Peaceful Lilacs with The Greetery

Happy Sunday evening!  For us in Canada its a long weekend, and I’m so grateful for the extra time of rest.  A friend asked if I had any cards for retirement, and I had to admit I didn’t!  But, hey I’m a card maker and I love to create, so I put some creative time into a few retirement cards this weeked.  This first design is a breath of fresh air from The Greetery, using the very lovely Lilac Botanicuts Die.  

 

I cut the lilacs on watercolour paper and pulled out my Daniel Smith watercolours and added pretty purples and pinks (Carbazole Violet and Quin Violet) to the blossoms.  This die set is great because you can get so much dimension with the extra single blossoms added to the main branch.  After adhering everything together I came back with my Zig Clear Real Brush markers to add some deeper colour and the centers to each blossom, as well as some definition on the leaves.  After everything was adhered together I added splatters of watered down white acrylic paint.  

The card background is ink blended and then texture is added with Waffle Flower’s Sweet Plaid Texture Plate.  A retired Ric Rack die added a little accent along the top and the purple foiled sentiment is from Spellbinders called Yana’s Sentiments Glimmer.  

A dreamy peaceful design!  Thanks for joining me today! 

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Peaceful Lilacs with The Greetery

Morning Glory Mercies: Watercoloured Die Cuts

 

Hello!   Today I’m bringing you some beautiful pops of colour on die cuts!  I don’t know how it works for you with inspiration, but sometimes ideas pop into my head that I just have to execute in real life.  As I was thinking about these beautiful new Morning Glory Botanicuts dies I received from The Greetery I knew that I wanted to use bright fushia pink on a navy background.  I think this palette is a really great one!  So, to get that vibrant pink I was looking for, I pulled out my Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers and watercoloured the flowers and greenery on watercolour paper.  Those Zigs really have saturated colour!  I used direct to paper with the markers and then blended with a water brush. Even then the colour is eye-popping.  

After running a slimline cards layer through a Quilted Card Front die from Concord and 9th.  I began to assemble the layers of flowers and attach them with foam dots.  The dimension is really lovely, like the flowers are bursting off the paper. All those layers from the die give such realism.  

The sentiment from The Greetery’s beautiful New Day sentiment set is embossed on navy cardstock for the perfect touches of white and texture.  It’s part of a very hopeful and encouraging Bible verse from Lamentations 3.  Isn’t all that colour lush?  

Appreciate you joining me today!  I hope you’re inspired to create something that delights you too!  

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Morning Glory Mercies: Watercoloured Die Cuts

Cozy Nest

I love watching for and listening to the songs of all the little local birds soaking up the spring weather these days, it makes my heart happy every time I hear them!  So, I have birds on my mind and had dto use this adorable die set from The Greetery called  Curio:  Spring Findings Die.  

I placed the entire die set onto Arches watercolour paper and cut all the little pieces in one large section, then leaving the cut outs in the paper, I watercoloured each little piece with Zig Clean Cut Real Brush markers.  The vibrancy of these markers and the brush edge really works well with the fine details of the die cuts.  

I layered all the pieces in a design I thought would be sweet, and placed them in different levels onto a watercoloured background.  The sentiment comes from The Greetery’s Print Shop:  Spring Mix Stamp, and I’ve added a few splatters of watercolour to speck the background like I’ve speckled the robin’s eggs.   

Tiny fussy details, but oh so fun to bring everything together in the end to create a cozy scene!  

 

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Cozy Nest

Copper Jungle

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed some “greenery” on St. Patrick’s Day, and now you’re ready for some more  - but in the botanical variety!  Months ago I embossed the set in copper, and watercoloured this beautiful background from Power Poppy called Big Sexy Leaves (retired).  It was a 6 x 6 stamp that is great for backgrounds, simply stamped, but also with so much potential for great colouring.  

I used Daniel Smith Watercolours, and then added a bit of punch with the vibrant Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers.  It really ups the vibrancy.  

I’m always amazed by the variety in leaves.  This Christmas our boys got us a year round pass to our botanical pyramids called Muttart Conservatory.  There are 4 pyramids that have unique biospheres, including a tropical one that is full of varieties of colourful leaves.  We’re there at least once a month to enjoy the warmth and growth.  I thought you might enjoy a couple of pictures from recent visits.  

 

Amazing isn’t it?  The new feature pyramid just opened this week, it changes 5 - 7 times a year and this season it’s a Tulip theme.  I can’t wait to go and see it!  

The diecut sentiment is from MFT, and I added some ombre colour to the lettters with the Zig markers to deliniate it from the background, as well as popping it up.  

Copper is such a classy colour and pairs so nicely with this blue green!  

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Copper Jungle

Blue Birthday Blooms and TCP News!

    

Today was the Birthday of a beautiful friend of mine, so I created this design to celebrate her using The Cat’s Pajamas set and dies from the Still Life Bundle.  I stamped the image with VersaFine ink onto watercolor paper and watercoloured it with Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers.  I gave it a bit of a batik colouring with the markers so it has a bit of the mottled look.  

Just a few details to make it sparkle are the popped up section of flowers and the TCP holeless sequins.  The sentiment is from TCP’s Simply Stacked Sentiments.  

This month’s TCP Challenge is to use Flowers!  So, I’m sure you can find some fun flowers to welcome in Spring on your card.  Play along with us and enter on the TCP Blog HERE, and you’re in the running for a $50 TCP Gift CODE.  This will be the LAST TCP Tuesday Challenge, so don’t miss out!  And the reason it’s the last TCP Tuesday Challenge?.......

Because there’s BIG TCP NEWS from ALMA!

If there’s one thing that 2020 taught us is to be versatile.  With so many people shopping from home and shipping and manufacturing times uncertain, and our need to spend more time with the ones we love, The Cat’s Pajamas has decided to go digital.

This allows us to bring you digital stamps and Cutables (for your electronic cutting machine) for a low price and immediate download. This means no waiting for your order to arrive and no extra expense to cover postage. Our digital stamps will be saved at 300 dpi so you can make the stamp as big or small as you want. You can even flip them to suit your needs or turn your stamps into t-shirts or signage or whatever you can image.

And since we are going digital, we are clearing our our existing inventory in a progressive sale. Starting in March, all our stamps, dies, stencilz and embellishments will be 20% off. The month of April, the discount will deepen to 30% off and May will see a 40% off sale. If we have any inventory left, June 50% off, etc.

I’m excited that Alma will continue bringing us all that is great about The Cat’s Pajamas just in a different format.  

Now, for more inspiration please visit these Kitties

Julee

Cristena

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Blue Birthday Blooms and TCP News!

Birthday Bear

We’ve had the most beautiful long weekend here!  For us it was Victoria Day.  And though many days seem to run into the other these days, it was still nice to thoroughly enjoy our outdoor time.  It’s the traditional time when it’s safe to plant flowers and vegetable gardens, and I spent a lot of time doing both.  My hands and nails are dirty and my heart is full.  

This little guy looks like his heart is full too, and his hands are bringing the prettiest bouquet!  It’s with The Cat’s Pajamas sweet set,  Hugs Needed.  I watercoloured this big guy with Zig Clean Colour Real Brush Markers.  He’s looking pretty handsome, maybe he’s picking up a date? 

I’ve die cut the shape out with TCP’s die Framed Up, accented with burlap, wood veneer buttons and a little circle sentiment using a retired TCP set.  

We hope you can join us in this month’s challenge.  It’s a great theme, and if you play along and win, you get a $50 Gift Voucher from The Cat’s Pajamas!

For more inspiration pop on over to visit:  

Cristina 
Brenda
Wendy
Nancy
Christine (you are here)

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Birthday Bear

Splash in the Puddles Watercolour

Oh,  we’ve had the most glorious weather here this week!  It looks like Spring is finally coming to our corner of the world and we’re just so glad.  If you’re self-isolating, it’s sure nice to then also be outside and enjoying the sunshine.  I’ve got Spring on my mind with this cute little design from The Cat’s Pajamas.  It uses the Splish Splash stamp set, and it’s so adorable!  It reminds me of storybook illustrations for kids.  This little pair of friends look sweet enjoying a little puddle time.  

The image is watercoloured with Zig Clean Colour Brush Markers for some vibrant pops of colour.  

The holeless sequins really do match the design, they just take on iridescent colour depending on which way you move the card.  I framed the image with the Going Round & Round die,  and then added the clouds for the sentiment with the Clouds and Balloons die.  

This is for this month’s sweet TCP Tuesday Challenge called Share Hope!  You’re invited to create a card and send it to someone who could use a little encouragement.  You have until the end of the month to complete a project and an added bonus is the $50 gift voucher some lucky artist has a chance to win!  

For more inspiration today pop on by and see:

Nancy

Brenda

Melissa

Deborah

Julee

Christina

Kerry

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Splash in the Puddles Watercolour

TCP New Release Hop!

It’s been such a fun week showing off the April Sneaky Peeks from The Cat’s Pajamas!  All of these sets are perfect for so many celebrations and today we’re going to give you one more peek with the April Blog Hop.  I have a couple of fun cards to show you today.  You should have come from Nancy’s Blog, but if you have any trouble you can also pop back to the TCP Blog.

This beauty is from the new set Still Life.  It’s one of my favourites from this release, because if you know me well, I’m all about the flowers!  I stamped the largest arrangement of the blooms several times on watercolour paper and added some of the palm branches into the scene.  Next I painted some vibrant colour with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers.  It really gives it that tropical vibe.  

To give some contrast to the design I used the Balloon Frame CutUps Die to cut in the spot for the sentiment.  I like this die because it has dashed lines outside of the cut out so it’s like a delicate touch of accent too.  The sentiment from the set is embossed in a lime embossing powder for a bit of pop.  A couple of green holeless sequins accent.  

Here’s a peek at this pretty set!  

And for a bonus today, I’m also showing off another card from this month’s New Release goodies that ushers in our new TCP Tuesday Challenge.  

 

It’s the cutest ballet bunny you ever did see!  This set called Get Your Sparkle On showcases our favourite bunny in a tutu!  I love it.  I picked a fun Easter-ish palette of peach, apricot and purple to colour the bunny and added some fun framing with TCP’s Square Stamp CutUps Die, and then in the background I added some fun stamped paint splatters from TCP’s set Watercolor Basics.  

You can’t get much better than a crown, star wand, tights and a multi-coloured tutu.  Some clear holeless sequins give a touch of sparkle.  

Now this cute design is being sent to someone special in my life to encourage them....and that’s what our newest challenge is all about.  

Your challenge is to create a care that Shares Hope and then send it to someone!  Play along and you could win a Cat Cash Voucher for $50!

Now please pop on over to visit Kerry’s Bug Bites!

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TCP New Release Hop!

TCP New Release: Silly Numbers and Die Day!

Welcome back for The Cat’s Pajamas Sneaky Peek Week!  We’ve been having tons of Birthday fun and today it continues with Die Day!  We’re showing off all the fun die combinations in this release.  

For today’s card I chose to focus on the combination of fun things you can do with the new Silly Numbers Stamp Set and the Silly Numbers Coordinating Die combined with the new Best Wishes CutUps word die, in a cute whimsical colour combination.  

I started with stamping out the numbers onto cardstock using my MISTI tool, then I placed the Silly Numbers Die overtop of the numbers, added a little tape to hold them in place and then ran it through the die cutting machine to get the cut outline on the numbers, just leaving them in place.  I wanted it to feel like you just tossed the numbers up in the air and this is how they fell.  

For the sentiment, I used the Best Wishes Die and cut it from watercolour paper, then used my Zig Real Brush Markers and added the colouring to the letters to match the numbers.  It’s placed on a Framed Up 2 CutUps open circle die, with vellum underneath.  Then it’s just  coordinating baker’s  twine and enamel dots to accent.  It’s a fun CAS design.  

Here’s a peek at the products I’m showcasing today....

Are you In It To Win It?  Today’s post could be a contest winner for you!  All you have to do to enter to win a $10 Gift Voucher at the TCP Store is comment on this post, and be sure to comment on the rest of the designers to increase your chances!  Winners will be announced on the TCP Blog tomorrow!  

Here’s who’s playing along today....
Julee 

Wendy

Nancy

Kerry

Christine (you are here)

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TCP New Release: Silly Numbers and Die Day!

Teacup Bunny

I am not a fan of the rabbits that roam the neighbourhood and eat my tulips in the spring, but this guy looks pretty harmless doesn’t he?  It’s a cutie from The Cat’s Pajamas set called Make Tea.  He’s snuggled up in a tiny teacup adorned with some pretty blooms making him look oh-so-sweet and innocent!  The scene is watercoloured with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers for a real vibrant look, to match the pretty floral paper I had in my stash.  

The bottom detailing is created with TCP’s  Toppers CutUps Die with some peek-a-boo holes.  

On the original stamp this little guy is winking with his right eye - but I chose to add a little marker detail to give him a full eye...the nice things you can do to adjust a stamp to make it uniquely your own!

You’re invited to join us!  This kicks off our newest monthly challenge at TCP to showcase Furry Animals!  Enter with your design HERE and you’re in the running for a $50 Gift Voucher to the TCP Store!

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Teacup Bunny

Power Poppy’s Enchanted Garden Release Week!

Welcome to Power Poppy’s newest Release Week!  We’ve got six days ahead of beauty to show you in the Enchanted Garden Release!  It’s all about gorgeous blossoms, birds and woodland wonders.  We’ve joined together with the Instant Gardeners Team so you’ll have lots of inspiration over this week!

We’re kicking it all off with Big Sexy Blooms!

This is a gorgeous stamp set of Gerberas that’s “plus sized” at 5 inches x 6 inches.  I love it because you can colour it up any way your little heart desires.  You’ll see lots of variety today as you hop along to the designers blogs.  I’ve chosen to stamp it onto Strathmore Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper, inked with VersaFine.  I brought it to life with my Zig Clean Color Brush Markers because they have such intense pigment and they work really well to colour up a large image without having to add too many layers of paint.    

I’ve curved the bottom of the image with a pinked scallop edge die and added a satin ribbon, some pretty mirrored holeless sequins and this classy sentiment from another set you’ll see this week, Floribunda.  Can’t wait to show it to you!  

Allison Cope

Christine Okken (you are here)

Julie Koerber

Kathy Jones

Stacy Morgan

Barbara Walker

Leslie Miller

Nancy Sheads

and Marcy at the Power Poppy Blog

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Power Poppy’s Enchanted Garden Release Week!

Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Hello Everyone!  I’m back at it after a few days away on a trip to California where I serve on a Governing Board.  It was a good round of meetings, and 33 degrees Celcius with sunshine and green everywhere doesn’t hurt!  I managed to come back to a blizzard on one of my connecting flights and was stuck in the airport along with thousands of other people all night long.  I just can’t do a sleepless night like I used to be able to!  I feel like I’ve been playing catch up all week.  

But today, we’re inserting COFFEE!  That should wake us all up!  The Cat’s Pajamas is participating in the Coffee Lovers Spring Summer Blog Hop!  I’m playing with some fun goodies from TCP including the Fresh Brewed Heaven Stamp set and it’s matching Cut Ups Die, Coffee Clatch.  

I created a background with the fun stamps in this set by stamping in VersaFine ink onto watercolour paper and loosely watercolouring with Zig Clean Colour Brush Markers.  

To highlight the two cut out coffee vessels, I used TCP’s Round Bubbles Cut Ups Duo die, and placed the die cut cups on top.  Isn’t that steam rising cute?  A bit of accenting with some wood veneer and it’s ready for some caffeinated celebration!  

Be sure to check out what’s happening in the Coffee Lover’s Blog Hop, and join in!  There are TONS of prizes from over 85 companies to win!  

Here’s The Cat Pack girls playing along....

Julee Tilman

Cristena Bagne

Brenda Nakandakari

Wendy McGaffey

Christine Okken (me!)

Melissa Chipperfield

Nancy Thomas

Beata June

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Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!