Tips To Enhance Your Die Cuts From Colored Cardstock

Hi everyone, it’s Nora from @nonniscards here. I’m excited to Guest Design in Spellbinders Blog today, sharing three fun tags showcasing the new Say Cheese Classic Mouse Christmas Collection!

Large tags are a great option for traditional Christmas cards; not only can you decorate your gift with the beautiful, handmade tag you’ve made, but the recipient can even hang the tag on their Christmas tree, where it will delight their whole holiday season!

Below, I’m also sharing three fun tips on how to make your die cuts pop and how you can get varied looks while only using a couple of shades of colored cardstock.

I just adore the mice dies from the Steamboat Willie Plate & die set, and with their accompanying new Christmas Embellishments Etched Dies, they are even more fun to use!

I made the tag bases using various sizes from the Scalloped Labels Etched dies and circle dies from Essential Tags Etched Dies (for creating the little hole for the ribbon). I chose my card stocks from the Cool Assortment Colorwheel Cardstock set and Warm Assortment Colorwheel Cardstock set. The sentiment die in the mice tags comes from a large die set called Gifting Bow.

My first tip is to combine 3d embossed cardstock layers with non-embossed card for a varied look! See how the Wild Berry base layer is textured and what a nice contrast it makes compared to the smooth Bellini card under the mouse? I’ve used the Country Christmas 3d Embossing folder for the texture.

My next tip is to use good old glitter glue! Most of us have it in our stash. Or maybe your children or grandchildren have it in their crafting supplies? Also, Spellbinders sells some options in their store! Glitter glue is perfect for coating small pieces of colored cardstock; it makes them look like actual glitter card. See how different the Cosmic Sky cardstock looks in the base layer of the mouse tag or in his shoes… Or how different the mouse’s glittery Malibu card trousers look compared to the smooth Malibu layer behind him. Glitter glue is a fun, easy, and cost-effective way to create custom glitter cardstock! I like to apply it with a small paint brush for even, smooth application.

My third and final tag showcases the Classic Mouse Holiday Wreath Etched Dies. And the third and final tip is to separate your layers and die-cut images with Pop-Up Die Cutting Foam. Adding the dimension really makes the different die cuts and different colors, and textures pop. By the way, the wreath is large enough that if you want, you can have mice peeking from the middle of it! That will be a fun next tag to make!

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other supplies

Scissors, Crafting glue, Water color brush, Stickles glitter glue

You may notice I was out of white ribbon, which I want to use for my tags. So I’ve just ”staged” the tags with strips of white card that pretend to be the ribbon! 🙂  But thinking that you’d hope the recipient to hang the tag on their tree. You might want to add real ribbon lol!

Thank you for popping by, and I hope to hear your thoughts on these tags in the comments. You can also visit my Instagram @nonniscards for more cardmaking ideas. Happy crafting!