Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - December: Cutie Pie

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we’re featuring the December set Cutie Pie, a set of 11 stamps. 

If you have come here from {Dawn Ross’ blog}, you’re in the right place! There are more than 60 independent Close to My Heart consultants participating. Click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move through the Hop.

The Blog Hop is a great big circle. Start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here. You can use this list to pick up where you left off.

Off we go!

This month’s set is just fun. I mean, who doesn’t love cupcakes, and when you pair this set with the Confetti Wishes papers you have the perfect combination!

I was inspired by a sample layout on page 41 in Make It from Your Heart Volume 2. I loved how they used photo frames for pictures rather than just photo mats. I wanted to add a bit of pizzazz so I cut mine from the Canary Paper Fundamentals and placed two of them with the embossed side up, while the last one has the patterned side up for a little contrast.

The other great thing about the photo frames is they have cutouts. I put small pieces of our Purple Shimmer Trim behind them to make them stand out. I also ran a strip under the edge of the banner with the sentiment for a little more bling.

Here is what I used. All products are Close to My Heart:

S1412 Cutie Pie stamp set
X7189B Confetti Wishes Paper Packet
Z2033 Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment
44751 Archival Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z2462 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Peony Purple Marker
Z2464 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Tender Pink Marker
Z2461 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Peacock Green Marker
Z2465 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Turquoise Blue Marker

Z1919 Purple Shimmer Trim

Z1936 Purple Glitter Gems
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
Z1836 Non-Stick Micro-tip Scissors
Z1906 Cricut® Artbooking Collection

Now “Hop” on over to {Beth Naumann’s blog} to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant’s site to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Don’t forget, this exclusive stamp set is only available through December 31st. Click here to order yours today!

Annual Inspirations: New Product Blog Hop

With the release of Close to My Heart’s new Annual Inspirations catalog, the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop group decided to do a special edition Blog Hop.

If you have come here from {Michelle Stewart’s blog}, you’re in the right place! There are more than 50 independent Close to My Heart consultants participating. Click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move through the Hop.

The Blog Hop is a great big circle. Start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here. You can use this list to pick up where you left off.

Let’s get started!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, if not my favorite holiday, and I am absolutely in love with our new Scaredy Cat paper packet. That being said, it’s always a good idea to do something other than the obvious, so I wanted to use these papers for something other than Halloween.

The colors in Scaredy Cat are fun and festive, and I felt like several of the patterns leant themselves well to other types of celebrations, especially birthdays. Combine all this with the Build-a-Cake stamp set and you have the perfect birthday card!

Even though there is Black in the patterned paper, I liked how Slate looked less severe and maybe even more elegant. I used Slate for the cake plate and candle and alternated Thistle and Sunset for the cake layers. The candle flame needed a little something extra, so I just traced around it with the Golden Yellow ShinHan Marker.

My favorite new specialty paper is the Purple Glitter Paper, and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to use it, too. It added enough bling that I didn’t need to use any other embellishments.

Here is what I used. All products are Close to My Heart:

Build-a-Cake

 

Scaredy Cat Paper Packet

Purple Glitter Paper

Thistle Exclusive Inks™ Pad

Sunset Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Slate Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Golden Yellow Marker

Now “Hop” on over to {Lela Norris’ blog} to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant’s site to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! If you'd like to take a look at all the other goodies in Annual Inspirations, click here. Happy creating!

Babycakes Birthday Card Workshop

Babycakes isn't just for babies! I chose 12 card patterns and added some Gypsy, Lagoon, and Honey cardstock to the Buttercup, Sunset, Slate, and Chocolate that came with the paper pack. I used the Cricut® Artbooking Collection to create some of the frames and other accent pieces, and then I added in a little Lagoon and/or Slate Washi Tape, the Slate Striped Twist Ties, and the Slate Mini-Medley, and ended up with some fun cards!

If you'd like more information on how I made these cards, or if you'd like a kit, please contact me and I would be happy to help you!

Later Sk8er Birthday Card Workshop

 

About every other month I teach a project to fellow consultants at our local team training. For May I designed a birthday card workshop using the Later Sk8er paper packet, Washi Tape, Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon, Epoxy Bubbles, and both the Joyful Birthday and Perfect Fit - Birthday stamp sets. I also wanted to highlight just a small portion of the many great card bases that can be cut with the Art Philosophy and Artiste Cricut cartridges.







Card 1

 

Card 2

Card 3

Card 4



Card 5

Card 6

 



Even though this paper has a masculine theme, I tried to make some of the cards more feminine.

 

Card 7

Card 8

Card 9

Card 10

Card 11

Card 12

 

I'm new to using Washi Tape. I know it's been around a while, but until Close to My Heart added some to the catalog, I just hadn't tried it. I had fun using it in various ways on the cards. My favorite is the one where I put two rows of it across the bottom of the card. (Card #8)

 

If you'd like to know more about now I created these cards, please feel free to contact me!

Perpetual Calendar Workshop

This perpetual calendar makes a great gift for birthdays, Mother's Day, teachers, or for yourself!

To create one Perpetual Calendar you will get:

1 My Creations Card Box

2 My Creations Cubes

3 1/2 sheets B&T paper and/or cardstock (I will have three different paper options for you to choose from)

42" ribbon

pre-cut Cricut shapes

Hook & Loop Dots

Cost: $22

You will be allowed to use my stamps and blocks, inks, re-inkers, sponges, and Liquid Glass.

What you will need to bring:

Paper trimmer

Scissors

This workshop will take place on Saturday, March 16th at 1:00 p.m. Please RSVP with payment by Sunday, March 10th.

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!

All-Occasion Card Workshop

Another name for this project is "Card-a-palooza". Using four different sheets of B&T (patterned paper), I was able to create 25 cards. These photos are a representation from two different examples I made for a total of 50 cards. The cards in the top photo were made using two patterns from Wings, one pattern from Wings Creative Basics, and one pattern from Emporium, The cards in the bottom photo were made using two patterns from Bliss, one pattern from Veranda, and another pattern from Wings Creative Basics. I used at least two different stamp sets, including Card Chatter - Birthday and Card Chatter - Sympathy.

Masculine Birthday Cards

I needed some masculine birthday cards so I used some of my favorite paper and came up with these.

Birthday Cards

I needed some birthday cards a few months back, so I made a few like this to use up some discontinued paper. I was really pleased with the results, and they were so simple!