Happy Bee-Day!

Hi, Lois here today wishing you a very Merry Christmas.  I hope you are enjoying your day with family and friends.  I'm happy you took a little time out of this special day to check out my card, which is made with several CottageCutz dies.  The stamp/die combos that were released last spring will be ON SALE right after Christmas, so I thought it would be appropriate to use one of them today.  Be sure to check out the CottageCutz store for the sale.

The focal image of my relatively simple birthday card is Bumblebee Chloe.

To start my card, I stamped Chloe onto some white cardstock . . .

. . . and colored her with Copic markers.  I used a clear Wink of Stella brush on both her wings and the wings of the little bee buzzing around the daisy.

I then die-cut her out using the coordinating framelit die.

I cut out the card base and circle elements as follows:

Card base - heavyweight black 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Patterned paper - 5 1/4" x 4"

Black circle - largest Stitched Scallop circle

White circle - 2nd largest Double-stitched circle

Using Versafine Onyx Black ink, I stamped the sentiment on the patterned paper and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

I then scored the black card base at 4 1/4" and constructed my card, adding a strip of black and white ribbon behind the layered circles.

I adhered three large foam pop dots to the back of my die-cut of Chloe . . .

. . . and placed her in the center of the circle.  And my card was complete.

CottageCutz dies used on my card are;

Don't forget to check out the After Christmas Sale on the CottageCutz website starting tomorrow, December 26.

Happy day

Hi, Janja here!

For today's card, I have chosen the bear Ben. It is from the new CottageCutz release - Chloe and Ben's  Adventures.
You will surely love these cute bears.

Supplies:
- CottageCutz stamp & die sets: Ben with Puppy, Garden Gnomes 2, Fancy Pocket Plus (button), Rounded Rectangle Set, Stitched Rounded Rectangle Set
- white card base: A2 - 4.25" x 5.5" (10,8 x 14 cm) 
- patterned paper: 4 x 5" (10,2 x 13,2 cm)
- patterned paper: 2.1 x 5" (5,3 x 13,2 cm)
- watercolor paper
- white and colored cardstock
- Distress ink: Antique Linen, Faded Jeans, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Festive Berries

Stamp the bear on a watercolor paper, color it and cut it out with the die.
On strip from white cardstock stamp Happy day with coffee Archival ink. You will find it in stamp & die set - Garden Gnomes 2.

Trim patterned papers, glue them with double-sided adhesive tape and attach to the card base.
Cut out two rounded rectangles with dies (the 5th and largest die in a row from the middle of the set) from white cardstock and patterned paper.

Attach the bear with puppy, with self-adhesive foam pads on the background. Also, add a white strip with red heart.

I would like to show you another two cards with Bumblebee Chloe and Bumblebee Ben. I created them for friends with Slovenian sentiment - plenty of happiness.

Thank you for coming over. Have a nice day.

Shaker Money Holder

Hi, Lois here with a fun project.  I'm sure we all look for creative ways to give money as a gift.  Last fall during the Splitcoaststampers Falliday Fest, one of the tutorials presented was a shaker money holder.  At the time, I didn't have a Fuse tool; so I used sticky tape.  I received a Fuse tool for Christmas, so I'm trying it again -- this time using one of the new CottageCutz stamp/die sets featuring Ben and Chloe.

Supplies used on this project are:

Plastic page protector

Sequins (black, gold, white)

Ribbon

We R Memory Keepers Fuse Tool  (if you don't have one, sticky tape will work)

CottageCutz dies - Bumblebee Chloe, Sweet Valentines

White and Yellow cardstock

Scor-tape and foam adhesive circles

Copic markers

Wink of Stella

Xyron sticker maker

To begin my project, I cut one corner of the 8 1/2" x 11" page protector down to 6" x 7 1/2".

If you've never used a Fuse tool before, you should probably practice a little bit before attempting a project.  You need to let it warm up for about 10 minutes to achieve the proper temperature.   The tool comes with a 6 1/2" ruler/guide, but I needed to fuse the 7 1/2" side; so I used a longer metal ruler.

This made a pocket, which I folded in half, using a bone folder to make a good crease.

I opened the pocket and poured in some black, gold, and white sequins -- distributing them evenly on both sides of the crease.

Then I folded the pocket back together and fused along both short sides.

It just so happened that I had some ribbon with bumblebees on it.  I cut a piece of ribbon long enough to go around the top of the pocket and lap over slightly.  To make adhering the ribbon easier, I ran a strip of Scor-tape across the back of the ribbon.  Then I applied the ribbon around the top of the pocket, made a bow and attached it to the left-hand side of the front of the pocket.

Now it was time to finish decorating the front of the money holder.  On white cardstock I stamped, colored, and die cut Bumblebee Chloe.  I used some Wink of Stella on her wings to make them sparkle a bit.

Then I ran her through my Xyron sticker maker to make sure she had adhesive covering her entire back.

Again on white cardstock I stamped, colored and die-cut the Honey Pot, Honey Applicator and some bees from the Sweet Valentines set.

I cut a banner from a scrap piece of yellow cardstock and stamped the "Bee Happy" sentiment at the top, then attached the small die-cuts to the banner with foam adhesive circles.  I adhered the banner beneath the bow, using Scor-tape, and the Chloe "sticker" to the right side of the money holder.  All that remained was to put the money in the pocket between the front and back "shaker" sides.

This was a fun project, and I imagine I will be making many of these!  I hope you try one, too.

CottageCutz stamp/die sets used on this project are: