Hagrid

As you can tell from the title of my blog, I have a soft spot for kitties. I thought it would be fun to include occasional posts about some of the many cats (and various other furry friends) I have known and loved over the years.

Hagrid is our newest addition. He is an 8 month old Norwegian Forest Cat. He is not yet full grown but he is HUGE! He is just a delight. Sweet and gentle, he loves to be wherever we are. He loves a crowd. When the kids have a group of friends over, Hagrid is right in the midst.

He loves to go for a ride in a clothesbasket.

NF cats have longer back legs than front. It is amazing to watch him jump and he is SO fast. He is partial to anything with feathers. I bought him a feather boa and he carries it all over the house. (It is currently lost - he may have taken it under the bed.) That jumping can get him in trouble though. He is often found on the fireplace mantel. He loves the sink and will pull the drain stoppers out just for fun.

They do not get their full coat and fluffy neck ruff for two years but he is very fluffy already. It is hard to photograph his tail to show just how big and plummy it is.

Tom likes to say he has a "ridiculous" tail. This cat is so funny sometimes!

He is a creature of habit. His evening routine is to sit on Tom's lap for a while. When it is time to put the dog in his crate for the night he has to go along to say goodnight, then he goes to the cupboard and asks for his nightly treat. Next he races up the stairs to our bedroom and goes right to the bedside stand and waits for us to open the drawer to get out his toys. (His favorite are fuzzy balls with feathers.) He will play fetch until he starts to audibly pant like a dog. I have had many cats but he certainly is unique!

Welcome Neighbor Swing Cards

Continuing the Welcome Neighbor theme, I have two different styles of swing cards today.

This one uses the template by Beate Johns found here. It is a fun interactive that swings around when opened. The back of the "swing" has space for writing a message. The front has a die cut from the Sending Love Notes (Kisses) backed with a Dusty Durango Wide Oval punch that has been cut in two.

Supplies: Cardstock: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango. Welcome Neighbor Dsp pack, Stamps: Well-scripted, Wide Oval Punch, Playground buttons, Sending Love Notes-Kisses, soft Suede Dotted grosgrain.

This next card uses a template by Tracey Old found here.

This uses same supplies as above plus the Large Oval punch and Pumpkin Pie corduroy buttons.

Welcome Neighbor Glassine Note

Another project with the Welcome Neighbor Paper Pack today!

I just love this cloud background paper! I immediately thought of balloons when I saw it.

Inside is a cut-down glassine bag to hold the pull-out card.

1. Cut card base 5-1/2 X 11". Score at 5" and 5-1/2".

2. Cut Glassine bag at 5-1/4". Adhere to inside of card at edge. Glue 1/2" scored section on top.

3. Use 1-3/4" punch to notch end of envelope.

4. Punch holes 1-1/4" from end along side. Loop hemp twine through and tie.

5. Cut sky background paper 4-3/4" x 5-1/4". Punch 3 hearts with Full Heart punch. Tape a short piece of hemp twine to the back of each heart. Adhere to front.

6. Cut Crushed Curry 4-1/2 X 4-1/2" for inside slider card base. Add accent house piece - 2-1/4 X 4-1/4" Adhere tab punched with Round Tab punch from Melon Mambo to side.

Supplies: Welcome Neighbor dsp, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo cardstock, Full Heart punch, Round Tab punch, Glassine bag, hemp twine.

Welcome Neighbor Frame

Another quick little project using the Welcome Neighbor Designer paper.

The papers in this pack are so fun to experiment with. I combined three different papers to make this 3D scene. The house and clouds were cut from one paper and popped up on dimensionals on the tree background. I cut the little row of houses from a third paper pattern. I inked up just the "welcome" portion of a bigger stamp with a marker and stamped it on the sky colored background paper and punched it with the word window punch. I added a ribbon before putting it in the frame. Super easy and very cute!

Mini Matchbox Basket

This is a super quick little valentine basket made with the Matchbox die.

I wanted to use the Welcome Neighbor paper for this project. It comes in 6 X 6 sheets. I first cut a strip 3/4" X 6" from one side for the handle. The box portion of the die is slightly longer than 6 inches but I was able to cut this out with just a smidge missing from both ends and the box still went together just fine.

With four Hershey nuggets wrapped and tucked inside this is a yummy little valentine.

Supplies: Welcome Neighbor dsp, Matchbox die, Full Heart punch, Heart to Heart punch.

Welcome Neighbor Swap Card

As I was making this card for a UStamp swap I realized this would be a great card for a class project. So I am writing this up in a little more detail in case anyone would like to use it. Because of the pattern of the paper it is efficient to make either 6, 12, or 18 of these cards.

For 12 cards you will need:

Paper:

6 sheets Melon Mambo (8-1/2 X 11), plus scraps for punching

1-1/2 sheets Crushed Curry

1 sheet Old Olive

Whisper White for punching

2 - 6 x 6 sheets Welcome Neighbor dsp ( blue with olive houses)

2 sheets Welcome Neighbor dsp (multi-colored rows of houses)

Stamps:

Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:

Old Olive

Ribbon:

12 pieces Melon Mambo dotted grosgrain - 4-1/2"

Punches:

Scallop Trim edge

Scallop Trim corner

Heart to Heart

Word Window

Directions:

1. Cut the blue paper into 2 X 3 inch squares.

2. Cut the multi-colored house dsp into strips. Hand cut the tops of the houses in a zig zag pattern. Trim to 4-1/4".

Tip: It is easiest to cut into the valleys from the top down as shown.

3. Stamp greeting in Old Olive on Whisper White. Punch with Word Window. Punch hearts with Heart to Heart punch from Melon Mambo.

4. Cut 1 inch strips of Old Olive. Punch with scallop edge punch. Trim to 3-1/4". Cut 2-1/4" X 3-1/4" rectangles of Crushed Curry.

5. Cut, fold and score Melon Mambo card base. Punch upper right corner with corner punch.

6. Assemble card as shown.

Crackled Frame Art

My latest craft store find was a dollar unfinished wooden heart frame. I knew I wanted to use the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt pieces for this project so I chose colors to coordinate.

First I painted the frame with a wine colored acrylic paint. Then coated the top with white crackle paint. I purposely put it on light in some areas and heavy in others. In thin areas the paint dries in fine crackles; in thicker areas the crackles are larger. I used my heat gun to speed up the process.

Once the paint was dry I sponged three colors of ink on the crackled surface starting with the lightest color first - Pretty in Pink, Rose Red and Chocolate Chip.

I traced the heart opening on Designer Series Paper from the Sweet Pea stack, cut it out and in inserted it in the frame.

The letters were inked with Pretty in Pink and then lightly sponged with Chocolate Chip to give them a slightly distressed look.

The bird and butterflies were punched from Sweet Pea paper and the felt pieces were the final accent.

Supplies: Paper - Whisper White, Sweet Pea Designer Series Pack. Ink - Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Chocolate Chip. Stamps - Lovely Letters. Accessories - Sweet Pea Stitched Felt, 2-Step Bird punch, 1" square punch, Beautiful Butterflies embosslet.