July..the month to DIE for!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Welcome to July...the month to DIE for! Yep. All of this month, the Dream Team are featuring our newest toys...our DIES! You'd be surprised at how many we have, and what fun things you can do with them...especially when used in conjunction with many of their stencil counterparts. They are such a simple way to create an effective card.

With the Fourth of July being tomorrow, I knew I had to start the month off with our wonderful Apron die (DG736). It is so versatile, and looks fabulous in a variety of paper combinations. I know you've seen this one in the past, but it makes a perfect 4th of July card or invite. Here's what I created:

Card One
LG736 - Apron stencil, machine embossed on white cardstock
DG736 - Apron die, cut from 2 patterned papers, pieced onto embossed image
Apron image cut out after piecing

My "firework" was created using a raffia twine from May Arts. Wrap it around three fingers about five times, carefully slip it off and pinch it together in the middle, tie another small piece around it and knot it. You should have about 5 loops on each side, cut them open, split the twine into the two separate strands and pull it into a circle shape. I added a small silver star brad over the center. It's attached to the card with a big glue dot.

Card Two
LG736 - Apron stencil, machine embossed on white cardstock
Pieced from the opposite pieces of card one
Left on white cardstock and layered on navy blue

Card Three
Negative cut image, from the red and white stripe paper, outlined with red marker,
then adhered over patterned paper, and cut out
I think this would make a cute summer BBQ invite!

I could have gotten a fourth card too (from the negative of the blue dotted paper), but I was using scraps and did not have a piece big enough to cut one whole apron, I did sections at a time.

HINT ONE: before die cutting, attach a piece of Dreamweaver Double sided Mounting Paper to the BACK of your patterned paper, then cut. All you have to do is peel off the release paper and place the pieces where they belong. It also helps with the negative image because all the little bridges have adhesive on them too, so when you lay the negative over another paper, the whole thing sticks well.

HINT TWO: Most patterned papers have a white core so when you cut them out, you see the white edge. I don't like that so I run a coordinating color marker around the edges of my pieces to give them more dimension, you don't have to do it, but I think it adds a lot.

I'm sure that our "A" team is just DIE-ing to show you their creations, as well as our Guest Designer for the month of July...

Dream It Up!

Leadonna Kimmel

Louise Healy

Laura Drahozal

Lynn Mercurio

Pam Hornschu

Jamie Martin

and

Terri Sproul (GD)

Happy Creating,
Louise

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