I knew I wanted to use the beautiful SU Detailed Dragonfly Thinlit dies, and paper piecing seemed like the perfect way to highlight this gorgeous die. To make the dragonfly, I cut out four dragonflies, and for the first time tried the Dryer Sheet Die Cutting technique described in this Pinterest video: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/54113633003984999/
This required that I cut out the dragonfly four times - once for each color I wanted to use. I first cut out the black dragonfly using the dryer sheet sandwich, then realized before I went any further, I needed to glue down the black dragonfly outline onto my main panel. I thought it would look great on a piece of vellum with some colorful flowers muted behind the vellum. So, I selected the gold crackle pattern from the Stampin' Up! Winter Wonderland Design Vellum Stack and glued the dragonfly outline to that as my working base.
Next I went color-by-color cutting out the dragonfly first on SU Dapper Denim, then Bermuda Bay, and finally on Wild Wasabi. After die cutting each color I used my Pick-Me-Up tool to lift each wing panel off the dryer sheet and place in the black dragonfly outline with a dab of glue. I removed the colored dragonfly outlines and put them in my die-cut stash for some future projects before picking off the cells I wanted, then scraping all the other cells into the trash. This allowed me to re-use the dryer sheets, and minimize the mess of pieces all over the place. This approach worked really well! I highly recommend the dryer sheet technique if you want to select certain small pieces to use like I did.
I knew I wanted a "flower" pattern to show up through the vellum, so I got out my old National Geographic's and found a colorful photograph taken by Brenda Snape of Aurora, Ontario. It was slices of produce from her weekly product box that she arranged on her light table. I wanted contrasting colors behind the vellum that suggested a flower garden, and this suited the look I wanted perfectly.
Since vellum is notorious for being a trick to attach to anything so the glue/dots/adhesive doesn't show through, I decided to use a corner punch from my stash to hold down the corners, then used Tombow glue underneath the dragonfly itself.
The sentiment was two photopolymer stamps from SU's Endless Birthday Wishes that I arranged on an acrylic block and stamped using Versafine Onyx Black ink.
The assembled panel was glued onto a 5-1/2" x 11" SU Basic Black cardstock that had been folded to create a 5-1/2" square card. I thin the photograph border against the black card base looks really sharp! You have to adjust the size of your vellum to accommodate the corner punch you use, so punch first, then measure before you cut your vellum.
This was fun to do! I love paper piecing, and the dragonfly is the perfect die cut to highlight what you can do with piecing. While having fun, I met the requirements of both challenges with a die cut (used 4x!) of a beautiful flying creature!
Date: Monday, February 20, 2017 GMT Views: 819
Favorited:4
Paper: SU Basic Black, Dapper Denim, Bermuda Bay, Wild Wasabi, Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Pack
Paper Size: SQ 5-1/2"
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Photograph from National Geographic Magazine, misc corner punch, Tombow Multi Liquid Glue, Silhouette Pick-Me Up Tool, SU Detailed Dragonfly Thinlits Dies, Big Shot, Dryer Sheets
Techniques: Paper Piecing, Dryer Sheet Die Cutting
Registered: December 25, 2005 Location: Drinking in God's Good Grace...! Posts: 42119
Tue, Feb 21, 2017 @ 10:48 AM
Wow! Great dragonfly! Love the gold crackle background too! TFS!!~
------------------------------ "God designed the human machine to run on Himself. HE Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn..." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Registered: February 10, 2006 Location: Mid-Atlantic Posts: 13127
Tue, Feb 21, 2017 @ 2:38 PM
Beautiful! I love the colors you chose for the inlaid piecing of your dragonfly! Thank you for sharing all the details of your card design process .... using the dryer sheet method sounds great for capturing all those little pieces.
~ Rita
------------------------------ Rita
God demonstrated His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us ... being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5:8 & 9