Jazzing up Die Cuts

My husband got home Monday night from his trip to be with his daughter when she had her baby and to visit the rest of his family.  So yesterday, we had a nice outing together and a catch-up day.

My tip this week is on jazzing up die cuts.  Die cuts often work well on their own but they can really shine with a few extra layers. Here is what I started with from Crate Paper's Peppermint collection...

To clean them up a bit,  I first trimmed off those bits of paper that stick to the edges and went around the edges with a marker in a companion color.  That alone really makes them stand off the page.

Next I finished the tops of my ornaments with embossing powder.  To add embossing powder only to a portion of your die cut, use a Versamark pen to coat the area you want to emboss.

To jazz them up a bit more, I used some strips of glitter paper on one of the round ones.

To add dimension, I punched part of the design of one of the die cuts out, backed the die cut with a piece of cardstock and then used dimensionals to pop up the punched portion.

Finally, a little stamping and some Ranger glossy accents.  For the stamping, I took a stitches stamp from Hot off the Press and curved it a bit on my block so it would fit the ornament.

And here are the finished die cuts.  Lots more pop!

This layout is also photo-less as I have no Christmas photos at all from my childhood.  I do have lots of happy memories.  Nobody gets ahead of my Mother for a good holiday bargain...

Journaling:

If I could have one Christmas photo from the

‘70’s and ‘80’s, it would be of my Mother on top of the racks at Eckerd’s drugstore in Charlotte’s Eastland Mall while she pulled the sale ornaments off the display trees.  Every year we went to Charlotte on the day after Christmas to snatch up decorations at 50% off.  Nobody discounted before the holiday.  And nobody can raid a sale bin and find the best stuff like my mother.

My Mother decorated her home for Christmas each year I was growing up.  I remember assembling their first artificial tree one color coded branch at a time.  The tree was set up in the enclosed unheated breezeway. On warmer days I would go into that room to admire the tree and wonder about the presents.  I spent hours each year dog earring the Sears Wishbook.  On Christmas morning, Daddy would build a fire and I would get to see what Santa brought, but no earlier than 7:00 a.m. 

After remodeling the house, Mother set up our tree in the living room.  She decorated the gorgeous tree with fancier ornaments bought at the holiday sales. I wrapped everyone’s presents including the ones to me after she had taped them shut in boxes.

Since I moved out, not a bow or ornament has been put on her mantle or in the living room.  All the decorating takes place at my house.  It was her idea to do a garland on my stairs and she got me started even donating some of those sale ornaments from years past as well as more she snagged from sales in Florida when they made their annual trips there after Christmas.  I’ve added many ornaments from local stores, too. I typically do a real tree, but now the garland is my favorite holiday decoration. 

Thanks for visiting today!  I plan to post again before Christmas but if you are taking a break or if I inadvertently do, I hope you have a safe and happy holiday season!

Ingredients:  Crate Paper Peppermint Collection Kit
Embossing Powder - Silver from American Crafts
Thickers:  Fancy from American Crafts
Letter Stickers:  Oliver from Basic Grey