January 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Happy New Year!!!  I am amazed that 2009 has come and gone so quickly.  We have arrived at the first blog hop for 2010.  If you just arrived from Antoinette's blog, you are on the right path.  This month there are over 50 Close To My Heart consultants participating in our blog hop.  We are featuring the January 2010 Stamp of the Month True Friends, a set of 11 stamps.  This set consists of cute frames, brackets and sentiments, and will be fantastic for making cards for friends.

I decided to use this set to make an anniversary card for my husband.  I followed the sketch from Mojo Monday Week 119.  Something I tried for the first time was using re-inker and rubbing alcohol to dye the crocheted flower to match the card (the Vineyard Berry flower, while lighter than the paper, matches much better in person.  It just didn't photograph well).  I mixed 15 drops of re-inker with about a capful of alcohol, mixed and then dipped the flower in the mixture.  I set the flower on paper towels and squeezed most of the liquid out, and then finished drying it with my heat gun.  You can adjust the color by using more or less re-inker.  I used alcohol instead of water simply because it dries faster.

Papers: CTMH Colonial White and Sweet Leaf cardstock, CTMH Emporium
Inks: CTMH Sweet Leaf, Cocoa, and Vineyard Berry

Embellishments:  CTMH Crochet Flowers, CTMH Twilight Corduroy brad

Tools and Techniques: Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Rectangles Small, 3-D Mounting Foam, Re-inker dying of Crochet Flower
Stamp Sets: True Friends and From Me to You



Now hop on over to Barbra's blog to see what she has created.

If you find any broken links along the way, Jena has the complete list of participants on her blog.

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! If you just arrived from Laura's blog, you are on the right path.

This month there are over 60 Close To My Heart consultants participating. We are featuring the December Stamp of the Month Notice the Details, a set of 41 stamps.  I can't wait to see the various projects that all of the participants will be showing.  This set has a lot of potential for some fun projects.

The title of this stamp set made me think about my Project 365.  Let's just say I haven't kept up with that the way I'd intended.  But this set is exactly what Project 365 is about--noticing the little everyday things, and keeping track of it.  I used this set in my layout for the week of Spring Break.  I took the week off of work to spend with my son.  We had a fun week, doing a bunch of little things.  I'm glad that I was able to spend that time with him, and even happier that I documented it.

 

 

 

 

Papers: CTMH Colonial White, Sweet Leaf and Twilight cardstock
Inks: CTMH Sweet Leaf and Twilight

Techniques: Second-generation stamping
Stamp Sets: Notice the Details, Friendship Alphabet, April Word Puzzle, and Today's Date

And, because I know someone will ask, yes that is a giant rattlesnake in the picture.  Photo is at the very bottom of the post (so if you're squeamish, don't scroll past the link to the next blog).  

Remember, Notice the Details is only available December 1st-31st, 2009.  Contact your Close To My Heart consultant, or click here, to order one for yourself.

Now hop on over to Katy's blog to see what she has created!

If you find any broken links along the way, Jena has the complete list on her blog.

Giant snake photo below

Do you really want to see it?

Don't say I didn't warn you...

Seriously, you've been warned.

Last chance....

Now imagine trying to take a picture of a flower and hearing your little one say "mom, there's a snake", and then turning to see this thing about 6-8 feet away from your kid.  Good thing I'm not a screamer...  If I hadn't stopped to take that flower picture, I would have walked within striking distance of that thing.

Card for a friend

My friend Sue recently had a surgery, which has left her in a lot of pain (too much even to scrap some days).  I wanted to send a gift and a card to let her know that I'm thinking about her.  I made this card following Mojo Monday sketch 108.  Sue loves all things Asian, so I wanted to use my Far East stack for this card.  She also loves the Temecula Olive Oil Company, so I picked up something for her there.

Papers:  CTMH Cardstock (Indian Corn Blue and White Daisy), DCWV Far East stack

Ink:  CTMH Indian Corn Blue

Ribbon:  White Organdy (JoAnn)

Flowers:  Prima

Brad:  Making Memories (??)

Tools and Techniques:  Second-generation stamping

Feel Better Soon, Sue!!

Blog Candy ends tonight at Midnight Eastern

Look what I found while blurfing (isn't that a cute term?  I totally stole it from Vicki.) today...Jacque's Joie de Vivre.  She's giving away fantastic blog candy with lots of goodies for making Christmas cards, but you have to leave a comment by midnight eastern TONIGHT!!!

Postcard Sketch Inspiration Challenge Christmas Card

I needed to take a break from my homework, so I thought I'd try the OCC challenge.  This week's challenge is a sketch inspiration challenge for a postcard.   I think it turned out cute, and was a pretty quick (for me) card.

Papers:  CTMH cardstock, DCWV Holiday Collection The Christmas Stack

Inks:  CTMH Bamboo, Cranberry, Desert Sand, and Ponderosa Pine

Stamps:  CTMH No Peeking, Vintage Christmas, and Friendship Alphabet Small

Embellishments:  Prima flowers, Making Memories Crystal Brads

Tools and Techniques:  Direct-to-paper ink distressing

This is yet another card for Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge (woohoo, number three for the week!!!). 

I guess I have to get back to the homework...

That was easy

Now I have the voice from the easy button going through my head.  But the sketch at Card Positioning Systems was very simple.  So in a quick few minutes, with no stamping and nothing complicated, I made this cute card.  Who says you have to make a complicated card to make a nice card???  Not me.

Papers:  DCWV Holiday Collection The Christmas Stack, CTMH cardstock Topiary and Holiday Red
Ribbon:  Michael's
Brad:  Creative Imaginations
Tools and Techniques:  3-D Mounting Foam

I guess that means one more for Sparkle's Christmas card challenge as well!

Mojo Christmas cards

Woohoo, today is (I think) only the second time I've actually made the Mojo Monday card on Monday.  I might even be one of the first 50 to post my card.  I made two, so that ups my Christmas card total by two.  I really think I will have my Christmas cards done by December 1st (Thank You Sparkle for the Christmas card challenge).  This card follows Mojo Monday sketch 112. 

Paper:  DCWV Holiday Collection The Christmas Stack, CTMH cardstock Topiary and Tulip

Inks:  CTMH Topiary, Versamark

Stamps:  CTMH Just for the Holidays

Ribbon:  Michael's

Tools and Techniques:  Nestabilities Circle and Classic Scalloped Circle Small, CTMH 1/4" long reach punch, heat embossing, 3-D Mounting squares

All Boxed Up Card set

I found a great template for a card box from Lauren Meader at Papertrey Ink. You can purchase the template here. I made a set of assorted cards following the September '09 PageMaps sketches. This is a fun and quick (and useful) gift to make.

Paper: CTMH Emporium, CTMH Cardstock

Inks: CTMH
Stamps: CTMH Thank You, CTMH Many Thanks, CTMH Connections, CTMH Treetops

Ribbon: CTMH Cocoa, Vineyard Berry (from Emporium Creative Basics) and White Daisy Ricrac

Tools and Techniques: Fiskars Threading Water punch, Marvy Uchida circle and scalloped circle punch.

It's a Stampaganza!

Whether you're a long-time fan of stamps or are just venturing into this fun hobby, now is the perfect time to grab some My Acrylix® decorative stamp sets! From November 3–30, 2009, when you purchase any two stamp sets (sizes A, B, C, D, and/or E only) at full retail price you will receive a third stamp set of your choice FREE (of equal or lesser value)— a savings of up to $22.95! Choose from any stamp set offered in any 2009 Idea Book or the current Product Review.

Take advantage of this month’s great offer to add to your assortment of these innovative stamps. Don't forget to check out the section for retiring stamps on my website, so you can get your favorite stamp before it retires December 31st!

What are the details you ask??

- This special is available from 9 a.m. MST on November 3rd through November 30th 2009.

- You may choose your FREE set from any current stamp set we sell (excluding E-size, customizable (K), Art & Soul®, Workshops on the Go™ and Stamp of the Month) that is of equal or lesser value than the LOWEST PRICED set that you purchase.

- The full retail value of the FREE stamp set can vary up to $22.95.

- No tax is charged on FREE stamp sets. For Gathering and Individual orders, shipping/handling is always charged based on the full retail value of the item. For EZ Invite and MyCTMH orders, shipping/handling is charged based on the weight of the item.

- You will receive your choice of a free stamp set after every two sets you purchase at full retail price. The free sets will ALWAYS* be the smallest sized sets in your order. For example, if you plan to get four D-sized sets and 2 B-sized sets, the two B-sized sets will be the free sets. (*I'm all about the customer service. Email me to make your order the best it can be for YOU.)

Check out my website to view the catalog. You can place your order online or by email.

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! If you just arrived from Kristie's blog, you are on the right path.


This month there are over 60 Close To My Heart consultants participating. We are featuring the November Stamp of the Month, Around the Block, a set of 26 stamps. Take your time enjoying all of the wonderful artwork for display that has been created using this fun stamp set. I know I can't wait, because someone always makes something totally outside the box, and I always look forward to finding that item.

I made a gift card holder using this set. It is a 3X6 inch card, but instead of opening, the house slides up to reveal the gift card inside.








The card base was made from a 3 X 12 inch piece of cardstock, scored at 6 inches and folded like a top-fold card. The Jingle Creative Basics paper was adhered to the front.




Next, I created the houses by stamping in Versamark on chocolate cardstock and embossing with white embossing powder. I made one complete house, one roof, and one roofless house. The pieces were cut out, leaving tabs at the bottom of the complete house. After cutting out the pieces, I sponged them with Chocolate ink. The roofless house was adhered to the front of the card. I then used the top of the house as a guide to cut through the front of the card (extending a little bit beyond the edge of the house, which is necessary so the house will slide with the gift card attached). Next I adhered a piece of Juniper grosgrain ribbon (from the Jingle Creative Basics) to the back of the complete house, making a loop at the top and wrapping about 1/2 inch of the ribbon onto the front of the house at the bottom. Then the house was slid through the slit in the front of the card. After sliding the house up all the way to determine whether I needed to trim the height of the tabs, I mounted the roof piece to the sliding house using 3-D Mounting Foam. One more function check, and then I sealed the edges of the card shut with adhesive (being careful to keep the adhesive out of the path of travel for the tabs on the sliding house). Pull up the house, and mount the gift card using glue dots. You may want to check how well your house slides with the gift card attached before sealing the card base. If it is too tight. simply extend your slit a little bit more.



Fully extended, without gift card attached.


Remember, Around the Block is only available November 1st-30th. If you would like to find out how to get this stamp set at a discount or maybe even FREE, contact your Close To My Heart consultant, or check out my website.


Now hop on over to Adeline's blog to see her wonderful creation!


If you find any broken links along the way, Jena has the complete list on her blog.

A Season That Sparkles

As I was clicking links on blogs this past weekend, I happened upon Flourishes. They had a post with the cutest card that had a chair that had been fabric-pieced. Very cool. So I kept reading and saw the Season That Sparkles challenge. Woohoo, an excuse to pull out my box-o-bling (yes, I really do have a box-o-bling. It is GOLD! It is a box I saved from my chocolate-dipped shortbread cookies that I brought back from Big Island Candies when I went to Hawaii. One day I will even cut a title for it on my Silhouette. And decorate it with more BLING! Oops, sorry, I went off on a tangent again.) and get SPARKLE-Y!


I decided to go ahead a try out the tri-shutter card I have been seeing so many of lately. Not too difficult, but the tutorial I found had a few of the measurements off. As long as I remember that for the next time, I'm good. The completed card is standard A2 size.






Papers: CTMH cardstock, CTMH Jingle Creative Basics
Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Juniper, Olive, Tulip
Stamp sets: CTMH Heartfelt Christmas, CTMH Card Chatter-Christmas
Tools and Techniques: Nestabilities Classic Oval Large, Martha Stewart Snowflake punches, CTMH Sparkles (there are 24 of those tiny things floating around the Christmas tree), Stampendous! Crystal Snow glitter in White (which was applied by running the snowflakes through my Xyron, then pouring the glitter over the adhesive--it doesn't tend to fall off using this technique)



Card open



Close up of the tree. There are 24 tiny little sparkles on there.



Close up of some of the snowflakes. The glitter doesn't photograph well, but it is definitely there.



View of the open card from above.

Christmas Stickease

Well, so much for homework. I procrastinated just a little bit more to make this card. I followed the Mojo Monday sketch 107 for this Christmas card. I was troubled to find (after planning the card in my head before dragging everything over to the table) that I was out of Ponderosa Pine cardstock. So I improvised by using the back side of the polka-dotted paper from the Holiday Creative Basics pack (which is from before CTMH put patterns on both sides of the Background and Texture [B&T] paper). And I did NO stamping on this card (although I did use my stamp pads for ink distressing). The image on the scalloped circle and the patterned piece across the width of the card are both from the Everlasting My Stickease pack.

Autumn Many Thanks Card

I had to get my scrapping fix in today, so I checked out the sketch challenge at OCC. I wanted to break in one of my (too many) stamp sets that I got this week, so decided on a thank you card. I also wanted to kick out a bunch of Christmas cards, but I don't see that happening today. I still have homework to do. :(




Stamps: CTMH Many Thanks
Papers: CTMH cardstock, CTMH Enchanted
Inks: CTMH Autumn Terracotta, Garden Green, Smoky Plum and Sunflower
Techniques: DTP ink distressing, emboss resist
Other: 3-D Foam mounting squares, Marvy Uchida scalloped punch, MM spirals

Pilin' it on

Wow, I finished my homework assignments and had them turned in before dinner tonight, so I had time to scrap. I decided to work on a Christmas card, so I checked out Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge for this week. She challenged us to use something that was given to us. This was a difficult challenge for me, I buy EVERYTHING (don't worry, DH doesn't read my blog :) ). But, I also decided to try to work in another challenge or two. I ended up with a total of FOUR challenges for this card: Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge #44, Amy's Friday sketch from a few weeks ago at Prairie Paper and Ink, Monochromatic Mania from Our Creative Corner, and the Pile it On Challenge #18 (Three Dimensional--I know, real toughy for me, right??? LOL).




Papers: CTMH cardstock, CTMH Perfect Day, Scribble Scrabble Rosy Winter Wonderland
Inks: CTMH Sorbet and Tulip, CTMH markers, Copic markers
Stamps: Cosmobella, CTMH Annotations, CTMH December Word Puzzle
Techniques: Sponging, watercoloring
Dies and Punches: Nestabilities Classic Scalloped Circle Small and Standard Circle Small, Martha Stewart Snowflake


So, let's cover how I met each challenge. The Bella image I received in a swap. I followed Amy's sketch (with minor liberties-the extra snowflakes at the top). The colors used were Barn Red, Tulip, and Sorbet (I think it qualifies as monochromatic). I mounted the sentiment circle with 3-D Mounting Foam (of course!), and added some vellum snowflakes that were cut with a Martha Stewart punch. The two on the sentiment circle were mounted on the circle with glue dots. The three up top were mounted using glue dots and clear buttons (one has no button, one is mounted on one button, and the last is mounted on two buttons that are stacked on top of each other to give extra height).


Now I should try to clean up some of this scrap stuff that seems to have found its way onto every surface in my scrap room...

National Cardmaking Day

Today is National Cardmaking Day, so I had an excuse reason to tear myself away from my Business Management paper to make a card. Technically, this card is related to my Business Management paper. The paper is based on an interview that we had to do with a business owner. So I chose a local business (Truly Madly Sweetly Bakeshop, which has the most delicious cupcakes and mini cheesecakes) to do an interview with. I was so pleased when the owner agreed to sit down with me. Because she was such a fantastic lady (as well as a fantastic pastry chef), the chat was really easy for me. So, I was going to write her a thank you note, and then I remembered that today was National Cardmaking Day, and instead decided to make a card. The inspiration for this card is from the colors of her shop (white and light pink, with striped walls up top). I followed Mojo Monday Week 106 sketch.

Stamps: Cupcakeabella, CTMH Thank You
Papers: CTMH cardstock (Blush, Chocolate, Hollyhock), CTMH More to Adore
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, CTMH markers, Copic markers, CTMH Hollyhock, Prismacolor marker
Embellishments: CTMH ribbon, CTMH brad (Cranberry), Liquid Applique, Round sticker from More to Adore Stickease
Techniques: Paper piecing, heat gun-puffed Liquid Applique, shadowing with Cool Grey marker

Here is a closer view of the cupcake. I was careful to keep the Liquid Applique off of the stamped lines of the icing so they would show when it was finished. To puff up the Liquid Applique, simply use your heat gun just as you would for heat embossing. The sticker stamped with "Thank You" was mounted on a 3-D foam mounting square. To remove the stickiness from the back of the sticker, I simply sprinkled it with baby powder and tapped off the excess. That way it won't stick to the card when I mail it.

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's time to blog hop! If you've just arrived here from Wanda's blog, you are on the right path.

Wow, this year is 75% over! We're getting SO close to Christmas. What a perfect time for the October Stamp of the Month, Holiday Warmth. That is the stamp set that over 60 Close To My Heart consultants will be featuring in our October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This month we've shaken things up a bit and broken the hop down into three mini-hops. There will be a link to each of the other groups at the end of my post. This month's SOTM is a set of 11 stamps, and is perfect for your Christmas card making.

For these cards, I used one of the workshops in Wishes by Jeanette Lynton. I went for a rustic look with these cards, using Desert Sand cardstock for the base, along with Cranberry, Bamboo and Ponderosa Pine.



Papers: Bamboo, Cranberry, and Desert Sand cardstock
Inks: Cranberry, Desert Sand and Ponderosa Pine
Techniques: Direct-to-paper
Stamp Sets: Holiday Warmth, Card Chatter-Christmas, Just For the Holidays (holly leaves and berries)



Papers: Bamboo, Cranberry, and Desert Sand cardstock
Inks: Bamboo, Cranberry, Desert Sand and Ponderosa Pine, Cranberry Exclusive Inks Marker
Techniques: Direct-to-paper, accent coloring
Stamp Sets: Holiday Warmth



Papers: Bamboo, Cranberry, and Desert Sand cardstock
Inks: Cranberry, Desert Sand and Ponderosa Pine
Techniques: Direct-to-paper, accent coloring, any color heat embossing, sponging
Stamp Sets: Holiday Warmth, Evergreen

Remember, the October Stamp of the Month is only available from October 1st through 31st. Contact your Close To My Heart consultant, or click here to find out how to get this stamp set for a discount or maybe even for free.

Now hop on over to Susan's blog to check out her artwork.

Blog hop group 1.

Blog hop group 2.

Everyday Celebration

To celebrate National Stamping Month, Close To My Heart has a wonderful promotion featuring the Everyday Celebration card kit. This kit comes with an exclusive D-sized stamp set (only available with this kit), 16 Colonial White card bases (with a fantastic bracket-shaped edge) and matching envelopes, cardstock, B&T Duos papers, two mini distressing inks, Mini-Medley Accents Shades of Chocolate collection, ribbon, 3-D foam squares, a sponge and full-color directions for creating the 16 cards. You can purchase the kit for only $39.95, or you can earn it for free by purchasing $60 in stamp sets (sizes A, B, C, D, and E only) by September 30th, by hosting a gathering with at least $400 in sales by September 30th, or by signing up as a new consultant by September 30th. Additionally, there is a daily drawing for a free kit, and each day that you place an order you are entered in that day's drawing.

These are the cards made following the guide. 16 cards, embellished and decorated inside as well. Aren't the colors fantastic?

These are the leftovers. Plenty of scraps left to do a layout or a bunch more cards, even some embellishments left.

The guide and the stamp set. I can see this set getting a lot of use.

If you want to get one of these kits, check out my website.

Cheer-y birthday card

I made a birthday card for my friend J, which I of course failed to get in the mail in time for her birthday. And to make matters even better, I forgot to sign it (which I realized right as I dropped it in the mailbox). There should be no doubt in anyone's mind about whether or not I am a true blonde...

This card followed the sketch from Mojo Turns 100 Day 6. There was another challenge for decorating the inside of your card, but I seem to have misplaced that. The circle of Emporium patterned paper on the inside of the card is the scrap leftover from this Thank You card I made for the September SOTM blog hop. I hate when pretty paper goes to waste, so I was quite glad to be able to put that scrap to use.






Papers: CTMH Emporium, CTMH cardstock
Inks: CTMH, Copic markers, CTMH markers
Ribbon: CTMH Cocoa grosgrain Stamps: Stamping Bella (image received in swap), CTMH Ring in the Year, CTMH Card Sentiments (retired) Tools and Techniques: Fiskars Threading Water punch, Nestabilities Circle and Scalloped Circle, sponging, direct-to-paper ink distressing, 3-D Foam mounting squares

Birthday Card for MIL

So yesterday I realized that (holy cow!) September is nearly half over. Where has this year gone? I also realized that my MIL's birthday is coming up next week (nice of my husband to remind me--NOT) and I needed to make a card. I combined two challenges for this card, Mojo Monday 103 sketch and Cute Card Thursday Challenge 77 (color challenge-use pink and green). Actually, I had come across a third challenge that was to decorate the inside of your card, but I seem to have misplaced that one.



Papers: Basic Grey Eva, Bazzil cardstock
Inks: CTMH
Ribbon: CTMH
Stamps: CTMH Gracious Greetings
Tools and Techniques: Nestabilities Label , sponging, 3-D Foam mounting squares, Prima Flower

I also made some Christmas cards that will be in another post. I'm trying to complete as many cards as I can before I get back into having to do school work.

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring the September SOTM, which is Treasures, a set of 13 stamps. If you have come here from Kristie's blog, you are on the right path!

This month we have over 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the September SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This hop is simple to follow - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I made a 6X6 Thank You card, following the Open Outline pattern from Wishes Card Confidence Program. As usual, I took slight liberties with the sketch. Instead of adhering the vellum to the inside of the back of the card, I adhered it to the inside of the front. The vellum was random stamped in White Daisy ink, which I set using my Craft Heater (caution - when using your craft heater to set the ink on vellum, make sure you don't get the heater too close, and keep it moving so you don't scorch the vellum). The card base is Sweet Leaf cardstock, and the patterned paper is from the Emporium Level 2 Paper Pack. Circles were cut out using Coluzzle Circle Template. The patterned paper was sponged around the edges with Twilight ink, and the Sweet Leaf cardstock was sponged around the inside of the circle opening using Sweet Leaf ink. The sentiment on the inside was stamped using Twilight ink. The White Daisy circle was cut with Nestabilities, sponged with Bamboo ink while still in the die and the image was second generation stamped in Twilight ink. The scalloped circle was also cut with a Nestabilities die. The scalloped circle was mounted using 3-D Mounting Foam. The adhesive pearls in the top left corner are the new-for-Autumn Connections Club award, available exclusively through your Close To My Heart consultant.








Now "Hop" on over to Wanda's blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some other fun ideas! Remember, the September SOTM is only available until September 30th! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

For a complete list of participating blogs for this month's blog hop, visit Jena's blog.

Semper Fi

For the last several months, I have been secretly (well, not really secretly, just secretly for the friend we were making it for) working on a scrapbook with a friend. This was truly a world-wide project, as we had to send pieces of layouts to Okinawa, Afghanistan, Iraq, Hawaii, and all around the continental U.S. for this project. This album was to be a retirement gift for someone who has had a tremendous impact on many lives. Today we presented the album to MSgt Pearson, who will retire December 31st after 20 years of faithful service in the Marine Corps. Her influence will be felt for years to come, and she will be terribly missed.

Papers: CTMH, and miscellaneous cardstocks and patterned papers
Inks: CTMH, and my inkjet printer
Stamps: CTMH, and some stamps I purchased at Shuri-jo Castle
Embellishments: tons. MM brads, Prima flowers, others.
Titles were cut with my Silhouette
Interactive pages: Foto Flaps. Also, matted pictures were laminated in Xyron, and a piece of a transparency was cut, scored to make a "tent", and adhered to the layout and the matted photo using Terrifically Tacky tape (normal adhesives would not keep the transparency and lamination stuck together). Page protectors were cut with Xacto knife to allow the flap to stick through and be interactive.

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring August's SOTM,which is It's Your Day, a set of 26 stamps. If you have come here from Carol's Blog, you are on the right path! If this is your first stop, you may want to go back to Jena's Blog and start from the beginning!

This month we have 63 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This 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!

Funny story about this card. July was the first blog hop I participated in. Since I was going on vacation, I needed to get my card done early. So, going from memory, I grabbed my "July" stamp of the month, and commenced to making a really cute card. It used "Fold Back" pattern from the old CTMH Originals Card Confidence Program, Animal Cookies Creative Basics papers, Clover Meadow and White Daisy cardstock. Lots of Dutch Blue eyelets were used, some White Daisy ricrac on the insert part of the card. The stamping was done in Tulip ink, and the White Daisy insert piece was direct to paper ink distressed with Sunflower ink. The "party" image was mounted using 3-d Mounting foam. As you can see, I'm describing my AUGUST Stamp of the Month card. In my glorious blondness, I had made my August card for July. Luckily, I checked the Idea Book the day before I left for Florida, otherwise I would have had a really red face for that hop! Don't tell anyone about my blonde moment, okay??

Now "Hop" on over to Chris's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the August SOTM is only available until August 31! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!