January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - This Moment

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring January's SOTM, This Moment, a set of 12 stamps.  If you have come here from Maria'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 all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog: http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html.

This month we have approximately 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This 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 the worst aunt in the world. Last August, I forgot my favorite (and only) niece's birthday. I felt awful. I'm just terrible about keeping track of days and need a better reminder. Yes, I know that my iPhone has a wonderful calendar and alarm system, but that's besides the point. I decided to make a monthly "card" calendar with birthdays and anniversaries. Why didn't I think of this sooner?!?

• Crystal Blue Cardstock, 1292
• White Daisy Cardstock, 1385
• Heartstrings Paper Pack, X7193B
• Bohemian Alphabet, E1019 (retired)
• Archival Black Ink, 44751
• Cranberry Ink, Z2116
• Whisper Ink, Z2172
• Crystal Blue Ink, Z2117
• Black Arrow Washi Tape, Z2003
• Stuck on You Puffies, Z3037
• January SOTM-This Moment, S1501

Now "Hop" on over to Dana's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the January SOTM is only available until the 28th.  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Cutie Pie

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring December's SOTM, Cutie Pie, a set of 11 stamps.  If you have come here from Priscilla'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 all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog: http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html.

This month we have approximately 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This 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!

The Dot Embossing Folder provided just the texture I wanted for this card. I rubbed a little of the White Daisy Pigment Ink across the dimensional dots with a sponge to give them a little more "oomph." I love the hand drawn look of the pennant and the cupcakes. I couldn't resist filling them in with our new ShinHan alcohol ink markers. They are so easy to use and I adore the vibrant colors.

• Whisper Cardstock, X5929
• White Daisy Cardstock, 1385
• Lagoon Cardstock, X5762
• Dot Embossing Folder, Z1924
• Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, 1686
• Cranberry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Z2116
• Exclusive Inks Mini Black Pigment Ink, Z9998
• White Daisy Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Z2163
• Round Sponge, Z697
• ShinHan Twin Touch Turquoise Blue Marker, Z2462
• ShinHan Twin Touch Carmine Marker, Z2448
• ShinHan Twin Touch Mahogany Marker, Z2456
• Red Shimmer Trim, Z1848
• Bitty Sparkles, Z1263
• December SOTM-Cutie Pie, S1412

Now "Hop" on over to Nancy's blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the December SOTM is only available until the 31st.  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

CTMH Cricut Artfully Sent Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Artfully Sent Blog Hop. Thank you for hopping over from Wendy's Blog. If you get lost along the way, click here for a complete list of participants.

CTMH's latest Cricut cartridge, Artfully Sent, is full of 700 images that when combined, allow you to make 400 projects. You'll never get bored with this cartridge! This cart is made for card makers with pop-ups, scenes, sentiments, sleeves and pocket card styles. But, you can also change the sizes to make cute additions to your layouts. Oh, and did I mention an alphabet and envelope making abilities? Yep, you gotta put this on your Christmas list!

I wanted to show that you can make a gift card holder in five minutes. The B&T paper is from Wanderful and I used some scraps of White Daisy and Cotton Candy Cardstock. The sentiment comes from one of the coordinating stamp sets that you get with this cartridge and is stamped in Crystal Blue Ink. I just added a little bling with Flamingo Dots, Gold Shimmer Trim and Pink Shimmer Trim.

Be sure to visit all of the blogs on this hop for some creative inspiration. Next up is Beth's Blog.

Remember, you can only get the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge from your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant. Click here for more information or to buy it now!

Happy Holidays Tag

Halloween is over, yet the sugar rush lingers. So, must be time for Christmas crafting to start!

One of my teacher friends is now an Arbonne consultant and she's sponsoring seniors to pamper with some lovely Arbonne products this Christmas. I made a slew of tags to attach to the gifts.

I used a lot of retired CTMH product (stamp set is C1481, Holiday Cheer), but you could recreate this tag with any Christmas stamp set. The tags are cut using Art Philosophy (Tag 1) at 4 inches. Just have fun sharing some Christmas cheer this year with a hand-stamped tag!

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - It's the Little Things

Welcome to the Close To My Heart November Stamp of the Month, It's the Little Things, Blog  Hop. I appreciate you hopping over from Lela's Blog. For a complete list of hoppers, go here.


I made a little gift bag using my awesome Cricut Artiste cartridge. Then, I put my stamping and scissors to work with the little flowers. I layered the Thin 3-D Foam Tape to create different layers of dimension to the flowers, added some washi tape and sparkles and voila! Simple and cute homemade gift bag.

Side view to show dimension

Supplies Used (all CTMH)

• CTMH Artiste cartridge, Z1790 (Select 3D Object, <Noel>,
  Fit to Page) page 79 of the Artiste book
• Lagoon Hearts Washi Tape, Z2004
• Chalk It Up Paper Packet, X7184B
• Lagoon Ink, Z2195
• Flaxen Ink, Z2642
• Sorbet Ink, Z2164
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z2060
• Mini Clothes Pin, Z1815
• Sparkles Clear Flourishes - Small, Z1812
• Bitty Sparkles, Z1263

This It's the Little Things Stamp Set is going to get so much use with it's whimsical flowers and sentiments.  Remember, you can only get this set in November and it's just $5 with your $50 purchase on my CTMH website.

Be sure to visit all of the blogs on this hop for some creative inspiration. Next up is Nancy's Blog.

Halloween Jigglers

Do you know about the "BOO" tradition? You make up a bag of treatss, drop it on your neighbors' doorstep, ring the bell and run! It's a cute little game and the kids love it. Then, you hang up a "We've Been Booed" sign so you don't get double booed (though we did this year...two times in five minutes...I didn't have time to get the sign up. And, yes, the kids LOVED that!). Finally, it was our turn to boo two more friends.

Okay, I digressed, back to the Jello Jigglers. Our first BOO bag contained this cool Jello mold and mixes. So easy to make and delicious to eat. I found extras at Target that we gifted to other friends.

My little guy had a friend over after school today and they loved these tasty treats! What Halloween treats are you making this year?

Halloween Countdown!

How many days until Halloween? These cute little countdown blocks answer that question in such a spookily sweet way!

Happy Halloween!

Treats Box

Wow, I had my Halloween craft going a couple of years ago. Here's a Treats box I decorated with CTMH paper and stamps (now retired).

You could easily reproduce this treat box with the Scaredy Cat Paper Pack  and the My Creations Journaling Cards Box. It would be more vertical than horizontal, but would be so cute!

What would you fill it up with?

Spooky Banner

It's time to decorate for Halloween! I made this cute spooky banner a few years ago. You'll see in my next few posts just how much I loved that Mischief paper pack.

What Halloween decorations have you put up?

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Home for the Holidays

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring October's SOTM,  Home for the Holidays, a set of seven stamps.  If you have come here from Traci Godbee'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 all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog: http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html.

This month we have 73 (73!) Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one.

I made this simple card after seeing something similar on Pinterest. I love the combination of spray pen technique and washi tape. It creates such a simple, but fun, card. Home for the Holidays coordinates with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, which makes cutting out the postage stamp so easy.

Now "Hop" on over to Krista Ritskes's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the October SOTM is only available until the 31st!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

CTMH Cricut Artfully Sent Collection

Congratulations! You've made it through the summer! Perhaps you have a little more time for YOU now...time to meet friends for lunch, to workout, to catch up on correspondence and to reach out to friends and family you've been missing.

Close To My Heart has a fantastic new product to help you with that last endeavor...the Cricut Artfully Sent Collection! This fabulous collection will be coming in early to mid September and only from your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (that's me!). Like all of our Cricut Collections, you'll get three stamp sets that coordinate with the Cricut cartridge.

CTMH Cricut Artfully Sent Collection

Here's a sneak peak at a few cards I made at CTMH Convention this June, using the new Cricut Artfully Sent Collection.

Outside of Card

Inside of Beautiful Day Card

With just a few embellishments and simple stamping, you can create stunning cards in just minutes. Contact me today so I can let you know as soon as this cartridge becomes available to order!

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is Family is Forever, a set of seven stamps.  If you have come here from Mary Eisen'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 all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog:  http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html.

This month we have 80 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This 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 was inspired to use the new CTMH Designed Decor Shadow Box Z2015 on a collage wall my husband and I are creating. My plan is to change out the layout for each season. I love how this Fall layout turned out using the Family is Forever stamp set. A special thanks to Sarah Paige-Gruber for the inspiration for the top right corner design.

List of supplies used:

• Designed Decor Shadow Box, Z2015
• Pathfinding Paper Packet, X7186B
• Brown & Tan Sparkles, Z1753
• Exclusive Inks Chocolate Stamp Pad, Z2111
• Exclusive Inks Barn Red Stamp Pad, Z2104
• Exclusive Inks Olive Stamp Pad, Z2137
• Cricut Art Philosophy Collection, Z1686
• Colonial White Cardstock, Z2168
• Non-stick Micro-tip Scissors, Z1836
• Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z2060

Now "Hop" on over to Kami Welter's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the September SOTM is only available until the 30th!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

Stitch Guide, Rule & Foam Mat

Have you ever wondered how scrapbookers get those perfectly straight stitched lines and cool stitched shapes? Watch this video from CTMH and you'll be a stitching on your layouts in no time!



Supplies:

• Stitch Guide, Z1852
• Ruler, Z1471
• Foam Mat, Z1859
• Piercing & Embossing Tool Kit, Z2046

To order, click here.

New Product Blog Hop

Thanks for hopping over from the fabulously talented Dana Kessler's blog.

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No silly, not Christmas, it's time for the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book and Catalog from Close To My Heart! And, as 50+ consultants are participating in this New Product Blog Hop, you'll find an art explosion sure to satisfy your creative sweet tooth.

I'm always surprised at how few decorations I have for Thanksgiving. So, I decided to create this Give Thanks box to display between my favorite holidays (Halloween and Christmas). It's filled with little cards to be sent to people I'm especially thankful for and I can't wait to share my appreciation for them in November.

Give Thanks Card Box

I used the new Score Board (LOVE IT!) from Close To My Heart to score my paper to fit around the box. Cut a strip at the desired width. Then, score at 1", 2 5/8", 9 1/8" and 10 3/4". Then, you just need a strip about 6" to cover the back of the box. Bonding Memories Glue is by far the best adhesive to get your paper to adhere to the box!

Card 1

Card 2

Cards 3 and 4

Did you recognize some new products? A few of my favorites are the Paper Fundamentals in the Adventure Assortment (see the texture of the Sunset paper in Card 2!) and the Teal Glitter Paper in Card 1. Here's a complete supply list:

•  My Creations Journaling Cards Box, Z1953
• Bonding Memories Glue, 1512
• New Pathfinding Paper Packet, X7186B
• New Pathfinding Complements, X7186C
• New Pathfinding Assortment, Z3012
• New Neutral Metallic Baker's Twine, Z1921
• New Paper Fundamentals Adventure Assortment, Z2032
• New Teal Glitter Paper, Z1991
• New Season of Thanks My Acrylix Stamp Set, D1604
• New Lifetime of Happiness My Acrylix Stamp Set, C1589
• New Have a Happy Day My Acrylix Stamp Set, D1616
• Sunset Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Z2191
• Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Z2111
• Bamboo Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Z2103
• New Glacier Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Z2641
• And last but not least...the new CTMH Score Board, Z1937

The new Score Board also scores paper on an angle!!!

Now, hop over to see the fun creations in store for you at Dawn Ross's blog! If you got lost along the way, Melinda has a complete list of participating consultants.

Happy Little Life Giveaway: Win a FREE paper pack!

It's my "Happy Little Life" Giveaway!

I love this sweet layout I made at CTMH Convention in June. My favorite thing about it is all of the different elements and products used. What NEW stamp sets, paper or embellishments can you identify? Leave your guess/guesses in the comments section below for a chance to win your choice of one of the nine new CTMH paper packs, delivered right to your door (US residents only). I will select one lucky winner on Monday, August 11, 2014.

2014 Annual Inspirations Idea Book and Catalog

Have you taken time to look through the new 2014 Annual Inspirations Idea Book and Catalog from Close To My Heart yet?

You are going to love the layout of this catalog. It's so easy to navigate with the colored tabs on the top right side indicating sections of the book. There's (finally!) a Table of Contents on the first page to guide you...as if you won't be pouring over the entire book numerous times anyhow!

The catalog starts with yellow tabs the CTMH Opportunity, Hostess Rewards and Stamp of the Month sets.

The green tabs indicate the bulk of the CTMH product. All of the products you love and yearn to see each new catalog: the NINE new paper packs, coordinating stamp sets, alphabet stamp sets, mini stamp sets and our fabulous CRICUT collections. There's a NEW Cricut Collection: Artfully Sent that helps you make card masterpieces quickly and beautifully (p. 141). It will be available in early September!

Blue tabs show you some of the newer and most exciting products! Here, you'll find Picture My Life, My Crush, Cut Above, Designed Décor and Base & Bling collections. Those Cut Above cards are some of my favorite new products; check them out on p. 158.

Finally, you'll take comfort knowing that CTMH has continued to provide the best tools and accessories looking through the orange section. Accessories & Tools, Exclusive Color Palette (with five new colors, Glacier is my fave!), How-To Patterns and Studio J can also be found here.

Last but not least, you'll find an awesome Index on the back cover to help you quickly locate a stamp set, paper pack or product that you need to find NOW.

Ready for your own Annual Inspirations Idea Book and Catalog? Order one from my Shop Online Site or contact me to see how you can get your own for FREE!

What A Hoot - August 2014 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

You are in for a treat! What A Hoot, the August 2014 Stamp of the Month is the cutest "build your own" stamp set I've seen in forever. And, it's a great way to kick off the new Annual Inspirations Catalog from Close To My Heart!

Thank you for hopping over from Katy's Blog.

Here is a swing card I created using the "S" key from the Artiste cartridge, the Scaredy Cat Paper Pack and the What a Hoot stamp set.

The Scaredy Cat paper is so versatile; you'll love using it on all of your Fall themed layouts and cards. I added an adhesive spring to pop the owl off of the card. Our new ShinHan marker in Peony Purple perfectly colored in my owl. You're going to love these markers!

Hop over to Traci's Blog to see what has created to share with you. If you got lost along the way, go here to see the complete list of 65+ blogs!

To get your What a Hoot set, simply place an order of $50 or more on my Shop Online Site and it's yours for only $5!