December 26, 2013

Store Closing ... Final Sale!!!

Hello, friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are still enjoying the holiday season!

This is our final reminder that the doors of The Craft's Meow will close at midnight Eastern on December 31st. We still have a few fabulous stamp sets left for your paper crafting pleasure. All have been marked down to $2.00 to $5.00!!! You can find them by clicking >HERE<. There are only a few left of each, so you might want to jump on them now before they are gone forever!

Shipping is a flat rate of $3.00 for US and $12 for International orders.

Please note that the store Gallery will remain open until March 6, 2014, for you to explore for great ideas and inspiration for your TCM cards. Our Pinterest boards, Facebook page, and this blog will remain open indefinitely so that you can refer back for more ideas and inspiration. I truly hope that you continue to enjoy your TCM stamp sets for a long time to come!

Thank you all for your business and kind comments over these past (nearly) three years! It has been a wonderful experience, full of many blessings. I will miss you all and TCM so very much.

Hugs to all,

December 16, 2013

Further Markdowns Taken!

Well, we're quickly approaching end of the year when The Craft's Meow will officially close. Time is flying! We're also down to one or two of many of the stamp sets left in the store, and just a few more than that of the rest. I've again updated the store to reflect only those stamp sets left in stock (as of this moment). I also went through and marked everything down to 50% off... a few are marked down even further, up to 75%ff!!!

Now's your chance before it's too late and they're gone forever! Click >HERE< to be taken to the store to see what's available.

Here are samples of a few of the stamp sets you will find:









Shipping is a flat rate of $3.00 for US and $12 for International orders. 

Happy Holidays!

December 13, 2013

Shipping Is Caught Up!

Hello, friends! Yes, it's true, I've finally caught up on the shipping! Yay! If you haven't already received your order, it should be there soon. Enjoy!!! And thanks again for your patience.

I'm afraid I've run out of Little Friedas, so can no longer offer one as a free gift with purchases of $25 or more. I'm sorry about that. But there are still bargains to be had as we wind down to closing at the end of the month.

Once again, I've updated the store to make sure that the inventory counts are correct and to remove those that are out of stock as of this moment. You can find them all by clicking >HERE<. There are just a few left of most, so you might want to jump on them now before they are gone, gone, gone!

Here are four that are still available...







Note that this set was designed for
Project Life and similar projects, but
can also be used to make lovely cards.


You can find wonderful samples of all of our stamp sets on our Pinterest Boards and in our Gallery. Handy also for inspiration for those you've already purchased!

Happy Holidays!

December 12, 2013

Store Update

Hello, friends! I'm popping in today to let you know that I've once again updated the store to show only those stamp sets that are still in stock and available for purchase. Click >HERE< to be taken to the store to see them all. MANY are down to only 1, 2 or 3 left! We still have some lovely choices, though, such as those shown here. (The links are to our Pinterest Boards so that you can see additional samples using these sets.)











Be sure to visit our Pinterest Boards and our Gallery for lots of inspiration and samples of cards created with our stamp sets!

SHIPPING UPDATE: I'm hoping to be all caught up by tomorrow (Friday). Again, my sincere apologies for the extra time it's taken to get your orders shipped out. It's just little ole me to do it all, and I'm a bit overwhelmed right now with shipping, work and preparing for Christmas. Whew! Thank you so much for your patience!

December 8, 2013

Store News

Hello, friends! First, I want to thank you all so VERY much for the overwhelming response I've received at the news that The Craft's Meow is closing! I'm absolutely swamped with orders, and most of our stamp sets have now sold out. Thank you!!!

I'm also deeply touched and grateful for your well-wishes as I return to my career in corporate real estate management. Many of your sweet messages have brought tears to my eyes. I'm going to miss you all and The Craft's Meow so much!

I want you to know that I am shipping orders out as fast as I can, but it's taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. Rest assured, I'm getting to your order as quickly as possible. I'm aiming to get caught up within the next few days. Thank you so much for your patience!

I took a break from shipping to update the store to remove all of the sold-out items so that it will be easier for you to see what's left. You can find them all by clicking >HERE<. We are down to small quantities, so I encourage you to jump at those you've been eyeing before they're gone for good.

Here are four cards that feature some of the stamp sets that are still available, with a link to our Pinterest boards to see more samples. You can also visit our Gallery for more inspiration. Everything is categorized by stamp set name for ease of finding what you're looking for.












I'll share more in the coming days. In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

December 1, 2013

A Fond Farewell



Yes, it's sad, but true. I'm closing The Craft's Meow at the end of this year. Believe me, this is one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I love The Craft's Meow. I've put my heart and soul into this company for the past nearly three years, and it's been an awesome ride. However, things change, and huge changes are happening for me and my family.

For one, I'm resuming my career in corporate real estate management. I left in April of 2010, when I was afforded the opportunity to become a SAHM and focus on home and family for the first time in my marriage.This was a gift, and one I've treasured! However, some wonderful opportunities have come up for me to return to work. After weighing the situation from all sides, I've decided it's time to jump back in.

I've been working part time since July while still operating The Craft's Meow. When I increase my hours to full time, it will leave no time for TCM without me completely losing my mind and burning out. My family still needs me, and I need to have a life apart from work. So this is the only alternative. God is leading me, and I am trusting Him.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. Jeremiah 29:11-14

So, while one door closes, another opens. I am at peace.

I have so many people to thank for this wonderful journey I've been on with The Craft's Meow. I hate to start naming names, because I'm afraid of leaving someone out. However, I do want to acknowledge and thank Claire Brennan of Waltzingmouse Stamps, Taylor Van Bruggen of Taylored Expressions, and Korin Sutherland of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps for their advice and encouragement. Clare even designed three of the first stamp sets I released! These are all ladies I admire and tried to emulate as a business owner. I'm so lucky to call them friends.

And what would The Craft's Meow be without its fabulous stamp illustrators? I've been so very fortunate to have worked with many talented designers, including Karen Baker, Mindy Baxter, Michelle Bertuzzi, Clare Buswell, Elizabeta Kushner, Kaitlyn Ord Long, Mabelle Ramirez-Ortiz, Angelica Suarez, Jenny Suchin, Maree Truelove, and Amy Wanford. Each has contributed her own special style and made TCM the place to go for a wide variety of stamp designs... something for everyone!

But the person who has contributed the most to TCM is the very talented and lovely Nina Brackett. I can honestly say that TCM would not have existed if it weren't for Nina. She's been with me from the beginning. The first stamp set she designed for TCM was Butterfly Kisses. I remember it took my breath away. Her designs have continued to take my breath away and delight me...and countless others...ever since. She has stood by my side through thick and thin, always ready with a listening ear, sage advice, support and prayers. I owe her so much. Thank you, Nina, from the bottom of my heart.

And what would The Craft's Meow be without designers, both past and present, to create with our stamps and showcase them in such spectacular ways? I am so very proud of my ladies, and I am humbled that each and every one of them agreed to be a part of the TCM team. This includes all the guest designers we've enjoyed over the years. I am so grateful and awed by their talent. They truly made TCM stamps come alive!

Many of our past designers and stamp illustrators have graciously agreed to join with our current design team help celebrate The Craft's Meow with a farewell blog hop. This is a hop that you won't want to miss! I hope you'll take the time to stop by each of their blogs and show them the love they so richly deserve.

But before you hop, I have a few announcements about the closing of the store. Starting today, EVERYTHING in the store is marked down from 25% to 75%! Stock is limited, especially for several of the stamp sets, so I recommend that you shop early for the best selection. Nothing will be restocked, so once it's gone, it's gone forever!

All US orders will ship for the flat rate of $3.00. All International orders will ship for the flat rate of $12.00. 

Every order of $25 or more will receive a free Little Frieda stamp set. There's nothing you need to do; we will automatically enclose a free Little Frieda stamp set with every qualifying order. If you want to choose between Little Frieda Mischief, Little Frieda's Flowers, and Little Frieda's Daisy, please leave a note with your order (you'll see a place to leave a note during the check-out process). I will do my best to fulfill your choice, but I may have to substitute for another set if one or more runs out. Edited to add: I've run out of Little Friedas, so I can no longer offer one as a gift with purchase.

If you have a gift certificate to spend, please do so now. They will expire once the doors close...there is no cash value to those which were given as prizes.

The Gallery will stay open until on or about March 6, 2014. Our Pinterest boards and Facebook page will stay up indefinitely, so be sure to refer to them whenever you need inspiration for your TCM stamp sets.

We'll be posting the store blog periodically with updates and cards for inspiration, so please stay tuned!

Finally, I want to thank each and every one of you who patronized The Craft's Meow over these past three years. I've said it before, but it bears repeating... we know you have lots of choices about where to spend your crafting dollars, and we are so very grateful and humbled that you chose to spend some of them with us. Thank you also for your kind words... each comment was read and appreciated by me, more than you know.

Now, for our gift to you... a blog hop celebrating The Craft's Meow! Each blog will link to the next, although we've included the entire link list just in case there's a break along the way. Enjoy!!!



Love and hugs to all,

November 30, 2013

Peace Angel

Hello everyone!!  This is Amy here to share a pretty little angel card with you today using the Little Angels stamp set.

I adore using angels in my home decor during the holidays and I also like to use them on cards that I send to loved ones.

To create my card, I stamped my angel on a die cut circle and then colored in the skin and hair with Copics.  The dress is stamped on patterned paper and then cut out and pieced onto the card.  For the wings, I added some Stickles glitter glue for a little sparkle.

To finish off my card, I added a ribbon and some stitching with my sewing machine as well as a little bit of pen stitching around the circle. 

Here is a look at the Little Angels stamp set.....
http://www.thecraftsmeow.com/products/little-angels

Be sure to join us tomorrow as we kick off the month with a blog hop!!  Can't wait to see you then.

Hugs,
Amy


November 29, 2013

Christmas Holly Angel

Hello TCM Friends!
It's Sharri here today with a card to share using the Butterfly Kisses and Little Angels stamp sets. 

Before I get to my card I wanted to wish Lisa a very Happy Birthday! We hope your birthday is as special as you are and is filled with love, laughter and that all of your wishes come true! 

I just adore this sweet fairy image from Butterfly Kisses and wanted to see if I could use her for a Christmas card.

I stamped the fairy on pattern paper with Tsukineko's Versafine ink and cut her out using Spellbinder's Oval and Scalloped Oval dies.  I added tiny yellow roses to her wings.
The holly leaves are from the Little Angels stamp set. I stamped the image twice, colored them with copics (G40, G43, G46/R24, R27) and fussy cut them out. I added glitter glaze to berries for a bit of sparkle and dimension. 
The sentiment is also from Little Angels
I finished off the card with some lace, ribbons and another paper rose. 
The pattern paper is Echo Parks For the Record. 

Here is a closer look at the stamp sets I used today.


Butterfly Kisses



Little Angels

Thank you so much for stopping by and enjoy your Friday!

Sharri

November 28, 2013

Whispers from your soul


Clare here today with a card using Dream Catcher and Folk Art Blooms stamp sets. I love stamping on patterned paper, here I used Love Notes from Crate Paper, I just love the colors! The dream catcher I colored using Distress Markers and I added some glam rocks using the iRock tool from Imaginisce.


The sentiment is also from the Dream Catcher stamp set and I just inked the edges with some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The flowers I stamped using Memento Luxe Love Letter ink and I did some repeat stamping without inking up again.


That's all from me for now! Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the USA! I hope you're having a great day. : )





November 25, 2013

Talkin' Turkey!

Hello!  Lin here today with a couple of simple cards using some of our retiring stamp sets.

I don't know about you, but with all the paint splattering that has become so popular, I am always so nervous when I try to add that element to my cards.  After spending so much time on designing a card, it can so easily be ruined with paint splatters gone wild!  But thanks to an element in Karen Baker's Typically Teen set, we can get that same look with a stamp!  Since we're all short on time at this time of year, I thought a simple but colorful card might be just the ticket for you!  I stamped lots of splatters on this card, but using a stamp, you can do as much or as little as looks good to you!


I first stamped the splatters using 3 shades of distress inks to match the colors of the markers I used to color my turkey.  Next I stamped the turkey roughly in the center of my card, along with the simple sentiment.  And then I stamped the turkey again on a scrap, colored it with markers, fussy-cut it out, and popped it above my card.  This is something your kids might even enjoy doing, it's so easy!

Here are the sets I used: Typically Teen:

Typically Teen



Happy Fall

Both of these sets are on Lisa's Retiring Stamps Sale list!  I'm so sad to see them go.  And my sentiment comes from a current set, Golden Days:

Golden Days

And for take two, I had an extra cut-out of this turkey and so I thought I'd mix it with these papers from DCWV's Pumpkin Patch stack, and a Simon Says Stamp circle on a line die.  



The sentiment is from our Fall Fibi & Lilly set, which is also on clearance:

Fall Fibi & Lilly


We wanted to mention again that Lisa is cleaning house and has put lots of stamp sets on her Retiring Stamps List.  Prices start at 25% off and go to 75% off!! But they will only last until the stamps are depleted, THEY WILL NOT BE RESTOCKED, so don't wait!  Once they're gone, they're gone!

We're wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving from our TCM family!  Don't eat too much turkey!

November 24, 2013

Blog Hop Winner!

Hello, friends! I'm popping in today to announce the winner of a $50 Gift Certificate to spend in The Craft's Meow store from all comments left on all of the blogs in our recent hop with Perfect Paper Crafting! And the winner is...

JOY!!!

Congratulations, Joy!!! Please email me at thecraftsmeow@gmail.com so that I can give you your gift code to spend in the store.

To find out who won the $50 Gift Certificate to spend in the Perfect Paper Crafting store, please visit their blog.

Thank you to all who hopped and left such nice comments for all of us!

November 18, 2013

Blog Hoppin' with Perfect Paper Crafting!

Hello, friends! We're having a very special blog hop this week with our friends at Perfect Paper Crafting!


The fun begins on the Perfect Paper Crafting blog, so you'll want to hop over there first.

What would a blog hop be without prizes??? Up for grabs are TWO $50 Gift Certificates, one to spend in the Perfect Paper Crafting store and one to spend in The Craft's Meow store!!! For a chance to win, take the hop and leave comments along the way, including on the store blogs. We will randomly select the winners from the store blogs, but the winner must have also commented on all the blogs in the hop.

Don't worry, there is plenty of time to complete the hop! It will stay open until Friday, November 22nd at midnight Pacific.

Perfect Paper Crafting is offering a 5% discount on their tools to our hoppers. Just enter the code meow5% at checkout to receive your discount. Click >HERE< to be taken to the Perfect Paper Crafting store.

The Craft's Meow is having a huge sale on retiring stamp sets! Prices are up to 75% off of regular retail! Click >HERE< to see all the stamp sets on sale.

Now, don't fall out of your chair... I actually made a card for the hop!


I really had fun playing with my new Perfect Paper Crafting tools! First, I used the Perfect Square to "square up" my card after simply stamping it on a piece of card stock willy nilly... I didn't have to worry whether it was perfectly straight because I had my Perfect Square to make sure of that! Then I used my Perfect Layers tool to create the mat for my image. What can I say, it's perfect! I love it! No need to worry that I might adhere the image panel crookedly on the mat! If you've never tried Perfect Layers tools, I highly recommend that you do, especially if you're like me and want your mats perfectly straight and even.

My card was made using Christmas Lantern by Clare Buswell. It's so much fun to color! Plus, I love that it looks great even without patterned paper (if I do say so myself).

Now, off you go to hop! Each blog should link to the next, but we've provided all of the links here just in case there's an unfortunate break along the way. Enjoy!

The Craft's Meow & Lisa Hjulberg ---> You Are Here 


November 16, 2013

Embossed Distress Glitter Ornaments!! =)


Hello!!
Larissa here to share a Video Tutorial with you!!
I hope you are ready for a FUN Weekend!!??
I want to share a New Technique with you!! I just LOVE the look in real life!! It's hard to see the Beauty of it in a Picture, but you'll see in the video just how AMAZING it looks!! I made this card for the October Release Week and I wanted to come back and share a Video on how to recreate it!! So let's get started!!
Here is the card I made using the Holiday Poinsettia Set and the Sentiment is from the Inside Christmas Set!!

 
Holiday Poinsettia

Inside Christmas

Here is the Video!!

So I hope this will make for some AMAZING Holiday Ornaments to give to Friends and Family!!
I LOVE creating things that can by used as Gifts and placing them on my cards!! Makes the card kinda Interactive and I LOVE to see the look on their faces when they realize its more than just a card!!
If you give this Technique a try I'd LOVE to see your creation so I hope you'll share a link in the Comments Below so I can stop by and say Hello!!
Here is another card I made using the Speaking of Fall Stamp Set!! I wanted to show that this technique will work with almost any size stamp and that you can even layer it for a really neat look!!

 
Speaking of Fall
THANKS SO MUCH for stopping by today and have a Fabulous Weekend!! =)
 
Larissa