Hello crafty friends and happy new year!! Today, I have my first card for the Cut it Up Challenge Blog. This week's theme is your favorite die. My favorite die is Lovely Layers: Coneflower by Honey Bee Stamps. It's simple to put together and gives so much dimension when it's completed! Follow along for detailed Directions.

I began by placing all the dies onto a piece of Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White 110lb cardstock. This is my favorite cardstock. It's great for ink blending, foiling, and card bases. I then ran it through my Anna Griffing Empress Machine.

Here are all the die cuts. You can see how many lines are embossed by the dies. Honey Bee is so awesome about the little details like that. You could start with colored cardstock, but I usually don't. I like to ink up my die cuts. That way, they are exactly the color I want and I can add highlights and shading to give a more realistic look.

Here are the die cuts after inking and splattering. I used the following Distress Ink colors: Ground Espresso, Mowed Lawn, Vintage Photo, Twisted Citron, Cracklin Campfire, Picked Raspberry, and Fossilized Amber. I applied the ink with Gina K blending brushes in different sizes. Once dry, I added a small amount of water to white gouache and splattered with Tim Holtz's Splatter Brush to add interest and dimension.

I took two pieces of cardstock: one green and one white, and ran them both through my Empress with SSS Detail Ringlet Plate. I then trimmed 1/8" off of each side of the white panel.

I adhered the white and green panels together. As you can see, the pattern is continuous across both. I glued the flower together. I stamped Celebrate from Pinkfresh Studio's Perfect Sentiments stamp set in Altenew Obsidian pigment ink, then clear heat embossed. These are all the parts of the card.