Wednesdays Trends: using negative die cuts

(Please scroll down for my All That Scraps DT post!)

Hi everyone, it's Mary J here with this week's Wednesday trends.  Today I want to show you ways to use the "negative" pieces from die cutting.  I've been using this technique more and more recently as I love my dies but wanted to get more out of them.  You may want to get a cup of tea and settle in as I have a few examples to show you! 

So, first up is this very simple form of this technique...

You know, I think this is one of my most favourite images EVER!  This cheeky monkey is from the Jungle Out There set by illustrator Melyssa Connolly.  As you can see, I simply lined up a couple of die clouds using low tack tape on a piece of white cardstock, put it through my die cutting machine and then popped it on foam pads over some blue patterned paper for extra depth.  I then layered a couple more cloud die cuts to create a bit more interest.  I am entering this card into the Simon Says anything goes challenge.

Now on my second card (using the same Jungle Out There set) I did a similar thing but I first die cut the label, used a wood grain stamp on it and then die cut the leaves.  The trick here is to keep the die as simple as possible otherwise intricate die cuts can get "lost" in the patterns. 

So I have one more example to show you.  This time I used the beautiful Blossom By Blossom set by illustrator Torico.  I die cut a large flower from a piece of white cardstock and then ran it through my machine with an embossing folder to create more interest...

Well I hope I have inspired you to try this technique to get more from your dies.  If you have any other way you use this technique, please leave me a comment here with a link to your project as I would love to see it!  See you tomorrow with my Bellarific Babe card - ttfn!