Close To My Heart August Stamp Of The Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring the August SOTM, which is Wicked, a set of 9 stamps. If you have come here from Judy'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 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!

The project I chose to do is a sleeve for a package of microwave popcorn. These will be so fun to give to some special friends on my list this Halloween. They are super easy to make! Simply cut a 5 1/2" x 9" piece of cardstock, then score and fold at 2 1/4" and 2 1/2" from each end. Wrap the cardstock around the popcorn package and glue the two overlapping ends together with your favorite scrapbooking adhesive.

Before assembling the sleeve, you can stamp the cardstock with whatever you choose to dress it up a bit. I used the honeycomb background stamp that comes int the SOTM set, alternating rows of Pansy Purple and Sunflower. To make the front, use a die or image off the new CTMH Art Philosophy Cartridge, cut it so you have 2 pieces, one larger and one smaller. Then stamp the sentiment on the smaller piece and the wonderful witch image on the larger. I put a couple brads and wrapped some natural Hemp around them to make it look like the sleeve is tied shut. The sleeve actually slides off, this was just for looks.

Super quick and easy!

Here's what you get with the August SOTM set.

Now "Hop" on over to Gina's 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 August 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 or even free!

Saturday Crop pages

It was so great spending the day with the SOTTS girls yesterday. For those of you that don't know, SOTTS stands for Sisters Of The Traveling Scraps. There are 9 of us that try and get together at least once a month for some scrapbooking fun. We have become very good friends and cherish our time together. I am so grateful for my wonderful SOTTS!

In between the socializing at the crop yesterday, I managed to complete 2 pages. The first I used the Creative Scrappers sketch posted earlier for my jumping off point.

The first page of many celebrating my first great nephew Roman! They live in Hawaii and can't wait to meet him in person. For now, we watch him grow through pictures and facebook updates.

I only took my Cricut, Gypsy, papers and a little bag of embellishments with me. I often do this so I am forced to step out of the box and create with what I have on hand. The Baby banner was made by layering letters from the Storybook cartridge over a scalloped circle from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge on the Gypsy.

My second page for the day was another for the TN vacation album....

The font on this one is from the Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge. Yes.... I bought this cartridge just for this page.

Sorry about the Wonky Pictures! Wow! I didn't realize they were that bad until I put them on the blog. I will have to fix that later, but we are off for a beach day now. Enjoy your Sunday!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge

I whipped up this quick little card last night for my entry into the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #127

The little flower stamps are from the CTMH Spring Up set. The sentiment is from PTI. The pattern paper is todays sneak peek. It is the new Typeset paper line by CTMH. Only a couple more days until the new book goes live! Yay!!!

I learned a new trick and it is amazing!!! To save your Cricut mats, spray them with the CTMH My Acrylix stamp cleaner, wipe them off with a lint free cloth. It is VERY important that it be a truly lint free cloth. Then let the mats air dry for 15 minutes and they are 90% new again. Trust me on this one! It truly does work! I could not believe my eyes, my very worn down mats were revived and full of life again. Amazing!!!

Another card from scraps and sneak peak.......

We made it through day 2 with both of us working. Yay! I had to chuckle when I read what Emily posted on facebook yesterday. She said she really likes that both of her parents are working. For breakfast she can eat whatever she want. She had a Pop Tart, Applesauce and Ice Cream. Too Funny! I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon.

I learned to never trust a 15 year old when he says he will get up in 20 minutes. I had to have Tyler's friend that lives a couple houses away come over and joust him out of bed. I knew as I was frantically calling and no hello at the other end of the line, he didn't get up in 20 minutes. Lesson learned.... make sure he is standing on two legs before I leave.

Both kids have completed their chore list each day without a problem. Amazing what a little cash bribery will do. I haven't gotten any calls with them yelling at each other, its not fair, blah, blah, blah. Hoping for another smooth transition today:).

Onward to my latest creation....

A fun card using some more scraps on my desk from the last layout. I used the June SOTM set Chairs To You. If you were lucky enough to get this set, the little chairs are fun to color in with the Copics. So cute!

Another little tease for you.....

This new Close To My Heart stamp set is surely one of my favorites in the new book. There are so many lettering possibilities here! 2 full fonts plus little circles to customize them. This will be a fun one for subtitles on pages. A must have!

Have a happy Wednesday!
Angie

Times are changing

Phew! What a day. After 8 years home, Zane's first day of work was yesterday. On September 2, 2003 there was a moment in time that changed our lives forever. Zane was in a very bad car accident that left him with several ongoing medical issues. Our lives were turned upside down in an instant, everything we knew was no more.

Yesterday marks another huge adjustment in our lives. Zane has decided to try and work again. I am so proud of him for this huge decision. I am praying everyday that he can do it both mentally and physically. I feel so blessed he has been given an opportunity. For me it is about him building on his confidence, the social aspect and him gaining a sense of purpose.

Now keep in mind, for the last 8 years he has kept the household chores under control. He has been here everyday with Tyler and Emily. We are all very spoiled, especially me. When I come home from a long day at the office, he has dinner made and there is very little I have had to do around the home front.

Yesterday marked the day the kids had to fend for themselves all day. I had a couple drama moments with Emily over the phone. Tyler was late for Band Camp and I had to make dinner after a long day of work. This will be an interesting adjustment for us all.

When I finally sat down in my craft corner I had no energy to pick any new papers, or tackle the start of a a layout. I used the papers still laying there from the last layout I did, the same stamp set, and even the scrap of cardstock for the card base. Easy Peasy! No thinking involved.

A little Sweet leaf ink, some stickles, ribbon, and bling!

Enjoy your day and please say a little prayer for us during this adjustment.

Angie

Creative Scrappers Sketch #166

I was looking at some of my favorite blogs to the left and Creative Scrappers has their new sketch up. I didn't do last week, but am going to try and do this one this evening.

Posting here to hold me responsible for completion.... You can find the blog and original sketch here Creative Scrappers

July 2011 Stamp of the month plus a little sneak peek..........

This was a fun layout to put together. I used a sketch based on a layout by Suzy Plantamura on page 71 of the March / April 2011 issue of Creating Keepsakes.

Pg.1

The pattern papers are from 7 Gypsies. I love the bright summer colors! They fit my scrapbooking style..... Very busy and layered! The red cardstock border was designed on the Gypsy with a border on the Martha Stewart elegant cake cartridge.

Pg.2

The title is cut with the Cricut using the Printing Press Cartridge. This is my first time using it and can tell already it will be a favorite font. That is until I get the new Close To My Heart Art Philosophy Cartridge in my hands. Which I ordered today! Shhh...... Don't tell Zane. LOL!

Both pages together...

The border stamped around the page is a little sneak peek at one of the images in the Close To My Heart August Stamp Of The Month set. To lighten it up some, I stamped a little splot from the CTMH Enjoy Life set. I really like the effect of this. They almost look like water drops. Very Cool!

Zane didn't like how I tore the paper. He said "Oh No, you ripped your paper". Of course I had to enlighten him that it was meant to be that way!

The stars are from the Close To My Heart July Stamp of the Month set. If you haven't checked it out yet, it is a very fun set full of images to celebrate 4th of July! I am sure you will see the stars show up on some sports layouts in the future. I used my trusty black sharpie and drew a black line around them, then added a few stickle dots to give them some pop on all this busy paper.

I hope you enjoyed my creation today! Enjoy the rest your weekend.

Angie

Sneak Peak.....#3

There are several new embellishments in the new idea book. I think this one may be my favorite. Interactive pieces are so much fun! A little bit of hidden goodness:).

Sorry about the bad picture. There isn't very good lighting at 11:20 pm... Go figure.

Sneak Peek.......#2

Here's a little teaser for you with what the exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut Cartridge can do.....

I cannot wait to have this in my hands. The suspense is killing me!!!
***please note this is my artwork, all designs are original CTMH designs***

Sneak Peek..........#1

I have got to say that the new Close To My Heart idea book / catalog is the best yet!! One of the many changes is that the level 1 paper packs have been discontinued and replaced with Studio J. The new level 2's are a heavier weight B&T paper. YAY!!! The price has gone down to $9.95 and has a more usable amount of paper. No more feeling guilty buying a new package when I still have half full packages sitting around waiting to be used. I am sure we can all relate to this.

Here is a little glimpse at one of the papers in one of the 8 new paper lines. The idea book goes live to customers on August 1st!

Art Philosophy Cricut® Collection

Here is the video for the new Clost To My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. This will be available for purchase August 1st! So exciting!!!!!

An oldie but goodie....

I picked up this layout from The Scrapbook Nook in Ludington on Saturday. I had made this as a Design Team project a few months ago. I believe the papers are Sassafrass Lass??? It is hard to believe this little munchkin is now 3, has a little sister, and another sister on the way.

The past few days, I have been working on putting together cards and projects that I had leftover from workshops. 100 of the new Close To My Heart catalog / idea book was delivered to my house on Saturday. I am beyond thrilled with it! I will be posting daily sneak peeks here on the blog until it goes live to customers on August 1st. So be sure and check back for a peek or two:).

The biggest news of all!!!!!!!! We have a new exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut Cartridge. I have been wanting this so badly. Cricut and Acrylic stamps! The perfect combination!!!!!!

6 Eyes are Better Than 2

After spotting the Creative Scrappers Sketch I posted earlier today, I couldn't help but create something this evening. I had a lot of creative fun with this one.

The border around the page is stamped with the "sweet summer times" stamp in the Summer Days set. Since it was springtime, it just didn't seem right to have the word "summer" in there. I covered the summer with small rectangles of Colonial White cardstock and stamped "spring" from the Spring Up set, added some penwork, inked it up and called it good.

Edited to add! Oh man! I need to fix that title, looks like I forgot a word.....

To keep the focus on the photos and help ground them to the page, I pulled out some Topiary Re-Inker and mixed up a batch of spray ink. You don't need much when working with spray ink, a couple squirts go along way.

The trees are once again using the Treetops set. This is a perfect example of why I am so in love with stamping on my pages. I doubt I would have ever found any tree stickers that have grey trunks. I love the ability to custom make accents to match the photos and papers.

Creative Scrappers Sketch #164

Throwing this on my blog, so I remember to do give this sketch a go. Looks like a fun one:)

You can find the Creative Scrappers blog over on my blogroll to the Left. This is an amazing blog with tons of sketch ideas!

Art Journal

I finally got around to decorating the most recent journal I have been using. The Close To My Heart My Creations Journal is a great book to alter. I love that it has unlined white pages and white chipboard covers. The front cover has a clear pocket to slide your cover art into. This really helps keep your journal looking nice.

I use a journal to record ideas I want to try, rough draft journaling for layouts, and try various medium techniques. Pretty much anything I might want to remember.

Mojo Monday 198

I have recently discovered the Mojo Monday blog! I LOVE IT! Then again, I do love challenges. Challenges are a great way to inspire a starting point for a project and help you step out of the box.

Here is my take on this weeks sketch. I used the leftover papers from the page I did today since they were already out on my desk. One less thing headed to the scrap bin.

The Sketch...

My entry...

The bird is from the Fill In The Blank set. Had to go find a little twig for him to sit on.

Rock Formations

Yay! Two more pages completed. After a few busy weekends in a row, it was nice to spend the day crafting. Plus, Zane just went and picked me up a cup of coffee so now I can scrap the night away. Tomorrow Emily and I are going to lounge on the beach, so we can sleep then. I do need to give the dogs a bath at some point tomorrow. Cricket isn't able to get in the bathtub anymore, we have some buckets of water warming outside for her. The old girl is 15 now. We don't want to shock her with the cold spray of the hose. These days, she gets whatever she wants.

She does still get excited when we say the work "walk".

We can't forget about Murphy. I tend to call him "Murphy, the naughty dog". He gets into a lot of trouble. Tyler told me he tried to bring a piece of dog poop in the house the other day. YUCK!!! He loves anything stinky and has a ton of energy. Tyler uses his electric scooter to take him for a good mile run to try and tire him out. Murphy is our rescue dog and we love him to pieces, naughty and all.

Last but not least, the page I created today. I kept this one pretty simple, not a lot to do with rock pictures.........

I was very happy to use up the last of these Basic Grey Urban Couture papers. I have had them for years! For the title I used the actual Posterboard stamps for a mask. I just laid them upside down on the paper and misted some chocolate spray ink over them. I then stamped them in the masked areas. The rocks we picked up on the beach on one of our many beach adventures this summer. They are super thin and smooth.

Close up....

Page 2....

The lines in the journaling spaces were easily made with a brown sharpie and a ruler.

Page 2 with Flip Flap. I am out of page protectors, so ignore the clip holding the flap in place. It worked for photo purposes. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Have a great evening!

Forbidden Caverns

I was so excited to go into the Caverns with Tyler, Emily, and Zane. I had went when my sister and I went to Florida nearly 20 years ago. I found them to be quite interesting and really enjoyed learning about all the rock formations. Here is the first 2 page layout of our afternoon adventure. Of course, I still have to journal, but I will wait until I have all the pages done. This way I don't repeat myself on the pages. Sometimes, I have a bad habit of this.

Page 1...

The papers are from Lucky level 2 (X7137B), the title are letters cut from the Happy Hauntings Cricut cartridge. The stars are from the Lucky chipboard embellishment pack (Z1356) with a little white stitching added to make them stand out a bit more.
Page 2...

The journaling block is cut from the Lacy Labels Cricut cartridge, I added a couple Canvas Badge Buttons (Z1397). The canvas buttons are so fun to stamp on for a custom embellishment. The chipboard quote is from same Lucky embellishment pack that the chipboard stars are in.

Both pages together...

The layout design is from the Magic idea book. The bottom photo on the 2nd page folds down so I could add more photos to the page. To do this I cut a 12x12 photo storage memory protector in half which gives you 3 horizontal pockets to slide pictures into. Works like a charm!

A close up of the fold down flap.

Pearfect time for a nap

A fun page using papers and the stamp set from the Mayberry Workshop On The Go Kit. A lot of layering and cutting went into this one.

The title is stamped with the Bohemian (E1019) and Large Chocolate (E1010) alphabet sets. The pear and "Pearfect" are from the stamp set that comes with the Mayberry WOTG kit (G1022). The bracket at the bottom of the journaling block is also from the Chocolate alphabet set. A quick way to make a custom journaling block.

I felt like I needed to break up the diamonds on the pattern paper, so trimmed some of them out with an ex-acto knife, folded them up and pinned them open with a brad. By doing this, it also helped to frame the center of the page, drawing your eye to thte title and pictures.

Happy 4th!

We have had a great holiday weekend so far. My nephew Chris and his fiance Tina came down Friday night. We had a bonfire in the backyard, complete with roasted hotdogs, smores, and macaroni salad. Saturday, we headed to Silver Lake for a little beach action. Oh my, I am sooooo out of shape! Climbing them dunes was very, very tough!

Chris put it nicely, when he said "Everytime we go to the beach with Tyler, he always gets buried". Just goes to show at 15 he is still at it!

Then Tina was a little Creative.....

Zane had to get in on the action....

With all the summertime fun we have been having, I did manage a few layouts over the past few evenings. Back to Vacation pictures.......

Stamp sets used... Sophia WOTG set for the bird, and Wings for the butterfly.

One of my favorite stamping techniques is using a couple different colors on the image. You can easily do this by sponging the ink colors onto the stamp, instead of inking the stamp up directly on the ink pad.

I have a couple more to post, but need to get making the Jello Shots for our evening cookout at the grandparents. I will try and post them a little later today. Have a great day!