DIY Die Cut background – no Silhouette needed!

Hello everyone!  Jody is back in the house today!  I’m so excited to be back on the blog today as this month’s guest!!  Last week I put a sneak peak out on Instagram for this layout and mentioned that I was going to talk about creating your own die cut background without using an electronic die cutting machine.  I have a very simple method, which works awesome for me when I’m not able to get on the computer to use my Silhouette.  Our high school aged daughter usually has a ton of homework, which has her on the computer for hours at night.  That’s the same computer which has my Silhouette software on it, which poses a big scrappy challenge at night when I’m ready to create!  So adapt and overcome!

The first thing I did was cut a piece of white American Crafts cardstock down to 6 x 12″, which easily fits through my Big Shot for die cutting.  Next, I chose which metal dies I want to use to create my background, or partial background like I did here.  I laid out a few of my Kaiserkraft stitched circle dies, which are fabulous and on sale now!! I love how they cut!  I also really like that the stitches on the die are actually on the circle that is die cut out from the rest of the card stock or paper.  I kept the Kaiserkraft dies in place with small pieces of washi tape and ran the 6 x 12″ card stock through my Big Shot.  I did two pieces of the 6 x 12″ card stock at the same time since I just cut a piece of 12 x 12″ card stock in half.  When I was first planning out this layout, I wasn’t sure if I was going to place each of the 6 x 12″ pieces side by side to create a full background or what exactly. As you can see, I only used one of the 6 x 12″ sheets and filled in the other side with different pieces of Pink Paislee Fancy Free collection (there are only 3 paper pads left in the shop right now!)  

This is a very simple way to create a die cut background with your Big Shot!  If you wanted to put both of the 6 x 12″ pieces of card stock together onto a layout, that would look so awesome!  Just think of all the die cuts you can combine, mix and match!  If you want to see what that looks like, be sure to come back next for another die cut layout!  Here’s some close ups of those lovely die cut circles!  I adhered pieces of Pink Paislee Fancy Free papers behind the circle for a fun effect!  There was also no foam adhesive or craft foam behind this layout. I’m actually shocked that I didn’t use any!

As usual, I added a bunch of layers behind my photo and a then added some fun felt embellishments (Cloudy Days Felties & teal Felt-Fetti Hearts).  I also used some sweet Spring Blooms sequins upside down to add some sparkle!  Thanks again to DT Sparkler Sarah for the Sequin > faux enamel dots inspiration! I also mixed in some Simple Stories I Am, Bella Blvd stickers & a piece of DIY ephemera cut out from some Heidi Swapp packaging. 

Thanks so much for visiting the blog today!! I hope I’ve inspired you to bust out your metal dies & Big Shot to create some die cut backgrounds! Be sure to share them in our 15 Minutes 2 Scrap Facebook. We love to see what you create!

See ya next week. Until then, go be creative!!

Jody