And the May winner is.............

By random number generator, the winner of this month's free Quickutz die giveaway is..........



seemoreclearly - who was our second poster to the Contest Thread this month.

Congratulations!! Please contact The Scrapping Cottage to select your die (alpha not included).

Thanks to everyone who participated this month!!

Card Sketch Contest: May 2009

Are you ready for another contest? Well, here it is!

Becky Fleck from http://www.pagemaps.com/ has graciously let us use

one of her card sketches for our contest.

You must have an obvious likeness to this sketch and it must be newly created for this contest. The winner will receive one Quickutz 4x8 Alphabet of their choice.

Your entries must be emailed to scrappingcottage@cox.net by midnight on Wednesday, May 27th with CARD SKETCH CONTEST MAY 2009 in the subject line.

Below are two example of cards made from this sketch. Beverly did this gorgeous Sympathy card and Kay did a manly Father's Day card (I promised I would do manly cards this month) using the Quickutz Chocolate 4x8 Alphabet and 2x2 bracket die from April's release.

Have fun! We can't wait to see your creations!

Be sure to check out The NEW COTTAGECUTZ SUMMER RELEASE Dies. Pre-Order yours today and take advantage of the special introductory price.
These new Cottage dies are FANTASTIC and I'm sure they will sell quickly. Check them out at THE SCRAPPING COTTAGE and see what I'm talking about. Trust me - you'll be sorry if you miss out.
note:- Introductoty Price will expire on Wed, May 27th. Pre-Order your CottageCutz June Release now and enjoy great savings.

PENGUIN PARADE


This week I did a single page layout of my Husband and his Brother using photos which I took of them just before his brother’s wedding. I found it very difficult to take a serious photo of them and maybe it was just their nerves, but I couldn’t help thinking that maybe the saying ‘boys never ever really grow up’ seemed so true at that moment and even though they look like men, they will always be boys at heart :-)
In my layout I used the adorable COTTAGECUTZ PENGUIN DIE SC-CC-009 because I always thought that the suits they were wearing reminded me of penguins. The COTTAGE CUTZ penguins are about 4”x2” when made up and are very easy to put together. They are a perfect size for scrapbooking layouts.
I also used:-
QUICKUTZ DISCO ALPHABET FONT 4X8-DISCO-M (ON SALE NOW - HAVE A LOOK IN STORE)
QUICKUTZ OLIVIA ALPHABET NUMBERS
QUICKUTZ SIGN RS-0265
QUICKUTZ CLOUDS BORDER DIE CC-BDR-032,
QUICKUTZ TREES BORDER DIE CC-BDR-018,
TIM HOLTZ DISTRESS INKS (VINTAGE PHOTO & WALNUT STAIN)

Mickey Mouse Tree!

The Most Magical Place on Earth!

I think I join with most of the world when I say, I love Disneyland!

I love everything about it-

the sights, the sounds, the magic, the MOUSE!!!

It is a wonderful place.

Our family has been blessed this year as we have the incredible
privilege of being a part of sending a very special family to
Disneyland this summer. One of the precious teachers at our
children's school was diagnosed with cancer this year and the
entire school has joined together to make their Disney dreams
come true! We hope their vacation is half as wonderful as they are!


I am creating this book to present to them on the day our school
surprises them with this magical gift. I am not completely finished
yet but I wanted to share a little bit of the magic with you!

I was shuffling throught my CottageCutz dies to get some
inspiration and this adorable CottageCutz Tree with Hearts
and leaves jumped right out of the package and into my hand!
Walla....a Mickey Mouse tree was born! I may still add some leaves
and hearts to the tree but I wanted to show you how versatile
and ingenious this wonderful die is. It is one of my favorites!

Can you find the new release die??

OK, now granted, it isn't really going to be that hard to find the new release die in this layout. But did you ever expect to see one of the new Special Occasion dies from the May Quickutz Release used in a Halloween layout? I received a bunch of these new dies in the mail today so of course I couldn't wait to start playing. I think the 2x2 Pears are just so cute that I was dying to use them first.

I decided to surf the internet to see if I could come up with a catchy little phrase about pears. All of a sudden I saw a saying about gourds and it hit me...turn these little babies around, take of the stem, and with a little distressing, they look like those colorful Fall gourds and other odd shaped pumpkins you see every year. So I got out all of my other QK Pumpkin dies to make a fun little cluster of different shaped pumpkins. I also used the Supermarket 4x8 Alpha for my title (which I believe is my absolute favorite of the 4x8 alphas!!)

Follow Your Dreams

These new shapes from the Quickutz May Release aren't just for weddings! I live in the land of "all things princess" so of course I immediately set out to make this Rev Wedding Dress Die look a little more princessy and a little less like a wedding dress. In order to add a bit of princess gown detail, I took the center portion of one the 2x2 brackets and placed it in the middle of the gown instead of the sash that comes with the die. I also used pieces of glitter cardstock to really give the gown some extra sparkle.

Don' forget when you are placing your order for these new Quickutz dies to include the FREE Club Die for all Quickutz/Cottage Cutz orders over $50!!

You still have plenty of time to enter our monthly drawing for your choice of one of the new Quickutz Dies from this release by leaving a comment HERE telling us what your favorites are from the May release (alphabet not included).

WATCH FOR IT WEDNESDAY #11

Have you heard about the COPIC Ciao marker craze? Well, I'm hooked! Today I want to show you an easy way to work with those dies that generally need multiple colors.

The Ciao markers have 2 tips, I like to use the brush tip the most. These are alcohol based so they can be blended together and colored over each other for a darker color.

I took a white piece of Bazzill cardstock and applied a piece of the Quickutz Double-sided adhesive and ran this through my Revolution with the CottageCutz Cupcake tier.

Then I started coloring in the pieces with my Ciao markers. This went really quick, the thing that takes the longest is deciding what colors you want.

OK, here are my colored pieces, next I went over some of the pieces multiple times with my markers to show some detail. You can see below which ones I've gone over more than the initial coloring in to get the details I want.

Then I just peeled them off like a sticker and placed them on my card. I used my Stickles to detail the pink frosting and the cherries.

Watch for these wonderful COPIC Ciao Markers coming soon to the Scrapping Cottage Store.

Manly Card Month Continues

OK, I know it's Quickutz release day but I promised I would stick to the manly cards this month.

I was so excited to get my hands on the Quickutz Spring Gift sets. I used the RELAX gift set for this sailboat card. I cut out the pieces to the sailboat and then inked around the edges with some daubers. This card could easily say "Happy Father's Day" instead of Happy Birthday.

If you haven't gotten any of the Spring gift sets, don't wait because there is a limited supply.

Special Occasion Release

This month's Quickutz release is all about celebrations! But just because you don't have a wedding to scrap, don't think there aren't some dies in this release for you. Quickutz has also released some must-have scalloped nesting shapes as well as some great new 12" borders. And of course, now is the time to take advantage of Scrapping Cottage's bundle deals on these new release dies. There are lots of possibilities for using these new dies so be sure to check the Blog regularly all week long as we post our projects using these new dies.

When you are placing your order, make sure to include your *FREE* Club Die for purchases over $50. These dies go so fast so you want to be sure not to miss it! Plus, check out the Cottage Cutz section to see if there aren't one or two of those dies you have been waiting to order that you could stick in with your new May Quickutz Dies.

And last but not least...did you think I forgot about our Monthly giveaway?! Just leave a comment on THIS POST telling us which Quickutz die from the new May release is your favorite and you will be entered into a drawing for a free die of your choice (alphabets not included). You have until midnight Saturday to post your comments! The winner will be announced on Sunday.

"Secret" Cupcake

One of the new June Sizzix releases is the Bigz XL Cupcake Card & Pocket die. It is a fun die to
work with. I called this card "Secret" Cupcake because when you cut all the pieces and put
them together they form a "pocket." I immediately thought what a neat place this would be to
slip in some birthday money (or check). I used Stickles glitter glue and mini-marbles for
the icing and sprinkles on the cupcake. :) I also cut an extra cupcake liner and ran it through a paper crimper to make my cupcake seem like the real thing. :) Be sure to check out
all the great new June Sizzix releases at Scrapping Cottage.

Card

This week I have not been feeling well and have started medication that makes me drowzy and feeling like I'm floating in the clouds :-) so I have had to settle with making a quick and simple card to share with you this week. I used the QUICKUTZ CLOUDS BORDER DIE CC-BDR-032, QUICKUTZ CLOUD AND RAINBOW DIE CC-SHAPE-2-022, and both the QUICKUTZ MUSHROOMS REV-0188-S and the QUICKUTZ 2X2 HOUSE DIE KS-0935 to make the mushroom Castle. I also used the TIM HOLTZ DISTRESS INK to ink my die cuts before I placed onto my card. Hopefully I'll be up and about soon ready to start on next weeks post :-)

Oh Happy Day!

Happy Friday!

I found this adorable wooden wall "flower" at a garage

sale last weekend and couldn't wait to get home to alter it.

I thought it would look darling in our daughter's room!

I used the flowers I created for "Watch for it Wednesday"

this week to embellish this fun little sign!! (If you didn't get a

chance to see the Wednesday post and you want to know

how you can make these, go take a look!) My favorite part

of this creation is the Scrapping Cottage Flower Cart.

This precious CottageCutz die adds so much character

and charm to little projects like this. It can be used for so

many different art adventures....you never want to leave

home without it! :O) I also used the amazing Story Book

font by Quickutz to give this little flower a happy sentiment!

Fun and Simple Quickutz Mini Album

I just recently purchased all of the Quickutz Adhesive Backed Materials and OMGosh are they cool!! I just couldn't wait to get them out and play. I decided to share a fun little mini album I created using the new Double Sided Adhesive White Chipboard and the Quickutz Nesting Labels (Rectangle).

This new chipboard makes creating your own mini book so quick and easy! No more tracing and cutting your paper down to the right size and then having to sand the edges in order to have a nice clean finished product. I just used the Nesting Label Die to cut my page shapes and then used the same die to cut my patterned papers. Then, you pull off the adhesive backing from the chipboard piece and lay your patterned paper right onto the chipboard page. Perfect fit every time! Then I used my Bind-it-All to bind my little album together using 3/8" O-wires.

You will see several other Quickutz products used throughout this book including the Chocolate Alpha, the Chick-a-dee (which I received for my birthday!), and even Chemistry on the very last page. The Revolution machine was created using the Quickutz Tools Club Die (you never want to miss out on the club dies!!) and some of the Quickutz Metal Sheets. I used my 2x2 Flourish Goosebumpz to add the design on the side of the machine to replicate the actual Revolution. On an earlier page, I also used this month's Club Die the Polka-Dot Arrow (how cute is that!)

Watch for it Wednesday #10

I was sitting at my scrapbooking table the other day and I was dreaming of flowers! I wanted some simple, unique flowers that I could use with a project I was working on. I looked around in my store (LOL I bet a lot of us have own "store" at home!) and nothing was meeting my need. Then it came to me.....I could create my own flowers. I saw this package of stickers and was inspired! :O)

I took the stickers out of the package but I kept the plastic packaging that they came in. Then I started cutting!! I cut out several flowers (you could design any shape you desire!) in a few different sizes.

After I had all of the flowers cut out I couldn't wait to embellish them!


I took out my handy dandy Ranger Inkssentials™ White Opaque Pen and I started doodling. I outlined all of the flowers and on a couple of them I drew polka dots. I cut the centers out of different colored Bazzill paper and I outlined and doodled on them! I used the TSUKINEKO Lulu Lavender Memento Ink Pad to color the purple flower. I just blotted in on top of the cut flower and let it dry for a little while, then it was ready to go!

This is a fun, easy, and economical way to create a multitude of shapes. It is a wonderful way to get the perfect look that you are envisioning when you don't have it in your stash! :O)

Check back on Friday to see how I used these flowers on my project!!!

CottageCutz Raccoon

This picture shows the raccoon die and the two different raccoon shapes you can cut from it.

I love the fact that the face just goes right over the top of the head to get that famous mask raccoons have. I have included my favorite Tombow glue that has two tips. I only use the small ended one for glueing smaller pieces on my diecuts.

I think the most common problem that card makers have is making masculine cards. There are so many cutesy stamps and diecuts out there it isn't too hard to make a card for a child or a female, but manly cards are another story. This month I will be focusing on manly cards which seems appropriate with Father's Day coming next month.

I really like this CottageCutz raccoon because he is cute but can be used for those manly cards we all seem to struggle with.

I also used the Quickutz Tree border and Pine Needles Distress Ink. For the ground I tore brown Bazzill cardstock and inked it with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and then went along the bottom with my Copic marker and made some grass markings.

Keep an eye out in the store for COPIC markers coming soon.

Sizzix XL Bigz Card Dies

I love making cards so when I see a die that cuts the whole card (plus creates the "fold" line), I
get pretty excited. :) Sizzix has in their XL Bigz dies some great card making ones. The above
card used the Florish Flourish Card. You will need a 12 inch piece of cardstock that has been
trimmed the size of the die. When it is cut, you have a card with a beautiful design plus the die
has provided the scoring for you (where to fold). For my example, I only used black and white
cardstock. I also used the Sizzlits Flowers, Vine and Flourish Set (the white flower and flourish
on the card). The "For You" is from the Sizzix Cardmaking Rub-On package. I also added some
white pearls to the centers of the flowers. Be sure to check out all the great Sizzix card dies at
Scrapping Cottage.

Congratulations to the winners of our Little Miss Sunshine layout contest!!!!


We received so many beautiful, amazing layouts. Thank you to everyone who participated. It was a lot of fun and very inspiring to see what so many talented artists could do with a very challenging contest. It was a really difficult decision for us, but we are delighted to announce the three amazing winners:


1st Place: Gwen H. of Bloomingburg, Ohio
2nd Place: Ann B. of Rocklin, California
3rd Place: Kelly R. of Evansville, Indiana


Congratulations again to all three winners!! Please contact the Scrapping Cottage to claim your fantastic prizes!

Happy Mother's Day!

Card and Tags

For my post this week I wanted to do something different to my usual layouts, so I decided to make a card and some tags.
For the “We Have Moved” announcement card I have used the adorable COTTAGE CUTZ HOUSE die. I loved making this little house so much that I cut it out in 4 different colours and am planning on making a row of houses to use as a border for a scrapbook layout.
When making this card I also used the GO KREATE ‘NORTON’ ALPHABET, QUICKUTZ TREES BORDER CC-BDR-018, QUICKUTZ ROCKS KS-0439, QUICKUTZ SIGN RS-0265, QUICKUTZ EXCLUSIVE PRINCESS CARRIAGE C-0118-D-REV and some TIM HOLTZ DISTRESS INKS.







Earlier in the year I altered a mini wooden crate giving it a ‘Farm’ theme – very similar to the theme that I have used for these tags. I was very happy with the way the crate turned out, so I have made 3 matching tags to be used in a layout when I have found the perfect photos to compliment them.

To make these tags I inked with TIM HOLTZ DISTRESS INKS and used the following dies:-
QUICKUTZ GRASS BORDER,
QUICKUTZ MUSHROOMS,
QUICKUTZ PUMPKIN,
QUICKUTZ FLOWERS,
SIZZIX ORIGINALS ROOSTER,
SIZZIX ORIGINALS FENCE,
QUICKUTZ EXCLUSIVE PRINCESS CARRIAGE.

I also needed a big Chunky Tag die, which I don’t have, So my friend was kind enough to lend me her large SIZZIX SUPER SCALLOP TAG die – Thanks Julie :-)
I think I need to find one of these large Tag dies for myself or a very simular alternative because the size is fantastic.

Everyday.......an Adventure!

"When you arise in the morning,

think of what a precious

privilege it is to be alive-

to breathe, to think,

to enjoy, to love."

Marcus Aurelius

Life is wonderful adventure!

QuicKutz and CottageCutz dies help us to express our

artistic imaginations as we live the adventure! They are

wonderful alone or all mixed up together! This layout

is a cluster of many QuicKutz that tell a story of a day in

the life of my two youngest children. I love the versatility of

the dies because no matter how you use them, your projects

will always be unique and sensational!

I chose a variety of fun shapes, most of which can be purchased at

The Scrapping Cottage for more than 40% off!!!!

There are several hearts (KS-0789 and RS-0010),

a fun swirl (0582), a delightful star (RS-0154), and some fantastic flowers (KS-0531-this one is more than 50% off!) (RS-0349) (RS-0015)!!

The sky is the limit! Treat yourself to a bundle of QuicKutz!

You can add to your collection as you save a lot of money!!