Now we are on to "Easy Die Cutting Techniques".  At first all I could think about was duh... I die cut most of the images that I stamp.  Then I wrote down the different techniques that the course showcased.  OK, yes, I do more that die cut stamped images.

Dies as stencils, perfect!  Time to pull out my handy dandy stencil that I made back during the "Celebration Stencil Techniques".  Hey, it has already come in handy.

My first card is a top folding 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" on "Neenah Solar White" cardstock.  Both for the base of the card and the first panel.  I used "Versamark" ink and a blending sponge and pounced my leaf design all over.  I then heat embossed with fine clear embossing powder and ink blended all over the panel with "Ranger Distress Ink", finally spritzing with water and blotting the water off and mounted that panel onto the card base.  I found some brushed gold cardstock and adhered the strips horizontally under where I knew I wanted my sentiment, I then die cut a rectangle out of some bright, happy I may add, yellow cardstock and adhered it over the gold strips.  I stamped my sentiment which is from the "Craft Your Life Project Kit: Florescence" and then heat embossed it with fine detail gold powder.  The sentiment strip is popped up with foam on top of the yellow cardstock.  I was going to embellish the card further, I did however restrain myself and will call this a clean and simple card (for me).  

For my second card I used the "embossing with dies" technique using the "you are loved" die.  The embossing turned out beautifully and reminded me of a quilted pillow.  Because of the softness I decided to watercolor the panels and leave the embossed area white.  This card is 5" x 5" and is top folding.  The actual base is "Neenah Solar White" and has watercolored paper adhered to it.   The front panel and the black panel is popped up with foam for added dimension.  I adorned the front of the card with rhinestones and then placed a little lavender heart gem to the bottom.  This card is very peaceful to me.

Thank you for viewing!