Flower diecut - two ways

I love my Cuttlebug. Just love it. People may say that the Cricut machine is a better investment...but at less than $60, let me tell you, a Cuttlebug is SOOOOO worth it! And to show you what I mean, I'm showcasing two pages done with the same flower diecut set. I believe I purchased this set at Michael's with a readily-available 40% coupon. Probably ended up being $10 or less. Just think about the value per use of that! Awesome.

Anyway, saw a page in one of my Scrapbooks Etc. magazines - either last issue or the one before - where the page background was done in kraft and border punches were used (in the same kraft tone) to overlap and create a texture. Loved the idea and just had to try it. A muted black worked better for me with the colors in the photo, so I pulled out several punches and went to town. The trick is to make sure you have AT LEAST two sheets of the same tone. This creates the awesome dimension but in a super subtle way. I also cut some plain strips to mingle in with the fancy borders. Rather than some fancy embellishments which may have been a distraction to the super adorable photo, I used textured cardstock and my handy flower diecuts. For a little extra pop, I didn't glue the flowers done. Rather, I used brads to fasten them only in the middle and then tucked the edges up with my finger. Also, the one flower style comes with a background which worked perfectly to tie-back the black. All in all a super fast and simple page. So easy too!

Supplies: Paper - (black) My Minds Eye, (black cardstock) Bazzill Basics, (blue cardstock) Core'dinations; Tools - (flower diecut) Cuttlebug, (lace, double-dot border punch) Martha Stewart, (scallop with dot, deco-edge) Fiskars or EK Success?; Accents - (black brads) Doodlebug, (plastic letters) American Crafts

Stay tuned for page #2 using the same flower diecut set.