Floating Frames and Floating Elements

My sample is made with images from the Timeless Tropics stamp set and coordinating In the Tropics dies. I chose vibrant colors to stamp the large and small flowers and leaves and then I used the Cut & Emboss Machine to die cut the images.

Lesson learned: I so liked the large flowers that I did not pay attention that there was NO WAY all of the large flowers would fit on the project even before adding small flowers and leaves. So you may notice in later photos that I used more smaller flowers and a single large one.

I cut the window sheet to 4×5.25. Next came the fun of puzzling the images together on the sheet. They shouldn’t be touching but there shouldn’t be large gaps between the images. When you like the layout, adhere the pieces to the window sheet.

Some gaps may be larger than you’d like them to be and that is okay. I’ll show you how that can be fixed later. It is totally okay to have the images hanging over the edges of the window sheet. I have the window sheet on the silicone mat so that the adhesive on the pieces hanging over the edge don’t stick to the table.

Cut along the edge of the window sheet to trim off the stamped images hanging over the edges. Be careful with the pieces you trim off as they can be used to fill in gaps later.

Using a die from the Scalloped Contours Dies, I cut out the center of the window sheet. Run it through your die cut machine a couple of times so it cuts completely.

Lesson learned: Stick to shapes with straight edges for the frame. The scalloped edges made it difficult to fit the extra pieces into gaps on the piece from the center. You will understand that better when you try this technique. Stick to straight edges, at least when first trying this technique.

Add dimensionals to the back of the window sheet. Be sure you place them behind the stamped images so they don’t show through the front of the card. You want to use plenty to keep the window sheet flat and even.

I mounted the window sheet to a piece of Just Jade cardstock. Next I lined the die up with the previous cut so that it cut through the just jade. It is easier to cut one layer at a time. After adhering the Just Jade piece to the Basic White card base, I tried to use the die to cut through the top of the card base to make it a true frame. It was just too many layers. So instead of stamping the image on the inside of the card so it could be seen from the front, I stamped it on the front.

This is what the intended element looks like. I was planning to add a punched daisy to the center of it but the daisy took up too much room and the floating stripes didn’t have much of an impact.

This is the what I ended up using!!!

The window sheet is mounted on the card base with dimensioanls. I centered a daisy in the middle with two dimensionals, one on top of the other, so it is slightly higher that this unintentional frame. I stamped a sentiment on Basic White and then layered it with colors I used on the floating element. (Fresh Freesia and Polished Pink)

The directions are much shorter for this card because once you get the idea of how to do it, it’s pretty simple. The technique has been demystified so now you can look at samples and figure out pretty quickly how the cards were made.