Dimension - It's not just embossing anymore

Ok... So this is going to be a little bit more of an idea post as opposed to a strict tutorial. One of the things that can add a lot of interest to a card is dimension. When most people think of dimension - they automatically  think of embossing - dry embossing and / or wet embossing. But, you can get dimension in so many ways.  

I have two cards to share with you today that shows off different ways to get dimension in your card. Popping up things with dimensional foam or silicone is one way you can get some dimension on your cards. When you do this try to not only think of popping up things, but popping them under.  I did this below with the stars punched out of the white cardstock. When it is popped up on the purple cardstock, it gives an extra punch to the card (Hee Hee... Punch).

In this card I have taken one of the sugar skulls and stamped it twice. Once on black with versamark and wet embossed, and then a second time with Memento on white. I cut out the pieces - leaving a slight edge on the black one.  I then used "fussy cutting" to cut out the nose, eyes and heart on the top of the head and then colored them.

I used foam dots to pop up the white skull on the black one, and then slightly thicker foam tape to pop up the flowers in the center of the eyes. I added additional dimension with the pretty sparkle gems on the skull and flowers.

When you look at it from the side you see this type of image.

Another way I added dimension was with quilling the scrollwork on the card. This is an easy way to add some dimensional elements when all you have is paper. You don't even need tools. You can quill with just strips of paper and glue. Roll a strip into a tight coil and then let it expand. For Scrolls take one small strip of paper and wind it into a tight coil about half of the strip. Turn it over and wind the other end  to the center. Let it loosen and glue it down. For the "leaves" take the strip of paper, coil it up, and then let it loosen. When it has loosened a bit glue the outer edge to the outside of the coil. then pinch it on opposite sides of the loosened coil... one end slightly more strongly than the other end - this gives the leaf effect.

Other ideas for dimention are to cut a large shape out of the top of a card, and adhere the image inside the cut out top card. You can also leave a strip of a card open on one side so you see the sentiment/ design / embellishment underneath This is fun because you can see the image from both the inside and out. Microbeads, gems, ribbons are also ideas for adding dimension. And last but not least is when you color an image, you can add dimension with the shading and shadows you choose to add.  In the card below I used all of these techniques, including the coloring and popping part of the image up. The black "dots" in the center of the flower are microbeads. 

Thank you for sitting through this idea-fest. I hope you have a great weekend. And come back next week and join us for some more fun !!!