January 2013 SOTM Blog Hop

Happy New Year and Welcome to the 2013 January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  This month the featured stamp of the month is S1301 Happy Valentine's--a set of 7 beautiful images!  Below are the images in this stamp set that is available only thru January 31st.

If you have come here from Helen Onulak's blog you are on the right path! You can find a list of all the participants (in case you get lost) here: http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/p/sotm-blog-hop-list.html  This month we have over 40 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this set. The hop is simple to follow - just click on the link provided in the post to move to the next blog!

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My item is a 4.5" round card made with the new La Belle Vie Workshop on the Go (WOTG) Papers.  This was the first papers I absolutely had to have when this Idea Book first came out and I have been dying to use these papers again! Below is my card:

Used the sketch from yesterday's MojoMonday for fun!

And here is a closer look at the dimensional items of it:

Papers: La Belle Vie WOTG papers; Sweet Leaf, Black & Colonial White cardstocks
Stamps:  S1301 Happy Valentine's; New January Incentive Whooo's Your Valentine
Ink:    Black Exclusive Inks; Blush & Sweet Leaf alcohol markers
Embellishments:  z1762 Clear Sparkles; z1616 Green Collection Ribbon; z1730 Pink Assortment of Buttons; z1089 Black Waxy Flax
Other:  Art Philosophy CTMH Cricket Cartridge; z1352 Circle Cards - 4.5"

Time to hop on over to Laurie Newton's Blog to see her beautiful eye candy! Be sure to visit all the Consultants' Blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the SOTM is only available thru January 31st! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for $5!

Happy hopping!

Blessed Christmas

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace!"  Isaiah 9:6.

Merry and Blessed Christmas!

Whooo's Your Valentine Blog Hop

Celebrate National Paper Crafting Month with the incredible Whooo's Your Valentine kit from Close To My Heart for only $10 (with $35 purchase). The kit includes:  12 Die Cut Boxes in 4 colors; 3 sheets of Cardstock; 1 sheet Silver Glitter Paper; 12 Treat Tubes with lids and 1 My Acrylix D-size stamp set.  Below is the Whooo's Your Valentine stamp set:

If you have come here from Lucy Kelleher's blog, you are on the right path!  I am the first stop for this hop! You can find a list of all the participants (in case you get lost) here: http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/p/sotm-blog-hop-list.html  This hop we have over 30 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this set. The hop is simple to follow - just click on the link provided in the post to move to the next blog!

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Below is my card.  It is a standard size card (4.25" x 5.5").  I just love the colors of the kit! I turned my card into an Anniversary card instead of a Valentine Card--just right for two anniversaries of both my children this month.  Yes, both were married in December (on different days).  I also included the recent Freshly Made Skethes design #64 which I just missed the deadline on.

FMS#64

A close look at dimension and embossing:

Papers: White Daisy, Blush, Hollyhoc and Ruby Cardstocks; Silver Glitter Paper from kit

Stamps:  Whooo's Your Valentine?
Ink:   Ruby and Black Exclusive Inks

Embellishments:  Border and Hearts die cuts from Cricut Artiste cartridge; ruby sparkles; Sizzix embossing folders

Time to hop on over to Helen Onulak's Blog to see her beautiful eye candy! Be sure to visit all the Consultants' Blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the National Stamping Month set is only available today thru January 31st! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this kit for $10.

Happy Hopping!

Year Round Cheer December Blog Hop

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  This month the featured stamp of the month is S1212 Year Round Cheer, a set of 12 adorable monthly holiday stamps!  Below are the images in this stamp set that is available only thru December 31st.

If you have come here from Helen Onulak's blog you are on the right path! You can find a list of all the participants (in case you get lost) here: http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/p/sotm-blog-hop-list.html  This month we have over 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this set. The hop is simple to follow - just click on the link provided in the post to move to the next blog!

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My item is a 5" x 5" card made with the Pear and Partridge Workshop on the Go (WOTG) Papers.  The stamp for December makes a perfect Christmas card.  I also am featuring this week's Mojo Monday because I thought it was a great sketch to feature these adorable stamps!  Below is my card:

This is the Mojo Monday sketch:

The photo below shows a closer look at the dimensional items of it:

 And, this photo gives a closer look at details (I this this stamp set was just made for the Bitty Sparkles!

Papers:  Partridge and Pear WOTG, including Cranberry, New England Ivy and Colonial White Cardstocks.
Stamps:  S1212 Year Round Cheer
Ink:   Cranberry, New England Ivy pigment pads, Black Exclusive Inks
Embellishments:  Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Wire Christmas Ribbon (maybe from Walmart)
Other:  Z821 Clear Embossing Powder

Time to hop on over to Kami Welter's Blog to see her beautiful eye candy! Be sure to visit all the Consultants' Blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the SOTM is only available thru December 31st! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for $5!

Happy hopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Many of you thought that the first Thanksgiving in the U.S. Territories was celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1612.  Actually the first Thanksgiving in the U.S. Territories was was celebrated by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles (founder of the city of St. Agustine, La Florida), in 1565, with a group of soldiers, colonists, Native Americans, and priests.  On September 8, official Thanksgiving was given.  A mass was celebrated and a feast followed.  This day can be considered as the first official Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. territory, says Dr. Michael Ganan, University of Florida.

After the Mass, offered as an act of thanksgiving by don Pedro Menendez de Aviles, what was eaten at the feast that followed, in what can be considered the first such celebration in U.S. territory?

Dr. Marian Horvat (“The Oldest City and the First Thanksgiving”) tells us that the feast was shared by the Spaniards and the Timucuan Indians who brought edibles such as venison, corn, beans, squash, oysters, clams, fruit, and, of course, plenty of turkeys.

Quail, hare, rabbit, chicken were probably also supplied by teh Timucuan Indians, who most certainly brought tortillas, frijoles corn, squash and legumes as well as fruits.

The Spaniards contributed cocido, a stew made with pork, garbanzo beans, chickpeas, and onions, along with biscuits, olive oil and red wine.  Surely, salted pork and cheese spread was also present.  Let us remember that Spaniards introduced into the newly discovered territories horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and chickens.  Condiments were also brought over such as olive oil, cinnamon, parsley, corriander, oregano and black pepper, and also nuts and grains such as almonds, rice, wheat and barley. 

A mixture of European and American ingredients, the best of both worlds coincided on US soil at the first Thanksgiving dinner on September 8, 1565.  It wasn't until the year 1621 when the Pilgrims celebrated what became the traditional date of the first Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  In all things give thanks to Him!

Christmas Workshop 2012

Last week was my annual Christmas Workshop.  Everyone got to make 2 each of 6 cards, 2 each of 2 tags and a gift card holder.  First is a picture of everything:

Here is a photo of the just the Pear & Partridge artwork.

Now for the individual pieces (some of the Avonlea pieces were posted previously so I haven't added them to this post.  So, here is the Avonlea card I haven't posted before.  This is the Glory to God Stamp Set.

Now for the Pear & Partridge pieces.  This first card is courtesy of fellow consultant Kandi Gallegos-Garcia.  It was such a beautiful card she created, I had to copy it for my ladies!  This is the Merry & Bright Stamp Set.

The next card was inspired by Freshly Made Sketch #58 and Allisa Chilton.  Allisa is such an inspiration!

And finally the last was also inspired by Allisa Chilton.  I just love the burlap!  It gives cards a down-homey feel!

Next is the gift card holder!  I cut it at 4.75" and it seems to fit gift cards perfectly.  I still need to do something on the inside still....

Inside of Gift Card:

Finally we have tags from the October Stamp of the Month - Very Merry Christmas (love that set!):

And another made with the October Stamp of the Month - Very Merry Christmas:

I hope all you have had a chance to get a jump on your Christmas creations and if not, I hope you are getting a jump on ideas!  Merry hugs!

Avonlea Christmas Cards

My first card was a inspired by Heather Stewart from a gorgeous set of cards she did for Christmas with the Avonlea papers.  I just love the teal of Avonlea paired with the Smokey Plum color.  This is a standard size card of the 3 wisemen:

Papers: Avonlea WOTG papers; Avonlea White, Avonlea Teal cardstocks 
Stamps: D1483 Glory to God
Ink: Pigment White Daisy, True Teal (retired) Exclusive Inks 
Embellishments: Pearl Opaques

The next card is made with the October Stamp of the Month.  I am SO loving that set!!  There will be more posts with that Christmas Stamp set.  I also love the look of creating your own pearlized paper with Create-a-Shade by creating a mist using alcohol and sprayed onto the cardstock.  This is the project that I did for the Heart to Heart Christmas Challenge.  This will be my first H2H Challenge (such a creative group)!

Papers: Avonlea WOTG papers; White Daisy, Smokey Plum, Avonlea Teal cardstocks Stamps: S1210 Very Merry Christmas 
Ink: Smokey Plus, True Teal (retired) Exclusive Inks 
Embellishments: z1263 Bitty Sparkles
Other:  Create-a-Shade (mist of alcohol & Create-a-Shade) sprayed on White Daisy CS; Sizzix SU Embossing Folder
 
These are two of the workshop cards we made this past weekend.  I'll have more to post this week.   "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....  "

Honor Our Veterans!

Today I give honor to all the men and women who fought for FREEDOM for this great country of ours! 

From the depths of my heart I thank you for your great sacrifices.  God bless you all.  May He keep you safe and for those who are not with their family this day, may he deliver you safely back to their arms!

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Thanksgiving will soon be here, can you believe it?  And it is time for the November SOTM blog hop!  This month the featured stamp of the month is S1211 Capture the Date, a set of 72 calendaring images!  Below are the images in this stamp set that is available only thru November 30th.  Click to see details.

If you have come here from Jean McNulty's blog, you are on the right path!  I am the first stop for this month's hop! You can find a list of all the participants (in case you get lost) here: http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/p/sotm-blog-hop-list.html  This month we have almost 70 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this set. The hop is simple to follow - just click on the link provided in the post to move to the next blog!

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My item is a Round 4-1/2" size card made with the new Pear and Partridge Workshop on the Go (WOTG) Papers.  Below is my card:

And here is a closer look so you can see some of the glitz:

Papers: G1052 Pear and Partridge WOTG papers, Colonial White, Cranberry, New England Ivy cardstocks

Stamps:  S1211 Capture the Date; Pear and Partridge WOTG Stamp Set
Ink:   Cranberry, New England Ivy, Olive Exclusive Inks; StazOn Black Ink

Embellishments:  Green Glitz Glitter Gel, Red Glitz Glitter Gel, z1764 Just Blooms Florette Paper Shapes; z1780 Wrangler Assortment; z1751 Baker's Twine Harvest Assortment; Clear Embossing Powder

Time to hop on over to Helen Onulak's Blog to see her beautiful eye candy! Be sure to visit all the Consultants' Blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the SOTM is only available thru November 30th! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for $5!

Happy hopping!

Dimensional Element Christmas Ornaments

Is it that time of the year already?  Well, most years it's almost Thanksgiving before I get some of the Christmas crafts underway, but I promised myself that at least every other post should be something to do with the holidays!  The Partridge & Pear Workshop on the Go has a bonus project--Dimensional Elements Christmas Ornaments.  I like to change these projects into workshops, so I try to find a way to use the bulk papers and embellishments to make it a workshop.  So, my projects are a bit different than the ones in the bonus project.  Sometimes, it's just because I didn't read the directions and turned up with something a bit different but looked at how I could make it work.  So, below are the ornaments that we will make in my upcoming workshop this weekend.

I think making ornaments is fun!  Look for more Christmas projects soon!