TCPTues198: Bestest Friend Ever

Bring on the pastels and join The Cat's Pajamas for its weekly TCP Tuesday challenge! Here's the soft, sweet color challenge Lori has provided this week:

I pulled out the adorable Kick Some Grass set and some lovely My Mind's Eye Dolled Up papers. The bunny is nestled in some grass that I die-cut with TCP's Grass Border CutUps die. I added some teeny clear rhinestones to the flower centers for a bit of sparkle.

TCP Tuesday Challenge Details:

1. Each Tuesday we will give you a challenge.
2. You will have until the end of the month to complete the challenge.
3. Add your entry to the Inlinkz Gallery or upload to the SCS Gallery, using the keyword TCPTUES198 for this week's challenge.
4. TCP stamps are not required for this challenge, but highly recommended.
5. There will be one randomly chosen weekly winner, announced on Tuesdays who will win a Gift Voucher for use on The Cat's Pajamas website.
6. There will be one winner, The Swanky Stamper, announced the 1st of each month. They will win several sets from an upcoming release and get to play along with us at our Pajama Party and Blog Hop.
7. The winner has one week from the day the winner is posted to contact me for his/her voucher code.

Here's the February SFYTT:

The February SFYTT is sponsored by Your Next Stamp, which has generously provided a discount code for SFYTT participants. Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting!

Everything Is Going To Be Okay

Surprise!! A group of us are hijacking this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge in order to pull off a surprise blog hop for Julee! She and her husband Mark soon will be welcoming twin boys into their family, and we wanted to share our congratulations and best wishes with them!

Did you arrive here from Susan Liles's blog? If not, head over to Teresa Kline's blog, where the hop begins. (You'll also find the full hop order there, just in case there are any glitches along the way.) Be sure to visit our guest of honor, Julee, to share your love and well wishes!

As part of the hop, we thought we'd share some words of advice and/or wisdom for the parents-to-be. I think the most profound insight I ever had as a new parent was when I realized, and I mean really, truly realized, that just as God gave my child to me, God also gave me to my child. It was easy for me to see my baby as a gift from above, but much harder to think of myself as God's gift to my baby, especially since most of the time I felt like I didn't have the first clue about motherhood. Julee and Mark, may you find empowerment, encouragement, peace, and awe in the awareness that God Almighty Himself chose YOU to be the parents of these precious boys. He knows exactly what He's doing, so, indeed, everything is going to be okay!

The sentiment I've used is a brand-new Plain Jane, Be Okay, that Julee surprised us with last week. If you haven't seen the beautiful card Julee made with Be Okay, check it out HERE. What a great phrase to have in stamp form!

And here's today's Mojo Monday sketch #229: (I turned the sketch upside down and tilted the inner rectangle cluster.

To play along, link up your creation to the Mojo Monday blog.

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To continue with the surprise blog hop for Julee and Mark, your next stop is Taylor Van Bruggen!

Thanks so much for visiting!


  

Kraftin' Kimmie Release Hop

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps' release day is here, and to celebrate, we're having a Release Hop! If you need to go back to the beginning and get caught up, then head over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge Blog, where you'll also find the full hop list. 

As you hop from blog to blog, be sure to leave a comment at each and every stop because some lucky stampers will win packages of these incredible stamps from the new release. And when you’re done hoppin’, visit the Kraftin’ Kimmie shop, because ALL the new images are NOW available! Gimme Kimmies kits, for those who "need it all," are also available at a discount, but for a limited time only. 

There's so much to see along the hop today. The February release includes the adorable Cheryl Alger Lulu and Friends set, two different sets of fantastic feathered friends, Tweets and Twitters 1 and Tweets and Twitters 2, both illustrated by Emilie Goulet, the amazing new collection of six Annie Rodrigue Superheroes, and, finally, a perfect new set to work with all your stamps, In Stitches.

I chose to show off the adorable Rescue Ranger from the Superheroes collection. Gotta say, this is my kind of superhero! My personal secret weapon cure-all? A pint of Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. Works every time! (Or maybe it just tastes so good you forget about the icky stuff!)

I colored the image with Copics and die-cut it with a Spellbinders Labels Eighteen die. The papers are from the My Mind's Eye Fiddlesticks 6x6 pad. I tell ya, I'm going to need an intervention with the woodgrain patterns and paper doilies if I don't soon stop! I embellished with buttons, satin ribbon, lace trim, burlap string, and an open scallop border die-cut.

The sentiment continues on the card inside, which is also decorated to coordinate with the card front.

Thanks so much for stopping by. To continue with the hop, you'll want to visit Peggy next. I'm sure she's got something gorgeous to inspire you -- she always does! 

Enjoy the hop and have a wonderful Sunday!

Stamps: Rescue Ranger Superhero (Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps)
Paper: Copic X-Press It card stock, Papertrey Fine Linen card stock, My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline "Fiddlesticks" paper collection
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Tumbled Glass Distress
Accessories: Copic markers, Spellbinders Labels Eighteen and Labels Fourteen Nestabilities, sanding block, distressing tool, foam adhesive, Papertrey ribbon and button, May Arts burlap string, white lace trim from stash, My Favorite Things Open Scallop Border and Medium Scallop Border Dienamics, The Cat's Pajamas Circus Labels Cut-Ups, paper doily, sewing machine
Size: 5 1/2" square

Kraftin' Kimmie Peek: Superheroes

Today's Kraftin' Kimmie peek is Marvelous Mom, one of the new Superheroes images by Annie Rodrigue. It's also challenge day, and this week, we have a sketch challenge.

Visit the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps blog for additional challenge details, more fabulous sketch inspiration, and looks at all the different Superheroes images -- CUTE! Hope you can play along!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Kraftin' Kimmie Peek: Tweets & Twitters

Okay, SUPER fun image to share with you today from the upcoming Kraftin' Kimmie release (which is this coming Sunday, BTW). I'm no ornithologist, so I drew coloring inspiration from ... Rio!

Meet Blu ...

... here to wish you a Happy Bird-Day! 

This crazy cute fella is from Tweets & Twitters. Check out all the KKS design team inspiration today! Links are on the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps blog.

Side note: I first imagined this image all colored up in a rainbow of bright, tropical colors; however, with one or two lonely exceptions, rainbows and I just don't play together nicely. I opted for an all-blue bird, thinking the final colored image would be easier to work with. Are you kidding? You could conduct a traffic stop with this shade of blue! And I can assure you not one of my three bazillion pieces of patterned paper has this particular blue in it! All of this to say ... I'm a little skeered posting this one!

Have a great day, and tune in tomorrow for more Krafty peeks!

Kraftin' Kimmie Peek: Lulu and Friends

Today I'm joining the Krafty Girls of Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps for peeks of the upcoming release! This adorable image comes from the Lulu and Friends stamp set. Isn't she just precious?! Coloring is with Copics, papers are from the Dilly Dally 6x6 paper pad by My Mind's Eye, and the layout is this week's Deconstructed Sketch. Head over to the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps blog for all the release info and links to all the designers posting peeks today. Tune in again tomorrow and Saturday for additional peeks and on Sunday for a release hop. The new stamps will be available for purchase Sunday in the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps store.

And here's the new Deconstructed Sketch, #39:

Lots of sketch inspiration from the Deconstructed Sketch Girls, too:

• Amber Hight
• Amy Sheffer, Guest Designer (that's me)
• Arielle Gordon
• Donna Wardle
• Jen Shults
• Jessica Diedrich
• Kadie Ensley
• Lori Boyd
• Pam Varnell
• Sheri Gilson

To play along, just link up your creation HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!




Stamps: Lulu and Friends (Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps, releasing Sunday, 2/19)
Paper: Copic X-Press It card stock, Papertrey Fine Linen card stock, My Mind's Eye Dilly Dally 6x6 pad
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Old Paper and Pumice Stone Distress Inks
Accessories: Copic markers, paper doily, sewing machine, foam adhesive, yellow trim (unknown), Papertrey ribbon and buttons, May Arts twine, Verve Wavy Hearts and Loopy Blooms dies, dew drops, My Favorite Things open scallop border die, distressing tool
Size: 5 1/2" square

TCP Tuesday: Get Well Cuppa

This week's TCP challenge, hosted by Julie, is an ABC challenge -- Anything But Card. All the details, plus Julie's crazy adorable treat project, are posted in the TCP Forum on Splitcoast. Can't wait to see all the entries!

With a few different friends ill or just down in the dumps, I've been in a get well mindset. I found a yummy looking package of gourmet chicken noodle soup mix at the grocery store and decided to pretty it up a bit by first putting the ingredients into a glass cracker jar (from Target) and then decorating the jar. The front label is done with stamps from A Cuppa. I colored with Copics, paper pieced the apron with patterns from My Mind's Eye's new On the Bright Side Two 6x6 pad, then trimmed out everything and layered over a paper doily.

I embellished the jar top with layered circles and a rosette made with TCP's Easy Rosettes CutUps die. This sentiment is also from A Cuppa.

Last I tried some raffia around the jar lid and hung a shipping tag printed with the name of the soup on one side and cooking instructions on the other.

Thanks for stopping by!