Happy Go Lucky Elephant

Carol here!  Today I want to show you my first creations as a Design Team Member of The Scrapping Cottage, using CottageCutz Happy Go Lucky Elephant. This is purely a selfish reason that I chose this sweet elephant as my first creation.  Today is my son Wesley's 26th Birthday.  He loves elephants-always has. 

So let's talk about this card a little and I will give you the deets.  The banner was made with the Spellbinders Scalloped Banner die, I free hand cut the straight edge banners that back the pretty pearl ones up.   I also used the banner die cut set for the Birthday sentiment.  The letters were done with the Cuttlebug Baby Face typeset dies.  The scalloped square is Spellbinders and the punched floral border is Matha Stewart.

Now about the image.  In this picture you can see that I have created some dimension.  I don't know about you but I love dimension in a card and look for ways to create it.  It brings the whole project alive.  And I bet you are wondering how I got the image to look exactly like the above picture of the die cut packaging.

It was easy!  Let me share that with you.  I cut out the image with gray card stock.  Then I carefully separated all the cut through areas the die produces when you cut with the die.  To color the image I used chalk-yes chalk!!!  I haven't taken my chalk out in ages.  This was so fun.  I ran the chalk along the edges following the die cut picture that the die came in.  I used my fingers to rub the blackgray (I dipped a cotton swab in both to mix) chalk in sort of creating a smudge effect.  I used pink chalk to touch upon the knees, cheeks, and ears and rubbed that with my finger too.  Before you stamp the eyes on the elephant you can use aerosol hairspray to set the chalk.  I cut the pink toe nails with the die and glued them on the hooves.  Then I ran a little black/gray chalk over the top to tone down my pink card stock a bit.

Here is a close up of the dimension created.  I used a 1/8" foam dot placed behind the elephants cheeks and the eyebrows.  I also placed one betweene the first two creases of his nose.  I then applied the image to the die cut base and actually glued his ears to the card stock.  I used 1/16" dots on the body and legs.

As you can see this is the natural way the trunk lays on the image.  You can also curl it a bit if you want it coming out more.

So that's this project for today.  I hope you check out The Scrapping Cottage for more cute images and designs for your crafting needs.  This sure was fun to create!

Welcome Our Newest DT Member to Our Team!

Hello everyone, I hope you will help us welcome our Newest DT member "Carol Hurlock" to The Cottage Cutz Design Team!

Welcome Carol!! We are so excited to have you as part of our DT!

A little info on Carol-

  **Becoming a design team member for Scrapping Cottage is so exciting.  My first love in paper crafting was paper piecing and doing it the old fashioned way with tracing and fussy cutting.  The Cottage Cutz dies make it so easy because putting together the pieces is what I enjoyed the most.  My work is filled with punches and die cuts and it is something I enjoy doing very much.  I  dream in punches and die cuts and very often find myself daydreaming my next project!  It will be a pleasure to bring my style and inspiration to this very talented design team.

I live in a small town in Georgia which is located about 35 minutes from Jacksonville Florida.  My husband and I have two boys, Wesley 25 and Ryan 19.  They are both in college-Wesley working on his Masters Degree plus holding a full time job and Ryan working on his Associates Degree.  I work full time for a Construction Equipment Rental Company and spend every free moment creating in my craft room. 

***To see some of Carol's BEAUTIFUL work please visit her Blog HERE!!*** 

Also Carol's 1st Post using the DARLING Cottage Cutz Die's will be tomorrow :) Hope you will stop back by tomorrow to see her post! :)

Hope you all have a lovely day!Hugs ,Cheryl

Spring Chick

Hello friends!  Today's card features the Shower Peepers die designed by Peachy Keen Stamps.  This is a 4x6 inch die that includes 3 face stamps and accessories, an umbrella, a broom, and some flowers.  I chose to use the umbrella.  She looks like she is singing in the rain.

I used white cardstock to cut the diecuts, and a combination of regular markers, chalk, and ink to add some shading.  I used lime green Stickles on the umbrella.  We have had a very mild winter this year, YAY!  Happy Spring everyone!
Hugs and smiles,Janice

Happy Spring!

Good morning, and welcome to The Scrapping Cottage Blog.  Lorie here today, so share a cute card using Cottage Cutz dies from the Spring release.  For this card, I had fun creating with the Watering Can with Tulips 4x6 die, and the Bunnies in the Grass Border 4x6 die. 

The watering can and tulips were cut with white card stock and colored with Copic markers, and with a little spring paper, ribbon, and some pearl embellishments, this card is finished and ready for wishing someone special a happy spring.

So happy you could join us today.  Wishing you a wonderful day and happy crafting!

Lorie

Love Bandit

I hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day! My husband and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and it was so yummy! If you are still in the mood for a little romance, perhaps this adorable raccoon will do the trick. Looks like he's heading out of the forest ready for a big date!

I love this pine branch, and thought it would be great to create a little scene.

Frame One
Love Bandit, Raccoon
Pine Cone Branch

Happy Valentines Day with Scrapping Cottage

Happy Valentine's Day love birds. I made this sweet gift card holder that would be perfect for a Valentines gift. Let's take a closer look...

I love the way in this picture you can really see the detail. The birds wings pop up and add such great dimension.   I bent the tips just a bit before gluing them down so they would be elevated.

TIP: Don't forget to ink your edges of your dies to give them a finished look.

The back of the holder is attached with a heart key that was stamped and embossed and is held down with a small piece of twine.

I used the following Scrapping Cottage Dies to create this little gem.

Seed Packet Envelope

Vintage Keys with Stamps

Sweet Daisies with Birds

I wish you lots of love today and for the rest of the year.

Hugs,

Challenge #9 Winner Posted

Hello everyone and hope you all are enjoying your day! Today we are announcing the WINNER of our Layout Challenge #9 and the WINNER is................

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#7 Jill with her entry here:

http://jrugg.blogspot.com/2012/02/christmas-day.html

She used the Cottage Cutz Snow Globe Accessories from the Christmas Snow Release found HERE!

**CONGRATULATIONS JILL!!! Please contact Joanne at scrappingcottage@cox.net to receive your Gift Certificate to The Scrapping Cottage!!!

****Also we want to THANK everyone who played along in our Layout Challenge, you all did such a Beautiful Job!!!!

Have a lovely day!!Hugs to all,Cheryl

♥Sweetheart Flower♥ & Video Tutorial

Hello everyone and Happy Sunday to all! Today I'm sharing a couple of projects I made using the Super Pretty ♥Sweetheart Flower Cottage Cutz die♥. I also have a ♥video ♥on how i made these flowers!

♥♥1st I used them on these candy conversation heart boxes i bought at walmart. I used My Little Shoebox design paper, and then ribbons,trims and laces for the boxes

For the flowers Ive used the Sweetheart Flower Cottage Cutz die from the Valentine Collection found here.

♥♥For this box, I also used the sweet Love Tags Set  I stamped the stamps from the Vintage Key Die set found here.

♥♥These treat boxes were super easy and fun to make! I think they are perfect for valentines day!!

♥♥Here is a card I made using the Sweetheart Flowers! I have made other flowers using this same die and will be sharing that video soon!

♥Sweetheart Flower Video Tutorial!♥

I hope you all enjoy todays post and video!!!

♥I will be back on Monday the 13th to post the winner of our Challenge #9 Layout Challenge!! Thank you for looking and have a lovely day!♥

Hugs to all,Cheryl

Hugs & Kisses

 Hugs and Kisses . . . This is my oldies but goodies week. We all have dies that we may have bought in the past and you look back at them and say. . .you know I really like that one . . so you look at all the options that you could use it for again. This week I used four Cottage Cutz dies from the past that I really like. The Mini Love Postage, The 4x4 Puppy with Valentine, Lacy Heart Doily and the Hugs & Kisses Phrase. The card is really also the envelope. As you can see from the first photo, I used the Cottage Cutz Mini Love Postage Stamp die a couple of times to create a swoop of design and color down the envelope to where I added the dangle. The HUGS , KISSES and XOXO came off the Cottage Cutz Phrase die. It is hard to tell but I used foam tape to layer the pink stamp three times . . building it up to the sparkle heart.  

 This photo is the envelope turned over and opened up to see the in with the Cottage Cutz Puppy with Valentine. Because of the cut line in the puppy die, I was able to raise the flap on the min pink envelope and the dogs ear with foam dots to add dimension to the pup. I know I should have raise one of the legs with a dot also. . .but . . . well it looked like he was about to wiz on something. . so I . .  left well enough alone. sorry. . .

 Here is how I scored the Cottage Cutz Lacy Heart Doily's to create the flaps on the envelope. I started with a 4 1/4" square card stock for the card, scored the hearts about a 1/3 of the corner (center bow to third leaf cluster). Glued them under on all four sides.

 Here is the envelope completely open from the front. You can see how the corners of the hearts glued down make a nice embossed look. That is why I used red on red. I highlighted the red hearts in white ink with a sponge. It looks kind-a like a pin wheel. You just have to score all the hearts the same first, than glue. . than you are sure that they will flippy fold and match on the open side of the envelope. I glued the hearts 1/2" from the corner on each side. You need the sharp corner to begin with to measure, than use a corner rounder to round the corners. 

This is a photo of the four hearts. . flippy folded closed. It will tend to dome a little when closed to begin with. . but just put a book on top of the card  (to iron out) for a while and it will flatted more.

Thanks and Happy ""V"" Day     Barry

Puppy Love

Hi Everyone!

Today I have this adorable Sweetheart Puppy die to share with you.  I think Cottage Cutz make the cutest dies!

I cut the puppy from white cardstock and colored her up with my Copics.  I think this makes a cute Valentine card but like all Cottage Cutz, they can be used in a variety of ways, by adding or removing different components from the die.  Be sure and stop by the store to browse some of the newest releases.  So many to choose from.  I just received my new dies designed by Peachy Keen and will be sharing those with you soon.  Have a great day!
Hugs and smiles,Janice

Take Time To Smell The Flowers

Good morning!  It's Lorie here today to share a fabulous Cottage Cutz creation with you.  It's still technically winter around here, even though our weather has been more like spring, so with all this spring in the air, I couldn't resist playing with the new Cottage Cutz dies from Peachy Keen Designs.  Some of my all time favorite  images are now available in die form, and they come complete with adorable face stamps to give you all the versatility you can imagine!! 

For this card, I used the Cottage Cutz Shower Peepers 4x6 die, along with the My Little Shoebox Ornate Circle Frame 4x6 die.  I added some pearls to the flowers, and pretty satin and organza ribbon for embellishment.  I found this sentiment in a set of stamps I had from Peachy Keen Stamps called Spring Bouquet.  I cut this chickie out with white card stock and I colored it with Copic markers.  Before I colored, I stamped the face with Memento Tuxedo black ink, which is great for use with Copics because I never have to worry about it smudging.  The patterned paper is some I had in my stash from Stampin Up!, and I did pop this cutie up onto an action wobble, so she's got a little bit of wiggle going on.  What a happy card!!!  

Be sure to head over to The Scrapping Cottage to check out all the wonderful new dies.  There's still time to get your order in for the Valentine's Day release, and these Cottage Cutz by  Peachy Keen Designs like I used today are now in stock, AND if that's not enough newness for you, you can now preorder the beautiful and absolutely gorgeous spring release!!

So glad you could join us here today!  I wish you a blessed and beautiful day and some happy crafting, too!

Hoot Loves You?

Have you seen the Valentine release from CottageCutz? It's so cute! And I have a sweet pair of love birds to share with you. These owls (Hoot Loves You) are just adorable, and by leaving off the hearts, you could use them for anything!

U Make Me Bloom

Have you ever had someone in your life that just makes you bloom? Makes you a better person just because? I'm so blessed to have several of those people and my sister Gini is one of them. She's been my best friend my whole life..This layout is about how she makes me bloom.

 I used multiple Leafy Foliage die cuts to great the vine over the page using two different shades.  I also inked all my edges.

 The small flowers are from Spring Embellishment...I love dies that can be versatile.  I curl them inwards with my McGill tools after I had cut them out.



Hope you enjoyed!  I'll see you soon.