June 2014 Stamp of the Month - Kaboom

Get ready for Independence Day!  I always love this time of year with the warm weather and time shared with family.  I also love the smell of barbecues, sharing recipes and of course, eating!

Kaboom features fun sentiments and images to suit the upcoming July 4th holiday:

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5 — that’s over 70% off retail! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.  Otherwise, you can purchase this set outright for $17.95.










Inspired by one of our samples in the Idea Book, I made the following card, not for July 4th, but as a thank you to someone special!

Supplies (all CTMH unless specified otherwise):

Paper:  Outdoor Denim Cardstock, Honey Cardstock, Cranberry Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock

Stamps:  Kaboom - June 2014 SOTM

Inks:  Cranberry, Outdoor Denim

Other:  Art Philosophy, Sparkles Assortment, Sizzix Embossing Folder (non-CTMH)

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Ivy Lane Workshop

Ivy Lane has proven to be one of my favorite paper packs in our latest Idea Book!  I love the colors and patterns.  It is such an elegant paper to work with that I knew I needed to share it.

Please join me in making three 2-page layouts using this beautiful paper and coordinating paper and accessories.  Here is a sample of just one of the layouts you will be making:

Location:  My home

Date/Time:  Saturday, May 31 @10:00 am

Cost (includes S/H and tax):  $27.00

RSVP:  No later than Saturday, May 17 at joycegough7@gmail.com or 703.791.6821

Bring:  Basic toolkit

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May 2014 Stamp of the Month - You've Got a Friend

When I saw the May 2014 Stamp of the Month, it screamed "EMBOSS ME" to me!  So of course that's just what I did.  These stamps are very diverse in that they include both an image and a sentiment, making the perfect focal point for your cards and other papercrafting uses.

Using the new Balloon Ride paper packet, here is a card I was hoping would warm the heart of someone special to me:

 

Supplies (all CTMH unless specified otherwise):

Paper:  Balloon Ride Paper Pack, Chocolate Cardstock, Creme Brulee Cardstock

Stamps:  You've Got a Friend Stamp of the Month - May 2014

Inks:  Chocolate Pigment Ink

Markers:  Creme Brulee, Crystal Blue, Sorbet

Other:  Balloon Ride Assortment, Chocolate Ribbon (retired), Clear Embossing Powder (retired)

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5 — that’s over 70% off retail! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.  Otherwise, you can purchase this set outright for $17.95.





Here is some other fabulous artwork that you can make using this set:

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April 2014 Stamp of the Month - Balloon Talk!

This card appealed to the math major in me.  I used to love math so much, I would save my math homework last after all the rest.  I loved the challenge and the feeling of success when I correctly solved a problem.  One of the common lessons from grade school was doing unions.  Although this card doesn't exactly represent a union, it gave me the idea on how to use this stamp set.  Enjoy!

Supplies (all CTMH unless specified otherwise):

Paper:  Skylark Paper Pack, Cocoa Cardstock, Sweetleaf Cardstock, Twilight Cardstock, Bamboo Cardstock, White Cardstock

Stamps:  Balloon Talk - April 2014 Stamp of the Month

Inks: Cocoa, Sweetleaf, Twilight

Other:  Skylark Assortment, Sparkles, Flutter Paper Shapes (retired)

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Lollydoodle-ing Around!

Have you seen the new Lollydoodle papers?  After dealing with the seemingly endless cold, gray, snowy days, working with this bright, happy paper packet was just the ticket to cheer me up!

Are you ready to be cheered up, too?  Consider joining me for a Lollydoodle workshop!  You can make cards, scrapbook pages or whatever you choose with the bright pinks, blues and greens that herald these papers and matching embellishments.

First, I played with the new Lollydoodle Cardmaking Kit.  If you have ever worked with these kits before, you know that the kit is set up with instructions and all consumable items to make a total of 15 cards - 5 each of 3 designs.  Many times making them per the guide included in the kit is just the ticket for your needs.  This time, I felt that I wanted to change up the cards for my own personal needs.  Although I made one of each of the designs as listed in the guide, I changed up the remaining 4 so that a) they would be most useful for me, and b) I could make use of some of the other embellishments and stamp sets I have accumulated over time.

Here are samples of what is in the guide, as well as how I changed things up.

Guide Design 1:

Some modifications:

Guide Design 2:

Some modifications:

Guide Design 3:

Some modifications:

After all, how many "Love of My Life" cards do you need?  Well, maybe some of you have more than one, I guess, but I need other options!  :)

Second, I played with the Lollydoodle Paper Packet, the matching Lollydoodle Assortment, and our exclusive Cricut cartridges.  I wanted to create something that would be versatile enough to add mats, pictures and journaling to once I decide which photos I want to use to go with this paper.  Of course I turned to one of my trusty How-To Programs, Cherish, and used one of the designs to create three different layouts:

Layout 1:

Layout 2:

Layout 3:

These three layouts use the bulk of the paper in the Lollydoodle Paper Packet as well as most of the embellishments in the Lollydoodle Assortment.  I have also added some cricut cuts, a little extra cardstock, washi tape, Shimmer Trim, and other assorted embellishments.  There are just a few scraps left over to make some matching cards!

Recommended mat colors:  Cocoa, Cotton Candy, Juniper, Pear, Slate, Sorbet, Whisper, White Daisy

Finally, do you like working with the Workshops on the Go?  Do you like getting the entire line of a specific My Reflections set and a coordinating stamp set?  Although I have not yet completed the Lollydoodle Workshop on the Go, here is one of the layouts you can make in this workshop:

Want to Lollydoodle with me?  Then join me for any or all of the above projects!  Here are the details:

• Location:  My home
• Date/Time:  Saturday, April 19 @10:00 am
• Cost (includes S/H and tax):  
• Option 1:  Lollydoodle Cardmaking Kit - $29.00
• Option 2:  Lollydoodle Paper Packet, Lollydoodle Assortment and other embellishments - $20.00
• Option 3:  Lollydoodle Workshop on the Go Kit - $35.00
• Save!  Order all 3 options and save more than 10% - $75.00
• RSVP:  No later than Saturday, April 5 at joycegough7@gmail.com or 703.791.6821
• Bring:  Basic toolkit

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March 2014 Stamp of the Month - Happy Place

The March 2014 Stamp of the Month certainly puts me in a Happy Place!  When my husband and I were married, we went on a honeymoon that included a cruise around the Baltic Sea.  I had always wanted to go to St. Petersburg, and here was my opportunity.  St. Petersburg was one of the ports of call!  While there I picked up a couple of nested wooden dolls - one a beautiful white and gold set and the other a Christmas set.  They sit in my office in one of my glass cabinets for me to smile at with other wooden items I picked up in St. Petersburg:

So when I saw our Happy Place stamp set, I was thrilled.  The best part is I'm going back to St. Petersburg and will love to make use of this set for scrapping my pictures!

March 2014 Stamp of the Month

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5 — that’s over 70% off retail! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.  Otherwise, you can purchase this set outright for $17.95.



Inspired by this cute set, here is the card I made:

Supplies (all CTMH unless specified otherwise):

 

Paper:  Jubilee Paper Pack, Cranberry Cardstock, Indian Corn Blue Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock

Stamps:  Happy Place Stamp of the Month - March 2014

Inks:  Versafine Onyx Black (non-CTMH), Indian Corn Blue

Markers:  Cranberry, Honey, Indian Corn Blue

Other:  Sparkles, Summer Celebration Accents (retired)

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Ivy Lane 5-6-7 Workshop

Time has gotten away from me yet again!  Between family issues and the craziness of IT work, I really need to get back to creating regularly and having some social time with my friends and family.  It takes change to make change they say, so I'm dedicated to getting into a new rhythm of doing more things I like to do.  I know that when I dedicate myself to something, giving to others helps me stay on track.

Most every year at the Close To My Heart convention, we talk about the children in need of getting surgeries for Operation Smile.  The folks responsible for doing these surgeries, helping out the surgeons and traveling around the world to help children of all ages have a special place in heaven for doing so.  The least that I can do is help them out in some way.

Therefore, for my first workshop of the year, I plan to do a "5-6-7 card workshop".  This first workshop will feature the new Ivy Lane paperpack from the 2014 Spring/Summer Idea Book.  The workshop is setup to make 5 cards in 6 minutes (per card) for $7.00.  For every set you purchase, $2.00 will be donated to Operation Smile.

In addition, please come by to see many of the new items from the 2014 Spring/Summer Idea Book.  As everyone knows, seeing in person is much better than just looking in a book.  :)

Here are the cards planned for this workshop:

Details:

• Location:  My home
• Date/Time:  Saturday, March 15 @10:00 am
• Cost:  $7.00 (includes pre-cut materials, embellishments and envelopes)
• RSVP:  No later than Saturday, March 8 at joycegough7@gmail.com or 703.791.6821
• Bring:  Basic toolkit

Light refreshments will be served.  Please come and invite a guest!

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