Amore (December SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Amore stamp set from Close To My Heart.  When the Holidays are over, use this set of elegant images to create something special for your Valentine.  

 

Beautiful papers from the new Olivia My Reflections kit are used on this card which features two of the newest CTMH colors - Sunset and Pear.  The sentiment in the center of the heart is from the new Circle of Love stamp set which also includes a beautiful peacock.  If you look closely at the ornate 'Amore' image in the Amore stamp set, you can see that the end of the image just past the 'e' was used to stamp in the lower corners on the main area of the card.  

 

If you have come here from Jody's 'Cre8n' Memories' blog, you are on the right path! With over 60 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 'Jen's Jewel Box' 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 Amore stamp set is only available until the end of December.  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 Helen's 'Hooked on Stamping' blog.

Not Necessarily Christmas ...

When you see themed paper, be sure to think of other uses than the 'obvious.'  This paper is from the new Mistletoe Christmas themed My Reflections kit, but the completed card is not necessarily a Christmas card.  Even though the red and white paper has snowflakes on it, it can be used as just a nice patterned paper on any project.

 This is actually a clear card with a scalloped bottom edge, even though the uniqueness of a clear card is not obvious in a scanned image.  The brown background is inside the card and is stamped with a nice texture corner stamp from The Present stamp set.  Then the patterned papers are adhered to the inside front of the clear card, and the square and frame are on the front of the card.  The fancy frame is from Circle of Love and the cute flower and sentiment are from Unity.   

A Pretty Peacock

This beautiful peacock image is from the new Circle of Love stamp set from Close To My Heart.  

Three new CTMH colors - Pear, Lagoon, and Pacifica - were sponged onto a piece of White Daisy cardstock and then the peacock image stamped in black.  After stamping, the cardstock was cut into 2" sections and a small amount of Black ink was sponged to highlight the edge of each piece before mounting onto another piece of White Daisy cardstock.  Of course, Sparkles were added to the peacock to give it a 'dazzling' finish.  

Noteworthy Workshop - Create Something Cute for Notetaking

For something a little different, there are no cards for this workshop.  Instead, you can create three different notebooks at this month's Noteworthy workshop.  Even though the projects  have very different looks, they all actually use the same shade of green ink - the new, versatile Pear color from Close To My Heart.  Classes will be offered on Friday evening, September 24 and also on Saturday morning, September 25.  

Composition Book:   You probably remember seeing Composition Books at your local office supply store.  They have a black and white mottled cover, with lined paper inside the book.  For this project, a fun front cover is made using papers and cardstock from the Hooligans My Reflections kit and a sweet sentiment from the Treasure Life stamp set.  The large embellishment is created using the pinwheel technique, which I taught recently for Creative University Online.  

Jr Legal Pad:   This beautiful peacock is from the new Circle of Love stamp set, with background papers from the Magnifique kit.  Silver Pearl embossing powder was used for the image, and four new CTMH colors (Pear, Gypsy, Pacifica, Lagoon) were sponged over the top of the embossing.   This is a very quick and easy way to create a beautiful image.  And thanks to fellow CTMH consultant Tresa Black for sharing this great "embossing resist" technique recently on her weekly Fabulously Artsy Ustream show.

Inside of the folder holds a Jr Legal Pad (approx. 5"x7"), and has a pocket on the side.      

Sticky Note Holder:  A smaller project, this holds a 3"x3" pad of paper.  The beautiful fall colors are from the Olivia paper packet and the small flower is from The Present stamp set.  The Pear color is in the patterned paper, and also used to color the stem of the flower and around the edges of the stamped circle.   This clever design has a piece of ribbon threaded through a hole in the small flap so that a mini gel pen can be inserted into the ribbon loop to hold the cover closed.  Another CTMH consultant, Bobie Glassette, taught this class during the recent Creative University Online.  

The "Noteworthy" workshop will be offered on Friday evening, September  24 (starting at 7 pm), and also on  Saturday morning, September 25 (starting at 9 am).  You will create one of each of the three projects for a workshop fee of $10.  Allow two or three hours to complete your projects.  Please be sure to bring your favorite adhesive.  Note that a dry, tape runner type of adhesive will work better for these projects than a liquid adhesive.  All other supplies are provided with the workshop fee.

As an added bonus, place a $50+ order from the Close To My Heart  Spring, Summer, or Autumn/Winter Idea Book - and your workshop fee is waived.  Depending on total orders received, there will be a drawing for Hostess Rewards - so you could earn $25 or more in FREE product from CTMH.

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

Pinwheel Cards from Creative University Online

These cards were created yesterday during my class for Creative University Online. If you joined us on ustream - THANK YOU!  It was fun to see so many people watching the live stream and participating in the chat room. And you can still watch the class, it was recorded and can be viewed on the Fabulously Artsy ustream channel.  When you go to the channel, there are two videos for the Pinwheel Technique, a Part 1 and a Part 2.  Evidently, when I tapped the back of a brad with a hammer, that caused the recording to malfunction a bit.  Sorry about that!  

Using beautiful papers from the new Magnifique kit, along with new colors Pacifica and Lagoon, this card took only 20 minutes to create.  The matching envelope is stamped using cute little peacock feathers from the Circle of Love stamp set.  There is a matching 'liner' inside the card of white cardstock stamped with the peacock feathers just like the envelope.  Stamping the inside of cards and coordinating the envelope are a nice 'finishing touch' for hand-stamped cards.

Since we had plenty of time remaining for the scheduled class, I was able to use papers from the new Olivia kit and quickly create another card.  As you can see, this is the same card design just using different papers.  During the class, I could not decide on a sentiment to include on the front.  After looking at the card, I have decided that the paper is pretty enough as it is and there is no reason to cover it up. Actually there is not any stamping on the card at all, but I will probably include a sentiment on the inside. 

This pinwheel technique was included in the August/September 2010 issue of Technique Junkies newsletter. It is a great resource for different techniques, and I have been a subscriber for several years. As a subscriber, you have online access to step-by-step picture tutorials for all of the techniques. Most of the techniques are much more complicated than this easy pinwheel.

As requested by the chat room participants, the cutting dimensions for the pinwheel are:

• 2 pieces of cardstock, each 2 - 5/8" square
• 4 pieces of 1st patterned paper, each 1 - 1/4" square
• 4 pieces of 2nd patterned paper, each 1 - 1/4"square