Bear Hugs and Flash Sale

I admit it, I have a fondness for bear related things. I used to love the old Yogi Bear cartoons. Remember the people coming to Jellystone Park saying "Look at the bears! Look at the bears! Look at the bears!" when seeing Yogi and Booboo? In fact I have called my son "Bear" ever since he was an infant and continue to call him that to this day at 27 years old.

So when I saw the Jack - Cardmaking stamp set in the 2017 Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book, I knew that would be my first purchase. I have now made a number of bear cards. Here is the first, and one that I made for my son:

I colored the bear using alcohol markers.  Using the Wood Slats Embossing Folder, I made an easy but effective background for the bear.  I also heat embossed both the sentiment and the heart to add some pop.  The White Dots were just the ticket to put the final finishes on the card.

Moving on to the Flash Sale, Close To My Heart has a 24-hour Flash Sale going on right now!  The sale is while supplies last at 30% off and includes a variety of crafting items and bundles.  Check it out here before everything is gone!

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May 2017 Stamp of the Month - Live, Laugh, Love

I've been doing a lot of embossing lately.  I'm not sure why other than embossing was what pulled me into card making from the beginning.  There is something about science and particularly chemistry that I find enjoyable.  And watching the powder melt by applying heat just lights me up!

So when I saw the Live, Laugh, Love stamp set, I knew I was going to emboss the letters.  In lieu of coloring the floral design on the sapphire embossed letters, I opted to use the new gold shimmer brush to apply a hint of golden sparkle.  Here is a close up of the letters in the "Love" image:

 

Since I went with the gold shimmer, I decided to emboss one of the flowers in gold and add to the embossed sapphire flowers.  The No Worries paper seemed to marry well with the images, and I thought the addition of the Gold Glitter Gems and White Burlap Ribbon pulled the whole thing together.  Here is a look at the full card:

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.

Live, Laugh, Love - May 2017 Stamp of the Month

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National Scrapbooking Month 2017 and Live Beautifully!

Due to unforeseen circumstances with work and a flood in my basement (thanks, hon!), I haven't posted in awhile.  However, now that things are starting to get back to normal, I wanted to post about all the lovely products available now for National Scrapbooking Month.

First, I wanted to show this beautiful stamp set that I was so excited to finally get to play with last weekend.  The flowers are simply gorgeous and the large font on the sentiments are perfect for scrapbooking!

The coordinating papers are eye catching, some with beautiful foil accents, and would make gorgeous cards and pages for your memory keeping!

And for those of you with little time on your hands, you can take advantage of the Live Beautifully Cut Above kit, with or without the album bundle.  All papers are pre-cut with easy instructions!

Here is a card I made with the stamp set and one of the papers from the paper pack.  I tried my hand at stamping the image in CTMH Eggplant and adding some color with a white colored pencil and a darker purple pencil.  Hope you enjoy!

 

Interested in taking advantage of any of all of the products for CTMH National Scrapbooking Month?  Then you better hurry because this special will only last through the month of June while supplies last.  Visit my webpage for more details on this special!

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December 2016 Stamp of the Month - Thoughtful Flowers

I was really looking forward to working with the December Stamp of the Month, Thoughtful Flowers.  I don't know why, but flower stamp sets are just something I tend to gravitate to.  Maybe it's the versatility of where and how they can be used; maybe it's the variety of colors and coloring options; maybe it's just that flowers make me happy!  Regardless, this stamp set did not disappoint!

I stamped the flowers in black pigment ink, and embossed using clear embossing powder.  I then colored using alcohol markers and cut them out.  Using the darker markers, I also colored the sparkles as well for the middle of the flowers.  The individual flowers were then adhered to Lemon and Lagoon cardstock on a black card.  The sentiments were stamped with Versamark and heated with white embossing powder.

Here is a picture of the stamp set and how you can get it:

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.

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Holiday Card Workshop 2017!

Need a break from shopping this weekend? I am co-hosting a Holiday Card Workshop at the Hampton Inn on Saturday, Nov. 26, with three of my fellow consultants. Come join us for to make a dent in your card making plans and make some cute tags to boot! We will have refreshments, prizes, and fun! More details on our Facebook invite found here, but you contact me directly as well if you're interested!  Here is a sneak peek!

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Color My World!

Color seems to be the "new" buzz word in the paper crafting industry. It's everywhere you look. There are an abundance of examples of cute, outline imaged-stamps colored in with alcohol markers or colored pencils. And look at all the watercoloring done as background motifs. Or ink pads that are used for multiple layers of color. Whether with markers, pencil, watercolor paints, or inks, the colors abound!

I have been enjoying a bit of coloring myself. No, I'm not into the coloring books, although I certainly can see how it can be therapeutic and relaxing to enjoy that particular hobby. Despite having some fun dabbling with various watercolor painting techniques, I do really greatly enjoy markers and pencils. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that a couple of weeks ago, I was so inspired by the colors and stamps associated with the now retired Florence papers, I pulled out my Ornate Blossoms stamp set and colored the images with my CTMH Shinhan markers and Spectrum Noir markers to coordinate with the paper pack. Here are the fruits of my efforts:

Tried to challenge myself by doing some coloring this weekend to coordinate with #ctmhflorence paper. Very relaxing! #CTMH #shinhan #spectrumnoir ##ctmhornateblossoms #memento #papercrafting #cardmaking #scrapbooking #thedailymarker30day

A photo posted by Joyce Gough (@jgough7ctmh) on Oct 10, 2016 at 6:40am PDT

I haven't yet done anything with these images, but am looking forward to doing so. Now I'm chomping at the bit to get started on our new CTMH 2017 Planner! There is a page to color at your heart's content for every month of the year. Choose your favorite medium and sit and relax with your a color combination that you love.

 

Want to have a planner of your own? You can purchase the Everyday Life Planner Pages Bundle with a Sea Glass Album or Stripes Album. Or if you love your album from last year, you can purchase the Everyday Life 2017 Planner Pages without an album. Don't hesitate to get yours now because once they're gone, they're gone!

And speaking of coloring, some of you may have previously purchased some of our exclusive stamp sets in outline designs that are fun to color in.  Close To My Heart has provided some new Thin Cuts to help you with cutting out some of these stamp sets. If you own or would like to own any of the following, please click on the links below to see the coordinating Thin Cuts to help make cutting these images ever so much easier!

• My Acrylix^® School Kids (D1706) - coordinating Thin Cuts School Kids (CC1158)
• My Acrylix^® Sweet Birthday (B1532) - coordinating Thin Cuts Sweet Birthday (CC1156)
• My Acrylix^® Swirly Seashells (C1664) - coordinating Thin Cuts Swirly Seashells (CC1155)
• My Acrylix^® Wreath (A1193) - coordinating Thin Cuts Wreath (CC1157)

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World Card Making Day 2016!

Hopefully all card makers out there are aware that today is World Card Making Day!  I killed two birds with one stone this morning by making a card with the October Stamp of the Month, Yuletide Joy:

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.

I decided I wanted to use the new color of the year, CTMH Sea Glass, with the star stamp. So I worked from the bottom up. I used the new Sea Glass Glitter Paper as the base on my card. Next I took a slightly smaller piece of white, glossy cardstock and sponged over it in Sea Glass ink. While still a little wet, I brushed some iridescent Perfect Pearls over top, although it is difficult to see from the photo. I then ran this piece of cardstock through my Cuttlebug using the Snowflakes Embossing Folder. Next I worked on my sentiment. I knew I wanted something on the larger side, so cut four identical "Joy" sentiments from the CTMH Artbooking Cricut cartridge. I cut these in White Daisy cardstock and layered them atop each other to give some thickness to this sentiment. Using Versamark and white embossing powder, I heat embossed the sentiment four or five times, unfortunately dropping it a couple of times during the process leading me to have to repeat again. Finally I cut the star slightly larger than the stamp set recommends using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. I stamped the star on Sea Glass cardstock using the White Daisy Pigment Ink Pad and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I used foam tape to pop the star on the card and added some Clear Sparkles to embellish.

Here is a photo of the card I posted on my Instagram site:

A photo posted by Joyce Gough (@jgough7ctmh) on Oct 1, 2016 at 8:32am PDT

Recipe:

• S1610 - October Stamp of the Month, Yuletide Joy
• X5789 - Sea Glass Cardstock
• Z2813 - Sea Glass Stamp Pad
• Z3240 - Sea Glass Glitter Paper
• 1385 - White Daisy Cardstock
• Z2163 - White Daisy Pigment Stamp Pad
• Z3169 - Cricut Artbooking Collection
• Z3171 - Cricut Art Philosophy Collection (retired)
• Z4000 - Snowflakes Embossing Folder
• Z891 - Versamark Ink Pad
• Z3274 - Clear Sparkles
• White, glossy cardstock (not sold by CTMH)
• Perfect Pearls (not sold by CTMH)
• White embossing powder (not sold by CTMH)

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