July SOTM Blog Hop - Life is Wonderful

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring July's SOTM, which is called Life is Wonderful, a set of 8 stamps.  If you have come here from Nancy'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.

This month we have approximately 47 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!

For my project, I started with a 5x7 card base, and added a piece of star pattern paper from the Chalk it Up paper package. Then added another patterned piece( the opposite side) at an angle. The sentiment is actually 3 different pieces that I pieced together and first stamped on Black cardstock using White Daisy Pigment Ink. Then I stamped the Wonderful again on Glacier cardstock in Black Ink.  Fussy cutting the Wonderful out I then adhered it to the Black cardstock using 3D foam tape.  To finish the card off, I added 2 pieces of Shimmer Trim.

I've included a close up of the popped Wonderful, so you can see that it is raised.  I think it really pops the whole sentiment.

Now "Hop" on over to Melinda'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 July 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!

You Are the Best with AHSC #113

I actually had some craft time, but most of it was spent getting my daughter's class yearbooks ready.  My neighbours and myself have done these little mini albums for the class for at least 3 years now, and the kids really expect to get them.  I'll post photos once the albums are completed.  But after I got my pages done I was able to sit down and craft for me and worked on this weeks sketch.

I decided to make a 6x6 card for the sketch, which is changing my sketch some as you see below the sketch is done as a A2 size card design.

My card is cut from White Daisy Cardstock, and I've used the Brushed Pattern paper to create my panels.  The twine is retired and is Pixie, and for my hanging medallion, the mat is layered White Daisy on Jupiner. The flower is from the Compliments. The sentiment and banner is from the Stamp set Finding the Words (D1646) and is stamped in Canary and Black Ink.

I even decided to show the inside of the card, which I used the cute little ladybug and some doodling.

Now, my design team has created some fabulous artwork for you to be totally inspired by, and I hope you will hop over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to check our what they have been creating.  As a reminder we are also running our Design Team call for our fall term.

Cross Canada Blog Hop - June - Mini albums

Welcome to our June Blog Hop featuring Mini Albums.  To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop and I just happen to be the first stop for your journey across Canada. If you came from Janet's Blog  then you are in the right place! 

For my mini album project I decided to use the Hip Pic Album.  It is so much fun to use and so quick to put together.  The paper that I used was an exclusive package that attendees received at 2013 Convention in Walt Disney World.  It was my very first convention, and I had many things that I wanted to do.  I highlighted some of those items in this book. I used a few different stamps to get the desired look I was going for, including the coordinating stamp from 2013 Convention.( Sorry if some of the photos of my project are bright.  Practicing with my settings and outside photography)

I used the ink colours found in the paper package, Smokey Plum, Honey, Cranberry, Sunset and Jupiner along with slate for the stamped lines.  I used Washi tape in the same colours too.

We arrived late due to bad weather in Philadelphia and it was dark when we passed through the Welcoming sign. It was still pretty magical. Here I used Sunset Chevron Washi Tape, and a tag stamp found in May's SOTM, stamped in Jupiner.

When I registered for convention, Leadership day wasn't open to Supervisors, and so I had made lunch plans with Janet and her husband at RainForest Cafe.  The food was fabulous. Here I again used stamps from May's SOTM, stamped in Smokey Plum, Honey and Cranberry.  The notebook page with lines came from a stamp in the Artbooking Cricut Collection.  I then stamped the decorative border stamp found on the Convention stamp in sunset, layered it with Honey Triangle Washi tape and some Patterned paper.

These next pages were fun to put together, who doesn't love Donald Duck!  I applied Honey ink to the large sun stamp,and then inked the other edges with Sunset giving it a two tone affect.  The flowers and Viva stamp also came from the Convention Stamp Set. The second page has banners from the Bodacious Banners Stamp.

That happened is from May's SOTM, and I paired it with the Black Arrow Washi Tape.  The photo is from General Session.  Then on the second page I made my own tab and applied it to my journalling and added some retired Jupiner Washi tape.

LOL, too funny, realizing I didn't add my date before I took the photos, opps!  Here I used the Sunset Chevron Washi tape along with a the date stamp from May's SOTM.  Page 2 consists of the stamped border seen before, some ink smudging and Honey Triangle Washi Tape.  The Love It, is a piece of Washi Tape from the Carnival Washi Tape pack.

The last page I'm showing features an envelope from the In The Pink Accessory collection, the Black Arrow Washi Tape. The embellishment is actually cut out from the patterned paper.  The second page is patterned paper with Dove Tails cut.  Here I got to meet Monica and Hug here when I went to receive the Rising Star award for 2012-2013.  Thank you to all my lovely CTMH Canadian friends who nominated me.  Love you all, and see you in 2016.

I didn't have time to complete my album, as some of my pictures were blurry and I had to reprint them.  I promise I'll share them in a later post and will plug in the link.( link will go here)

I hope you enjoyed my mini album, and some of my highlights from convention.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Nicky from Timeless Cottage.

 If you get lost along the way you can come back here, as I've posted the complete lineup below:

1. Michelle  YOU ARE HERE 
2. Nicky
3. Sheri  
4. Lucy 
5. Brae 
6. Donna 
7. Janet 

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring the Operation Smile Stamp Set.  So mark July 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

AHSC #111 & a Thank you!

Wow, I've been missing in action from my own sketch challenge for quite some time now.  Between work, a shoulder injury and the kids I just haven't had any time for myself and crafting.  My main concern was keeping the challenge running, I knew I had to make sure that the posts were up and that we were able to provide you all with excellent digital sketches.  So I've been working with 3 members of the design team and they have been learning how to take the sketches and make them digital. So a huge thank you to Shari, Brandi and Chris.  Also, there have been a few other design team members who have been helping with the running of the challenge blog, Candra, Jessica and Barbara, a big Thank you to you 3 ladies too.

Now onto my creation for Sketch #111.

I whipped this card together pretty quickly actually since I like to stamp a whole bunch of the same image and colour(colouring relaxes me) them for future creations, or if someone orders a card they seen. The patterned paper is retired Ivy Lane that I pulled out of my scraps, and then I used a scrap of Autumn Terracotta cardstock and used the scallop border punch.  I love our shimmer trim, and thought that the Gold Shimmer Trim really dressed this card up, followed by the Gold Bling Gems. The stamp is Quick Cards - Japanese Blossom (A1155). I added a little faux stitching along the edge to finish it off.

I hope you will head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge now and visit the design team, remember, everyone loves to get a little blog love, so leave them some comments.

My Crush Blog Hop

Welcome to the My Crush Blog Hop, this is our additional hop put on by the SOTM Blog Hop Group.  This month Close To My Heart has an awesome promotion featuring the My Crush albums, Summer Crush. During the month of June, when you purchase any My Crush® book and its accompanying assortment pictured in Annual Inspirations 2014–2015, you will receive the coordinating stamp set FREE! That is a savings of at least $9.95 USD / $10.95 CAD! Choose from five lovely My Crush book offerings that will provide a swoon-worthy background for your favorite memories. From family reunions to camping adventures to holiday countdowns—and much more—you will be crushing on all these books and the possibilities they provide. Every My Crush book features a hard cover with wire binding and cardstock-weight pages that are printed with eye-catching designs to form the perfect bases for your memory keeping. Additionally, each My Crush book also features unique details—from glossy print, to vellum pages, to gold foil, to ink-resistant patterns—that make displaying your personality easier than ever. Plus, once you add the artistry of the coordinating assortments featuring sticker sheets, envelopes, alphabets, cards, and journaling spots, along with your free stamp set, you will be well on your way to your own gorgeous mini book creation!


For this Blog Hop we have 32 consultants participating, and we have many amazing projects to showcase for you.  If you have come from the fabulous work of Melissa than you are in the right spot. If you get lost along the way head on over to Melinda's blog and you will find the full list of participates there.

For my project, I decided to create a memories book for my husband and I.  I started by pulling out a few photos, and just started adding mementos and journaling to the pages. I'm featuring 3 2 pg layouts that I have created. The Crush book I choose is In The Pink(Z2000).

 The word "dream" is part of the page, I then stamped out "I had a" using the Handwritten Print stamp in black ink.  Using a journal spot from the My Crush In the Pink Assortment I finished the statement. On the second page I stamped at the top "You Are My Happy" from June's SOTM in black ink.  I added some White Sequins from the Coral collection and stamped the M size stamp "Sweeter With You" in White Dasiy Pigment Ink and heat set it with Embossing Powder.

 The first of these pages, I used Jouraling card from the Balloon Ride PML set, and added a stamped imaged from May's SOTM "Enjoy the Moment".  The second page, I matted the photo on a piece of cardstock from the Basic Fundamentals Assortment.  I then used the hoodstooth clip from the In The Pink Clip collection to hide some extra journalling.

I added some doodling just for fun. I really love how easy it is to put these pages together.

The first page I stamped some journalling lines a stamp from Documenting Moments stamp. I created a pocket behind the photo of the BioDome so that I could slide the ticket stubs.  For the second page I used an envelope from the In The Pink Assortment to hold the concert tickets.  I stamped "Life Is Grand" also from the Documenting Moments stamp using the masking technique in Cotton Candy and Black Ink.  Then I added a tab from the In The Pink Sticky Tabs.

I hope you enjoyed my pages, and that I've inspired you to create your own memories Crush album.  Now head on over to Melinda for some more fantabulous artwork.