Layered Rose Die (Altenew)

When I first saw Aletenew Rose Flurries 3D dies I fell in love instantly! Unfortunately it has been sold out since and I couldn't get my hands on it.

Then I saw Simply Cards and Papercraft were adding a set of Layered Rose dies from Altenew to issue 174 and I ordered my copy straight away (I really do have to subscribe finally!). The order came quicker than I expected and luckily just before the big snow!

The die exceeded my expectations, even though it's only a small set (compared to a full set from Altenew). I spend all day experimenting! I didn't even let lack of coloured cardstock stop me (on that note SCaP have a digital paper ready to use with the dies - how handy is that!). I decided to use inks. I went for Distress Inks and blending tool.

1. Colour mix

Straight away, instead of using 3 shades of the same colour I thought I'd try to use 3 different colours. You can see the results below.

2. Negative

After I've asembled my roses I noticed all the negative space left behind I've worked so hard to ink up my paper and it was such a shame to just throw it out. So I started using the negatives as well. And since it is a layered die there were so many different ways to put these together and achieve all different results with colour and dimension.

I did the same with leaves. I changed around where the dark and light shade go and used negatives as well. I really like the variation.

3. Die cut inlay

I have cut out the base for the rose and covered it with two different colours of negative spaces using die cut inlay technique. It does not offer as much dimension or 3d effect, but it looks really cute.

4. Shades of the same colour
At the end I inked a strip of paper with the same colour of ink but changing intensity, so I ended up with 3 different shades of the same colour. I cut and asembled the roses as they were meant to be in the first place.

Overall the die set is amazing and I would love to get a full set (which can be wieved here  and also available in Peony Dream ). It is so versatile - you can use it with coloured cardstock, ink or as seen in examples in the magazine even with glitter card or vellum. Also check out this blog and video from Jennifer McGuire and her ideas.

At the end I've achived so many different reaults I couldn't decide which I liked most. What do you think?