TCP Tuesday - A Haunted Hop!

Hi all!! This is a very special TCP Tuesday - we're doing a "Haunted Hop" featuring TCP's "Fright Night" set. Alma also has a special price for the "Kitty Cat Pack" which includes the stamp set and some coordinating buttons and glitter! The hop starts with Susan, and if you're working your way through the entire hop, you'll be joining me from Carol's blog!

Something else that's special about this hop is that some of our past Swanky Stampers are playing along too - which means even more super creations for you to check out!

Remember, you need to leave a comment on each blog to be eligible for the prize drawing :) Alma will announce the winner sometime this coming Friday. And there's a new way to post your creations directly to Alma's blog!

Now - head on over to your next stop - Amanda's blog! Happy haunted hopping!

TCPTUES77 - Color Challenge

Joanne has a terrific color challenge for us this week - these colors are perfect for that overlap between Summer and Fall. I hope you'll pull out your stamps and play along! Get all the details on Joanne's blog right here :) I'll be posting my card tomorrow (Wednesday). Have a great day!

SNOW!!

Yep, we've got SNOW on the ground - a foot of it - and the yellow/gold leaves haven't even fallen off the Aspen trees yet! It was pretty light this morning, not even settling on the road, but by the end of the school day it got really heavy with big, fluffy flakes.


I had an appointment in Evergreen right after school, and the drive home took me an hour - it's usually just a 25-minute drive. I'm a wimp driving in the snow; everyone gets stuck behind me on the single-lane road up to our house :)


Then again, I'd rather get home safe and slowly than get stuck or swerve off the road like the dozen cars (and one school bus!) that I passed in the last couple of miles of my drive...

Spoooooky!

I love this cat image by Impression Obsession - it's spooky but sweet at the same time :) I popped the cat and the moon off the front of the card to add some more dimension. The layout is from the Card Patterns blog; I believe it's the one from last week (Week 32). Have a great Monday!

Foxy

Here's a visitor who stopped by our front yard last week :) Look at that beautiful coat!

I apologize to my blogging friends for not stopping by as much lately with everything going on here at home; I plan to spend some time this week catching up with you all! Have a super week ahead.

Featured Blogger Friday

Hi everyone! This week our Featured Blogger is a super-talented crafter and a new mom who was nominated by several other bloggers :) Say hello to Sarah Coggins over at her blog, "2 Paws Designs" - and here's some more information about Sarah...

Tell us a little about you: I'm 30 years old. Born and raised in rural Virginia, just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I moved to North Carolina in 1996 to attend college, and I have been here ever since. My husband and I share our home with our new baby boy, Dylan, and 2 cats (aka my "four-legged kids"), Cali and Chester. For the last 9 years, I've worked in commercial architecture designing buildings. With the recession and the arrival of Dylan, I'm currently holding a new title - "stay at home mom." I plan to return to work when I can, but for now I am just enjoying every moment being at home with my son.

How long have you been blogging? I'll celebrate 2 years in late October. That truly stuns me, as I had blogged once years before (circa late 90s - i.e. before the term "blogging" was even coined!) and grew tired of it. I think part of my problem was that it was also before the age of the comment section - having that interactive portion to blogs helps keep them interesting and proof that you aren't just talking to yourself! LOL!

Why do you blog? Initially I began blogging to share creative ideas from paper crafts to do-it-yourself projects. Over time, I began to write more about personal events in my life - a public journal of sorts. Now my blog is a mix of these and I continue it both for myself as a way to remember and as a way to share with friends and family.

What's your favorite topic to blog about? My little boy is my newest favorite topic! Can you blame me? :) As a first-time mom, I'm trying to absorb every little moment and blogging about them helps me remember to jot them down so I don't forget and can add them to his scrapbook album as I have time later. My second favorite topic would definitely be that - scrapbooking.

Have you learned anything special from blogging? I like to think I've learned to write better. Not sure if that is true or not. I've definitely learned a lot about other people and how it is possible to create wonderful friendships and truly care for people you've never met in person.

What do you hope that people get out of reading your blog? A little entertainment, some creative inspiration, and maybe the desire to try something as crazy as repairing a bathroom disaster with their own 2 hands? :)

Can you give us links to 3 of your favorite blogs, and tell us what you like about them? Just 3?! There are so many blogs that I enjoy reading. Off the top of my head...

Pattye Duffner's blog - I love the fun, creative projects she shares and the how-to's she shares.

Cameron Crazy - Besides sharing my love of scrapbooking, I became hooked on Laura's blog after realizing we were both expecting our first child (both boys) within 2 days of each other (although her little Cameron surprised her a month early and my Dylan held out 10 days after my due date). Now I enjoy seeing what similar adventures she and her son are up to.

Trying Our Best - If you want an ab workout while blog reading - this is the spot. My belly has literally hurt after reading posts by The Mrs.

TCP Tuesday!

Hi all! I hope you're having a great week :) This week I'm hosting TCP Tuesday, and I'm switching up the Inspiration Challenge - this week I'm challenging you to make any card (TCP stamps preferred, of course!) that includes:

Embossing (dry or wet)
Bling
At least 3 circles

I hope you will play along with us!! Here are all the details...

• Post a link to your creation in the comments section for this post. You will have until midnight this Saturday, September 19th to play along.



• If you post your card on SCS or PCP, be sure to include keyword TCPTUES76 so that we can find your work!



• Alma will post all the entries the following week in her "Holey Moley Monday!" slideshow.



• The Swanky Stamper will be announced on the first of each month and have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat's Pajamas website, where he/she will reign for the entire month.

For my card I used one of my favorite TCP sets: "You Sick Thing". The strip of paper down the left-hand side is dry-embossed using a Cuttlebug folder; the bling is down the right-hand side and in the corners, and I used circles for layers behind my stamped image. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Featured Blogger Friday!

Hi everyone - this week I have a terrific Featured Blogger to share with you - Lisa Foster, and her blog "Stampin' for Sanity". I hope you'll hop over and say hi after reading all about Lisa and checking out a sample of her beautiful work on the right :) Not only is Lisa amazingly talented, she is also a super blogging friend - thanks, Lisa!!

Tell us a little about you: I have two grown kids, both in the military. One adorable granddaughter that will be 2 years old very soon. I'm married to a wonderful husband who supports my "Stamping Disorder" with a smile on his face (mostly). I have a dog that thinks he's a person, and a cat that thinks she's a dog. I'm a surgical nurse by trade, but am currently taking a sabbatical.

How long have you been blogging? I've been blogging about a year and a half and now all the friends I've made through blogging have become extensions of my family.

Why do you blog? I started blogging to share my cards and scrapbook pages with others, and to become part of the blogging community. I have learned so much from being a part of this crazy, cyberspace world!

What's your favorite topic to blog about? My favorite thing to blog about is still stamping and papercrafting.

Have you learned anything special from blogging? Oh, so many things! Probably the most important thing I've learned, though, is confidence. It means so much when someone leaves a compliment on your project. That has really helped me grow as a papercrafter by giving me courage to try new things!

What do you hope that people get out of reading your blog? Mostly I hope people get a smile. If they happen to pick up an idea, or be inspired by my work, great. But more so, I want people to feel happy and uplifted when they read my blog.

Can you give us links to 3 of your favorite blogs, and tell us what you like about them? Ha! Choose only 3??? I'm sorry...I just can't do it...when you see my blogroll, you'll know why - THOSE are all my favorite links!!

Caught a Bug?

It turns out that Jamie has a bug - strep! Ugh! It's only the third week of school...he was sick all night on Monday, so Iain took him to the doctor yesterday and they did a strep test. The antibiotics have kicked in quickly, though, so he'll be back at school tomorrow.

And what a coincidence that I made this card over the weekend with an image from Whipper Snapper Designs. Isn't this little guy sweet? This is my card for Tracy's Sketch Challenge :)

TCP Tuesday!

Here's my card for this week's TCP Tuesday. Leigh is hosting a Sketch Challenge :)



For my card, I used TCP's "Fright Night" clear set and lots of layers in these Halloween-y colors. The circles in the background were embossed using a Spellbinders Impressabilities template, and then I just rubbed my black inkpad over the surface.


I cut out the ghosts and mounted them with foam tape, so that they really stand out on the front of the card. I added some bling with shimmer brads and Stickles, and I love the end result! Have a great Tuesday :)

Super-Simple for Saturday

Here's a very easy card that I made using the A Muse stamps that I bought from Tracy last month (thanks, Tracy!). The polka dot card and the strip with the green ric-rac pattern were pre-printed, so all I had to do was stamp the "Happy Summer" sentiment, stamp, color and cut out the tree, and mount the tree on the front of the card. This took about 15 minutes!

Bookworm :)

Check out this little guy - isn't he sweet with his glasses on, reading his book? This image is another one from MFT's "I {Heart} Books" and the layout was from the Card Positioning Systems sketch challenge. The patterned paper is from DCWV's "Retro Stack".

I don't have a Featured Blogger for you today, but I'll have one lined up for next week :)

I wanted to add: the bookworm's book is popped off the front of the card using foam dots; that's what's causing the shadow there.

TCP Tuesday

It's time to pull out those Halloween stamps! Jen is hosting a terrific TCP Tuesday stamp challenge this week - check out all the details right here. I used TCP's clear Halloween set, called "Fright Night".

The sketch is from Unscripted Sketches, and I used patterned paper from DCWV's "Doodlin' Around" stack for that fall background :) Have a super Tuesday!