Sneak Peek: Introducing A Cut Above Stamps & 2 Notebook Dies

Hello and welcome to day 4 of our Sneak Peek Week!  Each morning this week I have been showcasing projects using our newest Summer collection which will be available to purchase on April 21st.

Card No. 1 & 2: Today I am showcasing our new A Cut Above Stamps & Dies, along with two new Notebook dies which this first set of two cards fully utilizes. The layering stamps come with all the pieces you need to create a pair of scissors, colored pencils, and thumbtacks, as well as both the option to add a repeated grid or lined background for both new notebooks dies.

Card No. 1: The new A Cut Above Stamps have been designed to complement our previously released Color My World Stamps so I was able to include both types of pencils for my card here today. The pencil image that comes with the Color My World set has quite a few components, however, for the colored pencil image that comes with A Cut Above set there is no eraser involved which allowed me to streamline the layers which really speeds up the stamping process and makes it a breeze to line up for assembly line style stamping.

For this card, I turned to our new Notebook Photo Corners Dies which features a 3x4 Notebook Paper with a spiral tear along the top. The set also includes pennant strips in two different widths, perfect for stamping greetings, and four fun photo corners. For both the cards in this set, I used the 4" x 1" grid print stamp with my Misti, moving the die incrementally up one inch at a time until the entire background was covered. I then mounted it onto a piece of black cardstock so that it would stand out against my colorful polka-dot background from our Rainbow Bright Paper pack.

Card No. 2: For my second card featuring the A Cut Above Stamps, I used our new Notebook Tabs Dies which feature another 3x4 Notebook die, this time with the spiral down the long edge. This die set also comes with four unique tab dies perfect for adding a sentiment to your cards or for use with scrapbooks and planners. For this card, I utilized a colorful striped patterned paper for my background from that same Rainbow Bright Paper pack, along with the yellow dot from our Polka-Dot Parade Paper for the pennant-shaped sentiment strip that comes with the Notebook Photo Corners Dies.

Card No. 3: Up next is a card focusing just on the cute pair of scissors from A Cut Above which I stamped in a rainbow of colors, alternating their direction and positioning them on the diagonal across my horizontal card. To make them stand out, I adhered them to a piece of black cardstock which I trimmed down using the stitched edge die from our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies. For my background, I added a simple yellow striped print from our Striped Silly Paper pack and stamped the punny sentiment from the stamp set with Versafine Onyx Black Ink to match the diagonal angle of my scissors.

Card No. 4:  For this rainbow-inspired card I stamped a variety of colored pencils using the new A Cut Above Stamps and then fanned them out in a circle for a fun radial design. I made sure to leave a little space in the center for my "hi" greeting from our Hawaiian Hibiscus Stamps. I then kept the rest of my card very simple, trimming down my panel to be square and mounting it onto a black scalloped square from our Fancy Frames Square Dies. To make lining up things easier, I created a free printable template for some similar cards I created using our Color My World Stamps which you can download HERE (You can also see those card examples and read about them HERE).

Card No. 5: Next up in a teacher card combining the colored pencils, thumbtack, and lined background from the A Cut Above Stamps with the Notebook Tabs Dies. After stamping the lines onto my spiral-bound paper, I added the sentiment from our Teacher Appreciation Stamps with Versafine Onyx Black Ink. I chose to stamp the "thank you" portion of my phrase onto a tab die from the set to help break up the longer sentiment and add a little extra visual interest, cutting the tab from a yellow polka-dot print from our Polka-dot Parade Paper pack.

Card No. 6: For this card, I thought it would be fun to use the pushpin image from the A Cut Above Stamps to recreate the look of a framed corkboard. I had some thin sheets of cork made for crafting in my stash (I think this one came from one of those specialty pads by DCWAV) which I adhered to a piece of kraft cardstock for extra stability. Since the pins would be pushed into the cork, I omitted the tack portion and used the alternate die from the set. I cut some Memory Box woodgrain cardstock into thin 1/4" strips and added them to the edges of my corkboard to give the look of a frame by mitering the corners.

To arrange my tacks in a perfect circle, I die-cut a circle using our Stitched Circle Large Dies in the cork material and then left the circle in place and covered the cut with the pins. You could also achieve a similar result by tracing a circle with a pen onto the cork material, but I thought the cut would be more invisible. For my note, I stamped the grid print from the A Cut Above Stamps and used our Notebook Photo Corners Dies to give the spiral notebook edge, trimming it down to fit within the confines of my circle. I used printer paper to give it a more realistic look and tore it along the bottom edge for some extra interest. For my sentiment, I added the phrase "Just a note" from our Balloon Rides Stamps and the phrase "to say" from our Floating By Stamps using Versafine Onyx Black Ink. Lastly, I layered two shades of blue cardstock cut using our Hello Word Die.

Card No. 7: For my last card of the day, I created a vibrant, colorful background by repeatedly cutting out one of the stitched photo corners dies from the new Notebook Photo Corners Die set using different rainbow shades of patterned paper from our Gingham Jewel Tones Paper pack. I then drew some light pencil line grids on the front of my card base to help me keep things somewhat straight, added rows of adhesive with my tape gun and then set to work adhering the stacked photo corners down the center of my card front, alternating them the opposite direction on either side to create a fun chevron print! It took me a bit of time to cut the tabs out from various paper scraps, but I really enjoy paper-piecing backgrounds like this--It's the perfect mindless activity to do while watching TV and I found it really relaxing to create.

To complete my card, I cut an oval mat using our Stitched Oval 2 Dies to frame my greeting. The Cut Above Stamps includes the punny "I'm sorry I was snippy" sentiment to compliment the layered scissors images, but the words were feeling a bit too small for the space I had to fill so I substituted the word "snippy" with my own version cut using our Hayley Lowercase Alphabet Dies. I then tucked the handle of my scissors in under the loop of my letter "s" to give the appearance they are hanging there.

Scrapbook Layout: I have been working on completing my daughter's school portrait album before she graduates from high school next year and I knew that our new A Cut Above Stamps, Notebook Photo Corners Dies, and Notebook Tabs Dies would be perfect for a page in her scrapbook! 

I started by die-cutting the stitched strips to add along the top of my page using the pennant strip from our Stitched Rectangle Dies, cutting them for our Gingham Jewel Tones Paper. I then layered the bottom edge with the ricrac trim cut from white cardstock using our Slimline Basic Border Dies and the stitched strip from our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies cut from black cardstock. To add interest to my 5x7 photo, I mounted it onto a decorative mat with 4 of the two different notebook dies which had been mounted onto black cardstock to help them stand out against the kraft background and make them feel like a cohesive block. I added the year to a photo tab using our Kinsley Alphabet Stamps and added it to the top right corner of my photo. 

For my title block, I started by die-cutting the curved tag from our Build-a-Tag 1 Dies using a darker shade of kraft cardstock. I die-cut a black circle using our Stitched Circle Large Dies and layered it over a circle cut from white cardstock using the die from the same Build-a-Tag 1 Dies. I then used the number 8 from our Chloe Number Dies, the 'th" from our Kinsley Alphabet Stamps, and paired it with the word "grade" cut using our Hayley Lowercase Alphabet Dies. 

For my journaling I used the spiral paper from our Notebook Tabs Dies, adding the notebook lines that come with our A Cut Above Stamps. I then calculated the size of my journaling block by measuring the space I had to work with, adjusting my margins in Microsoft Word, and then printing it out onto printer paper. I believe in my case based on my font size, I needed to adjust my line spacing to 1.2 rather than the standard 1 or 1.5 spacing, but I was able to play with it before adhering my cardstock to my printer paper with photo splits and running it through my printer using the manual feed tray. I then just pull it off and adhered it to my page. Lastly, I embellished my page with the colored pencils and scissors from our new A Cut Above Stamps and Color My World Stamps.

*Please note: my daughter's photo has been substituted with a stock photo as she requested I not share photos of her publicly.

I frequently am asked which ink colors I used for my layered images. While I think there are so many great options out there, these are the colors I used today for my stamped images from light to dark:

Berry Pencil & Scissors
PinkFresh Studio Raspberry Bliss
Hero Arts Raspberry Jam
Stampin' Up Rich Razzleberry

Red Pencil & Scissors
PinkFresh Studio Coral Reef
Gina K. Red Hot
Concord & 9th Cranberry

Orange Pencil & Scissors
Hero Arts Butter Bar
Pinkfresh Studio Apricot
Pinkfresh Studio Clementine

Yellow Pencil & Scissors

Pinkfresh Studio Sunshine
Pinkfresh Studio Sweet Mustard
Pinkfresh Studio Marigold 

Green Pencil
PinkFresh Studio Meadow
Concord & 9th Clover
Gina K. Christmas Pine

Green Scissors
PinkFresh Studio Meadow
Concord & 9th Clover

Dark Green Scissors
Concord & 9th Clover
Gina K. Christmas Pine

Blue Pencil & Scissors
Gina K. Blue Raspberry
Hero Arts Deep Ocean
Stampin' Up Pacific Point

Turquoise Pencil
Gina K. Turquoise Sea
Gina K. Blue Lagoon
Gina K. Tranquil Teal

Purple Pencil
PinkFresh Studio Lavender
VersaFine Clair Purple Delight
Hero Arts Grape Juice

Hot Pink Pencil
PinkFresh Studio Sparkling Rose
PinkFresh Studio Bubble Gum
Hero Arts Ultra Pink

To help you line up our layered stamps I've created a special layering guide (you can click on the photo below to view it larger).  The guide shows the stamps starting with the lightest ink color, working towards the darkest, but sometimes I find it easier to start backward when setting up my layers. They both work depending on what your preference is.  The black outline indicates where that layer touches the previously stamped layer. 

That wraps up today's sneak peeks. I'm so happy you spent part of your day with me today. I read all your comments and they mean so much!  I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the Rafflecopter below. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Our daily contests this week run through Saturday, April 22nd at Midnight PST with winners announced here on Sunday, April 23rd. :)

Here's a closer look at our new A Cut Above Stamps & Dies, Notebook Photo Corners Dies, and Notebook Tabs Dies used today (which will be available to purchase starting on April 21st):

 

Other Supplies Used:

Teacher Appreciation Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Chloe Number Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Classic Gingham 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Striped Silly 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Polka-dot Parade 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Rainbow Bright 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Gingham Jewel Tones 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Build-A-Tag #1 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hawaiian Hibiscus Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Kinsley Alphabet Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Slimline Basic Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Circle Large Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Oval 2 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hayley Lowercase Alphabet Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Color My World Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Color My World Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fancy Frames-Square Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Ribbon & Lace Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Hello Word Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Floating By Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Balloon Rides Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio