Mosaic Strips

Feature Die: Mosaic Moments Strip Die

additional dies: corner tile die and 1” squares

Mosaic Strips can be an interesting addition to your mosaic scrapbook pages. The technique is now made easier and quicker with the new mosaic strip dies in 1×3.25”, 1×2.125” and 1×5.5” sizes.

Our Pattern Gallery has recently added a new pattern style “Strips” to the patterns and there are now 13 patterns to choose from with more on the way. Most of the patterns are to be used with the 1×3.25” die and several also include the 1×2.125” die too. A few have sections that could easily be turned into sections for the smaller die. (see #252, #213, #195, #194 and #193) I’m sure you will find many patterns you can’t wait to try.

Today’s pair of patterns feature areas for the mosaic strips technique using the 1×3.25” Mosaic Moments Strip Die.

This began as a single page layout with a selection of photos I took last year of a field of sunflowers, but soon grew to two. The variety of sunflowers really made a perfect subject for mosaic strips. The strip technique works well on landscapes and in this case, flowers, where you don’t need to worry about slicing people apart in the process. Careful planning allowed cutting one photo to avoid dissecting a bug on the sunflower becoming a nice focal point of one of the strips.

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips aligning cuts to create focal point on the bug.

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips aligning cuts to create focal point on the bug.

This project has only a few elements therefore keeping it very simple
12×12 Mosaic Moments Grid Paper in Cocoa
Mosaic Moments Paper tiles: Chocolate Cream
• Cardstock: 1 12″x 12″ sheet of teal
Mosaic Moments Strip Die, Corner Tile Die and 4×6-1” tile die

 

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Dies and Supplies

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Dies and Supplies

Color Chart:

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Cocoa Grid Paper, Chocolate Cream Paper Tiles and Teal

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Cocoa Grid Paper, Chocolate Cream Paper Tiles and Teal

Inspiration photo:

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips color inspiration photo

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips color inspiration photo

The rich colors of this sunflower print surprised me. It was striking against the cocoa paper I still had on my desk from the previous post. A scrap of a teal dotted paper nearby began me thinking about teal being the right pop of color to compliment both. Whittling down the photo choices and selecting a pattern took a bit more effort. Which would show off the photos and mosaic strips the best?

 

Mosaic Moments Pattern #225

Mosaic Moments Pattern #225

Page one features Pattern #225 with two sections for mosaic strips. The strip die will cut six sections, but this block only needs five, giving a little bit of wiggle room to center your photo and cut.

Mats and photos were cut using the dies and layering dies of sets A and C, the 1” 4×6 die for the 1” tiles.

At first glance pattern #225 may seem to be more complicated but the two strip sections are the same size; four of the other sections are all cut from Set C with the 4×3 die and layering die, and then finished with several 1” squares.

 

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips page pattern #225

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips page pattern #225

Mosaic Moments Pattern #238

Mosaic Moments Pattern #238

Pattern #238 has two pattern sections to be filled with mosaic strips, one that fits the 1 x 3.25 die the other would be for the 1 x 2.125 strip die. I have the 1 x 3.25” die that I used for both sections.

Sunflower and Mosaic Strips page two Pattern #238

Sunflower and Mosaic Strips page two Pattern #238

For the second photo it was trimmed to the 2.125” length before using the die to cut into strips then added to the grid. It may not have been as quick as the right size die and it did require an extra step, but it was a good fix for the time being and still quicker and more precise than hand-cutting the photo into strips.

The Mosaic Strip Die is not just for photos, but also for making multiple strips of paper tiles to match your layout. While this size can be achieved using the smallest tile in Set B (purple), if you have multiple spots to fill (and for this pattern there are four) the strip die is a huge time saver.

The mosaic section in the center of the page could have been filled with one inch squares of the sunflowers, but I had an idea I’ve been hoping to try out and this seemed like the right time. It is a quilt pattern I found online that I thought would be great in a mosaic page someday. It reminds me of leaves on a stalk, it seemed so perfect!

 

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Quilt pattern for corner tile pattern

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Quilt pattern for corner tile pattern

I simplified the idea and chose to hold off on a more complicated variegated progression of colors as suggested in the pattern and worked with the teal and chocolate cream on the cocoa grid. Isn’t the contrast of colors great?

The corner tile die made a batch of teal corner tiles to mount on the chocolate cream paper tiles. There weren’t enough 1” squares in the pack, so I took a couple of paper tiles and the 4×6 1” tile die and cut what I would need for the remaining spots.

 

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips center tile with quote

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips center tile with quote

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Quote by Helen Keller

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips Quote by Helen Keller

The center photo on this page became a place I could add a quote from Helen Keller about sunflowers. I prepared this in my FotoFusion program, but you may find it possible to add text from your photo editing software or another program like PSE or Paint Shop.

I didn’t feel like I needed a journal block to explain anything, I just wanted to enjoy my sunflower photos. Oh, I guess I could have added something about my fascination with them since learning about the Fibonacci spiral and how it shows up throughout nature, like in sea shells and the Milky Way, almost as though God had left His signature on His creation…but that could be for another time! Hmm…another layout to consider?

In the end I have two pages that easily could stand alone and independent of each other, but together show off a good variety of the sunflowers I took that day. I’m tempted to take the center photo from page one and turn it into a full page mosaic…imagine the details!

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips

Sunflowers and Mosaic Strips

Do you have some great landscapes or garden pictures to show off? Think about a page with mosaic strips to add a bit of interest and a change of pace. Why not share with us what you are creating on our Facebook page?

Andrea Fisher

Be sure to check on all the boards on Pinterest and find this pin on our idea boards

Mosaic Moments Strip Die Mosaic Strips

Mosaic Moments Strip Die Mosaic Strips