Happy Valentine's Day!

Just wanted to pop in and wish you a.....

Digital elements: Glitter letters, washi tape, paint swash by Sahlin Studio. Polka dot tape by Sara Gleason. Bingo card by Jen Barrette. Sequins by Allison Pennington. Kraft paper by Becca Bonneville. Love and Grace Collaboration Kit.

I am a Guest Designer for American Crafts!

I was totally shocked when Paige Evans e-mailed me to be a guest designer for American Crafts.
I have not been the dedicated scrapper ever since opening up Catshy Crafts, but I still love scrapbooking. It is my first crafty love. If only I had the time, I would do it every day. Seriously.

So, of course, I immediately said "Yes!" to Paige and waited for my package of goodies to arrive.

The collection I was honored to work with was Soho Garden. As a born and bred  New Yorker and a newbie gardener, this line was just up my alley. Lots of graphic florals mixed in with graphic prints and even some dictionary text paper to give it some vintage vibe. There is even a gorgeous set of clear stamps with a stamp marker to go along with it.

This is Soho Garden. Isn't it lovely?

I am usually a sloooooww paper scrapper, but I was able to put together 3 layouts, 2 cards and wall decor project in less than 3 days. That is lightning fast for me.

My first task was to choose some photos to scrap. As my youngest Zara is more camera-friendly these days  (Sofia is definitely more camera-avoidant these days), all the projects feature Zara's photos. (I figure Sofia had her heyday when she was an only child, LOL. She has at least a dozen scrapbooks of her!) Anyway, I printed them all out in varying sizes, trimmed them down to size and got to work.

As an aside, For the first time in my life, I actually scrapped in my craft studio. I usually spread out in front of the tv, but with streaming Netflix on my computer there was no need! It was also handy if I needed to print more photos.

These are some of my favorite photos of Zara taken this year. She is dressed up as a ballerina for her first dance class. She was ready to jump and dance for me under the shade of our maple tree.

On top of the black and white floral and text patterned paper, I layered sticker flowers, paper flowers, chipboard flowers, and flowers cut from patterned paper as a bouquet for my title.

Supplies: Soho Garden Cardstock, High Line Park (35831) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Lafayette (35833) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Tribeca (35836) - Soho Garden Remarks Cardstock Stickers (42273) - Soho Garden Remarks Alpha Stickers Teal (42270) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Gramercy Park (35829) - Soho Garden Cardstock Grande Street (35830) - Soho Garden Flower Shoppe Molded Paper Flowers Bellerose (85609) Soho Garden Remarks Fabric Stickers Bleeker Street (42272) -Soho Garden Details Layered Embellishments (85606) - Soho Garden Remarks Layered Chipboard Stickers (42271)

I took this photo outside of the mall where Zara just got her first haircut. Love the tear in her jeggings (because she is one of those kids who is always moving and jumping!)

For this layout, the photo is the star but I couldn't resist making little clusters of embellishments around the edges of the photos. The biggest of them all is the floral bouquet where my chipboard title sits. I cut out a spray of flowers from the floral patterned paper and layered dimensional flower embellishments on top, including a stamped flower (on the text patterned paper) using the Soho Garden coordinating stamps.

I also had a bow motif going on. Notice Zara's bow in her hair and all the bows on her shirt. I added my own bows as well: the grosgrain ribbon and the fabric strip on top of the photo is reminiscent of a bow.

Supplies: Soho Garden Cardstock, Orchard Street (35828) - Soho Garden Remarks Cardstock Stickers (42273) - Soho Garden Remarks Alpha Stickers Green (42270) - Soho Garden Flower Shoppe Molded Paper Flowers - Bellerose (85609) - Soho Garden Remarks Fabric Stickers Bleeker Street (42272) -Soho Garden Details Layered Embellishments (85606) - Soho Garden Remarks Layered Chipboard Stickers (42271) - Soho Garden Ribbon Card (84929) - Soho Garden Acrylic Stamps Garden District (59164) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Greenwich Village (35838) - Two Tipped Stamp Marker, Black (62600)

Showing another side of Zara, this page is all about Zara's love for art. During the warmer weather, I put her easel on the patio so she can enjoy the sun while doing the art she loves! I highlighted the blues in her apron in the accordion flowers I made. I added pops of color using paper punches from cardstock.

These accordion or pinwheel flowers are probably my most favorite paper embellishment to make. I love to add  paper punches and a hand-sewn button in the center.

Supplies: Soho Garden Cardstock, Greenwich Village (35838) - Soho Garden Cardstock, West Broadway (35839) - Soho Garden Cardstock, High Line Park (35831) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Lafayette (35833) - Soho Garden Remarks Cardstock Stickers (42273) - Soho Garden Remarks Alpha Stickers Red (42269) - Soho Garden Remarks Alpha Stickers Teal (42270) - Soho Garden Ribbon Card (84929)

When I saw the super-cute packaging for the Soho Garden Ribbon Card, I knew I had to incorporate it into one my projects. Because I didn't have any tea party photos on hand, I decided to make a card.

The packaging could be a card in of itself, but I adhered it to the green cardstock card base so there would be more room to write a message inside.

I cut some patterned paper to fit behind the teacups and taped them to the card. To make it nice and neat, I trimmed the teacup patterned paper to cover the entire surface, allowing some of the red polka-dot on the other side of the paper to peek out and give the front of the card a thin border of red.

On the front I added another layered teacup sticker and a flower to cover up some of the "packaging text". And of course, I had to use one of the ribbons that came on this ribbon card. A nice bow adds another dimension as well as covers up more of the packaging text. That left me with the inside of the packaging for the sentiment. I did a quick search on google for tea party-inspired card sentiments and though this one was perfect! A little pun-ny but it works!

Supplies: Soho Garden Cardstock, Orchard Street (35828) - Soho Garden Cardstock, High Line Park (35831) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Greenwich Village (35838) - Soho Garden Remarks Cardstock Stickers (42273) - Soho Garden Remarks Alpha Stickers Green (42270) - Soho Garden Remarks Alpha Stickers Red (42269) - -Soho Garden Details Layered Embellishments (85606) - Soho Garden Ribbon Card (84929)

Since it happened to be my 12th anniversary on Sunday, I decide to make a card for my husband. Even with all the flowers on it, he loved it.

Supplies: Soho Garden Cardstock, Gramercy Park (35829) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Orchard Street (35828) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Greenwich Village (35838) - Soho Garden Bits Decorative Layered Tags, Mercer Street - Soho Garden Ribbon Card (84929)

And finally, my favorite project of them all......

One of the things I sell in my Etsy shop, Catshy Crafts, is embroidery hoop art so when I saw a tutorial on how to use paper (instead of traditional fabric) inside an embroidery hoop, and I knew I had to try it.

You can see the scale of the hoops. One is a 4-inch and the other is 7-inch.

One fun thing about these hoops is that the ribbon is not entirely glued down. This means that you can slip the photo in and out and change it up when you have a new favorite photo to display. You could also slip in a note or other keepsake (like a ticket stub) at your leisure.

Supplies: Soho Garden Cardstock, Orchard Street (35828) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Nolita (35835) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Greenwich Village (35838) - Soho Garden Cardstock, Canal Street (35837) - Soho Garden Remarks Cardstock Stickers (42273) - Soho Garden Ribbon Card (84929) - Soho Garden Flower Shoppe Molded Paper Flowers - Bellerose (85609) - Soho Garden Remarks Layered Chipboard Stickers (42271)

So those were my projects for American Crafts! Thanks to Paige for inviting me to create with these lovely products!

Happy 100 Sales! Thank You So Much!

This little hoop is my 100th sale!

When I opened Catshy Crafts over a year ago, I never thought I'd reach 100 sales. Seriously, it seemed like such an impossible number at the time. My first sale came several months after I opened up shop. The customer was a friend of mine. I hand-delivered her wreath.

From there, it took about 11 months to make 99 more.

Here's A Breakdown

Most of my customers are in the U.S. but I've also shipped orders to Canada, Great Britain, Germany and Singapore.

By far, most of my orders have been embroidery hoop art. The most popular being my personalized oval one with the felt banner. An item I first made for my two daughters.

My most popular wreath is the one that still hangs on my front door. And the one that my very first customer ordered.

I've had slow times without any sales. And super-busy times with a long list of orders waiting to be filled.
I've had super-productive times with my creative mojo flowing and not-so-productive times.

But through it all, I've enjoyed running Catshy Crafts.

Every hoop I made was a labor of love.
Every wreath I wrapped.
Every felt flower I cut and sewed together.

I've discovered my passion for felt.
For embroidery. For the good ole needle and thread.
For wooden embroidery hoops.

It's been a wonderful ride so far and I am excited to see where it takes me next!

Thank You!

As a special thank you to my customers and followers, I'd love to share the love!

Use coupon code "happy100" at check-out and you will get 20% of your next purchase. This offer expires Friday, October 19, but you can use it as many times as you want until then.

Thanks for stopping by today!

New in the Shop: Monogram Embroidery Hoop Art with Felt Flowers and Leaves

Fall is almost here. The weather is cooling off. Some of the leaves on my maple tree are already turning colors. Back-to-school activities are in full swing.

To celebrate the colors of autumn, I created a new embroidery hoop art. This little guy incorporates the colors of fall in marigold, strawberry red and goldenrod in my signature hand-cut and hand-sewn felt flowers with soft grey felt leaves framing them.



For an unexpected pop of color, I hand-cut my initial "C" (it can stand for Cathy or Catshy! ;)  in a bright, saturated peacock teal and hand-appliqued it to a textured background of 100% tea-stained Irish linen. Crimson red stitches round out the smoothly sanded, 5-inch wooden embroidery hoop.

This monogram hoop art has dimension and texture and makes any space a little cozier and more personalized!  When you order, you can specify any single letter. I will hand-cut the letter in felt in a chunky font. Lowercase or uppercase can be requested. Otherwise, I will choose the case that looks cuter to me :). Each hoop is custom-made for you so please allow up to two weeks for completion of your hoop art.

Numbers are also available upon request. How fun would this hoop art be to celebrate a special birthday for a little one! Can you say awesome photography prop?

You could even buy more than one hoop art to spell out a name or word of choosing! Or two hoops for a the initials of the bride and groom. The ideas are endless!  PLEASE SPECIFY WHEN YOU ORDER IF YOU HAVE DEADLINE (birthday, wedding, anniversary) etc. and I'll do my best to accommodate you. Priority shipping is also available upon request.

To order your own monogrammed hoop, please go to my shop at Etsy.

Thanks for taking a look!

She (digi) scraps

It's been so long since I posted a scrapbook page.
It was not so long ago that scrapbooking was my only creative outlet (aside from photography).
I would scrapbook every day. Either digitally (using Photoshop) or paper.

Even though Catshy Crafts is my new passion, I haven't given up scrapbooking yet.

And it is sooooo wonderful when I can combine all my loves (photography, scrapbooking and Catshy) into one project. Like this one.

i love hoops | blog buddies digital kit by wild olive @ kitschy digitals

As I mentioned before, I am on the Creative Team at Kitschy Digitals, a shop run by the uber-talented, crafty/vintage goddess, Danielle Thompson. She recently unveiled a brand-new shop which houses a number of crafty bloggers/designers you may already be familiar with......such as Mollie Johanson of Wild Olive!

I've been a fan of her blog for a while now, so I am so happy to be working with her digital designs (which can be used for scrapbooking, paper crafts, blogging etc. Check out her latest digital kit, Blog Buddies. That embroidery hoop is too cute! And perfect to pair up with some photographs of myself and my daughter showing off some of latest hoop art.

Can't wait to use this kit again. I'm thinking of a hybrid project next. Maybe a mini book? What would you use this kit for?

As always, thanks for stopping by today!

New in the Shop

Summer is in full swing (swimming, beach-going, bubble-blowing, alfresco dining) and so is my productivity. Summer slump? Not at Catshy!

Bubble-making is a big thing at our house this summer.

Maybe the sunshine and warm weather have been inspiring me to try new designs and create more. Maybe my personal goal to put 100 items in the shop is giving me an extra push. At 96, I only have 4 more to go.


I've also been pleasantly surprised by an increase in orders lately. Thank you so much for your orders! I appreciate each and everyone and I hope you are happy with my hand-made items.

Anyway, with all the activity, not to mention planning my daughter's birthday party (post is planned) and then three days spend on Whidbey Island with some friends' for the fourth of July, it's no wonder I forgot to update the blog on a few new items I put in the shop. So without further adieu, here are my latest creations.

Love Leaves Embroidery Hoop Art

This first item was made several weeks ago but I just put it in the shop recently. I really loved how it turned out and sometimes when that happens, I get shy in sharing right away. Does that ever happen to you?

I hand-cut the letters out of red felt. The leaves have tiny notches in them, making them look like a cross between a leaf and a feather. And the background is my favorite soft grey.

Love Leaves Hoop by Catshy Crafts.

My lovely daughter, Zara was so kind enough to hold my hoop. I think she likes it too!

This hoop is the first time* I've used cut felt to spell out my sentiment. Usually I hand-embroider the letters. I love the graphic look to it. What do you think? I have more plans for this font style including some personalized hoop, so keep an eye out for those!  (I made my "hey girl" after but put that in my shop first.)

Give the Dog a Bone

This hoop was originally made for my sweet online friend Holly for a swap. You may remember I made a couple of hoops for her and her boyfriend. This bone one was a surprise for her cute dog, Squirt! I've been meaning to put it in the shop for so long. It's for the dog lovers out there. In case you need a hand-made gift for your favorite pooch!

Bone Hoop by Catshy Crafts

This little guy measures 4.5 inches in diameter. If I bumped the size to a 5-inch hoop I could even personalize it with your dog's name. 

Wreath in New Color Combo

This 8-inch wreath was a custom order using candy-pink, lemon  yellow and soft grey wool-blend felt. Because of the hand-made nature of the flowers (I don't use a pattern), each wreath will be different. The customer was very happy and is even ordering another wreath in a different color!

Yarn Wrapped Wreath with Yellow, Pink + Grey Flowers by Catshy Crafts

I must say, I love the color combo! So summery. Reminds me of lemonade and cotton candy! I have a similar color combo in these individual flowers in my shop.

The size is great too. To compare, here's a photo of my 12-inch wreath that hangs on my door. (I sell made-to-order wreaths in this color combo as well.) The smaller size would work well on a door inside your home, such as on a bedroom door.

I have a few more shop items to share, but I'll save them for another post.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!