December SOTM Blog Hop

Good morning, Stamping Friends! I almost can't believe it, but it's time for the December SOTM blog hop! December's Stamp of the Month is a super adorable set of 11 cuppie themed stamps called Cutie Pie. If you've arrived here from DONNA'S BLOG, you're on the right path!

I've made two cards this last week with good intentions of getting them posted, but instead I had a bunch of acupuncture to help with the migraines that have been plaguing me for the past month or so. Blogging, laundry, and lots of other things slid to the wayside while I rested a bunch and worked on getting healthy. So this first card I'm sharing is based on a Retro Sketches sketch from last week.

 I masked and stamped the cuppies across the background cardstock, then colored them with my Shin-Han markers. I was inspired to try coloring them in candy colors by a instragram I saw from the ever fabulous Karen Pederson. I lightened mine up by stamping the cuppies in Blush ink (I know, it's not colorfast with the alcohol markers, but it worked well enough). I thought I was stamping and masking because I didn't want to be fussy cutting any little cuppies...

Then I saw last week's Mojo sketch and I thought, "oooh, that cuppie would be so cute popped up..." and we were off. I did my coloring and fussy cutting while watching Max play at the local children's museum. I masked the frame image from one of the Artbooking Cricut sets. Then I stamped over it with second generation lagoon ink to fill it the outer frame with cuppie outlines, I titled the frame banner image on Kraft CS for the background, and trimmed the card with a bit of Lagoon washi tape and sparkly baker's twine.

I'm linking up to the Heart 2 Heart No Rules Challenge. Next up on the hop is JILENA'S BLOG. I can't wait to hop through all 60+ SOTM ideas for this adorable set! If you are ready to get your set now, you can ask your consultant or CLICK HERE to order. Hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!  

Baby Cards with Atlantic Hearts

Sometimes a sketch is so versatile, yet so simple to use you gotta make more than one card...

I started out making simple and quick baby cards using this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge card sketch, I was just gonna make one...then I found these little 2x2 blocks (the good things quote, BABY blocks, and the smaller "to the moon") in my Simple Stories 6x6 pad, so I was gonna make three. I was done in like 10 minutes. I did not feel creatively fulfilled - that was too easy! I made another with the teensy baby pictures. And another where I trimmed out the baby Banner from a border page. Now I'm 5 cards in and 20 minutes down, and just getting started.

So I flipped that cute sketch on it's side. Grabbed this focal point from the pile of double sided scraps and did some fussy trimming. All the buttons and doo-dads for all six cards came from a bowl of random goodness where I toss things I'm too lazy to put away to save for later just in case I need a bit of something.

I used the same washi tape on all six cards, and a bit of stardust glitter gel.  I even added coordinating banner strips and washi tape to the inside of each card! I'm linking these up to the Heart 2 Heart No Stamping Challenge...'cause Six cards, 30 minutes, no stamping at all.

When a sketch is good, it's good. Hop over to Atlantic Hearts and play along. This sketch would be awesome for mass producing holiday cards!

Snowhaven Scrapbooking Pages

We are doing Snowhaven for November, and I LOVE this pretty paper pack!

The chipboard Complements are too cute.

 I added some glitter and bunches of red epoxy hearts.

I wish I was better at scrapbooking photography. The shimmer spray on this layout is way prettier and less BRIGHT YELLOW!! in person. 

I'm working on Yuletide for next month. December. Next month is December. How time flies! 

Scaredy Cat Scrapbook Pages

I'm not sure what happened to October, but I never got around to getting these pics posted.

These are the Pages from my Monthly Memories 6 page scrapbooking kit club.

I love the Sticker Complements from this paper line.

If you are a club member, titles are in the mail, and Snowhaven pages for November will go up tomorrow! 

Artfully Sent Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH Artfully Sent Blog hop celebrating the new CTMH Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge! Once again CTMH has outdone themselves, offering up a cartridge with 700 images, 3 coordinating stamp sets (including a fabulous every sentiment you'll ever need set and a super adorable font), plus a full pack of White Daisy Cardstock. There are 25 card themes with styles such as pop-up, scenes, sentiment cut right into the card, sleeves, and pocket cards - cardmaking has never been easier or more fun!

With over 40 fabulously creative consultants participating in this hop, you're sure to get your creative inspiration cup filled to the brim! If you are arriving here from MICHELLE'S BLOG, you're on the right track.  

At convention this summer we got to play with the Artfully Sent pop up card format. The popups images cut into a large piece to apply to the inside of your card base. So I decided to dig into some smaller card pieces. I cut two images, a HAPPY pocket card and a CELEBRATE card sentiment. I originally intended to make just one card, but within a short 30 minutes I had 3 cards! How fast and easy is that?

This was my original card idea. I thought this week's Retro Sketches card sketch would work well with a lot of the pocket card cuts on this cartridge.I stamped the HAPPY pocket card repeatedly with just the word happy from the coordinating sentiment stamp set using Sorbet ink. I trimmed off the Celebrate sentiment and sprayed and sponged both with some Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Mustard. The papers came from the Confetti Wishes line. I altered the stripe a bit by cutting thin strips of teal shimmer trim to cover over the navy lines and bring in more sparkle. I like glitter on a birthday card.

I also cut a small HAPPY banner. I painted the banner with a coat of clear nail polish, then colored it black with a Shin Han marker for a glossy black effect. I backed each letter with more shimmer trim. Finally, I gave the celebrate banner a coat of glitter nailpolish. Why nail polish instead of glitter gel? Because the nailpolish glitter coats dry flat (and more quickly) than gel, which is better in my opinion when covering a large flat space like this. Less curling, and less product used up. It's probably not safe for scrapbook pages, but it works great on home decor or card projects where you want a lot of shine but no bulk.

So I was done and pretty happy...but I had pieces left on my table top. I painted each letter with a bit of the glitter nailpolish I used on the card above. I grabbed a leftover piece of Chalk It Up star paper and used liquid glass to adhere the negative space letters across the bottom. I dabbed a bit of glitter on some random stars for extra sparkle and Done! 

I still had the negative spaces of the HAPPY on my table, though. So I grabbed the candle print from Confetti Wishes and trimmed along the top of the curved sentiment in the print. I created a dotty banner to cover the second row of sentiment and mounted it over purple shimmer trim. The letters got spritzed with the Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Mustard and painted with the glitter nailpolish. Make sure you open a window, lol. I covered the top of the card with Lagoon Heart washi tape and adhered my embellished card front to the base. A few dabs of glitter polish along the tops of the candles finished off my favorite card of the bunch!

Next up on the hop is MICHELLE JONES. Be sure to hop around to see all the awesome creations - this is only the tippy tippy top of what this cartridge can do for your cardmaking!

Reindeer Mojo

I was finishing up 6 pages worth of Snowhaven when I realized that I had just one piece of chipboard left. Poor lonely reindeer! This would not do!

So I took a peek at this week's Mojo Monday challenge. Yep, cute as can be...and I was off. Cranberry cardstock embossed with dots folder...check! Washi Tape covered banner....check! Shimmer tape and heart epoxy....check!

Just as I was sure that the card was done...I spied my bottle of stardust glitter gel and began to color over the entire reindeer. Now he's slightly disco ball, but it sure is a festive and sparkly effect. And I do not need to store that final lone piece of Snowhaven chipboard. Win-win, peeps! 

Atlantic Hearts Congrats

This weekend I was excited to be able to attend a fun Saturday crop hosted by Scrapper's Attic. I've been lamenting that I missed hanging out with other paper crafters in person...I mean, I love chatting with y'all online and stuff, but there's something special about a room full of scrapbookers and cardmakers! It was a ton of fun, and I snuck in a bit of shopping. Don't tell John! I can't wait to go back and crop some more, though I have to miss the next session since I'll be at the beach...cropping with my Oregon peeps...yay!!

As I perused the racks of Bo Bunny and Authentic I changed my card design for the Atlantic Hearts sketch challenge this week. I chose a lovely 6x6 pad of Simple Stories paper called the Story of Us. On Sunday afternoon I set out to use up some of that pad...but when I broke it open it was totally not the same paper on the inside. It was pastel and baby themed...still cute, but totally not what I had expected. Oh well, right? The best laid plans...so I grabbed my November Stamp of the month and made a long overdue baby card for a special friend. If I get it in the mail this week that'll be a miracle, but at least it's ready to be loaded with good wishes and gift cards! 

I stamped various pieces of the flowers using Pixie Ink and highlighted them with stardust glitter gel. Then I added plain old sparkles, but topped them off with a dot of glitter nail polish, which dries kind of rounded and gives the sparkles a much different look. 

Here's the sketch. Hop on over to Atlantic Hearts to play along!