Wanna Be a Cowgirl Card by Jennifer Ingle

Today Jennifer Ingle is back with a Guest post sharing her Wanna Be a Cowgirl Card with Samantha Walker Spellbinders Dies and the Grand Calibur!

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I am so excited to be back as a guest designer here on the Samantha Walker blog!  Today I am going to show you the basics on how to use the Samantha Walker Dies by Spellbinders with the Grand Calibur Die Cut and Embossing Machine.  It’s SUPER easy and gives GREAT results!

The Grand Calibur comes with all the plates you need to get started!  I am using Samantha Walker’s Ornate Artisan Tags and Accents die set.  This set also has a coordinating Samantha Walker stamp set, Ornate Artisan Stackers, over at Unity, however, I will not be using the stamps for today’s card.  I have them, though, and they are GORGEOUS!!!  A wonderful companion set to the dies!  I am also using the Samantha Walker Cowgirl Collection by Creative Imaginations.  This collection is SO FUN!

Let’s begin!

Place the die you wish to use, flat side down, on the Grand Calibur Base Plate.

Trim the paper you wish to cut to size and place, upside down, over the die.  Because I am making a 4 ¼ x 5 ½ inch card, my paper is slightly smaller than my die.  You may want to tape the paper in place with repositionable tape to prevent it from shifting in the cutting process.

Next, you want to place the Cutting Plate over the die and paper to create your sandwich.  Rotate and flip your plate regularly to avoid warping.  Carefully lift the sandwich and use the handle on the Grand Calibur to run the plates through the machine.  To  get a deeper embossing, you can run it through a second time or switch the cutting plate with the embossing plate and rubber embossing mat after the first run.  For a more subtle embossing, or with thinner papers, just once is fine.  I have chosen to run it through just once for this project.

Now you are ready to play with your freshly cut die!  Use an ink tool to apply ink while the die is still on the paper.  This gives you a sharp mask giving a wonderful illusion of depth!

Carefully remove the paper from the die.  For an intricate die like the one I used here, a pair of sharp tweezers or a paper piercer can come in hand for loosening the smaller, more detailed bits.  Work slowly and gently to prevent tearing.  Then you can apply your die cut to your card!

I used the fabulous felted cow print paper as my background, layered my die cut over that, and then added a fabulous Samantha Walker dimensional chipboard sticker!  I LOVE these things! 

And here is my completed card!  If you have never worked with the Grand Calibur before you are missing out!  This machine is AMAZING!  I lived without a machine like this for years, finally decided on this one and got it for my birthday last February and I use it ALL.THE.TIME!  I had no idea just how useful it is!  And Samantha’s dies are gorgeous and a perfect fit with this wonderful tool!    If you enjoyed this, I’d love for you to stop by my blog, Just Jingle, and join me over there!  We have a good time!

Thanks for reading!

Jingle Out!