Home for the Holidays (October SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  This month the featured stamp set is Home For the Holidays, which includes some adorable images for creating fun holiday cards and tags.  See all the images in the stamp set in the picture at the bottom of this post.    

If you have come here from Melinda's If You Bling It 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!  

This adorable polar bear image from the Home For the Holidays stamp set is highlighted with just a small amount of color on his cheeks using a Touch Twin marker.  Using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, the "postage stamp" shape was cut as a background.  Since the polar bear has a big smile, I thought it would be a good idea to use some fun brightly-colored paper from the Confetti Wishes kit.  And I really like how the small dots of the patterned paper mimic a heavy snowfall.       

Place a $50 minimum order this month (October 2014) and you are eligible to purchase the Home For the Holidays stamp set for only $5.  It is also available for purchase at $17.95, and will not be available after October. 

Now "Hop" on over to Lori's Saving My ... 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. 

list of participants

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

Follow Sheila's board CTMH SOTM Blog Hop on Pinterest.

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

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

A Bicycle Greeting

Spent a little time in my Stamp Room this afternoon and created this card using the fun Ink Blowing Technique featured on The Friday Mashup (FM179).  Colors were inspired by Color My Heart Color Dare 112.  Cotton Candy, Pear, and Sorbet reinkers were used for the technique, with a Juniper cardstock base. The Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge was used to  cut a shape for the adorable bicycle image from the new World Traveler stamp set.  Even though I seldom share the inside of my cards, I always decorate them just a bit to coordinate with the front. The inside of this card is completed with a sentiment from the same World Traveler set.  

UPDATE:  this card was chosen as the Ruby Winner for Color Dare 112!  

Just recently, I found the Take Heart challenge blog featuring Close To My Heart products.  Their October Challenge theme is "anything goes" using at least one CTMH product.  Even though it isn't quite October yet, this challenge is open and ready for entries.  

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

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

A Frightfully Fun Halloween Card

A fun Halloween card created using some stamps from the Frightfully Fun set and a sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch (CTS 93).  The base of the card is Sunset cardstock, and a square of Topiary cardstock with green Glitter Paper was used for a fun contrast.  

As part of their "favorites month," this week's challenge on the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog is to show a favorite tool.  One of my most used and favorite tools is the Piercing Tool.  This handy 'pointy thing' is very useful to picking up small embellishments and then placing them on a project.  You do not need to try to handle those small items with your fingers!  As you can see in the photo, I have used mine so much that the Close To My Heart name on the handle is almost completely worn off.  Actually, CTMH has a new combination Piercing & Embossing Tool that I need to remember to start using.   

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

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

A Sweet Witch

A sweet witch from the Halloween Greetings set was inked with Hollyhock pigment ink and then embossed using Clear Detail embossing powder.  A light pink marker was used to color the circle space behind her.  The color inspiration is from "Just Us Girls" Color Week #259, and the sketch is Freshly Made Sketches (FMS154).  

Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog has a month-long theme of favorites with one being a favorite technique.  Embossing - both dry embossing with folders and heat embossing with powders - are some of my favorites, and this card features both.  The background was created using the Close To My Heart Damask embossing folder with a Cuttlebug.  

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

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