Friday, April 19, 2019

Cottage Cutz Christmas Cards

Well, hello again my friends!  Catching up a little, staying focused...  I spent a rainy afternoon making Christmas cards with the Cottage Cutz dies I purchased in December 2018.  All but one were in the retired section and really quite a bargain.  These particular dies were very easy to work with (no small parts), plus I used some Distress Oxide inky backgrounds I'd made another day, and some die cut designer paper remnants from other projects.  The cards came together very quickly.

The first card is ultra-CAS.  I'll have to send it to one of my CAS stamping friends because a non-stamping friend would think I'm off my rocker.  Nevertheless, I like it a lot.  In fact, it's my favorite of the bunch.  I thought about doing more to it, but it's so peaceful as is.  Just quiet and gentle.


(Wintry Trees, Power Poppy sentiment)


Two with this next die:


(Season's Greetings w/Banner,  Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers, Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangle Stacklets, Our Daily Bread Designs Beautiful Blooms designer paper)


The next card uses the only die that was not in the retired section at the time of purchase.  I knew I had to have this one because of the dogs.  It looks like Wally and LuLu and maybe one of their friends.  Easy with the sentiment and frame built in.  I need to make more with this.


(Santa's Best Friends, DCWV Foiled Elegance paper)


Two more with inky backgrounds, very simple and white:


(Santa's Best Friends, Deer Family Border, Power Poppy sentiment)


Finally, the last card is actually the first card I made.  It has been waiting a month or more for me to finish the rest of the batch.  A little more detail and layering on this one:


(Cottage Cutz Deer & Forest Border, Greetings, Double-Stitched Square Set, Taylored Expressions Starry Night Cutting Plate, Memory Box Stitched Circle Layers)

That's all, folks!

Total Christmas cards so far this year:  15

Oh, happy day!  See you again soon!


22 comments:

Glenda said...

What a lovely bunch of Christmas cards. It always amazes me how you can take the simplest design and make it look quite elegant. And then we have the dogs....so sweet and how easy is that. I think the dogs is my favorite as I am such an animal lover! So miss smarty pants, you already have 15 of your Christmas cards finished..go girl!

Sherri said...

Wow, Leslie! All of these are gorgeous, but I agree with you that the first is my favorite! Love the dog cards!! I'd have bought this die too! You're off to a fabulous start on your cards for this year!!

Pauline said...

Gasp!! Oh my Leslie, these are all gorgeous cards. I love every one of them but I think my favourite is the first one as well! Yes I can truly see the dog cards as Lulu, Wally & friend, how sweet is that! Lovely oxide backgrounds, and love how simple yet elegant these all are! You are well on your way with having 15 done (as I only have 1!). Thanks so much for creating on a rainy day so you could share these with us! Wishing you a happy day as well! Hugs,

Yogi said...

all are lovely. Too early for Xmas for me. I'm just getting over winter... Have a great day

Christine Alexander said...

Leslie, I love your beautiful backgrounds for your die cuts. I'm totally in love with the dogs, OMG so cute. You really scored with these :)

Evelyn S. said...

Wow...you are really working on the Christmas cards! These are wonderful, too. I do love the ombre effect of the coral colored one; it's an elegant card. And the way you've used those dies is terrific. Each one of your cards is so detailed, so perfectly crafted.

Kathy Krug said...

!5 done already. You go girl. Love all the designs and dies you used. You must have been in a pink mood lol.

Verna Angerhofer said...

These Christmas cards are so amazingly lovely and I love all the dies your purchased. They sure make into fantastic card designs and just the type of dies I love to own too. The more open and simple the die the easier it is to cut and use. You sure got some great bargains.

Donna Ellis said...

These are all fabulous, Leslie - I especially like how you brought out the sweetness and peaceful aspects in each die cut, and each card. How different your 2 "season's greetings" deer look - thanks for showing that because it certainly does make a difference between the round and square appearances! Lovely cards! hugs, de

Margaret said...

They are all so wonderful! I love the non=traditional colors you used on some of them. I really need to work on my Christmas cards. So nice to be able to quickly get some done with the dies. Happy Easter.

Nanny's Pansy Patch said...

Oh my goodness - you did it again! Christmas cards! They all look so great! You are off to a great start - 15!! They are great dies! I'm still involved with Easter. Jennifer was up today and we were having fun coloring eggs! It is now raining. Hopefully, it will be nice for the EAster egg hunt on Sunday. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter!

Conniecrafter said...

You were on a great roll with all of these, I love the swirls in the base of the trees in the first and your gradient inking is just gorgeous! I love the second die used on both the round and the rectangle bases, I think I love the round the most! That die with the dogs is just adorable and again I just love how you inked the background too! My favorite of them all I think is the one with the 3 deer and the pink background, I love your splattering of the water to look like snow in the background and that die is just wonderful, love your peace on earth with it. Fantastic design on the last, like the half circle so the die stands out and with the star background with all the shimmer paper, great set of cards!

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Leslie, what a gorgeous batch of Christmas cards, look at you adding all of this beauties to your stash, awesome!!
Love the fabulous sponged backgrounds on all of them, so perfectly done.
These cards are all amazing but my favorites are the ones with the doggies, that die is simply the sweetest!!
Thank you for sharing.
Sending hugs, my friend.
Maria.

Diane said...

Well I am sure you know how much I love the Cottage Cutz dies, and these are fabulous...in fact they just had an 'up to 70% off sale' and I had the Santa's Best Friends one in my cart!! Beautifully created cards and will be so easy to mail, too!! Sometimes it is just fun to sit and create with dies as they are pretty much mistake proof (my kind of thing lol)...love them all Leslie...have a great weekend!!

Darlene said...

WOW! YOU GO GIRL!!! You got so many accomplished and they are all just BEAUTIFUL!! Perfect rainy day projects! They are calling for rain all week here but at least I got my front mulching done on last Thursday's gorgeous weather day and now I can bake wedding cookies during these rainy days. Just praying the rain holds off on the 27th so Morgan has a beautiful wedding day! BIG hugs and thanks for sharing such amazing inspiration!!

crafty-stamper said...

Fabulous selection of Christmas cards love the dies and my faves are the two white dies with the great pinky inked backgrounds
Carol x

Darnell said...

Beautiful die-cut Christmas card designs, Leslie! Great use of halfway cards and snippets, too! I almost bought that doggie die. It's so poignant. And I just noticed that if the moon and Santa were cut off, it could be a lovely die for other occasions, too. Thank you for all the inspiration! Easter blessings, my friend! Hugs, Darnell

pam said...

Beautiful die cut Christmas cards Leslie, love the colours and dies used.
Pam x

nancy littrell said...

I love every single CAS Christmas card with your new dies and gorgeous Distress Oxide backgrounds:-) I am so glad you are now playing with DOX's. I love your sponging and see water drops on your last card:-) TFS my friend. Hugs..Nancy

Lynette said...

These are all such fabulous cards, Leslie!! I'm glad you are getting your Christmas cards done - way to go. Beautiful dies.

Ros Crawford said...

I'm in awe of these cards Leslie... Each one is beautiful and fabulous designs... I especially love the first one... I just says peace so perfectly!

Stacy Morgan said...

Wow... Oh these are GREAT! Just what I need is a few of these dies. Quick and simple Christmas cards and they look wonderful!