BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY

OK so it's October already and I've been thinking lately ...it's about time I gave something away on my blog. 

So how about some candy? 

Kind of appropriate for this time of year don't ya think?  LOL 

So for all my followers and newbies who will come for the sweet treat, here's what you need to do to win that candy:

1. Grab and share the CANDY pic and the link on your blog/forum & facebook, twitter, pinterest, email etc.
2. Come back and leave a comment to where you posted the candy link. 
3. If you are here for the first time for the candy, become a follower and leave a comment about my blog or a favorite post here. Even if it's this post about how to win yourself some candy.  LOL 
4. To narrow down the qualifiers who will win the candy you need to correctly answer this skill testing question:  How many references to candy do you see in this post? So be sure to include your answer in your comment here in this candy post.

**  Only those who are followers will qualify for the CANDY. 

The CANDY giveaway consists of these BO BUNNY products:

2 SHEETS of BO BUNNY stickers

for your handmade cards/tags,

SMASH BOOKS/journals/albums

or whatever you want to stick em too. 

Heck...stick em to TRICK or TREAT candy bags!

THOSE ARE SOME PRETTY SWEET CANDIES huh ? ; )

GUEST BLOGGER MARIA with her newest SU OWL punch character ...M.B. HEDGEH-OWL

I am happy to WELCOME BACK guest blogger MARIA and her SU (Stampin Up) OWL punch critters she creates with it.  This one is sure to steal your heart!  Isn't he cute!  M.B. HedgehOWL named after Micheal Buble - hope I spelled that right and I am allowed to tell.  Doesn't he look like he should be holding a mic and singing?  : )

Ok so now on to Maria and her handsome HedgehOWL...

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"Hello dear Followers of Cathie´s Sweetspot. I know I haven´t shown you any new Owl-punch animals in ages, but a lot of things happened in my life during the last months and that was why I wasn´t able to create any new tutorials for you. I hope you will still stick to my now and then Guest-appeareance on Cathie´s Blog as she is doing a wonderful job here.  Thank you Cathie that I´m still allowed to show my creations on your wonderful blog."

So here is my new tutorial:

Here fall/autumn is just arround the corner

and so a lil fellow came into my mind the other day.

My hands started working and created this little guy:

 

After long time thinking and discussion with a few friends I named him Mr. M.B. Hedgeh-owl.

The name should give it away that I did him with my lovely SU (Stampin Up) Owl-punch. I think he is just so cute :)

So here are written instructions on how I made him.
 
1. I cut out his body out of beige/cream cardstock and snipped of his ears and made a small nodge on the tophead.
2. I cut out a second body but only the down-half of it to have his feet and a little space above it. Then i cut little arms on this feet on both sides.
3. I punched out a beige/cream heart and a pair of eyes for the little guy and a black nose with a simple whole punch.
4. I inked arround the edges of the body , arms and the heart with brown ink and a sponge dauber.
5. Then I started to glue the whole body together starting with the heart, which will be the nose of Mr. Hedgehowl and then added the black spot for his nose and his eyes.
6. Then I glued the arms on the back of his body.
7. Next step was to cut out his spikes with zig-zag-silouette-scissors, while using his body as template.
8. As last step glue the body on the spikes and voila...he is finished!!!!!!!

If this instructions are too complicated to understand for you...I appologize...but in that case I have a little goodie for you today.....my first ever official online crafting Video-tutorial.

Please bear with me as it´s my really first video-tutorial for a blog. I hope you will like it a little bit....sooo here it is:

MARIA'S YOU TUBE HEDGEHOWL VID 

I (Maria) also made a fall card with this little fellow that will be sent to one of my biggest craft idols soon.

What do you think?

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

See you all soon. :)

HAPPY CRAFTING :)

 

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Thanks MARIA for a fun look into the creation of just one of your many endearing little OWL punch critters. 

P.S. the YOU TUBE VID is GREAT !  WELL DONE!  : )
ALSO the card YOU made above with M.B. HedgehOWL is glorious in all it's fall colors.  That craft idol is going to LUV IT!

 

* MARIA says if you have any questions or comments for her just leave them in the comments below and she will reply back to you as soon as she can. 

 

Let's share some LOVE with MARIA for her GUEST POST here & her newest OWL PUNCH CRITTER...M.B. HEDGEHOWL.  WOOT WOOT !!  : )

TIM HOLTZ DRESS FORM PROJECT

I have been wanting this TIM HOLTZ dress form die for ...
well I don't know how long... LOL...
I guess as long as it first came out by TH. 
The shops were always out when I wanted to buy it or I was out of cash when they finally had it in stock.  LOL

Well one of my 'besties' just recently let me buy it from her for the $10. she paid for it either shopping across the line or online - not sure which it was, but THANKS!!  Aparently she wants the smaller version so it worked out.  Yay.  I think I want the small version now too!  Already getting some ideas on using it when I get my hands on it.  LOL

I know I wanted the dress from die for a long time and most recently I wanted it to use for presentation of crafty goodness to share with my crafty peeps on paper craft planet via swaps and also for the products I am about to launch for sale on ETSY. 

Well I signed up for a swap on PCP and was racking my brain for ideas on presentation for the items I needed to include in it, when ... DUH... 
the idea hit me to use this die... of course,
it was a 'no brainer' so why didn't I think of it sooner ? 

Probably because I only just got the die from said 'bestie' and started cutting some scraps to try it out last night.  Then today while thinking of getting my swap out to my partner the light bulb went off !!  LOL  : )

Here's how the swap came together:

First, I gathered the lengths of lace to share with my swap partner.  This was the sharing part of the swap - include: 4-5 lengths of lace for your partner to play with while making their own cards or papercrafts.  Check!

The second part of the swap was to present the lace in a card or in a reticule for your partner. 
Say what?  LOL 

Reticule: a small pouch to store, hold or carry your lenghts of lace back in the day when you made your own lace by candlelight with a very  fine crochet hook or maybe you were a talented tatter like one of the 'little women' of the day! 

Like you didn't have enough to do... with making and baking your own bread everyday. Plus milking the cows to get the 'freshly squeezed' milk to add to your bread dough.  Oh and don't forget the time alloted for gathering the eggs from the chicken coop to add nourishment to your recipe.  Oops I forgot there was also the time you took in the first place to harvest the wheat and release the grain from the stalks and grind it down to a fine unbleached powder in which to make your wholesome nutritious white bread. 

Mmmm...can't you just smell it?! 

Nothing like the smell of freshly baked bread straight from the hearth.  Oh yeah... I forgot to mention the time you took to gather the wood from the brambles to make the fire to bake your bread.  LOL ; ) 

So in the evening you and every fine lady of the day deserved to relax by the fire - tatting or crocheting your lovely fine lace to put in your reticule to use on a future sewing project.  ; ) 

Don't you just long for the old days...

...when life was slow and oh so mellow?!

Ok... well if I could get to the fabric store and support them with the purchase of a lovely bit of linen so they don't close their doors like the rest of the fabric stores of yore.  I would make a FAB little reticule to do such. 

But alas, I can't get there just now. 
The horse has gone to town without me! 
So what's the next best idea instead of a reticule? 

A card? 

Nah...I want something more impressive.

How about a merchandising card like something you would find hanging on a wall in 'ye old mercantile' with the lace wound around it?  I could stamp some vintage images onto cardstock or use some vintage clip art like old button cards or sewing notion clips and punch a hole in the tops of each so it looks like they are actual merchandising cards. 

Hmmm.... 

Nope that's not what I did, but all good ideas worth doing in the future.  LOL  ; )

Instead I pulled out the kraft cardstock dress forms I cut out the night before with plans to over stamp them with some swirly - flourish style stamps from my repritoire of stamps but alas, my new doily stamps by MME were sitting right next to me and aha...another light bulb went off.  LOL

OMG...these will be perfect! 
...and yes they were! 
Sweet! 

I stamped a small one on the top of the dress form giving it a lacey crocheted neckline. 

Then using a larger doily from the same set I stamped it @ the waistline giving the effect of a lacey or crochet skirt.

Finaly to add some definition between the fabric part of the dress form and the base, I inked the stand in the same black ink. By simply swiping
the ink pad over (the parts of the dress form that would be wood or metal) leaving a little of the kraft paper exposed to act as highlights I managed to give it a bit of a 3 dimensional look.  Don't you think?

Ok so now with that done I needed to present these little dress forms once they are wrapped in their fine lace.

Here's my idea: Take a piece of 12x12 cardstock and score and fold @ 3" intervals and create little pockets to put each of the dress forms in.
Kind of a card but a fold out with pockets.
 

Each little pocket is marked with a No.

like as if it were from a dress makers newly finished line of 'haute couture' destined for the runways of PARIS, ITALY or NEW YORK. 

The floral side of the patterned paper is the backdrop to represent vintage wall paper
about to peel off the old walls of the
heritage loft the fashions were created in.

I made some tiny posters to add more interest to the wallpapered walls.  A poster of paris.  World map.  Two advertising posters - one adertising Ladies hats of the day, the others is for knits.  I also included a tiny invoice. 

Finaly a vintage boot was fussy cut and attached to what will be the front of my reticule style card when folded shut for presetation.

Sweet!  ; )

CHRISTMAS IN JULY

I have been hosting some card & tag challenges
as well as a round robin destash swap over on PCP
this month with a 'Christmas in JULY' theme. 
I hadn't completed a Christmas card myself yet,
so when I seen a challenge posted by another member
I decided this was the time. 

I haven't done many sketch challenges before,
I'm sure I can count the ones I've done on my one hand
if even that.  I did a sketch challenge just the day before,
so I guess when I do things and the first project turns out
pleasing to me - I go for broke. 

Now I'm on a roll with sketch challenges.  LOL  : )

The sketch challenge details were posted
and I had to keep refering back to the diagram
to be sure I had it right. 

Not as easy as it looks even with a diagram.  LOL  ; )

1. To me the sketch diagram looked like a ribbon wrapped gift.  It had a center image with a strip of paper/ribbon coming off each side of the image to the edge of the paper resembling a ribbon wrapped gift.  So I set off to find just the right image that would reflect the theme I now had in my head ( A ribbon wrapped gift) however that was going to play out on my card.  I had a few ideas in mind.  I settled on this image 'LUV IT' and went to town coloring it up.  Stamped image is a Gruffie available here @ the HOUSE MOUSE official website.  I don't have many copic markers so I used a combination of copics, stamp markers and a silver gel pen (used on the hub caps and window frames) for color.  Blending where I could.  I think it works. 
2. Next I took the image and put it against a few different sheets of patterned papers till I could make a decision on which one to cut.  Decision made I had to make a big card because the image itself was quite large.  I hate to use a piece of patterned paper only to see the very edges peeking out the sides, but it had to be done.  LOL
3. Now that I had the image and the patterned paper cut to size I backed the image with colored card to help it stand out against the background and also to follow along with the sketch design for the challenge. 
4. It needed a little extra colored card showing under the image.  Here the sketch diagram showed a sentiment.  I ran a strip of red card through my MS snowflake edge punch and created a double sided snowflake strip much like a piece of ribbon.  I glued it down under the main image and topped it off with layer card with a stamped sentiment: 'Happy Holidays!' Finishing with a red rhinestones for bling on either side of the sentiment.
5. Before I gued down the main image I glued down more strips of the paper snowflake ribbon I made.  Again I followed the sketch diagram to get the ribbon placed in the right spots.
6. Finaly I made a card base for my patterned paper and image to be paired with.  I settled on a solid color and cut a 12x12 sheet down to 6x12 and scored and folded it to make a 6x6 card.

I like the BIG size of my card and I know who ever gets it for Christmas will love it too!  I think it's one of my favorite color combinations for Christmas cards lately.  : )

Lady Bug Mushroom Digis

LADY BUG MUSHROOM DIGIS

PERSONAL USE ONLY!

DO NOT SHARE, COPY, SELL or use in collage for resale use to produce items for resale.

* PLEASE Share a direct link via pinterest, facebook, twitter, blogs, papercraft sites, email & other social media for others to get their own copy.

Thanks!  : )

BLACK & WHITE - COLOR YOUR OWN

 

RED CAPPED MUSHROOM

RED CAP & STEM MUSHROOM

WORKSHOP SAMPLES

Recently I went to a workshop with a friend for a fun creative night out. 

 

The workshop focused on giving paper die cuts and tags a vintage patina using inka gold along with Tim Holtz alchohol inks.

 

Here's some samples of what we did in this workshop:

 

 

 

 

 

A little hard for you to see the metalic finish these have, but trust me they are shimmery just like real metals.

LAST DESTASH SALE HAUL OF THE YEAR

Today was bittersweet...it was the last destash sale of the year and I won't see another sale till next year. While I found some sweet deals on some new stash,  I also missed out on the deal of the day - so sad!  Hubby had found some paper for me @ one table and urged me to come take a look.  Well on the way I spotted a box full of SU stamps and was about to reach for it when another savy shopper had better reflexes and it slipped away from my hands and eyes for good.  : (  Oh well, maybe next time.  Hubby will be advised trained that if he sees sets of SU stamps for an unbelievable price, he needs to ask the seller to hold them for his wife to come & take a look @ LOL.  I shouldn't complain because I still found some great deals.  Here's what I got.  The odd item I didn't post because it's on its way to someone for a surprise.  ; )  I don't plan to keep everything.  Much is destined to be prizes for challenges here & PCP (paper craft planet).

Set of 28 definitions by SU $10. - a keeper  : )

 A SU witches hat FREE
for buying the above set - 
again a keeper

 A set of TIM HOLTZ stamps,
Friends stamp, ARTsy stamp
total $6. from one seller. 
Train stamp $1.
Teeny tiny place settings stamp set $1.
and 2 extra clear minis in the next pics
thrown in for free  ; )
Creative quotes clear minis 25.
actualy less because the table I bought
it from while they were marked .25
I got a deal on a bundle - keep !

Lots of clear minis to share!

.25 or less including FREE!!  ; )

More clear minis to share!  : )

Again .25 or less or FREE!!

 Halloween Goth stamps - keep!

Second time back to the same
table to check these out and they
were down to 2.50.  Sold

Rub on clock faces,
Martha Stewart Halloween
paper stack pad,
Stick pins  $3.  : )  Keep!!

Embellishments $1.  Love the these! 

6pcs of acrylic drops,

6pcs resin flowers,

6pcs pebbles with flourishes in

beautiful autumn colors. 

Sweet!

& of course keep!! 

LOL  ; )

RECOLLECTIONS
paper packs 5 for $4.

AMY BUTLER designer paper $2. -

LOVE IT!  ; )

MISC. HALLOWEEN
patterned paper
mostly cardstock weight
and double sided.  $1.

I'd say today was a good day for a good haul!  : )

CUPCAKE GIRL DIGI STAMP

BIG WISHES ...CUPCAKE GIRL DIGI

FOR ANY OCCASION YOU WANT TO CELEBRATE WITH A CUPCAKE !!

Personal use only.

Do not share file, copy, sell or use to mass produce items for sale.
Copyright 2012/All rights remain with the artist Cathie Thompson.  Please give credit to Cathie Thompson/CathiesSweetSpot/Cathie'spARTies

Share a direct link via pinterest, facebook, twitter, blogs, papercraft site, email or other social media for others to get their own copy.

Please leave a comment on my blog and become a follower so I know you were here. : )

Enjoy!

FREE - TEDDY Digi Stamps

FREE - TEDDY digi stamps

Last year I drew these teddies and shared the images in a swap.  Feel free to use them on your handmade cards.  Have fun coloring them with copics and other mediums.  I would love you to share your cards & creations using these images. 

I have posted a gallery spot for readers to enter a card they made using one of these images for readers to get inspiration and creators to showcase their own work.  See side bar with inlinkz tool to upload your creation.  : )

Please credit:

cathies pARTies, Cathies Sweet Spot or my myself Cathie Thompson for the drawings when posting your cards using theses images to blogs, online paper craft galleries, challenges, contests etc.

Please share a direct link to Cathies Sweet Spot for others via facebook, pinterest, blogs, email or other social media.  Simply cut and paste the link you see in your search bar above this post. 

All rights remain.  Copyright 2011

*Do not claim these images as your own work.

Personal use only -

Do not not sell/share files, copy or use in new clip art. 

 

 

Enjoy!  : )

Clear Make Up Caddy Storage

Here's how I store my:

embossing ink pad, refill & embossing powders,
Martha Stewart glue pad, refill & 
glitter
pearl powder
flocking
stickles
glitter glue
and the like

I use a clear make up caddy that I purchased @
The Salvation Army Thrift Store
for $2.00. 


I love how everything is visible and I can see the item I need to grab before I even open the box.

It has plenty of room, as you can see I have a ton stored in it and there is still some wiggle room for more.

It would also be fab for containers of eyelets, grommets, loose rhinestones, small flower embellishments plus other bling & embellishments etc.

This make up caddy would make a fab ink holder too.  I will have to look for another one for my yet to buy Tim Holtz distress ink pads, inks, tools foam/cotton pads etc.  Funny I never thought of using it for ink pads untill I wrote this post.   LOL

I love how when you

'think outside the box'

(no pun intended), something intended for one purpose can come in so handy for a new use.   : )

How do you store your embossing powders, inks and the like? 

Leave a comment for readers to get more storage ideas for paper craft storage.

Like todays blog post? 

 Pin it!

How I store my MS scoreboard

I love my Martha Stewart scoreboard! 

I love that has integrals every 1/8 inch, has a handy envelope maker designed to be stored on the underside, has storage for her slim stylus, plus room for more tools and last but not least it's white.  LOL

I keep my MS scoreboard in a handy square serving tray that I purchased from a yard sale.  I know these are readily available most home decor places and this is the perfect time of year to be scouting for one for yourself if you want to use my storage idea too.

A handy trimmer can be stored in the tray too and removed when you need room to score paper.

I have room along the side to store several MS punches and also an often used corner punch.  It actualy squeezes in the end of the MS punches.  I also keep a circle punch here @ all times too as I use it often. 

In the compartment for storing the MS scoring tool aka bone folder I also store my double ended embossing stylus to use for some projects like thicker cardstock.  I also keep a hand dandy popsicle stick in this spot too for rub-ons.  You will find room here for other little tools too.  I'm sure I will pop some more in after writing this post too!  LOL

Under the scoreboard I keep sheets of scrap 81/2 x 11 paper to pull out for embossing or to protect a surface while stamping or spraying.  You could also store a craft mat providing it doesn't move the board around while in use (or take it out when using if it does).  I can the scrap paper or craft mat right on top of the score board if I like.

Hope this gives you an idea for storage.  : )

If you like this post please share a direct link via facebook, twitter, pinterest, email etc.

Become a follower & watch for upcoming give aways for sharing a direct link from my blog to social media.
 
Share! 

Leave a comment...
I love to hear from you when you like a post and would love to hear from you if you plan to store your scoreboard in the same fashion or similar.

Only in Canada eh?!

Happy Canada Day!!

Direct Link:

Only in Canada eh?!

Enjoy the Celebration !!

Creative Fun

Well Saturday was a full day of creative FUN @ two local scrapbooking stores for a friend and I.


We had both signed up for a FREE card making class during a grand reopening for a new location of one of the shops.  Then we later discovered a shop just around the corner was offering hour long classes the same day so decided to make a day of it and sign up for a bunch.

We started the day @ one class and made stenciled tags:

Second we hopped over to the shop for an hour spent putting together some simple kit cards:

I still have a HUGE package of pre-scored cards, envelopes, printed chipboard die cuts, colored printed punch out embellishment pieces, package of rub-ons & more.

This is just a sampling of what I have left:

Back to the first shop of the day we started our third workshop we played with resist techniques:

The final workshop was making a variety of paper flowers:

This was a full day of activities and when I got home I was like a kid who was over stimulated and overtired.  Not much good for anything else but kick'n back and relaxing to rewind and feel back to normal. 

Now the morning after I am rewound LOL...and reflecting on what techniques I will work with as I write this post to share pics of my finished techniques and card samples.  : )