Not Without my Mickey by Tracey Cooley

Hi Creators! Couture Creations Designer Tracey Cooley here today. I am loving the new Secret Treasures and Madeline collections of dies and the Harmony embossing folders that have been recently released! Here are a couple of ideas on how to use them. 

My youngest daughter has just started Primary school and I remembered that I had not created a layout for her first day of Kindy. I remember this day very well as I tried my hardest not to get upset when I dropped her off, but alas, I am a sook and blubbered all the way home. She was so little! Her favorite toy at the time was Mickey Mouse. She was so excited to go to Kindy, but NOT WITHOUT HER MICKEY!

Tip: A great way to add a mat to your lace die-cut is to trace around the edge of the die itself and then cut out the shape with Precision Scissors.

Cut a lace die in an alternate color. Note: I used the Les Fleurs Ornamental Lace Die.

The Circle Nesting Dies are just perfect for making a silhouette of Mickey Mouse! Simply cut one large circle and 2 small circles and voila! Add a bow to one ear to turn Mickey into Minnie.

Flowers: Cut 3 large Retro Flowers and 4 medium Retro Flowers. Ink the edges of the petals if desired. Spritz with water and press center into a mouse pad or molding pad. Note: I used a Sharpie for the large flower and a paintbrush handle for the small flower.

 Once dry, pinch each petal to give a 3D effect. Next adhere layers alternately to form entire blossom.

Leave the larger petals off to make smaller blossom. To make the flowers a little more special, spray with spray adhesive and sprinkle with glitter. If desired, add a Gemstone to finish off the flower center.

I seem to use a certain size of my Self-Adhesive Gemstones more than the others, so I have found a great way to use leftover gemstones to make flourishes. Simply draw a flourish, freehand or with a stencil, and add gems. Try mixing several colors of gemstones.

Keep on Creating!

Couture Creations Supplies:
CO723524 Secret Treasures Collection - Retro Flowers Die
CO723552 Secret Treasures Collection - Bird Song Die
CO723517 Secret Treasures Collection - Party Banner Die
CO723527 Secret Treasures Collection - Classic Chevron Die
CO723534 Secret Treasures Collection - Square Plaque Die
CO723243 Madeline Collection - Les Fleurs Die
CO723040 Circle Nesting Dies
CO723635 Harmony Collection - Journal Cards Embossing Folder
CO721994 Pink Diva Self-Adhesive Gemstones
CO721984 Double-Sided Tape - 12mm
CO721961 Foam Mounting Tape - 12mm

All Occasions Feature Week - Spring Roses Card by Tracey Cooley

Hi Creators! Tracey Cooley here today. My daughter set me a challenge recently to make a spring card so I immediately thought of the Couture Creations Joe's Garden Embossing Folder from the All Occasions Collection.

I simply embossed a piece of Core'dinations White Wash Cardstock with the Joe's Garden Embossing Folder and sanded the roses with the Couture Creations Sanding Block.

Then I colored the leaves with some acrylic paint and a fine paintbrush. I did this very roughly to create a shabby effect. I simply embellished the card with some flowers to finish.

Keep on Creating!

Couture Creations Supplies:

CO723298 All Ocassions Collection -  Joe's Garden Embossing Folder

CO723060 Sanding Block

CO721984 Double-Sided Tape

One In A Million by Tracey Cooley

Hi! Couture Creations designer Tracey Cooley here today sharing a layout for the All Occasions feature this week. My gorgeous daughter Tayla is definitely one in a million! She is loving, responsible, thoughtful and a hard worker. Not to mention beautiful (but I could be bias). I love this picture of her my brother took while holidaying in Kenya and hoped to do it justice with a layout that captures her spirit.

I have been looking for a realistic looking rose leaf for some time now and Couture Creations has the perfect leaf to go with roses. You can see on this layout the detail in the leaves and how real they look. All this thanks to the Couture Creations All Occasions Jazmyne Embossing Folder. This has quickly become my favorite embossing folder!

I simply embossed a  piece of Jet Black Core'dinations cardstock with the Jazmyne Embossing Folder and cut out those gorgeous leaves, molded them with my fingers and tucked them under my flowers.

Butterflies a pretty popular on patterned paper and I love to cut their little wings out, fold them up and place an alternate patterned paper underneath. On this layout I have added a bit of Crystalina Glitzin' Glamour Glitter Glue to the patterned paper underneath the butterfly wings. I also added it to the white Dazzling Doily die-cuts under the photograph. I hope you like this layout as much as I do.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on creating!

Couture Creations Supplies:
CO723225 Fantasia Collection - Dazzling Doily Die
CO723222 Fantasia Collection - Ivy Doily Die
CO723293 All Occasions Collection - Jazmyne Embossing Folder
CO721971 Crystalina Glitzin' Glamour Glitter Glue
CO721957 Cutting Mat
CO721987 Craft Knife
CO721956 Sharp Point Scissors

Anniversary Shoe by Tracey Cooley

Hi! Tracey Cooley here today. My cousin has been married for 25 years and she has a small shoe problem...problem being which of her 150 pairs of shoes should she wear! A while ago I created an altered shoe inspired by our very own Sue Smyth and my cousin admired it greatly, so for her anniversary I decided to create her a show in her favorite color.

Most of the flowers I have embellished this shoe with are made using the Couture Creations Victorian Square Nesting Dies, a great set of dies to make easy flowers with!

Cut 3 of each of the smallest 3 Victorian Square Nesting Dies, with 1 of each size being a different color or shade form the others. Cut 3 quarters of the way into the die-cut at each point and layer onto a brad making every third layer the alternate color. Spritz with a bit of water to loosen the paper fibers and scrunch together one layer at a time. Then, unravel your scrunched layers to form your flower. This is a great way to make your flower look a little different from the everyday.

The black flowers in the shoe are created the same way, but when finished, have been spritzed with spray adhesive and sprinkled with pink glitter.

  

Keep on Creating!

Couture Creations Supplies:
CO723225 Fantasia Collection - Dazzling Doily Die
CO723048 Victorian Square Nesting Dies
CO721994 Pink Diva Gemstones
CO721996 Crystal Gemstones
CO723505 Sophia Collection - Marant Die

Couture Baubles by Tracey Cooley

Hi Creators, Tracey Cooley here! I was racking my brain trying to think of projects that I could do with my daughters that was quick and easy, so I grabbed my Couture Creations 12x12 Jolly Christmas Paper Pad and found these great baubles that I could cut out. With a bit of bling they came up like this...

To create this project all you need is a Couture Creations Jolly Christmas Paper Pad, Couture Creations Self-Adhesive Gemstones, fishing line, adhesives, Couture Creations Sharp Point Scissors and some ribbon.

Simply cut out a pair of baubles from the Couture Creations Jolly Christmas Paper Pad. Note: There are two sheets of each design included in the Jolly Christmas Paper Pad, so you will need to cut one bauble from each sheet to make a pair.

Take a small piece of fishing line and fold in half to form a loop and adhere 2 large Couture Creations Self-Adhesive Gemstones back to back over the fishing line. Repeat this process to make a row of 3 gemstones.

Add the fishing line to the back of a bauble with a glue dot and adhere the two baubles back to back with Couture Creations Double-Sided Tape.

Attach a ribbon bow to the top of each bauble and you have some really pretty Christmas Tree Decorations that are a quick and easy craft to do with your kids!

Thanks for dropping by today.

Keep on creating!

Tracey

Couture Creations Supplies:

CO723549 Jolly Christmas Paper Pad

CO721994 Pink Diva Self-Adhesive Gemstones

CO721996 Crystal Self-Adhesive Gemstone

CO721985 6mm Double-Sided Tape 6mm

CO721955 Sharp Point Scissors

CO721957 Cutting Mat

Wrapped in Joy Week - Faux Chalkboard Effect with Tracey Cooley

Hi Creators! Tracey Cooley, Couture Creations Special Project Designer, here with another CHA card creation. Chalkboard is all the rage at the moment and the Couture Creations Wrapped In Joy 5x7 Christmas Carols Embossing Folder is perfect for the faux chalkboard effect.

This look is so simple to achieve! All you need is some black cardstock, the Christmas Carols Embossing Folder and a white gel pen. Cut a 5"x7" card base from black cardstock and set aside. Cut a 4.75"x6.75" mat from black cardstock and emboss with the Christmas Carols Embossing Folder.

Then simply trace around all aspects of the embossed image with a white gel pen. Adhere your embossed and traced mat to your card base and then, to blend it in, trace around the edge of the mat.

I know that I have shown you this technique before but it is so simple and so effective and I really wanted to show you it with this particular embossing folder.

Below is the same technique with the A2 Christmas Lyrics Embossing Folder only I reversed the colors. I stamped the embossed cardstock with a script stamp before removing my cardstock from the embossing folder. I then traced the edges with a fine tip felt pen.

 

Keep on Creating!

~Tracey
 

Couture Creations Supplies:

CO723597 Wrapped In Joy Collection - 5x7 Christmas Carols Embossing Folder

CO723607 Wrapped In Joy Collection - A2 Christmas Lyrics Embossing Folder

CO721965 18mm Double-Sided Tape

Wild Holly Card with Tracey

Hi Creators! Tracey Cooley here with you today sharing a card I created with the Couture Creations Wild Holly Embossing Folder from the NEW Wrapped in Joy Collection. This embossing folder collection really captures the spirit of Christmas and each folder gives a clean, crisp, embossed impression. I especially like the Wild Holly Embossing Folder and I hope you like it too!

I started this card with a 5"x7" brown card base. I then cut and adhered a green mat measuring 4.75"x 6.75" and a white piece of cardstock, embossed with the Wild Holly Embossing Folder, measuring 4.5"x6.5" on top of the card base.

Using a Couture Creations Sponge Dauber, ink the embossed cardstock with red ink leaving the center of the card its original color. Then work in some chocolate brown ink and finally some olive green ink. Adhere to your card base. Tip: Keep working the inks until you achieve a nice blended look that fades from red to olive.

Bring some nature into this card by finding an interesting looking stick from your garden and painting it with brown acrylic paint. Let dry.

Wrap the branch with white netting and secure it to the branch with some hot glue. Apply spray adhesive to the netting and sprinkle with white glitter. Attach the branch embellishment to the card base with hot glue.

Cut some holly and a small wren from the Couture Creations Vintage Christmas Paper Pad and attach to your branch. Pop a flourish behind your bird using the Couture Creations Endless Dreams Decorative Die Moments In Time. Tip: Cut the Moments In Time die-cut flourish in half and place both pieces exactly where you like them. Voila!

Thanks for stopping by today! Keep On Creating!

~Tracey

Couture Creations Supplies:

CO723434 Endless Dreams Collection - Moments In Time Die

CO723593 Wrapped In Joy Collection - Wild Holly Embossing Folder

CO723551 Vintage Christmas Paper Pad

CO723061 Sponge Dauber

Wrapped In Joy Embossing Folder Feature!

We are pleased to share these beautiful cards the very talented Tracey Cooley created for CHA using the NEW Couture Creations Wrapped In Joy Embossing Folder Collection. Most of the Wrapped In Joy Embossing Folders are available in both 5x7 and A2 size and are just perfect for all your Christmas creating!

 

A Songbird's Poinsettia  

CO723602 (A2) + CO723592 (5x7)

  

 Christmas Morning

CO723600 (A2) + CO723590 (5x7)

Wild Holly

CO723593 (5x7)

 

Moonlit Berries

CO723606 (A2) + CO723596 (5x7)

 

Christmas Carols

CO723607 (A2) + CO723597 (5x7)

Peace and Joy

CO723594 (5x7)

Sugarplum Ball

CO723603 (A2)

Cardinal Kisses

CO723599 (A2) + CO723589 (5x7)

A Magical Time

CO723598 (A2) + CO723588 (5x7)

 

Peaceful Ornaments

CO723604 (A2)

Reindeer Games

CO723601 (A2) + CO723591 (5x7)

Jolly Christmas

CO723605 (A2) + CO723595 (5x7)

Wrapped in Joy Embossing Folders are shipping September 2013! Pre-order yours today from CSW Distributors! Our designers will be featuring projects with this new collection, so be sure to stop back here often.