MAIN HOP PAGE: 2019 CAT LOVERS HOP

It's TIME to HOP!!!!

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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome Friends and Cat Lovers!!!

I am so glad you are joining us for our 2019 Cat Lovers Hop.  This is our 5th Year.....can you believe it???   This is the MAIN HOP PAGE where you can read the details of this year's hop, get a sneak peek at our fabulous sponsors, and most importantly....LINK UP your projects.  Yay!!!

First.....let's take a look down memory lane.....

Hop #1 - October 26-30, 2015
I totally did NOT know what I was doing.  I am so embarrassed when I look at this badge, but it is what it is.  lol...

My sweet Shy-Cat  (Chaienne) was my first badge kitty.

I had been hatching this Cat Lovers Hop idea in the Spring of 2015 and ran it past Jen at Newton's Nook.  She said she would love to sponsor and to contact her when my plans were set. That encouragement meant the world to me and we really have her to thank for it ever getting off the ground. Seriously! 

So I actually started planning the hop in late September of that year and was still looking for sponsors in the middle of October.  I was so tickled when 8 companies agreed to sponsor!!!   They were truly taking a chance on this unknown blogger contacting them to sponsor a half-baked idea for a hop!!  And then, during the festivities, others of you stepped up in the spirit of the hop and offered blog prizes, too.....including Ike's Art who became an official sponsor after that, but I consider her a sponsor from the beginning.  I was thrilled.  Ike also launched her super-fun Show Us Your Pussies cats only challenge blog soon after the hop.

Of course, going into this I was afraid nobody would show up to post projects.  So...I recruited some people that I had seen online that were cat lovers to "salt the mine", so to speak, asking them to post projects on the opening day!! Ha.  Some of the original people who posted a project on that very first day are still active with our Hops:  Karen, Kitty, Fiki, D.Ann, Becca, Mandy, Ike, Gail, and Michele.  My sincere gratitude to you ladies for helping launch this wild idea!!!   We ended up with an astounding 120 projects that first year.  I couldn't believe it!!

Hop #2 - October 24-29, 2016
I still didn't really know what I was doing, but I finally figured out how to make a decent looking badge! I also began the Badge Giveaway, encouraging you to post the badge ahead of the hop to help spread the word. THANK YOU to all who participated in that!!

My precious Aliyah asleep on my piano music. 

We had 15 sponsors that year and 149 projects!  WOW....we had grown in one year!  I introduced the Daily Games that year with Ike's Art sponsoring.  Ike has generously sponsored the Daily Games each year since.  🖤

Hop #3 - October 23-28, 2017
I was beginning to establish a routine for the hops and templates for the posts...so I sort of, kind of, felt like I knew what I was doing.  lol

This lovely pic of Perdita was too good to not use for this year.

We had 24 sponsors this time and 190 projects.  Still steadily growing!  So much fun.

Hop #4 - October 22-27, 2018
Last year's hop was even bigger and better!!

My dear Jetta....she sleeps on my pillow with me each night.

Last October I instituted the Sign-In process to streamline awarding prizes. I was relieved that you all were so cooperative and such good sports about that. Thank you!  We had 30 sponsors, 243 projects, and 64 total participants from at least 12 countries!!!  WHOA!!  Thank you all for making our Cat Lovers Hops grow.  

Did you know that Mandy at A Teacup of Scrapisms has participated in each of our Hops and keeps each year's badge on her sidebar?  My heart is so warmed whenever I pop over to her blog and see all those badges lined up.  THANKS, Mandy!!  You are a sweetheart.

I hope you have enjoyed this brief overview of how we started and got to the place we are now. And now.....for this year's hop!!!

Before we go on........please take a moment to SIGN IN HERE.  I am asking everyone who wants to participate and be eligible to win prizes to please sign in to make my bookkeeping easier.  Thank you for helping me out this way!

Remember:  YOU MUST SIGN IN TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR PRIZES!!!

Also, before you get started, PLEASE read the 2019 Cat Lovers Hop Guidelines and FAQs HERE. This will answer many of your questions, particularly if you are new to our hop!

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How to join in the 2019 CAT LOVERS HOP:
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There are three ways to get a chance to win a randomly-drawn prize from our awesome sponsors:  linking up a cat project, commenting on linked-up projects, and participating in the Daily Games.

1. LINKING UP A CAT PROJECT: The Cat Lovers Hop is open world-wide....so please SIGN IN HERE, and then link up a cat-themed project (or projects...there is no limit) right here at the bottom of THIS post by 11:55 pm Pacific, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019.

***Please use #2019CatLoversHop on social media platforms (e.g. FB, IG, etc.) and allow PUBLIC (or UNLIMITED or ALL) permissions to view...not just FRIENDS...or most of us won't be able to see or to comment on your project!***


You may enter your project in as many other challenges as you wish. See my 2019 Cat Lovers Hop Guidelines and FAQs HERE to see what qualifies as a cat-themed project, so you don't miss out on being eligible for the prizes!! Around half the prizes will be randomly drawn from projects linked on this page. Be sure to include my 2019 Cat Lovers Hop Badge in your post.

2. COMMENTING ON LINKED-UP PROJECTS:  Leave a comment on any or all of the cat projects from the link up. The more comments you leave, the better your chances of winning!  Comments on projects must be made by 11:59 pm Pacific, Sunday Oct. 27, 2019 to be eligible for the comment prize drawings. (Notice that you have an extra day for commenting, especially helpful for visiting those projects that come in on the last day of the link-up.)  Around half of the prizes will be randomly drawn from comments on the cat projects.  You must SIGN IN to be eligible for the comment prizes, even if you are not linking up a project.

And, yes....a PRIZE will be awarded to one randomly-drawn lucky hopper who comments on ALL the projects!!  I will have a special link-up on the final Wrap Up Day next Sunday, October 27, 2019....which is the last day to leave comments.  If you manage to comment on all the projects in the hop by 11:59 pm Pacific that day, you can link your name up on that final day to be in the drawing.

3. PARTICIPATING IN THE DAILY GAMES:  There will be  Daily Games (usually consisting of icebreaker questions about you and your cats) at the bottom of each of my daily posts (Those posts will have titles such as: Day 1....Day 2...etc) There are prizes from our sponsor, Ike's Art!!  And no blog is required!!  :)  You can link up your entry to the Daily Games throughout the duration of the Hop, including the extra day for commenting.  You need to be SIGNED IN and have your entries in for the Daily Games by 11:59 pm Pacific, Sunday Oct. 27, 2019 to be eligible for the prizes. These prizes will be available world-wide! Yay!!   

NOTE:  Even if you do not use digital images and don't want to link up for the drawings, PLEASE PARTICIPATE IN THE DAILY GAMES so we can get better acquainted with you!!  This truly is what makes our Cat Hops so extra special!!


OUR FABULOUS SPONSORS AND PRIZES
I keep talking about sponsors and prizes, so I bet you want to know who they are and what they have donated as prizes. Right???? Of course you do!!!  This year's line up is more exciting than ever with 32 Sponsors!!!  WOW!  

Did you know that we have three sponsors that have generously provided prizes 5 years in a row?  A special shout-out of thanks goes to:  Art Impressions, Newton's Nook, and Ike's Art.  They have stayed with us since the beginning.  Annelise, Jen, and Ike....you ladies are fabulous!!!  THANK YOU!

Returning Sponsors:
I am so excited and grateful to have the following returning sponsors. I think you will agree that their support and generosity have made each of our Cat Lovers Hops extra fun!!! A huge thank you to each one of them for sponsoring us in the past and coming back for more of the furry frenzy this year!!! Here they are with the prizes they are offering this year:

Altenew - $20 Gift Voucher
Art Impressions - Cozy Cat Cubbies stamp set
CatLadyBox - A Gift Voucher for one of their deluxe CRAZY CatLadyBoxes. (Me-WOWza!!)
Clearly Besotted - £10 (pound sterling) Gift Voucher
Darkroom Door - Sitting Cat stamp  
Fiki at Bad Kitty's Craft Room - package full of fun kitty crafting items
Gerda Steiner Designs - Playful Kitten stamp set
Ike's Art - "Mood Cat" digital image set designed especially for this hop.  These digis will be prizes for our Daily Games.
JessicaLynnOriginal - Celine's Kittens stamp set
Kellie Stamps - Crazy Cat Lady digital stamp set
Knitty Kitty - Special "Hanging Hearts" digi image designed esp for this Hop PLUS 2 single digis (or 1 digi set) of winner's choice from her store
Leigh SB Designs - $10 Gift Voucher to her Etsy store
Lost Coast Designs - $10 Gift Voucher to the online store
MarkerPOP - Mystery package full of crafting supplies ($50 value) to a USA winner willing to pay shipping ($6.50) via PayPal.
Please let me know in the comments if you want to be in the drawing for this prize. I don't want anyone to be obligated to pay shipping for a prize unless they tell me they are okay with that. (NOTE: I have been the lucky recipient of one of their mystery packages and the one I received was WELL WORTH that much shipping and more!!)
Neat & Tangled - $15 Gift Voucher to the online store
Newton's Nook Designs - $25 Gift Voucher to their online store
Paper Smooches - Cat Dog Card Dies
Stampendous! -  LOTS OF PRIZES for lots of winners!!  Laurel Burch Feline Blooms PLUS Dies, Laurel Burch Indigo Cats PLUS Dies, Feline Friends Like You, Feline Love, and Feline Clan stamps
STAMPlorations - $15 Gift Voucher to the online store 
Sunny Studio - Purrfect Birthday stamp set
Sweet 'n Sassy - $15 Gift Voucher to the online store
Taylored Expressions - If Cats Could Talk Stamp and Die Combo
Unity Stamp Co. - TWO $75 Mystery Prizes!!!!!
Your Next Stamp - $15 Gift Voucher to their online store

New sponsors:
And here are our new sponsors for this year's Cat Lovers Hop. I know you will be thrilled to see who has come on board with us this year! Let's hear some welcoming purrs for each of them. (Purr...purr...purr...)

Jane's Doodles - Cats stamp set
Joy Clair - TWO Just Kitten Around stamp sets
Lawn Fawn - Meow You Doin' stamp set PLUS Dies
Poppystamps -  All these dies to one winner: Whittle Cat, Kitty Face, and Friendly Cat
Riley and Company - Felix the Cat stamp PLUS Die
Rubber Dance - Purr-fect! stamp set
The Cat's Pajamas - What the Froth stamp set
The Crafter's Workshop -TWO PRIZES each containing two 6"x6" stencils:  Kitties and Flying Cat

Okay, now......just how incredibly fantastic is that line up????? Are you excited yet? I am, too!!! I am so humbled and appreciative that each of these wonderful sponsors has agreed to support the Cat Lovers Hop. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all these new and returning fabulous companies!!! I will be introducing them in more detail on my daily posts, so be sure to come back each day!!

As I was listing all these amazing kitty stamp sets, it occurred to me that many of you cat lovers might already own some of these sets. If you would like to tell me in the comments of this post which (if any) of them you already have, I will try to make sure that if you happen to be a lucky winner you will get a set you don't have yet!  No guarantees, though. :)

Also, very important: IF YOU LIVE IN USA, do you want to be in the running for the MarkerPOP prize (value $50) that will require you to pay $6.50 in shipping via PayPal? If so, please say in comment "YES - MarkerPOP". (It will be WELL WORTH the shipping price!)

All cat-themed projects must be linked up right here at the bottom of THIS POST to be eligible for prizes. (Please use #2019CatLoversHop on social media!!) Each day of the hop, I will have DAILY games with a link-up on that day's post....specifically for THAT game. PLEASE do not link your cat project up in the daily posts......only right here on THIS POST. Thank you!

So.....Are you ready????

On your claws. Get set. Gooooooooooooooooooo!!! Have fun with this and let me know if you have any questions.  Let's make Hop #5 the best ever!!!

❤
Janis

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