12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day #3

I *lurve* the way this one came out!  So festive, fun and QUICK to make!

Materials Used:

Paper:  Jingle (retired)

Ink:  Creme Brulee, Juniper, Tulip, Olive

Stamps:  Holiday Cheer, Adorn-able

Other:  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Silver Glitz, Red Glitz



Close to my Heart January 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring....

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring January 2011's SOTM, Find Your Style.  If you have come here from Vickie's Blog, you are on the right path!  The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

This month we have over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs.  To view all the great artwork just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one!

The soft vintage feel of this set and the beautiful sayings really spoke to me.  My mother suffers from early onset alzheimer's disease so the phrase "a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and will sing it back to you when you forget the words" really choked me up.  What a beautiful sentiment and so perfect for giving to a special friend in your life.  The idea of giving this sent me on a quest to play with a home decor / gift item for my project this month.

Here I've used a 5x7 picture frame that I've literally had for years and done some altering to create a one-of-a-kind gift.  The butterfly was stamped directly on the glass using black Staz-on ink.

The title "beautiful friend" was embossed directly on the background paper and the definition was embossed in black and then matted.  You can see from this shot the dimensionality to this piece - all of the paper and some of the embellishments are below the glass while the flowers and sparkles all are mounted directly on the glass.

I really enjoyed creating this piece and am planning on making more of these darling frames in the future!  Here is the full picture of "Find Your Style" the Jan. 2011 Stamp of the Month:

Materials Used:

Paper:  Jingle Level 2 , Black Cardstock, Olive Cardstock

Stamp:  Find Your Style

Ink:  Black Staz-on, Versamark,  Colonial White Marker (to color the white crocheted flowers to Colonial White)

Other:  Heartfelt Whimsy Collection, Colonial White Ribbon Rounds, Just Blooms Big Pinks, Sparkles, Mini Medley Autumn Garden, Black Embossing Powder

Now "Hop" on over to Nicole's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the January SOTM is only available until 31st.  Click HERE to see how you can get this wonderful set for a discount or for FREE!

Snowman Christmas Card with CTMH Snow Friends, CTMH Holiday Jingle

This is another card inspired by the wonderful Kathy Carlson (see her card here).  I've had this retired blue gingham paper in my stash for about 1.5 years so I was happy to find a cute card to inspire me to USE some of my stash!  Love the combination of Heavenly Blue and Cranberry - what a cheerful pop!  My darling daughter and I had a blast making a couple of these cards for our Christmas sending this year.  She likes doing the watercolor pencil coloring for me on my cards.  I love doing projects like this with my kids - the kids have fun playing in "mommy's room" and we get some one on one chatting time while we work.  I've also been told by our neurologist that scrapbooking is good for the brain!  It helps with the planning and visual processing parts of our brains and as I've been teaching my kids - you have to use your math skills to figure out paper maximization!

Materials Used:

Paper:  Evensong Creative Basics (retired), Heavenly Blue Gingham (retired)

Stamps:  Holiday Jingle, Snow Friends

Ink:  Cranberry, Cocoa (snowmen)

Other:  Watercolor Pencils, Cranberry ribbon

Gift #5 Holiday Gift Extravaganza 2009 - Holiday Planner with CTMH Holiday Creative Basics

Gift #5 for our Holiday Gift Extravaganza 2009!

This planner is sure to keep you on track for all your holiday activites. There are pockets for gift list for family, friends, shopping receipts as well as a to-do list. Just right for keeping all your lists organized AND sized to fit in your purse when spending the day shopping. Give it as an early gift to your Mom, sister or your teacher and they'll think you are the cat's meow!

Materials Used:
Paper: Holiday Creative Basics, Colonial White Cardstock
Inks: Ponderosa Pine, Cranberry, Desert Sand
Stamps: Holiday Trinkets, Holiday Jingle, December Stamp of the Month, Everyday Celebrations (special), Friendship Alphabet - large and small (special)
Other: Cranberry Grosgrain Ribbon, large eyelets, scallop square punch