CTMH May SOTM - Just Sayin

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! 

 We will be featuring May's SOTM, which is "Just Sayin", 
a set of 14 stamps.  

 I hope you have enjoyed the artwork so far. 
There are 50 consultants participating in this hop.
 If you have come here from Katie Hessel, 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:  http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html.

I've been intriqued with the Bokeh technique and have been playing with it. I made the left card following the instructions by Keenan Kreations.  The right card I spritzed with clear water for a different effect.
 I like the video tutorial by Keenan Kreations

The card is made with White Daisy. Somehow it looks pink.  I think it was due to poor lighting. The left card was inked in the blues, stamped in Pacifica, the circles are Daisy White.  I did the same on the right hand card with the addition of spritzing it with plain water.  I made a circle template using cardstock and a variety of circle punches.  I plan to make a more permanent template using an acetate sheet and the cricut.  Then it will be washable and when using it you can see through and manage the placement of the circles more accurately.  When stamping, create interest by using a variety of shapes placed at various distances, with different intensities.  Return to some circles and reink them, a brighter circle will appear closer.

Materials used.

White shimmer trim Z3024

Blue shimmer trim Z3025

Pacifica ink Z2192

Daisy White pigment ink Z2163

Sky ink -retired (Glacier Z2641would be a good alternate)

Crystal Blue ink Z2117

Round sponge cut into wedges Z697

Finger dauber for the circles Z726

Now "Hop" on over to Kathleen Androlewicz 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 May SOTM is only available until May 31!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

The Everything ABC's Blog Hop - Letter I

 

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop! 

For this hop we will be featuring the letter "I". This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment.  Whatever the crafter has chosen as their "I" element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Lauren Moore - CTMH Craftings, 

then you're on the right track!

Everything "I"...... I'm stumped! "Incredible"

Ideas?? I'm just thinking... Intriqued by Bokeh Inspired cards.  

Inspired!!! All cards with "I" -  I'm thinking of you, I love you..... to infinity.

Second Inspiration for an "I" element is Instant Cards.  

Creating "Picture my Life" cards is Incredibly easy!

Imagine that!

Picture My Life Chantilly Scrapbooking Program Z1949

Added a little Stardust Glitz - retired

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog hop is

Tonya Whitehurst of With All My Heart & Soul.  

In case you get lost along the way... go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my variation and Happy Hopping!

CTMH April technique - Embossing is back

Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop! 

This month there are 11 of us highlighting the “Embossing is Back Technique” This blog hop is a great big circle so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see all the fabulous artwork incorporating this technique. 

If you are coming from Catherine Nowak's Blog, you are on the right track! 

I used the gold embossing powder to print my grandson's feet and hands
to create a visual to illustrate the Micah 6:8 Bible verse.
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
And to walk humbly with your God."

I must give credit to Pinterest where I found this idea.
Though, I cannot find the source; it appears that the original post no longer exists.

 CTMH products used: Lagoon and Black CS with Gold embossing powder.  Plus the Plantin School house and Stone Script fonts.Cricut cut letters were"welded" using Cricut Craft Room.  Still working on getting a decent photo and having the words "pop".  I think it needs a white outline.  Any other suggestions?

Thanks for stopping by!  Please continue onto Di Crawford's Blog where you will find some additional artwork highlighting this technique!  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you thought of my variation and happy hopping!

The Everything ABC's Blog Hop - Letter H

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter H. This may be the name

of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their H element will be featured in their post.

If you came from Stephanie Feist  of The Quilted Scrapper then you're on the right track!

For the letter "H" I've chosen both the words "Happy" and "Hello".  First, I'm Crafty Happy. As I was happily working on a card, I kept finding so many stamp sets with the word "Hello",  so that actually became the first card that I completed.  I used the "H" colors;  Hollyhock (Z2128),  Honey (Z2162) and the retired color Heavenly Blue (Z2126).  I was surprised to discover those colors actually worked well with the Hopscotch paper: another "H"

 

Hello Stamps 

Have a Happy Day Everyday D1616

Rain or shine D1634

This Moment S1501

Finding t he Words D1646

Just to Say...D1629

Lollydoodle workshop D1585

Hopscotch workshop - D1638

Just Sayin' - S1505

. This was my first atttempt using the Bokeh technique.  It's a bubble/blurred effect used in photography and recently I've seen in popping up in cards and layouts.  It looks a bit like our Brushed paper.

 I first saw a card by Marie Fox on Face Book on the CTMH Artwork group site.

Here are photos of Maries' art showing the technique and her Happy Mother's Day card.

  

 Mary Ellen has a great tutorial on her blog - Create with M.E.  I like her technique, though you need water color paper and I'm at a retreat without water color paper. I did use her suggestion to make different size circle templates and sponge white ink over the colors. I also used the dauber to cover the paper with a rainbow of the following colors; Honey, Heavenly Blue, Hollyhock.  I was hoping for more purple and green, but didn't get much.  Then I used the template and White Daisy to color in the light circles.  I'm afraid I wasn't patient enough to let the White Daisy pigment ink dry before stamping it.

Wendy Cranford also has a tutorial on her blog post which I found to be informative and helpful.

Check it  out here "Three Ways To Bokeh".

Third tutorial - also watercolor by Stamp Away with Me - Wplus9 Design Studio.

 August 2014 Release Week - Bokeh Made Easy

Fourth tutorial - Paula at Stampinantics

This technique is a lot of fun and I finished my "Happy" card.  Though wishing I had a better camera.  I actually had too much happiness and couldn't use all the stamps I had planned, even though I made a 5 X 7 Step Ladder Card

Open View

Upright Card

Bokeh Technique

Materials used

Brushed Paper Pack -X7190B

Brushed Assortment -Z3013

Indian Corn Blue CS

Liquid Glass - Z679

Here We Go - D1600

Happy Everything - D1653

Happy to Be Friends C -1605

Lifetime of Happiness - C1589

Brushed Workshop - D1623

Hopscotch workshop - D1638

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop

is Tonya Whitehurst of "With All My Heart & Soul" Blog.

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy  for a complete list of participants!

I hope you've enjoyed all the creative inspiration on this blog-hop. Be sure to leave a comment. Plan to join us for letter "I" in two weeks.

Seasonal Expressions 2 Blog Hop

Welcome to our Seasonal Expressions 2 Blog Hop! 

 We will be featuring products from
 the new Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book 
that came out April 1.  
Some items are time sensitive, 
these products have a clock icon 
and are only available through August 31.

If you have come here from Pam Trostle'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:http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html

This month we have approximately 40 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the new products from the CTMH Seasonal Expression 2 Idea Book 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!

One of the new paper packs in the Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book is Blossom.

 I love, love, love this versatile paper pack 

and have already seen some amazing art created with this paper pack. 

Come back soon to my blog, I'm about to create many more projects with this paper.

Here's a small sample using the paper to create a basic card.

BLOSSOM

Blossom Paper Packet - X7196B

Cricut Cartridge Atists Z1790

Z2641Glacier Ink 

Z3041 Ocean side 

 Z3042Coral Reef sequins

Z1752 Sparkles Clear 

Shin Han marker (Z2465) to color the sparkles blue.

JACKSON PAPER PACK

I've always enjoyed the gate fold card and saw one made using tabs on each side of the gates. I also love the new "Jackson" paper found in our new Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book, so combining the gate fold card with this paper pack, I think I have a perfect combination.

To create this card, I started with a traditional gate fold and then added chevron tabs on the top and bottom, adhered to the right "gate" and a rectangle tab on the left "gate".   This card could easily be a Fathers's Day card or masculine birthday card.

Products used ~ NEW PRODUCTS

D1616 Have a Happy Day stamp set

X7195B Jackson paper pack

Z2104 Barn Red Ink

Cricut Cartridge Artifully Sent pg. 40

Z3039 Glacier Extra thick twine

Z3041 Ocean side sequins

Z1752 Sparkles Clear 

Shin Han marker (Z2465) to color the sparkles blue.

Stop back by this month and be sure to check out additional projects I will be displaying from the new Seasonal 2 catalog.

Now keep hopping to see 

the amazing creation inspired

 by  Nikka Geers.

Deal of the Day

April Constant Campaign: Deal of the Day
Spontaneity and surprise are the two key elements fueling the fun of April’s Deal of the Day campaign. Part of the fun of buying a grab bag is that you never know just what you are going to get! All you know is that you will be getting a great deal on a mix of new and retired Close To My Heart products—and everyone loves getting a good deal! 
 
The value price tiers are as follows:

• $35 USD/$55 CAD Grab Bags (On average, a $70 USD/$75 CAD value!)

• $50 USD/$65 CAD Grab Bags (On average, a $90 USD/$92 CAD value!)

• $75 USD/$85 CAD Grab Bags (On average, a $140 USD/$145 CAD value!)

• $115 USD/$125 CAD Grab Bags (On average, a $240 USD/$250 CAD value!)

• $150 USD/$160 CAD Grab Bags (On average, a $325 USD/$335 CAD value!)

The value of each grab bag varies with its price point, with some grab bags containing product valued at more than DOUBLE the price you pay!

Check my Online Business Address each day at 2:00 pm (PDT) to see the new deal, which will be available for 24 hours or while supplies last. Keep in mind that while each day’s deal will feature grab bags at the same price tier, there will be a variety of grab bags available at that price. This means that you may purchase multiple grab bags on a single day and get different products in each one.
To trigger each day’s deal, simply place any retail-priced item in your shopping cart. You will then be able to add your desired number of grab bags to your online order. Although the grab bag purchases don’t contribute toward Hostess Rewards totals, they will count toward earning the Stamp of the Month, which just adds even more value to the order! April is the month for great deals, so be sure you make the most of this dynamic, daily promotion!

Seasonal Expressions 2 is here!

Click HERE and go the CTMH blog to see the 7 favorite Seasonal Expressions 2 that are now available!  These were posted on the  April 1 with a fun April Fools suprise. 

Seasonal Expressions 2

Check out the new Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book from Close to My Heart.  Products are available April 2015-August 2015.

Basket of Cricut® Strawberries:
1385 White Daisy Cardstock 
Z2033 Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment 
Z2031 Paper Fundamentals Enchantment Assortment
Z2032 Paper Fundamentals Adventure Assortment
Z2642 Flaxen Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2170 Ruby Exclusive Inks™ Pad 
Z2197 Pear Exclusive Inks™ Pad 
Z2116 Cranberry Exclusive Inks™ Pad
Z2155 Topiary Exclusive Inks™ Pad 
Z1790 Cricut® Artiste Collection 
Z1686 Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection
Cricut® Shapes:
Artiste
½”and ¾” Shift+Accent 2 (cut several, p. 44) 1½”, 2″, and 2½” 3D Object (cut several, p. 72) 1¼”, 1½”, and 2″ Shift+3D Object (cut several, p. 72) ¾” and 1″ Shift+Accent 3 (cut several, p. 54)
Art Philosophy 1″, 1¼”, and 1½” (cut several, p. 56)

Stamp of the Month ~ Click HERE for details

April Special ~ Click HERE for details

Love a great deal? How about 30 days of great deals? During the month of April, you have the opportunity to score a deal every day with Close To My Heart! What deals are we talking about? Each day during April, while supplies last, we’ll feature a random grab bag filled with current and retired Close To My Heart products available for purchase at a major discount. To grab your bag, simply place any current, full-priced item in your online shopping cart through my CTMH website  and you will then be eligible to purchase as many grab bags as you wish (while supplies last)! Grab bags will be featured at five different price points throughout the month, ranging from $35 USD/ $55 CAD to $150 USD/$160 CAD. Some grab bags will contain product with more than DOUBLE the retail value of the price you pay! Grab bags will be available for 24 hours starting at 2 pm PDT each day and only while supplies last—so visit often and early! Remember that grab bag tiers will be featured on a random schedule throughout the month, so seize the opportunity to purchase from the grab bag tier you’re interested in when it becomes available because it might not come around again!

*Offer valid April 1, 2015 (3:00 pm MDT)–May 1, 2015 (2:59 pm MDT). A given grab bag offer will only be available for 24 hours each day starting at 2:00 pm PDT through my CTMH website. Tax and shipping/handling will be charged based on the amount actually paid for the grab bag(s). Amounts paid for grab bag(s) are not eligible for Gathering totals and Hostess Rewards.