Desert Island Dies

If you are wondering what the title of this blog is all about it's very simple, 'If you could only choose a dozen dies to take to a desert island what would they be and why?'

I'm not going to list them here as I would spend forever whittling down my choices, it would be a nightmare! The most important quality a die can have for me is versatility, something you can use all year round and never get tired of or run out of inspiration.

This description fits many of my favourite dies and one of my new favourite sets from super talented designer Paula Pascual's inspired Fresh Moments collection fits the bill perfectly. 

The set in question is Wrappers (658613) and to look at it's deceptively simple but it offers a ton of creative mileage. The great thing about Framelits is the ability to crop images and text very accurately, ideal for scrapbookers and cardmakers alike, and because the blade is on the inside edge of the die you never get any unwanted emboss lines creeping in.

To illustrate what I mean about the versatile nature of this set, I have decided to create 3 card toppers combining the Framelits with 3 similar embossing folders from Tim Holtz but using different colour palettes to suite each theme.

The Texture Fades Embossing Folders used are:

• Christmas Background & Border Set (657480)
• Valentines Background & Border Set (657490)
• Halloween Background & Border Set (657465)

I started by measuring the circle dies and Recreating the same size circle on the desktop of my PC, this will act as a template over which to drop my text. As you can see below, I created phrases for Christmas,Halloween and Valentines. The great thing about using a PC to create and print your greetings is the ability to personalize your message making it ideal also for wedding stationary etc.

Once I have the phrases how I want them I simply remove the circle which was acting as a template and print onto heavy weight white card. Next, position the framelits over the phrases and pass through your Big Shot.

 I took a piece of smooth white card and added colour using assorted blue Distress Inks before embossing. Next, I used a darker blue ink pad to pick up the detail in the embossed image. I die cut all the elements to create my wrapper from white and teal card before embossing the long white element with a snowflake border folder and inking to bring out the detail. Finally, I assembled my wrapper and attached it to the embossed background using double sided tape before mating onto a teal background.

 Below are my other efforts, and even though they share many things in common they are all very different. Truth is, I could have kept going all day, Weddings, Christenings Father's and Mother's Day, Easter.....etc, etc, etc!

Enjoy!