CTMH September SOTM Blog Hop

This is quite an exciting post for me...I am participating in my first ever blog hop!  I will share with you the project that I made using this month's Stamp of the Month, Family is Forever, which is a set of 7 stamps.  If you have arrived here from Jessica Hill's Blog, CreateByTheLake, 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 80 Close to my Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the September SOTM and other great CTMH products.

I created a card using the Swing Card from the Artiste Cricut Cartridge, page 52 of the handbook, as the base of my card.  Here is a picture of the front of the card.

Here is picture of the inside...since the right portion of the card is mostly embossed, there really isn't a great place to include a written note.  Therefore, I backed the cut shape on the left side with an additional cricut cut which served two purposes...it provided some much needed color to that side of the card, but it also provided a place for a written note!  How cute!

Since I used embossing powder on the front of the card, I thought it would be nice to include a close up image of this detail of the card.  I certainly love the shiny result of heat embossing.

 

A quick summary of the steps to make this card:

• Cut at 5.5 inches from Colonial White Card Stock, Swing Card, Artiste Cricut Cartridge, pg 52, <Accent 1>
• Cut at 2.25 inches from Goldrush Card Stock, Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, pg 62, <Oval 5>, CUT 3
• Cut Olive Card Stock, 3 1/8 inches by 5.5 inches AND 4.25 inches by 5.5 inches.  Then emboss the larger cut using the Stripe Embossing Folder and adhere to the right panel of the inside of the card base.  Adhere the smaller cut to the front of the card base.
•  Cut Colonial White Card Stock, 1 7/8 inches by 5.25 inches.  Using Chocolate, Goldrush and Olive Mini Pigment Ink Pads, ink in approximate thirds, the text stamp from Season of Thanks, D1604.  Then stamp the image onto the Colonial White Card Stock and adhere it to the card front, centering atop the olive.
• While this dries, stamp on one of the three Goldrush shapes, using Chocolate Mini Pigment Ink and the corresponding stamp from Frame Flair, D1546.  Quickly sprinkle Clear Embossing Powder onto the wet ink, shake of excess and heat emboss with the Craft Heater.  Tip - save your fingers by holding the cardstock with your tweezers.
• Next, carefully ink the word "Family", Family is Forever, S1409, using Chocolate Mini Pigment Ink and stamp, centering inside the frame.  Working quickly once again, sprinkle the wet ink with Clear Embossing Powder, shake to remove the excess and then heat set with the Craft Heater. This can then be attached to the front of your card using 3D Foam Tape and align carefully with shape of the card base.  You can also go ahead and adhere another of the Goldrush cut shapes to the back of this, taking care to align the cuts.
• The final step is to stamp "is FOREVER" on the remaining Goldrush Cricut Cut using Chocolate Mini Pigment Ink.  I inked the edges of this cut and then adhered it to inside of my card, taking care to align it with the cut shape on the front of the card.

This is a pretty simple card, but with the embossing (both dry and heat) and the beautiful swing card cut from the Cricut Artiste cartridge, no one would ever guess how easily it came together!


Thanks for stopping by! You can continue along the Blog Hop by visiting Julia Hammond's blog, CreateTeachRepeat to see what she has created using Family is Forever.  Be sure to visit all the Consultant's blogs to get many wonderful ideas and inspirations for your crafting time.  Remember, the September SOTM is only available until the 30th of September!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click HERE)  to see how you can get this stamp set for only $5.  

Brushed "Get Well" Card

I am certainly enjoying the Brushed Paper Packet. Hues of greens and pinks just speak to me - I can't really explain it, but I do love those colors.  They  make me happy.  So it is no surprise that I turned to this paper packet when I sat down to make a get well card for my mother, who recenter underwent surgery.  However, I was quite surprised when I examined my inventory of stamps and realized that  I don't actually own one that has a "Get Well Soon" sentiment.  However, I did manage to convey an appropriate, and arguably an improved, sentiment.  Here is the result...

 This is a close up...

And a final one to get a peek inside....

This is a list of the items I used to complete this card:

• Juniper cardstock, cut 8x8 inches, folded to make a 8x4 inch card base
• Hollyhock cardstock, cut 7 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches
• Brushed Paper Pack, Green Leaf pattern paper, cut 3:  1.5 x 3.5 inches
• Brushed Paper Pack, Pink diamond pattern paper, cut 2: 1 x 3.5 inches
• Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, page 24:  Tag <shift> cut  2.4 inches from Pink B&T Duos; <dragonfly> cut 1 inch from Juniper and Hollyhock cardstock; and <dragonfly - shift> cut 1 inch from Juniper and Hollyhock cardstock
• Black Striped Twill, z 1988 (colored with Cherry Pink ShinHan Marker)
• D1476, Card Chatter Sympathy My Acrylix Stamp Set (retired)
• Black Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad
• Cherry Pink ShinHan Touch Twin Marker
• 3-D Foam Tape

One fun tidbit that I'd like to share...I colored my twill ribbon with the ShinHan marker.  The result was quite remarkable.  It was evenly colored (no splotches) and it dried amazingly fast.  The only thing I'd possibly do differently next time is wear gloves.  Although, when I am just spending the day crafting, I don't really mind pink fingertips :-)

Joy Captured!

I have a confession...after completing a project, I often feel as though, in some small way, I have completed a piece of art.  And this card, although very simple, feels as though it is a work of art...and therefore is worthy of a name!  If I were to name it, I'd go for something like "A Study in Pear."  This card only contains two colors, Pear and Daisy White!  It is refreshing and simple and, to me, a joy to look at.

Here is the front of the card

A peek inside...

This is the list of supplies I used to make this card:

• White Daisy Card Stock, 8x8 inches, folded to form 4x8 card base
• D1623 Brushed Scrapbooking WOTG Stamp Set
• Pear Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad
• B&T Duos, Green & White Polka Dot, 4x8 inches, from the Brushed Paper Pack
• Bling Gems Gold Assortment, Z2023 (Colored using the Leaf Green ShinHan Alcohol Marker)
• Color Ready Seam Binding, Retired (Colored using the Leaf green ShinHan Alcohol Marker)
• Leaf Green ShinHan Touch Twin Leaf Green Marker
• 3-D Foam Tape
• Chevron Border Punch, Z1998

Just a fun note...The ribbon that I featured on this card is a retired product called Color Ready Seam Binding and I was very sad when CTMH decided to retire this amazing ribbon.  Today was another reminder of why I love this produce so much and sincerely wish that CTMH would reconsider putting this product back into our inventory!  I used the Leaf Green ShinHan marker to color it!  It was so very easy, super quick and it took the color so uniformly! 

I also used that same marker to color the Gold Bling Gems and they took the color amazingly well, too - although my picture failed to capture the color well.  I love having the flexibility to customize some of our products and these markers are wonderful tools for accomplishing a customized look.

Masculine Thank You Card

Today's post features a card that I am quite proud of...it is a thank you card that I created for two very nice gentlemen who made quite an impression on me during our family's recent visit to Oklahoma.  They were representatives of the University of Oklahoma and were very generous with their time in showing my family the university's beautiful campus and introduce us to some of the wonderful programs that the university offers.

This is the front of the card...

This is a peek inside...

This is a list of the items used to make this card:

• You Mean the World to Me Stamp Set, B1467
• Chocolate Cardstock, measure of cuts listed below
• Champagne Cardstock, cut 3.5 x 4 inches and 1.5 x 2 inches
• Chocolate Exclusive Ink
• Pathfinding B&T Duos, Glacier/Brown Print, cut 3.5 x 4.25 inches
• Pathfinding B&T Duos, Chocolate/Champagne Print, cut 4.5 x 1 inches and 1.25 x 4 inches
• Chevron Embossing Folder
• 3-D Foam Tape
• Burlap Ribbon, retired 

The cuts for the Chocolate cardstock are as follows:

• 11x 4.5 inches, folded to form a 5.5 x 4.5 inch card base
• 1.5 x 4.5 inches
• 4.5 x 1.25 inches
• 1.5 x 2.25 inches

Brushed Thank You Card

During our visit to Oklahoma, my family was shown hospitality and kindness by several individuals.  So I was eager to come home and make some very special cards to use as thank you notes...this is the first one that I'd like to share.  I made it with the left over supplies from the Brushed WOTG.

Card Front

Inside, featuring a bit of detail using a piece of matted B&T Duo

Close Up of the stamped image and a bit of bling

The following was used to make this card:

• Pear Cardstock, Card base cut 9 x 5.5 inches and folded to create card measuring 5.5 x 4.5 inches
• Art Philosophy, pg 29 <Banner2> Cut from Pear at 3 inches and Cut from Black at 3.5 inches
• My Acrylix Stamp Set, B1467, You Mean the World To Me
• Black Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
• Epoxy Bubbles, Green and Blue, Z1806
• Black Card Stock
• Floral Print B&T Duos from Brushed WOTG, Cut 5 x 4 inches and 5 x 0.75 inches (for inside)
• Green with white Polka Dots B&T Duos from Brushed WOTG, cut at 1 x 3.5 inches
• 3-D Foam tape

August SOTM- Revisited

The August Stamp of the Month, What a Hoot, features a couple of adorable owls who are perfect for any kind of Halloween themed projects.  Today, I want to share with you this super cute card made by a friend and fellow CTMH consultant, Susan Green.   Visit her blog, FlairChase, for a great tutorial. 

Alpacas

My family and I recently visited the wonderful state of Oklahoma.  It was my first visit ever and I must say, our few days there were amazing.  We saw a lot of great things but a family favorite was time we spent at Our Field of Dreams Alpaca Ranch.  It is a family owned alpaca farm and they allow visits, you just have to contact them via email or phone to set up a convenient day and time. 

My youngest daughter, Carissa, has been fascinated with alpacas for several years and she is the reason we even thought about visiting this ranch.  However, we all walked away from our time on the ranch with a new appreciation for these beautiful animals.  I thought I would venture away from craft related posts to share with you a few pictures about this visit...

I loved how their legs looked when they were laying down to rest.

This was just one of the fenced in areas with a small herd of alpacas.  The ranch is home to almost 200 alpacas.

They had eaten all the leaves that were low enough for them to reach, so when I held limbs down I was quickly surrounded by alpacas who wanted a tasty snack.

They were eating hay and often we would see them walking around with a random piece of straw extending from their mouth - how cute!!!

My daughter, before she was surrounded with hungry alpacas.

While we loved them all, this is Casey, who we grew especially fond of during our visit.  She was quite friendly and very tolerant of our affection -  and she even gave us a couple of kisses!

If you ever find yourself near Oklahoma City, I would highly recommend making Our Field of Dreams Alpaca Farm one of your stops.  Tom and Judy (the owners) and their staff make you feel like family!  I can't say enough how much I enjoyed my brief time on their ranch.

Tools of the Trade Video Series

With a total of 25 short videos, our tool training series has everything you need to utilize your terrific Close To My Heart tools!

• Learn the ins and outs of the Rub & Remove™ eraser
• Get familiar with the stitch guide, ruler, and foam mat trio
• Get an exclusive look at Exclusive Inks™ re-inkers and spray pen
• And many more!

Here is the complete collection....just hit the "Play All" and enjoy the learning process!

Picture Perfection!

During the month of August, CTMH has a special promotion for anyone who loves Picture My Life or for those who may have been wanting to try this amazing new scrapbooking program, but just haven't gotten around to it. 

Currently, CTMH has 13 amazing Picture My Life Scrapbooking Programs available.  Each one includes a 12x12 inch cover page, a starter pack of 10 coordinating Memory Protectors,  and 122 double-sided cards (3x4 inch and 4x6 inch) that include both portrait and landscape oriented designs.  Each Each Picture My Life Scrapbooking Program is designed to help you quickly organize and preserve approximately 250 photos, but you can use more or fewer cards and photos to create an album that is perfect for you.

Also, these cards, while fabulous for your scrapbook pages, are also wonderful additions to your card making arsenal and can be used creatively in other ways, such as a quick tag for a gift . 

What a Hoot - August SOTM

What a Hoot is the August Stamp Of The Month and it includes 17 fun, whimsical stamps that are perfect for adding a finishing touch to a Halloween scrapbook page or card.

Here are a couple of examples that are featured in the Annual Inspirations Idea Book that were made using this adorable stamp set.

As with any SOTM, when you place an order of $50 or more in CTMH products, you qualify to purchase it for only $5.  You can also purchase it at the full retail price of $17.95, with no minimum purchase required.

Hi...with a Butterfly

 I am sharing a small card today that measures just 3x4 inches. 

 I used only 3 colors on it (Slate, Lagoon and Sweet Leaf (which I regret to say is now retired.)  This card is sure to brighten the day of a friend and would be a nice surprise to tuck into your child's lunchbox.  Here is a peek at the inside...

Here is what I used to make this card...

• Slate Cardstock, X5930, cut 6 x4 inches and folded to make a 3 x 4 inch card base
• Sweet Leaf Cardstock, retired, cut 2.25 x 3.5
• Lagoon Cardstock, X5762, cut 4 x 3/8 inches and 2.25 x 4 inches
• Slate Exclusive Ink, Z2173
• Stripe Embossing Folder, Z1960
• Keyboard Uppercase Stamp Set, D1416
• Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Z1790, pg 58, Accent 4 - Shift, cut from Lagoon at 1"

CTMH's Annual Inspirations, Let's Talk, Installment 2

I want to continue to share with you some of what I find most exciting about the new Idea Book, Annual Inspirations.

6)  Five new Exclusive Ink/Cardstock colors...Thistle, Glacier, Flaxen, Canary and Pixie.

7)  Several new Cut Above Quick Kits.     In these kits, all the cutting is done for you!  How great is that?   You will also find three great stamp sets nestled in these pages of the idea book because they work perfectly with these kits, but they shouldn't be overlooked, because they are quite versatile and will be appropriate for many projects.

8) Eight new mini stamp sets.  Four of these are designed to coordinate... Sprig Wreath and A Quick Hello are designed to work together and Spring Banner and Timely Tidings are designed to work together.

9) Twelve whole months of Stamp of the Month!  See pages11-23 of the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  I sure you will find something that you love among those wonderful stamp sets.   I love being able to see that far out and some of these sets are just plain adorable.  Please note that they are only available during the month they are featured and can be purchased two different ways, a) for $5, with any $50 CTMH product purchase; or b) for the full retail price of $17.95 without the qualifying $50 purchase.

10) New Hostess Rewards Stamp Sets.  These can be seen on pages 5-10 of the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book.   These stamps are discounted, so they already represent a great value, but when you add in the fact that you are spending Hostess Rewards Money, they become an even great value!   Since these stamp sets are available only with the redemption of Hostess Rewards, anyone interested in them should contact me about setting up a Gathering.  This can be done easily as an online Gathering and you won't even have to have an "in-home" event.   Just let me know and we can talk about this.

These is so much included in the Annual Inspirations, but enough talk, it is time for the crafting...

CTMH's Annual Inspirations Idea Book, Let's Talk

Today is the day...Close To My Heart's newest Idea Book and Catalog is finally available for viewing on the web.  You can view it online by clicking here and then selecting Products > Idea Books from the menu. 
There is so much to love in this new catalog and I will try to address a few of my favorites.

1)  Nine new paper packs!  My mind is just spinning with ideas of all the things I want to create using these beautiful papers.  I will be posting some projects in the near future.

2)  Too many wonderful new stamp sets to count, but I am especially fond of  Season of Thanks  and Your Own Kind of Wonderful.    I will be sharing some work done with these two products in the upcoming days!

3) A new CTMH Cricut Cartridge - Artfully Sent.  This cartridge focuses on cardmaking, so I can't wait to get my hands on it and make a few goodies to share with everyone.  Since it won't be available for purchase until mid August, I don't actually have any of my own projects to share, but this cartridge looks like fun!

4) Four new embossing folders and these folders give amazing impressions! Because of a slit in the top of each one, you can emboss segments of paper a full 12 inches long (or even longer if you have some.)  This means you can emboss a strip of paper that will cover the entire length (or width) of a scrapbook page!  Just remember the width of this 12 inch strip is limited to the width of the slit, which is just over 4 inches.

5)  ShinHan Touch Twin Markers  in 24 colors!  I must admit - I don't have much experience using alcohol-based markers, but my limited use has shown me how beautifully they cover a project.  You can get vibrant color without the streaks/lines that result from most markers.  I also know that with the use of layering colors and the Colorless Blender Marker, you can produce shading and highlights on your artwork!  Reader Warning - I am told that this can be quite addicting!

In the next post, I will talk about a few more new products.....