Dies R Us - Wishing you a SPECIAL 2017

SORRY!  Busy day here at Dar's Crafty Creations with THREE postings to start out the new year!  Yikes!
Please be sure to check out my exciting news & blog hop HERE

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

 I'd like to wish you all a very Special 2017 filled with love, laughter and lots of crafting time!
Today I have a card to share that I've created using up some of those left overs that were on my work table from years end creations ... and a new release die to share too!

I LOVE playing with my die cuts!  You can make a card quick, easy & beautiful just by using your dies ... but sometimes I like to get inky and create a background to really help make my die cuts POP!  Like I've done today!

The dies I've used today are:

 
 Yvonne Creations - Holly Jolly Nesting Frame #10067
The inside circle was left from another project ... worked perfectly here to showcase the Penny Black 'The Sweetest Sound' #51-206 birds which were also die cut for another project but not used.  This set is out of stock at the moment but you could use so many other beautiful bird dies that are available in the store ... for instance,
 
 Penny Black - Perched #51-031

 And be sure to check out the December release for Tutti Designs ... so many fabulous word die sets to choose from!  Today I couldn't decide between AMAZING and SPECIAL ... obviously Special won out!

I don't usually go into such detail but it's a New Year and I thought I'd share the technique I used on today's card with you also.   Recently a friend introduced me to a technique that's been around for awhile now but I had never tried.  It's called the Northern Lights technique (imagine that) and so I looked it up on youtube and gave it a whirl.  There are several different versions but I like the one shared by Debbie Henderson found HERE.

Here's a quick look at what you'll need & do:

Using sponge daubers, sponge your various colors across a panel of white card stock as shown.

Next you'll go around the outside edge with a dark blue ink (I've used SU Not Quite Navy).  Then just around the outer edge using black ink.

To give the illusion of a night sky.

To create your 'mountains' you need to tear a scrap of card stock (as seen below), lay it over your northern light inked sky and sponge the entire bottom of your card with the same dark blue ink.  Lastly you'll just do the edge with black to give you a distinct mountain range. 

VIOLA!

Now comes the fun of getting creative with your die cuts to finish your scene!

 Remember, each an every day of the month there's a new inspiration sample shared on the blog by this fabulous design team.  Please be sure to pop in regularly.

Challenges to share in:
A Perfect Time to Craft Open Challenge - January - Anything Goes
Country View Challenge - January - Anything Goes
Crafts Galore Encore Challenge - January - Anything Goes

And, don't forget to come join in the fun at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.  There's a new challenge theme offered on the 1st and 15th of each month and one lucky randomly drawn winner will receive a gift voucher prize to the Dies R Us Store.  For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us links are provided below. 

click below for:

STORE 
 CHALLENGE BLOG
  FACEBOOK
  INSPIRATION BLOG

FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

  Thanks so much for stopping by today!
As always . . .