Blowing KISSes

Well I'm working on stuff like there's no tomorrow. I have to have several commitments taken care of by around December 12th, when company comes to town for the holidays. And when you commit to something, you pretty much have to do it, or a least that's my motto, although there are some out there that would disagree. 'Nuff said.

Anyway, I thought I'd just pop in to say hi and no, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Tomorrow (Friday) is my little "procedure", so I'm not sure how much I'll be worth for a bit. I'll have my Sketch for You To Try posted on Saturday. I plan on doing that tonight, while I'm not eating or drinking anything after midnight. Like I do THAT all the time.

So here's a picture from several years ago (in fact it's from before I knew him). It's my husband. Yes, this is the man that will be taking care of me after my surgery. You've come a long way, babe. I'll talk to ya'll soon.

A {Your Next Stamp} Sketch For You To Try

Well, I made a boo boo. But it's turned out to be a Good Thing. It's been a crazier than usual week. I'm busily finishing up my projects for the Dirty Dozen gallery that opens up tomorrow. I've been helping in my kids' classrooms at school this week and also doing a TON of stuff for the school Fall Festival that is today. I won't go into it, but it's more than I can write here. Yesterday alone was a killer as all those projects and then some had to get wrapped up, on top of getting the news that I will be having a small surgery next Friday to help fix something that's "broken" as far as my bodily functions go (TMI? Sorry!). There were several times I pretty near emailed Jen to tell her I was just going to have to skip out on the Sketch For You To Try today, but she is so good to me, I just hated letting her down. So I started on a card anyway yesterday afternoon, saying to myself, 'it really won't take THAT long!' Well, I hated my card and how it was turning out so I called her to tell her to not expect anything outstanding from me because basically, my card was awful. THAT'S when she reminded me that today was the day we were helping out a friend and using her store's stamps! I had my card all done up with another company's. Oopsie! Therefore, no card from me today. However, I did manage to save it and I'll be using it for one of my Dirty Dozen projects. Just look for my "More is More" entry! See? A silver lining--it's a Good Thing.


Anyway, I hope you've already heard of Your Next Stamp, but just in case you've been a little busy and haven't afforded yourself the luxury of browsing the store, this is your chance! Karen has some amazingly FUN stamps to play with and even some Digi's if that's your thing! The Fhiona line with the cute little girls are my favorite! I WILL be using them in the near future since I missed out this time.

Another Good Thing: If you will play along with us this week, each participant will be entered to win a $10 gift certificate to the YOUR NEXT STAMP store. Just link your creation to Mr. Linky over on Jen's Blog. The winner will be announced on next Saturday’s SFYTT post over there as well.

For now, check out my SFYTT sisters' creations. I've got a carnival to get to!
Leigh
Amy R.
Amy S.
Kelly

SUSIE Q-TIP: Read directions before starting on something so that you don't mess up. However, if messing up occurs, make the best of it and find a silver lining.

TCPTUES84---A Holiday Hop

Well, it's TCP Tuesday and it's also time for a New Release Holiday Blog Hop to show off the 5 new Clearly Swanky stamp sets, new Holiday Glitzy Glitter and new buttons that The Cat's Pajamas will be releasing tomorrow, the 10th. Since I'm the Hipster Hostess with the Mostess, the Hop starts with me! But first shall I go over what this week's stamp challenge is? Since we're already getting into the holiday spirit with these new sets, the challenge will be to use any TCP stamps to celebrate any December holiday, up to and including New Year's Day.

Here's a few simple rules as to how the TCPTUES challenges work:
1. All challenge entries will go into the monthly Swanky Stamper contest. That means $25 in Cat's Cash to spend on new stamps at The Cat's Pajamas.
2. Since this week's challenge is a STAMP Challenge, TCP stamps are required.
3. Link your card to Alma's blog, which really means you'll be uploading it into her guest book/slide show (cool and easy, remember?!).

Now, how about a little about my card? I used the new Shine Bright Clearly Swanky set to make this Joyous Chanukah card. Is there something in one of the pictures you've seen before? Yep, I made it to match the little dreidel I showed ya'll HERE a couple of weeks ago. Well, actually, I made the card first and then the dreidel, but decided to hold off on showing the card until now to make it be for this Holiday Hop! I used some of the new Holiday Glitzy glitter around the circular piece and it's super sparka-lay in real life! I love this set, and even though we don't celebrate Chanukah, there's still a few images in it that are wonderful for other types of holiday cards. Ok, so are ya'll ready to be WOWED by all the cuteness of these new sets? Ya'll are going to want ALL of them!! They are my favorite TCP stamps so far! Head on over to Toni's blog, Moved to the Mountains . Thanks for hopping along!

SUSIE Q-TIP: Ok, so I don't really have a tip, but knew that ya'll would look here. (Teehee--I've got ya'll trained!) Remember back on my dreidel post, I was having a little contest for two of ya'll to win a copy of the latest issue of Paper Crafts? Did ya'll not wonder who ever won? I decided to wait until now to chose the winners! My question was for ya'll to guess what I had put inside my dreidel. Several of you guessed candy, gold coins, stamping stuff, chocolate and even money. No one got it completely right--Hershey Kisses!! So the girls just randomly drew two names and they are: Lara and terriavidreader! If you two girls will email me with your addresses, I'll get these in the mail to you. Congrats!

Stamps: S-9675-Shine Bright (The Cat’s Pajamas)
Paper: Basic Black, Not Quite Navy (SU!), Aqua Mist, White (PTI), City Dots (Heidi Swapp)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Not Quite Navy, Cool Carribean (SU!)
Accessories: Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Paper Frills (Doodlebug), Black/White Stitched Ribbon, Holiday Glitzy Glitter 03 (TCP), Glittering Glue (MS), Foam Boosters

Getting Into the Holiday Spirit

Well, we are getting pretty excited about the holidays around here. As of today, there's only 40 more sleeps until we head off to Disneyworld for Christmas! I know it's a little early for decorations and all, in fact we aren't even going to go to the extremes of decorating that I usually go to much since we will be gone, but I saw the cutest little light up decoration at Walgreen's yesterday and I think the girls and I "need" it. It's a lightup outline of a Mickey Mouse head with a Santa hat on to put in your window. How fun and perfect is that?! Maybe we can rig it and put it on the car! And we also saw a Santa hat with Mickey ears attached at Target. That will be another "must-have" for the trip. Meanwhile (back at the farm), we are starting to get in a little Christmas shopping already since we will be having all our family festivities before the trip. Here's a great idea that we are doing and I want to share it with all of ya'll that do "Chinese Christmas" gift exchanges. We started them a couple of years ago for the adults in our family, even though our family is not that big. It's just fun! So for this year, we've decided to make it a "themed" Chinese gift exchange. All our gifts will be "AS SEEN ON TV" items! Isn't that a cool idea? I'm hoping for a Snuggie or maybe some Bumpits! Come on, ya'll know you want some of those things, too! Next year, I may even be clapping my lights off and on. A cool feature to have with the Mickey Mouse light I'm getting.

Anyway, here's a little package decoration I made with another one of the Pure Innocence girls from My Favorite Things. She's from the set, Flurry of Love and I think she's becoming my favorite one so far. I took a chipboard candy cane from Making Memories that I've had for years and painted it red with the whitish stripes using a white paint pen to make it sort of "shiny" looking (an old tole painting trick). You could find a candy cane pattern (like THIS ONE) instead if you want and cut it from cardboard. I inked it all around each edge to give it some more depth which totally made it look better! I highly recommend doing this with a brown ink. My candy cane had see through holes for the "white" part, so I backed it with some patterned paper, but you could just paint the red and white stripes like normal before inking the edges. I then ran some Glossy Accents (Crystal Effects) around the edges and spooned on some Diamond Dust (chunky glass) for sparkle. I LOVE that stuff on Christmas projects!

While it was drying, I made the tag. The last part was to tie the big, fluffy bows and attach the tag to them. It seems like a lot of steps to create it, but it really didn't take all that long. Hmm...should I put this on one of my "as seen on tv" packages? LOL!

SUSIE Q-TIP: When coloring faces with Copic markers, be careful not to touch the eyes, nose, hair, etc. with your pens. Just barely go around them and let the ink "seep" over to them for coverage in those areas. Even the best of black inks may run and you don't want black blotches on a cute little girl's face. There's not a thing you can do about it but start all over when it happens. Don't ask me how I know this. I don't want to talk about it.

Stamps: Flurry of Love (MFT)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive (SU!), White Perfect Panel (MFT), October Afternoon
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Chestnut Roan Cat's Eye (Colorbox), Antique Linen (Ranger)
Accessories: Chipboard Candy Cane (MM), Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Copic Markers, Glossy Accents (Ranger), Diamond Dust, Country Red Acrylic Paint (DecoArt), White Paint Pen, Red/White Stripe Ribbon (SU!), Brown Gingham Ribbon, Button (MFT), Twine

A {Believe in Elves} Sketch For You To Try

Well, we did it again. We played our little cookey game. We "won", so to speak, too and are much less thirsty than we would have been if we had lost it. Yep, we are three for three in the "Put-your-drink-on-the-back-bumper-of-the-car-and-see-if-it-makes-it-there-all-the-way-home" game! You see, we discovered that by accident a while back when I accidently left my soda on the back bumper of my car and drove away--Far away, like even on the freeway, away. It was there when we got home, so I finished drinking it. So now it's a little game we like to play every now and then. I took the girls to McDonald's last night and Lindsie put her drink up for collateral. I have an Expedition, so we always open the back side windows to see if we can still hear the ice sloshing around while we're driving and are constantly checking the mirrors and the road behind us to see if there's been a casualty. Last night, victory was ours once again. Audrie was especially happy. Just like I used to think there were little elves inside the traffic lights changing them for the drivers, maybe there's a little bumper elf holding tightly to our drink so that it doesn't fall! OOHH! Next time, I think we should try TWO drinks! I'll let ya'll know how that goes.

Anyway, speaking of elves, I love the sentiment I did on this card for Jen's Sketch For You To Try. (Yep, it's Saturday again and time for another installment of ya'll's favorite challenge!) These stamps are a little sneak peek from The Cat's Pajamas and are part of a fun set called Give a Little. Ya'll are going to LOVE the 5 sets coming your way on the 10th! My favorite TCP release yet! Don't you just love that little bear? I colored him with my Copics and I've fallen back in love with outlining everything in a light blue again for a little pop. Why did I quit doing that?

Well, we have a TON of stuff to do today, so I better get moving and let ya'll find the sketch and our new Guest Designer over on Jen's Blog, and then check out my SFYTT sisters for some more inspiration before you get started on your own card...that's a HINT to play along and use keyword SFYTT!
Leigh
Amy R.
Amy S.
Kelly

SUSIE Q-TIP: Gluing panels on top of a "cuttlebugged" piece can be tricky. Plan to sew them down or use brads to keep them from popping back up. If you get too frustrated with it, take the kids for a spin and play the "Put-your-drink-on-the-back-bumper-of-the-car-and-see-if-it-makes-it-there-all-the-way-home" game to take your mind off your card for a little bit. Then come back to it with your nice refreshing drink. Good Luck and may the elves be with you.

Stamps: S-9678 Give A Little (The Cat's Pajamas)
Paper: Shimmer Black and Red (CutCardstock.com), Pretty in Pink (SU!), Mistletoe (MM), Vintage Cream (PTI)
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko)
Accessories: Circle and Labels One Nestabilities, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug, Paper Piercer/Mat Pack, Sewing Machine/Black Thread, Copic Markers, New Leaf Grosgrain Ribbon (PTI), Silver Brads, Button (TCP), Silver Cord, Jody Boosters

Free to Good Home

EDITED: THE STAMPS WENT LIKE HOTCAKES! FREE HOTCAKES!! I'VE GOT MORE TO GO THROUGH, AND MORE RETIRED MFT, SO STAY TUNED. I'LL POST A FEW MORE SETS SOON. THANKS TO ALL WHO EMAILED ME AND YOUR SWEET COMMENTS!

Well, no, not free kittens, but almost!! I am making very slow progress on my mission to make a little room in my craft studio. However, I came across this little stack of 4 stamp sets from My Favorite Things that I had set aside a while back because they are retired and I won't be using them anymore. Since I'm on the design team, I thought it would be fun to give these away to someone who could actually use them. Nothing fancy about how I'll work this. Just be the first one to EMAIL me that you'd like them and I can put them in the mail to you tomorrow if you are sure to include your address. I am not breaking up the sets, it's the lot or nothing. Two are used and two are new and have no packaging except one set, as that is how we get them from Kim. I have also written the set names on the plastic sheet with a Sharpie (because I love Sharpie markers).

Here's the set names:
I'm Pullin' for You Flopsey
Gardener Flopsey (new)
Nature Calls
Back to School WTG (new)

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, GO!!

MFT Blog Hop "After Party"

Well, have ya'll been following along with all the sneak peeks this week for this month's release from My Favorite Things? It's an incredible release--so MANY cute new stamp sets!! Were you at the wonderful release party tonight? Those are always so much fun and full of inspiration, right? Well now, ya'll are hopefully hoppin' along for the "after-party" in this BLOG HOP! If you just happened upon my blog to see what ol' susiestampalot has been up to just out of the blue, then I highly recommend starting at the beginning of the hop, for even more fun over on Kim's blog HERE. It's your chance to find even more inspiration with the new sets, so that once you get yours, you'll have lots of ways to use them! My card features the new set, Gifty Girl. You may have seen it before with one of the MFT Kits, but the kit was such a hit, that she's being offered as a stand alone mini set! There are so many possibilities with this set--can't you just picture gift card holders, shopping list notebooks, and maybe even a "bag-lady" birthday card! That would be funny! Either way, I can't wait to see what ya'll come up with using your new MFT!

Your next stop on the hop is the oh so talented Cindy Haffner! I'm sure she has some fabulosity up her sleeve for ya'll to gaze upon!

SUSIE Q-TIP: If you happen to install brads too close to an edge or corner and can't seem to get them bent just right so they don't peek out from one side, the brad "legs" are easily cut with an old pair of scissors. Watch your eyes though, so it doesn't fly up and get you. My glasses have come in very handy a couple of times.

Stamps: Gifty Girl (MFT)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral (SU!), Cream Perfect Panel (MFT), October Afternoon DP
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Chestnut Roan Cat's Eye (Colorbox)
Accessories: Labels One, Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Paper Piercer/Mat Pack, Threading Water Border Punch (Fiskars), Copic Markers, Cream Brads, New Leaf Satin Ribbon, Twine (PTI), Button (MFT), Jody Boosters