Snow Kitty

Hello, everyone!  I'm back again today!  I'm happy to be supporting two important hops. One celebrates my love of cats and the other is an awareness hop for domestic violence. Both subjects are very close to my heart. I'm talking about the Cat Lovers Hop and The Hop to Stop. My card features purple, which is the colour for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. I shared my connection to domestic violence here.

I stamped the precious kitty from Your Next Stamp - Cutie Patooties (sorry this set is no longer available). I did some quick colouring with markers and fussy-cut so I could pop him up on foam tape.

I made a little winter scene!  I was inspired by the sketch at Your Next Stamp Sketch and Colour Challenge #50 (see below).  For the sky, I die-cut purple cardstock using Lawn Fawn Snowy Backdrop and added a die-cut snowy hill (Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes).



In keeping with the sketch, I stamped Your Next Stamp - Cute Alpha Squares with Memento Grape Jelly ink,  die-cut with the coordinating die, and adhered them to my scene. I stamped the sentiment from Your Next Stamp - Holiday Snow Globe with the same ink.  I added a few pale purple snowflake sequins to finish off my card.

I am also joining October Rudolph Days over at Scraps of Life by Scrappymo!.

Please become informed about domestic violence, its impacts, and available resources. For more information on domestic violence in Canada, see here. If you are a woman experiencing abuse in Canada, there is someone you can reach out to any time of day or night; see here.

Thank you for looking at my card! Wishing you a joyful day!

Completed Pocket Letter - Fall Cats and Tea

Hi, everyone!  Before I get started, I would like to welcome my newest follower - Tammy A - thank you for joining me!

Today is Day 2 of  the Cat Lovers Hop! My project features lots of kitties!  It's a pocket letter!

Before I went on my blog break, you will remember I was working on this.  Well, I've finally completed it! It was mailed off to a bloggy friend as a surprise happy mail, with crafty goodies filling the back pockets. To find out more about Pocket Letters, click here.

The Day 2 game at the Cat Lovers Hop is to name all of your current kitties.  Mine are Honeydew, Kiwi, and Snowie!  This is an easy game that anyone can play - even if you don't have kitties - just head over and leave a comment on Janis's blog post!  There's a fun prize too!

I would also like to support these three challenges:
Crafty Creations Not a Card 1/2
Simon Says Stamp Monday Autumn 1/5
Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 4/5

Thank you for looking at my pocket letter!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Purple Purr-thday (Knitty Kitty DT)

Hello, everybody! I've been waiting for it all year and it's finally here! I am excited and happy to celebrate my favourite animal with a blog hop!  Today is the first day of the Cat Lovers Hop - Yay! If you've been around my blog for awhile, then you will already know how much I love cats! I have 3 of them - Honeydew, Kiwi, and Snowie - and they are featured on my right-hand sidebar. Thank you to Janis at Her Peaceful Garden for organizing this fun event! There are lots of prizes and even a fun daily contest so please help celebrate kitties with us!

On a more serious note, I'm also supporting Becca over at The Damsel of Distressed - she has organized The Hop to Stop to bring awareness to domestic violence. I wrote about my personal connection to domestic violence here. It tore my family apart, but my mom and brother and I survived. We are still here; many other victims are not so lucky. Please consider showing your support for this important hop - and, yes, there are prizes!  Purple is the color for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month so participants in the hop are creating cards featuring purple.

Please become informed about domestic violence, its impacts, and available resources. For more information on domestic violence in Canada, see here. If you are a woman experiencing abuse in Canada, there is someone you can reach out to any time of day or night; see here.

My card features the precious Balloon Kitty from Knitty Kitty Digis. I coloured the image with Prismacolor pencils and fussy-cut so I could pop it up with foam tape. I added Clear Wink of Stella on the balloons to add some sparkle.

Prize Alert: Knitty Kitty Digis is one of the generous sponsors of the Cat Lovers Hop, offering a prize of 3 digis of your choice! Now's your chance to win some Knitty Kitty Digis so be sure to check out the Cat Lovers Hop!

Continuing on with my card, I die-cut Memory Box Calm Countryside from white cardstock. I inked up a small panel with Milled Lavender, Dusty Concord, and Wilted Violet Distress Inks, splattered it with water, and adhered behind the die-cut. The scene panel is popped up with foam tape on a pale purple panel, which I embossed with Cuttlebug Cross My Heart. I stamped a sentiment from My Favorite Things and finished off the card with some puffy heart stickers.

Here's a link to the cute image from Knitty Kitty Digis:

Balloon Kitty

I would also like to support these two challenges:

Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 4/5 wk 1
Crop Stop Linky 21 AG (Distress Inks available at Crop Stop here) 3/5

Thank you for looking at my card!  Wishing you a joyful day!

Cat Lovers Hop - Next Week

Hello, everyone! Yes, it's me again! I wanted to let you all know I'll be back to regular blogging next week! The Cat Lovers Hop starts on Monday and there is no way I can miss it! Janis at Her Peaceful Garden has organized this fun hop for cat lovers. I  hope you'll join too!  

The hop runs from October 24-29. You can find all the details over at Janis's blog! According to the guidelines and FAQ, prizes will be awarded to randomly drawn participants among those who link up a cat-themed project as well as among those who visit the linked projects and leave a comment. And did you know - October 29 is National Cat Day!

I hope you are as excited about the Cat Lovers Hop as I am! I know you have some cat stamps, dies, or digis in your stash! Dust them off and get ready to have some fun!

Wishing you a joyful day!

The Hop to Stop - Domestic Violence Awareness (2 more cards)

Hello again!  As promised, I'm back with two more cards for The Hop to Stop. This important hop is raising awareness about domestic violence.  Thank you to Becca at The Damsel of Distressed for organizing this hop for the third year.

One in three women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes. That's one-third of all the women you meet. Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be injured or die as a result of domestic violence than through rapes, muggings and car accidents combined.

I want to be involved in this hop because this is an issue very close to my heart. I shared my connection to domestic violence here.

Please become informed about domestic violence, its impacts, and available resources. For more information on domestic violence in Canada, see here. If you are a woman experiencing abuse in Canada, there is someone you can reach out to any time of day or night; see here.

Purple is the color for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month so participants in the hop are creating cards featuring purple.

Card #1

Sadly, approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. With this in mind, I created another sympathy card. This one features some of my older wood-mounted rubber stamps.

The coneflower stamp is from Penny Black called Blush. I used this one a lot when I first bought it many years ago. I stamped it several times with Your Next Stamp - Purple Passion. The sentiment is from Rubber Stampede, and it is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black. I added some shimmery grey ribbon and a silver butterfly charm from my stash. I CASE'd one of my own sympathy cards here:

Card #2

Domestic violence is a serious subject but I wanted to make a fun card. I was a small child when the traumatic events happened in my life, so the card I made is suitable for a child.

I recently won the Simon Says Stamp September Card Kit (thank you, Deedee!) and couldn't wait to ink up the stamp set, called It's No Secret! I stamped the two sizes of balloons repeatedly in purple inks (Memento Lulu Lavender and Grape Jelly, Simon Says Stamp Wisteria and Hot Mama). I added a white accent with a gel pen and clear Wink of Stella over each balloon, and doodled the balloon strings with a fine black marker (Staedtler). The sentiment stamp is from the same Simon stamp set, stamped with Versafine Onyx Black. The stamped panel is die-cut with Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangles. I die-cut Poppystamps Curious Cat in purple and adhered. The embossing folder is Momenta - Moroccan.

I would also like to support these challenges: 
Card #1
613 Avenue Create AG 3/8; Blessings Ink Amusing Challenges AG 1/2; Cardz TV AG 3/3; Craft Your Passion AG 3/3; Crafts Galore Encore AG 3/3; Crafty Gals Corner CASE it 2/2; Creatalicious AG 3/3; Creative Corner Sympathy 2/3; Glitter N Sparkle AG 3/3; Just Keep on Creating October AG UE; Love to Scrap AG 2/5; Not Just Cards October AG UE; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 3/3; The Ribbon Girl Any Image UE; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 3/5 wk 1

Card #2
Blessings Ink Amusing Challenges AG 2/2; Creative with Stamps Sentiment C11 1/3; Crop Stop Linky 21 AG (Memento inkpad sold at Crop Stop here 2/5); Digi Designs Add a Sentiment 2/3;Just Keep on Creating October AG UE; Love to Scrap AG 3/5; MFP Stamp Shop Photo Inspiration (I was inspired by the cats) 2/3; Not Just Cards October AG UE; Send a Smile 4 Kids Celebration Cards 4 Kids 2/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 4/5 wk 1

Thank you for looking at my cards! Wishing you a joyful day! 

The Hop to Stop - Domestic Violence Awareness (2 cards)

Hello, everyone!  I'm popping in from my blog break because I want to support The Hop to Stop. This important hop is raising awareness about domestic violence.  Thank you to Becca at The Damsel of Distressed for organizing this hop for the third year. I made four cards.  I am sharing two of them here, and I'll be back later today with the other two.

One in three women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes. That's one-third of all the women you meet. Women between the ages of 15 and 44 are more likely to be injured or die as a result of domestic violence than through rapes, muggings and car accidents combined.

I want to be involved in this hop because this is an issue very close to my heart. It's not an easy subject for me to think about or remember. My mother was a victim of domestic violence, from my birth father, and I am not exaggerating when I say that she is lucky to be alive. She escaped with my brother and me when I was three. I have never had a desire to be in contact with my birth father. I have memories of that time and they are full of tears and terror.

Please become informed about domestic violence, its impacts, and available resources. For more information on domestic violence in Canada, see here. If you are a woman experiencing abuse in Canada, there is someone you can reach out to any time of day or night; see here.

Purple is the color for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month so participants in the hop are creating cards featuring purple.

Card #1

Sadly, approximately every six days, a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner. With this in mind, I created a sympathy card.

I fussy-cut a botanical flower image from Graphics Fairy and popped it up on foam tape. The sentiment is die-cut with Simon Says Stamp - With Sympathy.  The embossed panel was in my stash (source unknown). I finished off the card with a few clear sequins.

Card #2

Domestic violence is a serious subject but I wanted to make a fun card. I was a small child when the traumatic events happened in my life, so the card I made is suitable for a small child.

I recently won this adorable Kitty's Balloon image from Di's Digistamps (thank you, Di!). I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils and fussy-cut so I could pop her up on foam tape. I added clear Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents to the balloon. The sentiment is from SugarPea Designs - Smitten Kitten, which I stamped repeatedly in Simon Says Stamp Wisteria and once in Memento Grape Jelly. The white cardstock was die-cut with Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.

The design of my card is inspired by Jennifer McGuire and her technique called Sentiment Backdrops. This is the first time I've tried it!  I fell in love with her cards and decided to CASE this one:

I would also like to support these challenges: 
Card #1
613 Avenue Create AG 1/8; Cardz TV AG 1/3; Craft Your Passion AG 1/3; Crafts Galore Encore AG 1/3; Creatalicious AG 1/3; Creative Corner Sympathy 1/3; DL.ART October Linky AG UE 1/d; Glitter N Sparkle AG 1/3; Great Impressions AG 1E; Happy Little Stampers AG w Dies UE; Just Keep on Creating October AG UE; Not Just Cards October AG UE; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 1/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 1/5 wk 1

Card #2
613 Avenue Create AG 2/8; Cardz TV AG 2/3; Craft Your Passion AG 2/3; Crafting Circle Crafty Awesomeness AG 1/3; Crafts Galore Encore AG 2/3; Crafty Gals Corner CASE it 1/2; Creatalicious AG 2/3; Crop Stop Linky 21 AG (Memento inkpad sold at Crop Stop here 1/5); Digi Designs Add a Sentiment 1/3; Doodle Pantry Any Digital Image 1E; Glitter N Sparkle AG 2/3; Just Keep on Creating October AG UE; Little Scrap Pieces Show it Off Saturday 1E; Love to Scrap AG 1/5; MFP Stamp Shop Photo Inspiration (I was inspired by the cats) 1/3; Not Just Cards October AG UE; Penny's Paper-crafty AG 2/3; Send a Smile 4 Kids Celebration Cards 4 Kids 1/3; The Crafter's Cafe Use a New Technique (Sentiment Backdrop technique new to me) 1/3; Word Art Wednesday AG w Uplifting Sentiment 2/5 wk 1

Thank you for looking at my cards! Wishing you a joyful day!

Break Time

Hi, everyone!  I'm taking a break from blogland for a few weeks. I want to work on some household projects I've been putting off and I've been spending way too much time on the computer!  A break will do me good!  I'll be back in November if not before!  Have a great month!

Honeydew