Mother's Little Helper

A Technique TCP Tuesday!

Howdy!  Guess what today is?  That little logo to the left and the title to this post should give you a clue...  Did you say 'TCP Tuesday'? 

And today's winsome Hostess with the Mostess is none other than Miss Meowy herself, Alma.  Alma has decided to issue a technique challenge today.  It's an oldie but a goodie: Prismacolors & Gamsol!  For those spring chickens who have no idea what I'm talking about, dig out your colored pencils and blending stumps, a little odorless mineral spirits (I've also heard baby oil works, but I've never tried it; I use a product called Sansodor that you can find in the art/painting section of Michael's or Hobby Lobby).  For a full tutorial, you might want to head over to the Mighty Mighty Anna Wight-y's blog, which is how I learned to do it back in my stamping youth.

Here's what I came up with for today:

I needed a birthday card for a buddy who was born on the 3rd of July, and I knew PJ would have the accessories to make it extra festive.  (That is one handy little bear, let me tell you!  Check out his set -- A Beary Good Year -- if you don't want to take my word for it.  In fact, check out his set even if you trust me.  It's a must-have.) 

To transform his top hat into something Uncle Sam would approve of, I took out a ruler and drew a few straight lines with a Copic fine line marker.  Then, I punched out a little star and centered it over the top hat's buckle.  I masked it with Eclipse Masking Tape before stamping PJ underneath it, but using a plain old Post-It note would work just as well.

I gave his paws a couple of sparklers (or 'farklers' as we've called them for the last decade or so at my house, for the same reason we refer to a certain undersea-pineapple-dweller as 'Fongebob'), and wa-la!  Yankee Doodle PJ!

Other card deets:  the sketch is Miss Julee's Mojo Monday 145, and I created the polkadotted background panel by embossing a piece of blue white core cardstock (from CTMH) then rubbing it lightly with sandpaper.  Everything else is pretty straightforward, but if you have any questions, feel free to email me.

Visit the other Cat Packers (see blog roll at left) for more inspiration, then you'll for sure be ready to give it a go.  Not only will you have fun and get a chance to dust off those colored pencils, but you could also win FAME AND FORTUNE!  Here's how:

Play along with us and add your own design to your Splitcoast Gallery using keywords TCPTues116 or to your blog and then use the Inlinkz button on Alma's post to submit your design. You could be eligible to be the next Swanky Stamper of the Month and win 25 smackeroos, that's $25 in Cat's Cash.  Woot-woot!

Thanks for stopping by today! :)

The Scoop

Did you happen to see the one and only Alma de la Rosa's blog post yesterday?  You know Alma, she's the owner/illustrator extraordinaire of my beloved The Cat's Pajamas.  She had a picture of the cutest little girl on her blog... ME!

This sweet faced angel was yours truly just 36 or so short years ago.  Wasn't I precious?  What happened?  How did that little darling turn into... well, the multitudes that I contain?  Whatever happened, let that be a cautionary tale.  Eat right, exercise, moisturize, and use sun screen.  Stay away from jazz and liquor, and the men who play for fun... (Can't help but throw a little Chicago in whenever the opportunity arises.)

Alma's post let the - wait for it - CAT out of the bag: I've returned to The Cat Pack (aka the TCP Design Team)!  I'm thrilled to be back home with Sprinkle, Poochie, those nutty Penguins, and my even nuttier (but in a good way) fellow Cat Packers! 

I've stayed away from stamping as long as I could stand it.  There are just too many FABULOUS things coming up with The Cat's Pajamas for me to sit back on the sidelines and watch.  I can't tell you anything yet, but it won't be much longer.  And rest assured, you can trust my big mouth to spread the word the moment I'm permitted. :)

In addition to reuniting with The Cat Pack, I've come back home in a different area of my life, as well: academia.  Not as a professor this time, but as a student.  When I took time off from stamping last fall, one of the reasons I did so is because I wanted time to decide what to do with myself once Carter started school full time.  This fall he'll begin attending all-day kindergarten.  After a lot of soul searching, I've concluded that what I really want to do is help families with special needs children learn to cope and thrive despite the trying and unexpected turn their 'normal' lives have taken.  The kiddos have all sorts of various therapies, but strangely enough, there isn't a lot of support out there for parents and siblings trying to make sense of their new, off-the-beaten-path lives.

So, I'm headed back to school.  I took the GRE earlier this month, and I'm part of a student body for the first time in 15+ years.  This summer, I'm making up a couple of undergraduate pre-requisites before I embark on a Masters in Counseling Psychology (hopefully this fall, I should find out for sure shortly).  It will take me about 3 years to complete the program going to school part-time, but then I'll be qualified to sit for the exam to become a Licensed Professional Counselor.  

I'm going to be a busy girl, but I'm excited at the possibilities!  My brain will get a workout at school, my hands will stay crafty with TCP goodness, and my guys and friends (those I've met and those I've yet to meet) always keep my heart happily beating. 

Life is good!  On that note, I'm going to leave you with a few of my favorite TCP projects that I've created over the years.  And with the peeks I've gotten at the upcoming release?  The best may just be yet to come!

June JiFFy!

Hi, friends!  Sorry for not posting in a while.  I'm about to remedy that a bit.  I'll fill you in on the scoop in a different post, as well as letting you know what I've been doing the past several months.  If you're interested.  Which, you may not be.  Your choice.  The blogosphere is most definitely a democracy, and even if I wanted to force you to read my blog (which, have no doubt, I definitely do.  Despite my lefty ways, one of my very favorite cartoon characters is Plankton.  Read into that what you will), I can't.  It's your choice.  As it should be.  I guess.  Notice those three short sentences in a row; guess who hasn't had her coffee yet this morning?  But I digress.

Hang on a sec...

Now maybe I'll start making at least a wee bit of sense.  One can hope!

Okie dokie, folkies.  Here's the good stuff: it's JiFFy Time!  The one time of month I get together with a few of my madly talented stampy girlfriends for a challenge.  One of us selects an image and keeps it on the QT until another sends out her selection of patterned paper.  Sometimes paper and image blend beautifully, sometimes it's what we euphemistically call "a challenge," but it's always JiFFy: JUST FOR FUN!

This month, I selected the image, and Michele sent out the paper.  No more suspense -- here's what I came up with:

The image is the adorable "Surfer Girl" by Elzybells.  Isn't she cute?  She's so fun & summery, I couldn't resist her.  Even if she has one of those bodies wasted on the young; when I think what I as a 40 year old woman could do with a body like that... (insert picture of Plankton with soundtrack of his evil laugh).  Michele picked the scrumptious and oh-so-versatile "Shabby Flower" from the Paper Girl line by The Girls' Paperie.  I think it goes together well, don't you?  Office-y type paper is the new neutral, and that hibiscus print is right up Surfer Girl's alley.

I wanted to stick with the pink and Cool Carribean of the patterned paper, but I felt it needed a pop of color, so I added a border and a ribbon stripe of Crushed Curry.  The sketch is Jen's SFYTT from last Saturday.  The Beatlesque sentiment is from MFT's Jolinne - In My Garden.  Surfer Girl was colored with Copics on Neenah Classic White before cut out and glued onto the other layers.  I tried to create some waves behind her on the circle layer using a Fiskars border punch, but you can't see them very well.  My stamping room is in a state of complete and utter chaos (what's new?), so when I couldn't find my white pen to give her a few highlights, I just used a white Prismacolor pencil.  Here's a detail shot so you can appreciate my subtle artistry.  Repeat after me: "Oooh... Aaaah..."  

So you've seen what the likes of me can do with this image and paper, but I'm just the opening act.  I'm merely the Demi Lovato to my JiFFy Girlfriends' Jonas Brothers, the Jason Derulo to their Lady Gagas.  Please, for my sake, picture them all in beekeeper's hats, pants-less, and wearing Alexander Mcqueen lobster claw shoes as you visit their blogs: 

Michele "Pokerface" Boyer

Alli "Alejandro" Miles

Lori "Bad Romance" Craig

Kim "Paparazzi" Hughes

and our special June guest, Michelle "Shake Your Kitty" Woerner!  (Sorry, Michelle.  I couldn't resist.  The Sh sound in "Michelle" and the Sh sound of "Shake"... Not to mention the imagery.  I've never actually heard that Gaga song, but the title is intriguing, no?) 

Poor Julie "Just Dance" Campbell has had a time of it lately with the flu, but fortunately she's on the mend.  She's going to try to catch up with us Monsters (that's what Lady Gaga calls her fans, FYI.  I've learned more about Lady Gaga in the last five minutes than you probably care to know) later in the week, but I'm sure she'd appreciate a little love from you in the mean time. 

I know you're waiting with bated breath for the info I promised earlier.  I'll be back soon to fill you in.  For now, I've got to practice walking in these: