Love of Color - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH Technique Blog Hop

The theme for the December CTMH Technique Blog Hop is "Love of Color".  This blog will highlight artwork using the newest CTMH "How-to Book", a fabulous reference book that

           * Fits inside our Everyday Life albums for easy and                                              convenient transportation.

          * Includes breathtaking artwork that illustrates how to create                                perfectly balanced color combinations.

          * Loose, 3-ring hole-punched pages; 8⅜ x 6⅞ 

If you are coming from Marciava Warrell's blog , you are on the right track.  In case you get lost, you can get a complete list of participants at the bottom of  Melissa Robinson's blog. This month we have 14 Close to My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the "Love of Color" to inspire their art. To enjoy this hop is quite simple to do - just click on the link at the bottom of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!  

The CTMH Love of Color book is amazing.  I really hadn't checked it out so thoroughly and glad I joined this hop to see all the great ideas and "Artwork Tips".  My inspiration came from pg 35 using the following color combinations. sapphire, fern, goldrush, raspberry and pixie.  It's been a long time since I made one of these origami wreaths.  I first learned to make these from Julie Reynolds.  They really are easy. Today I was crafting with kids at church (19 total, though not all at the same time.) I really needed to look at the directions, though one of the 5th graders who learned to do the wreath 2 years ago was making one and quickly tutored me!  So FUN!!

Now hop on over to Catherine Nowak's blog to see what kind of fabulous art she's created.  Be sure to drop a comment, we enjoy the encouragement.  I hope you enjoy the hop.  If you see an item(s) you would like to purchase, contact your CTMH consultant or you can shop HERE.

Holiday Anything But a Card Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH 

"Holiday Anything But a Card Blog Hop" 

For this blog hop, the challenge was to use current product to make anything but a card, plus, it had to have a holiday theme.  I'm curious what inspiration we will discover among our collective, creative brains.  For this blog hop we have 7 CTMH consultants participating. Haley Dyer'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 on Melinda’s Blog: HERE. 

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 my "anything but a card", I decided to create an origami ornament.  This Saturday, I have planned a craft day with the kids from church, their friends and siblings.  This gives parents time to shop and wrap gifts without the kids.  I set up creation stations and the kids are really awesome, helping each other to create gifts, tags, cards, or some just like to color.  It's a great way to get rid of some of my stash, teach techniques and provide a fun time; a gift to my friends, their kids and I really feel like it's a gift I give myself - creative time with kids.... cannot get much better!
I had one hour to prepare and photo this orgami ornament - it's really FAST!  The hardest part is figuring out the instruction from the directions

https://snapguide.com/guides/make-an-origami-ornament-for-christmas/print
I love our white and gold skinny ribbon, perfect for these ornaments. 
I cut 6 inch squares from the "Season Mix" (green) and used both sides of the green "Tis the Season"
Looks like it just needs a touch of the gold shimmer brush!! haha!!
  I love all paper crafting. One year I made all my wrapping paper from Amazon packing paper -smoothed it out and rolled it up after stamping it with white snowflakes. (over 7 yards!!)

Now "Hop" on over to Katy Taylor  to see her work!  

Be sure to visit all the consultants on their blogs to get some great crafting ideas! Please leave a comment, we love your encouragement. To get any of the products you see, contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here.)

December SOTM Blog Hop ~ Candy Cane Alphabet

Welcome to the December SOTM Blog Hop

Candy Cane Alphabet

We will be featuring the December SOTM, which is "Candy Cane Alphabet", a set of 44 stamps!!  
  It will be fun to see stamping inspiration found on this hop. 

If you came here from Lauren Moore'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 on Melinda’s Blog: HERE.  This month we have approximately 14 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the December 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!

I love the word JOY - and as I was thinking about what word I could stamp with this image, keeping in mind I need Christmas cards, I realized the word Joy was perfect - and I could add some holiday "JOY" using a wreath for the "O".  I found wreaths in two CTMH Cricut cartridges; several in Flower Market and one in Artistry.  My favorite is the  Pine Berry Wreath in the Cricut Flower Market Collection and used Fern for the Wreath and  Candy Apple for the Candy Canes.  The scalloped squares are from the Cricut Artbooking collection.  The red ribbon is from a strip of white and gold ribbon cut in 1/2 and colored with Candy Apple ink using a sponge dauber. 

Now "Hop" on over to Gina Brandstetter's blog  to see her inspiring work!  Be sure to visit all the consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas!  Please leave a comment, we love your encouragement.  Remember, the December SOTM is only available until December 31!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

CTMH Merry Christmas Blessings Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH "Merry Christmas Blessings" Blog Hop.

If you came here from Miss. Carrie's Creations  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 on Melinda’s Blog: HERE. 

This month we have 15 CTMH Consultants sharing their creations using our special kit "Christmas Blessings" OR any other holiday inspired art with 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!

I decided it was time to do a "Step" card.  I had never tried one before. I think the stamp set "Christmas Blessings" CC12181 from the Christmas Blessings Workshop kit works great!  The papers I used were Peacock CS and the light blue watercolor pattern paper from the Boutique Paper Packet (glacier?).  As I was stamping the card, the little star stamp disappeared. One minute it's in my hand, the next - no where to be found!  So I quickly hand cut a silver star.  - Works just fine!

Where to begin.  

So many ideas and specials.  

For Christmas alone, we have three!!

1. The Christmas Blessings kit Workshop

Save 25% and create elegant, monochromatic Christmas cards with the exclusive My Acrylix® Christmas Blessings stamp set and workshop kit. Besides the stamp set, the kit includes cardstock, silver glitter paper, silver glitter gems, silver embellishing thread, and cards and envelopes needed to create twelve cards, 4 each of 3 designs using the rich, festive colors of Eggplant, Peacock, Sage, and Sugarplum and include stamping on both the outside and inside of each card. These extra details make holiday cardmaking that much more fun and thoughtful. 

2. The Advent Calendar bundle and Workshop

Take advantage of the exclusive Advent Calendar bundle and workshop to create a lovely handmade décor piece that's perfect for counting down the days until Christmas! This workshop uses the advent calendar 3-D item on new Cricut® Season of Joy digital collection together with the ‘Tis the Season paper collection. We've made it easy to cut all the shapes needed with Cricut Design Space™ project files created just for this project. All the prep work for cutting is done for you!    The kit provides the basic materials, though you'll also need,

• Cricut Season of Joy Digital Collection (z3296)
• My Acrylic Snug Background Collection (B1634)
• Clear Sparkles (Z3274
• New England Ivy Burlap Ribbon (Z4179)

3. Days of December Workshop

Capture your holiday memories with the Days of December

bundle and workshop!  With this workshop, you can create an Everyday Life album to document photos and memories for each day during the month of December.  Your December highlights will be preserved for years to come.  Review the information below for all the details about the days of December bundle and workshop. 

Due to really limited time due to work, I only made one card though REALLY wanted to do all three projects!!! and LOTS of cards - I still have until the end of December - WOW - get ahead for next year!!! novel Concept!

Now "Hop" on over to Haley Dyer's blog to see her work!  Be sure to visit all the consultants on their blogs to get some great crafting ideas! Please leave a comment, we love your encouragement. To get any of the products you see, contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here.)

Shake Things Up! - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to the November CTMH Technique Blog Hop!

The theme for this hop is "Shake Things Up!"  This blog will demonstrate artwork using our shaker die cuts, kits and s along with other CTMH products.  
I'm excited to see the creative use of ways we can shake things up. 

If you are coming from Michelle Loncar's blog - you are on the right track.  In case you get lost, you can get a complete list of participants at the bottom of Melissa Robinson's blog.  This month we have 21 Close to My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the "Shake Things Up!" theme. To enjoy this hop is quite simple to do - just click on the link at the bottom of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!  

I found an amazing card posted by a CTMH consultant and I immediately knew I would CASE it (Or more like "CASAE" it; Copy And Share Almost Everything)..... However, in my haste, I didn't save the info -  not even a photo.  So I only have a memory of what I saw and it was great!; including a video tutorial.  If this idea is yours or you know who posted the concept, please let me know so I can give you credit.  The really neat aspect of the card was that it used our new die cuts so it could be "unzipped" for the card to be opened.  I do plan to use that idea when I have more time to play.  My first attempt with this "Shake it Up" theme is to use a belly band to hold my "confetti" card together. That way it can be re-closed and reopened. 

Before I use this card, I will decorate the sides of the box.

When the belly band is removed the double gate card opens and the box that's folded flat pops open. - it has a rubber-band inside that is the mechanism to pop it open. I also added some of our sequins as "confetti".  I was going to take a video, only the rubber band broke - the only one I could find, it must have been old.  So Sad! - I know I have more some where!! Check out the instructions I found.

Here's one take on the Poppin' cube and gives the measurements.  It also has a shaker window on the box. Here's a second "take" (17 second video) on the poppin' cube in a card. And take 3 has a different mechanism/template. Lots of options and only limited by our creativity.  I so very much wish I had a copy of the first Poppin' box in a card that inspired me!  

Now hop on over to  Catherine Nowak's blog to see what kind of fabulous art she's created.  Be sure to drop a comment, we enjoy the encouragement.  I hope you enjoy the hop.

November SOTM Blog Hop - Seasonal Trees

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop 

We will be featuring the November SOTM, 

which is "Seasonal Trees", a set of 23 stamps!!  
  It will be fun to see the inspiration found on this hop. 

If you came here from Kimberly Bower'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 on Melinda’s Blog: HERE.  This month we have approximately 19 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the November 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!

I gold embossed the tree, on Eggplant CS, and looked everywhere for my white and gold twine- no where to be found.  Guess I need to order more - so I grabbed the retired eggplant ribbon.  You could also "dye" the white and gold ribbon using the ink pad.  The smallest rectangle was cut at 2 1/4 by 3 3/4 and I stamped on the darker side,  the next size was cut at 2 1/2 by 4 and I used the lighter side. They were layered on the gold glitter paper (2 3/4 X 4/1/4) and tied with ribbon.  The largest rectangle was cut at 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 and scored around the edge at 1/4 inch and then sanded to pop out the embossed lines. The star on the tree was a Cricut Cut (1/2 inch) from the Flower Market collection. To finish the tree it was trimmed with Bitty Sparkles.  I'm also creating the same card using Pomegranate CS, Peacock CS, and New England Ivy - just don't have the details finished.  Will post ASAP

Now "Hop" on over to Gina Brandstetter's blog  to see her inspiring work!  Be sure to visit all the consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas!  Please leave a comment, we love your encouragement.  Remember, the November SOTM is only available until November 30!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

CTMH Holiday Sparkle/Seasons of Joy Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH 

"Holiday Sparkle & Season of Joy Blog Hop" 

If you came here from Alyson Mayo 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 on Melinda’s Blog: HERE. 

This month we have 14 CTMH Consultants sharing their creations using "Holiday Sparkle" & "Season of Joy" inspired art 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!

I decided to use the Holiday Sparkle card kit to create alternate cards using materials from the kit.

CARD #1

The design is Pattern 17, pg, 38-39 from the CTMH Make It from Your Heart Vol. 4.  I used the "boutique" pocket card page for the sentiments.  Card 1 - "Choose Joy" and Card 2 - "your kind heart makes mine happy".   The background paper is also from the boutique paper pack (X7235B), including pocket cards and peacock cardstock.  Card #1 has the white and gold ribbon. (Z3189)

CARD #2

 Card #3

For card #3, the sentiment sticker and sequins are from the Holiday Sparkle kit.  The paper is "boutique".  The double "skirt" is cut at 10" long x 5" high and scored at 1" - 1/2" - 2.5' - 3" etc.

We are featuring two exclusive products.

Here are the details for the two specials.

1. The Holiday Sparkle Card Kit

Quick and Easy Shaker Cards to Liven Up the Holiday!

Shake things up this holiday season with the Holiday Sparkle Cut Above^® card kit! This kit contains materials for creating 12 festive shaker cards, including printed card bases, die-cut pieces, stickers, sparkly sequins, and simple assembly instructions.

Get a 20% discount when you get the Holiday Sparkle Bundle (CC101810), which pairs the card kit with the My Acrylix® Love with All the Trimmings stamp set, specially designed to further customize the insides of your cards. The Holiday Sparkle Card Kit is only available through October 31.

The stamp set, Love with All the Trimmings,  (CC10188) is a set of 25 stamps.  

You can also receive this delightful card kit FREE when you sign up as a Consultant or host a qualifying party.

2. The Circuit ® Season of Joy 

Digital Collection (Z3296)

Celebrate the most wonderful time of the year with dynamic cut designs. This collection features over 45 images and projects including several seasonal icons, titles, and sentiments, as well as a collection of 3-D projects that you can create after a few simple cuts 

on your Cricut® machine.

Now "Hop" on over to Haley Dyer's blog to see her work!  

Be sure to visit all the consultants on their blogs to get some great crafting ideas! Please leave a comment, we love your encouragement. To get any of the products you see, contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here.)

Paste-fully Creative - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to the CTMH Technique Blog Hop

The theme for the October CTMH Technique Blog Hop is "Paste-fully Creative".  This blog will demonstrate artwork using new CTMH products including  Texture pastes; Opaque paste (Z4245) & Texture paste (Z4246), Palette Knives (Z4247), and Stencil Sheets (Z4244).  You can get 10% discount with the bundle.   I'm excited to see the creative use of texture pastes on this hop.  

If you are coming from Michelle Loncar, you are on the right track.  In case you get lost, you can get a complete list of participants at the bottom of  Melissa Robinson's blog. This month we have 16 Close to My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the "Paste-fully Creative" theme. To enjoy this hop is quite simple to do - just click on the link at the bottom of the post on each blog to move to the next one. Here we go!  

I tried to create a stamped image in the paste and learned the paste needs to dry a bit or you only get wispy peaks.  I did add some Glacier ink - with a watercolor brush.  The images are from the October Stamp of the Month.  The gingham ribbon is from 
Story by Stacy™ Short Story Workshop Kit—Black & White  (Z4217)

Tutorials/instructions for using texture pastes: all found on Pinterest.

• FREE FORM TEXTURE
• https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-use-acrylic-painting-texture-medium-2577368?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=shareurlbuttons_nip
• STENCIL:
• http://www.bumblebeesandbutterflies.com/2014/07/stencil-it-at-country-view-crafts.html
• http://www.oneluckyday.net/2012/05/work-in-progress.html
• STAMP INTO PASTE
• http://andyskinnerorg.blogspot.com/2011/02/altered-box-part-1.html
• http://andyskinnerorg.blogspot.com/2011/07/texture-stamping-part-2.html?spref=pi
• https://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2014/09/video-watercolor-texture-paste-stamptember-giveaway.html/comment-page-2#comment-375354
• COLORING:
• http://artc.typepad.com/weblog/modeling-paste/
• https://www.jennifermcguireink.com/2014/09/video-watercolor-texture-paste-stamptember-giveaway.html/comment-page-2#comment-375354

Now hop on over to Kimberly Bower's blog to see what kind of fabulous art she's created.  Be sure to drop a comment, we enjoy the encouragement.  I hope you enjoy the hop.