The Wisdom and Whimsy of Dr. Seuss (National Stamping Month Blog Hop)

Get the exclusive You Are My Happy stamp set trio in celebration of "National Stamping Month!"  During the month of September, when you make a purchase of $50 or more, you qualify for this whimsical stamp set trio for only $10.  You'll love using the playful alphabet, light-hearted sentiments, and fun images for a variety of occasions to give a cheerful touch to your projects.  The full retail value of the stamp set trio is $47.90.  

If you have come here from 'Judy Faye's Place' 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 these three sheets of stamps.  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!

Adorable giraffes and Dr. Seuss go together in a whimsical way for this fun card.  Using patterned papers from the Babycakes kit along with the Dr. Seuss quote from You Are My Happy, this is a quick and easy card to create.  Since there are clouds on the patterned paper with the giraffes, the cloud-shaped "word bubble" from the Cricut Artiste cartridge was a perfect choice for the sentiment.  The "word bubble" is adhered with 3D foam tape to give a bit of dimension to the card.  The only embellishment is a small Sparkle for the eye of the largest giraffe.

As a finishing touch the inside of the card has two strips of Slate Polka-Dot Washi Tape.

Now "Hop" on over to Dawn's 'I Am A Happy Stamper' 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 You Are My Happy stamp set trio is only available during the month of September 2013.  The retail value is $47.90, but it is yours for only $10 when you spend $50 in other CTMH products.  

This exclusive, whimsical stamp set trio includes three adorable, coordinating stamp sets on three D-size carrier sheets.  They will arrive at your home in 2 stamp envelopes, one carrier sheet in one envelope and two carrier sheets in one envelope.  Your trio includes:

• One alphabet (upper and lowercase)
• One sheet of 9 encouraging, friendship sentiments
• One sheet of 15 cheerful images great for a variety of life's occasions.

These three sets have been designed stylistically to work together for creating darling cards, layouts, and 3-D projects. 

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

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

Celebrating Fall Colors ~ with Washi!

For the Heart 2 Heart challenge this week, they are celebrating the first of the Fall colors that are beginning to appear on trees in the northern states.  It is a Color Challenge featuring four CTMH colors:  Sunset, Barn Red, Cashmere, and Gypsy.    

This was a great opportunity for me to use the Washi Wonder stamp set that is available only as a Hostess Reward in the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book from Close To My Heart.  The fun Washi Wonder set includes 24 different stamps, each is a different pattern in varying widths and lengths so  you can stamp your own "Washi tape" look in any of our 40 ink colors.  For this card, nine of the different stamps are used on Cashmere cardstock in the four colors for the H2H Color Challenge.  With the card base in Barn Red cardstock, this is a nice subdued card.  The 'Happy Birthday' sentiment and tag image are both from the Holiday Tags stamp set, which has a coordinating image that can be cut using the Artiste cartridge for the Cricut machine.

Inside of the card has three of the Washi tape images to give the card a nice, finished look along with the matching envelope.

Contact me if you would like to receive a copy of the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  As a National Stamping Month special, you are eligible to purchase the You Are My Happy stamp set trio for only $10 with a $50+ order in CTMH products.   

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

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

Poster Tidings (September SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Poster Tidings stamp set from Close To My Heart.   When you place a minimum order of $50 during September, you will have the opportunity to purchase the Stamp-of-the-Month, Poster Tidings, for only $5!  This stamp set contains two large images with multiple words for both Autumn/Fall season and for the Christmas Holiday season.  The spacing of the lettering gives interest to the large sentiment blocks.    

If you have come here from the 'Sweet Aline Designs' blog, you are on the right path!  With over 50 creative Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their projects, you will see a variety of 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!

A Holiday card with very non-traditional colors is what I decided to create.  After seeing this week's CAS(E) this Sketch #43, I knew it was the perfect design for the Poster Tidings stamp set.  After stamping the large sentiment using Gypsy ink, I then trimmed it down so that no white showed around the image.  Next, I cut the same size White Daisy cardstock and used the Houndstooth pattern included in the Distressed Backgrounds stamp set with Black ink to create the layered texture piece.  Both stamped rectangles were then adhered to a slightly larger piece of colored Glitter paper.  The Houndstooth piece is on Black Glitter paper, and the Gypsy sentiment is on a Gray Glitter paper.  Using a beautiful plaid paper in the Laughing Lola kit, I cut a piece slightly smaller than the 5"x7" card so that the Black card base would frame the card.  Some blingy buttons were added, and the card was complete after adhering the sentiment piece on with some dimensional tape to give a little height to the card.

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 inspiration and other fun ideas!  

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

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

Sentiment-ally Colors: Lagoon + Pear + Buttercup

Two challenges = One card  

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week is "Sentiment-ally Yours".  The challenge is to make the SENTIMENT the focus of the project.  

Over at Color My Heart, they are on Color Dare #56:  Lagoon, Pear and Buttercup.  So I've combined both of these challenges into the card that I created this evening.   

It is a standard 4.25"x5.5" card and the base is covered with a pretty patterned Buttercup paper from the Babycakes kit.  The stamps for the sentiment and frame are from the Laughing Lola Cardmakng Workshop-on-the-Go kit that is currently available from Close To My Heart.  The WOTG kit comes will all the materials and instructions for you to create 15 cards (5 each of 3 designs).  Stamped images on the card include all three of the Color Dare colors:  Buttercup to stamp starburst design behind the sentiment; Lagoon to stamp the edge of the fancy die-cut shape, and Pear for the actual sentiment stamp.  The 'fancy shape' for the sentiment was cut using the Artiste cartridge for the Cricut, and the frame stamp with the Laughing Lola Cardmaking WOTG means the cut fit the frame perfectly.

The basic design for this card was inspired by Pattern 22 (page 43) in the Make It From Your Heart Volume 1.  These books have many templates or sketches of scrapbook pages and cards.  CTMH have several different "How-To" books, and they are all a great way to give yourself a "creative start" by looking at the sketches/templates and imagining what each will look like with the stamps and papers you have chosen to use.

A piece of Pear Glitter Paper was added for some 'sparkle' on the card, and Whisper cardstock was used to mat the sentiment and the Glitter Paper.  The silver metal flowers on the left side of the card are actually Base & Bling Floral Accents for the wearable crafting projects featured in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book & Catalog.

UPDATE:  my card won the Color Dare Emerald award for the week!!

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

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

"One-Way" to Be You (New Product Blog Hop)

Welcome to our New Product Blog Hop, brought to you by the same ladies who participate in the monthly Stamp-Of-The-Month Blog Hop.     

If you have come here from Kathleen's 'Life's like a Bowl of Stamps' blog, you are on the right path!  With over 30 creative Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their projects, you will see a variety of new papers, stamps, and other products just introduced in the CTMH Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  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!

Such a fun card to create using different stamps from the One-Way Borders set. The Goldrush paper behind the stamped images is from the Sarita paper packet, and the colors (Cotton Candy, Goldrush, Lagoon) are used in Sarita papers.  The sentiment is actually from the Sarita My Stickease Assortment, but the card is easily adaptable to any stamped sentiment.  The cute wooden shape is from the Sarita Assortment, and has a small piece of both Lagoon and Sunset Baker's Twine tied in a knot on the top.

Now "Hop" on over to Melinda's 'If You Bling It ' 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!  

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

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