You're Great - Two Birthday Cards - PCP Sketch Challenge

Sorry this is such a quick and short post. So much to do and so little time.
I have two grandson's who are having a Birthday next week. They are brothers and one will turn 1 and the other 2. So, we're leaving Saturday for a long trip to our Son's home for a Birthday Party. To speed things up a little I made both cards using the same stamp set and papers and even the sketch.

The cards were inspired by the Sketch Challenge at Paper Craft Planet Saturday Sketch Challenge. I normally post all of my challenges on my other blog, but because everything is CTMH, I put it here.

The papers are Twitterpated and the Stamp set is You're Great.

I used The Works Alphabet set for the names.
Hand Stitching was done with Matching Embroidery Floss.

I also made these cards for the Creative Inspiration Challenge Blog with a Birthday Theme.

Share The Magic - October SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close to my Heart October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop It’s really hard for me to adjust to the fact that it’s October already. Especially since the temperature today was 80° here in PA.

If you came here from Teri’s Blog then you’re on the right path. If you’d like to start from the very beginning, or you need to see the entire list, then go to Kathleen’s Blog. This hop is a round robin so no matter where you start, you will end up back there again.

Today we are featuring the Stamp Set called “Share the Magic”. This is a very cute Christmas Set and just perfect for making your own gift tags. Wish I’d have made some to show.

My card today is made with the snowman and tree. I glued B&T  from the Mistletoe Collection onto cardstock. Then I stamped the Tree in New England Ivy Ink and cut out. Then I applied Red Sparkles where the ornaments are stamped. Then I added white liquid  appliqué to the bands on the tree. Since it's an outside scene, I wanted it to look l,ike snow. If you use the tree as an indoor scene, you can treat those bands as garland.
After coloring the snowman, I coated the white part with liquid glass then sprinkled on Diamond Dust. I attached three black pearls for his buttons.

For the snow under the snowman, I also coated with Liquid Glass then sprinkled on Faux Flower Soft that I made by rubbing two pieces of Styrofoam together and using the dust that was left behind. This makes wonderful snow.

The three snowflakes at the bottom were coated with Bonding Memories glue then Prisma Glitter. I attached a white pearl to the center of each.

I used white Embroidery Floss for the Hand stitching around the card. I wanted it to look like snow flakes!

If you like our cards, please leave us all a sweet comment. We love hearing from you and love to know how we;re doing!!!

Now hop on over to Cindy's Blog and see the wonderful artwork she has to share with you.

Thriller - CTMH September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is D1442 - Thriller, a set of 9 stamps.

If you have come here from Brae's Blog, you are on the right path! If this is your first stop, you may want to go back to Helen's Blog and start from the beginning! Or, you can continue right from here and when you eventually get here again, you know you've visited them all. Just click on the name at the bottom of this post to continue on.


This month we have 68 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!


My card today is called a Spring Card. The reason for the name is that is lays flat for mailing but springs up when taken out of the envelope.

The paper for this card is from the Hooligan's Level II paper pack - X7129B. I also added some Sunset and Gypsy CS. However, you can use the reverse side of the B&T for those colors.

I stamped two of the images onto the Gypsy CS using Black Ink. I cleaned my stamps then went over the same stamps with the Bonding Memories wide tip glue pen (1512) stamped right over the original image lining up as perfect as possible,  then covered with Black Glitter. Make sure to clean your stamp immediately after stamping.  
I used a sizzix die for the spider and bats. I added glue to them and then black glitter.
I added 3 of the NEW purple sparkles to two of the corners.

I also edged the edges nof the black square with Bonding Memories Glue and added Black Glitter to the edges.  Unfortunately, the photos don't really show all the sparkle from the glitter.
Now "Hop" on over to Sylvia's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! We'd all love if you left us som Lovin comments!

Remember, the September SOTM is only available until September 30, 2010. Contact your CTMH Consultant or click here to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

Here is a side view.

Here is a back view.

Something Splendid

Here is a card I made with my clubs this week. It uses the small fvlowers in the Close to my Heart Stamp of the Month called Something Splendid. I posted a card using the big flower on August 1st, but so many people only use the large flower and over look the small ones.

I got my inspiration for this card from a sketch over at The Glitterbabe's Challenge Blog.

The papers used are from the Cherry-O collection from Close to my Heart.I used Island Blossom dew Drops on three of the flower centers and in the corners.

Treasure Life - Faux Flower Soft

I've admired projects made with flower soft for so long now but I just couldn't get myself to purchase any of it. It's such a hard choice to make because there are so many color to choose from and it's a little pricey.

So, I discovered that I could make my own.

I did this project for my one club on Friday and for my team at our unit meeting on Saturday and they all loved it.

It's very easy. Get two Styrofoam balls and rub them together over your craft try. You will get lots of fine little partials of Styrofoam. Now, carefully store this in a container. I use the empty tubes that our ribbon rounds come in. Now, when you want a certain color to match your project, just take any type of container and add about 1 tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and about 5 drops of re-inker. Then add the Styrofoam shavings and stir. The amount of drops of re-inker may vary depending on the intensity of the color you are looking for. Dump it out on something to let dry. I used aluminum foil. Spread it out in a thin layer. It will dry lighter. When dry, put it in a container. I use baby jars that I had been saving.

That’s all that’s to it.

I used the liquid glass as my adhesive. Just color in your image with liquid glass and pile on your faux flower soft. Press down then shake off excess. You can use your dry emboss tool or paper piercer to move any back that might spread out for you. I then added some prisma glitter on top . This works down into all the nooks and crannies where your flower soft may leave. Let this dry several hours then brush off the excess.

My picture does not do this justice. It really is gorgeous!!! All of the edges are distressed with matching ink.

Try it and let me know what you think!!!

The inspiration for this card came from a sketch over at StampInsanity..

The challenge this week over at TheCorrosive Challenge is to use Faux Techniques.

Fruitful Delight - Spring Card

Here is a card that I LOVE making. It's called a Spring Card. That's because when you take it out of the envelope, it springs up.  How cleaver!!!
I've been wanting to try my hands at this card for months now and finally decided Ito do this for my class and clubs. For it, I used the Fruitful Delights Clear stamp set from Close to my Heart. I may try and do a tutorial on this design sometime soon. I normally color with my Copic Markers, however, since I'm doing this for classes, I chose to usae a different method. I stamped the strawberries on the white CS, then again two more times on Holiday Red CS. I cut out the bunch of three then one single berry. Shadded with a cranberry marker, and highlighted with a white gel pen. Then mounted the berries with foam tape. The leaves were colored with a Topiary Marker. The striped paper is from the Cherry-O Paper Pack. The Cranberry CS was cuttlebugged with the swiss dots folder. The stamps used on the tag are from a Stamp set called Fringed Phrases

This card was also submitted to Just Scraps Challenge Blog. - Anything Goes.

Something Splendid - August Stamp of the Month

Welcome to our Stamp of the Mopnth Blog Hop.  We will be featuring August's Stamp of the month, which is D1424, Something Splendid., a set of 13 stamps.

This month we have a fabulous stamp set called Something Splendid. This stamp set contains 13 individual clear stamps.

This month we have about 70 Close to my Heart Consultants sharing their artwork with this stamp set. So grap your favorite drink, sit back & relax and enjoy the show!

So, on with the Blog Hop.
If you're following the blog from the beginning and you came here from Dawn's Blog, you're on the right path.

If you're starting with my blog, then you will click on the link at the bottom of my post and each person's after mine. When you arrive back at mine again, you know you have seen them all.

If you get lost along the way, or come across a broken link, then go to Kathleen's blog for the entire list. You can also start the hop there.

Just a little tip. If you  prefer to hop from the list, just hold the "Control" key down while clicking on each person's link, it will open their blog up in a new window. That way, you just close each window and you are always on the blog with the list.

Now, hop on over to Lori Miller's Blog and see what awesone Eye Candy she has for you!

You're Great - Easel Card - Sweet Sketch Wednesday + Tutorial

I made this card for my grandson's 1st Birthday. This is the baby and his sister that I take care of during the week while his mommy and daddy work. My daughter thinks she is so lucky to have me, BUT, what she doesn't realize is that I'M the lucky one to be able to do so.

Here's my little Birth day Boy.

I got the inspiration for this card from another great sketch over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. The sketch is the front, but I made it into an easel card.

The papers are from the Magic Moments Paper pack from Close to my Heart.
The stamp is from a set of clear stamps from CTMH called "You're Great."
The Hand Stitching is done with Matching Embroidery Floss.
The Happy Birthday is from a stamp set called It's Your Day.
The Dark Blue Sparkles are so new that they won't be available for purchase until September 1st.

PRODUCT TUTORIAL
The name "jeffrey" was made by using the Lots of Dots letter stickers. The are white and the dots on them are a residt. So, I colored the letters with the matching ink pads and a sponge dauber. The easiest way I found of coloring the letters is to remove them from the alphabet sheet and stick them to the plastic bad they come in. I use a spong dauber to color each one, then wipe over them with a tissue to remove any excess ink from the dots and also from the plastic bag. I then just remove each letterfrom the plastic and place it where you want it.

If you like this card, papers, embroidery floss, and stampset, you can just follow the links above to order them directly from my website.

Happy Forever - Truly Scrumptios Sketch Challenge

Well, Convention was fabulous again this year. As a matter of fact, I believe it was the best one ever.  But then I've been saying that for the past 13 years. So may great new product to play with and I get my bundles on Tuesday. Can't wait to make some Christmas Cards!!! I love doing Christmas In July and didn't get around to planning anything for this year.

This is my first creation since being home. Well, it actually was on of my cards for my club yesterday.
It's a set called Happy Forever. There are four hedgehogs and three sentimernts.  
Isn't he the cutest!!! And if you look closely, you will notice that I used some of the NEW colored pearls that will be available in the Fall/Winter Catalog. Check out hi Belly Button!!!

This card was inspired by by a sketch from Truly Scrumptious Sketch Blog.
I used the flip side of the Splendor paper with flowers. I wanted it to be more masculine since I forgot to make a card for my son for his birthday and have no time if I want to get it in the mail today. What do you think???  Is it masculine enough???

The hedgehog was colored in using the stencil technique. This is the first stamp set since the Teddy Bears years ago that I used this technique for. The may have been one in between, but I'm having a Senior Moment and can't remember what the image was. 

Live Inspired - CTMH Convention Swap Card

I hope you all enjoyed the July SOTM Blog Hop yesterday. If you haven't had a chance to do so, the information for it and my card is in the post before this one.

Well, I finally did it. I got 35 swap cards made and THREE days left to make more. Yeah right!!!

I told my team months ago that because of the chronic pain I've had for more then a year, that I was not making swap cards this year. Well, they sort of talked me into it and said how much fun I'd miss. But honestly, after 13 years of convention swap cards, it seemed like more of a chore then fun. The pain did not allow me to make them anyway so I gave up on the idea. Then a wonderful thing happened to me last Wednesday. I went to the Hospital for an Epidural. Well, they shot steroids into my spine and 95% of my chronic pain is gone. So, last night after the kids went home I started on some cards. I expect to have 35 of them done by this evening. I have to send the grandbabies home first because having a 1 year old and a 3 yr. old with me all day does not make a very productive card making day.


This card was inspired by a sketch from Card Patterns Sketch #70

The paper pack used is called Top Stitch.

The Main Stamp set is "Live Inspired" - C1408.
I also used the little butterflies from "A Flitter" - A1108


Other challenges using this card:
Incy Wincy - Things with Wings
If the Shoe Fits Scrap It - Wings