Yeah Baby!

Have you checked out Katie's blog? Her blog hits just reached 20,000! Yay, Katie!

And to celebrate she's giving away some blog candy. Yup. Yup. Yup. What could it possibly be? Oh it's looking clear to me now...

Now get on over to Katie's blog and see how to win!

Oregon

A week or so ago, Anthony and I took a long weekend to drive up to Oregon to visit family and check out the wonderful colors that make up the Fall. Living on the Coast of California most of my life, I never really get to see how beautiful a real Fall is.
We drove up to Crater Lake and stopped and saw this river and waterfall. Driving up the mountain the foliage was everchanging. We kept seeing these trees whose yellow leaves fluttered and danced among the tall trunks of pine.

And when we climbed higher we saw little bits of snow, dusting the trees and rocks. (Sorry, no pictures. Travelin', you know.)

And what did we see when we got to Crater Lake. Not Crater Lake. Snow. And lots of it. Almost knee high. Wheeee!

Pretty, no? I have only been in snow twice, and never this clean and deep. Here is another shot.
Then we went to Jacksonville. Such a lovely town. The area we went was chock full of buildings like this.
I just love, love, love the old advertisement painted on the side. The town was very old west and totally put me in the mood for some drawing, which I've been doing, and doing, and doing.

Busy, Busy

Sorry I've been a bit quiet. I've been working on the Spring line. And then not working, and then working. (You people out there that know me, know what I'm talking about.) I can't tell you what it is, but I can give you a one word hint.

I have found time to take a perfectionist quiz that Julee linked to on her blog, though. Check it out.

You Are 77% Perfectionist

You are a true perfectionist. You are both demanding of yourself and others. While it's great to have goals and standards, they don't need to be sky high!

Are You a Perfectionist?

And for some yummy TCP eyecandy, check out Leigh's blog. Fantastic.
Oh yeah. And the one word hint...."YeeHaw!"

Almost Here!

I'm happy to announce that Poochie Christmas will be arriving via the man in brown on Monday! Yesss! I know that many of you have been waiting patiently for this set and I do appreciated you! I truly do! Once I get the sets I will personally pack each and every order and make sure it gets to the Post Office that day. With any luck you'll be stamping by the end of the week.

Think snow

Here is a card I've been working on this week. I worked on it a bit and then had a good sleep and came back and reworked it a bit.

I'm liking how it came out. I used paper from Die Cuts with a View and Provo Craft. I used Brilliance Graphite Black my old standby, the Marvy Marker and Sakura glaze pen. But the part I like the most is the embossed white stripe. It is the first time I've actually used one of the many Cuttlebug embossing folders. I really like the result. Very clean embossing and super simple.

San Jose Convention

Last weekend we were in San Jose doing our last stamping convention of the year. We revamped the booth a bit. There is still a litte tweaking to be done, but I think it is coming along. Here is what it looked like before the doors opened.
We were lucky to get Tracy Falco, one of TCP's oh so talented design team members and her Mom, Bin demoing for us. They were amazing, as usual. Hi Tracy! Hi Bin!When the doors opened we were SWAMPED! Here is a picture of the booth in the late afternoon. The convention was held in a new venue this year and there were so many happy stampers! I didn't get a chance to shop much, but I did get to meet up with some old friends and make new ones. And isn't that what conventions are all about?

Peek-A-Booooo!

When I saw Julie's mummy creation on her blog, I was in love. And I knew that I had to do something like that for TCP spider and Ghostly Mummy. So here is the outside of the card.
And here is the inside. I just love it. And it wasn't so scary to make—after I figured it all out. I've got the instructions right here, for the October project of the month. Boo!

Kitty Found!

A wise woman once said to me "Now, now, don't give up hope so easily!! My little Hobbes went missing for a little over a week when I lived in Reno and he came home to the Mama, so just keep positive thoughts Alma!! Sending you kitty wishes for your little Mocha to come on home!! :) "

Thank you for all the kitty wishes! They worked! My brother came home tonight and said he heard meowing from the house for sale next door. Sure enough, when I got there she was meowing and crying. I called the telephone number on the for sale sign and soon we found her huddled under the stairs. It took about half an hour and a bunch of treats to get her out.

My guess is that she wandered in while they were preparing for the open house and got locked in. And when all the looky-loos came tramping through she got frightened.

The first thing she did when she got home was dig into her carpet and scent mark the door jamb for about 5 minutes. Yeah! It's good to be home.

Mocha

Thank you for all your kind wishes and thoughts about Mocha. She still hasn't come home.
I keep thinking that it was a good thing that she had just had all of her shots, including rabies. And that the flea stuff I put on the back of her neck will be good for another 3 weeks. That maybe this soft, cuddly little girl, who had just that morning cuddled with me under the covers, was a little pissed off because I had just bought her a pirate costume to wear for Halloween.

I keep thinking that I should have let her in the last time I saw her, but I wanted her to enjoy the last fading days of summer.

Anthony, just thinks that she was a drifter, and it was time for her to move on. She had run away from a couple of people, a couple of times. Maybe it was time for her to be a cat again. Chasing birds and stalking mice, instead of settling for the occasional fat fly.

Have you seen Mew?

Mocha has been missing since Saturday afternoon.

I left her in my backyard while I took my walk. She had settled in to watch the gopher hole. When I got home she was gone. By nightfall I was worried. By the next I was saddened.

Yesterday, we contacted "Home Again" network and let them know she was lost. We put up flyers and talked to children, mailpeople and anyone who was out. We called and called. Now all we can do is wait. Have you seen Mocha? We miss her terribly.

Sketch Challenged

I've been trying like the dickens to get a good shot of this card that I did for last week's sketch challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. But there was always something wrong with the shot. Out of focus. Bad lighting. Great big giant hair in the picture. This shot was the best I could get, though it is a little blurry.

I wasn't sure if I could work the sketch, but I must say that I am liking how this one turned out.

The patterned paper is from Brenda Walton's Neopolitan Scrap Pad that I've been itching to use since I got it. And I used the Versafine Vintage Sepia to stamp the Cat with Flower and color pencils to color in.

Gobble. Gobble

Well, I don't know about you, but I am constantly struggling to get out of the card design rut. So when I saw this card that Beate Johns did for a sketch challenge, I knew I had to try it for the swap that Jennifer is hosting over on Splitcoast.

So I used the Pilgrim Poochie, Acorn, and Gobble stamps with my very most favorite ink, Versafine. And I used Marvy brilliant yellow, ochre and brown for the stippling/sponging effect. Finished it off with a little sparkle around the Pooch with a Sakura Stardust pen.

I hope the girls in the swap like it.

It's a Swap thang!

'Tis the season to be swapping. Not only is Katie (all-time fab DT member) hosting a swap. But so is Jennifer over there on Splitcoast Stampers!

Since all your orders are winging their way to you, don't you want to show off your cool new creations? Gives you an excuse for buying them, dontcha know? "But, Honey, I need the stamps for these swaps I am doing."

C'mon. Don't you want to play? You know you do.

Check 'em out! Sign up and stamp away. Whhhheee!

Katie's Swap
Jennifer's Swap

All out!

Thank you everyone for making the new Holiday release such a success. We were deluged with orders on Friday and worked through the Holiday weekend to get them to the Post Office when it first opened on Tuesday. So everyone who ordered should be getting something in the mail soon.

Hopefully, the stamps will inspire you to start your Holiday cards, or join a swap! Katie, one of our illustrious Design Team Members is hosting one. Check out all the details on her blog.

Welome Ana

A great Jedi warrior once said "There...is...another." And he wasn't kidding. And neither am I when I say we have added a new member to The Cat's Pajamas Design Team. Ana Wohlfardt! Yay! (sorry, I couldn't help myself)

Ana has a mastery of pattern and texture that is unmatched. When trying out for team she had so many wonderful samples that I had to show the one that did it for me. It was the second design I looked at. Can you say "Wow"?! I did. So many times.

So welcome to the team, Ana. It's great to have you on board.

Welcome Leigh!

Did I mention that we have ANOTHER Cat's Pajamas Design Team member to announce?! None other than the most fabulous Leigh O'Brien! Yup that's right. Woo Hoo! When a couple of spots opened up on the Cat's Pajamas Design Team, I had to ask her if she would be willing to try us. Imagine my jaw dropping to the ground when she said she would. Here is a glimpse at one of her great cards. I hope to get the rest of them on the website, in the gallery soon, once I stop drooling.

Welcome, Leigh!

Finally!

Ta DAAAA! The new website is finally up and the new Holiday images are up, too! I tried to make it easier to navigate and give you more to look at when you get there.

Did you check out the Project of the Month?! Just click on the "Project of the Month" at the top of the page at the website and you'll be whished away. I designed this page so that you can save the page to your desktop and print it. It fits on an 8.5" x 11" paper. This month's Project of the Month is by Tracy Falco.

So cute and easy even I had to try it. Here's a square version with my penguins.

Here is the inside. I added glitter and changed out the Snowflake confetti for a Snowflake brad, cause I'm a little rough on the opening and closing.

Quick and easy.

P.S. I've gotten a couple of emails letting me know that people can't see the new site. Just empty the cache in your browser, and have at it

How could we forget Karrie?

Well it's not easy. Though Karrie Baker just joined our Design Team, she has become a standout member, with her fun and easy style and, shall we say, cerebral approach to design.

Check out this card by Karrie. Fun and lively, there's a lot going on but, like a maestro conducting a symphony. Karrie makes it all work.

Welcome to The Cat's Pajamas Design Team, Karrie! We're lucky you could come out and play!

Welcome Katie!

I am so very happy to announce that Katie Stilwater is now a member of The Cat's Pajamas Design Team!

Katie has a clean, funky style that I couldn't resist. She can take simple elements and make beautiful music with them. Just look at how she mixed patterns in this card and even added a saying to the top of a pattern. In lesser hands (uh, mine) it could have been a mess, in Katie's hands, magic.

Welcome, Katie. We are happy to welcome you to the team.

P.S. Katie used one of the new Holiday stamps available at The Cat's Pajamas Friday. Check out the gallery to see even more of her fab designs.

It's Friday!

And you know what that means?

I think there might be some serious blog candy being given away on Toni's Blog if you posted a comment on her blog, letting her know what your 3 fav TCP stamps are.

And if Sharon in NE is really nice to Karrie, there might be something going on at her blog today. Ya nevah know! Tee! Hee! ROTFL.