A Little Everything - Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We are featuring the March SOTM, which is called A Little Everything.
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If you get lost along the way or find links that aren't working, click here to find a complete list of participants.
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When you're done here, the next stop is Helen's Blog, so don't forget to keep hopping and check out all the inspirational artwork!
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This stamp set is such an obvious one for cards, so I challenged myself to use it on a scrapbook page. This was such a super quick page, took less than 20 minutes, which is rare for me since I tend to over-think things, but I'm really pleased with the results. I also love how this stamp set matches the new Cocktail Alphabet stamp set as well - which is what I used to stamp her name on this page.


Products Used (all CTMH): Blue Ribbon paper pack, Autumn Harvest Textured CS (Outdoor Denim), new Spring Blossom Just Blooms, Indian Corn Blue ink, Outdoor Denim ink, A Little Everything stamp set, Cocktail Alphabet stamp set, Red Sparkles (retired), Outdoor Denim striped ribbon (retired).
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I also used the following sketch from Creative Scrappers:

Here is another card I've already posted using this stamp set.

Thanks for looking - happy hopping!

Clearly The Best!

Tomorrow is the last day for the You Tube viewing contest, so I'm just bumping this to the top to help my CTMH Sisters out! I also found a new one today - it's at the bottom.

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Close To My Heart is having a video contest - Consultants have been challenged to create short, informative videos posted on YouTube that demonstrate why Close To My Heart stamps are “Clearly the Best.” I am not participating in this contest myself, I just had to share some of the fabulous videos that have been created and shared so far. The entrant whose video garners the most YouTube views will win $500 cash, so be sure to watch your favorite over and over!

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If anyone would like me to link their video here, just leave me a comment and let me know - these are the ones I have viewed so far, but I would love to see them all!

Tresa Black

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp424x13WIc

Teri Baxter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWcadf8h68g

Melanie Harmsma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6VgLmhwsVc

Elissa Stong

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81sYVsE09wc

Rachel Schumann

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2wyfLm7iNM

Clerissa Lewis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap3cv7rzDLs

Helen Onulak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlRuPsvhZLU

Ruth De La Cruz-Nava

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDxfmJDREwk

Michelle Nist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrdOTVe9mTw

Amanda DesJardins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEhxF4U5-iM

Brae Montgomery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfcVC4tOh-4

Christine David

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X593ZdFVkKQ

Kristina Baldwin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qMuJKN7Udg

Aaron Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSQmJFBwrV8

Mandy Leahy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDHQfvrvLPM

Melissa Laverty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXW0CGRas3o

Tarah Faulkner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXxxkZa2iIQ

Card Make-Overs

To continue to go along with the challenge over at Practical Scrappers this week, I've decided to share some cards that have received make-overs!
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First, do you remember this card that I posted for the January SOTM Blog Hop? Well, I decided to re-do it with different colors/papers for a club gathering project - I like this one much better! We used the Felicity papers and True Friends stamp set. I love how the Barn Red ink looks on the Desert Sand cardstock.

And then do you remember the house card that I created for my November Workshop? Well, my original card just had a simple little house, it was nothing special. And then I saw Karen Pedersen's DARLING gingerbread house cards so this card got a make-over as well. Thanks to the online clearance sale I also was able to replace my Festive Thoughts stamp set that got lost. I just knew that this sentiment from that stamp set went perfectly - on the inside it says 'from our house to yours'. I also made my own glitter brads (using clear embossing powder mixed with glitter) to add to this card. So much cuter than the original!

Thanks for looking!

You are...

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a Journaling Challenge from Karen - to "journal about an interesting characteristic or trait of someone you love"

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Here is the layout that I created - can you tell that I just LOVE this new Topstitch paper and Togetherness stamp! I liked the layout on page 8 of the new Spring Idea Book from CTMH, so I used that for my inspiration for this page.

This tag pulls out to reveal my hidden journaling...

And here is a close-up of the journaling...on the front I made a list of some of her traits...

...and on the back I added a little more detail about some of them - especially the more unique traits...

Here is a close-up of the Suede Pinwheels and Stickease that I clustered together.

Products Used (all CTMH): Topstitch paper and Stickease, Soft Suede Pinwheels, Togetherness stamp set, Cocktail Alphabet stamp set, 3-D Foam Squares, Vineyard Berry stamp pad, Chocolate stamp pad

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Thanks for looking! Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created for this week's challenge!

1st B-day Invites

Here are the invites that the girls and I did for Trysten's 1st birthday. These cards go along with this week's challenge over at Practical Scrappers to use stamps. We used the train from the Childhood stamp set and '1st Birthday' came from Nursery Bash stamp set. I did this card using the Stardust papers...

...and the girls did the rest. I cut all the papers but they stamped, distressed, and glued together - didn't they do such a great job! Can you guess which one Brailee did - here's a hint, she LOVED playing with the buttons!

Thanks for looking!

One of a Kind

Here is a page I did of Trysten a while ago using the Felicity papers. Sorry for the crooked/flash/fingerprint covered pics, but you get the idea.

ETA: I forgot to mention that I got this layout from the October 2009 PageMaps.

I used the new Noted Background stamp set to Stamp Kiss the ONE in the title. There is hidden journaling behind the picture on this page.

Thanks for looking!

9 Months Old

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a Recipe Challenge from Marcia - use the following on your cards or layouts.
*Staples

*Stitching (faux or real)

*Stamping

I decided to use these items on another one of Trysten's calendar pages - I'm hoping to get caught up on that soon! I used a sketch from the December 2009 PageMaps, I just rotated the sketch once to fit my vertical picture.

I had so much fun with this layout, but don't I always! I did lots of faux stitching using stamps, so I killed two birds with one stone! Plus there are stitches on the patterned paper as well so it all worked nicely together.

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Products Used (all CTMH): Stardust paper pack and Stickease, Solo 9 stamp set, Circle Around stamp set, Togetherness stamp set, Friendship Alphabet stamp set, blue and green staples (retired), Topiary, Moonstruck, and Heavenly Blue stamp pads.

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Here is a close-up of some of the stamping, stitches, and staples.

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team created for this week's challenge! Thanks for looking!

You Rock - Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop! This month we are featuring the stamp set D1346 You Rock. This was a fun stamp set to play with - I used it on my upcoming Workshop featuring the You Rock papers as well! I used the Workshop On The Go for the You Rock papers, but instead of using the Rockin' Top Coats and the Just Be You stamp set that comes in the Workshop Kit, I changed things up and used the You Rock stamp set instead.

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Here are the pages and cards that we will be creating at the workshop...remember you can click on any of the images to view them larger.

Here are some close-ups of the pages...

Since I didn't have the Rockin' Top Coats to use, I created my own by heat embossing on a transparency and then cutting out - I used Pansy Purple, Olive, and Goldrush (retired) Embossing Powder.

When I stamped the word 'YOU' I accidentally got an edge of the block in the ink and it transfered to the paper - so I made it look like I meant to do that by adding more and voila, I created journaling lines! I think the rough look goes along well with the paper. Here you can also see the crown from the You Rock stamp set that I embossed on a transparency and cut out to add to the page.

And here is my corner accent - I combined two different stamps 'I Love to Play' and 'You Rock' to make it say {I Love You} instead.

Here are the cards...

...for this one I heat embossed the guitar on a transparency and cut out...

...for this one I also used the Circle Around stamp set and Thanks stamp set...

...for this one I didn't use the You Rock stamp set, instead I used the Star Struck stamp set along with the Happy Birthday stamp set...

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The next stop on this blog hop is Tracy, so don't forget to keep on hopping and check out all the fun artwork using this stamp set.

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If you get lost or find links not working along the way, here is a complete list of hoppers...

Wendy K http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com/

Jenifer Benner http://www.jensmessystudio.com/

Jena DeVries http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Tracy Oleksak http://www.mamaolie.blogspot.com/

Kimberly Smith http://verykimberry.blogspot.com/

Sylvia Jacquot http://stampinsylvia.blogspot.com/

Mary Eisen http://mestamp2.blogspot.com/

Carol Loftus http://www.carolloftus.blogspot.com/

Adeline Brill http://www.adeline-brill.blogspot.com/

And for those who would like to see the original Workshop On The Go designs - here is what CTMH created - you can see how I changed mine up.

Thanks for looking - I hope you enjoy the Blog Hop!

Love You Forever

Since the book, "Love You Forever" is one of my favorite books (even though I cry every time I read it), when I saw this new stamp set in the new CTMH Spring Idea Book, I just knew I had to have it. Plus the images on this set are just darling! So I decided to use this stamp set and each of the new Spring paper packs to make Valentine's cards for my kids - I really love how they turned out and the kids loved them - except Trysten who just wanted to pull his apart or throw it in the garbage ;-) For each of the following cards I used a sketch from the September 2009 CardMaps from PageMaps.

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Since Kaylee's favorite color is green, I decided to use the Caboodle papers.

Brianna's favorite color is blue, so I used Topstitch - this one ended up looking really baby-ish with the pale colors and the sheep but she thought it was adorable.

Brailee likes lots of colors but she tends to lean more towards the greens and yellows so I used Veranda on her card. She does like owls still, so this image was perfect.

And for Trysten, of course since he is a boy, I used the You Rock papers - love that blue pattern!

And I didn't use any stamp sets on this card, but here is the one I made for my hubby.

I hope you are all having a Happy Valentine's Day with your loved ones! Check back after midnight tonight to see a special CTMH Blog Hop featuring the stamp set, You Rock!

Love begins with a smile...

It's a good thing I checked my e-mail this morning before the post I had scheduled went live. This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} was supposed to be the Recipe Challenge, but Tamara decided to switch things up this week, so I would have had the wrong project posted this morning! Instead, this week's challenge is a card sketch, I just had to rearrange a few of my scheduled posts so here you go!

And here is the card I created using this sketch - I LOVE how it turned out! I usually don't like to take so much time or use so many accessories on cards, but I really had fun with this one! This card also goes along with this week's challenge over at Practical Scrappers - to use brads!

Products Used (all CTMH): Topstitch paper, Love Is In The Air stamp set, Chocolate brads (bigger, regular, and bitty), Vineyard Berry stamp pad, Heavenly Blue stamp pad, Chocolate stamp pad, Edge Distressor, Cottage Edge Anchors, 3D foam squares

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And here is a different angle so you can see the dimension and distressing.

Thanks for looking! And don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created!

Super Hero Style

I wish I were a Super Hero! This has been quite a week/month/year - I hope I make it through! My computer has crashed, so I am using my super slow laptop (that hasn't been used in over a year since it's such a pain), but thanks to post scheduling, I won't be disappearing from my blog anytime soon. I still have the rest of this month's Design Team work to share, plus I have been scrapping a lot lately - it helps relieve my stress! Thanks for sticking with me even though I am not able to return the sweet comments.

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Just a quick (but not complete) update - yesterday the two youngest kids were scheduled for their yearly check-ups at the doctor. Brailee went to her cousin's birthday party after lunch and got home about 45 minutes before her appointment. Shortly after getting home she started crying about her ear - she was clearly in pain and I just knew it was an ear infection. Out of all our kids, she has had them the worst - when she was a baby she had a run of them about one a month. We thought we were past that, though as I don't think she has had one for over a year...until now, that is. Usually our doctor visits go so well (even with the shots) but yesterday was a different story. Brailee was hurting and tired (she fell asleep on the way to the appointment) so she was a pill at first, plus it was a fill-in doctor since ours is on vacation, and a new nurse, so I don't think that helped either. After a while she finally got happy again and played with her sisters...but then it was shot time. She only cried for about 30 seconds but she wasn't too happy with me for letting them give her a shot. Oh, and sure enough, it was an ear infection. Trysten wasn't too happy at the doctor's office either - his nap schedule was off yesterday so he was tired as well. He also has at least 3 or 4 new teeth coming in, and on Sunday as we were getting ready for church, he fell and bumped his mouth and tore his frenulum (sp?) so his mouth is pretty sore and makes him cranky! So he wasn't too happy at the doctor, and then he got his shots too - boy that made him mad! We were only there for about an hour but I was glad to get out of there! Luckily David was just getting home from work when we got out so I dropped off all the kids and went to the pharmacy for Brailee's antibiotic. So, anyway, sometimes I just wish I were a Super Mom who could make it all better ;-)

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Anyway, enough rambling - here is what I came to share this morning. This was a page I did for the last PageMaps Blog contest, but thanks to my computer crashing, I was unable to get it uploaded in time for the contest deadline. I just checked out the winners - they are amazing - I never stood a chance anyway ;-P Here is the sketch used - I rotated it once to fit my pics.

I love these Let's Get Together papers - but you'd never know they were a favorite of mine since this one and Brailee's Birthday Girl pages that I posted earlier this week are the first ones I've done with them - and I've had the papers for over a year now! I want to re-do my journaling spot - the buttercup ink didn't show the journaling lines as well as I would have liked, and my Garden Green marker is going dry so it all just didn't work well together. This was the first time I've used the new Irresistables Color-Ready Alphabets and they are so much fun. I do love these pictures of Kaylee - they make me smile! So I do love the page - just need to order a new marker and fix my journaling spot...eventually!

Products Used (all CTMH): Let's Get Together papers, Posterboard Alphabet stamp set, Doodle Alphabet stamp set, Comments stamp set, Simple Stitches stamp set, Irresistables Lots of Dots (sticker letters), sponged with Breeze ink, Autumn Garden mini medleys (Olive Corduroy Brads)

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Thanks for looking - and thanks for your sweet comments, they really brighten my day!

Winter Joy

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a layout sketch:

And here is the layout I created...I had so much fun with this one, and you can see I stayed pretty true to the sketch. This page went together pretty fast, and I'm really pleased with it. This is Kaylee 6 years ago!

CTMH Products Used: Life Delights paper pack, Pearl Paint, Flurry Dimensional Elements, Blush re-inker, Snow Flurries stamp set, Clear Sparkles, Pretty Pins, Winter Cozy Mini Medleys
Other: SU! scallop border punch
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The pin in the sketch inspired me to finally use at least one Pretty Pin that I've had for almost a year now! Now I'm inspired to use them more.

I painted the chipboard snowflakes and edges of all the papers with the Pearl Paint for some fun distressing. For the flake in the bottom right corner I added some Blush re-inker to the paint for a pretty pink snowflake. In the following picture the coloring is off but you can see the paint distressing better...

To see what the rest of the Design Team has created, visit the Sketches! {by tamara} blog. Thanks for looking!