October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This month we are featuring the October SOTM, called Christmas Tune, a sweet shaker globe themed set. You may be arriving here from JANNA'S BLOG. You can find a list of all the participating blogs here.

For this project I started with the new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches. First I used white detail embossing powder to emboss the word wreath image in the bottom right corner of a panel of watercolor paper. Then I painted over the embossing with green and red watercolor paints. I added strips of black stripey Cats & Bats paper and gold shimmer trim. I added some hand drawn stitching around the edges, as well as both gold glitter gems and Bitty Sparkles that I colored with a green alcohol marker.

I painted scrap white cardstock with more of the red and green paint and hit that with my heat tool to be sure it was dry. I stamped the bottom of the tree image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink before trimming out just the bottom rows as a sentiment banner. I added some touches of gold Wink of Stella and Gold shimmer pen. The Stella is gold shimmer in a gold base, and the CTMH shimmer pen is gold shimmer in a clear base. I love them both!

Next up on the hop is GINA'S BLOG. Don't forget to click here or ask your consultant about scooping up your own October SOTM, before it melts away! 

Holiday Expressions New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the Holiday Expressions Blog Hop! Today we are sharing lots of festive fun from the new CTMH Holiday Expressions book. You may be arriving here from SHEILA'S BLOG, and you can find a full list of participants here.

Today I decided to make a quick little holiday card to try out some of my fun new Beary Christmas goodies. The bear image is from Beary Christmas - Scrapbooking, and the matching Thin Cut Dies make these dudes so much fun to color! I was working from this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. Instead of adding a strip of paper or shimmer trim, I chose to fussy cut some of the string lights from one of the Beary Christmas prints to criss-cross my card.

I also fussy cut the poinsettia on his paper pieced hat from anther Beary Christmas print. The sentiment is from Gingerbread Friends, and I went over the letters with both glitter gel and my Spica pen. I added some extra big wiggly eyes to our little bear friend and drew on a little smile. Finally, I made good use of my shimmer brush on all the lights and his sweet pink nose.

Next up on the hop is MICHELE'S BLOG. Happy hopping!

Halloween Blog Hop

Welcome to the Halloween Blog Hop from Blog Hops with Heart! You might be arriving here from STEPHANIE'S BLOG. You'll find a list of all the participating artists at the bottom of this post. Let's Hop!

For today's hop I'm using the new Cats and Bats Workshops Your Way kit. I love that these affordably priced kits include everything you need to make three double page layouts. I find it hard to just follow the directions for the kits though, as I like more stuff on my pages. I'm a lumpy-bumpy kinda embellishment crafter! Luckily there's plenty of stuff in the kit to satisfy even me! This is the first of the three pages in the kit. I did not change any of the cutting in the guides, but I did add some of the items that weren't used in the original instructions which you can view here. I also flipped some of the papers (LOVE that double sided print business), and changed the photo layout a bit to accommodate my bigger photo choices.

I added more to the title area of the kit instructions. I used one of the printed 3x4 cards included in the packet, which was a chevron print, to create the oversized teal arrow element. I stole the Halloween title stickers from another page (because I usually only need one or two Halloween pages each year, not three, so I used the last one for something special). In the bottom corner of this page you can kind of see some of the paper tearing elements I added, as well as seriously upping the amount of shimmer trim on this layout.

I did a shimmer trim "stitch" all around the layout as well. I just trimmed 1/8" strips from my shimmer trim and lined them up! I might have wondered if it would have been quicker to actually stitch the page at one point, but I love the chunky stitch effect. I also added some googly eyes to the black glitter chipboard bats. They are so sparkly and a really nice weight, too.

Next up on the hop is AMIE'S BLOG. Happy Halloween hopping!

Boo to You Blog Hoppers:

Kelly

Jayma

Stephanie

Wendy (You are here)

Amie

Katy

National Stamping Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the National Stamping Month Blog Heart. This month we are featuring projects using this month's CTMH special From the Heart, a special double stamp set and interactive card kit in celebration of National Stamping Month. You may be arriving here from JANNA'S BLOG, and the full list of hoppers can be found here.

One thing I love about using clear acrylic stamps in lieu of the more traditional red rubber is that I'm fully in control of what my image looks like. For this card I cut apart the sheet of images that were outline florals with these adorable sentiments. I trimmed off the flower images, and I've even separated out some of the scripty words from the sentiments to use individually. I can easily put it back together to get the look originally intended, but it allows a lot more flexibility in how the images are used. I stamped a few of the outline floral images across the top . 

Then I went over the stamped images with blobs of watercolor paint, ignoring outlines and just filling in the areas as the paint fell. I splattered some extra purple watercolor paint over the whole thing and ran my mostly dry brush down around the edges to define the card front. When it was dry I stamped on the sentiment and added bitty sparkles throughout the watercolored area for a bit more sparkle. I'm linking this card up to this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge. 

Next up on the hop is MICHELE'S BLOG. Be sure to visit all the blogs in the hop for tons of From the Heart inspiration!

My Other From the Heart Projects:

Color Throwdown Special Thoughts Card

You're in My Heart Card

End of Summer Blog Hop

Welcome to the Blog Hops with Heart End of Summer Blog Hop! You might be arriving here from KELLY'S BLOG. You'll find a list of all the hoppers at the bottom of this post.

For this month's hop I thought I'd finally get around to sharing my winning layout from this Summer's Convention Layout Contest. It's honestly one of my favorite things that I've ever made. I love how the Layout Contest themes make me scrapbook something that I might not otherwise have thought to put down on paper.

This year's theme was to tell an important story. I was STUMPED for the longest time. What story is most important. What's relevant? How in the world do you get started? Then one night, I kid you not, I literally dreamed this layout into existence. I woke up and it just came together like no prob, Rob...I am not a quick scrapbooker and this one just flowed out lickety split.   

I used a watercolor over rocks technique for the background, the watercolored letters, and the flowers. You pile small pebbles or glass stones onto watercolor paper and mist them well with a spray bottle. Then you drop watercolor onto the rock piles and let it seep down onto the paper. I let it dry overnight because I was afraid to disturb the watercolor. It's super fun to do, and the resulting background/painting is so lovely and bright.

Next up on the hop is JAYMA'S BLOG. I can't wait to see what all these amazing artists have made! Happy hopping!

End of Summer Hop:

Katy

Stephanie

Amie

Kelly

Wendy (You are Here)

Jayma

Becca

Annual Inspirations New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to the Annual Inspirations Blog Hop! This hope we have 26 fabulous creations using the new goodies from the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book. You may be arriving here from ALYSON'S BLOG, and you'll find a link to all the blogs on the hop HERE.

I chose to play with the new Whimsy Fundamentals Line. The line features a paper packet in pretty pastels which I paired with the Inspire Complements. I also added some of the new Color of the Year cardstock, called Bashful. I'm linking this project up to the Paper Issues Take 5 Tuesday Challenge (Cardstock, Patterned Paper, More than 1 photo, Sticker, Diecut). 

I love the white glitter chipboard accents from the Inspire Complements pack. I combined the SPARKLE piece and a heart image with my title cut using the new font in the You Are Here Cricut cartridge. You also can spy a few of the hearts from the new Thin Cuts - Heart Border Die, which is literally probably my most favorite new thing. Here I trimmed out individual outline hearts from the border to add a delicate touch to my clusters. Both shades of pink cardstock you can see here are from the same sheet of Bashful cardstock - totally loving the new doublesided cardstock! One side is the full shade, and the backside is a lighter tone of the shade. Our color choices just doubled (yay!) but we still have the same lovely white core perfect for distressing and paper tearing.

I am still adoring my watercolor paints, too, and I'm still using the same pan from last year. Hooray for long lasting supplies! I laid down a patch of water before dropping in the colors and let them move naturally. I came back after it was dry to add a few speckles too. That Sunshine elements came from the Inspire Complements, and I just trimmed off the yellow sun part to tuck the edge under my photo mat. Then I popped the center part of that sticker up with foam tape above my photo mat and now it will be so easy to slide in my photo!  

Next up on the hop is GINA'S BLOG. Check out all the new Annual Inspirations goodies online here, or ask your consultant how to get a copy of your very own. Happy hopping!

Sparkling New Year Hop!

Welcome to the Blog Hops with Heart Sparkling New Year Hop! You might be arriving here from STEPHANIE'S BLOG. This month we are featuring any project with SPARKLE...so for me that meant glitter all the things!

I scored this sparkly gold heart in the Target Dollar spot for just $3. It was already glittery and gold, though my Target also had pink and mint colors too. I used strips of Shimmer Trim (and red glitter gel because somehow I'm out?) to create the rainbow band. The shimmer trim strips made it pretty easy to create even stripes. 

Then I pulled retired Fundamentals stickers and old chipboard resist letters from my overflowing box of letters I can't seem to let go of and added that sentiment. Instead of inking the resist letters I filled them in with sparkly diamond glitter gel. I coated the black plain letter stickers with Liquid Glass so they too could be as shiny as everything else on this wall decor piece. I'm linking this project up to the Heart 2 Heart Silver and Gold Challenge and the Paper Issues Stash Busters Challenge.

Next up on the hop is SHELLY'S BLOG. Be sure to stop by all these amazing blogs to soak up all the sparkly goodness!

Scrapping Our Stash December Blog Hop

Welcome to another Scrapping Our Stash Blog hop. For December we chose an Anything Goes theme. You might be arriving here from LYNE'S BLOG. You can find a full list of hoppers at the bottom of this post!

 A Christmas Story has long been a family favorite of ours, and Ben's love of chunky black glasses helps him bear a pretty good resemblance to Ralphie Parker. I don't know why, but this year he agreed to be Ralphie for Halloween. We thought we'd have to really work on him, but he loved the idea and agreed to give up his typical Star Wars costume for the low, low price of a small custom box of See's Candy. He loves wearing that costume much more than Ralphie did, and so we brought it with us to our holiday family photo shoot.  Apple Blossom Photography took the most amazing pictures of my sweet Ben in this crazy bunny suit, and these pics needed a special page all their own. I used the December 1st sketch from Stuck? Sketches for this single page layout.

I combined a Memo Fundamentals notebook paper with some (retired) Charlotte pink papers, Cranberry and Whisper Cardstock, and a bit of City Sidewalks holiday paper. I splattered some black watercolor over the notebook paper, and hand-wrote Ralphie's Christmas Theme onto the background. I diecut some snowflakes from silver glitter paper to go with the whisper snowflakes I stamped and then I embellished the snowflakes with lots of bitty rhinestones. I cut my title using the Flower Market Cricut cartridge font combined with some stamped words stolen from the February SOTM (sneak peek!). I finished with a lot of rhinestone embellished silver hand stitching and some American Crafts washi tape. I'm also linking this page up to the current issue over at Paper Issues.

Next up on the hop is SANDY'S BLOG. Happy Hopping!

DECEMBER SCRAPPING OUR STASH HOP:

Wendy Coffman

Sandy Ross

Majken Pullin

Lyne Schnable-Blodgett

Merry and Bright Blog Hop

Welcome to the Merry and Bright Blog Hop! You might be arriving her from BECCA's BLOG. On this month's Blog Hops with Heart we made you some fabulously merry holiday projects!

For me, holiday crafts are the most fun. I love that holiday decorations are never too sparkly! This year I added a sweet Holiday Banner and an advent tree to our entryway. I used some rhinestone covered push pins to hold up my new decor creations.If you want a closer look at that triple block decoration hanging from what is normally just key hooks, you can see that ornament up close HERE.

 I found the banner in my to be decorated project drawer. Perhaps it originally came from Michaels? I can't be sure. I painted most of the banner pieces with a dark red acrylic paint and swiped the edges them with the green. I flipped the colors on the dividing banner.  I outlined every letter with glitter gel, and embellished the banner with wooden snowflakes, sequins, rhinestone and bitty sparkles, and more glitter gel. Lemme tell ya, that was a lot of Liquid Glass, Stampin' Friends.  I tied the banner pieces together using baker's twine and topped the bows with more rhinestone sparkles.

I found a blank tree wooden decor piece at Craft Warehouse. I painted it with the same dark red and green acrylic paints. I outlined each tree "branch" with silver glitter gel. I stamped the numbers on for a guideline, and then I filled in the letters with a sharpie marker. I found a very vintage CTMH rhinestone circle frame sticker, which I mounted on Ruby cardstock and topped with a gingham bow to create the Advent marker. It moves along with the help of a glue dot behind the bow.

I coated the entire piece with a glitter acrylic paint topcoat. This isn't the greatest picture, but can you see the bling? It might just be the sparkliest paint ever! I adhered a glittered kraft star diecut to the top of the tree for one last touch of sparkle. I know there wasn't a lick of paper on my projects today, but almost everything (but the tree base) came out of my stamp room stash, so I hope you'll still enjoy my glittery decor items!

Next up on the hop is AMIE'S BLOG. Happy Hoppin' Holidays!

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we have 30 talented consultants sharing their crafty creations using Thoughtful Flowers, a stunningly pretty set of 14 floral images and sentiments.You may be arriving here from TAMMY'S BLOG.

As soon as I saw this set I started to ponder how I could best turn it into floral sprays of goodness. I didn't really want to fussy cut all the flowers, or have it be too bulky, so it seemed natural to give masking a try!  I used some post-its to create a mask for each type of flower. Then I started with my biggest center flower, masking each image off as I went along, working from the "front" of the floral spray to the "back" so that the finished element would have depth. I stamped everything in Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and colored the image using Shin Han alcohol markers. I don't usually go in for the one layer card but the MUSE Challenge this week is a cute one layer card with a vine wrapping around the sentiment so I took it as an additional challenge not to add a bunch of extra layering.

I went back in on the image with a shimmer pen for some subtle sparkle. I am a girl who lives and breathes sparkle, but I couldn't bring myself to add sequins or rhinestones this time. I wanted to let the pretty flowers stand alone, so all I did to finish is add a few teensy drops of glitter gel to the tiny flower centers and draw a delicate border around the outer edge of the card base with a very fine journaling pen.

Next up on the hop is KATHY'S BLOG. You can find a full blog hop list here. Don't forget that the December SOTM is only available in the month of December, so click here or chat with your consultant to get yours soon. Happy Hopping!

 Additional December SOTM Projects:

December SOTM Holiday Card

Tricks and Treats Blog Hop

Welcome to this month's Blog Hops with Heart Tricks and Treats Blog Hop! This hop has lots of creatively awesome Halloween treats for your craft loving heart. You may be arriving here from BECCA'S BLOG. A complete list of hoppers can be found at the bottom of this post.

I made some super sparkly pumpkin decor using cream colored craft pumpkins and Cricut cut paper flowers. I used washi tape to create a dip line, then painted the pumpkins with mod podge and coated them with chunky gold glitter. I added a second coat of mod podge and sprinkled on some tiny gold sequins. A third coat of mod podge sealed in the sparkly goodness!

On top of each pumpkin I used Liquid Glass to secure a variety of rolled paper flowers cut from Sweet Leaf, Glacier, and Thistle cardstock. I inked the edges of each flower before rolling and securing with Liquid Glass. After the flowers dried then I attached them to the pumpkins, tucking in sprigs of leaves cut from Whisper cardstock as I felt the need. 

Next up on the hop is KATY'S BLOG. Happy hopping!

Complete October Hop List:

Amie

Becca

Wendy (You are here!)

Katy

Stephanie

Spread the Love Blog Hop

Welcome to the Spread the Love Blog Hop, featuring the heart warming Operation Smile stamp set. The current Operation Smile set is called True Love, an utterly adorable set of 9 images. You might be arriving here from NINA'S BLOG. You'll find 17 fabulous projects on this hop!

I started my project with a base of Sorbet cardstock embossed with a heart embossing folder. I sanded the cardstock to bring out the hearts. I added heavily sanded Sapphire cardstock and a panel of burlap I got from the Rustic Home Fundamentals. I wrapped this panel in copper twine before adhering it to my card. I drew inspiration from sketch 148 over at RetroSketches and this week's Color Throwdown Challenge.

I colored the sweet little boy using my Shin Han alcohol markers, and added some shimmer brush to the balloon images. Can you even with his sweet little face and that awesomesauce sentiment?

I kid you not when I say that True Love is one of my absolute favorite stamp sets in this new Idea Book. That sentiment alone is enough reason to add this one to your stash, and with every True Love purchase, you are literally helping to change the life of a child.  Next up on the hop is JEAN'S BLOG. Be sure to hop all the way around and Spread the Love to all our crafty friends!