Well, it’s me, Susan (susiestampalot)–Are ya’ll ready for Christmas?  No?  Well are ya’ll ready for another YNS SUSIE-Q FUN TIP?  GOOD, because I have some fun tricks to share with you!  This month I stepped out of my box and did something I rarely do, but still have a few tips to share about it.  A few months ago, I told ya’ll that I LOVE to cut out my stamped images and use them on my cards and created THIS tutorial on how I do that.  Per that tutorial, I shared that I normally leave a white edge around my cut image.  However, sometimes that’s not the look I want to achieve, especially when I’m using a cut image for an embellishment.  So today I’m going to share what I do when I cut an image along the image line and how to layer a flower image from one stamp for extra dimension.  Special thanks to the poinsettia image from the new Holiday Postage Set for helping me out with this tutorial.

I’m not sure about ya’ll, but I’m so inspired to start making Christmas projects.  My Christmas list got too long to make handmade cards for everyone a few years ago, but I still make several to hand deliver to my special friends.  So since I have gotten an early start on this year, I decided this card would be the perfect one to share for my tutorial today.  

First, since we are going to make flower layers, we need to stamp the image twice.  Now if this flower was bigger and the image had more layers than just 2, I might have stamped it several times to create dimension for each layer.

Now for the coloring.  Since we are going to cut out these images along the black lines, it’s ok to not care if we are A+ colorererers.

Get the images just the way you want them.  You don’t want to have to go back and touch them up after you’ve cut them out.  They will be itty-bitty and you will go cross-eyed.

Once you’ve finished coloring, grab your sharpest scissors and cut each flower layer out.  I use Cutter-bees–my brand new pair because my others got bent at the tippy tip. 🙁 

Ok, call me picky, but when I cut an image along the black line, I don’t like to see the white edges. (One of the many reasons I usually leave a white border around my images.)

Take a black marker, preferably one with a brush tip like a Copic or Tombow and VERY CAREFULLY run it around the edge, concealing the white edge of the cardstock.  It just gives it a cleaner look.  Go slowly–you don’t want that marker to slip and mess up the fabulous coloring you just did on the front of the image.

Here’s what the backside may look like.  It’s ok.  Put a foam booster on your upper layer(s).

To make it look even more layer-y, stick the top flower layer down a little offset from the bottom flower image.

Now you’re ready to use the flower as an embellishment or focal point on your project!  Easy and so fabulous looking!