October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Fall is officially here, and we crafters have to turn our thoughts to the upcoming holidays.  The October stamp of the month, Scandinavian Wishes, is sure to warm your heart!  Join me and about 60 other CTMH consultants on a blog hop showcasing this stamp set.  Hopping is easy: start here and then click to Karen Fullman's blog.  (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived from my fellow Heart 2 Heart Challenges team member, Katy's blog.)

My card follows one of the patterns in the new Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2 how-to guide.  I used the Frosted paper pack with Champagne and Blush ink.  I highlighted this simple card with Almond and Pink glitter glitz gel.  Of course that fancy frame was cut using my CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge.

I am really looking forward to some scrapbooking and cardmaking with this stamp set.  A dear friend used to live in Sweden and was married to a Norwegian, so I can't wait to scrapbook a bit of her story.  Come back for more when you have time!  Now go check out how Karen used this delightful winter set!

September Stamp of the Month Card Collection

Each month, I am participating in a stamp of the month swap with my Close To My Heart team members.  Here are their amazing creations with the September stamp of the month, Poster Tidings, and the Huntington paper pack.  You've got just a little time to get your stamp of the month ordered!  Here's some inspiration for you:

Unfortunately I can't name each of the fabulous artists who created these beauties, as most of the cards were unsigned.  If you recognize your work, please leave a comment!  Thanks for letting me share!

Another Cricut Artbooking Mini Album: Follow Your Heart

Here's a cool mini album that I made at Convention (along with about 700 of my closest CTMH consultant friends!).  It uses a sheet from the Laughing Lola paper pack, paired with Topiary, Honey, Black, Whisper, Lagoon, and Colonial White.  We used our new background stamp set, Geometric Basics, and also the Laughing Lola chipboard Complements and mini medley accents.  (You can check out the entire Laughing Lola collection HERE.)

You can check out the CTMH/Cricut Artbooking cartridge collection HERE.  On YouTube, CTMH has started a series of Artbooking videos that you can access HERE.  I will also be offering some of my own Artbooking and other Cricut classes this year, so please let me know if you're interested in learning more!

H2H Challenges: Alphabet Soup (with a Travel Theme?)

From the title, this project sounds crazy, but I am so pleased with how it turned out!  Before I share, thank YOU for being a loyal reader.  It means more than you know!

Our final H2H September challenge is to create some alphabet soup.  In other words, use at least two different alphabets in one project.  A little back ground on my project: For years, I have been wanting to make an album to hold the hundreds of postcards family & friends have sent us from their many travels.  I went so far as to buy an album only to realize that you wouldn't be able to tell who they were from.  Of course I could indeed make one!  I used the Tommy paper pack along with its color palette in inks, the Adventure USA, and the Frameworks and Chocolate alphabet stamp sets.  The images and titles that aren't stamped are cut with the NEW CTMH/Cricut Artbooking cartridge (which made this project a cinch to create)!

Now it's your turn to create some alphabet soup and link it up on the H2H challenge blog. I DARE to see you there!

Spinner Cards

One of the best parts of attending Close To My Heart's annual convention is playing with new products!  We were treated a package of our new 5"x7" spinner cards and envelopes and several of our new $2.95 stamps.  (You can find them on p. 113 of the Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Book.)  We had a lot of fun combining paper packs.  I would have never thought of mixing them up the way we did!  We used the paper piecing technique on several of the cards.

Dotted Love with Laughing Lola and Pro Player, accented with bronze shimmer trim and aqua dots:

A Little Gift with Babycakes, more bronze shimmer trim, and our new scalloped border punch:

A True Thank You with Sarita and Laughing Lola:

Single Snowflake with Frosted:

We will try our hand at decorating our own spinner cards at my card class on October 27.  Mark your calendar now!

H2H Challenges: Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String

Our latest Heart 2 Heart Challenge is brown paper packages tied up with string. (Name that movie!)  How will you interpret this idea?

As you can see, I followed it very loosely.  My package isn't brown and it isn't tied with string, but it is indeed a package, tied with seam binding.  It's an idea for a favor for my brother's wedding next month, and it's based on their invitation:

I cut the bag with my CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge (at 4").  Then I found a collection of stamps that worked with their invitation theme.  The tandem bike is from the NEW School Years set, the phrase and heart border is from the retired Love Quotes set, and the balloons are from a former stamp of the month, Life Is Tweet.  I used both Cashmere and Champagne inks.  I think it is very pretty in its simplicity.

You have until the end of the month to participate in any of the H2H September challenges.  Be sure to check out our Team Twilight's inspiration, and link up your own project.

Back To School Layout Share

Everyone in the USA is probably back to school now.  It's amazing to think that we've already got four weeks under our belts here!  I finally have my photos of my Back to School 2013 layout ready to share.  Since the photos are hard to see, I included a photo of my girls and me.

To create my layout, I ended up choosing the Chantilly paper pack since the colors matched the photos so well.  This layout is from the new Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2 how-to sketch guide.  Of course I had to use my new School Years stamp set!  The layout also wouldn't be complete without a little help from my Cricut and the CTMH Artiste cartridge. 

Each of us girls signed our name and pertinent stats for this year on a Cricut rolodex journaling card with Cotton Candy, Twilight, and Pear markers.

The new Aqua Dots adhesive gems and Lagoon washi tape look great to accent this layout. 

I hope everyone has a great school year, no matter where you are at this stage of your life!  Learn something new each and every day!