Little Reminder (January SOTM Blog Hop)

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop which features the Little Reminder stamp set from Close To My Heart.  With a complete set of numbers, the days of the week, and months of the year, this stamp set is perfect for documenting the dates of your scrapbook pages. 

If you have come here from Shirley's 'Mom 'n Me Scrap' blog, you are on the right path! With over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other  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!

A great gender-neutral 'baby' card using some pattern paper from the Elemental kit along with Lagoon and Creme Brulee cardstock.  The Little Reminder 'month circle' was stamped on a circle and adhered to a scallop circle, both were cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge on a Cricut machine. 
 

Now "Hop" on over to Wendy's 'Paper Creations' 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 Little Reminder stamp set is only available during the month of January 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.

Christmas Card Workshop

It is almost time to start thinking about the holidays.  Join us for a Christmas Card Workshop to complete 16 cards all ready for mailing to friends and family.  You will create four cards each of four different designs.  Two of them using traditional Christmas red & green colors, while the other two cards are more inspired by nature.

Using the whimsical tree from the Tannenbaum stamp set and paper from the Believe kit, this card is sure to make anyone smile.  

With stamps from the A Holiday set, simply stamp the patterned leaves on cardstock that has been cut to the correct shape and size using the Art Philosophy cartridge for the Cricut machine.  The top portion of the card is embossed with the Snowflakes folder for the Cuttlebug and paired with a stripe pattern from the Believe paper kit.  

Papers from the Dreamin' kit complement the moose from the Nature's Gift stamp set.  The sentiment used is from the versatile Say It In Style stamp set.    

           

A pair of deer from the same Nature's Gift stamp set create a serene card when paired with papers from the Elemental kit.  Inside of the card is completed with a "Nature gives to every season, a beauty all its own" sentiment. 

The Christmas Card Workshop will be offered on Friday evening, November 4 (starting at 7 pm), and two sessions on Saturday, November 5.  One starting at 9 in the morning and the second one at 1 in the afternoon.  You will create four of each of the four projects (total 16 cards and envelopes) for a workshop fee of $15.  Allow approximately two hours to complete your projects.  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).


As an added bonus, place a $50+ order from the Close To My Heart  Autumn/Winter Idea Book - and your workshop fee is waived. 

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

Cupcake, Sweet Cupcake

One of my favorite shapes on the new Art Philosophy Cricut® Collection cartridge is the cupcake.  There is even a coordinating cupcake stamp with the Celebration stamp set that is included with the collection.  One of my display boards for Extravaganza featured artwork using the <cupcake> button for cutting, and these are some of the cards.  Of course, every cupcake is topped with a "cherry on top" shiny Sparkle.

This cupcake card was cut from Smoothie cardstock using the Cricut-Art Philosophy cartridge.  A slightly smaller cupcake was cut using Cocoa cardstock and layered inside the front of the card to create a 'frame' for the cupcake window.  Inside of the card has the cupcake stamped image.  The card is then completed with a Sparkle on top, some ribbon, and an embossed 'Happy Birthday' sentiment. 

No stamping on this card, everything is cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge using the new Elemental paper packet.   

With Elemental papers, used the 'Tag' feature of the cartridge along with the 'Font' (for the flowers) and 'Font Layer' (for the border) to create these two birthday tags.  Again, the coordinating cupcake stamp that is included in the Art Philosophy Collection was also used. 

For this cupcake card, papers from the Roxie paper packet were used on the inside of the card to cover the 'window' and decorate the cupcake.

 

CTMH & Cricut - introducing Art Philosophy Cricut® Collection

Last week, Close To My Heart held their annual Convention at the Disneyland Hotel.  And I was fortunate enough to be selected to teach an Extravaganza class featuring the BIG announcement for the year - it is the Art Philosophy Cricut® Collection.  It is a bit difficult to see in the photo, but there is an exclusive Cricut cartridge along with his spiral companion book, three stamp sets with images that can be cut using the Cricut cartridge, and three Dimensional Elements shaped chipboard sheets which also coordinate with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  This entire bundle is only $99, and is available beginning August 1.

As an Extravaganza teacher, I received the new Art Philosophy cartridge along with new papers and other products being introduced about two months in advance so that I could create display boards and prepare for the seven classes that I would teach.  

The Art Philosophy cartridge is incredible - it includes 700 shapes.  There are 50 basic shapes (shown on this button overlay).  But the most amazing part is that all six Feature buttons of the Cricut are utilized.  

The Feature buttons are fabulous.  For each of the basic shapes, you have the following Features:

• Layer:  frames, outline shapes
• Decorative Layer: tags and frames with cut-outs
• Tag:  shaped tags with cut-outs, and ribbon slides
• Card:  shaped cards, and cards with cut-out image windows
• Font:  26 letters, numbers, special characters, photo corners, borders, spiral flowers
• Decorative Font:  26 letters with decorative stems, 3D boxes, envelopes, flourishes, doilies, more borders

You simply have to see the booklet to appreciate the potential of this Cricut cartridge.  Considering that all of the Feature buttons are utilized, and in such unique ways, this cartridge seems to be the equivalent of at least three 'regular' Cricut cartridges.

For a sneak peek at some of the possibilities, here are the three display boards that I created for Extravaganza.

Board #1:  Features images that be cut using the last button on the overlay, which includes a tag and a cupcake.  The cupcake stamp is in one of the stamp sets that is bundled with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  New papers featured are from the Elemental and the Roxie kits.

Board #2:  Features the new Sonoma paper pack along with some shaped cards, letters, and other images cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge. The stamps on the three cards are also included in the bundle with the Cricut cartridge. 

Board #3:  Includes papers from Wonderland and Believe paper kits.  Notice the variety of different card shapes that can be cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge as well as the large flowers that are from the Hooray Bouquet stamp set, and the holly leaves that are from the new A Holiday stamp set.  Both of these stamp sets, along with many others in the Idea Book include coordinating images that can be cut using the Cricut cartridge.  These coordinating stamp set shapes are in addition to the stamp shapes in the three stamp sets that are included with the purchase of the Art Philosophy cartridge.

And for even more information, CTMH has prepared a short video introducing the Art Philosophy Cricut® Collection.