Oooh oooh oooh!

Staz On has six new colors! Oh yummy!!

Click here to get 'em.

Structure

I need structure. It keeps me balanced. . .and when my schedule is thrown off, I get all wonky and it can take days for me to recover. Needless to say, I am soooooooooooo happy to have a somewhat normal schedule again!

Yep . . .it's back to "play" for me! The new store is open and it's time to get back on track with ordering goodies for you and posting to the blog on a regular basis.

Speaking of goodies . . . check out Hazel! She is one of Rosie's newest images and she is on her way to the Cupboard along with a bunch of other new images, too!

And how about this Trick or Treat Ghost from Prickley Pear?? Isn't he cute?? And the Swanky Witch . . .isn't she just sooooooooo . .. well, Swanky? Yep . . . I've got an order coming in from Prickley Pear, too.

AND, looks like Nicole will be back soon to teach more fabu classes! Stay tuned for more info . . .I'm really hoping for the end of October or early November.

AND did you know Prickley Pear is having a DT call? Click here for all the info.

Okay . . .off and running to get ready for "play!"

tee hee

I'm a Featured How-to Project!

Wait . . .that doesn't sound right . . .

I'm the artist of a Featured How-to Project!

Well . . . that's not right either . . .I just like to stamp, color, cut and paste, so I don't really think of myself an "artist."

Oh sheesh . . . Click here to see what I'm babbling about.


psst . . .Stampbord is on sale on the website. :D

Can you believe it?

The City of Escondido had a parade for my Grand Re-Opening!

Okay . . .not really . . .but there was a parade for Grape Day. I guess I missed that memo from the city. :D

Even with lots of streets blocked off for the parade, the Grand Re-Opening was a success! It was sooooooo great to see so many of you!

Thanks ever so for coming out to see the new store!

It IS a Store!

Holy Canoli Batman! I am soooooo excited! After six weeks (SIX!) of being closed I am ready to re-open the store! YAHOO!

Tomorrow . . .Saturday, Sept. 8th is the Grand Re-Opening at the new location:

252 East Grand Avenue
Escondido, CA 92025

Doors open at 10:00 am.

See you there!

It's Almost a Store!

Oh my goodness! I can't believe how much stuff I had to unpack! But we [my dear, sweet husband (Mike) and very good friend and mentor (Jill)] have made some serious progress in getting the "new" Cupboard ready for the Grand Re-Opening on Saturday, Sept. 8!

There was whole lotta "red-tagging" going on, too . . .select back issues of magazines for $1.00 . . . select clear stamps for $4.50 (reg. price $14 - $15)! select cardstock 75% off . . .full packs of Lasting Impressions cardstock (that would be 50 sheets) for $4.50 (reg. price 17.50!) . . .individual sheets of LI cardstock just $0.09 each! All Kaliedescope and Wild Asparagus cardstock 50% off! Lots of wood mounted stamps marked wwwwwaaaaayyyyy down . . .I have a whole gondola loaded with Clearance items!

Eeeeee . . .this is so exciting! I can't wait to re-open! See you on Saturday! Doors open at 10:00 a.m.

Mark Your Calendar!

Finally after almost five weeks of being closed due to the flood, we will be having our Grand Re-Opening on Saturday, September 8, 2007 . . .

are you ready for this?

. . . at our NEW location!

Yep! We've moved! Our new address is 252 East Grand Avenue. . . across the street from A Bird Haven and next to Platinum PC Computers.

Hope to see you there!

Gimme a "T"!

Gimme a "C"!
Gimme a "P"!

What's that spell?

THE CAT'S PAJAMAS!

Okay . . .so it's spells the appreviation for The Cat's Pajamas . . .but we'd be here all day if I went on and on . . .Gimme a "C"! Gimme an "A"! Gimme a "T"! . . . see what I mean?

Oh yeah . .. she's done it again! Click here to see the new images.

Let the Countdown Begin!

Yippee! That little glimmer has begun to brighten at the end of that tunnel!

New flooring has been installed, so I'm just about able to start putting everything back where it belongs . . .

We'll be having a Grand Re-Opening Celebration soon . .. .stay tuned for the announcement!

Do you see it?

There . . . a little further back . . . just little glimmer . . .see it now?

That would be the light at the end of the tunnel!

New bathroom floor is almost installed . . .they're putting up the new baseboards as I type. YAHOO!

And I must say . . . it does look very nice.

One step closer to being able to re-open . . . stay tuned for more updates next week.

Ooh Ooh Ooh!

Oh my goodness! Soooo many goodies have arrived!

NEW Basic Grey 6x6 Paper Pads
NEW Memory Box Clear Stamps
NEW Memory Box 6x6 Paper Pads
NEW Halloween images from Inkadinkado
More images from Paper Artsy
Autumn Take Ten Magazine

Click here to see all the goods!

***sigh***

no new bathroom floor . . .

Oh Happy Day!

The flooring guys will be here today to put in the new bathroom flooring! Yippee yahoo! Then the carpet guys will be here Monday to install the new carpet. Yippee Yippee Yahoo!

It's Getting Closer

FINALLY . . . I got to pick out new carpet and bathroom flooring. Yahoo! I'm keeping my fingers crossed to have installation scheduled for Friday. . . .couple of days to put the store back together . . .and then a Grand Re-Opening!

Ooooooh I can't wait!

Oh my Goodness!

What a lovely surprise I received in the mail today! All the way from England! A cute card and chocolate! The inside of the card reads, "Thought you could use a little Pickup."

Thank you so much Caroline! This totally made my day!

Packing packing packing

Okey dokey! Carpet guy came out earlier this week, so hopefully I'll have new carpet in the near future.

UPS and FedEx keep stopping by, too . . .by the time I can re-open the store I'll have all sorts of new goodies for ya!

This week I've received NEW images from Rosie's Roadshow, the latest Australian Magazines, and Cloth, Paper, Scissors! Sooooo excited about that magazine . . . very cool with lots of mixed media projects!

Had to take a break from packing stuff up and send an order off to Memory Box . . .OH my! Just wait till you see the new 6x6 Paper Packs ......... sooooooo yummy!

And I've got a great sample board coming in from Inkadinkado . . .here's the best part . . .if you buy two stamps on the board, you'll receive a third stamp FREE! AND, you'll get pictures and instructions to complete the projects on the board. Yahoo!

Stay tuned for more updates later . . .

Eeeew

So I finally got to that ribbon today . . .and I should've done that first. Icky icky icky . . .three wet wicker baskets filled with wet spools of ribbon equals instant mold.

Gross.

What Water Does. . .

. . . to paper, chipboard, and stamps.



Here are a few pictures of some of the damage from the flood.

I was finally able to throw that stack of paper and magazines in the trash on Friday . . .after only four days, it was already growing mold. YUCK!

The stamps shown are some of the worst . . .but now that time has passed, I've found that cushion is shrinking and peeling off the wood, and rubber is peeling off the cushion! Amazing what water can do, huh?

I haven't had a chance to go through the baskets of ribbon yet . . .I'm kind of afraid to . . .I'm sure it's going to be really icky!

Progress!

Hi! Hello! I'm here!

Thanks again for all your good thoughts, cyber hugs, and well wishes! I really do appreciate you!

The store is dried up . . .but it smells funny . . . it's still in disarray, but I should be able to finish up listing the damaged goods tomorrow and then I can start putting things back where they belong . . .and with any luck the doors will be open again next Thursday.

Check back soon for more updates . . . and pictures of what happens to stamps when submerged in water . . .

And to those who have been affected by the collapsed bridge in Minneapolis . . . my thoughts are with you.

The Show Must Go On

Thank you all for your kind comments and emails! Gives me warm fuzzies. . .

The clean up process is slow, but it's getting there. I think I may have been a little bit ambitious saying that I'd be able to re-open the store this Thursday though . . . doesn't look like that's gonna happen. I'll keep posting here and on the homepage of the website to keep you all updated.

The Magenta Classes are still a go! Luckily the classes will be held in my neighbor's classroom . . . and I'm very happy to report that none of the Magenta Stamps were damaged in the flood. WHEW!

Another good note . . . that Big Brown Truck and the White Truck, too . . .stopped by today. I received the NEW Artful Blogging Magazine, the latest issue of The Stamper's Sampler, Pop-Up Creations Book, and TWO 3-D Blank Board Books (3-D Star and 3-D Flower).

These goodies are available on-line now . . .

See? Between your emails and comments and the new goodies . . .today wasn't so bad. Tomorrow will be better! :D

Up to my ankles. . .

. . . in water. Had a little bit of a flood at the store . . .okay . . .so it wasn't really that little . . by the time I got there, the water really was ankle-deep. . .

Soooo . . .due to this mishap, please note that our retail location will be closed until Thursday, Aug. 2.

Hopefully by then everything that got wet will be dried out.

If you placed an online order within the last week, please note that shipments will be delayed a few days. I truly apologize for the inconvenience . . .

Well . . .gotta get back to wading through the damaged goods . . .

Prickley Pear Today!

I'm so excited! Nicole from Prickley Pear will be teaching at the store today!

Please note our retail location will be closed for this special event.

Flourished Skull

The Big Brown Truck brought more goodies!

The Skull is by Inkadinkado and the Flourish in the corners is by Paper Artsy. I used Crimson Red and Smokey Gray Versafine inks. In the flower centers, I used the tiniest bit of Black Diamond Stickles.

Solid cardstock is Blush Red Dark and Gray by Prism Paper. Patterned cardstock is by Sassafraslass.

Oh yeah . . .Halloween is just around the corner! My very favorite holiday!

Ooh! Ooh!

Look what the Big Brown Truck brought today! NEW Magenta Stamps! Yahoo! More samples have also been posted in the Newer Gallery.

Only 3 Spots Left!

There are only three spots left in the Magenta Classes coming up on Sat., Aug. 4th . . . click here to register on-line.

Hot Hot Hot!

Whew . . .at 7:30 this morning I stepped out into my backyard and thought, "Oh my . . .it's gonna be a warm one today!"

What better way to cool off than in a pool? Rosie's got it right with one of her new sentiments. Look at Persephone and Richard and Friends hanging out and cooling off:

And then there's Lena with some wise advice:

Oh yeah . . .these sentiments (along with a few others are on the way!)

Technique Thursday - Hand Drawn Elements

Thought I would post for the Technique Thursday challenge. Visiting this site inspires me to try new things . . . and pull out the things I've forgotten that I have!

Stamps are by Stampendous, colored with Prismacolor Pencils, Patterned Paper by Sassafrasslass.

Pumpkins for Sale

How cute is this card? The stamps are some of the newest images from Lockhart. More samples have also been posted in the Newer Gallery (link over there . . .to the right).

Here's a monkey for ya! Still love this little guy. . .

And a super simple "sweetie" card using one of the new clear sets by Stampendous.

Okay . . .Okay .. .

A hint about the Hints:

The Hints currently refer to a Category or Sub-Category to get you in the right place. . . .and that's all I'm going to give you . . .except that the hints are not necessarily related . . .i.e., Hint #1 and Hint #2 refer to two different Categories or Sub-Categories. . .

Don't worry . . .the hints will become more straight-forward as time goes on . . .for instance, perhaps, maybe The Longest Day refers to a particular time of the year . . .even a month . . .

There . . .that's all I'm going to give you.

Mercury Got Me. . .

Yep . . .just when I thought I was safe from his pranks, bang! My motherboard decided to dump on me. Could've been a whole lot worse . . . .I caught it early enough before the capacitors leaked all over everything inside the tower.

Sooooo . . . my computer just got back from the doctor all fixed up and running beautifully!



Here are a few cards that I've done over the past week or so:

First we have Changito Guitar from Stampendous. I'm really starting to love these little guys. Goofy looking, but so cute! Quick and easy, colored with PrismaColor pencils. The sentiment is from Gina K. and is a two piece set. The inside of the card reads, "you live in a zoo . . . you know the rest." I find this sentiment goes perfectly with Changito (that's the Monkey's name) . . .and it makes me think of my big brothers . . . and one sister in particular (you read this and you know who you are) . . .they tortured me and sang that version of Happy Birthday to me every year until I was about 13.

Patterned paper is from Memory Box and My Mind's Eye, solid cardstock is Prism.

Yep . . . another monkey, "Changito Banana." And here's a story about the paper. See the yellow background paper? It has bananas all over it! I spied this paper at my friend's store . . .and thought, I have no idea what I'll ever do with it, but I just had to have it! It's appropriately called "Monkey Business" by Reminisce.

Again, quick and easy, colored with pencils . . .yellow stickles on the banana peel. Hand doodled the borders.

These silly birds are from a Clear Set from Stampendous. It comes with a lot of different swirly stamps and flowers, too. The sentiment is from a different clear set by Stampendous. Patterned cardstock is by Sassafraslass . . .solid cardstock is Prism. Of course, I used my PrismaColor pencils.

Look! Same birds with shorter legs. To get the legs to be shorter, I just inked part of the stamp. The sentiment is from justjohanna who has LOTS of birdie sentiments. Colored with pencils. Patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye and solid is Prism.

Finally . . .same birds, flying this time. I stamped the bird bodies and wings on white stock and colored with . . .you guessed it . . . pencils. Cut them out and adhered them to the oval (Sizzix die). Sentiment is also by Stampendous. Patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye and solid stock is Prism.

Well . . .I'm off to go stamp some more . . . stay tuned though . . .I'm planning a game of Hide & Seek! What fun it will be!

Happy Dance!

Oh my goodness! I received the samples for the Prickley Pear classes AND the Magenta classes! You simply must stop by and see them in person! They are sooooooooooooo cool!

And . . .if you haven't done so already . . .be sure to register soon! Space is limited and the classes are filling up fast. Click here to register online.

Here's a peek of the projects:

It's Time . . .

. . .for a Freaky Friday Blog Special!

Purchase $13.00 or more at CatsCraftCupboard.com and enter coupon code "Freaky Friday" during checkout for some freaky savings!


The Fine Print: Valid on regular priced AND sale items! Not valid on Class Registration Fees. Offer expires Friday, July 13, 2007 at midnight (PDT).

Eeeee . . .

....NEW Scalloped Punches have arrived!

. . . The Class Schedule has been updated!

A Freaky Friday Blog Special is coming . . .check back soon . . .

Christmas in July!

My goodness! Coming back from vacation . . . well . . .it was almost like Christmas around here!

Speaking of which . . .all Halloween and Christmas stamps are 40% - 60% off at our retail store! Hurry in for best selection . . . when they're gone, they're gone!

Okay . . .on to the goods . . .

12 NEW Twinkling H2O's colors are here!
Mixed Media Artistry - Projects I Book has arrived! (Perhaps you know the author? Ms. Tammara Scott? YES! That Tammy . . . she teaches some fabulous classes here at the Cupboard!)
FOUR new Australian Magazines have arrived!
Mary Englebreit's Home Companion Magazine has arrived!
Stampendous has arrived!
B-Line Designs has arrived!
PaperBag Studios has arrived!
More from Gina K. has arrived!

Sheesh . . . have I got a mess to clean up here . . .stay tuned for more updates . . .

Well now . . .

it's amazing what one can accomplish when the Craft Room is clean and organized.

Here are a few projects that I've done this week . . . but first, I must say, photography is not my forte . . .never has been . . .probably never will be . . . so, if the pics are fuzzy . . . .I apologize. Really, I tried to photoshop them . . . to no avail.

Next . . . now that my craft room is so organized, I've found lots of new things to play with! (okay, so they aren't necessarily "new" . . .I just re-discovered them while putting stuff away)

For the first few cards . . . they're definitely my style . . .kinda whimiscal cute . . .quick and easy.
The Watermelon ribbon would be one of those re-discovered things. Had to use it, so here's the Great Impressions Monkey enjoying a nice slice of watermelon. Barely noticeable, but I did create a watermelon background using the Hero Arts ClearDesign "W" set. Sentiment is by Purple Onion (yes. . .I finally got around to cutting all the stamps from my Self-Addressed kits).

Loved this little Flower Cart from Gina K. . . . stamped it using VersaMagic Red Brick, colored with pencils. The cloud stencil and grass are from Rosie's Roadshow and the flower background and butterflies are from the Floral Design clear set by Memory Box. Sentiment is by Lockhart.For this card I used the Floral Design set again. These stamps are quite possibly the nicest clear stamps I've used. They hold ink very well (I used VersaColor and VersaMagic inks here) and they really give a crisp impression. Sentiment is from the Hero Arts "W" set . . . .what? it was still on my table. :D

Moving right along . . .I've attempted to find a Collage Artist in me . . but like photography, I just don't think it's my forte. But I tried . . .and maybe with some more practice, I'll end up with projects that sort of, might, hopefully one day look like those over at Vintage Papers. (she's right . . .gothic arch cards are addicting.)

Stamp is by Stamper's Anonymous . . . one from the Tim Holtz line. The music sheet paper, velvet ric rac and flower were in one of my SA kits and the cardstock is from My Mind's Eye.Yep . . .another Tim Holtz stamp. I colored with chalk (another re-discovery during the cleaning process). The arch is cut from My Mind's Eye cardstock. I stamped the postage cancellations using Brushed Corduroy distress ink . . .those stamps are from Purple Onion. Little bit of velvet ribbon, a flower and a button . . viola . . .call it a card.

Yet another Tim Holtz stamp . . .I really like his images . . . just never really know what to do with them. . . but I'm going to just keep working with them . . .

First, I cut out the arch and stamped the King using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink. The cardstock was orignally a cream color . . .but I decided to change it. Sooooo . .. I applied some Sunburst Radiant Rain, spritzed it with water and then added Butterscotch Color Wash. Wasn't too thrilled so I added a smidge of Terra Cotta Color Wash. . . .and sprizted more water to get the colors to move around and blend. The picture doesn't show it very well, but the Radiant Rain did add just enough shimmer.

When the piece dried, I noticed that the Vintage Sepia ink faded to a really cool color. I liked it, but thought it was too plain. . . .so I masked the King and stamped Scroll Tapestry from Penny Black in Butterscotch Adirondack ink. The card is Prism Cardstock . . .Papaya Puree Dark, I think . . . but I thought it needed a background so I stamped a Harlequin background using Butterscotch Adirondack ink and then edged the card with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

The sentiment at the top is from PaperBag Studios. I stamped it on ivory stock and cut it apart. Edged each strip with Brushed Corduroy ink and tried to place it randomly. Remember, I'm trying to get out of the "symmetrical" habit. . . .very hard for me to do . . .

Okay . . . I also took the time to play with all of my Color Wash and Radiant Rain Daubers (which by the way you CAN apply them direct to a stamp!) and made a few tags . . . here they are:

Let's see . . .the Color Wash was Mushroom, Espresso, and Terra Cotta. . . not too sure I like it. I stamped the images (yes . . .more Tim Holtz) using Walnut Stain Distress ink . . . eh . . it's okay.

For this tag, I used Terra Cotta and Butterscotch Color Wash. The Harlequin was stamped using Hot Cinnamon Radiant Rain. The Script Background was stamped using Cranberry Adirondack ink and the flowers (or are those weeds??) were stamped using VersaFine Onyx Black.

I don't know . . . Lettuce and Butterscotch Color Wash, I think . . .by this time, I was spraying just about anything on my table . . .I love this stuff and the Radiant Rain, too! . . .Stamp is by PaperBag Studios . . .I used Vintage Sepia Versafine ink.

Yep . . .Lettuce Color Wash and Olive Vine Radiant Rain. I also spritzed the tag quite heavily with water to really blend the color wash and radiant rain. The Harlequin was stamped using Olive Vine Radiant Rain. I used Pesto Adirondack ink for the Script Background and the Winged Boy.

That's all . . .for now . . . I still have two days left of vacation and plan on stamp stamp stamping!

And I just realized how long this post is . . . yikes.

Read this

I was blurfing a bit today and found this link on Alma's Blog. All I can say is "Wow."

And so it begins . . .

. . .the daunting task of cleaning and reorganizing my craft room.




The above picture is my work table. On that 6' table, I had about one square foot of room to actually work.



Here's a different angle of my work table and that horrifying mess across from it is the . . .well, the "catch-all" table. (And boy oh boy did it catch everything.)



Another view of the "catch-all" table.



Just to give you an idea of how totally out of control this mess got . . . this is the floor next to my work table.



Same floor . . . further away.



The "catch-all" table again.


Frightening isn't it?

Since I'm on vacation this week, and Mercury is still in Retrograde, I thought it would probably be a good idea to take advantage of this time off as well as the "clean and de-clutter" energy.


It has taken three full days to go from total disaster to this:

Look! The "catch-all" table is gone!

It has been replaced by new cubbies and cabinets!

Look! I have the full 6' of table to work on!

Ink pads and paper trimmers hanging on the wall . . .so much closer and easier to reach!

Punches also hanging on the wall and much easier to get to.

Yep . . .three full days . . .and worth every minute. The best part? I still have a full week of vacation left to actually sit in there and craft! Yahoo!