Hogs and Kisses Card

One of my favorite crafty escapes is watching our CTMH team training videos on Mondays. Our fearless leader Naomi makes these live videos for us each week, with craft challenges and new techniques to try out and it's just so friendly and fun! 

This week she challenged us to use a sketch from the new Make It From Your Heart, which is super simple and so versatile. You might have noticed I'm the kind of crafter who LIKES ALL THE THINGS, so simple isn't usually my bag, baby...but I really enjoyed using the sketch in my own way. I combined the idea of that sketch with the Seize the Birthday weekly challenge, with the topping of using patterned paper. I chose this sweet watercolor dot paper from Central Park, which I changed up by adding in a sentiment from the Operation Smile charity set called Punny Pals. I bent the sentiment in a circular shape and stamped it around some of the circles, and then completed the circular embellishing with hand drawn dots, customizing the patterned paper for my project. The blue dotted paper is actually the backside of the watercolor dots - love that double sided patterned paper! I mounted some Coral Shimmer Trim under this stamped patterned paper panel across the top of the card base and just above the bottom of my card front, which I tore to expose the blue dotted B&T I mounted inside the card. That shimmer trim is on clearance right now for a super good price, and I'm desperately trying not to buy the rest of the stock myself right now!

I stamped the background of my banner piece with my second sweet sentiment in Pebble ink before also popping it up in Ruby ink. I colored my little Punny Pal Pig with my zig clean color markers before adding his little googly eyes. I'm partial super dupe sad that we've only got a short time left with Punny Pals...and partially super excited to see what we will get next since the Operation Smile charity sets tend to be pretty high on my favorites list each year!

While I haven't been blogging as regularly as I'd like, I have been crafting a LOT more as I come back to my real life. My team made really adorable t-shirts (PLUS my favorite shirt to wear right now) for our trip to Las Vegas convention next month. I also made ten adorable cricut signs for my fourth grader's Pioneer day. Sometimes I'm still sad, maybe even a lot of the time, but every day, and with every project it gets better. #craftingismytherapy . Stampin' Friends, and I am sending out lots of Hogs and Kisses to all my fellow craft therapy group buddies! 

Thanks A Latte Froggie Card

I'm back today with a new sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and a bit of Whimsy fun!

The striped paper is from the new Whimsy Fundamentals pack. I added some stamped Sweet Leaf cardstock (border image from Thanks a Million) that I edged with a scallop border punch and the new Ribbon Border Thin Cuts Die. The bow wasn't facing the direction I need it to face, so I cut it off and reassembled the border to fit my card better. That adorable little frog and his punny sentiment are from Punny Pals, an super cute set that also happens to supports the amazing work of Operation Smile. I colored him in using Shin Han Alcohol markers and adorably large googly eyes.

I cut the Coffee Cup using the Sweet Leaf green dotted Whimsy Fundamentals paper and Kraft Cardstock. The image is on the new You Are Here Cricut Cartridge. I used the font from that cartridge to write then cut the THANKS A LATTE sentiment banner, too. I'm linking this card up to the Heart 2 Heart Friends challenge, because I'm so grateful to all my awesome friends! I hope this little froggie inspires you to hop on over to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge to play along with this week's sketch!

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!

Monthly Memories Calypso Cards

Friday night my Monthly Memories Scrapbooking club is finally getting together in person again. I'm so excited to be back in a functional studio space! We scrap, we have dinner, we laugh - it's just so much fun!

The scrappers have chosen either Magical or Calypso for their projects. It's too late to order those kits, but I wanted to share what we did with the Calypso card designs. If you've been hanging around here you've noticed I'm in LOVE with this True Love stamp set. The sentiment on this card came from me second favorite stamp set right now, Sweet Birthday. 

My Calypso kit gals will also be making some Flamingo cards, but instead of using the retried Flamingo stamp set we will be using the pre-printed PML cards that came with the Calypso kit.

Using the cards made these sweet handmade cards come together in a snap!

Here's a little sneak peek of our October Kit, Jeepers Creepers. I'll be posting all the details on the Monthly Memories Jeepers Creepers kit this weekend and how you can join in on the Monthly Memories fun! 

Kindness Changes Everything Card

This month CTMH has a sweet special card kit called Create Kindness to celebrate National Stamping Month. I love all 8 of the thoughtful stamp images, but this "Kindness changes everything" sentiment is my absolute favorite. Choosing kindness is something I talk about with my boys all the time, so you could say that this one is very close to my mommy heart.

I had painted some small panels of watercolor last week, just messing around with my waterbrush and some thick cream colored watercolor paper. Once that was dry I trimmed the panels to size and stamped over the watercolor with the balloon boy from True Love. I paper pieced the balloons with a bit of Oh Deer paper. Then I set those aside to ponder what to do with them. When I saw this week's CAS(E) this Sketch challenge, I knew they would be perfect!

I tore the bottom edge of a colonial white panel and inked the edges with black  ink. I added the watercolor panel to the top, and stamped the sentiment at the bottom in Black ink. I stamped it again onto a scrap of colonial White CS and trimmed out the "KINDNESS" word. I layered this over two banners with thin foam tape, overlapping the bottom of the watercolor panel. I added a scattering of gold star sequins and I painted the banners and balloons with shimmer pen.

You can see all the sweet stamps that are part of this Choose Kindness special here. I'm happy to share that the stamps are available as part of a kit or as individual images. You can use the hashtag #createkindness to follow along with the acts of kindness or post some kindness of your very own. Hugs to you, Stampin' Peeps!

Paper Hugs are so SWEET!

So I haven't put this True Love Stamp set away since the day I took it from the shipping box...and no, not because I'm too lazy to tidy up! Once again, CTMH has made an Operation Smile benefit stamp set that's so cute I can't even stand it. Like this stamp needs to live on it's own block on my desk and go onto the back of every card I ever make. It's just that sweet.

Today is Monday, so there's a fresh new Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge sketch to inspire! I paper pieced a card background out of the last little bits of Calypso I have left. I just finished my version of a Calypso scrapbooking kit this weekend, and I'm trying so hard not to go back and get more of this happy paper packet that's retiring in just about a week. I literally don't even have a 6x6 worth of scraps left at this point, so I guess I used it up well! 

I colored the little boy's face with Shin Han markers, but paper pieced his shirt and the balloons with tiny scraps of Calypso paper. I'm even going to actually MAIL this card, and if you know me, keep an eye on the sky (in case the pigs actually fly). Pop over to Atlantic Hearts to check out the sketch and join the fun!

This Card is a Paper Hug

Hello Crafty Peeps! Have ya missed me? I've been missing you and getting crafty in the worst way! I have no idea where the summer went, but now there's only two and a half weeks until school starts and less than a week until my first Open House. I've been recovering my stamp room tables and getting some paper goodness ready for you this weekend, and it feels great to be getting inky again!

 

Today I made a sweet happy little card using this cute sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. I grabbed a bit of my favorite heart print from Magical (only a couple of weeks until this packet goes buh-bye...sob). I stamped the XOXO sentiment across a strip of Sapphire cardstock, and added a stripe made by splitting a zip strip into 1/4" in width pieces. 

This is probably me favorite new stamp set from the recently released CTMH Annual Inspirations book. Its on the back cover, and besides being completely adorable, it's also the Operation Smile charity set, so it's cute and a do-gooder. I just did a quick wash of color using a waterbrush. I prefer the small round tip for images like this one. I added a wash of shimmer to the balloons. Then I popped up the most adorable card sentiment ever with some thin foam tape. I'm pretty sure that sweet sentiment is going to live on a block on my desk so I can add it to the back of every card I make. 

If you aren't busy this weekend, come on over to check out the new Stamp Pad at my Open House on Sunday the 21st. Just shoot me an email with your details to get your own personal invitation! I'll be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as a drop in event, with a cute little hands-on card to make and a massive $1 well-loved stamp set sale. That's right - it's time to clean out the stash, and I know someone will love all these amazing stamps that are looking for love in a new crafty home! Hope to see you soon!

You Make Me Smile Card

So, while I got a lot of things done today, unpacking or cleaning anything in my studio was sadly not on the list. Sometimes creativity is just using up what's right in front of you...

I knew I wanted to make something with the adorable RetroSketches sketch this week. Charlotte was still on my desk from yesterday's project, so I decided to just go with it and make a card using only what I could reach on my desk. That included the little gold glitter fundamentals heart stickers luckily!

I added a kraft cardstock Cricut cut heart that I painted with white Wink of Stella. I just love the sweet bubble sentiments in this month's Operation Smile benefit set, Share the Love. Thanks for the inspiration, RetroSketches! Your sketches always make me smile!

Sending Love Card

It's Monday, which means it is time for another sweet sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

I was so happy to come across my Charlotte papers in my unpacking today! I really love the black, grey, and sorbet color combo in these pretty papers. I used one of the bonus Zip Strip patterns to fill in the left side of the card front, It's actually a row of arrows, but I flipped the pattern back and forth to make that chevron instead. 

The telephone and heart bubble stamps are from Share the Love, the Operation Smile stamp set that is only available until the end of this month. CTMH is donating $7 of the purchase price for each set sold this month, so you get an adorable stamp set and a child gets life saving surgery!  

I hope you'll hop over to Atlantic Hearts and play along this week!

Day 362: Rainbow Hello Card

I didn't even hit my stamp space tonight until 9 p.m., and it was pretty much the thought of quitting my 365 days of projects challenge with only 4 days left that made me head downstairs to craft when I was already comfy in my bed. When I was done with this card, I was glad I crafted.

I hopped over to CAS(E) This Sketch for some sketch inspiration. I considered looking for some washi tape to make the stripes...but that jar is not unpacked yet, so I have three kinds. Then I pondered watercolors, but I can't remember where I put those for safekeeping last week. I looked at the 10 ink pads I have on hand (because I haven't found the spinner boxes to unpack yet) and realized I almost have a rainbow. Sold! 

I stamped the Hello bubble from Share the Love on my card front. Then I lazily stamped my arrow stripes around the bubble without even bothering to mask it off. I know I should have, but I think it came out cute anyways. I considered embellishing, but I was really happy with this one layer totally CAS card. Now I get to go back to bed. Good night, Stampin' Friends! 

Day 360: You Make Me Smile Card

Tonight I found my Shot Box! It took me all of ten minutes to set it up and part of that was finding an outlet to plug it into behind the cardboard box wall. I'm still working on what angle I like best for my Side Shot, but I'm so much happier with the lighting now!

Tonight's card was inspired by the new MUSE Card Challenge, in particular Tracey's color placement. While I'm making unpacking progress, I haven't yet uncovered my ink pads (arrgh!), so Pixie was the only pink I had in my travel bag. The stamp set is this month's special, Share the Love, which benefits Operation Smile. I stamped the word bubbles onto white cardstock and fussy cut them so I could pop them up with thin foam tape. 

I also added a bunch of details with my fine tipped journaling pen and touched here and there with a shimmer gel pen. Only five more days in my 365 days of Projects blog challenge...I think I can! I think I can! Thanks for hanging in there with me Stampin' Friends!

Day 359: My Type of Friend Card

I just love this sweet Share the Love stamp set  CTMH is offering to benefit Operation Smile this month. I'd totally snap up this cutie even if it wasn't also doing a world of good for children in need of life saving surgery.

Tonight's card was done is quite a hurry. We arrived home from a fun visit with good friends and I was supposed to start dinner. Instead the power was out...with a late night estimated return. Our emergency box of LED lanterns is lost somewhere in the boxes stacked in the garage. I knew my middle of the night crafting wasn't going to cut it since there might be no light at all to craft by, so I immediately set out to make a super fast card before the light was lost. I finished this sweet card in fifteen minutes, in large part because of the super cute sketch from Mojo Monday. 

I layered on Penelope paper in the background. Then I stamped one of the sentiments repeatedly in Pear, Crystal Blue and Thistle inks, filling in any spaces with the tiny heart stamped in Canary. I stamped the typewriter three times (once each in Slate, Crystal Blue, and Pomegranate), then quickly paper pieced it as the light was growing dimmer all around me. I grabbed a couple quick shots with all the blinds open right where I was working, then started loading the kiddos into the car to go to dinner. Just as we headed out the door....the power came back on. I'm writing this with a tummy full of Chipotle, and a new determination to find the box with my new Shot Box!

Day 358: How You Doin' Frog Card

Today I got to spend some crafty time using a stamp set generously sent to me by the ever awesome Karen Morris called Spring Critters. It is so very adorable!

I've been plotzing over this frog lately, so I wanted to highlight that image for sure. I started with the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches. I used the pear floral print from Penelope and added some stripy washi tape (cut in half lengthwise) and a leftover Penelope sticker.

I popped up my froggie friend with thin 3-D foam tape. Then I gave him a quick wash with Pear ink and my waterbrush before adding his sweet wiggly eyes. In my head, he sounds just like Joey Tribbiani, which is weird for a frog, but still makes me giggle! 

Day 357: Hello Valentine Card

We went to the coast today (yay!) and somehow we thought it was a good idea to rent one of those surrey bikes. With three kids it turned out we couldn't all fit in the single bike meant for two people to pedal, so we got a double.  Double surrey bikes are heavy, especially when you are grabbing the child next to you to keep him from leaning so far out of the bike all the time.  Aaaand now I can barely move, so tonight's card became one of those simple one layer cards that did not require me to get up and reach anything. 

I started with the sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch. I grabbed my adorable new Share the Love Stamp set (which raises $7 for Operation Smile with every set sold). I stamped the HELLO sentiment in Black ink, then masked it off with a post-it. Then I stamped on that cute phone with only Pomegranate ink, stamping in first, second and third generation to get the varied hues. I colored over the center heart on each phone with a black Wink of Stella pen. Then I finished an episode of Gilmore Girls before limping to my computer to write this post. Thank goodness for CAS and one layer cards. Good night, Stampin' Friends!

Day 351: Sending Love Valentine Card

I wanted to make a sweet valentine card tonight using La Vie En Rose, but I couldn't find my paper packet, just the Complements, so I had to get a little creative...

I started with the new sketch from Retro Sketches and some white cardstock. I filled in the spaces using bits of stickers from the La Vie En Rose complements packet. I used the divider pieces between the border strips to create that striped background, and the polka dot border sticker to create the pomegranate dot piece.

I stamped the plane from Lifting Spirits (which is sadly retired), then masked the seat area and added the raccoon from Animal Greetings, the Operation Smile benefit stamp set. My markers are still buried in the cardboard towers yet to be unpacked, so I did a light wash of color with my waterbrush. I did have the essentials in my travel tote, which, of course, includes wiggly eyes! 

Day 350: Share the Love Blog Hop

Welcome to the Share the Love Blog Hop.  Share the Love is not only an adorable stamp set, but with $7 of each set purchased donated to Operation Smile, it's also doing good for children in need. You might be arriving here from SHEILA'S BLOG. We have dozens of consultants sharing their love for this stamp set, so let's hop!

I decided to start off with the new sketch from Mojo Monday. I filled the sketch in with Penelope papers and green washi tape. I love this delicate rainbow polka dot print!

I stamped the telephone image in Black, Canary, and Thistle, then paper pieced the image before adding details with a tiny black journaling marker. I stamped the arrow image onto the background and added the heart bubble topped with a Penelope Complements sticker. I outlined everything with the same tiny marker.

Share the Love is available through the month of February - contact your consultant or CLICK HERE to get this sweet set and help change the life of a child. Next up on the hop is VICKIE'S BLOG. Happy hopping!