CCEE1748 - Celebrate Babies or Weddings

For her last CCEE Stampers challenge this month, Joanne asks us to make either a baby card OR a wedding card.  We can choose.  I used the Watercolor Imprints technique for the background of my wedding card.

To make this card, I swiped some Ranger Distress ink (in this case, Worn Lipstick and Squeezed Lemonade) across a piece of watercolor paper.  After spritzing it with water, I laid down a doily stencil over the inked watercolor paper -- weighing down the edges so that it doesn't move.  When the ink dried, When you lift off the stencil, the design will appear on the watercolor paper.  Then it was just a matter of stamping the sentiment with Versafine black ink and adhering the CottageCutz die-cut silhouette.  I was really happy with the way this card turned out because watercoloring is not my forte, and I don't use watercolor techniques often.

Stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more baby and/or wedding cards.

Chicken Noodle Soup

CottageCutz/Scrapping Cottage has a brand-new release of Get Well dies which they debuted on Black Friday.  There are 12 dies in the release, and all of them are too cute!  The entire bundle are being offered at a special price, plus you can buy individual dies at a discount also.  My card today uses two of them, Chicken Noodle Soup and Get Well Phrase.

To begin my card I cut cardstock for the base:

Red - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4"
Black - 4" x 5 1/4"
White - 3 7/8" x 5 1/8"
Gingham patterned paper - 3 7/8" x 1 1/2"

I have found that sometimes it is much easier to cut all the various pieces of a die from white cardstock and then color them.  That is what I did with the Chicken Noodle Soup die.  The sentiment die was cut from black cardstock, which I had backed with a double-sided adhesive sheet.

Using the illustration on the packaging, I colored the various die-cut pieces with Copic markers -- with the exception of the soup can and the spoon.  These I colored with a silver Wink of Stella brush.  I didn't think it was necessary to color the entire soup can because only the top and bottom would eventually show.

Then I constructed the chicken, soup bowl, and soup can.

After I put my card together, I decided that the "CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP" didn't show up very well; so I used an XS Faber-Castell black pen to go over the words.  I was much happier with this.  I then added the three enamel dots.

I was really impressed with all the parts of this die -- down to the steam and the noodles!

CottageCutz dies used on my card are:

CCEE1747 - "Pinspired" Cascading Card

Joanne Grzelak continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers this week and asked us to make a Christmas or New Year's card for our stash.  I decided to combine this challenge with this month's Scor-Pal "Pinspired" card.

You can get so much inspiration perusing the photos on Pinterest.  The Scor-Pal design team has an on-going project, in which we find a card on Pinterest and use it as inspiration for a new card.  That's what I have done today.  I chose this Cascading Card by Chris Peterson as my inspiration.  It originally appeared on her blog, the Calla Lily Studio Blog.   As Christmas is right around the corner, I changed Chris's very feminine card into a Christmas Card.

To make this card, you start with a piece of cardstock 8" x 12".  On the 8" side, mark 5 1/2" on one end and 2 1/2" on the other; then cut the paper on the diagonal.   Unless your cutter is big enough, it is easier to cut it with an Exacto knife and a metal ruler, which is what I did.  I found that anchoring the cardstock with a couple pieces of washi tape kept it from sliding during the cutting process.

Score each piece at 4" and 8".

Measure up 2 3/4" from the bottom of the taller end and make a mark.  Measure up 1 1/4" from the bottom of the shorter end and make a mark.  Draw a line between the two marks.

On one piece of cardstock, cut DOWN to the pencil line at 2" and 10" -- and cut UP to the pencil line at 6".  On the other piece of cardstock, cut UP to the pencil line at 2" and 10" -- and cut DOWN to the pencil line at 6".

Erase the pencil lines.   Stack the two pieces together and slot them together by sliding the cut lines over one another.  I found it easier if you slotted the two center cut lines first and then maneuvered the cardstock and slotted the end cut lines.  Fold OUT at the score lines to form the cascade.  Using a bone folder, give the edges a sharp score.

You can then decorate the card as you wish.  I cut pieces of patterned paper to cover the side sections, as follows:

Front panel - 2 3/4" x 3 3/4" - fold in half and cut the top diagonally from the center to 2 1/4" on each side.

Six panels 1 3/4" wide, cut as follows:

2 panels 3 1/8" high

2 panels 4 1/4" high

2 panels 5 3/8" high

Each panel is then trimmed diagonally by 1/4" from the outside to the inside, as shown in the photo.

I then made two inserts, using die cuts and patterned paper.  They are 3 7/8" wide and can be as short or tall as you prefer.  These will slip inside the two open sections of the card.

Here is a photo of the card and the inserts.

I hope you give this fun technique a try.  And be sure to check out our Scor-Pal Scoring Projects and Ideas on Pinterest.

If you'd like to see some more holiday cards, check out the CCEE Stampers blog.

Thank You, Doctor

It's almost Thanksgiving -- and with Thanksgiving comes Black Friday.  The Scrapping Cottage/CottageCutz is celebrating Black Friday with a new release of 12 Get Well-related dies.  They will be available at special pricing for the bundle.  The one I used for my card today is called Medical Bag.  It's not actually a "get-well" card, but rather a thank-you card you might send your doctor for a job well done.

To start my card I cut a piece of heavyweight white cardstock 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and scored it at 4 1/4".  In addition, I cut a piece of red cardstock 5 1/4" x 4 1/8" and a piece of black and white plaid patterned paper 4" x 5 1/8".

The reason I left only 1/8" difference in the layers on my card is because I wanted to cut a frame with the square wide-frame die, and I needed larger than normal base layers.  I also cut a piece of white cardstock slightly smaller than the frame and the "thanks" sentiment die.

I then added strips of foam tape behind the frame.

Now I was ready to cut the pieces from the Medical Bag die.  I've embraced a "tool" that Janet Axtman (another designer for CottageCutz) introduced us to in one of her videos -- a fun foam sheet wrapped with Press 'n Seal.  This is marvelous to keep all those little die-cut pieces from getting lost.

I sponged a little bit of darker blue on the caduceus and constructed the doctor's bag and stethoscope.  As I was putting the stethoscope together, I realized that the largest circle should have been gray, not black.  So I cut another circle from the gray cardstock.  I then stamped the sentiment onto the white panel inside my frame.

All that was left now was to complete my card.  I glued the "thanks" at the top of the card and the completed frame below it . . . and I was done.

Be sure to check out the CottageCutz website on Black Friday.  Here's a video showing all the dies that will be available.

CottageCutz dies used on this card are:

CCEE1746 - Happy Birthday, Joanne!

Joanne continues hosting the CCEE Stampers challenge and tells us that today is her birthday.  She asked us to make a feminine birthday card with flowers.  I recently found this layered hibiscus stamp set and wanted to give it a try.  Today was the perfect day!!!  And I used the Triple Stamping Technique again.

Happy Birthday, Joanne!  I'm sure there are lots more floral birthday cards over on the CCEE Stampers blog for you to admire.

Happy Holidays

I saw a tutorial for a variation on the Triple Stamping Technique last week and wanted to give it a try.  I'm not sure what it's called, but it was rather interesting.  For lack of another name, I'll call it Triple Embossing.  (My apologies to whomever developed this technique for using what might not be the correct nomenclature.)  Here's my card:

To start my card, I cut several layers of cardstock:

Gray - 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" (scored at 4 1/4"), 3 1/4" x 4 1/2", 2 1/4" x 3 1/2"

White - 4" x 5 1/4", 3" x 4 1/4", 2" x 3 1/4"

Using repositionable tape, layer the white pieces of cardstock, centering each piece on top of the next larger one.  This stack of cardstock will be placed in an embossing folder.

I ran the embossing folder though my Cuttlebug, being careful not to move the various pieces.

I removed the embossed pieces of cardstock from the embossing folder; and, while the pieces were still adhered to each other, I lightly sponged ink across the top of them.   This brought out the pattern of the embossing quite nicely.

I then separated the panels and adhered them to the coordinating pieces of gray cardstock.

I didn't want to take away from the embossed/inked pattern on the panels, so I decided to add just a sentiment.  I cut the sentiment "Happy Holidays" from one of the new Christmas CottageCutz dies, Happy Holidays Greeting.

I layered the panels together (lining up the embossed areas), glued the die cuts to the center of my card, and I was finished.  You can see how the various snowflakes transverse the panels.  One of them (the large one on the far right) actually is on all three panels.

I really like the result achieved on my card and will definitely use this technique again.    The CottageCutz die used on this card is:

CCEE1745 - Masculine Cards

Joanne told the rest of the CCEE Stampers that she never has enough masculine cards in her stash, so she asked us to make a masculine card of any type.  I used the Triple Stamping Technique to make my Mr. Fix-It card.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more masculine cards.

Sweet Treats Screen Card

It's hard to believe Christmas is right around the corner.  I don't know if you're like me, but I make Christmas cards all year long.  It keeps the panic at bay!  I have a Christmas card today made with a fun new die from CottageCutz, Cocoa and Sweet Treats.

To start my card, I cut my cardstock as follows:

White - 5 1/2" x 10 1/2"
Green - 3 1/2" x 4" (3 panels)
Patterned paper - 3 1/4" x 3 3/4" (3 panels)

I scored the long white panel at 3 1/2" and 7", creating three sections.  Using a Martha Stewart snowflake border punch, I punched along the top of the white panel.  I then lined up the top of the largest Rounded Square die along the bottom edge of the first panel and cut out the "legs" of my screen.  I then duplicated this process on the second and third panels.

I then constructed my screen by gluing the patterned paper onto the green panels, which I then glued to the screen.

Then came the fun.  I die-cut all the pieces from the Cocoa and Tasty Treats die -- some from colored cardstock and the majority from white cardstock.

I then colored the white pieces with Copic markers and constructed my images.  Note the top of the cup for the first panel.  It is cut from a small piece of vellum.

All that remained was to glue the cups and treats to the panels and stamp the sentiments.

Be sure to check out all the dies in the new Christmas release over on the CottageCutz website.  Dies used on my card today are:

CCEE1744 - Simple Thanks

Joanne starts her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers by trying to keep it simple.  The holidays are coming, and times will be busy.  This will be a month of celebrations, so this week she asked us to make a Thanksgiving card or a card of thanks.  I stenciled the burlap panel down the side and added some CottageCutz die cuts to make my card.

See how the rest of the team handled this challenge by stopping over at the CCEE Stampers blog.