Dot & Whimsy

There are certain things that I love to collect (hoard? maybe!)

These new Berry Baskets from Curtsey Boutique are my new obsession
and I can't wait to gather up even more colors and sizes!

While creating my latest project, I came up with several more ideas for them.

Today I have an interchangeable display using the wooden forks
(also new at Curtsey) as a way to clip on photos, recipes or notes!

To start, you will need a Pint Size Pulp Berry Basket and floral foam.
Cut the floral foam to fit into the basket.
For the shred, I used two of the Medium Kraft Bags.  I cut strips using 'fringe' scissors
by Martha Stewart, but you could also use regular scissors to cut the strips.
Crush the shreds with your hands.  Apply a thin coat of quick dry glue to the top
of the foam and then cover in the paper shreds.
 Other Curtsey Boutique Supplies:
Wooden Forks; 5" Paper Doily; and Shabby Chic Paper Bow

Patterned papers and die-cuts by My Minds' Eye

There are many other new items in the shop...check them out at:
www.curtseyboutique.etsy.com

Bella Blvd's Stephanie Hunt is getting married this Saturday...

A huge congratulations and best wishes to Stephanie and Steven!

We thought it would be fun to share some of our own wedding photos,

as well as some good old-fashioned advice :)

Stop by and have a look...all Bella Blvd Designers will be participating in this one!

Here is my contribution...from a beautiful day in 1991

Last week a few of the Simple Stories gals participated in a product 

swap along with the adhesive specialist, Therm O Web.

Check out all of the projects on the Simple Stories Blog!

I love Therm O Web's products and use some sort of their adhesives almost daily! 

I'm a dimensional girl, so I especially love the Foam Squares and Thick Zots...but recently 

I've found myself using more and more of the thin Zots for things like buttons and heavier

 objects such a resin pieces.  

 In our packs we received the iCraft Dots, which include 1.5 and 2" round double-sided

 adhesive circles.  The examples on the front of the package show them used with 

rolled paper flowers...that led me to wonder how well they would work with fabric flowers?

I made this card several days ago and it's still holding beautifully!

  I used a 1.5" ribbon by May Arts to create the posey-style flowers.  

 Start out with a tail in your dominant hand and begin turning the ribbon while you wrap

 it around the center.  Once you have the size you need, simply adhere to the iCraft Dot of choice.  

I did use a bit of fabric glue between some of the layers so that it wouldn't raise up.

 To the backs of the butterfly stickers I applied a ZOTS Singles. 

 The design was then attached to the cardfront using the Sticky Dot Runner.

Simple Stories Products:Vintage Bliss- 6X6 Paper Pad; Bingo Cards/Stripe Paper;

 Chipboard Stickers; Fundamentals Cardstock Stickers

Therm O Web Products: iCraft Dots; Sticky Dot Runner; ZOTS Singles

And here's a little peek at the other project that I made!  

Hmmm, a magnet board perhaps?  See the entire project at Simple Stories!

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And stay tuned this week...I'm destashing again with a stack of new goodies to giveaway :)

Happy Monday, friends!

 

Happy Saturday!  

I'm bringing my Bella Blvd "Cards on Thursdays" just a couple of days late to the blog.

It seems like I'll have a dry-run for a few days and then have four different projects up

on the same day LOL...so I'm trying to spread them all out :)

It seems like squares are all the rage these days and I just had to play along! 

Using a 1.25" square die cut, I created a quilt of colors from the Birthday Girl Collection.

 After mounting them onto a piece of cardstock, I machine stitched down the center of each row.

 I kept the top simple by adding on a couple of chipboard stickers and a "wishes" 

banner under the die-cut shape.

 

 Bella Blvd Supplies:
Birthday Girl: Celebrate, Party Dress, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Button Market: Pink Flowers; Crochet Hearts: Gulf; High Five Alpha Stickers: Blue
Scallop Die by Lifestyle Crafts

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY
 A small piece of feather gathered and tied made the cutest plume effect to the top of the
 chipboard firecracker! I attached the feather to the chipboard using a Ultra-Thin Glue Dot.
 I built a 4th of July collage using several components from the Alpha+Bits and
Just Write Journaling Stickers. So happy and festive, and I love the idea of displaying it on our
 Patriotic buffet table. Bring on Summer!

Bella Blvd Supplies:
All American: United We Stand, Seeing Stars, Alpha+Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Button Market: Stars; Feathers: Ice

See more ideas at the Bella Blvd Blog!
www.bellablvd.typepad.com

I probably won't blog again until Monday, so I want to wish all of you moms a
VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I love it when an idea comes together!

I had this next project in my mind for a "Mother's Day" theme at 

 My Mom loves collages and anything to do with her grandkids (of course) so I had

envisioned placing small, round photos of each child in the centers of the Naturals Canvas Flowers.

I had the back chipboard page leftover from a water-fall album that I made recently,

so I used it as the base.  To give it a finished look, I covered both sides with the same

patterned paper from LYB's Just Because Collection.

Next, I cut a mat of heart paper and machine stitched around the edge.

Just placing the flowers onto the heart mat looked a little 'flat' so I decided to use

my square 1" dies and create a quilted look.  I machine stitched around the red squares.

Before adhering the other squares, I backed them with the same-size chipboard and then

mounted n place.  To add some texture, I simply stitched a large X across those squares.

 The Naturals Flowers come with a wooden button in the center; I removed them and

set them aside to stitch on later.  After punching each photo out I also backed it with the 

same size chipboard before adding to the flower centers (I used Glue Dots for this).

I secured the bottom of the Wooden Clothespin with some Quick Dry Glue before 

clipping it onto the side of the flower.

 For the "My Joy" banners, I cut apart one of the Naturals Burlap Banners and

then added the Blue Canvas Alphas.

 Using Fabri-Tac I hid the edges of the chipboard with Red Jute.  

The large bow at the top was made with some really cool wired-edge ribbon

by May Arts...I left just enough at the top for hanging.  

Check-out the other Mother's Day projects at the LYB Blog!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Welcome! It's a great day at Unity Stamp as we share new inspiration

and of course, a great deal from Unity this week:

 I have used the NEW Layers of Life Stamp Kit for my first card

I'm the proud owner of some new Faber-Castell Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils, so I 

chose to use them to color in the rulers.  I then spritzed on some Terra Cotta Walnut Ink

by Tsukineko (Imagine-Crafts).  The embossing folder is by Sizzix and I love using it 

on masculine cards!

I have a dear, 37 year-old co-worker/friend who was diagnosed with

 Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer this past Fall.  I made this card to send to her :)

I love that this ribbon is all decked out in butterflies!  I stamped the image onto pink

cardstock and then colored in the butterflies with Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils.  I also

shaded the outer areas with a darker pink, although it's a little hard to tell in the photo.

I have lots more to share today, so I'll be seeing you again soon!

In 2008 I sold my scrapbook kit club.  

For six years I designed kits, packaged kits, cut ribbon and shipped then them.

If there is ONE thing that I miss about that time it's the picking out  of the 

papers, ribbon and cool embellishments

 (#1 is meeting so many amazing people that I'm still friends with today!)

When Michi from Scrapbooker's Emporium approached me about selling kits on Etsy, I was all in!

We had so much fun putting together our first batch of 

"Collection Kits" 

and have several other themes waiting in the wings :)

All kits vary in size and price.  There are a total of 16 delicious papercrafting kits up

and for sale at the moment.  The shop also carries a wide variety of chipboard shapes, such as 

the mason jar, waterfall album, scalloped shapes, banners, etc. 

Welcome to Day #2 of the Pink Paislee + Faber Castell

 There is a huge prize pack to be given away, so stop by the Pink Paislee Blog

and leave a comment each day this week!
And no, Mr. Pitt isn't here today, but I do have another amazing PITT to show ya!

 I will admit that I’ve been a bit intimidated by the thought of using Gelatos in the past.  

When I received my package of Faber-Castell goodies I immediately set out to find some videos
 on the different ways to use the really cool emollient-based, water-soluble medium.
 I was delighted to find that they can be used with or without water and blended with a paint brush
 or the tip of your finger…it doesn’t get much easier than that!
 So let’s get started with the first card, “All Mine”

 For this card I thought I would see how well the Gelatos would work with the coffee filter sheets
by Christy Tomlinson (I was thinking rolled flowers). Inspired by the Bubble Gum Gelato,
 I selected a palette from Secret Crush to work with too.   Beginning at one of the points,
 I began rolling a single coffee filter sheet so that it would look like this:

 Once you have it rolled, secure the end point with a thin glue dot. 
 Next, begin rolling the paper into a circle and then attach to a round punched
piece of paper that is just a bit smaller than the flower.

 Next, I ran the Bubble Gum Gelato stick over the different layers.
 I chose to blend the color with a water-color pen, but a paintbrush dipped in water
would also achieve the same look.  For the ‘leaves’ I colored two of the 
Artisan Chipboard Hearts with Metallic Mint and then blended/wiped off the excess
with a soft cloth…I love it!  Gelatos and Artisan were made for each other :)

For the flower ‘centers’ I brought out a package of plain rhinestones by ZVA Creative and
colored them with the White PITT Artist Pen.  This pen is also perfect for creating
 that ‘chalkboard’ look on vinyl, glass and wood.  I’m hiding this pen from my kids ;)

The last card, “UR My Little Star”, is so colorful and fun! 

 In my Faber-Castell assortment I received a yellow watercolor pencil, as well as a
Blueberry Metallic Gelato;  wanting to mix the two colors together, I grabbed a few pieces
from the City Sidewalks Collection and went to work.

 Again, I went with Artisan Chipboard Stars and Heidi Swapp Color Magic Chipboard Alphas.
 Using the watercolor pencil, I gently colored the Color Magic Chipboard and
 then blended with a water-color pen.

 Next I applied the Blueberry Metallic Gelato to the larger star shape.

 This is how the Artisan Chipboard looks after the Gelato has been applied. 
It goes on creamy and smooth like a lipstick.

 After using a cloth and wiping away the excess Gelato, you get this beautiful look with the
 resist areas showing up nicely!

 I look forward to trying even more techniques with my collection of new mediums :)
 There are many informative tutorials and videos on using these products…
I hope that you’ll give them a try!

 Pink Paislee is giving away an Artisan / Faber-Castell Prize Pack on their blog!

 The winner will get to try the techniques we show off all week! Leave a comment on the Pink Paislee Blog post and you will automatically be entered into our random drawing. Let us know..have you ever tried Gelatos or Pitt pens? Want more chances to win? Hop over to the Faber Castell Blog and leave comments there too!

**Note: comments left at Papered Cottage does not enter you into the drawing**

So glad that you've stopped by today!  If you have any tips for Faber-Castell products, I'd love to hear about them :)

I hope that you all are enjoying NSD in some way and getting your craft on!

As you see above, Bella Blvd is celebrating the day with hourly inspiration and

We were asked to share an "About Me" layout...this could be anything

from our 10 Favorite Things to our favorite movie star crushes, etc.

I really and truly don't watch much television.

BUT, I do stream quite a few shows via Amazon and have fallen in love with

several series such as Justified, Hart of Dixie and Downton Abbey.

So, I decided to dedicate a layout to my new-found obsession:

  I went to the internet and found images representing my beloved shows.

After printing them out (with a white border), I trimmed each photo's edge in various Designer Tapes.  

Next, I typed out the names of my favorite characters from each show and cut them into strips.

  It was fun to find different stickers to add that helped to describe the shows!

We were also asked to answer a few 'questions', but I'll let you check that out
when you visit Bella Blvd!  And in case you missed it, Bella is also having a
WAREHOUSE SALE
Save up to 70% on amazing Bella Blvd goodies!  It's all while supplies last, so
check it out here
Thanks for stopping by!