July SOTM Blog Hop - Live Out Loud

Welcome to our July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring S1207 Live Out Loud, a set of 8 beautiful stamps that speak out!  The images are below and you can click to see details:

If you have come here from Helen Onulak's Blog, you are on the right path!  You can find a list of all the participant's in case you get lost here: http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/p/sotm-blog-hop-list.html

This month we have almost 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. Blog hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Now "Hop" on over to Beth Naumann's blog to see her beautiful eye candy! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the SOTM is only available until July 31st!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for $5!

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Below is one of the ways I decided to use this stamp set by making a Standard size card (4.5 x 5.25).  You can click photo to see better detail:

Below are pictures of more detail showing the greeting piece and butterfly cut from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge:

Supplies:

Papers: Florentine WOTG papers;  Cocoa, Colonial White and Twilight cardstock

Stamps: S1207 Live Out Loud
Ink:  Cocoa, Twilight Exclusive Ink

Embellishments:  z1333 Mocha Opaques Adhesive Gems; Prisma Glitter; Colonial White Designer Ribbons Collection (ret.)

Other:  Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge by CTMH; Sizzix embossing folder

Now hop on over to Beth's Blog by clicking the block below:

Elegant sponged cards

I really love some of the beautiful bulky cards I see people make but I always wonder how they are going to mail those cards.  Today, I am presenting some elegant single layer sponged cards.  The first time I saw these all I could say was WOW!  I saw them on Melinda Everette's blog and she saw them on Heather Telford's blog.  My rendition of those cards are below.  I did 8 card combinations (because this was my monthly workshop).  I wanted everyone to have colors to choose from and wanted to give everyone a variety of images to work from.  If you are like me, I always want to make what I see!  Attendees got to make 6 of the 8 cards.  It was a customer appreciation workshop!

CTMH colors used:  Sunflower, Sunset and Cranberry

CTMH colors used:  Blush, Petal and Gypsy

CTMH colors used:  Creme Brulee, Desert Sand, Chocolate

CTMH colors used:  Sweet Leaf, Topiary, Moonstruck

CTMH colors used:  Heavenly Blue, Sky, Dutch Blue

CTMH colors used:  Sunny Yellow, Sunflower, Orange (retired)

CTMH colors used:  Grey Flannel, Grey Wool, Black

CTMH colors used:  Sunny Yellow, Pear, Lagoon

Every time I finished one of these cards, I kept thinking "This is my favorite color combo."  "No, this is my favorite color combo."  But I just love all of them for two reasons:  they look elegant and can be easily mailed!

2012 Teacher Gifts

My two granddaughters, Mikayla and Hannah, have been blessed with some amazing teachers. So, we decided that some teacher gifts were in order to tell them how much they are/were appreciated!  The first photo shows the gift bag, bottled water (says "Thank You for quenching my thirst for knowledge" with crystal light holder, box of 9 Hershey chocolate nuggets and a thank you card:

Next photo is a close up of the Thank You card which was featured here before for the February Stamp of the Month:

Below the inside of the card where my granddaughter's wrote their own heartfelt message to their teachers.  Oh and also shown is the pen that goes with the gift set:

Next, not shown previously in any of the pictures is the popcorn package with poem:

Next is a close up of the bottled water displaying the Crystal Light holder:

Here is a close up of the Nugget Box containing 9 Hershey Nuggets in a 3x3 configuration:

Last is a photo close up of the gift bag:

All instructions for everything except the bag (because it all depends on the size you select) can be found on an earlier post here.  I added a pen.  The see-thru pen is by Pentel RSVP.  I used a piece of decorative paper 1/2" x 3 and rolled it tightly around the ink well and then pushed it into the pen (not an easy task).

The featured papers were from the Lucy Workshop on the Go (WOTG) using Grey Wool, Hollyhock, and colonial white cardstocks. 

"Life is Tweet" SOTM Blog Hop

Happy June!  This month the featured stamp of the month is S1206 Life is Tweet, a set of 15 adorable images!  Below are the images in this stamp set.

If you have come here from my Interim blog, you are on the right path!  I am the actual 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 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this set. The hop is simple to follow - just click on the link provided (below) in the post to move to the next blog!

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My item is a 6" x 6" Birthday card made with the Footloose Papers for my dear Daughter-in-Law who is turning 29, no really, she is turning 29 (mother of 3 but she still looks 16).

Here is a closeup of the detail.....

And lastly, a picture of the inside of the card.  I just love when I get to see the insides of cards because I never know what to do when it comes to the insides.

Papers: Footloose WOTG papers; Smoothie, Sweet Leaf, New England Ivy Cardstocks

Stamps:  S1206 Life Is Tweet
Exclusive Ink:   Smoothie, Lagoon, Creme Brulee,White Daisy Pigment Ink

Embellishments:  Liquid Glass; Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon

Other: Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge; White Embossing Powder

Time to hop on over to Beth Naumann'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 April 30th! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for $5!

Happy hopping!

Color Throwdown Challenge

I found this great little blog that has a color challenge.  The blog is called The Color Throwdown and since I enjoy anything that helps spark my creative juice (which flow rarely and slowly), I decided to take the challenge this week.  The colors intrigued me.  Here is the challenge--nice colors:

I tried to stay true to the color scheme which looked to me to be lots of white, then mostly the orange color, a bit of yellow and a pop of magenta and green.  While it's not my very favorite card, it's growing on me from last night when I made it.  I used Raspberry, a color that Close To My Heart retired about 7 years ago (right after I became a consultant) but it's still one of favorite colors fits the bid for the color challenge!

And here is a little better look at the dimensional elements:

Papers:  White Daisy, Raspberry(retired) Cardstocks
Stamps: D1470 Dreams Come True; C1494 Card Word Puzzle; D1436 The Present
Ink:  Sunset, Sunflower, Juniper, Raspberry(retired) Exclusive Inks
Embellishments: z1338 Sunset Mini Medley; z1336 Pearl Adhesive Gems; z1701Neutral Assortment Baker's Twine
 
I do love these colors!  They just look so cheery and I think this makes the perfect get well card. 

Live Simply, Stamp Generously!

A Dotty For You Birthday

As I said earlier this month, May is the month of Birthdays. One of my friends and stamping buddies just had a birthday.  I just love how neat the Dotty For You papers coordinate!  This came together so quickly and easily!

I just love how this all coordinates so beautifully!  Here is a snapshot of the inside of the card. This is the sketch I used for this card from Freshly Made Sketches:

I never get to see enough of the innards of people's cards so I'm still working at the perfect innards.  There should be an innards contest.  Would that be interesting.  OK, I digress....

Papers: Dotty For You papers; Colonial White, Grey Wool Cardstocks 
Stamps: C1494 Card Word Puzzle;  
Ink: Lagoon, Sweet Leaf, Grey Wool Exclusive Inks 
Embellishments: Lagoon Mini-Medley Accent Collection; z1709 Just Blooms Paper Shapes

Wishing my friend Shelley a Happy Birthday!  And wishing everyone a Happy Stamping day!

May is the Month of Birthdays

It has been a long time since I've done a Mojo Monday so when I had to make my dear Son In Law (SIL) a birthday card I decided to start with this week's Mojo Monday sketch.  Here is this week's sketch:

And, because the card is for my dear SIL, I decided to use the Victory papers.  I just love that kit and I still can't help creating cards with it!

I tried to capture some of the dimension of this card.  It is one that I would call a bulky card and would never attempt to send through the mail unless it was in a padded envelope.

Papers: Victory WOTG papers; Chocolate, Honey, and Colonial White cardstock
Stamps: D1410 4 My Friend; Noteworthy Background (retired) Stamp Sets
Ink: Chocolate, Outdoor Denim Exclusive Ink
Embellishments: z1706 Durables Studs (Square & Round); z1701 Neutral Assortment Baker's Twine

Hope your days are full of friends and family!