USE YOUR DSP

Any of you who have been following my blog for awhile know that I simply love to fussy cut. Maybe some of you don't know what I mean when I say "fussy cut". It's exactly what it sounds like: very close intricate cutting. It's so satisfying and the results can be stunning.

Stampin' Up! has some wonderful DSP -- Designer Series Papers -- that are not also wonderful for the traditional use of scrapbooking, but I find them so useful in card making.

Sometimes a DSP design has very distinctive portions that are easily separated from the rest of the piece and used in a completely different way than just cutting a portion to a 4" x 5 1/4" piece as a background for a card. Or something of that sort, where you use the piece as it's meant to be used.

In my card today, that's exactly what I did. The DSP I used has been retired for ages, but I love the medallion sort of designs that I fussy cut and used as separate components on my card. They can be seen in the row along the left side.

For the rest of the card, I picked up coordinating colors that appeared in the fussy cut pieces. In this case, it was Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla and Balmy Blue. I even colored a trio of Basic Rhinestones in Balmy Blue Stampin' Blend Marker to finish it off.

The embossed Balmy Blue portion was done with an old retired embossing folder, but I love how it almost mimics the shape of the fussy cut pieces.

A couple little die cuts with a sentiment stamped in Balmy Blue, atop a folded over piece of the Very Vanilla dotted ribbon balanced the look.

Have you ever cut up a piece of Designer Series Paper to use in your cardmaking -- or even in your scrapbooking? I never regret doing this and am always always pleased with the results you can get.

If you haven't ever given this a try, why not now? There are endless possibilities!

Fussy

Smiles.