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!

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!

Smile card using CTMH Smiles and Thoughtful Seasons

This simple but sweet card was made during Stamp Camp a couple of months ago.  The ribbon is actually custom dyed with Crystal Blue re-inker.

Materials Used:
Paper:  White Daisy Cardstock, Desert Sand Cardstock
Stamps:  Thoughtful Seasons (the word Smile), Smiles
Other:  White Daisy grosgrain ribbon (this is the wide one that came with Animal Cookies Creative Basics), Crystal Blue re-inker, Outdoor Denim Button from the Autumn collection

CTMH Wishes Card Workshop featuring Magic Moments, You're a Hoot

Its been a bit of a struggle lately for me to get my crafting time in! We've had so many activities, appointments and family fun time going on it seems like by the time I have free time I'm too tired to feel creative. Last night I actually had a bit of a second wind so I decided I would play around with one of the new card workshops in CTMH's Wishes book. Boy, oh boy am I impressed! In 20 minutes flat I had everything cut out, labelled and dry assembled (just put the pieces on each other to see how they fit) for 12 cards! I woke up early this morning and managed to get two of the 6 designs made before my mad monkeys came down for breakfast. I'll post the rest over the next couple of days.

Today we are roasting at 103 degrees - an all time record high for the Seattle area. Tomorrow is supposed to be just as bad. I can't wait for the heat to break! It makes you want to lay around until late at night when it finally cools off. Unfortunately, as the MOM of the house I rarely get to do that! I got into the pool last night with the kids at about 5PM and we swam around for about 2 hours as the pool temperature is now just about bath water. We have a swamp cooler going on our kitchen table which seems to be helping and I'm pulling cooler air in from the garage with a fan. We've even put aluminum foil on the South facing windows to try and reflect off the extra sun and heat. We look like we're ready for an alien invasion but I'm willing to try anything to keep the house cooler! Today is the first day with the foil so I'll be checking the temperatures inside and out to see if it makes a difference. Stay cool and come back soon!

Materials Used:
Paper: Magic Moments Level 2, Indian Corn Blue Cardstock, Sweet Leaft Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps: You're a Hoot, Thoughtful Seasons
Inks: Indian Corn Blue
Other: Cocoa Gosgrain Ribbon