Tell me if you’ve been here: You get your stamps and dies out for a crafting session, pick out all the inks for a color palette you love, and start die cutting and stamping. You’re not exactly sure how you’re going to use the images yet, but you create more than you need, just in case. (After all, you’ve got all your supplies out anyway.)
Then you move on to actually making a card, and by the time you’re done… you have TONS of die cuts leftover. You don’t want to let them go to waste, but you’re also creatively tapped out for the day. As a result, you pack them away for a later crafting session… and they never get used.
Sound familiar? This used to happen to me ALL the time, until I sketched out a few easy card compositions for leftover die cut images. My leftovers are almost always florals, but you could absolutely adapt these for other types of stamps and dies in your stash too.
The florals you see here are from the Essentials by Ellen Painted Florals stamp set, and I originally used them on my spring-inspired shadow box card. To use up all of my leftover pieces, I used the sketches of my easy card compositions to create a quick set of 3 additional cards. Visually, they’re a coordinated set, each with a clear focal area. But they also have unique elements that differentiate them from each other.
Composition 1
A small cluster of flowers and leaves, along with a hot foiled sentiment, on top of a panel of coordinating stripes. I die cut a white background using the Pinkfresh Studio Sparkling Diamonds cover plate, then positioned the striped panel about 1/3 of the way from the top. (The Rule of Thirds is one I use often in my card designs – works like a charm!)
Composition 2
Two clusters in opposing corners, a sentiment and sub-sentiment, and subtle background interest. I used the Essentials by Ellen Rectangles for Stitching to cut 5 rows of dots towards the bottom half of my white card panel, then arranged the florals in the corners and placed the sentiment/sub-sentiment combo about 1/3 of the way from the bottom. I also popped the white background panel forward on foam tape so that the dotted lines in the background would be a little more noticeable.
Composition 3
A large floral cluster with a sentiment and sub-sentiment, placed in the middle of the card. I typically work in thirds rather than placing elements right in the middle of my cards, but this one felt and looked right so I just went with it! I used the Pinkfresh Studio Abstract Triangles hot foil plate in the background, but similar to the first composition, you could use whatever cover plate you like here – or no foil at all, and a paper piercing cover die instead.
Alrighty, are you feeling inspired to put your leftovers to use now? If so I’d LOVE to hear if you find these 3 compositions useful. Be sure to tag me on Instagram @mycraftyperspective if you decide to share. And, if you decide you need to treat yourself to a few new supplies for your craft stash, I’ve linked up everything I used for these cards below. Thanks so much for stopping by, and I’ll see you back here soon!
