A Cut Above Challene Blog January Design Team Reveal

Happy New Year, crafty friends. I’m kicking off 2026 with my very first Design Yeam reveal of the year for A Cut Above Challenge Blog, and I’m so excited to share this month’s project with you. If you’re new to A Cut Above, it’s a fun monthly challenge blog dedicated entirely todie cutting, manual dies, digital cut files, all the layers and intricate shapes we love. Each month we hope to inspire you to dive into your stash, get creative, and maybe even try something a little different.

We’d absolutely love for you to play along with us this year. Whether you're new to die cutting or completely obsessed (like me), the challenges are open to everyone. Pop over each month, check out the inspiration from the Design Team, and join in. Let’s make 2026 a year full of gorgeous cuts, clever ideas, and layouts or cards that make you smile.

I started this layout by pulling out my stash of excess die-cuts, all the pieces, words and shapes I’d saved from various projects throughout 2025. I already had this adorable toddler photo of Paige sitting next to me, so I kept glancing at it for inspiration as I sorted.

As I sifted through everything, the small colourful foliage pieces instantly stood out. They felt playful and perfect for the photo. I also spotted the large die-cut word HAPPY and knew straight away it would make the perfect title.

Next, I grouped all the leftover foliage by colour. Once I had them sorted, I laid them out in loose rainbow order to see how everything flowed together. This helped me see which colours I had plenty of and which ones I might need to boost.

With the rainbow piles sorted, I grabbed the metal dies that matched the shapes in front of me. I pulled them out “just in case” I needed to cut extras to complete the colour spectrum or fill any gaps.

These are the six foliage dies I used, my absolute favourites for building clusters, texture, and movement. They’re tried-and-true workhorses in my die-cutting stash.

I just want to now share with you how I store and organise my metal dies. I keep all of mine sorted by theme in a container, each group stored neatly in individual ziplock bags.

Here’s a closer look at just my foliage bag, you can see I’ve labelled it clearly so I can grab it quickly. This simple organisation trick has saved me so much time.

Back to the layout. I chose four colours to match the tones in my die-cut piles: peach, apricot, light olive green and blue. Using the straw from the lid of the spray inks, I added soft splatters to each quarter of my white 12x12 cardstock, giving a gentle base of colour that blends with the foliage.

Once the background was completely dry, I began arranging the die cut foliage around the photo, working from light to dark. The bright pink pieces I originally included felt too heavy, so I removed them, but doing so I felt like the foilage was to sparce around the photo so I went looking for a colour to fill it with. 

I decided to bring in a deep navy. Luckily, I already had the right metal dies sitting out, so I grabbed a scrap of navy paper and quickly cut a few new foliage pieces.

I then re-arranged everything around the photo one more time, adjusting the rainbow flow, tucking in the navy pieces, and finally adhering all the foliage in place.

With the background complete, I moved onto the title. I chose a patterned paper to back the word HAPPY, flipped the die-cut title over, and traced the inner sections with pencil as cutting guides onto the backside of the pattern paper.

After cutting the pieces out, I adhered the patterned paper behind the title so the small, colourful heart pattern peeked through each letter.

When I placed the completed title on the layout, it didn’t stand out the way I wanted. It blended a little too softly into the foliage.

To help the title pop, I doodled around the edges of each letter. That instantly gave it definition, but then I needed the doodling to feel planned and  intentional so I added a doodled border around the entire 12x12 background and a frame around the photo as well.

For extra dimension, I gently curled, bent and lifted some of the foliage edges so they sit slightly off the page. This gives the layout height, depth and movement.

To finish off I adhered a few enamel dots and hearts to match the rainbow colours and completed the look.

I’m so happy with how soft, colourful and dimensional this page turned out. The doodling feels very “me” right now, and I had to stop myself from adding black splatters (my usual weakness). Using up leftover die-cuts at the start of a new year is such a satisfying way to clear space and get inspired for all the layouts to come.