November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Seasonal Trees

The holiday season is upon us, and Close To My Heart has a beautiful, organic stamp of the month set for November!  Follow this hop to see some amazing projects with Seasonal Trees.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Jean's blog.  From here you'll visit Carrie's blog next.)  I decided to create a set of 4 cards featuring each season.

First up is winter: the background is Glacier B&T from the Boutique collection.  I stamped the trees in first and second (and even third) generation in Charcoal ink.  I added the bird with Candy Apple ink.  The "snow" is a piece of White Daisy card stock that I tore to give the rough edge.  I layered texture paste onto that piece and then some clear shimmer brush on top of the paste.

Can you see the sequins from our shaker kits?  Use Liquid Glass to attach them to your projects!

My spring card uses the Grateful Heart paper pack with the addition of Sweet Leaf ink.  (The darker leaves are stamped with Fern ink.)

My summer card also uses the Grateful Heart collection plus White/Fern stitched ribbon.

Finally, my fall card is full of color!  I added a Sapphire bird house.  The leaves run the gamut of the Grateful Heart collection colors.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  I hope I've inspired you to create with the November stamp of the month, Seasonal Trees.

I'd love a  comment before you leave to go to Carrie's blog next.  Thank you!

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

Featured Paper Collection Blog Hop: Grateful Heart

Welcome to the Grateful Heart featured paper collection blog hop!  Grateful Hurt is such a pretty set for fall, and fall is finally here in the mountains of north Georgia.  Be sure to hop through this hop to get lots of great ideas with the Grateful Heart collection. (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Shirley's blog.  From here, you'll visit Michelle next.)

My first two cards use the Grateful Heart Cardmaking stamp set along with the paper collection.  For both, I stamped, colored (with Shin Han Twin Touch markers), and cut out my butterflies before adding them to the card fronts.  The Hello Friend card is embellished with New England Ivy burlap ribbon, and some gold glitter gems accent the Thank You card.

My third card uses the October stamp of the month, Thanks & Giving, with more gold glitter gems and gold shimmer trim.  I colored the wreath with my Shin Han Twin Touch markers again.

Here are two other Grateful Heart projects I've already posted on my blog (but you might have missed).

A layout about our house blessing in July has a pocket page to hold cards.  (Learn more HERE.)

My nephew is a huge Harry Potter fan, so his birthday card uses both the Boutique and Grateful Heart collections.  (Learn more HERE.)

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I'm grateful for everyone who stops by, and I really appreciate your comments.  Continue on the hop by going to Michelle's blog now.

Just Married Card

A sweet friend is getting married today, so I made her this card using the retired CTMH/Cricut Artfully Sent collection.

The card base is Linen card stock that I lined with White Daisy card stock.  Her colors are burgundy, blush, and navy, so I used retired Bashful glitter paper for the bow on top of the cake (and a retired Bashful bow accent).

We don't carry Navy shimmer trim, so I colored silver shimmer trim with my Marina Blue Shin Han Twin Touch marker.  I colored it several times, letting it dry between layers, to get the dark blue sparkle.

Best wishes to the new Mr. & Mrs.!

Happy Birthday to our Favorite Muggle!

If you're not a Harry Potter fan, then you may just have to pass on this post!  Today my nephew turns 12, so I made him this card for his birthday prior to his trip to Harry Potter World at Universal Studios.

All of the cuts were made on black card stock from the CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge.  I used a combination of Boutique and Grateful Hearts paper with a stripe of black shimmer trim.

We love you, Alex!  Have a very happy birthday!

Holiday Sparkle/Seasons of Joy Blog Hop

Close To My Heart is really getting into the festivities this year!  Right now, you can purchase the Holiday Sparkle card kit and of course the Seasons of Joy Cricut collection which we are featuring on this blog hop. (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Darlys's blog.  From here, you'll visit Michelle Loncar's blog next.)  Hopefully we will showcase the Christmas Blessings collection in a hop later this year.

Instead of creating a 5"x7" card, I cut my card front down to a 5" square to use the shaker portion on this simple layout, a sketch from Reflections.  I used the striped piece, the bird, and the sequins from the kit.  I added Tis the Season paper and silver shimmer trim.  It will be so easy to add my holiday photos to this layout!

To further match the shaker to my layout, I sponged Clover ink on the frame.

Thanks for checking out my quick twist with the Holiday Sparkle kit!  Be sure to continue along the hop to Michelle's blog after leaving me a comment.  Thank you!

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

Paste-fully Creative (CTMH Technique Blog Hop)

Have you seen Close To My Heart's new texture pastes and wondered what that's all about?  You'll learn lots about our new texture pastes along this blog hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Melissa's blog.  From here, you'll visit Michelle's blog next.)

I decided to use the ice cream cone cut from the CTMH/Cricut Artistry collection, cut at 4" from a piece of Toffee card stock.  I stamped the "stripes" to give the cone a more authentic look with Toffee ink and the lined stamp from the CTMH/Cricut Flower Market collection.  I applied the opaque paste to the ice cream portion of the cone.  Instead of smoothing it out with my palette knife, I left it kind of "creamy."

*NOTE: The stripes that I had stamped on the cone bled into the first layer of texture paste (and it wasn't pretty!)  I applied another coat and it stayed white.

Now you might be wondering where the white went!  I used my Sugarplum shimmer pen to paint the ice cream/texture paste!  It doesn't sparkle very much but the color is very pretty.

Thanks for checking out my texture paste project.  I'd love a comment before you hop over to Michelle's blog next!

H2H Challenges: October Sketch

Heart 2 Heart is offering up a scrapbooking challenge based on a recent Make It From Your Heart blog post.  (You can see it HERE.)  Here's my interpretation of this sketch pattern.

My version uses the Boutique collection plus Pixie card stock and ink to match my mother-in-law.

Isn't the Boutique Cardmaking  stamp set a lovely addition?  (I'll add my journaling later.)

Thank you for letting me share a bit of my family with you!

Be sure to check out the H2H Design Team's interpretation of this sketch!  We'd love for you to add your take to our challenge!

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Thanks & Giving

Welcome to the October stamp of the month blog hop highlight the heartwarming Thanks & Giving stamp set.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Kimberly's blog.  From here, you'll visit Debi's blog next.)  I was really excited to get my hands on this set!

 My first project is a layout of our house blessing this summer.  The Grateful Hearts collection was a great match to my two pictures!  (We were having such a great, sacred time that no one took pictures!)

The left page uses a combination of stamped images from the Thanks & Giving stamp of the month and Picture My Life cards from the Grateful Heart paper pack.

For the right page, I made a pocket based on a "Bottom Border" sketch from Reflections.  On the top of the page, I glued down two of our cards and then added the "Remember This" sentiment and arrow from the stamp of the month set.

I stamped the "Thankful" stamp with New England Ivy and then inked up ONLY the "To" of "Together" to make the phrase on the center panel.  I stamped "gather" in Sapphire and "Together" and the heart with Pomegranate.  The solid flowers are Saffron with the outlines in Goldrush.

How do you like those adorable cork shapes?

Since my home is gray, I decided to stamp the house image first in Mink and then color it with my waterbrush.  The heart and chimney were watercolored with the waterbrush in Pomegranate.  Once the image dried, I stamped it again in Sapphire.  You HAVE to love our clear stamps for perfect realignment!

Before I introduce my next project, take a peek at all the images available in this timely stamp set.

Here is a quick simple card with the Boutique collection and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1.

Both of my projects use the new Mink twine.

Thanks for taking the time to visit!  Your comments mean a lot to me, so I hope you'll leave one before you hop on over to Debi's blog to continue to see some amazing Thanks & Giving projects!

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

Memories in the Making: Title Page

Close To My Heart has an amazing special offer/project right now: Memories in the Making!  You can make a calendar for the upcoming year or decide to use it as scrapbook layouts as I am.  Since my baby is a high school senior this year, I decided to buy two copies of the layouts to help me document her senior year quickly and easily.

Even though this page isn't intended for the title page, I thought that it worked so well with her senior portrait!  I added White Daisy, Sapphire, and Pewter card stock photo mats, plus Lagoon shimmer trim.  I stamped "class of" with the (retired) Vogue stamp set and also added some blue (retired) and white gems.  I love how this title page turned out!  I will add to her album as the year progresses.  I am really thankful to Close To My Heart for this awesome kit to help me scrapbook her year quickly and easily.

H2H Challenges: Ribbon

The most recent Heart 2 Heart Challenge is "ribbon," and we can't wait to see how you use this fun product on your projects!

For my card, I used a simple sketch from the "Dad is Rad" promotion earlier this year.  I love the bands of ribbon across this simple card!  I began by stamping my sentiment from the Bunches of Love stamp set in Black on the bottom right corner.  Then I added a variety of four different kinds of ribbon on a diagonal across my front panel.

Don't you love the gold shimmer and flecks in each of these ribbons?!?

Please join us at H2H for this ribbon challenge or for any of our September challenges!

Sew What?! (CTMH Technique Blog Hop)

This month's technique blog hop is featuring stitching of any form (real or faux).  Those of you who know me know that I am NOT crafty with fabric, so of course I am focusing on faux stitching for this technique blog hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Melissa's blog.  From here, you'll visit Debi's blog next.)

After stamping the flower centers and leaves without the outline images from the Bunches of Love stamp set, I stamped the "thinking of you" in Black on the Raspberry band.  I used my journaling pen to add faux stitches to add some more black to this soft card.  (The large flowers are Pix, the small flowers are Raspberry, and the leaves are Clover.)

My second card also uses journaling pen faux stitching with the September stamp of the month and Tis the Season paper pack.

In addition to the "stitches" across the two papers and the white card base, I also added stitches to the top and bottom of my focal sentiment.

Be sure to continue all the way through this technique blog hop to see how you can use stitching creatively on your next projects!  Be sure to visit Debi next!

Featured Paper Blog Hop: Boutique

This month's Close To My Heart featured paper collection is the lovely "Boutique" suite.  You'll get some great ideas showcasing this beauty along this month's blog hop.  (If you're already hopping then you've probably arrived from Ramona's blog.  From here you'll visit Brittany's blog next.)

This card combines the Boutique paper with the September stamp of the month, Just Treats, and the new color of the year, Sugarplum.  It's really hard to tell here (but shows up well on the actual card in real life) that I used the Sugarplum shimmer brush on the little splatters and candy swirls.

The cute puffy sticker is also part of the Boutique collection.

This card pairs Boutique with the Bunches of Love stamp set.  (Both of  my cards use sketches from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 4.)

Finally, this layout also uses the Boutique collection.  You can read more about these two projects HERE.

If you'd like to see more ideas with the Boutique collection, hop on over to Brittany's blog next.  I'd love a comment before you go.  Thanks so much for visiting!  Happy hopping!