Bluebird and Morning Glories

Hi, Lois here today with one of CottageCutz new bird stamp/die sets.  It is now available on the website, along with new Halloween and Christmas dies.  Be sure to visit the store and see what they have to offer.  My card today was made using the Bluebird and Morning Glories stamp and die set.

Like Mary Marsh has done so many times, I started creating my card using a Sketch Challenge layout from Splitcoaststampers.  This sketch was from several weeks ago.

Sometimes with brand-new stamps you have a little difficulty getting the ink to stamp evenly on the first go-round.  One of the reasons I love the MISTI is that you can re-stamp an image several times until you're happy with the result.

After getting a good stamped image, I colored the bluebird and morning glories with my Copic markers.  I like to do my coloring while the image is still in the MISTI in case I need to restamp the image after I'm finished.

I then die cut the image and also cut an oval, using the largest Nested Stitched Eyelet Oval die.

Then I cut my cardstock.  The card base is heavyweight white cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4", and the patterned paper is cut at 4" x 5 1/4".  I liked this patterned paper because it picked up several of the different shades of blue from my bluebird.

I then started the construction of my card, adhering the patterned paper directly on the card base but popping the die-cut bluebird on large foam pop dots.

I stamped my sentiment on the edge of the same pale aqua cardstock as my oval and, using a scrap of white cardstock, stamped one of the morning glories, which I colored and fussy cut.

I then adhered the sentiment panel flush with the left side of the card below the oval and popped up the morning glory on a foam pop dot at the end of the strip (where the heart appeared on the original sketch).  And I was finished!

I hope you check out all the new items in the CottageCutz store.   The holidays are just around the corner!!!

CottageCutz dies used on my card are:

Haunted House Card

Hi!

This is Anja again. Today I played with new Halloween dies and made my first Halloween card ever :) Given the fact I only have two Halloween dies I tried to do the most of it. And I had to use my favourite inks again. I made a haunted house scene and a big moon in the background.

For the card I used:

- Cottage Cutz dies (Spooky Bat House, Spooky Tag Toppers, Pierced Circle Set),

- Distress Oxides (Black Soot, Wild Honey, Fossilized Amber, Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet, Seedless Preserves),

- black card base (13,5x13,5 cm),

- watercolor paper (12,8x12,8 cm),

- black and white card stock for die cuts,

- white pigment ink pad,

- water mister,

- paper glue. 

First I die cut the house, phrase and ghost from black and white card stock.

Then I made the background. I colored the night sky with four different shades. I started with the violets on top and then went to black on the bottom.

I cut a circle out of it. 

I colored the moon then. I used a little bit of black on top of the yellow.

Then I spritzed both papers with water. I splashed bigger drops of water on top of the moon background. 

Then I used a bit of yellow around the circle to make it look like the moon is shining. The Oxides are perfect for that. 

And then I just glued all the pieces together and made a little shine to the ghost inside the card. 

And this is my first and simple Halloween card.

Do not forget to check all the new dies. You can still get them with a 25 % discount. 

Enjoy your Sunday and see you again next week. 

Anja Z. 

Christmas Joy Nativity

Hello Scrapping Cottage friends! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit today. It's Mary Marsh here bringing you the Saturday edition of the Blog.

CottageCutz has a new release of Halloween & Christmas dies that are now available in the online store for ordering.  So if you have made a wish list, now is the time to get it fulfilled.

The DT has been showing lots of great samples and will continue to show them over the next couple of months to get your creativity flowing. There are plenty of beautiful new Christmas dies. Something for everyone's tastes.

I love Christmas time and making Christmas cards. Today, I am using one of our new dies Joy Nativity. To me this die represents the essence of Christmas. I love the bold Joy word as well as how the Holy Family is nested in the letter "O".  So let's get started with some details on how I created my card.

Step 1:   This week I started off with a sketch. I found this perfect one on Splitcoaststampers. It wasn't too fussy and it allowed the Joy word to be the center focus.

Step 2: I looked through my paper stash for patterned paper that wouldn't take the focus away from the Joy word and at the same time have a touch of elegance to it. I found this red and gold paper that I thought would work for the elegant look I was after. I paired it up with a red card base that was almost a perfect match.
Maraschino Red Card Base: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
Patterned Paper Layer: 5 3/8" x 4 1/8"

Step 3:  For the oval elements #3 & #4) of the sketch I used the largest nested stitched eyelet die and the 2nd largest oval die. It nested quite nicely in the eyelet die and the eyelet die kept with the elegant look I wanted for this card.

 

Step 4: I cut my Joy word in a gold cardstock. There is such detail in this die. If you click on this photo or any of them really, it will allow you to see the detail I am talking about. Attached to the oval shapes with dimensional adhesive. Being raised a bit from the ovals will give it nice depth.  

 

Step 5: Attached the oval panel to the striped patterned paper layer. For the #2 layer of this sketch I decided to use ribbon. Looked through my ribbon stash and found this pleated ribbon that is a good match for the card base.  I really like adding ribbon on Christmas cards. I think it dresses them up nicely. 

Attached my image panel to the card base and scattered a few sequins to complete this card. I hope I have given you an idea for using this new Joy Nativity die. By keeping your card simple, you could easily mass produce this one for Christmas. See you next Saturday!!!

Dies I used to create card:

 

 

 

 

Warm Wishes

It must be snowman week at Cottage Cutz!  We've had so many adorable snowmen this week and here is one more.  It's Jeanne posting today and although the weather is still warm, I couldn't resist using this cutie in cocoa.  Makes me want a mug of cocoa by the fireplace.

I cut all the pieces using a combination of white and colored card stock.  I used colored stock for the red and green and white for the rest.  I colored those pieces with Copic markers.

Next I cut three pieces of background paper - red pattern is 4 1/8 x 5 3/8, white 1 3/4 x 5 3/8, kraft pattern 1 1/2 x 5 3/8.  They will all be mounted to an A2 base - 4 1/4 x 5/1/2.

To add some depth to the red cup I used Real Red ink and a sponge dauber to add shadows.

In the top of the photo you will see a piece I cut from white card stock to use to mask off the rim of the cup as I sponged it.

One thing I love about this set - that funky looking scarf piece on the left becomes....

a polka dot scarf when put together!  How great is that!?

When it came time to put this together I played with several options.  One was to use snowflakes as a background element.  I really liked that, but I also liked the peppermints.  A family poll was divided - they both looked good.

Ultimately I chose the peppermints because I liked the way they picked up the stripe in the paper I used as a frame.  Had I used different paper I would have gone with the snowflakes.

I hope this inspires you to create this weekend!