Hi and welcome back to the Chrissie Murphy Designs Blog. A little while ago I shared a tile called “Worthy”, that had a beautiful little star cut edge. This is Die Cut Tangling and I’d like to dive into it a bit deeper today.
Now before we go any further – I have a disclaimer I’d like to share. I have signed up to be an Affiliate for Amazon Australia. It means that I get a small percentage from the sale of anything you may purchase through links I use in my blog. Just want you to know before we get into today’s post.
The Expressive Bits
What inspired me to create Die Cut Tangling?
Let me begin by saying I have a die cut machine. I have the DIY Cuts machine by Kaisercraft. I use it a lot in card making, but not so much in tangling, and I began to wonder why.
Both are considered a “paper craft”. Both use coloured backgrounds (at times), both are decorating paper…. So I wondered; Why do I use it for card making, but not tangling?
You guessed it! I had discovered another limitation I’d unknowingly bound myself by. I’d come to believe die cutting is only to be used for my cards, not my tangling. And just like all the limiting beliefs the Lord has helped me identify, now I knew it, it had to go.
What techniques did I use for the Die Cut Tangling and why?
Most obviously is the die cut. I used an edge cut die with a star pattern on two sides of a regular tile.
Other than that, I used some Distress Inks to lay a base of colour and then worked over the top with coloured pencils. This is one of my favourite colour methods.
It had also been a while since I worked a word into a tile. I used my faux calligraphy font that I’ve become fairly adept at creating to write the word Worthy.
What does it mean in terms of my artistic work as a whole?
This is a worship piece. It’s a piece that I created to simply acknowledge my God as Worthy. He is worthy of all I have to give.
How can you take this idea and be more Expressive?
Have you been able to identify any limiting beliefs around your creativity yet? Just when I think I have identified all of mine, the Lord reveals another.
Creative freedom cannot come until our limiting beliefs are dealt with…. It’s that simple. It’s taken me a while to get to this place where I can willingly drop or give up a creative belief instantly.
And it’s only happened because I have a bank of evidence that proves that doing so is far more rewarding than remaining bound. But this is my bank of evidence.
You will have to develop your own bank of evidence, because you will never give up something until you know there is a greater, more rewarding alternative. That’s your journey, and only you can discover it.
The Factual Bits
The materials used
- Strathmore Artist Tile in Grey 4in x 4in
- Derwent Inktense in blues and browns
- Unipin Fineliner in Black
- Signo Uniball Gel Pen in white
- Prismacolor Premier Coloured Pencils in varying colours
- Grey Copic Markers in W4, W5 and W7
What tangles were used in the Die Cut Tangling?
Those who read my blog will recognise my Mac and Cheese tangles are heavily featured;
- Mooka 3D by Eni Oken
- Caviar by Lori Howe
- Flux by Zentangle
- Variation of Archer by Christianne Gerstner
- Rixty 3D by Eni Oken
- Jetties by Zentangle
- Verve by J J LaBarbera
- Garlic Cloves by Jacquelien Bredenoord
How big is the Die Cut Tangling?
It is 4 inches x 4 inches square minus some stars along a couple of edges.
Want to be more Expressive?
Join the Expressive’s List to begin to learn ways you can start to express yourself creatively. With the Lord there are no moulds or limits, just possibilities, and the promise of unearthing who you were created to be.
Expressive Subscribers receive an email each month that contains creative inspiration and ideas, links to helpful resources and a month’s worth of journal prompts to stimulate creative expression. These prompts are a great way of learning to express yourself when you’ve never really tried it before. Fill in your details below to sign up.
Until next time, listen to your heart and sharpen your coloured pencils. A masterpiece awaits!
Bless you my friend
Chrissie xx
