Whimsy Stamps ~ Diecut Background Pattern

Hey crafty pals, I have had such fun with a die I bought a while back, but didn't initially know quite how I was going to use it. I just loved the idea of this die and knew there would be plenty of what to create with it, but I may just have found a favourite! I saw a while back, a stamped card that had geometric layers with different hues and it sparked this idea to use this die in a similar way!

I love so much how the background pattern looks, that I wanted to cover it as little as possible. So I've opted for a bold but pretty clean and simple diecut sentiment to take centre stage. I've cut the word shadow from the darkest of the pinks that I used for the pattern and the letters themselves I cut from an iridescent rose gold cardstock. It was too 'samey samey' to use the mat rose gold I'd used for the background, so I added a little extra interest and contrast by using the iridescent cardstock in the same shade. I popped up the shadow layer on foam, and the E and one L also were popped up for a bit of fun and interest. I think I will eventually add a sub-sentiment, like 'friend' or 'birthday girl', but first I need to figure out who it's going to and for what occasion, so for now, I've left it as is. I like it as it is too, so may just leave it without a sub-sentiment.

I started this card idea with a whole bunch of diecut pieces. As you can see in the photo above, I had two ideas on the go at the same time, as my rainbows are on my work desk too. But this gives you an idea of all the pieces I needed to create this background. It was a rather mesmerising and hypnotic to create once the frames were down. I started with a large piece of cardstock as these dies are made for slimline cards, so they're quite wide, which was perfect for this technique. My finished card size is a US A7 card. 

I diecut the frames of the cubes from a lovely rose gold cardstock and then three shades of pink cardstock from Scrapbook.com's slimline paper pads. I kept the concept pretty straight forward, using the lightest colour of cardstock to depict the 'top of the box', a darker pink to one side and the darkest pink on the other and repeated this pattern across the whole panel. To make this project go quickly and easily, I first put double sided tape over the entire card base, then carefully lined up and lay down my frames, finally paper piecing all the box tops and sides in. It's a fun 'trick of the eye' background, looking like layers of boxes piled up and recessing like stairs. I just had such fun with this process. I didn't want to cover much of it up at all! 

You can see how nice it looks once the messy edges are trimmed away. I used a plain A7 die to get a really nice finish on the edges. It could of course be cut with a paper trimmer just as easily. If you look closely, you'll note that some of the edges, I've pieced in some extra pieces, as the die didn't run all the way to the edges when the pattern was puzzle pieced, alternating ends were shorter. So I just added offcuts that fit the design to complete it. This was super simple thanks to the double sided adhesive and came up so well once the edges were trimmed. I love the edge to edge look on a card. I like the traditional framed designs too, but there's something that whispers 'infinity' when a card design just keeps going to the edges as if it could go on beyond. I really like that! The large Hello Word Die from Whimsy was just such a perfect simple finish for this card and I absolutely love how it turned out! Hope you do too.

Thanks so much for popping in to visit today. I'd love to know what you think of this design? Would you take the time to create a pieced background like this? It really was quite relaxing and fun to do, so I know I'll do it again, but it's definitely not a 'fast card' option! It's almost time for another release at Whimsy, you can click through on the banner above to visit that section of the store. I will be back again in a little while with another crafty adventure and I'm looking forward to sharing more creative adventures with you very soon. Hugs, Wends xoxo

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Love To Craft Challenge: #74 ~ Anything Goes