And I have a love affair with doilies. Happily, Clear and Simple is releasing a set of doily dies today. I'm showing off the heart die.
I tried my hand at die-cutting and also embossing with the heart doily die. Are you swooning? Look at all the pretty detail!
On the card, I used a technique that I found by way of Jess Witty to emboss the heart onto my card-front. (sidebar: I love how big this die is! it really fills up the whole card!)
If you have a Big Shot, here's how to emboss with any steel die: from the bottom, layer your multipurpose platform (open to tab 1), then a cutting plate, then your die (face up!), your paper, embossing mats, and the second cutting plate.
After I rolled it out of the Big Shot, I rubbed distress ink over the impression to make it stand out more. Keeping it simple, I propped up my sentiment, and tied a little twine around it.
I had so much fun that I made a few treat pouches, using the same embossing technique:
For each treat pouch, I embossed 2 hearts, cut them out very roughly (that is, left a large border around the impression), sewed and stuffed them... full of cinnamon hearts (aren't they such a Valentine staple?) Once the hearts were fully sewn shut, I trimmed away the excess for a cleaner edge.
One of the pouches had to be sacrificed for the good of this post. Early eat-while-crafting treats for me.
If embossing isn't your thing, here's another look at the gorgeous banner I made using this die:
sigh. and another swoon. String a bunch of die-cut hearts together and call it a banner. It is hanging in my kitchen, and I will probably leave it up past Valentine's day.
Keeping it real: with every pass through the machine, you will be left to poke out a lot of little pieces. But oh my. is it ever worth it.
These designers also have doily goodness to show off:
