More March Stamp of the Month Cards

My CTMH consultant team did such a great job on these cards featuring the March stamp of the month, Family Legacy, and the Yesterday & Today collection.

I love the variety of styles and techniques.  Let me know if you have any questions about any of them.

Do you have a favorite?

H2H Challenges: Vintage Vibes

Close To My Heart's Yesterday & Today collection is the perfect suite to enter into the Heart2Heart Challenge's next challenge, Vintage Vibes.  Though my photos aren't vintage, I still think that they fit the bill.

My "Vintage Vibes" layouts both feature the Yesterday & Today offerings from the Craft with Heart scrapbooking subscription.

I used a die cut flower to cover part of the pre-printed title that I didn't want to use.

While it has a slightly different feel, my second layout comes from the same Craft with Heart subscription- the perfect opportunity for new moms to get together!  This layout focuses on some of the yummy eats to be found on our adveneture.

Thank you for letting me share two scrapbook layouts with you.  Please leave a comment, and then check out what all of our DT has to offer as inspiration.

CTMH Technique Blog Hop: Distressed Much?

Distressing your projects- like practically every other fad- is coming back in popularity.  (It's one that I personally love!)  This month's technique blog hop is focusing on distressing techniques that will actually help you keep your sanity.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Kim's blog.  From here, you'll visit Ronda next.)

I chose to use the Yesterday & Today paper collection (and foil die cuts) to celebrate eating in the Foodhallen in Amsterdam.  It's a really cool food court in a refurbished tram/trolley headquarters.

I added Ruby to the collection, and then distressed all edges with Espresso ink.  I also scissor-distressed the edge between the dark dots and the dark zip strip.  On each piece of ruby cardstock, after sponging with Espresso I added a few tears.  Do you love the foil die cuts as much as I do?

 Flip Flaps let you add more photos to your traditional page.

Thank you for letting me share my distressing technique on some favorite pictures from our Europe 2019 trip.  Before you hop off to Ronda's blog, please leave a comment!

March/April New Product Blog Hop

Close To My Heart is rolling out a new catalog/idea book every two months, and we are celebrating all the new goodies for March and April along this fantastic blog hop!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Michelle Stewart's blog.  From here you'll visit Brenda Lapp's blog next.)

As soon as I saw the new Operation Smile stamp set, You Make Me Happy, I knew it would be one of the first new products that I ordered!  I decided to pair this sweet owl with the Yesterday & Today collection.  After stamping the owl in black, I used my TriBlend Brown Gray, Light Green, and Ice Blue markers to color the image.  I sponged distressed this piece with Espresso ink and then tied some gold and white ribbon around it.  I also scissor-distressed the black mat.  Do you see the "thinking of you" sentiment at the bottom?

My second project again uses the beautiful Yesterday & Today collection in a more modern way.  My photos are from our train ride from Amsterdam through Antwerp to Bruges.

While you might not think that Bluebird would coordinate with this collection, between my husband's shirt and the window of the train, I thought adding it helped make the layout "pop."  (I did use one of our TriBlend markers to write the title.)

Both pages are embellished with some of the Yesterday & Today stickers, vellum die cuts, and gold glitter gems.

Be sure to leave a comment before you continue the New Product Blog Hop at Brenda's blog!

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Family Legacy

Close To My Heart has introduced a beautiful heritage stamp set for the March stamp of the month, Family Legacy.  You'll be inspired along this month's stamp of the month blog hop, and you'll get to see firsthand NEW products from the March & April Idea Book!  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Brenda's blog.  From here you'll visit Michelle Loncar's blog next.)

For my card, I am using the beautiful new Yesterday and Today collection on a Mink cardstock base.  I die cut the Thin Cuts scalloped circle from Black cardstock and then placed the Family sentiment on it.  Because my original stamped image was too large, I used a fun cutting technique. First, stamp your sentiment on White Daisy cardstock.

 Then place the stamped cardstock on your paper trimmer, and look through the clear arm to make sure your cutting channel is under the word (mine measured just over 1").  Next, carefully cut from the top almost to the tail of the Y, then pick up the cutting arm and then cut from the bottom up almost to the Y.

Your piece will now look like this:

Finally, fussy cut around the tail so that the Y is hanging below the cut.

Here's another angle of the central medallion.

I hope you noticed how I embellished the card with torn zipstrip tags, black shimmer trim, black enamel dots, and black Stickles.!  I also stamped one of the pretty flourishes with Mink ink on the Mink cardstock base behind the medallion (which I adhered with 3D foam tape for added dimension).

Aren't the stamps in this set so pretty?

Thank you for hopping by!  Please leave a comment before continuing the hop at Michelle's blog next.

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}

Craft with Heart February Layout #1

The Craft with Heart scrapbooking subscription is a great way to get pretty, fast, and easy layout kits delivered directly to your door!  I used one of the 2 two-page layouts from the February kit (which coordinates with the Celebrate Today collection) to commemorate my birthday last year (which is in March).

The great thing about this subscription is that it gives you everything that you need, but you can personalize the layouts as you like.

I added the photo on the left and then had to adjust the recommended "time to party" in the white space to "Party time" in the Lagoon triange.

I also substituted one of the photos for a journaling block, because I had a bit to say on this layout.

Happy birthday to me and happy scrapbooking!  Be sure to check out the Craft with Heart scrapbooking and cardmaking subscriptions.  They are lots of fun!

H2H Challenges: Texture It

When I first thought about tackling the Heart2Heart challenge, Texture It, I naturally thought of our texture paste and the cool dimension it can offer to your crafting projects.  I decided, however, to "texture it" WITHOUT the use of texture paste.

My card is modeled after the card featured on p. 5 of the Jan./Feb. 2020 CTMH Idea Book.  I love the woodgrain texture found in the Spruced Up paper pack (and I absolutely adore the Spruced Up Cardmaking stamp set and Thin Cuts!).  I paired it with the lush texture of the Julep Velvet ribbon.  I think that the grittiness of the black shimmer trim adds another layer texture.  Continuing the theme, I used a vellum die cut from the Celebrate Today collection and then accented my Thin Cuts scalloped circle with Diamond Stickles for even more texture.

What do you think?  I'd love a comment before you go!  Be sure to check out all of the H2H Design Team's inspiration, and join us for any (or I double-dog dare you to participate in ALL) of February's challenges.  You have until Saturday to join us.

Best Friends Furever Cut Above Kit/Christmas Gift Recap

Close To My Heart has an adorable Cut Above kit called Best Friends Furever (that fits our 6"x8" Everyday Albums).  You can use the dog side or the cat side of each element of the collection- or like me use both!  I decided to make three identical ones of our pets for my husband and me plus both of our daughters.  They were supposed to be a Christmas present, but because I got sick, they were more like New Year's/Epiphany gifts.  (I did get them finished before the girls went back to college.)

The title page features two of our three current furbabies, Bella and Jellybean.

After I made this layout of Kodiak (yes, that is our now 21-year-old laying with him), I realized that I needed to include a lot of journaling, so I just made a cardstock strip that I added in.

Our next pet was Franklin.  I hid my journaling under his photo so that I could make everything fit.  (Flip flaps don't come with the kit, but I absolutely love to keep them on hand because I never know when I'm going to have more photos than layout design space.)

We mourned Kodiak for quite a while before buying Shadow.

We got Remy in 2010 and still have him today.

The right page uses two sets of flipflaps to include all that I needed to say.

Bella is our current dog, and at first we thought she was our missing Shadow.  She has grown on us, even if she is the most unappreciative rescue I think I've ever seen.

My husband found this adorable, near-dead kitten in early June last year.  I did not want another dependent, but now I can't image our lives without this little Jellybean!

Here are our three current furbabies.  I am hoping to get a picture of the three of them together at some point, but that may be an impossible task.

If you'd like to learn more about the Best Friends Furever Cut Above Kit (or to order your own), click HERE.  It goes together really easily following the provided instructions, and of course you can customize it to your heart's content!

Stamptacular Stamps + Thin Cuts Blog Hop

CTMH has a really fun Stamptacular special running right now on select stamps, stamp sets, and stamp sets/Thin Cuts bundles!  If you haven't seen it, be sure to check it all out HERE or on your consultant's website.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Brandi's blog.  From here you'll visit Michelle's blog next.)  The projects I'm sharing all use the Spruced Up Cardmaking stamps and Thin Cuts.

This card is a CASE (copy and steal exactly- or almost exactly) of the card featured on p. 5 of the Jan.-Feb. Idea Book.  You can see how I layered the pine bough and bird onto the scalloped circle Thin Cut.

If you look closely you can see that I inked up the pine bough in Espresso and New England Ivy.

My second project is a layout of photos from a day hike we took last year on the Appalachian Trail.  (You can see more about this layout HERE if you're interested.)

My final project is on the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #356, but rather than continue with the Spruced Up collection, I tried pairing it with the Celebrate Today collection.

At first I was going to make a bluebird, but after using the Bluebird cardstock I decided to make a yellow bird (possibly a goldfinch?) instead.  I used my Citrus triblend marker and attempted some shading.

Thank you for letting me share some of my favorite projects with the Spruced Up cardmaking stamp set and Thin Cuts!  I really love this set!  Please leave a comment before you hop on over to Michelle Loncar's blog next.

{Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.}