October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

I have started my posts several times this year with - "where did this year go?" and today is no exception!

If you have been hopping with us, then you have arrived from Casandra's blog here and you have checked out her stinkin' cute layout!  If you get lost along the way, you can always return to Melinda's list here for a complete list.

This month's stamp of the month is all about Christmas..  WHAT?  Christmas already?!  My husband has not started complaining but he will be soon.  

This stamp is a collection of tags and I was trying to think outside the box, but that project is in the works.  Hopefully I will get it done later in the week.  

I decided to create a tag box using the CTMH Artiste cartridge.  I created the design found on page 49 here.

In the Cricut Explore, the design comes in grouped and I enlarged it to fit the 12" x 12" sheet of paper.  It looked like this.  You will find the CRICUT EXPLORE FILE HERE.

I added a strip of New England Ivy cardstock .75 x 4.75  and scored each end at .75.  I changed the top and created a decorated flap instead of a slide-on top.

I am not real happy with the photo as my tablet does not take as nice pictures as my Nikon.  It is going to be a long 2 months until Christmas....  I cut a sheet of tags in both White Daisy and Colonial white.  You can find the CRICUT EXPLORE FILE HERE.

Supplies:

X7187 Yuletide Paper Pack

Z2170 Ruby Stamp pad

Z2135 New England Ivy Stamp pad

Z2118 Desert Sand Stamp pad

Z2174 Champagne Stamp pad

Now it is off to Melinda's blog here to check out here absolutely darling card using this stamp set.

H2H challenge - My FAV -orite tool

Well I must admit that this is tough one!   But the battle lines have been drawn and the tool is....

The sponge dauber!

Yep!  All of you are scratching your head BUT think of all of the times you have reached for this small little tool, the not too expensive one and used it!  So for me, that entitles it to my FAV-orite tool!

But alas, I must admit I have a close second, not CTMH either..  "Oh, no" , one exclaims!

Yes- I love my Pazzles!!  The digital paper cutter that I can design and cut any type of design that I desire!  But that's Ok because here is a fall card that I created using my TWO FAV-orite tools and life is good...

I used the"Print and Cut" feature of the machine to create the canning jar. Then I stamped the images, cut them up and sponged them a bit and glued them to the card.  This card is perfect for any fall occasion- right?!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a bit of fall in your hometown- ME?  not so much...

Please join us here and share a design with your favorite tool!

Another Sunday afternoon

Well, today I spent the afternoon scrappin' my pictures from my recent trip to Alaska!  I have 500+ pictures that I have to decide what I am going to keep and what goes away....

If you did not know this, my trip to Alaska was a trip organized by the Pazzles company based in Idaho and it was terrific!  On the days we were at sea, I was sitting in classes hangin' out with some great ladies and learning so much from the ever FAB-ulous Klo!

I am super excited because I have actually completed several of the pages to my album and I thought I would include them here.  I used the Timberline paper pack for these but there are several layouts with another paper pack altogether.

Here is my cover page for the pictures from Skagway!  OK- this is the LAST port but ...whatever!  This one page layout is  for"Alaska Cruise members" only as part of the "Projects" section of the new InVue software (I love it!)  Did I tell you we were spoiled rotten by them???

I would be remiss if I did not thank Klo Oxford publicly for lending me her camera!  I actually would not have any photos for this port without her generosity.  I thank you!!

Here is another awesome "Projects" two page layout.  If you have not purchased the new your NEW Pazzles yet, the INVue software is included. 

This layout is one I completed before I went to Alaska and all I did was add the pictures!  I should do this more often....

Last but not least is the Studio J layout that I received yesterday in the mail and I love the quality of the pictures in this layout!

I am just so excited that I have 4 pages finished and in my albumin the same month as my trip!  Can anyone else relate?

Next post I am off to Ketchikan, the first port of our trip.  I am a little backwards- oh well....

Welcome to our FIRST Studio J Blog Hop

Welcome to the FIRST Studio J Blog Hop!  This month we are very small but we hope to grow as big as the SOTM Blog Hop group!  It is a circular hop and if you get lost along the way, you can always come back here to find the list of participants below:

September 2014 Studio J blog Hop "Anything Goes"

1. Adeline Brill - www.adeline-brill.blogspot.com

2. Marianne Hancock  www.thescrapbookchick.blogspot.com

3. Julie Sinnott - www.12X12travels.blogspot.ca

4. Heather Plotzke - www.heatherplotzke.blogspot.com

5. Rebecca Brown - www.showmescrapping.com

6. Jen Patrick- http://roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com

7. Traci Godbee- www.createwithtraci.com

If you have been hopping with us, then you have just arrived from Traci's blog here and saw her beautiful layout.

I just recently returned from a dream trip to Alaska.  We cruised out of Seattle and visited Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria, BC and stayed an extra day in Seattle.  It was awesome and we took over 800 pictures!  With that in mind I decided to start a Studio J layout before I left with a 15 photo well template.

  Here is my template below:

I did change  the title and added some journaling and the month but that is it!  I am so excited that I have at least one layout finished and on it's way!

Created in: Studio J
Kit: Timberline
Pattern:  Fab Fifteen
Kit Mix: 2

If you haven't tried Studio J, then just go to your favorite consultant's OBA and try it out. Just establish an account and try out a few layouts - they really do go together quickly! 

Check out below a screenshot of the workspace in Studio J.

Now it is time to move on to Marianne's blog here and check out her layout.  

H2H Challenge - Favorite Technique

Wow - It has been a long time since I posted anything!  But I have been on vacation and it is soooo hard to get back into the groove again!

This week's challenge on the H2H blog is our 'Favorite Technique'.  I must admit that my VERY first technique ever was "Random Stamping". Back in 2005 it was popular to create a random stamped page and then cut it up into a number of different pieces and make multiple cards from one sheet of paper a.k.a. One-Sheet Wonder.

Well, nine years later I find myself going back to this same technique more than once!  I started working on a very cute flip stand book - thanks to Justine Hovey's  great project idea here!  ( great project girl!)

This will be one of the flip pages of the book.  I will post additional photos in the upcoming weeks as I continue to add to the pages of my flip stand project.  I have had this sitting in my craft room for a long time but it took Justine's artwork to inspire me to 'get it done!'

Here is one of my pages - a random stamped page using two different stamps sets.

Stamp pad colors used were honey, sunset and black.  I sponged the page with thistle and one of our daubers to get the effects that I created on this flip page.

Then I added a photo mat and a few accents for the photo.  The strip is the zip strip from the "Scaredy Cat" paper pack and then I stamped the image twice - once with thistle and once with black.  I added dimension with foam tape and the page is now ready for this years' pics!

The stamp sets that I used today were from D1605 Halloween Greetings and the bat is from C1522 Creepy Creatures.

Please join us this month as we celebrate all of our favorites!  check out this week's blog post here.