Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #195

I love the cool color palette of this week's color challenge:

I'm always in need of good birthday cards, and the May Stamp Of The Month, Celebrate With Cake was perfect! I colored the images with ShinHan and Copic markers, added a Purple Shimmer Trim and Aqua Dots. The Pear background paper is from Penelope Paper Packet. The sentiment was stamped with Lagoon Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. To add more blues, I colored the background with a hint of blue CTMH Watercolor Paints. I added some Aqua Dots at the top part of the card.

We'd like to invite you to join our fun color challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare!

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #182

Let's continue with our happy colors at Color My Heart Color Dare! This week, our challenge colors are:

I needed to increase my stash of birthday cards, so I used the March Stamp Of The Month, Balloon Animals. I used Smoothie, Lagoon, White Daisy and Hollyhock Exclusive Inks Pad to stamp on the images. The background paper was from last year's Paper Fundamentals. I added some Teal and White Shimmer Trim, and the white gems from the Grey Enamel Gems pack. I added some framing around the stamped images using Smoothie, Lagoon and Hollyhock Cardstock.

Come join our challenge at Color My Heart Color Dare!

November Stamp Of The Month...Cheers 2016!

We are getting all ready for 2016 with November's Stamp Of The Month Theme. :-)
Cheers 2016 Can be yours for $5.00 with every $50.00 purchase, or you can get it for $17.95 at full price. Either way, this is a great stamp set to get if you're into planners or journaling!

I made a couple of cards to show an alternative use for the stamp set since we're a couple of months away from the New Year.

This would make a perfect graduation or a pick-me-up card. I used one of the 3"x4" cards from White Pines Picture My Life and stamped the sentiment with Cranberry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, second generation style (meaning I stamped it first on a scrap piece of paper before stamping it on the card), and Glacier Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. The papers are from White Pines and Zoe. I added a Red Shimmer Trim, and a sticker from Base and Bling Holiday Style Sheet (for who could resist an ice-skating polar bear?) and some Sequins Silver Assortment.

The second card is more simple, because I think the message itself is profound. The card once again is from White Pines Picture My Life, and I made a flag using New England Ivy cardstock. The background paper is from Zoe, tied with a Glacier Extra Thick Twine. I used Glacier Exclusive Inks for the sentiment and the stars. I added some White Enamel Stars on the left side of the card to balance the look.

Thank you for dropping by and happy crafting!

Just Sayin'--May Stamp Of The Month Blog CTMH Hop

If you came from Pamela Ellison's Blog, then you are right on track! For a complete list of blog participants, please visit Melinda's Blog.

May's Stamp Of The Month is "Just Sayin'". I was thinking that this is an ideal stamp set for the My Crush books and also for Picture My Life Cards. I know I will be playing with this some more.

Pocket letters have taken the crafting world by storm! They are basically ATC-sized cardstock or designer paper that you tuck into trading card pocket sleeves. There is a lot of artistic freedom in making them. I decided to make a pocket letter using Close To My Heart products, and most especially, one that features the Stamp Of The Month. I used the Blossom paper packet from Seasonal Expressions 2, and embellished the pockets with Blossom Complements, the black stars from Scaredy Cat Assortment, Chalk It Up Assortment, and for the goody giveaways, I added some Honey Triangles Washi Tape, Lagoon Hearts Washi Tape, Gold Polka Dot Washi Tape, Aqua Dots and Oceanside Sequins.

Your next stop will be to one of my favorites, Donna's Blog. Thank you and please visit again soon!

Color My Heart Color Dare #118

Here are our inspirational colors this week at Color My Heart Color Dare:

I have not made a flower pot card before, so I came up with my own version. I stamped some flowers using November's Stamp Of The Month "It's The Little Things" using Honey Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad on White Daisy Cardstock. I inked the edges of the flowers that I had fussy cut using Smoothie Exclusive Inks, and for the centers, I added some Smoothie-colored acrylic roses from Ivy Lane Assortment (retired). The "pollen" are faux pearls that I made using gold acrylic paint. The flower pot was cut freehand and scored using Chocolate cardstock. The leaves were also cut freehand from Olive cardstock and to add some variation, I also punched some olive twigs using a punch from Martha Stewart. I tied a jute string at the bottom of the flower pot to keep the card closed.

For more design inspiration, come visit us at Color My Heart Color Dare!

November Stamp Of The Month...It's The Little Things

Here is November's Stamp of the month "It's The Little Things", and this can be yours for only $5.00 with every $50.00 purchase.

The images from the September Stamp Of The Month reminds me of the floral designs from the Brushed Paper Packet. Sure enough, I just had to make a two-page layout. The flowers were stamped on Pixie and Canary Cardstock using Exclusive Inks in Pixie, Canary and Goldrush. I added some 4"x6" picture frames in Pixie and 5"x7" in Hollyhock on the White Daisy layout base. The overlay is cut at 11" from the Artbooking Cartridge using Juniper Cardstock. The leaves are from the Art Philosophy Cartridge, cut at 1" and 1 1/2" using Sweet Leaf Cardstock, inked with Topiary Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. I added some Sequins Gold Assortment for sparkle.

October SOTM Home For The Holidays Blog Hop

If you came from Jen Patrick's Blog, then you are in the right place! For a complete list of blog hoppers, visit Melinda's Blog.

Christmas is my favorite holiday and I just went to town with October's Stamp Of The Month, Home For The Holidays.

I used the Snowhaven paper packet. I used cuts from the Cricut Artbooking Cartridge, and Art Philosophy Cartridge. For embellishments, I used Silver Shimmer Trim, Black Striped Twill Ribbon, Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon, Sparkles Clear Assortment, Sequins Silver Assortment, and White Enamel Stars:-) I stamped the images with Cranberry Exclusive Inks and Glacier Exclusive Inks. For cardstock, I used White Daisy, Black, Slate, Glacier and Ruby (I wanted to tone down the brightness of the red.) I also added some velcro and Hook and Loop Dots to make the pages interactive.

First Project is an interactive layout--it's a "Peachy Original."

My second project is a wallet mini album. I went to You Tube and was inspired by the tutorial from vanilladaze.

Your next stop would be Kelly's blog. Thanks for dropping by!

Color Dare Challenge #112

Here are this week's color inspiration at Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge:

I decided to use September's Stamp Of The Month, Family Is Forever for this week's challenge. I made a card for my mother-in-law, whom I am close to. I stamped the tree trunk and branches using Desert Sand Exclusive Inks then embossed it. I inked the leaves in Juniper and Pear Exclusive Inks. The center hearts were stamped using Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks. I added some Sorbet Hearts from Chalk It Up Assortment. The sentiment was stamped using Juniper and Sorbet Exclusive Inks. The background is Sorbet Cardstock with Chevron Embossing Folder. I layered the Sorbet Cardstock on Kraft Cardstock and added glitter on the tree trunk to finish off the card.

We'd like to see what you come up with. Come join us at Color My Heart Color Dare!

CTMH September Stamp Of The Month Blog Hop

Family is Forever is September's Stamp Of The Month. This is a Constant Campaign product which can be yours for only $5 with every $50 purchase at Close to My heart!

If you came from Wendy's Blog, then you are in the right place! Check out Melinda's Blog for the complete list of the 80s plus participants (woot!) in this month's hop. I decided to go with a "Love" theme with this month's stamp set, Family Is Forever.

The color scheme is inspired by the White Stripes' color scheme of red, white and black. All the die cuts and the card can be found on page 42 of the Cricut Artiste Cartridge. I used Black Cardstock, Ruby Cardstock, Pear and White Daisy Cardstock for this project. The measurements that I used are as follows: card, belly band and sleeve: 5 1/2", sihouettes: 1 3/4", and frame: 2 1/2". I used some Sparkles Clear Assortment, and a flourish from Sparkles Black Flourishes-Small as my embellishments. I embossed the card sleeve with Damask Embossing Folder. I made some mini roses at 2" using the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for the belly band. All images were stamped using Ruby Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad.

Thank you for visiting! Your next stop will be Carol's Blog!

Color My Heart Color Dare #105

The color inspiration for this week at Color My Heart Color Dare Blog Challenge, is Sunset, Pear and Barn Red.

I wanted to make a card using the owl from Give a Hoot, Close To My Heart's August Stamp of the month. I color matched the owl with alcohol markers so it would match Barn Red, and I also stamped the sentiment from Balloon Talk (April's Stamp of the month and it's now retired) Barn Red. I did more color matching with with my alcohol markers for the colors Sunset and Pear, since I don't have the paper on hand. The glittery green paper and Baker's twine which surprisingly were good matches for the color are from my stash. I punched the edge of the green paper with a Martha Stewart border punch and added some Assorted Crystals Sparkles to the flowers and the owl's eyes...for who can possibly resist an owl with sparkly eyes and a strokable belly? :-D

Drop by at Color My Heart Color Dare for more design inspirations!

CTMH August SOTM Blog Hop

If you just left Heather's Blog, then you're in the right place!

There are more than 60 Independent Close To My Heart Consultants participating in this month's bloghop! Whoo-oo could resist those darling owls featured in August's Stamp Of The Month(SOTM)? :-D You can get them for $5 with every $50 purchase at the Close To My Heart website. The original price is $17.95, so it's an awesome deal, and yes, they are a hoot!

I decided to make a two-page layout featuring the What A Hoot stamp set. I used the Scaredy Cat paper packet, Sequins Silver Assortment, some Sparkles Clear Assortment, and colored the images with ShinHan Touch Twin markers in Warm Grey WG4, Warm Grey WG7, Peony Purple P282, and some Copic markers. I also added some Stickles on the purple flower on the owl's belly. I used the layout formats on pages 19 and 21 from The Reflections Scrapbook Program.

Here's a closer look at the owls:

For a complete list of the participating bloggers, check out Melinda's blog!

Thanks for dropping by. Your next stop will be Amie's Blog!

Kaboom! July Stamp Of The Month

July's stamp set from Close To My Heart is perfect for Independence Day, yet versatile enough for other festive celebrations. You can have this stamp for $5.00 after you make a $50.00 purchase .

Here are some inspirational projects from the Close To My Heart website:

Happy 30th Anniversary, Close To My Heart!

We have another fabulous promotion for the month of June! In honor of our founder and CEO Jeanette Lynton’s 30-year anniversary in the stamping and scrapbooking industry, when you place an order totaling $50 during the month of June, you can add your choice of one of six great gift collections to your order for just $30! Each collection has an original retail value of at least $50—some even as high as $65. Plus, each collection is perfectly tailored to fit a variety of interests and styles. They feature everything from gift bags to ribbons to washi tape to alphabet stickers—and much more! So make sure to take advantage of these savings and snag your own collection for just $30.* *Offer valid June 1–30, 2014. Shipping/handling is calculated based on the qualifying order total plus the price of the promotional item ($30). Offer valid while supplies last. Clearance, bulk, “While Supplies Last,” supply items, and Studio J™ items do not count toward a qualifying purchase ($50), nor does the gift collection itself. Choose your perfect gift from six collections... Delightful Ribbon and Trim Collection Retail Value: $54—You pay only $30 CC10281 This collection includes Black Hemp, Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon, Party Washi Tape 3-Pack, Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape 3-Pack, and Colonial White Rosetta Ribbon

Holiday Happiness Collection Retail Value: $64.55—You pay only $30 CC10283 This collection includes Season’s Tweetings Gift Bags (2), Frosted Paper Packet, Frosted Complements, Frosted Assortment, Sparkle & Shine Complements, Sparkle & Shine Assortment, Sparkle & Shine Textiles, and Sparkle Holiday Shapes

Papercrafting Possibilities Collection Retail Value: $61.25—You pay only $30 CC10285 This collection includes Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon, Glitz™ Glitter Gel Bronze, Glitz™ Glitter Gel Almond, 3½" μ 8" Colonial White Die-Cut Cards & Envelopes, My Creations™ Cubby, My Creations™ Collage Cubes, and My Creations™ Star

Extraordinary Embellishments Collection Retail Value: $50.55—You pay only $30 CC10282 This collection includes Mini-Medley Accents Antiqued Gold Collection, Just Blooms™ Floret Paper Shapes, Pixie Glitter Alphabet, Glamour Glitter Alphabet, Color-Ready Canvas Alphabet, Chalkboard Shapes, Durables Round Studs, Durables Square Studs, and Colonial White Rosetta Ribbon

Accessory Coordinates Collection Retail Value: $53.55—You pay only $30 CC10284 This collection includes Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Huntington Complements, Chantilly Complements, Huntington Assortment, Chantilly Assortment,For Always Assortment, Tommy Assortment, and Surfs Up Assortment

Gifts and Kits Collection Retail Value: $64.70—You pay only $30 CC10286 This collection includes Glamour Glitter Alphabet, My Originals™ Matchbook Card Kit, Chantilly Textiles, Season’s Tweetings Gift Bags (2), and My Creations™ Collage Cubes and Black Hemp

To sweeten the deal this June, you can also get our Stamp Of The Month for only $5 for every $50 purchase!

Here are some inspirational projects from our creative team:

Don't miss out on the fabulous savings! Shop now!