« September 2010 | Main | November 2010 »
I don't mean to boast, but I like hot butter on my breakfast toast.
AND I'm a certain stamp company's FAVORITE FRIEND today -- check out my exclusive project and interview on Kim's blog. Feel free to leave me lots of love and make me feel important. :)
Hello, hello! Happy Hump Day, buttercups! It's Wednesday, which means it's time for My Favorite Things' Wednesday Stamp Club Challenge. Today's challenge is a fun one that will also come in handy: It's In the Bag! Decorate a gift sack or treat bag. Think Halloween, Christmas or Birthday. One can never have too many gift bags, can she?
I've got a friend with a birthday coming up, so I decided to make my sack birthday-themed. I started with a plain kraft bag that I was given at some shop or another. I measured out how big the face of it was (5" x 8"), and decided to just treat it like a large card front. Here's what I came up with:
I used the adorable new Pure Innocence - Something Special Just For You image. Isn't she precious?
Here's a closeup of the bottom portion:
I used the Jumbo Scallop Die-namic and the stamped the sentiment onto a mossy green piece of cardstock that had been cut with the Framed Greeting Die-namic.
Be sure to visit Kim's blog around 11 a.m. EST today for a full list of designers participating in this week's challenge. Check 'em out, and get inspired. Then, come play with us! Show us how you can transform an ordinary sack into present-worthy packaging. Then, post your creation to your Splitcoaststampers gallery, being sure to use this week's keyword -- MFTWSC102010 -- so that you'll be eligible to win the $15 MFT boutique voucher. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Hi, there! How are you this fine TCP Tuesday? Are you anxious to see who's been named the BEST OF THE BEST of The Cat's Pajamas' Think PINK Customer Blog Hop? I know I am! But first, the Cat Pack is throwing a little 'warm-up' blog hop to get you revved up for the true stars of the show, our oh-so-talented customers!
The first start on the hop is also this week's Hipster Hostess with the Mostess, none other the amazing, amiable, ambidextrous Amy Rohl! Did you come here from Amy's blog? If not, you'll definitely need to swing by there because I know she's got something delicious for you to sink your eyeballs into.
In addition to being the Queen of many a double-wide trailer,1 Amy is also our Supply Challenge Queen. And today, she's challenged the world to use PINK embellishments: pink buttons, pink ribbon, pink felt, pink brads, pink die cut borders, etc. You get the gist. You're smart. I don't need to do an interpretive dance to spell it out for you.2
Would you like to see what I put together for your viewing pleasure?
Do me a favor and humor me -- click on the photo above to see the bigger version. It's actually quite a large card in reality; it's sized to fit a standard #10 business envelope. Those who've followed my blog for a while know I have a wee bit of an obsession with the late Princess Diana's sheep sweater, and I remake that sweater in card form every time I get my hands on a new sheep stamp. I've been restraining myself until the time was right with The Cat's Pajamas new Sheepish set.3 The original Diana Sweater was red, black and white, but in honor of this being Breast Cancer Awareness month, I've used pink instead of red.
I stamped off the first ewe and then masked her, stamped the next, masked her, too, and then stamped the last gal. Aren't they adorable? I've decided to name them Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina (for obvious reasons).
For the pink embellishments, I used some scalloped pink felt trim that I've had in my stash forever. I looked through my pinkish buttons and found one that perfectly suited the sentiment, "There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing." Isn't that sentiment a hoot? I think the girls would approve of their MADE IN PARIS button, don't you? In keeping with the button motif, I added some black button brads to the corners of the patterned paper layer. The sheep were colored with Copic markers and shaded with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol.
Ready to get on down the road and see what's next? Then head on over to the Sketcher herself, my fellow Sooner-lovin' soul sister, Jen del Muro!
1 - Actually, I don't know if Amy is the Queen of anyone's double-wide trailer. She could be. In fact, she SHOULD be because she's very special. The reason I wrote that is that the song flitted through my head, right when I was writing that paragraph. And so... there you have it.
2 - But if I were to do an interpretive dance for you? I'd wear a black leotard with pink tights and pink ballet shoes (like we did when we had ballet as little girls), and gyrate to the tune of 'Both Sides Now' by Judy Collins.
3 - Which I think is pretty self-disciplined and therefore highly unlike me.
4 - There is no 4th footnote, but remember that mid-term I had last week that I said fried my brain? Well, I got the results today and I got 36 points out of a possible 35!!! (I missed a couple, but made up for 'em and then some on the extra credit.) Woot-woot! I just felt like mentioning it, but didn't want you to think I'm tooting my own horn. Which I guess I kind of am, but doing so in a foot note is more muted than doing it in the body of the post.
5 - Are you still here ?! Scoot on over to Jen's - NOW! :)
Mercy. I have been fooling around with this card for what seems like EVER! I just couldn't get my mojo a-go-go today. Jen is probably going to fire me for being such a sorry SFYTT Sister -- late & lame, c'est moi. Almost makes me want to break out into a chorus of "Gloom, despair and agony on me..."
Well, here it is. It's got a good sketch and super-fun images (from The Cat's Pajamas Hello Pumpkin set), so I couldn't screw it up too terribly bad.
I can't believe I've neglected Larry, Darryl and Darryl for so long. They've been cursing at me in Penguin (which sounds a lot like Pig Latin) all day for being so inattentive. What they don't understand is that I haven't abandoned them or any of my other buddies at The Cat's Pajamas. Rather, I've taken on a new role within The Cat Pack: I'm now the editor of Cat's Chat, The Cat's Pajamas weekly e-newsletter. You DO get Cat's Chat, don't you? If not, be sure to go to the TCP home page and click on the "GO" button under the pink and yellow "Sign Up For Our Newsletter" graphic. It's the swankiest newsletter in stamping, if I do say so myself. For me, it's the best of all worlds: I get to wax poetic about my beloved Cat's Pajamas stamps, share news and info with TCP friends and fans, and -- best of all -- illustrate my blather by cherry picking from all of the fabulous samples The Cat Pack creates. I still do design work for Sprinkle and the gang, but its secondary to the newsletter gig.
All of that is to say, dear little penguins, is that I haven't forgotten you. I'm just showing you my love in a different way. You and your cute comrades can rest easy knowing that I'm hard at work spreading the gospel according to Sprinkle.
Hmmm... so that was kind of a tangent from out of the blue. You know, I never have a clue what I'm going to write when I sit down to compose a post. Somehow, I know you'll find that easy to believe.
Back to today's (still! phew! Please don't fire me, Jen) Sketch for You To Try. Head on over to Jen's blog to see a sumptuous sample from October Guest Designer Lesa Smaligo (aka my Grasshopper), and leave Jen a little love as she's been under the weather. Then, skeedaddle on over to my SFYTT Sister's sites for their ineffably incredible interpretations:
As for me, I'm off to eat a little dinner. According to my marathon training schedule, I have to run 10 MILES tomorrow. I'm kind of 'messing my britches' at the thought of it, so say a little prayer for your amiga, okay? Gracias!
Supplies used -- Stamps: Hello Pumpkin by The Cat's Pajamas; Paper: Perfect Plum (SU!), True Black (PTI), Natural White (Neenah), patterned paper by Echo Park; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Accessories: PTI True Black saddle stitch ribbon, Copic Markers, Paper Shapers oval punch, circle punch, purple brads from Making Memories, SU! dimensionals
Okay. Usually I'm done by now, but I'm curious about something, and I want you to tell me what you think. To make it easy on you, let's do it in the form of a poll, shall we?
Hi, friends. Long time no see, huh? Life has gotten mucho hectic around the Burragio. Between midterms1, campaign season2, marathon training3, competitive soccer4, horseback riding5, and therapy6 -- not to mention the various and sundry household duties that don't seem to lessen even when it would be highly convenient for them to do so -- stamping time has been hard to come by. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're ALL busy, I know. I'm not whining or making excuses. Just sayin'. I don't expect things to let up until after the holidays. It's that time of year. Still, I wouldn't have it any other way. I like being busy and I'm of the firm belief that these are the years I'm going to look back on someday and long for, when we were a {relatively} young, bustling family with both boys at home...
Speaking of boys, let me tell you about today's My Favorite Things' Wednesday Stamp Club challenge: It's All About the Boys! - Masculine or Boy themed projects. (SCS Keyword MFTWSC10132010)
Here's what I came up with:
A lil' Boomer Sooner! I used the Pure Innocence MVP set to create this homage to OU quarterback Landry Jones. (As a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, I just love that name, 'Landry.' Landry is also the name of my favorite character on Friday Night Lights. Do you watch that show? If not, you need to Netflix it and catch up. It's great -- one of the few shows that Sean, Truman and I enjoy watching together. But I digress...) With the Sooners currently 5-0 and ranked 6th in the nation, Landry's having a pretty good season thus far. I'm sure, however, being featured on one of my cards will be the highlight of his football career. Savor the moment, Landry. ;)
I used Jen's Sketch For You To Try from this past weekend. I created the background paper using a digital image I found on the web, minimizing it, and then pasting it repeatedly in Word before printing it out on cardstock. I'm sure it's a violation of some sort of copyright law, but I'm not selling it and I'll say I'm using it for educational purposes if anyone asks. (I have friends in OU's legal counsel office, so hopefully I'll get a pass. :) ) Landry's jersey number was created by heat embossing numbers from the Banner Day Alphabet. The grass at wee Landry's feet was created using the Fresh Cut Grass Die-Namic and felt from the Earth Girl collection.
Come play along with us this week! For those of you that partcipate, here's a Very Important Announcement: please upload your project to Splitcoaststampers.com using keyword--MFTWSC10132010 in order to be eligible to win MFT cash. And, as always, please hop over to Kim's blog around 11am today for a list of the WSC Challenge Team participants.
I'd better scoot -- miles to go before I sleep and all that. Have a great day!
1 - I started a MS in Counseling Psychology this fall and am taking two classes. On Monday night I had a midterm that lasted 2.5 hours. To say that my brain was fried afterward would be an understatement.
2 - Fortunately, Sean does not have an opponent this campaign cycle, but he is helping out with several of his friends' campaigns and thus away from home more than usual these days. Which means Mama has to take up the slack.
3 - I'm in training for the 2011 Disney Marathon. I know, it's crazy. But that's what happens when you share a bottle of wine after your kid's 6th birthday party with a couple of friends who run. You've been warned.
4 - Truman is now playing competitive soccer in a league about 20 miles from home which practices at least twice a week, and has games and tournaments all over kingdom come. Well, at least when compared to the days of the rec league here in town, when all of his games and practices were at the soccer fields about a mile from our house.
5 - Carter's therapeutic horseback riding program has started back up again. It runs from September - May and is such a wonderful activity for him that he loves and looks forward to.
6 - Carter has physical and occupational therapies in Tulsa (about 25 miles away) twice a week.
Greetings, friends! We're having a bit of a delayed Just For Fun (aka JiFFy) Challenge this month, and I'm even more delayed than the rest of the gang. What's new, right? *sigh* I've got so many irons in the fire these days, I'd better dress in nothing but flame-retardant materials. It beats being bored, though, right?
Remember the drill on the JiFFy Challenge? One of us sends out patterned paper, and once it hits the mail, another reveals the selected image(s) for the month. This month, I sent everyone some yummy 'dried egg noodles' from Jillibean Soup's Chicken Noodle collection. Then, Julie sent us all images from Hero Arts' cute-cute-cute So Thankful set.
I went semi-clean-and-simple for my card this month...
Here's another view, since I'm having a hard time deciding which picture I like best:
I'm not sure Pilgrims would really have dressed in red and gold. Maybe these two were the Puritan version of McDonald's workers? There could have been such a thing, for all we know, right? Pull up to the window of their house on your horse, and they'd hand you a turkey leg and some maize or something. I could go on, but... nah. I leave you and your imagination to hash the rest of the story out. It'll be good for you to do a little creative contemplating.
And, of course, while you're considering the logistics of Plymouth Rock's Mickey D's, please drive-thru and see what my JiFFy girlfriends have concocted with this month's ingredients:
and playing along with us this month, the sweet & shiny Lisa Silver!
Recent Comments