Balloon Talk (April SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring the Balloon Talk stamp set.  This set of 24 images includes many different, fun "word bubbles" and frames to create your own.   See all the images in the stamp set in the picture at the bottom of this post.    

If you have come here from Tamytha's Paper HeARTIST blog, you are on the right path!  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!  

Using papers from the Jubilee kit and Pattern #28 in Make It From Your Heart Volume 2, this card on Kraft paper has a down-to-earth feel.  The 'miss you' and square 'talk bubble' from the Balloon Talk stamp set are used along with a wooden heart from the Sarita Assortment and a bit of Jute Ribbon.  

Place a $50 minimum order this month (April 2014) and you are eligible to purchase the Balloon Talk stamp set for only $5.  

Now "Hop" on over to Vicki's 'The Price of Paper' blog to see her work.  Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas.  

If you get lost along the way, the complete list of participants is available on Melinda's 'If You Bling It' blog.  

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

An Ivy Lane Graduate

This week on the Color My Heart blog, Color Dare #87 is to use papers from the CTMH Ivy Lane kit.   

Using some floral prints from the Ivy Lane kit created a very feminine card.  The card came together quickly using Pattern #26 in the Make It From Your Heart Volume 1 guide.  Since stamping the word 'graduate' on White Daisy cardstock was a bit too harsh, it was stamped on the text patterned paper.  Both stamp images are from the Congrats Graduate set.  Some black twill and Green Epoxy Bubbles add a finishing touch.  

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

A Father's Day Card

The three colors for Color My Heart Color Dare #86 - Ponderosa Pine, New England Ivy, Goldrush - seemed masculine to me, so I created a simple card without any pretty and sparkly embellishments.  A piece of Colonial White cardstock was embossed with the Cuttlebug using the Stripe Embossing Folder.  After that, a 1" hole was punched in the lower corner to create a window so that the sentiment from Holiday Tags can be seen.  Also punched a 1" circle with each of the three colors and added to the front of the card. 

Since there are three colored circles on the card, this meets the "Triple Play" Heart 2 Heart Challenge.   
  

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Emboss It! (Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Emboss It! Blog Hop, brought to you by the same ladies who participate in the monthly Stamp-of-the-Month Blog Hop.  With the new Spring/Summer Idea Book, CTMH introduced five Embossing Folders.  I love the different designs - Dots, Chevron, Quatrefoil, Damask, Stripe - and have enjoyed experimenting with them. 

If you arrived here from Vicki's 'The Price of Paper,' please continue hopping through our circle of Close To My Heart consultants sharing their projects using the Embossing Folders. 

For the background, four different papers from the Babycakes kit were adhered to a piece of cardstock and then embossed using the Quatrefoil Embossing Folder.  This creates a subtle, yet cohesive piece for the background.   In order to add just a bit of texture to the sentiment flag, a 'scribble' image from Oodles of Doodles was stamped using Buttercup ink before adding the sentiment from Casual Expressions.   A few different embellishments complete the card, including Babycakes Assortment, Slate Striped Twist Ties, Hexagon Irresistibles, and Grey Sparkles.  

CTMH Embossing Folders

Please visit 'My Creations with Michelle' to continue along our Blog Hop featuring the Embossing Folders from Close To My Heart.  

Adeline Brill	Welcome to My Creative Space
Melinda Everitt	If You Bling It ... they will come
Brae Montgomery	The Brae-er
Toni Hinchcliffe	Wholly Crafts
Keeley Kirwan	Keeley's Kreations
Dana Kessler	Scraptabulous Designs - Because CUTE Matters
Susan Brooks	Out of the Closet - Stamping in the Open
Judy Faye Garner	Judy Faye's Place
Jean McNulty	Stamping Maui
Vicki Price	The Price of Paper
Sheila Bennett	Sheila's Stamping Stuff {HERE}
Michelle Stewart	My Creations with Michelle
Pam Jarrett	Pam's Heart Art
Krista Hershberger	Krista's Crafty Corner
Pamela Ellison	Pam's Clearly Crafty Corner
Michelle Jones	Scrappy Hour
Lalia Harris	Crafty Lalia
Katy Taylor	An Inside to my Heart ... one scrap at a time
Gina Brandstetter	Gina's Little Corner of StampinHeaven
Terry Ann Diack	It's My Garage -- I Can Craft In It
Karen Fullam	Enriching Memories
Joy McHargue	... Wow ... did you make that?
Maria Myers	StampMomma
Michelle Loncar	Show and Tell, with Michelle

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here is a rainbow to help brighten your day and which you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!    Sponge Daubers were used to apply ink in a rainbow of colors to the inside of the Dots Embossing Folder before running it through the Cuttlebug with some White Daisy cardstock.  The sentiment is from the ever versatile Holiday Tags stamp set and a bit of Topiary Chevron Ribbon adds another spot of color.

"Feeling Lucky" is the theme for this week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge. 

The Friday Mashup (FM151) supplied the sketch and the challenge to use a rainbow or rainbow colors.   

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355

An Old Fashioned Truck

Another late night creation this weekend.  This image reminds me of my Papa Turf and his old red pick-up that he used as a farm truck. 

Inspiration is from CAS(E) this Sketch (CTS#68).  The adorable truck is in the Fast and Furious stamp set and is paper-pieced to add multiple colors to the image.   Stamp the truck three times; one using Ruby as your main image, then again using Saddle for the wooden rails and Slate for the tires.  Using scissors, cut out the wooden rails and the tires and adhere them to the main image covering the Ruby ink in those areas.   The birthday sentiment is from the versatile Holiday Tags stamp set. 

Card base is from the Paper Fundamentals and has a glossy embossed pattern on one side with the same pattern in white on the reverse.  So for the larger ribbon, it is simply the reverse side of the Paper Fundamentals piece.  In order to have a nice flow, the lines of the pattern are matched up.

All papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

	Sheila Bennett Close To My Heart Independent Consultant (913) 485-4355