More Sneak Peeks!

Hello, friends! I'm back today with three more peeks at our October release, which is all about Christmas! We have one each from Nina B Designs, Mindy Baxter and Clare Buswell. Can you match the designer to the peek?

I think that's an easy one! You are going to LOVE these sets!

Previews begin tomorrow, so I hope you'll plan to join us for our fun release festivities and chances to win the new sets! See you then!

A Little Sneak Peek!

Hello, friends! I'm popping in today to share with you a couple of sneak peeks of our upcoming release. We have five new Christmas stamp sets debuting here on October 21st. Two are by the wonderful Karen Baker. Can you guess the themes from these peeks?

Okay, that may be a little hard to guess. You'll have to stay tuned for our previews that start on Thursday. :)

Please stop by tomorrow for more peeks! Have a great day!

More goodness to come...

Have you ever wished you could make cards as lovely as those crafted by Sarah Martina Parker? I know I have...

 

Two gorgeous kits debuting May 1st. Four cards each. Beauty-full...

The festivities begin tomorrow! If the sneak peeks haven't tempted you enough, then how about prizes? Yep, there will be THREE awarded each day... so come along and join the fun!

Have you ever...

... experienced Butterfly Kisses?

A little snippet of more goodness to come...

Fly free, my friends...

Another little peeky...

Happiness is this stamp set...

Introducing Little Frieda's Daisy!

Hi there! I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the big day... the grand opening of my store! Yikes! I hope I'm ready. lol

Someone once told me that the definition of an entrepreneur is someone who is willing to work 16 hours a day so they don't have to work 8 hours for someone else. I'm beginning to see the truth in that... it's 2:00 am as I write this post. But it's a labor of love!

Today I'm showing you Little Frieda's Daisy. She comes with three greetings, one of which you see on the card ("smile"). The other two are "he loves me, he loves me not" and "thinking of you."

I made this card for this week's challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ, which is to create a card or project that has something hidden from first view. I used one of the fabby kraft envelopes from Maya Road which you will find in the Emma's Shoppe kits on Monday!!! And yep, that's Emma's Shoppe paper and embellies. I'm in love love love with this collection!

I'm so happy to announce that tomorrow I have several Friends of The Craft's Meow (i.e., some very special friends of mine) who are joining me in celebrating the Grand Opening of my store. I'll have a complete link list so that you can visit their blogs for more looks at Little Frieda and the wonderful stamps created for me by Claire Brennan. Plus, I'll be announcing the winner of the Copic Ciao markers set! I hope you'll be here at 8:00 am Pacific... 'cause that's when the fun begins!

Thanks so much for hanging out with me this past week!

Are You Ready to Meet Little Frieda?

I think it's high time I introduce Little Frieda to you, don't you? ;)

As I mentioned in my very first post, I've named the little girl in this series of stamps after my mom, Frieda Clark Allen. When I was pregnant with my first child, Mom asked me what I'd name the baby if it was a girl. I said I thought we'd go with Katelyn. She said, "how about Little Frieda?" Well, I had a boy... and then three more... so no Little Friedas... until now!

The first three in this series of stamps will be released on Monday. Two of them are single images with three greetings, which you'll soon see. But today I'm showing you one that's a little different...a scene. Do you remember loving to color when you were a kid? And do you still love to color? Well, then this little stamp is for you! Introducing Little Frieda and Lulu - Mischief!

Little Frieda is being naughty and letting her birdie out of his cage while her cat Lulu sleeps. The actual stamp is taller... showing more curtain...but easily cuts down to size. I went with a square to fit this week's sketch challenge at Sketch Saturday. And I really did have fun coloring this cute scene. I hope you will, too!!!

I'll be back again soon with more previews of Little Frieda! Have a great day!!!

Another Fabulous Kit Collection!

Me oh my, me oh my, did I miss posting a preview yesterday? Yes I did! And no it wasn't because I was drinking too much green beer. :) The day just raced away from me. It's like that right now... I feel the clock tick tocking away towards the grand opening on Monday, and there seem to be so many last-minute things to do. PLUS, I've been making arrangements for some fabulous things to come, which I can't share with you quite yet, but you will be as thrilled as me I'm sure! Don't you hate those teases? lol

Back to the previews...

Here's another of the initial three kit collections releasing next week, the Portrait Collection by Crate Paper. Lovely!!!

And of course there will be lots of lovely embellies to go along with it, including these beauties...

Oh, yes, you are going to LOVE these kits. And if that weren't enough, one of the two companion kits will have yet another of Claire Brennan's wonderful wee stamp sets designed just for me... image and greeting...which might just be my favorite. (*wink*)

Speaking of Claire, I owe her a huge debt of gratitude. Not only did she treat me like royalty while I was part of her Design Team and her "Mousekeeper" (DT and Sketch Challenge Coordinator), but I learned a great deal from her example. She's a very special lady and I treasure our friendship. I was blown away when she offered to design these stamps for me. Do folks get any nicer than this? I don't think so! And I have no problem saying that a piece of my heart and crafting dollars will always belong to Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Okay, I promise I'll be back tomorrow with some peeks of Little Frieda! It's about time she made her debut, don't you think?

Have a wonderful day!

Introducing LaBlanche Stamps and Specialty Paper

When I was at CHA in January, I ran across this new vendor... LaBlanche Stamps. I was mesmerized watching the artist create the most beautiful pieces of art with her wonderfully detailed stamps and distress inks. And I loved how they looked when embossed with UTEE. The stamps are also unusual in that they are made of silicone and mounted on a foam block.

Well, what can I say... I was hooked! And I thought perhaps some of you might like them too...especially if you like the more artsy look, altered art, distress inks and the like. Any Tim Holtz fans out there besides me? I thought so! I hope to stock more Tim Holtz goodies as time goes by, but initially I've stocked a few things that will help you create the look that Blanche is demonstrating in this video...



And, of course, the stamps! Here are a few of what you'll find in stock on Monday...

Plus, I'm stocking some of that wonderful specialty stamping paper Blanche uses in the video. I'm telling you, I've never felt such smooth cardstock in my life! I'm stocking the card size, which is perfect for these images, and will cost less and weigh less for shipping. If there are enough requests, I'll see about stocking the larger full sheets.

As with everything starting out, with no idea of demand, quantities will be limited. However, if you all love the stamps and paper as much as I do, I will certainly reorder and add more images as quickly as possible!

See you tomorrow for more previews of coming attractions!

Another Preview for You!

I am in LOVE with Emma's Shoppe by Crate Paper, how about you? Yes, my friends, you will see two companion kits featuring patterned papers and embellies from Emma's Shoppe, including plenty 'o chipboard accents, which I happen to LOVE using on my cards.

One of the two kits will include a wee stamp image and greeting from the fabulous Claire Brennan of Waltzingmouse Stamps!!!

Before I go, I just wanna say... I wish I were my cat. She's out there in the patio room, laying in a patch of sunlight, soaking it up. I guess it's appropriate that the patio room has become the headquarters for The Craft's Meow. lol Now, to figure out how to put her to work...

I'll be back tomorrow with more! Thanks again for all your wonderful comments and emails!!!

The Countdown is On! Let the Previews Begin!

Yikes, I can't believe it's only one more week before the store opens! Gee, I sure hope I'm ready! lol There's still so much to do...

I'm thinking you might want to get a taste of things to come? Well, for one thing (or should I say, two or three?), there will be two kits featuring patterned paper from the Curtain Call collection and embellies from Graphic 45...

... plus a few other bits and bobs to coordinate. And, the most delicious part... a wee stamp set (image and greeting) designed by my dear friend, the one and only Claire Brennan of Waltzingmouse Stamps, will appear in one of the two kits!!!

Oh yes, it's true! And there's more to come!

A note or two about my kits: the paper will be cut down to 6 x 6, which will save shipping costs. A friend has suggested offering 6 x 12 strips for scrapbookers, and I may well try that soon. If you have any feedback for me on this, please let me know! I don't know about you, but I cut into a lot of paper and have many scraps left over. I like the idea of buying just a bit and using it up so that I can move on to the next latest and greatest thing.

Generally, I'll be dividing up most of a particular paper collection and many of its coordinating elements into two different kits...adding a few other things (the bits and bobs) to enhance the kits' possibilities. One of the two kits will have a wee stamp set included. If you purchase both kits, you get everything I have to offer for that particular collection!

Starting out, I have no idea what to expect in terms of demand so the kits will be limited. But I'll do my best to restock the most popular kits asap, and keep things fresh.

Thank you all so much for following along with me on this journey. I've loved reading every single comment... all of your encouragement and good wishes have lifted me up considerably! I could not be more grateful.

I'll be back tomorrow with another peek of coming attractions! Have a great day!