If You Bling It: 06/01/2013

6/30/2013

July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - The Sweet Life!

Welcome to the July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This month I am following Maureen O'Sullivan's Blog. We have over 50 Close to My Heart Consultants participating in this month’s Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.

The July Stamp of the Month is entitled Sweet Life (Set of 9). Here is a picture of this stamp set:

Loving this very elegant stamp set! I have been super busy for the past few weeks. In fact I just returned from our annual Close to My Heart Convention this morning. I had run behind with so much to do so I took a quick nap and then set about making a tag. I want to use this tag for a present I have for a dear friend.

Here is my tag.

This tag is super cute in person. Ran out of natural light for the picture and may retake ti tomorrow if I have time. I colored the stamped image mostly with our alcohol markers. I also snuck in a little bit of our new bronze glitter trim that will be coming out in our new catalog. Sorry, couldn't resist. I am LOVIN' IT!

The tag is cut out of Kraft cardstock with our Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, pg 60, at 6". The tag is cut out of Sorbet cardstock, pg 47, at 4".

Everything is sponged with Cocoa Ink and I second generation stamped "Life the Sweet Life" on the background of the tag, but between it soaking in and the poor light, it is hard to see.

The stamped image was embossed with Cocoa pigment ink and clear embossing powder and then cut out with our super-duper fantastic non stick Micro-tip scissors (Z1836). This is my favorite new tool. I am hard on scissors and these are able to cut through adhesive and then even cut ribbon. Truly remarkable! I used the flower and emblem from our retiring Buzz and Bumble Collection (Z1831).

I am very proud of my coloring so here is a closer view of the stamped images on the tag.

Doesn't that apple just look scrumptious? Ready to pick and eat. Yum!

Supplies Used

Sweet Set (S1307)

Cocoa Pigment Ink

Retired Canvas Ribbon

Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge

Markers Used

Apple

Creme Brulee Dark Alcohol Marker

Cranberry Light Alcohol Marker

Ruby Alcohol Marker

Barn Red Light Alcohol Marker

Leaves

Olive Light Alcohol Marker

New England Ivy Alcohol Marker

Flowers are colored with Copics, Y000, Y21 and Y23

Stem is colored with our Blending Pen and Desert Sand Ink

The next stop on the blog hop is the Fabulous Sheila Bennett's Blog.

The Sweet Life Stamp Set can be purchased for $17.95 or you can even get it for only $5 between July 1 – July 31, 2013. You can purchase this stamp set as well as any of the above supplies here: on my website.

6/24/2013

Color ME Happy With Heart 2 Heart Challenges

Welcome to this week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! Oh my goodness! Can you believe that the first six months are almost over for 2013? I am hurriedly packing and running errands so that I can catch a plane for Orlando to attend the Close to My Heart Convention at the Happiest Place on Earth. How appropriate that this week the challenge is to pick the colors that make us happy.

First of all, if I was picking colors from a color wheel that I thought would make me happy, these colors would not be it. LOL But I just love this paper from Surf's Up and I wanted to use this gorgeous bird I had colored last week and really wanted to use it for this challenge because I really loved how it came out. So, for this week, these colors are making me happy!

Here is my card:

I cut the square doily shape with the Cricut Artiste, pg 60, Accent 4. I used the sketch from the Deconstructed Sketches, #106, and I am entering this card into that challenge.

My card is made from the paper in the CTMH Surf's Up Paper Pack (X7168B). I cut the doily out of Creme Brulee cardstock with our Cricut Artiste cartridge at 4 1/2". My little birdie is stamped with our Fabulous You Stamp Set (C1533) and colored in with our waterbrush and our Sunset, Champagne, Cocoa, and Sweet Leaf Inks.

I stamped and colored the bird on Colonial White cardstock and didn't like the paleness of the background, so I did what I love to do and played around with it. Using my waterbrush, I diluted some Champagne Ink and swirled it around on the background of my stamped image. My goodness did it ever look awful! That was why I used the other bird image I had stamped on my card last week.

But magical things happened overnight and when I woke up, my stamped image looked awesome and I knew that I wanted to use it in this week's challenge. It was too pretty to throw away. By the way, our waterbrush is on the 2013 Retiring List. Pick one up before they are gone. I love ours and enjoy coloring with it.

I wracked my brain on how to finish my card and stay true to the sketch. Looking in our Idea Book (aka catalog), I found an idea on pg 69 and decided to pull out some white hemp and the Keyboard Kraft Alphabet (Z1825) and made that cute little banner to go under my bird image. This card is a birthday card for a special person in my life and I wanted it to be a happy card. What a fitting sentiment to finish it off. I had to add a little bling so I put a tan sparkle on each bow.

So now it is your turn! What colors make you HAPPY? Create some artwork with those colors. After you finish your artwork please go to www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com and post a link to your project. I cannot wait to see what you make!

Here are a few rules:

*Our challenges are open to everyone!
*To enter, follow the challenge of the week and post your results to your personal blog or other online gallery.
*Be sure to go here and direct link to your challenge post so we can see your artwork!
*In order to enter a challenge, you must use Close To My Heart products but your project does not have to be 100% CTMH.
*If you use something from another company, please consider including details in your project's description.
* You MUST mention H2H challenges in your blog post (and a link back to us would be appreciated).
*Spread the word about our challenge blog by including our badge on your blog.

* I love to leave comments on our participants' blog posts, but word verification slows me down, so please turn yours off so that I can leave you some love on your blog!
*Most importantly, have fun creating - the Close To My Heart way!
Note: Any entries not following the above rules are subject to having their link removed.

Like what you see? Head on over to my website and you can shop to your heart's content! We have a bunch of specials this month as well!

I have entered this card into the Anything With an H Challenge (the word Happy on my banner) at Hobbycutz Challenges, and the Die Cuts Challenge at the Catered Crop.

6/17/2013

Picture Inspiration at H2H

Welcome to this week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! This week we are having a Picture Inspiration Challenge.

Wait until you see the beautiful picture that we are using for our inspiration.

Picture Inspirations are so much fun. You look at the picture and interpret it in your style. You may find that you want to use the colors, the pictured item, or the feel of it in your artwork. It is all good.

In my card, I picked up the color of the flowers in my flower, the bird that could have been in the birdcage,and the doily and the sparkle flourishes for the airiness that I see in the picture.

My card is made from the paper in the CTMH Buzz and Bumble paper pack. I cut the doily out of Creme Brulee cardstock with our Cricut Artiste cartridge at 4 1/2". My little birdie is stamped with our Fabulous You Stamp Set (C1533) and colored in with our waterbrush and our Sunset, Champagne, Cocoa, and Sweet Leaf Inks.

Here is a closeup of my card:

I finished off my card with a Sparkle Flourish and a pretty flower with a glimmer button.

So now it is your turn! I hope that I have inspired you to create your own artwork using our Inspirational Picture. After you finish your artwork please go to www.heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com and post a link to your project. I cannot wait to see what you make!

Here are a few rules:

Like what you see? Head on over to my website and you can shop to your heart's content! We have a bunch of specials this month as well!

I have entered this card into the Doily Challenge at Digi Darla Challenge, the Die Cuts Challenge at melonheadz friends, and the Anything With Wings Challenge at Tammy's Scrapin' Corner.

6/15/2013

CTMH Technique Blog Hop - Emboss Resist Tommy Father's Day Card

Good morning everyone! I just love doing Blog Hops. I thrive with a deadline!

Welcome to the Close to My Heart Technique Blog Hop. Our hop is a circular hop. You can start anywhere in the hop and just click on the link at the bottom of our post. This will take you to the next hopper and eventually you get back to me.

The hopper in front of me is Penny. This month's technique is Emboss Resist - one of my absolutely favorite techniques. My trusty embossing gun has been lonely lately. So I grabbed it off the shelf along with my Versamark pad and my handy dandy brayer and set to work.

First, using clear embossing powder, the Versamarkpad, and the powerful CTMH Tommy Scrapbooking WOTG Stamp Set, I stamped the word image onto White Daisy Cardstock.

The words are now clear, but I managed to get the light to shine off of them so that you can faintly see them. The embossing gun causes the paper to kind of warp but my adhesive will straighten that out when I put it on the card.

The next step is to apply ink. I used my brayer and CTMH Outdoor Denim Ink and applied a lot of ink.

Check out that difference! Can you see how the embossed letters are still white even though the ink has been absorbed by the unembossed paper? Isn't that cool? The embossing keeps the paper white and the ink does not soak in.

The next step is to take a paper towel and wipe off the embossed words. The top part of the cardstock shows where I have already wiped off the ink. The bottom half still needs to be wiped off. The ink just comes right off. Amazing, huh?

Now the embossed resist panel is ready to use in my card. I used the CTMH Tommy Paper Pack and added some CTMH Artisan Brads. I also used the CTMH Tommy Assortment - see the lifesaver and the flag. Aren't those cute? I am going to use this card for my husband's Father's Day Card. This has been a stressful year and I think that he will like this card.

Once again, thank you for visiting my blog. The next blog on this hop belongs to Debi. Click on her link and go check out what she has done with this fun technique. See you soon!

I am entering this card in the Dream Valley Challenge #59 - Father's Day/Male Challenge
and the 2 Sisters Challenge #148 - Just for Dad
and the Crafter's Cafe Blog Challenge #17 - Father's or For a Male

Like what you see? I would love for you to visit my website and purchase some of our great products.

6/10/2013

Close to My Heart Mini-Banner Ideas

I am posting this totally out of a selfish reason. I want to make sure that I can find this awesome video so that I can create some of these super-cute banners. I know that my grandkids would love to have these made and hung on the wall behind their beds. I also think that I am going to make a create banner for my art room and a party one for those special days at my house. My family is just going to love them!

During the month of June, Close to My Heart is offering a special where you can get this Mini-Banner totally free with a $25 purchase that includes an A, B, C, D or E sized stamp set. Woo Hoo! This is while supplies last only. Here is the link to my website if you want to take advantage of this offer. I am headed off to purchase some right now before they are gone....

6/09/2013

Fun in the Sun - CTMH Stampers With an Attitude Style!

Welcome to the Stampers with an Attitude Fun in the Sun Blog Hop. This month I am following, Becky McLain. Wasn't her artwork incredible?

Our theme this month was Fun in the Sun. I found this super cute card pattern at Card Crafters Circle. I am entering my card into their challenge this week. Woo Hoo! I was chosen one of the Top 3 at Card Crafters Circle!

Here is my card:

I wanted my card to be warm and fun. I used the Buzz and Bumble paper pack (X7164B) and the Close to My Heart Stamp Set, Bright Sunshiny Day (D1538). I stamped the image with our Cocoa Pigment Ink and embossed it with our Clear Embossing powder it a little POP. Then I colored parts of the images in with our Honey and Juniper Markers.

The cute buttons come from our Wooden Mini-Medley Accents (Z1837). And I added a little bling to two of them. I balanced out my artwork with the Mini Wooden Clothespin (Z1815) and added a cute hemp bow and another brown bling with some of our Liquid Glass (Z679). It will hold anything!

Now, hop on over to our next Blog hopper, the super-artistic, Barbi Kelley and see what she has made for you to see!

If you get lost, here is a list of our participating blog hoppers.

Cat Nowak ~ http://catscrapbooking.wordpress.com/
Jen Patrick- http://roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com
Becky McClain ~ www.beckysstudio-cards.blogspot.com
Melinda Everitt ~ http://www.ifyoublingit.blogspot.com
Barbi Kelley ~ www.barbispapercreations.blogspot.com
Sheila Bennett ~ http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com
Amber La Mons ~ www.scrapperstherapy.blogspot.com
Pamela O'Connor ~ http://reflectionsofmyartandsoul.com
Sandra VanWoerden~ http://OhMyScraps2U.blogspot.com
Beth Velosa~ www.bethvelosacrafts.com

See something you like? Well I would love it if you would head on over to my website and see what Close to My Heart has to offer! I am sure that you will love them as much as I do.

I am also entering this card in this week's Paper Player's Color Challenge #149. I have used Close to My Heart Colors for this challenge. I used Sunset, Juniper, Honey, and Cocoa.

6/03/2013

H2H, Tropical Style!

Welcome to this week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! Do you remember that song, If you like Pina Coladas? Well this week our challenge is to create Tropical Artwork!

This month my idea of a tropical trip would be to go sit on the beach under an umbrella (because I burn so easily) with my feet in the sand. Kind of like the card I made for this week's challenge:

I used Close to My Heart's Surf's Up Paper Pack and the Just Chillin' Stamp Set (C1495). There is my beach chair under my pretty blue umbrella and I even brought my grandchild's red bucket! I am all set for a nice day at the beach.

I used this sketch #166 from Sketchy Colors for my card:

So now it is your turn! I hope that I have inspired you a little to have fun creating some Tropical Artwork. After you finish your artwork please go to heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com and post a link to your project. I cannot wait to see what you make!

Here are a few rules: