CTMH July SOTM Blog Hop ... Canadian Celebration

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  This month we are featuring the July SOTM.  The version available in Canada is called Canadian Celebration, which I've used on my card above.  (The US version, that is only available in the US, is called American Celebration, which you can see likely on most of the other hoppers' blogs.)

You may have arrived to my blog from Lori Brown's blog.

But this is a circlular hop, so it doesn't matter where you start along the hop.

I decided to go with a more vintage feel to my card, sponging Chocolate ink on most all the pieces before assembling them.  I grabbed a couple of background stamps to create my own B&Ts for this card.  I used Universal Backgrounds for the script and the woodgrain, and I used Hit the Spot for the big Cranberry polka-dots. 

It's not really visible in the photo, but I also embossed the shooting stars with a 50/50 mixture of clear embossing powder and Prisma Glitter.

I really like how this card turned out.  :)

Here's a photo of the Canadian version of the Stamp of the Month - Canadian Celebration stamp set:

You can continue along the hop by heading over to Karen Fullam's blog.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Colonial White, Kraft CS

Stamps:  Canadian Celebration - July SOTM, Universal Backgrounds, Hit the Spot

Inks:  Cranberry, Black, Grey Flannel, Brown Bag, Chocolate, Versamark

Embellishments:  Black button brads, Natural hemp, Prisma Glitter

Punches:  1 1/4" circle, Upper Crest border (Fiskars)

Other:  Clear embossing powder, paper piercer, sponge, micro-tip scissors, 3D foam tape

Celebrate with Fanfare... {Mojo Monday 197 sketch}

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe this may be my first ever round-shaped card that I've made.  ;)   (It measures 4 1/4" around.)

I created my card using this week's Mojo Monday sketch #197. 

I think it turned out pretty cute!  I used Fanfare B&Ts to help make it chock-full of funn-ness! 

The only stamping I did was for the sentiment and the rest of it was all Fanfare MyStickease, oh, and the added ribbon row detail.  Love that I can bend my CTMH stamps in a curve to match the shape I needed for my card!

I'll be back later tonight with my CTMH Stamp Of The Month Blog Hop creation. 

(Wow, three posts in one day... crazy, hey!)

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Fanfare B&Ts; Black CS

Stamp:  You & Me

Ink:  Black

Embellishments:  Fanfare MyStickease, Sunny Yellow button, Colonial White waxy flax, Black gingham ribbon (WalMart)

Other:  Cricut and George & Basic Shapes cartridge (Provo Craft), Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), Scallop circle die (SU), ScorTape (ScorPal), 3D foam tape, Micro-tip scissors

H2H Color Challenge ~ Bamboo, Barn Red, Any Blue

This week over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog it's a color challenge.  You are to use Bamboo, Barn Red, and your choice of Blue... I chose to use Crystal Blue on my card.

I wouldn't normally grab these colours to use together, so it was a challenge that I had to think about for a while before I tackled it.  I chose to use the brighter colours sparingly, toning them down with the Bamboo, Colonial White and a little Black.

The front sentiment reads "A true friend remembers your birthday..." and the inside says "but not your age.  Happy Birthday!"

I like how it turned out and I hope you do too!

Check back later for another post.  I also created a card for the Mojo Monday challenge, too.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper:  Bamboo, Colonial White CS
Stamps:  You Are Beautiful, Universal Backgrounds, Card Chatter - Birthday
Inks:  Bamboo, Barn Red, Crystal Blue, Black
Embellishments:  Clear buttons, Crystal Blue waxy flax, Colonial White crocheted ribbon, Silver charm - no longer available, Silver jump ring (other)
Punch:  Apron Lace border (Fiskars)
Other:  Blender pen, Paper piercer, ScorTape (ScorPal)

My "You & Me" 3-ring Album (created with Nona's class instructions)

This is just the front cover of my 5"x7" 3-ring album using the B&T papers from the You & Me kit (plus a little extra cardstock).  Because it's Nona's class, I didn't think it would be appropriate to show all the innerds of it.  But take my word for it that it's super cute!

If you would like to make this album, you can get your class instructions from former CTMH Consultant Nona Davenport on her blog HERE.  Her instructions for this class are to create 2 albums, 1 boy themed and 1 girl themed, but I only had one album on-hand, so I only created the boy one (so far).

I still need to add my photos and journaling... geez, sound familiar???  lol

Until next time, happy creating!  :)

3x3 Thanks card

I love to make these little 3x3 thank you cards for my customers.

I like to tuck one in with their purchases.

This is one I made recently.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper:  Topstitch B&T; Colonial White, Smoothie CS
Stamps:  Heartfelt Treasures, Thanks, Hit the Spot
Inks:  Chocolate, Smoothie, Versamark
Embellishments:  Chocolate flower button, Colonial White waxy flax
Punch:  Dotted Scallop border (EK)
Other:  Micro-tip scissors, 3D foam tape, Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal), Clear detail embossing powder, Craft heater

My Free JPEG Studio J layout

CTMH is offering a free Studio J layout this month. Because I am on dial-up, I didn't think I was going to be able to try it out, but I was at my husband's office yesterday and had my laptop with me. While he did a little work, I spent about an hour online and created this layout of my neice's wedding. I was emailed the free JPEG within minutes of completion and saved the file for future use, which is what I'm sharing with you. You also get two individual JPEG pictures (left page and right page) suitable for printing, but I couldn't seem to get Blogger to load them tonight on this post thanks to my painfully slow dial-up connection.


So if you have about an hour to spare before the end of the month, you should try Studio J out for yourself... oh and did I mention that it's FREE??!! :D


Happy creating! :)

Inspired Thank You card

This simple, pretty card was inspired by this beauty by Jean Martin -- you just have to scroll down to the second card in her post.

I chose not to use yellow as she had because the yellows I have seemed too yellow, but instead went with Vanilla Cream.

I added a row of Liquid Pearls to the banner strip and learned that I really need to practice using them to get them more uniform.

I lightly sponged some Chocolate ink around the edges of the Vanilla Cream and Sky CS pieces.

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Colonial White, Sky CS

Stamps:  Treasures, Gracious Greetings, Hit the Spot

Inks:  Black, Pacifica, Chocolate

Embellishments:  Licorice adhesive pearls, White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Black gingham ribbon (Walmart)

Other:  Double-ended Banners die (Papertrey Ink), Sponge, Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal)

H2H Bingo Challenge... {and a link to a fab Bachelor button flower tutorial}

This week at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog they are playing BINGO.  You get to choose a row of items to use for your project from their Bingo card below.

I chose to use Flowers / Border Punch / Buttons, and created my card using just those items from the Bingo card.

H2H Bingo Card

Aren't the Bachelor button flowers on my card fabulous?!  Fellow CTMH Consultant Connie MacFarlane came up with the idea and a video tutorial on how to make them.  They are now my current fave flower to make.  Thanks for the great tutorial, Connie!

In case you are looking at my supplies list and wondering about where I used some of the items, I'll make it easy for you:

• B&Ts were used to make the flowers, and for one of the buttons
• the sponge was used to ink the edge of the flowers (as shown in the video tutorial)
• the 3/4" circle punch was used to punch a piece of B&T and paired up with a clear button
• the liquid glass was used to glue the B&T to the back of the clear button
• the Versamark ink was used for clear embossing my sentiment

So this was a fun challenge.  It was so hard for me to not add any ribbon, brads, or gems!  But it turned out sweet just as is. 

Happy creating!  :)

Supplies used (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper:  Mayberry, Veranda B&Ts; Colonial White, Creme Brulee, Smoothie, Kraft, Topiary CS

Stamps:  Card Chatter - Birthday, Heartfelt Treasures, Hit the Spot, Universal Backgrounds

Inks:  Smoothie, Creme Brulee, Topiary, Chocolate, Brown Bag, Versamark

Embellishments:  Buttons - clear, Topiary, Colonial White

Punches:  3/4" circle punch (EK), Cornice border (Martha Stewart)

Other:  Paper crimper (Fiskars), Micro-tip scissors, Clear detail embossing powder, Sponge, Liquid glass, Scor-Tape (Scor-Pal), Craft heater