May SOTM Blog Hop - Cherish the Moment

Welcome to the May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month's stamp set is "Cherish the Moment," a set of 8 all-occasion stamps available May 1 - 31, 2010 only. If you have come here from Judy Burger's blog, you're on the right path! With about 60 consultants participating in the hop, you're sure to find a project that you will love! The hop is a circular hop, so you can start at any point and "hop" all the way around. Ready to go?

I made a card for graduation. I love the versatility of this stamp set!

Supplies used:

• Zippedee Level 2 Paper Packet
• Cherish the Moment (D1421)
• Black Designer Ribbon Rounds
• Cranberry Bitty Brad
• Colonial White Designer Brad
• Cardstock: Desert Sand, Cranberry, and Black Textured
• Ink: Black, Desert Sand

Now hop on over to Haley Dyer's blog to see her lovely work. Thanks for hopping with us this month! If you'd like to see another card I made using this stamp set, please click here.

Mojo Monday Sketch 136

Ahhh, Monday. I love Mondays because I love these challenges! This week's challenge gave me the opportunity to use one of Close To My Heart's brand-new Clear Cards! These sweet little cards come in a pack of 8 -- four round and four square -- and the package includes clear envelopes! The cards are available May 1 when the Summer Idea Book goes live.

The flower was really easy to make. I used the new CTMH 1 1/4" circle punch and punched out 5 circles from the beautiful double-sided B&T paper. I stacked the circles on top of each other and secured them with a Designer Brad. I scrunched the circles up around the brad, each layer separately. When all five layers were bunched straight up, I gently separated the layers, rolling the edges a little, until I got the look I wanted.

Supplies used (all supplies CTMH unless noted):

• Splendor Level 2 Paper Packet (available May 1)
• Clear Cards (available May 1)
• Moonstruck cardstock and ink
• Designer Brads - Splendor (available May 1)
• May Word Puzzle (retired)
• American Crafts ribbon -- I usually use CTMH, but this ribbon was too perfect to pass up on this card!
  

A close-up:

Heart 2 Heart Challenge 4

Another Monday -- another Heart 2 Heart Challenge! This week's challenge is all about ribbon: use at least two different ribbons on the card or layout. These ladies are singing my song, because I LOVE ribbon! I've had these little ribbon flowers on my mind lately, and this seemed to be the perfect place to try them out. If you're interested in learning how to make them (and they're super easy!), scroll down below the pictures of the cards for a quick tutorial.


Supplies used:

• Cherry-O Level 2 Paper Packet (available May 1)
• Cranberry Designer Ribbon Rounds
• Blush Designer Ribbon Rounds
• Sweet Leaf Designer Ribbon Rounds (sensing a theme here?)
• Designer Brads - Splendor (available May 1)
• Irresistibles Dimensional Elements - Pizzazz (available May 1)
• Say It In Style
• Originals Card Confidence Program - "Lucky Three"
• Inks: Tulip, Chocolate, Sweet Leaf
  
  

I left a pocket on the inside of the card to slip in a gift card.
To make the ribbon flowers, start with a length of ribbon between 3" and 6" long (depending on the width of your ribbon and how large you want the flower). Using matching thread, do a running stitch all along the edge of the ribbon.

When you get to the end, pull gently on the thread to gather the ribbon. It will start to form a circle.

Pull the "tails" together and stitch together. Be sure to backstitch a few times to secure the threads before knotting it.

Trim the excess ribbon after stitching.

You have a flower! There's one more step, though --

Use a brad or a button (one with a shank works best) to fill the center of the flower. You're done!

Mojo Monday Sketch 135

I finally got the Mojo Monday sketch challenge done . . . on Friday. Oh, well ~ better late than never, right? I really like this sketch and thought that another sneak peek at new product would be fun! The paper is the new Creative Basics - Cherry-O from the upcoming Summer Idea Book (May1!). The lovely velvet ribbon comes with the paper. The stamp set is the May Stamp of the Month. Remember to check back on May 1 for the SOTM blog hop!

I'm trying to do better about decorating the inside of my cards, too. It always seems a shame to work so hard on the front then open it to find a plain inside. :)

Inside:

A Miracle Awaits You! ~ National Scrapbooking Month

Here's a fun, beautiful way to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May! Close To My Heart is offering this gorgeous kit to you from April 15 - May 31, 2010! Here are a few ways you can get the kit:

• Purchase the kit outright for $19.95.



• Place a minimum order of $40 and purchase the kit for $10.



• Place a minimum order of $60 and purchase the kit for $5.



• Sign up as a new Consultant between May 1 - 31 and receive the kit FREE!



• Host a home gathering between April 15 - May 31 with minimum sales of $300 and receive the kit FREE!

How easy is that? Click {here} for more information!

Two of my pages are here (the included brochure has instructions for two 2-page layouts):

The accent pieces are new Irresistibles Dimensional Elements. The design is embossed and resists color when the pieces are inked. So cool! You can make the accents fit with whatever color scheme you want to use.

Our awesome Flip-Flaps are included in the kit. These are individual photo sleeves with an adhesive strip to make fun, interactive elements.

Here's a peek at the contents of the kit -- lots of goodies!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge 3 - Let's Get Sketchy!

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is a sketch challenge. I decided to use the sketch to make a scrapbook page rather than a card. This page uses some new paper, Cherry-O, from the Summer Idea Book, available May 1. I'm loving this paper -- it's so cheerful and can be used so many different ways!

Other products used are Dimensional Elements - On Target; Irresistibles - Pizzazz (new in the Summer Idea Book); Opaques - Cherry-O (new); Outdoor Denim Designer Ribbon Rounds Collection; Tulip Mini-Medley Accents Collection (new); and Autumn Harvest Brad Assortment (Outdoor Denim brads).

The Dimensional Elements were inked with Tulip ink for the big circle and with Outdoor Denim ink and Tulip ink for the bookplate.

Be sure to check out all the blogs participating in this week's challenge!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge 2 - Mojo Monday Sketch 134

In the spirit of efficiency, I'm combining two challenges in one! The first challenge is for the new Heart 2 Heart Challenges featuring CTMH products. Check it out to see all the beautiful artwork! This week's challenge is to use

1 stamped image
2 patterned papers
3 embellishments

The card provides a sneak peak to brand-new product from the Summer 2010 Idea Book! The paper packet used is "Passages." It is perfect for masculine cards and pages as well as travel-themed items. The stamp set is new, too: Happy Journey. Do you love the little clip? Yep, it's new, too! The clip is one from a set of seven new expoxy clips. These products are available May 1! Contact me for a new Idea Book.

The sketch for the card is from the weekly Mojo Monday blog challenge.

Hope you enjoy the blog challenges!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge 1

Do you {heart} Close To My Heart? Join the brand-new {Heart} 2 {Heart} Challenges! This new blog will have weekly Monday challenges (with prizes!). Visit {here} to see all artwork and challenges.

My card for this week's challenge uses the challenge colors of chocolate, sweet leaf, and sunflower. I used two stamp sets to make the card: Endless Friendship (D1354) and Delightful Things (D1369). The green paper is left from a previous CTMH campaign. The leaves on the flower are made from ribbon from the Sweet Leaf Ribbon Rounds collection.

The easel card was so easy to make! I cut a piece of cardstock 4 1/4" x 8 1/2 and scored at 4 1/4" and 6 3/8". Fold in a zig-zag pattern. Cut a second piece of cardstock into a 4 1/4" square and attach to the top folded piece. Place a brad, button, or layered cardstock approximately 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the inside of the card to hold the propped-up "easel." Quick and easy!

Mojo Monday Sketch 133

It has been a while since I have been able to do a card challenge, so I'm happy I was able to make this cheerful card using the Mojo Monday Sketch 133!

This is a standard-sized card (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") using the Sweet Home papers from Close To My Heart. The stamp set is the April Stamp of the Month, Flower Pot. The stamp set is available only April 1 - 30, 2010.

To make the flower pot of flowers, I stamped the flowers first using brown StazOn then cut a mask from a post-it note. I covered the stamped flowers with the mask and stamped the flower pot slightly overlapping the flowers. This gives a great dimensional look like the flowers are spilling over the side of the flower pot! I picked up color from the lid of the ink pads (Indian Corn Blue and Barn Red) using a waterbrush and applied color to the stamped images.

My scrapping space

When my daughter moved into her own apartment in January, I made her bedroom into my scrapping space. I love my cozy little space and wanted to share it with you!

The first stop on the tour is my stamping table. I keep all my CTMH inks in the Exclusive Inks Organizer. (I know -- you're shocked!) This little baby is so handy for keeping all the CTMH inks and markers. I added the optional, removable tray to the top for my re-inkers and other items. There are handles underneath that so the whole thing can be picked up and moved. I store my inks by color families rather than season, because that's just the way I think.
Here's the whole table. I keep a VersaMat foam-side-up underneath the desk pad to give my stamps some cushion. My blocks are in the white tool caddy.
I found these magnetic whiteboards at WalMart. They are a great place to hang artwork and inspiration. I've also been know to make a list or twenty, and this is a great place to keep the lists in my line of sight, and possibly my memory. The tv and dvd player sit on a repurposed computer cart. And, yes, that's Mike Holmes on the tv -- "Holmes on Homes." Nothing like HGTV to keep me company while I stamp and scrap.

Idea Books and samples --

The shelves are hand-me-downs from my husband's place of employment. The adjustable shelves make it so easy to fit everything. I keep everything on here from paper to dimensional elements (in the wood Ikea drawers) to stamps. I'm very visual, so I have to see things to remember that I have them, or they don't get used.

A close-up of my stamp storage -- The baskets are dvd baskets from Target. A whole lot of stamp sets will fit in them. I store my stamps alphabetically by title (for now). Again, it's the easiest way for me to find a stamp set. I also turn the stamps around and put them in the envelope "backward." That way I can see the set at a glance.

CTMH cardstock is sorted by color families and kept in Cropper Hopper paper keepers with labeled dividers. (What would I do without my P-Touch labeler??) Retired B&T paper and non-CTMH papers (I really do have some...okay, LOTS!) are kept here, too, loosely arranged by color or manufacturer.

Target had these sweet little wire baskets last year around Easter time. I got two and keep my punches in them. They make pretty dandy bookends, too, when loaded with heavy punches.

The scrapping area -- it's a little too cozy for more than me to scrap here, but I can always set up tables in the basement or in the family room if a group is coming over.

The view from the door: Shelves will be hung soon above the small bookcase.

The closet had a nice closet organizer, so I tried to utilize it for storage by adding some additional drawer units and shelves.

My adapted Library of Memories system:

And -- more shelves with extra "stuff" that I'd rather not see all the time.

I keep my current CTMH paper packets in a file crate ~ pink, of course. There is no rhyme or reason to the order right now. I really need to go through all of them and do some condensing and cleaning out. Add it to the list of "things to do when I finish college in May"!

And finally, the accessory cases. I'm sure you'll be surprised by this, but the embellishments are sorted by color.

Thanks for visiting my scrapping and stamping space!