Spring Happy Mail from CottageCutz!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! I am showing off the Happy Mail I received from the Scrapping Cottage this week. It's the dies I ordered from the Spring and In Stitches releases that just arrived and I am super excited to share them with you!

Now, I'm always a fan of all things CottageCutz but I have to say that this release is even more wonderful than normal. The Easter and Spring themes in the release are so cute and fun! CottageCutz does animals better than anyone and you'll not be disappointed in the little critters in this release! The bunnies and chicks are adorable! There are also butterflies, eggs, flowers and scenes that will seriously get your creativity flowing. Just a few of these darlings are shown in the picture below.

The In Stitches collection included in this release are 12 images outlined and accented with stitches. You'll find fruit, flowers, bees, an owl and bird, sewing notions, mushrooms, a new sun, cloud and umbrella set, canning jars and best of all, a set of letters and numbers!
These dies are are available now and are currently 25% off. Get them while you can because I suspect some of these will sell out. Click here to go to their store.

Click on the video link below to see the dies I picked up. I hope you enjoy it. If you have trouble accessing the link, you can click here: Release Video



Thanks for spending a few minutes here today. I'll be back soon!

- Janet

Valentine Secret Message Slider Card!


Hello everyone! It's my day to post for CottageCutz. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, I thought I would create a fun secret message slider card. When you pull on the tab, it reveals a heartbeat and finishes the sentiment so that the card reads, “My heart……” on the front and “Beats for You!” on the slider tab.

I had a lot of fun using foam for some of the pieces on this card including the glittered hearts from the Heartbeats die set and two bows from the Build A Bow die. These pieces add a lot of dimension and texture. I really like using foam for bows because they’ll pop back into shape after being mailed. I decorated the front using the Doily from the Tea Time Doily die and added a border at the top and bottom from the Sweet Love Border Set. As it happens, the Heartbeats die is currently 35% off and is under $6.50 right now at the store so I encourage you to check that out and the other sales currently underway.


Please visit the video showing how this card works, comes together and some other tips and tricks. Also, I have included a link to a free .pdf template in the video description. The template is a trace of the handmade card base and mechanism I created for this card. You can print it on card stock, cut it out and decorate with your favorite CottagCutz dies.




Thanks for visiting today! I’ll back again on Valentine’s Day with a sweet spring card using dies from the new release that will be coming soon!

Dies used on this project:







Love You Deerly Popcard

Hello and welcome to my blog. Today I'm featuring my first Valentine's Day card of the season and I'm super excited about it! This card features the cutest deer that is all tangled up in a string of heart lights.

Click on the video thumbnail above to see the video. If that isn't available on your device, you can click on the included link instead.
3D Deer Popcard video link

Most crafters are always searching for good deals. To that end, I was out at Michaels not too long after Christmas when they were clearancing their Christmas items at 70% off. There was a Popcard set from Art Impressions (Hampton Art) that I wasn't familiar with but I was pretty intrigued by it. It's a stamp and die combination that allows you to create a really big pop-up element in a card. I decided that the reindeer Popcard was just too cute and inexpensive to pass up. Although the reindeer is super cute I didn't want to wait until next year to use him. I thought there had to be a way to alter him for Valentine's Day. After "racking" (LOL) my brain for a while, I figured out a way to do it.

Here's my remake of this cutie to fit the Valentine theme. I covered the light stamps that were in his antlers with small metallic hearts. This transformed his Christmas lights into Valentine lights. I changed out his red Rudolph nose for a black one and added white nostrils. Then instead of putting bells on his collar, I added more of the metallic hearts. These changes made him look more like a regular deer than a reindeer.

The popup feature in this set is really awesome. He stands a full 3/4" above the card base so he's super dimensional. I did have a little trouble putting him together. Afterwards, I finally took a look on YouTube to see if there were any tutorials out there. Well, I should have looked for that first. I made it more difficult than it had to be. I also discovered through the videos on this that there is a whole series of different Popcards that have been created. If you purchase any of the Popcard series, be sure to look for the AI tutorial which clearly shows the assembly and some key tips to make it easier. The package instructions are woefully incomplete and will only leave you tearing your hair out if you rely on them alone. Just saying from my own experience! Now that I get it, I'm going to purchase some more of these Popcard designs. They are really fun.

In the end I was happy with the results. The only problem was that I concentrated so hard to get the phrase Deerly inside the card, I spelled it Dearly instead of Deerly! Hopefully my 12-year old son won't pick up on that when I give it to him. LOL!

Thanks for stopping by. Keep an eye out as I plan to post several Valentine projects in the next few weeks.

-Janet

Winter Loaded Envelope with CottageCutz


Hello everyone! It's Janet here for my first post of the new year. January has certainly started with a cold slap in the face for many. It's been rough but I don't mind having an extra excuse for hibernating in my craft nook! How about you?

I'm detouring from my normal video tutorial to show you a loaded envelope I created using a winter theme. I have long admired the beautiful and complex looking loaded envelopes that many in the crafting world have shown off. I finally took the plunge and made one myself and I really had fun with it. I honestly was skeptical when people said they found making loaded envelopes relaxing but I have to admit that I found it therapeutic. I created as I went with little more than the basics planned before I started. First I picked a theme (winter) and then chose dies I thought fit the theme. I picked a color scheme and made the empty envelope with paper stock that worked. Then I set about cutting pieces for the project, coloring and piecing them. Finally, I looked at all the pieces I had and started creating the elements that would ultimately load the envelope. Many of the items I made are featured in the photos below.

       





In the end I created cards, flowers, snowflakes, various clips with snowflakes and deer, rosette wands, gift card holders and several pockets and tags for my loaded envelope. I have a few extra pieces left over but I will be able to use them in future projects. I'm not sure how others approach making the items that will go into their envelopes but this method worked great for me. I had a lot of fun letting the pieces tell me what to do with them. I certainly encourage you to give it a try!

To see all the parts and pieces and learn what dies I used, please click on the video thumbnail below.


Thanks for visiting today. Stay warm and safe!
- Janet

Dies used in this project: