so it’s day 5 of my personal challenge, and I’ve got two cards made with the May die from Claritystamp’s 2020 New Design Club. This is a mandala aperture die and, I’m afraid, another one that hadn’t seen the light of day on my desk until now. As I’ve found with several of the other dies, it’s much more versatile than it looks at first glance.

For both cards I started by cutting the die into a white card blank (5×5 for the first one and 6×6 for the second).

I took the 5×5 card blank, and used sticky notes to mask off all four sides of the die cut. I used blending brushes to sweep Distress Oxide inks across the mandala – ‘wilted violet’, mermaid lagoon’ and ‘mowed lawn’. I love the way the oxides blend so easily to to give an ombre effect

I finished off the card by stamping the sentiment in ‘bluebird’ Archival. Nothing too complicated here – I really like cards with open die cuts in the front.

For the second card, I took a piece of the ‘Indian Summer’ designer card and cut the die into it. I ‘trapped the scrap’ by peeling the card carefully off the die to leave the spare pieces behind, and then stuck a piece of double sided adhesive acetate on the back of the die to lift the pieces out.

I cut a frame from the ‘Indian Summer’ card, leaving a border around the die cut so I can use that on another card.

Next was the fun bit! I lined up the die cut in the 6×6 card blank over the scrap pieces on the adhesive sheet and then stuck them together. It’s worth taking a couple of minutes to do this so the pieces sit perfectly. It’s a great effect – almost looks quilted. Once in place, the backing paper can be peeled off the adhesive sheet on the inside of the card and a piece of white card stuck over it (otherwise no-one will ever be able to open the card!)

I finished by attaching the border around the image and added the sentiment in Archival ‘watering can’.

Can’t quite believe that tomorrow will be the halfway point of my little challenge. I’m really enjoying it and I hope you are too.