TCPTUES152 & A Blog Hop!!

Hey everyone! I have to say that this has been one of the busiest weeks that I have ever had with work and stamping...throw in a few sick kids and me getting sick as well, on top of DH being gone at work. Well, you can just imagine my stress level!!!! I need therapy for sure- if only I had time for it (laying on that couch for an hour sounds awfully tempting- even of for nothing more than being able to put my feet up for an hour..do you think that they provide childminding??). Not that I am jabbing anyone that goes to therapy- I wasn't joking when I said that I need it. Probably most people do (for sure the ones I know).
So enough about my fragile mental health state...let's get onto some fun with The Cat's Pajamas! As you may or may not know, TCP released some fabulous new stamp sets and dies, as well as fun new twine colours last night on the SCS forum after their super swanky pajama party (pajama's optional, right Susan?? lol). I had been hoarding some CatCash from my last Swanky Stamper win, so I got to work shopping asap...Today the DT and me (Oh yeah- I'm cool by association) are doing a fun little Blog hop to showcase some of the new sets!! And we are incorporating TCP Tuesday- make a shaped card-  into the festivities!
You should have arrived at my humble little blog via Susan's blog (I know- her's is prettier than mine, but what is a computer illiterate girl to do?). If you just stumbled on by, then be sure to go back to the beginning at Julie's blog and start from their!
For my card, I used my cricut and made this little cupcake cutie! I used TCP's new 'A Girl and Her Cake' stamp set, as well as the Icing and Apron Border cutup dies.

You ever have those times when a card is wildly amazing in your head, but the plan just won't covert into paper? This was that card for me..I dreamed it up so much prettier, but hey- you can't always be perfect (only most of the time;). I think it's the coral or gauva (can't remember) colour that's throwing me off! I used some new MME paper, old SU ribbon and brown apron die for the 'cup' trim and of course my birthday bunny coloured with copics, paper-pieced, glossed and glittered up with a healthy dose of chocolate frosting on her matching little cake:) For the cake portion of the cupcake, I embossed the coral colour with a swirly cuttlebug folder, added some white piping with the icing die (a match made in heaven), added some glitter and CE, a red button and green bakers twine for the cherry and stem on the top! The large cupcake front is mounted on a little square brown cardbase.

Well, there you have it crafty friends! I am going to take a few days 'off' from stamping (not cuz I want to, but because I need too), but I will be back in a few to show you something new! Now get going to the next stop on the hop, the newest member of the Cat Pack, the amazingly talented, colouring wonder of the world, Tori Wild! And thanks so much for 'hopping' on by!

Jenny

Sneaky Peek Day 5- Wet Puddle

Wowza! Busy week!! So are you enjoying TCP's fabulous new stamps? I am LOVING this release:) Usually when companies do their releases there are a few sets that I think are cute, but just don't grab me in the way that it feels justafiable to hit the "I want it all" button on the checkout. That being said, The Cat's Pajamas has blown me out of the water with this release...I LOVE THEM ALL! And if Alma had not been the nicest person ever and given me these sets, then I really would have drug my rubber arm, mouse in hand, along my desk and hit that button! Sshhh....don't tell her that she would have made a big sale with this weak of will stamper on release day or she might not send me freebies anymore;)
Anyway- onto the crafty business at hand. Today's preview is called 'Wet Puddle' and features the sweetest little gaffer (I think this is a she that could pass for a he with the right colours and papers) all decked out in rainclothes! Now depending where you hale from litte 'Pat' could be wearing red polka dot galloshes, gum boots, rain boots, overshoes...but here in good ol' redneck Alberta we call them rubber boots and they are usually $7.00 at Peavey Mart and they come in black or black. I see adds in magazines and such for fancy rubber boots that only cost a reasonable $125, but come on people, are you really willing to get them covered in cow s**t?? I think not, and in these parts, that's what rubber boots are for- mucky corrals!! We don't wear them over skinny jeans at the mall (seriously- I saw that the other day). But this kid is special, maybe it's even their birthday, so mom didn't buy the boots at Peavey... she gets red polka dots from the fancy mail order store:)

I did a bit of paper-piecing-Pat (say that 5 times fast), coloured the hair a nice reddish tone (E17.19.27) and added some freckles (which have a striking resemblance to my face at age 14- in retrospect, I think I should have left the freckles off but what's done is done:) Acne it is! Bring on the Proactiv Jessica Simpson;)
I also put a thick coat of crystal effects on both the raincoat and boots. The coat buttons are MFT's baby braddies. I used my lovely new MME dp and some old SU satin ribbon. I also used two of TCP's fabulous Cutup dies (wave for the bottom, using the negative side of the die so that the base dp would actually depict the water....and button for the little twine tied buttons on the sentiment flags). I used two of the sentiments on the card front, stamped onto spellbinder die cut cs.

I also used the current Verve sketch (March week 4) for this card. I sure hope that you enjoyed my sneaky peek for today! Thanks ever so much for stopping by- I appreciate each and every visit:)

Sneaky Peek Day 4- Wish

Greetings all! We are now on day 4 of TCP's 'Sneaky Peek Week' and the anticipation of the new release is so thick that you can practically cut it with a knife ( or better yet, one of the 4 new Cutup dies;)! Today we are previewing one of my favorite sets on the release list, 'A Girl and Her Cake'. I am in love with this big-eared-bunny and I'm so happy that 'she' is officially a girl in this set! Great for all those sweet lil girls in your life, and big girls too! After all, everyone loves cake!

Instead of colouring Miss Bunny, I stamped her on a light patterned paper, pieced her nose, tail and the cake. I airbrushed my spellbinders die (YG00) before I glued the bunny down, and left her ears up a bit using 2 dimensionals. The cake is of course chocolate and thus iced with chocolate fudge icing (thick and gooey)..I love liquid pearls for icing- so fun and realistic looking I think! I also added some stickles to her tail and the candles, and a pretty green bakers twine bow in place of the stamped bow. I cut a banner with an SU die and stamped the 'Wish' sentiment onto patterned paper (same as bunny) punched with the oval SU punch and matted with SU's scalloped oval punch. The bottom portion of the spellbinder is dry embossed with a swiss dot folder. I used both straight stitching and zigzag to add some interest. And the finishing touch are the divine SU rhinestones (I dotted my 'i' with one too:)
The sketch that I based this card layout on is SSSC for this week (I think?? LOL)
And again, I have to apologize for the sickening colour of these pictures, but I didn't get my card done in time to photograph in the daylight:( I might edit tomorrow....

Okay folks, that's it for today! See you back here tomorrow for a really super cute and exciting peek! It's gonna knock your boots off!
Jenny

Sneaky Peek Day 3!

Welcome to DAY 3 of TCP's new release peeks! Today's card features those rascally penguins as your favorite music idols, and coincidentally it's called 'Idols'....I went with the Elvis theme, but there is also a Michael Jackson and Beatles option!! So fun!!
Anywho- please be gentle on me for this card- it is waaaayyyyy out of my comfort zone! lol! No ribbon, very little embellishing, no colour, no piecing....Ack! It's like the twilight zone for me;) Is it CAS?? I don't know:) But it is a little fun, I guess!

I heat embossed the penguins with black embossing powder on vanilla CS and layered black, gold, and another layer of black CS. I added fine gold glitter to parts of each penguin block. I also embossed the elvis hair, coloured it with copics (oh- I guess I did colour, my bad:)and covered in shiny brill creme, er, I mean Crystal Effects. It's popped up on the lead singers head with a dimensional. The large gold circle was dry embossed with a cuttlebug folder (I thought it looked like royalty fit  for the King;) and matted in black CS. The music note was cut from my cricut and I added some elvis-y bling with adhesive rhinestones. I embossed the sentiment right onto the lower portion of the card. So that's it! Pretty simple and non-traditional-Jenny!

I used an old TCPTUES sketch for this one.

Be sure to check out Alma's blog 'Dancing in Pajamas' to see a list of the Cat Packers that are previewing the set today....
Thanks for stopping by!!
Jenny

Sneaky Peek Day 2

So, how'd ya like yesterdays first TCP Sneaky peek? Cute huh? I bet you're all crawling out of your 'fur' with excitement over the new release! I just so happen to think that it's the best TCP release so far (well, since I started noticing TCP anyway;) Today I have a card to show you that I just love..not to toot my own horn or anything;) Big Bear is BACK! He's a wee bit smaller than the previous Big Bears, but that's what I love about TCP stamps... same as PJ, Big Bears size varies so you can use him on various scales for whatever your needs are!

 I thought that this set would make a sweet little baby card, so I used MME's Fine & Dandy 'True Blue' paper. I think that line has the nicest baby boy colours! Instead of stamping the 'string', I decided to use TCP's linen thread and make my own bundle of balloons. I paper-pieced the balloons and boosted them up using dimensionals (the front balloon is even a bit more popped out with 2 dimensionals). The balloons were then covered with Crystal Effects. Big Bear is coloured with copics and he is popped up as well.
I did quite a bit of zigzag machine stitching. The 'sun' is TCP's cutup die, a SU! circle punch and a MME enamel brad tied with linen thread and popped up for some more dimension. The sentiment is punched out with SU punches.

And here is the inside. I used the Coolvetica alphabet and stamped out 'baby' and added another glazed brad. Lots of room for a message to the new mom:)

Hope you enjoyed my peek! Be sure to check out the DT's samples for today as well. Alma has a list of all the Cat's participating!
Jenny

TCP Sneeky Peak Week Is HERE!!!!

Wow- I am so excited that this week is here! It's the official first day of 'peaks' for The Cat's Pajamas new release, and Alma has asked me to join in on all the fun! These 8 new sets and 4 dies will be available to the adoring public next Tuesday! Todays peak features my favorite bear, PJ in 'What A Blast'.....

Whatcha think?? Cute huh? I {heart} PJ:) I stamped Peej onto TE's Buttercream CS and coloured him (her?) with copics (bear- E13,15,17,18, R20; pinwheel- R39, BG000, 02, E47). I CE'd his nose and eyes and added some freckles with my white gel pen.

I then masked him off and used my airbrush to spray the background with BG000 while the paper was still in the spellbinders die to give that cream edge.  The pinwheel was paper-pieced as well, covered with crystal effects, finished off with a SU button and baker's twine and popped up on dimensionals. The DP is October Afternoons 'Campfire' and CS is Stampin Up. I stamped the sentiment onto a MFT cloud die, which I zigzag stitched to the mail panel. I added a big, bubbly bow with some SU polka dot ribbon and some little flower SU! buttons and twine for that extra 'umph'. I also based my layout on MFT's WSC11.
Thanks for popping by and head on over to Alma's blog to see what the talented Cat Packer's have to show you!

{TCP150} Birthday Bear

Whew! I've been super busy with my new TCP release sets, but I really wanted to get this challenge done (and it was a challenge for me- triangles are scary! lol)...I love Leigh's sketches!

I went vertical with this one.....I used my TCP 'A Beary Good Year' (def a great set to own- covers every occasion and it's fun to dress up PJ in the perfect seasonal attire;), Pennant Cutup die, some MME Fine and Dandy 'Tickled Pink' paper and enamel brad, pink bakers twine, SU ribbon, button, Crystal Effects and dazzling diamonds glitter, as well as Copic markers. I also used MFT's simple scallop die to cut strips of dp to layer on the banner die (a bit sad, seeing that most of the scallop patterns are hidden under PJ's panel.....that's why I chose not to use a vertical strip of ribbon- too much of my hard work was already covered up! I like the way the little loopy bow thingy turned out- I wanted it to look like a fancy bow on a prezzie:)

And here is the inside, keeping with the same scallop strip, bakers twine and stitching theme. I stamped a plain PJ in creamy caramel ink and left lots of space for a sweet note for someone special!

K- I gotta go...I have tons to do before my first Hospital Day with the students tomorrow! Getting patient assignments figured out for 16 student nurses should take me awhile! Wish me luck- it's going to be a CRAZY 5 weeks!!

I'm still here....

Don't forget about me!!!! I know it's been ages since my last post and another eon between the previous, but I have been doing a teensy bit of stamping, just nothing I can show you....yet. I'll be helping TCP with their next release, so I have been busy inking up my brand-new, not-yet-seen-by-the-public, top secret stamps! Ooooo, I feel so importand;) Like a Bond Girl in a hush hush, covert operation;) lol
I'll also have another fun announcement that I'll let you in on real soon:) Just not quite yet!! I don't want to break the Stamper's Code and have my markers taken away or something brash like that! Okay- gotta go...Ryan has a gastro bug, I should be at work soon, and I have barfy bedding to launder!
Toodles, Jenny

TCP149 Goes Retro!

Hola!! Well, we are back from beautiful Mexico:( Yesterday was spent doing laundry all day and {GASP!}having to cook for ourselves;) lol! It's so tough getting back into the regular routine of life.....and the cold! Yikes! But seeing the boys was the best! They were pretty excited to see old mom and dad:)
So I decided to get back into stampin with a little TCP challenge. For this one, you could go back into the vault and choose any challenge from the past. A friend just gave me some thin wood veneer type sheets, so I chose TCP111- use wood! I also used one of the old sketches (TCP94).

I stamped PJ directly onto one of the lighter wood sheets with brown stazon and carefully cut him out with scissors and my craft knife. And did you see that you can colour wood with Copics?? So easy! I also stamped the heart onto cork and fastened a red button and TCP twine onto that. The circle embossed panel is adhered to a wood sheet and I used TCP's Big Scallop Border CutUp die and cut out a border strip from the wood. It went through mostly, but needed a little help with the scissors in places. I broke off a little strip of wood for the sign that PJ is holding (the inside has the rest of the sentiment). PJ is adhered with foam tape to the card, as well as the wood rectangle peice, so there is some dimension as well. I used some SU thick twine wrapped around twill and a big brown button to finish it off. I wanted a masculine feel for this card, and let me tell you, it was hard to not throw a big, bubbly bow on there!! The paper is all October Afternoon's Campfire line.
Here is a closeup:

And here is the inside:

Hopefully I can have a chance to get my fingers inky again later this afternoon, because tomorrow I start my next contract, and I have a feeling that it's going to be a very busy next few weeks!
Thanks for stopping by!
Jenny

Adios Amigos!

Well, we have the kids dropped off at Grandma and Papa's house, and we are in the final stages of packing....DH is loading the bags into the truck, then a few hours nap, and off to the airport for our VERY EARLY flight to Puerta Vallarta! Yippee! Starting to get pretty excited, but so tired and sad to leave my 3 munchkins for a whole week...it's always so hard to say goodbye!! :(
I wanted to quickly put this card up for this weeks challenge at Kraftin Kimmie. I love the images Kimmie offers and would be thrilled to be her Guest DT member for April, so I have to get in on every weeks challenge... The uber-talented and sweet Michele is the hostess this week (she leaves me the sweetest comments and is such a stampin idol for me!! I blush every time she likes my stuff;). Her challenge is to use scallops on your project. Not hard for me, as I love them so;) lol
Anyway, here is my card using Jayne.

Please forgive this crappy photo....I had to take it tonight and the lighting is obviously terrible!! Yikes! Really doesn't do the card justice, but I have no other option if I want to get the card in!! Quick rundown for ya: Paper is new MME, flower is prima, used some dimensional pearls from ranger, a little SU satin and crochet ribbon, coloured her with copics and added buttermilk spica to her hair here and there, and clear spica to her eyelids, cut circle and scallop circles out with my nesties and the scallop border is cut from MFT die.
Here is a closer look at this beauty and her pretty kitty:

Thanks for dropping in, and we'll see you in a week!!!
Adios!