Sites of the week

This is the OFFICIAL BLOG ENTRY post for the blog tarts on THIS post. Please be sure that you have read {and followed!} all the rules that are associated with this {those can be found HERE, too}.

THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!!

I find it humorous that stampers are always looking towards the next big holiday. I think it really starts in October. By the 31st we can’t wait for all the orange and black to go away so we can start in on all the Turkey Day and Christmas cards and projects that we want to get done. The Christmas tree is often still up when we are making our first Valentines. I have to admit that as much as I like looking forward to the next big thing, sometimes I forget to savor the moment. This is something else that I would like to “resolve” this year. I guess the first step is admitting you have a problem, so there it is…I admit it! LOL!
With all the being said, I have had Valentine’s on the brain for weeks now. I said I admitted to having a problem, not to finding the solution yet . Ever since my new Verve Stamps hit my doorstep as I was about to leave for Christmas vacation I have been dreaming in red and pink. Ok, not really, but you get what I am saying, right? RIGHT? I have taken on a focus position with Verve. I will now be concentrating more on ABC projects. Don’t get me wrong, there will still be plenty of Verve cards, but I am excited to be working on things other than cards. The first of these for this year is this little peek-a-boo candy holder using the upcoming release, Hearts on Fire. More samples of this set can be seen on the Verve blog today {be sure to scroll down for previous sneak peeks for this release, too!}

To create this box I started with an 11″ x 6″ piece of cardstock and scored it at 4″, 5″, 9″ and 10″ on the long side. I then flipped it and scored it at 1″ on the short side. To create the window, I used my heart Nestabilities and then added an acetate sheet. The window covering was also done with the heart Nesties {one size up from the one I used for the window}. I attached it with a brad so that it can swing {as seen in inset} and the treats can be “revealed.” To keep the treats inside, I tied together the box with a ribbon. This was really a super quick project and I think it will make a great giftie come Valentine’s Day.

TOMMOROW is only a day away!…along with my NEW LOOK and TONS of goodies to give away!!! YAY YAY YAY!

OMG! It was so cold yesterday! Temps hovered in the low to mid 30s with icy cold rain. YUCK! I know that there is not much sympathy coming from those that are enduring serious snow storms, but I don’t like the cold and that was just torture! In true Texas style, it’s supposed to be in the 50s today and I think in the 60s on Wednesday…go figure!

Inspiration piece for the challenge…

The weather and Toni’s inspiration piece for this week’s TCP Tuesday challenge were all great inspiration to create this card…

Detail of the partially Cuttlebugged panel and the rhinestones. Both Susan and I have both had people inquiring about how to only do part of a panel in the C’bug. It’s quite simple…just let your paper hang out from the embossing folder. It gets tricky when you are doing a wide panel, but these long, skinny ones are easy peasy going through the ‘bug.

So, wanna play along?…EVERYONE can! Here’s what you are gonna want to know…
1. Each a week one of the The Cat’s Pajamas DT Members will host a challenge.
2. The challenges will vary {stamp, color, theme/inspiration, sketch, etc.}
3. You will have until {this} Saturday night to complete the challenge.
4. Link your project on this week’s hostess’ challenge announcement. This week you will link your project on Toni’s TCP Tuesday post.
5. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, highly encouraged. {Unless it is a challenge calling for a specific stamp}
6. There will be one winner each month. They will be deemed that month’s Swankiest Stamper and get $25 in Cat’s Cash {money to spend on the TCP site!}.
7. When uploading to SCS, please use the keyword TCPTUES40 for this challenge.
8. Alma will post the entries from the week the following Monday on her blog.
9. The newly crowned Swanky Stamper will be announced on the First of the Month and have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat’s Pajamas website where he/she will reign for the entire month.
10. Oh yea…HAVE FUN!

TCP is not releasing new images for this Valentine’s Day {**sniffle**}, but Alma is offering up the 3 Clearly Swanky sets released last year in the new Kitty Kat Pack HERE.

Well, I got an email from Sara this morning saying that she had not slept and was still working on the overall site design. I told her to GO TO BED! So, the entire site isn’t all changed up yet…as I am sure that you can see, but I do have my cool new logo to show you {thank you Sara!}. TA-DA…

So, what do you think? Personally I love it and can’t wait to see how the entire site will be a reflection of this logo. Are you asking why I need a logo? If you are thinking that I am starting my own stamp company, I hate to break it to ya, but NO WAY! Not that it doesn’t sound like a fun adventure…just not one for me. I do have some other stuff that I am working and I really wanted I piece that I can identify with and people can identify with me. Make sense? Probably not, but play along, k?

As for the new stamps, I have been playing with some of the upcoming new release stuff from My Favorite Things. Although I am technically a DT member, I do have some of the upcoming stuff and I am happy to show it. Here is Valentine’s Flopsey…

Detail…

All of the sentiments that come with this set can fit into the heart that he is holding, but I just love the paper that I was working with that I wanted to do a little paper piecing to make it all matchy-matchy. Isn’t that they cutest paper. Paper Crafts sent it to me when I got one of my cards back from them. It’s from Dream Street Papers and I am definitely going to have to find out where to get my hands on some more. Too cute! The shape that they bunny is mounted on was cut from my Noteworthy Slice cartridge {Seriously, I can’t put this thing away!}. On the Kiwi Kiss panel, I ran it through the Cuttlebug after I cut it. As for the finishing touches, I added some paper piercing, white gel pen dots and K & Co. rhinestones. I have some more ideas for this lil’ guy, so be warned that this isn’t the last of him!

The My Favorite Things release is on Wednesday night. There will be a blog hop on Wednesday, starting on Kim’s blog. Instead of a full blown release “party,” there will be chatter in the MFT Forum on SCS just prior to the 10pm EST release.

With my resolution of doing more SCS challenges in mind, I headed off to see who was the featured stamper today. Much to my delight, it’s Julie Ebersole. {aka JulieHRR} I don’t think that I have ever done a Featured Stamper Challenge. This isn’t because I haven’t wanted to, but rather, I usually take Sunday off from stamping and I don’t like doing challenges days after they are posted. So, I jumped right into her gallery and chose THIS card. Not until later did I realize that I didn’t 100% follow the rules, because her card was done for an A Muse sketch challenge. Go figure, the first time I try to do this challenge I mess up! LOL! Anyway, I made this card…

I basically just used the layout and made everything else my own, including the patterned paper {instead of a patterned card}, satin ribbon {instead of stitched ribbon}, stamps from Our Craft Lounge and brads {instead of rhinestones}.

Ellie had a first today, too. She had her first dance with a boy! LOL! Our friends came down from Oklahoma and their little boy is the same age as Ellie. We turned on some tunes and they danced together {with a little encouragment from the peanut gallery}.

After a few minutes, Ellie’s friend had enough and took off running. Here’s Ellie chasing him with open arms {LOL!!!}…

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! Hugs-Jd

SUPPLIES:
Paper: SU! patterned paper, SU! Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral; PTI Stamper’s Select White
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers
Stamps: All stamps from Our Craft Lounge
Other: Making Memories Brads; Satin Ribbon, Nestabilities, Clear EP