Now why did I not think of this before !

I usually struggle when cutting out fiddly or alphabet dies.  I am not a fan of using glue to stick them down as have often seen the glue not holding.  I normally cut tiny strips of double sided tape with more ending up sticking to my fingers than on the die cut. 

Whilst doing my latest card I had a brainwave !!  On the back of the card stock to be used for the letters I was die cutting I stuck a strip of double sided tape (see above) and ran it through the Cuttlebug (see photo below).

In the next photo is the reverse side of the cut out letter.  After that I simply peeled off the double sided tape on the back and stuck it onto the card.  I cannot think out why this has taken be so long to fathom out !  Will definitely be trying it with the more intricate dies even if I can just get some of the fiddly bits taken care of then I will be happy.  I did not experience any problems with removing the card stock from the die.

Stamping Bella - Big Guy Golfing by Mo Manning

 DH commissioned this card for a golfing buddy who has not been well.  I have a few golfing images but thought this one would be better suited to a senior golfer.

The background paper is an old Creative Memories one.  The sentiment is taken from an old Cuttlebug alphabet die using Stampin Up Certainly Celery card stock and the image is a stamp from Stamping Bella - Big Guy Golfing by Mo Manning.  To colour the image I used a variety of Distress Stains and markers sometimes mixing a couple of the colours.  For the skin I used a combination of Letraset Aquamarkers Mocha and Eggshell with an aqua brush.  I normally struggle with skintones but this time I managed to get it right.

Card Gift Container

This pack of cards was made for a gift.  The die is a Marianne D one -  Bird with Small Branch.  I made up the card container around the size of the cards and scored the relevant areas.

Jelli Plate Birthday Card

Even though I have been gone a long time from this blog, I have been making a few projects.  We moved home again at the end of January this year (5th time in 2 years) and it has taken a while to get my craft room up and running.  The downside to having cupboards to house most of my stash is that I cannot remember just where things are.  As a result I have tried to keep my projects simple.

The Jelli Plate is a great for making mono prints.  This is one background I made a while back.  For this card I cut 2 vertical slits half way on either side of the card and inserted a strip of white card stock.  Not sure where the sentiment came from.

Tonic Studios - Wine Bottle Gift Box

Giving a bottle of wine as a gift is popular these days and this Tonic Studio die just finishes the gift off beautifully.  Add a tag or other embellishments and you have an eye catching container.

I have found the trick is to use a medium weight card stock and you can make this out of one 12" x 12" sheet.  For the first one I needed to use 2 sheets but with careful planning you can squeeze it out of 1 sheet.  Cut the die 3 times and use extra sticky red tape to piece it together.  At this stage I found it easier to slip the sleeve over an empty wine bottle (a full one was too heavy).  Cut 2 circles out of matching card just less than the bottom of the wine bottle in size.  I laid the bottle in the sleeve on its side and popped one of the circles underneath the bottom flaps (in other words, at the base of the bottle) and attached it to the wine sleeve bottom flaps with double sided tape.  Stick the second circle on the outside of the bottom flaps and you now have a firm base.  If you don't get the base quite right you can always stand the container upright and stick on a thick ribbon at the bottom of the container.  This is also easier to do with a bottle in.

Embellish with the long rectangle panels that come with the die or if you use pretty patterned themed card then this might not be necessary.  I used a raffia type twine for the holes at the top of the die and an old Clear Dollar die for the sentiment.  The sentiment comes from MFT.

The downside of not drinking is that we never have any wine bottles around so I went down to the local recycling bin and rummaged around until I found a suitable empty bottle !  I have just found some pretty patterned Christmas card stock and will be trying that out soon.