Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - 'Use a frame'

Time for a new challenge over at Cuttlebug Mania -  this fortnight's theme is 'Use a frame' and you can create your frame in a variety of ways eg. die cut, embossed, stamped, drawn, etc.

Details of our sponsor/the prize to be won can be found over on the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge blog.

You do have to use a manual die cutting/embossing machine for Cuttlebug Mania entries (it doesn't need to be a Cuttlebug but it must be manual, not electronic). And, you can't mix the two, it must be all manual please. Then make your entry, link into the challenge, link to the challenge in your own blog post and and make sure that you also say what products you used for any die cutting/embossing.

This is what I made - six the same in fact, in a push to keep up with the Christmas card target:

I used:

- 4.25" x 5.5" white card blank, tent opening

- panel of white card, trimmed to an eighth of an inch smaller all round than the card front

- then die cut an aperture using the larger of the two dies in the MFT 'Wonky Peek-a-boo Windows' set into the white card panel

- glued the panel to the card front and also set the piece that had been cut out back into the aperture. This was as I was only wanting to use the stitched outline and also wanted a flush surface for the next steps

- snippets of SU's 'Pear Pizzazz' from which I cut the green stitched aperture using the smaller of the two MFT dies in the 'Wonky Peek-a-boo Windows' set. Then I carefully trimmed around each aperture to form a green frame - which turned out to be only a whisker bigger than the aperture I'd filled in on the white panel, phew!

- next backed the aperture in the green frame with a snippet of LOTV's 'Frosty Christmas' paper and glued the whole thing in place on the card front

- then stamped a sentiment from the Paper Smooches ' Christmas Sampler' set using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink onto the card front

- stamped the penguin using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from the Jane's Doodles 'Winter Wishes' set

- coloured the penguin using Pro Markers and Whispers markers before fussy cutting him out

- stuck the penguin in place sort of sitting on the frame using a thin sticky pad 

There's lots of ways you can use this set of dies, I opted to make life difficult and go for a 'proper frame'. Trimming those outside edges of the green frames took quite a while with them not being at right angles to one another! But the same set of dies really works so well just used as apertures/windows, perhaps with one twisted inside another one on two layers of card. I'm sure I've seen this set being used on one of your blogs - Kathy K perhaps? I know I tend to get a lot of ideas for new products to buy from blog hopping, sigh.

I hope you find time to play along with this latest Cuttlebug Mania challenge - we'd love to see you join in! There's loads of scope and different ways in which you can make your 'frame'.

This is my final card for the Cuttlebug Mania Challenge as I'm stepping down from the team. The Playground will of course continue though!