Let me be clear

It's the last day of the month. So it's the very last day to get your entries for the TCP Tuesday Challenges in to be considered for Swanky Stamper.

So if you played along with us during our "Hype the Type" stamp challenge, our Sketch Challenge, Inspiration Challenge, or this week's Acetate Challenge, upload your card and you could be eligible to win a selection of our Winter Collection stamps and dies and play along with us at the Pajamas Party and Blog Hop. And, if you want, Sneaky Peek Week.

So let's recap the challenges.

In our first challenge of the Month, Susan challenged you to "Hype the Type". She challenged you to use our Alphabet and Word stamps in a new way.

Then Leigh challenged you with a Star-Studded Sketch! This one was so fun, I had to play along, myself.

Then Jen rocked it out with this Rock n' Roll Inspiration Collage. A really challenging collage with lots of different ways to inspire you.

Our last TCP Tuesday Challenge for this month, is Julie's Supply/Technique Challenge! She's challenging you to use Acetate on your card or project. And there have been some really wonderful entries for this one.

Check out Jen's take on this challenge using Sheepish. I have a hard time cutting through regular sheet acetate with our more detailed CutUps, so inquiring minds want to know what kind of acetate she used. 'Cause I just may want to steal....er..um use this idea in the future. ;)

Then hop on over to Nancy's blog where she used one of my favorite stamp sets, Jingle Bells. And she used our Snowflake CutUps, too. Come on gals, tell me your secret.

Okay back to business. You have until midnight pst to upload a card into your Splitcoast gallery, with appropriate code, OR you can upload your cards on this blog under the appropriate challenge. I can't wait to see what you come up with. The suspense is killing me.

I can see clearly now

As some people like to say, "I'm in the throes of it". Right now, it being drawing the Winter Collection. I'm almost done, I just need to set a little type that is worthy of the sentiments that our very own Carole Burrage has written for this collection. And she has got some AWESOME ones!

In the meantime, I'll leave you with a couple of links to some abSOLutely delicious eye candy that The Cat Pack just whipped up for the TCP Tuesday Acetate challenge.

First. Leigh O'Brien. What can I say? The gal can stamp. She can take ANYthing and literally wave her hands around and create magic. Check her post out, you'll see what I mean.

Then, Lori Tecler adds acetate to her card in a really different way. You have to look carefully, though. I missed it on first glance.

Now what can you do with acetate?

TCP Tuesday 182, and the Weekly Winner!

It's TCP Tuesday and Julie is the Hostess with the Mostess for this week's TCP Tuesday Supply Challenge.

This week Julie is challenging you to use Acetate in your card or project.

"Huh?" You say? That plastic stuff? Yuppers. Acetate is just like paper, only clear. "DUH" you say? That means that anything you can do with paper, you can do with acetate, and more.

Check out Julie's card. She uses acetate in her shaker card so that you can really see all the glitz shimmer of the glitter. I love that she stamped on it, too. Take a peek.

Amy uses acetate as a base for her card. It's so classy and oh so special.

What can you do with acetate?

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WEEKLY WINNER

And NOW for the Weekly Winner! This week's Weekly Winner is Melissa Hubert! Melissa wins a voucher for $10 on The Cat's Pajamas website. She was randomly chosen from all the cards that were entered in last week's Inspiration Challenge. Love her take on the challenge. She was inspired by the colors in the Inspiration Collage. Just beautiful.

Melissa, please email me for your voucher code.

Here are the Deets.

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 TCPTUES182 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.

Recovery

Have you been rocking and rolling this weekend? I know Lori has. And she has a different take on the Inspiration challenge. Her card does both. And with STYLE! (cue the harps)

I'm still recovering from yesterday's Rubber Stamp Convention in San Jose. I was working the American Art Stamp/Gourmet Rubber booth. And I brought our Fall Collection and our line of CutUps Dies. Of course, I forgot to bring the Big Top CutUps. So those of you who prepaid for your Big Top CutUps at the show, they are ready to be popped in the mail as we speak. So I'll make this post a short one.

At the show, I remembered what made going to rubber stamp conventions so exciting. Not only was it was a great place to meet up with friends who actually know what I'm talking about when I say "masking" or "distressing" (in a good way) or debate with me about the whole unmounted versus mounting thing.

But, I realized, it's all about the discovery. Discovering new stamps and stamp companies and discovering new techniques.

My friend Robert, the owner of American Art Stamp and Gourmet Rubber was actually working the demo table. It was only the third time he demoed in his life and he was having so much fun playing with the stamps and Smooch spritzers. And he was good. He was all about discovering how they worked and sharing with the stampers who gathered around his table what he was discovering while he played.

And as I was watching him I realized that our times for discovery at stamp conventions could be at an end. With so many stamp companies having to tighten their belts, it's hard to shell out the money for the booth fees and traveling costs, so the shows are getting smaller and smaller. It's so important to support these conventions when they come to your town, otherwise, not only is there a possibility the conventions might disappear, but the stamp companies, too. And our time with friends and our time for discovery.

So if there is a stamp convention coming to your town, go to it. It just may make to remember how fun it is to discover new things.

Meow!

Lots going on here at the Casa de Gatito. But, nothing I can share just yet. ;)

In the meantime, are you rocking out with our Inspiration Challenge? There is lots to be inspired by!

Take Amy's card, for example. She is spinning up some wonderful goodness with her card. And spinning is the right term, too, when you see the stamp she used.

Julie turns up the volume with her super fun card. I love all the detail she added with the wigs and all. Have I gotten your attention, yet? Yes, I said "wigs"

Now go and stamp!

PS. I'll be at the RUBBER STAMP convention this Sunday in San Jose, working the American Art Stamp/Gourmet Rubber booth. I'm bringing our NEW Release and our CutUps dies and I just might possibly be giving out FREE stuff with a purchase. Come by and say "Meow!" Support our rubber stamp conventions. There are so few of them left.

TCP Tuesday 181, and the Weekly Winner!

It's TCP Tuesday and Jen is the Hostess with the Mostess for this week's TCP Tuesday Inspiration Challenge. And check out her inspiration collage for this week!

Does the smell of hair spray get you excited? How about scarves? Got a whole drawer of them? Do you use your hairbrush for something more than brushing hair.

Then you get it. Jen is challenging you to put a little rock in your roll and CREATE!

Want to know what I mean? Then strut on over and take a look at Jen's card, and you'll see what I mean.

Jenny totally can relate. Check out her spin on this challenge.

Leigh took her inspiration from the colors in the Inspiration Collage. Such a striking card.

And striking up the band is this cutie from Nancy! It had me at "Hola!"

Now are YOU ready to Rock and ROLL!? I want to see what you come up with.

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WEEKLY WINNER

And NOW for the Weekly Winner! This week's Weekly Winner is Jen Carvajal! Jen wins a voucher for $10 on The Cat's Pajamas website. She was randomly chosen from all the cards that were entered in last week's Sketch Challenge. Such a fun card with all the different papers!

Jen, please email me for your voucher code.

Here are the Deets.

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 TCPTUES181 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.

Wendy Bond

When I chose Wendy Bond to be Swanky Stamper, I knew that she was good, but she totally blew me away this week.


Like this card featuring Oh Chute! Her choice of papers and paper piecing are just FAB! Then add the "shadow" she put under the cloud by layering a different color paper. This is one I'm going to have to do myself. And is anyone else in love with her color combo?


And how about the color combo in this card? It's so fresh. And she stamps those tickets like no body's business. ADORE!


And speaking of adore, I adore this card using Bearing Presents. All the layering of paper and diecuts to create a winter scene just takes my breath away. Take a minute or two to really appreciate the detail in this card.

And how about how Wendy used the "throw away" part of the Circus Border? That's a great way to get double use from your CutUps Dies. And something else amazing? She used the megaphone from the Step Right Up set as the lights there in the corner. Then she added the vellum for the lights. I'm telling you, the gal's got mad skills. I love to see an artist just play!

And I am so grateful that she used them to show off our NEW Fall Collection. Thank you, Wendy, and thank you, Maggie for being a part of Sneaky Peek Week!

InLinkz.com

The Day After!

It's the morning after our new release and I'm exhausted. But a good exhausted.

If you've been with us during Sneaky Peek Week and yesterday's Blog Hop, you'll know that The Cat Pack really knocked it out of the park. And they were joined by past Swanky Stampers, Maggie Haas, and Wendy Bond.

And those gals were fab! I loved their cards so much I thought I'd show them here. Today, I'll show off Maggie's cards, and tomorrow, Wendy's. These gals really deserve a whole post to themselves. ;)


Like this super cute card using Step Right Up! How cute is this? I love all the bright colors and the mix of stars with the button. And the Circus Border CutUps Die tucked under there? Sweet!


I'm just bananas about this card that she stamps the monkeys from Go Bananas! Across three panels? Wow! And the bananas stamped across the back panel for extra texture? Double Wow! And that monkey paper is perfect. The teeth just crack me up.


I think this is my favorite card, though. She uses "Oh Chute" and it's a completely different looking card than the rest of her wonderful creations. So soft and pretty, I love how the parachute echos the shape of the circles behind it. Brilliant.

This was Maggie's card for the Blog Hop! All the paper piecing and patterns working together, it makes my heart so happy!

Thank you Maggie for joining us! It was a joy to see you play with our Fall Collection!

Oh Chute	Step Right Up	Go Bananas
Big Top	Circus Border	Cloud Border CutUps Die

InLinkz.com

TCP Tuesday 180, the Weekly Winner, the New Release Blog Hop

Wow. That's a great big long title. And this post is jam-packed full of all sorts of goodness. So let's start with Blog Hop and TCP Tuesday. Leigh is our Hostess with the Mostess this week and she has got one fun sketch this week.

We are also releasing our Fall Collection today! So The Cat Pack is planning one doozy of a Blog Hop. So if you got to my blog from Julie's blog, you are at the end of the Hop. If you want to start at the very beginning, (and why would you not?) Hop on over to Leigh's blog.

Now when I said this was a fun sketch, I meant it. It really has so many possiblities, and if you've been hopping along, you know I'm right.




So this is my take on Leigh's FAB sketch. I used one of clowns in the Clownin' Around set and paired it with the Circus Panels CutUps and the Cloud Border. Yup, that's the Cloud Border that I cut apart. That die has so many uses.

I have to say that the Clownin Around set is one of my favorites. It was so fun to draw. I had in my mind what I wanted the penguins to do and I just kept drawing and drawing. I love this set!

(Sorry about the lighting, but it's been raining here in San Francisco and the clouds parted just long enough to take this picture.)

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WEEKLY WINNER

Ready for the Weekly Winner? This week's Weekly Winner is Stephanie Herbert! Stephanie wins a voucher for $10 on The Cat's Pajamas website.

Stephanie, please email me for your voucher code.



Here are the Deets.

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 TCPTUES180 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.

Fall Sneaky Peek #7

Day #7
Clownin' Around

It's Day #7 of Sneaky Peek Week! That means that tomorrow is the day our Fall Collection will be available on our website.

I hope you like what you've been seeing because, let me tell you, this collection has been as fun to play with as a barrel of monkeys. And speaking of monkeys, our last stamp set features our roly poly friends, the penguins, as what else, clowns. I don't know about you, but clowns always creeped me out, just a little, so I thought I'd exorcise the clown stigma with a little penguin fun.


Nancy Thomas gets the idea with this colorful card. Even the car gets into the act in this set. And look at how she used the Circus Panels to make a circusy border. Genius!


This set is packed full of stamps. 3 main stamps plus sayings, AND accessories galore. Jenny Peterson doesn't hold back in this card. You can tell she had a lot of fun playing while she put this beauty together. Check out the double Circus Border at the bottom of the card.


Have you ever tried to make one of those fancy foldout cards, but didn't know what to put on them? I suspect, with all the images in this set, mixed and matched with the Big Top, Big Ticket and Circus Panels CutUps dies, Amy Rohl had no problem. What a really fun card.

Want to see more of "Clownin' Around"? I know Susan has more fun to show you. She was so inspired that she decided to take her family to....the circus. Now I feel complete.

Then head on over to our In It To Win It thread in our forum at SplitcoastStampers. You could win the "Clownin Around" stamp set or any of the other stamp set we are previewing this week. Winners are announced each day on each of the Sneaky Peek threads.

And while you are there, you are invited to our Pajama Party to celebrate this fun collection. From 5:00-7:00 PST or 8-10 EST you are invited to join us on this thread for more Sneaky Peeks, Games and Giveaways.

Fall Sneaky Peeks #6

Day #6
Presto!

It's Day #6 of Sneaky Peek Week! That means there is only one more peeks before the entire collection will be available on our website on October 11.

Monkeys just make me smile. They are forever silly and never afraid to express themselves. This set is like that. Silly and just waiting for you to express yourself.


Amy Rohl knows it's a jungle out there, and still creates a card that doesn't monkey around. She mixes coloring and simple paper piecing. And check out that texture under the sentiment. Yup, that's burlap. Our CutUps cut through even that. Love that look.


How about this card by Susan Liles? She's a gal after my own heart. (Meaning I wish I could create cards like her). The image just needs a little color and it's good to go. You can really go simple with this set or go to town.


Nancy Thomas really expresses herself with this colorful card. She puts the two monkeys in the collection hanging from their tails. This set is a perfect anytime set for anyone. Or any monkey. Do you know any? I definitely know quite a few. And they know who they are.

Want to see more of "Go Bananas"? Check out Jen, and Maggie. I know you'll be bananas if you didn't.

Then head on over to our In It To Win It thread in our forum at SplitcoastStampers. You could win the "Go Bananas" stamp set or any of the other stamp set we are previewing this week. Winners are announced each day on each of the Sneaky Peek threads.

Fall Sneaky Peeks #5

Day #5
Presto!

It's Day #5 of Sneaky Peek Week! That means there are only 2 more peeks before the entire collection will be available on our website on October 11.

Today that cheeky bunny makes another appearance. This time he's magical. So magical, he's pulling himself out of a hat. Now that's talent.


Speaking of talent, take a look at this wonderful card by Jen del Muro. This card is simple, but powerful. And the bling on the Circus Panel makes it look like a marquee. So clever and cute.


Amy Rohl created this awesome card, only this time she paper pieced the bunny and colored him. He doesn't need much to make him extra special. And here, Amy layers two of the Circus Panels CutUps for a whole new look. Presto! A really great look, easy peasy.


If you really want to color the bunny, like Jenny Peterson has, you most certainly can. Here she's colored him grey. Isn't his dark grey nose so cute? And she's using the other side of the Circus Border CutUps as a scalloped border. The great thing about our border CutUps dies is that we really pay attention to what's being cut away. It's like getting two dies for the price of one.

Want to see more of "Presto"? Check out Jackie, and Julie. Believe me when I tell you that they make a little magic of their own.

Then head on over to our In It To Win It thread in our forum at SplitcoastStampers. You could win the "Presto" stamp set or any of the other stamp set we are previewing this week. Winners are announced each day on each of the Sneaky Peek threads.

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Get Our Fall Collection Before Anyone Else!

Scrapper's Boutique at 6714 Smithfield Road, Suite 2, in North Richmond Hills in Texas is having a Pajama Party of their own today! You can get our complete Fall Collection there. I hear there will be prizes. Wonder if there will be cake.

Today, I will be at Mainely Stampin' at 1318 W. Texas in Fairfield, California. And not only will the complete collection be there, but, I'll be doing a Make and Take starting at 3:00. Hope to see you there!