Anything goes with Christmas!!

As soon as I saw these adorable sunglasses from the July #2 Cottage Cutz Release, I knew I had to have them. If there is one thing my girls have always loved, it's dressing up. And nothing completes a good outfit like a pair of shades. I actually have several pictures picked out that are going to look great with this sunglasses shape but I picked these first. Since these pictures were taken around Christmas, I wanted to give the layout an overall Christmasy feel. However, the real reason behind the pictures was the fact that my DD put on my sunglasses and thought she looked so cool! So I used the sunglasses mini die to add an accent border long the bottom to help accentuate the sunglasses in the pictures which are the true focus.

I use lots of different cardstocks in my scrapbooking. For me, it is sometimes more about the perfect color match than the brand of cardstock. However, there are definitely differences among the brands. Some cardstock leaves a white edge after you cut out your shapes. Now depending upon the colors in your layout, and the placement of your diecut, that may not matter at all. On this particular layout, my background was off white, plus I wanted my sunglasses to pop a bit. Therefore, I took one of my Copic markers and edged the sunglasses shapes. By doing this, I was able to get rid of the white edge and give a crisper look to the diecuts. This is one of those techniques that when you look at the layout, you don't say, "Wow, that's some good edging on those sunglasses". But if I had not done it, they would not have looked as clean and crisp.

I hope you enjoyed this quick little tip to help you get the look you want with your diecuts! Have a great rest of the weekend and happy scrapping!!!

You're Toad-ally Awesome!!

Good morning, and happy Friday the 13th to you!  Happy birthday birthday to me on this Friday the 13th.  I wasn't born on Friday the 13th, but I've sure had lots of birthday's celebrated on them.  I want to share a card with you today that expresses how I feel about being a part of this wonderful group of talent on The Scrapping Cottage Design Team.  I think they are each and every one TOAD-ALLY awesome, so here's my card for all of YOU today.  For this card I used the Frog on Lily Pad, Marker Sign, and the Zig-Zag Edger dies, all from The Scrapping Cottage.  Oh my goodness, were they ever fun to work with!!  This time I used colored card stock, and then shaded with my Copic markers.  I just couldn't quite get the look I wanted using white card stock, so that's why I changed it up a bit.  I found that it worked wonderfully to color the colored card stock with markers.  Another fun thing I thought I'd try was cutting the fire flies wings with acetate.  I love the way this looks in real life!!  It's such a small, but effective touch.  The sentiment for this card was computer generated, and all the die cuts are popped up with pop dots.

I'm so happy you could drop by today.  I wish YOU a toad-ally awesome day, lots of happy crafting, and again, a very happy Friday!!

 


I

Play on words

Please forgive my lack of projects this week. On top of having two of my grandgirls here this week, I've been super sick and sleeping more than scrapping I'm afraid. I expect to be back on track next week though! :)


I love play on words and the ladybug and watermelon is perfect for a quick thank you card, don't you think! I used the grass clump from the mushrooms for to "ground" the ladybug.

Punny Get Well Card

A couple of years ago I ran across this saying in a craft magazine and thought it was so funny, so I can't take credit for this take on words. I thought it would be perfect for this CottageCutz

Hot Dog die and show you how this can be used for more than just your backyard BBQ's.

I also used the CottageCutz Loopy Edger die.

TIP - When I only need to use 4" of these edgers I just use my Revolution without changing the platform to my 12" one. The 4" platform works by hanging the extra part of the die off the edges right in the middle.

Do you have some fun ways to use this Hot Dog die? Then WEINER you going to leave us a comment and share your ideas - we like to hear from you!

If the shoe fits. . .PARTY

I created an invitation for a Halloween Shoe Party. . If the Shoe fits. . .PARTY. I used the Cottage Cutz 3x3 Witch Legs Die. One set of legs are done like the die shows you and the other set I used a 1/4" hole punch to create Polka Dot hoses and added a jewel in place of the buckle on the shoe. The invitation is 6"x6" with a window cut out in both the orange and the black . This way I could create a window to sandwich the mesh like ribbon in between . (to give a web look).

I wanted the word PARTY to have a slightly different look, so I used an old fashion Fiskars shaped hand hole punch to chip away on the edge of the letters. (in this case, the triangle), be sure to punch at different sizes for contrast. If you try to hand cut the chips by hand, the tip of the scissors will not get a clean cut and you may overlay the cuts. (and way to much work!) This way . . snap . . there is a chip. This also works well with any of the old hand punches. There was oval, rectangle, triangle, diamond, star. . etc. The oval works great for a cheese edge. The rectangle gives you a square mechanical chip.. . . . for a Robot layouts. If the letters are large enough, cut the letter twice each in a different color, cut the shape holes randomly on the top color than glue the "holy" letter on top of the second color letter. That works great for Birthday layouts. . kind of a confetti look. Than you also don't have to glue every piece of confetti onto the letter.

The back I made an easel type card on the bottom half of the card with a simple . . When. . Where . . . etc. The why really tells the story . . . Why: because you look HOT in those shoes.

Have a great party!!!!!

It's Monday! "Let's Do Lunch"

I can't believe it is Monday already! Hope you all had a great weekend. For today's card I used dies from the new summer release. I love the Picnic Basket die! I grew up in WI and my Mom would pack a picnic lunch at least once each summer, and we would head off to Bay Beach for a day of FUN! We had one of those metal coolers from the 50's. I love everything from the 50's, especially kitchen decor.

The finished card size is 6x6. I cut the picnic basket using white cardstock and colored with copics. I used a small piece of gingham paper for the cloth inside the basket. I usually use scraps and place the paper over the part of the die I want to cut. Of course if you prefer to color your die cuts, you will have very little waste. I am so glad Lorie gave me that wonderful tip! It opened up a wide range of possibilities. I never really thought about it. I would choose colored cardstock to cut my images, but now the possibilities are endless! Thanks Lorie!

The Picnic Ant and the Picnic Ladybug are so cute! The drumstick and the slice of watermelon are cute too! You could have them carry different items to switch it up a bit. I could have put the drumstick in the picnic basket and have the ant carry the apple.

I used a small alphabet stamp set to stamp the words, "Let's Do Lunch".

Picnic anyone? Enjoy the day!

Hugs and smiles!
Janice

I love moo!

Hello! It's me, Nikki! I hope you find my card to be amoozing. ☺ Sorry, couldn't help myself. I used the Cow Peeker die and stamps to create my card for today. I think she is just too stinkin' adorable! I decided that she is a blue diva and NEEDED some pretty blue eyeshadow to complete her ensemble! ☺ 

She also has on a blingy blue necklace which can be seen a lot better here...

Well, I hope you like my card for today! See you again next Sunday...Until we meet again...Happy Crafting to you!!!

♥ Nikki ♥

p.s. if you want to see more of my crafty adventures you can stop by over at my personal blog ScrappinNavyWife. ☺

My little nature girl

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! My post today is featuring the Cottage Cutz Bluebird and the Cottage Cutz Loops Edger. I purchased this new paper from Bo Bunny and I wanted to create my accents to match - in comes my Cottage Cutz. The CC Bluebird is the perfect compliment to the bird on the patterned paper.

Here is a close up of my die cut so you can see some of the details of the shape. As you can see, I used the grey from the paper for the bird's beak as well as the branch and leaves so it would coordinate perfectly with my paper.

I took these pictures of my daughter to show what a prissy little girl she was. In order to play in the dirt, I had to put a towel down on the ground so she wouldn't get any dirt on her! That was my little nature girl!! 

Glad you could join us today! Come back tomorrow for more inspiration and fabulous projects featuring our Cottage Cutz dies.

Ruth Ellen

Flashy Flamingo

Good morning!  Another Friday is upon us, and I hope you have plans for an amazing weekend doing whatever it is that you love.  That one's easy for me, as I have plans for a quiet weekend and hopefully lots of crafting!  I had an amazing time at CHA last week, but it's good to be home and  in the craft  room again.  Today I'm sharing a fun card with you that I created with the Flamingo Die by Cottage Cutz, which can be found at The Scrapping Cottage.   I made my flamingo a little on the flashy side by adding a lot of bling around the edge of the circle panel, and that long, graceful neck was the perfect place to put a bow for this flashy lady.  Quick Tip:  After tying the bow, I gave the tails a little curl, and secured them in place with a tiny glue dot, so the curls would stay where I put them.  

I used lots of bright patterned paper to give this even more fun color and interest, and as I usually like to do, I colored the die cut after it was assembled with my Copic markers, and added some highlights with my white gel pen.  I was happily surprised with the size of this particular die, because I love to color larger images, and after assembly, this die cut measured nearly 4 1/2 inches.  It is the perfect size for a card, and would be excellent for a scrapbook page, as well.  Even better would be a whole flock of flamingos for a scrapbook page!! 

I'm so happy you could stop by today, and I wish you a wonderful day filled with happy crafting!  

Sweet!

This is my favorite of the cupcake dies. Love the heart sprinkles and the heart cherry on top! Papers are DCWV from the Sweet stack. I cut the title letters, the cupcake paper, and the border along the bottom from the cover page of the stack.

For Olivia's birthday card I used the new peeker-pig...

...and one of the bon-bons from the stacking candy die. I used my paper crimping tool to make the candy wrapper more realistic.

Here I've used the boat and dock die on a fishing page.



I love adding texture to my projects. For texture on this page I used jute for rope to tie the boat to the piling. Cute, isn't it.

I love you "MOW" than ever!

Ok, I know I get a little weird with my sentiments sometimes but I can't help it.

Whenever I get a CottageCutz die to work with my mind starts racing and then the ideas for whitty (weird) sayings just pop into my head.

When I saw this die I thought about the first time my son mowed the lawn and we videotaped him for a few minutes. It's still fun to watch and I can hardly believe that was 16 years ago!

I thought this die would be fun for occasions other than mowing the lawn.

By replacing the word more with mow it allows you use this cute Lawn Mower die in some different ways.

So, I'm going to tell you one "mow" time, you gotta have this die.

Have a great day everyone!

it's all about the candy

It's all about the candy, any every child will tell you that. This week I used the Cottage Cutz Die called Ghost with Legs. I made a card and matching gift tag. The gift tag was attached to a Chocolate drizzled pretzel, a quick way to make a tray of party favors. as well as nice gifts for the office.

I did not alter the die that much, but did decide that the trick-or-treater needed arms for the treat bags. I used the same part of the die that is used for the legs, all I did was make them white. The handles on the treat bag is the buckle, and the treat bag was an older die shape. The rick rack on the treat bags came from the Cottage Cutz Gingerbread Doll Die.

Good Morning Friends!

Hello Everyone! Happy Monday to you! For today's card I have used several dies. I love the window dies, so I used Window w/ canopy. I love the canopy! I also used the flower pot from the Window and Flower Pot die. This card could be used for many occasions. We've Moved, Welcome Neighbor, Housewarming Party....... you get the idea. I like to make scenes when I make cards, so I used my Score-pal to make the "siding" on my house. And of course I had to make a white picket fence with this fabulous Picket Fence die! And finally I used the Daisy die to plant some flowers around the house. I used a light pink behind the 9 panel window. To create a slight shadow I highlighted each window pane with a light cool grey Copic marker. This small detail really makes the window pop! I hope you like my card! I will be back next Monday, but I hope you visit us every day to see the fabulous artistry of the other designers!

You're My Hero

Hello! It's Nikki again ☺ Sorry I am late in posting today, but I have a good excuse I swear! As you probably know, I am a Navy Wife...and yesterday my husband came home from 7 months at sea!!! So, in all the excitement, I sort of didn't remember to post this morning. LOL. On to my card for today...I used the American Eagle die and the Patriot Bunting die. I used the middle bunting piece to give my eagle a sign to hold in his little talons.

I gave the eagle a tiny black half pearl for his eye. I used my trusty white sakura gelly roll pen for all the stitching and doodling. Well, I hope you like my card for today! And if you're interested in seeing pictures and video's from my sailors homecoming yesterday...pop over to My Blog to take a look. ☺

♥ Nikki ♥

Yellow Watermelon??!!

I have been saving these pictures of my girls eating yellow watermelon just waiting for the right die to come along to embellish the page. And of course, I found the perfect shape from the Cottage Cutz July #2 Release. This Watermelon die is really a must have for any Summer page or other project. I love it because not only it is super cute, but this die comes with three different shapes for you to use all on one die!! You can't beat that!!

Naturally, since my page showcases pictures of my girls seeing and eating their first yellow watermelon, I wanted to coordinate my watermelon embellishments to match. I would never have been able to find watermelon stickers that were yellow!! Instead of using colored cadrstock, I pulled out my Copic markers to color the green and yellow parts of the watermelons. This way, I would be able to achieve more of a mottled look similar to the imperfections you would see in real watermelons. (Plus it is just so fun to color the pieces of the Cottage Cutz shapes with my markers).

You will also notice that I used the Cottage Cutz Rick Rack Edger die on my layout. This die is a life saver!! Never more do I have to go without the look I want because I don't have Rick Rack in the right color (and let's face it, I NEVER seem to have the right color!!). In order to get the longer length for the horizontal piece, I used my WfiW tip I posted previously about how to get longer lengths from the 7" Cottage Cutz Edger dies. If you missed that tip or you want a refresher, just click here to review the edger technique.

Thanks for stopping by today! Come back tomorrow to see another fabulous creation from the uber talented Nikki! I am sure she has something wonderful in store for us!!

Good morning, and greetings from the CHA Super Show in Chicago!!!!  WOW!!  There's certainly LOTS of excitement in the air as we get ready to begin the opening day of the super show.  Today I'm sharing a make and take project with you directly from the floor of CHA.  This is a little sticky note notebook, complete with pen, is perfect for jotting down all those wish list items at CHA.   

This adorable peach die is available at The Scrapping Cottage, and includes the face stamp from Peachy Keen Stamps, which just brings this "peachy" little girl to life.  I used white card stock to cut the die, then colored with my Copic markers, and the eyes are filled in with white gel pen.  I matted the peach on some brightly colored patterned paper and card stock with pop dots, and that did it for this project. 

So glad you could join us today!  Have a beautiful day, and happy crafting!!!!!