Inlay Techniques with a Cover Plate Die

Hi everyone!  Samantha here.  I am so excited to be the February Guest Designer for Crafty Meraki.   This week the focus is on die-cutting, and I thought it would be fun to share my technique for creating a "stained glass window" card using alcohol inks and the beautiful Lenten Rose Mini Slimline Para-Die. 

To start my project I grabbed drinking straws, alcohol ink card stock, Ranger alcohol inks, and some 91% rubbing alcohol.  

I needed three sheets of cardstock for my card, one each in shades of red, yellow, and blue.  To create each paper, I added various shades of inks along with Gold and Snow Cap Mixatives and created swirling patterns by blowing through a straw.  I also added in rubbing alcohol to help move the colors around the paper.  Once done, I let them fully dry overnight before spraying each sheet with a few layers of Kamar Varnish to seal in the color. 

Next, it was time to die cut.   

I cut each sheet of cardstock using the Lenten Rose Para-die.   I very carefully, tried to keep all of the die cuts pressed within the die itself before applying them to a sheet of Press 'N Seal wrap.  My goal was to keep the die cuts together in the shape of the cover plate die for ease when inlaying the die cuts later on. 

After cutting my alcohol ink-friendly cardstock , I cut a frame with the Lenten Rose Para-die out of brushed gold cardstock and adhered it to a 3.5" x 6.25" white card panel as my base for the inlay work. 

To do the actual inlay, using tweezers and a pick-up tool, I carefully grabbed each die cut piece from my Press 'N Seal sheets and glued them in place matching the die cut to its corresponding spot on the frame.  I used the red for the petals, the gold for the flower centers, and the teal blues for the areas between the flowers. 

Once my panel was complete, I added a white "Love You" sentiment using a die from my stash as well as giving the panel a white border.  I cut a card base 7.5" x 6.5" scoring at the 3.75" mark and then glued down my inlay card panel. 

This card took some time to complete.   A little more than I was expecting, but I just love the uniue results.  I hope you give it a try!