2016 #19 Upcycling {by Lauren Hatwell}

2016 Topic 19: Die Cuts

Hi everyone Lauren here.Tonight I'd like to share with you this evening with a post about Upcycling with Dies.. 

Love them or hate them, Dies are real multi-taskers and they are invaluable for turning little scraps of this and that into really polished looking projects. I am fairly addicted to them and I have a pretty extensive collection of really useful basic shapes that I go back to again and again.

Step One: If you're anything like me you will have a box or basket at home that looks something like this.

It is filled with bits and bobs you think will come in handy for future projects. Mine is absolutely full of really sturdy bits of card and packaging and my collection of dies is absolutely invaluable for transforming them into something a bit more useful and exciting.

When my husband asked me for a little filing box to keep his travel documents in recently I knew I could make him something stylish with the help of a few gorgeous PaperArtsy stamps, some packaging and some of my favourite dies, old and new.

Step Two:.My starting point was my brand new file page die by Seth Apter for Spellbinders. It's the latest addition to my collection and I absolutely love it. Using the die, I cut four or five equal sized file dividers with some sturdy kraft card left over from some packaging. Then I die cut some tabs, from the same set, for the top of each divider and sewed them on with my sewing machine (I did this first so I would know what size box I needed). I kept the decoration of the file dividers fairly simple using some great Ink and the Dog words and images. I used a selection from Gentlemen 3 and Clocks 3.

 Gentlemen 3

Clocks 3.

I stamped the clock from the Clocks 3 Plate and then die cut some clock hands to add some interest. I've added a little gloss glaze to make them pop a little. 

More die cutting for this one. I used Seth Apter's star dies to cut some random star shapes and then stamped the clock grid from Clocks 3 onto white card with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I die cut my own stencil for this one and sponged Walnut Stain Distress Ink through it to decorate one of the file dividers. Then I stamped words from the Gentlemen 3 plate stamped in the same Distress Ink.

Step Three: The next step was to make a box so I cut some pieces of card a centimeter bigger than .my dividers and built a simple box using some old packaging. I painted the box with a layer of Buff Fresco Finish Paint from Seth Apter's Limited Edition release of paints. When the paint was dry I spritzed on some water and sprinkled Golden Sands Infusions on it to get a lovely marbled effect. 

I looks so great I was really tempted to leave it like this.

Step Four:. I die cut another stencil using a lovely decorative flourish die and sponged through it onto the box with Walnut Distress Ink to get a kind of shadow pattern effect.

Step Five:.Lastly I needed a pocket so I stamped the row of very smart Gentlemen from Gentlemen 3 onto a piece of white card before matting it onto a larger piece of card and scoring to form a pocket.

I painted the pocket to match the box and layered the image onto the front before adding legs to the box to add a final flourish.

I think it looks really smart and I certainly won't mind having it on the hall table rather than a pile of bits and pieces balanced precariously on the side waiting for someone to knock them on the floor.

Dies come in so many useful shapes and sizes. They are invaluable for recycling and upcycling. You can use them time and time again in the certain knowledge you can cut precisely to get the exact shape and size every time. That makes them perfect for layering, making moulds, stencilling and batch making items. What's not to love?

Lauren Hatwell

MarvelousMechanicalMouseOrgan

Oh what fabulous storage Lauren. the background looks like marble, the Infusions have done a marvelous job there. the old men add an air of vintage and make for a very smart casing. ~Darcy

We would love to see how you interpret this Die Cuts topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #19: Die Cuts, on this page HERE.

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post. 

All links go in the draw to win a £50 voucher to spend on products of your choice from the PaperArtsy online store. The Die Cuts link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Oct 16th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.