Season's Greetings

***For my Lil' Inker Designs November Release post,
please scroll down or click here!***

Welcome to The Craft's Meow Holiday Card Blog Hop where the designers are featuring sets released this year as well as last year! You should have arrived from Julie Ranae's blog, otherwise you can find the complete order (as well as details!) on The Craft's Meow Blog.

Holiday Foundations is a set designed to match any card maker's style, and can be the focal point or just as the name implies, a foundation. I stamped the harlequin pattern from the set onto cream paper in tea dye ink-it took only seven impressions to complete a full background on an A6 card, and was really easy to line up. I then stamped the holly leaves from Hearth and Home along one side in a slightly darker ink, and hightlighted one of the branches with black. After that, I sprayed a light shimmer over the entire background, allowed it to dry and then stamped the sentiment from Holiday Foundations. I finished the card by adding a focal point: a chipboard tag tied with ribbon.

Please leave a comment to be eligible to win a stamp set of your choice, as a winner will be chosen among comments left at all the stops! Comments must be left by 9pm PST, Wednesday, November 14th. The Craft's Meow is also having a Holiday Stamp Set Sale to help you get a head start on your Christmas cards...holiday stamp sets are 15% off for three days only (through Thursday, November 15th.)

Your next stop is Lin!

The Elf Tradition

According to this website, Santa sends his scout elves out where they are soon adopted by special families. These scout elves are the eyes and ears of Santa Claus. They cannot be touched (they'll loose their magic) but do listen and relay messages back to Santa as to whether the boys and girls should go on the Naughty or Nice lists. These elves like to play games and prefer providing a little mischief every now and then to the delight of the children, and then usually end up back on the shelf in proper form. On Christmas Eve, they listen for Santa and fly back with him after they've helped him deliver the presents to the house, and eagerly await until they can come back next year.

Petrie lives at our house during Christmas, do you have an Elf on the Shelf?

Today is the first day of Lil' Inker Designs! November Blog Hop, featuring super great releases from the Sugar Kissed Cottage Line as well as fabulous, signature dies and corresponding stamp sets from Lil' Inker Designs. You should have arrived from Judith's Blog. You can start at the beginning of the hop, at Laura's Blog to find all the details.

Today I'm featuring Dear Santa, however I made him into an elf instead by coloring his clothes green instead of red. I think that he's so cute, and I hope you do as well! Your next stop is Laura! And remember...there are secret prizes along the hop so leave a comment on each stop to better your chance of winning!

Dreidel

 

I have a little dreidel, I made it out of clay. And when it's dry and ready, then dreidel I shall play!

Woo hoo! It's release week at CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! Michele has done it once again and designed a plethora of fabulous stamps for the holidays and beyond that are just flat out amazing. Today I'm featuring a fun Hanukkah set called "8 Happy Nights."

I started by stamping the dreidel and star in their respective ink colors onto a trimmed piece of white cardstock. Then I sprayed the panel with some pearl mist, and flicked some blue and gold color back onto the design with a saturated, inked water brush. I then mounted the image panel to strips of gold cardstock and then mounted that to a white card base that had been stamped with one of the sentiment strips included in the set. To finish the card, I added the sentiment in gold as well.

I hope you enjoy the sneaks, and remember, you can find more about this set on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Blog and even find out how you can win one! CAS-ual Fridays Stamps also has a Flickr Group now too, have you checked out the great designs featuring CAS-ual Fridays Stampsthere yet?

So Torn

**For my Fresh Squeezed Stamps Tickle Me Fancy preview, please scroll down or click here!**

Little boys have to make some big decisions in life. Like what to be for Halloween. The boys were so torn about their costumes this year. I wouldn't let them spend oodles of my money on a fake costume at the super stores, so we made the trek into Goodwill were they found many, many halloween ensembles! They kept going back and forth and finally decided on a knight (helmet and shield for $3) and a construction worker (hard hat for $2). After a good dousing of Lysol, they gathered a few things from home (an old costume top and Papa's vest and tool belt) and they were set to go! Oh, I forgot to mention that they each came home with a plastic sword too, not for necessarily for Halloween, but to use as a machete to clean out the jungle i.e. the woods in the back of the house.

 
My card features torn notebook paper. Torn washi tape. Torn paper edges. We're So Torn this week at CAS-ual Fridays! Make a clean and simple project featuring a torn item and link it up to the gallery. There are some amazing, like take your breath away kind of amazing, design team samples up on the CAS-ual Fridays Blog, and there you can find more about the challenge, rules and prize!

Did you notice the stamps on this card? They are a sneak of the new November Release from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps! Ooh, I love them! I heat embossed the sentiment and snowflakes after all my torn elements were adhered to the card. Get tearing, can't wait to see what you create as you don't want to miss your chance to win!

Feather Sympathy

Sometimes the guys need a little love after they've lost someone. Or sometimes you need a way to show a kind-hearted woman that you are thinking of her after she's lost her husband, an avid outdoorsman.  Sometimes the right stamp set arrives that fits the bill perfectly...

I'm so very delighted to be guest designing for Fresh Squeezed Stamps for the month of November, along with the talented designers Chari Moss, Arielle Gordon and Lynn Put. Fresh Squeezed Stamps have four sets for this release, and you have a chance to win the daily featured set on the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Blog.

The second set from Fresh Squeezed Stamps that I got to work with is called Tickle My Fancy and is full of lush feather images in different styles, along with some great corresponding sentiments. I often am lacking in sympathy cards when someone looks through my ginormous stash, and decided to use the classic images for a masculine based sympathy card.

Please stop on over to the Fresh Squeezed Blog for more information about this super fun set and pop on by their Facebook Page and say hello to Fresh Squeezed Stamps on their Twitter Page too!

Simon Says Stamp Challenge is having a Sympathy Card Challenge, so I'm linking this up, yay!

Five or Fifty

Follow your heart. Do what you feel is right. Sometimes the easiest choice isn't always the right choice and it might take a while for everything to work out the way it should. It doesn't matter if you are five or fifty, following your heart usually seems to be the best way to go. So follow your feelings, do what feels right.

I have a tone on tone card to share today that uses items from the Artful Delight November Card Kit. (Everything but the sticker sentiment, floss, ink and the dies used to make the butterfly heart came from the kit...as usual it is packed full of beautiful goodies! You can check out a complete list of contents here!) I started with a black cardstock base, texture side out. Then on a separate panel I stamped in black ink the pretty pattern on the non-textured side and this was adhered to the card base.  I die cut a butterfly out of a side a and side b piece of patterned paper, as well as the heart, and stacked them together and tied off with a string.

My card was based off this month's Artful Delight card sketch. If you'd like to make a card using the sketch (or there's even a scrapbook layout sketch too if that tickles your fancy!) link it up on the Artful Delight Blog for your chance to win a free kit!

Your Favorite Shoes

***To see the new November Fresh Squeezed Stamp Sneak Peak, please scroll down***

I have my sister to thank for getting me hooked on Dansco shoes. They are brilliant...they make me feel about a foot taller, puts less stress on my back and I can get away with only having two pair...a black and a brown. No high heels for me! What is your everyday footwear?

There's a new sketch up on the Skipping Stones Design Blog, you can check out the details, rules and prize information here, along with gorgeous samples from the design team and guest designers! I chose to work with the circle and one flower I replaced with a pair of paper pieced shoes from Sassy Shoes and the other I replaced with a button.

I was strongly influenced by the beautiful colors over at The Play Date Cafe. So warm and inviting...

Fresh Squeezed

If you were a flower, what would you be? "If I were a flower, I would be a sunflower. To always follow the sun, turn my back to darkness, stand proud, tall and straight...even with my head full of seeds." ~adapted from an exert by Pam Stewart

I'm so very delighted to be guest designing for Fresh Squeezed Stamps for the month of November, along with the talented designers Chari Moss, Arielle Gordon and Lynn Put (I know, good company, right?!) Fresh Squeezed Stamps have four sets for this release, and you have a chance to win the daily featured set on the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Blog.

I got to the opportunity to work with Soda-lighted, a really fun and cute set with large images and perfect punny sentiments...although today I chose to work a more traditional sentiment and images. I stamped the vase/glass and masked out the stem and sunflowers in the appropriate areas. The images were then colored with prisma colored pencils, and I finished with a stamped sentiment, rounded corner, inked edges and some burlap string.

Please stop on over to the Fresh Squeezed Blog for more information about this super fun set and pop on by their Facebook Page and say hello to Fresh Squeezed Stamps on their Twitter Page too! I'll be back on Thursday with another card featuring a different November set...I can't wait to show you!

Caring Hearts Card Drive

***For my CAS-ual Fridays Challenge card, please click here or scroll down!***

Have you heard about the Caring Hearts Card Drive started by the super talented Vera Yates? Today there is a special blog hop full of holiday inspiration to help get the word out about this amazing card drive. If you are following the hop, you should have arrived from Savannah O'Gwynn's Blog!

If you would like to make a difference this holiday season, this card drive is a way to make a big impact. Cards are collected and distributed to the elderly that live in nursing homes and that might be a tad bit lonely. You can find more details here as to where to send your holiday cards. There are also some really amazing prizes up for grabs too if you can participate! I couldn't believe the list!

My card started out with a layer of patterned paper from last year's Echo Park Season's Greetings paper pack. I used a journal tag from the same pack, stamped it with a greeting from The Craft's Meow's Christmas Angel and Hearth and Home set and tied it all with some lush May Arts Silk Ribbon.  I hardly ever craft with journaling cards, so I was excited to get the push from Moxie Fab World's Paper Crafting Tips & Tricks Week: The Journaling Card Challenge. There was a whole sheet of cards in this collection, I will have to make some more holiday cards for the drive!

Here's the details on the hop: For a complete list of participants, please visit Vera's Blog. You have until Monday, 11/05/12 at Midnight CST to leave comments along the hop for additional prizes. Please consider making a few holiday cards for the drive after you've viewed the amazing inspiration!

Your next stop on the hop is Anita Recksiedler!
 

***For some enabling, stop by the May Arts Blog and check this out!***

Make Some Noise

Driving any sort of distance with the two boys, I often hear phrases such as "Turn it up!" "Oh yeah, crank it!" After reminding them to politely say please along with these commands, I accommodate their wishes and listen to them sing right along to the country songs. It is amazing how they can remember words to most every tune, yet they have a difficult time remembering basic math sums...Those boys...

I'm excited and honored to join the fine ladies at CAS-ual Fridays again, and this time around we are looking for some boy cards or masculine cards! I tend to gravitate towards single layer cards when creating for the guys, and today's was no exception. I pulled out the funky circle design from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Big Thanks and with select masking created an old style radio volume display. The sentiment combination came from Woot Woot!

I hope you get a chance to link up your clean and simple boy or masculine creation for your chance to win a fabulous prize offered by Simon Says Stamps and to be a guest designer at CAS-ual Fridays Challenge!

Boy, I didn't realize its been a while since I posted... Time flies!