Author: nthom100@gmail.com

Bear Hugs

Nancy here today.  As much as I like to make Christmas cards, I am glad to put the Christmas stamps away for a while and move on to the next big holiday which is Valentine’s Day.

I have always loved the Bear Hugs image and was sad when it was retired several years ago. So glad that Alma has brought it back in digital form. And better yet, since it is now digital I can size it as I please. I did a little strategic erasing in my Silhouette Studio software and placed the partial sentiment inside the heart that sweet guy is holding. After printing the image I cut it out with a stitched die and colored with Copic Markers. I masked the bear, then blended olive ink to represent grass and broken china for the sky. Some pretty patterned paper for the background, an open heart from the Wonky Hearts Cutables and a festive double sided ribbon finished up the clean and layered design.

Thanks for stopping by. Let’s all stay safe and healthy everyone.

12 Days of Crafting Challenge – Day 10

We are counting down the days to Christmas and our 12 Days of Crafting Challenge. One of my favorite things to do when I set my table for Christmas dinner is to include a small gift at each place setting especially when I have children at the table.

My project for day 10 serves two purposes. First it contains a stocking stuffer type gift and it is also a place card. I used a premade white gift box 2.5x 2.5 inches as I bought a whole package of these from Amazon several years ago. I kept the box simple by just wrapping a strip of silver metallic card stock around three sides. For the poinsettia top I used the cut files from the Simply Winter set. Two petal pieces were cut from cherry kisses (true red) cardstock, one from honeysuckle (pinkish red) and the leaves from silver metallic cardstock. After assembling together I added a few highlights with a Copic marker (R49) and splattered a white paint mixture randomly onto it with a wet paintbrush. An enamel dot provided the center.

For the place card portion I printed the sentiment from the Snowy Sayings Digi set onto textured cardstock and then cut with a tag die. After cutting a second tag from the same silver metallic cardstock used before, I offset and attached to the poinsettia.

Now it’s your turn to create a table decor item such as place cards, napkin rings, candle wraps, etc. etc.  You are only limited by your imagination.  Play along by adding your projects to the inlinkz button at the bottom of the challenge. You could win a $20 store credit to The Cat’s Pajamas. You’ll have until December 26 to play along.

You can play as many times as you wish or just ENJOY the projects as others join in. (If you play in more than one challenge, you are eligible to win multiple times). YAY! We’ll pick a winner for each day of the challenge and winners will be announced on our blog starting December 27.

Remember, to help you play along, get 25% off all our Digis Stamps and Cutable SVGS from November 26 thru December 25. And, our Digis Stamps and Cutable SVGS are immediately downloadable in your TCP account once you purchase them. Now, that’s instant gratification!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


12 Days of Crafting Challenge – Day 7

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…..Nancy here to share my crafting project for Day 7 of our 12 Days of Crafting Challenge.  One of my favorite neighbor and hostess gifts to give is a bottle of wine so I decided to create a wine tag. I plan on doing several of these so my design needed to be easy to replicate.

I used the Every Day Tags and Simply Winter Cutables along with the Snowy Sayings Digi.

When cutting the tag I eliminated the tag hole so I could cut one big enough to insert over my bottle with a circle die. Note the mountain folder between the circle and the rest of the tag.

I then cut the holly and berries from the Simply Winter Cutables from patterned cardstock and attached with a bit of glue and foam dimensionals.

After placing the tag on the bottle of wine, I wrapped festive colored ribbon around the top of the bottle several times ending in a bow.

Now it’s your turn to create a wine/tea/coffee/cider holder or tag! I can’t wait to see your ideas! Play along by adding your projects to the inlinkz button at the bottom of the challenge. You could win a $20 store credit to The Cat’s Pajamas. You’ll have until December 26 to play along.

You can play as many times as you wish or just ENJOY the projects as others join in. (If you play in more than one challenge, you are eligible to win multiple times. YAY! We’ll pick a winner for each day of the challenge and winners will be announced on our blog starting December 27.

Remember, to help you play along, get 25% off all our Digis Stamps and Cutable SVGS from November 26 thru December 25. And, our Digis Stamps and Cutable SVGS are immediately downloadable in your TCP account once you purchase them. Now, that’s instant gratification! So, play along with us during the 12 Days of Crafting Challenge.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


Hay Gnomie

Nancy here. Fall has definitely arrived, even  in Alabama where summer usually sticks around a lot longer than other places. And I actually created today’s cards on the first day of fall as I was definitely in the mood for a change of seasons.

Both cards feature a pair of not so scary gnome scarecrows from the new Hay Gnomie set. I created the two scenes using Silhouette software, resizing, sending to the back or front until I was happy with the arrangement. I then printed onto Copic friendly cardstock and cut out both with a stitched rectangle die. I colored both with Copic markers using the colors from the patterned paper I wanted to use. I can’t resist a fall paper pad even though I already have so much paper.

Copics (Female Gnome): Skin-E0000, E01, E02; Hair-E50, E53, E44; Straw-YR30, Y21; Blouse-W00, E81; Skirt.Hat/Patches-BG000, BG10, BG11, BG72, E11, E07, E08, E09; Pole-E31, E33; Haystack-YR30, Y21, Y23, Y26; Pumpkin 1-BG70,BG72, BG75, C00; Pumpkin2-YR21, YR24, YR27; Ground-W00, W1; Shadows-W00, E81
The sentiment was printed from the Stacked Sentiments set.
Copics (Male Gnome): Skin-E01, E02; Beard/Mustache-C00, C1, C3; Straw-E81, E84, Y21; Shirt/Patches-BG10, BG11, BG13, W00; Pants/Patches-E11, E13, E15, E19; Pole-E30, E31; Fence-E30, E33, E35, W1; Wheel-W00, W1, W2, W5; Pumpkin-YR21, YR24, YR27; Squash-YR30, YR31, BG13, BG34; Ground-W00, W1; Shadows-W00, E81
Happy fall, y’all!

Back 2 School

Hello TCP friends. Nancy here to share a project using some new cut files.

The school year is in full swing whether students are attending in person, zooming or home schooling. I have a sweet family member who is an elementary school teacher. So after seeing how beautifully she decorated her classroom this year I decided to surprise her with a school themed card in a box.

I used the new Back 2 School Card in a Box Cutables to cut from gray, white, black, gold, yellow, pink and aqua cardstock and a bit of patterned paper for the shrubbery using my Silhouette Cameo 3. The results are a lot of pieces! As Alma notes in the how to video, a Xyron X is very helpful so that you already have the glue on each piece and it also helps to corral the smaller pieces.

To reduce your cutting time, I recommend planning ahead and listing your colors for each of the parts.

You will note that I left off the “writing” on the book and school name so I could personalize for my recipient.

This was fun to make and the recipients are always amazed when they open the envelope containing a card in a box.

A Nutcracker Christmas

Hi TCP friends.  Nancy here with a Christmas card. Yes, I know it is September but I am so behind this year that if I don’t get more productive I am going to be short cards come December.

My project for today features the sweet Nutcracker Digi stamp from The Cat’s Pajamas. I used the Print and Cut features in the Silhouette Studio software to print and cut out both the nutcracker and the sentiment. I also changed the color of the sentiment with the software. The size of the card is a mini slimline (3.25 by 6.25) and the background was accomplished by blending broken china distress ink onto the panel. Both the sentiment and image were attached using foam dimensionals. A few clear jewels finished it up.

Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E11; Eyes-B41, B34; Lips-R01, R02; Mustache/Hair-C00, C1, C3; Clothing-R20, R22, R24, R27, B000, B01, B04, W00, E81; Shoes-N1, N3, N5, N7

That’s it for me today. I hope you have a great rest of the week. Thanks for stopping by.

 

4 U

Nancy here with today’s card featuring the No Peeking digital stamp from The Cat’s Pajamas. This was a favorite clear stamp and I was sad to see it retired. So when Alma added the digital version to the shop I jumped on it.

I printed the bear and the 4 U tag onto Copic friendly cardstock then cut out  using a pierced edge die. I used a combination of Copic and Altenew markers to color it and a white gel pen to polka dot the bow. I added some patterned paper for the background to make it festive yet clean and simple. Easy peasy and one more Christmas card to add to the stash.

Copics: Bear-W00, E81, E40, E41, E42, E44, E49, R02; Bow-R20, R21, R22, R24, R27; Tag-W00, E8; Ground-BG000, BG11
Altenews: Gift Box-G702, G715, G554

It may be August but it’s never too early to start on those Christmas projects!

 

Christmas Gift Tags

Wonky Ornament Tags

Nancy here with today’s projects using the new Cutables. Alma knows how much I love tags and I was delighted to see the super cute Christmas tags she created for us to play with including this adorable set. I foresee me cutting all of these. And of course you can cut them at any size you want, so they can also go on cards if you don’t need gift tags.

I selected two .svg files from the Wonky Ornament Tag Cutables to work with in my Silhouette machine. I love the color combos Alma used on the graphics and I was tempted to use the same. However, I thought that might be a bit redundant. Everything was cut from either cardstock or patterned paper.
I added some small jewels for sparkle.
And either ribbon, cording and gold thread to the ornament holes.
Products: The Cat’s Pajamas cutables, Doodlebug dp, Bazzill cardstock, Hemptique cord, May Arts ribbon, Doodlebug jewels
I had a blast making these and I am sure you will too. So I hope you give them a try!
You only have until the end of this month to take advantage of the 60% off sale on our physical inventory. As always, thanks so much for stopping by.

 

Christmas in July

Nancy here to share two projects featuring some of the new The Cat’s Pajamas digital stamps and cutables. TCP has been doing Christmas in July releases for several years now which really helps me to get started on my Christmas cards.

First up is the new digital stamp set Penguin Sleigh which was printed onto Copic friendly cardstock, colored with Copics, then fussy cut out. I attached it to a die cut circle. The sentiment front the set was printed onto the card front and I anchored the image circle with a strip of patterned paper. A few rain stones finished it up.

I used the new Simply Winter Cutables to cut the bird and pine branches from cardstock using my Silhouette machine. After assembling the cardinal I used R30 Copic to shade and then added a small enamel heart. The pine bough was cut twice so I would have another small branch both cut from white cardstock. I blended on bundled sage and iced spruce distress oxide ink, sprinkled glue over the stems, then poured glitter over it for a bit of sparkle. I prepared the background with tumbled glass distress ink and water. The cut pieces were attached to a vellum circle which was then strategically glued to the background so the glue would not show. The sentiment from the Merry Everything set (which is 60% off) was stamped using silvery shimmer ink onto cardstock cut with a double ended flag die. I layered it onto a rectangle piece cut from the same cardstock piece as the bird for a bit of extra color. Lastly I added a few sparkly enamel dots.

As TCP continues to transition to digital products, the physical product is 60% off.

It’s All About Happy

 

Hello TCP friends. Nancy here. I hope you are enjoying the digital and cutables Alma has produced this June. The biggest problem for me is deciding which ones to use first!

Using Photoshop Elements, I combined the gnome and the sentiment from the Bee Happy, Bee Gnome Digi stamp, then printed onto Copic friendly cardstock. I then cut with a octagon shaped die and colored with Copic markers. I created the background by using my Silhouette machine to cut the HoneyComb Coverplate Cutables from harvest gold cardstock, then cut for a bottom border only. I then added a strip of patterned paper at the top of the honeycomb border for added color. The image piece was attached using a layer of craft foam and a few enamel dots finished it up.

Copics: Skin-E000, E00, E02, E11; Beard-C00, C1, C3; Bee Parts-Y00, Y13, Y15, N1, N3, N5, BG70, BG10; Flower-Y000, Y13 Y35, T1, T3, T5; Leaves/Stem/Grass-YG00, YG03; Shadows-BG0000, BG000, BG70

For my second card I used some old nestabilities to die cut the round card base from patterned paper and cardstock, then used a stencil and spring rain ink for the cloud filled background. I used my Silhouette machine to cut the Happy Sun from cardstock and patterned paper and the sunshades from the Vintage Beach Cutable from patterned paper. The shades were attached to the sun with foam dimensionals. The sentiment was stamped onto the clouds and I added a few holeless sequins for a bit of sparkle.

That’s it from me today but I do want to end with a reminder about the physical products on sale. Be sure to take advantage of the fantastic prices while they are still in stock.