Orchids and Carousels Oh My!!!

Hello everyone and thanks for stopping by the Cottage Cutz blog today. I'm Erika Taylor and this is my first post as one of the new design team members. I'm so excited about using the Cottage Cutz dies, and I hope that I can inspire you to use them too. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think and if there are any particular types of projects you would like me to create for the blog.

Today I have 2 projects to share with you The first project uses the 4 x 4 Orchid Flower Die. I love the layers that this die has and it works so wonderfully well with patterned papers. I created two of these little orchids for the first card. I also added a little glitter to each of them for that extra "KAPOW" factor hehe

Next is a super sweet card using the amazing Carousel Horse die. I think this is one of the sweetest dies I've ever seen. Again, I used patterned papers from Nikki Sivils and some glitter to really make the pole stand out. Easy Peasy!!!

If you haven't tried the Cottage Cutz dies before, you should really take a boo at all the different dies available. You will be blown away I guarantee. Thank you so so very much for stopping by today. I hope that you have a fantastic rest of your week. Happy cutting!!!

Erika Taylor

Anticipation!!

Good morning friends!  I hope you have all been enjoying a lovely weekend.  Today it is raining here in New England and that's okay because it is much needed.  Today's card features the Popcorn and Cotton Candy die.  This little girl is peering into the window with excited anticipation, wondering which special treats she would like to buy while taking a break from the carnival rides.  I can almost feel her joy!

I made a snack tray/holder for the cotton candy.  The die cuts were cut from white cardstock and colored with Copics. The background papers are by Memory Box and the twine is from The Twinery.  The little girl was hand drawn with the exception of the Peachy Keen face.  Thank you so much for stopping by!
Hugs and smiles,Janice

You're A Winner!!

Good morning!  I hope your weekend is going just beautifully.  I have a card to share with you today that showcases more of these wonderful carnival release dies from The Scrapping Cottage.  For my card, I used the Ring Toss/Fish Bowl game Cottage Cutz die.  I'm tellin' ya, that these dies are waaaaay too much fun!!  The possibilities for amazing layouts, fun cards, and home decor projects are endless, as you have seen all week from each one of our amazing designers who have shared their wonderful work with you.  Good news is that I'm sure there's LOTS more to come!!!  Here's my contribution to the mix this week.  This idea has been in my head since I saw this release, and I thoroughly enjoyed making this one!  Fun, fun, fun!!!!

Here's a little closer look.  It's kind of hard to tell from the photo, but I coated the bottles with a layer of ultra thick embossing powder to make them look glassy. 

There are so many wonderful dies in this carnival release.  Check them all out below, and take in all the awesomeness!!  Wishing you a glorious day and weekend, and oodles of happy crafting!!

Fair Fun!

What have you done for fun this summer? Have you gone to any amusement parks or fairs, or how about a great 4th of July Celebration? Well, if so, then pull out your pictures and get ready to scrap! I have to admit, the photo that I used is about 3 years old - but it was perfect for what I had in mind. The Fireworks paper looks absolutely spectacular for my Fair Fun layout. I used the new carnival release from CottageCutz dies - which you are going to love. I was actually able to use 5 different sets of dies on this page! The others are all so cute, I was wishing I could have fit more on the page!

CottageCutz Dies

Viking Ride

Ferris Wheel

Carousel Silhouette

Boardwalk Carnival Silhouette

Ornate Circle Frame


hugs,
Gini

Summer Fun

Hi Everybody. With the heat of the season in full gear it's hard not to think of summer fun.  Outdoor parties, afternoon pinics and breezy nights at an amusement park.  So our new carnival collection is so awesome, in fact I couldn't stop creating so I have two cards for you today.

My first card uses the Carousel Horse Die .  I used Mcgill paper bloom tools to curve the body out and make it 3-D then I added all of his detail.  The tickets from the Ticket Booth Die were perfect for adding sentiments.

My second card I fell in love with the Airplane Ride Die. How stinkin cute is it...LOVE IT!



Close Up of Airplane Die



Handmade Rosette Flowers



Side View

For the leaves of the rosette cluster I used the Orchid Flower Leaves and it really finished off the cluster perfect.  This collection is just so much fun and I know you'll have fun playing with them yourself. 

See ya next week,

 

Autumn Hues

Good Morning Everyone - Happy Tuesday!

One of my favorite ways to use my left over die cut pieces (I always cut extras!) is to use them as a mask or a screen. The shapes cut using these dies are much more intricate than a typical thin metal die, and the results are just so beautiful.

Today for my project, I used Ornate Circle Frame (one of the new MLS releases!) and some Zig Two-Way glue to adhere it to a blank cream-colored piece of cardstock. The Zig Two-Way glue is nice, because it's liquid, and once it dries it's reposition-able and removeable. So it will stay put when you are blending/misting and come off cleanly once you've achieved your desired look on your project.

I first took some Tea Dye Distress Ink and completely sponged my card. I sponged just a tiny bit on the inside middle of the circle to make it stand out (that's where I wanted my sentiment). 

After all my sponging was complete, I took some Glimmer Mist (Sunshine) and spritzed the entire card, and spritzed just once more in the center. Once it was completely dry, I stamped my sentiment in the middle of the circle with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. To finish off the background, I used Vintage Photo again all around my edges.

I cut the branches from the same Ornate Circle Frame die in an olive color. It may be hard to see, but I also inked the branches in Tea Dye and spritzed with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist. I thought this Autumn-hued card was a great opportunity to use some yummy new Prima embellies I picked up last week. They're actually meant to be flower centers, but it worked perfectly on this card as is.

After my entire layer was complete, I adhered to the same cream colored card stock with some foam dimensionals and that was it! 

On Sunday I mentioned today was Challenge day - well leave it to the newbie to goof it up! ;) The next challenge is actually on 8/13, which means you still have time to play in Lorie's Christmas in July Challenge! 

I would still love to see how you use masking with your Cottage Cutz - please share your creations on our Facebook page anytime! The other designers and I check regularly and love being inspired by YOU! 

Have  a great day everyone, thanks so much for stopping by! ~ Angelica

"Sweets" Funky Fold Card & Video

Hello everyone and Happy Tuesday to all! Cheryl here with my Funky Fold card and another Cottage Cutz "Pink Peony" Video using the Cuddlebug die cut machine. Ive also used 3 of the Carnival Releases for my card  :)

I'm LOVING the new Releases they are sooo SWEET! Its the Carnival Release and all the new die cuts are perfect for cards,layouts, and albums :) I LOVE THEM ALL and so will you :)

Here is a picture of the inside, I added some of the borders from Boardwalk Canival Silhouette, it reminds me of Santa Cruz California, and I will be heading there this month :) cant wait!! I also used on the inside the cotton candy Cottage Cutz and the tickets from Ticket Booth. I figured you could add your own writing on them :) sweet messages... hehehehe

For my Funky Fold card today I used:

Ticket Booth (4 x 6)

Boardwalk Carnival Silhouette(4 x 6)

Popcorn & Cotton Candy (4 x 4)

Pink Peony Flower (4 x 4)

For my card I wanted to go with a soft girly look. Not your normal ticket booth, but I thought for a little girl this card would be perfect :) The video I have on the #3 peony is done real easy with 2 diecuts pieces,airbrushing,and a pearl and glue. You can use any tool for the folding of the flower, I chose to use the quilling tool.

If you would like to try the Funky Fold Card, its super easy and fun to make, I have a couple video's that you can view here :) that I did last year.

Video #3 on Mini Pink Peony Cottage Cutz & Cuddlebug

I hope my video was helpful, and hope you all have a lovely day :)Hugs,Cheryl

Life is a Carnival !

Hello again , from Sunny Singapore ! 

I have a 3D tropical travel themed project to share with you today -

one that celebrates quite a few of our

  Carnival and My Little Shoebox  releases together. 

On the exterior of my little travel tote here , 

I have created a little scene  - 

I pieced together the ticket booth  - using an assortment of paper types - 

different colors of glitter paper, 

green glitter and foil paper(for the window pane) , patterned papers 

and white cardstock for the clouds which I also added Stickles . 

The horses I added for fun from the Carousel Silhouette Die .

The clouds I cut from the My Little Shoebox  designed die - Summertime Fun.

Click on image for a larger view

My little travel tote folds out to reveal a photo stand , 

which I decorated easily using -

the Boardwalk Carnival Silhouette - using blue glitter and foil paper.

The orange tickets for the word "Fun " were cut using the Ticket Booth die . 

The airplane here was cut from the Airplane w/Banner & Sign die 

and I've used the banner cut with the same die with the word "Fun" - a pink ribbon it became ! 

The white arrow from that die I layered on top a pink water lily for a fun dimensional embellie .;) 

I've placed the white cloud (cut with the MLSB Summertime Fun die )behind my green airplane . My brown bird on the sun is also cut using the same die.

My green ( legless - all our bird dies have legs actually- too cute ! ) bird 

is from the Laundry Line die . 

As you can tell , I had a tonne of fun using up 

adifferent dies from our July releases .

Truly the possibilities are endless -

 trying out different paper materials to cut with these adorable designs . 

Do take advantage of our bundled offers now & SAVE !  -

For eg,  you save 25% on a complete Carnival set 

and also receive a free Lollipop alpha set worth $24.95.

Have fun in the sun wherever you are ! 

Pearl 

Ferris Wheel Versatility

Hello hello everyone! Good Morning! I have two very different cards to show you today using a common object. Let's see if you can guess what it is (psst... don't worry I'll tell you towards the end of the post)!

I knew exactly what I wanted to create when I started playing with the Ferris Wheel set - Vintage Country Fair! So, that's exactly what I did!

I took some flecked cream cardstock as my base, because I love it (it's my favorite) and it always gives my cards that "eco" look I am drawn to. I decided I'd make a "wooden" ferris wheel using kraft cardstock as the base and dark chocolate cardstock for the wheel. Using just three different patterns, I made my little wheel seats and inked with "Brushed Corduroy" Distress Ink. I loved the idea of keeping a muted color scheme - it kind of reminded me of an old movie set. I used a thin piece of adhesive-backed cork for my center of the wheel.

To create my sentiment - a compass would have been handy. Yes, like the ones we used in geometry class (yuck!). Funny thing is, I have one, but since I never had a use for it, I couldn't find it. Isn't that always how it goes? However, I was able to "wing it" and using the ferris wheel as my guide, I sketched a curved line in pencil and stamped the first part "Life's" from a set of stamps I designed using my own handwriting ("Fashionista" by Market Street Stamps). I then hand-wrote "a journey - enjoy the" and finished off the phrase with the word "ride" from the Ticket Booth set.

That's also where I found the polka dot stamp that I used on the bottom of my card. Loved that everything I needed was right in this release!

So for the second card that I made....do you see what I see?

I cut out multiple wheels "just in case" and noticed when I punched out the areas between the spokes, it kind of looked like a citrus wedge. Why not use half the wheel to create an orange (or a lemon, or a lime, or a grapefruit....)?! With that in mind, I created this card:

And would you have ever guessed it's using the same Ferris Wheel? The versatility is awesome with these dies.

I cut my "orange wedge" using two slightly different colors of orange and inked them up using my Dried Marigold Distress ink. I doodled in some dots to represent the lines in the sections and hand-drew the sentiment with the same white gel pen. The middle part of the sentiment is a Faber-Castell journaling pen.

After adding in the two pretty sculpture flowers I added some Lilac bakers twine from The Twinery and some pom-pom trim from American Crafts to finish it up. What do you think?

Hope you enjoyed today's post - don't forget you still have time to enter Lorie's Christmas in July Challenge! Head over there today and get your project entered before it's too late! I'll be posting a new challenge for you on Wednesday, August 3rd.

Have a beautiful day!
~ Angelica