SOTM Blog Hop - April - Balloon Talk

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuringApril's SOTM, which is Balloon Talk, a set of 24 stamps.  If you have come here from the talented Jen Patrick'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. 

This month we have over 50 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 first card, I used the sample artwork by our CTMH designers as inspiration. I needed a few thank you cards and this is what I came up with.  I used some strips of paper and cardstock from Balloon Ride, and pulled the colours Juniper, Sorbet and Crystal Blue for my inks.  I stamped the empty balloons in 1st and 2nd generation, and the sentiment in Crystal Blue.

My second card starts with a Hollyhock base, and I stamped the Balloon with LOVE all over with Hollyhock Ink, we call this technique tone on tone.  This also creates a background pattern.  I used some left over zipstrips from Balloon Ride because it worked with my color scheme.  Using "Hey There" I stamped in 2nd generation Hollyhock. Awesomeness is stamped in Topiary ink.  I stamped "LOVE" onto some scraps of Balloon Ride to add some texture, and did the Same with "You", stamping the balloon and the sentiment in Gyspy Ink on scraps of Ivy Lane.  The empty word balloon was just some extras I had pre-cut and I took a black journalling pen and drew in the outline.

Now "Hop" on over to Judy Faye Garner's Blog to see her incredible work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!
Remember, the Balloon Talk is only available until  April 30th!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount of only $5.00 when you place a qualifying order.

Sketch #48 AHSC meets Balloon Ride

Wow, I had to pull this creation out of my stash, can't believe I remembered that I had made this one a few weeks ago, and forgot all about it.  Here I was struggling to make a card last night, as my weekend got away from me.  My husband looked at the sketch, and says to me, didn't you make that card a few weeks ago, and sure enough I did.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my card:

I used Balloon Ride to create this card, along with a piece of Sky Cardstock and Chocolate Ink to distress the edges.  The sentiment is from Greatest Love(B1444) and is stamped in Chocolate Ink.  I hope you love my card, I love how CAS it is.

So if you like the sketch, and you love my card, head on over to Atlantic Hearts and check out what our Design Team has to offer you for creative inspiration.

If you would like to purchase Balloon Ride paper or Greatest Love stamp set, you can head over to my website and start shopping now, or contact me to set up a party where I can help you earn them for FREE.

Emboss It Blog Hop

Did you know that Close To My Heart now has Embossing Folders available?  There are 5 of them, and on my post today you will see creations using 3 of those folders.  If you want to see more creations you'll want to hop along with us, as we have over 25 CTMH Consultants participating.

If you get lost along the way, you can find the complete list of those hopping here. Now if you are coming from the sizzling creations from Sheila's Stamping Stuff, then you are in the right place. Now onto my creations. 

If you would like to start at the beginning, you can start with Adeline.

I really love our new embossing folders, and there are just so many techniques that you can use that I had to show you a few.

 This first card is made with the Quatrefoil embossing folder.  I used Outdoor Denim CS and after I ran it through my cuttlebug I lightly sanded the CS to reveal the white core.  The stamp set used here is Pick a Posey(C1576).

 For my second card, I used the Damask Embossing folder and took Ruby Ink and a sponge dauber and lightly brushed over the raised image to produce this pretty card.

My final card uses the Chevron Embossing folder.  I started by lightly coloring my cardbase with Honey Ink and a sponge dauber. I used Buttercup CS, and then took my Honey Ink Pad and ran it over the Embossing Folder, yes, that is right I applied the ink directly to the folder.  Clean up is so easy with baby wipes.  It gives the cardstock a sort of tone on tone look. I cut the pattern into pieces and applied it directly to the cardbase.  The stamp used is Quick Cards- Island Greetings(A1157).

I'm so glad you are hopping along with us and you are half way done if you've started from the beginning.  Your next stop is Pam's Heart Art and she has some stunning pieces of work sure to inspire you.

If you are interested in any of the supplies used in our blog hop, contact your local consultant, or you can purchase them here.

AHSC Creation - Flowering Bunch

This weeks sketch I had made weeks ago, but couldn't decide on a sentiment, so I've decided to leave it off for now. When I decide to use this card, I will then pick a sentiment.

Here is the sketch:

Remember that when looking at our sketches, the image can be anything, so use your imagination, think outside the box.  Here is my creation:

For this card I started with a Buttercup base, and added my ribbon around the top.  The image comes from a retired SOTM, A Flowering Bunch from June '12.  I used various colours in our Alcohol Markers to colour in the flowers...as I am longing for spring (yesterday I even notices I have some of my early spring flowers starting to push up through the ground) and digging in my garden.  It needs lots of TLC this year, as a wild rose bush has taken over.

The patterned paper is from Pemberley(my favorite retired paper) and I used the scallop border punch to create my scallops.  Then I just finished it off with some bling and adhered it to my card base.

I hope you liked my version of this sketch and will take a moment to hop over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, and see what creations our Design Team have you inspiration for you.  

SunShine and Warm Breezes - Blog Hop

I've been busy crafting and designing a fun project for our Team Blog Hop.  There has been some shuffling of teams in Canada, as some of our teams went straight to corporate and our executive team felt that those teams were not getting the full benefit of belonging to a team.  So my team, Atlantic Scrappers along with my uplines fall under Team Brae-er now.

Our Team Blog Hop has 12 consultants with fabulous projects to make you think of warm summer breezes instead of the cold winter we've been experiencing.

If you have come from Create With Alyson then you are hopping in the right direction.

My project is a covered journal using Balloon Ride paper and compliments and True To Life Stamp Set(C1575).

For my project I took the Crystal Blue patterned paper and used Liquid Glass to adhere the paper to the journal.  I distressed all the edges using Chocolate Ink.  I used the ZipStrip featured on this patterned paper to make the seam, and distressed this as well.  I cut our a tag from Colonial White Cardstock and stamped the tag image from the stamp set using Saddle Ink and Crystal Blue Ink.  To stamp in 2 different colors I taped off the words preventing the Saddle from inking, then peeled off the tape.  Then I took a sponge and inked up the words with Crystal Blue Ink.  I added a string at the top to finish off the tag.  Then added some dimensional elements from the coordinating compliments.  To finish it off I added the current year to the date element, and covered the whole Journal with Modge Podge to give it  a finished look.

You next stop on this hop is Arlene's Creative Space.

If you like this project and would like to make one of your own, you can shop here.

Cross Canada Blog Hop - Card Boxes

Welcome to our March Blog Hop featuring card boxes.  Did you know that you can create your own card boxes using CTMH products? Whether they are the My Creations Card Boxes, Journaling Boxes or cricut cuts, there is just so much more you can use these boxes for. 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 you can still start here, because I'm the very first Province represented. If you came from Karen of Clearly Precious Impression then you are in the right place!

 Inked up all the edges using Hollyhock Ink.  Let it dry really well before adhering papers.

 While waiting for ink to dry I cut all papers, both inside and outside.  I used Ivy Lane paper and pulled the colors from the paper for my color choices. I sanded down the edges of the Hollyhock cardstock to reveal the white core.

 Once the ink was dry I was able to start adhering the papers, I used Bonding Memories Glue to do this.

 I started prepping my embellishments.  Some embellishments I wanted a little more dimension, so I adhered them to a thin chipboard, and then cut the out, and used Bonding Memoires Glue to adhere them to the box.  All embellishments are from the Ivy Lane Compliments.

 After I had layered all the embellishments that I wanted on the cardbox, I then added 2 layers of Mod Podge to the entire outside of the box.

 This process will seal the box, and ensure that my embellishments will not peel off.  It also will give the box a slight shine, and a glossy feel.

 This is just the inside of the box, just cut the papers to fit the inside and used Memory Bonding Glue to adhere.

 I made some matching 3x3 Thank You cards to give out to my customers with their orders.  I also give them a little gift.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Arlene of Arlene's Creative Space.

 If you get lost along the way, you can come back here as below I have provided a list of the full hop in order of East to West across Canada.

1. Michelle ~My Creations With Michelle
2. Arlene ~ Arlene's Creative Space
3. Sheri  ~ Sheri's Crafty Classroom
4. Carol ~ Crafty Carol's Place
5. Terry Ann~ Terry Ann Diack - It's my garage....
6. Janet ~ Jan's Works of Heart
7. Famida ~ Get Scrappin with Fami
8. Chantal ~It's a Hoot Paper Crafts
9. Karen ~ Cleary Precious Impression

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. Join us again in April when we will be featuring creations from the third Cricut Cartridge, Artbooking. We hope you will join us again on April 15th, 2014.

AHSC creation for Sketch #46

I have been a little down and out and have struggled to find my way to my craft room.  So lucky for me when my order arrived.  I dug through my box to grab inspiration. Here is this week's sketch:

What I used from my box was a sheet from Ivy Lane for my pattern, Pear Cardstock for the top, and I used the Ivy Lane compliments, and cut it in half to get the half moon shape.  I used the zipstrip to add a seperation, and I noticed that the Ariana Assortment which consists of bows in various colors has a bow that works well with Ivy Lane too.  I decided not to place a sentiment, so that I can use this for any occassion.  

Here is my card:

So, now that you have seen my creation, I hope that my sketch and my creation from this sketch has inspired you to get crafty.  Now I ask that you pop on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and visit our Design Team, as they have some fantastic creations to share with you.

Thank You with AHSC #45

It is in my personal opinion that you can never have too many Thank You cards.  Isn't it nice just to send someone a card if only to thank them for being your friend, or maybe you want to say thank you to someone who supported you through a tough time.  Whatever reason you have for saying thank you, being able to give them a card with a personal message is just that much better, especially when that card is homemade.

So here is this weeks sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

I have a whole binder full of sketches, and I've sent them to Darla who digitizes them.  I think she does an amazing job too.  Some of my sketches have scribblings of colors I'd like to use, or other details I envision for my own creations. 

So here is my card for this weeks Sketch:

I used the new Dots Embossing folder that CTMH now carries( BTW we have 5 New embossing folders) on a 4x5 1/4" piece of Outdoor Denim CD, they sanded the cardstock to show the white core.  Then using the retired but fabulous stamp set Friendship Blessings(D1191), I stamped the base image in 2nd generation Outdoor Denim Ink, then stamped the detail in 1st generation.  I did the same effect with the leaves in NEw England Ivy Ink.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set and is stamped in Outdoor Denim Ink as well.

Then I added some retired Ribbon that I had in my stash.  I wrapped it around and adhered it to the back to give the edges a clean line then adhered to a White Daisy Card Base.

I really hope you will take a few moments and join us over at Atlantic Hearts and check out what our design team has created using this same sketch. While you are checking us out, maybe you will be inspired to create something too.