Enjoy every moment

Hi, Janja here!

Nature is these days breathtaking with beautiful color spectrum of blooming flowers. It is therefore not unusual that I once again reused beautiful CottageCutz stamps and dies - Birthday Flowers.

Supplies:
- CottageCutz stamps and dies: Narcissus Flower - December, Larkspur Flower - July, Garden Gnomes 1 (Hello),  Wildflowers 2 (dragonfly), Fancy Floral Lace Border, Oval Set, Stitched Oval Set, Stitched Rectangle Set, Stitched Circle set
- kraft and white card base: 4.25 x 5.5" (10,8 x 14 cm), folded
- patterned paper: 4 x 5.2" (10,2 x 13,2 cm)
- green cardstock: 4 x 5.2" (10,2 x 13,2 cm)
- patterned paper: 3.74 x 5" (9,5 x 12,7 cm)
- Distress inks: Tattered Rose, Picket Raspberry, Blueprint Sketch, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge
- watercolor paper

Stamp flowers on watercolor paper. After coloring, cut out flowers with matching die.

If we do not have appropriate colored cardstock, use Distress inks and color white cardstock.

Cut out paper strip with stitched rectangle die. Fix the die on the edge of cardstock, and cut out one line with stitches. Then move the die, and cut it out again.

From white cardstock cut out two lace border. Shadow them gently with Distress ink - Tattered Rose.

Stamp and emboss sentiment with white powder. Attach lace.

Cut out two ovals from kraft cardstock and patterned paper.

Trim patterned paper and card base.

Add the dragonfly and the card is completed.

With circle die cut out a hole in a patterned paper. Fasten patterned paper to a green cardstock, and put them together on a white card front.

Stamp and color flowers. Cut them out with the matching die. Attach flowers in a circle. Use self-adhesive foam pads. Stamp "Hello" on a strip, and attach it to the background with eyelet. 

Thanks for joining me today!

Ben on a Wiper Card

Lois here today with another fun-fold card  -- a wiper card -- using several dies and a die/stamp set from CottageCutz.  I love interactive cards that provide a small surprise.

Supplies for this card are as follows:

Two strips of blue cardstock 4 1/4" x 8 1/2"
One strip of blue cardstock 1 1/2" x 3"
Five pieces of red cardstock - 1 1/4" x 4" (2), 4" x 5 1/4" (1), 3" x 4 1/4" (1), 1 3/8" square (1)
Three pieces of red checked paper - 1 1/8" x 3 7/8", 3 7/8" x 5 1/8", 1 1/4" square
Three pieces of white cardstock 1 1/8" x 3 7/8", 3 3/4" x 5", 7/8" round
One scrap of green cardstock - 5"
CottageCutz dies & stamps - Ben w/Puppy, Tree Stump and Log for Peekers, Campsite, Spring Grass
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Distress Vintage Photo
Copic markers
7/8" circle punch
Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape, Tape runner, Foam pop dots

To construct the card:

Score both of the 4 1/4" x 8 1/2" strips at 1 1/2" and 3".

Fold both strips as shown

Place the 1 1/2" x 3" strip as shown, with the right-hand corner at the one-inch mark.  Score diagonally at 1".

Place a small piece of Scor-Tape at the score line.

Place Scor-Tape on the small outside section of both strips, as shown.

Place the small strip  in the left-hand small section so that the diagonal score line is just below the top of the card.

Adhere the two panels as shown, with the small "wiper" strip at the top left.

When the card is closed, the "wiper" will fold down in between the two sections.  You can now decorate the front of the card.

To complete the card I stamped and cut the various images needed.  As you can see, I used the Ben w/Puppy stamp/die set, as well as several other dies -- Spring Grass, Tree Stump and Log for Peekers, and Campsite.  I colored Ben and the puppy with Copic markers and sponged on some brown distress ink to the log.

                                      

Then cut the various pieces of cardstock and patterned paper as described above, stamping the sentiment "Hi" on the white circle.

                                    

Here is my completed card, both closed . . .

                                    

. . . and, when you pull the left-hand tab, opened.

This is a fun, interactive card; and I hope you'd like to try to make one yourself.

CottageCutz stamps and dies used on this card are:

Spring Scene with Cute Animals

Hi everyone! It's Anja here and this is my first post on the Cottage Cutz blog. I'm very honored and happy to be able to share my work with you for the next six months.

For my first post I decided to combine a few different dies and made a spring scene with some cute animals.

I used:

- Cottage Cutz dies (Forest Critters, Kitty with Spring Chicks, Stitched Rounded Square Set, Spring Bunny w/ Flowers, Hollow Tree w/ Forest Friends, Lighthouse w/Clouds)

- white card stock base (13x34 cm, folded at 8,5 cm and 25,5 cm)

- white card stock strip (4x36 cm, folded at 8,5 cm and 25,7 cm)

- white paper for die cuts

- Distress Ink pads: Peeled paint, Mowed lawn, Barn Door, Shabby Shutters, Stormy Sky, Spun Sugar, Squeezed Lemonade, Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Vintage Photo, Weathered Wood, Tea Dye, Pumice Stone

- patterned paper (12,6x16,6 cm, 2x 12,6x8,3 cm)

- white and black pen

- paper glue

First I cut all the little elements from white paper.

Then I colored them with Distress Inks and glued them together. I made the eyes with black pen and bunny and mouse ears and nose with white pen.

I then folded the white card stock base at 8,5 and 25,5 cm and glued on some patterned paper. I applied some Peeled Paint Distress Ink on the edges of patterned paper.

Then I colored the sky and grass with a sponge and Distress Inks. And glued all the pieces together.

In the end I made a strip that holds the card closed. I cut tree stitched squares and decorated them with the cute little snail that goes well with the patterned paper.

Cottage Cutz dies I used:

Thank you for stopping by. I wish you a beautiful Sunday!

Anja Z. 

Birthday Ben + Sketch

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.

A couple of months ago there was a new release of the cutest little bear stamps & coordinating die sets. Adventures of Chloe & Ben have been featured by many of the Design Team. If you haven't seen them before take a look back on the Blog.

Today for your viewing pleasure, I am showcasing one of those dies.  I present Ben, Up Up and Away. He will be the star of my birthday card. So without further delay, let's get started on how I created my card.

Step 1: I used Tuxedo Black (Memento) ink on  X-Press It Blending cardstock to stamp the image. I always stamp 2 just in case I make a mistake in coloring.  Used both Copic Markers and Prismacolor pencils to color and this cardstock works great with both these mediums.

Copics used: R27, R29 (red), B93, B95 (blue), YG 41, YG 45 (green) and R20 (blush)
Prismacolor Pencils: PC1082, PC947 (brown) and PC928 (blush)

After coloring I cut Ben out with the coordinating die. It's included in the set.

 

Step 2: My layout decision was next. I looked at a couple of different sketches and finally settled on this one. It allowed me to use some bright and festive patterned paper and also had a separate layer where Ben would have the center stage.

When I work with a sketch, I print it out and then figure out the sizes of my panels. My card base and first layer are the easiest.
Turquoise Card Base: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
1st Patterned Paper layer: 5 3/8" x 4 1/8"

Then I look at my printout and guesstimate how much of a border will be around the next layer. In this case, I thought 1/2" was about right. I cut a piece of scrap paper to lay it down and check to make sure it works. Then I actually cut the cardstock and patterned paper I will use.
Neon Pink cardstock layer: 4 5/8" x 3 3/8"
Striped Patterned Paper Layer: 4 3/8" x 3 1/8"

For the image panel, I again take a piece of scrap paper and fold it roughly and make sure the borders on my card look like the borders on the printout. Then I used the 2nd largest CottageCutz stitched stitched rounded rectangle die and cut my panel. I stamped my birthday sentiment in an emerald green ink.
ImagePanel: 2 5/8" x 3 5/8"

For the long rectangle piece running the width of the card, I used turquoise cardstock. I thought of ribbon but I didn't have any turquoise that worked on this card. The sketch has a bow on this panel. But, I decided to use the CottageCutz Number Candles die and add a "3" for this element. I need a birthday card for a 3 year old. So this worked out perfectly for me.

Step 3: Now that everything is cut and stamped, it's time to assemble my card. I used dimensional adhesive on the image panel and also on Ben. It adds depth and interest to your card. I did the same for the #3.

And that is my card for this Saturday. I hope I have given you another idea of a way to use these new stamp & die combo sets. See you next Saturday!

Dies I used to Create Card: