Hi everyone!

I love it when I find products that provide me with lots of design options! Unlike some designers, I rarely have an idea in my head for a product when I see it – but I can tell if I like the pattern, the font, or if I think I can make it work in a variety of ways. The cards I’m sharing today (and another card coming soon) are perfect examples of a product with some great versatility.

Today’s cards showcase a die set in Spellbinders’ new “Color Block Mini Shapes” collection. Both of these cards use only one die from one set in that collection – the “Mini Crosses” – and I didn’t even use all the pieces from the die!

I was able to create the colored dies on both cards at the same time by: 1) Using shimmer powders in a variety of colors to add color to a few pieces of watercolor card stock. I list the powders I used in the supply list below, but I basically just chose some rainbow colors. Be sure to let these dry thoroughly before moving on to the next step. 2) Die cut the Mini Crosses “layer” die (not the base die) several times – making sure to get at least one die cut from each of the rainbow colors. Then, it’s just a matter of taking the individual “layers” and arranging them on the card fronts in a pattern or design that you like. For the “HB2You” card, I created a fun background with 2 of the “layer” die cut pieces from each color. For the “Happy Birthday” card, I used only 1 layer die cut piece from each color to create a rainbow strip of crosses across the card, overlapping them slightly.

I used various alphabet and sentiment dies and stamps to create the sentiments and added some sparkle with some confetti gems. I am so happy with how these cards turned out! I’m always up for a pretty rainbow and there’s something about the geometric aspect of these cards that soothes my undiagnosed OCD. 😊 Hope you have a wonderfully creative day!