May Stamp of the Month Bloghop!

Finally, spring seems to have arrived in the northwest.  Our purple tulips and pink rhododendrons are blooming.  Love flowers!  Hard to believe it's May already - and it's time for the May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!


If you've arrived here from {Katy's blog}, welcome!  I love the sharing of ideas, and the amazing creativity that happens here.  Have you seen the stamp set, yet?  Here it is!

Sunflowers just shout SUMMERTIME to me.  I have visions of fields of Italian sunflowers in my head...


I was playing with this stamp set, and after I stamped my image on the paper I was going to use, I was getting the extra ink off my stamp by stamping and twisting on a piece of scratch paper.  My friend and team member, Jen, said - HEY, what is that, I like it!  I didn't know what she was talking about, but this is what she saw:

  
She said it looked cool.  I thought it looked like a pencil sketch.  What I was doing was stamping and twisting the stamp to get the extra ink off.  It made a kind of hazy, soft stamped image.  So I randomly stamped a bunch of them on a 12x12 piece of paper.  Be sure to stamp on a scratch paper the first generation of ink.  To make it look sketchy like this, you have to use 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generation of stamping - plus, twist while you are stamping.  I used the large and small flowers, plus the leaves in the Stamp of the Month.

The tricky part was keeping the paper stationary while I stamped and twisted.  I took 4 pieces of Scotch tape, stuck them on my jeans to put a little lint on them (to make them not so sticky) and then taped the corners of the paper to my table.  That kept the paper still while I was stamping and twisting.


Next I colored with CTMH watercolor pencils.  Sunflower, Autumn Terracotta, and Brown Bag for the flowers.  Olive and Citrus Leaf for the leaves.  Then I took the Blending Pen and smoothed out the color.  

I also sponged Sweet Leaf in between the flowers, and sponged a little Cocoa on the edges.  I like it!  It's soft.  Here's a close-up of one of the flowers.

This is what the flower looks like if you ink in Cocoa and stamp (1st generation) and color with the same watercolor pencils:

The look is really quite different.  


So, I made this cool background paper with this stamp set...now what?  I made a scrapbook page!

I haven't finished embellishing yet, but I wanted to show you the layout.


Supplies Used: 
Friendship Bouquet (Stamp of the Month) $17.95 or $5 with your $50 order
Inks:  Cocoa, Sweet Leaf (sponged between flowers)
Card Stock:  Colonial White, Goldrush, Cocoa
Watercolor Pencils
Blending Pen
Sponge


Here's a card I came up with, inspired by my friend, Carol.


I took the (1st generation stamped) big flower and put it on the Cricut shape.  Stamping it on a circle didn't look right.  The other thing you could do is cut it out by hand (no thanks!)

Look, it opens!  

The ribbon is adhered under the flower, and ties in the back.

Cutting and scoring guide (click to enlarge).  I used a 4"x12" piece of paper.

Side View

Supplies Used:
Friendship Bouquet (Stamp of the Month) $17.95 or $5 with your $50 order
Card Stock:  Colonial White, Cocoa, Goldrush
Stella Paper Pack
Ink:  Cocoa
Watercolor Pencils
Blending Pen
Sponge
Cocoa Organdy Ribbon


Hope you've had fun looking!


If you see something you like, start shopping now -- and don't forget about the National Scrapbooking Month special - Dotty For You - 24 sheets of beautiful papers for just $5 when you place a $35 minimum order, sign up to be a consultant in May or host a $400 party in May.  Email me if you have questions about it!


Now, hop on over to {Traci's blog} to see what creativity she has to show you!  Thanks for stopping by!

Clipping

I'm a big "clipper."  I like to "clip" ideas out of magazines and copy stuff from websites (Pinterest?).  I saw this really cute card from Card Maker Magazine (from 2006) and wanted to make a similar card.  (like for 6 years...?)

I didn't really want to cut tiny envelopes.  Then I realized I could make my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge cut them for me!  (Especially great since for my monthly classes I would have to cut 120...or my customers would have to cut their own.)

This is what I came up with.  I love it!


My daughter, who is not as linear as I am, came up with this one and thought it was better:

To make the sentiments, I used the big long stamp on the Stamp of the Month "You Are..." (which is growing on me, by the way).  I stamped it on a 1" strip of paper and just cut the strips into pieces.

To make the corrugated paper I used Kraft paper and a paper crimper.


Very easy with my Cricut and all...  Let me know if you have questions!


Supplies Used:
Card Stock:  Olive, Kraft
Paper Pack:  Stella
Stamp Pad:  Tulip
Stamp Set:  You Are... - only available during the month of April
Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (Envelope - cut at 1.25")
Embellishments:  Clear Sparkles (colored with Red Sharpie), Just Blooms
Other:  Paper Crimper, Liquid Glass (to adhere the flowers to the envelopes - a little dab 'l do ya! - if you recognize that ad slogan, you are just as old as I am), Puffy Tape (foam mounting tape) to secure the inside of the envelope

May is National Scrapbooking Month - Let's Celebrate NOW!

National Scrapbooking month is in May, but Close To My Heart is celebrating early with the super cute Dotty for You paper pack. The pack includes 24 coordinating printed card stock papers (2 each of 12 patterns - LOVE 'em!) and an artwork idea insert with lots of great project ideas.


Here's one of the cards we are making this month in card class with the Dotty For You pack:

I LOVE spring & butterflies!  :)

We'll be using more Dotty paper next month.

There are three ways to get this exclusive Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95*:

1. Place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, and add the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5.  (It's while supplies last, so don't wait until the last minute!) Click here to order  I'll have a prize drawing from everyone who gets the Dotty For you pack in April...one in May, too.
2. Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile® donations) between now and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.  Contact me to schedule yours today!  I would love to give you a free shopping spree!
   
3. Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant before May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet for FREE. Click here for more information about becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant. 

Here's some wonderful creations made with the Dotty for You paper packet.

If you are in the Seattle area - come on over!   I have Saturday class, too, now.   It's just $15 to make 5 cards, or FREE with your $15 order.  If you're not in the Seattle area - shop online, and you can still take advantage of the Dotty For You special (through May, while supplies last)!

Thursday, April 26 at 10am
Friday, April 27 at 6:30pm

Fridays, May 18 & 25 at 6:30pm
Saturday, May 19 at 10am
Thursday, May 24 at 10am

To RSVP - email me.  Hope you can come!

Better late than never??

So sorry about the absence.  My dad's been in the hospital this week and last, and even thought I had the best of intentions, blogging, falls near the bottom of the list.  He's doing better and should be home soon.

I did want to show you the cute thing I did with the Peeps I bought last week.  I made these for the family for Easter dinner.

I got inspired by a really cute pink and orange cupcake liner at Cost Plus.  I thought "Hey, the Peeps would look great in there as a mini-Easter basket!"

I melted some chocolate (the left overs from the strawberry dipping project), put it in the cupcake liner and stuck the peep in the center so he would stand up in the middle.  Then I colored some shredded coconut with green food coloring.  (I put the coconut in a big Ziploc bag and added a few drops of food coloring, and shake-shake-shake.  Did you know they make neon colors now?  Love it!)  Then, some Starburst (oops!  They were really Sweet Tarts Jelly Bean Eggs, thanks Corey!) jelly beans as eggs. 

That yellow Peep looks like he's sleeping. 


I put little paper handles on some of them - attached with Glue Dots (of course!)


I thought they were really cute.  I really hope that someone ate the candy last week.  I've still never eaten a Peep. Giant Marshmallow?  Yuck.  :)

Happy Bday Jen!

My friend Jennifer just turned 40 a while back.  A few of us went out to celebrate.  I thought it would be fun to make a crown for her to wear at her birthday dinner.  Here's what I came up with:

My friend, Carrie-the-Cricut-Guru, lent me some Cricut cartridges to make the crown, the fence and the skull.  Jen loves macabre things, so I wanted to incorporate some creepy stuff.  I think it would have been better if I mounted the skull at an angle.


It was fun to play with, though!

SUPPLIES USED:
Cricut Cartridges:
    CTMH Art Philosophy (numbers)
    Rock Princess (crown, skull)
    Merry Monsters (fence)
Creme Brulee and Black Card Stock for the crown
Skull:  Grey Wool, Black, Cotton Candy, Colonial White
Clear Sparkles