August Friendly Feature–Welcome Cathy Weber

Hello friends. Waltzingmouse Stamps is so fortunate to have many wonderful enthusiasts who support WMS and always inspire us with their creativity. We are happy to bring you another good friend of Waltzingmouse Stamps; Cathy Weber. Cathy's blog is filled with loads of amazing projects so be sure to stop by her blog and take a long look around. Let’s see what she has to share with us today.

My husband and I were recently on vacation in a little, tiny town in Montana, driving to the one and only store in town.  Thank goodness my husband is a police officer and is used to quick-response driving, because my rather loud shout of surprise as I read the email from Lynn and Claire asking me to be the next Waltzingmouse Friendly Feature very nearly caused him to run off the road.  What an exciting day for me and I could hardly wait to get home to start working on a few projects to share with my crafty friends who love Waltzingmouse Stamps as much as I do.

Fortunately, I had a few weeks to think about it and was able to narrow down my stamp choices to just two sets, one old and one fairly new. 

I always seem to struggle when it comes to making masculine cards, and since there are at least 10 male members of my immediate family, I always find myself in need of something masculine.  I was so excited when Waltzingmouse released My Kind of Guy.  Talk about cute images...I absolutely love that little gentleman stamp with the monocle, hat and mustache.  I decided to make a card and matching tag to go along with a thank you gift for my brother whose hobby is collecting whiskey decanters.  He has quite the collection and although he would never consider breaking the seal, loves to display the decanters in his “Man Cave”.

Using kraft cardstock, I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut out the large border image from My Kind Of Guy using one of Claire’s matching cut files.  It is so easy to have a perfectly cut image using her files, and I find myself using them all the time.  There is very little “fussy-cutting” for me anymore.  I stamped and clear embossed the image and pinked the top edge.  I layered it onto a banner stamped with the gentleman image, sentiment and long border strip from My Kind of Guy.   I used an embossing folder to add some texture to the card base and added a bit of twine and a manly-looking brass charm. 

When I was done, I thought the whiskey decanter looked a bit bare, so I decided to make a matching tag to go along with it.  I made it almost identical to the card except I was thrilled when I realized that the pinked circle image in My Kind of Guy was the perfect size to fancy up the hole in the tag.  I embossed it with clear embossing powder and wow, what a shine!  Here’s a close-up of the great detail in that stamp.

Since I was on a roll with masculine thank you cards, I combined My Kind of Guy and Back in the Saddle for one more thank you card.  When My Kind of Guy was first released, the large border image reminded me of a western bandana.  Once again, I used Claire’s cut files to cut out the border image and this time stamped it in red and clear embossed it.  Don’t you think it looks like a western bandana?  I layered it over the rectangular frame from My Kind of Guy and pinked the edges.  The sentiment is one of my favorites from Back in the Saddle.  This time my card base is also kraft, but I layered a star background cut file from the Silhouette store onto the base giving the illusion of a star embossing folder.   I tied a bit of rope twine around the bandana border and used a brass brad to secure it.  I felt my card needed a little more red, so I added a punched red star and one more brass brad to the corner.  I love how this card turned out and will probably hold onto it for quite a while until I have an occasion to thank someone very special.

I would like to thank Lynn and Claire for inviting me to share a little bit about myself and also for the opportunity to show off a few things I have made with my favorite Waltzingmouse Stamps.  What a great experience! 

Its always fun to get to know a little more in-depth information about our Friendly Feature guest blogger, so Cathy answered a few questions about her background and stamping process.

When did you get into this hobby?
Four years ago I decided to make a wedding memory album for my future daughter-in-law.  While I was making the album, I discovered stamping and realized I was much better at making cards than scrapbooking.  I still cringe when I look back at my first attempts at crafting, but will forever be grateful that I have found this hobby that I love so much.  Now that my last child is just about ready to move out on her own, I know I will always have something fun to do to fill my “empty nest”, which is also the title of my blog, The Empty Nest Crafter.

What is your favorite card stock to use?
I use Papertrey Ink cardstock and AC Cardstock when I cut with my cameo.  (Thanks, Claire for that great tip!)

Favorite Waltzingmouse Stamp set you reach for over and over?
I live in Norco, CA and our town’s nickname is “Horsetown USA”.  Even though I no longer have a horse, I do find that I like to use the western sets Back in the Saddle and Way Out West quite often.  I also use Sewing Box Hugs  all the time.  It was my first Waltzingmouse Stamp set and I love that cute little bird and have paper pieced it on cards more times than I can count.

Do you have a favorite technique?
My cards are pretty CAS, but I love using die cuts and my Silhouette Cameo to add dimension to my stamped images.

Do you own a die cutter?
I am on my second Cuttlebug; I absolutely wore out my first one and I recently got a Silhouette Cameo and took some online classes to learn how to use it. 

What is your favorite color combination?
I seem to go through an awful lot of kraft card stock, so I would say most of my cards have kraft as the base and accent colors using red, navy, or scarlet jewel. 

If money wasn’t an issue, what crafty stuff would you buy?
Of course, I could never have enough stamps, but I would love to own a Genesis Paper Cutter one day.  I have heard nothing but good things about it and would consider it a major indulgence.

Who is your most admired crafter or the person who inspires and challenges you?
Since we are talking about Waltzingmouse stamps today, I am going to say my sweet friends and Mischief Makers, Renee Lynch and Jeanne Jachna who constantly inspire me with their beautiful cards.  Renee is how I discovered Waltzingmouse stamps and Jeanne is my biggest cheerleader, always sending me the latest magazine publication calls and encouraging me to submit my cards.  I consider myself very lucky to have met so many wonderful friends through crafting. Crafty people really are the best!

Thank you, Cathy, for sharing your wonderful projects and process with us. We hope that you have enjoyed learning more about Cathy as much as we have.