February Design Team Reveal for A Cut Above Challenge Blog

Hello everyone, it is the start of the month, which means it is time to share my Design Team layout for the A Cut Above Design Team. The February theme at A Cut Above is “Anything Goes”, which means it is your choice.... a great way to get involved, as we all have lots to scrap or cards to make that will suit.....as long as your project features at least one die‑cut. In accordance to the guidelines, a die cut counts when it’s made with a die‑cut machine rather than bought pre‑cut, it can be either an electronic or manual machine.  

This month I wanted to use a photo of Paige and me, which I took in a quiet moment sitting on a park bench overlooking a beach. It was a moment that we just simply sat and enjoyed the view. 

My inspiration for this page was actually a sheet of patterned paper with gorgeous yellow stars that have touches of flowers of blue and red on them: Uniquely Creative's Written in the Stars Bright Star UCP3001 paper, when I saw it, I knew I had to use it with this photo. From there I pulled out my metal dies and looked for smaller-sized stars to work in with the theme of the paper. Metal dies are wonderfully versatile. I cut a pile of small stars from scraps of blue patterned paper and cardstock, these smaller stars are sprinkled throughout the layout. For my title I reached for two different alphabet die sets. The tall, narrow letters forming the word “STAR” lend a strong vertical element, while the script‑style letters spelling out “shining” add a playful flourish. I complemented these die‑cut letters with foam alpha Thickers for the words “You’re my.” Mixing die‑cut fonts with other alphabet products like stickers or stamped letters gives you endless options for creating title blocks that are interesting and unique. Here’s a look at the die sets and a few of the die‑cut stars:

This combination of metal dies and letter stickers shows how easy it is to adapt your supplies. If you don’t have exactly the right word in a sticker pack, a metal die font can fill the gap.

While the smaller stars were cut with metal dies, the larger stars and flowers were fussy cut from patterned papers. I tucked these big stars behind my photo and layered florals around them, creating little clusters that help guide the eye across the page. Here you can see some of the die cuts with the fussy‑cut elements, showing the layered clusters:

Mixing die‑cuts with hand‑cut pieces gives the page a more organic look. The clusters are built up with a mixture of patterns and shapes, and they spill out from behind the tilted photo mat for a carefree, joyful feel. Small punched or die‑cut stars are sprinkled around to link the clusters together.

When there are lots of loose elements it helps to add visual anchors so the pieces don’t appear to float away. I doodled rough black outlines around the edges of the large fussy‑cut stars and along the border of the woodgrain paper. These lines ground the shapes and give them a hand‑drawn touch. I also added black ink splatters and enamel dots throughout the page and used a wash of orange ink on the woodgrain paper to create an extra anchor point behind the photo. These splashes of colour tie the layout together and stop the background from blending into the foreground. 

A few light splatters of orange and black ink over the woodgrain add just enough grunge to contrast with the crisp die‑cut stars and flowers. It also helps the journalling around the edge stand out without overwhelming the centre. Putting these techniques together resulted in a bright and cheerful page that celebrates a special memory.

Creating with metal dies is such a joy, they’re reusable, they cut clean shapes from any paper and they mix beautifully with stickers, stamps and hand‑cut elements. I hope my page inspires you to pull out your die‑cutting machine and join the February challenge at A Cut Above. Remember, anything goes as long as you include at least one die cut. Have fun and happy crafting.

Hugs 

Tracey