Cross-Stitch Wishes: January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Happy New Year and welcome to our first SOTM blog hop for 2014! If you've come here from the fabulous Mary Eisen, or if you are just starting out, you're in the right place. When we're done here, you'll hop along to the awesome Traci Godbee and see what she has to inspire us this month. In case you get lost along the way, you may want to open up this list of participating blogs (it opens in a new window so you can continue to hop here).

Stitching continues to be a hot trend in papercrafting, and Close To My Heart helps make it easy with this cute set of 13 stamps in Cross-Stitch Wishes. When you want it fast, use it alone for a great cross-stitched look. Want something a little more special? Use the stamps as a pattern to do actual stitching on your project!

I'm sticking with the fast and easy option for now, and I think it looks great. In fact, it was so fast and easy, I made two projects for today, a card and a home decor piece. I have a scrapbook layout in mind, but I need to find the pictures I wanted first! So, up first is my home decor piece:

I made this mason jar wrap to match my kitchen decor. I stamped the flowers on the Sweet Leaf CS with Topiary ink, then stamped them again on Honey, Cotton Candy, and Cranberry CS using coordinating inks. After cutting out the blooms, I sponged the edges of each one with coordinating ink and adhered them with 3-D Foam Tape.

It's more than a plain mason jar. I added a flower frog insert to the mason jar ring so I can use this as a vase. Mason jars are also enjoying a continued run as a hot item for all kinds of uses, so this is a great trendy use of both products.

I fashioned the band corset-style using some eyelets from my stash and some Baker's Twine. This makes it easy to remove if I need to wash the jar, or if for some reason I want to change it.

Now on to my AWESOME (if I do say so myself) card!

I started with a scrap of Laughing Lola pattern paper and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2. I added shades of pink in Cotton Candy and Blush, Colonial White, and Lagoon for contrast. I stamped everything in Black to match the Laughing Lola, and sponged all the papers with coordinating ink (except the Colonial White - I used Champagne for that). I also added a strip of Black Shimmer Trim for bling. The pennants were cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

For this sweet frame, I wrapped a chipboard frame from  with washi tape. (This pattern is sold out, but there are other options - and more coming in February hint, hint) I just overlapped the strips to math the pattern, and trimmed and folded it to wrap the edges.  You can also just sand off the excess tape and ink the edges for a smoother finish, but I liked the wrapped pattern. I then sponged over the whole thing with Champagne ink to match the other pieces.

If you need to shop, any of the following links will take you to a new window. Or if you're ready to move on, I'd love to read your comments before you head over to Traci Godbee's blog.

• Stamp of the Month
• Make It From Your Heart, volume 2
• Cardstock
• Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads
• Laughing Lola
• Dimensional Elements Framework (chipboard frame)
• Sponge Daubers
• 3-D Foam Tape
• Baker's Twine
• Washi Tape
• Tombow Adhesive
• Stamping Blocks

Design Team Day - 2 Parter

It's time for another Design Team Day! And, I just realized I forgot to post the last Design Team Day because I was out of town with slow internet and I completely forgot... So, let's check them both out today:

First, the post I forgot:

You can check out Amber's wintery card here. Remember, if Amber inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click the link that says "Amber from Sew-Ink sent me!"

Next, let's check out Lisa's project:

You can see the whole thing here. If Lisa's project inspires you to shop with me, be sure to click the link that says "Lisa's My Creative Endeavors sent me!"

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check these projects out!

Sending You Sunshine

I got a little jump on Valentine's Day yesterday and made up this card:

Yes, I fussy cut a lot of images on this card. It's not something I would mass-produce for the kids' classrooms, but a nice card for one of my kiddos or even the hubby. Pretty much everything I used here is from the Holidays from the Heart mini book that expires December 31. (If you see something you like, buy it now because in a couple of days it will be gone.)

• Sparkle & Shine paper pack (Juniper pattern paper)
• Party Washi Tape 3-pack (pink polka dots)
• Sparkle Chevron Shapes (around arrow head)
• Charming Chevrons stamp set (red arrow head)
• Lots of Love stamp set (all other images)

Other products include:

• CS in Juniper, White Daisy, Ruby, and Cotton Candy
• Stamp pads in Black and Ruby (stamping), and Juniper & Cotton Candy (sponged edges)
• 3-D Foam Adhesive
• Micro-tip Scissors
• Dimensional Elements Mixed Shapes
• Dimensional Elements Signage
• White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack

 Now I plan to go back to scrapbooking some Christmas pictures to finish up that Sparkle & Shine kit! I have at least 4 more pages to go from 2010, and plenty of product left to finish them up, so I just need to sneak in some free time...

Delights of the Season

You probably noticed I didn't post much this month! Life has been exceptionally busy with holiday prep, school activities, and of course, work. (I didn't even share my Christmas cards with you I was so busy.) But I finally got some crafting time in, and I wanted to post a quick reminder that the Holidays from the Heart mini book ends December 31. In addition to Christmas, there are some great products for Valentine's Day, birthdays, and more.

Being in the Christmas spirit, I started with some pictures from Christmas a few years ago:

I used a simple sketch from Make It From Your Heart volume 2 along with the Sparkle & Shine Workshop on the Go - my title is a large stamp from the kit. The pictures don't do it justice - the "gray" in the houndstooth and ornament print is actually silver.

This was another stamp from the kit. I opted not to journal on this page since there are multiple layouts from the same day.

This layout was sent to me by my awesome upline Connie Hart; I just added pictures and a title. It used the perfect amount of photo mats for stocking gifts. She added some Silver Shimmer Trim & Small Sparkle Flourishes for bling.

I used a little Un-do to lift off this banner and added a title to it using my Silhouette Cameo and a silver Sketch pen. (If you have a Cricut, you can do a similar thing with their markers.)

I have some more photos from 2010 to scrapbook, but I am hoping to get a little jump on Valentine's Day later today first. See you again soon!

We Have a WINNER!!

Thank you to everyone who commented on yesterday's post! Here is your winner:

Rhonda MillerDecember 5, 2013 at 9:39 AM

Wow, you've done a fabulous job on these. I love the color combo on the stacking boxes and the 'Santa' suit on the other box.

Rhonda, please email Adela and let her know which template you would like to receive. Please let her know you won Day 4 so she can find you in our list easily!

Wrap Up the Holidays with Creations by AR!

Welcome to Day 4 of Wrap Up the Holidays! From December 2-9, the Creations by AR Design Team is sharing ideas for 4 new templates to help you wrap things up in style. Be sure to join us daily on the Creations by AR FaceBook Page, so that you don't miss any of the fabulous projects!  Continue reading below, to see how you can enter to win one of the Creations by AR Templates I'm sharing today!

I'm sharing two of the templates with you today, all decked out for Christmas, but I can't wait to use them for other holidays as well.  First up, the Gift Box Tower:

 

I turned my version into an elegant little piece of Winter Wonderland. I love the nice size of these boxes, and I know the kids will help me fill it with something nice for one of the grandmas!

I used Frosted papers from Close To My Heart for my boxes, along with Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon, some Silver Glitter Tape, and a dark blue felt flower from the Frosted Assortment to finish it all off.

I  used 5 lengths of ribbon to create flower petals. Just sew basting stitches on 3 sides of the ribbon, smoothly rounding the corners. Then you pull the top thread so the stitches gather, pulling the gathered edge to the center of the petal. I adhered two lengths of glitter tape to the top of the crossed ribbons, then I used glue dots to adhered the individual petals on top, and adhered the felt flower to the center. I used Hook & Loop dots to adhere the ends of the ribbons under the bottom of the box, so it's easy to open and easy to reuse.

Next up, I created a fun & simple version of the Swirl Top box:

I used my Make The Cut software and enlarged all of the pieces as big as I could get them and still have one piece fit 12x12. I made a simple Santa theme for a fun way for a child to take a gift to their teacher. (I made mine large so it will hold a ruffle scarf I made.)

Santa's belt is just some Black Glitter Tape threaded through a ribbon slide from my stash (I think it is from 7gypsies). I cut the pieces for each side individually to keep it straight, since the box has angled edges.

I added a coordinating tag using some Cricut cuts and stamps. The baker's twine can either be tied to the gift itself, or taped to the inside of one of the flaps.

Either of these templates, plus the Triangle Compact, or Our House Gift Tag can be purchased separately, or you can purchase all 4 of them in a special December Bundle.

DAILY PRIZE GIVEAWAY:  To enter to win, simply leave a comment on this blog post, letting me know which of these new templates is your favorite. One random winner will receive one template of their choice, from the new templates shown here on my blog!  The winner will be announced tomorrow December 6th, here on my blog, so be sure to check back!  

Be sure to stop by Julia's Blog tomorrow for another chance to win one of these new templates and to see how she is wrapping up the holidays!  If you missed the projects created for Day 1-3, you can see what Patti created here for Day 1, what Jak created here for Day 2, and what Lisa created here for Day 3.