Wonderful Friend (June SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Wonderful Friend stamp set from Close To My Heart.  The stamp set includes a fleur-de-lis necktie, an old pocket watch, and some great accent stamps, along with some nice sentiments.  
 

You may need to shade your eyes when looking at this card - it uses one of my favorite colors, the very bright and vivid Citrus Leaf.  Black cardstock and ink really enhances the green.  The argyle stamp image was used to create a border at the bottom of the card.  This is a really quick and easy card to create, and can be used for a birthday or any other occasion.

If you have come here from Helen's 'Hooked on Stamping' blog, you are on the right path! With almost 70 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs, you should be able to find lots of great creative ideas to use for your own projects.  Blog Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! 

Now "Hop" on over to Shannon's 'Stampin' Buds' blog 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 Wonderful Friend stamp set is only available until the end of June.  Let me know if you would like to find out how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free.

If you get lost on the Blog Hop or find links that aren't working, there is a complete list of all participating blogs on Kathleen's 'Life's Like a Bowl of Stamps' blog.

Wordless Wednesday (Aaron is 20!)

Celebrate Summer - card workshop

The new Summer Idea Book from Close To My Heart has really fun new stamp images and papers.  You can view the entire book online at MyCTMH website, or let me know if you would like a 'hard copy' for yourself.  

This month's "Celebrate Summer" card workshop will be offered on May 21 and 22, and you will be able to create some fun cards to celebrate different occasions.   

Cherries are so bright and cheerful, and the patterned paper from the Cherry-O paper pack will make anyone smile.  And with this card, you will even be able to SMELL the cherries when you make this 'scratch & sniff' card using a mixture of embossing powder and cherry Kool-Aid.  Thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Michelle Loncar for the card design.

It is graduation month, and this card using the new Over The Rainbow stamp set along with the Animal Cookies paper pack is a bright and cheerful way to send your congratulations to a recent graduate.  Thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Jennifer Bennett for the inspiration for this card.  

 

CTMH now sells clear, acrylic cards in a 4 1/2" x 4 1/2" size - both square and round shapes.  The clear card bases make a really unique card that is difficult to capture in a photograph because the paper is layered on both sides of the clear acrylic.  

For an elegant, or even masculine birthday card, use the Cherry-O Creative Basics paper to create this card which I featured in the Cherish the Moment SOTM Blog Hop for May.  

The "Celebrate Summer" workshop will be offered on Friday evening, May 21 (starting at 7 pm), and also on  Saturday (May 22) at either 9:00 am or 1:00 pm.  You will create 4 cards each of 3 different designs - a total of 12 cards and matching envelopes for $15.  All supplies are included and pre-cut for you. You just need to bring your own favorite adhesive, stamp your images, and assemble your cards.

Please let me know if you would like to attend one of the "Celebrate Summer" card workshops.  Feel free to leave me a comment on this blog, send an email to sheilabennett@comcast.net, or call 913-485-4355.

CTMH Workshop-on-the-Go kits for Summer

The new Summer Idea Book from Close To My Heart was released on May 1 and there are some really fun new stamp sets along with four new My Reflections scrapbook paper kits.  Each of the four is also available as a Workshop-on-the-Go (WOTG) package that can be used to create scrapbook pages and cards - and each one contains an exclusive stamp set that is only available with purchase of the kit. There are four new WOTG kits included with each Idea Book.  These kits are available ONLY during the 4-month cycle of the Summer Idea Book which is May, June, July, and August. 

Each kit contains a complete paper packet, an exclusive stamp set, a Workshop Guide, and a coordinating embellishment. Each item in the WOTG - except the exclusive stamp set and the Workshop Guide - can be purchased separately. However, if you purchase the basic kit for $29.95, you will be saving between 10% and 15% off the retail value. The Workshop Guide is a full-color 6-page brochure which has complete cutting and assembly instructions for 2 scrapbook pages and 6 cards (2 each of 3 designs). Also included are pictures of 2 additional scrapbook pages and 3 additional cards. More information about the additional projects is available in the Workshops On The Go section of MyCTMH website.

A very charming kit is Cherry-O.  It includes cheerful images and the Bowl of Cherries stamp set has stamps for cherries, stems, leaves, and bowls.  The three card designs for this WOTG are shown above.

Zippidee includes a fun color combo that can be used for more 'boyish' items.  The Ticket to Ride stamp set has some great images to use with vacation photos, or to create masculine cards.

This Passages kit and Lifetime stamp set have a very 'vintage' feel.  The papers are just beautiful and would make wonderful scrapbook pages for a European vacation.

The Splendor kit comes with the whimsical Summer Wishes stamp set which will brighten up any project.

You can think of the WOTG kits as a "project in a bag" since the papers, stamp sets, embellishments, and instructions are all included - the only extras you need are adhesive, inks, and blocks to use the stamps. Chances are you already have these extras at home just waiting for a new project to work on!  Contact me to order your WOTG project - or order through the MyCTMH website.  All of the papers available in each kit can be viewed on the website.