Hello friends
Two of my favorite things are cats and stampin. The swap card I’m sharing with you today was one that I created in honor of my sweet cat Buttercup who I recently lost. She was a great companion to me and was usually by my side even when I stamped. So, naturally, when I saw our new stamp set “Nine Lives” in the 2019 Occasions catalog, knew I wanted to design a card using it. 
My Buttercup served as an inspiration for the design and the colors. Because she was “all girl” with her soft, sweet voice and dainty paws, I chose to use a very soft color, “Powder Pink” as the main color for this card. I also used Basic Gray and Whisper White with some Silver Metallic thread and the Pearlized Doilies. The “Nine Lives” stamp set coordinates with the “Cat punch” in our annual catalog.
Since this was a card I designed for a demonstrator swap, I created multiples of this card. I sent 11 of them to fellow demonstrator Lisa Lange (who hosted the swap), she swapped them out with the variety she received from the other swap participants. Then she mailed 11 different designs back to me. (I plan to share a peek of some of the swap cards I receive in a future blog post).
Now, for some reason Powder Pink does not photograph well, but in person it is a beautiful soft pink. The same goes for my Buttercup. It was difficult to capture her beauty on film. 
When it comes to cats she was quite a striking tabby. Her eyes were clear blue and the coloring of her baby soft fur was a muted mixture of white and tan with silver and charcoal markings. Although we adopted her from a shelter, we often wondered if she was part Siamese or perhaps part Blue Lynx Point Siamese. She was a talker with a “girly” voice and very feminine “meow”.
Here is a close-up of some of her soft fluffy fur 
Right below is a gif of Buttercup one of the times she was “helping me” with my paper-crafting.
…and here she is sitting with me on a cushy spot on the sofa.
We discovered that Buttercup developed diabetes and had a heart murmur.
She was strong and feisty but with a heart of gold. She was always loyal and loving to me, and I cared for her and nursed her throughout her health problems but in the end, I reluctantly had to say goodbye to her.
I hope you like my card design and hope you enjoyed seeing photos of my Buttercup. I must admit that I miss my sweet “helper”. If anyone has a photo of their “helper pet” I would truly enjoy seeing them.
Thanks for visiting my blog. To see this stamp set and many others, visit my website 24/7 at http://www.always.stampinup.net and click on shop now to browse through our product-line.
Until next time…Happy Stampin!
Mary “uplatestampin” Shields
Mary K Shields ©Stampin’ Up!®
http://www.always.stampinup.net
AlwaysUpLateStampin.wordpress.com
https://www.facebook.com/AlwaysUpLateStampin/
Have a wonderful week!
Always Up Late Stampin 
Reblogged this on Always Up Late Stampin.
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I love this card and will be using it in a demo party, thanks. Your Buttercup was truly gorgeous; she had the most beautiful blue eyes and her nose was so cute! My little monster is now not so little and only occasionally now will he share my crafting time. He prefers to be outside in the daytime (and at night too if I let him but I don’t). His name is Weasley ’cause he is a ginger!
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Hi Susan! I’m flattered that you like my card enough to use for a demo party. I hope you all have a great time. Also it’s so kind of you to comment about my Buttercup. I still have my boy Rocky at home…but he doesn’t like to craft. Lol. Your boy Weasley sounds like lots of fun. Ginger cats are so sweet. My brother has two ginger cats and they seem to have the sweetest dispositions…most of the time. Lol. Have a wonderful evening and thanks so much for commenting.
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