Dot & Whimsy

Today is my last day to be Guest Designing over at

I've had such a terrific time and have enjoyed meeting so 

many new crafty friends :)

This week's challenge is:

and I crafted this quick and easy 

"HOWDY FRIENDS" Banner!

 To begin, I took five sheets of the #32 Small Precut Chipboard and embossed them 

with a swiss dot embossing folder.  Next, I distressed the edges and raised embossings 

with a Walnut Distress Ink .  I then machine stitched around the perimeter of each chipboard sheet.

 Using a personal cutter, 3"x4"  letters were cut from October Afternoon's Sassafrass patterned papers, then lightly distressed with Walnut Distress Ink and a spritzing of walnut ink.

A couple of the stars were punched from a yellow library card. 

 Stars were also cut using the personal cutter or collected from the

 October Afternoon Flower Sack assortment. 

 Letters were then applied to the chipboard panels with foam tape

 and then embellished with wooden buttons stitched on

 with #934 blue baker's twine, tiny wooden clothespins, jute, hemp cord 

and red checkered ribbon. A sticker strip from Jenni Bowlin's Brown Apothecary labels

  was used on the letter "D". 

 I wanted to add the word "friends" somewhere along the banner,

 so I used the mini type letters from October Afternoon and applied them with mini foam dots.

In finishing, a small hole was punched at each top corner of the banners and looped together with 1" 

album rings clad in ribbon and jute.

Here are a few close-up pictures:

The precut chipboard sheets really do make this project a snap to put together.

I have a few other ideas in store for even more banners :)

Whew!  It's a busy Thursday for

The Papered Cottage.

Hang on...here we go :)

IMAGINISCE
First, let me share the layout that I created for 

Imagi-Cut Week at Imaginisce!

 What is Imagi-Cut?

It's the coolest new ribbon cutting tool from Imaginisce.

But it's way more than a cutting tool.  When you cut ribbon (grosgrain, satin, taffeta, etc)

the Imagi-Cut seals as it cuts!  No more frayed ribbon ends!

All week, video tutorials, as well as the Design Team's Imagi-Cut creations have been showcased on the blog.  If YOU would love the chance to win one of these, then stop by and leave a comment on each day's blog posts :)  You will love seeing the many ways to incorporate the Imagi-Cut into your crafting.

Next stop...The Kraft Outlet

This week's Challenge was "Anything Goes"

I wanted to dress up the Small Kraft Journal and have it on hand to keep notes in: 

upcoming projects, wish lists, things-to-do, etc.

  In preparing, I took a Small Kraft Tag and glued it behind the front cover,

 leaving the top portion of the tag showing.  

Next, I took a Vintage Black Journaling Tag and distressed it with a spritz of walnut ink. 

 After the ink dried, I added a strip of Headings Rubons along the left hand side of the tag and then embellished with an Office Chipboard Button and letter stickers to spell out NOTES.

  Wanting to add a little color, I watercolored and hand-cut the bird with flowers motif from the Vintage Black Journaling Tag and attached to the journal with foam dots. 

 Digging way back in my stash, a few cute pink Prima flowers

 were brought out and a pearl accent added to the center of each.

  I also hand-cut a trio of leaves from a scratch piece of patterned paper. 

Using Martha Stewart Glue Pen,

 a border of baker's twine was added around the perimeter of the Journaling Tag.  

As a finishing touch, a bit of shabby seam binding was looped into a bow

 (you could also use Nottinghill Seam Binding),

along with a Natural Hemp bow through the hole of the Kraft Tag. 

 A Tiny Wooden Clothespin clipped to the seam binding completes the project!

The final stop...I Heart Ippity for Totally Terrific Thursday!

I adore the hand-drawn look of the 

stamp set by Tracey Malnofski

(IPPITY-IB-013)

It makes me wish more than ever that I could draw!

It has that Parisian flair...I love it!

Of course, cupcakes remind me of bright and fun colors, so I paired up the stamp

with the Sidewalks papers by October Afternoon.

Looks good enough to eat, right?  

I layered the cupcake with the two different patterns of paper on foam dots.

I then added just a bit of flair with red glitter for the cherry on top!

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That's all for today, folks!

It will probably be a quiet weekend.

  I did get my new cutting system (the eCraft), so I'll be tinkering with it.  

Spring is in full swing and I need to get over to the nursery and pick up a few 

pretties like geraniums, a couple of ferns, verbena and lavender :)

Thanks for stopping by!
Shellye

I have a couple of new things to share today and they have to do with 

St. Patrick's Day and Lollipops...what a combination!

First, I'm up again at The Kraft Outlet today.

Have a Kraft Coffee Bag (or two, or three) on hand and load with your gifting treats.

For the tag, I downloaded the FREE clipart from waltzingmouse.com.  Print onto Lunch Bag Kraft Cardstock and trim with a pair of detail scissors.  Print the same image again onto a green cardstock, enlarging the image just a bit (I changed the page margins on her paper, which created a smaller and larger image).  Trim the image again and also cut out the small oval image in the center.  Layer the Lunch Bag Kraft image over the green with foam dots.

Next, attach the green oval image onto the Lunch Kraft Bag image with foam dots and then trim with Dark Green Baker's Twine  (I use a Glue Writing Pen by Martha Stewart...perfect for adding twine to any project).  I added a bit of green glitter to the shamrocks and two brown pearl embellishments to the image as well.

I took a Jenni Bowlin Vintage Black Journaling Card and distressed the front with a little spritz of Eucalyptus Walnut Ink.  I then machine stitched it onto a patterned paper, leaving a 1/2" border on each side.  Distress the edges of the patterned paper with brown ink.  Punch hole at the top of the tag and insert about 10" of Natural Brown Hemp Cording.  Tie into a loop and attach to the Kraft Coffee Bag with a Tiny Wooden Clothespin.

Next stop...I Heart Ippity. 

The blog has been totally revamped...you must see it! 

Today is Thursday and that means a

I'm Guest Designing over at the Kraft Outlet 

during the month of March!  

My projects will appear as the Thursday Trigger to the

challenges that are posted each Monday.

For the first card, I used the Kraft Outlet's 

Brown Kraft Notecard, Tiny Wooden Clothespins, Yellow Library Card and Precut Chipboard. 

 I incorporated an oval scallop punch to create the shapes of the banner, as well as a scalloped border punch and butterfly punch. The precut chipboard looks beautiful embossed with swiss dots! Ink around the edges of patterned papers and machine stitch together if desired.  Apply scallop banner to top of card with foam dots.  Add a small pearl accent to the center of each butterfly and glue to center of banner.  String a small bit of baker's twine across the top of banner and tie into a bow at each end.  Clip on tiny wooden clothespins to each end.  Stamp sentiment at the lower bottom right.  Before assembling the card,  corner round the bottom portion of the patterned papers.  Finally, glue onto the brown kraft notecard.

Next, I made a sweet Easter embellishment...

perfect for adding to a gift bag, scrapbook page, card or use as a place setting marker.

For this project, I used the Kraft Outlet's Brown Kraft Tag,  Small Glassine Bag, Precut Chipboard, Blue Baker's Twine and Tiny Wooden Clothespin.  For the shapes, she incorporated a 1" and 1.5" circle punch; and heart punch to create the bunny.  For the ears, she cut the heart in half.  Folding a small piece of patterned paper in half, I hand-cut a couple of shabby hearts.  To create an easy pennant banner look, use a star punch to create the fish tail appearance! I also used the same embossed swiss dot precut chipboard (from above) as the background for the bunny; wrap baker's twine around chipboard a couple of times and tie into a bow; machine stitch to patterned paper. Glue to front of glassine bag. A small white pom pom was glued in place to create the bunny's cotton tail.  Rhinestone accents were used for the eyes and nose; a bit of blush was applied for the cheeks.  I simply tied on a piece of ribbon through the kraft tag and then clipped on the hand-cut hearts with a tiny wooden clothespin.

 Now, don't these projects make you ready for Spring?  As you can tell...I am!

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Thanks so much for dropping by!
Shellye

It's cloudy and a glorious 64 degrees...ahhhhhh!  But, that's not necessarily the entire reason for the title of my post :)

I try to keep up with all of the 'trends' and 'hot colors' of the season.  Seems like yellow and gray are amongst the hottest color trends this year; if you follow the newest releases in scrapbooking, then you're probably familiar with Authentique's Blissful

I found that the color combination soon began to grow on me so why not make some crepe fringe to match? You can now find --Rain or Shine-- Handmade Crepe Paper Fringe at my Dot & Whimsy Etsy shop!  Colors of marigold, gray and white have been machine-stitched, doubled, machine-stitched again and then carefully handcut to create a fun and festive fringe.

On a BETTER note, tomorrow we are hosting a fantastically fun BLOG HOP at Paper Issues.  

  My prize give-a-way? One winner will receive THREE skeins of --On The Fringe-- Handmade Crepe Paper Fringe!  I have tons of color schemes; you get to pick your very own three :)  What do you do with fringe?  The fringe that I make isn't necessarily the kind that you hang from the rafters;  rather, I created this fringe to outline the tops of baskets and bags, to add a little pizazz to cards and scrapbook pages, or to embellish party hats, clay figurines and prim dolls...there are literally tons of possibilities.  Everyone seems to ♥ ♥ ♥ tha FRINGE!

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I have some more FUN news!  It seems like so many of my Paper Issues, My Scrapbook Nook and Your Scrapbook Stash gals are getting in on  a lot of Design Team action...Doodle Bug, American Crafts, Pebbles...whew!  I'm very excited for ALL of my friends; well-deserved :)

So, for me?  I've been asked to be a Guest Designer at Kraft Outlet.  Oh. My. Goody.  Have you visited? 

This girl LOVES some kraft goodness ♥  It's a staple in my stash.  

My design month will be March 2012...I'm all ready looking forward to it...I will get a head-start by doing a little shopping beforehead LOL

Okay, all!  I will be back tomorrow bright and early to get things going for the Blog Hop!  I hope you stop by...lots of prizes and cool tutorials broken down into Scrapbook/Art Journal, Altered Project (me) and Cards...so whatever your heart desires, we've got you covered :)