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!

Poster Tidings: September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It is already time for the September Close To My Heart stamp of the month blog hop!  If you're already hopping, then you probably arrived from Priscilla's blog.  You'll go to Lisa Sargent's blog next.  This month's stamp of the month, Poster Tidings, features two large "subway art" style of stamps: one for fall and one for winter.

For my card, I challenged myself to use the Huntington (fall) paper pack with the winter stamp.  To make it, I used a pattern from the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2 how-to guide that I modified to fit the large, central tag.  The tag was cut from Colonial White card stock with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  It cuts the tag and the tree for you!  After stamping with Barn Red on the tag, I stamped the tag on Olive card stock with Olive ink and then attached that piece behind the tag.  It was pretty to easy to line up the stamped images.

The gorgeous background paper is from Huntington, plus I used a Champagne card stock base.  Bronze shimmer trim and an adhesive gem from the Rosewood collection makes this an easy holiday card to mail.

Thanks for hopping by!  Now see go Lisa's pretty creation!

It's a Big Idea Festival!

This year's Big Picture Classes "Big Idea Festival" theme is childhood memories. Join me and lots of other crafty friends for 10 days of FREE fun! It all starts 9/5, so sign up now!

A Chocolate Affair Open House

Here's the card that my guests made at my recent CTMH Autumn/Winter "A Chocolate Affair" Open House.

Since I' a teacher, I couldn't resist stamping the brownie (Chocolate) and the "brownie points" sentiment (Champagne).  Is your mouth watering yet?

Can you guess which paper pack I used?  Can you believe it's Babycakes?  Don't you love that pop of Lagoon?  Also, my card base is Champagne card stock, which is probably my new favorite neutral.  Of course we used Chocolate ink and card stock too.  The bronze shimmer trim and Lagoon washi tape pennants are even pretty in person.

If you haven't received your complimentary Idea Book, please let me know so I can get one to you ASAP.  I've also got my fall class line up scheduled and ready to share, so again let me know if you're interested.  Don't forget that you only have a few more days to get your A Chocolate Affair ($17.95 or FREE with a $50 minimum purchase).  Click HERE to order!

H2H Challenges Make a Scene Meets CAS(E) this Sketch!

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is to use your stamps to create a scene.  Now, most people are probably thinking flowers or something in nature, but my thoughts went in a different direction.  When I saw the CAS(E) this Sketch #42, I knew that I wanted to use my CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge to cut out a word balloon.

To create my card, I turned the sketch upside down and grabbed my Fashionista stamp set to pair with the August CTMH stamp of the month, A Chocolate Affair.  Would you believe that the Babycakes paper pack is my palette?

First, I stamped the two girls with Champagne ink onto a 4"x5.25" piece of Colonial White card stock.  I also stamped them on some scrap paper to make a mask, and then I stamped them again in Buttercup, Sunset, and Lagoon to paper piece their clothing.  The street scene is one of the Fashionista stamps that I had to stamp twice in Slate to stretch across the page (after creating the masks for the gals).  I distressed the speech bubble with Champagne ink, then adhered it over the Babycakes polka dots and the Lagoon washi tape.  What's better than shopping with girlfriends with a little chocolate thrown in?

Be sure to check out how the H2H DT interpreted the Make a Scene challenge, and be sure to check out the other CTS entries too.

Make Any Layout a Birthday Layout

When I uploaded my daughter's 12th birthday pictures to Studio J, none of the birthday kits really made the photos pop.  The Stella collection was a great match, so I turned it into a birthday layout with a stack of "presents."

To make the "presents" (which also makes a fabulous tiered cake), add a text box from the Studio J Text & Photo Areas tab.  Drag it where you want it, resize it as needed, and then choose the color that you prefer.  I embellished mine with different My Stickease borders (cropped and rotated to fit), a My Stickease title, and ribbon.

It is so hard to believe that our baby is 12!