National Stamping Month – It’s Your Day Blog Hop

Good morning and welcome to our National Stamping Month Blog Hop!  At Close to My Heart, we want to celebrate the everyday moments in our lives.  Close to My Heart is doing that by offering an amazing exclusive double-stamp set called “It’s Your Day”.  This is two D-size stamp sets in one!! 

This amazing set has nearly 50 images designed to inspire you to capture your life one day at a time.   There are trendy chevron backgrounds, classic images as well as versatile phrases.  You can get your own stamp set for only $5 with a qualifying order of $35.  This stamp set has a value of $35.90!  CLICK HERE to start shopping with me and get yours today!

We also are happy to announce that I am offering blog candy!!!  You could be the lucky winner of this great Campaign Stamp Set! YEAH!!  To be eligible to win, please be sure to leave a comment on each blog post and become a follower of my blog. Thanks so much for participating!

We're so excited to be doing this hop and we have a fabulous lineup with some very talented ladies. There will be lots of fun projects.

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog - http://www.love2createitall.com.

 My projects today are a card and a mini-purse.

 Have I told you today how much I love this double stamp set?  There are so many versatile stamps included.  I know that I will be using this set later for my layout pages and mini-albums.  I can see people using this for journals, smash book, calendars, etc.  However, I wanted to showcase this great double stamp set in a couple other ways.  So, I chose to do a card and a mini-purse.  You can get the recipes for these projects at the end of this blog post.

 I love the spots, chevrons, and stripes stamps that are included with this set.  In both of my projects today, you will see that I used the stamps as background images to make my own patterened paper.  In the card above, I stamped the spots in sweet leaf to make a spot pattern on the left hand side of the card.  I also cut up our burlap ribbon a little, frayed the edges and I have smoothie baker's twine sewn in two lines along the edges.  I pulled out a little retired Mulberry patterned paper.  I made my own banner embellishments by random stamping the same patterns and adding them to wooden stir sticks.

Here is my playful mini-purse

This purse came together so quickly that I can't wait to make more!  I used the new Cricut Artiste cartridge that can only be purchased through a Close to My Heart Consultant.  If you haven't purchased on yet, CLICK HERE to add one to your cart today.  I cut the purse image on page 41 of the Artiste handbook, the ribbon image can be found on page 55 and the 2 flowers (cut at 1" and 3/4") are found on page73.  I used the chevron stamp to create my own indian corn blue chevron patterned paper.  I wanted to add a bit of bling with an accent color.  So, I went into my stash of retired items. I found these hollyhock glitter brads and a bit of hollyhock ribbon for the coordinating bow. 

I hope you enjoyed my projects today.  I appreciate you stopping by!  Don't forget.....  I am also giving away blog candy.  I will be giving away a National Stamping Month - It's Your Day Stamp Set to one lucky person.  In order to have a chance to win, you need to be a follower of my blog and leave a comment below.  My kiddos will pick one person at random on Labor Day.  Good Luck!

 The next stop on your blog hop fun is You Can Create with Julia Hammond.

 Here's the entire blog hop lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1.Lucy ~ http://www.love2createitall.com

2.Darla ~ http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/

3.Lori B ~ http://savingmine.blogspot.com/

4.Amie Kiger ~ http://www.mimimyselfandibykigz.blogspot.com/

5.Deanne J ~ http://deannestamps.blogspot.com/

6.Jennifer Kramer ~ http://4heartsscrapbooking.blogspot.com/

7.Carolyn ~ http://www.nuts4scrappin.blogspot.com/

8.Bethany ~ http://stampingathome.blogspot.com

9.Eva Friesen ~ http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com 

10.Maria Woodworth ~ http://mariawoodworth.blogspot.com/ (You are HERE)

11.Julia Hammond ~ http://youcancreatectmh.blogspot.com/ (This is your NEXT stop)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  We hope you have enjoyed all of our projects!

Project Recipes (Supplies Used are CTMH - unless noted)

Card

Colonial White Standard 4 1/4x 5 1/2 Card Base

1 Stir Stick (not CTMH)

It's Your Day Stamp Set

Cocoa Cardstock

Mulberry Stripe paper (retired)

Burlap Ribbon

Smoothie Baker's Twine

Smoothie Stamp Pad

Sweet Leaft Stamp Pad

Cocoa Stamp Pad

Blocks

Mini-Purse

Artiste Cricut Cartridge

Colonial White Cardstock

Indian Corn Blue Cardstock

Indian Corn Blue Stamp Pad

Hollyhock Ribbon (retired)

Hollyhock big and regular size glitter brads (retired)

Hook and Loop Circle

Blocks

National Stamping Month - Video

Here is a peek of the stamp set that I have been playing with for National Stamping Month!  We have a blog hop set for release on Saturday.  So, you will want to stop back for tons of consultant inspiration!

Here are the details from Close to My Heart Corporate on how to get this super fun and versatile stamp set:

To celebrate National Stamping Month in September, we are bringing back our popular double stamp set promotion! You can get the exclusive, new My Acrylix® It’s Your Day double stamp set for just $5 when you place a minimum order of $35 in full retail products from August 15 through September 30, 2012. You’ll love this double set—two D-size sets in one envelope—which includes nearly 50 trendy images that makes it easy to capture the everyday moments in your life. The double set has a retail value of $35.90, which drastically increases the value of your qualifying purchase! Have twice the fun stamping during National Stamping Month with our new, exclusive It’s Your Day double stamp set.
Dates: Offer valid August 15 (9:00 am MDT) – September 30, 2012 (11:59 pm MDT)

If you want to get yours today, START HERE.  You will be linked to my CTMH website to start shopping.

Cricut Artiste - One Size Fits All

Today, I want to share a short, yet super helpful video that has been released by Close to My Heart Corporate.  This video will help you to discover how to create multiple-piece projects using the Cricut® Artiste cartridge. You no longer have to size each individual piece—the Cricut® machine cuts the pieces to fit one assembled size of your choice!  I hope you find this technique helpful.  If you want to purchase your cartridge today...  CLICK HERE 

And the winner is.....

BEV BLAIR

Congratulations Bev!  For those of you that visit my blog often, you know that I opt not to use the electronic "random sort".  I have 3 little people that like to choose numbers from 1 to whatever.  This time I asked Sydney for a number between 1-6.  This is the number of comments that I received on the Artiste Blog Hop Eye Candy Contest.  Sydney chose lucky number 6.  The 6th person to comment was Bev Blair.  So, congratulations Bev!  I have your email address.  So, I will be emailing you to find out your favorite current paperpack.  To everyone else....  Thanks for stopping by, commenting and check back on Friday.  I will be running another giveaway before my next blog hop release on Saturday.

Artiste Blog Hop

Welcome to our August ARTISTE Blog Hop! Each month we will showcase a feature of the amazing ARTISTE Cricut cartridge which can be purchased exclusively through a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant.

We're so excited to be doing this hop and we have a fabulous lineup with some very talented ladies. There will be lots of fun projects!!!

This month we will be showcasing a different page from the Artiste cartridge! Did you know there were 700 images on this cartridge?? That's right -- 700!!!

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog - http://www.love2createitall.com.

My projects are a 4x4 mini-album, 3D Box trees and a couple Christmas Ornaments.

There were so many FUN pages to choose from in the new Artiste Handbook (comes with the cartridge), that I had a hard time picking just one to showcase.  However, PAGE 53 jumped out at me as the one that I had to play with first.

Here is a look at the images that I had to choose from on page 53

You can find my recipes for each project item at the bottom of my post.

The first thing that I thought of when I saw the star in the lower right hand corner was an ornament.  However, I wanted to do something a little different with the star image.  So, I took a few pictures of my honey and I, and made this 4"x4" Smitten Star album.

But, I couldn't stop there.  I absolutely LOVE the paper box trees that are found in the new Close to My Heart Fall/Winter Ideabook.


Soooo....  I had to do a version of them in the new Avonlea paperpack.

The large one to the left is done at 5.5", the middle is 4 1/4" and the small one is 3.5".

Also, you will notice that the page glistens and shines...  I brushed Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint on the Avonlea Paper before I glued the paper box trees together.  I added a few fabulous Close to My Heart embellishments in order to keep them classy, but simple.  Finally, I want to point out that the large star on the left is done with a piece of Colonial White cardstock, and I used Juniper reinker in my spray mister to give it a little color.  It is hard to see in the picture, but it gave the trio a lighter complimenting color.

I guess I have the "Christmas in August" bug, because I also put together a few Christmas Tree ornaments.  I kept with the theme of Avonlea and the Create-a-shade pearl paint...

I absolutely LOVE how the Artiste cartridge does all of the work for me.  I used a piece of Colonial White cardstock and a piece of patterned paper from the Avonlea level 2 paper pack, turned my dial to 2 1/4" punched in accent 1 (& then 2) and let the cricut do all of the work.  I brushed on a little create-a-shade pearl paint and added a seam binding ribbon bow and VOILA...  They are done!! 

Each year we put up a family ornament Christmas tree.  So, I am already guessing that we will have a lot of these on our tree this year.  I think this will be a fun project for my kiddos.  It will be super simple to let them cut the images and glue them together. 

I really hope you enjoyed my projects for this hop!  I appreciate you stopping by!
The next stop on your blog hop fun is Judith Ashmore ~ www.grammiejudys.blogspot.com.  Here is the list of all the talented consultants who are participating in this months blog hop:

1.Lucy ~ http://www.love2createitall.com/

2.Darla ~ http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/

3.Julia ~ http://youcancreatectmh.blogspot.com/

4.Theo ~ www.celebratecrafts.com

5.Tina Gale ~ http://tiggersscrapplace.blogspot.com

6.Stephanie ~ http://www.quiltedscrapper.blogspot.com

7.Mandy ~ http://www.mandydesigns.blogspot.com

8.Joanne ~ http://josiesjoy.blogspot.com

9.Laura W. ~ http://scrappinsweetiesescape.blogspot.com/

10.Rebecca ~ http://blog.scrapprincess.com/

11.Maria Woodworth ~ http://mariawoodworth.blogspot.com ~ You are here

12.Judith Ashmore ~ www.grammiejudys.blogspot.com ~ This is your next stop on the hop

13.Lisa Woodward ~ http://mycraftyspaces.blogspot.com

14.Laura Charko ~ http://koladesigns.wordpress.com/

15.Jennifer Kramer ~ http://4heartsscrapbooking.blogspot.com/  

16.Eva Friesen ~ http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com  

Thanks so much for stopping by and hopping with us - we hope you LOVE all the projects we created!

Recipe of Supplies Used - All
(All items are Close to My Heart)
Cricut Artiste Cartridge
Avonlea Level 2 paper pack
Colonial White Cardstock
Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon

Smitten 4x4 Album - Additional product used
January Stamp of the Month: Happy Valentine's
Bitty Opaque Pearls
Silver Shimmer Trim
Black Stamp Pad

Paper Box Trees - Additional product used
Pear & Partridge Card WOTG Stamp Set
Designer Brads - Rhinestone
Silver Shimmer Trim
Black Stamp Pad
Bitty Opaque Pearls
Bling Assortment Pin

Giveaway Time!!!

I feel like it has been forever since I gave something away...  So, it's time to give away a paperpack of your choice to one lucky winner!  All you have to do is check out my blog hop post above, click through the blogs listed and then come back here.  You will then need to leave a comment on what some of your favorite ideas were, your favorite Artiste Handbook page number or anything else you would care to comment on.  In order to be in the drawing...  you need to leave a comment on this post.  Thanks, good luck and have fun looking at all of the wonderful artwork!!

Avonlea - Thanks

This is a card that I completed recently for a couple swaps.  I made 30 of them.  Thanks to the Cricut Artiste Cartridge, they went together pretty fast and easy.  I cut the word bubble image and then stamped it in Chocolate ink with a coordinating stamp set that comes in the Artiste Bundle Collection.  Also, just want to point out that the 1/2" x 4 1/4" strip that is behind the Chocolate Baker's Twine is a zip strip from the patterned paper.  I LOVE THIS!!  Close to My Heart takes something and makes it even better.  Instead of throwing away the strip of paper at the top of my 12x12 page where the copyright information is....  I just turn it over and use it as a coordinating piece of paper on my card... LOVE IT!!

Recipe - Supplies Used

4 ¼ x 5 ½ White Daisy Card Base

Bulk B&T Avonlea

Artiste Word Bubble Stamp Set

Artiste Cartridge

Chocolate Baker’s Twine

Opaque Adhesive Gems - Mocha

Chocolate Stamp Pad

Twilight Cardstock

Chocolate Cardstock

White Daisy Cardstock

Sponge

Dakota Paperpack... NOT JUST FOR COWBOYS!

The new Dakota paperpack at first glance just SCREAMS Cowboy and Cowgirl!  However, I want to show you a couple projects that will leave you thinking about this paperpack a little differently.  In this post you will find a Family layout and a Christmas card that mix it up a bit.  At the bottom of the post, you will find a picture of the hostess bundle that shows the Dakota Level 2 paperpack, stickease, some coordinating stamps and other product from the Fall/Winter Ideabook.

Family Layout

Here is a layout that I made with Family photos from Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.  I used the rustic barn page and the blue pinstripe page to give this paperpack a weathered nautical feel.

Here is a close up of the Hemp Flower I made on the left hand page

My wonderful friend Loretta Weeks taught me how to make this flower.  She found a pinterest tutorial and started mass producing these in mutiple sizes for her nieces wedding.

I found a great blog tutorial with examples, great photos and step by step instructions HERE.

Another thing that I like about this photo is that the blue pinstripe paper looks like ribbon...  Here is a close up of the cricut cut out that I stamped, a hemp bow and the blue pinstripe ribbon cut out.

Supplies Used

CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge (Banners and Cut out for stamping and for journaling)

CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge (Font for Family)

Dakota Level 2 paperpack

Pacifica Cardstock

Colonial White Cardstock

Pacifica Stamp Pad

Slate Stamp Pad

4 Slate brads

Hemp

Christmas Card

I'm starting a little early on my Christmas Cards.  I love the new Pear & Partridge Card Workshop on the go so much that I had to use the included stamp set with the Dakota Paperpack.  Here is a picture from the Pear and Partridge Card Workshop on the Go:

I just love the ornaments and twig branch used for the card on the right in the picture above.  So, here is my card using the same stamp set with the Dakota Paperpack

Supplies Used

Dakota Level 2 Paperpack

Colonial White Card Base

Barn Red Cardstock

Pear & Partridge Card WOTG Stamp Set

Black Baker's Twine

Bitty Sparkles

Finally, here is a look at the Hostess Bundle that includes the Dakota level 2 paperpack.



Club Ladies

Look at my lovely ladies....  Here are a few members of my Club.  Don't they look like they had fun at mini-convention?  They got the chance to HEAR information from the Close to My Heart Convention, see some INSPIRATION, win LOTS of goodies, play a FUN game for a chance to win a goodie bag, SUPPORT Operation Smile and walk away with GIFTIES just for coming!  THANK YOU Jill, Sandy, Bea, Margo and Susan for attending mini-convention and for sharing so abundantly!

Their wand and tiaras were cut using the new Artiste Cricut Cartridge from Close to My Heart.  Too bad we didn't have a few guys in attendance, because there were plenty of mustaches to go around too!

Want to attend next year?  You just have to be a current member of "the club" or have been a member the previous year.  Click Here for more information on joining "the club".  I am looking forward to showering you with gifties and fun inspiration!