Country Cottage Heart

Is Cottage the new word for Country?

Country esthetics have sure come a long way haven't they?  I remember in the 70's when country was blue and brown, then in the eighties it was pink and blue, then the 90's pink and green, and now well, it's whatever color you want, as long as it has that look that makes you feel right at home. Still, my question remains...is cottage the new word for what we used to call country design?  Or is it Shabby Chic???  What do you think?  Whatever you call it, I still love it! (I will say I don't really love the pink and blue, never really did!)

I picked up the Cricut LITE Botanicals Cartridge at Wal-Mart this past week for only $20...figured I couldnt pass it up, even if I were only to use a few images.  The designs are highly intricate, so you need to get your settings just right for a good cut.  I loved this heart and thought it would work lovely for lots of challenges.

My colors were determined by the CR84FN61 color challenge of aqua (I chose Bo Bunny), tan and cream, very cottage/shabby/chic/country colors to me.  Of course those colors lend themselves to other styles too!
I wanted to offset the cut with some dry embossing with a wood grain Darice folder, I thought it would add interest to the die cut.  With the advent of so many wonderful embellishments, I feel like you really need to work harder with the die-cuts to get them to pop and look current.  I think it turned out alright!


  I decided to forgo a sentiment since I could not figure out where to place it, besides, it could always be put inside the card.  Instead I added the little stamped image of the perfume bottle.  I had been wanting to use that one for a while now.

 Crochet lace and some hemp twine seemed like the natural compliment.  I recently ordered some metal flowers and thought it would be a nice compliment to the heart, but the embellishment was on the thicker side due to a dip in the center...took out my trusty jewlers' hammer and pounded away to get it to flatten out a bit, that made it easier to glue down with the ever faithful glossy accents.  Added a teenie tiny flower which I toned down a bit with distress.  Of course the main die has been distressed with Tea Dye ink and some of the Distress Markers were used to add color to the perfume bottle.  The die cut also got a spritz of Glimmer Mist in pearl, which has a lovely finish!

I am entering this card into the following Challenges:

CR84FN61 - Color Challenge 

Gingerloft Challenge - Add Metal Somewhere

Craft Your Passions Challenge 125 - Emboss It!

Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge - Die Cut 

Thanks for stopping By!

Blessings,

Adrienne