Noor Joy Craft Doily Dies

Good day to all of you. I'm starting this blog entry off with a video for you, but will follow with still photos. Darlene, at Dutch Paper Crafts, has featured my Noor Joy Craft die release this week. The release is a set of four circular dies that are just stunning and create gorgeous backgrounds for your card images, so please take a few minutes to look at the video. Any or all of the dies can be purchased from Dutch Paper Crafts by using the sales email listed on the DPC blog (or clicking the hyperlink here). As always, Darlene provides the best prices and beautiful dies.

The first die is 6000/1001

Brown Male:  

• The images is from a free vintage print found on the internet.
• Image cut using a Spellbinder circle die.
• Corner – Noor 6002/0135
• Ivy Leaves – Marianne LR0206

The next die is 6000/1002

Brown Birds: 

• Image free from internet.
• Cut using Spellbinder circle die
• Corners punched using Martha Stewart Corner punch
• Roses are handmade using a 6 petal flower punch.
• Leaves are cut using a Spellbinder flower die

Next die shown is 6000/1003

Burgundy Roses: 

• Roses handmade using Tim Holtz Tattered Floral die and sponged with Palette brand Bordeaux ink.
• Image free from internet, cut with Spellbinder die.
• Inside I used Noor 6003/1003 for the “sentiment” area and Noor 6002/0136 corners.

The last die is 6000/1004, and I used it twice

Lady on Pink: 

• Image free from internet, cut with Spellbinder die.
• The Noor die has been cut and embossed and then the embossed area was stenciled using Tim Holtz Spun Sugar distressing ink before removing from the die. I used a small facial (make-up) sponge to apply the ink.
• The round image is adhered to the smallest die in the QuicKutz Nesting doilies die set DC0429.
• The corners are QuicKutz Flourish Borders DC0317
• Roses are handmade using punches and brushed with Tim Holtz Spun Sugar ink.
• Inside I used Noor 6002/0136 and Noor 6002/0146.

Red and Black:

• I used 6000/1004 for this card. After cutting the die, I wove 1/16^th” ribbon through the edges.
• The stamped sentiment piece is Spellbinder Fancy Tags Two.
• The roses are handmade.
• The rhinestones are from Recollections.
• Inside I’ve used Noor 6002/0147 and QuicKutz DC0317 for the corners.

I wish that I could direct you to the images that I've used on my cards, but they were obtained from free sites, and I did not make note of where I got them (my bad!). Because I wanted this release to have a bit of a Victorian look and feel, I simply did a Google search for the images using keywords, Victorian, birds, ladies, etc. Once I found the images that I wanted to use, I saved them to my computer, brought them into my word processing program and sized them to what I needed.

Despite my cards having a more elegant, formal look, let me assure you that these dies will work equally as well with more contemporary images. I've used them and seen them used as background for anything from little kids to animals.

As for my roses, I have posted a short tutorial in the past (check my archival listings). However, there are numerous wonderful tutorials available on the internet for making roses and other flowers. It is just a matter of a little practice. Once you start making them, you will find they go together rather quickly and make lovely additions to your cards. Here are some helpful blogs showing tutorials (I have to admit that my roses are kind of a combination of several people's techniques, but some of the blogs I'll set were helpful in getting me started):

http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.com/2011/07/rose-creations-tutorial-2-websters.html (Although she is using a die in her tutorial and I used punches (except for the Tim Holtz tattered rose die), this technique is probably closest to what I do.)
http://gabriellepollacco.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/making-roses-with-translucent-vellum.html
http://simplypaperandcreativity.blogspot.com/2011/07/sugarplum-flowers.html?m=1
http://lindaduke.typepad.com/lindas_works_of_heart/2012/06/spellbinders-summer-spectacular-day-six-.html
http://kayskreativekorner.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-flower-tutorial.html

There are also a lot of great You-tube video tutorials that are quite helpful. Just do a search for paper roses.

My descriptions of each card in this release have been brief due to space and time. If you need or want additional information, please don't hesitate to contact me. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have or provide you with further explanation/information. Thank you for staying with me this long. Happy crafting!