Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - March: Choose Happy

Welcome to the March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month’s set is Choose Happy, a set of 14 stamps.

If you have come here from {Carol Taggio’s blog}, you’re in the right place! There are more than 65 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 begin!

 The Brushed paper packet has a LOT of pink in it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I am not personally a huge fan of pink. Therefore, when designing my card I wanted to go with less of the pink, or in this case, Pixie. That being said, I chose to focus more on the Canary or yellow. I love this new color. It’s bright, but not too bright.

I ended up choosing a card pattern with a lot of pieces, which allowed me to use a number of different papers and textures. I used tiny pieces of one of the zip strips in the packet, and I added texture to the White Daisy by embossing it with the Diamond Embossing Folder.

This particular stamp set isn’t specifically designed to be used with one of our Cricut cartridges, but I knew we had a shape similar to the frame I wanted to use, so I played around with it until I got the right size. I like how there is plenty of white space around the stamped frame. It helps the Flaxen color of the frame stand out.

I find that it is best to adhere dry embossed pieces with either foam tape or Glue Dots, and as I wrapped the embossed piece with the Extra Thick Twine, the foam tape was most appropriate in this instance.

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

S1503 Choose Happy stamp set

X7190B Brushed Paper Packet

Z2642 Flaxen Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Z2165 Juniper Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Z3036 Flaxen Extra Thick Twine

Z1807 Pink Glitter Gems

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Z3020 Diamond Embossing Folder

Z1836 Non-Stick Micro-tip Scissors

9042 Make It from Your Heart™ Volume 2 (#29)

Z1906 Cricut® Artbooking Collection

Now “Hop” on over to {Michelle Jones’ 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 March 31st. Click here to order yours today!

Cricut® Artfully Sent: Sleeve Function

Layering is where it’s at! The Sleeve function of Close To My Heart’s Cricut® Artfully Sent cartridge holds dozens of options that will lend beautiful depth and complexity to your cards in a matter of seconds.

Click here for more information on how you can get the Cricut® Artfully Sent Collection for yourself!

Welcome March 2015 Listers!

Greetings fellow Listers, and welcome to my blog!

I'm so glad you're here! Feel free to take a look around. You'll find informational videos, blog hops where you can see artwork from me and a number of my fellow consultants, as well as other projects I've done.

I am still debating on the type of products I'm going to use for my lists this time around. I love the Picture My Life cards, but I would also like to challenge myself to do a mini album. Even though I've been a papercrafter for a long time, I've never felt like I'm very good at mini albums. My stubborn, perfectionist self tries to come through too much. Maybe listing is the perfect opportunity to learn to loosen up?

Check back soon to see if I've made my decision!

Cricut® Artfully Sent: Sentiment Function

The Sentiment function of Close To My Heart’s Cricut® Artfully Sent cartridge goes deeper than words. See for yourself what extra tricks are hidden within this fun function!

You can shop in your pajamas here.

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - February: A Happy Hello

Welcome to the February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month’s set is A Happy Hello, a set of 15 stamps.

If you have come here from {Cat Nowak’s 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.

Let’s see some artwork!

When it came to creating the swap assignments for our current round, we decided to do away with creating a 3-D Cricut item for a while. It’s been on our list for at least a couple years, so we’ve accumulated quite a few things that are harder to find a place for. That being said, one member suggested creating Picture My Life pages instead. We all agreed that this is a great idea!

Wouldn't you know that I was the first one to be assigned the Picture My Life cards? I was actually really happy about it because this stamp set is so perfect for PML cards! The paper packet we had to use was Hopscotch. It has such a pretty color palette that’s ideal for flowers and spring.

For my page I did a mixture of stamping techniques and embellished patterned paper. I also used Artfully Sent to cut one of the cards. 

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

S1502 A Happy Hello stamp set
X7194B Hopscotch Paper Packet
1276 Ponderosa Pine Cardstock
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z2642 Flaxen Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Z2641 Glacier Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Z2130 Indian Corn Blue Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Z2196 Smoothie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Z2191 Sunset Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Z1986 Pink Shimmer Trim
Z1918 Teal Shimmer Trim
Z3016 Hopscotch Assortment
Z3012 Pathfinding Assortment
Z3038 Junebug Puffies
Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape
Z1912 Corner Rounder
Z1836 Non-Stick Micro-Tip Scissors
Z3017 Cricut® Artfully Sent Collection

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! Don’t forget, this exclusive stamp set is only available through February 28th. Click here to order yours today!

Cricut® Artfully Sent: Scene Function

Close To My Heart’s Cricut® Artfully Sent cartridge is packed with beautiful and inspirational card concepts, including the “scene” function.

For more information on Artfully Sent, click here.

Cricut® Artfully Sent: Pop-Up Cards with Icons

Take a look at some eye-popping cards made with the Pop-up and Icon functions of Close To My Heart’s Cricut® Artfully Sent collection.

Want more details on the Artfully Sent bundle? Click here.

Special Edition Blog Hop: Year >> Noted

As you may know, January is National Papercrafting Month, and once again Close to My Heart has an exclusive kit for you! This means a special edition Blog Hop, too! This year we’re offering the Year >> Noted Paper Kit, which features a C-size stamp set, stickers, cardstocks, and B&T Duos™ papers.

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The Hop features more than 20 independent Close to My Heart consultants and showcases how they chose to work with this fun kit. If you have come here from Chris Lothian’s blog, you’re in the right place! 

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 begin!

While this kit was designed to coordinate with the My Creations™ kraft mini book, I decided to turn it into Picture My Life pages instead. I removed the zip strip and cut the B&T Duos and cardstock into 4x6 pieces, and then I used pieces from some of them to create pennant strips or to stamp on. I have my first page ready for photos and journaling and will continue to add more cards.

Click on image to view larger.

I used Desert Sand ink for all the stamping on this page.

Now “Hop” on over to Jacquelin Green's blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant’s blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other unique ideas! 

Here are the campaign details:

In celebration of National Papercrafting Month, Close To My Heart invites you to reflect on the things that make you who you are and on what you want to accomplish in the coming months. Then, with the help of the Year >> Noted paper kit, record your experiences and goals! During the month of January, with a qualifying purchase of $50, you are eligible to purchase the exclusive Year >> Noted paper kit (which has a retail value of over $24 USD / $27 CAD) for only $5—that’s over 80% off retail! Or, for an additional $5, you can order the Year >> Noted paper kit with an accompanying My Creations™ kraft mini book. The paper kit for both options includes a C-size stamp set, stickers, cardstocks, and B&T Duos™ papers, all specially designed to coordinate with the My Creations™ kraft mini book so you can have a yearlong scrapbooking experience. This means you will receive over $34 USD / $37 CAD worth of product for only $10 if you purchase the kit with the accompanying mini book! But the fun doesn’t end there—included on the sticker sheet, you will find a large golden seal. Once the year is done and all the pages are filled, seal up your book and create a mini time capsule that you can open years from now. Remember, this deal is only available for January, so make sure to get your own Year >> Noted paper kit today for the perfect start to a crafty year!

Offer valid January 1, 2015–January 31, 2015. Click here to order yours today!

Here is a list of suggested materials that you may want to order to compliment your kit:
CC1032 Year >> Noted Paper Kit
Z3044 My Creations™ Kraft Mini Book
Z2174 Champagne Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2118 Desert Sand Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2642 Flaxen Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2641 Glacier Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2164 Sorbet Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2173 Slate Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen