Stretching your dies

Dies are expensive! One way to get that cost down is by using your supplies in many different ways. Today I am going to share how I am using the Altenew Floral In n Out Border die two ways! In one example, I will be inking a background, allowing the white die cut to pop off the card. The other example is inking up the die cut itself. In this post, I use affiliate links. If you choose to shop through these links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. Thank you for your support and let’s read on for how I made these cards. 

Border dies can cost a lot. The Altenew Floral In n Out Border die cuts a delicate and intricate floral design into the edge of the paper. 

Blended backgrounds are so quick and easy to make and are a stunning backdrop to a white die cut. Before adding ink, I added a sentiment from Altenew Simple Sentiments: To the Lovely Couple, using Altenew Obsidian ink and then VersaMark ink and then Altenew clear embossing powder. This will protect the sentiment from the blending and add some nice shine to it as well.
​The background on this card was made using vertical blending. This is a technique where I blend from the sides into the middle. I start with a piece of Neenah 80lb cardstock and keeping the piece in the portrait orientation add Vanilla Cream to the middle taking care to smooth out the sides. I use a light hand to make sure there are no harsh lines. Then I used Silver Stone on both edges of cardstock taking care to not go too far in towards the vanilla cream. Next is Ocean Waves which is blended from the edges towards the Vanilla Cream leaving some room between the two colors. Sweet Leaf acts as a bridge smoothly transitioning between the Ocean Waves and Vanilla Cream. I like to add texture to my blends by sprinkling water and then glimmer spray.  The die cut is attached to the panel using adhesive spray. Clear drops from Studio Katia are then added. 

By inking up a die cut, you can really highlight the intricacies of the die cut. The Altenew Floral In n Out Border die cuts an edge of an intricate die without cutting out the whole image. This allows for a peek-a-boo look on your card.
On a piece of Neenah 110lb solar white cardstock cut to 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, I will score it at 4 1/4″ which makes a side folding card. About 1/2″ from the edge, I tape down the die cut and run it through my Gemini Jr machine a few times as this is a really intricate die cut. 
After die cutting, unfold the card and using detail brushes, add Baby Pink, Magenta and Citrus Burst ink to the flowers. The leaves are colored with Limeade and Fresh Leaf ink. 
Since some of the inside of the card will show, I took the sentiment: Sending You Sweet Birthday Wishes from the Altenew Simple Sentiments stamp set and added pieces of it to a card insert that is slightly smaller than the inside of the card. I first stamped Birthday Wishes in the lower right corner using Obsidian Ink then Versa mark and clear embossing powder. Then Sending You was stamped using the same inks in the upper right corner. Sweet was die cut using a die from Script Words 3 die set out of a panel blended with Baby Pink, Citrus Burst and Magenta Ink. 
The front of the card received splatters from Lime, Citrus Burst and Fuschia inks along with some clear drops from Studio Katia.

I made a YouTube video that shows how I made these cards. Check it out below or in YouTube. 

Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope you gained some ideas for how you can stretch your border dies.