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!

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #103

I am a relatively new Close To My Heart Consultant, so I was happy when I saw that I had the paper packet featured for this week's color challenge. I am a little sad that Jubilee will be retiring soon, since it's perfect for summer/barbecue/Western themes. Here is this week's color inspiration:

Here's my double page layout using the theme colors, with a little Sweet Leaf thrown in as the optional color:

I used the scraps from the Jubilee WOTG, added a couple of Champagne cardstock, some scrap Sweet Leaf cardstock, Jubilee Complements and Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon. The green Baker's twine was from a twine share from the Cricut Message Board. I used #13 from Make It From Your Heart Volume 1 as my layout template.

Now it's your turn to join the fun at the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge!

Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge

This is my first time participating in the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge, but then, I have only been a consultant for three months. :-D So aside from the video tutorial, I decided to mark my 3 month anniversary by participating in the challenge. Here are the color inspirations:

Here's a card that I made following the color dare challenge:

I used pigment ink in Sweet Leaf, Sorbet and Indian Corn Blue (I think it's about to dry out) to stamp the images from Pick a Posey, and Sorbet pigment ink for the sentiment from Banner Wishes.I used a strip of B&T paper from Jubilee, and another strip of Sweet Leaf cardstock for my "ribbons". I embossed the white cardstock with the Quatrefoil Embossing Folder, inked all the elements and called it a day. :-D
Click this LINK to join and check out the projects!

Coloring The Paperdoll Stamp From Close To My Heart With Alcohol Markers

Here are the tutorial videos on how to color the Paperdoll stamp. It is divided in three parts--Hair, Outfit and Skin. I used a combination of Copic markers and ShinHan Touch markers that will be available on the CTMH website starting August 1, and Copic markers. Please make sure to adjust the settings when you watch the video since it was filmed in 1080p. YouTube automatically sets it to a lower resolution. The first part will discuss hair:
Part 2 is all about coloring her outift (or coloring and blending in shades of pink)

The third part will discuss how to color the skin.

The colored image looks like this when done:

Color Matching The CTMH Exclusive Palette With ShinHan Markers

ShinHan Markers will be available through the Close To My Heart website starting August 1. I made my own color swatches for the markers and compared them to the cardstocks' colors. Some colors are perfect matches, others are "in between" (example:YR24 Marigold could either work with Goldrush or Autumn Terracotta), meaning it looks like a cross between two colors. Lagoon has two coordinating markers--BG61 Peacock Green, its darker version, and B68 Turquoise Blue, the lighter shade. B262 Cerulean Blue has no CTMH equivalent, but I think it coordinates well with Indian Corn Blue. I did not match the colors for the skin tones (YR26 and YR29) since they don't have any equivalent in the present color palette, and they have too much red tones in them to resemble Champagne or Bamboo.
I had some surprises during this process. I anticipated that Y49 Pastel Green would be the equivalent of Flaxen, but instead, it looked more like Canary yellow, GY234 Leaf Green was more Pear than Sweet Leaf, and Sap Green was more of a New England Ivy than Olive!
Here are the pics and I hope these will help you when you color match your projects!

New Consultant Kits...The Best Of Both Worlds!

NOW is one of the best time to join Close To My Heart as an Independent Consultant! The company just released two different kits that have YOU in mind. There is a new consultant kit for scrapbookers, and another one for cardmakers.
The Scrapbooker's New Consultant Kit has a retail value of $365, yours for only $99 when you sign up!

The Cardmaker's New Consultant Kit has a retail value of $370! This can be yours for $99 when you sign up!

So, what are the advantages when you sign up with me? I will share with you my tutorials, cutting guides for various projects and update you with information that will be advantageous for your business! The quota for quarterly sales is only $300, and you have until the next quarter to meet that minimum! Example, if you sign up this month, you have until the last day of December to meet the minimum requirement! In this day and age where established businesses have gone bankrupt or closed their doors because of the economy, Close To My Heart continues to be strong and financially secure. :-D
So...join now!

Paper Doll

I cross posted this from my other blog. This is a birthday card with a detachable paperdoll complete with outfits and accessories. I used strips of Lollydoodle paper packet that I punched out so as to create scallops. I could not decide which patterns to use, so why not all of them, right? :-) The sentiment is from Cricut Artiste Birthday, stamped using Desert Sand Exclusive Ink. I mounted it on a small piece of rectangle Kraft cardstock. The stamped images from Paper Doll were colored using Copic markers.

...and the WINNER is...

...number 3...Desire Fourie!!!!! Please email me at: peachylamb@yahoo.com with your mailing info so I could send you your prize! :-D

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: