Year-Round Cheer (December SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Year-Round Cheer stamp set from Close To My Heart.   This stamp set has a cute image and sentiment for every month of the year!   

If you have come here from the 'Fancy Melissa' blog, you are on the right path!  With some very creative Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their projects, you will see many different uses for this stamp set.  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!

If you have not guessed by now, the new Artiste cartridge for the Cricut machine is one of my very favorite products.  It contains such a large variety of images, and all of them are cut with precision to create wonderful items very quickly.  For this card, the two pieces are cut from La Belle Vie paper using the 'Card' feature of the 'k' button.  The "Tis The Season" image from the Year-Round Cheer stamp set is stamped using Sweet Leaf and Bamboo.  A small Sparkle was added to the center of the ornament, some larger Sparkles on the ends of the card insert along with a strip of Silver Shimmer Tape and more Sparkles completes the card.

The center piece slides out of the card wrapper, with enough room for you to sign the card on the front or on the backside.  

Now "Hop" on over to Michelle's 'Scrappy Hour' 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!  Remember, the Year-Round Cheer stamp set is only available during the month of December 2012.  The regular price is $17.95, or you can purchase it for only $5 with a minimum order of $50 in other CTMH products.  

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.

The Beautiful Display Frame

A couple of months ago, I shared an insert for my cell phone using papers from La Belle Vie and titled the post "The Beautiful Phone" because "La Belle Vie" is french for "The Beautiful Life."  Using the same paper, I've decided to call this post "The Beautiful Display Frame."  The Display Frame is a great product that can be used to create unique decor for your home or for a gift.

For this piece, papers are used from the La Belle Vie packet along with the coordinating My Stickease, a few pieces of Colonial White Rosette Ribbon, Sparkles Black Flourishes and a Display Tray.  There is no stamping involved, just the My Stickease and the Artiste cartridge for the Cricut to cut some frames and hearts.  Each opening is 3"x4" and is perfect for creating small individual pieces as shown here, or you can add photos in some of the openings also.  This piece was inspired from a similar piece created by Janice Hodgkin.  

Since the total size is 12"x12", you can cut-up a full scrapbook page and place into the individual spaces for a unique way to display one of your favorite scrapbook pages.  The Display Tray is wooden, painted black, and includes hangers ready to mount on your wall.  

Fun Fall Workshop

There are so many fun shapes to cut using the new Artiste cartridge for the Cricut that sometimes it is difficult to decide where to start!  Join us for this Fun Fall Workshop featuring a variety of fun shapes.    

This fun, feminine card is so easy to create.  Simply cut the dress form and the dress using the Artiste cartridge and add it to the front of the card where some elegant paper from La Belle Vie kit is used along with the gorgeous new Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon.   Add a few small Opaques Gems for a belt along with a Happy Birthday sentiment from the Casual Expressions stamp set.

    

The second card for the workshop is the one that I featured for this month's SOTM Blog Hop.  A 'puzzled' scarecrow from the Fall Favorites stamp set is featured on this 6"x6" card.  The fun puzzle pieces were cut using the Artiste cartridge for the Cricut machine and then mounted slightly apart from each other for a 'disjointed' look.   Just select portions of the image was colored using some of the new alcohol-based markers to coordinate with papers from the Clementine kit.  A small piece of Burlap Ribbon adds a rustic touch.       

Finish off the fun by creating these two adorable treat bags.  The bags and faces are both cut using the Artiste cartridge and paper from the Moonlight paper pack.  No stamping required!.     

The Fun Fall workshop will be offered next weekend - September 21 & 22.  On Friday at 7 pm, and on Saturday afternoon at 1 pm.  You will create two of each card plus the two treat bags for a workshop fee of $10.  Allow approximately two hours to complete your project.  Please be sure to bring your favorite adhesive.  All other supplies are provided with the workshop fee.  All stamps and papers used are from Close To My Heart (CTMH).

Everyone who attends will also receive a FREE copy of the Close To My Heart Autumn/Winter Idea Book & Catalog which features some fabulous new stamp sets, papers, and other great items.  As an added bonus, if you place a $30+ order, your workshop fee is waived. 

Please let me know if you would like to attend.  Contact me by sending an email to sheilabennett@comcast.net, or calling 913-485-4355.

The Beautiful Phone

"La Belle Vie" is French for "The Beautiful Life" and I decided to use the papers with that name to create 'The Beautiful Phone' case.  Remember, your pretty papers can be used for many different projects - not just for creating cards and scrapbook pages.  

A few months ago, I found this clear case for my phone on clearance for only $5.  Since that time, I have been intending to create something to decorate the back of my phone.  When I read the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog this week, I thought it said to create something smaller than a standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.  This would be the perfect project, so I created the insert for the case.  Unfortunately, when I came to post the photo and re-read the H2H post, it specifically says Mini Card Challenge - not just "mini anything" challenge.  Back to the craft table I went to create a mini card to go along with the phone case and participate in the challenge. 

The phone case is very simple, and I like the way it turned out.  A beautiful piece of paper from the La Belle Vie kit is cut to size and then I used the actual case to mark where the "hole" for the camera needed to be and cut that out with an Exacto knife.  To add a little 'sparkle' to the paper, there is Green Glitz Glitter Gel added to the green swirl on the paper.  The wording that you see in the lower right corner of the case is the name brand and is actually not normally very visible as it is just etched into the clear case.  Must just be the camera angle and lighting which cause it to be noticeable.

To comply with the challenge, this 3" card was cut using the Artiste cartridge for the Cricut machine.   Same paper is used along with some Whisper cardstock for the base of the card.  The sentiment is included in the Artiste - Kudos stamp set, which is one of three stamp sets received when you purchase the Artiste Collection.  

Best part about this card is that the Artiste cartridge also cuts two thumb notches inside to hold a gift card. 

All stamp images and papers used are from Close To My Heart (CTMH). 

Introducing Alcohol Ink Markers

This month, Close To My Heart introduced their own line of alcohol-based markers.  These dual tipped markers are available for all 40 exclusive colors.  Markers come in a 2-pack, with the exclusive color and a coordinating color for shading.  These markers are very nice and fun to use.  Alcohol inks are waterproof.  They can be layered and blended on paper, and also on other surfaces such as fabric and plastic.  

For a good overview of the new alcohol-based markers, watch this video tutorial created by CTMH.    



My first attempt at using the markers was at our Convention last month.  This cute rocking chair image is from the Pun Fun stamp set, and the 'lacey' pieces in the background are cut using the new Artiste cartridge for the Cricut.  Papers from both the Dakota and the La Belle Vie kits are also used.  

If you have any questions or would like a copy of the Autumn/Winter Idea Book & Catalog, please contact me. 

Pun Fun (Autumn/Winter New Product Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Blog Hop featuring new products being introduced in the Close To My Heart Autumn/Winter Idea Book this month.  If you would like a copy of the new Idea Book  Catalog, use the "Email Me" link on the right side of the screen. 

If you have come here from Lori's 'Clearly from the Heart' blog, you are on the right path! Hope you enjoy your adventure through the Blog Hop where you will see many fun new products including alcohol based markers, pigment ink, many new embellishments, and an outstanding new Cricut cartridge collection named Artiste.  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!

For a very quick and clever gift card holder, use the Card feature along with the "g" key on the Cricut-Artiste Collection cartridge.  The is shown on page 55 of the Handbook that accompanies the Artiste Collection.  As you can see in the picture below, the cut card is easily folded to form an inner pocket which is the ideal size for a gift card.  A beautiful patterned paper from the La Belle Vie paper packet is used.  The elegant dark pattern is shown on the front of the card, while the pink dotted backside of the paper is on the inside.

To complete the card, I adhered the cut image onto a slightly larger rectangle of card stock with rounded corners.  For the front design, two scalloped tags were cut using Artiste.  The top layer is stamped using my favorite new stamp set - Pun Fun.  This set includes six different adorable images along with "punny" sayings to go with them.   To stamp this image, I used our new pigment ink in Sweet Leaf for the words and Saddle for the cupcake.   For a more finished look, Clear Detail Embossing Powder was sprinkled on top of the pigment ink and embossed.  Then the cupcake icing was colored using our new Cotton Candy alcohol markers.

The new pigment inks are available in all 40 CTMH exclusive colors.  Pigment inks are ideal to be used for non-paper, home decor projects as the ink stays "on top" of the item rather than soaking in like dye inks do.  The ink is slower to dry, and that is why they are also wonderful to use with clear embossing powder on card stock.  It gives a very nice, finished look, is available on all 40 colors, and is not nearly as thick or as messy as colored embossing powders.

The actual image that was cut to create the gift card holder is the red image shown below on the "g" page from the Cricut Artiste handbook.

Now "Hop" on over to Angel's 'Running with Scissors Design' 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 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.