June 2012 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the June 2012 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring Life is Tweet, a set of 15 Stamps.  If you've just arrived here from {Gina's} blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, just jump in and enjoy our circular hop, which has over 50 participants this month.  When you reach the end of a post, click on the link at the end to go to the next post in the hop.

For my card, I broke out my CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the card shape.  I cut it out twice (once in cardstock, once in patterned paper), cut the patterned card at the fold, and glued them together.  The sentiment was stamped on the reverse side of the patterned paper, and the image was stamped on cardstock and trimmed.  A cute bow for the front, a couple flowers stamped inside, and I have a "tweet" birthday card for a friend.

Papers: CTMH cardstock in Sweet Leaf, CTMH Dotty for You
Inks: CTMH Lagoon and Sorbet
Tools and Techniques: CTMH ribbon,Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Liquid Glass
Stamp Sets: CTMH Life is Tweet

Remember, Life is Tweet is only available 1-30 June 2012.  Contact your Close To My Heart consultant, or click here, to find out how to get your own.

Now hop on over to {Amy's} blog to see her tweet creation.

If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of hoppers posted here.  

May 2012 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the May 2012 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring Friendship Bouquet, a set of 8 stamps.  If you have just arrived from {Lori's} blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, you can join in our circular hop by simply clicking the link to the next blog at the end of each post.

Well, this was definitely cutting it close.  My shipment from Okinawa took the full 60 days to get here (technically, they didn't call me until the 61st day), which has NEVER happened to me before.  So, two short days ago the movers were here.  This was my scrap room Friday afternoon, before the movers were finished.

And this is what it looked like Sunday night.

 And I still have scrap stuff in two other rooms.  Luckily, I was able to "dig up" the supplies I needed to make this cute gift, which would be perfect for introducing yourself to a new neighbor.  I took some seed packets and tied them together with Tan Hemp.  Using a Dimensional Element from the Art Philosophy Collection, I stamped the sentiment in Hollyhock and the leaf in Bamboo.  Had I been able to locate my hole punch, I would have tied on the Dimensional Element, but I just used adhesive to attach it to the seed packet.  The hemp was threaded through the buttons and tied off, leaving the flower-shaped buttons to dangle.

Papers: CTMH Dimensional Elements

Inks: CTMH Bamboo and Hollyhock

Tools and Techniques: CTMH Hemp, CTMH Pink Assortment Buttons, CTMH Blue Assortment Buttons
Stamp Sets: CTMH Friendship Bouqet

Remember, Friendship Bouquet is only available May 1-31, 2012.  Contact your consultant or click {here} to find out how to get your own.

Now hop on over to {Nancy's} blog to see what she's created.

If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of hoppers listed on her blog.

April 2012 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the April 2012 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring You Are, a set of 15 Stamps.  Whether you have arrived here from {Angel's} blog or this is just your starting point, just click on the link at the end of each post to enjoy our round-robin hop.

Sticking with last month's theme (working with the extremely limited supplies I have on-hand) and the fact that we are nearing the end of the school year, I thought I'd make a gift card holder.  Whether a gift card for your children's hardworking teachers or for a favorite grad, a handmade gift card holder adds the personalization that may otherwise be lacking.  For this simple holder, I cut a sheet of cardstock 3 inches by 11 inches, and scored it at 4.5 inches and 9 inches.  Crease and fold at the score lines, and then use adhesive on the top and bottom of the short (2 inch) side to create a pocket in which to slide your card.  I stamped the background pattern and trimmed it to make a panel for the front of the gift card holder, then stamped the sentiment in a coordinating color.  At that point, I decided to trim about 1/2 inch from the right edge of the front in order to add a little bit of interest.  I mounted the panel to the card front, and voila!  You can embellish these card holders in many ways, either by adding actual embellishments, ribbons, etc. or by making them in decorative shapes (by using corner cutters, die-cut systems, or digital cutting systems.  The possibilities are limitless!

Papers: CTMH Colonial White cardstock, Scribble Scrabble Sweet & Sour Fruit Medley

Inks: CTMH Desert Sand and Tulip

Stamp Sets: CTMH You Are

Remember, You Are is only available April 1st-30th 2012.  Contact your CTMH consultant, or click here, to get one for yourself.

Now hop on over to {Elizabeth's} blog to see her creation.

If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of hoppers posted here.

March 2012 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's time for the March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  This month there are over 50 Close To My Heart consultants participating in our hop, featuring the March Stamp of the Month Potential, a set of 8 stamps.  If you arrived from {Angela's} blog, you are on the right path.  If not, no worries.  Our hop is a round-robin, so you can jump in anywhere and enjoy the artwork.

Part of my moving adventure has been the mail.  I mailed some items that I had planned to use for this month's project to my stateside address before leaving Okinawa.  I waited as long as I possibly could before conceding that the package wasn't going to arrive on time.  Luckily, I'd brought the stamp and inks in  my luggage, and had some other paper at home.  I don't want to have to move again for a VERY long time.  But anyway, about my card.  It was inspired by this week's sketch at Mojo Monday (but as I'm lacking all of my supplies while they make there way back on the slow boat from China Japan, I wasn't able to do the scallop or the flower.  I was just glad to have papers that matched the three inkpads I brought back with me).   The card went together simply, I did second-generation stamping for the flourish (ink your stamp, stamp once on scrap paper then without re-inking stamp it on your project), and direct-to-paper and crosshatch edge distressing.   The sentiment was stamped over the flourish, and then the card was ready to assemble.

Papers: CTMH White Daisy cardstock, Scribble Scrabble Sweet & Sour Fruit Medley

Inks: CTMH Desert Sand and Tulip

Tools and Techniques: Second-generation stamping, direct-to-paper edge distressing, crosshatching
Stamp Sets: CTMH Potential

 Remember, Potential is only available March 1-31, 2012.  Contact your consultant or click {here} to find out how to get your own.

Now hop on over to {Dawn's} blog to see what she's created.

If you find any broken links along the way, Kathleen has the complete list of hoppers listed on her blog.

February 2012 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the February 2012 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring Thoughtful Tidings, a set of 11 Stamps.  If you've just arrived here from {Katy's} blog, you are on the right track.  If you are just starting here, just jump in and enjoy our circular hop, which has 60 participants this month.  When you reach the end of a post, click on the link at the end to hop to the next post.

I'll be leaving Okinawa in a few weeks, so planning ahead is even more important yhan usual (because once the movers pick up my stuff, I won't see it again for probably two months).  This June, two of my Dragons cheerleaders will be graduating from high school, so I wanted to make cards for them.   The graduation cap card was cut with my Silhouette (I know, what's wrong with me???  I received a Cricut for Christmas and here I am using my Silhouette!).  Some paper piecing, heat embossing, and a sentiment from this month's SOTM, and I have a couple of cute graduation cards.  (Forgive the quality of the photos, my battery charger remains MIA)

Papers: CTMH Black, Topiary, and White Daisy
Inks: CTMH Black, Versamark
Tools and Techniques: Silhouette machine, CTMH Gold Embossing Powder, heat embossing
Stamp Sets: CTMH Thoughtful Tidings and Friendship Small Alphabet

Remember, Thoughtful Tidings is only available February 1-29, 2012.  Contact your consultant, or click here, to find out how to get your own.

Now hop on over to {Shirley's} blog to see what she's created.

If you find any broken links along the way, {Helen} has the complete list of hoppers listed on her blog.

Free Studio J Layouts in January

Are you a Studio J^® member?  If not, now is the perfect time to join!  In addition to the great member benefits (50% off retail price, JPG files available free with each purchased layout or for standalone purchase, free Memory Protectors^® with every order, free shipping*, and exclusive kits and patterns), until January 31st for every 9 custom-printed Studio J layouts you buy, you’ll receive the 10th layout free.  The best part is that there is NO LIMIT to the number of free layouts you can receive.  Buying 90 layouts?  You'll get 10 for free.  What's that you say??  You aren't a Studio J^® member?  Well, head on over to my website and create your account today!

Here are a few of my recent Studio J^® creations.

 

 

 

Don't forget to download the Studio J^® app for your iPhone so you can keep all of your layouts right at your fingertips!

2011 Scrappin' Totals

Well, I came nowhere near accomplishing my scrapping goals for the year.  However, I did manage to take as many college classes as a full-time student (and earned a 4.0 GPA), volunteered as a cheerleading coach for a good portion of the year, completed some professional education training for work, and managed to put in TONS of hours at work (too bad I don't get paid overtime).

Pages complete: 2
Cards complete: 11
Altered Items: 15
Digital Pages complete: 24
Sewing Items: 7
Crochet Items: 1

My 2012 goals will be mostly a repeat of my 2011 goals:  100 pages (including digital), 200 cards, use my Silhouette and Cricut more often, get cards done the month before they are needed AND actually get them in the mail (I'm a notorious postal failure), and try to get some of that old scrapping caught up. What are your scrapping goals for 2012???