
Jack of All Trades Collection Introduction with Jaycee Gaspar
Hi there, everyone thank you for checking out my first collection with Spellbinders – Jack of All Trades. My name is Jaycee Gaspar, I’m a full-time scientist and part-time paper crafter and content creator. I am so excited to introduce ‘Jack of All Trades,’ a collection of cutting dies and BetterPress Press Plates to make an assortment (or deck) of playing cards.
I based the illustration of these images on the French-suited playing cards: club, diamond, spade, and heart with their respective ranks and pips. The emotional connection to this collection was more about personal nostalgia than gaming or gambling.
I wanted to reflect on childhood memories of my mom playing solitaire on the dining room table, while also expressing my fascination with the intricate symmetry of the card suits and their backs. I envisioned being able to replicate the complete 52-card deck, including every pip and rank, to create a diverse assortment of playing card cards for any recipient for many occasions.
Pip & Rank Die
Just as the name suggests Pip & Rank is designed to indicate the numerical value and also the suit of the playing card. Aside from crafting a 52-card deck of cards, the numbers can be used to count years, milestones, and anniversaries–think Class of 2025.
Combine the sum of numbers in blackjack style to equal the total of a specific year, ie. 4 cards with a 10 value could equal a 40 year old birthday card. This die is meant to easily complement and accompany all of the products in Jack of All Trades.
Kaleidoscope Noble Suits Die Set
To complement other kaleidoscope die sets at Spellbinders, I wanted nesting images of the French suits with Kaleidoscope Noble Suits. Each of the four suits has three nesting dies to create beautiful stained glass window groupings.
These easily fit an A2 sized-card front as a focal point or as a background piece to other products in Jack of All Trades. I love incorporating a shiny cardstock sandwiched between the bottom and top layers of cardstock to create a distinct focal point on a card.
Enchanting Suit Facets BetterPress Press Plates
Enchanting Suit Facets is a set of BetterPress Press Plates designed to make the same ornate decorative focal points as Kaleidoscope Noble Suits but with different tactile texture.
I love how these images can easily be foiled with the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System to create stunning windows for coloring with your favorite medium. Pair Enchanting Suit Facets with Pip & Rank to easily create all your ace value cards or make a background for items from Jack of All Trades.
Shuffling Sentiments BetterPress Press Plate and Die Set
Here’s the deal…Jack of All Trades needed a set of clever sentiments to pair with the assortment of cards. A few of the BetterPress sentiments fit within the die cut banner window.
This banner die can be used alone with a Shuffling Sentiments sentiment or paired with the ribbon end dies. These dies have a score line to create a dimensional sentiment ribbon which is the perfect size to tie the two halves of Reversible Royal Court images together and make a perfect pair.
Deluxe Deck BetterPress Press Plate
Just like a traditional pack of playing cards, Deluxe Deck is meant to create a unique identify to Jack of All Trades. This ornate design is meant to be a versatile background for your A2 card front. This image has a slight quarter inch offset to leave a margin around the design for your Cotton Card Panel or cardstock color to peek through.
I found that cutting the inked or foiled impression and rounding the corners with a half-inch punch creates a perfect mat for any of your foreground elements. The design of this set also coordinates beautifully with Enchanting Suit Facets BetterPress Press Plates.
Reversible Royal Court Die Set
Reversible Royal Court is a set of assembled images to create an assortment of ‘face cards’ or ‘court cards.’ King, Queen, Jack, and any combination of the two figures can be paired with additional held accessories like a rose, chalice, sword, axe, scepter, or shield. Their crown or beret head dress can also identify your face card subject. The intent with this die set is to cut two of each figure and glue them together along the waist seam to create the symmetrical face card figure.
You can leave the waists glued together with the included belt die or use the Shuffling Sentiment Press Plate and Die Set to place a clear sentiment between both figures.
I hope you’re just as excited about the Jack of All Trades as I am! It has been an incredible journey to get these Spellbinders products in your crafting spaces. Please tag me on Instagram @jaycee.gaspar with your Jack of All Trades projects and help me spread the word of my first collection with Spellbinders. Let’s deal out some creativity and make some incredible projects together—because with this collection, you’ll always have an ace up your sleeve!
6 Comments
Delia Wilkes
Your cards are brilliant! I had seen some cards from other designers, but I’ve been eagerly awaiting your creations as I knew they would be outstanding. You never disappoint. I had early access and ordered the collection a few days ago and can’t wait for it to arrive. Thank you for creating such an amazing collection it will be perfect for both male and female cards❤️
Dona Blackman
Jaycee:
Your creativity is amazing..what gorgeous cards. Thank you for sharing.
karen
Your cards are incredible! I look forward to seeing more of your creations, as well as that of others. Thank you for sharing.
M Carmen
All that I can say is just simply awesome. I love the dies. Thank you for sharing.
obthecuff
love these
Cathy Yamashita
I’ve been looking at this collection since it came out on the “coming soon” page. This is really spectacular, Jaycee. I usually like an item or two from a given collection. But as soon as I saw this, I fell totally in love with all of it. We are always looking for something to use for masculine cards; you absolutely knocked this one out of the park!!! Congratulations. Can’t wait to see what else you come up with.