Thursday, February 03, 2011

out of the deep freeze

This week I got to experience a first--I've lived in the Midwest all of my life and am used to seeing winter storm watches and warnings. The blizzard warning was a new one for me! Now as it turned out, I live just far enough east that the worst of the storm missed us. It left some snow and ice though, which look rather pretty.

This photo struck me. I happened to catch her just as she was taking off from her rather snowy perch.



In a way, that's the way I feel about this blog. I've been frozen in the same spot for a while, now it's time to take off again.

So, here's what I worked on today.



This is a Pop-Up die by GEO-dies. It looks like a sun or a sunflower, so it appealed to me.


I used it with my Big Shot like I would any other wafer-thin die, between the two clear cutting pads on top of my multipurpose platform, tab 2.


After turning back and folding the cut outs, I adhered it to the yellow cardstock and put it through my Big Shot inside the Sizzix Flowers & Vines textured impressions folder. I inked the embossing using Memento dye ink then embellished with a Prima flower, some bling, and a sentiment by Studio G.


Here's a closer view of the embossed pop-up die.


This technique is a twist on inlaid embossing that I've seen done several places. It's been done with simple die cuts and with Prima flowers. It struck me as being similar in concept to Cuttlebug quilting. Here I liked the added visual interest that the pop-up die cut lends to the design.



15 comments:

  1. What a comeback, Jay! I love the bird photo. Good timing. I've been thinking about these Geo-dies. You did a great job with it.

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  2. Hi Jay -

    We missed you, welcome back. Love your card, so pretty. And what an awesome shot you managed to capture of that sweet little bird!

    Elaine Allen

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  3. Welcome back! Great use of the Geo die. Who makes that great "Shine" stamp?

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  4. I am so happy to see you are back!! I'm looking forward to many more posts from you. You never fail to post something useful or interesting. There are only a few blogs I would truly miss if they ended. Yours is #1 on that list. Beautiful shot of the female cardinal. They're such gorgeous birds. It's been a tough winter for wildlife here in NY. A major snowstorm every week since Christmas. We feed the birds, ducks and squirrels who come to our yard so at least I know "my" wildlife is being fed. Wish I could help them all.

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  5. It was so nice to see you pop up in my Google Reader again.

    I love the die cut card. You've inspired me! I really have to start playing with all the dies I bought.

    Welcome back, Jay.

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  6. happy to see you back!
    i haven't seen these geo dies. very cool!
    i have some lacé templates like this but you must cut each section with a blade....so i very rarely use them. this is SO much better! i noticed that you don't tuck the flap under the previous piece so i wonder how you get them to lie so flat? they don't look glued down.
    tfs, sandyh
    sandyha at comcast dot net

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  7. Jay so good to have you back. I have not heard of Geo dies, who makes them? Have missed your inklings.
    Patkatzer

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  8. Gorgeous picture and love that card! I'm with Pat, I'd never heard of Geo dies, who makes them and who carries them? I've got some that you have to trace and then cut with an exacto blade...can be Very time consuming! It' great to have you pop up in my email again!
    Thanks,
    R/

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  9. Welcome back, Jay. :)

    Love the bird and it's great to see you back at your blog. :)

    Hugs,

    Judie

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  10. Awful glad to see you back! I've missed your awesome postings!

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  11. Thanks so much for the warm welcome back to the world of blogging, everyone! :-) It's good to be back.

    I wanted to answer a couple of questions that have come up in the comments. First of all, apologies for leaving out a link for the GEO-dies. I was in a hurry and overlooked adding that in. I'll go back and edit, but here's a link to their site: GEO-dies. I found the dies to be very easy to use and definitely better than having to make all of the cuts yourself with an Exacto. I have some of those templates around here, too. I didn't glue down my folds. I think the pressure of the embossing make them fairly flat. I wouldn't have minded some dimension anyway. :-)

    And as for the sentiment, it was made using a Studio G wood mounted stamp from the Michael's dollar bin. Some of those stamps can be hard to resist!

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  12. Welcome back it is great to 'see' you creating up a storm again I have missed your posts :)

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  13. Welcome back! I've kept your blog bookmarked for all the good info you have on it, but always check to see if you've put a new 'post'. I saw some of the Geo-dies at a recent convention, almost bought some, but I had already 'bought out' with my allocated funds! They had lovely samples. Thanks for sharing, and their website has some good videos too.
    Mary H.

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  14. Oh your picture with the bird is fabulous! Love the looks of this new die, so glad I found your blog this morning! Patti

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  15. This is was design You most certainly know how to keep a reader amused. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!

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