The Scrapping Cottage/CottageCutz June Blog Hop

 Good morning, and welcome to The Scrapping Cottage/CottageCutz June Blog Hop!  We have some gorgeous creations to share with you, so grab your favorite cool and refreshing drink and join us for all the fun!  There is a fabulous line up of inspiration, and of course there will be prizes, so be sure to leave a comment on each designers blog, because we're not sure which designer will be awarding one of the wonderful prizes.  The more you comment, the better your chances of winning, so HOP to it!!  ;-)

You should have arrived here from The Scrapping Cottage Blog, but if not, no worries, because it's only one stop back and you'll need to begin there to find out all the wonderful details.  That will also be where we end the hop, and I don't want you to miss a thing, so be sure to start AND end there!  

For my card, I used some of my newest Cottage Cutz dies, and with Independence Day just around the corner, I thought this beautiful Graphic 45 patterned paper was the perfect color choice.  I've been wanting to use that paper for a very long time, and I'm so glad I did!  I just love it!

 I used a combination of colored and white card stock for this card, and the sentiment, which comes from Market Street Stamps Riding By stamp set was stamped with Stampin' Up! white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  The edges of the white butterfly wings was sponged ever so lightly with Time Holtz distress ink in Vintage Photo, and the finished butterfly was embellished with rhinestones.  I used an action wobble to attach the butterfly to the card, and with a flick of the wrist, it looks like it's ready to take flight!  

Here's a little closer look at the detail on the butterfly and doily.   For this card, I used the following dies:

 

 Thank you so much for joining us today!  It's always a pleasure to share with you!!   Your next stop on this terrific hop is at the amazing and extremely talented Cindy Haffner's Blog.  Should you happen to get lost along the way, below you will find a list of all the stops.  

The Scrapping Cottage Blog-http://scrappingcottage.blogspot.com/ 

Lorie-http://thethinkinspot.blogspot.com/ 

Cindy-http://cindyhaffnerscorner.blogspot.com/ 

Janice-http://stampingwithjanice.blogspot.com/ 

Carol-http://chocolatecraftsandbearsohmy.blogspot.com/ 

Kelly-http://sandcastlestamper.blogspot.com/ 

Cheryl-http://sweeetdesignsbycheryl.blogspot.com/ 

The Scrapping Cottage end! http://scrappingcottage.blogspot.com/

Have a blessed and beautiful day and weekend, my crafty friends!!!!!

CottageCutz Spring Wreath Thank You

Good morning!   Today,  I've created a sweet little thank you card with my new Cottage Cutz dies.  Boy do I LOVE these designs from the Spring Blossoms Release!  They are so pretty!!!  Here's my card...

One thing I love about using Cottage Cutz dies is that I can use up a lot of my small pieces of scrap paper for designs like this one, and that's exactly what I did.  All of the card stock was from my scrap bin.  I did a little flourish stamping behind the wreath for some added interest.  I followed through with pearl accents on the flourish, as well as the flower centers.  This turned out so sweet and pretty and I hope you like it as much as I do.  Below, is a picture of the Spring Vine Wreath CottageCutz die that I used, and if you just click on the picture, it will take you directly to The Scrapping Cottage Store to check it out.  It's a dandy!!!

If you haven't dropped by The Scrapping Cottage Blog lately, then you SHOULD, because our amazing design team keeps the inspiration flowing, and we certainly appreciate you spending some time with us, your feedback and your kind comments.  Be sure to drop by and check out the new creations every day.  You'll be glad you did!!  Have a blessed day, and happy crafting, friends!!!

Kindness Matters For The Sisterhood/May

 Good morning!  I have a fun card to share with you on this happy Monday, and it's gonna be a busy day, so I'll get right to it!

This is the card I created for  our monthly Sisterhood of the Traveling Cards Swap.   Miss April was our hostess for May, and her theme was "Monochromatic".  Sounds easy, right?  Well, not so much for me!  I found it REALLY challenging, which I LOVED!!!  Thanks for a great theme, April!!   I always find so much inspiration on Pinterest, and this card was one of those.  Here is the link to Allison's Blog, who originally created this inspirational card.  I made a few changes, including using liquid pearls instead of individually sticking pearls on each point.  Saved me a wee bit of time on the 4 cards I created for our swap.  Over all, this was a fun and easy card, and I LOVE all the different patterns and textures that the assortment of embossing folders adds to this creation.  

The directions for this one should be pretty self explanatory, and it would be gorgeous in any combo of monochromatic colors.  Definitely a card that I'll remake one day.

So glad you could stop by today.  I always LOVE your visits and  I hope you enjoy a bright and beautiful day full of happy stamping!

CottageCutz Bloom

Good morning!  Boy, have I had a time getting today's post to you!   I've had some technical difficulties with my camera, and it's taken me a few days to get all of that sorted out and get one borrowed.   Turns out that instead of a faulty camera card, I have to send my eight-month old Cannon halfway across the country for warranty work.  :-(  Family to the rescue, though, as I have one to borrow until my camera makes the trek back home... HOPEFULLY in working order again!  I miss it already, and I'm grateful for one to borrow, but I do notice a huge difference in the quality of the photos, but at least it works, right?  ;-)

Here's what I came up with to share with you, and I managed to work in quite a variety of dies with this one, and I hope you like it!  Head over to The Scrapping Cottage and check all of the beautiful CottageCutz dies I've worked with today,  plus so many, many more!

 It's a little difficult to see, but the flower pot, along with the flowers were shaded using Copic Markers on the colored card stock.  I normally use white card stock to cut and color, but I wanted to try different types and textures, and it worked pretty well.  You just have to experiment and try them out, and be careful, because the more porous the card stock, the more bleeding of the marker you will notice, but as long as your lightest color marker is VERY close to the card stock color, you can achieve a workable blend.

Here's a list of the CottageCutz dies that I used for this fresh and fun card...

      All of the above dies are from the Spring Blossom Release at The Scrapping Cottage.  I added the floral panel behind the pot of flowers using the Lace Envelop die from the Tea Time Release. 

I really love the versatility of this die, because not only can you use it for a gorgeous gift card envelope, but if you cut the pieces apart, you can use it in so many more creative ways.  As you can see from the photo, I used the front panel only as the backdrop for my pot of flowers.

You're Turtley Tubular!

Good morning!  Happy Friday to you, and welcome to The ThINKin' Spot!  The weekend is almost upon us, and it's gonna be a good one!  I'm optimistic that way.  LOL!!!   Today I have another card to share with you that I made using the new PKSC-06  and The Peachy Picks Kit from Peachy Keen Stamps.  I did some paper piecing on the adorable turtle, and I added some lips with Copic markers.  Stamping was all done with Memento tuxedo black ink, and coloring was done with Copics.

 Oh, and have you heard?  They are having a surprise sale today!!  Yep!  You heard it right here, and HERE are ALL the details!!  It's today ONLY, so don't miss your chance to stock up on some great sets from your wish list!

It's our first FINALLY FRIDAY sale!!

Take 15% off* all orders over $10.00 and

Enjoy FREE Shipping in the U.S. and Canada!

*offer excludes past orders, Kit Club products, retiring sets,

clearance items and gift certificates

NO CODE NEEDED - just shop & enjoy the savings! 

offer valid June 15th 12:01 am CDT through June 15th 11:59 pm CDT 

Garden Fairies, Turtles, Frogs, and FUN!

Our JUNE release has everything you need to create your own Garden Party! 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a glorious day, and an even more glorious weekend and Happy Stamping to ya!!!!

Stamp On A Grin

 Good morning friends!  It's a glorious morning here on the farm!  The sun is shining, the sky is blue, there's a soft, beautiful breeze blowing, and the birds are singing.  Sounds pretty heavenly, right?  Well it IS!!  Those singing, happy birds are also loving the bird bath this year.  With the shortage of rain we're having, they look for every low spot they can find with ANY water in it at all, and they have a heyday in it.  

This image makes me think that THIS little birdie found an empty bird bath, 'cause he don't look so happy!!  Heehee!  I LOVE that grouchy look!  It's just too funny, and the sentiment with it just makes me smile.  I can't help it.  It just does!   The stamps for this card come from the new release at Peachy Keen Stamps.  This is the PKSC-06 stamp set, which includes this adorable bird, and birdbath, but there's also a turtle, frog, fairies, flowers and sweet faces to coordinate with everything.  It's a party in a package, I'm tellin' ya!!  I also used one of the new background stamps on this card.  For the contrasting gray panel behind the bird image, I took a piece of the more solid patterned paper from the 6x6 pad in the Peachy Picks Kit and stamped it with a tone-on-tone gray using the PK-119 Lattice Background stamp.  That just gave it a subtle bit of pattern, which I thought was a nice contrast to the striped patterned paper.

 All of the card stock and patterned paper, as well as the beautiful twine are a part of the June Peachy Picks Kit.  I just can't say enough times how much I LOVE these kits!  Everything is so perfectly coordinated, and there's so much included for so many amazing projects that you've just got to see it to believe it!!  I stamped the images and I didn't even need to mask anything, because Peachy Keen Stamps are completely clear, which makes aligning the images a breeze!  That's just another in the long list of things that I love about them!!

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope your day is filled with beautiful blessings and definitely some happy stamping!

Peachy Keen Challenge #21

 Good morning!  Oh, thank Heaven it's Friday!!!  It's been a crazy week for me, and I for one am looking forward to the weekend.  I don't think I'm alone and  I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of us out there!!   If you're looking for something creative to do this weekend, why not join us for the Peachy Keen Challenge this week?  Challenge #21 is "You've Been Framed", and that means that you can create anything your heart desires as long as it's in a frame, or includes a frame.  Here's what I came up with for this wonderful challenge.

This is my old fish bowl type cookie jar that I use to hold Mini Milkbones for Miss Lola and Mr. Oliver, our spoiled rotten Yorkiepoos.  I've been wanting to revamp the cookie jar lid that I had tole painted years ago, and not so well, I might add.  When I saw this challenge, I knew I wanted to attempt to replace that lid, so I set out to Ben Franklin to see what I could find.  I ran across this circle frame in the unfinished wood crafts section, then I headed to the scrapbook paper aisle and found this fabulous paper.  I knew when I received the PK-442 Happy-Go-Lucky Dog Face Assortment stamps that they would be perfect for just this type of project, and I was right!   I actually dusted off the Cricut and Gypsy, along with my Create A Critter cartridge to cut out the puppy and the "Ruff, Ruff".  I had these cute bone buttons that I'd been saving for a while to embellish, and the only other thing I added for embellishment was the twine bow and ties for the buttons.  I hope you like it!  I love the way it turned out, and honestly, Lola and Oliver could care less about what's On their cookie jar.  Suffice is to say they are ONLY interested in what's inside.  SO, I guess that makes us ALL happy!  :-)

Be sure to stop by The Peachy Keen Challenge Blog to check out all the wonderful creations from my fellow DT members.  They totally ROCK!!!  While you're there, read up on the rules for the challenge, THEN run... Don't walk... To your craft room and see where creativity takes you!  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  May God bless and keep you today and always!  Happy Stamping!!

Happy Birthday Tutu You!!

 Good morning!  How's your week going so far?  Hopefully it's all good, but if not, then hang in there, because the weekend is coming!  LOL!  I'm a fan of the weekends myself, and speaking of weekends, if you're planning on working some stamping in, why not join us over at The Peachy Keen Connection?  We're celebrating the new release at Peachy Keen Stamps with a couple of challenges right through Sunday night.  Just for entering the challenges, you'll get a shot at winning some free stamps, and each challenge entry earns participants a chance for the $50 Grand Prize Gift Certificate to the Peachy Keen Stamps Store!  You can find out all the details by clicking on the link above, which will take you directly to our online community.

 This is the card I made for one of the challenges, and it features the new Stamp of the Month set, PKSC-06 June 2012.  These fairies are the sweetest, and I haven't even shown you the frogs or turtles yet!   Hang on to your hats, folks, because they are  SO much fun to color and coordinate with the new Peachy Picks Kit.  All of the card stock and paper you see here, as well as the embellishments are a part of the Peachy Picks kit for this month.  This sweet little image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic markers.  The white accents were done simply with a white gel pen.  The embossed stripes you see in the background are courtesy of my Stampin' Up! embossing folder.  The punched border, and label die are from Stampin' Up!, also.  

Sure hope to see you and your work over at the PK Connection.  We LOVE seeing what you're creating with your Peachy Keen Stamps!  Thanks so much for stopping by The ThINKin' Spot today.  Have a glorious day, and happy stamping to ya!

Catch A Buzz

Hello and happy Wednesday!  Today I have a fun little card that I  made with CottageCutz dies from the Spring Blossom release at The Scrapping Cottage.   These gorgeous dies just arrived in my mailbox yesterday, and I could hardly wait to get that package opened and start playing!  

 I used some patterned paper from my stash, added some punched elements for the sentiment and embellishment.  The wings of the bee have Stickles added to them for sparkle.  Oh!  I almost forgot!  I sponged the edges of the doily and bee's wings with distress ink, as well as the body, using  opaque white ink.   You can see that by adding just that wee bit of sponging, it gives the die cut a much more 3-Dimensional look. 

For this card, I used the following dies:

      This Spring Blossom release has a lot of great dies lending endless possibilities for some truly amazing projects.  Be sure to visit The Scrapping Cottage to check them ALL out!  You'll be glad you did!!!  Have a wonderful and blessed day, and Happy Stamping!

PKS June Release Sneak Peek

Good morning!  It's a gorgeous day, and none better to share a sneak peek of the upcoming June release from Peachy Keen Stamps.  Friends, let me tell you that you're going to LOVE these new stamps.  I know, I know, I say that every month, but they just keep getting better and better.   I did lots of paper piecing and cutting on this one, which was tedious, but I love the result.  Not only does this show off some of the new stamps coming out, it also gives you a sneak peek of the newest Peachy Picks Kit.

This one gives you a closer look at the layering and cutting that went into this one.   I even did a little Copic coloring to give the layers more depth.  Gotta be careful coloring on patterned paper, because those alcohol markers can be very unforgiving.  Great results, this time!

The full reveal of the new release will go live at 6 p.m. (CST) on Tuesday, June 5th.  Mark your calendars, because we'll be celebrating with a release party over on the Peachy Keen Connection, where we'll share more inspirational creations from our PKS Designers, chat, play a game or two, and offer some challenges for you to play along with.  Of course it wouldn't be a party without prizes, and there will be plenty of chances for you to win.  Join us for ALL the fun!!!  If you're a member of the Facebook community, HERE'S a link to our event page where you can join the party!   Hope to see you there!!!

Have a blessed and beautiful day filled with happy stamping!