~ LadyBug Happy Mail + Giveaway ~

 

Hello Blogger friends and a happy June 1 to you all! Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit with the Charmed Life Blog.

 

We have had some great sunny and very warm weather the past few days. Our gardens are loving it and flowers are blooming everywhere especially the roses. I love cutting them and bringing them indoors to enjoy their beauty and fragrance.

 

My card today is one that I made for my DT post on the CottageCutz blog. I am featuring a couple of new die sets from the May release. I have used the "Hello Spring" and the "Garden Friends" dies.  The "hello spring" has 7 other dies besides the Hello word and the "garden friends" has a butterfly, bee and the ladybug in a circle die. Both sets are super cute dies and can be easily used on your project.

I wanted to create a card of encouragement for my BFF who is battling breast cancer. Email and phone calls are good but everyone likes to get some happy mail. So let's get started with how I put this card together.

 

This week I again started with my layout. I came across this sketch on Splitcoaststampers last week. As soon as I saw it, I thought of the garden friends dies and knew I would use it for my card this week.

 

 Card Base: 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"Black Layer: 3 7/8" x 5 1/8"

Striped Patterned paper: 3 5/8"  x 4 7/8"

 

I changed it up just a bit but the basic sketch is there. A sketch is a starting point and you can always make changes to accommodate your image or available dies. The numbers on this sketch indicate your card layers.

 

I used my red card base for layer #2 and the striped patterned paper for layers #3 & #4. See what I mean about changing it to suit what you are doing on your card?

 

For the large circle #5 on the sketch, I used the CottageCutz stitched circle die and the Basic Circle die. My greeting is stamped on this layer. For the smaller circles on this layer, I used the Hello Spring die and cut the flower images as well as the hello word. The hello word I cut 3x for dimension and glued together with multi-matte medium from Ranger.

 

They were just the perfect size for my card. Its a 3 piece die- the scallop layer, the flower and then the center. I sponged red ink on the scallop to darken it up just a bit. There is a slight contrast in colors. And, for the center I used black cardstock.

 For the circle #6 on the sketch I used the "garden friends" die and just cut out the ladybug. I cut it out twice. Once in red and then again in black. I used the die inlay technique with the black pieces filling in the red. It makes it stand out on your card nicely.

 

That's my card for this week.  Thanks for sticking with me to the end. How would you like to win all the cardstock pieces to re-create the card I have shown today?  All you will need is some glue and your own stamp for the sentiment. I cut out an extra set of everything I used today and would like to give it away.

 

 Just leave me a comment on the CottageCutz Blog with your ideas for using the "Garden Friends" stamp set besides what I have shown you today. I will select one lucky comment and get it out to you in the mail. You will have until Saturday to submit your ideas.

 

So until next time........God bless.

 

I am also entering:

1.  Die Cuttin' Divas has an anything goes challenge using die cuts.

2.  Lemon Shortbread has an anything goes challenge.

3.  Crafting From the Heart has an anything goes challenge.  

4.  Our Crafty Corner has an anything goes.

5.  Crafty Friends has a summertime challenge. Ladybugs are a big part of summer.