Heart2Heart Challenges: One

It's time to kick off the year with the first Heart2Heart Challenge: ONE.  I was stumped for a bit on what to create and then it hit me!

This hybrid layout started with an Express Collection in Studio J.  I wanted to preserve a funny family story about our then-two-year-old daughter and her favorite song, "Yellow Submarine" (which is on our Beatles 1 CD, hence the H2H tie-in).  I was able to find digital images of the CD cover and Yellow Submarine artwork, but I didn't have a digital picture of our daughter.  I went ahead and created the layout and changed the photo well on the left page into a matte only.

After my Studio J layout arrived, I found a picture that coordinated with the layout.  I added two Cricut shapes for more (handwritten) journaling and then embellished the layout with all kinds of doodads (mostly retired but the red enamel gems are current).

Now the story of "Lo Sa Marie" and our family's love of the Beatles is preserved for all time.

Be sure to visit the H2H blog for lots of inspiration!  I hope you'll kick off the new year and join us with your ONE project, too.

January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Beloved Bouquet

Happy New Year and welcome to the January stamp of the month blog hop!  This month only Close To My Heart is kicking off year with the beautiful Beloved Bouquet stamp set.  If you're already hopping along the blog hop, then welcome from from Darlys' blog.  If you're just getting started, from here you'll go to Gina's blog next...

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I decided to create a simple, easy card using a sketch from Make It From Your Heart and the La Vie en Rose paper pack.  This two-step floral stamp makes it so easy to create a beautiful blossom (or bouquet).  I started with the solid base stamped in Pixie and then stamped the coordinating floral outline on top of it in Pomegranate.  I added this piece to the Pixie card stock base and La Vie en Rose black and white B&T.  I made a simple banner with the sentiment and accented it with pink shimmer trim.  A pink epoxy gem and some Whisper thick twine finished off the card.

Thanks for stopping by!  I wish you the very best in 2016!  Please leave a comment before visiting GINA'S BLOG next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

Merry Christmas!

My family and I would like to wish you and yours a very merry, blessed, and peaceful Christmas!

We are spending time offline with extended family to celebrate the holiday together.  May you be surrounded with love and peace today and always!  Thank you for being a part of my life!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today we are celebrating my Mom's momentous birthday in style!  (More on that later with pictures too!)  The festivities began with our 2nd annual birthday spa day  over a week ago for my mom with my sister, sister-in-law, and me.  (Hey, we celebrate birthday SEASON!)

Today I'll be giving her this 5"x7" card, made with the Kaleidoscope Workshop on the Go stamp and the Kaleidoscope paper pack.  (I thought she needed a big card for a big birthday!)  To create the focal image, I worked from the bottom up, stamping the cake plate in Whisper, then the cake layers in Pear, Canary, and Pixie with Gypsy and Canary candles on top.  (I used Slate for the sentiments so they would stand out a little more.  My embellishments include green and pink shimmer trim, green enamel and glitter triangles, and a faceted circle gem from the Kaleidoscope Assortment.

Happy birthday to the best mom I could ever ask for!  May today be as special as you are!

A Few More Base & Bling Necklaces

Here are a few more of the Base and Bling necklaces that my daughter and I made to give to her besties.

We hope that they like them.  They are so fun and easy to make!

H2H Challenges: Gifts from the Heart

We all know it's better to give than to receive, so the final Heart2Heart challenge of 2015 is "gifts from the heart."  We'd love to see what you're making for gifts.  (All of our December challenges run through the end of the month, so you can wait until after the holidays so that you don't "spill the beans.")

This evening my older daughter and I made pendants for several of her girlfriends.  When they are thoroughly dry (tomorrow), then we will add charms (snowflakes, jingle bells, and charms) before sending them to their special someone.  Here they are modeling two of the jingle pendants.

(For some reason the girls wouldn't let me show their faces.)  I would like to wish each of you a very blessed Christmas!  Be sure to check out what all of the H2H Designers have to share with you this week.

CTMH Blog Hop: Stamping Techniques

This month, my group of blog hoppers decided to share some stamping techniques with you!  (If you're already hopping along, then you should have found me from Michelle B.'s blog.  You'll visit Terrie's blog next.)  I wanted to give you some easy gift ideas.  You can take one stamp set and paper pack to create a lovely card set to give as gifts.  For the first cards, I random stamped the flowers from the Sangria Workshop on the Go stamp set on my card bases.  The first cards use the Sangria paper pack (Poppy, Pomegranate, and Eggplant inks) and the second uses the Nevermore paper pack (Eggplant, Slate, and Whisper inks).  When you random stamp, start with the largest image first and work in triangles of 3 images.

For the next cards, I used the vine stamp in a very definite pattern.  There wasn't anything random about the stamping on these cards!  Again, the first picture is the Sangria collection and the second is Nevermore.

Don't you love how changing your color palette/paper pack totally changes the feel and look of your cards?  Though I did use my Cricut for some of the card sentiments, you could fussy cut the pieces also.  I am a huge fan of our shimmer trim since it easily adds lots of sparkle without any bulk.  I used Coral on the Sangria cards and Silver on the Nevermore set.  I also used Poppy thick twine, metallic bakers twine, and silver sequins for some holiday sparkle.

I hope these cards have given you some ideas for some quick and easy stamping techniques and holiday gifts.  Now go see the terrific project TERRIE has to share with us!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

December Stamp of the Month: Candlelight Garden

Welcome to the December stamp of the month blog hop featuring the Candlelight Garden.  (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived from here from Terrie's blog.  You'll visit Michelle B.'s blog from here.)  I have two very different cards to share with you today.  Both of them use our watercolor paints.

When I saw this stamp set, I knew that I wanted to watercolor the flowers in the mason jar.  I used the Kaleidoscope paper pack and its pretty pastel palette as my inspiration.  To keep my stamped images from smearing with the watercolors, I stamped them in Slate pigment ink.  Doesn't the B&T paper look like flower petals?  In case you can't tell, I stamped the string of lights across the top of the Pear card base and then colored the lights with yellow watercolor paint.  I like how the paint holds its color on a colored base.

The second card features the White Pines paper pack.  You can read more about it HERE if you'd like.  All of the yellow on the card is watercolored.  I used Chocolate pigment ink to keep the images from smearing and paper pieced the votive candle.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope that my Candlelight Garden cards have inspired you to start creating.  Be sure to check out Michelle B.'s blog next to continue the hop for even more great ideas!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

CTMH Cyberweek Sale!

CTMH is offering a fabulous Cyberweek Sale on 39 different crafty items, just in time to get your holiday craft projects ready for the gift-giving season.  The CTMH/Cricut Artfully Sent collection is included too!  This sale will run while supplies last, Monday 11/30 (11 AM EST) through Friday 12/4 (6 PM EST).  You can order directly on my website or contact me directly.  Also, the planner bundle will be available 12/1.

Z3111 Base & Bling Snowflake Charm—Faux Gold 

Z3112 Base & Bling Jingle Bell—Faux Gold

 Z3135 Base & Bling Snowflake Charm—Faux Silver 

Z3136 Base & Bling Jingle Bell—Faux Silver 

Z3138 Base & Bling Red Bead Charm—Faux Gold 

Z3139 Base & Bling Red Bead Charm—Faux Silver

 Z3180 Picture My Life™ Going Places Scrapbooking Program 

Z3147 Cut Above™ Dapper Giraffe Card Kit

Z2028 Designer Creations Short Stack Album 

Z2036 Designer Creations Slate Paper Bags 

Z2037 Designer Creations Lagoon Paper Bags 

Z2038 Designer Creations Ruby Paper Bags 

Z2039 Designer Creations Honey Paper Bags 

Z2049 Designer Creations Cupcake Box 

Z2050 Designer Creations Takeout Box 

Z2053 Designer Creations Buttoned Bag 

Z1838 5" x 7" Hinged Display Tray 

Z1750 Designed Décor Display Tray 

Z2006 Designed Décor Red Magnetic Chalkboard 

Z2015 Designed Décor Black Shadow Box 

Z2016 Designed Décor Colonial White Shadow Box

 Z1833 My Creations™ Kraft Container 

Z1871 My Creations™ Kraft 3-Ring Album

 Z1953 My Creations™ Journaling Cards Box 

Z1956 My Creations™ Hip Pics Album 

Z3043 My Creations™ Black Mini Book 

Z3044 My Creations™ Kraft Mini Book 

Z3069 My Creations™ Mini Mix Album 

Z3137 My Creations™ Pint-Sized Container 

Z3168 Cricut® Artfully Sent Collection 

Z1476 4 ¼" x 5 ½" White Daisy Envelopes 

Z1477 5" x 7" White Daisy Envelopes 

Z1478 6" x 6" White Daisy Envelopes 

Z1756 3" x 3" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1757 4 ¼" x 5 ½" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1758 5" x 7" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1759 6" x 6" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1851 Scallop Border Punch 

Z1997 Triangle Border Punch

H2H Challenges: 'Tis the Season

Our first December challenge from Heart 2 Heart is "'Tis the Season," Seasonal Expressions that is!  We want you to share anything you've made with product(s) from the CTMH Seasonal Expressions supplement.  Since the December stamp of the month, Candlelight Garden, and the White Pines paper pack are both featured exclusively in the Holiday Expressions supplement, I wanted to share a card I made with them both.

This card doesn't scream Christmas to me, but it does look lovely (in my humble opinion) for this time of year.  I began with a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2.  To stamp the main image and sentiment, I used my Chocolate pigment ink because I knew that I wanted to add watercolors.  (The lights at the top are stamped with Champagne ink.)  I paper pieced the candle itself with a Glacier piece of B&T (from White Pines).  I watercolored the lights, the candle flame, the candle "halo," and the "halo" around the LIGHT sentiment too.  I used a little red shimmer trim and a red enamel gem to finish off the card.  (My older daughter fell in love with this card, so I image that she will be giving it to one of her friends soon.)

Now go see how our Design Team can inspire you on the H2H blog!

Cheers 2016 Card

You only have one day left to get the adorable and versatile November stamp of the month, Cheers!

The card uses the La Vie en Rose paper pack, Cheers stamp set, and CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge to ring in the new year.  Can you see the liquid glass and sparkles on the wine glass?  Very fun!  I embellished the card with some silver shimmer trim, a Slate twist tie, and a bow tie from the La Vie en Rose assortment.

2016 will be here before we know it, so make the best of 2015!  Get your November stamp of the month before it is gone by clicking HERE.

Christmas Tree Card

It is time to get the Christmas season started!  At my recent card class, we created this Christmas Tree card with scraps from the Simply Fundamentals workshop, using pieces of the Fundamentals Enchantment New England Ivy and Fern card stock paired with the White Pines paper pack and the CTMH/Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and stamp set.

To stamp the large tree, we inked up the stamp first in Fern and then New England Ivy for the bottom half.  The card is embellished with the White Pines assortment, red enamel gems, and red shimmer trim.

Wishing you a season of peace and hope!