cat puzzles

When I cut my fretwork ornaments, I had so much fun that I decided I wanted to cut more wood. Plus, I saw some fun projects in the scroll saw magazines which I wanted to try. So, I located a couple of boards I had purchased years ago, put a new blade on my saw, and had more fun.



I will be giving these kitties to my parents for Christmas. They really don't need more dust-collectors in their small retirement apartment, but I do think they need some cats. Plus Mom seems to really like my scroll-saw work. (She leaves my scroll-sawed ornaments out all year long!)

Here are the cats, assembled into a puzzle.



I made two puzzles, by stacking an oak board on top of a poplar board, and cutting both puzzles at once. This way, the cats would be different textures. I also used 3 kinds of stain to make the cats look different. Half the cats were stained with Cherry stain, and half were stained with Fruitwood stain. There was not a noticeable difference between the stain colors on the oak pieces, so I over-stained the fruitwood-stained oak pieces with a Red Mahogany stain marker.



Red cats, brown cats, yellow cats, and tan cats.

I sanded the cats carefully so that the fronts and the backs of the puzzle pieces looked the same.

Here are the two puzzles. We are keeping the set that is lying down in the picture.

Ornaments

I have been playing with my scroll saw.

I created this year's ornaments, and have almost completed next year's ornaments.

Here are this year's ornaments. They are made of Kiaat wood. I must say, this has been my most favorite wood to cut. It cut easily and while I was working with the wood, it gave off a mild aroma, kind of like incense.



Here are the almost-done ornaments for next year. They are made from Narra wood. It is similar to Kiaat, but I didn't notice an aroma while cutting it, although it is supposed to have an aroma too. I do not intend to 'finish' these until January 2010, since I signed and dated the 2010 ornaments with the year 2010. Not only do I want the date to be the year I give the ornaments, but also the year I make the ornaments. To keep the ornaments from being 'finished' this year, I will wait to add the hanging threads until the next calendar year.



Here is one 2009 and one 2010 ornament, alongside a quarter, for scale.




Last year, I posted pictures of the ornaments I created last year, along with pictures of ones from previous years.

2001, 2002, 2003, 2004's ornaments can be found here.
2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008's ornaments can be found here.

Gargoyles

Do you ever see something in the store that you just have to have? Now, I am not talking about toilet paper, which is pretty much something that a person has to have. I am talking about something frivolous that makes you smile and makes you keep thinking about it later after you leave it in the store because your depression-era parents have ingrained frugality into your system so much that something has to be on sale in order for it to be purchased.

No? That doesn't happen to you? Well, it happened to me.

I was in Michaels and wandered through the Halloween section and saw some gargoles. I had a coupon, but it was for one item, and there were three gargoyles which were a set, but they were individually priced. I looked days later, and they were still there. I considered printing 2 coupons and using one from the paper and buying two gargoyes one day (tip: send your DH through another checkout line with a coupon and an item so you can use two coupons with one trip) and buying the 3rd gargoyle the next day. But what if someone bought the one I had left in the store and I ended up with a set of two? This would not do.

Finally, a week arrived when all Halloween decor was 30% off, but when I was at the store on Monday and saw there were two sets left, I didn't realize they were on sale. Thursday, we returned to the store and we looked high and low and there were no gargoyles. I was so bummed, but I kept my chin up and looked for silver ribbon which I wanted for Christmas cards. When we got to the checkout line with the ribbon (no coupon needed, since ribbon was on sale), Ed glanced up and there were the gargoyles by the checkout stand. They were un the clearance area where I never look. Oh, happy day! Ed has such sharp eyes! (Being a foot taller than I means that he didn't have to look up to see them, so that may have something to do with it.) So, did I buy them? Absolutely yes!



See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.

I took them to work and have them sitting on my corner hutch above my computer in my cubicle. They are staying there, well past Halloween.

Halloween 2009 cards

I haven't stamped in a couple of weeks, so I haven't had any new cards to share. Then I realized that I had not shared a picture of the Halloween cards I made to send to family members. (And one card for one Halloween-lovin', card-appreciating friend of mine who oddly enough did not send a Halloween card this year. I hope she is okay.)



I made the cards over a couple of months! Back in August, I had the layout in mind, then I needed to order some card stock for the bases of the cards. Sometimes a card needs a dark background. A dark background can cause a problem when making a card, since something is usually printed inside the card, and that is where the card is signed. So, choices have to be made. A person could cut the background to be the exact size of the finished card and mount it on a folded light-colored card. Or, the card base could be dark and the writing inside is one with a white gel pen. This method works okay when the pen behaves. I have yet to find a white pen that works the first time every time and then doesn't blop and skip! Another workaround for the dark-based card is to glue a light-colored liner inside the card. A final method is to try to find card stock that is dark on one side and light on the other. I can't find card stock like this locally, so I had to mail order mine. A funny thing is that after I placed my order, I was at Michaels craft store and saw pre-folded black cards that had white insides! However, the cards were folded on the long edge, not the short edge, so they wouldn't work for the cards I had in mind. When I make vertically symmetrical card I prefer to have the fold at the top of the card. Actually, I like most of my cards to fold at the top, so the card can sit there looking like it is on a little display easel, and I can feel artistic or something.

Anyway .... I had stamped the main images onto little white squares of card stock, and there they sat until early October. Then I finally sat down and colored them, and I got all the parts cut and assembled. I even mailed them on time earlier this week.

The drippy stuff was made with a punch. I was not able to buy that punch last year, and I was so happy to see it was made again this year. I bought it as soon as I saw it in the store, and lucked out that I could use a coupon on it. I have other plans for the punch too.

Stuff used:
Stamp: Haunting Halloween by Stampin' Up
Paper: Stampin' Up Whisper White, Gable Green, and Tangerine Tango, Core'dinations Black Magic (color= Abracadabra)
Ink: Palette Noir (? either that or Versafine Onxy Black), Prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits.
Other: Martha Stewart Drippy Goo punch

TCPTUES80

I missed last week's The Cat's Pajamas Challenge, but to make up for it, I created this week's challenge card on the day it was posted... Tuesday! This week's challenge is hosted by Amy, who is kicking off a new category of challenges... a supply challenge.

Amy challenged us to us buttons on a card. Now, normally, I am not a button-on-a-card kind of person, because I usually make cards that are flat so I can mail them. But for this card, since it is already gonna be bulky with one button, I decided to use a bunch of buttons. Actually, I had the design for this card sketched out and on my messy table, with the intention of having it for the Haunted Hop we had a couple of weeks ago. However, things came up at the last minute and I ran out of time so I didn't get my card done. I am thrilled that I have an excuse to complete the card.



I used 7 buttons! Count 'em!

Stuff used:
Stamps: Slanted House, Batty, Ghosts, Halloween Candy, and sentiment all from the "Fright Night" set by The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Summer Sun, Only Orange, Basic Black
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black; Stampin' Up Markers in Summer Sun, Barely Banana, Only Orange, Almost Amethyst
Other: Hocus Pocus buttons from The Cat's Pajamas, lavender sewing thread from my sewing room, mini glue dots

TCP Haunted Blog Hop

Hello! This post is part of a Haunted Blog Hop, which kicks off a special that The Cat's Pajamas Rubber Stamps is having, starting tomorrow, September 29! The New Kitty Kat Pack includes the "Fright Night" set, fun new buttons and spooky new glitter for $24.39. This is 20% off the regular price of $30.49.

You, yes you, can win this collection of goodies in the new Kitty Kat Pack! All you have to do is leave a comment for each person in the blog hop. If you didn't come here from Jen's blog, you can start at the beginning with Susan's blog.

Here is the card I made with the Fright Night set. I used the swanky new glitzy glitter. The glitter comes with 4 tubes of must-have Halloween colors-- black, purple, orange, and green. I used all but the black glitter on this card.



Stuff used:
Stamps: All from the "Fright Night" set by The Cat's Pajamas
Paper: Core'dinations Black Magic, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin' Up Pumpkin Pie, Taken with Teal, and Lavender Lace
Ink:Versafine Onxy Black, Prismacolor Pencils, SU Lavender Lace
Other: Glitzy Glitter by The Cat's Pajamas, Oval punch, D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug embossing folder, sanding block, oval punch


Be sure to leave a comment on this post, then head over to Joanne's blog to continue with the Haunted Blog Hop.

TCPTUES77

This week's TCP challenge is hosted by Joanne, who challenged us to make a card using the colors Black, Melon Pink, Pumpkin.

Stampin' Up has a new melon color, and it does look okay with the company's Pumpkin Pie color, but I only have a little swatch of the new color. I ordered the new colors from my demonstrator, but the order is not here yet. So, I had to look in my tiny designer paper stash for a melon paper. I had some paper that was sort of melon color, but when I paired it with pumpkin paper, it looked like puke. So, I chose to use a pink paper that was a bit less melon-colored.

I didn't have much free time this week, so I didn't get to my card until today. Therefore, I kept it fairly simple, and used my favorite stamp, Sprinkle. She is like my little black dress of rubber stamps. Dress her up, or keep her simple--she is always in style.



Stuff used:
Stamps: "Large Sprinkle" and "What's New" both by The Cat's Pajamas Rubber Stamps
Ink: Versafine Onxy Black, Colorbox Frost White, Prismacolor pencils, Millennium black marker
Paper: Georgia Pacific white; Printed paper from DCWV Spring 4x6 Mat stack; Stampin Up Pumpkin Pie and Basic Black
Other: Circle Nestabilities dies, white embossing powder