Scrapbook Embellishments and Die Cuts, Made by Hand

Flip through any scrapbook and watch where people's eyes go. It's not always the photos. It's the glittery turtle swimming across the beach page, or the owl in a witch's hat on the Halloween spread. Embellishments are what turn a page of pictures into a story with personality.

What a good die cut needs

A die cut is a shape cut from paper or cardstock, and a good one is about more than the shape:

• Sturdy cardstock, so it doesn't curl or wrinkle under glue
• Layering, so it has depth on the page
• Just enough sparkle, from glitter or foil, to catch the light without shedding everywhere
• Character, like a face, a crown or a pose that makes you smile

That's how we make ours, by hand, one at a time.

The menagerie

Animals are our specialty:

• Sea turtles in tiny sizes, plus a giant 6" glitter sea turtle in bright blues and greens
• Frog princes with glitter crowns and green foil, for fairy-tale pages
• Owls, including a Valentine owl and a Halloween owl in a glittery witch's hat
• Koala bears with pink and red hearts, and a St. Patrick's Day koala
• Teddy bears and a Mamma Bear for family pages
• Bumblebees, ladybugs, flamingos and squirrels, sold in sets
• A dinosaur, a school bus for back-to-school, and Easter bunnies
• A smiling mushroom in pink, purple and green, of course

Flowers and finishing touches

• Glitter paper flowers in orange and red (a set of eight) and formal black and white flowers
• Camping embellishments for campfire and road-trip pages
• Milk jug die cuts, for farm and kitchen pages
• Title borders, like a pink-star "Memories" border and baby girl borders

More than scrapbooks

Our embellishments work for:

• Greeting cards: one die cut makes a plain card special
• Junk journals and planners, as ephemera that gives each spread a theme
• Gift wrap and tags: glue one onto a kraft-paper package
• Party decor, like place cards, cupcake toppers and table scatter

Adhering tips

Use a strong, acid-free glue or foam adhesive dots. Foam dots lift the die cut off the page for an instant 3D effect. When gluing glittered pieces, press around the edges rather than across the glitter, so the sparkle stays put.

For complete pages, see our premade scrapbook layouts, and for papers, ribbons and buttons, our junk journal supplies. Need a specific character for a theme? Ask us.