Chairs To You (May SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Chairs To You stamp set from Close To My Heart. 

If you have come here from Debra's 'Memories of the Heart' blog, you are on the right path! With over 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!

The variety of chairs with this Chairs To You stamp set are so fun to work with.  For this standard-sized card, I embossed the upholstered chair using Cocoa embossing powder on one of the background & texture papers available in the Mayberry paper packet.  The chair has really nice 'dimension' and looks so cute.  For the sentiment, I used the "it's your birthday" portion from the Card Chatter-Birthday stamp set, and the remainder of the sentiment is from the Enjoy Life stamp set.   The sentiment actually has the word 'Life' at the beginning and 'the ride' at the end, but I only wanted the middle section of 'sit back & enjoy'.   So, I simply used a craft knife and cut the stamp apart between the words.  Now the words can be used separately, or still assembled together and stamped as originally designed.

Now "Hop" on over to Jill's 'Scrap Wench' 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 Chairs To You stamp set is only available until the end of May.  Regular price is $22.95, but you can earn it at a discount - 25%, 50%, 75%, even 100% off (free), with a qualifying order from CTMH.

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 Helen's 'Hooked on Stamping' blog.

Sweetheart of a Pinwheel

Just a quick card made using the pinwheel technique I taught last year for CU Online.  It is made using Sweetheart papers, and the background looks a bit unfocused because it is actually on the inside of a clear card.  The pinwheel, with the sparkly silver Shimmer Designer Brad is the only thing on the clear front.

On the inside, underneath the pinwheel, is some white cardstock where you can sign the card.  

Lady Liberty

The Statue of Liberty is a beautiful monument, and we were able to visit the museum in the pedestal base.  There are fabulous exhibits which detail the design, building, and other history.  It is a very interesting place to visit.  Just be prepared for climbing - we had to go up almost 200 steps to reach the top of the pedestal.  If you are planning a visit, be sure to reserve tickets in advance through the National Park Service website.  We wanted to visit the crown, but those tickets were already sold out five weeks in advance.    

Blow Out The Candles!

A clever card made by my mother using the Candlelight stamp set.  Even though this stamp set is not shown in the current Spring/Summer Idea Book, it is still available from CTMH. 

Simply pull the tab while 'blowing' on the candles to get them all blown out for your birthday wish.

Enjoy the Ride!

Just a simple masculine card using the Enjoy Life stamp set and some of the great papers from the Lucky packet.  Inside has a birthday greeting. 

A Day in Central Park

The beautiful Inscope Arch in this photo was built in 1873.  During Samantha's Spring Break from school in March, we visited New York City for a few days.  While there, we spent a day exploring Central Park.  It was a nice day, if a bit too cool at times. 

Even though we saw many statues, memorials, and other 'famous' Central Park attractions, our favorite was definitely the Central Park Zoo.  This polar bear was having a lot of fun playing with the big 'stick' in front of him. 

Since it was so quiet and peaceful in there, it was such a surprise to turn around from watching the polar bear and see this view of the city.

A polar bear paw is quite a bit larger than Samantha's hand.

It was truly delightful to see this wonderful Delacorte Music Clock.   During daylight hours, on the hour and the half-hour, a nursery rhyme plays and the bronze animals dance around the clock.  Fortunately, we only had to wait a couple of minutes for the clock performance.

Every kid loves to feed the animals. 

Is that a turtle - or two turtles?