Friday 25 September 2015

a frog + a witch hat | #tgifc22


It's a mixed up basket today at the TGIF Challenge Blog!
That means that you need to use two of the three of this month's weekly challenges as inspiration.



You can see that I turned the sketch sideways.  What started out as to the right, it morphed to the centre... I seem to be a "centre" type of gal lately.  

You can also notice that I continue to play with the products in the holiday catalog.  The Winter Wonderland Designer Paper, the gold corded trim, the Boo To You framelits (witches hat).  I combined those items with the annual catalog lovelies including the You're Sublime Stampin' Up! stamp set.  I used the blender pens to colour but I would have preferred to use my aqua painter... but since this sketch went from without a stamp to a stamp, I didn't think to stamp on watercolour paper initially.

And now... I just wonder if perhaps I am more ready for St. Patrick's Day rather than the Fall holiday seasons. Geez.

Regardless...
"It's Toadally awesome!"
Cathy

Thursday 24 September 2015

31 Things to be Grateful For | Fancy Friday



Welcome back to another Fancy Friday blog hop with my past 2013 Stampin' Up! Artisan Design Team friends!

This month's theme is Fall and Autumn.  
In the past I noticed that many people do a 30 day challenge where by they write down what they are thankful for.  Many people do this in October if you are Canadian or November in the United States depending on the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Reflect.
"What's important?"
"What are you thankful for?"
Be thankful.

And of course it will be things like health and family but it may also be little things on that day.  Perhaps I'll be thankful for my Keurig or that my favourite yoga pants were washed.  All is fair.

So, what is it?
It's a book.
(Side note: Have you heard about this amazing kids book with the same title? It's great.  And hilarious.  And you should get it.  My friend Sara told me about it and now I just want to repeat "it's a book" over and over. Check it out. For real.)


This started out as a card.  I embossed it in gold on water colour paper.  I had the intent to water colour over the gorgeous images.  But I loved it too much just the way it was.  I then folded the page as I was looking for a flash of creativity.

It hit me. 
"It's a book"

Quickly, I stapled some loose leaf inside. (I love love love writing on loose leaf.  Not sure why.) You can't tell here but I actually scored it a little on the left too.  This is because I wanted to cover up the staples.  In the front I was going to use the red sticky strip... but in the end I covered it with washi tape instead.  The back cover was adhered to the back, covering the backside of the staples.

Is that English? I am not sure.


I added the alphas from the Seasonal Snapshot accessory kit.
Yeah. It's pretty awesome.

The inside ended up looking like this as I stamped "Thankful" from the Six Sayings stamp set, as well as stamped the date with a wreath from the Hello Baby stamp set.


Now you have to go check out Cindy!

Cathy



Tuesday 22 September 2015

Butterfly Thinlets birthday card


This is a special birthday card that I had to make in a flash.  I knew that the Stampin' Up! Artisan team had a blog hop in July using the butterfly thinlets so I went through their hop and found what I was looking for.  This card is completely inspired by Sarah Sagert's lovely card.  Thanks for the inspiration Sarah!

In the mean time... well... it's probably time for you to get those butterfly thinlets!

I used a polka dot bag with a clothespin instead of the envelope due to the fact that this card was very bulky.  It worked out fabulous!



Have a great day!
Cathy

Monday 21 September 2015

Tuesday #witl2015 | This is the Life Project Life


Finally back again to show you my second layout in my Week In the Life (WITL) 2015.  This post documents my Tuesday - detailing our typical adventures. You can see all the journalling here:

Of course, I am continuing to use the Stampin' Up! Project Life kit called "This is the Life".

You can see that I have a "flip flap" on the left hand side - which I sewed into place.  In addition, you can see that I used the clear stickers from the This is the Life Project Life accessory kit. (Love. Love. Love. the clear stickers)


Since you are taking a lot of photos and documenting a lot of detail, my layouts for each day went over one page.  This is the back side of the layout and shows largely my evening photos.


I love splashing a single word over a photo.  I didn't think that the letters themselves would give enough "spunk" so I decided to use my scissors and cut out the block letters over top.  I must say, its a great way to get more "bang for your buck"! No more As or Es? No problem!

The word "story" is simply white embossing powder and the "Back to Basics Alphabet" stamp set from Stampin' Up!


Again, there's another flip flap on the backside.  One trick for the back is that you have to have everything in place before you can go ahead and adhere the flip flap.  Again, I have my sewing machine out everyday so I just used my sewing machine.  I cut up old pocket protectors to create them and also use my Fuse tool from We R Memory Keepers.

That's it for Tuesday!  To see all the journalling and layouts for WITL all at once, you can click HERE or you can check out each day individually:

   WITL Monday - Photos/Journalling  &  Layouts
   WITL Tuesday - Photos/Journalling  &  Layouts
   WITL Wednesday - Photos/Journalling & Layouts
   WITL Thursday - Photos/Journalling & Layouts
   WITL Friday - Photos/Journalling & Layouts
   WITL Saturday - Photos/Journalling & Layouts
   WITL Sunday - Photos/Journalling & Layouts

Have a great day!
Cathy

Sunday 20 September 2015

A penguin birthday | #tgifc21


I can't stop playing with this penguin from the Snow Place Bundle! The hat comes from another favourite stamp set of mine called silhouettes and Scripts!

I told you last week that you needed this... And I am hoping I gave you another reason why!

This card was created for one of my favourite friends, Rhea. She is incredibly amazing and I am super blessed to have her as a friend. You can find her online at ReAson if you'd like to send her birthday wishes.

This week's challenge on the TGIF challenge blog is happy birthday. You have until the end of the week for us to see what you got.


I am in New York City so if this post looks wonky, it's because I don't know what I am doing! So nice of you to drop by!

Cathy

Friday 11 September 2015

Snow Place Bundle. You need it. | #tgifc20

Ummm.

What other reason do you need to get the Snow Place bundle from Stampin' Up?
... or the red foil...
... or the Christmas Greetings frame lit...
... or the Winter Wonderland designer paper...
... or the black glitter paper...
... or the Winter Wonderland vellum...
I'll stop now.


This time the designers at TGIF Challenges used a sketch. It appears that we all knocked it out of the park so make sure you check it out and even play along!


Happy Friday!
Cathy

Monday 7 September 2015

Summer Mini Album | Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine



A summer album with holiday paper????

You better believe it folks.

And... a fail proof guide to creating a mini album in one night!!!



Have a fabulous day!
Cathy

Do you want one of these product shares? $5 shipping anywhere in Canada. Free local. Sorry American friends, can't sell to you but maybe there's a SU sister doing a share in your neighbourhood. Email me at inthecatcave@hotmail.com






Friday 4 September 2015

cheers & winter wonderland | #tgifc19


It's a colour challenge!
And boy was it a challenge!
For me I started with what I like - black and white.  Then added as I went!
Love how it turned out.


And if you look closely, the paper is from the new Winter Wonderland Designer Paper.  It's incredible and you need some. There's also the black glitter paper. Love the new holiday catalog - shop now!
Here's the cards up close:

Be sure to go to the TGIF Challenge Blog to play along!
Have a fantastic day and thanks for stopping by.
Cathy

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Holiday Kick Off

Hi everyone!
It's been a long time that I've been so excited over the new Holiday Catalog!  This catalog is outstanding and I can't wait to show you all the fun things it has to offer!  I'll be placing my first order on September 2nd so I decided to do some promotions!!



This Product Share includes:
1. 2 yards of gold cording trim 
2. Four Winter Wonderland silver embellishments 
3. Three wooden snowflakes 
4. 12 - 6x6" sheets of Winter Wonderland vellum, one of each design 
5. 12-6x6" Winter Wonderland Designer Paper 
6. 2 reindeer paper clips PLUS some thick white cardstock


This Product Share includes:
1. 6 Home for Christmas buttons, 2 of each design. 
2. 8 Iced Rhinestones Embellishments, 4 of each design. 
3. 2 yards of Gold Cording Trim. 
4. 12 Home for Christmas enamel dots, 2 of each design/colour 
5. 2-6x6" of Red Foil. 
6. 6-6x6 sheets of Holiday Fancy vellum, 2 of each design. 
7. 12-6x6" sheets of patterned paper, 2 of each design

While you are at don't forget about the Weekly Deals!  It's a great time to stock up on your rhinestones and candy dots! Click on the icon below to check them out!

Happy Shopping!
Cathy