CCEE1826 - RELAXATION Challenge

Joanne finishes up her month of CCEE Stampers challenges with the theme of "RELAXATION."  She asks us to create a card that depicts RELAXATION to us.  It can be a place where we are relaxed or what we do to relax.  I know many of us stampers relax by creating works of paper art.  That is what my card depicts.  I created the background paper with a small "stamp" stamp!   And I am happy to say that I have fulfilled my personal challenge of using the same layout for all four of my CCEE cards this month.

Be sure to check out the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team relaxes!

Dad's Tool Box

Today's card is a labor of love.  My late husband was an auto mechanic, who had several large tool chests, chock full of the tools of his trade.  When I saw the new "Just for Guys" release from CottageCutz, and particularly the die called "Dad's Tools," I knew I would have to make a card like this one.

If you've followed my blog at all, you know that I love fun-fold cards.  This card is a variation on a side-step card, but with only one step on the side rather than two.  To start the card, I cut a piece of 110# red cardstock 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  I cut a slit longways down the center (at 2 3/4") from the 3 1/4" mark to the 7 1/2" mark.  Then I scored the left side at 4 1/4" and the right side at 3 1/4", 6 1/2" and 7 1/2".

For the small pieces, I cut cardstock as follows:

Red - 5 1/8" x 5/8", 2 3/8" x 2 7/8", and 2 3/8" x 5/8" (2 pieces)

Silver - 5 1/4" x 3/4", 2 1/8" x 3", and 2" x 2 1/2"

Medium Gray - 2 1/4" x 2 3/4"

On the three small pieces, I drew a horizontal black line at 1/4" and then scored on that same line.

I then adhered Scor-Tape on the sides and bottom of each piece.

The three pieces were then adhered to the silver pieces.  The gray piece was centered on the coordinating silver piece, and the red door piece was vertically scored at 1/4" from the left side and attached over the gray piece, as shown in this photo.  I drew a black line around the gray piece to give a bit more dimension.

These were then glued to the front of my step card.

I drew some lines inside the door to give the effect of the floor and shelf.

I then cut the images from the Dad's Tools die -- in both silver and white, picking out which pieces would be silver and which ones would be colored . . .

. . . and constructed the various tools.

My husband's tool check was on wheels, so using die-cut pieces from both the Classic Car and the Train, Bike and Plane dies, I made some wheels for the bottom of my tool chest.

I added the wheels to the bottom of the front of my card and placed the other die-cut pieces in the drawers and/or cabinet, utilizing one of the unused silver screwdriver handles as a handle on the cabinet door.  Because the wheels were rather small, I decided to reinforce them by cutting a strip of clear acetate packaging about 1" high and long enough to span the space between the wheels.  I added some Scor-Tape to the top and sides.

I adhered the acetate strip between the wheels, stamped an appropriate sentiment on a small piece of silver cardstock and glued it to the front of the cabinet door -- and I was finished.

Here is a photo of the inside of the cabinet.

CottageCutz dies used on this card are:

CCEE1825 - Ocean Challenge

Joanne continues this week with her month of CCEE Stampers challenges.  As many of you may know, the ocean is one of Joanne's favorite places.  She travels to Maine every year; so, in honor of that, she asked us to create a card inspired by the ocean or the beach.  I pulled out a set of nautical stamps I got with a magazine last year to create my card -- again using the same layout as I have used all month for my CCEE cards.  This lighthouse reminds me of summers I spent in South Jersey on Long Beach Island, where the Barnegat Lighthouse is a fixture.  Barnegat Lighthouse doesn't have stripes -- it is red at the top and white at the bottom -- but you get the idea!

Stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog to see how the rest of the team handled Joanne's ocean challenge.

Vintage T-Bird

I've been having lots of fun with the new "Just for Guys" release from CottageCutz.  Making masculine cards is sometimes a challenge, but these dies make it so easy.  Again, I've gone back into the past for the layout of my card -- Sketch Challenge 80 from Splitcoaststampers.

For my purposes, I rotated the layout to horizontal rather than vertical.

To start my card, I cut the die pieces from white cardstock, using the Vintage T-Bird and Vintage Gas Pump dies.  I had to chuckle a bit by the names of these dies.  They may be "vintage" images, but they were "new" when I was a teen-ager!  I guess that makes me "vintage," too!!!

Normally the first time I color these CottageCutz die-cuts, I use the images on the packaging as my guide.

Aside from the card base, I was able to use scraps of cardstock and patterned paper for this layout.

White - 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", scored at 4 1/4"
Dark Blue - 4 1/4" x 3 1/4" and 5 1/2" x 2 1/4"
Light Blue - 4 1/8" x 3 1/8"
Patterned Paper - 5 3/8" x 2 1/8"

I didn't have a piece of the roadmap paper the correct size; but, because the middle of the strip would be behind the focal panel, I was able to cut two smaller pieces.

I stamped the sentiment on the light blue piece of cardstock, leaving plenty of space for the gas pump and car.

I then constructed my card.  I decided that I needed something to ground the images, so I glued a strip of gray cardstock along the bottom of the panel.   The gas pump is glued directly to the background, and the car is popped up on foam dots.

CottageCutz dies used on this card are:

CCEE1824 - Blooming Flowers Challenge

Joanne continues as hostess for the CCEE Stampers this week.  She tells us that spring came late where she lives and that she is still enjoying the blooming of flowers.  She asks us to create a card with multiple flowers.  I pulled out a couple of relatively new dies from CottageCutz and made this pitcher full of flowers.  I continued my personal challenge of using the same layout this week as the one I used last week.

Check out the CCEE Stampers blog for some more spring blossoms.

Have Fun -- On the Road

I'm so excited with the new "Just for Guys" release at CottageCutz.  Included in this set are 14 dies perfect for that masculine card you've been struggling with!  I used two of them on my card today.  Again I looked back at an old Sketch Challenge layout on Splitcoaststampers.

I used this layout for my card, but I rotated it 180 degrees so that the larger area is at the bottom rather than at the top.

When I saw the Automotive Icons die, I thought I could use the die-cut pieces to create a background -- so that's exactly what I did.  I put a two-sided adhesive sheet on the back of a 6" x 6" piece of black cardstock and cut out the images.

In order to get my top layer balanced, I made a template out of some copy paper . . .

. . . and then cut my cardstock, as follows:

White - 8 1/" x 5 1/2", 3 3/4" x 5"
Black - 4" x 5 1/4"

Using the copy paper template, I cut a lime green piece and a white piece, trimming the white piece slightly smaller.

I then attached most of the Automotive Icon pieces down the side of the smaller white panel, creating my "patterned paper" background.

Now it was time to cut my Build-a-Sign pieces.  After I decided which one of the cute designs I wanted to use for my card, I cut out the pieces using scraps of colored cardstock.

I then colored them with Copic markers to give them a bit more texture . . .

. . . and created my focal layer, adding the car silhouette from the Automotive Icons, and stamping the sentiment.

Here again is my finished card.

CottageCutz "Just for Guys" dies used on this card are:

CCEE1823 - Virgin Stamp

Joanne starts off her month as hostess for the CCEE Stampers with a great challenge.  She asked us to pull out those stamps we had to have but have yet to ink them up.   Back in April I was at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Orlando and bought several stamp sets.  One of them that hadn't seen ink is a cute set from The Stamps of Life.  Today is the day this cute little guy got inky!

I have set a personal challenge for myself this month.  I will be using the same layout for all four of my CCEE Stampers cards this month.

Stop over at the CCEE Stampers blog to see some more no-longer-virgin stamps.

Tagged Orchids

While waiting for receipt of the "Just for Guys" release from CottageCutz, the design team is still spotlighting dies from the Mother's Day release.  My card today features the Orchids die and came together very quickly.

I started by cutting the orchid pieces from white cardstock.

I colored the pieces using Copic markers and constructed my orchid plant.

I then cut the card base as follows:  8 1/2" x 5 1/2" white cardstock, scored at 4 1/4"; 4" x 5 1/4" patterned paper; and the tag from white cardstock 2" x 4 1/2".

I cut the corners of the tag with a punch then punched a hole in the top center of the tag, threading some baker's twine through the hole.

I then stamped the "happy birthday" sentiment at the bottom of the tag and glued on the orchids.

I adhered the tag to the card at an angle, using large foam pop dots and finished off the card by adding a few enamel dot stickers.

Be sure to check out the CottageCutz/Scrapping Cottage website for the new "Just for Guys" dies, which are on sale at 25% off for a limited time.

The die used on my card is: