Double Partial Die Cutting Technique - step by step

Hello it’s Monday and I'm back to share a new make and step-by-step tutorial with you.  This week the Papermilldirect Design Team are looking at the ‘Partial Die Cutting Technique’ and I thought it would be nice to try something I haven’t done before, which is a Double partial die cut, so we are learning together this week! But first news of this week's special offer - a small box of Spring themed card (Daffodil Yellow,Spring Green,Plain White) can be yours for just £6-60 that's 45% off!! Link HERE:

1. To start off I cut a panel of +Papermilldirect White Linen card approx. 4.5” x 5.6” and drew a light pencil line across the front at approx. 3” down.  Using the 2nd smallest of the Torn Edge dies I positioned the die so that a portion was showing beneath the pencil line and held in place with washi tape as shown.
2. Place the card & die onto one of your cutting plates and carefully line up the other cutting plate on top so that the edge of the top plate lines up with the pencil line, so that it will not cut through the section below the pencil mark.
3. Run through your die cutter, remove the washi tape and you should now have a partial cut.  (You can erase the pencil line in the aperture if you wish, but leave the line either side to help with the next stage)

1. Because I am going to be using the matching stamp for my next cut, I found it easier to stamp the image first.  So using the Pearlescent Lavender ink I stamped the 2nd largest butterfly from the stamp set, positioning it at an angle so that 1 wing will stamp below the pencil line but the butterfly will still fit into the aperture.
2. Next line up the matching butterfly die, if using a die like mine that you cannot see through then it is easier to cut a mask from scrap paper and use that to line up.  Hold die in place with washi tape.  (If you are not using a stamp then skip the stamp step)
3. Line up your cutting plates as before, positioning the top plate to line up with the pencil mark so that nothing below the mark will cut.

1. Run through the die cutter and remove the washi tape and waste card. To remove the landlocked bits at the bottom then line up a ruler against the pencil marks and use a craft knife to remove the small bits.
2. To create a coloured background, cut a piece of card (I'm using a scrap of PMD felt embossed but any texture will work) slightly larger than the aperture and apply Orange and Magenta pan pastels blending to create a slight Ombre effect.  (Use distress inks or a scrap of pattern paper if you prefer). 
3. Cut a strip of white linen card approx. 1” wide and colour the same blending the orange and magenta.  (You can seal the pan pastels if you wish using a quick light spray of hairspray) Stamp the sentiment ‘You Make Me Happy’ centrally onto the strip using black Archival ink.  Using double sided tape attach sentiment strip across front panel below aperture cutout and trim edges flush.

1. Create a card blank by scoring and folding an A4 sheet of Papermilldirect White Linen card and trimming down to give a 5” x 7” card blank.  Using Double sided tape attach the coloured panel to card front positioning so it t will show through the aperture panel. 
2. Attach front panel using 3D foam pads, I used a double thickness to give more height and depth to the cut out.
3. To finish add some enamel dots in lilac and pink to the butterfly body and around sentiment.

Have you experimented with the Partial Die-Cutting Technique, perhaps you’ve tried the double cut version too?  There are lots of possibilities for teaming your different dies to create interesting apertures and focal points not only in the centre of your cards but the inside folds and outside edges too.

Materials Used:
White Linen Card – Papermilldirect
White Felt Embossed Card – Papermilldirect
Torn Edge Nesting Dies – First Edition
Flight of Fancy Dies – Clearly Besotted
Flight of Fancy Stamps – Clearly Besotted
Pearlescent Lavender Brilliance Dewdrop ink, Black Archival Ink
Orange Pan Pastel, Magenta Pan Pastel
Double Sided Tape, 3D Foam Pads
Fun Fair Adhesive Enamel Dots

Love Heart Valentine with papermilldirect and Oakhouse Studio

Waving hello and welcome to this week's +papermilldirect DT post. We are all still busy with our Valentine's Day makes, but before I share mine, I must tell you about this week's special offer card which is a sumptuous 300gsm called 'Teddy Bear Brown' you can get a small box of A4 for just £6!! Do pop over and see what Barbara has created with this offer card, links at the end of this post.

So what did I make this week?  Well I'm not really the pink & white kind of Valentine Girl, Purple is my colour of passion and since I am quite fond of using the papermilldirect black I thought I'd team the two together to create a dramatic Valentine's card.

I have this gorgeous heart stamp from Oak House Studio that I discovered last year and have used it a few times.  I love the detail and it's versatility and so I stamped it using versamark ink onto papermilldirect smooth white card, before gently blending over with a Violet coloured pan pastel to create the main focal point.

I then used the stamp again, this time quickly and randomly onto regular white card and the idea was to not be as precise, to give the background a more out of focus effect.  I then stamped the word 'Love' a few times also in versamark ink before swiping over it all with the violet pan pastel.

I cut mat layers from papermilldirect black card and sprayed with 'Glorious Gold' ink-in-a-bottle and set aside to dry whilst i then sprayed over my pan pastel heart panels.  I sprayed extra onto the main Heart to try and get a few larger 'splodges' of the gold.  This is a fab spray ink and gives lots of shimmery detail.  Love the effect not only on the Violet but the extra dimension it gave to the black card too. I matted again with just a touch of white to set off the centre panel and then mounted everything onto a white card base created by scoring & folding papermilldirect white card.

I just added a sheer antique gold ribbon and metal heart charm to finish. 

Materials Used:  

Black Card - Colours Range - Papermilldirect
White Card Smoth - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect

White Card  - Essentials Range - Papermilldirect 

Walesby Heart Stamp - Oak House Studio Glorious Gold Ink-In-A-Bottle (metallics range) - Oak House Studio

Violet Pan Pastel - Pan Pastels

Ribbon & heart charm from my craft stash
Adhesives - Double Sided Tape, cosmic shimmer glue
Tools - Hougie Board to score card base, guillotine to cut panels

Papermill Design Team:
if you have a moment, please do pop over and check out the other papermill teamies blogs and see what they got up to this week: 
Barbara  
Lisa  
Sylvia  
Sandie  
Sharon

Almost Autumn!! (and time for another fabulous papermill offer!!)

Hello, today I have an Autumn themed project to share with you.  When thinking of Autumn, it's all about the colours and the sounds of leaves crunching underfoot.  I am lucky enough to live not only by the sea but also by a park which has some beautiful trees.  From my crafting space, I can look out over the park and watch as they change with the seasons, and whilst we are not quite at Autumn yet, it is just around the corner and is the inspiration for this weeks make.  
(as always materials list, links and any challenges entered are at the end of the post).

Papermill Direct have some fabulous autumnal shades in their colour collection.  rich and beautiful in their own right, I wanted to see what I could do to create some textured leaves for my very first attempt at an Autumn Wreath.  And right now is the perfect time to stock up as there is currently 15% off a mixed box of 5 different Autumn colours.  A small box is just £5-73 and the midi box just £17-00 (link here)

I started out by creating a base by drawing around a couple of plates and cutting out.  I covered the base with white card and inked it over with Distress Ink in 'Tea Dye' when this was dry I over stamped it randomly with a small acorn design stamp and some brown ink.

Next came the fun part!!  I cut leaves in various designs from papermill cardstock in Mocha Brown, Forest Green, Orange, Buff and Maroon papermill card.  Then I had a play with different embossing folders and inking. For my Mocha Brown leaves I embossed with a script folder, swiped versamark over the raised impression and brushed over with 'Orange' pan pastel.  The Maroon leaves were embossed with a dotty folder and had gold gilding wax rubbed over the raised dots, (I always find it easier to apply gilding wax with a babywipe rather than just my fingertips).  Orange leaves have been embossed with 2 different folders, one had swirls and the other a nice stylised pattern upon which I used distress ink. As for the Forest Green leaves I found an embossing folder with a snakeskin type effect and used it with the de-bossed side uppermost as I preferred that look and a plain versamark inkpad was used to bring out the design a little and also distress ink around the edges.

The wreath needed something else, but what?  I thought berries, hmm maybe?, then I thought Acorns!!  Yes I had used acorns on the base and I had a little image on a cricut cartridge of an Acorn,  so I cut it in 2 pieces from Buff card and then dabbed versamark ink through a stencil mask to add some pattern to the body of the acorn.  The top piece was coloured with distress ink in 'tea dye'.  

Assembling the wreath was fun,  I shaped the leaves first by gently bending them into shape, and used some paper twine and button twines amongst the leaves, most of it was glued with cosmic shimmer glue and I also used some 3D foam pads to add height to some of the pieces. Natural seam binding was dyed (along with my fingers) with 'spiced marmalade' and 'Tea Dye' distress inks, spritzing with water to blend the colours, letting it dry before adding more inks until I was happy it would co-ordinate with the rest of the design.

Hanging holes are in the top, used a 'pokey tool' to gently make those and a length of button twine provides the strings to hang it up.

Overall a very fun project, took more time than I thought it would at the outset, but then I did decide to use a few different embossing folders and ink techniques. This is one of those projects that just seemed to create itself as I went along.  My favourite way of making, and yes I managed to get the distress ink off my hands in time for the photos :D

Why not take advantage of the Autumn Colours offer at Papermill Direct, you'll find it in the Special Offers section 'here', and see what designs you are inspired to make?  As always I love to read your comments and answer any questions you may have.

Materials List: 
Mocha Brown, Forest Green, Orange and Buff card - Autumn colours sale box - papermill direct
Maroon card - colours range - papermill direct
Tea Dye and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks
Rich Cocoa memento ink
Enchanted Gold Gilding wax, 
versamark, 
Orange pan pastels,
Natural Seam binding, button twine, paper twine, embossing folders, acorn stamp. cricut to cut leaves & acorns

Why not pop over and see what my fabulous papermill teamies have got up to this week?:
Barbara
Lisa
Ruth
Sylvia
Sandie

Sharon

New Years Resolution, better late then never....

My New Year's Resolution was to restart my Blog, I know, I know it's now February!!  

The last Blog was a Typepad one and I sort of got fed up of talking to myself there and besides Blogger seems THE place to be these days for crafty bloggy types :D 

So what's been happening in the Pollypurplehorse World?  well back in August I made a birthday card for my Daughter and I started to draft a Blog post shortly after that..........and well I forgot to publish it :D  So here it is:


"My Daughter turned 16 recently and I needed to make a special Birthday Card.  I knew she had a liking for my brand new 'Molly Rules' and 'Max Rocks' stamp sets from 'Visible Image' and so decided to use those as the basis for her card.

I thought a folding kinetic style card would work well and cut Bazzill cardstock to fit the various sized sections of the card.  for the front panel I used a brick stamp and versamark ink, to which I then applied a small amount of pan pastel in 'orange' to give a contrast to the rest of the brick pattern and the barbwire which was stamped in black ink.

'Molly' was stamped onto white smooth stamping card from Oakhouse Studio and I coloured 'Molly' using a selection of pro-markers.  Pan pastels in bright turquoise and pink shades were also used on the card base.  After colouring 'Molly' was carefully cut using a 'Go Kreate' die and the card was assembled. I also personalised it for her by stamping letters to spell out her name and added the '16' in black memento ink too. 

Anyway, Ellie loved the card and was extra thrilled when she found out it had been picked as a winner over at Visible Image.  :)