June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring CTMH Jubilation

Welcome to our June 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring Jubilation. If you've come here from Jen Rubio's Blog, you are on the right path!  We have over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. To follow along just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one!

Is it okay to play favorites with stamps?  'Cause I'm in love with June's Stamp of the Month!  The 12 larger images are sized to fit our 1.25" circle punch with just a bit of edge showing around and the 12 smaller images punch perfectly in a 1" punch.  Love it!

When I started playing around with this set all I could think of was the Glee episode where Rachel sings this song and since her symbol is a star (okay, I am a Gleek) this card just came together.

If you'd like to make this card, get these supplies:

Stamps:  Jubilation (June SOTM), Pennant Alphabet, Thoughtful Seasons (for You're A)

Paper:  Fanfare Level 2

Ink:  Pacifica, Sky, Sunny Yellow

Other:  CTMH 1.25" Punch, CTMH 2" Scallop Punch, Tulip Mini Medly (for ribbon), Holiday Red Buttons (retired but the new Reds assortment is even better)

Now "Hop" on over to Melissa Robinson's blog to see her work!  This set is so versatile and fun that I can't wait to hop through with you and see what my fellow CTMH consultants have come up with this month!  Remember, the June SOTM is only available until the 30th so head on over to Paige.MyCTMH.com to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!   Here is a close up of all the images in the set so you can see for yourself how cool it is!

School report weekend news - LOL....

One of the things my 3rd grader has to do at the start of a new week is to write a small report of "weekend news".  It always seems like the weekends he does something fun they skip doing this writing assignment and on the boring weekends he gets picked to share - LOL.  So, one of the things we've taken to doing is talking about the weekend on Monday morning before school so he knows what to write about.  I had to laugh this morning as he was getting ready for school as we literally cleaned all weekend long.  I had to help him come up with a spin on cleaning that sounded a bit more fun so we called it a "complete re-organization of my personal living space" LOL!

My boys rooms were in sore need of a complete and total sort through and we spent three days touching every single items they own and playing a new game called "Cute, Win, Fail".  They found these videos on You Tube that show clips with those titles and so we adopted it for a good clean out of what stays and what goes.  I was AMAZED at how effective it was at getting them to get rid of stuff FINALLY.  So today I have a living room full of boxes ready for Goodwill and all three kids rooms are looking good - YAY! While it wasn't a fun weekend by any stretch of the imagination it was an incredibly productive weekend for the family so I'm happy with what we did.

I hope you all had a fun OR productive weekend as well!  What did you do?  Were you in the FUN category or the PRODUCTIVE category?

Hugs,

Paige

Video - CTMH Newsprint Rubons

Check out this darling layout created with our new Newsprint Rubons!



To get your own package of CTMH Newsprint Rubons and start creating, visit my website by clicking this link:  Paige.MyCTMH.com

Peacock Bling with CTMH Circle of Love and a serious amount of glitter...

Some days you just have to go girly! 

I took a 9x9" retired Simply Snapshot and cut it down to make two 8x3.5" card fronts.  The large peacock image from Cicle of Love fit perfectly in the top section leaving the bottom part open for more decoration or sentiment.  I recently sorted through my cards bins and decided I needed more cards that were blank that I can just stamp an appropriate sentiment into to fit the occassion so I made a pair of feathers to decorate the front.

The peacock image is embossed in Cocoa embossing powder.  I then came in with my Waterbrush and used ink from the top of my inkpads to add a splash of Gypsy and Juniper ink to the image.  I love the softness this gives!

I finished it off with a serious amount of bling using Martha Stewart silver glitter.  The sparkle frame was made using Scoretape - I simply laid down the lines and sprinkled the glitter on top.  The Scoretape does a great job of holding the glitter down (I hate flaky glitter projects that shed glitter after you've make them).  I used liquid glass to free hand outlines and dots on the peacock image and shook glitter over those as well - liquid glass if fabulous for creating this kind of glitter shape and keeps the glitter where it needs to be too!

If you'd like to make this project, get these supplies:

Paper:  Perfect Day Simply Snapshots (retired), Kraft Color Ready Borders

Stamps:  Circle of Love

Ink:  Versamark, Gypsy, Juniper

Other:  Cocoa Embossing Powder, Waterbrush, Sparkles, Spring Mini Medly, Organdy Ribbon (retired)

Happy Birthday Oragami Bouquet Card with CTMH Salutation Seals and Blessed

A couple of weeks ago I signed up for the daily craft e-mail from Martha Stewart and in one of the messages there were directions for an oragami flower bouquet card.  Can it get any better than combining my favorite things - card and flowers?!? 

The nice thing about this style of card is that it lets you use up a whole lot of scraps.  I went through all my papers looking for pinks, yellows and oranges on the reverse to give the flowers some texture and pop.  I really think you need B&T paper for these as cardstock would be way too heavy and not allow you to open them up as effectively.  I stamped a flower center from an older set to the center of my squares before folding and trimming and then added a bit of Glitz inside each flower after the card was all assembled.  If you follow the link to Martha's directions (at the bottom of this post) then you'll see my petals are a little different - I cut a V out of the tip to give the petals a more defined shape.

If you'd like to make this card, get these supplies:

Paper:  B&T papers in various color schemes - here I used Hooligans, Bella, Unforgettable and Zippidee

Stamps:  Salutation Seals, Blessed (April SOTM), Tickled Pink (retired)

Inks:  Chocolate, Gypsy

Other:  Small flower punch (Marvy Uchida), 2" CTMH Scallop Punch, 3" Scallop punch, Glitz Glitter Gel, Score Tape or Tombow Power Bond for holding the flowers together, Hollyhock ribbon

If you'd like to check out Martha's directions for making the pop up bouquet (it works best in a 5x7 card by the way - I tried it in a smaller size but the flowers didn't open up enough) then visit this link:

http://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/2011/05/pop-up-card.html

Thinking of You Sidestep Card with CTMH Dreams Come True, Thoughtful Seasons

Last week I mentioned making a card with the Dreams Come True set - I finally took a picture today for posting! This is a front view when the card is standing up.  Love the look of White Daisy ink on black cardstock.

This is what it looks like when folded completely flat - the butterfly disappears so when they first pull it out of the envelope its a surprise as they open it up.

Here is the view with the flowers in focus so you can see the butterfly peeking out!

If you'd like to make this card, get these supplies:

Paper:  Wings Level 2, Sunflower and Pansy Purple CS (for punched out butterfly)

Stamps:  Dreams Come True, Thoughtful Seasons (sentiment)

Inks:  Cotton Candy, Sunset, Sky, Sunflower, White Daisy Pigment Ink, White Daisy Marker, Versamark

Other:  3" Scallop Punch, Heavenly Blue Embossing Powder, Hollyhock Ribbon, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch

On a personal note, my daughter had her black belt test last Friday and its official - she is now a First Degree Black Belt!  Whoo-hoo!  I am so, so proud of my girl.  The speeches the 9 candidates gave were so emotional I don't think there was a dry eye in the place by the end of the night.  I was pretty good until my daughter started thanking me for walking the journey with her - then the floodgates opened.  Even though the past 6 months were exhausting both mentally and physically (I've taken a lot of Ibuprophen over the past 6 months) it was completely worth it to see her standing proud and tall, confident in herself and what she can accomplish when she puts her heart into a goal. 

Now turn about gets to be fair play - I have 1 year to train for my black belt test in May 2012.  I think she's really looking forward to putting me through my paces and being a drill sargeant on push ups and running!

Enabler Alert - How to get a big bang for your buck in May

Okay, so if you've read my blog for a while you might have figured out that I am a sucker for a good deal and I always try to find the best value for my buck.  One of the things I always focus on with my customers is getting the best value for them - aka the most scrappy goodies we can possibly get!  So I figured with the May promotion I'd write up a quick post to show you how you can rack and stack your goodies!

May National Scrapbooking Month "You and Me Kit" - purchase outright for $34.95 or place a $50 order and get it for just $15!

  
So, I want the kit at the reduced price so I want to place an order of $50.  I go over to the "While Supplies Last" aka CLEARANCE section on my website and see a bunch of new accessories added!

I score three sheets of 12x12 felt shapes for just $1.50  = $1.50

I grab a couple of the Chocolate Mini Medleys at just $3 each so I get 2= $6

These medleys are colors used in Sophia and Lucky so I grab 3 of packs of these at $3 each = $9

I used these last year to make Christmas cards and now they are just $2 so I get 2 = $4

I purchased the Autumn Garden Medleys to go with Sophia so I pick up the Workshop kit for just $29.95 and I can make layouts AND cards with the guide, accessories, stamps and papers included!

Because my order is over $50 I also get HALF OFF the May SOTM "Chairs to You" - cool!

So, my order comes to $15 (for You and Me) + $50.50 (for WOTG kit plus 8 clearance items) + $11.54 (May SOTM) = $77.04 and I get 2 D size stamps, a B size stamp, 2 paper sets, 3 new accessories from the kits, brochures to tell me what to do with my stuff, plus 8 clearance items!  Whew!  Thats a lot of goodies!

BUT, if I wanted to REALLY stack it up, I can order the Lucky WOTG kit for $29.95 and a package of Lucky or Sophia Level 2 Stickease for just $4.95 and get the Stamp of the Month for FREE.

$15 (You and Me) + $85.40 (now with everything above PLUS a whole extra WOTG plus a Stickease) + FREE SOTM = $100.40!
 + Sophia Stickease

 

So that is pretty much how I put my orders together each month.  I almost always spend $100 a month on scrapping supplies through CTMH.  At first when I figured out my budget for supplies I thought it was a bit steep but then I looked at how much I would spend at Michaels or Joanns in a month and how much of that just sat there because it didn't coordinate with anything or I didn't know what to do with it.  With CTMH kits I'll have the first several projects mapped out for me and after that I'll be able to use every scrap because of the stable color palette used through all our goods.

I hope that helped some of you fellow bargain shoppers see how to rack and stack orders - its even better when you are hostess of an event because you get those free rewards on top of your own order!  If you'd like to set up an online only gathering (you can be anywhere in the country) so you and your friends can get some great product and rewards, then contact me at Paige@Myctmh.com and we'll get you started!

Just for Giggles - Muppets doing Ode to Joy

I grew up watching the Muppets every week.  We bought the DVD set for the kids.  They still make me laugh...  Enough said.



Hope this put a smile on your face!

Hugs,

Paige

Video - MyAcrylix "Dreams Come True" Stamp Set with artwork samples

I love the amazing artwork that Close to my Heart creates!   This quick video will show you several samples of artwork you can make with the MyAcrylix "Dreams Come True" set.  I have a card to share later this week using that same set (I'm in the process of cleaning up my craft room so I haven't had time to do a photography session yet!).



To get this stamp set and start creating visit my website by clicking HERE!

Mother's Day was "out of this world"...

The Pacific Science Center has had a special Star Wars exhibit running for the past couple of months but life has been so super busy getting Eliza ready for her black belt that we just haven't had the time to get there.  Yesterday was the very last day of the exhibit so I thought I'd best keep my promise to my kiddos and take them there for Mother's Day.

We all love the original movies - you know the Harrison Ford 1970's stuff  - but what my kids really love is the Lego Star Wars game for the PS3.  Their favorite character in the game is Droid Deeka (I think that's how its spelled - I don't play the game, I merely act as a purchasing agent) so they were thrilled to take a picture with the droid....

Devin does a mean immitation of a Wookie so we had to take a picture with Chewy...

This photo is my favorite - my boys and husband pretending they are Darth Vader punishing someone by mentally choking them for messing up.  What little hams I have....

And what visit to the Science Center is complete without some time spent in the Butterfly House?

Spencer loves the touch Tide Pool in the main area - he was so cute picking up the Hermit Crabs and passing them to the younger kids....

I'm so lucky to be their Mom!

To all you fellow Moms out there - I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating with the ones who helped make you what you are today!

Hugs,

Paige

Anniversary Card with CTMH Chairs to You

This is another one I made while I was playing around with this set for the SOTM hop.  I thought the sentiment and image went well together for a simple but elegant anniversary card.

Thanks for stopping by!

If you'd like to make this card, get these products:

Paper:  Scraps from Bliss, Sophia and Passages, White Daisy Cardstock 

Stamp:  Chairs to You (May SOTM), Card Chatter Love

Ink:  Black, Versamark

Other:  Cocoa Embossing Powder, Kraft Ready Borders

Video - You and Me Scrapbooking Kit - National Scrapbooking Month Special!

To get your "You and Me" National Scrapbooking Kit Special, visit my website by clicking here to place your order! 

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me via my e-mail at Paige@MyCTMH.com.