Sunflower Studio

TCP HAUNTED HOP & TCP TUESDAY TOO!

Trickity Treat

and Spookity Spook

So glad you've stopped by to take a look

Creepity Crawly

and Goopity Glop
It's time for the TCP Halloween Hop!

That's right...we've got a double whammy for ya this week...a two parter fun for all so make sure that you read all the way through...

TCP TUESDAY STAMP CHALLENGE

SUSAN is this week's Hipster Hostess with the Mostess and she's chosen to highlight the FRIGHT NIGHT Clearly Swanky Stamp set.  It's a stamp challenge so if you've got the set you should get to work and create something eerily creative to share with us.  Susan's got all of the details on her blog but we do have a small change starting with this challenge.  Instead of linking to your creation at the end of Susan's blog you should go directly to ALMA'S BLOG and add your card to her GUESTBOOK.  Of course, your participation in the challenge makes you eligible for the title of this month's SWANKY STAMPER and all of the fun stuff that goes along with that!

THE HAUNTED HOP

In addition to TCP Tuesday, we've got a quick HAUNTED HOP with prizes at the end.  Visit each of the blogs on the hop and leave a comment to be included in a random prize drawing for the October KITTY KAT PACK.  That would be the FRIGHT NIGHT stamp set PLUS the brand new HOCUS POCUS BUTTONS and HOCUS POCUS GLITZY GLITTER SET.  All of the Cat's Pajamas gals - and many of our past Swanky Stamper winners - are participating so there'll be lots of spooky inspiration for you.  If you've come here from JULIE'S BLOG, make sure that you start at SUSAN'S BLOG.  After me, you'll go right to the last stop at ALMA'S BLOG.

TCP - HAUNTED HOP!

Join the CAT'S PAJAMAS design team and some very special guests this coming Tuesday, September 29th for our HAUNTED HOP!  Did I mention PRIZES?!  We'll be starting over at Susan's...don't miss out!

TCP TUESDAY #77 - Color Challenge

TCP Thursday, right?  Oh, no?!  Well...it's just me...late again!  This week JOANNE is the Hipster Hostess with the very Mostess.  She's combined black, melon pink, and pumpkin.  What a great combo!

I've been down in the stamping dumps lately so I was thrilled and inspired by this card on Amy Rohl's blog.  The layout is from Julee Tilman's MOJO MONDAY sketch  #105.  I couldn't get past the big ole scallops...I'm a sucker for scallops for sure.

I love this little witch too so I've been using her a bit lately.  HEY, did I mention the HAUNTED HOP?  Make sure that you join in next Tuesday, September 29th, for both a very spooky Haunted Hop AND TCP Tuesday.  There will be prizes AND I have it on good authority that some very special guests will be joining us...hmmmm!

Anyway, the witch and "Witchful Thinking" sentiment are included in the FRIGHT NIGHT Clearly Swanky stamp set from THE CAT'S PAJAMAS.  I had to do some digging in the paper piles to come up with dp that suited the color scheme.  The black houndstooth is by DCWV, the pink scallops are using dp from Stampin' Up!, and the orange floral is in the Girl Friday collection by Cosmo Cricket.  It's fun to mix 'em all up once in a while.  Lots of layers with a gobs of foam tape and some PTI buttons finish it off.

Hopefully I've inspired you to get your TCP stamps together and join us this week.  Remember the challenge details?  Just in case, here they are again:

1. Each a week one of The Cat’s Pajamas DT members will host a challenge.
2. The challenges will vary {stamp, color, theme, sketch, etc.}
3. You will have until {this} Saturday night 12:00pm est to complete the challenge.
4. Link your project on this week’s hostess’ challenge announcement. This week you will link your project on JOANNE'S BLOG.
5. TCP stamps are not required, but of course, highly encouraged. {Unless it is a challenge calling for a specific stamp}
6. There will be one winner each month. They will be deemed that month’s Swankiest Stamper and get $25 in Cat’s Cash {money to spend on the TCP site!}.
7. When uploading to SCS or PCP, please use the keyword TCPTUES77 for this challenge.
8. Alma will post the entries from the week the following Monday on her blog.
9. The newly crowned Swanky Stamper will be announced on the First of the Month and have his/her winning entry posted on The Cat’s Pajamas website where he/she will reign for the entire month.

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STORAGE UNITS, INK & MORE IS HAVING A HUMONGOUS SALE!

ALL STAMP SETS - ONLY $5.00 EACH

PURCHASE ANY INKPAD AND GET THE REINKER FOR FREE

(no need to add the refill to your cart...we will add it to your order)Our inkpads work wonderfully with COPIC markers.  No bleeding.They are also specially formulated to match the Coredinations Cardstock

ALL COREDINATIONS CARDSTOCK PACKAGES - ONLY $6.75 EACH

You get 4 color shades, 5 sheets each, for a total of 20 sheets of cardstock for only $6.75...that's ONLY .34 a sheet!

QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED SO STOCK UP NOW!

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HOME ON THE RANGE

Check out this adorable couple...I think they're the cutest little cowpokes in the West, for sure!  Just MORE fabulous illustrations from ANNA WIGHT for WHIPPER SNAPPER DESIGNS.  The cowgirl is included in her recent COWGIRL UP set and the cowboy and desert mountain range are included in the SINGING COWBOY set.  I've been wanting to pair them up for a while and finally had some time last night and today.

As usual, all is colored up with the Copics.  I cut out the heart shaped background using a Nestabilities die and then stamped, airbrushed and colored that layer while it was still in the die so that the edges remained white.    I have a little stash of Western patterned papers that I've collected over the years so I dug them out for this card.  The denim paper is by Leisure Arts, the songbook paper is by Flair, and the bandana strip is from K&Company.  I added the scalloped edge at the bottom using a Fiskars Apron Lace punch.  The hemp twine is from Michael's and the cowgirl's little rope is PTI button twine.

These two ARE right at HOME ON THE RANGE!  Yeee-haw!

GREEN ACRES IS THE PLACE FOR ME...

...uh...not really for me but the song fits, right?!  I'm still working on a few last cards for ANNA WIGHT's recent WHIPPER SNAPPER DESIGNS releases.  This card features an adorable set called FARM FRESH.  If you're familiar with Anna's blog you'll know that she lives "down on the farm" in Texas and her hilarious farm stories are totally entertaining!

Of course, with this sentiment, you think of the Green Acres theme right off.  Here, I stamped a few hay piles and a row of sunflowers.  Then I airbrushed the ground and sky and colored the images with my Copics.  I added a bit of brown airbrushing for the base of the flower field and hay to blend things together.  I stamped, colored and cut out Mister Chicken and his wife (I think this other chicken looks like it's the girl chicken) and the tractor and popped them up in the foreground.  As I got ready to put my card together it hit me that it looked sort of American Gothic-like and should be hanging on a wall like a picture.  This dainty patterned paper is by Studio 45 - from their Christmas line, I think.  It really made me think of old farmhouse wallpaper.  I die cute the frame using the Nestabilities Labels 9 die from gold metallic paper.  The "picture hanger" brad is by The Paper Studio.  I also thought that the picture hanging string should be brown.  I didn't have any brown twine that was dark enough so I colored a piece of PTI button twin with a dark brown Copic.  Voila!  Just what I needed.

SUNNY SUNFLOWER

The other day, my friend Lisa emailed me some photos from near her house in Door County, Wisconsin.  She knows that I'm a sunflower freak and that I would really appreciate these.  AND I DID!  I'd like to live in this field of sunflowers.  They make me so happy and they're so sunny and gorgeous.  I have to say that when we did visit Door County in years past, what struck me most was the amazing color and beauty of the flowers up there.  We were there in August and it's truly a sight to see.  I guess the weather there is such that the flowers don't peak until later in the summer and they're incredible.  Partner the brilliance of the flowers and the clear blue of the sky and I can't imagine much that's prettier.

Anyway, those sunflower photos prompted me to sit down and make a sunflower card.  Recently, Kristi from HANNA STAMPS sent me this great sunflower set called I LOVE MY GARDEN.  She knows about my thing for sunflowers too and it was really sweet of her to think of me.  So I stamped my big flower with Onyx Black Versafine onto watercolor paper.  Then I watercolored it using various dye inks from STORAGE UNITS INK & MORE! (They have 60 awesome colors!)  I was really happy with how it turned out but let it sit on the craft table for a few day before I made it into a card.

Tonight I sat down to get the card made.  I found a new Amy Butler paper pad at Michael's today so I went with that for the patterned layer.  It's bright and pretty and complimented the flower colors.  Yup, it was a shopping day today...I also bought this delish wide satin ribbon at Paper Source so I had to use that too.  The big "button" is from my jar where buttons from clothes go...every one that comes with a new clothing item or that's fallen off of something...I save 'em in the jar.  The big pearl is a brad from K&Co.  The small pearl is from Kaiser.

Now, here's what I learned tonight...why haven't I learned it before?  Not sure because I should have!  I had my card planned out and layered and ready to adhere when I decide that the sentiment should go in that lower right corner of the stamped flower.  I inked up a little sentiment from Anna White's WSD set called SWEET EXPRESSIONS and proceeded to stamp right on the sunflower layer.  Uhhh....CRUD!  The inked edges of the little sentiment left inky marks next to the sentiment!  WHY-OH-WHY do I not learn this lesson?!  Anyway, that left me with limited options on how to fix it.  I went with the little sentiment flag since I didn't want to add too much more to this card.  It's not the optimal fix but I just couldn't bring myself to try and watercolor the whole flower again.  You live and learn, right?! Just keep thinking..."aaahhh, pretty, pretty sunflower..."

TCP TUESDAY #75 - Sketch Challenge

Hey There!  I'm filling in this week with the sketch challenge while Carole takes a little break.  I based this one on one of the cards that I posted last week.  It's an easy one...pretty straight forward.  I hope that lots of you will play along this week...

My card uses the MUMMY SPRINKLE (D-6330) and TRICK OR TREAT (C-5265) stamps from THE CAT'S PAJAMAS.  I stamped Mummy Sprinkle on Kraft cardstock and then painted her with Tsukineko Frost White All-Purpose Ink and a small paint brush.  The ink is more opaque and shimmery too.  I also used one of my new Spellbinders Impressabilities embossing templates - this one's called Circles.  I embossed a piece of Coredinations cardstock so that I could then sand it lightly and have the inner core color show through.  These are definitely interesting but I'll need to play with them a bit more.  My patterned paper here is Haunted from Cosmo Cricket and the ribbon and scalloped velvet trim is also from Cosmo.  I added a few little buttons at the bottom to finish it off.

Ready to stamp along?!  Grab your CAT'S PAJAMAS stamps and create a card using the sketch.  It doesn't have to be Halloween...any theme will do.  Post a link to your card here at the bottom of this post by midnight on Saturday, September 12th.  Use keyword TCPTUES75 if you're uploading to Splitcoast or PCP.  As usual, all entries will be featured in next week's Holey Moley Monday slide show on Alma's blog and you'll be entered into this month's Swanky Stamper contest!

SUINK NEW RELEASE DAY - BLOG HOP & PRIZES!

Time for a new stamp release from STORAGE UNITS, INK & MORE!  Won't you join us today for a quick BLOG HOP?  Follow along...leave a comment on each blog...and then, at the end, let us know what your favorite image or project was to be entered in our prize drawing.  What will you win?  All six of the brand new S-U-INKIES single stamps AND, just in time for Halloween, the BUMP IN THE NIGHT stamp set!  If you're joining me from Tammy's blog, make sure that you've started with Cathleen.  You'll end up at the SUINK blog.

This month, they have SIX more single stamps from the new collections...

BEEP BLIP BEEP and LET'S COMPUTE from the Doodle Bots Collection

DANCE and MISSING YOU from the Fairy Tales Collection

and

THANK YOU and LET'S GET TOGETHER from the Friendly Forest Collection

I have four cards to share with you this time around...

You know how I love those robots...these are no exception!  They're adorable!  The first card features the BEEP BLIP BEEP bot stamp and the second is called LETS COMPUTE.  Each of the images comes with it's own little coordinating sentiment.  Both cards used patterned paper from that All About Boys stack from DCWV that works perfectly with these fun images.  All of the buttons here are from SUINK as well.

 

 

SUINK is adding two more little fairies to their FAIRY TALES collection.  The first card below features the sweet little MISSING YOU fairy.  I added the leaf pile from the LEAF IT TO ME stamp set, also by SUINK.  I used the colors in this fun patterned paper from DCWV to color the images. The buttons are from Creative Imagination, the twine from PTI, and the punch from Fiskars.  The second card uses the DANCE fairy, although, my little one is dancing while she flits around the flowers.  This great sparkly paper is also from the Doodlin' Around stack by DCWV.  Buttons and twine are from PTI.

 

Now that you've visited here...don't forget to leave your comment...you should click on over to DANIELLE's blog...she's next on the list.  You don't wanna miss out on prizes, right?!  Thanks for visiting!