A Chocolate Affair: August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

What could be better than chocolate?  Crafting with chocolate perhaps?  Check out the Close To My Heart August stamp of the month, A Chocolate Affair, and this sweet blog hop.  (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived from Elizabeth's blog.  After enjoying my delectable creations, you'll head on over to Michelle's blog.)

My mind was still on the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Ombre challenge, so I grabbed several of our yummy browns: Champagne, Cashmere, Desert Sand, and Chocolate.  Isn't this a great sketch from Originals?  I am so excited that the card how-to guide is available again (as of 8/1/13!)  If you look closely, the top square comes from the new Frosted paper pack, and the second square (plus the long strip) come from Huntington.  Aren't they beautiful?  How about that gorgeous bronze shimmer trim?  I couldn't leave my treats plain, so I jazzed them up with some Almond glitter glitz gel.

Of course, this is one card that is way prettier in real life.  Also, don't worry if your Cashmere and Desert Sand look the same when you stamp them.  As they dry, they will show their true colors.

Now, on to my next project:

I also used A Chocolate Affair to help preserve my 36th birthday.  (And yes, I'm way past that birthday!)  It was easy to line up the stamps across the bottom of the layout, lay my long block on top of them to pick them up, ink them up in Champagne ink, and then stamp away.


The Claire paper pack is now retired, but it might show up sometime in the "While Supplies Last" section of my website.

CTMH is even sweetening the pot this month!  With a minimum $50 order, the August stamp of the month will be FREE!

Now, go check out Michelle's chocolate-y treat!

H2H Challenges: Ombre (Take 2)

Here's the second card that I made for the H2H Ombre challenge:

The colors (from top to bottom) are Sorbet, Smoothie, Hollyhock, and Ruby, with the addition of a Cranberry gift.  Each panel has the same color ink stamped on it, either from the NEW Geometric Backgrounds stamp set (available 8/1) or the birthday set from the Cricut Art Philosophy collection.  To jazz this card up, I added a pink sparkle and some red glitter glitz gel.

Remember, you have until 8/3 to play with color and try the H2H Ombre challenge!

H2H Challenges: Ombre

The ombre color effect has been very trendy, so Heart 2 Heart Challenges has jumped on the color, er, band wagon!  (If you're not sure what this looks like, think about paint chips or go visit the H2H blog for inspiration.  Personally, I am sick and tired of looking at paint chips!  Our house remodel is about to kill me!)

Here's my first card for the challenge:

I chose Sweet Leaf, Olive, and New England Ivy, and then added the Ponderosa Pine strip across the very bottom because I didn't like the "floating" chevrons.  (Do you see the cool ikat design on the bottom chevron?  It's from the Geometric Backgrounds stamp set- coming August 1!)  The top piece is made from Chantilly B&T; the rest is card stock.  The Sweet Leaf ribbon, Olive button, and natural hemp are all from my stash.

Here's my version of a chevron DIY tutorial that I found on Pinterest (of course):
Start with a piece of card stock 2" wide (mine is 6" in length).  Set one long side along the guide of your paper trimmer.  At 5", 3", and 1", cut 1" from the edge to the center of the strip.  Turn the paper so that the other long edge is along the cutting guide, and cut a 1" slit at 2" and 4".

Now it is time to start folding.  You will fold down each flap to create small triangles.  (I started at the left and folded that piece down to the left, to the outside edge.  The next flap got folded in half to the right, then the other part of that piece I folded down to the left, etc.)

 Turn the paper 180 degrees and continue folding.

 You will now have your chevron pattern!  I recommend creasing this piece really well, then turning it back over, unfolding it, running adhesive along the (non-folded) center chevron strip, then fold the flaps back down.  It will make it much easier to then adhere your chevron(s) to your project.

Come back tomorrow for a totally different ombre card.  This challenge will be open until this Saturday, 8/3.  All of the earlier July challenges close on the 31st.  Hope to see what you make at the H2H challenge blog!

CTMH Convention Fun

We had a magical time at the Magic Kingdom during CTMH's annual convention!  I wanted to share the gifts that I made for my roomies.  I'm so glad that two of my team members got to go to Convention too!

These little memo books were in my stash, and I thought they'd be something handy to have this weekend.  I used the For Always paper pack since it goes with everything.  I stamped the initials with the Bohemian Alphabet and then added a little sparkle to each one.

You may have seen my post about swapping fun.  Here are the cards that I received.  (Sorry that I am not able to give everyone credit; these are NOT my work.  Feel free to give a shout out in the comments if you see your work.  Thank you to all the talented consultants who swapped with me!)

My Girls Layout

Rationally, I know that our girls should be growing up, but I can't believe how much they're growing up!  Our older daughter just turned 15, and our younger is already 12.  I just had to print and scrapbook a few of my favorite photos of us from a little earlier this year.

After I started cutting my Surf's Up paper for the layout (using a sketch from Magic), I was NOT loving it.  Fortunately, our B&T Duos are have two completely different patterns on each side.  Flipping a few of them really made this layout work much better.

Cutting some of the swirls out of the B&T Duos really helped me dig this layout even more.  For the journaling block, I decided to soften its starkness by stamping one of the Universal Background stamps in Bamboo.  It matches the linen look of the B&T really well.

The Bohemian alphabet made a pretty title, with the added bonus of a flower and a few swirls to tie everything together.  A little burlap ribbon and lots of bling (Mocha Opaques and blue Sparkles) made this layout really groovy.  What do you think of my girls?

The Sweet Life Layout

At my scrapbook class this past Sunday, we created "The Sweet Life" layout using a Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 sketch, the Buzz & Bumble paper pack (retiring), and the July stamp of the month, Sweet Life.

My husband thought this layout was too plain, but I like it.  We talked about telling our stories, even if we didn't have a lot of photos to share.  Why we think that we have a sweet life was pretty important to me to document!

 We stamped our title with the Old World alphabet using colors from the Buzz & Bumble paper pack.  Waterbrush coloring was a technique we practiced.  HINT: Since I wanted the tops of my peaches to be lighter than the bottom, I turned the entire page over to color.  With the waterbrush, it will be darkest when you first pick up and use the ink, then it will lighten up.

For the right page, my apple leaves ran into the paper strip.  I grabbed my craft knife to cut the leaves so that I could pull them forward and slide the strip behind the leaves.  I love how it turned out!

Our life may not be perfect, but it is indeed sweet!  We are so very, very blessed.

H2H Challenges: Ice Cream

Ice cream is such a great way to cool down this time of year, but we love it anytime!  When I began thinking about how I would use the Heart 2 Heart Challenges ice cream theme, I realized that I had never scrapbooked my family's love of ice cream.  Here's what I made:

The girls didn't mind posing for these pictures at all!  I thought the photos look great with the retiring Buzz & Bumble paper pack.  Isn't that Champagne background beautiful?  (I'm actually wondering about using it as a paint color for our interior walls!)  With its browns and yellows, it went well with my pictures.  (I also like how well the girls "pop" instead of blending in to the fairly neutral palette.)

This layout design is based on a Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 how-to guide.  (Volume 2 will be available 8/1, and I can't wait to get mine!  I love using sketches to help me craft faster, simpler, easier.)

In addition to the Buzz & Bumble paper pack, I also used the accessory medley and Durables Studs.  I made my title with the Old World Alphabet stamp set and Card Chatter- Love set (retired).

Be sure to check out the inspiration H2H Team Twilight has for you.  These gals are so talented!  You can join us and share a little ice cream love too.  You have all month to play along with any of July's challenges.

#45 Anniversary Card

My parents celebrated their 45th anniversary on Saturday!  We are so very blessed.  Here's the card I made for them using the For Always paper pack:

This 6"x6" uses a Wishes sketch and a piece of retired Irresitibles chipboard (sponged with Slate ink).

Happy anniversary, Grammie and Grumps!  We love you!

Another Card Share

As I said in one of my recent posts, life has been very busy.  Unfortunately, my sister's sweet, dear mother-in-law passed away last week.  She fought a good fight against that nasty, hateful cancer, and was ready to meet her Redeemer and Savior, but we are sure going to miss her!

I gave my sister this card along with a bunch of thank you cards and envelopes.  The sketch came from the Wishes how-to guide, which will be available again in a spiral-bound format on 8/1/13!  I used the For Always paper pack paired with Sky card stock and ink.

This beautiful butterfly is from the January 2012 stamp of the month stamp set, which is no longer available.  I inked it up in Sky, Slate, and Black and then cut it out and layered it onto the Black stamped butterfly on the Cricut circle.

My heart goes out to my sister, brother-in-law, nephews, and the entire family as they cope with this loss and transition.  I love you guys so much!

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #10 Top 3!

Thank you, Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge DT, for choosing my card to be one of the Top 3 for sketch #10!  (You can see it HERE.)

Cards for H2H Challenges and a New Challenge Blog

Life has been very busy since I got home from the Close To My Heart Convention, and I have needed to make several cards.  (I will also catch you up a bit on said life while I'm at it.  I don't even want to talk about our remodel, however.) First, this sweet young couple is celebrating 18 years of marriage!

As I looked for inspiration for hubby's anniversary card, I stumbled across a new-to-me challenge blog, Atlantic Heart Challenges and their current sketch, #10. 

I grabbed my For Always paper pack and cut two Whisper card stock card bases and two identical B&T paper panels.  I used my CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge to cut a few frames and circles.  Both cards not only manage to use the sketch but also meet this week's Heart to Heart Challenge to mix and match at least three stamp sets and/or paper packs.

I used the Artiste Kudos stamp set (from the Artiste Cricut collection), the Salutation Seals stamp set, and the Card Chatter- Love (retired) stamp set for this card with Black, Whisper, Slate, and Ruby inks.

I even remembered to stamp the inside- and take a picture before I wrote in it!

Recently, a dear friend's 92-year-young father passed away, so I made a card for her also using this paper pack and sketch.  I used 3 different stamp sets again: Card Chatter- Sympathy, Universal Backgrounds, and this past April's stamp of the month.  I used Black, Slate, and Twilight inks for this card.

To make the little flower, I tore a strip of 1"x12" Whisper card stock in half lengthwise.  Then, I snipped the straight edge about halfway across the strip every 1/4" or so to make the card stock easier to bend, fold, and pleat.

Then, I started bending, folding, and pleating the strip to make a circle and then continued on around layer the strip on top of itself until I had a flower form that I liked.  (I snipped off the excess strip, since the 12" was too long.)  I used glue dots to hold everything together.

A pretty sparkle finished the center and hid my raw edges.

Now, it's too late for you to enter the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #10, but they'll be posting a new one soon.  You have until the end of July to take the H2H Mix & Match challenge.  It's never too late to get inky!  I've got several more cards to share in the next few days, so please come back to visit.  Life has indeed been busy!

H2H Challenges: Masking

 Since we've unveiled our new Heart 2 Heart Challenges Design Team, it's time for our first challenge!  We're challenging you to use the masking technique and some of your favorite CTMH products to create something special this week.  In honor of our Independence Day, here's the card I made:

This card uses a spray pen to create the white (masked) stars on the field of blue.  I used the Tommy paper pack and accented it with burlap ribbon (width cut in half), chipboard stars, and a 3-D foam dot.  Of course my stars were cut with the CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge and coordinating stamp set.  This color combo fits well with the ColourQ challenge #196.  The burlap ribbon is knotted on the left and hangs just a bit past the edge of the photo.

Here's a quick tutorial of how I created my field of stars:  I filled my spray pen up about half full with water, and then added a few drops of Outdoor Denim reinker.  I cut several different-sized stars from the same Artiste Cricut key.  (On the stamp set, it tell you which page in the booklet and what size to set your Cricut.) I added a dab of our Bonding Memories glue to the back of each star, and then set them aside while I mixed up my reinker in the spray pen.  (Letting the glue dry first creates a tacky, post-it type of adhesive.)

 Once I had the stars arranged on a 4" square of White Daisy card stock, I spritzed them with the spray pen.  (I laid a folded paper towel on a cookie sheet to catch the overspray.)

 It took a few spritzes to get the shade that I wanted.  (Yes, I did save the stars for another project!)

You can easily see how the stars created a mask and allowed me to have a neat two-toned piece of patterned card stock.  Give it a try, and then link up your masking project to the H2H challenge blog.