Dakota Pages for Scrapbook Club!

Good afternoon, ladies! I meant to post this yesterday for my Monthly Memories Club gals, but was feeling a little under the weather. So no pics got added (sad!) but I'm feeling much better (glad!) and I'm posting as is (phew!) On the first two pages I used the Foil My StickEase to make the faux "bows". I also used a Twilight Alcohol marker to tint the resist pattern on my Houndstooth Irresistibles Alphabet, making my letters Blue and Black! 

I used patterns from the new Make It From Your Heart book for all the pages, which I am so LOVING!!  One of our favorite things to say around my boy-infested home is, "There's no extra charge for awesomeness." Make It From Your Heart sure proves that! So much awesome tucked into one $7.95 book! For this second set of pages I embossed stars in the background (which is black distressed with Black ink, but I pumped up the contrast to bring out the shiny stars). 

Finally, I stamplifted one of the actual samples from the Make It From Your Heart book but twisting it to fit my Dakota papers. The original had rainbow colored banners and  hand stitched clouds - as in every cloud was stitched all the way around the edges. We just went to the State Fair (ONE FAIR DAY, lol) and this year for the first time the boys rode this suspended chair ride that s...l...o...w...l...y... drifts across the fairgrounds. Of course, my train obsessed boys insisted on calling it the air tram. I'm planning an 8x6 Photo Collage of all the random fair pics (including tractors, an actual tiger, and a great big pickle) on the left and the awesome "air tram" pics for the right page. 

My clouds are not stitched...yet...I'm holding back for now! I did stamp them with third generation Slate ink using the swirly flourish in the Dakota Stamp set and added a glitter glitz "silver lining" to each cloud. I felt that the Dakota colors (and the Whisper Grey CS color) were a better fit for our typical Oregon weather. 

Although Gabe did say to me, completely earnestly just a couple of days ago, that something must be wrong with the sky. when we asked him why he explained, " 'Cause there aren't any clouds. The sky is supposed to have clouds!"  So John and I may be transplants, but our boys are Oregonian through and through!

Catch ya back here tomorrow to post the Friday Favorite Things Alcohol Marker Give-away. Good luck, and may your sunny summer skies be full of clouds. Just the way they should be!

September SOTM Blog Hop & Friday Favorite Things!

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is called Fall Favorites, a homey, country tribute to fall with 11 stamps.  If you have come here from HELEN'S BLOG, you are on the right path! She also has a list of all the hoppers if you get lost. This month we have over 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM (and other great CTMH products) on their blogs. Hopping 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!

This month I used a beautifully simple sketch from Retro Sketches to create my project. this set screams scrapbook to me, so I wanted to stretch and see what I could do that's not super Fall/Pumpkin Patch. I used a bit of the Woodgrain B&T from the new Dakota Paper Packet - I could buy a million sheets of this! I inked just the sunflower portion of the scarecrow image using my Whisper Pigment Ink square and colored it using my new Alcohol Ink Markers in Sweet Leaf, Goldrush, Honey, and Autumn Terracotta and Juniper (for a touch of blue in the grass at the bottom). Then I stamped my sentiment (from the National Stamping Month Special stamp set) in Autumn Terracotta Pigment ink over top of my frame image. I love how quickly these vibrant pigment inks dry!

My fancy frame is an Art Philosophy shape that comes in two layers, so I applied Almond Glitter Glitz all around the skinny outer layer. I trimmed a strip from the center of the fabulous new Burlap Ribbon and tied on a hemp bow. Did you know we can separate our hemp into strands pretty easily? I love the look of it all shredded apart and tied into a bow!

Now "Hop" on over to LISA'S BLOG to see her amazing work or scroll down for our Friday Favorite Things giveway for this week! Be sure to visit all the Consultants Blogs to soak in the great crafting and SOTM ideas! Remember, this SOTM can only be harvested until the end of September!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 - and get your National Stamping Month Special Set too!!

I got really busy last week with canning, so I did not blog much,and I really missed y'all! So this week's Friday Favorite Things giveaway will be something I've been spending a lot of time with - a set of the new CTMH Alcohol Markers! Did you catch my tutorial on Alcohol Marker Blending?

If you win, I'll email you for your color choice and send you a 2 marker set of these fabulous new pens. They come in a two pack for less than the cost of one of those other, more famous alcohol markers, and color like a dream! Be sure to enter using the Rafflecopter below - each week's giveaway is a separate contest, and the winner is picked by the Rafflecopter widget.!

I'm also linking this card to 52 Card Pickup!

Good luck - and don't forget to hop onto LISA'S BLOG when you are done entering to win!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You're Sweet, Retro Sketches!

I'm back with another Pun Fun card, this time for the new Retro Sketches card sketch, which is adorable!  I used the Wood Grain B&T from the new Dakota packet, which is also what we are using for scrapbook club next month. My beloved Silver Shimmer Trim is back, only this time I cut it in half lengthwise to create the double skinny stripes. I also used the Shimmer Trim to back my little sentiment banner flag. Aaaaand tonight I ordered up more of this Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon as I can see it is now an addiction. I stitched all around the outside with a single strand of pink thread.

I paper pieced the cuppie using the pink B&T from La Belle Vie and the Flirty Raspberry CS only available in the Flirty paper packet. This sweet cuppie is stamped in the new Slate color, and topped with Sparkles that have been colored with a Cotton Candy Alcohol Marker. Look at the top pics to see how the sparkles turned such a lovely shade of pink - I think I bumped up the highlights on this one trying to get the B&T of the "frosting" to show nicely and washed out the sparkles. I LOVE that I can color my sparkles and embellies with my lovely new markers and customize them to match perfectly! 

Did you check out the Blog Hop yesterday? So much amazing artwork and adorable new swag! Speaking of swag, here's the info on the fabulous giveaway I'm doing this week. Up for adoption is a brand new Dallas Convention Stamp Set, which you cannot purchase and is totally adorable! This is open to anyone - my friends and customers, other consultants, don't be shy! If you are already following me (or one of the other options), make sure you click it in the rafflecopter to be entered to win! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, and THANKS - it's so sweet of you to drop by!