There are tons of basic shapes out there and they are absolutely necessary for card making but unique die cutting can be something that can add a ton of punch for not a lot of effort and make a card really special! Take a look:
See that cute little red paper clip? It's a PAPER. CLIP. Yup, that's one of the adorable unique die cutting opportunities offered in the Project Life By Stampin' Up! Paper Clips Thinlits Dies. This set, which I think got overlooked, makes the most adorable paper elements to add to cards, scrapbook pages, planners and more. Here's a look up close of that cute little embellishment:
Isn't that SO CUTE? And they are retiring so grab them now! I really feel like they are the forgotten framelits. Even I completely forgot I had these! I put them in a drawer instead of where they should be – and then I decided to clean the other day and lookie lookie what I found!
This card without the clip would have just been ok. At firest I had it as just a flat layer and it looked pretty gosh darn boring. The bow helped, but it looked sort of lost just hanging out at the top of that layer. I wanted to bring in a little more red and – VOILA – the clip instantly added dimension. This made that patterned paper work a bit better than just having yellow and blue.
Here's another look so you can see how that one little red clip ties in those red candles:
Here are the other products I used to make this card:
And let's take one more look at this card so you can see how even though the Urban Underground Washi Tape was not an EXACT match to the Party Animal Designer Paper, the scale and tones of the patterns and colors just worked! Remember, SHOP YOUR STASH! Take a look:
And just like on this card, tilting the layers slightly off center adds some movement to your projects.
Get your paper clip dies and some of the narrow ribbon – you will thank me later!!! Or don't, and you will be sad. And you will cry. And no one likes a crying card maker! And while you are waiting for your order, go look at your dies, see which ones offer you unique die cutting shapes and see how you can use them on your projects to get that BIG impact from your little pieces!
