January SOTM Blog Hop - This Moment

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring January's SOTM, which is This Moment, a set of  12 stamps.  If you have come here from Melinda'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 over 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!

For this card I used a small piece of Blushed Pattern along the top and some black shimmer trim. I also created my own pattern using the XOXO stamp from the collection using a tone on tone technique.  I stamped out the "bullseye" in Ruby ink onto White Daisy Cardstock and trimmed around. It and the arrow are popped using 3D Foam adhesive.  The sentiment is stamped on White Daisy Cardstock using Ruby Ink and trimmed.  Then using a black journaling pen I drew around the edge. This is also popped using 3D Foam adhesive.

Your next stop on this hop is Sheila, so hop on over and take it in all the fabulous artwork our many consultants have put together to inspire you to get creative too.

Just a Little Note with AHSC #88

Wow, can you believe that today is the last day of 2014?  This past year has been a whirlwind of activity and we've had lots of amazing artwork created from the sketches found on Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

So without further rambling on my part here is this week's sketch:

Here is my card:

I used embossed cardstock from a promotional paper package and small Black Flourishes to help me create this cute card.  The stamp set used A Little Note (A1171) that is found in the Seasonal Expressions 1.

I colored the image using the ShinHan Touch Twin Markers, blending colors together to create the mix hues.

I hope you will now head on over to the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and check out the fabulous creations from our amazing design team, and we also have a guest designer this week, the fabulous Lisa Stenz.

Last Christmas card using AHSC #87

Wow, it's Christmas Eve Day!  I hope everyone is ready for Christmas, and that you all will have a very Merry Christmas.

I will be celebrating with my family, which includes my husband, and 3 kids along with my parents, my sister and her boyfriend, and my inlaws and a family friend.  Total head count 13.

Tonight we have a seafood feast of lobster, scallops and mussels, while the children enjoy pizza.  Tomorrow's celebrations includes an amazing breakfast made by my hubby and then our Christmas dinner with all the fixings.  I'll be making the pies for dessert later today.

I wanted to share a photo of my family with you before I share my final Christmas card creation.

Here is the sketch for this week:

Here is my creation:

This is more of a fun card, I even added some liquid applique to make the trim of the hat puffy.  

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas.  Please head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and share some love with our Design Team..they've worked really hard on this week's creations.

Let it Snow with AHSC #86

Well, I've been hearing that our forecast here in the Maritimes is lacking of snow for Christmas...so I thought this fun little card encouraging snow would fit the bill.

Here is the sketch:

I rotated the sketch for my card, and made it square measuring 5 3/4".  I didn't like the placement for the sentiment when I was putting the card together, so moved it to where I thought it suited.

I used the Snowhaven paper pack along with the coordinating cardstock.  Coloring the image with the ShinHan Touch Twin Alcohol Markers. The sentiment is a Hostess Stamp Set and I added some color to the wreath.  

Now I hope you will head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and see what our fabulous Design Team has created.

Cross Canada Blog Hop - Christmas Decor

Welcome to our December Blog Hop featuring Christmas Decor.  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, I'm also the first stop if you are hopping across Canada from East to West. If you came from Nancy's Blog then you are in the right place! 

I've made lots of these pincone ornaments this year, and have blogged previously with them....but I couldn't help myself, I had to share my verison of the Snowhaven Pinecones.  They turned out very lovely, and I decided to make each of my family members a set of these as part of their Christmas Gifts.  I think it dresses up the tree very nicely. They also look pretty clustered together in a dish or on a mantle.

When cutting my strips of paper, I made sure that each strip had its own pile so that I could create a pattern on the egg. Every single set I made turned out completely different....I wish I hadn't already wrapped all my gifts, then I could show you how different each set is.

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

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

1. Michelle ~My Creations With Michelle
2. Nicky ~ Timeless Cottage
3. Krista ~ Simply Creating
4. Sheri  ~ Sheri Says Just Scrap It
5. Brae ~ The Brae-er
6. Christine ~ Chris' Creative Life
7. Brandy ~Canadian Scrappers
8. Terry Ann~ Just a Tad Crafty
9. Nancy ~ Nancy Klein

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 Valentine’s Day creations.  So mark January 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Merry Christmas with AHSC #84

First I want to apologize for being missing from the Sketch Challenge for the past couple of weeks.  I've got alot of catching up to do with pinning the artwork too.  My reason for being missing and just doing the bare minimum is due to the weather changes, it gives me horrible migraines, and I just wasn't able to function let alone craft.

Anyone, I'm starting to feel human again, and have managed to pull something together that I'm really happy with.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my creation:

I started with Whisper cardstock as my base, and used some Wonderland pattern(retired) as my base and doodled a border with a black journaling pen. The shape is cut from the Artiste cartridge and I cut it in White Daisy and Twilight(retired & my favorite color). I added a polar bear from the Polar Bear Holiday Stamp Set (C1557).  The sentiment is from the stamp set that comes in the Artfully Sent cartridge set.

I hope you will take a moment and head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and check out our Design Teams fabulous creations.

December SOTM Blog Hop - Cutie Pie

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring December's SOTM, which is It's the Little Things, a set of 11 stamps.  If you have come here from Sheila'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 over 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 used paper from the Blush Paper pack for the background on the card and colored the images with various Shinhan Touch Twin Markers.  I cut all the images out using the Micro-tip nonstick scissors.  The sentiment is stamped in Pear Ink.

The little gift box, is one of my favorites and is cut from Kraft cardstock, in Canada we refer to this box as a timbit box(Tim Horton's mini donuts).

Now "Hop" on over to Jen'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, that November's 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!

November Cross Canada Blog Hop - Designer Creations

Welcome to our November Blog Hop featuring Designer Creations and Decor.  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, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Julie at 12 X12 Travels. Julie is also the blog before me, so you are in the right spot if you are coming from there.

For my project, I used one of the Take out Boxes from page 176. There is 2 in a package, and they are 4" tall, with a top that is 4" wide and tapers to 3" at the bottom. They come with the metal wire, and there are score lines already on the box for easy assembly.

I used this month's SOTM, It's the Little Things to decorate the box.  I plan on sending it over to my neighbor filled with some Marble Almond bark as she has just lost a family member and could use a little chocolate.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Christine.

 If you get lost along the way, you can come back here to the complete list:

1. Julie ~ 12x12 Travels
2. Michelle ~My Creations With Michelle  YOU ARE HERE
3. Christine ~Chris' Creative Life
4. Brandy ~ Canadian Scrappers
5. Terry Ann~Just A Tad Crafty
6. Janet ~Jan's Works of Heart
7. Kathy ~ It's a Girl Thing!
8. Nancy ~ Nancy Klein

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 Décor for Christmas.  So mark December 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Merry Christmas with Atlantic Hearts #81

Wow, it's crazy to think that we are only 6 weeks away from Christmas Eve.  Yes, you read that right. There are 6 more weeks until Christmas.  Are you ready?

I have most of my cards made, but have yet to really start my Christmas shopping.  Do you have any Christmas traditions that you would love to share?

On Christmas Eve I have my inlaws over for Lobster and scallops and we let the kids open a present from us(which is usually their new jammies so that they can wear them).  Then Christmas morning we let the kids tear into their stockings and gifts from Santa....by the time they have done that and played with whatever Santa has given them, our family starts rolling in the door for Christmas breakfast and they enjoy watching the kids open the remaining gifts.

We are very fortunate to be able to give our children a good Christmas, but we also like to be able to help provide a better Christmas to a family less fortunate than us.  My husbands employers sponsor 4 families and help provide them with meals and gifts. Our children like to be able to also take toys and give them to the local toy drive.

I hope you will share some of your Christmas traditions with me.  Now for the sketch.....

My creation:

My creation today using a blue pattern from Snowhaven, I've added 2 red glitter gems, and some red shimmer trim.  The middle flag is a pattern found on one of the pattern papers, and the first strip is the zipstrip from that same sheet.  The Nutcracker is from Stamp Set Candyland (D1557). I used the ShinHan Touch Twin markers to color him. The sentiment is from the stamp set that comes with the Artfully Sent cartridge, and is stamped in Cranberry Ink.

I hope you will also head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and check out the fabulous creations from our Design Team.  Our Guest Designer this week is Sheri Bage Ballantyne, and she was busy and created not 1 but 3 pieces of artwork using this week's sketch. Please leave everyone a little love.

Artfully Sent Blog Hop

Welcome to our special edition Blog Hop featuring our newest Cricut Cartridge - Artfully Sent.  Like other blog hops, you just need to click on the links provided to hop along to the next project.

If you have come here from Sheila's Blog then you are in the correct place. If for at anytime you get lost along the way, you can find the complete list here. There are over 45 consultants participating in this blog hop...we hope you will find the time to leave a little love for us.

I have been busy making lots of Christmas cards, so today I have 3 cards to share with you that I have made from Artfully Sent.

This first card is cut from Outdoor Denim Cardstock, it is found on the sleeve key, using the shift button on page 49.  I backed the cut with Silver Glitter Paper, and Heat Embossed the sentiment using Silver Embossing powder.  The stamp is from the Merriest Christmas stamp set (B1468).

My second card is a Swing card, and the cut can be found on page 47 and is a Scene card.  I used Glacier Carstock for the base, and the layer was cut with White Daisy using the Shift function.  I backed the deer cut with Saddle cardstock.  The Sentiment is stamped in Twilight(retired) ink using the Merriest Christmas stamp set.

My final card is a cut found on page 34 using the shift function on the sleeve.  I cut it from White Daisy and backed it with Cranberry cardstock. I used Polar Bear Holiday and stamped out this cute Polar Bear pair, coloring it with water color pencils.  I then fussy cut the image out and adhered it to the center.  I knew I needed to add a sentiment, and choose Winter Cheer in Juniper Ink.  It still needed something, so I use the little cluster of snowflakes and stamped it in the remaining 3 corners.  I think it is super cute.  I hope you have enjoyed my cards, and gain inspiration to try creating your own version of these.


You next stop along this hop is Wendy's Blog. Continue hopping to get loads of inspiration from our creative consultants.  To purchase this cartridge or any of the products used along the way, contact your local consultant or you can shop here.

AHSC #80 using It's the Little Things once again......

I really like how this stamp set can create some fun flowers, all you have to do is layer them and stamp on top of each one and you have a totally different look.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my card:

I started with a White Daisy cardbase, and added a piece of Canary Cardstock.  Then I cut the arched piece in White Daisy and took the dotted stamp and inked it in Glacier and stamped all over this piece.  I took another piece of White Daisy Cardstock and stamped out some flowers using Pixie, Thistle, Canary and Glacier.  Then I stamped out some leaves directly on the White Daisy piece, and then some on my scrap piece to be cut out.  I cut out the flowers and the leaves and put them on the arch.  The sentiment is from the stamp set too, and I stamped that in Thistle.

I hope you have enjoyed this card, and will continue on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, where we have another guest designer with us, Laurel Seabrook.

SOTM Blog Hop - It's the Little Things

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring November's SOTM, which is It's the Little Things, a set of 15 stamps.  If you have come here from Melinda'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 over 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 started with the box cut found on the Artiste Cartridge, page 37.  I cut the box from Kraft paper and then stamped all the images onto White Daisy Cardstock. To create the collage of flowers, I fussy cut everything out and layered it using various colors. The sentiment is stamped on White Daisy and matted on Glacier Cardstock.

Colors used:

Glacier, Pixie, Thistle, Crystal Blue, Canary, Topiary and Twilight(retired)

Now "Hop" on over to Sheila'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, that November's 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!

The Little Things with AHSC #79

I had my creation finished a few days ago, but haven't had a chance to write up my blog post as my days and evenings have just gotten away from me.  Between craft markets and working evenings I've been working around the clock, and have realized there is just not enough hours in the day.

My husband is sweet and has realized how hard I've been working to keep things running smoothly and brought me home a dozen white roses, just because.  It really is the Little Things that can make your day.

Anyway, here is the sketch for this week:

Here is my creation:

I used November's SOTM  It's the Little Things and Seaside Paper along with Glacier, Crystal Blue, Thistle, Canary, Pixie, and Topiary Ink.

I hope you like my card, and I can't wait for you to see all the fabulous creations over on Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.  Our guest designer this week is Amie McFarlin Kiger.

Home for the Holidays for AHSC #78

I simply love this month's SOTM, Home for the Holidays.  The polar bear stamp is just adorable, and I've used him to create other cards.  Today I used him for this weeks sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my creation using Snowhaven paper and October's SOTM.

Now I hope you will head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and visit our Design Team, this week we have another fabulous guest designer, Jen Patrick.  So stop on by and check out the amazing artwork we've worked hard to create for you.

O Holy Night featuring Snowhaven and AHSC #77

I changed my mind on what I wanted to use for this card about a dozen times give or take a few.  I finally decided to use Snowhaven Paper and O Holy Night stamp set (A1168).

I had cut a bunch of shapes to use and had filed them away in bags in my organizer and came across them; but decided that I could use them on this card.

Here is the sketch for this week:

I changed the shape of the card too, it's a square here, but I changed it to a A2 size.  I think I will try it again as a 6x6 later.  

Here is my card:

I used the scallop border punch to add to layers of scallops along the patterned strip, and the bow is made from paper.  I colored the bling with the ShinHan Alcohol Markers.  The sentiment is stamped in Glacier on White Daisy which is matted on Whipser.  I used 3D Foam Tape to pop it off the card, and made a framed border using a journaling pen.

I hope you will visit our Sketch Challenge and check out the amazing creations from our Guest Designer and Design Team.  Visit Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge

Cross Canada Blog Hop - Tricks or Treats

Welcome to our October Blog Hop featuring Tricks and Treats. 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, but if you

want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Julie at

12 x12 Travels. If you came from Deanne's Blog My Little Piece of the Puzzle then you are in the right place! 

I made a couple of fun projects using the Scaredy Cat Paper.  Pencil toppers for treats for my kids classrooms at school, a fun pop-up scene card from the Artfully Sent Cartridge and a cute little pinecone decoration.

These cute pencil toppers are featured in the catalog found on page 41. I used the Frightfully Fun Stamp set(B1453) and the Shinhan Alcohol Markers.  I added googly eyes to the bat and the owl to add some fun.  The cuts came from the Artiste Cartridge and were cut at 3 different sizes, 1 3/4", 2" and 2 1/4".

This card was so much fun to cut and put together.  It is reccommended to be cut at 5x7, but I was able to manipulate the size on my Cricut Explore to make it an A2 card.( 4 1/4" x 5 1/2").  I used black cardstock for the base and the inside is cut using Whisper cardstock. I backed the ghost cutouts with White Daisy cardstock, and the moon with Honey Cardstock.  The haunted mansion is cut in Black, and the spooky tree and tombstone cut in Chocolate Cardstock.

The front of the card is another cut found from the Artfully Sent cartridge, it is a pocket card.  I layered the purple shimmer trim under the chevron cut, and cut the Treat or Trick from the Artiste cartridge.

The pinecone is a 2" syrofoam egg, and I used Scaredy Cat paper cut into squares at 2 sizes, 3/4" and 1".  I started with the smaller squares at the bottom, and at about half way I switched to the larger squares.  All you have to do is fold the one side to form a point and work your way around the egg creating layers. You will have also seen this pinecones featured in the catalog found on pages 24 & 25 using the Pathfinding Paper.

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

If you happen to get lost along the way, head back here to my blog, I've got the whole lineup listed.

·  Julie ~ 12x12 Travels

·  Deanne ~ My Little Piece of the Puzzle

·  Michelle ~ My Creations With Michelle  YOU ARE HERE

·  Nicky ~ Timeless Cottage

·  Joanne ~ Jag's Scrapin Corner

·  Brae ~ The Brae-er

·  Carol ~ Crafty Carol's Place

·  Christine ~ Chris' Creative Life

·  Sandra ~ Paper Sage

·  Terry Ann~Just a Tad Crafty

·  Janet ~ Jan's Works of Heart

·  Nancy ~ Nancy Klein

·  Kristine ~ @ Home with Studio K

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 Designer Creations. So mark November 15th on your calendars

and hop along with us.

Merry & Bright featuring AHSC #76

Well, I've been really busy planning and preparing for upcoming craft fairs and card workshops, that I almost forgot about my sketch challenge.....oh dear, can we say I have too much on my plate.  Yep, but if I'm not busy, than I eat or pluck my butt down in front of the television.

Anyway, I stayed up late finishing my card for today's post, but trying to take photos at night does not turn out well.(edited this part into my post, lol) I've had to retake the photos.

Here is this week's sketch:

Here is my card:

I used Merry & Bright from the sentiment collection of stamps from the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge in Chocolate Ink using second generation stamping.  Then I stamped over it in Ruby, creating a shadow effect, for my main sentiment.  The image is from the Yuletide  Carol Compliments, and I finished the design off with some Red Bakers Twine. /I 3D the layer of Colonial White cardstock off the of the Colonial White cardbase using 3D Foam Tape.

Simple, yet cute.  I like it, how about you?

Now I would love to have you head on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and see the lovely creations our Design Team has for you.  Also, our Guest Designer this week is none other than the fabulous Karen Morris.

ShinHan Marker Blog Hop

Are you ever in for a treat!!  This blog hop is showcasing the ShinHan Touch Twin Alcohol Markers, and do we have some amazing artwork to share with you.

If you have come from the amazing artwork from Adeline then you are in the right place.  For any reason if you loose your way you can find the entire list here.

There are 24 markers in the collection, and our 42 consultants participating in this hop will be sure to show some amazing artwork.

Now onto my project.  I cut a pop-up card from the New Artfully Sent cartridge....however fun the inside is, the outside still needs some creativity.

Here is the inside of the card:

I have the Cricut Explore cutting machine, and I'm able to resize the cuts and manipulate them.....I changed the size to be an A2 card(4.25 x 5.5). To do this I had to unlock the sizing and edit the width to 5.5" and the height to 8.5".(the size of the card open) Everything sizes accordingly and tells me which mat to load, so it takes all the guess work and figuring out sizes out of the equation.

Here is the front of my card:

The frame is a cut from Art Philosophy, I cut it in Olive(2.5 x 3) and White Daisy(2.25 x 2.75).  The sentiment is stamped in Ruby from the Merriest Christmas stamp set(B1468).

The Snowman is from the stamp Set Christmas Post(D1610). I fussy cut him out and layered him onto the frame which is popped using 3D foam tape.

The colors used are:

Carmine
Cherry Pink
Vivid Green
Sap Green
Leaf Green
Bronze
Clay
Barely Beige
Black
Warm Grey 4 & 7
Cerulean Blue Light 
Tender Pink

Then I used the Colorless Blender Marker to blend some colors together and to remove some colour.

Now keep hopping along and check out the many creations that follow me, your next stop is Sheila.

To purchase any of the supplies used here or along the way, you can do so with your local consultant or you can purchase through me here or contact me.