MAGICAL LAYOUTS BY CAT!

 

Cat created some layouts using the Reminisce "Magical 4th" 

collection we shared yesterday.

Blue star strip & red star banner are from Rayz Lazer.

 Cat added dots with chalk paint pen.

 

The other page using this fabulous collection

and Ray's cutouts!

These cute rockets are also from Rayz Lazer & 

Cat added Art Anthology paints &

 stickles to pop them off the page.

LOVE these layouts!

  

More strips, banner & chipboard stars from Rayz Lazer to add to this page

that stars Cat and Ray's adorable grandson, Jake!

 

Cutest Uncle Sam I've ever seen!!!

Check out the chipboard flag embellished 

with Art Anthology paints & stickles. 

Add twine, stickers & stars plus left over star strip to finish off the page.

So, hurry to the store and pick up some of this beautiful

collection and Ray's coordinating laser cuts.

Use your purchase to qualify for some 

Cat's Firecracker Cash

Don't forget to come by the store and get

your Firecracker Cash for every $25 you spend

on regular-priced merchandise.

Just in case you can't read the fine print,

here it is:

From June 26th - July 5th

(Cat decided to start it tomorrow instead

of next week...

LUCKY YOU!!!)

You will earn $5 in

FIRECRACKER CASH

for every $25 you spend

on regular-priced merchandise!

You can redeem your Firecracker Cash

August 10th-August 16th.

The $25 purchase is valid on product only, before tax.

Some restrictions may apply....

see store for details.

$25 must be reached in one transaction -

multiple transactions cannot be combined

to reach $25.

$5.00 Firecracker Cash can be redeemed

8/10/2015-8/16/2015 on

a purchase of 

$25 or more.

 

Kelly and Vickie were first in line

to earn some of

Cat's Firecracker Cash.

IT'S A MAGICAL 4TH!

 

Check out this beautiful new collection

from Reminisce:

"Magical 4th".

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the fireworks

on this collection!

These are the stickers for this 

amazing collection.

To further adorn your beautiful pages,

Ray has created these fabulous

laser cuts.  

Fabulousness!!!

 

Don't forget to come by the store and get

your Firecracker Cash for every $25 you spend

on regular-priced merchandise.

 

Just in case you can't read the fine print,

here it is:

From June 26th - July 5th

(Cat decided to start it tomorrow instead

of next week...

LUCKY YOU!!!)

You will earn $5 in

FIRECRACKER CASH

for every $25 you spend

on regular-priced merchandise!

You can redeem your Firecracker Cash

August 10th-August 16th.

The $25 purchase is valid on product only, before tax.

Some restrictions may apply....

see store for details.

$25 must be reached in one transaction -

multiple transactions cannot be combined

to reach $25.

$5.00 Firecracker Cash can be redeemed

8/10/2015-8/16/2015 on

a purchase of 

$25 or more.
 
Look who were the first to get
their Cat's Firecracker's Cash!
Come get yours today! 
 

WEEK 27 PROMPTS

 

Here are the prompts for week 27 

of the photo a day challenge.

Love the dried flowers on it!

Lots of fun prompts for this week

should make for some

great photos.

Grab the cameras and start 

snapping those photos!

 

IT IS FIRECRACKER TIME!!!

The 4th of July means it is time for

FIRECRACKERS!!!

And at Cat's it is also time for

FIRECRACKER CASH!

Just in case you can't read the fine print,

here it is:

From June 26th - July 5th

(Cat decided to start it tomorrow instead

of next week...

LUCKY YOU!!!)

You will earn $5 in

FIRECRACKER CASH

for every $25 you spend

on regular-priced merchandise!

You can redeem your Firecracker Cash

August 10th-August 16th.

The $25 purchase is valid on product only, before tax.

Some restrictions may apply....

see store for details.

$25 must be reached in one transaction -

multiple transactions cannot be combined

to reach $25.

$5.00 Firecracker Cash can be redeemed

8/10/2015-8/16/2015 on

a purchase of 

$25 or more.

So come start an early celebration

of the 4th with us tomorrow.

Earn that Firecracker Cash

and

HAVE A BLAST!!!!

THE MANY SIDES OF CAT

 

We all know how goofy Cat can be.

 She is also a fantastic photographer.

She oozes creativity.....

This story shares another

side of Cat and why 

she LOVES her store:

 

You have people come & people go in your life. 

There are always those that are more special.

 Today 3 of my ladies from out of town came to the store 

& mom was in a wheelchair not looking so healthy. 

I pulled one of the daughters off to the side to find out what was up.

 Mom had been diagnosed with end stage cancer.

 She was doing her bucket list with the help of the girls

 & one of her great granddaughters. 

The first thing on her list was seeing the new store & me. 

She had not been able to come see the store earlier due to her illness. 

I was so upset over her news but felt so honored 

that she wanted to see the store & me. 

We talked a bit & I gave her a big hug promising to pray for her.

 She wanted a pic for her bucket list album 

so we smiled big for her daughter. 

Tears all around to say the least. 

This is why I love the store--

beautiful people that I get the honor of knowing.

CAT'S SKETCH FEVER

 

Check out this fun sketch that Cat

has created for us this week.

Love the photo arrangement!

Another fun arrangement for the photos.

Plus, a place for ticket stubs or other

ephemera!

This sketch is perfect for your

summer getaway photos.

For further inspiration,

Cat has created a 2 page layout

using this week's sketch.

Ray also helped by creating the

sun laser cut for you to

paint.

Cat used foam tape to add even

more dimension to the laser cut.

 

This is the second page of the layout.

Cat added some fun pen details

on the photo mats on both pages.

So, give this sketch a try and

share your creations with us.

We would love to see them!

TAG.....IT'S FUN!!!!

 

 Have you ever taken one of Nanci's tag classes?

If not, you are missing out!

They are technique driven classes and

you learn all about the distress line of products.

Plus, you get to take home beautiful

tags designed by Nanci and 

created by YOU!

Don't know what to do with the tags?

They are great embellishments in/on

mini albums and layouts.

Plus, they make great greeting cards or

tags for gifts.

Nanci is starting the tag classes up again in July

 with an all day affair of TAGS

on JULY 11TH 

from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

She will be gearing you up for Christmas 

with some awesome tags 

so get ready to hit the ground running with

 5 new tags.
Cost: $40 (snacks included)
Student Supplies: Distress Inks, Basic Tool Kit

CH...CH....CH.....CHANGES.......

SO......

I'm sick and in the hospital....

and guess what Cat and Valerie do.....

They rearrange the store!

Yes, I will be looking all over the

store for things.  LOL!!!

When the store is rearranged,

that is when you discover all of these

things that you didn't know we had.

Yes,

there is a method to the madness.

There will be all kinds of

things that you may think are new.

But, you just haven't discovered them yet.

So, come to the store and

see what new things you will discover.

There are all kinds of treasures there,

just waiting for you to find them!

COOKING UP THE NEXT PHOTO A DAY CHALLENGE

It's time for another week

of prompts for the 

Photo-A-Day Challenge.

Hard to believe that this marks

the half-way point of the year!

 

This picture may have you in the

kitchen baking some cookies!

Love that background art.

 These prompts give you lots of

ideas for fun photos.

So, grab your camera and start

clicking away! 

 

I'M B-A--A-A-CK!!!!

 

So glad to be back on the blog with you all.

I really appreciated Cat 

taking over for me.

 Thank you all for your concern

and well wishes.

You cannot know just how much

that all meant to me while

lying in that hospital bed.

 

Thanks again and I am so

glad to be 

BACK!

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Through The Windows

There comes a time in your life when you are on the outside looking in through the window. . .

And when you get done fixing that window so you CAN look through it you sit back and sigh with relief that it is DONE!  Then you look at each other and say, "How are they gonna finish their windows in class--it took us 3 days to do ours?"

So went the afternoon with me and Nanci. She gets hers all finished, back all stapled on and realizes that some of the pieces fell.  Out comes a minor expletive and then Nanci realizes there is a customer in the store and here she is saying a bad word. I was so busy laughing at her I could in no way keep a straight face. She kept apologizing for calling the window a B word and the customer was laughing at her too. She gets it all together again and has it set up and ready to show for class  As we are sitting and determining our next venture she looks and one of her starfish has fallen.  Well, now she has the big starfish on the outside so she has to very carefully get a portion of the back off. She just needs to get the big Zot covered with a button and the starfish can just lean on the bottom.  She is running around saying, "under the window, out of the window, in the window" as she gets all the tools back out to do minor surgery.

Mission accomplished and she is ready to set it up again.  Now---step away Nanci, just step away. The finished product looks like this:

Nanci found this cool 8 "pain" window that really turned out gorgeous despite the minor setbacks.

The right side of the window

The left side of the window. This is the big starfish she had to be careful not to break during surgery.

I decided to do my window with pics of me and my Studmuffin along with some of the windmill pics I have taken  Getting the layout down is the hard part. Then you have to get it all in line with the wood dividing the panes.  Of course I decided to use barb wire on mine so Nanci and I both ended up getting stuck trying to curl it the way I wanted it. (We were spinning yarns when we got pricked too!) (Did you get that Rapunzel reference?) Finally got it all together, lined up and ready to staple gun the back. I, unlike my friend, have not had to open the back of mine.  Ha! I saw her dilemma and used Scor Tape and Glossy Accents and glued that stuff DOWN! Plus, I used foam board on the back of mine and used T-pins to hold stuff on as well. I thought that was quite brilliant on my part.  Yes, we will be using foam backing and not chipboard on the class ones. They are also a lot lighter.  

Sharon did her beach one with Lance during the NSD Class. It turned out really cute too. She pulled an all nighter finishing hers. Then nearly fell asleep driving home later that day.  

Cat Nips for Window Assembly: 

Have your window clean and painted prior to class

Have your pics ready, all your ephemera ready and be ready to start creating as soon as class starts.

Have all kinds of adhesive--Scor Tape & Glossy or 3 in 1 are a must.

Be ready to move your window on and off your backing multiple times throughout the process.

Measuring tool if you are totally anal. I just eyeballed it and it worked just fine.

Call me ahead of time with your window size so that I can have the wood pieces (3-D Shadow box effect) and foam board pre-cut for your backs.

It is a lot of fun and you will have the most gorgeous piece of art for your home.I can't wait to see how everyone's turns out.

See ya at the store,

Cat!

Window Art Fun

Nanci & I are Making Sample Windows for Class Saturday the 27th . . .This is soooooo much FUUUNNN!

The window class is scheduled for Saturday, June 27th. Nanci and I are just getting to start on ours. Sharon's is here on display already for you to see. These are such awesome pieces of art for your home.  

 Nanci found a  really BIG window to go above her antique couch in her bedroom. 

She is actually putting completed pages in part of hers and then adding more pics.

   Nanci is almost done with her window here. She is going to add more shells and a few more pics.

I decided to to a collage of pics of Ray & I along with some of my windmill pics I have taken. Now to get it all together.

I will post completed pics as soon as we step away and STOP with the madness!  You just keep seeing things you want to add or "fix".

Have you signed up for this class?  It is going to be a lot of FUN!

CAT'S SKETCH FEVER

I hope everyone got out and enjoyed the beautiful weather this past weekend as we are headed for rain once again.  I did this two page sketch when we were having all the rain and I was needing to see the sun desperately.  Who knew how good that Vitamin D felt!  I love being outside and typically only have weekends to accomplish that since I am at the store all day. So I was loving Sunday afternoon out and about with my Studmuffin.  Enjoy these sketches for those sunny day pics.

Go for the bright colored papers for your sunshine pages.

Make banners from ribbon or burlap or leftover material. I have Ray working on some large sunshine chipboard pieces to add to the pages too.  

Have a great time working on those pages. We have some great papers to help you and will be more than happy to fix you up with what you need to make the perfect pages.  I want to see pics on the Facebook page of how you alter and create your own pages from these sketches!

See ya at the store, 

Cat!

Artsy Fun, Messy Fun, Tons of Fun

Saturday was Fabulous with Stayce DeWid from Art Anthology!

What a great day of classes, techniques, friends and all out fun it was this past Saturday. Stayce taught everyone some of the coolest techniques to do using her wonderful line of Art Anthology products.  From the mists to the sorbets the ladies made some beautiful master pieces. Just check out their finished projects. . .

The tables were all ready for the ladies. I covered them with paper so they could spray away. Each one also had a box they could use to spray in as well.

Stayce started out telling them the proper way to use the mist sprayers.  

Ann was listening intently and deciding just how she was going to use her colors for her cards.

Joyce was all smiles and Joanne was thinking about taking my camera away it looks like, LOL!

Teresa is happiest when she is creating and she was in her element and full of it today.  Sharon was new to all of this mess and she was quite the silent rock star of class.  Her projects were wonderful..

My card.

Teresa's card

My second card

Total goofballs!

My canvas in progress.Now to figure out which pic I want to use.

Kourtneigh did this beautiful canvas with her family pic.

Love how Sharon's canvas turned out. She totally went out of the box on hers, even going from horizontal to vertical.

Got my layout almost finished, again, need to find the perfect pic.  I love working with cardboard. I used to make my Christmas tags from cardboard boxes that I tore like this, painted and added embellishments to.  That was in the 90s. It all comes back around ladies.

Kathy Blay did this adorable layout of her kids.

Sharon Gooding used her layout for pics of her parents.  

Our last layout was learning to stamp with dimensional pain. OK, I am totally LOVING this technique.  But now I'm going to color the inside of the flower  Can't stand it, LOL!

Thank YOU Stayce for a WonDerFul Day of Arts & Creativity.