Sites of the week

We finally go the rest of the Christmas decorations down last night! I am trying to make a point of all the Christmas decor being put away before Nic’s birthday so that he feels that there is a clear separation between birthday and Christmas. Any of you December/January moms have advice on this subject? My mom has a December birthday and growing up none of the Christmas decorations made an appearance until after her birthday, so I am trying to go along with that way of thinking in hopes that his birthday will be a celebration all by itself. I know my “thoughtfulness” on this will be lost on the 2 year old, but I know that I am putting the effort forth…at least.

It’s tough to be in a birthday frame of mind when all I have piled on my desk is pink, red and white. If Halloween is my favorite holiday to create for, I must say that Valentine’s is a super duper wuper close second! I love all the girly colors and details and there are so many cute puns to work with, too! I already have the stuff for Nic’s shovel “I Dig You!” Valentines…so cute {and totally not my original idea!}.

Of course, I will be sharing pics of those once they are all made, but today I have something better to show you…more NEW stamps and CutUps dies from The Cat’s Pajamas! Today is Day #2 of Sneaky Peek Week and it’s beginning to look a lot like Valentine’s with this new bunny set, Feelin’ Cupidy…

It’s been a while since I created a large-ish 3d paper project, but I was inspired by the shadowbox that Amy Rohl {my Christmas Secret Sister} gave me. You can see pics of her project HERE on her blog…so cute, right? I am one lucky chickie to have that in my possession! I was about to turn it into a Valentine’s shadowbox when…lightbulb {said in Dr. Gru’s voice}. Why don’t I make my own shadowbox from paper!?! With a little trial and a little more error, this is what I came up with using the new Feelin’ Cupidy set {along with some other new stuff!}…

The sides aren’t as super straight like I wanted them, but it works for me. I’ll try to perfect the design in the weeks to come, though! Let me walk you through each of the boxes for now, though.

Cupid himself mounted on the new Heart Rosette CutUps die…

Sentiment from the Feelin’ Cupidy set, along with a heart from the Heart Trio CutUps die set and a Bingo card that will be discussed a little more in detail as Sneaky Peek week continues {wink wink!}…

Banner on the top left box, using sentiments from the Feelin’ Cupidy and Gimme Some Sugar {peeked yesterday} sets…

Banner on the opposite side with hearts cut from the Heart Trio CutUps die set and adorned with a button tied off with new Peppermint Divine Twine…

****Pennant banner created by cutting the new Queen of Heart CutUps scallop die in the center of the scallops and mounting the sentiment letters {from Gimme Some Sugar set} on circles…****

Lots of hearts cut from this CutUps die set…

Want more peeks at all the new goodies coming out next Tuesday? Check out Alma’s blog daily for a full list of Cat Packers posting their creations.

Before I break the record for longest blog post, I am going to cut myself off here. Well, almost here. Don’t forget to check out the IN IT TO WIN IT thread on The Cat’s Pajamas’ forum on Splitcoast each day for a chance to win the set being sneak peeked that day. You gotta be IN IT TO WIN IT!

What a great way to start off a new year…with new stamps! The Cat’s Pajamas is on the brink of releasing 7 new stamp sets and 4 new CutUps dies! We’re just a week away from the release and Sneaky Peek Week starts today with a set that I designed, Gimme Some Sugar! No, I didn’t draw the final product, but this is a set that I sketched out and submitted the sentiments for a couple months ago. I love Alma’s genius ability to transform it into this fun set.

Gimme Some Sugar…

Full set reveal…

While the set design is mine, the inspiration came from this trio of pics for this week’s TCP Tuesday challenge {click for larger view}…

Detail pics of the banner included in this set…

Heart embellie created with the Heart Trio CutUps die, button and NEW Peppermint Divine Twine…

One of my favorite parts of this release is this 2-in-1 CutUps die, Queen of Hearts. It utilizes the negative space, giving you 2 border dies {love the TCP innovation on this one!}…

Want more sneaky peeks and inspiration for this challenge? A full list of peekers and challenge details can be found on the TCP/Alma’s blog. Happy Stamping!

I’m running a wee bit behind on last week’s challenge for The Cat’s Pajamas…sorry! I usually am stamping right along with my calendar, which has been packed lately. Unfortunately, that kind of scheduling doesn’t allow for me getting food poisoning and puking for 10 hours straight. Good thing is that I am all better now…6 lbs lighter even! Next time I’ll take 10+ grueling hours at the gym to lose that weight!

Last week’s challenge was to use any TCP Christmas/Holiday stamps in your card/project, along with the Big Scallop CutUps die. I made homemade peppermint bark for Nic and Ellie’s teachers this year and packaged them in clear paint cans…

The can topper is created from the TCP Easy Rosette and Snowflake {cut from felt} CutUps dies. I used the “Merry Wishes” sentiment from the Merry Wishes set…

Detail shot of the bottom of the can using the Big Scallop CutUps die…

Tag I printed from the computer…

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Susan is your Hipster Hostess with the Mostess this week and you can see her creation HERE. To upload your creation, please see THIS POST on Alma’s blog.

**I am taking the next 2 weeks off from blogging except for a couple of posts previously committed to and, of course, the Christmas Day SFYTT giveaway.**

TGIF Stampy Friends!

I’ve had a lot of fun stamping this week and have a few more things to share with you before I take some time off at the end of the year. Don’t worry, I’ll still be posting the SFYTT winner on Christmas Day! As you know, I currently work with 4 stamp companies and I do guest design positions, as well. Needless to say, it can be a lot of work and I am looking forward to taking the last 2 weeks off {for the most part} from blogging, etc.

As for now, I am here and have a card to share that I made for this week’s super fun TCP Tuesday challenge…

What fun colors for holiday and upcoming Valentine cards! I really wanted to use the new set, J*lly H*liday, along with the Big Ticket CutUps die from The Cat’s Pajamas and this is what I came up with…

{please pardon the horrid lighting!!}

In addition to the Big Ticket CutUps, I also use the new Snowflake Lace Paper CutUps as an accent panel. Love this die! I am accumulating quite a few snowflakes on my desk, too! It’s important to me that I get a lot of use out of a product. This die allows for you to use both the positive and negative cuts…twice the fun!

Want to play along with this challenge? All details, along with where you upload your creation are HEREon Alma’s blog.

Good luck and happy stamping!

Welcome to the last SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY sketch for 2011!

**If you have played along with each of the sketches, please note the instructions later in this post**

I have to say that I had my reservations switching from a weekly sketch challenge to a monthly sketch, but this has been a wonderful year and I having really enjoyed the new format. I will be continuing with the monthly sketch format in 2012 and I hope that you will play along, too!

SFYTT has certainly been blessed with some WONDERFUL sponsors! I would like to thank all of our sponsor’s this year…

The Cat’s Pajamas
Verve Stamps
Your Next Stamp
Skipping Stones Design
Waltzing Mouse Stamps
Kraftin’ Kimmie Stamps
My Favorite Things
Anita Be Stampin’
Stamping Bella
Unity Stamp Co.
Amber Ink

Finally, I want to thank SPLITCOAST STAMPERS who has donated a one year Fan Club subscription to our Christmas Day giveaway for one lucky SFYTT partipant.

More info on the giveaway at the bottom of this post. For now, let’s get to this month’s sketch…

Since there is no official stamp company sponsor this month, you will find the SFYTT girls playing with stamps from the various sponsor companies. For my first SFYTT card this month, I chose to play with some stamps from The Cat’s Pajamas…

This sweet lil’ image is from the Bearing Presents set…

As with many of the sketches, I took a creative liberty and made my circle panels a little wonky instead of straight across. The snowflakes are from the new Snowflake Lace Paper from TCP and they are adorned with red rhinestones…

Because I knew this would already be a quite lengthy post, I chose to not have a Designer of the Month for December 2011. I have LOVED looking at all your creations and LOVE that you play along with the sketches…THANK YOU TO YOU for that! Over the past couple of days, I have realized that I really should have asked someone to play along with us this month. I’m taking note of that for next year!…With the new format this year, there has been a bit of a learning curve. I’m always looking for a way to make SFYTT as a whole better for YOU, the SFYTT Sisters and the sponsors. It seems to always be a work in progress…as I guess everything in life is.

I feel myself getting a little off my intended path here. Steering my way back…

Want more great SFYTT inspiration? Check out what the SFYTT Sisters have come up with…

Amber Hight -just got back to the states and all her stamping supplies are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain
Jen Tapler
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

If you have participated in each of the sketches, you are probably very excited to complete this sketch and be officially entered into the drawing for the prize package {filled with stamps, gift certificates and that SCS Fan Club membership} that has been mentioned in these details…

1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

So, have you completed all the sketches and have linked your creations? If so, in your BLOG POST for your DECEMBER SFYTT creation, you will need to also link your previous 2011 SFYTT creations. Just create a list somewhere in your post of the months January-November and link each creation. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A BLOG {and that’s ok!}…email me a linked January through December list.

YES, I realize that this may seem a tiny bit tedious, but the prize package is well worth those few extra minutes it will take to link your creations in your post or email. The winner’s entries will be confirmed through this linked list.

Happy stamping and GOOD LUCK! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send me and email {link under my pic}.

Note: The link system closes at the end of the day Christmas Eve. Winner will be announced by noon on Christmas Day!