TCP Tuesday 165 & Blog Hop!

Welcome to our new release blog hop in conjunction with TCP Tuesday 165! You may have hopped here from Jen's blog, but if you want to start at the tippy top, you'll need go to Leigh's blog since she's our hostess with the mostess this week. She's got a great sketch for us to follow, so I'll start my post with that project with something really fun to follow!

Here's my take on Leigh's sketch using a few upcycled items: bubblewrap (clouds), comics from the Sunday paper and a bit of cardboard die cut into an oval per Leigh's sketch. I couldn't bear to cover up our new CutUps Cloud Border die with the oval, so I cheated a little on the sketch and brought it forward. You met our kite-flying penguin friend on Day 6 of Sneaky Peek week from the Up, Up & Away set, and I finally gave him a little love...colorful love that is! I chose colors from the comics to pull everything together.

Here's a little more detail on those bubble wrap clouds. I die cut a white layer to back them up and sewed the two layers together. I really love how the bubble wrap pulls away from the white layer giving the clouds more dimension.

Next up is my most favorite project from the release...a bunny bingo card! I've 'done up' a few of these bingo cards in the past, featuring other TCP characters, so I thought it was time to get the bunnies into the mix as well! You've also met this trio of bunnies during Sneaky Peek Week. They couldn't BE more adorable and so fun to color (or paper piece as the TCP design team has done so WELL this week)!

I used our CutUps Big Scallop border, a little paper pleating and oh-so-scrumptious seam binding to create a lower edge base, and the best news: The Cat's Pajamas is now in the seam binding biz! Alma has added seam binding to the TCP store in a plethora of colors. You can steal a deal when you order the whole bundle of seam binding: 8 colors @ 6 yards each for $21.50!! Once I started playing around with the seam binding I was hook-line-and-sinkered! There are a few other CutUps dies that need a little attention before I go: Cloud Border and Grass...a must have for these outdoor bunny crew! Speaking of the bunny crew, the bingo board uses three of the new bunny sets: Take Off, Wheel Love and Away We Go!

Now you're off to Nancy's blog for more hopping happiness! I can't wait to see what she's got in store for us!
~Amy

Sneaky Peek Day 7: Kick Some Grass

How's that for a name, huh?! Kick Some Grass is the name of the set being Sneaky Peek'ed today from The Cat's Pajamas, and it features yet another key-ute bunny. We've had a bunny on a bike, a bunny in a hot air balloon, a bunny piloting the cutest airplane you've ever seen, and now he's taking a break in the grass and flowers!

I've got him all stitched up in red work needlepoint...yep, another home furnishing for you. I'm thinking it must be a need to recreate my home decorating or something, or...could it be that I'm on the verge of recreating my stamping room?! I hope so! Whatever the case, I hope you my version of Kick Some Grass makes you SMILE!

Check out Alma's blog for more Sneaky Peeks of this set...sure to be eye pleasing fo-sho! And, don't forget that tonight's the BIG night! We'll be kickin' up our heels over at SCS in the TCP forum with a Pajama Party featuring even more eye candy, leading up to the official release of all of these 'gotta have' sets from The Cat's Pajamas! See you there!
~Amy

Sneaky Peek Day 5: Nesting

Welcome to Day 5 of The Cat's Pajamas Sneaky Peek Week! Today we're showing off Nesting, and I've got a 'project' of sorts to share with you, so let's take a look-see...

I started with a frame with an 8x10 opening, made a background with a piece of burlap and then topped the burlap with 4 die cut rectangles measuring approximately 3.5x2.5 inches. The markings on my Big Shot sandwich plates created a cool impression on the die cut rectangles, giving them a sort of rice paper look.

Each rectangle is stamped with the nest from Nesting with the exception of the sentiment layer which features TCP's Nightie Alphabet. I stamped the images in Versafine Onyx Black and then embossed each with clear EP.

What I tried to achieve is something symbolic of my children, so each of the 3 eggs in the 3rd quadrant nest is lightly colored in their birthstone color. In addition, there are 3 birthstones (mini gems) under the stamped 'e' to represent them as well.

One of the birds from Nesting was stamped onto black card stock, trimmed out and popped up on her nest.

I hope you enjoyed my 'project' today. I think this set has so many papercrafting possibilities, and I'll be back closer to the release (Tuesday, June 28) to show you more of them! Check out Alma's blog today to see who else is playing along with today's Sneaky Peeks!
~Amy

Sneaky Peek Day 3: Flutter By

Welcome to Sneaky Peek Day 3 from The Cat's Pajamas. Today we're previewing Flutter By and Wheel Love. While I dearly love both sets, I'm only peeking Flutter By for you today. I had the great pleasure to Sneak Peek Wheel Love last week as part of a tutorial for SCS on paper pleating, so I thought I'd better give this bunny a little love.

My card uses some yummy new paper sent to me by my great friend, Carole...what's better than new patterned paper, right?! The paper is a 6x6 pad called Watermelon from Jillibean Soup, and it's just darling (thanks, Carole!!). My goal was to make the card look something like our American flag in a scrappy sorta way, and I am happy with the end result. I cut the red patterned layer 4x5.25 inches and then layered on strips of ivory card stock in uneven widths because I was going for that scrappy look and then stamped my sentiment in Creamy Caramel on each. All strips along with the blue layer were sewn in place and topped with die cut butterflies in vellum. What luck, mr. bunny even caught one in his matchy-matchy net!  The set of butterflies is another set of dies to be released along with all of the other goodness from The Cat's Pajamas on June 28th!

Remember to stop by Alma's blog for more Sneaky Peeks, and thanks for fluttering by!
~Amy

Sneaky Peek Day 2 + TCP Tuesday 164: Bearing Flowers

Welcome to Day 2 of TCP's Sneaky Peek week, featuring PJ Bear in Bearing Flowers, specifically a beloved sunflower! And not only is PJ holding a perfectly designed sunflower in his paw, The Cat's Pajamas is releasing a CutUps Sunflower die as well!  It is SO cool, and I'm seriously not even kidding you. Let's take a look-see...

I modified Leigh O'Brien's legendary Totally Totebag, for which you can view and download the template and tutorial on Splitcoast HERE, for today's project. The tote is topped off with the CutUps Sunflower die, and inside the tote is a cute little gift card holder featuring PJ 'bearing a sunflower'...matchy-matchy and everything! You'll also notice a couple other CutUps featured, including Big Scallop and Icing.

Here's a peek at the gift card opened...

Be sure to check out Alma's blog for more details on today's Sneaky Peek, and don't forget to get chatty in the In It To Win It thread over at SCS for your chance to win one of these new sets!
~Amy

Sneaky Peek Day 1: Take Off!

Can you think of a better set to kick off Sneaky Peek Week than Take Off?! I'm warning you, if you have a weakness for the TCP bunnies, you are in for a real treat, because there are lots of new bunny sets coming your way, and you're gonna want 'em all! For some reason, I thought it would be fun to portray mr. fly man in a vintage photo, using a cracked glass technique to give a genuine old photo finish.

I started by die cutting a smaller rectangle than the photo layer and using the open space to sponge light gray ink inside. The main image was then stamped in black ink and colored with a variety of Copics: W1, W3 & W5. A bit of button twine and one of the sentiments stapled to the side (cause that's about the extent of my scrapbooking...staple a caption to the corner...done!) finishes it off, along with the cute mini library clip and a snip of black and white gingham.

Check out Alma's blog for lots more sneaky peeks...you're gonna flip!
~Amy

P.S. Don't forget about TCP's In It To Win It ('It' meaning new stamps from The Cat's Pajamas just for being chatty over in the SCS Forum thread)!

Waltzingmouse {always...celebrate...thanks}

I have to confess that I've been eyeing up, or should I say loving up, Waltzingmouse Stamps for quite some time now, and have finally taken the plunge. Yes folks, I've finally secured my first few sets from Waltzingmouse and am so happy with the stamps! Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the flooding of ideas that came into my head when I opened up Say It Loud, followed by Bitty Banners and Vintage Banners, I set the stamps aside for awhile until I could collect my thoughts!

As you can see, I started out quite simply, using the basic sketch idea for three different cards...anniversary, graduation & thanks:

Rest assured, I'll be back with more Waltzingmouse banners one of these days. In the meantime, please stop back next week for Sneaky Peek Week with The Cat's Pajamas...you won't want to miss a thing!
~Amy

TCP Tuesday 163: Happy Birthday

This week's TCP Tuesday challenge is being hosted by Cat Packer Tori Wild, and she's got a fun, girly color combination for us: cotton candy, lipstick red & aqua. I used scraps of cardstock in the coordinating colors to form a hanging banner, sewn in place. Each piece of the banner is stamped with the crown from Simply Said. The sentiment is from the same set, flanked by strips of glitter adhered with ScorTape and embellished with jewels and pearls in the color theme. I love the look of a CAS card, especially one done on white, and it's nice to use up those scraps of paper, isn't it?

Check out Tori's blog for all the details and I'll see you later this week to show you a few thank you notes and graduation cards I've put together this week.
~Amy

SCS Tutorial: Paper Pleating

Head on over to Splitcoaststampers for a this week's tutorial on paper pleating by ME! My very dear friend, Leigh O'Brien, helped me out with a video for the tutorial just 'cause she's that sweet (and because I was too much of a scaredy-cat to do it, and because I didn't have a tripod for my Flip camera, and well, you get the idea)! You'll also notice a few new (soon to be released) ditties from The Cat's Pajamas starring in the show...can you spot 'em?!

I'll be back tomorrow with this week's TCP Tuesday color combination challenge...
~Amy

Mojo Monday 195 {Dad}

A (somewhat) quick card using this week's Mojo Monday sketch along with a sentiment from Verve"s World's Best set, more burlap (I know, seriously?), a Karen Foster charm, and die cut letters using more wood veneer paper from The Cat's Pajamas. Besides being burlap-obsessed, I've again used my PTI woodgrain embossing plate...love.

How are you coming on Father's Day cards? I'm thinking this one wraps it up for me, so be looking for something not-masculine later this week. The Cat's Pajamas has a girly-fun color combo coming up tomorrow on Tori's blog, so check it out!
~Amy

SCS Sketch Challenge 336 {DAD}

It's been 'forever' since I've played along with any of the SCS challenges, so I decided to pick up the sketch challenge from this past Wednesday and get started on a Father's Day card for Ed from the kiddos.

The card uses some of that great burlap that I found in Ed's shed, screw top brads, die cut letters using wood veneer sheets from The Cat's Pajamas, my beloved woodgrain impression plate from PTI, and retro signage images cut from a piece of patterned paper from K&Co. (Home Improvement Scrap Kit). I also distressed the edges of the woodgrain impressed layer, spattered it with brown ink and made a faux coffee ring by pressing the bottom of a coffee cup into brown ink and then 'stamping' it onto the paper.

I'm still working my way back into my old stamping schedule, so please stop back for more goodies this week!
~Amy

TCP Tuesday 162: Summer!

Julie is this week's TCP Tuesday hostess, and she's challenging us to incorporate fabric into our creations this week. I'd made this denim pinwheel over a month ago, and there it sat just waiting to be used. Isn't life funny like that...you have a thought or idea, and it sometimes takes months to come to fruition? Of course, some ideas take mere minutes, and then some could take years...anyway, that's a whole conversation in itself! My card today uses fun Cutups dies from The Cat's Pajamas: Grass & Pinwheels, along with my most favorite TCP alphabet set, Nightie.

ETA: I used Jen's June SFYTT for my card. Check out Jen's blog for more details!

I do have to tell you that I'm just so darn excited to be partially back in my stamping saddle. I still haven't gotten back into full swing since my stamping hiatus to prep for Kendra's graduation, but it's a start! I have big plans to stamp, stamp, stamp beginning next week as I start my official summer vacation. Keep your fingers crossed that my 'plans' come to full fruition!

~Amy

Card details
Stamps: Nightie Alphabet (The Cat's Pajamas)
CutUps dies: Pinwheel, Grass
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Crushed Curry, retired SU! polka dot

Fabric/fibers: Cherry Diving Twine (TCP), burlap, denim

What's purple & green all over?

What's purple and green all over?! The card I'm about to share with you along with photos from my daughter's graduation party, of course! First off is the card that I made for my dear friend, Mary...

Next are random photos from Kendra's grad party this past weekend. Now that the party is over, I'm ready to get back in my stamping room. You'll notice a few paper crafted decorations...couldn't have a party without 'em, right?!

The party was held in my husband's shop, and while he worked his hinder off moving all the construction stuff out, there was that one piece of heavy metal ('the lift') that he insisted was waaay too heavy to move, so it graces a few of the pictures!

You'll notice burlap accents in the card and the party decorations, compliments of a great 'find' in my husband's shop--a humungous roll of burlap purchased years ago, sitting on a shelf just waiting to be noticed.

Thank you for 'pinwheels', dear Alma!

 

Thank you to my friends and family who helped with the party and to all of you who have checked back here at the blog to find the same old card from my last post!
~Amy