Joyful Hearts December Blog Hop

Welcome to the Joyful Stars December Blog Hop. This hop features Current Close to my Heart Products by 11 fabulous and talented Consultants.

If you've come here from Marie's Blog you're on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, that's fine, just continue from here and when you get back to me, you know you've seen them all.

Please leave us a little lovin' in our comments. We Love hearing from you! *Ü*

This month we are using products from the NEW Seasonal Expressions. 

The stamp set I am using is the December Stamp of the Month called "Cutie Pie". There are 11 fabulous stamps in this set. With a $50 order, you not only can get this stamp set for only $5.00, but you can choose any "C" and "D" size stamp sets from the ANNUAL CATALOG for only $10.00 each. And, as many as you want.

I used The new Heartstrings paper pack. Along with the new Hearts embossing folder, and the Pixie Extra Thick Twine. There is even a glittery heart on top of the cupcake from the Stuck on You Puffies.

I first stamped all of the images using Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. This is the perfect ink to use with alcohol markers.

I did some paper piecing on the cupcake stand. I wanted to tie it in with the background paper. 

The flowers were punched from the same paper and a little glitter cardstock.

For the cupcake itself, I used our New fabulous ShinHan Alcohol Markers. 

Now hop on over to Helen's Blog and see what fabulous goodies she has to share with you.

Challenges for this card:

Seize the Birthday - Birthday

A Little Bit Crafty - Anything but Christmas

The Artistic Stamper - Anything

Oh Holy Night

Last week, I had some of my club members ask for a card for next month's class using the Oh Holy Night stamp. So, last night I had this idea in my heard. Now, lots of ideas in my head don't come out as I envision it. But this one actually did.

I started off by deciding to use the Yuletide Carol paper pack. This paper is so versatile it can be used for any occasion. 

On my clear block, I put together the baby, Mary, star and Shepherd from "Reason for the Season" stamp set. Then stamped them with Champagne ink on Colonial White paper.

I decided to put tan, green and purple together for this card. So I over stamped "Oh Holy Night" on New England Ivy and then heat embossed with clear detail EP. The purple I used is Smokey Plum. 

I colored the crystal swirl with the GY235 Sap Green ShinHan Alcohol Marker. 

Once I knew what I wanted, I searched for a sketch challenge that would enhance my idea. I found it at Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

Other Challenges for this card:
Pinspirational - Inspirational picture (Nativity scene)
Party Time Tuesday - Anything

Snow Granny

I am so into making Christmas Cards.....Can you tell!

Here is another card with snow people. I think this is an old Penny Black stamp that was re-made without a colored label so I'm not 100% sure. 
I just love this image so much. I've had this stamp sitting on my shelf for a few years and this is the first time I've used it. Actually, I have quite a few stamps sitting there that I may just break in this year.

The image was colored in with Copic Markers. I added Liquid Applique then Prisma Glitter for the snow for some added sparkle.

The paper is from an old retired paper pack from Close to My Heart called "Frosted". I used a MS punch and added bitty pearls to it. 

The inspiration for this card started with a sketch challenge from the Digi Sketch Challenge Blog.

More Challenge Blogs for this Card:

The Artistic Stamper - Christmas is Coming

Crafty Calendar - All About Christmas

Hiding in my Craft room - Any Holiday

Treasured Times - Anything

We Do Doobadoo - Christmas

Snowmen with Birdhouse

Ready for another Christmas Card?  The image for this card is from an OLD wood stamp I had sitting around on a shelf to use one day. I think it is a Penny Black stamp and one day finally came after several years. * Ü*

I stamped the image twice and cut out a set of snowmen and layered with foam tape for some added dimension.
I used Liquid Applique for the snow and then sprinkled with Prisma Glitter for the sparkle.

The Paper used are from a retired paper pack from Close to my Heart called Frosted. I love this paper for snowmen since my favorite colors for them are blues. 

Instead of making it monochromatic like I originally planned, I added a splash of red. That just seemed to really finish off the card. 

Since the little boy snowman is hugging his mama, I thought it only appropriate to add some Red Enamel Hearts from CTMH. 

The inspiration for this card started with a sketch challenge from Techno Stamper.

Challenges for this card:
Bunny Zoe's - Snow
Love to Create - Christmas
Make Me Monday - Glitter
Sparkle n Sparkle - Glitter
Timbro Scrap Mania - Christmas
Penny Black - Anything
Stamping Sensations - Christmas

Yuletide Greetings - Christmas Candle

Time for another Christmas Card.  And yet another card using the fabulous, can't live without, Yuletide Greetings Stamp set.  I combined it with the Yuletide Carol Paper Pack. The sentiment is from one of the stamp sets included in with the All NEW CTMH exclusive Cricut Cartridge "Artfully Sent".

I wanted a little sparkle so I added two different colors of MS Glitter to the flame.

I love sketch challenges and today I am playing along with Mojo Monday.  What a great sketch again this week. 

Other Challenge Blogs for this card:

Addicted to Stamps - Make your Mark (used Copics)

Crafting by Design - Christmas

Creative Moments - Make it Sparkle

Little Red Wagon - Layer it up.

Scrappers Delight - Traditional Christmas

Stampin Royalty - Colors used.

Christmas Post - Snowman

Just another Christmas Card. I used the snowman from the CTMH Christmas Post stamp set along with the Yuletide Carol Paper Pack. 
The sentiment is from SU. 

Challenges with this card:
DL.ART - Christmas
Crafty Ribbon - Christmas
C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas
Delightful - Holidays

Yuletide Greetings - French Horn

OK, here if the last of my Yuletide Greetings cards. This one used the French Horn in the set. I colored it in with my Copic Markers and the Horn with the CTMH Gold Metallic Marker.

The gorgeous paper is from the Yuletide Carol Paper pack. Great Traditional Christmas Colors in the paper pack.

Challenge Blogs for this card:
Creative Card Crew - Christmas Joy
Party Time Tuesday - Anything
Tuesday Throwdown - Pearls and Swirls

Yuletide Greetings - Candle

Happy Veterans Day to all of those who have sacrificed their lives for my freedom!

God Bless You All!

I am so loving making Christmas Cards this year with all the fabulous stamps from Close to my Heart. 

My card today uses the Yulestide Greetings Stamp set and paper from the Yuletide Carol paper pack. 

The image was colored with Copic Markers. 

I dry embossed the background using an Anna Griffin Embosing Folder.

I made another card using the French Horn from this fabulous stamp set, but you need to come back tomorrow to see that card. 

Other Challenges for this card.
Craft-Dee Bowz - Anything with a hand made bow
Dream Valley - Christmas
Love to Create - Anything
Make My Monday - Berries and foliage
Melonheadz Friends - Add a Sentiment

Joyful Stars November Blog Hop

Welcome to the Joyful Stars November Blog Hop. This hop features Current Close to my Heart Products by 11 fabulous and talented Consultants.

If you've come here from Stephanie's Blog you're on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, that's fine, just continue from here and when you get back to me, you know you've seen them all.

Please leave us a little lovin' in our comments. We Love hearing from you! *Ü*

I fell in love with this stamp set years ago. It's called Always Grateful. I saw a similar card in Card Maker magazine and new I had to use this set to do my own thing with it. 
The sentiment is from Best Christmas.
I haven't used anything other then clear EP for a long time. I found out why. This is a very touch technique with black cardstock. I won't mention how many I ruined before I got one right. I used Gold, Silver and White EP.

Now hop on over to Krista's Blog and see what fabulous goodies she has to share with you.

Yuletide Greetings - Noel

Since I broke out my Copic Markers the other day, I thought I may as well do more coloring. The stamp set is called "Yuletide Greetings" from Close to my Heart. I used a retired paper pack that I love and hoard, *Ü*, called Pear and Partridge. I should have bought more before it retired!

I got my starting inspirations from the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge.

Other Challenge Blogs for my card:
52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Color Challenge
Crafty Calendar - All About Christmas
Crafty Hazelnut - Keep it Flat
Hiding in my Craft Room - Use Scraps
Kit and Clowder - Christmas
Paper Creators Crafts - Anything
My perfect Life - Anything Christmas

Merriest Christmas

I love using Blues for Christmas, so I was playing around today and came up with a card I really love. This just may have to be my Christmas Card this year. It is really much prettier in person. 

I used the pine tree from the CTMH  "Always Grateful" Stamp Set.  The Sentiment is from the Merriest Christmas Stamp Set. The only color I used was Pacifica paper and ink. 

I used a snowflake embossing folder for the background and Crystal Glitter on the trees for just a little sparkle. After all, what is Christmas with out sparkle and shine!!!

The inspiration for this card started with a sketch from Freshly Made.

Other Challenges for this card:
Stampavie - Monochrome
C.R.A.F.T. - Winter
Crafty Ribbon - Christmas with Ribbon
Moving Along With The Times - Sparkle and Shine
Crafting By Design - Anything
Inspiration Destination - Anything
Kraftin' Kimmie - Anything

Father Christmas

I am a hoarder when it comes to anything Christmas. 
I was going through my Christmas stamps the other day and found a set that I always loved and haven't used in years. 
I then dug out my old Pear and Partridge paper and combined it with this stamp. 
I even pulled out my old Cranberry Ribbon Rounds out to make a bow.
I've had the 2 CTMH Metallic markers, gold and silver, for over a year and never used them. So, I used them to color the two Christmas balls.  

I wasn't going to color Santa in. I was just going to make it an old fashion card with just ink distressing. But my Copic markers were screaming at me that I was neglecting them. So, I colored.
I even used the dark red to color my pearls for my embellishments.

The inspiration for the card actually started with a sketch challenge from Sketch and Stash.

Other challenge blogs for my card:

Crafting by Design - Anything
Addicted to Stamps - Color challenge. Red, Green & gold
Dazzling Diva's - Traditional Christmas Colors.
A Random Fan - Red, White and Green
Craft Room - Vintage Christmas
Creative Card Crew - Christmas Joy
Sweet Stamps - Stripes

Sing Glory

Another Christmas Card to share today. The beginning inspiration started with a color challenge from Just Us Girls, using Purple, Olive and Navy, along with the Sketch Saturday Challenge. 

The stamp set, papers and inks are from Close to my Heart. The stamps are a hostess only stamp set called Sing Glory.  

I used and Anna Griffin Embossing folder and then added green and purple glitter to the embossed Holly and berries. and also to the stamped holly. 
The paper pack used is Yuletide Carol. 

Other Challenges for this card:
Crafty Calendar - Bingo - Embossing, sentiment, sparkle
Allsorts - Embossing
Little Clair's - Christmas
Vandicraft's Artistry - Fashion your own background
Sparkle N Shine - Loose glitter
Perfectly Rustic - Holiday
Merry Monday - Non Traditional Christmas Colors
Crafty Blogger - Christmas
Craft Dee Bowz - Anything with a Bow

Home for the Holidays - Polar Bear

Here's another Christmas card for my Hostess Club to make this month. This card is made using the Close to my Heart October Stamp of the month, Home for the Holidays. This great stamp set is only $5.00 with a qualifying purchase.

I used an embossing folder for the background on Glacier Cardstock. Then I sanded the raised portion of the embossing. The core of the CTMH cardstock is white, so when sanded, the snowflakes turn white.
The image and sentiment were stamped using Lagoon Ink then backed with Teal Glitter Paper. The scarf was stamped again with Ruby Ink.

I stamped two candy canes with ruby ink then added stripes of red glitter to the, as well as some to the red scarf. 

I added another element of red with the strip of red shimmer trim and three shimmer dots. 

The rosy cheeks were colored with the Tender Pink Shinhan Alcohol marker, then lightened them with the colorless blender.

Challenges with this card:
Artistic Inspirations - Make your own background
Crafting from the Heart - Anything
The Crafty Bloggers Network - Christmas
My Craft Creations - Anything
The Paper Girls - Solid Cardstock, Jazz it up
Love to Scrap - Anything Goes

Joyful Hearts October Blog Hop

Welcome to the Joyful Stars October Blog Hop. This hop features Current Close to my Heart Products by 12 fabulous and talented Consultants.

If you've come here from Andrea's Blog you're on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, that's fine, just continue from here and when you get back to me, you know you've seen them all.

Please leave us a little lovin' in our comments. We Love hearing from you and keeps us motivated! *Ü*

My card today was made specifically for my clubs, to teach them to use our NEW ShinHan Alcohol Markers. The colors of markers I used are, YR26, YR29, BR116, R11, GY234, and Y222.
For this I used the gorgeous stamp set "Country Born".

The papers are from the Pathfinding Paper Pack. And the Sentiment is from the stamp set that comes with the NEW CTMH exclusive Cricut Cartridge, "Artfully Sent".  

Now hop on over to Krista's Blog and see what fabulous artwork she has to share.

The inspiration for this card started with a sketch challenge from Inspired by Stamping.

Noel

Time for another Christmas Card.  I needed to keep this simple and this was perfect. The stamping is a dark green even though it looks black.

This one used the Close to my Heart Noel Stamp Set. I matched it up with Yuletide Carol Paper Pack. New England Ivy for stamping, and Desert Sand for sponging, are the only Ink Pads that I used.

The original inspiration for this card started with a great sketch challenge from Sweet Sunday Challenge Blog.

Other Challenges for this card:

Crafty Girls - Anything Goes

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes with a Sentiment

C.R.A.F.T. - Christmas

Milk Coffee - Lots of Layers

Red Rubber Inspirationals - Monochromatic Stamping

Home for the Holidays-Ornament

I've been in such a creative mood lately. I think it's mainly because I love making Christmas Cards and also because Close to my Heart Has so many fabulous Christmas stamps in their catalog this year. 

This stamp set is actually the October Stamp of the Month called Home for the Holidays. This card is the first of three cards my Hostess Club will be making this month.

The paper used is from the Yuletide Carol Paper Pack. The background was dry embossed. 

The Merry Christmas is from one of the stamp sets that come with the NEW Close to my Heart exclusive Cricut Cartridge, Artfully Sent. The bow was make form the Topiary Mini Chevron Ribbon.
And, of course, what's a Christmas Card without Glitter!!!

The inspiration for this card started with a sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. I chose not to cut off the left side of the oval because it is a card that my club will be making and I wanted to simplify the making of the card. 

Other Challenges for this card:
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Embellish It!
Country View Challenges - Sparkle and Shine
Crafty Hazelnut - Christmas Anything Goes
Sisters of Craft - Anything Goes
Creative Craft Cottage - Ribbon, Glitter, Tags, Brads
Mema's Crafts - Ribbon, Bling, Dry Emboss, Glitter, Stamped

Christmas Post with Snowman

I'm busy trying to design all of my cards for my big Christmas Card Workshop coming up later this month. I'm trying to keep them as easy as I can for my guests to put together, but still look elegant. When each person is making 16 cards, four of four designs, in a 4 hour period, things need to go quickly. 

Here is the second card of the four. The first one was posted on Friday. I used the Christmas Post stamp set and the Yuletide Workshop on the go, paper and stamp set, for this card. 

The inspiration for this card started with the Repeat Impressions Sketch Challenge

Other Challenges for this card:

Crafting at the Weekend - Anything Goes
Treasured Times - Anything Goes
Art by Miran - Anything Goes
Left of Center - 3 or more layers
Catered Crop - Seeing Red
My Perfect Life - Christmas
Penny Black - Christmas
Sentimental Sunday - Bling it up
That Craft Place - Shabby Chic

Christmas Post

Here is a fun Christmas card using the fabulous "Christmas Post" stamp set. I'm planning some workshops and need something that won't take lots of time to complete, but still look elegant. I think this one fits the bill. No coloring involved.

The Merry Christmas is from one of the stamp sets that comes with the NEW, all exclusive CTMH Cricut cartridge called "Artfully Sent".

The paper pack used is "Yuletide Carol". All products on this card are from Close to my Heart.

The inspiration for this card started with a sketch challenge from Atlantic Hearts.

Other Challenges for this card:

Crafty Hazelnut - Anything Goes - Christmas

Fred She Said End of Summer Sale!

FRED SHE SAID DESIGNS is having an END OF SUMMER SALE!

And there are new floral releases just in time! *Ü*

You can find more info at the FRED SHE SAID BLOG.

Home for the Holidays

Well, I finally started designing Christmas cards for upcoming classes. 

I found a great sketch challenge at Atlantic Hearts Challenge Blog. Then I decided on a stamp from the Close to my Heart October Stamp of the month called, "Home for the Holidays."

The Sentiment if from the CTMH "Best Christmas" stamp set.

Colors used are Glacier and Lagoon.  Teal Glitter paper and Teal Shimmer Trim was used behind polar bear.

Here is the actual sketch.