Happy Father's Day from the Cats

Goliath new exactly what he wanted for a Father's Day card this year. He's been "gifting" Daddy almost daily, although we've closed the cat door at night to cut down on unpleasant "surprises" (see bottom of post HERE if you're interested). The rat banner is done with a MS punch some twine and the Cuttlebug Monogram Seals Emboss Plus folder. He's broadened his hunting skills to include birds (on the DP by Heidi Grace) and of course we can't forget the appetizer mice (also a MS border punch.) Goliath, himself, is from a Sticky note pad by Paper House productions that he swears he modeled for.


I glued him to card stock for strength, cut him out and popped him, along with the hanging rats and monogram seals. Before taking them out of the folder, I colored the letters with gel pens. After removal, I inked the edges.

And inside... the little lizard is a Cottage Cutz Die and I've added lidded goggle eyes. He's still smiling because he has no idea he's dessert. Both cats enjoy chasing and catching lizards but we always thought they must taste nasty since Goliath always let them go. Last time I heard Jezzie's muffled "I've got something for you" meow I was totally surprised when she chomped one right down. EEEWWWW!!! I'm assuming it's an acquired taste, but one she's dying to share with her Daddy. She says it tastes just like chicken, yeah, right!


Of course Jezzie's card is all about her. I made a shaped card with Design Studio using Car Decals. I cut the interior pieces by hiding the contours of the regular Cat2 and cutting them pieces individually in the other papers. Jezzie couldn't decide whether she wanted to be fuzzy or sparkly so I used Sparkly Fluff to cover both bases. Attached to her bow in is a silver charm that says "Special". She's a very skittish and wild thing, but she's Daddy's Little Princess and has just recently allowed him to actually comb her, resulting in far fewer hairballs and quite the fluffy coat. She thinks she's just "boofy" (beautiful) these days and when Daddy bends down and tells her she's his pretty girl she stretches and rolls over to show him her tummy.


So the inside reads "Daddy, I feel like a princess all boofy and new and it's all because of you!" The hearts are RainDots. Oh oh! Jezzie just noticed I forgot the hugs and kisses... better go fix that! I'm entering these cards in the Whimsical Wednesday Father's Day Challenge.

Cottage Cutz Thursday at The Cuttlebug Spot and a chance to win!

You all know I just LOVE the Cottage Cutz dies and this little froggy is no exception. Actually, on the package, he's hanging on a branch but I've turned him into a ballerina by repositioning the arms and adding a tutu! Too too cute, eh? I gave her a little added definition with my Copics and added some of those adoraable lidded google eyes I get in the kids crafting section of JoAnn's. You can find him (or her) at The Scrapping Cottage, along with loads of other adorable dies. Check out the new Summer release with barbeque and summer fun and the cutest bugs making off with the picnic food. Hilarious! Would you like to win some Cottage Cutz dies of your own? Well pop on over to The Cuttlebug Spot and leave a comment, then become a follower of The Scrapping Cottage Blog and you could win two of the fabulous Cottage Cutz dies. The blog features so many adorable ideas for using these wonderful dies along with tips and tricks you won't want to miss.

The Cottage Cutz dies work in your Cuttlebug (or Big Shot or the like) and I've used by Nesties Labels 11 to cut the frame for the front. It's popped along with the dancing frog for dimension. The photo corners are an EK Success punch.

The sentiments are computer generated and cut with my Nesties petite scalloped ovals. For once I actually finished the inside of my card. WooHoo! Now don't frogget to hop on over to The Cuttlebug Spot to see Nilda's fabulous assortment of Cottage Cutz cards (say that 3 times fast LOL) and follow the instructions for a chance to WIN!

The Burtonesque Dolls Sweeny Todd Challenge

WooHOO! I got my Simply Betty Stamps in time to use them on this week's Burtonesque Dolls challenge! The inspiration this week is Sweeny Todd, who if you remember, did more than a shave and a haircut with his razor while his gal pal Mrs. Lovette baked some fab meat pies with the remains. (EEEK!) I remember going to see this movie on Christmas Day. Hmmm, not in keeping with the usual holiday festivities, eh? Anyway, I just HAD to use Betty for this and took my coloring inspiration from Betty herself (and the pic from the movie). The challenge is actually to use cutting and distressing tools and I jumped at the chance to use my Zutter Distress-it-All (thanks Glenda for the great price on this!) to grind the edges of just about EVERYTHING here. The DP is Basic Grey, the weird textured stuff is Sizzix Little Sizzles Textures I got at Custom Crops. I used my MS Spiderweb Punch Around the Page topped by the coolest EVER May Arts Ribbon I found at my LSS. The lamp post is Cottage Cutz die, available at The Scrapping Cottage, spritzed with my home brew shimmer mist. I was trying to create a Victorian London scene and the bloody cobblestone street is embossed with the Cuttlebug Tiny Mosaic folder and topped with MS Drippy Goo enhanced with Glossy Accents. (EEEEWWW!)

HeeHee! This was sooo much FUN! Here's a view of the dimension. Now I know some of you are hesitant to join in at The Burtonesque Dolls because you don't think you can follow the theme. I find that the BEST part of the challenge, but if you read closely, all you really HAVE to do is use your cutting and distressing tools so why not give it a try? New challenges come out every Tuesday.

The Burtonesque Dolls Challenge #4 and Tiddly Inks #6

I am so excited that the challenge at The Burtonesque Dolls this week is An Affair to Remember, inspired by the fab movie Corpse Bride. I was all set to use The Happy Couple from Tiddly Inks to do this challenge but then I saw Gossmere and fell in LOVE! Don't get me wrong, both images are just adorable but Gossmere just spoke to me and I thought it would be easy to Bring on the Bling (the Tiddly Inks challenge this week) so that's what I did.

I started with irridescent DCWV Luxury Stack paper and masked a moon and inked with Black Soot and Shabby Shutters. The trees are a Cottage Cutz die from The Scrapping Cottage and the Bridal Arch is a Labels 10 Nestie with the MS Spiderweb border punch attached. The edges are blinged up with Perfect Pearls and of course adhesive gems. The tombstone is a Cuttlebug cut and emboss set.

Just look at Gossmere's sweet face! I added a tattered veil and gems to her headpiece and sprayed her with adhesive and sprinkles her with very fine MS glitter but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get that to show up in the pic...bummer.

The flowers are Primas and that cool stuff she's standing on is a sprinkling of Metallic Mica Flakes by US Art Quest. I just love the shimmer and the color was just perfect for this card. I just used some clear tacky glue and sprinkled it on.

Here's the dimensional view. I'll tell you I had a ball building this creepy cute scene. Be sure to stop by The Burtonesque Dolls to check out the fabulous creations by the DT using fab images from Busy Beauties. By playing along you have a chance to win some of those fab images. I was last week's lucky winner. WooHoo! And if you love Tiddly Inks as much as I do, go have a play at the Tiddly Inkers challenge blog too.

Oh Alice! Challenge 10 Queen of Tarts

Wow this week is flying by! I sort of took some days off from crafting because of the gorgeous weekend and my birthday and I feel like I'm playing "catch up". This week at Oh Alice! they are celebrating the Queen's tarts and asked for food on our cards. I made the Mad Hatter's Cake using my Cottage Cutz die, available at The Scrapping Cottage. Doesn't it look YUMMY!? I've always wanted a REAL cake like this for some occasion but for now a paper one will have to do. I loved the colors on the packaging for this die so I just mostly copied those. I cut the whole thing out of white card stock and colored the pieces with my Copics (except for the little roses where I used a textured pink card stock wth gel pen for detail.) The layers and roses are popped for dimension. Because of the strong colors I decided to use black and white for the rest of the card. the background embossing is the Diamonds in the Rough Cuttlebug folder. (I thought it had an "Alicey" kind of feel to it). The sentiment is from the Cuttlebug Happy Birthday card making combo. Hope you like.