Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: June 2013 A Flowering Bunch

Close To My Heart has a cute, retro-inspired stamp of the month for June!  A Flowering Bunch is a set of 10 hip stamps.  Join me on this month's blog hop to see all kinds of great ideas with this set.  (If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from the talented Wendy Coffman's blog.  Check out my project, leave a comment, and then head on over to visit Sheila Bennett next.)

This stamp set seemed to pair well with the Claire paper collection, and in browsing through my photo storage system, I found these darling pictures of my DD (who will be 15 later this month!!!!) back when she was a year old.  I knew they would pair perfectly together!  I found a great sketch in my (retired) Cherish how-to guide, and the rest was easy peasy.

After stamping in Outdoor Denim, I colored some of the flowers with markers from the Claire color palette.  I used the CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge to make the title banner and the flower cutouts.  The pretty embellishments are also part of the Claire collection.  CTMH makes it so easy to mix and match!

Be sure to stop back often, because even in the midst of our remodel, since school is out I have found a little time to craft so I have more to share.  Hope to "see" you soon! Now go see Sheila's spectacular creation!  Thanks for hopping by!  Be sure to check out this month's Close To My Heart special offers on my sidebar.  There are some great opportunities this month!

Relief for Oklahoma Campaign

Close To My Heart is making a new Autumn/Winter 2013 stamp set, A True Thank You, available immediately and will donate 100% of the profits from sales of the set from May 23 through June 30 to the American Red Cross to aid the Oklahoma victims. Help us provide relief to those affected by the devastating Oklahoma tornado by purchasing A True Thank You stamp set for $2.95 (M1029) today!

You can order yours at http://haleyd.ctmh.com.  Thank YOU!

CTMH Pajama Party Tonight!

Bigpicturescrapbooking.com and Close To my Heart are sponsoring a FREE PJ party tonight @ 9 PM EDT.  Use my code at right to register!

H2H Challenges: Nip & Tuck

Happy Memorial Day to all my American friends!  I hope that as you enjoy today, you remember the reason for today.  Thank you to our servicemen and women!

Now, on to this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge: how about a nip and a tuck?  Now, we're not talking plastic surgery; we were thinking along the lines of a sewing project.  Of course you are free to interpret our challenges how you like.  It doesn't have to be actual sewing (which I try to avoid).  There are lots of great faux sewing techniques.  (In fact, yesterday, I had to tack a decoration onto my shirt that had come loose, and my husband threatened to get the camera to capture me with needle and thread.)  You've probably guessed that I have chosen a simple faux sewing technique: marker stitching.

On my Blush card stock base, I used an Outdoor Denim marker to draw my stitching.  I also added stitching to the CTMH Cricut Artiste dress form (made from Slate card stock).  All of the squares are from the Claire collection and measure 1.5".  This simple sketch can be found in the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 how-to guide.  The buttons (retired), seam binding ribbon, ricrac, hemp, and pin seemed to fit the sewing theme well.

Since this is the last May H2H challenge, you have until this Saturday to enter into any of May's challenges.  Check out my team's inspiration for you and then get crafting.  It'll be sew fun (even if my pun isn't)!

Scrap Our Stash May Sketch Challenge

This month's SOS sketch challenge is to use the following sketch along with at least 3 pre-made (not handmade) flowers.

Using a new paper pack is using your stash too, right?  I could not believe how well Close To My Heart's Dream Pop paper pack matched my daughter's spring piano recital!

I cut down the program to use as one of the page elements of the sketch.  My chipboard flowers are from Around the Block.  I also used flower sequins & brads from Queen & Co. along with CTMH flower brads and flower gems (retired).  The pearl flourishes and washi tape are current products.  The peach ribbon was some that I had in my stash that may have been a Target Dollar Spot find.

I had fun designing the second page to coordinate with the sketch.  Here's the pre-printed Dream Pop paper that I started with:

And the finished page (after):

Now, you've only got a few more days to Scrap (y)Our Stash!  All May entries are due by the 29th, and you can play along with either- or both- challenges, but you cannot combine the two challenges.  Click HERE to go to the SOS blog.

What are you waiting for?  Go get scrappin'!

Isabel Title Page

Shhhh!  My older daughter's best friend turns 15 soon, and I am creating a scrapbook for her and including some supplies to help her get started scrapbooking.  Here is the title page that I made for her album:

I began with a pre-printed page from the (You guessed it!) Dream Pop paper pack and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1.  Here's the plain page first:

I embellished the layout with washi tape, shimmer trim, pearl opaque flourishes, Just Blooms Flutterbyes, and  the Pixie glitter alphabet.

Of course I'm going to link this up to H2H's creature feature challenge with those darling butterflies!

H2H Challenges: Creature Feature (#2)

This Dream Pop paper is so fun that I had to make another card for the H2H creature feature challenge!  The only reason I could cut up the owl paper is because there's another identical sheet in the pack, so I cut the corner to fit the front of my standard-size card.

The sentiment is from the 4 My Friend stamp set, stamped in Slate.  I added Licorice Opaques to the eyes and a few pink Sparkles to the flowers.  The seam binding knot was the perfect finishing touch for this simple, fun card.

Have you checked out the H2H blog yet?  Did you know our challenges run ALL month long?  Hop on over to check us out!

H2H Challenges: Creature Feature (#1)

Now that the weather is turning warmer, it's time to share your "critters" with us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges with a creature feature!  Share whatever kind of creature- real or imaginary- that you'd like.

Since I broke into my cool Close To My Heart Dream Pop paper pack, I had to use this fun birdcage print. Doesn't the Honey pair well with Slate?  Can you see the embossed chevron pattern on the card stock?  Each sheet of card stock in this special pack is pre-printed with a graphic design. (Is pre-embossed a word?)  This card sketch is from the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 how-to guide.  I stamped the bird cage and chain with slate and then finished off the front with some seam binding ribbon.

The inside also uses the same Hello Tweety stamp set.  Both are stamped in Slate: the sentiment in 1st generation and the birds in second generation.

Be sure to link up YOUR creature feature before this month ends at the H2H blog!  Also, if you'd like to get your pack of the awesome Dream Pop paper, visit my website.

Dream Pop CTMH Special Offer

This month only, in honor of National Scrapbooking Month, Close To My Heart is offering the really cool Dream Pop paper pack!  The month is already half over, so don't delay and get yours today.

Click HERE for a flyer with complete info, and then click HERE to start shopping.  Be sure to add your order to my "mystery hostess" card class on 5/18!

Also, anyone who orders the Dream Pop special from me is invited to a special {free} scrapbooking workshop on 6/13 @ 6:30 PM.  Bring your basic tool kit and your Dream Pop paper pack!

H2H Challenges: May Flowers

Hopefully spring has sprung where you are!  We are waking up to temps in the 30s which is unusually cold for this time of year, but the flowers are blooming.  This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is all about flowers.  We want you to share their beauty!  My flower project is my Mother's Day project:

Everything was made with the CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge and the Chantilly paper pack.  Isn't that flower box adorable?  It was so easy to make!

 Finally, here's the card that I made for my Mom.  

Now it's your turn- visit the H2H blog to share you floral creations.

SOS May Challenge: Three Patterned Papers Plus Rub-Ons

Happy Mother's Day!  Photos and projects will be coming soon.  Meanwhile...

The May Scrap Our Stash challenge is to use at least three different patterned papers from different collections and some rub-ons!  I dug deep into my stash for these photos from Spring Break 2009 when we took the girls ice skating for the first time.  They found it was harder than they thought it would be!

My photos definitely determined my color choices.  The green patterned paper came from Close To My Heart's retired Olivia paper pack, the purple from CTMH's Hooligans paper pack, and the blue from a Colorbok pack.  The green letters came from a different Colorbok pack.  For my embellishments, I used some Around the Block chipboard flowers (It was Spring Break, after all!), some Queen & Co. Sassy Sequins & brads, and some of CTMH's (retired) Nature's Ambiance rub-ons.  It was super fun to mix & match!

Don't be afraid to try your hand at mixing & matching your patterned papers.  It's a really great way to Scrap (y)Our Stash.  Be sure to link up your layout HERE by May 29!

Snow 2013 {Layout Share}

Have I mentioned how much I love Studio J?  It is so easy to upload photos, choose the number of photos I am using to pick my layout sketch, choose a paper pack, and then get started!  Here are some photos of our February snow.  Fortunately, it is warming up here just a little bit.  There's no snow in our forecast, but I sure am sick of this wet, cold spring we've had.  I'm looking forward to summer!

Traditional paper and glue scrapbooking will always be a part of my life too, but I love the ease of creating (and sharing!) Studio J layouts.  You can get started HERE if you'd like to give Studio J a try.  It's free to play!

P.S.  In addition to our big remodel and having only 7 days left of school, my laptop is giving me trouble!  I can't upload photos to Blogger, so I will be back to share when I can.