December SOTM Blog Hop!

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring December's SOTM, which is Mad About You, a Love themed set of 14 stamps! If you have come here from DOREEN'S BLOG, you are on the right path!  This month we have over 50 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! If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.  Here we go!

This month I made this adorable little purse, just the right size to slip in a few chocolates or a gift card and deliver to your favorite girlfriend! I made a coordinating tag too, all using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge in conjunction with the December SOTM! I found my color combo from Julie Ebersole's Color Swatch Challenge. I chose Vineyard Berry, Lagoon, 2nd Generation Lagoon, Baby Pink, and Sweet Leaf to match the swatches.

And I knew I wanted to make the purse this week, but I was planning to use the new Rock the Block set...until I saw the Moxie Fab Get Inspired in the Kitchen Challenge. Suddenly my SOTM project gelled in my head and I was stamping my heart(s) out...literally!

I cut a bunch (like 20) of the small 1" hearts on White Daisy CS with my AP cartridge. I know I could have stamped them right onto the Cricut shape for the purse front...I did that on the back. See the difference? Just adding the hearts stamped onto White CS adds so much texture to my little purse! Would I have fussy cut them all to piece it by hand? Probably not...but now I don't have to think about the work, my cricut does it all for me!

Even the purse handle was cut on my Cricut. I loaded a fresh sheet into my Cricut, chose the correct image to cut (adorable double scalloped edge border) and hit the "Fit to Length" button. That lets the machine know that you want the strip to be a specific length (in this case, 7 inches). Then it automatically decides how wide to make the strip proportionally. That strip was actually a smidge wide for my taste, so I then trimmed it in half down the center with my paper trimmer and adhered the two sides separately to my 1/2" Cardstock to create my scalloped handle. Then I folded in the two end scallops on each side of my handle and adhered them to the inside of my Purse Lid with Liquid Glass (then covered up the inside of the Purse Lid with more Lagoon CS).

Finally, I stamped my Cricut flowers using the Big heart stamp in Baby Pink Ink. Each flower was then swiped on the edges and randomly stamped with the big swirl image in Vineyard Berry ink. I used the tip of my paper piercer to curl back the individual petals of the flower swirl, then rolled up the flower and filled it with Liquid Glass. After letting it dry on my table top for a few minutes (I like to rest a big block on top of it to help keep everything in place while it dries) I smooshed the flowers more with the same big block. You're thinking a nice, gentle press with the block, so sweet...but no. I grab the block and give each one a good SMACK and call it good - yea for distressed flowers!

I put the measurements and Cricut cuts for the purse below. Last note: how much do you LOVE those Rhinestone Brads?

Now "Hop" on over to PAIGE'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, this SOTM is only available until the end of December! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5!

Here are the purse dimensions and Cricut Cuts used:
To make the inner "box" of the purse:
1 3/4" x 11" CS, scored at 1/2" along each long side and 3 1/2" from each short end. Fold on the score lines, snip just at the intersections (little 1/2" snips) and fold up, adhering the corners to create the purse frame.

Cricut cuts:
Purse Front/Back
(pg. 47) 4 1/2" White Daisy CS x 2
(pg. 47) 4 3/4" Lagoon CS x 2
Mat, embellish, then adhere to CS Box frame.

Purse Lid:
(pg. 31) 4"  White Daisy CS
(pg. 21) 3 3/4" Lagoon CS (I ran this through the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug embossing folder)
Adhere together, then score a 1" fold in the center to make it into a "U" shape. adhere one side to the back of the purse with strong adhesive. Close with a velcro dot on the front.

Embellishments:
(pg. 26) 1" x 20
(pg. 68) 1 1/2" and 1" <FlurDeLs>
(pg. 62) 1/2" x4

Handle:
(pg. 62)   Fit to Length at 7"