February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring February's SOTM, which is called Wild About Love, a down right foxy set of 9 adorable stamps.  If you have come here from SHEILA'S BLOG, you are on the right path!  This month we have 50+ Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this 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!

As I posted yesterday, I've been barred from getting inky in the Stamp Pad in an effort to keep the cleaning to a minimum...as minimum as it gets with three small boys in the house anyhow. I hit up my stash of Laughing Lola papers to create a less traditional red/pink valentine. Purple is my favorite! Both papers that you see are actually on one piece of paper. I love double sided B&T! 

I used the new Sketchbook Saturday sketch to jumpstart my project. Iwona always has the best sketches! I cut apart some CTMH Paper Blooms from my stash to create the flower cluster in the corner, finished with some bits of Sparkle Flourish leftover from a recent WOTG kit. The foxy little couple are inked in Saddle and rolled in Chocolate ink. I added wiggly eyes and puffy paint noses, plus bitty sparkle accents on their bows. A bit of washi tape (and a smidgen of the new Purple glitter tape that'll be available February 1st!) help my sentiment to stand out against the patterned papers. I'm linking this to the Heart 2 Heart two faced challenge. 

Now "Hop" on over to JEN'S BLOG to see her WILD-ly awesome work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants Blogs to soak in the great crafting and SOTM ideas! Remember, this SOTM will ggrrring-ding-ding-ding-ding-a-ding-away at the end of February!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get your own foxy goodness stamps for just $5!

Here are some more projects I have made using this Stamp of the Month...

Retro Foxy Valentine

Seriously Foxy for Stamp Nation

Hey, Retro Foxy

This month I've learned that I find it very hard to be creative when I'm not allowed to make a mess. We done dozens of showings of our home, and my stamp room has been spotless each time...and the way it's stayed spotless is me staying out of the ink. No paper has been cut. No flowers glittered. I need to sell my house before my mind explodes with undeveloped ideas!! This week we thought that we'd sold the house, and my team was coming over for one last in person meeting, so I whipped out my February SOTM as fast as I could find it. That's a lot harder for me than my usual systems of everything I'm using right now is on my desk. Ahem...Thanks goodness the new RetroSketches was perfect for my project!

In any case, it was so much fun to ink up this adorable little fox. It's my favorite Stamp Of The Month from the new catalog going live on February first. I added wiggly eyes (of course), and a little dab of puff paint for his nose. I used my Spellbinders nesting circles to cut the circles for my focal point. I dotted around the circle with a fine tipped sharpie pen, and finished him off with a glitter gem and some washi tape. The background is a sneak peek of a new cardstock coming in February. One side is a printed pattern and the other is the same pattern in an emboss resist for inking!

I'm linking this cutie up to the Heart 2 Heart Spotlight Challenge. Golly that felt good!

Laughing Lola Monthly Memories Club

My Stampin' Ladies are coming over tonight. I'd normally be super excited because they are totally awesome and hanging out on club night is one of my favorite things each month, but this time is a little bittersweet for me. 

Next month we are moving our family to another state. Everything is just falling into place so quickly, I can hardly catch my breath. While I'm excited for the new home that we've found for our family (full day kinder for Ben!) and relieved that our lovely current home is going into inspection for the sale next week (phew!)...I am going to miss seeing these ladies every single month so very much. I've already made plans to come back for scrapbook expo and we'll still be scrapping together long distance via our kit club, so I know this isn't goodbye forever. 

Tonight I'll enjoy every moment of my last scrap night with my Portland Stampin' Ladies. We will eat Taco Soup and cheesecake. We will scrap these Laughing Lola pages. While we scrap we will share our stories, our trials, our small victories, our lives...we will make memories together. I'll be grateful for one more night of scrappy laughter and smiles. Thank you for a decade of laughs, ladies. You are close to my heart! 

StampNation is better than...

my boys current favorite song, "What Does the Fox Say?". Not a day goes by without hearing one (or all) of my boys singing this song...or begging for the video...or making up some new words. So what does the adorable paper pieced fox say? StampNation is seriously awesome! Woo!

Here's a link to the song, just in case you haven't heard it...

You saw a lot of snippets of birthday cards from me this week as part of the celebration challenges - members can see the full cards over at StampNation. Want to learn more? Check it out here at Catherine's Blog. Now sing it with me...you know you want to... 

Grrring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

StampNation Sistahs

At StampNation the community becomes "Sistahs", a family of stamping friends. So today's challenge is to make a birthday card with a family sentiment. I chose this cute (but sadly retired) image from the Clementine WOTG. They can retire an image, but they can't take it from my stash!

You'll be seeing a lot of snippets of birthday cards from me this week as part of the celebration - members can see the full cards over at StampNation. Want to learn more? Check it out here at Catherine's Blog. If only all our days were like a birthday celebration...

Three

I told you yesterday that this week StampNation is celebrating it's third birthday. What better to celebrate than a three layer chocolate cake? I used Prima Flowers to decorate the layers and glittered the brad centers with Diamond Stickles. The paper is Babycakes.

You'll be seeing a lot of snippets of birthday cards from me this week as part of the celebration - members can see the full cards over at StampNation. Want to learn more? Check it out here at Catherine's Blog. If only gluten free baking were as easy as paper and glue!

Happy birthday, StampNation!

Hip, Hip, Hooray! This week StampNation is celebrating it's third birthday! You'll be seeing a lot of snippets of birthday cards from me - members can see the full cards over at StampNation. Want to learn more? Check it out here at Catherine's Blog. Now who wants a cuppie?

Practical Scrappers Scrapping Our Stash Hop

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop 

where we are Scrapping our Stash.

CHA is this weekend and that means the industry is putting out all kinds of fabulous new product.  So Practical Scrappers is kicking off a new feature with a blog hop of projects made solely from our stashes! I hit up my Frosted Stash to craft this sweet snowman card. 

When we finish our 6 page scrap club each month there's always a few items leftover. You know what I mean - a couple of stickers, some scraps of paper, bits of Sparkle Flourishes...and I always tuck those pieces into a 12x12 bag and save them for a rainy day. 

Today's Scrapping Our Stash challenge brought on a rainy day lickety split! I used bits of Frosted StickEase cut apart and glittered to create the main images on my card. At the bottom there you see a bit of BabyCakes Canvas StickEase peeking out. I filled in my stamped sentiment with Diamond Stickles for extra sparkle. I used this week's awesome Mojo Monday sketch to jumpstart my design. 

A special shout out to the sponsor of today's Practical Scrappers hop: Kiwi Lane Designs!

One lucky winner today will get a border set and an accessory set from Kiwi Lane over at Practical Scrappers, so head over there for the full hop list and details on how you can win!

Or hop on over to Lee-Anne Thornton's blog to check out her stash craftiness!

Ten Things Ribbon

I'm so excited to be headed back over to the Practical Scrappers Blog for the first 2014 Ten Things roundup. This week the team is focusing on fun ways to use up your ribbon stash! I built this cute sunshine using different weights of ribbons adhered behind an embossed cardstock circle. The extra layer of Organdy ribbon behind the more substantial patterned ribbons really helps the sun shine forth from this sweet card.

I was inspired by the new MUSE challenge in my design, using the card as a rough sketch. I stitched lines in place of the washi tape. This is a new technique for me, so I'm linking to the Heart 2 Heart New Challenge. When I machine sew on my projects it's a painfully slow process. It was kind of freeing to just zip the needle back and forth without worrying where the stitches fall! For the background I sponged on layers of White Daisy Reinker and Waterfall Stickles to create my sparkly textured sky background.

I hope you'll stop over at Practical Scrappers and see all the ribbon-y goodness.