Favourite way to cut your image (& why)

Welcome to As You Like It Challenge

Our fortnightly challenge is a home for you to create something 

which gives you a warm "inner glow" of pride, without lots of entry rules.

Usually we provide a few options for you to choose from. 

You just need to select and use your favourite option in order to join in. 

For a chance to win our prize or top-3 spot, 

you need to tell us why you've made your choice.

That way our team and readers can appreciate why it's your favourite.

eg, if the theme is 'favourite animal' and you decide on 'bunny', tell us why.
eg, you love Thumper, the rabbit from Bambi !

So get crafting and remember to have fun 

and enjoy your crafting time.

Thank you to everyone who entered our last challenge. 

Our winner is:

Vicky

Please email us at AsYouLikeItChallenge@hotmail.co.uk to claim your prize, 

and don't forget to grab your *winners* badge below:

and our Top 3 are

Esther

Ellibelle

Kuni

Congratulations and please grab our *Top 3* badge to display on your blog:

So, onto our next challenge

The sponsor of this challenge is

This fortnight's challenge theme is to showcase a project using 

Your Favourite way to cut your image (fussy cutting, metal dies, electronic cutting machine) (& why).

You MUST explain WHY it is your favourite.

Here are the beautiful creations made by our Design Team to get your mojo flowing:

Anne
I do regularly use dies on my cards but for the image I like to fussy cut. I think it's a nice effect layering them onto patterned paper

Annette

When I looked at most of my cards, I realised that I very very rarely cut out my images. I only have a few matching dies, I'm not very good at fussy cutting (also not helped by watercolour card being quite thick) and I've tried and failed to use the pix-scan option on my Silhouette.  However, what I do very often is to stamp my image onto a post-it note and fussy cut that to use as a mask which I then lay over the image and use blending brushes to ink a background.  Below is my card, and then a picture of my image mid-way through my fussy-cut-mask blending process.  I usually do the blending before I colour the image because I add some more tone and texture to the grass when I colour.

Brenda

I do have a number of matching dies for stamp sets, but sometimes the white border is just not cute.  I do use my electronic cutter sometimes, but I find fussy cutting very relaxing.  It is a time when you can think if you want to, or just let your mind wonder.

Elaine

My favourite way to cut images is metal dies. I love the clean cut you get and the multiple frames that can be used to display them.

Larissa

I am a fussy cutter! I love doing it! It helps me relax and I really don't mind if the image is really big or with lots of detail.

I do buy dies sometimes, but that is only for stampsets my little nephews are going to use. ;) They do love using dies. I am not good with dies, I don't get them lined up that good and then I don't like the look of my stamped image, because the white line around the image is not even everywhere. 

Lorraine

I nearly always use a die to 'frame' my image but if I want to cut the actual image out then I go for a pair of scissors! I don't have a cutting machine or any stamps with matching dies, so as long as it's a straight forward stamp (no little bits sticking out) then I'm happy to fussy cut!

Lynne

I only fussy cut easy images with no little twiddly bits because I usually make a mess of them, so I tend to go for a die to frame my image as it's a lot easier.

Sarah

Nine times out of ten I will use a die to mat my image, however, I do enjoy a bit of fussy cutting from time to time especially for paper piecing like my card here, which has both.

Squirrel 

Ooh another decision - actually I do use dies, especially for intricate stuff, and I do fussy cut for images that I can manage to do with scissors.  I used to use a craft knife but since I changed to much thicker watercolour paper, using a knife cripples my fingers.

Wilma

For me it's is definitely metal dies. I have a lot of dies. They are versatile and easy to work with. For this card I used the metal dies that came with the images. And some letter dies.

So now it's over to you.

We hope you will join in our challenge and show us your style.

Don't forget, you MUST explain WHY it is your favourite to be eligible to win.

Good luck, and happy crafting.
Hugs from the AYLI girls.

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