Hello crafty friends. I have a blog post today that features three cards, which use the same products to create both masculine and feminine cards.

For the first card, I created a piece of paper that had the look of weathered copper. I used distress oxides in Spiced Marmalade, Cracked Pistachio and Walnut Stain. I blended them onto a sheet of cardstock, then spattered and smooshed on further layers until I was happy with the look.

I then cut out the cogs and gears ( what is the difference, I wonder?) using the Paper Rose Cog Frame Border dies in different sizes, and arranged them on the background. The gorgeous colours of the cogs really carry this card, so I kept the design simple.

The next card saw me diving into my stash of Copic markers, and colouring every cog in a different colour. I arranged them onto the card to give a kind of ombré effect, taking a few cogs just off the page, and trimming the excess.

The Happy Birthday sentiment on this card is from Paper Rose, and I also used it on the final card to give a completely different look.

I added a layer of Wink of Stella to all the cogs, to give a little sparkle and shine.

For this final card, I have made it as girly as possible, turning the cogs into flowers. I painted a loose watercolour background onto the background, and spattered it with diluted paint, using greens for the lower spatters, and mauve at the top. I also blended a little extra ink around the edges to give a more defined border.

I cut extra cogs from plain pink card, and popped the flowers up at different heights.

The leaves are from the leaf 1 and leaf set 1 dies, and I coloured these with distress inks before cutting the leaves.

I hope this post has inspired you to think outside the box, and use get more out of your dies.

Until next time.

Blessings,

Donna