Die Spotlighting on Clean Card Designs

USING TWO DIES AS THE FOCAL POINT AND THE FRAME

Welcome! Thanks so much for joining me here.

I’m revamping my blog with a post about creating striking but clean and simple cards. The main products in my cards are from Hero Arts, and I will list all of the products in the bottom of the page. I also used distress inks and alcohol inks to add some color to these cards.

I picked one die to be the focal point for my cards and highlight it in a variety of ways. You can use any die for this, but it works best if it is not a symmetrical shape, and the more intricate the more visual interest you can create. Your secondary die to use for your frame die, is ideally symmetrical and less intricate than your focal die. From here on out, the die we using as the focus will be called the focal die and those we are using to frame it, is called the frame die. My focal die is this butterfly from Hero Arts.

CARD ONE: ALCOHOL INK PANEL AS THE FRAME DIE

The easiest way to frame your focal point die, is with a vibrant colorful panel, cut smaller than your card front. and ideally, slightly smaller than your focal die in one dimension (e.g. skinnier or shorter than the die). This is the easiest way because it does not require a die to be the frame.

I cut down an alcohol ink panel I had already created to be slightly narrower than the wings of my butterfly. This helps the butterfly have some movement and look like it is flying off of the panel. And because my background is so vibrant, I can keep my butterfly in a neutral color, and ideally much paler than my background. I decided to double layer all of my butterflies to create more movement and dimension on these simple cards, so I chose white and vellum layers.

I added white splatter and white paint to make my background look like a galaxy or a night sky. The white butterfly looks ethereal, especially with the vellum and the bit of sparkle I added to vellum wings. I added one white gem to the butterfly to help emphasize the focal point. I added my black stamped sentiment in StazOn ink because I wanted it on my alcohol ink panel. I allowed this to dry for about 5 minutes before touching it. I glued the panel onto my card base and this one is done!

CARD TWO: FOCAL POINT HAS THE ALCOHOL INK

Using the same alcohol ink panel I got my background from, I die cut my butterfly. To offset this colorful focal point, i die cut a white frame die for the contrast. I love the look of white dies on white card stock but i wanted to make sure the white die didn’t blend in too much. So I splattered some gold watercolor on the background, and then outlined part of my die with a thin black pen. This gives some definition but doesn’t overwhelm our focal point.

I added a dark rhinestone to the center of the butterfly, and then added a small sentiment in the bottom right corner. And this card is done!

CARD THREE & FOUR: ALCOHOL INK FRAME DIE

I made two new alcohol ink panels with different colors red & pink and green & teal. I then used these to die cut my frame dies. One is a full wreath and the other is two swags that I joined together to form a large wreath. These two are from a fall My Monthly Hero kit for Thanksgiving, but the wreaths work for all seasons.

I kept my butterflies neutral as my frame dies are colorful, but I wanted them to have a little more sparkle, so I die cut my butterfly out of glitter paper. For my green wreath, I die cut my focal butterfly out of gray glitter paper, and for my pink wreath, I die cut out of white glitter paper.

I backed the gray glitter butterfly with a white butterfly for dimension. I splattered gold watercolor on my green wreath and then added my layered butterfly to my card panel. I put my white glitter butterfly on a black butterfly. I shifted slightly the butterflies so the black butterfly acts a shadow and an accent. This will help it stand out from our white card panel.

I added a few gems to each card and a simple black stamped sentiment, and our cards are done!

CARD FIVE & SIX: TWO CARDS MADE FROM RAINBOW WATERCOLOR

These two cards are made using pieces from one rainbow watercolor panel. I created a horizontal blend of rainbow colors with watercolor and let it dry. I then die cut the butterfly from the exact center of the rainbow part of the panel (or as exact as I could eyeball it lol). I wanted to make sure the entire butterfly contained at least some of every color.

I then cut down my rainbow panel so that it would a large white trim on a card front. I die cut two butterflies from white and vellum card stock and layered those together. I then fit my layered butterfly into the watercolor panel on my card front. I added a few spritz of glitter to help the background sparkle (because why not, right?). I stamped my sentiment in the bottom center, added a few white gems, and this card is complete!

For my other card, I die cut a white wreath using that same wreath die, and glued it to the front of a white card panel, for a nice white on white effect. Then I layered my rainbow butterfly with a black butterfly, but shifted the alignment slightly so it looks like our rainbow has a shadow, and also some great contrast to its vibrant colors. I then placed this layered butterfly onto the white wreath.

And to be honest with you, I really like this card as is, with no sentiment. I’m afraid to put anything on it. Please let me know if you have an opinion or suggestion in the comments!

And these two cards are complete! (I think).

CARD SEVEN: STENCILING WITH DIE CUT SCRAPS

This last card is a little different than the others, but still fits in nicely with our clean, simple and bright cards. I die cut our black butterfly shadows from one piece of card stock, and really liked how all the openings were arranged. So I decided to use my scrap piece as a stencil.

Stenciling with card stock is harder than with a stencil because the paper can be flimsy, especially with intricate areas, so I was a little worried about where the body of the butterfly was cut out. So, after taping my card stock down like I would with any stencil, I made sure to only push my ink in one direction on each part of the butterfly, and twist outward to make sure not to move the paper. This would be even more helpful with those small blending brushes but I do not have mine yet, so I used my regular ink blending tools very carefully.

After I blended my five colors onto my makeshift stencil, I splattered some water and glitter I mixed together to add some pattern to my butterflies. I then placed my last black butterfly die cut onto the center butterfly, and it ends up looking like almost a rainbow monarch, I love it.

For the finishing touch, I just added a few white gems and a small black sentiment in the bottom right, and this card is also complete!

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you give this card design a try! If you do try it out, please tag me, I would love to see it! @periwinklestudio

Bonus photo of my kitten Toast supervising my cardmaking:

SUPPLIES

*Please note, this blog post was not sponsored by Hero Arts in any way (I will tell you if a blog post is part of a hop or sponsored), and none of these links are affiliate links. They’re just here for your convenience. :)