Sites of the week

I was depressed when I was in Hobby Lobby in August and there were about 6 aisles of Christmas goods, but now I am EXCITED! Only a couple more weeks until Black Friday {which, in all honesty, I will probably avoid} and then Christmas will be right around the corner. We are drawing names again this year…YAY! It’s so much easier shopping for one person. I would like to make a little handmade something for everyone this year, but I will have to see how much time I have. Last year I brought a craft for us to make and that is always a possibility for this year, too. If you have any ideas, let me know.

I’ll cut the jibber jabber and get to the point of ABC Friday…the projects…LOTS AND LOTS of them!! The reason why I said that Christmas Is Coming Early in my title is because today is also release day for The Cat’s Pajamas. There are three new sets being released {being offered at a heck of a deal!} and these projects features images from those sets. I hope that you will enjoy!…

Here Comes Santa Genie Bag…

Jolly Holiday Wreath…

Candy Box…

On the tag I clear embossed “Peace” over the sentiment…

Detail of front…

Ready, Set, Snow Ornament…

No Peeking door hanger…

Last, but not least, a clear acrylic ornament…

Well, that’s all folks! I’ll be seeing you tomorrow for another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY!

As I mentioned on Monday, this week is a busy one! Yesterday was the My Favorite Things release. Tomorrow is the The Cat’s Pajamas release and Monday is the Verve Stamps release…OH MY!…what is a girl to do. Needless to say, it’s been a little tricky managing space for all of my projects here, but I *think* that I have it figured out. Today I am featuring a gift set that I did for the upcoming Verve Stamps release.

Whenever I go into my alterables cabinet, I see my little clear paint cans and I usually just push them aside. When I saw the snowman looking up in the Snow Wonderful set, I knew that I had to put in on top of something…like a clear paint can. The band around the paint can is not DP…it’s stamped. In this set there is a long snowflake stamp that is perfect for bands and borders. This project uses one of the sentiments from Snowflake Splendor…so cute!

This gift set will soon be filled with homemade cookies and given to a friend. I think it would also be cute to fill with hot cocoa goodies. The possibilities of fillers is just about endless. In addition to this project, you can see many other sneak peeks on the Verve blog and on the blogs of the rest of the Design Team. We hope that you will join us in the Verve Forum on SCS on Sunday evening for a release party! There are daily sketch challenges happening over there this week with AWESOME prizes up for grabs, so be sure to check it out when you get a chance.

Well, every week is a busy one. This one happens to be super busy {stamping wise, at least!} with 3 of the companies that I design for releasing within one week: My Favorite Things, The Cat’s Pajamas and Verve Stamps. I have most of my samples done, but there are still a few more ideas that have yet to see completion. I foresee some serious naptime and late night stamping in my near future…LOL!

Today I have a couple of cards for the upcoming, November 5th, release from My Favorite Things. Both of these images are designed by Annie LaPoint for MFT. As you can see, I am still on a kick with the Kraft paper. I actually had to buy more for the first time in a couple of years…seriously! I paired the Kraft paper with Blush Blossom, Basic Black and PTI White to create a fun color combo. What do you think?…

This card looks NOTHING like what I had imagined in my head. Thank goodness, because the end result is so much better than what I was originally thinking! LOL! This color combo is here to stay! I can definitely say that I will be working with it again…Basic Black, Old Olive, PTI Plum Pudding and White. The ribbon is from May Arts and I used the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder for some added texture.

I will have more MFT samples for you on Wednesday, which is also going to be {for the most part} consistently MFT. Let me know what you think of having a few days a week set aside for certain companies that I design for… TCP Tuesday, MFT Wednesday {I would have made this MFT Mondays to make it sound all matchy-matchy, but I don’t always post on Mondays}. Of course I will be rotating all my other DT companies and faves throughout the rest of the week. I just want to hear what you think of 2-3 days that are consistent. Thanks!!!!

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day! HERE is more info about this special day. Of course I will have a Sketch For You To Try and each participant will be entered into a drawing for a special edition magazine from Paper Crafts and I might just have to sweeten the pot a bit with some MFT goodies!

As for today, I want to share with you one more project that I did for the My Favorite Things release. This image, as well as all the like images previously released, are from artist Annie LaPoint. With this particular stamp, I created a plant stick/garden marker/whatever you want to call it.

Detail shot of the pot, which is paper pieced and covered with Diamond Glaze…

You can see more samples from the release HERE at SCS. See you manana!

Tomorrow I am cruising down to Austin for the Austin Shoebox Swap. I can’t wait to catch up with a some “old” friends and, of course, meet some new ones. My project is the little mini pumpkin that I did HERE. That was A LOT of cutting…and stamping {I pre-stamped everything!} for 45+ people. Swaps always sound so fun until you have to prep for them…LOL! I’m excited to see my bro and his family, too. I haven’t seen them in about 2 years, and they live just a few hours away. It’s amazing how time flies!

If you haven’t heard the buzz, Saturday is WORLD CARDMAKING DAY! <--Link to find out more-- This holiday {yep, that's what it is!} was created by Paper Crafts magazine and is celebrated on the first Saturday of October each year. Paper Crafts magazine has provided me with a copy of a special edition magazine that I will be giving away to a random Sketch For You To Try participant. Be sure to check out this coming Saturday’s post for more deets!

Thank you to everyone that partied hardy with us last night in the MFT Forum. You can still get Free Shipping today and tomorrow by using the code FREESHIPPING. Here are a few more cards using the latest releases from My Favorite Things…

COOL TIP: The Scallop Edge Punch and the Word Window punch from SU! have the same size ends. This makes it super easy to create a multi-colored border/awning!!

Paired with Cosmo Cricket Girl’s Biography paper…

The above pic uses paper piecing, which is this month’s My Favorite Guest challenge. All deets can be found HERE.

I love this sentiment! The DP used on this card can be found HERE.