{TCP New Release} Blog Hop!

Hey there! Are you having fun 'hopping' so far?? This is probably my favorite release from The Cat's Pajamas (yep- I know I said the same thing last release, but this time I mean it!! ;)
Today we are combining our new release Hop with TCP Tuesday #187! Julie is our hostess (and first on the hop!), and she is challenging us to make our cards shine! Use glitter, glossy effects, stickles, rhinestones...whatever you can think of to make your project sparkle! You should have arrived here via Kimberly's blog! She was one of our wonderful Swanky Stamper's participating in this months release and boy, did she do a bang up job! Gave us all a run for our money, that's for sure! Thanks Kimberly and Steph for all your hard work!!
I used two new sets from this release on my card: Merry Christmas, Honey and J*lly H*liday!
They are available for purchase NOW!! And don't forget about Alma's special Christmas gift to you all- 15% off your entire order (and that's on top of the already discounted Kitty Kat Pack and Poochie Pack! WOW! Can you say 'generous'?? Just use the code word Happy15 at the checkout! And this offer is only good 'til the end of November, so you better get busy and shop! Tell your husbands that I said you could;)

This sucker is sooooo sparkly IRL! From the sequin trim (I am an 80's girl at heart;) to the glossy effects on the ornaments...from the J*lly H*liday set btw. I blinged out my tree with sparkly little gems and silver cording, added stickles to the star and spica glitter pen to Big Bears spoon and the honey....I LOVE sparkle and shine!!

Next up on the hop is the lovely Nancy Thomas! She has been busy whipping up so many gorgeous little gifts for her grandkids with this release, trying to keep their Christmas spirit alive as they enter that certain age! She sure has sparked my spirit with her 12 Days of Christmas gifts!

 And don't forget to play along this week for your chance at some weekly cat-cash or even the opportunity to be crowned Swanky Stamper of the month and help us out with our next release, just like Kimberly and Steph! Upload your card to Alma's Dancing in Pajamas blog or SCS using the keyword TCPTUES187.

{TCP Release} Raising Cane

Hi there! Today the TCP Catpackers are giving you a sneak peek at another sweet set called Raising Cane. It features everyone's favorite bunny wabbit holding a pretty big candy cane! He's gonna have a tummy ache after eating all that sugar;)

I added some stickles to his paper-pieced hat and sprinkled glitter on top for sparkly good measure;)
My bunny was coloured with copics and cut with an oval nestie with the tips of the ears cut 'out of the box'.

Check out the fun new Holiday Divine Twine!!

I used the Anywhere Ribbon Slide Cutup die vertically and weaved two different colours (cream and rose) of TCP's seam binding through. Here is a little photo tutorial to show you how I did it.

Starting with your first colour (the one you want to see the most of) and weave strips through the larger sections, securing each bit at the back with score tape.

Next, weave your second colour through the remaining ribbon slots, keeping the ribbon in one long piece.

Secure at the end with more score tape and trim so no frays show through the front.

Flip the strip of CS over and you should have a nice, two-toned effect!

Alma's blog has a complete list of designers sneak-peeking today! And get in on out 'In It To Win It' thread on SCS for your chance to win Raising Cane.

{Kraftin' Kimmie} Grateful

Happy Weekend!!! Hope that you are all having a wonderful, relaxing weekend and Happy Thanksgiving weekend to my Southern pals! Hope none of you were trampled to death in any Black Friday sales!!! I hear it can get pretty nuts!
I am here with you today for my last post as a Krafty Guest for KKS:) BooHoo! But it has been a blast and I look forward to seeing what December's Guests (Hi Kerri!!) have in store for us:)
This weeks challenge is to make a card with a Thankful/Grateful theme. Since we Canadians already celebrated our Thanksgiving a month ago, I did some thinking on what kind of card I would make...I threw around a few ideas (friendship. my husband, my kids), but then it dawned on me that none of those things would be possible without Faith. I am not super churchy and I have never been really vocal in my beliefs...I'm kinda personal with certain things;) I tend to cuss like a long haul trucker, like to throw back a good rum n coke every so often and am a believer in science and medicine.....but I am also a Christian. I wasn't raised in a church going home, but my folks always taught me right from wrong, how to treat people- even ones you don't like, how to love your family and help a neighbour, what a loving marriage was, to respect the land that we lived off of and to be thankful for the things you had instead of worrying about the things you didn't.
I asked my 5 year old son (who is having some issues with being bullied at school) what it is that I have taught him is the most important thing to be in life.....
He made me pretty proud when he replied 'To treat people nice and be kind to others'. So I guess what I am trying to get across to my kids is being absorbed:)  I am grateful for my faith and that I am able to pass some of my values onto my sons!! I am grateful that God gave me three amazing, healthy boys that have taught me so much and filled my heart so full:) And that He gave me the most loving man to call my husband and proud to call my children's father....
So, here is my Grateful card, using O Holy Night Nativity set (on sale for 25% off!)....

I used a one of my fave SU paper packs from the current mini catalogue....it's an autumn print, but I felt like going with non-Christmas colours. The borders are MFT dies and the twill ribbon is SU as well. I coloured with Copics and paper-pieced a bit. My papers were distressed with chalk ink (creamy brown) and machine stitched with chocolate thread. The little chipboard stars are older than dirt (I think I've had them since I first started scrapbooking!!!!) The little buttons are threaded with TCP's linen thread.
Here is a close-up of Mary, Joseph and brand new baby Jesus!

And here is the inside, using the Nativity Sentiments (currently on sale for 30% off!!), more stitching and stars.

There is a HUGE sale going on right now until Monday with discounts 25-75% off!! Check it out!

KKS was featured in the magazine Canadian Scrapbooker and there is a fun giveaway going on at the Krafty Blog to celebrate!

{TCP Release} Freezin' Season

Hello! I want to start this post off by saying 'Happy Thanksgiving' to all my American friends out there in blogland....I totally forgot yesterday, so there it is! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend celebrating with family and friends (and eating lots of turkey and pie too;)
Today, The Cat's Pajamas has yet another amazing set to dazzle you with! It's our favorite floppy-earred friend, building himself a friend of his very own! This set is called Freezin' Season and comes with the absolute sweetest sentiments....this is one of my favorites, for sure!

Yep- my 'Junk It Up' style totally took over here! It's kinda busy and bright on the eyes, so I really hope I don't throw anyone into a seizure with this explosion of everything!! LOL
As well as the new set we're sneak peeking today, I used a few new dies on my card. The red snowflake panel was cut twice with the new Snowflake Lace Paper Cutup (when cutting with the white, I used the embossing rubber shim, rather than the cutting plate in my Bigshot, so that the flakes wouldn't cut through to the bottom). I topped that with the red dp that was cut normally with all the flakes popped out. Save those bits- they come in handy later;) I also used that die to give one of my green trees (spellbinders) some pizazz....same thing as the white cs, didn't cut all the way through to keep all the flakes in the right place. I then ran the tree through the zyron and backed with another green tree (I wanted to pop up the tree with dimensionals, otherwise I would have skipped the backing step and adhered right to the cardfront).

The Anywhere Ribbon Slide Cutup is a really fun little die. Here, I left a strip of CS along the bottom of the stamped bunny, cutting out the inner bits with my craft knife. I then cut ribbon holes by simply laying the die over top of the strip. The bunny's leg was cut around with the craft knife and was hung over top of the ribbon. Kind of a cool look! I used all the little leftover snowflakes and stuck them willy nilly all over the front, adding little bits of bling pretty much anywhere I felt like:) I made a larger, layered snowflake embellie and adhered it to the green snowflake tree.

 Check out the TCP blog for links to the designers previewing today! And don't forget about our In It To Win It thread on the SCS forum for your chance to win! All you have to do is comment!

{TCP Release} Best Fishes

*** Scroll down for my There She Goes new release post***

Sneaky Peek Week: Day THREE is here, featuring this sweet little Penguin (is the Larry or Daryl, I wonder??) in Best Fishes. I know there are some big birdy fans out there, so this little guy will have your hearts going pitter-patter:)

So, whatcha think?? I used one of our brand new dies as well, Gift Card Envie. You might be wondering how I did this, since there is no gift card or envie on my card, so I'll show you how! I like to get the most out of my steel dies, because let's face it, we aren't made of money (at least not the girls I run with;)...and it's fun to get creative and try new things! I think that this card looks like one of those tacky fishing plaques you see on bachelors walls;)!!

I cut a piece of DP (the woodgrain) and espresso CS, both a bit wider than the score lines for the base of the envelope and the fancy flap portion of the die. You could also just cut out a complete envelope, but I hate wasting paper:)

I then used my paper cutter and trimmed the cut pieces down to size (the espresso piece at the score lines and the dp piece just under) and adhered them together, making the fancy little base for my main panel.

The I just added the white embossed rectangle, popped Larry up on it, tied a bow with seam binding in a new colour, Cranberry. I added the sentiment (which was stamped on one of the Circus Panels Cutups from last release, anchored with espresso brads)

 Here is a close-up of the penguin and his lovely gift (man, I hope I don't get that for Christmas!! I think I've been a wee bit better than someone who deserves a stinky fish in their stocking...although, once we got my Grandpa a smoked salmon for Christmas and he thought he'd died and gone to Heaven, so to each his own, I guess;) Okay- off topic again, Jenny!! The image was all paper-pieced and a black brad was added in place of the stamped eye. The only colouring was to his beak and flipper feet.

Stop by Alma's blog to see some more inspiration and links to Catpackers Peeking this set...and don't forget about our 'In It To Win It' thread going on over at SCS for your chance to win this set!
Ummm....today is also TCP's last Black Friday sale!!!

{TSG November Release} Day THREE

Torico is in the mood to make winter all warm and cheery. She has illustrated a fabulous set that will keep you in stitches or get you in the mood to make gingerbread houses and sugar cookies. The set includes hearts, stars, and snowflakes to create a one of a kind snowman or holiday tree. This set also includes six dies – so warm up your die cutting machine and let the baking begin. What set wouldn’t be complete without a few sentiments to add to your winter projects?

Warmest Wishes is a 4x4 set that includes a total of 23 stamps and six dies and will sell for $31.50.

I made a cute card featuring the stocking and mitten in the set. I pieced them using SU papers that have a real country Christmas feel. The 'mantle' was cut from a woodgrain DP and the mantle scarf was cut with red felt using a MFT scallop die. I hung my stockings and mittens using SU's linen thread and silver brads. I used my copics multiliner to draw our names on the cuffs. The cuffs and toes/heels were popped up using dimensionals.

The sentiment is from the set 'Wishing You' that was featured on Tuesday's peeks. A pretty simple, yet really personal little card:) These would be really easy to mass-produce as well, just by using the die that comes with the set (I can not wait to get my dies!! Eek!

Want to win this amazing stamp set and die? All you have to do is comment on the Trendsetters  blogs. You do not have to comment on them all, but the more comments you make, the better chance you have at winning!

Here is a list of Trendsetters participating in todays peek:

{TSG November Release} Day TWO

No two snowflakes are alike…each with a beauty of their own and Melyssa Connolly has captured the beauty of snowflakes in this new Holly Jolly set that are sure to make you wish it were snowing. This amazing set also includes a die! It’s a fabulous versatile set that will surely bring a holiday glisten to your projects – all you need to add is the glitter!

Holly Jolly is a 6x8 set that includes a total of 35 stamps and one die and will sell for $31.50.

Would you like to win the new Holly Jolly stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday November 26th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

I made a quick set of 5 little felt tags (combining todays peek with TSG131) using the super cute images and holiday sentiments....

I added a little bling to each tag, using Tiny Twinkles, stickles and a red rhinestone brad. Bakers Twine was threaded through an eyelet. The felt tags (cut with a Verve die) were backed with thin chipboard for stablility. I used a paper-piercer and brown pen for some faux stitching, Voila- quick and easy tags!

{YNSC56} Got dies?

I am the hostess this week at Your Next Stamp, and I am challenging you to use die cuts on your card. Pretty easy! Especially since YNS has come out with some great dies the past few months!!
I used sweet Ellie Loves Art for my card this week, along with some gorgeous die cut flowers. I love cutting my own embellishments, as I can perfectly match my embellishments...no digging around for expensive store-bought embellies!

Check out the YNS Blog for more inspiration and deets on how you can play along to win an Ellie stamp set of your very own:)

Supplies- Stamps- YNS, DP- MME, CS- SU, Dies- TCP, spellbinders; copics, brads, ribbon- SU

{TSG November Release} Day ONE

Hi there- wow! Another TSG release is upon us! I am pretty late getting my post up for the hop, so thank you to all of you who toughed it out and came back to see me;) I am a Canadian girl, so I am actually using digi stamps because the customs officers like to stamp (you'd never know it from their super-pleasant demeanors...hehe;) That's scarcasm right there, if you didn't catch it;) Anywho, my printer had a major jam-up and this kid is no tech whiz, so I had to wait for DH to come to the rescue! And by the time he got the paper out and figured out the problem (which is too thick of paper- Stampin' Up CS finally worked, although it's the pits to colour on if you ask me), it was late late late. Good thing I went to be when I did, cuz Mr 2 yr old Stinker decided last night would be a fine night to get up 10 times!!! And then appointments in town all morning and two trips into the school (forgot it was Cowboy Day and it nearly devastated my kindergartener not to wear his hat, boots, buckle and chaps!!) Back into town Mom went to bring in the rodeo gear;)...so finally I had time this afternoon to finish up my card!
Here is the down and dirty from Jessica, the Boss Lady, on today's release:

What images come to mind when you hear sleigh bells ringing? Santa and his eight tiny reindeer of course! Torico has illustrated the perfect mini set to create your winter wonderland scene. This is the perfect set to create holiday tags, cards, and gift boxes. A complete must have.

Hohoho is a 3x4 mini-set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $7.

Just when you thought the World’s Best & Die stamp set couldn’t get any better…here comes another fabulous set illustrated by Melyssa Connolly to add snowmen, reindeer, and angels on the tails of your ribbon or flowers of the World’s Best stamp set. What a great set this will be to dress up a holiday bottle of cheer!

Holiday Ribbons is a 2x3 mini-set that includes a total of 9 stamps and will sell for $4.

Holidays are not complete without all the wishes of the seasons. Jessica has illustrated a beautiful set of timeless sentiments so that you’ll never be at a loss for words. This mini set would complement the collection of holiday stamps sets released this month!

Wishing You is a 3x4 mini-set that includes a total of 6 stamps and will sell for $7.

 

I used HoHoHo on my card today....lately TSG has been sparking the CAS ideas for me, which is weird, because I'm usually a 'Pile It On' kinda gal.....But it's fun to experiment with your style, no?
And see what I'm sayin' with that SU! CS...YUCK! The reindeer look awful, but what can you do when the printers got you by the ink cartridge;)

Would you like to win the new Hohoho, Holiday Ribbons, and Wishing You stamp sets? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in each of the blog hop challenges below and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs (from each hop day) will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Blog Hop Challenge post.

You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday November 26th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

TCP Sneaky Peek- Snow Day

Day one of The Cat's Pajamas Sneaky Peek Week!!! Can I get a Whoop Whoop?!?!
I am so excited about this release...(hey, didn't I say that about the last one? They are just all that good!)
Today we are giving you a peek at the uber-cute set Snow Day, featuring our very mischevious little long-eared bunny;)
It's also TCPTUESday, and Jen has given us a wintery little photo collage to spark up some creativity!

Spot a new Cutup, do you? YES!! That's the new Snowflake Paper Cutup die! And see all the cute little shite snowflakes that are set on top of the Snowflake Cutup? They are the little negetive bits that are the perfect size for adorning your cards!
The espresso button is tied with the one and only TCP linen thread (in ivory)....
And I used the Icing cutup along the edge as well:)

Okay, friends, check out Alma's blog for a list of designers peeking today...and get in the fun at our SCS forum for your chance to win this cute little fella!!
Oh yeah, don't forget to play along with the weekly challenge for great prizes! Link up to the blog, and use the keyword TCPTUES186 on SCS!

Sketch- mojo

{Krafty Hop} I'll Put A Spell on You

Do YOU know what day it is??? It’s Krafty RELEASE Day!! Today Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps is releasing their new NOVEMBER stamps and there’s SO much awesomeness to SEE!!

Over the last few days in our Krafty Peeks, we have shared lots of FUN new stamps for you to get inky with! We’ve got something for everyone!! There is a fun new SET by Cheryl Alger for the DUDES in your life!! It’s called SNIPS AND SNAILS! We also have TWO fantastic sets of FURRY FRIENDS from Emilie Goulet called CANINE CAPERS 1 and 2!!! And of course we have an amazing new set of six GOTHIC GIRLS from Annie Rodrigue! PLUS we are also releasing the BEST FRIENDS stamp that was our special commemorative stamp from Krafty Day last month!!

You will get to see most of the new images today as you sit back and enjoy our NOVEMBER Krafty Hop! If you want to start from the beginning, just head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie Challenge Blog! As you hop from blog to blog, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because some lucky stampers will win packages of these incredible stamps from the new release!! And when you’re done hoppin’, be sure to head over to the Kraftin’ Kimmie shop, because ALL the new images are NOW available!

And of course, as always, we have our Gimme Kimmies Kits available for those of you who ‘need it all’!! The stamps are grouped together by artist and are available at a discount, but only for a limited time!!

You should have arrived here from my super talented buddy, Michele's blog! If you want to start at the beginning of the hop, head over to the Krafty Challenge Blog.....

I used a crazy- wicked new stamp, Voodoo Lady, by the amazingly talented Annie Rodrigue! I must admit that I was a little nervous about colouring this spell spinner, but it actually was really fun and I like the way she turned out!

Up next on the hop is the hilarious and talented Carole! As always, thanks for stopping by!!

{Kraftin' Kimmie Release} Annie's Goth Girls!

Hello, Hello!!! Are you ready to rumble???? Hahaha- I am just a tad bit excited, because this is probably my FAVORITE Annie Rodrigue release OF ALL TIME!!!!! And if that doesn't get your heart beating a little faster, then I'm afraid that you might have a pacemaker installed that your family hasn't informed you of (and stay away from airport security metal detecters;)
Okay people- feast your eyes on this little number:)

Good Land, isn't she just the cutest thing going! I hope she knows her mushrooms, cuz some of those aren't for eatin'!! But she looks like she knows her way around a forest;)

This sentiment is so sweet too- LOVE it!!

Head over to the Krafty Blog for more inspiration! Oh, and did I mention that todays sneak is combined with this weeks Krafty Sketch Challenge? Play for your chance to win one of these new Goth Girls!!