September SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is called Poster Tidings, a bold and trendy set of 2 oversized stamps.  If you have come here from MICHELLE'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!

This month I was inspired by the Mojo Monday Round or Square challenge. Apparently the Square half, since I made not one, but two versions of the square card sketch.

For the Family Gratitude card I cut a pumpkin from two layers of Sunset Cardstock using the new Artbooking cartridge. The bottom layer got a wash of color with some markers, and the top layer got a subtle second generation hexagon pattern from the Reel Life stamp set. I used the same stamp to add texture to my sentiment frame in Honey ink. I love the way the Slate polka dot washi pops against the Babycakes paper!

For the second version I used the new Frosted papers. I inked my SOTM image with a side to side swiping motion to add the extra texture to my stamped image. I cut out the snowflakes form the Frosted B & T, and I detailed everything with my favorite Stardust clear glitter gel pen. I used the new Lagoon hounds tooth washi layered over a bit of Silver Shimmer tape in the background. 

I'm linking this to the ABC No Flowers Challenge as well...and I can't tell you how hard it was for me to not tuck a little yellow pumpkin blossom in on that Huntington card!

Now "Hop" on over to KIM'S BLOG to see her fabulous work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants Blogs to soak in the great crafting and SOTM ideas! Remember, this SOTM will be gone at the end of September!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5!

Here are some more projects I have made using this Stamp of the Month...
Joy, Love, and Laughter Card

Ten Things Staples

This week the Practical Scrappers Ten Things Team is focusing on fun ways to use Staples. I used some shiny green colored staples to create the flashburst for a quick and simple camera embellie on this card. Oh, snap, indeed! I finished this little cutie in 8 minutes 57 seconds as part of the 10 Minute Craft Dash. I couldn't believe it!

When I sat down to make my project I honestly was not sure that I could make a project from start to finish in ten minutes. I am a slow and steady kind of crafter, but at least we were allowed to gather our materials before starting the timer. I decided to use the Aqua/Green/Orange color combo from this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge, and the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch. I grabbed my Sightseer Stamps, some Kraft CS, Lagoon washi tape, and scraps of Green Glitter paper. Then I set my timer, took a deep breath, and  let the stamping begin!

I trimmed my Kraft card base first...then I hopped up and RAN across the room to emboss it with swiss dots, because I could not just leave it flat kraft. I stamped and cut out my camera image, then realized that while I'd gotten the colored staples out of hibernation, I'd forgotten my stapler. Gasp! One more quick dash and I was ready to rock again. Down went the washi and the glitter paper banner. Staple! Staple! Staple, Staple, Staple, STAPLE! A bit of foam tape and the camera was good to go. Oh WHY did I not stamp the sentiment first? I could FEEL the timer getting ready to beep, I swear! Sentiment was  c a r e f u l l y  stamped in Lagoon ink, then the button was attached with Liquid Glass. I started moving the Sparkles with my piercing tool into place. I dabbed on some Stardust glitter glitz to detail the camera, then carefully glued the card front to my waiting card base. Probably should have reversed that order of operations, but whatever, because I was done and with time to spare! I'm fairly certain that with all that dashing back and forth, I've earned that Dark Chocolate Coconut Bliss bar that I've got stashed in the back of the freezer. Woo hoo!

I hope you'll hop over to Practical Scrappers and see what the rest of the team stapled down...and maybe you'll try the Craft Dash too!

Joy, Love, and Laughter

I'm so excited, because tonight is my monthly team meeting. I love the evenings when my team is here! We will stamp this card together tonight, using next month's Stamp of the Month (SOTM) called Poster Tidings.  I used the new sketch from Retro Sketches to get my creative juices flowing. I wanted a fresh color combo for my holiday card, since I'm linking this card up to the Moxie Fab Holiday Card Challenge, and traditional red and green didn't seem like it was cool enough for Moxie Fab. Then I saw this color combo over at ColourQ, which was not meant to be a holiday color combo, but I knew it would be fab for my modern snowflake card idea! I used Dutch Blue, Lagoon, Pear, Chocolate Distressing, and White Daisy for my ColourQ colors. 

I did some creative inking of my chevron In The Background image by swiping my Dutch Blue pad lengthwise along the chevron image, which adds a lot of texture to the stamped image. I did a similar motion when I was inking the Poster Tiding stamp. It's all one big stamp, so first I inked and swiped the Pear across the center of the image. Then I inked and swiped Dutch Blue at the top, slightly overlapping the Pear Ink. I did the same thing at the bottom third with Lagoon Ink. Finally, I huffed warm air all over the image and stamped it onto White Daisy CS. A quick scissor trim gave me a ton of adorable little banners, which I inked on the edges with Chocolate Distressing ink. I popped up my main sentiment pieces with Foam tape, and added a Green Glitter Paper Artbooking cut snowflake. I topped off my snowflake with a sparkly faceted gem and a row of Sparkles that I lightly colored with a blue alcohol marker.

My "Stampin' Ladies" (as my boys call them) should be arriving in another couple of hours, so I'm going to get to work on my SOTM Blog Hop post project for later this week, since we spent the morning goofing around at the Zoo. Hope you're enjoying the last of your summer, too!

Practical Scrappers/Paper Secrets Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers/Paper Secrets Blog Hop!  I am so excited to participate today!  This blog hop features the Ten Things Team from Practical Scrappers and members from the Design Team at Paper Secrets. Our topic for this hop is a fun, trendy one that will definitely catch your attention: wood! There is an awesomely cute give away from Paper Secrets (and you can get all the details on that below), but first here's my Wood project for you!

I wanted to make a project for the Moxie Fab Holiday Home Decor Challenge. I found a lovely Basswood Canvas from Walnut Hollow for my Holiday Display Quote with a nice smooth finish. It takes paint really well without showing grain or requiring sanding, which is great for lazy crafters like me who just want to get on with the bling. I painted the wooden canvas with acrylic paints, starting with two coats of Folk Art Metallic Bright Red paint. Then I layered on my (retired) Color Ready Sticker Letters for the holiday quote. I covered the whole wood canvas, stickers and all, with two coats of Martha Stewart Pure Platinum paint. I used temporary adhesive to stick on an Artbooking Chevron overlay to stencil on the chevrons with DecoArt Craft Twinkles glitter paint in Silver. Once the paints dried I carefully removed the stickers to reveal the red metallic letters of the quote. I did touch up some spots with a fine tipped brush, but it worked great. Any scrapbook stickers you have would probably do, even a mix of fonts!

I topped my "tree" off with a painted corrugated star and filled in the base with assorted bling and buttons. I painted some wooden buttons from my stash with Red Metallic and Silver Twinkles paints. The wood canvas is about 2 inches deep, so I sponged the edges with more of the Sliver Twinkles paint and wrapped it in red dotted washi tape. I can't wait to add this to my Holiday Mantle display!

Thanks for stopping by to have a peek at my holiday wood canvas. I hope you'll hop over to check out all the other amazing projects, too. 

Here's the Blog Hop List!

Practical Scrappers

Charity Hotrum

Lisa Moen

Jessica Arrant

Kristi Biesel 

Stephanie U

Patty Selah 

Karen Sessions

Kelly Holfield

Wendy Coffman (that's me!)

Deborah Johnson

Krissy Clark

Rochelle Spears

Kerri Yarus  

Lee-Anne Thornton

Leslii Wagner

Kelli Fortier

Kim Ryden 

Sue Kithcart 

Brenda Ragsdale

Charissa Miller

Christine Meyer

Sarah Clark

Kelly Jean Guzlas

Paper Secrets

Here's what you can win from Paper Secrets!

If you want a chance to win this fabulous collection of wooden goodies from Paper Secrets you can do any or all of the following:
1) Be a follower at Practical Scrappers
2) Be a follower at the Paper Secrets Blog
3) Like the Practical Scrappers Facebook Page
4) Like the Paper Secrets Facebook Page
5) Leave us a comment here telling us which of those you did :)

You have until 11:59 PM CST on Sunday, August 25th to enter.  A winner will be announced early next week over at Practical Scrappers! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

I'm linking this project up to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Sing a Little Song Challenge. I had to add the word very to balance out my tree shape...but I've been humming this carol for days now!

Monday Listicles

This week's Monday Listicles topic is something almost as near and dear to my heart as glitter and bling...food! Stasha is asking for a list of our Ten Favorite Meals. Since I do pretty much all the cooking from serious scratch round these parts, here's what's on the menu at my house.

10 Favorite Meals

1. "Tacos" which is what the boys call anything remotely Mexican in flavor, since we don't usually bother to buy tortillas anymore and eat those flavors most in bowl format. Except for 3 year old Max, who calls salami "tacos" when he's not calling it pizza.

2. Roast Chicken...sort of...I "roast" a whole chicken in my crock pot once a week, then make stock with the bones that night. 

3. Chicken Soup, made with that week's stock and whatever veggies I have on hand that week. All veg goes into the pot, and it all gets pureed at the end to a nice, smooth "chicken soup" that my picky-pants-hates-the-idea-of-veggies 7 year old slurps up happily. I win! 

4. Pot Roast. Mmmmm. Once my nephew was visiting from CA and he complained that all we ever eat is Pot Roast. He wanted me to make chicken like his mom makes...from KFC. Now that I've finished literally LOLing again, in her defense, his mom does not serve him KFC. Still funny!

5. Pasta with Tomato Sauce, which I can myself. I feel like I can say that now, since this is my second year canning and I have filled my pantry with jars of yumminess this summer. Happy!

6. Carnitas with Rice and Beans. This is my personal fav - so easy and delicious. Anther crock pot recipe, which I love because I can make dinner before my hubby leaves in the morning and there's not awesome cooking dinner issues with the boys at 4 p.m. 

7. Eggs - when we hit a wall and there's no dinner ready...it's time to make eggs (with sausage if I've done the shopping that week).

8. Chilaquiles! I first heard the term on my favorite show of all time, Gilmore Girls. Turns out it's not just fun to shout out "Chilaquiles!!", it's really delicious too. 

9. Taco Soup is what I serve every month to my Scrapbook club. I used to try out different recipes and wear myself out, but they love Taco Soup, so now it's our regular meal. 

10. Except when I make Potato Cheese Soup. With lots of bacon. 'Cause everything is better with bacon.