wow!!! this is an amazing piece of work, I love it, all of it, and what a way to show case your win, simply stunning...Melxx :)

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  6. LOVE!!!! The neutrals and layers are marvelous Jenny! Love the stitching...adds so much, as does the sparkle in the butterfly! Gorgeous work!

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  7. Colors are fabulous and that stitching caught my eye too! Lovely card and the technique you used is great.
    Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

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  8. Hi Jenny
    wow where do I start, this is a truly amazing piece of art. The layering is outstanding and the finished look is so different I really love what you have done here
    Ria

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  9. Another stunning make from you Jenny, I love the way the beautiful butterfly takes centre stage (as it should). Love the mix of techniques you have used, the frame is beautiful and your layering is always impressive. Love this. Hugs, Anne x

    PS - well done on your win too.

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  10. Hi jenny, lovely work , so many fabulous layers and lovely muted shades, great use of materials and techniques. Thankyou so much for the gorgeous ATC, received yesterday, love the pearlised meltiness and the little fabric flower, great fun thank you for the swap. Have a good week, toni x

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  11. Stunning Jenny with all your hall mark beautiful techniques! Love the contrast between the grungy back ground and the delicate butterfly, makes for some real drama. I sadly missed the Poirot tonight as I was out, but I have borrowed a whole set of his DVDs and will be watching one of them later tonight :)

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  12. Terrific project Jenny. Am a lover of glass bead gel, its a fab product.
    Hugs Annette x

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  13. A beautiful make and gorgeous soft colours!hugs trace x

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  14. Beautiful colours and shapes Jenny--a real dreamy piece.

    Chrissie x

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  15. Morning Jenny, I am always in awe at your techniques, this is stunning, the textures and colours are absolutely gorgeous. I would love a little bit of your creativity ha ha.
    Lots of love from Patricia xx

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  16. I just love how all these seemingly unconnected elements have all come together to produce this beautiful piece. Impressive!

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  17. Stunning art as ever Jenny... love the tones and the bits of sparkle. I missed all of JP's races (boohoo) so am catching up with the highlights show tomorrow.. had Grim texting me results all day tho lol Thanks for joining in with the Sunday Stamper x

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  18. The background is so interesting...great effect Jenny!

    kind regards, Alie :-)

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  19. Fabulous Jenny! Love the background and the colour combo you have achieved the butterfly looks stunning I love love this die.

    MaggieH

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  20. Wow, it's a butterfly dream! I love the sparkle and the textures. Truly Gorgeous, Jenny! xxx

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  21. What a gorgeous card, Jenny! Love that big sparkly butterfly! The background is really amazing! Stunning! Hugs, Sandra

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  22. Gorgeous and great colour tones

    Sam xxx

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  23. Such a lovely soft colour palette Jenny :) another beautiful card :)
    Von ♥

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  24. What lusciousness Jenny with so much texture and pretty things to look at! A great feast for my senses!

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  25. Good morning Jenny,
    Once again another little "work of art" I love to read what you have done to achieve such wonderful effects.
    Great layers and textures topped off by that beautiful butterfly.
    Have a great day

    Patricia xxx

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  26. Beautiful card and great details as always, lovely background!
    Hugs, Elenor

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  27. Loving it, Jenny, especially the vellum,
    Rosie x

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  28. Hi sweetie! That looks amazing! Thanks for your good wishes btw. We are very happy together and intend to keep it that way :)
    xoxo Sioux

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  29. Another stunner Jenny, beautiful! I love the elements you've brought together. Simply beautiful! Chris xxx

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  30. Oooh very nice! love all of your windows too! been having some "no pc" time here recently so trying to grab a few mins catch up! hope you are well :)

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  31. Beautiful work as always! Cx

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  32. Fantastic layers, a gorgeous butterfly.

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  33. This is really beautiful Jenny, the picket fence stencilling looks amazing xx

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  34. Hi Jenny! So many layers, so much detail and so much impact! Lovely!
    MMx

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  35. A stunning card, loads of techniques and layers to look at - must have taken an age! And yes, a butterfly counts ;)

    Thanks for joining in with the WOW! Embossing Powder June Challenge and good luck!

    Neil

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  36. OMG, I am falling in love with this butterfly,,,,,,Jenny........LOVE IT.

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  37. a truly gorgeous make, with so many subtle layers and details, gorgeous use of die cut too xx
    thanks for joining us at country view crafts challenge x Trace x

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Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comments - they are really appreciated and will be published when moderated. Jenny xxx

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