For my first trick....

Please let me first thank Scrapping Cottage for giving me the opportunity to join your fabulous Design Team! I'm so thrilled to be a part of such a creative and talented group of crafters and I only hope to be as good as you think I am. ;)

For my first project I've done a fishing layout. (I do a LOT of fishing layouts!) Who likes to fish??? My grandkids do! And penguins do too, of course. I couldn't resist using the adorable snowskiing penguin on this page, giving him a fishing pole instead of snowskis. It's plenty warm so he doesn't need his hat and scarf on this trip. I also used the scallop/dot edger. Scallops and dots are two of my favorite things....could you tell by my choice of papers?

Here the little penguin holds the fishing pole and net from the fishing set and, without his ski cap, you can see the cute little tuft of hair on top of his head (which is actually one of the lily pads from the boat and dock die).

I love this fishing pole. It's fun to embellish. I've used cork paper for the rod handle, silver paper for the reel, and invisible thread/monofiliment for the line. It seemed to work because Mr. Penguin has caught two fish and seems pretty happy with his catch!

For the net, I used mesh I've had in my stash for ages. It's perfect for this use! I love how it turned out. Cute, huh?

Then, to balance out the large embellishment on the bottom of the page, I've added a clump of cattails in the opposite corner. These are the cutest!

After finishing the layout, I used leftover scraps to make this quick card. Simple bracket shape embellished with flowers, bling, ribbon and Cottage Cutz scallop/dot edger.

Add a rubon sentiment and you're good to go!

For this second layout, I used the cute little love birds and tall tree. I also used Ruth Ellen's idea and made the scallop/dot edger a 12 inch length. Great tip, Ruth Ellen.


Added a little stickles to the birdies to make them sparkly, like their adorable personalities.

And for fun, used my eyelet hole punches to make Swissy-looking letters for my cheesy title.

and another card using scraps from the layout. My daughter and son-in-law will celebrate their 10 year anniversary this weekend. The love birds are perfect! Add a heart or two, some ribbon and bling, and celebrate!

I'm really looking forward to my term on the Cottage Blog team and working with some of the cutest dies on the market, not to mention some of the craftiest people out there! Thank you for viewing my first projects and for the warm welcome. :)

Shar

Feeling a little "Krafty"

These are the CottageCutz dies I used for today's post. The Lovebirds, Whimsical, Stylized Tree and the mini Simple Tree.

It's been a long time since I made a card and didn't have at least 2 layers of cardstock and patterned paper behind my design. I just loved the look of these diecuts against the raw Kraft cardstock.
For the trees I inked the edges in a mixture of Walnut ink and Peeled Paint Distress ink.
I cut the leaves out of a patterned paper that matched my cardstock.

For the Whimsical birds I inked them with Walnut Stain also and added some white paint dots to the eyes and a few on the wings.
I thought this would make a cute, but simple Anniversary or Congratulations card for a newly engaged couple or even a baby card with the mini nest die inside the card.


Be sure to check out the blog each day of the week as we have a brand new Design Team that is sure to please!

Cat's in for the Day

Funny thing how this idea came about, The Cat's in for the Day. A Friend asked me to make a sign for the door (that they could flip) so when she and her husband went off to work that they both knew that the cat was let back in for the day. I asked . . why, I thought you had a cat door? Well come to find out, they live on the edge of a wooded area and the cat had decided to bring home presents for them. Opp's twice the cat brought home. . . well. . I just will say it. . SNAAAAKE. The cat door has been closed . . for not.

I started with A card shape, cut a window in both sides. I wanted to use the Cottage Cutz Die with the Cat Front & Back. I thought this was a perfect use. The outside was 4" x 6" and the window is 2" x 3 1/2". I used acetate in the window.

By using acetate I could put both sides of the cat die in the window. I also used the Cottage Cutz Die, Half Daisy on the Front as a full daisy and the back as the half daisy. Mounted on a lattice stripe. The cat die turned out very cute as a orange tabby. I stated with a melon color card stock and highlighted in a burnt orange ink and dabbed a little white. The bow was done in burnt orange card stock. This all pops against the white door.

The half daisy was also added to the cloth ribbon hanger at the top of the front. Remember when gluing card stock and other materials like beads or cloth ribbon, I have found Glossy Accents to hold the best.

I added a dangle at the bottom of the sign using the Cottage Cutz Die, Fish Skeleton along with a few beads.

As an added note, I would also like to welcome all the new DT members, we all look forward to more fun idea's using Cottage Cutz Dies. Thank You B

Good Morning Friends!

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend!

For today's post, I am going to show you how I re-purposed the Shih Tzu die cut that I used on Thursday. I like to think outside the box and see other ways I can use a die.
I hope you like what I have made.




While looking at the die cuts I saw a hairstyle and a sweater. I cut the hair of the dog off to create the neckline of the sweater. I used several colors of die cuts to make the little girl. The snout of the die cut had the perfect shape for the little girls hair.


I will let the pictures speak for themselves. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.


I cut the green snowpants, added some black boots, and added a cute little Panda Bear to the winter sweater to cover the eyes of the dog die cut. I finished with a scarf, a bow in her hair and some white stitching, using a white gel pen. And of course, her cute little face was stamped with a Peachy Keen Simple Sallies face, PK-531.



Thanks so much for stopping by! If you re-purpose your die cuts and would like to share them, leave a link in the comments so I can come and see. Enjoy your day! It is in the 90's here. I will be staying inside today.

Something To Crow About (...see rooster below)

Hello, and happy Friday!! My name is Lorie Souther, and I am thrilled to be able to share a card with you today as one of the new design team members for The Stamping Cottage. This is indeed great news for me to crow about!! I am looking very forward to working with the rest of this talented design team, sharing creative inspiration, and making new friends.

For my card today, I used some wonderful 4th of July themed Cottage Cutz dies from The Scrapping Cottage. American Rooster, Firecracker, Patriot Bunting, and Stars Edger dies all went into this fun and festive creation. Since my stamping and scrapping experience started with my love for painting and coloring images, I decided the best way for me to work with what I know was to start with a blank canvas, if you will. I cut each of these (except the stars edger) with regular white card stock, assembled the pieces using Zip Dry paper glue, and then colored each die cut with my Copic sketch markers. For me, this was the easiest way to achieve the color, highlighting and shading that brings everything to life. The white highlights were added using a white gel pen. I did quite a bit of distressing on the edges of the oval background using Tim Holtz distressing ink in the Tea Dye color. My sentiment for this card is simply "Sparkle", and I added a little bit of sparkle to the stars on the firecrackers, although it doesn't show up so well in the photo.

Here's a little closer look at some of the details. Notice that I used the stars from the Stars Edger and randomly glued those around the image. I like to find ways to use as many of my scraps as I can, and in this case, it worked out just dandy.

The technique I used to color the rooster is one I call the "stippling technique". I guess that term comes from my tole painting days, and while I'm not sure that's the official term for it using markers, it works for me. I just pounce the color into the desired areas with my marker layering the color from lightest to darkest.

I'm so happy you could stop by today. Please feel free to visit me anytime at my blog The ThINKin' Spot . Have a wonderful day, and a safe and Happy 4th of July! See ya soon!

Hello Everyone! Happy Thursday! Let me introduce myself.

My name is Janice Wilson. I am thrilled to announce that I have been asked to join The Scrapping Cottage design team. I am looking forward to getting to know the other designers and to share my designs with you. I hope that we can be an inspiration to each other and learn things along the way. Most of all, let's have FUN!! I primarily make cards, but on occasion I like to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. For today's card, I used CottageCutz Shih Tzu Peeker and CottageCutz Daisy Seeds. I had a lot of fun making this card. I love the Shih Tzu die. It is so cute! I used a couple shades of brown cardstock to assemble the puppy. I didn't have a picket fence die or a grass die so I just cut them myself. The picket fence was very easy. I cut strips of white cardstock, 1/2 inch wide. 2 of the strips were 5 1/2 inches long. The pickets are about 2 inches tall. I cut one of the points on a picket to use as a template to cut the rest of them. I cut the strip of grass, free hand. I inked the edges and the centers of the daisies with Dandelion Memento ink. I free hand cut the bone sign as well, because I don't have a bone die, yet. I used a twist tie that I stripped the paper off of, coiled each end, and used it to hang the sign.





Thanks so much for stopping by. If you have any questions just leave a comment and I will do my best to answer. Have a great day!

Watch For It Wednesday #67

Good Morning Everyone!

How about another fun challenge for today's WFIW post?

On April 26, I did a CottageCutz Edger giveaway. We had 23 replies. Now I want to see what everyone has done using their new CottageCutz Edgers.

Create a card, layout or altered item showcasing your favorite CottageCutz Edger and you are entered for a chance to win a new CottageCutz Edger of your choice. Email a copy of your card, layout or altered item within one week to scrappingcottage@cox.net. The winner will be announced in next Thursdays post(7/8/10).

I played along with this challenge. Here is my layout, showcasing this CottageCutz Edger.


For my layout, I cut craft foam using my CottageCutz Edger die to make my own foam accents(aka Thickers). For more info on using craft foam with your CottageCutz dies, see my 6/9/10 WFIW post. I took a close up photo so you can see the dimension.


Don't forget to send in your projects within one week.

I am sad to say this is my last post, my guest design team time is up. I have really enjoyed being part of the Scrapping Cottage design team and sharing my creations.

Take care!
Karen

May the 4th Be With You

I am so impressed with these wonderful Fourth of July dies. There is nothing that comes close to these designs. Today I'm showing two projects I made with the American Eagle die and the

USA Eagle - both of which I used the new Stars Edger.

This USA Eagle can be made with or without the hat and the USA because they are separate pieces, but simple as well.

This American Eagle was also simple to put together with only 6 pieces. You can use the eagle and the AMERICA separate as well.

I'm excited to be able to use this die for Scout Eagle Congratulation cards as well.

If you don't already have these dies, they are must have for your Fourth of July layouts and projects as well as school history projects, or trips to the historical areas of the United States or scouting pages.

These are limited edition so don't wait.

Who let the Daschunds out??

I just had to show you these cute CottageCutz Daschunds I made the other day. They are so stinkin' cute I wanted to show them off.

Stay tuned, I'm off to take pictures of my two 4th of July samples I'll be posting this morning so come back and check them out.

Go Fish

Happy Thursday Everyone!

These are the CottageCutz dies I am showcasing today.



For my layout I wanted to show you some good examples of cutting different materials with your CottageCutz dies. I used cork, chipboard and thin metal on this layout. For more info on cutting different materials with your CottageCutz dies, check out my 6/9/10 WFIW post.


Here is a close-up of my CottageCutz Fish. I first cut the fish out of chipboard and then thin metal, adhered them together to give some dimension on my layout. With the CottageCutz Edger I used cork to add some texture.


Here is a close-up of the CottageCutz Fishing Pole. I first cut the pole out of chipboard and then thin metal and cardstock, adhered them together for some dimension. I added some sewing thread for the finishing touch. For the lures I used cardstock and thin metal.


I really hope you will try cutting your CottageCutz dies with some different materials, it really adds that extra something to your layout.

Have a blessed day!
Karen

Watch for it Wednesday #66

Today I want to show you some fun things you can do with your CottageCutz dies.

I simply ran some white paper through my cutter with the Daisy die and then punched out just the one daisy so I could use it for a stencil.

Of course this cuts out everything on the die but you don't need to punch it all out, just the one you want to use for a stencil. Then I used some ink and a dauber to sponge the flower onto my paper.
I did the same with the Flower 3, Layered die and just used the stem.
Another fun way to use your dies is to cut out the flowers from white paper and spray them with Glimmer Mist (aqua) or Smooch Spritz (purple). For the orange daisy I simply sponged the cut out flower with my ink and dauber.
I hope this gives you a few more ways to use these wonderful CottageCutz dies.

We invite you to ask questions and make comments on any of our posts. We're here to help!

I'm Listening....

My first thought when I saw this Pooch on Bed CottageCutz die was

"I'm Listening" and "Thinking of You". We all have times when we need to send this kind of a card to dear friend and what better way then with a cute dog.

Don't forget to the Edger dies, I think the Rick Rack is my favorite because I now have Rick Rack in any color I need and as much as I want!

I'll see you back here tomorrow for my Watch for it Wednesday post.

Have a great day everyone!

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Check out the newest Cottage Cutz Summer Release available for pre-order now!!!
Don't miss out on your chance to save now with pre-order pricing!!

My Best Friend

My best friend Buddy, The Die. . Puppy in House, by Cottage Cutz. I wanted to create a mini scrapbook look in a frame. The main issues with framing a scrapbook layout is the page will not fit flat on the glass because of all the layers of paper and embellishments. I know it is hard to see, but if you notice how the plaid background does not match on the edge, that is because I cut a MAT in the same plaid background and mounted it on Scotch foam tape. This way the raised mat would create an even height on the outside of the layout. This would make the layout lay flat against the glass on the entire edge. This created a shadow box area in the center to work within. Remember this foam tape / mat frame trick for a layout page that may be causing the album to not close flat when closed. The frame helps the pages stack up better when using a lot of thick embellishments on a special page..

Now I was able to do the puppy and the house in several layers and overlaps of paper without there being an issue. Everything lays flat and does not press against the glass.

The other advantage to the mat frame, is the lettering is almost floating. The top of MY BEST is glued to the mat only on the tops of the letters and FRIEND is glued along the bottom of the letters to the mat. This allowed the letters to appear as if they are floating. So how do I solve the dot to the "i", I would have had to stick the dot of the i to the glass or glue it down on the background, than it would not have been floating. . . . notice the cute lettering trick. . . .use the negative of letters, so I used this for the I on the friend. I did not not want the I to stick out alone, so I picked the e from best at the top. To add additional dimension I mounted the red frame for the photo behind the mat, than mounted the frame above the mat on the top.

Duck...Duck...Goose.

Well, in this case a Gander. ;)

My son had the part of the Gander in the Charlotte's Web play at his school. I knew this CottageCutz Goose w/ Bow die would work perfectly to accent my page.

This is the CottageCutz die I am showcasing today.


For my layout, I pop dotted my CottageCutz Goose w/ Bow die to really make him stand out on the page. This is one of the ideas from my 6/9/10 WFIW post, about how to add dimension to a project. To give him even more presence, I placed him on top of some bright colored circles.

This is a two page layout. I posted page two separately so you can see the CottageCutz Goose w/ Bow die close up. Below is the layout with both pages together.


If you are interested in the CottageCutz Goose w/ Bow die, it was released with the March/Easter dies.
Have a great Thursday!
Karen