SPOILERS! 13 Days of Craft-o-Ween Day 10. Step by Step Tutorial

SPOILER ALERT: Welcome the 13 Days of Craftoween 2025 Advent Calendar — and we can’t wait to show you what’s inside! If you love spooky season as much as we do, you’re in for a real treat (no tricks here). Whether you’re into cute and quirky or dark and dramatic, the 13 Days of Craftoween is packed with creative potential. Each day unveils a new mini crafting treasure designed to help you conjure up cards and more — all perfect for October makes and haunted happenings.

Ready to peek behind Door 10? Today we’re featuring a project by Jaycee Gaspar.

Catch up on all the spooky surprises and creative inspiration from the rest of the countdown:
Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, Day 9

From cute critters to haunted houses, each reveal is packed with frightfully fun inspiration you won’t want to miss!

Hey there, Spellbinders friends. My name is Jaycee Gaspar, and I am a full-time scientist and part-time crafty content creator. Thank you for joining me on Day 10 of Craft-O-Ween!

Are you looking for a way to create dynamic and immersive scenes on your cards? Today, we’re diving into a fantastic technique that utilizes your focal die cuts in a clever way: repeating them to build a unique and captivating full scene!

Forget just having one prominent die-cut element. We’re going to explore how using the same focal die cut multiple times can transform your card into a miniature world, adding depth, movement, and a whole lot of visual interest.

Why Double Up (or Triple, or More!) on Focal Dies?

• Creates a Sense of Place: Repeating a focal element can establish a clear environment. Think of multiple trees creating a forest, several clouds forming a sky, or a scattering of flowers making a meadow.
• Adds Movement and Flow: Arranging repeated die cuts in a certain way can imply motion. A trail of paw prints, birds flying across the sky, or leaves falling can all be achieved with repeated shapes.
• Builds Depth and Dimension: Layering multiple die cuts, even if they are the same, creates natural dimension through overlapping and shadows, making your scene feel more three-dimensional.
• Maximizes Your Investment: You’re getting more mileage out of your favorite focal dies, showcasing their versatility beyond a single standalone use.
• Unique Visual Storytelling: By strategically placing and layering repeated die cuts, you can tell a more complete and engaging visual story on your card.

Tips for Successful Scene Building:

• Plan Your Layout: Before you start die-cutting and adhering, sketch out your intended scene. This will help you visualize the placement and quantity of your repeated elements.
• Vary the Orientation: If you have dies in slightly different sizes or if you can easily rotate your die cuts, this variation will make your scene feel more natural and less uniform.
• Consider Overlapping: Don’t be afraid to overlap your die cuts to create depth and a more organic feel.
• Use Different Levels of Adhesives: Employ both flat adhesive and foam adhesive of varying thicknesses to create different levels of dimension within your scene.
• Don’t Overcrowd: While you’re building a full scene, ensure there’s still enough negative space to allow each element to breathe and for your overall design to remain clear.

Ready to Create Your Own Die-Cut Worlds?

Besides my background panel, these are all my die-cut pieces I will use on my bone blossoms.  Notice, I cut the petal elements from blush pink and pale lavender.  Then the small petals around the skull’s eyes’ in a darker yet complementary color.  Then the skulls and all other layering elements were die cut twice from black cardstock.

After gluing the black pupils to the petaled fluted cardstock pieces to embellish the eyes, I can inlay the black die-cut piece that fills in the nose, cheeks, and smile of the skull.  Simply glue this black mushroom-shaped die cut to the back of the skull to quickly fill in the space behind the skull to complete the face.

Then I foam mounted the completed skull to their coordinating petals.  I matched the orange eyes to the blush petals, and fuchsia eyes to the lavender petals.  Get creative with your color palette with your Spellbinders collection of cardstocks!

To complete the haunted hydrangeas, I glued a pair of batwing leaves to a stem.  Then adhered the stem to the base of each petal.  Notice my images are identical for now, but they will not look like so on my final card!

By angling and foam mounting the cuddly flowers in different orientations, heights, and ensuring to fill the space, we can trick the scene into looking more complex.  However, we only used one small die to achieve a spooky floral scene!

Lastly, I added a Halloween Icons Press Plate Sentiment that complements our deadly daisies scene.

Take a look through your die collection and identify those focal elements that could shine in multiples. Challenge yourself to think beyond the single die cut and envision the scenes you can create by repeating and layering them. The possibilities are as vast as your imagination!

Happy scene building, and we can’t wait to see the unique and spooky worlds you create on your next cards!

Happy Craft-O-Ween!

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