Monday, October 31, 2016

Santa’s Light Up Pull Toy



Here we are again with another Tuesday rolling around, and I have a cute design with The Cat’s Pajamas for you.  


You know those little vintage pull toys that kids played with (and probably still do)....a duck, or a dog, a telephone or some other cute thing that often had a Fisher Price label on it?  Every time I saw this cute santa bunny in his fancy little Christmas bulb from TCP’s new set Santa is Coming, I kept thinking of a Christmas pull toy.  That’s how this card came about :)  

With one more week in the “TAG” challenge at TCP, I thought it would be fun to create a pull toy tag on the front of the card.  

I started by colouring up our lightbulb bunny with Copics and trimming him out.  Then I created the card front by stamping the background sentiment in White Craft Ink and embossing in white, then sponging Baja Breeze ink over the layer.  



Next, I popped my little Santa bunny onto this pretty tag made with our Holiday Tag Duo CutUps.  




Then, underneath the tag I created a slider/window with our Roller CutUps die, so that when you pull the “pull-toy” tag, it reveals another little sentiment stamped inside.  

All finished off with some felt and some sequins.  



For fun I added a little tag, also made with the Holiday CutUps die and felt (it cuts beautifully!) and added another cute pull toy Santa.  Now I have a card and tag ready for a present.    He’s just so cute!  






Want to get ahead of the game for your Christmas presents and join us in the TAG Challenge?  You have one more week!

Here’s the details:

1.  Every other Tuesday a new challenge will be posted on The Cat’s Pajamas blog and our Facebook page.
2.  If you want to play along you just upload your design to The Cat’s Pajamas blog page using the InLinkz button by the Monday, 11:55 EDT before the next challenge.  
3.  You are not required to use a Cat’s Pajamas stamp or die but if you have them we would love to see them.
4.  On the following TCP Tuesday, the winner will be chosen from the previous challenge and will receive a Cat Cash Voucher for $10 or $15 if a TCP product is used.
Check out the TCP Blog for more inspiration today!  

Monday, October 24, 2016

Colouring White Tutorial




Today I’m inviting you to pop on over to the Power Poppy Blog to see a tutorial I wrote on colouring WHITE!  Lots of tips and card examples too!   Here’s the link:  Power Poppy

Friday, October 21, 2016

Holiday Sparkle




We’ve come to the big day!  Today all the new Power Poppy Happiest Holiday sets are in the store and we’re delighted to show you one more round of inspiration with these gorgeous sets!  

Today I put together two of the sets from the Happiest Holiday collection, Holly Go Lightly and Glistening Paperwhites.  These two sets play really nicely together to create a crisp, clean yet festive design.  

I stamped the holly branch, coloured it up, trimmed it out, and then cut it into three pieces to place behind the pretty paperwhite blossom.  Pair it with a really fancy scrolly die and it really shines!  



I’ve edged some of the pieces of the card with silver paint, and added some glitter pen to the paperwhite bloom, though that never seems to show up on the blog well, but I know you can use your wonderful imaginations to picture a wee bit of sparkle to the little flower.  Plenty of bling and sparkle also included in the ribbon and the red rhinestones.  



Here’s the Copics I used. 

Now, before you hop on over to see the other beauties in the Bloom Brigade, how about some SALE news, just in time for the new release?  


Is our Marcy awesome or what?  


Take it away Bloom Brigade!  And thanks so much for your kind words this week, we’re so glad you’ve enjoyed our Happiest Holiday collection.  

Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker



Thursday, October 20, 2016

Glistening Paperwhites




The Happiest Holiday’s continue with our next beautiful set that’s sure to delight all of you botanical lovers out there.  Here’s Marcy’s thoughts about  Glistening Paperwhites.  

You can't have Christmas without boughs of beautiful greenery. This special grouping will breathe a whoosh of fresh winter air into your cardmaking, with an illustration of classic Paperwhites paired with Juniper and Seeded Eucalyptus. These natural elements would be shimmeringly lovely embossed in silver, gold, or blue metallic, dusted with glitter, colored in cool shades of green, blue, and ivory. Individual accent images of each of the components of the bough work on their own or as enhancements to the main image. Can you get enough of these sentiments? Six options to help you make cards for the most wonderful time of the year!  Includes 10 images



It’s such a gorgeous arrangement of delicate paperwhites and all kinds of greenery that makes Christmas feel beautiful and festive.  It was really fun to colour up the image too!  I fussy cut the flowers out placing them in a windowed design over vellum so that it had a softened effect.  

Because the image is quite detailed, and the paper is detailed, I decided to make the embellishing quite simple, adding a pretty rhinestone “crown” and then a paper bow to accent.  





Here’s the Copics I used for colouring this beauty up!  

And now we invite you to head on over to the Bloom Brigade and see how their paperwhites glisten and shine. 


Allison Cope
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence

Julie Koerber
Kathy Jones
Stacy MorganTosha Leyendekker
and Marcy at the Power Poppy Blog!

We’ll look forward to celebrating again with you tomorrow on our Happiest Holiday’s Blog hop!  See you then!


Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Fully Stocked



“The stockings were hung by the chimney with care”.  Today we have a lovely showcase of stockings from Power Poppy that Marcy has beautifully curated.  Each of the stockings has it’s own special flair....see what she has to say about the lovely set Fully Stocked.  

"Folks, I could draw stockings every day, different themes, different patterns, different styles, all stuffed with goodies. Do you know HOW HARD IT WAS to narrow this down to only three? The stocking struggle is real. Luckily, each of these special stockings was carefully curated, decorated, and trimmed to the nines. Plus they're fully stocked and each one comes with a coordinating accent image. We have a gardener's dream with a journal, tools, tags, and trimmings, complete with mistletoe accent stamp. A vintage European-style linen stocking has sleigh bells, greens, gifts, and a pretty pear. Accent this one with the greenery-topped bell. Lastly, give the gift of childhood with the button-and-appliquéed stocking, filled with kid-centric delights. A group of buttons makes a nice background stamp. Three scripty sentiments work with all of the illustrations beautifully.  Includes 9 images."
All these stockings are so very pretty and I am looking forward to colouring each one, but today I chose the jingle bell stocking to play with.  With that pretty pear in there, I thought a nice contrast of colour would be a tealy-blue-green, so I coloured the image with Copics, and then finished it off with some primacolour pencils.  

I added some texture with embossing paste in the background to look a little like falling snow, and then found some pretty sparkly gold washi tape that really glitzes it up.   


Of course, I had to dig through my stash to see if I could find some of my jingle bells, so it not only looks pretty, but makes a lovely little jingle sound too.  Papers are Echo Park - I Love Winter.  



Here’s the Copics I used, I also used some blue-green prismacolor pencil on the stocking, some gold on the bells and some browns on the packaging.  

The beautiful Bloom Brigade is Fully Stocked today....stop by and visit!

SaveSaveSaveSave
Allison Cope
Christine Okken
 (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker



Monday, October 17, 2016

The Cat’s Pajamas Blog Hop!



Welcome to The Cat’s Pajamas Winter Blog Hop!  All of these awesome new sets and dies are now available in the TCP Store, and today we’re pulling out all the stops to show off the sets again in a Winter Blog Hop!  This also kicks off our Winter Customer Blog Hop, where you can play with any of our new TCP Goodies and be entered to win even more!  

You should have come from our fabulous leader Nancy Thomas’ blog, but if you get lost along the way be sure to pop by the TCP Blog.   

I thought I’d get creative and put together a spinner card with our new set Penguin Joy!  

You know, I don’t know if I’ve ever made a spinner card like this before, and I have to tell you it was so fun!  I just squeeled when it all came together because it’s so cute!


Alma put together the cutest elements in this set, including images of our sweet little penguin from the front and the back, as well as some snow angel lines.  All together it works perfectly for a spinner image because you can show his front and back as it spins.  Above is what the card looks like closed.

I wanted to create the spinner to partially flip open as a frame when you open the card, so I have a lot of pictures to show you what it looks like.  I used TCP’s Framed Up 2 to create the circular frame that extends beyond the fold.



I stamped the penguin front and back, trimmed him out and added him on each side to the snow angel outline.  I placed those onto a circle of vellum with twine in the middle.  You wind it all up before you put it in the envelope and then when you open it.....



He spins like crazy!  




Gah, just look at his cute little penguin bum!    Here’s another peek at the set, where you can see all those cute little penguins.  



Hope you’ve had some spinny fun here today, now I’m sending you on to the lovely Stacy Schafer for more of the Blog Hop!    Thanks for joining us this week, it’s been a blast!


Action Santa


Hello again!  If you’re looking for my The Cat’s Pajamas Post, please scroll down. 


Alrighty friends, I know you are just going to LOVE today's set from Power Poppy!  It’s called Action Santa, and this guy just makes me smile.  Here’s what Marcy had to say about the set:  

Inspired by vintage Christmas cards that showcase Santa springing in to action every which way. What a versatile fella. He seems to engage in every sport from riding the waves to slamming a tennis ball to revving up a Harley! Our Action Santa set features Santa cruising in an old-school scooter as he races through the snowdrifts to bring good tidings on the double. A second large image features the jolly jingler mid-air as a stylish skier catching major air. Accents create a snowflake-sprinkled mountain scene, plus lots of coordinating "action-packed" sentiments. This one’s gonna be a keeper!  Includes 14 images.  

Seriously, SO cute right?  There’s just something about a RED scooter, so for this design I had to flip the colours for Santa and the scooter and make him a rich green and the scooter red.  It is a really fun image to colour up.  He’s got some kraft paper wrapped packages and a tree in the back, so wherever he’s going, he’s prepared!  
I added some cute wood veneer arrows to really give you the feeling of movement and direction and a bit of twine and a wood button to finish it off.  



Here’s the Copics I used to colour him up.  

And now you can pop on over to the rest of the Bloom Brigade showing off Action Santa today!


Allison Cope
Christine Okken (you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Tosha Leyendekker



Sunday, October 16, 2016

Snowglobe Shakin'



Today is our last Sneaky Peek of the new Releases at The Cat’s Pajamas!  Tonight is our PJ party and tomorrow you get one more round of inspiration in our Blog Hop and all these fabulous sets and dies will be available in the store.  

We’ve saved a very cute set today for you, it’s called Bunny Snowglobe, and our favourite bunny is shaking it up with winter fun!



I’ve stamped this cute snowglobe a few times in different layers to be able to paper piece and colour.  I found some fun woodgrain paper to create the bottom of the snowglobe, and I added an extra row to the wood base by using a multi-liner pen, drawing extra lines so the base stood a little higher.  I embossed some snowflakes onto the wood base from the set.  

Next, I stamped the bunny on some soft blue designer paper and then again on some XPress It Blending cardstock.  I coloured bunny up, trimmed him out and then added him to the blue globe.  

I added some embossed snowflakes in the background and then also used one of our gorgeous Double Snowflake CutUps tucked behind the snowglobe.  Love how it looks! 



You might be able to tell I used a white sharpie on the snow in the globe so it stands out on the blue designer paper. 


Look how cute this little set is!  This bunny always makes me smile!


Don’t forget, Monday night is our Pajamas Party in our TCP Facebook Events Area.  



You have another chance to win in our In It to Win It....

Are you IN IT TO WIN IT? For a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to The Cat’s Pajamas store, leave a comment on each of the Designer’s Sneak Peek posts, including The Cat’s Pajamas blog. Each day, a winner will be randomly drawn and will be announced on the TCP Facebook Page and this blog the following day.

Now pop on by the rest of the Kitties in the Cat Pack to see what they have to show off with Bunny Snowglobe.  Don’t forget....comment to be in the running to win!


Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Jessica Rone
Julie Elak
Nancy Thomas
Stacey Schafer
Wendy McGaffey
and Alma at the TCP Blog!

Simple Joys


If you’re looking for my The Cat’s Pajamas Sneaky Peek, please scroll down :) 


Hello Friends!  We’re so delighted to be bringing you Power Poppy’s Happiest Holiday Release!  Today begins the showcase of 5 new clear polymer stamp sets and I know that you will love them.  As is Marcy’s specialty, there is the perfect mix of beautiful and whimsical.  Today we kick it all off with Simple Joys!  

Here’s what Marcy had to say about this lovely set....

Sometimes it’s the simplest trimmings that make for the merriest holiday touches. I envision grabbing the garden shears and stepping out the front door to clip any greenery within walking distance, picking up pinecones and holly, and placing it all in a gathering basket. Berry-studded branches are snipped and plunked into a vintage watering can, dressed with a festive baubles. I can see this scene next to the front door welcoming guests, or as a lively centerpiece, so wouldn't it make a fun image on a holiday card? Finally, a round ornament on a pine branch is ready to be stamped with any of the five sentiments that fit perfectly inside.  Includes 11 images.


I just love how this basket of greenery and pinecones looks, so I had to use this lovely image first.  Creating sweet little scenes is one of Marcy’s gifts I think.   I coloured it all up with Copics and paired the basket with some cozy country woodgrain, gingham and stripes.   I gave the card a bit of a windowed design, almost like you are peeking in on the scene.  

I gave the sentiment a bit of a woodgrain feel too, striping in some lines with my Copics, and then cut some little bits of greenery with my Silhouette Cameo machine.  A wee bit of jute twine finishes it off.  



Here are the Copics I used to colour....it looks like a lot, but it’s primarily because I used different greens on different parts of the basket contents.  


Here is the beautiful Bloom Brigade in action with Simple Joys!

Allison Cope
Christine Okken 
(you are here)
Cindy Lawrence
Julie Koerber
Katie Sims
Stacy Morgan
Tosha Leyendekker


Saturday, October 15, 2016

Joy, J*y, Joy


We’re down to our last two days of Sneaky Peeks at The Cat’s Pajamas!  Today we’re bringing back one of our TCP Classic sets for a limited time only it’s called...J*lly H*liday, and it happens to be one of my fav’s!  


I stamped the J & Y with red ink on patterned paper, then added the ornament in green ink and coloured in the ornament with Copics.  I added some gold pen for the ornament top to make it really look like something you’d put on the tree.  

Next, I surrounded it by this gorgeous new die we’re releasing this week called Scalloped Duo.  It’s fantastic!  It has so many elements you can use separately or inset together to give you completly different looks each time.  You can see I have four different layers going on here with the die, doesn’t it look beautiful?  



I’ve edged the card with gold, added some holly from the set, added some gold cording and some fun chenille trim.  

Here’s a peek at this very fun set and beautiful die!  Remember the set will be available for a limited time only!  





You have another day and another chance to win....


For a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to The Cat’s Pajamas store, leave a comment on each of the Designer’s Sneak Peek posts, including The Cat’s Pajamas blog. Each day, a winner will be randomly drawn and will be announced on the TCP Facebook Page and this blog the following day.

Now pop on by the rest of the Kitties in the Cat Pack to see what they have to show off with J*lly H*liday.  Don’t forget....comment to be in the running to win!



Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Deborah Anton
Julie Elak
Nancy Thomas
Stacey Schafer
Wendy McGaffey
Guest Designer - Jodi Collins
and Alma at the TCP Blog!



Friday, October 14, 2016

Let’s Venti


Have you been enjoying all these fun new sets and dies from The Cat’s Pajamas?  Alma created such great things for us this release.  Today we bring you another fun set that has a coffee/tea theme and some fun snarky sentiments...it’s called This Could Be Vodka.  



My fuzzy bear isn’t bathing in vodka, but she’s ready for a good chat with a friend to “Venti”.  So totally cute!  My bear is coloured up with Copics and then I used a wash cloth and some Copic Blender solution to lift off some of the colour, giving her a fuzzy look.  

I stamped a second cup, used the Cups CutUps die to cut it out and then coloured it up with Copics too, adding a layer of lighter blue behind the cut image.  It gives it such nice dimension.  

I found the perfect designer paper from Echo Park - I Love Winter with these cups topped off with whipping cream.  


A bit of bakers twine and some rhinestones finish it off.  

Here’s a peek a the set and matching dies.  Aren’t they such great images?  



   





Are you IN IT TO WIN IT? For a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to The Cat’s Pajamas store, leave a comment on each of the Designer’s Sneak Peek posts, including The Cat’s Pajamas blog. Each day, a winner will be randomly drawn and will be announced on the TCP Facebook Page and this blog the following day.  
Here’s the gang to go visit and be inspired!

Brenda Nakandakari
Christine Okken (you are here)
Deborah Anton
Julie Elak
Nancy Thomas
Wendy McGaffey
Guest Designer - Jodi Collins
and Alma at the TCP Blog!