Inlaid Die-Cut Birthday Card using the New Beginnings set from Altenew

 Hey there!

I’m excited to share my card design for my Easy Die Cutting Techniques class taught by Yana Smakula. This is one of the courses required for AECP Level 1. Listening to Yana’s beautiful accent is a definite bonus of this course! 😊

Do you ever find yourself unsatisfied with a “basic” technique? I wanted to step it up a bit to incorporate multiple pieces of inspiration from the class. I decided to inlay a flower into the leaves in order to make the two appear to be one nested piece.

Here’s how I made this card using the New Beginnings Stamp, Die, and Mask bundle:

First, I used the coordinating stencil to blend two shades of pink with a concentration toward the centre of the flower. I waited to stamp the outline of the flower until afterward, embossing with a fine white embossing powder as this seemed easier than removing ink from the embossing afterward.  

I then did the same with the leaves and cut everything out using the coordinating dies. 

To create the flower/leaf inlay, I then layered my die-cut pieces to see where I wanted the leaves to ‘nest’ against the edges of the flower. Then, I die-cut in the following order:

1. Flower

2. Leaves (from the edges of the flower space)

3. Inlaid the leaves, re-added the flower die to make space for the flower, die cut and inlaid the flower

4. Used a circle die to cut out the inlaid flower and leaves

5. Used the circle die to cut from the green panel so that I could inlay the white circle

I used some tape to hold things together across the back, then added a sentiment on a velum strip that I wrapped around the back of the panel so I could hide my adhesive. 

I added some dots with a gel pen to give some brightness and texture to my panel before mounting the whole thing on a top-folding card base and adding a few iridescent sequins to catch the light. 

This card has me wanting to try more inlaid designs! Thanks for the inspiration, Yana! 

Until next time, take care!

Teri