Wednesday Stamp Club - Let's Play Dress Up

Good morning! I'm playing along in this week's Wednesday Stamp Club for My Favorite Things. Kim is taking her husband on a surprise anniversary trip, so I told her I'd be happy to make a sample for her this week!

This week's theme is Let's Play Dress Up - which is perfect timing because I've wanted to make a Pure Innocence Honey Bee valentine for a week or so now. I'm *obsessed* with these new My Minds' Eye Lost and Found papers, and then I saw Mercy's fun sketch this week. And voila, my project came together super fast.

We do so hope that you'll play along in the Wednesday Stamp Club challenge. Kim hosts a weekly InLinkz on her blog where you can upload your direct link to your sample. Trust me people, you'll want to play along because seriously, each week one lucky participant wins a $15 gift certificate!

And if you're chatty like us, we hope you'll come and chat over on the MFT Member Company Forum!

Cheerio!

Today is TCP Tuesday and my friend Susan is our hostess, she's got a super fun challenge for you this week, and I do so hope you'll be able to play along.

Sadly, I'm going to have to take a pass this week... shame on me.... Here's the scoop, I'd hoped to make a card on Monday for the challenge, but instead I got called in to sub. In other news we're expecting some new furniture delivered today, so I've had some cleaning and de-cluttering to get ready....

Lucky for me, I had this sweet card featuring Sprinkle in "Coffee, Tea or Meow?" to share with you today.

I'm loving this new patterned paper from My Mind's Eye - Animal Crackers. I've paper pieced Sprinkle's bow on her fancy hat, as well as the tablecloth. On my "to do" list for sure this week is to get some more thread, I'm running low! You see lately, it isn't enough to just sew around the edges, I've sewn around the edges of every single panel (and now, you see why I can't ever make a quick card...)

Be sure to visit Alma's blog to enter YOUR project into this week's The Cat's Pajamas TCP Tuesday Challenge!

Paperie Princess

Sorry that its been DAYS since I've posted anything.... I've been busily preparing for MFT's next release, and creating samples for my November classes. (Sorry, such a tease!)

And here's a confession, when I'm working on class materials, and new release samples, my stamping space gets TOTALLY trashed. As I was trying to restore some order the other day, I ran across this sweet scrap of paper from Girls Paperie. And decided that it needed to get matched up with MFT's Pure Innocence Princess stamp. Right away....

Because after all, it is a shame when cute stamps, and sweet papers don't meet up... right? This morning I'm rushing off to a soccer game with the little guy. After a great deal of moaning and whining last week, he had a great time. Lets hope that this week we're able to skip the moaning and just move onto the fun.... fingers crossed.

MFT VIP Kit!

Can you believe that it is already time for the MFT VIP Kit? Oh my goodness, let the Christmas Cards begin! I've already picked up a few fun new holiday papers, and I couldn't wait to ink up my newest Who's That Girl!

If you've come through the hop, you should have popped on over here from Jessie, but if you've just stumbled into the hop, then be sure to stop back at Kim's place because you won't want to miss a thing!

Check out this month's Winter in the City Kit, loaded with the newest Who's That Girl, as well as a FUN new Die-namic, glitter, an exclusive mini set, and holy crow look at that gorgeous satin pleated ribbon!


So, how about a little eye candy with this fun new stamp set, and of course the Die-namic! I live just outside of Boston, and people, it gets COLD here. I just seriously hope my friend WTG doesn't break her leg in those gorgeous boots on an icy, snowy sidewalk.... right? I paper pieced her jacket and added some liquid applique trim for some added warmth! The snow piles and a bit of the sidwalk have been given a snowy effect with a mixture of Diamond Glaze as some chunky glass glitter.

This fun set has a cute little puppy that you can stamp into the scene, but shhhh.... don't tell anyone, I'm not really a dog person. So, I wanted to share that this could easily be a "non-dog-walking" girl, just out for a leisurely jaunt - out shopping, or headed in to get a nice and warm something at Starbucks!

I'd mentioned the other day that I'd used Karen's Sweet Sunday sketch twice, and here's my second submission. Of course, I had to add in my new favorite sentiment treatment, a half circle tucked under my main panel. Oh, so handy, don't you think?

For anyone that was reading my blog last year, you may recall that I'm a wee-bit obsessed with glitter snowflakes. Well gues what folks, MFT's newest Die-namic is a snowflake assortment. AAGH! I've cut one with kraft paper, one with white felt and the last one I gave a glitter treatment. Be prepared to see LOTS of these from me. I'm still in love....


This Die-namic is part of the MFT VIP Bundle available for 24 hours only... then it will be off the shelves until the official release in early October. There are a limited quanity of kits available, so run people, run!

Your next stop on the HOP is Julie! She lives in Canada where brr, brr brr, it gets even colder! I know that she'll be prepared with something completely wonderful for you! Happy Hopping and Shopping too!

little bits....

no eye candy this morning, I've got daycare babies here today, and a 3 hour CPR re-certification tonight.....but a quick heads up on a few fun bits of news:

MFT

This morning, the team is previewing the new a la modes "Miss You a Latte" and its totally adorable. I can't wait to get a few moments to ink her up and play! Be sure to visit Kim's Blog today at 11am EST for a full list of designers participating today.

Be sure to come back at 10pm EST tonight when we'll kick off our Who's That Girl - VIP Hop!

The Cat's Pajamas

Its Tuesday and its color challenge week. Sony is our hostess with a fun color challenge this week. I hope to have a sample in the next few days.

Craft Critique

If you love to craft and love to write, then YOU might be just perfect for Craft Critique. See their call for reporters HERE

Add your project to the Halloween Blog Carnival - one lucky participant will win a gift package valued at $25!

Did you miss the September Newsletter for Craft Critique? There is a special giveaway just for readers of Craft Critique from our friends at Fiskars. You can find the giveaway here! But, be sure to sign up for the newsletter here so you don't miss future giveaways and articles!

a la modes - Candy Cane Kisses

I had my class up at Ink About It this past weekend, and was I ever thrilled to find out that that they already had the new Tinsel and Twig collection from The Girls Paperie. I prompty scoffed up all of the papers (um, as well as the Toil and Trouble collection.)

And, as any kind friend would do (...once they've safely secured their own stash...) I made sure to tell all the girls in my class that this would be my newest obsession, and that as long as they happened to be in the store, that they might as well save the gas for a return trip, and simply pick up the Girls Paperie collections then. *giggle*

I also gave the girls a heads up that they'd soon be seeing the newest a la Modes from My Favorite Things, and hooray, today's the day! Today I've got the super cute Candy Cane Kisses to share with you - isn't she adorable?

Her teeny coat is paper pieced with one of the Tinsel and Twig patterns and I cut out an extra candy cane so that the layers were all correct. Remember, I'm a bit nutty about paper piecing, you always want to make sure to take care of the extra little layers so that no pieces are "sunken"

A set of Baby Braddies from My Favorite Things adorn each of the stitched corners on the main panel. And since I was having fun dicing up all the papers, I finished up the inside of the card adding extra scraps, stitching and the sentiment inside.


You'll remember that the a la Modes are My Favorite Things cling mounted stamps. You'll see the first four stamps in the collection here - I'm sure you'll love the adorable illustrations, and the clean, crisp impression from the cling mounted rubber.

Be sure to stop by Kim's blog today after 11 am EST for a full list of designers participating in previews today. I can't wait to see all the new cute samples!

Sweet Sunday Sketch

Happy Sunday everyone! I am SO in love with this week's Sketch from Karen that I've created two cards this weekend with the sketch. One is for today, one is for this coming Wednesday's MFT VIP kit. Isn't it great when a fabulous sketch inspires you to KEEP creating. I love that.

For today's sample, I played around with my Pure Innocence: Birthday Princess stamp set, and some fun new paper from My Mind's Eye - Animal Crackers.

Of course, I had to incorporate some ledger paper, because lately it is a *must* on any project I'm working on.

And if you're using ledger paper, then you really just HAVE to pull out the new MFT Die-namics - Notebook Edge Die to give it a little extra "something" and of course, with all these layers, and patterns, there's nothing to pull all the elements together like a bit of stitching right.

You see why my most favorite cards take forever to make - but these are the ones that I tend to love the best...



Be sure to head on over to Karen's Blog, see her stunning sample, and of course add YOUR card using her fabulous sketch with her inLinkz widget. This week's sketch was drawn by Nancy McKinney who is playing along with us too - so be sure to visit her, thank her for the sketch, and see what she's whipped up for the occasion!

Of course you'll want to hop around to visit all the Sweet Sunday Sketch Samplers, because its always fun to see how everyone has interpreted the sketch each week. Its time to grab a cup of coffee and peruse the samples, have a SWEET Sunday everyone!

• Jennifer Tapler
• Karen Motz
  
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale
• Vicki Burdick

Time to Celebrate!

I have got to say that I LOVE the new line of stamps from My Favorite Things - the a la Modes. There are currently four of these beauties available (and more on the way eeeks!) but this cutie pie with this giant whimsical cake called "Time to Celebrate." Is it me, or is this illustration seriously, seriously cute?


I'll admit that I have had this sweet stamp set on my desk top waiting patiently for me to kit my local MFT Classes (my second one is this weekend and its sold out - hooray!) helping Kim with some class materials for her for the end of the month, and the recent TCP Release.

As long as you've got paper and stamps already out, why not finish off the inside of the card too? This set has so many sentiments I couldn't help but tuck another one on the inside!

So once the *work* (...can I just say that I love that designing is now actually party of my JOB!) was done I was thrilled to just PLAY around a little bit!

Today is a daycare day for me, I'm still doing that two days a week. Tuesday & Thursday I've got five three and under, YIKES. They're cute but seriously I'm so tired by the time they all go. You can bet I'll be asleep at a reasonable hour tonight instead of stamping the night away.... thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!

Flopsey Flies a Kite

Its been ages since I've had time to play along in a challenge just for fun, but last night, my husband ended up with a business dinner to attend, so I got a little unexpected time to just play!

This sweet Flopsey Flies a Kite was released at the beginning of September from MFT but hadn't yet seen ink from me, oh the shame!

This week's sketch from Mercy was just perfect for the occasion, I flipped it over on its side... and dug into my new My Mind's Eye: Alphabet Soup - today I'm using the boy version. Love it!


I paper pieced Flopsey's kite, and he's popped up on dimensionals. Instead of stamping the kite string with all the little ties, I simply used a bit of twine. Lots of sewing here (I know, I can hardly make a card without sewing it... otherwise, they feel naked! GASP!)

Hope you're having a great day. So far today I've taken one kid to the dentist, volunteered for lunch and recess and now I'm having a quick bite before heading off to volunteer in the library for my older son.

Not a horribly productive day by any means, but certainly a fun one. My son's face LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE when I walked in for lunch duty, and in the end, that's what its all about, right?

TCP Tuesday - a New Release HOP!

Good morning everyone! All the latest stamps and Cut-Ups are available now at The Cat's Pajamas. Its been such a fun week of previews for all TWELVE new sets and you'll find all the latest available at the TCP Store. Now's the fun part, when you all get to shop, stamp and blog and we get to see what YOUR favorites are!

This morning, we've all got a TCP Tuesday HOP planned for you with our new release projects centered around Amy's Challenge to us - plaid. Since this is a Hop Style post, you should have sauntered on over here from Jen's Blog if not, you'll want to start up at Amy's Blog so you don't miss any of the previews along the way!

I was digging through my paper, and decided that this Nutmeg Patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket was JUST what I was looking for. I've pieced both of the pumpkins, the little on in the penguin's hand, as well as the spooky Jack O Lantern with this fun paper (okay, maybe its argyle, but shhhh... my story is plaid and I'm sticking to it!) Don't forget to add your plaid sample to Alma's Blog for your chance to be named the Swanky Stamper of the month!

Now since we're hopping along, you'll now head on over to visit Susie! Once you've headed through the whole hop be sure to head on over to The Cat's Pajamas and pick yourself up some goodies!

A Little Witchy Thing....

I've mentioned before that usually, Halloween cards aren't in my comfort zone, I usually go all cute-ish. But, eegads, did this sweet little witchy win over my heart. I stamped her once to my oval diecut, and then stamped the hat separatley so that it could hang over the edge. It is also popped up one layer for added dimension.

See, I guess I don't dislike Halloween after all.... and get this, I used purple (shocker I know right....)


I was inspired by Jen's recent Sketch for you to Try, but in retrospect, I realize that I missed a panel. Oh my goodness, not so good with the details lately... but I had a blast mixing and matching these patterned papers, some are from the new Cosmo Cricket Halloween package, and then this fun black and white polka dot was in my "polka dotted paper" drawer.

Leigh and I recently had a conversation about paper storage, and admittedly I sort mine in a not-usual way. I have a bin that it dedicated to polka dots, houndstooth, ledger and ginghams. They're all my basics. Then I have things sorted out by color. I know, strange. But it is what works for me. I'll use it in a coordinated pack till I get bored with it, then I throw caution to the wind and mix all it all up.

You'll want to see all the previews being shared today. Your first stop of course, is to visit Alma! Jen, Carole and Jackie all have previews today too, and I can't wait to see what they've put together today.

And, most importantly, don't forget that TONIGHT is the Release Party for The Cat's Pajamas being held over at Splitcoast Stampers. You'll find the party thread HERE- be sure to join us for prizes, games, previews and chatter with TCP designers, friends and fans! Can't wait!

TCP - That Crazy Winter Bunny

Happy Sunday everyone! I'm so excited to be able to share TWO samples with you today for the upcoming release from The Cat's Pajamas. I've been a stamping FOOL lately between preparing samples for TWELVE yes TWELVE new stamp sets for TCP, and instructing at my two local stamp (and scrapbooking) stores.

Today I'm sharing two samples with our new friend the bunny - Hm. That guy needs a name... - and all of us here in the Basile Family are skiiers. In our house, the saying is "If you're not turning, you're not learning." But, I think Alma has it right. Check out this sentiment....

"If you're not crashing, you're not skiing" I totally love it. I laughed my head off when I saw it, because seriously each time I ski I have one of those moments when I know I'm totally going to eat it. Usually when I'm trying to keep up with my eight year old. He's an amazing skiier, and well, honestly, I'm pretty terrible.

Along the winter sports theme, Mr Bunny is also doing a little ice fishing - for frozen carrots perhaps? *giggle* Wishing now that I'd stamped in a few beer bottles for him or something, because ice fishing, wow, that's a hobby that just makes me scratch my head. Brr. "Just chillin'" I think is seriously an understatement.
I added in some snowflakes with TCP Glitzy, and added a warm layer to his coat with Liquid Applique. I created the illusion of some ice with a layer of Diamond Glaze (but not too sure you can see it here in the picture... its glossy and ice-ish in real life. I promise...)

For this little set, I pulled out the watercolor papers, aquapainter and reinkers and got to work. I seriously love doing that, I grabbed all my supplies and painted a while while my hubby and I caught up on all the TiVO that had collected while he was on his business trip to Japan. The next day, once everything was dried up, I cut my Nesties, and had lots of fun with the sewing machine. If you're interested in a little tutorial on watercoloring, I've got a video one to share in my sidebar over there ---->

You'll see this sentiment treatment on a few of my cards lately, I'm sort of obsessed. Ledger paper, flag ends, stitched in place. Its a thing.

Now, be SURE you don't miss any of today's previews. Swing on over to Alma's blog and you'll find other samples of today from Susan, Tracy and Sony!

Feeling Devilish....

Good morning! Hope you're all having a great start to your weekend. I've been baking with my little guy this morning, getting a stash of safe cupcakes sent in for both my boys for upcoming birthday parties at school. If you didn't already know, both my boys have severe food allergies, so I spend a lot of time baking safe extra's for birthday parties and celebrations.

I'm usually a Halloween Hater, and here's why... my eldest was diagnosed with a food allergy, and yes we found out the hard way, the day after Halloween. And now with two boys allergic to nuts, and one allergic to all things made from corn (including high fructose corn syrup) you can see that for me, Halloween is just a giant pain! Last year I just had the boys collect candy, then I exchanged it all for safe treats. This year, since they're both in school, I'm going to pre-deliver special treats for them to our neighbors and friends so that they can actually keep what they get on their spooky night out.

So, though I'm not a giant fan of this holiday, I AM having lots of fun with the new releases from The Cat's Pajamas. Today I've got a Little Devil to share with you. He's a clean and simple creation, but he makes me laugh... hope you enjoy.


Remember.... The Cat's Pajamas has TWELVE new stamps being released - you'll want to follow along with the previews on Alma's blog each day so that you don't miss at THING!

Greatest Hits - Jolinne

Getting both boys off to school and prepping class kits for this weekend, it has been a complete whirlwind around here. Its all good, just c-r-a-z-y! So I hope you'll forgive me my very simple layout on today's Greatest Hits post for MFT, but it was nice to just sit and color a while and not worry too much about how all the papers would get laid out.

Today is our monthly Greatest Hits post, when we take a particular line of stamps out to play. This month, its Jolinne. I'll admit sadly that I'd not yet inked this cutie. I love her coy expression with her shoulders shrugged and her eyes closed.

You'll want to swing by Kim's blog today after 11am EST, she'll have a list of all the designers with Jolinne samples to share today. And if you're feeling inspired to add to your collection, then today's the day - you can use the code JOLINNE to save $5 on any Jolinne set

I'll make a little admission here too, sometimes I get nervous coloring Miss Jolinne's hair, there's just so much of it, and I don't want to blend it too much, I wanted it to be all piecy with highights and lowlights. Then I remembered a cool trick from Mel - she used to scratch the surface of her hair with a paper piercer or a needle, and then color over it. Its cool how it takes to the color differently. Have a great day everyone, I forgot that today was a no school day when I did my daycare calendar and I have MORE than a full house today. Wish me luck.....

Easy Peasy Christmas Card - Its a TCP Sneak Peek

Usually I go all crazy with the layers and what not, but today I've got something a little bit clean and simple to share with you. As I was working with the new TCP Cut-Ups Banner Die, I couldn't help but notice that it makes a wonderful Christmas tree - right?

The scalloped layer is cut from felt, and then the center layer is cut with My Minds Eye So Sophie houndstooth paper. The tree's trunk is just a bit of grosgrain ribbon. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. And sometimes, in the midst of a crazy week with class prep, back to school, home daycare etc, that's just how I roll.....

Don't forget that Alma will have sneak peek illustrations for you each day from now till next Monday - be sure to hop on over to see who's got previews for you today!!

TCP Fall Release - Sneak Peeks Begin

Hold onto your hats, are you ready? Because we've got a full week of The Cat's Pajamas previews lined up for you. And you are going to fall in LOVE with all the goodies that Alma has prepared for you!

Each day, you'll find at least three girls on the Cat Pack will have previews for you... who knows, maybe more? Alma will have the listing each day of who is on preview detail for you.

Today I've got a little Sheepish preview for you, and further below you can meet Little Bird

First up is easy peasy....I've paper pieced this sweet guy's scarf with a bit of polka dotted paper from Cosmo Cricket, and he's colored in lightly with a W00 and W01 marker (..he's white don'tcha know....) and in classic fashion, there are a mix of amazing sentiments to go with each stamp set this time. Lots of stitching, you know like a soft blanket....

I adore this new line of illustrations joining the Cat's Pajamas, this stamp set is titled "Little Bird" I've paper pieced the bird, as well as the little girl's outfit with bits of Togetherness from Cosmo Cricket. Now, you certainly could go halloween spooky with this set too, but I was inspired to go sweet...

Sure do hope you're ready because there are TWELVE new stamp sets being released next week - yes TWELVE! Be sure to join us on The Cat's Pajamas Member Company forum on Splitcoast for chitter chatter all this week, and also for our New Release Party on September 13th.

Spooky for a Sweet Sunday Sketch

Boo!

Its that time of year when you start to see all manner of spooky things popping up in blog land. Usually I keep it nice and sweet around here, but its time to get spooky....


I took this week's sketch and flipped it up on its end, and instead of sweet scallops, I went for a bit of funky bit of felted pinking and a pleated paper scrap. Ooh, Halloween, when else can you mix, orange, green, grey and brown and its okay. HA!


This spooky zombie is one of the new images from The Cat's Pajamas, stay tuned because we'll start our Sneak Peek Week on Tuesday and the new sets are so fun you won't want to miss a bit of it! The official release party will be September 13th over on our Splitcoast Member Company Forum.

Be sure to check out all the samples from The Sweet Sunday Sketch team and be sure to add your sample to Karen's Blog as well.

• Jennifer Tapler
• Karen Motz
• Laura Fredrickson
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick
• AND special guest Nancy McKinney

Now, have fun stamping, because I can't wait to see what YOU come up with!

Taylored Expressions Birthday Bash Blog Hop

Welcome to Taylored Expressions Second Birthday celebration! I'm so excited to be playing along with the girls today.

You should have hopped on over here from Dawn Easton's Blog - if not, please be sure to pop up on over to Taylor's Blog so that you start at the very beginning, there is a HUGE lineup of stampers with samples today and trust me you won't want to miss a minute of it!

Today we're celebrating the Second Birthday of Taylored Expressions - yeah Taylor! And of course, all the latest goodies are now available in the store HERE. The best news, is that Taylor has a few fun specials to offer as well:

• Purchase ANY 4 full-size stamp sets and receive a free Binder Box
• Purchase ANY 8 A la Carte stamps and receive a free set of Stamp Storage Panels
• 4 orders will be selected at random (one each day from Friday - Monday) to win a $25 TE gift certificate.

Now how about some eye candy featuring the new Stand Out stamp set? This one totally cracks me up! You may have noticed by now that we're all working with a new set of a la Carte images with a Belated Birthday theme. (how is it that I'm a cardmaker and never have a birthday card handy - that's just sooo wrong, but true. tell me I'm not alone right?)


The companion sentiment on the inside reads "I just wanted my card to stand out from the crowd!" I love when you can finish off the inside of a card with coordinating scraps for a fully finished piece!


Now, your next stop on the hop is the amazingly talented Sandra McLean I'm always SO in awe of her coloring, I can't wait to see what she's put together for you today! See you over there!

Shop Hop Time!

Hope you're having a blast hopping through this month's Shop Hop to celebrate the official release of all the latest goodies from My Favorite Things. Between all the cute new stamps, and all the amazing new Die-namics dies... there is a LOT of goodness to be added to your stamping collection this month. (see if you call it a "collection" it seems so much better right?)

You should have started up at Kim's Blog - you won't want to miss a single stop tonight because these girls always bring their A game to the Shop Hop!


As a mom of two (superhero obsessed) boys, you have to know how I love this little Pure Innocence Super Boy. You could work this up for Halloween, but it also is just perfect for a card for the little hero in your life.

And thinking of all things boy-ish, I think you'll adore the newest Die-namics on the block..... if you haven't seen it just yet, take a peek at the new Star Border.

I'm sure you'll agree that it is just perfect for a quick little accent right? I often want to add a little trim, but my scallops aren't the right choice for a boy. And now, I've got stars. Yeah!!

The sentiment was tucked onto the projet with a little mini-binder clip - I'm in a schoolish mood since both my boys started school this week. I'm in awe that BOTH my kids are in school now full days. Time flies eh?

Now, its time for you to fly on over to visit Sherrie. If I know one thing, it is that her project tonight will blow you away, her work is always simply stunning. Have fun, and happy shopping!