The Christmas Season is Officially Here!

Thanksgiving is officially behind us and Christmas-time is here! I hope you had a very blessed Thanksgiving and had time to enjoy your family and loved ones. We are all so blessed and it is so great to have a day that reminds us of that! But now, Christmas is really here - so let the carols play on the radio, let the tinsel sparkle, and let's finish all of those Christmas cards that we said we would finish in July, and we just haven't gotten them done.


I used the Christmas Fawn Die from CottageCutz for today's project. Don't you just love all of the details? I had to add a little Sakura Crystal Lacquer to her little red nose. Also, did you notice my stamped seam binding? I thought that was a perfect place to add my sentiment. The stamp came with the Boxwood Vine Wreath set - and I keep using it over and over again!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Don't forget to check out the special Black Friday release from CottageCutz!

Thanksgiving Basket

We've been having so much fun showing you great creations to make for Christmas, but I wanted to sneak a Thanksgiving project in here before we missed it! I have always had a thing for cornucopias - so this Cornucopia die was a must have for me! If you start looking at all of the mini-shapes that are a part of this set (leaves, corn apples, pears, etc.), I'm sure you can start thinking of all kinds of ways to use this all year long. I cut all of the pieces out of Kraft cardstock, and then colored them with Copics. I think starting with the Kraft, gave everything a nice, rustic look.








Don't you think this would make a great decoration for Thanksgiving?

hugs,
Gini

Tis The Season

Hi, It's Gini and I've got another Christmas Card to share with you today! I hope you've been enjoying all of the Christmas Inspirations we have been sharing with you. Cottage Cutz just has so many adorable dies for the season, it's hard not to keep making projects with them.

I used the Boxwood Vine Wreath for the main image on my card. It's such an amazing die, that can really be used all year long. The boxwood branches are perfect greenery for any flower projects - you also get a banner, a bow, a 3-d flower - and then all of the Christmas goodies...!!! Oh, and I forgot to mention that this die set, also comes with 3 stamp sentiments. I love it!

Another really versatile die that I used was the Holiday Doily. This is perfect to add a circle element to your project, or maybe to frame it.

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

Santa Clause is coming to town, and he's driving his favorite old truck! Thanks to the latest release from Cottage Cutz dies! My adorable Santa 's Truck with Tree die is in the store for pre-order now. And just think how cute this little truck will be for any time of the year! And with a little ingenuity, I used the Holiday Doily die to add a border to my circle. Finally, a "borrowed" the sentiment stamp from the Boxwood Vine Wreath set, so I could wish you Merry Christmas!

Everything's coming up Poppies!

I love poppies! I have to say they are one of my favorite flowers, so I decided I needed to figure how to make one using my CottageCutz dies. I used the Pink Peony Flower for the petals and the stamen is from the Orchid Flower.



Step 1. Cut one base flower, 2 petal pieces and 3 stamens.


Step 2. Ink the petals. I used Distress Ink ( Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door and Black Soot).


Step 3. Cut into the base flower to form four separate petals (but don't cut all the way through). Cut the end off of the stamens, so you just have a tip with three balls.



Step 4. Shape the parts with a flower shaping tool or ball stylus.


Step 5. Assemble the flower. Add a little Flower Soft in Sage Green for the centers.



Here's a layout that I made using some of the poppies. This is a picture of my nephew at the Land of Oz festival with the Wicked Witch. The quote says, " And now my beauties, something with poison in it. Poppies...poppies. Poppies will put them to sleep." ~ Wicked Witch of the West







Hope you get a chance to try these beautiful flowers!

Clean and Simple for Fall

If you know me, you know, I'm really not a clean and simple kind of girl. But yesterday, my sister helped me get my garage cleaned out - and it felt so good, I was just in the mood to make a CAS project to celebrate - lol!

I love these trees from the Summertime Fun die set from Cottage Cutz. And, I think they look great dressed for fall too! After I assembled my trees, I added Autumn Flower Soft for my fall foliage.

All Treats. No Tricks!

Fall is officially here! So now it's really time to get crafting all of those autumn inspired projects! I thought this Trick or Treat Puppy from CottageCutz was the cutest thing ever! And I also knew that my five year old nephew would love it - and would want lots of cards made for him with it! And of course, I was right.

I usually cut my images with colored and patterned papers, and piece them together. But, today, I decided to try cutting it from white cardstock, and coloring it with distress inks, like many of my teamies do. This was a really fun way to try - and I'm sure I will use it again. That is one of the really cool things about CottageCutz - there are so many ways to use them.

After I had my sweet puppy all pieced, I added a little Ultra Fine Flower Soft to make him kind of furry. It just made him that much more adorable! My card was made using Trick or Treat Collection from My Little Shoebox.

Girl's Night Out

I think it's so fun to create a project that has a little surprise about it - this one actually has a couple! I used the Elegant Witches Legs in a different colorway, so it is perfect for a girlie card, rather than a Halloween one. Next, I used an arrow from the Airplane with Banner and Sign to point to the secret tag. The frame from Gothic Frame with Witch was added underneath my lettering to act as a tab to pull out the hidden message. It's so fun to challenge yourself to see how many different ways you can use you Cottage Cutz Dies!

Trick or Treat!

With Halloween quickly approaching, I thought it would be fun to make a treat box. I used the Window Box tutorial from the Scor-Pal website. I did change the dimensions of the box, however, to make it a little bigger. (See the end of the post for details).

I loved playing with the new dies from Cottage Cutz - and actually, the Witch's Castle Door inspired the whole project.....because, the really cool thing is that you can make the door open!

So, I used the Halloween Fun stamp from Crafty Secrets to stamp my sweet little trick-or-treater, and glued her to a piece of acetate in the door opening. I glued some Autumn Flower Soft around her feet to look like leaves blowing in. She looks so shy coming to the door for a little candy. I added accessories from the Castle Door die, as well as the Lantern Mini and Owl Mini dies, to complete the scene. The Happy Halloween on the side of the box is from the Haunted House Border.




To make this box, please refer to the tutorial at the Scor-Pal website, but instead of cutting your cardstock 9 x 6 3/4, cut it 12" x 8 3/4". Your score lines will be 1", 5 1/2", 6 1/2", 11". After you turn the paper, you will score at 3/4" and 7 3/4".

Pack Your Bags!

While I'm afraid the only travel plans in my near future is a trip to Charlotte....I still thought it would be fun to make a travel-themed card with a pocket built in, to hide away tickets for a special get-away.

I used the Scooter and Tug Boat die set from CottageCutz- and I must say, they are stinkin' cute! The papers are from Best Creation - Travel Forever. I also got to play with the new Shape Studio Tool Square 25 from Epiphany Crafts, to make my custom epoxies.


Don't you think that this would make a fun way to surprise someone with a couple of tickets to someplace wonderful?

hugs,

Gini

Flower Stall

Doesn't it make you smile to walk by a flower stall full of beautiful flowers? Of course it does! So I thought it would make anyone smile who was given a card with a fun flower booth on it! I love the Ticket Booth die, but I thought I would show you that this cutie can be re-purposed. I used the flower bunch from Laundry Line, added leaves from the Ornate Circle Frame, and a couple of clouds from Summertime Fun. I love getting creative "making a scene," by combining different dies. I hope you will give it a try!

Fair Fun!

What have you done for fun this summer? Have you gone to any amusement parks or fairs, or how about a great 4th of July Celebration? Well, if so, then pull out your pictures and get ready to scrap! I have to admit, the photo that I used is about 3 years old - but it was perfect for what I had in mind. The Fireworks paper looks absolutely spectacular for my Fair Fun layout. I used the new carnival release from CottageCutz dies - which you are going to love. I was actually able to use 5 different sets of dies on this page! The others are all so cute, I was wishing I could have fit more on the page!

CottageCutz Dies

Viking Ride

Ferris Wheel

Carousel Silhouette

Boardwalk Carnival Silhouette

Ornate Circle Frame


hugs,
Gini