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.