Weeks of Wonder: The Cutting Edge

Want your artwork to be on the cutting edge? Well, in today’s post, I’ll show you how to do just that with one tool: our handy cutting knife. This week’s technique adds delicate detail and dimension to your art and is sure to have people saying, “How’d you do that?”

I just love the fall color scheme on this beautiful harvest banner. The simplicity and elegance of its accessories, Cricut shapes, and stamps turn this into a lovely wall hanging. But there's another effect that brings even more life.

If you take a closer look at the leaf border across the top of each pennant, you’ll see the intricate detail that’s been added to the leaves. I’ll show you how to achieve this look.

First, stamp the leaf border from the Harvest Happiness stamp set (C1463) across the top of each pennant.

Then, randomly choose which leaves you want to pop off the art and carefully cut along the border of the image. Make sure the lower portion of the leaf and stem remain intact.

Finally, gently lift the tip of each cut leaf with the tip of your knife or your finger. What a simple technique; it really adds a delicate look to the artwork. Let’s take a look at a few more examples using the cutting knife.

I love how the gold leaves seem to be floating on this gratitude card. Getting this look is easier than you might think. To make this card, the leaf image was stamped twice in Goldrush ink so that they would be connected at one point but still leave a lot of white space. Then, with a ruler for a guide, the white space was cut away with the craft knife to leave a frame. The leaf image was stamped again in Cocoa ink on a separate piece of paper to show through the frame, adding dimension to the end product.

One of the obvious benefits of the craft knife over scissors is that it is much easier to cut around an image without cutting through the border of the paper. This feature finds another practical application in this place card. When cutting around the outside of the leaf image, the very edges on either side were left in tact, creating a hinge that allows the card to stand up. Beautiful and functional!

And finally, this candle is a perfect companion for any autumn mantelpiece. Add some fun dimension by stamping the same image on two pieces of cardstock, layering them, and then popping the edges of the image on top to reveal the image below.

It’s easy to show off how sharp your style is with this fun popping technique; all you need is the cutting knife!