April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Balloon Talk

Welcome to our monthly
Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

Today we will be featuring April’s Stamp of the Month (SOTM), which is called “Balloon Talk”.  

Take a peek!! J

 

If you have come here from Judy Burger’s Blog 

you are on the right track! J

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 here HERE…

This month we have over

 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this Balloon Talk stamp set!!

So, sit back and enjoy your tour as you click on the link at the end of the post to see what EACH Consultant has created!!

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When I thought about creating with this stamp set - I was a bit challenged.  This stamp set is PERFECT for scrapbooking, but I decided I will make a card and chose to be inspired from CTMH’s Wishes How-to-book. 

It had been a while since I used this how-to book and I was excited to see so many familiar images as I looked through the patterns.

I chose to use the “Collage” pattern on pg. 97 of the Wishes book.
.  

Here is the card… 

I chose to create a background with the fun words in this set. By pairing together the ink colors of cotton candy, blush, whisper & juniper, it allowed me to bring a bit of color into this card design. J

 

Can you guess what paper packs I used in my creating??

I put together our Lollydoodle & some of the Timberline papers to create my own color scheme.   

I enjoy challenging myself to use a variety of paper packs in my creations!!

I LOVE the new embossing folders that CTMH has…and I needed a subtle background.  I really liked how the embossed dots turned out on this card design & I hope you enjoy it too!!

Here is a list of items used on this card…

9041                Wishes How-to book

S1404                Balloon Talk

X7183B              Lollydoodle paper

X7182B              Timberline paper

Cardstocks:         Juniper & Whisper

Z1924                Dot Embossing Folder

Z1978                Rhinestone Charms 

Z1922                Pink Glitter Paper                    

Z1753                Pink Glitter Sparkles

Z1921                Metallic Bakers Twine

Z1151                 3D Foam Tape

Inks used:           Whisper, Cotton Candy, Blush, Juniper

Now head on over to Michelle Jones' Blog  to see what she has created using this stamp set!  

Be sure to visit ALL the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!

****Remember, the April SOTM

~ Balloon Talk ~

is only available until April 30th! J

Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here if you need a consultant J) to see how you can get this EXCLUSIVE stamp for ONLY $5!!!  

Blessings to you for a WONDERFUL day!!!

Krista J

Costa Rica with Close To My Heart

What an AMAZING trip!  A relaxing, rejuvenating time for my husband & I.  We are so thankful this opportunity that CTMH allows us to earn and a HUGE thank you that support me through CTMH!!! 

I am so grateful & so blessed by your continued support!! Thank you!!!

Come join me as I share a peek into our Costa Rica Trip of 2014!J

One of the highlights of the trip…we receive gifts each day!  Talk about being pampered! LOL!!!  What FUN!!! 

The packages were tied with ribbons & they all included a poem that gave you a hint of what was inside.  I looked forward to reading these poems each night! 

The Westin Playa Conchal resort was beautiful!  There were so many flowers, animals, birds, landscaping that allowed us to just relax and enjoy.

Our room was fabulous…we could have stayed in there the whole time!  With our sitting area, dining area, bedroom & bath - we really felt extra special with the royal treatment!! 

 

We HAD TO use our dining room table, so we called room service quite often.  We loved that we could receive a plate of fresh fruit anytime of the day or night!

Of course there were many restaurants to choose from too!!  We didn't get to all the restaurants…but the Bamboo, Asian restaurant, was our favorite! 

We had access to the public beach, right from the resort! 

There were vendors to “greet” us J as we walked onto the beach, massages on the beach for ONLY $20 (we opted to pass this time)…but if we ventured a bit farther away, we were in our own little world.

Most of the resort attendees, liked to be by the beautiful pool…

however, we ended up being at the beach instead of the pool the entire week! 

Whether we were at the beach during the afternoon, evening or early morning- we always enjoyed hearing the crashing of waves, the gurgling of water, the shells rubbing together in the tide - we enjoyed being surrounded by God’s creation and realizing once again what an AWESOME, MIGHTY, CREATIVE God we serve!

We choose to go on a few excursions, outside of the resort, throughout our week in Costa Rica.J

Our 1st trip was the Palo Verde tour - a boat ride to see the famous crocodiles, birds, iguanas, etc. 

I was THRILLED we also got to see macaw’s in the wild!!!  Beautiful!

On another day, we went on the Mega Combo tour…this was my favorite excursion out of the 2 we did.

The day ran from 8:30-5:30 and it included: Zip lining, horseback riding, 400 m. waterslide (4 football fields long!) lunch, volcanic mud bath & natural hot springs.  

WOW!!J

Here is a group picture of all 68 Incentive Trip Earners & 

the CTMH executive team!!

THANK YOU Close To My Heart for having this incentive trip available for us as consultants to earn!!  I have been to so many places in this world, that I never imagined I would go!  

I am so thankful & blessed and give Jesus the praise for allowing me to earn these trips!  My daily prayer is that I would continue to use the gifts he has given me to serve Him in all that I do!  J

Blessings to EACH of you!

Krista J

Emboss It Blog Hop

 Welcome to our 

Close To My Heart Emboss It

Blog Hop!

This month we are highlighting the

NEW 5x7

Embossing folders

from Close To My Heart!!

 

If you have come here from

 Pam’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 HERE.

Its super simple to hop along with us - just click on the link at the end of each blog post to move to the next one!

Here we go! J

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I am REALLY enjoying the NEW Skylark paper pack, and used that paper collection with my creation today!

I am AMAZED at our new 5x7 Embossing Folders

and how much detail they can add to a creation, with just a touch!! 

I am creating pages that will fit on our Flip Album stand.  This stand can be used for so many creations!

The thing I love the most about

Close To My Heart’s Embossing Folders, is that they come in the LARGER 5x7 size AND what’s even better….

you can emboss up to  a 4” x 12” piece of cardstock!!  A perfect length to add to any scrapbook page, or add to your card creations!  Yay for possibilities!!

Take a peek at a few close-ups…See the detail that the dot embossing folder brings to this page!

I’ve had some fun adding charms to my papercraft creations.  Here I used the rhinestone charm, but you can use these fun accents in a variety of ways!

I also am enjoying using the NEW white marquee shapes!  Incorporate these shapes with some baker’s twine, washi tape & shimmer trim - and you have some beautiful additions to make your creation shine! J

 

CLICK HERE to see another way I used charms in a non-jewelry way!  Imagine the possibilities!

Products used for 6x 5 3/4” flip album page…

B1439 - Dreamer stamp set

X7177C - Skylark paper

1388- Colonial White Cardstock

1301 - Bamboo Cardstock

Z1924 - Dot 5x7 Embossing Folder

Z1790 Artbooking Cricut Bundle

pg. 47- 2” overlay (cut in half)

p. 73- 4” photo mat 2

 z1850 - Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape

Z1930- Woodgrain Washi Tape

Z1921- Metallic Baker’s Twine

Z1918 - Teal Shimmer Trim

Z1961 - White Marquee Enamel Shapes

Z1978 - Rhinestone Charms

Z1851 - Scallop Border Punch

Inks used:  Lagoon & Desert Sand

I hope you enjoyed this brief peek at one way you can use the FABULOUS NEW 5x7 Embossing Folders!!

 

Now "Hop" on over to  Pamela Ellison’s Blog   to see her AMAZING work!  Be sure to visit all the Consultants in the Hop to get some great crafting ideas! 

Thanks for stopping by & be sure to come back to my blog each week to see MORE creations using CTMH’s beautiful product!!

Blessings to you for a wonderful day!!!

Krista J