Bluebell Shadows

It's Monday, my day on the CottageCutz blog.  In case you haven't seen them, CottageCutz has a whole new line of Expressions Plus dies.  Be sure to check all 35 of the words in the CottageCutz store.  My card today uses one of them - thanks, as well as a couple of other dies.

To start my card, I cut a panel of heavyweight white cardstock 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and scored it at 4 1/4".  Then I cut a piece of navy cardstock 4" x 5 1/4" and a piece of patterned paper 3 7/8" x 5 1/8".

I learned a little trick on Facebook several weeks ago.  If you are cutting a sentiment die-cut, just run a strip of your cardstock through your Xyron sticker maker . . .

. . . and then cut your sentiment.  It will now have glue on the back of it and be much easier to adhere to your card.

I then cut all the rest of my die-cuts for the card.  I planned to make a shadow for my CottageCutz Springtime Bluebell Flowers, so I cut two of them -- one in pale blue and one in navy.

I took the inner oval from the CottageCutz Oval Doily & Frame die and sponged on some pale blue ink.  This gave a little more dimension to the center section.

Then I was ready to construct my card.  I glued down the doily pieces and adhered the sentiment at the top.  I then glued down the navy bluebells and offset the pale blue ones on top, creating a "shadow" effect.

CottageCutz dies used on this card are:

Double Zig-Zag Card

If you have visited my blog before, you are probably aware that I love making fun-fold cards.  The Scor-Pal team has a project in which we use a project pinned to the Scor-Pal Scoring Projects and Ideas board and be inspired to make a similar project.  I chose this double zig-zag card which originally was posted to mariannespapir.blogspot.com.  Here is my card.

Cut two pieces of green cardstock 6" x 10".  Score the panels at 4", 6", and 8".

To make the decorative borders on the front of the card, I used border dies from Heartfelt Creations and laid them on the scored panels (starting at the top of the 4" scoreline) and taped them down with removable tape.  The two 4" panels will be layered over each other, so be sure to place the dies correctly, as shown on the photo.

After running the panels through your die-cutting machine, fold them as shown in the photo.

On the right-side panel, cut a flap approximately 3/4" on each side from the bottom upward approximately 5".  This could actually be any size flap, based on the sentiment you will stamp under the flap.  Score between the two slits.

Cut two pieces of patterned paper 3 3/4" x 5 3/4".  Glue one piece to the 4" section of the left-side panel, leaving no border at the bottom.  Cut additional pieces of patterned paper to fit the 2" wide panels.  The tops of the patterned paper panels should be sloped to correspond with the card base.  The piece of patterned paper adhered to the right-side 4" panel should be slit and scored similarly as the card base.   Adhere the 4" x 6" panels together, with the right-side panel on top, as shown, making sure the flap is not adhered. 

Decorate the flap as desired.  I stamped and cut a dove from the Heartfelt Creations Flowering Dogwoods & Dove set.

At this point, decide how you are going to decorate the front of your card. I stamped and shaped some dogwoods and leaves from the Heartfelt Creations Flowering Dogwoods set.  Cut a piece of white cardstock 2" x 4 1/4" and adhere under the flap.  Stamp the sentiment.  My sentiment is from Stampendous Birthday Wish stamp set.

For the belly band, cut a piece of cardstock 1 1/2" x 10".  While holding the belly band at the front of the card, fold at the edges and glue at the back.  Decorate as desired.

I hope you will give this type of card a try.

CCEE1721 - Celebrate the C.C.E.E. Team

As my last challenge for the month of May, I suggested that the CCEE Stampers celebrate the CCEE challenge team.  I asked them to include on their cards items to represent each one of the letters in "our name" - C.C.E.E.

My items were as follows:

C - Cat

C- Chicks

E - Elegant Eggplant cardstock

E - Eyelets

In addition I had an extra C or two (CottageCutz dies) and E (I gave this card to my cat-loving friend for Easter.  I stamped "Happy Easter" on the inside.).

Stop on over at the CCEE Stampers blog to find some more celebration of US!

Hello, Fishies!

Clean-and-simple cards are not my usual style, but every once in a while I go outside my comfort zone.  Today is one of those days.  CottageCutz has a new line of Expressions Plus dies, which are very nice, script words.  My CAS card today has one of them.

Supplies used on this card are:

Heavyweight white cardstock 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 4 1/4"

Lightweight white cardstock for masking

Scraps of orange and blue cardstock for fish and sentiment

Sponge daubers

Fine-tip glue dispenser

Black marker

Foam pop dots

Ranger Distress ink - Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Spiced Marmalade

CottageCutz dies - Hello (phrase), Happy Fish 1, Happy Fish 2, Double-Stitched Circle Set

Janet, the video artist for the CottageCutz design team, has created a U-Tube video showcasing some of the other Expressions Plus dies.

I cut and scored my heavyweight white cardstock and centered the mask piece slightly below center.  This mask was actually the negative piece left from when I had cut a circle for a previous card.  I anchored it with a couple of Post-It notes and then sponged on  the Tumbled Glass ink using a sponge dauber.

Using the same sponge dauber, I added some areas of Salty Ocean ink to give some depth to the water area.  As you can see in the photo, after inking up the dauber I sponged off a bit of the color onto the Post-It note.  Better to have to add color to the circle area than to try to remove it!

Then I cut my fish and sentiment from the scraps of orange and blue cardstock.

Once again using the sponge daubers, I added some texture to the two fish around their fins and gills.

Using the fine-tip glue applicator, I carefully added glue to the back of the sentiment.

Similarly, I added glue to the back of the blue fish.  I also adhered a small foam pop-dot on the back one of the fins. 

I repeated the process on the orange fish and adhered both of the fish and the sentiment to the card.  I added a few drops of glue to make the bubbles coming from their mouths and drew in their eyes with a black marker.

This close up shows how the fins with the foam dots stand out from the card.

Here again is my card, which I thoroughly enjoyed creating!

CottageCutz dies used on this card are;

I would invite you to step outside your comfort zone and create a different type of card today.

CCEE1720 - Fun Fold Card

As you probably know, I love making fun-fold cards.  So I asked the CCEE Stampers to make a card for today's challenge that has more than one fold.  It didn't have to be complicated, just more than just a "fold in half" card.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see if they met the challenge with a simple or complicated card.

Koala Shaker Card

CottageCutz recently released a whole batch of baby-related dies.  One of them is a cute koala, which I used on my shaker card today.

Supplies used on this card are:

Blue cardstock - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", scored at 2 1/8" and 6 3/8"
Blue cardstock 4 1/4" x 4 1/4"
White cardstock approx. 3 3/4" x 3 1/2"
Patterned paper (2 panels) 1 7/8" x 5 1/4"
Scrap of patterned paper approx. 3 1/4" x 2"
White fun foam
Acetate
Copic markers (B0000, B60, BG32, BG34,Y21, and 100)
Ranger inks - Tea Dye and Antique Linen
Various sequins and seed beads
2 black mini brads
Liquid glue, foam pop dots, and tape runner
CottageCutz dies - Baby Koala w/ Blanket, Pierced Wide Circle Frame Set,  Double-Stitched Circle Set, Double-Stitched Oval Set

When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with this cute koala, I thought he would look cute framed in a shaker card.  To start the card, I cut the koala from white cardstock and sponged him with Tea Dye and Antique Linen ink.  The blanket and baby bottle were colored with Copic markers.

Then I cut the card base and shaker pieces.  I tried an experiment and instead of using foam tape to create my shaker box, I cut three layers of white fun foam with the Wide Circle Frame die. 

As an afterthought (and not shown), I decided that the koala would look better if he were sitting on a little rug.  So I cut another piece of patterned paper using an oval die.  I layered the three pieces of fun foam using liquid glue, glued the white circle to the bottom, and let it sit until the glue was dried.  At the same time I glued the blue frame to the acetate circle.   I adhered the two 1 7/8" x 5 1/4" panels of patterned paper to each side of the "gate."

After the glue had dried, I brushed the insides of the foam with some baby powder to make it less "sticky" (just in case some of the glue seeped out from between the layers and glued the shaker frame to the card base -- just on one side.

I constructed the koala using foam pop dots and glue.  It was at this point that I realized that he really should be sitting on a rug and cut one from another piece of patterned paper, which I glued to the inside of the acetate.

Then I poured the various sequins and seed beads into the shaker box and glued on the acetate circle.   I adhered the 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock to the inside of the card and stamped a sentiment (not shown).  I must admit that, even though I had rubbed the baby powder around the inside edge of the glued fun foam, I did get some errant sequins and beads stick to the sides.  I may have to rethink that in the future.

I did enjoy making this shaker card and hope you might give it a try.

CottageCutz dies used on my card are:

CCEE1719 - Wildflower Week

Today on the CCEE Stampers blog we're celebrating Wildflower Week, the second week in May.  As hostess, I asked the team to include some flowers on their cards.  I made a rather clean and simple card for the challenge.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team handled this challenge.

Noah's Ark Bendi Card

I recently saw a U-Tube video on a variation of a Bendi Card, with just a little different look.  Instead of the two narrow panels crossing each other, they just met in the middle.  I was intrigued by this variation and decided to try to make one myself.  I used one of the new baby dies from CottageCutz called Noah's Ark.

Supplies used on this card:

White cardstock - 4 1/4" x 11", scored at 5 1/2"

Light blue cardstock - 4" x 5 3/8"

Aqua cardstock - 4" x 5 3/8", two strips 2 1/8" x 4 3/4", two panels 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"

Patterned paper - 4" x 5 1/4"

Pieces of brown, gray, and white cardstock for the die-cuts

Wave border punch

Various inks and markers

Sponge daubers

White gel pen

Foam pop dots

2 small washers

CottageCutz dies - Noah's Ark, Congratulations

To begin my card I cut all the cardstock I would need.

Score the white piece in half and glue the light blue cardstock to the upper section (sky) and the 4" x 5 3/8" aqua piece (ocean) to the lower section.  Then using the wave punch, punch a border on the two 2 1/8" x 4 3/4" strips and score them at 1/2" and 4 1/4".   Sponge along the bottom with Ranger Distress Salty Ocean ink and run a white gel pen along each of the waves.

Adhere some Scor-Tape on the 1/2" sections and adhere to the upper section of the card, just above the score line to allow some leeway for the fold.   Cut two strips from one of the 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" pieces of aqua cardstock and punch along the top, forming the waves on the background.  Sponge as above and apply white gel pen to the waves.   Trim to 4" wide.  Glue to the background.  Using scissors, cut at the front score lines on each of the "wave" strips -- down halfway from the top on one of them and up halfway from the bottom on the other.  This will allow the two panels to lock into each other.   Here is the completed card base.

Now the fun begins.  Die cut the pieces of the ark.  I cut the ark itself, as well as the monkey, the owl, and the cow, from brown and/or tan cardstock; the hippo and elephant from gray cardstock; the wave from aqua cardstock; and the rest from white.  Then I colored the various pieces with either distress ink or Copic markers.

This part was actually the hardest -- constructing each of the animals and placing them in the ark.

Next, cut the sentiment from brown cardstock.  To make it easier to adhere to the card, I ran a strip of brown cardstock through my Xyron X sticker maker and removed the protective clear sheet before I ran the die through my die-cutting machine. 

To finish off the outside of the card, I adhered the other 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of aqua cardstock to the back of the upper section and then applied the patterned paper.   This hides the two tabs on the back from the "wave" pieces. As this is actually the back of the card, I didn't think it was necessary to put any kind of sentiment or design on it.

When I put the card together, the back was rather heavy and tipped the card back.  After some thought, I found two flat washers, which I adhered to the inside bottom of the two "wave" panels.  This allowed for a balance in weight and allowed the card to stand upright.

I then adhered the sentiment on the lower section in front of the "waves," and I was done.

This was such a fun card to make.

CottageCutz dies used were: