November SOTM Blog Hop

It's that time again...a new month means a new Stamp of the Month - and that makes me smile.  The November SOTM is called It's the Little Things and is a set of 15 stamps, three of which are sentiments!

If you have arrived here from Melissa Robinson's Blog, then you are on the right path!  Since the blog hop is a great big circle, you can start here and work all the way around.  If you get lost along the way, you'll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda's Blog.  This month we have 64 talented Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the November SOTM and other great CTMH products. This is what I made using this great stamp set...

For the inside of this card, I couldn't let the cut out section of the Seaside Striped B&T go to waste, so I added it to the inside, along with a couple of Cricut Cuts.  The inside turned out quite nicely....

And my post wouldn't be complete without a couple of close up shots of the details on this card...

This is the list of CTMH products that were used on this project:

• It's the Little Things, S1411
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, pg 65, <Card> Cut at 5.5" from Sorbet cardstock
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, pg 65, <Card> Cut at 5.5" from Seaside Striped B&T
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, pg 54, <Vase> Cut at 3.25" from Desert Sand & Pear cardstock
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, pg 43, <Branch1> Cut at 1.5" from Desert Sand cardstock
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, pg 40, <Branch1> Layer, Cut at 1.5" from Pear cardstock
• Colonial White Cardstock, cut 8x5 inches, then use corner rounder to round each corner
• Sorbet Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
• Hollyhock Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
• Desert Sand Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
• 3D Foam Tape

I hope you enjoyed seeing this card as much as I enjoyed making it and thanks so much for stopping by! You can continue along the Blog Hop by visiting Tina Lovell's blog to see what she has created using It's the Little Things.  Be sure to visit all the Consultant's blogs to get many wonderful ideas and inspirations for your crafting time and I'd be thrilled if you would decide to follow my blog.  

Remember, this SOTM is only available until the end of the month!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click HERE)  to see how you can get this stamp set for only $5.  

Scaredy Cat Layout

Just in time for Halloween, I have completed a layout using the wonderful Scaredy Cat paper pack.  Since I love pictures, I love using flip flaps to help me get a lot of pictures on my layouts.  I did use several Flip Flaps, but have only showed a couple of them opened in order to keep the length of this post reasonable.

Here is the left hand page...

 And here is the right hand page

Both of these pages contain Flip Flaps.  The right hand page actually had a total of four Flip Flaps; one on each of the two landscape oriented picture slots and two are nested together on the portrait oriented picture slot.  Here is a picture that contains shots of the two nested Flip Flaps in their open position.  You can see how much room I gain for my journalling!

For the right hand page, I also included Flip Flaps on the two landscape pictures, which gave me tons more space for additional photos. I also included a 4x12 Flip Flap along the right side of the layout.  I have show the right hand page with the open Flip Flap and you can see I was able to six additional pictures behind this Flip Flap!  I can't stress enough how much I love Flip Flaps.
 

The final picture I'd like to share is a close up of some of the embellishment details on this page.

To complete this layout, I did reach back to a couple of old Cricut Cartridges.  I used Blackletter  for my title font and October 31st for several of the black cardstock silhouette cuts.  Here is a list of the additional products used to complete this page...

• Scaredy Cat Paper Pack
• Artiste Cricut Cartridge
• Flip Flaps, 4x6 and  4x12 inch
• 3D Foam Tape
• Colonial White Exclusive Ink
• Magic Potions Stamp Set, C1509
• Black Striped Twill Ribbon

Upcoming November's Lucky 5! Campaign

CTMH will feature a Studio J campaign during the month of November...there is a lot of information pertaining to this special so I wanted to make sure I covered it all.  Therefore, I have added a flyer that contains all of the information.

If you have never tried Studio J, November will be a great month to check it out.  And to keep things fun, there are several ways to win some great CTMH products.  So take a moment and read the details and then fire up your computer and take Studio J for a test drive :-)  Click HERE to set up an account and get started using Studio J. 

Masculine Thank You Card

I am excited about the project I am sharing today...it is a masculine thank you card and that makes me happy because making masculine things doesn't come easy for me :-)  I am girly from head to toe and my crafting tends to take on a feminine flair with no effort at all on my part.  So when my daughter asked me to make a thank you card that she and her classmates could give to a male professor, my instinct was to panic a bit.  However, since it was my daughter making the request, I had to accept her challenge.  Here is the result of stepping outside my comfort zone...

Until I manage to improve my photography skills, you must trust me that my photograph doesn't do this card justice.  While I am disappointed with my photography skills, I am very pleased with how this card turned out.

The card measure 5x7 inches and the card front is cut from the Basics Assortment of the Paper Fundamentals.  I adhered a loosely knotted strip of Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon  to a 2 x 5 inch piece of Outdoor Denim cardstock before adhering about one and a half inches from the bottom edge of the card front.  I cut a 2 inch Hexagon, shown on page 66 of the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge from Slate Cardstock and 2 3/16 inch Hexagon from Outdoor Denim Cardstock.  I stamped the "Thanks so Much" sentiment from the You Mean the World to Me Stamp Set using Outdoor Denim Exclusive Ink onto the Slate Hexagon shape and then adhered it to the Outdoor Denim Hexagon shape using 3-D Foam Tape and then adhered it to the card front as shown.

To add a bit of color to the inside of the card, I added a thin sliver of slate and a thin sliver of outdoor denim cardstock....

I will end today's post with a couple of close ups of the details...

P.S.  Remember that you can receive a roll of either Outdoor Denim or Ruby Chevron Ribbon during the month of October with a $50 purchase.  To see details about this special offer, click HERE.

October SOTM - Revisited

October is about half over, which means that there are only a couple more weeks to get this month's Stamp of the Month, Home for the Holidays.

Today's project is a decorated My Creations Clear Treat Tube.  It is perfect for for a small gift, like a key chain sized gift card or a small piece of jewelry.  It is also great for holding some Christmas candy,
 but for this post, I just filled it with paper shreds.

I made a box for the base using the 3D Object from page 45 of the Artiste Cricut Cartridge from Black Cardstock.  I used my Gypsy (but it can be done using the Cricut Craft Room) to add a circular hole to the top of my box.  I decorated my box with Gold Polka-Dot Washi Tape and Red Shimmer Trim.  I added the flower (Accent 2 on page 54 of  the Artiste Cricut Cartridge) cut from Cranberry Cardstock.  I cut the tag on page 40 of the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge from Cranberry Cardstock and then stamped the tag image from Home for the Holidays using Black Pigment Ink and then heat embossed with Ranger Clear Super Fine Embossing Powder.  Confession:  I would have preferred to have stamped with my VersaMark Ink Pad and then embossed with Ranger Princess Gold Embossing powder, but, sadly, I currently don't have the Gold Embossing powder in my crafting arsenal.  I will close today's post with a close up of the tag because I love, love, love the texture and richness that heat embossing adds...

Oh, Baby!

I haven't needed many baby cards in recent months.  So today, when my daughter said she needed a card for her baby shower gift, I quickly volunteered to help her out.  It meant I finally would get to play with a "new to me" stamp set, Wild Wonders.  Since the baby is a boy, I decided to keep it really traditional and go with a blue theme.  Also, I am in love with both Pacifica and Lagoon, so I am always looking for ways to use them.

I know I have posted this before, but I have a small collection of envelopes that will fit 4x8 inch cards and it goes against my nature to not make use of them...I am a bit practical that way.  Hence, I have been creating quite a few 4x8 inch cards.  Here it today's creation:

I was a bit rushed so I only had time to stamp a quick sentiment inside.  I could have easily added a bit more embellishment inside, but given my time constraints, it was not meant to be.

Now one final picture of a close up on the embossed Pacifica cardstock and the Lagoon Artbooking cut.  I love the distressed look that results when embossing is done against the grain of the cardstock.  I must admit, I am often in too big of a hurry to determine the grain of my cardstock, so unless my project needs to be a specific way, I usually just let myself be surprised by the outcome :-) 

Here are the details of this card:

• 8x8 inch cut of Daisy White Cardstock, folded to make a 4x8 inch card base
• Cricut Artbooking, pg 50, <Title> cut at 1 inch from Lagoon Cardstock
• 4x8 inch cut from Pacifica Cardstock and Embossed with Stripe Embossing Folder
• 3.75 inch Square cut from Lagoon Cardstock
• 3.5 inch Square cut from White Daisy Cardstock and edges inked with Sponge Dauber and Pacifica Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad
• Wild Wonders Stamp Set, C1558
• Teal Shimmer Trim

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Happy Halloween - Dracula's Coffin

Halloween is such a fun holiday - candy, costumes and crafts.  Which means it is not just for kids!  Case in point,  at a recent open house - my group created this Artiste Cricut Cartridge project.  I like to call it Dracula's Coffin - and they loved it!  It turned so cute.  I think the embossing added a bit of a Gothic look to it.   What do you think?

This is a shot of the opened box.  It provides plenty of room for special Halloween treats, like candy or small toys.  I will definitely be making a couple more of these cute Dracula Coffins and using them on Halloween this year for my daughters.  Although they are getting a bit older now, they still love getting special treats.

One additional close up shot of the embellishments...

Here is what was used to complete this project:

• Artiste Cricut Cartridge, pg 76, <3D Object>, Cut at 5.85 inches from Black Cardstock
• Artiste Cricut Cartridge, pg 76,< 3D Object> Shift, Cut at 5.85 inches from Goldrush Cardstock
• Artiste Cricut Cartridge, pg 42, 3D <Card> Cut at 2.5 inches from Black Cardstock
• Floral Embossing Folder
• Magic Potions Stamp Set, C1509
• Colonial White Pigment Ink
• 3 inches Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, retired
• 3 inches Black Tulle, retired
• 4 inches Black Hemp, retired
• 3D Foam Tape
• Liquid Glass

Hope you enjoyed this project and HAPPY HALLOWEEN :-)

Ribbon Revelry!

During the month of October, with each qualifying purchase of $50 USD / $55 CAD you are eligible to receive—as a special bonus—one of two chevron ribbons FREE! Each chevron ribbon—Ruby or Outdoor Denim—has an original retail value of $6.95 USD / $7.75 CAD. So which ribbon will you get? It’s a surprise! Quantities are limited, so place your orders as early in the month as possible. Be sure to take advantage of this fantastic offer so you can enjoy embellishing your creations with your own surprise roll of bonus ribbon!

Dates: Offer valid October 1, 2014–October 31, 2014.