Happy New Year! Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

How exciting!  A new year to celebrate with both a stamp set and more new Close to My Heart products!

If you have been hopping with us, then you have arrived from Tamytha's blog here and view her beautiful layout.  We have many consultants participating each month in this SOTM blog hop and you can certainly find inspiration for this stamp set by hopping along with us!  Do not worry, if you get lost along the way, then you can always find your way back to Melinda's  list here.

I love Valentine's Day!  I love candy and anything that has 'love' attached to it. SO it is no surprise that I love this new stamp set!

The best part is we also have a colorful paper packet designed especially for Valentine's Day called Heartstrings.  But if you are not a HUGE Valentine fan, then you can also use this stamp set in many other ways.

How about a mini-album for your favorite girl?

Or gift bags for your co-workers?

I created a layout for my upcoming workshop and I knew it would be perfect to add additional images from the stamp set.  The paper pack is from the NEW Seasonal Expressions I and is called Heartstrings.  You can find all of the information for this set in the Seasonal Expressions Blog Hop post here.

Now it is time to hop off to Melissa's blog here and check out her beautiful artwork.

Welcome another new year of Close to My Heart!

Seasonal Expression I Blog Hop

Welcome!  Life is sure exciting the entire month of December, isn't it?  So seriously, who is thinking about Valentine's Day?  I am!

Our brand new Seasonal Expression I supplement went live on December 1st and so it is time for a blog hop!  The very talented group of Stamp of the Month Bog Hop consultants is sponsoring this hop and we have over 30 consultants participating in this hop.

If you have been hopping with us, then you have arrived from Melissa's blog here.  Don't worry, if you get lost along the way, you can always find the list on Melinda's blog here.

My Valentine's Day layout inspiration came from Scrapbooking Generation's new Create e-magazine from February 2014 here.  I layed out my design in the Cricut Design Space program to give me an idea of colors and cuts.  Here is my sketch idea...

You can find the free downloads for this layout and the others here.

Next I started to work with the Heartstrings paper pack and accessories.

Love this paper pack!

Heartstrings Complements and Assortments

Then I accented the layout with stamped images from the C1604 Forever in My Heart stamp set.

The red outlines are the cut files from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  You can find my Cricut Design Space file here.

If you do not have an Explore, here are the cut sizes.

Art Philosophy - page 26

Large Heart - 2"

Small Heart -  1 1/2"

Art Philosophy - page 35
Label - 1 1/2"

Finally here is the layout that I have been working on!

Now it is off to Sheila's blog here for her Parisian tour...  

Thank you for joining us on this Seasonal Expressions I Blog Hop!

H2H Scrapbooking Challenge for December

It's time to celebrate! ...I am talking about your favorite holiday!  While I am sure that many of you love Christmas, that is not one of my favorite holidays! Actually it is Halloween but I decided to scrapbook Thanksgiving for this post because this holiday is rapidly becoming one of my most favorite holidays!

I love cooking for my small family and celebrating all that is blessed and wonderful about our life.  I am thrilled that I am able to finish a scrapbook layout before the 1st of December.  Thanks to the Close to My Heart November special, I was able to print a few layouts for only $5.00!

Here is my layout using the Studio J Pathfinding paper pack.  This paper pack is a brand new addition to Studio J and I am so grateful they decided to add several of the new paper packs to the program.

As you can see the Brill family includes a son and daughter-in-law plus two dogs!  My husband, and 'kids' had a relaxing weekend while I worked at the Bernina Sewing Center in Tampa, Fl.  Not to worry - I have several days off while they are at work!

Please join us and scrapbook your favorite holiday!  Add your linky here so we can all share your memories as well!

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Oh my, OH my!  How did this year fly by so fast?!  It may be because my family had so many big events scheduled for this year, that we didn't have time to stop and think about each and every day.

Well this is the last SOTM Blog Hop for 2014.  We have over 60 consultants participating this month.  If you have been hopping with us, then you have arrived from Chris Lothian's blog here.

Don't worry - if you get lost along the way, you can always get back on track at Melinda's blog here.

This month's stamp set is S1412 Cutie Pie!  Look at all of those yummy cupcakes. I can only imagine what our talented group of consultants is going to come up with this month!

With all of the craziness of the Thanksgiving Holiday, I decided I was going to need to look elsewhere for some inspiration!

I found this great sketch for November at Stuck?!Sketches  here

                                         

I used some of my retired Sparkle and Shine paper because I was going for more of the whimsical holiday than the traditional one.  This sketch is a great use of scraps and my cutie pies are of the canine variety!

As you can see I mixed up the sketch to make it my own which is what many of us do...just sayin'. I did add a few items from my stash - the silver ribbon from Michaels and the plastic snowflake strip from Fancy Pants.  But the rest are all from the Sparkle and Shine paper pack.

If you would like to create your own layout you can find the Cricut Design Space file here.  if you have any problems, just let me know!

Now it is off to Melinda's blog here where I am positive you will find her outstanding artwork for this hop.

H2H Challenge - NO ..embellishments!

Now this challenge is a hardship!  One of the reasons I started scrapbooking is because I love buttons, lace, trims and 'stuff'!

So I decided to dig out last year's Sparkle and Shine from Close to My Heart and find any of the paper scraps that I could.  I love the Herringbone technique and I first learned of this through the Club Scrap forum.

What an easy technique!  1/2" strips to form a herringbone shape on a card front - EZPZ!

So I started creating my card front and it went together very quickly!  I added a few strips of scraps and a snip from one of the zip strips!  I wanted to add a brad, a button or SOMETHING to the top left.  But I settled on a small strip of paper to look like a staple!

enjoy!....

Please join us this week for a NO-embellishment challenge with H2H here!

Club Scrap PSL Challenge #1

Whenever I can , I try to participate in the Club Scrap PSL Challenge so I can use up my Club Scrap kits!  I love their kits because everything matches and I finish my layouts and get them into the photo albums.

This is the Fall PSL Challenge and I am on Tricia's Pumpkin team.  The first challenge was a color challenge.  We had to make sure that one of the colors was on each page we submitted.  EASY!

My first layout used the remnants from the Vogue kit from December 2010. We must use at least 50% of Club Scrap product to be counted towards the team points.  The grey floral is from the retired Bliss paper pack.

These wedding pictures are my favorites from my oldest son's wedding!

The second layout are pictures taken of the groom.

A few snapshots before the 1:00 ceremony on the beach.

Then I dug out pictures from our 1986 trip to Washington, D.C.!  I

used the Hopes kit from June 2013.

Pictures from the Smithsonian Museum

Yeah!! I Finished 6 pages and put them into their respective albums!

Lucky 5 on day 10

Holy Moly!  It is the 10th already!  This month is flying by...  Don't forget that the Lucky 5 special is for the entire month of November!

November marks the five-year anniversary of Studio J®, and that means it’s your lucky month, with five amazing ways to win through Studio J and Close To My Heart social media!

1. 25 % OFF ALL LAYOUTS – Throughout the month of November, all layouts purchased in Studio J are $5! That is a savings of over 25% off of retail!

2. FREE SURPRISE – This one involves sheer luck… every fifth order placed in Studio J during November receives a FREE surprise Close To My Heart accessory in its shipping box!

3. GOLDEN TICKET – You just might stumble upon a little extra something in your Studio J box. Five “golden tickets” will be sent out during the month of November with randomly selected Studio J print orders! This “golden ticket” is redeemable for one of Close To My Heart’s new D-ring albums* loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors™.

4. CTMH FACEBOOK PAGE DRAWING – For a fourth way to win, simply create new, gorgeous layouts in Studio J, select your favorites, and then post pictures of them on Close To My Heart’s Facebook page using the hashtag ‪#‎ctmhlucky5‬. After November 30, five lucky winners will be selected from the entries based on their artistry and creativity and each of these winners will receive their own D-ring album loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors!

5. INSTAGRAM DRAWING – And there is one last way to win: take your new Studio J artwork and post a picture of it on Instagram using the hashtag #ctmhlucky5. Just as it is with Facebook, after November 30, five lucky winners will be selected from the entries to receive their own D-ring album loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors!

Here is my layout for the 10th of November! 

I am also entering my layout in this week's H2H Challenge.  This week is NO-ink week.  Please join us this week ans use up some of your paper OR better yet, create a quick layout in Studio J!  You will find the linky here.

A few  more layouts and I will be ready to send in my order!   Please come back on the 15th of November to see what layout I have completed using Studio J!

The SOTM Artfully Sent Blog Hop

How exciting!  We have over 45 consultants participating in this additional blog hop this month.  If you have been hopping with us, then you have arrived from Kathy's blog here.

Remember this is a circular hop and so you can jump in at any point but if you get lost along the way you can always go back to Melinda's blog here.

The brand new Artfully Sent cartridge includes 250 card designs plus 150 other projects along with envelopes and liners.

I am busy working on my son's wedding album and I am using the retired "For Always" paper pack.  As you might imagine we took several hundred photos of the event including a few extra days in California.

The Picture My Life "For Always" cards are a perfect addition but I also wanted to incorporate the wedding colors of Outdoor Denim, Sweet Leaf and Slate.

I found several pocket card ideas in the Artfully Sent cartridge.  I created a file of both horizontal and vertical pocket cards in the 3" x 4" size.  It was quick and easy to add some scraps, stickers and embellishments.

You can find the Cricut Design Space file here

Here is the original side of the page.  I switched out the top photo because I had two of the same pictures -duh!

Here is the other side of the page.

Then I realized that I have not finished my oldest son's wedding album- his was finished but not mine!  SO a few pictures and pocket cards and one side is done!

They look like chalkboard paper in the photos but it is actually Grey Wool from the retired Bliss paper pack.

Now it is off to Melinda's blog here to see what fabulous artwork she has created!

Lucky 5

To help celebrate the FIVE-year anniversary of Studio J, I will be posting my layout entries every FIVE days!

I love Studio J as an addition to my traditional scrapbooking.  It will not ever totally replace my love for paper, trims and buttons!  

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways....  (My first 3)

1.  It is neat and clean - no mess to clean up or organize!

2.  I can scrap anywhere as long as I have an internet connection.

3.  I can "design' my layouts in Studio J and move and change things around until I am ready to cut it out in paper.

Here is another layout from my son's wedding album.  I am on a roll!

Come back on the 10th to see another layout I am currently working on.

H2H NO-vember Challenge

ah ha! ......It is the second NO-vember challenge of the month.  Can you guess what it is?....  It is NO Stamping!  Now THIS is a crisis to me!

I started in 2005 with Close to My Heart because I love to stamp!  I have purchased many stamps throughout the 'almost 10 years' with the company.

SO this week is a real challenge!  But I was able to create my second page to the wedding layout with NO stamping AND scraps of paper and embellishments - an additional bonus!

I love the Picture My Life cards and I knew that I could create my own with scraps of B & T paper, zip strips and small pieces of leftovers! Plus I will be able to complete a page for the wedding album in NO time!

So here the second half of the layout from the previous post. I realized after I posted this pic that I have two of the same photos on this page.  NOT to worry - because the next post will 'fix' that issue...

I hope you will join us for this week's challenge of NO-stamping!  Let me know if you need any therapy to assist you through the "NO-stamping Challenge"!  Just add your artwork with this link.

H2H NO-vember Scrapbook Challenge

Oh NO, it's NO- vember and this month is full of No-Nos!  The first NO Challenge for NO-vember is NO B & T paper.  Many times for me, this is not a crisis and this week proved to be no exception.

I have been eyeing the one page layout on page 108 of the Annual Inspirations and I thought this would be a perfect week to create my own layout.  I have many pages to finish of my son's wedding album and I thought this page would give me the motivation to start working on it again.

I designed the layout in Design Space and then adjusted the colors to match the color scheme of the wedding.  I can see this layout used for anniversary, birthday and other meaningful events.

The Cricut Design Space file is here

Supplies:

page 108 of the Annual Inspirations - Pattern 10 from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2

Cardstock includes White Daisy, Slate, Whisper, Sweet Leaf and Outdoor Denim

Inks include Sweet Leaf, Whisper and Slate

Z1932 Silver Geometric Washi Tape

Stamp set - D1539 The Happy Couple

CTMH cartridges- Art Philosophy, Artbooking and Artfully sent

Here is my finished layout...

Pleas join us in NO-vember for any of the challenges.  You can find the linky here for this one.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post - the second page to this layout!

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  

Remember this is a circular hop, so if you get lost along the way, you can always go back to Melinda's blog here.   Each month our group of consultants keeps growing and you will find over 60 creative designs for this stamp set.  If you have been hopping along then you have arrived from Wendy's blog here.


This month's stamp set is "It's the Little Things" - a stamp set perfect for making thank you cards and favors.

When I first looked at this stamp set, I thought - there is NO way that I am cutting out all of these little pieces!  So I decided to play around with stamping the images.  I found a card I made several years ago using the "doodling' technique and I "googled' doodling and boy did I get an updated 21st century version!

I flipped through the Annual Inspirations and I found inspiration in the Brushed Floral paper.  If you have been following my blog lately, then you know that this is quite the opposite of colors that I have been using!

I am really pleased with how this card turned out.  I decided to name my technique  "Brushed Watercolors".  It may not be new but it is NEW to me!

Here are the steps that I did to create the look of the background paper in the card. (sorry - videos are not my expertise!)

Step #1

Step #2

Step #3

Step #4 

Don't forget to add the accents to your smaller flower as well.

Step #5

Step #6

Step #7

Supplies:

Cardstock - White daisy, Pixie

Brushed B & T paper

Inks- Canary, Cotton Candy (I don't have Pixie yet) and Juniper 

Waterbrush- retired

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial and give this technique a try! Now it is off to Melinda's blog here