Acetate in August

Welcome to our big August Acetate Blog Hop! We're shining our spotlight on the clear plastic acetate material that makes terrific cards, boxes, embellishments, and more. It can be stamped on, painted, and embossed -- which makes it a very fun, versatile choice for any project.

Let's start this party with some new, never-before-seen samples made with acetate components of our adorable Birthday Boy Card Kit, designed by Pam Smerker:


And here are a few more from the kits:

And here we have a card from Dusty Patrick. It is the A2 Acetate Card plus straight frame in black cardstock. The rubons are from Basic Grey.





Another sample is this card by Trish Estrella. It is the A2 Gate Fold Crescent Card with Band in Acetate. The stamps are from Fancy Pants.


And now for some fun news! We're getting ready to show off a fabulous new designer kit very soon -- and we're offering one up as a prize. It's so new, we don't even have a photo yet! It's the new Sealife 8"x8" Album Kit. It uses the adorable Doodlebug papers and embellishments, and includes chipboard, cardstock and acetate pages. Here are the four different ways to win it:

(A) Leave a comment on this post. (This is limited to one per person unless you meet the criteria of B, C, and/or D below.) Tell us all about your Christmas card plans. How many are you making? Do you usually say "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas"? Are they fancy or whimsical?

(B) Leave one extra comment if you've posted a link to this blog candy on your own blog. Make sure to include a link to your specific post in your comment.

(C) Leave one extra comment if you become one of our blog followers. See the right-hand navigation column to follow us.

(D) Leave one extra comment if you click over to our page on Facebook and become a fan.

Thank you for coming! The prize has already been awarded.

Speaking of designer kits, there's yet another fabulous kit in the works! It will feature some gorgeous Autumn patterned papers and a nice variety of die-cut cards and embellishments. It will be called (f)All Occasions, and it will feature sentiments for birthdays, thank-yous, and more. Want to see? Okay, here is the very preliminary sneak peek of just some of the beautiful patterned papers:


Our hop today starts with Angie and she'll direct you to the next blog, and they'll direct you to the next blog, and so on. If for some reason a link is broken, don't panic. Just return here to the list and complete your journey.

Hoppin' Team Members:
Angie Pearl
Kim Ross
Carla Mayfield
Chrissy Dickinson
Carissa Peach, Guest
Jennifer Johnson
Eva Dobilas, Guest
Lindsay Weirich
Stephany Zerbe, Guest
Pam Smerker

Before you head to Angie's blog and start hopping, we've got some special savings for you! Save 15% at the Creative Cuts & More Store through August 14th by using the code acetatebloghop0809 at checkout.

Happy Hopping & Happy Shopping!

Clearly Fun Hop

It's clear to see that we've got our big monthly BLOG HOP coming! It'll be full of fun, inspiration and a big prize too!

We've shown you several acetate projects here on our blog, and we'll have plenty more starting Monday morning for our Acetate in August blog hop! You'll also get to meet our three talented guest designers!

See you then!

Arch Window Lighthouse Card

Hello! This is the Arch Window A2 Card from Creative Cuts and More! You can use Killer Red Tacky Tape to attach the acetate!

Here are the details:
Stamp Set: Light of The World by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Die Cute/ Card Base: Window available at Creative Cuts and More
Accessories: Rub Ons, Copics

I hope you have a FABULOUS day! Thank you for stopping by!

Baby Shower Treat Cones (and a chance to win!)

I made these treat cones with the 11 1/2" mini scallop die from Creative Cuts and More, for the big cones cut the die cut in half, for the skinny ones use a quarter of the sheet. Just roll up the paper and secure with killer red tacky tape, tip: the tape will even hold the lace and ribbon on, now that IS good tape! Don't forget you have until August 3rd to upload a baby or bridal shower project to the Caardvarks blog for your chance to win a card kit from Creative Cuts and more!

Join in on the Caardvarks Challenge!

We have teamed up with Caardvarks for a super fun challenge. Head on over to Caardvarks for all of the details and play along for a chance to win your choice of our one of our new Creative Cuts and More Card Kits.
Both the Creative Cuts and More design as well as the Caardvarks design team have created a ton of samples to inspire you. You can see some of these creations here and then you can see even more at the Caardvarks Flickr gallery.

The Scene from the Bowl...

I had so much fun with this fish bowl shaped card from Creative Cuts and More. As soon as I saw it I had this Fishy Scene pop in my head. Listed below are the supplies that I used!

Stamp Sets: Summer Fun, Dream Silhuoettes, Digital Stamps by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps
Diecuts: Creative Cuts and More (Card Base - Fish Bowl)
Cardstock: Garden Green, Neenah Cardstock, Designer Paper,
Accessories: Dew Drops, Window Sheets, Copic Markers, Dimensionals, Red Sticky Tape

Winner of the "Birthday Boy Card Kit" is....

Congratualtions Sandra Stickler, you have won a Creative Cuts and More "Birthday Boy Card!" Please contact us with your mailing address.

Thank you so much to all of you who followed us along on the blog hop. We hope you will all come back often to see all of the fun creations the Creative Cuts and More design team has to share with you here at Die Cut Diva!

Happy Hopping!

Welcome to our big mid-summer Blog Hop! We're focusing on birthday cards and projects, and we've got a brand new product line that we're launching today, too! Prepare to be WOWed, everyone!

First, let's start with the debut of our adorable Birthday Boy and Birthday Girl Card Kits. These cute kits, designed by Pam Smerker, are packed full of custom die-cut cards plus papers and embellishments to make a dozen cards with plenty of goodies left over to use on other projects. They're a great value!




We'll be giving away two of these kits this week (one right here on Diecutdiva.com and the other on one of the blogs on the hop), and you'll get plenty of ideas and samples along the blog hop. Keep reading for details.

Right now, it's time for more eye candy! We've got some adorable birthday themed projects to show you, created by Pam Smerker. First, her girl birthday ensemble, made using the Dress Boxes made up like little ballerinas and an adorable cake made from Cake Slice Boxes:

And next up is her take on a more masculine birthday ensemble, using the Cake Slice Boxes and clear acetate Candy Boxes:




So you've heard that we're giving away one of our brand new Birthday Boy Card Kits here on Diecutdiva.com. Here are the four different ways to win it:

(A) Leave a comment on this post. (This is limited to one per person unless you meet the criteria of B, C, and/or D below.) Let us know if there are any special themes of card kits or album kits that you'd like to see.

(B) Leave one extra comment if you've posted a link to this blog candy on your own blog. Make sure to include a link to your specific post in your comment.

(C) Leave one extra comment if you become one of our blog followers. See the right-hand navigation column to follow us.

(D) Leave one extra comment if you click over to our new page on Facebook and become a fan.

Comments will be accepted through 11:59PM Mountain Time on Thursday, July 16th. The winner will be selected randomly via Random.org and posted the following day.

Our hop today starts with Chrissy and she'll direct you to the next blog, and they'll direct you to the next blog, and so on. If for some reason a link is broken, don't panic. Just return here to the list and complete your journey.

Hoppin' Team Members:
Chrissy Dickinson
Angie Pearl
Carla Mayfield
Jennifer Johnson
Lindsay Weirich
Dawn Lusk, Our Guest
Lila Holgate
Pam Smerker

And one last thing before you head off to our hop... we've got a COUPON for you! Save 15% at the Creative Cuts & More Store through July 20th by using the code birthdaydt0915 at checkout. Happy Hopping & Happy Shopping!

My daughter needed a cake for a baby shower, so I made this duck cake using the cake box set found here. For the cake stand I used a margarita glass, put the duck in first, added the stones, sealed it up and turned it over. Worked great! The baby block on top spells out the baby's name, Dash.

Designed by Jennifer Johnson

Materials:

Cake Box Set, Creative Cuts and More

Ribbon , flowers and rocks found at Micheals

Ducks, Party City, and Hallmark

Letters on block were cut with my Cricut

Thanks for looking!

12x12 Color Block Scrapbook Page

I absolutely love this Color Block die cut. There are so many things you can do with it. You can fill every square with pictures or just random ones like I did. Simply turning it around gives you 4 different looking pages. Maybe use the small 4 boxes on top for a title.

Designed by Jennifer Johnson
other products used:
Prima Rock on Chip Plates,
Prima: Rock on Say it in Chrystals
Thickers: Glitter Mullberry
Queen and Co. Flower Frenzy

Thank You

A big thank you to everyone who applied for our guest designer positions. We had a great turn out and will be contacting those who have been accepted. There were so many fabulous designers, which made it extremely difficult to decide. We appreciate all of you for the taking the time to send us your fabulous work.

Shaped paper with a twist!

***Guest DT call extended until July 6! Scroll down for details!***

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, My favorite die cut at Creative Cuts and More is the 11 1/2 mini scallop circle. I know there are fancier boxes and cards on the website but I like this one best! Why you ask? Because there is nothing better for braking you out of a scrapbooking slump than changing the shape of the page. But this die cut isn't just for scrapbooking. Check out the two cards I made with half a sheet of the shaped paper. An that isn't the end of it either. I have several other projects to share with you this month using this die, when I'm done you're gonna want one in every color...come to think of it so do I!






Stamp Credits:
Top Card: Stampin Up!
Bottom Card: The Rubber Cafe

Guest Design Team Call EXTENDED!

We know how busy the summer months are , so we are extending our

Creative Cuts & More Guest Design Team Call until

July 6, 2009

Creative Cuts & More (CC&M) is a leader in the die cutting industry offering dies cut in cardstock and a variety of other materials like chipboard, acetate, felt, velvet paper, and more. We are searching for paper crafters who enjoy working with die cuts (shapes, cards, 3-D bags & boxes, etc.) to design projects for us as guests to our design team. If you can rock a die cut and take a great photo, please apply!

Our plan is to choose at least TWELVE guests to post projects during their assigned month. During this month, guest designers would:

* Create 5 projects for CC&M from the materials provided. Two projects will have an assigned theme for our blog hop and then one project for each of the other three weeks during the month. Any extra materials sentare yours to keep.

* Photograph your projects. Post photographs and product recipes to your blog, to Splitcoaststampers, and any other galleries of your choice.

* Submit same photo and product recipes directly to CC&M and grant CC&M permission to use them in CC&M’s blog, Web site, gallery, etc.

Once the projects have been submitted, you will receive a gift certificate for $25 in free cardstock and die cuts of your choice from the CC&M Web site. You will also be eligible for a 25% discount on any purchases you make at that time.

To apply, show us your very best work with die cuts (2-5 projects). Send specific links to gallery pages, blog posts, or attach them in the e-mail. Also, we’ll need your answers to the following:

* Name:

* E-mail Address:

* Blog Address:

* Phone Number:

* Mailing Address:

* Current & Past Design Teams: (No experience required… we’d like to meet some new designers!)

* Other papercrafting experience (Publications, Teaching at LSS, etc.):

* What would make you a great choice as a guest designer?

* If you have a preference, what themes or time of year would work best for you? (Is there a season or a theme that you’re passionate about? Have lots of wedding stamps? Keen on pets? Taking an extended vacation in October?)

Please e-mail us at customerservice@creativecutsandmore.com and put “Guest Design Team Call” in the subject line. Submissions close on July 6, 2009, and notifications will go out shortly thereafter.

Guest Designer Lisa Graves

We are lucky to have Lisa Graves as our Creative Cuts and More guest designer this month. Lisa made this adorable travel bag from our Tiffany Purse . The purse was custom cut from Bazzill Bling card stock and decorated with 7 Gypsies paper and Making Memories brads. Thanks for the inspiration Lisa, we love this bag!

Don't forget to check out our Guest Designer post. The deadline has been extended and applications are being accepted through July 6th.

Don't ya just love whimsy?

I made this little whimsical bag with the XL Tuck and Close Bag from Creative Cuts and More. It was a blast to make, I stamped a fairy (About Art Accents) on watercolor paper and colored it with Prismacolor pencils and blended it with goo gone then stamped a few butterflies on acetate, colored them with Bic Mark Its and glued them on after adding lots of ribbon. I finished it off with a few squirts of shimmer spray. A perfect bag for a lovely gift for a whimsical friend.

Looking for Guest Designers

Creative Cuts & More Guest Design Team Call

Creative Cuts & More (CC&M) is a leader in the die cutting industry offering dies cut in cardstock and a variety of other materials like chipboard, acetate, felt, velvet paper, and more. We are searching for paper crafters who enjoy working with die cuts (shapes, cards, 3-D bags & boxes, etc.) to design projects for us as guests to our design team. If you can rock a die cut and take a great photo, please apply!

Our plan is to choose at least TWELVE guests to post projects during their assigned month. During this month, guest designers would:

* Create 5 projects for CC&M from the materials provided. Two projects will have an assigned theme for our blog hop and then one project for each of the other three weeks during the month. Any extra materials sentare yours to keep.

* Photograph your projects. Post photographs and product recipes to your blog, to Splitcoaststampers, and any other galleries of your choice.

* Submit same photo and product recipes directly to CC&M and grant CC&M permission to use them in CC&M’s blog, Web site, gallery, etc.

Once the projects have been submitted, you will receive a gift certificate for $25 in free cardstock and die cuts of your choice from the CC&M Web site. You will also be eligible for a 25% discount on any purchases you make at that time.

To apply, show us your very best work with die cuts (2-5 projects). Send specific links to gallery pages, blog posts, or attach them in the e-mail. Also, we’ll need your answers to the following:

* Name:

* E-mail Address:

* Blog Address:

* Phone Number:

* Mailing Address:

* Current & Past Design Teams: (No experience required… we’d like to meet some new designers!)

* Other papercrafting experience (Publications, Teaching at LSS, etc.):

* What would make you a great choice as a guest designer?

* If you have a preference, what themes or time of year would work best for you? (Is there a season or a theme that you’re passionate about? Have lots of wedding stamps? Keen on pets? Taking an extended vacation in October?)

Please e-mail us at customerservice@creativecutsandmore.com and put “Guest Design Team Call” in the subject line. Submissions close on June 30^th, and notifications will go out shortly thereafter.

Guest Designer Chris Dickinson's Star Centerpiece

Our fabulous guest designer, Chris Dickinson made this fabulous center piece for her daughter's graduation. All you need is five of the A6 Oval Cutout Accordion Insert & A6 Card Set from Creative Cuts and More. As always, there is every color in the rainbow to choose from.

Stamp Sets used were from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Dream Silhuoettes, In His Time, All in a Row (retired SU) and a jumbo wheel by SU too.

Father's Day Box Idea

Our wonderful guest designer, Dawn has created this fun Father's cake box using our Creative Cuts and More "Cupcake Box".

Dawn wanted to make a box to hold a tie, the typical Father's Day gift. Dawn made some diamonds for the sides and paper pierced around them and just added some ribbon along the top of the box. She also used the insert on the bottom of the box so the tie would sit higher. This box would also work great for a pair of dress socks.

Thanks Dawn for inspiring us!

Fun with window cards!

I think next to 3-D die cut boxes my favorite CC&M product is window cards, I love the surprise peeking through a window. (This card is known as the 5-1/4" Square Scallop Card Heart Window Vertical.) On this card I printed a daffodil digital stamp on vellum and embossed it speedy quick then colored it with my trusty Bic Mark-it markers (sharpies or copics would work too) then sewed it behind the window opening.

It may seem tricky to machine stitch around a heart shape but here is a crafty trick: Start at the bottom point of the heart and sew up to where it starts to curve then instead of using the foot pedal on your machine use the turning wheel on the right hand side of your sewing machine to go one stitch at a time until you get over the "humps" then use the pedal as you stitch down the other strait side. I'm no seamstress but I love the look I get when I stitch on a card.

Here is another tip: If you don't have the right color "bling" for your card you can alter clear rhinestones just color them with your solvent based markers such as Bic Mark its, Copics or sharpies. I use a small glue dot to stick the rhinestone down then color right over it with the marker, works like a charm!

Fun Teacher Gift

Design Team member Diane Koerner created this adorable teacher's gift.

The French Fry Box was cut from Bazzill Criss Cross Buttercream Cardstock. She filled it with magnets and put a strip of magnet inside the box.

She colored the pencil magnets with Prismacolor pencils. Markers were used to color the flowers, apple etc. The flowers were decorated with Stickles Glitter Glue in Yellow.

Stamp Credits: the pencil and flower are from Stamps by Judith – The saying an apple lasts is by Stampassions.

Hula Girl

When I saw the little dress box my mind went to Hula Girl , I think I need a vacation!!! I really like how she turned out though. I had the die cut in Almond Creme smooth cardstock to give her a little bit of tan. The skirt was made using a table skirt we had used for a Hawaiian Birthday Party. The lei was made using a small paper punch and punching little circles out of silk flowers then stringing them on a needle and thread. A kaiser rhinestone for a belly button ring and a little bikini top and she's done!

Designed by Jennifer Johnson Creative Cuts and More Designer.
Die Cut used: Dress Box
Rhinestones: I used Kaiser but these would work perfectly: Hyacinth Rhinestones
Prima flower
Michaels flowers

Blog Candy Winner

Thank you, everyone, for participating in our Blog Hop and helping us to debut all those great new dies!

We had Random.org select a random integer for us and it came up with #12. So here's the comment from our lucky winner:

Nice work from "The Diva Dozen" this was lots of fun going from one blog to the next. I saw lots of great ideas. I especially loved Pam's Baby Shoes and Diaper Card.

Debbie H.

So, Debbie H., please contact us with your mailing address and cardstock choices for your very special castle album! Congratulations!

Blog Hop = New Dies & Blog Candy!

Welcome to our Blog Hop! Today, we're featuring mini-albums and baby-themed items. Albums, you ask? Yes! We've got brand new album dies! (We've also got some blog candy during the hop, so be sure to read all the way down to find out how to win!) Let's get the new die run-down:

• 4"x4" Album Set
• 6"x6" Album Set
• 8"x8" Album Set
• Castle Mini-Album Set
• Mix & Match Album Set
• 11.5" Scalloped Circle
  

But before you hop, check out some of these delightful samples...

These first two projects use the Baby Shoe die (one in pink smooth and the other in pearlescent swirlette). Created by Kat Salmon, one of our newest design team members.



Another gorgeous submission by Kat is this jaw-dropping baby shower cake made with the Cake Slice Box Set. She really dressed up the presentation with the adorable cake plate, curled ribbons, and toys!


Next up is a fun recipe book made from the brand new 6"x6" mini album dies. It was created by talented CC&M customer Tricia Marshall.


And see these magnificent food die cuts? These will be available soon at Creative Cuts & More!


And this adorable ABC Book was created by Kat Salmon using chipboard cut from the 8"x8" Album Set dies. She also used the Straight Frame in Blackberry Swirl Smooth. She did such a gorgeous job! The Hungry Animal is a line of fabric for children -- and she cut out each of the fabric animals and added them to the book. What a labor of love!


During the hop, one of our Design Team members will direct you back here for the chance to win one of our new Creative Imaginations Bare Elements castle albums AND 8 pages custom cut for you from your choice of cardstock. Leave a comment on this post with the secret phrase hidden somewhere in the hop. Entries will be accepted through 11:59PM Mountain Time on Thursday, May 14th and the winner will be posted the following day.

Our hop today starts with Angie and she'll direct you to the next blog, and they'll direct you to the next blog, and so on. If for some reason a link is broken, don't panic. Just return here to the list and complete your journey.

Hoppin' Team Members:
Angie Pearl
Carla Mayfield
Kim Ross
Jennifer Johnson
Lindsay Weirich
Eva Dobilas - Our Guest
Pam Smerker

Happy Hopping!

Check out this challenge!

Want some wedding favor ideas or have some wedding creations to share. Creative Cuts and More is sponsoring Cuttlebug Challenge this week. So hop on over, check out all of the amazing samples the Cuttlebug Challenge design team has put together and enter the challenge.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day everyone!!!

We have a great new addition to the Creative Cuts and More design team, Jennifer Johnson. Jennifer is known for her fabulous scrapbook layouts, so we are very excited to have her join the team.

Jennifer made this great layout using Creative Cuts and More's 11 1/2" Scalloped Die Cut. Creative Cuts and More carries a wide variety of shapes that make a wonderful addition to any layout.