Backgrounds with Cover Dies

December 12, 2023

As I look over my supplies I saw a box of cover dies. They’ve been so neglected since 3D Embossing Folders came into our crafty lives. Let’s get them out, dust them off and make some backgrounds. These will be great for those final holiday cards you need to finish up.

Jennifer McGuire is my mentor for this class. In August she posted some different ideas for cover dies. I’ve applied much of what I learned from her to these Altenew products. Check out her blog New Background Dies ideas.

We will concentrate on the backgrounds tonight. At the end I’ll give you some ideas for making them into cards. You will also find photo ideas here on my blog.

Always feel free to use the supplies you have. It is fun to see what the projects look like with a variety of product. These are some of the supplies I used.

Supplies listed include:

(4) 4 1/4 x 5 1/2″ white cardstock (preferably 80#)

Antique Engravings Cover Die

Layered Cityscape B

Layered Snowflakes Cover Die A and B

Blue Crystals Glitter Cardstock

Guilded Glitter Cardstock

Purple Galore Glitter Cardstock

Shades of purple Crisp Die Inks

Cool Summer Nights Crisp Die Inks

Red Cosmos Fresh Dye Inks

Large Blending Brush

Ultra Sticky Mat

Fancy Enjoy die or other word dies and sentiments

You will also need your full size die cutting machine, an embossing mat for your machine (the floppy, flexible one), and a sanding block, fine sand paper or the sanding foam from a nail supply store. Trimmer and adhesives will be needed to finish the cards.

This background uses Dotted Starburst Debossing Cover Die. The ink colors I used included Azurite, Emerald and Andromeda.

To finish the card I used the word die and sentiment from Hello Winter. The snowflake is from Layered Snowflakes.

For many people this is not the most wonderful time of the year. This sentiment is perfect for those folks on your list.

The background uses the Cityscape B Cover Die. I used Indigo Skies, Crystal Violet, Plum and Grape Agate for the ink blending. Any combination of purples and blues will give a similar result. There is white splatter as well. Iridescent spray would work too.

To finish the card I used the Believe from Holiday Script Words Die.

The Santa is a stamp from Penny Black. Many companies have similar stamps.

One background die two times. Layered Snowflakes Stars Cover Die A with Ambridge Rose.

Antique Engraving Cover Die with a blended background. Sentiment from Christmas Season Die Set.

Same cover die as above but a lot more intricate work. Inlay Antique Engravings Cover Die with sentiment from Mid Century Festivities.

Candy Cane Stripe Cover Die is not listed in supplies for this class. But I wanted to include it because it’s so perfect for a holiday card.

I hope to see you in another class. I teach virtually once a month on Bridget Casey’s Free Saturday Workshop and on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. In person I teach at Bluemoon Scrapbooking in Tucson, Arizona. My Altenew classes are announced in the Altenew newsletter.