Sites of the week

Want a chance win a bunch {and I mean a bunch} of stamping goodies totaling over $450 in value?. See THIS post for all the deets. HERE is the official entry post.

It’s Saturday, and you know what that means…another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY! To make it even a little sweeter this week, I have more goodies to give away {these are a secret, tho}. So, this is what you wanna do…link your SFYTT card on this post to be entered in this extra blog tart giveaway. Then, put your card in the mail to Julie {see that link up there about all deets for the major giveaway} and then come back and post on the official entry post {that link is up at the top of this post, too}. ETA: Winner for the SFYTT blog tart will be announced next Saturday.

Well, let’s get to it! For this sketch, feel free to use whatever embellishments you want for the stars and the circles. I can’t wait to see everyone’s creativity!!

Here’s my sample using a Bella that needed some love. I am totally diggin’ this color combo, too! What do you think? BTW…did you see the new stuff over at Stamping Bella? O-M-G!…those bugs!!…

Detail of the flowers that I cut out using my Slice and then ran through the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder…

Check out this cutie patootie sample using {brand new} MFT Stamps from January’s Designer of the Month, Kirsten DuBosque…

Wanna see more samples? Give some love to…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Shannan Teubner
Susan Liles

If you play along, just link your card on this post. When you upload to SCS, use the keyword SFYTT so we can see them all in one place. There are no rules to these sketches, just use your creativity and HAVE FUN!

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.

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

So, did you all make it through the New Year’s celebrations? Tony and I were snoozing before midnight. Yep, big duds! That just means that next year that we have to have twice as much fun, right!?! I did get some crafting done on New Year’s Day, including today’s Sketch For You To Try. Being that it is the first Saturday of the month, I have a new Designer of the Month to introduce to you…

Please welcome Kirsten DuBosque! She’ll be adding her crafting genius to the weekly sketches all month.

Here is a little about Kirsten in her own words…
Hi! I’m Kirsten, or ked on Splitcoast! I was so excited when Jen emailed me about being her Designer of the Month! She’s always been one of my favorite stampers, so it wasn’t even a question! I’m a full-time SAHM / very part-time RN from Columbus, OH that relocated to the west coast of Florida with my Hubby, almost 8 years ago. I was a quilter, then after my little boy was born in 2004, I started scrapbooking. I had a few invites to go to stamping parties, but I refused, because I knew I couldn’t get into it “just a little bit”! Well, finally caved in 2006, and just as predicted, here I am! LOL

This “stamping world” has provided me with much more than I ever thought it would! Currently, I’m serving on two design teams - My Favorite Things and Lizzie Anne Designs, and I’ve had the privilege of having many things published. But most importantly, I have met so many people that I now can call my friends. You can’t ask for much more than that from a “hobby”!

HERE is a link to Kirsten’s blog.

The sketch for this week…

My sample uses a star for the embellishment panel, but feel free to use any shape you want. Remember, it’s all about having fun with the sketch! The center Raspberry Fizz {Papertrey Ink} panel was cut out with my Nestabilities and the numbers were cut out with my Slice {also pictured}. The cute lil’ martini glass charm is from Stamping Bella {GREAT quality charms, no chintzy metal!}.

Here is Kirsten’s sample, which I think is an absolute RIOT! Image is from Stamping Bella…

Wanna see more samples? Give some love to…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Shannan Teubner
Susan Liles

Now for the STUFF…
1. The new look IS coming I promise! I feel like I have hyped it up so much and we’re still waiting. I talked to Sara yesterday and she is working on it. The original plan/layout couldn’t work, so we had to think of something else. I have about 15 donors for my blog tart that will coincide with the launch of the new look. I’m crossing my fingers for Monday, but I am not putting it up until it’s perfection. I promise the look and the tart will be worth the wait!

2. Do you have any creative resolutions? I got to thinking about the last time I did an SCS challenge and I could not remember when it was! Shame on me! I resolve to do more SCS challenges, in addition to meeting my personal goals that I mentioned on the first {learn more, to network more and to publish more}.

3. Did you see the new Verve Stamps challenges on SCS? You can check out the Viva la Verve challenges each Friday on the Verve Forum on SCS.

4. When I asked Tony a.k.a. i{heart}the stamper when he’ll be blogging again he said, “We’ll see.” I’m hoping that we will be “seeing” him again SOONER rather than later!

Call me a slacker! I don’t have my SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY card done. That wasn’t the plan, I promise!! The plan was to get home from San Diego and do my card. Well, apparently I have never flown congested before because when I got off the flight I thought that I was going to die. Ok, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad, but I wasn’t feeling all too hot and was certainly not in the mood to stamp. Popped a couple of Tylenol and plopped into bed. I promise…well, let’s make that I hope to have my card and a post with a new goodies {and there are LOTS!} report for you tomorrow. For today, there are plenty of samples to see for this sketch, just click on the links…

Here’s Lynn’s beautiful sample. THANK YOU Lynn for being this month’s Designer of the Month!!!

Wanna play? Here’s what you should know…
1. ANYONE can play.
2. Have fun with this!
3. When uploading to SCS, use the keyword SFYTT.
4. Post a link to your blog or gallery on this post.

Check out the samples from a few of my stampin’ friends, Amy R., Amy S., Carole, Shannan and Susan!