Welcome Little One - January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to January's Stamp of the Month blog hop!  This month we are featuring "Little Reminder", a set of 25 stamps available only for the month of January.  If you've arrived here from Beth's Creative Block blog, or if you're just starting out, you are in the right place.  When you're done here, you'll hop along to Shirley's Mom n Me blog.

As soon as I opened up this stamp set, I knew I wanted to make a special baby girl card for a friend who recently had a baby.  I pulled out my Sophia paper pack and some other supplies, in addition to the stamp of the month.  I found a pattern I liked in the Wishes book, and modified it only slightly for what I had in mind.  Here's how it turned out:

I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge along with the stamp of the month set and the Hooray Bouquet stamp set for the circles, 3-D flowers, and leaves.  I also used a Sophia journaling spot (currently just $1 while supplies last!) on the front for a slightly different feel.  If you'd like to learn how to make the flowers I used on this card, you can watch this video I made.

Following is a list of all the supplies I used for this card.  The links will open my website in a new window, so you don't have to worry about losing the rest of the hop!

• Sophia paper pack
• Sophia journaling spots
• Wishes Card Confidence Program
• 4.25"x5.5" Clear Cards
• Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Blush, Hollyhock, and Pear
• Sponge Daubers
• Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
• embossing stylus
• paper piercer
• Hooray Bouquet stamp set
• Little Reminder stamp of the month set
• stamp blocks in 2"x2" and 3"x3"
• Double Scrubber
• Spritz stamp cleaner

Now, don't forget to hop along and see what Shirley has in store for us this month.  Leave a comment if you have the time, and I'd love it if you'd become a follower!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again soon.

Super Simple Paper Scrap Bracelet

Would you believe that this pretty bracelet is made with only 3 items?  And one of them is paper?!  This was one of my Mom's Christmas presents, and I don't think she had any idea (shh!).

 

All you need to make this bracelet is paper scraps (mine are from Close To My Heart's Dreamin' paper pack), a metal bracelet blank from the jewelry department of your big box craft store (around $3-$4), and Liquid Glass/Glossy Accents (same product, different brands).

Here's how to make it: First, measure the openings of the bracelet sections and cut or punch pieces to fit.  Squares are easiest to start with as they can be cut more exactly.  Next, adhere the paper into each section using a small amount of Liquid Glass and let dry.  Finally, OVER fill each section with Liquid Glass so that it is rounded high above the top of the section's bezel.  As it dries, it will shrink down to be slightly rounded or even with the top of the bezels.  With a small bit of practice, you will be able to get each section the same, but if they are not even you can add another layer after the first is dry.

NOTE: if you are filling a larger or deeper area, you should fill it in layers instead of all at once to prevent cracking.

Here's what the bracelet looks like once filled:

And here's what it looks like once it is dried:

If you'd like to see a more complex jewelry piece, I've got one posted over on the Cutters Creek blog today using some gorgeous Graphic45 paper.

Still Time to Get Mad About You!

Check out this sweet banner I made with the Mad About You stamp set and my Cricut:

There are 4 stamps marked on this set with their compatible sizes on the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, but of course I'm sure you can find more great shapes on the cartridge to use with the sentiments.  Don't have the cartridge?  You can still cut the shapes by hand like we've been doing for years. I also cut my letters from the same cartridge.

If you haven't yet placed your order for December's stamp of the month, Mad About You, there's still a little time left.  This stamp set goes away after 12/31, but if you contact me via email or phone I am still able to order it a few days after that.

If you'd like more ideas using this awesome stamp set, you can check out our blog hop from the 1st of the month!

Supplies used in this project are available from Close To My Heart:

• Mad About You, December stamp of the month
• Roxie Level 2 paper pack
• Ink pads in Black, Tulip, and Smoothie
• Sponge daubers
• Bonding Memories glue pen (mine in the photo is an old style, so it's bigger than the current one)
• Designer Ribbon Red Collection
• Stamping blocks, 2"x2" and 3"x3"
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

I also used a 1/8" hole punch so I could string my ribbon through the hearts.

While Supplies Last

Wow!  I just visited the online Close To My Heart ordering system, and there are even more new items in the While Supplies Last section.  Best part is, they start as low as $1 each, and up to 81% off!  Yikes!

One of my faves is last year's "Valentine's" paper pack, Sweetheart for only $3.  (Includes 10 sheets cardstock & 12 sheets B&T patterns.)   And the coordinating MyStickease are only $2.  Lots of other little goodies are out there too.

Don't forget, if you order $25 worth of items from the Autumn/Winter 2011 catalog, you can get that awesome Rock The Block promotion for just $15.  And I am also sending a special little something with all $25+ orders this month as well.  So, get a few new things, a few great bargains, and a great special promotion all in one order and save on shipping!  Enjoy...

It's Time To Rock the Block With Close To My Heart

Hello and welcome to a special CTMH blog hop, where we are gonna "Rock the Block"!  If you're just starting out, or if you're arriving here from Georgia Hauglid's blog, you are in the right place.  When you're done here, you'll move along to Sheila Bennet's blog.

So, why the special blog hop?  To celebrate Close To My Heart's new Rock the Block promotion!  For a limited time, when you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, you can get two new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set. That’s a retail savings of almost $30! You're going to love the Collage Cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set, which work together for interactive, 3-D fun.  And now you have 33 consultants sharing great projects made with these special products, so you'll have plenty of ideas when you get yours in hand!

We spent this weekend traveling to visit my family for early Christmas.  Plus we had an extra trip in there for a Master's Degree graduation. (Trust me, this IS relative, I promise.)  This amount of travel with three kids is NOT fun for me.  So I decided to use these products to make some travel games.  I still have to come up with more, but these two helped keep my kids busy for at least an hour, which was a great help.

First up, an old standby: Tic-Tac-Toe

I used Holiday Red and Sky for this game, using papers from the Believe paper pack and some cardstock.  I cut my Xs and Os using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, and I sponged the edges of everything with coordinating ink.

I used one of the background stamps in the stamp set to add a design in Holiday Red to the pattern paper in Sky with white dots & stars.

For my second game, I got all educational and made a Magic Square Game.  This is a math game in which the numbers need to add up to 15 in ALL directions, including diagonally.  For younger kids, they can skip the diagonal portion or they will get too frustrated.

For this game, I used Sky and Sweet Leaf/Ponderosa Pine, again using paper from the Believe paper pack and cardstock.  I again used one of the background stamps in the set, to make the Sky on Sky dot pattern.  And I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the numbers 1-9, even numbers from the Sky pattern paper and odd numbers from the Ponderosa Pine cardstock.

Next up, I plan on adding games for longer trips.  There will be one where they try to find signs matching all of the shapes I include on the blocks, and another to find certain colors of cars.  I even had a request for a picture puzzle from one of the kids.  These are all games that don't take long on their own (depending on where we are driving), but will break up the monotony of car trips for all of us.  The great tray that the blocks come in is awesome for keeping this all together on a lap, and we just stuck the entire thing in a big ziploc bag when no one was playing.

I hope you enjoyed your stop here.  I'd love to hear your comments on my games, and any ideas you might have for more, lol.  And feel free to become a follower or subscriber while you're here, and maybe even become a Facebook fan!  When you're ready to shop, you can visit my website 24/7, or contact me for personal assistance.

When you're ready, let's hop on over to Sheila's blog and see what great idea she has for us this time!

Gorjuss Winter Card and a Challenge!

It's challenge time over at Scrappy Frog's Challenge Blog!  This month's challenge is to use stitching on your project, and I decided to use some on this sweet 5"x7" Winter card:

My main image is a Gorjuss Girls "Foxy" stamp from Sugar Nellie.  I colored it with my Copic markers to match my papers.  The other stamps are all from the Snowflakes set from Close To My Heart.  The papers are all from the Wonderland paper pack, also from Close To My Heart.  All shapes were cut on my Cricut using the exclusive Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from CTMH.  I added machine stitching around the largest circle in coordinating thread. All embellishments are from my stash.

Want something quicker & easier?  I have two more cards using Gorjuss Girls images over on the Cutters Creek blog today.  No stamping, no coloring, just fast!  Thanks for stopping by today - I hope to be back soon with more projects getting us all ready for Christmas!  If you'd like to play along with our stitching challenge, head on over to Scrappy Frog's and take a look at some of the inspiration from other DT members.

More Advent Calendar Variations

I know, December 1st has come and gone, but I wanted to share the other two advent calendars I made for my kids to show you some variations. (And there's always plenty of time for next year, right?) As a reminder, I made these using SVG files from SVG Cuts and Make The Cut software.

The one I showed the other day was for my 10yo daughter - she likes blue.

Here's the one I made for my 8yo daughter:

This one uses discontinued papers from Close To My Heart, cardstock from CTMH, glitter cardstock in Aqua from American Crafts, and more Cuttlebug/Sizzix embossing folders.

Here's the one I made for my 6yo son:

This one uses pattern papers from Figgy Pudding by BasicGrey, cardstock from CTMH, and some shiny foil paper I've had in my stash for YEARS.  (I don't think I will try to use the foil paper with a cutting machine again after this experience, lol.)

Sorry for the poor photos - I finally finished these before dinner, and of course the light is not the best around here in the evening!  Hope it gives you an idea of some of the different looks you can get from the advent calendar files.  Thanks for stopping by!