January SOTM Blog Hop - Little Reminder

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This time around we're featuring the January set Little Reminder, a set of 25 stamps. If you have come here from Dawn's blog, you are on the right path. The Blog Hop is a great big circle so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here.

There are over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the January Stamp of the Month and other great CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!

This time my assigned paper packet from my swap group was Roxie, which features Black, Tulip, Smoothie, and Desert Sand. I decided I didn't want my card to be for anything specific, so I didn't choose a date. I left the options open so that when I or my fellow swappers are ready to use the card, we can customize it for the occasion.

  

Here is my supply list:

X7140B Roxie Level 2 Paper Packet
S1201 Little Reminder
1388 Colonial White Cardstock (card base)
Z2105 Black Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Z1366 Metal Brad Assortment (Pewter)
Z1615 Designer Ribbon Red Collection
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Here are all the cards the members of our swap groups made. What a great assortment of designs!

Now "Hop" on over to Krista's blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant's blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Don't forget, this exclusive stamp set is only available until January 31st! Contact me to get yours today!

Rock the Block Hop

Welcome to the Rock the Block Blog Hop! 


This fun hop features the fabulous Rock the Block promotion that runs from December 19, 2011 through January 31, 2012. It includes an exclusive E-size stamp set, as well as the My Creations Collage Cubes that can be yours for just $15 with qualifying purchase*. If you have come here from Angel's blog, you are on the right path. The Blog Hop is a great big circle so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here.

There are over 25 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the Rock the Block stamp set and the Collage Cubes. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!

I am crazy about the Sonoma papers because I love purple! I'm also crazy about my son and the photos I had taken of him over the summer, so I decided to use them for this project. This is the top:

Side 2:

Side 3:

Side 4:

Tray inside:

Side view:

Supply List:

X7143B Sonoma Level 2 paper packet
Rock the Block stamp set
My Creations Collage Cubes
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z2137 Olive Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Z2141 Smokey Plum Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Z2114 Cocoa Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Z2118 Desert Sand Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Cricut® Close to My Heart Art Philosophy cartridge

Now "Hop" on over to Rachel's blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant's blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Remember, this amazing deal is only available until January 31st!


*Make a minimum purchase of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book and get the two NEW products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set. That’s a retail savings of almost $30! You're going to love the Collage Cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set, which work together for interactive, 3-D fun.

Teacher Gifts

As we all know, it's that time of year again. Time to figure out what you're going to give your children's teachers for Christmas. I just about always make monogrammed note cards. They're fairly fast, simple, and easy, and considering how many gifts teachers receive, they should also come in handy.

Once I found out that my son's teacher likes purple, I decided to make it even easier on myself by making the same monogrammed cards I'd made for myself with the My Creations Card Box and Sonoma papers. I made a few simple modifications (I used the zip-strip border instead of plain Olive cardstock, I added a little more color by leaving a border around the patterned paper, and I made the monogram the center of a flower rather than just layering it on a scalloped circle).

I also stamped the monogram on the envelope flap to make the set more complete.

While all of my son's teachers are important, I wanted to give gifts to his homeroom teacher, as well as his math and reading teachers. The note cards were for the homeroom teacher, but I wanted to make her something else that I could also give the others. I decided to go with using the Typeset papers to create a door hanger pouch that I could put Post-It Notes in.

I have made these before, but it was so much easier with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and our new double-sided paper! I didn't have to take the time to cut paper to fit and glue it down, I just hit "cut" and my door hanger was ready to go! Even though Close to My Heart's new patterned papers are a heavier weight, I thought it would be wise to sturdy the back up a bit. I did this by cutting another door hanger from Juniper cardstock and cutting it off where it just covered the back. I also cut out the piece for the front of the pocket and put it on the inside of the pouch for a little support. The zip-strip was the perfect accent for the pouch edge, and with just a few embellishments I had a great gift!

Maid Service

I received one of these magnets from my cousin many years ago, and I still get a kick out of it. It's such a cute and simple idea, and I have duplicated it several times to give as gifts to friends. I made a new batch to sell at a recent craft fair and managed to sell quite a few.

Here's how to make some of your own:

• Magnetic sheets (I actually just recycled the magnets that come on the front of the phone book!)
• Patterned paper
• White or Colonial White cardstock
• Buttons
• Adhesive (i.e., Tombow, Xyron Sticker Maker, Glue Dots)

Using your favorite word processing or layout program, type up the text so that it fits inside a 2 1/4" x 2" rectangle. Print and then cut out the rectangles. Trim both the magnets and patterned paper to 2 3/4" x 2 1/4". Adhere the patterned paper to the magnet, and then the text piece on top of that. Use a Glue Dot to stick a button in the middle, and you're done!

The text reads: (top) Press Button for Maid Service

                  (bottom) If No One Answers Wait a Moment Then Do It Yourself!

Happy crafting!

December SOTM Blog Hop - Mad About You

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring the December SOTM Mad About You, a set of 14 stamps. If you have come here from Nikka's blog, you are on the right path. The Blog Hop is a great big circle so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here.

There are many Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the December Stamp of the Month and other great CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!

I'm part of a Stamp of the Month Swap group, and each member has been assigned a specific paper packet for each month. For December I had to use Typeset, which features Black, Juniper, Vineyard Berry, and Creme Brulee. Based on the theme of the stamp set I decided to make a rather non-traditional Valentine's Day card.

Here is my supply list:

X7139B Typeset Level 2 Paper Packet
S1112 Mad About You
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
1301 Bamboo Cardstock
X5910 Dark Red Shade Pack
Z2157 Vineyard Berry Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Z2114 Cocoa Exclusives Inks stamp pad
Z1487 Pewter Mini-Medley Accents Collection
Z1366 Metal Brad Assortment (Pewter)
Z1102 Colonial White Grosgrain
Z1617 Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

These are the cards made by my swap group. The talented ladies who made them are top row: Kimberly Deines and LeAnne Dudley; middle row: Vicki Price, and bottom row: Krista Staton and Angie Petersen.

Now "Hop" on over to Krista's blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant's blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Remember, this exclusive stamp set is only available until December 31st!

Black Friday Sale!

Have you been good this year and gotten your name on the Nice list?

If so, have Santa* email me an order anytime Friday, November 25^th through midnight Sunday, November 27^th for the

Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection

(or any order totaling $99 or more**)

Santa* will receive a 10% discount off his order

plus free gift wrapping and delivery from my house to under your tree!

This offer is only available through Vicki Price, Close to My Heart Independent Consultant. Valid Friday, November 25^th through midnight Sunday, November 27^th. All orders must be paid in full no later than November 28^th. Cash, check, and credit cards accepted. Not valid with online orders. *Santa can be a significant other, friend, relative, or even yourself. **$99 total before shipping and taxes.

Email me at priceofpaper@gmail.com to order!

Stocking Stuffers

I've been busy making things for an upcoming craft fair, and below you'll see what I've made so far. First up, Reindeer Noses. (Got this idea off Pinterest after a friend told me about it.)

A fellow consultant gave similar M&M favors to several of us who attended Convention at Disneyland back in July. I thought they made great stocking stuffers so I just made Christmas tags instead of Disney-themed ones.

I love Stamp on This for fun things to make for gifts, and when I was ordering 2012 calendars I came across these fun tubes. I really didn't know what I was getting until they arrived, but I knew instantly they were perfect for Kisses.

I'm hoping that these simple little gifts will sell like hotcakes at the craft fair!

Finally - A Picture of Me!

I've been waiting to get my hands on a photo of myself for a month. I did have photos of myself, of course, but I knew there was a pretty good one taken at a recent wedding, and it was the one I wanted to use right now. It's hard to get just a photo of myself because I'm usually either the one taking pictures of everyone else, or when I think of asking someone to photograph me, I'm in my Sunday comfy clothes and not looking too photogenic. I'm busy crafting this weekend, so I'll have project photos to post in the next day or two!

Card Box & Monogrammed Cards

One of my favorite pieces of artwork in the Fall/Winter Idea Book is the Christmas Cards box on page 120. I knew it was something I either wanted to copy or use for inspiration. I decided on the inspiration because I thought a card box would make a great gift and workshop project.

I also decided it was time I made something for myself, and since I'm crazy about the Sonoma papers, I chose to use them for the project. I decorated the box first because I knew it would take me longer than the cards would. The patterns in this set are so elegant that I added some of the Opaques to keep the embellishments as elegant as the papers.

Although I absolutely love the purple flowers, the crystal charm is my favorite accessory on the box. It's the perfect touch!

I purposely made the cards without too much fuss. Even though I made this set for myself, it's nice to have some cards that don't have bulky embellishments that can drive up the price of mailing them.

I couldn't decide which side of the paper I liked better, so I went with the best of both worlds - five of each!

Please feel free to contact me if you'd like cutting dimensions or a supply list so you can make this project for yourself!

Holiday Wishes

I'm so excited to get this deal for myself! This is one of the prettiest Christmas trees I've ever seen. Here are the details:

When you place a minimum order of $25 in My Acrylix® Stamp Sets* between November 1–30, you can add a new D-size Holiday Wishes stamp set for only $5! That’s a significant savings of $12.95. You may buy one Holiday Wishes stamp set for every $25 in qualifying stamp sets you purchase. As a creative bonus, many of the images in the set coordinate with our Cricut® Art Philosophy cartridge for added cutting and stamping fun!

My Sister's Birthday

My little sister had a birthday a couple weeks ago, but I didn't post what I'd made her at the time because I didn't want to take a chance that she'd see it online before she actually had it in her hot little hands.

I started with her card and the fact that she loves dragonflies. I couldn't resist using the adorable dragonfly on the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge! I also thought the Roxie paper suited her taste. I ended up with extra dragonflies in trying to figure out the perfect size, so I decided to use one on the envelope too.

As for her gift, I was at a loss as to what to make this year when I realized that she needed a place to jot down the funny things my 3-year-old niece says. I decided to make her a homemade "smash it" book.

I love making these books myself because it's a fabulous way to use up paper I've been hoarding. My sister happens to like pink, as does my niece, so I found a bunch of different pink papers to use.

I made three pocket pages for clippings, ticket stubs, etc. I decided to make a few more dragonflies so that there's one on each pocket.

I included lined paper for memories and funnies.

The remaining pages are basically layouts where she can attach small photos, receipts, and anything else she wants to keep.

I was really happy with the results, and so was she! Happy birthday, Sister!

November SOTM Blog Hop - Cherish the Day

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring the November SOTM Cherish the Day, a set of 44 stamps! If you have come here from Kristine's blog, you are on the right path. The Blog Hop is a great big circle so you can start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here.

This time around we have over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the November Stamp of the Month and other great CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!

I'm part of a Stamp of the Month Swap, and each member has been assigned a specific paper packet for each month. For November I was given the Wonderland packet which features Crystal Blue, Twilight, Chocolate, and Grey Flannel. These colors make me think of January, so I decided to make a New Year's card.

Here is my supply list:

X7146B Wonderland Level 2 Paper Packet
S1111 Cherish the Day
D1482 Love Life
Z1353 4 1/2" White Daisy Circle Cards
Z2111 Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z2117 Crystal Blue Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z2160 Twilight Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z1385 Designer Ribbon Blue Collection
Z1104 Clear Sparkles
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
Sponge

Here are all the cards made by my swap group. The talented ladies who made them are top row: Vicki Price, Krista Staton, and Angie Petersen. Bottom row: LeAnne Dudley, Bertha MacMillan, and Kimberly Deines.

Now "Hop" on over to Kathleen's blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant's blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Remember, this exclusive stamp set is only available until November 30th!

Happy Halloween!

I'm so excited! My favorite holiday is here! I made this banner last year, but I love it so much that I had to post it again. It's truly one of the best things I've ever made. Those little Hooligans monsters were so adorable, and this project wouldn't have been the same without them.

I'm looking forward to dressing up later to pass out candy to the neighborhood kids. It's something I do every year. Generally I wear my renaissance costume, but I thought I'd do something different today. I spent a small amount of money to get a fun wig, a witch's hat, and some false eyelashes. I'm going to pull some things from my closet and be my own kind of witch. Who cares if I look like a traditional witch as long as I get to be someone else for a few hours?

I will share pictures from today's festivities later in the week. Happy Halloween!

My Favorite Fall Soup

I know thousands of people - probably millions - are happy fall is here. I, however, am not one of them. I am a summer girl! I'm not saying I like it when it's in the triple digits, but I do like it to be around 80. I also love all the sunshine. I find it totally depressing when the sun isn't up when I drag myself out of bed and it's down long before dinnertime... Okay, before I start going off on a tangent, let me get to the soup part of my title. I do love soup, and I love it any day of the year. I make it often, and mostly in the slow cooker. Last year I discovered a pumpkin soup recipe in a Halloween magazine that I fell in love with, and today I decided to make it for lunch. I haven't had it for at least six months, and it was delicious. I thought it was even more delicious than any of the times I've made it before. Because I enjoyed it so much and I love to share my favorite recipes, I thought I'd post it here.


The recipe and photo are from Taste of Home. You can link to it here. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Corn Soup


Prep: 20 min.          Cook: 25 min.


Ingredients

• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups fresh or frozen corn, thawed
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) vegetable broth
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 
  
• Directions
• In a large saucepan, saute onion and red pepper in butter until almost tender. Add the corn, jalapeno, garlic and chili powder; saute 2 minutes longer. (I had a fresh zucchini from our garden and decided to add it. I sauted it with the onion and red pepper.)
• 
  
• Stir in the broth, pumpkin, salt and cayenne until blended. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in lime juice. Yield: 7 servings.
• 
  
• Editor's Note: Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face.

Nutrition Facts: 1 cup equals 120 calories, 5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 9 mg cholesterol, 714 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 4 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1/2 fat.

Pumpkin Corn Soup published in Light & Tasty October/November 2007, p50

Cute Christmas Trees!

Fellow Close to My Heart consultant Mandy Leahy posted a tutorial on how to make cute paper Christmas trees using the Art Philosophy cartridge and a Cricut machine. Thanks, Mandy, for allowing me to share this with my readers! Click here to go to her blog and see the tutorial.

Happy Blogtoberfest!

What, you ask, is Blogtoberfest? The answer is simple. Blogtoberfest is a celebration of blogs and blogging. The wonderful and talented Tresa Black came up with the idea, and she has been kind enough to encourage others to join her in the celebration. The best part is that everyone gets to celebrate in their own way! Some may celebrate by posting more photos, videos or tutorials, while others may do so by changing the look of their blog or setting specific goals for the month.


I've decided to be part of the "more" crowd - more posts, which means more artwork! I need to create, create, create!


If you click on Tresa's Blog Dog logo in the top left of my page, it will take you to a list of all participants so you can see how they're celebrating. You can also use the link to get it on the fun!