Sites of the week

Happy TCP Tuesday…on Wednesday!

This week, Toni has a scrumptious inspiration piece for us to work from…don’t you think?

When thinking about how I wanted to use this as inspiration, I went through a list of ideas…cupcakes, colors, hearts, ribbon {the list goes on}. I finally settled on using the hearts and the colors {although mine are a bit muted}. The images I used are from the set, Puppy Love {part of the Kitty Kat Pack deal going on now}.

This card has a lot going on, but I think that it all came together well. The patterned paper is from My Mind’s Eye {one of my faves lateley!}. I did a lot more sponging than I usually do and I think that I actually managed to sew a straight line…imagine that! The ribbon is binding ribbon that I purchased off the spool. The punched hearts are from the new SU! heart punch…LOVE IT! The sentiment panel is something that I haven’t done before. I have done the shape, but I don’t think that I have ever put it at a diagonal at the top of an image panel. I kinda like it Obviously, it won’t work on just any card, but somehow I managed to pull it off here! The finishing touches are the pretty pink brads that I put on the bottom of the card. I love how my 3/8″ circle punch mats them!

So, wanna play along with the TCP Tuesday challenge?…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 THIS post on Toni’s blog.
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 TCPTUES44 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!

What?…
Bling Bet Bounce!!

Bling Bet=The new alphabet set from My Favorite Things that will be released tomorrow, which BTW was an idea brought to Kim by yours truly. I was inspired by a diamond monogram necklace and thought that it would be cool to have a stamp set like it! How’s that for some inspiration!!??!!

Bounce=Well, tomorrow is the monthly MFT Blog Hop, but today is the Bounce.

If you didn’t start at the beginning, be sure to bounce back onto Kim’s blog. When you are all done here, bounce on over to Jessie’s blog to see her fabulous creation!

For my sample I used Swarovski crystals to “bling” it up.

Can you guess who this is for? Ellie, of course! This is a little Valentine’s tag that I made for her. I started with a Nestabilities die cut in Kraft and patterned paper {My Mind’s Eye}. I cut the one from patterned paper in half and edged it with a strip of Chocolate Chip cardstock that I cut with decorative scissors. After I attached it to the Kraft base, I sewed around the edges twice in a “crazy stitch.” This is the highly specialized stitch of one that can’t sew a straight line to save their life {anyone with me on this one?}. Then I sponged around the edges and attached the Swiss Dots embossed heart along with the monogram and sentiment {MFT} panel. To finish it off, I attached a large eyelet {SU!} and some fab ribbon that I got in one of Jody’s ribbon shares.

Well, I’m signing off for now. Don’t forget to keep on bouncin’ over to Jessie’s blog. Also, Kim just released a new digital paper pack called Chocolate Kiss…easily the best digi papers on the site…LOVE THEM!! Also, you can check out all the details of the release HERE and see all the sneak peek HERE.

{as chosen by random.org}

#140 JAMIE

Congrats Jamie! Please email me your info {link under my pic}.

I want to give a huge shout out to all the companies that donated and to everyone that participated. Julie has told me that the cards are pouring in. I have also heard that many people sent several cards to DBU. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for making all of this possible.

I hope to do more of these fun {maybe not on such a grand scale, tho} blog tarts soon, so stay tuned.

It’s been awhile.

So long in fact, that Jen asked kindly (insisted) that I reintroduce myself. I’m not exactly sure what that means, but for those of you who haven’t read an “i{heart}thestamper” post before, it means I’m Tony. I’m Jen’s husband, Ellie’s dad, and the guy who gets to “ooh & ahh” at all of Jen’s creations even though I don’t know what I’m looking at. It also means you should check out my previous writings since they are pretty entertaining, if I do say so myself. My contributions to her site are rarely stamping related, and when they are it’s usually to poke fun at you crazy women (yes, I stereotype her audience) and your obsession with paper and ink. Beyond that, you are subject to whatever topic is on my mind, and the resulting ramblings.

I took the fall off from writing, because Job Search 2008 was in full effect. I left the workforce in August 2007 to go back full time for my MBA. When August 2008 rolled around, the game dictated that I start pimping myself out for the next job. Given the current job market, this required big pimping. I ended up visiting such fantasy destinations as Atlanta, Santa Clara, Minneapolis and Bentonville (twice!) in hopes of landing the next gig. The choices became apparent as Thanksgiving approached, and tough decisions needed to be made. Luckily, I was in position to make decisions, as many of my classmates continue to search for light at the end of their respective tunnels. The good news: I start work tomorrow in my second career for American Airlines. There are some sweet perks to working for an airline, as any of you who ever have can attest. Since they are local, I get to start sooner than any job I would have had to relocate for, which means an additional benefit of dropping the worst insurance known to man; that provided by TCU. Alright, enough of this, on to my ramblings…

I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that I discovered the HBO series “The Wire” the same month Hollywood would subject us to “Bride Wars” & “New in Town.” They seem content to retread ideas from the past and pass them off as new and original movies. “People loved ‘Sweet Home Alabama,’ let’s switch it to Minnesota and swap Renee Zellweger for Reese Witherspoon and call it a day!”

For the last month, I have trucked through the first 3.5 seasons (of 5 total) of “The Wire” and tend to agree with those who claim its one of the greatest shows ever, surpassing even “The Sopranos” because of its social relevance. “The Sopranos” put us in a position to love unlovable characters, because the writing and acting was terrific. But in real life, we would be terrified of almost everyone on the show.

There is a different reason to be terrified of what we witness in “The Wire.” I believe that the elements of the show that make it riveting (city decimated by drugs, poverty, police & political corruption) are more realistic in any town than an Italian mob. I’m not sure if that last statement is pessimistic (that I think every major city in American is in urban decay) or naïve (that I think organized crime isn’t a problem in those same cities). Regardless, I find myself craving more every time I watch. So far, there hasn’t been a happy ending in site, and I don’t expect one soon.

However, where I am in the series has a new Mayor-elect making some sweeping changes. He is young, ambitious, and most of all seemingly sincere in his desires to heal what ails his beloved city. Again, I find it no coincidence that in these times, a similarly charismatic man is about to head our country for four of the most important years in our nation’s history. While he may not bring the same sunshine and daffodils happy ending “New in Town” will shovel at you, I do expect change.

Change we can believe in.

Td