Sunshine Birdies - March SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to our MONTHLY Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Blog Hop!!

If you have come here from

 Donna Digby's Blog 

you are on the right track!!

This month, we will be featuring the EXCLUSIVE March SOTM stamp set called “Sunshine Birdies”.  

This blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here & work your way around to the many consultants on this "hop"!  

If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of PARTICIPATING CONSULTANTS by clicking HERE…

This month we have 39 Close To My Heart Consultants that will be sharing items they have created using this month’s stamp set! So, sit back & 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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Take a peek at this FUN, exclusive Stamp set only available during March 2016!!!J

As I look at this stamp set, I know SPRING will be on it's way shortly - here in the eastern USA. Are these guys ADORABLE or what?  What a cute stamp set!! J 

Spring, in my mind, equals bright colors...and this led me to use our Penelope paper collection to create this month's card.  

Take a look... 

The pattern for this card is found in CTMH's How-to book, Make it From Your Heart, volume 2.J 

I decided since this stamp set made me "happy"....why not pull out the word happy from the stamped images included in this stamp set. J 

How did I ONLY ink up the word "happy"?
Prior to inking the "You make me happy" image, I stuck a post-it note on the word me (right above happy).  Then I inked up the stamp (trying to just get the word happy in ink)....took OFF the post it note, and ta-da....only the word "happy" had black ink on it!! (because the rest of the ink went on my post-it note) I LOVE my post-it notes J 

To color in the sun, I used our ShinHan alcohol marker. I wanted my sunshine to be bright & happy. 

But then for the butterfly, I wanted a softer look - so I used our Watercolor Pencils & the Blending Pen.  Ooooo, it had been a while since I used the blending pen, and it was so EXCITING to watch the blending pen "smooth out the pencil lines" as I colored over it.  

I also used one of my FAVORITE techniques on this card - dry embossing!!  I ADORE the TEXTURE this brings to any piece of artwork!  By using CTMH's, larger than most, 5x7 embossing folders & my Cuttlebug machine...I was able to get a perfect imprint every time!! 

Take a look at the picture below for some of the detail....

I used our dots 5x7 Embossing folder, and embossed dots directly on top of an already PRE-PATTERNED paper!!!  Then to make the dots stand out a bit more, I sanded them lightly.  An added "twist" to embossing!! I did the same technique on the right side of the card....but instead of dots, I used the vine embossing folder. 

As you take a look at this card again, you will also notice the PURPLE glitter paper that I used across the bottom.  

The strip of flowers across the glitter paper is actually a ZIP STRIP that is cut in half, that came from the Penelope paper pack!!!  What a treat, to have those extra zip strips as part of EACH of our paper packs at Close To My Heart!! 

I hope you are enjoying this blog hop & are getting LOTS of ideas for when you have your OWN March Stamp of the Month (SOTM) stamp set in hand!  
Happy Crafting to EACH of you! J 

Now  its time to head over to Krista Ritskes' Blog to see  what FABULOUS item she has created using this stamp set!  J

Be sure to visit ALL the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!  We always love to hear any feedback you’d like to share as well, so feel free to leave a comment. J

****Remember, the February SOTM

~ Sunshine Birdies~

is only available until 

March 31, 2016! J

It can be yours at the retail price of $17.95 OR pay $5 when you purchase $50 in CTMH items 

Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here if you need a consultant J) to see how you can receive these EXCLUSIVE items for ONLY $5 each!!!  

Blessings to you for a WONDERFUL day!!!

Krista J

Joyful Stars Blog Hop-Lollydoodle flower packet holder

Welcome to our monthly

  

Joyful Stars Blog Hop!!!!

We're excited to share our creativity with you using our favorite Close To My Heart products!

For our theme this month, we could choose Easter or Spring themed! J

When I thought of “spring”…I thought of a certain paper pack that CTMH carries that radiates spring!

Come on in and  see what BEAUTIFUL projects my fellow consultants have creating using the AMAZING products from Close To My Heart!!

 This blog hop is easy to do…just click on the link at the end of the post to go to the next creation!! 


 

If you get lost along the way, CLICK HERE to see the list of this month’s hoppers! 

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If you have arrived from Lori Meadow’s blog you are right on track. 

With spring quickly approaching, I created this adorable seed packet holder. 

I saw this idea from a fellow consultant, and knew this would be the PERFECT “thank you” gift for my ladies that were my food leaders at my annual scrapbooking retreat!

I LOVE the NEW Lollydoodle paper pack!  It has such vibrant colors and  makes you want to smile!  It’s my “happy paper”! J

It was quite easy to create…by using 2 of CTMH’s Cricut cartridges!!  What did I ever do before we had our Cricut cartridges?? They make creating SO quick & easy!!

I used the Artiste cartridge for the pear colored circle at the top (1 3/4” circle, Key C>Accent 2>shift)  for the ribbon to hold on to…and the Art Philosophy cartridge for the other images.

If you’d like to re-create one of these flower packet holders on your own, here are the measurements of the Cricut cut pieces…

Flowers - Art Philosophy- (pg. 50, flower 8 key)

Cotton Candy flower-2 1/2”

Sorbet flower-2”

Crystal Blue flower- 1 1/2”

Leaves- Art Philosophy (pg. 59, petal 2 key)

Pear leaves - 1” & 3/4”

Door Knob holder- Art Philosophy (pg. 25, 5 key)

3 1/4” font layer>shift

Here’s a close up of the flowers…

I had SO MUCH FUN using our new embossing folders.  Our 5x7 folders do a PERFECT job to add “extra” to any creation! 

Did you know, that CTMH’s embossing folders can emboss a 4”x12” piece of paper??? 

Here are the 5 designed folders that we currently carry!

In this case I used the CHEVRON embossing folder to create veins in the leaves, and the DOT embossing folder to add some texture to the flowers. 

We (my daughter & I) sponged the edges of all flower & leaf pieces with Whisper ink.  Then we started to layer the flowers on top of each other - putting a square of 3d foam tape in between each flower layer!

I finished this flower seed holder with a zip strip from this Lollydoodle paper.  I just added some Tombow tape, and glued it to the box.

I LOVE the zip strip & how it’s a little “extra” that CTMH includes to each of their designer paper collections.   I use these zip strips ALL the time!  Make sure you don’t throw them away! 

Have a wonderful week…and I hope this has inspired you in some way!!

Now it’s time to Hop on over to  Stephanie Brown’s blog to check out her crafty item she has to share with us! J 

Happy Hopping and we’ll see you on the 9th next month, when the Joyful Stars team members will be sharing artwork using some NEW, upcoming products from CTMH!!    

Blessings to you for BEAUTIFUL day!!!

Krista Hershberger J

Wild About Love - Feb 2014 SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to our monthly

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

Today we will be featuring February’s Stamp of the Month (SOTM), which is called “Wild About Love”.  

If you have come here from Pamela Ellison’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 HERE…

This month we have over

 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this Wild About Love 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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 This stamp set is oh SO CUTE!!! J

I chose to use the stamp image with the single fox holding a flower.  My next step was to chose a card design…so I started to look for a design in the WISHES how-to-book…my go to book lately.

Here is the card I created!! 

This card design I found on page 72 of Wishes…and is a part of a workshop collection. 

As I thought of February, and Valentine’s Day…that led me to create with one of our NEW papers….the Ivy Lane Paper pack!  I LOVE the beautiful designs in this kit!!

Did you notice the adorable “border” in the middle of the card???  Can you guess where that came from?? 

It is a ZIP STRIP from the top of one of the papers in this pack!!  I LOVE zip strips! J

For the bracket shape that I placed the fox on, I used a stamp set from the Ivy Lane Cardmaking kit.  This shape is cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, and so I cut a Smokey Plum frame to mat this image on.

You will want to make sure to check out the rest of the contents in this kit!!  There are exclusive embellishments in this kit - gold shimmer adhesive backed tape INCLUDED!! 

One last NEW item I had to include on this card..PINK Glitter paper!! Yay!! 

I LOVE our collection of the 12x12 glitter sheets!!  They cut BEAUTIFULLY with our Cricut cartridges, which is how I created the accent heart on this card.

Here is a list of items used on this card…

S1402                Wild About Love

D1586               Ivy Lane Card Making stamp set

X7178B              Ivy Lane paper pack

Cardstocks:         Bamboo, Colonial White, Smokey Plum

9041                  Wishes how-to book

Z1686                Art Philosophy Circuit Cartridge

                             Hollyhock Heart – 1 ½”

                             Colo. White Heart – 1 ¼”

                             Glitter Heart – 1”

                             Smokey Plum frame – 2.9”

                            Bamboo frame – 2 ¾”

Z1922                Pink Glitter Paper

Z1151                 3D Foam Tape

Z726                 Sponge Daubers

Inks used:           Smokey Plum, Hollyhock

Now head on over to  Vicki Price’s 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 February SOTM

~ Wild About Love~

is only available until February 28th! 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