Oh Nuts!

Ok, anyone ever forget to send someone a birthday card? You can admit it, I actually have someone specific I need to send this card to......

This CottageCutz Squirrel makes the perfect belated birthday card or would be so cute on a childs layout and even those camping and scout pages. He's easy to put together and to ink around the edges like I did because the detail lines are actually cut so you can bend him a bit to get the ink on the inside edges.
The 4x4 Squirrel is just one of many CottageCutz designs available from the Scrapping Cottage.
These dies cut just like the Quickutz dies and can be stored the same way as well.

Don't forget to get your CottageCutz entry in by tomorrow midnight for a chance to win a CottageCutz die of your choice up to a $19.95 value.

Who's In The Mood For Cake? :)

How about some polka-dot cake? Today's card is a quick one using the Sizzix Birthday Cake #2.
Try cutting this die with pastel polka dot papers (I used Bo-Bunny papers. The rubber stamps are by Hampton Art). It almost looks good enough to eat. :) The next time you need a fast birthday card, remember two things -- Sizzix Birthday Cake die and polka dot paper. :) Be sure to check out all the great products at Scrapping Cottage.

Cottage Cutz Sneak Peak

Today is the last day to take advantage of our special introductory pricing for the August Cottage Cutz Release. While you are shopping, be sure to look at the sneak peak of the Spooky Cottage Cutz release! Won't it be wonderful to have Halloween dies early enough for making cards and invitations for all your Halloween celebrations!

Are you ready for another Scrapping Cottage Contest???

Well here you go! Your challenge is to create a layout, card or altered project using only the CottageCutz dies. You can use other products on your project but you cannot use any other brand of dies. You may enter as many times as you would like and the winner will receive a CottageCutz die of their choice up to a $19.95 value.
Contest entries must be emailed to scrappingcottage@cox.net with July CottageCutz Contest in the subject line by Wednesday, July 29th at midnight PDT. Entries will be judged by the blog team and the winner will be announced no later than Friday, July 31, 2009.
Have fun and we are excited to see your creations!

Hot Summer Days!

What is refreshing on a

hot

summer

day?

A cool, refreshing drink.
A splash in the surf.
A pleasant, tropical breeze.

The Scrapping Cottage
has the answer to all of your summer questions...

CottageCutz!

Some Silhouette Fun

What is not to love about the new Silhouette features. I love being able to Weld words together for my page titles. It just gives such an extra special touch to your pages. Of course, one of the other great features of the Silhouette is that it will cut any True Type font already on your computer. I used my silhouette to cut the words and the monorail shape. If you are still on the fence about an electronic cutter, you will love it!

WATCH FOR IT WEDNESDAY #19

Today's Watch for it Wednesday tip is pretty simple but very useful.

Have you ever gone to punch a hole in your layout and the punch just doesn't reach?

This happens to me all the time.

For example: I want to put some sparkly brads above my journaling, but the punch I have doesn't reach where I need my holes. I just grab a push pin and something to put underneath (fingers not recommended) that I can punch into.
Then simply make a hole for small brads or a several holes for a larger brad.

Then I can put my brads on my layout anywhere I want them.

A Special Thank You Card

Today I chose to work with the CottageCutz Ice Cream Cart. This die comes with two 4x4 dies and makes this darling, detailed Ice Cream Cart (which is on sale right now for $24.95). I cut this out of pink and white cardstock and then used my Copic Ciao markers for the rest of the colors.

Since the patterned paper can be distracting I used mounting tape to pop up the cart a bit off my paper . I also used the Sizzix Textured Impressions kit to give the Thank You theme to my overall card as well as stamped the little banner on my ice cream cart with a thank you stamp.

Quick Notecard Set

One of my favorite July Sizzix releases was the Fleur de lis. :) I knew I "needed" it the instant I saw it. :) Today's inspiration for you is a set of notecards I did that are fast and easy. All you need is cardstock in pretty colors along with black, the Sizzix Bigz Fleur de lis die, the Sizzix clear
stamp set called Flourishes and Swirls and a black ink pad. The next time you need a fast card
or gift, try your hand at these. :) Be sure to check out all the great July Sizzix releases at Scrapping Cottage.

Crazy Days of Summer!

The Scrapping Cottage has done it again.....

another amazing die to help us show off our

summmer style!

This fabulous

CottageCutz

"Ice Cream Treats"
die is delicious!!

Find the perfect paper....

Find the PERFECT die.....

Run it through your

QuicKutz Revolution,

Sizzix Big Shot,

BigKick,

CuttleBug,

SpellBinder Wizard

or your

Accucut Zip'eMate

and

Walla....sweetness!

Christmas in July :)

I thought I would do something completely different for my post today. How about a little Christmas in July?! I created this little mini album to use as a fun Christmas Planner. I also included a few pictures on a couple of pages for some shopping inspiration.

Of course I can't make anything without adding some Quickutz. The Rev clipboard makes the perfect place for a list so I definitely wanted to include it in my planner. I used the QK metal sheets to make the top of the clipboard.

As soon as I saw the Lamp Post from the June release, the first thing I wanted to do with it was decorate it for Christmas. I used some QK rub-ons to make the string of lights on the lamp post, but you could also use the light string from the 2008 QK Holiday Gift Set.

You Scream, I Scream, We all Scream for Ice Cream!

What would summer be without hearing the ice cream truck jingling down your street?
With this cute Ice Cream Treats CottageCutz die the ideas are endless. In the card above I used American Crafts paper to create my card and matched the colors in the paper for my ice cream treats. I popped them off the card just a bit with some mounting tape. This card is a matchbook fold and allows a place for a gift card inside. What a fun way to give a birthday treat to someone special with an ice cream gift card tucked inside.

This die is so versatile, you can make an ice cream sandwich, a popsicle, bomb pop and a fudgesicle in any color you'd like.

This simple postcard would be great as an invite for an ice cream party. Just print off your information on the computer and adhere that to the back of the this card for a quick and easy invite. Don't let your summer go by without some yummy Ice Cream Treats!

CottageCutz Tree w/Hearts & Leaves

When I saw the Cottage Cutz Tree w/Hearts & Leaves die, it was love at first sight. :) I had visions of doing cute Valentine's Day cards with it. But you know me, I alway think ahead as to what else can I do with a die to get my money's worth. So scroll down to see what I came up with. :)

I found a quote that made this die a good one for anniversary cards. All the leaves and hearts look SO pretty on this one when you see it "in person." :) What else could I use it for?

How about for Halloween? Cut the tree out of black paper and it takes on a "spooky" feel. I

glued eyeballs on it to make it even "scarier." :) The eyeballs are what I called "googlely eyes"

and can be found in craft stores with several to a package. How about one more sample with this die? :)

It can be used for winter or Christmas themes too. By cutting the tree from white paper, it looks "cold." :) I used some snowflake eyelets and then put crystal rhinestones in the centers of the

eyelets to make a "snow tree." You could also cut the tree from red paper, put it on a blue background and put white star brads on it for a patriotic theme. Or how about cutting it from green paper and putting shamrock brads on it for a very different St. Patrick's Day card or layout? Of course it would be pretty to cut it from brown paper for an autumn theme. I would leave it bare except for maybe one leaf brad laying at the base of the tree. That would be sharp! :) Maybe you could come up with even more ideas (and if you do, share them in the comments section with us). :) Be sure to check out all the great CottageCutz dies at Scrapping

Cottage.

Fun summer days are ours to remember!

I created this sweet little tag for a layout I am working

on. I had the incredible privilege of using my fun and

unique CottageCutz to get the look I really wanted!!

The CottageCutz Picnic Table and the Pitcher and

Lemon Tree are only two of the adorable dies that

are available at the ScrappingCottage! There are so

many other fantastic dies to choose from and right now

many of the dies are Buy 3, Get 1 Free!! Stop by and

pick up a few of these adorable dies today.....

the possibilites are endless!

Star Spangled Layout

What July layout would be complete without some stars on it?? And the Quickutz Nesting Stars are perfect to add stars large and small to your projects. I have also incorporated stamped stars, rub-ons, and even a little brad with a star to complete my star theme in this layout.

Another thing I really like about this layout is that I combined pictures from different events in July to give an overall review of our July Summer fun. That is very "out of the box" for me, but it is really a great way to capture a lot of memories all together on one layout. It is also a good way to use up extra pictures (which if you are like me, you have tons of extra pictures!!)

I used Vixen for my July title and the P is from Diesel Classic. Other Quickutz dies I used include the 2x2 photo corner (on sale right now for only $2.95!!) and the 2x2 tab die (also on sale for $2.95!!). If you haven't taken advantage of the incredible deals going on in the store right now for Quickutz dies, you are really missing out!! Click here and you can see the huge selection of dies that are on sale right now!!

Watch for it Wednesdays!! #18

For today's Watch For It Wednesday, I would like to show you a tip for using your Quickutz 12" borders. Now each border has a nice finished edge on either end, right, which looks great when you are using the entire length of the border. But what if you only want to use a portion of the border, but you still want a nice finished edge? This tip will show you how to put that finished edge on each end of your cut.

First, cut your paper slightly longer than your desired finished length. Place that piece on top of your border and roll it through your Revolution like normal to get your first cut.

Now, you need to decide how many scallops you want to have on your finished border. Once you determine where you last scallop will be, you'll want to place your cut piece back onto the die matching your marked spot with the end of the border die. You'll need to flip your cut piece over to do this.If you look closely here, you can see the edge of the die around the pink paper and you can see how I have lined up the scallop with the end of the die.

When you have your cut piece placed onto the die, the already rounded end will just rest on the remainder of the die. It won't touch any of the cutting surface, so you don't have to worry about it being re-cut.

Now that you have the first border cut lined up onto the border die again, simply roll it through your Revolution like you normally would to get your second cut which will finish off the second edge.This technique is great for smaller pages, cards, or even larger layouts where you just don't need to entire length of the border. You can use this technique on any of the other 12" borders that have a repetitive pattern like this scalloped border die. Click here to see the card I posted earlier where I used this technique to cut the scalloped piece of cardstock.

Have a COOL Summer

What would summer be without seeing the neighborhood kids selling lemonade on the corner?

I know I see this familiar sight quite often around my neighborhood. This CottageCutz Lemonade Stand die is amazing and there are so many possibilities. I applied the Quickutz Double sided adhesive to some white cardstock and ran this through my Revolution and then colored the pieces with my Copic Caio markers. Then I just peeled the pieces off and experimented on putting the pieces where I wanted them. You can always follow the colored picture that comes with each CottageCutz die or come up with your own colors and placement.

I decided I liked the canopy style top and the cute little LEMONADE word so I decided to use both. I used some Scotch Mounting Tape to pop up the signs for some dimension.

I also used the Quickutz Chicken Noodle Alphabet for the sentiment. This alphabet is tiny so you can use it to spell out just about anything you want to say. The Watch for it Wednesday tip on using removable tape and these smaller letters make placing these letters a snap!

Be sure to check out all the wonderful CottageCutz dies for all your summer activities and vacations and remember to HAVE A COOL SUMMER!


Today only - buy 3 CottageCutz dies get 1 free on selected dies.

Don't wait - call now!

Hoppy Monday!

Hope your Monday is a "hoppy" one. :) Today I'm sharing two quick and easy cards that use a

Sizzix Sizzlits die (the frog). I used the same cardstock and patterned paper but different rubber

stamps and embellishments. This frog is a simple one to do. Simply cut from green cardstock and then cut again with a small piece of ivory for the eyes. Choose a color of cardstock for the flower and cut it. Glue the eyes and flower. Chalk his cheeks and do some basic detail work with a black pen. Presto! You have a cute accent for your cards or layouts. :) Be sure to check

out all the great Sizzix, Hero Arts and KaiserCraft products at Scrapping Cottage.

Happy Birthday America!!!

I AM THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

By Howard Schnauber

I am the flag of the United States of America.

My name is "Old Glory".

I fly atop the world's tallest buildings.

I stand watch in America's halls of justice.

I fly majestically over institutions of learning.

I stand guard with power in the world.

Look up and see me.

I stand for peace, honor, truth and justice.

I stand for freedom.

I am confident.

I am arrogant.

I am proud.

When I am flown with my fellow banners,

My head is a little higher,

My colors a little truer.

I bow to no one!

I am recognized all over the world.

I am worshipped -- I am saluted.

I am loved -- I am revered.

I am respected -- and I am feared.

I have fought in every battle of every war

for more then 200 years.

I was flown at Valley Forge, Gettysburg,

Shiloh and Appomattox.

I was there at San Juan Hill,

the trenches of France,

in the Argonne Forest, Anzio, Rome

and the beaches of Normandy,

Guam, Okinawa, Korea, and Vietnam.

I was there. I led my troops.

I was dirty, battle-weary and tired,

but my soldiers cheered me

And I was proud.

I have been burned, torn and trampled

on the streets of countries I have helped set free.

It does not hurt, for I am invincible.

I have been soiled upon, burned, torn

and trampled on the streets of my country.

And when it's by those whom I've served in battle -- it hurts.

But I shall overcome -- for I am strong.

I have slipped the bonds of Earth

and stood watch over the uncharted frontiers of space

from my vantage point on the moon.

I have borne silent witness

to all of America's finest hours.

But my finest hours are yet to come.

When I am torn into strips

and used as bandages

for my wounded comrades on the battlefield,

When I am flown at half-mast to honor my soldier,

Or when I lie in the trembling arms

of a grieving parent at the grave of their fallen son or daughter,

I am proud.

MY NAME IS "OLD GLORY".

LONG MAY I WAVE.

DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN,

LONG MAY I WAVE.

Make a Wish Card

The moment I saw this new 2x2 Vase from the June QK release, it immediately reminded me of the Genie's lamp from "I Dream of Genie". I couldn't wait to get my hands on it so I could figure out a way to use it as a genie's lamp.

For this card, I used gold paper to cut out the vase shape and then I decorated it with stickles to make the jewels. The smoke was created using a silvery vellum which has just enough color to show up, but you still get that airy vellum look. The alphabet I used is Dragonfly which is one of the 4x8 alphas on sale in the store right now for $19.99!! We have all the 4x8 alphas in stock right now so don't miss out on this great sale!

WATCH FOR IT WEDNESDAYS #17

Today's tip is one about saving money. :) That's always a good thing, right? Especially if you have a daughter in college and are always broke like me. :) That's one reason I love my Sizzix dies. It's like an investment in something that I know I can use over and over. By changing papers, etc. I can get many varied looks. My tip though involves REALLY looking at your die and seeing if you can change it. This way you'll be able to get more use from it and SAVE MONEY. :) By using scissors and making some simple cuts, you can get new looks from your

diecuts. For my example, I used the Sizzix Sizzlits Hello Kitty called Corners, Flowers (#65584).

The first picture shows what the die looks like when cut. Then look at my example and see that I simply snipped off the hearts and flowers. This opens up a lot more room for play with this die! :) So the next time you get out your diecuts, see how you can get a "different" look from

them by making some snips of your own. :) Be sure to check out all the great products at great prices at Scrapping Cottage!! :)

Summer Sunflowers

Today I'm going to feature the CottageCutz Sunflower which is absolutely perfect for summer cards and layouts. When I think of sunflowers I think of the of the lazy days of summer and denim overalls so I decided to use this denim patterned paper to give this card a casual, relaxed feel. I cut my pieces from Bazzill and American Crafts cardstock, inked the edges of the flower and leaves and used my black Copic marker to color the dots on the inside of the flower and then applied some Stickles. I also used the Quickutz Label 2x2 die for my sentiment block.

Be sure to check out all the wonderful Summertime CottageCutz dies for all your summer projects.

Looking for a fun accent to add to your cards? Try stitching seed beads on them. It is fun and easy when you use a Sizzix die for your "sewing pattern." For my "Love Birds" card, I used the

Sizzix Bigz die called Flowers and Vines #2. You simply glue the "vine" diecut to the card and

punch holes in it using a paper piercer. Then you have a guide to follow when stitching your beads. How easy is that? :) Be sure to check out all the great Sizzix and Hero Arts products at

Scrapping Cottage.

Adorable U!

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

Dr. Suess

Children are so amazing and so unpredictable. They are

innocent and adorable. They are God's gift of love to a needy

world. They are joy for today and hope for the future!

I have always wanted to try to create one of those "tear bears". I

have seen them on layouts and have drooled over them on eBay!

(I have seen some projects with tear bears sell for over $300!! Oh

my goodness!!) So I researched the project and all that I would

need to embark upon the bear making path. Then I sat down to

create the adorable little bear. 13 hours later......Walla! :O)

I really enjoyed creating this layout. I put a lot of hours into it

but I never mind doing that if I am happy with the results!

I used Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Ink, Kaisercraft

Black Rhinestones, QuicKutz 2x2 Cherry and QuicKutz

2x2 Mini Tags. Every one of these awesome products can be

found at The Scrapping Cottage, and there is much more

where these came from!! Have fun shopping! :O)

"Hay Ewe"

I created this funny little hello card using the new QK Rev Barn die from the June Quickutz Release. I decided to add a bit of trim to the top of my barn so since I had cut the barn out twice already (once in the red stripe and once in the white), I just took the white piece of barn and trimmed the edge off the top to add to the red barn.

I also used the QK 12" cloud border, 2x2 grass, 2x2 sheep (here is cute sheep that is very similar from Sizzix), and the sun is from the Sunshine Gift Set. I picked Chick a dee for the sentiment because it is such a fun and whimsical little alpha I thought it would be a great touch to this card. The inking was done with Tim Holtz distress inks.