Christmas, Rudolph Day

Good evening, and sorry to be MIA for a couple days. We had a little bit of a health upset in the extended family, so we've been trundling back & forth to the hospital since Tuesday afternoon. Had some cards nearly finished, but no time to photograph while I still had some good light. I wanted to get this one posted, so I could participate in the monthly June Rudolph Day  at Stamping for Pleasure. So here goes:

- focal image was a Cottage Cutz diecut. I used white Copic Xpress to diecut first, but then I used a red snippet to diecut the cardinal. Colored the frame & leaves with a BG000 first, 2 layers. Then colored with YG003, for some shading & darker areas. Used a green Spica pen on the veins. Holly was diecut with the main frame, then colored with copic reds, some white gel pen for a highlight, and adhered with Alene's Easy flow glue...using a toothpick. The cardinal was shaded with some dark red copic markers. His eye, beak, feet & black face were cut at the same time as the frame, then colored with copics. I still have the original white cardinal diecut to use for something else.

 - white background (snippet of GP c/s) embossed with C/B snowflake

- stripe paper was from a 6x6 Christmas pack, punched bottom from an MS punch.

- Sentiment is a red sparkly sticker.

This is my first time using a Cottage Cutz die. When I took it out of the package, I was concerned that I'd have the same problem I had with my first DieVersion die (the ones that didn't have the release holes in the metal, and had a foam insert). I cut with the CC die without applying the thin foam to the metal of the die - as the instructions said. It cut beautifully, and since it was not extremely intricate, I was able to use a piercing tool to eject the paper diecut. I went to their website, and read the FAQ, then applied the foam as directed. I expected it to not cut well, but surprisingly, it cut beautifully. Released easily as well. So I shall be more inclined to purchase more dies like this.

Now I'm off to link to June's Rudolph Day, and I invite you to join in. There are always some wonderful cards to enjoy & get some fantastic inspiration. Some prizes too! Thanks for joining me & have a super evening. Hugs