Handicrafts by Kate Perry and other ramblings

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

A NBUS card for Rudolph Day.

Right, first, for those who are wondering, a NBUS card is one made with what Darnell calls "Never Before Used Schtuff". Every now and then she offers us the challenge to use something we have bought and never used, and let´s face it, we all have some of that! You can read all about it here.

So for my entry I have used a set of 3 dies called Royal Circles, by Spellbinders. I really liked these when I bought them back last Autumn, but ever since they arrived, they have sat on my table waiting for me to be inspired.

As today is the 25th of March it is also Rudolph Day so it seemed a good idea to combine these two challenges, and here is what I made.

It took a while for me to decide the best way to combine the dies in this set, but eventually I cut the largest from a small off-cut of red card, and removed its centre with a plain circle die. Then I cut the inner one and again removed its centre. For the smallest die I used a snippet of white card and stamped a Spanish greeting in its centre. The backing paper was printed from an Elusive Images (now Chocolate Baroque) CD. For the embellishments I tied a bow with a new reel of green ribbon which was an absolute bargain from the todo shop this week, and cut some ivy and holly leaves with Joanna Sheen Signature dies, from tiny oddments of green card.
I then decided to make a second card with this die set, but I used a completely different colour combo. This time I used the same backing paper printed in blue, and I cut the first and second size dies together from a piece of white card rescued from a card I received last Christmas. I again removed its centre and then cut a plain circle from some silver holographic paper just big enough to go behind the inner cut out circle. It looked a bit unfinished so I carefully hand-cut the inner circle of dots that were on the ´waste´from the original cut, and glued it in place. Finally I cut the smallest die in white, and added a single robin die cut from a LOTV printed image.
I decorated this one with a white bow, and two double-layer snow flakes cut with a pair of dies from "All Occasions dies", (also NBUS items) each with a gem in the centre. A small silver sentiment in the lower corner finished it off.

At the end of her post this week, Di suggested we might make our next Snippets card to fit in with Darnell´s NBUS Challenge and the Rudolf Day Challenge at Scrappy Mo´s blog, so I am linking up with both of those as well as Pixie´s Snippets Playground, and Christmas Stamping All Year Long where the Challenge is Dies to Die 4.

18 comments:

kiwimeskreations said...

These are stunning Kate - love your use of the dies... I must get mine out as I have had a set of decorative circle dies I have not used yet - you have inspired me.
Blessings
Maxine

Veerle said...

Gorgeous cards Kate but the second one with the blue and white tones is AWESOME !!!!!
Hugs, Veerle xXx

Di said...

Wow Kate! These are really gorgeous cards - love those dies you used plus the sumptuous ribbons.

Great to see you combining a few challenges as well :) Infact, your first card would also qualify for this week's 'Merry Monday' challenge, which is 'Tree'. :)

Hugs

Di xx

Sue - said...

Two lovely cards particularly the blue one!

Jean said...

Super cards Kate, I like them both, but I think the first one is my favourite, I'm a bit of a sucker for green foliage with some red on Christmas cards, and your bow looks lovely. I love those gorgeous circle dies as well.
Jean x

scrappymo! said...

These are both so lovely. Such a different look for each merely by changing up the papers!

Thank for taking part in the March Rudolph Days Challenge.

Sarn said...

WOW - very intricate. Those dies look somewhat complicated to use, but the results are GREAT.

Happy Rudolph Day.

Hugs, Sarn xxx

Kathleen said...

My gosh, how fabulous are these, certainly worth the effort as it looks like they could have taken a great deal of effort.

Kath x

JD/ Jill said...

Wow! These are so pretty and creative. Thanks for sharing.

Dragon said...

Same die with very different results, especially love that lush green bow.

brenda said...

Thank you so much for your visit and kind words on my blog today. You asked about the violin, it's a Tattered Lace die, the details is so fine and I agree it does look laser cut. I am one of their designers and love working with their products.

B x

Hettie said...

These are gorgeous Kate. Love both and those dies are wonderful.
Hugs
Xx

Sally H said...

Stunning cards, Kate! I love them. The robin is such a lovely image, and the circle design is beautiful x

Darnell said...

Gosh, these cards are so rich, Kate! I love how elegant both of your cards are! You put a lot of design thought into your gorgeous creations and I love that you combined all the playmates challenges, plus!! Thank you so much for playing in my NBUS Challenge #4!! Hugs, Darnell

MaryH said...

This is an awesome S/B die and I really like your ideas on how you used it to best effect. The red is simply bold & gorgeous, but I'm veering to the serenity of the white & blue as my fav (and red is truly my fav color so not sure why I find the B&W so appealing!). Great minds and all that,as I decided that my Rudy card would work for Nbus. Actually since the tiny trees were cut from white snippets, I could have gone to the Playground too, but I'm so behind in commenting, best I didn't! Both of these are just beautiful Kate. Well done! TFS &Hugs

Twinks Stamping said...

Two lovely cards using gorgeous dies. The red one is very lush but I think my fav is the blue one xxx

ValByDesign, Valerie said...

Oh my goodness, what gorgeous dies! You used them beautifully on your cards! Thank you for joining us for our Dies to Die 4 Challenge over at Christmas Stampin' All Year Long!

veronica said...

both lovely cards Kate, for me the blue one is the best. Envy you your patience fiddling with the dies!