DAY 1: 2018 Cat Lovers Hop

No snooze button THIS morning....the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop has begun!!!!

Welcome to Day 1 of the

2018 CAT LOVERS HOP!!!

 If you have a project to linkup, please SIGN IN HERE (required to be eligible for prizes) and then go to the Main Hop Page
(Please use #CatLoversHop2018 on social media!!)
 Also, please check out my
2018 Cat Lovers Hop Guidelines and FAQs

Hi, Friends.....

I am so glad you are here to join in the daily festivities of the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop!! Each day I will be posting some fun things to see and do and win!  Several of our sponsors will be featured each day, along with the prizes they are offering and maybe some cards made with those products. My thanks to the sponsors who kindly provided photos and graphics for me to use, as well as fabulous prizes!  Also, many thanks to D.Ann Comer, Christi Conley, Karen Ladd who have helped me behind the scenes to make this year's hop happen!! ❤❤❤

Just a reminder.....You must SIGN IN HERE to be eligible for prizes. Also, LINK UP ALL PROJECTS ON THE MAIN HOP PAGE by 11:55 pm Pacific, Saturday, Oct. 27, 2018.  I have my 2018 Cat Lovers Hop Guidelines and FAQs in a handy tab just under my header at the top of each page.

Okay on to the Day 1 festivities........

My featured sponsors today are: Newton's Nook Designs, Stampendous, Lost Coast Designs, Leigh SB Designs Art Stamps, and, as always, our friend and cat-loving artist, Ike of Ike's Art, who will be sponsoring our Daily Games.
Each of these sponsors have special Cat Lovers Hop things going on at their blogs, so you will want to visit each one and participate in the festivities.

***********************************************

Newton's Nook Designs


Newton's Nook Designs is our first company to help kick off the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop!!  Jen at Newton's Nook Designs has been a sponsor each year of the Hop.  Her support and kindness when I first began thinking of doing a Cat Lovers Hop is what gave me the courage to give it a try!!  So we all owe her a big THANKS!!








Guest Designer Karen Ladd made an adorable Newton card to share with us:

Love this Rootin' Tootin' Newton.  I know it is really "Newton Rides West", but I like my name better!!  lol...  

BONUS:  Jen is participating in the Hop by making a card to share with us, too.  You can see it over on the Newton's Nook Designs blog, so be sure to hop over there and take a look.  Tell her thanks for sponsoring!!
 

Newton's Nook Designs is offering a $25 Gift Voucher to their online store.  

Please take time to visit Newton's Nook Designs at these social media spots: Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Don't forget to Like, Follow, Share, and Comment with a big "THANK YOU for sponsoring the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop at Her Peaceful Garden!"

*********************************************** 

Stampendous!

We have a real treat in store for you.  Stampendous is back as a sponsor complete with festivities at their blog today, as their designers feature Stampendous cat products. 

BONUS:  There is always a ton happening at the Stampendous blog!!!  Right now, they also have their annual 31 Days of Halloween challenge and comment contest going on.  If you make a Halloween cat-themed project for this hop, you can add it to their link-up, too!!  Details are HERE and their Contest Rules are HERE.

Laura at Stampendous put together an amazing prize offering for us this year.  I adore the Laurel Burch cat products and she didn't disappoint.
 

TWO winners will each receive a set of the Laurel Burch Tribal Cats Stamps and Coordinating Dies!! WOW!!



Laura even sent me an array of stamps to play with including those awesome Tribal Cats.  Here's the card I made with the set:

I used my Dylusions Sprays on mixed media paper, to mimic the vibrant colors Laurel Burch is known for, and then die cut the cats and sentiment panel.  My son (ever the wit!!) noted how appropriate it was to have a "sprayed" card for the Cat Hop!!  lol....  (Growing up with lots of cats has warped the young man!!)

Well, that's not all the prizes Stampendous has for you......
There are also 3 different flash prizes, one each of which will be given to 3 random hoppers: one who is a first-time participant (be sure to tell me when you SIGN IN), one who has participated each year of the hop (tell me if you qualify when you SIGN IN), and one who comments on ALL the projects that get linked up. (Tell me on the last day of commenting if you qualify.)
 


Laurel Burch-Happy Bday Cat Stamp ----→




 



←--- Laurel Burch-Holly Cat Stamp




 



Laurel Burch-Cat Love Stamp ----→
 

Please take time to visit Stampendous at these social media spots: Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube. Don't forget to Like, Follow, Share, and Comment with a big "THANK YOU for sponsoring the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop at Her Peaceful Garden!"

See you over at the Stampendous festivities!!

***********************************************
Lost Coast Designs

Let's give a warm Cat Lovers Hop welcome to new sponsors Lost Coast Designs and sister company Carmen's Veranda!!   They feature a wonderful and eclectic assortment of rubber stamps that you are going to love.

BONUS:  Right now they have a Dogs and Cats Challenge going on at their shared blog.  Your entry must have actual real stamping on it.  They also have their annual 31 Days of Halloween Challenge going on for your stamped Halloween projects.  Rules and Details for their challenges are HERE.

One of our Cat Hop friends, ionabunny (Gail Tasker), is the DT director at Lost Coast Designs.  Yay!  She reached out to me offering to sponsor our hop. I was so delighted!!  She also arranged for them to send me one of their stamps to play with and this is the card I made:

I used the new Carmen's Veranda - Peekaboo Kitty (large) stamp and teamed it with elements from the Kaisercraft - Pawfect paper set.

Lost Coast Designs is offering a $10 Gift Voucher to either one of their online stores to one lucky winner!!

Please take time to visit Lost Coast Designs at these social media spots: Blog, Facebook, Carmen's Veranda Facebook. Don't forget to Like, Follow, Share, and Comment with a big "THANK YOU for sponsoring the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop at Her Peaceful Garden!"

***********************************************


Leigh SB Designs Art Stamps

Please say hello to returning sponsor Leigh SB Designs Art Stamps.  Leigh designs amazingly magical and quirky digital images.  

BONUS:  Leigh is celebrating the 31 Days of Halloween with a challenge and a bunch of prizes for her hoppers linking up Halloween projects and for those who just want to hop around and comment!  Details are HERE.

Leigh SB Designs Art Stamps is offering a $10 Gift Code to her online store to one lucky winner.

Please take time to visit Leigh SB Designs Art Stamps at these social media spots: Blog, Store, Facebook Page, Facebook Group, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. Don't forget to Like, Follow, Share, and Comment with a big "THANK YOU for sponsoring the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop at Her Peaceful Garden!"

************************************ 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DAILY GAME TIME!!!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Daily Game is generously sponsored each day by Ike's Art!!!

Please take time to visit Ike at these social media spots: Blog,  Instagram, Store, and Facebook Group. Don't forget to Like, Follow, Share, and Comment with a big "THANK YOU for sponsoring the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop at Her Peaceful Garden!"

BONUS:  Ike's Show us Your Pussies - Cats Only Challenge theme this month is Furrything Goes + MEOW-loween.  So if you make a kitty creation for the Cat Hop (Halloween or not), you can also link it up over there!!  Yay!!



Ike has graciously designed a new seasonal set of digital images for prizes for our Daily Games.  I will randomly choose 4 winners from all the entries in the Daily Games to win one of these fab images.  (NOTE:  You must link up your name in the linky tool at the bottom of each post to be in the drawing for the digi prizes.)  I will be featuring each of the images individually on the next four days of the hop.
 

NOTE:  PLEASE PLAY THE DAILY GAME EVEN IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE IN THE DRAWINGS FOR THE DIGI PRIZES. 

Not all of you use digis and have indicated that to me when you SIGNED IN.  I hope you will still participate in the Daily Game.  You do NOT have to participate in the digi giveaway to answer the Daily Game question that lets us all get to know each other better.  If you want to be in the digi prize drawing, link up your name each day that you participate.



DAY 1 GAME:  Kitty Roll Call and In Memoriam  :(

As usual, our Day 1 Game is Kitty Roll Call where we share with each other the names of each of the cats that call your home (or your back porch) their own....even if it is just a home away from home, as is the case with my part-time toms!!  During Kitty Roll Call, you can tell us a little about your cats and you also may add to the roll call any that you have lost since last Cat Lovers Hop.  :( :( :(  Some of you might not have any kitties at home anymore, but please tell us about cats you have had in the past.

I will start.......

Here are the names of my kitties:
Chaienne - In Memoriam. Last year during the Hop, I didn't know if dear sweet Shy-Cat would last the week but she made it until after the New Year. You can read my blog post about her HERE. She's the orange kitty in my blog header and my Google avatar. She was 16 and is very much missed.
Jetta - Jetta has the honor of being the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop Badge Cat. She hopes you will notice and comment on her one white whisker!! (She has only had that since she became advanced in age and her black coat became flecked with white.) My daughter and I ascertained that Jetta is 15 and I think she has FINALLY retired and will stay home now, instead of traversing across the pastures (which are full of coyotes!!) to the old house where we used to live. She's been home since last year's Cat Lovers Hop when our neighbor called us to say she was in a live trap he had set for raccoons! She is my current lap kitty.
Charlotte - Littermate of Jetta, so also 15 years old. She never successfully made the move from our old house (abt 1/2 mile away) and has been living at the neighbor's house ever since. I haven't seen her for some time, but the neighbor said she is still there. She disappeared for a few weeks awhile back, but showed up again although weak and ill. With TLC she seemed to recover and is doing fine now.
Andromeda - Still here with her unimaginably soft, solid black coat. She is outside only, but sneaks in hoping we will think she is Othello, who is also black but twice her size! Sometimes it even works!! Ha. She is kittenish and we call her our Night Sky Kitten.
Big Bad Black - It's been over a year since we have seen Big Bad Black so I will sadly put him on the Roll Call for the last time. He was a part-time solid black tom that chummed around with our little Judith (she was spayed, but whatever....). He never let us touch him, but we all admired him. Even though wandering Judith has been home briefly several times since Big Bad Black disappeared, he hasn't been with her. We miss this big guy and hope that maybe he does have a family in our area that finally neutered him so he stays put and can live out his days in a warm house.
Marshmallow - A big soft clump of something sweet. He's a meek, very simple soul with a long coat and magnificent tail. At 12 years of age, he has outlived two companions and now has Alexander for a best friend. Astonishingly, with Alexander he has finally found someone who is even more simple-minded than he is!! lol.... They are totally adorable together!!
Scamper - Littermate of Marshy. The undisputed top cat of the back porch. Don't mess with Scamper-Girl.  She even chases raccoons off!!!
Ophelia - Never assume that people can correctly determine the gender of a cat! We got Ophelia and Whiskers from a cat-loving friend who had found them abandoned. She said the striped one is a girl and the B/W one is a boy. Being busy, we didn't bother to inspect closely for several weeks.....hence the girl name for our big boy Ophelia!!! (This is particularly embarrassing because my hubby is a veterinarian!! Ha.) Now Ophelia is a big lazy neutered male whom we affectionately call "Oaf-elia" or Oaf-Cat. In the winter, he gets fat and becomes our "Loaf-elia" or Loaf-Cat. :)
Whiskers - Whisk-Whisk is a clownish Black and White kitty, the sister of Ophelia. She's outside only, but one of our very favorites because of her perky personality. She's a great huntress and often won't leave the chicken house at night when I close the gate because she knows there are furry little 4-footed snacks that emerge in the darkness. She loves her little head rubbed.
Mistopheles - Started as a part-time tom, then we caught him and neutered him. Now he is ours. He's long-haired and solid black. Body build, facial structure, and expressions look startlingly like Big Bad Black with long hair. Would not be surprised if they are related.
Othello - Ginormous part-Siamese solid black cat that nearly suffocates you when drapes himself across your neck for a nap. Easily weighs over 20 lbs. He's our Oaf-Fellow!
Alexander - Started as a part-time tom but now is neutered and inseparable with his best buddy, Marshmallow. Alexander used to be quite afraid of our eyes, but is able to let me look at him while I pet him now....most of the time. He's still too nervous to enjoy being held.
Brian - Bad Boy Brian is the sweetest kitty, but he got in his head that he needed to spray in the house. So he stays outside now....except when he sneaks in.
Caspian - A gentleman kitty with a gentle personality. He is littermates with Brian and Judith.
Judith - Judith is our very, very naughty wanderer. She shows up every 3 or 4 months for a day or two or three...then she is off again. :( She's a simple and sweet kitty and it drives me crazy that she won't stay home. I suspect that she might lead a double life, enjoying the benefits of another family in our area that perhaps does not have so many other kitties! I miss her and worry about her.
Skippyjon - Siamese-X and still a character! Perdita has him totally intimidated and he unfortunately began spraying in the house...probably because of that. Poor Skippy can only be inside with careful supervision now, but he is well behaved in my son's room so he often gets to sleep there at night.
Perdita - She is the exotic, lovely Siamese from last year's Cat Lovers Hop Badge. We've had her a little over a year now (adopted from a pet store which couldn't even tell she was a female!!) and she has completely established herself as a diva who only wants affection on her terms. She wants a dollop of canned cat food anytime, though. I give it to her twice a day to help her not vomit.
Huckle - Was a part-time tom who now is pretty much full-time. He looks an awful lot like Alexander, but seems smarter. (Wouldn't have to be much of a contender to beat out Alexander in the brains department! lol...) Huckle won't let us touch him.....and did NOT appreciate it when I once slyly did touch him. ("Rrrrr"...he said.) But he follows us around outside and comes running when I holler Kitty-Kitty-Kitty!!!
Punch - Barely qualifies as a part-time tom, since he hasn't been around since last winter. He looks just like Judith, except being a tom he has filled out and grown bigger than she is. We called the lookalikes: Punch and Judith.
Siegfried - Also barely qualifies as a part-time tom. He and Huckle have engaged in epic battles with poor Huckle coming out with a terrible limp that lasted months and abscesses that I thought would never heal. The tide turned when Huckle gained the upper hand this summer. I hate it that they fight....but if they are going to fight, I'm glad that Huckle finally established dominance so Siegfried will stay away. Of course I can't catch either one of them to treat wounds. :(
 
So I guess that leaves us with 16 cats plus 2 barely part-timers.

This is how to play the game to be eligible for the prize drawing:

1.  Leave a comment giving us your Kitty Roll Call and anything you want to tell us about them.  I never get tired of reading about everyone's cats!!!

2.  After you finish your Kitty Roll Call comment:  if you want to be in the drawing for the prize, fill out your (own) name in the link up below.  This doesn't have any thumbnails so no photo needed!  You don't even need a blog!!!  This is for everyone!!!

NOTE: The Daily Game link ups will be open the entire duration of the Hop, including the extra day for comments. Entries need to be in by 11:59 pm Pacific, Sunday Oct. 28, 2018 to be eligible for the daily prize. So you have more than just today to comment and link up. I realize that not everyone has access to a printer or likes to use digis, so I am still keeping the link up gadget to make sure the digi prizes go to winners who can use them. But I am hoping EVERYONE will participate in answering the questions whether they are putting their name in for the prize or not.

Okay, now it is your turn!!  

REMEMBER: Link your cat-themed projects over on the Main Hop Page. (Please use #CatLoversHop2018 on social media!!) This link-up below is just to enter the drawing for the Daily Game after you have commented with your Kitty Roll Call. Thanks!!!

Thank you sooooooooooo much for being a part of the 2018 Cat Lovers Hop. Let the fun BEGIN!!!

🖤
Janis