Well it’s Sunday again, so I’ve dipped into my Clarity Craft Club back issues for the next die to use – this week it’s ‘Barbara’s floral round’ (#43) from July 2022. I’ve teamed it up with a couple of their ‘nested doodle frame-it’ dies and have got a few hopefully helpful tips on using these as well.

So let’s start with the doodle frame-it die. It’s one large die that cuts all ten frames at once and, as it’s very intricate, there are a few tips that make using it a lot easier. It’s too large to got through a standard manual diecutting machine, so I always use my A4 Gemini for it. The die has Clarity’s blue coating on it for better cutting, but I find it helpful to rub the cutting side really well with a tumble dryer sheet, which makes the diecuts release more easily. Additionally, I put a poly bag (the sort you can store A4 leaflets in with a ring binder) under the die, and I run it through twice turning it 90 degrees for the second cut. Die cutting machines can get worn over time and that makes sure you’ve got good pressure over the whole die. Having done all that, I usually then give the die a couple of sharp taps against my table, and then the die cuts release nicely. You do have to take a bit more care with this die (I think the tumble dryer sheet is key), as the designs are so beautifully intricate – I generally do several batches at the same time in various colours so I’ve got a stock ready to use.

So, having got plenty of frames cut, I set about today’s card. I cut a square of yellow card to fot a 6×6 card blank and glued one of the frames into place. I cut the floral round into a piece of white card, then used a nested circle die to cut it out. I’d put a layer of thin adhesive sheet on the back before cutting it, so was able to stick it straight onto the card front. It’s such a pretty design.

I do love paper piecing into dies, so found a couple of offcuts from companion papers in teal and purple and recut the die into those. I started with the teal for the leaves, using a Quickie Glue pen to add the glue inside the die cut shape and adding each of the inner pieces in turn (it’s a bit like doing a jigsaw!). I then repeated the process with the purple for the flowers.

I attached the card to a 6×6 card blank and added a word sticker and a few enamel dots. It didn’t look quite finished to me, so I popped another one of the doodle frame-it diecuts inside the first one, which looked much more balanced.

The great thing about these frame-it diecuts is that you can use as many or as few as you think work with your design. I’m heading off now to share this card with a few blog challenges. I took the colours from Creative Colour Challenges and will also be adding it to the galleries for AAA Birthday and Happy Little Stampers dies challenge.