December SOTM Blog Hop featuring the lovely "Amore" stamp set!

Welcome to our December Stamp of the Month blog hop featuring this month's new SOTM - Amore D1445!

If you've just joined me from Sheila's blog then you are on the right path!

All of my artwork with this stamp set uses the Olivia paper packet X7128B (colors are Barn Red, Colonial White, Pear, Smoothie, and Sunset). First up (above), is a 5x7 card inspired by Wishes - Bullseye (p. 33). While I could have used "masking" or "marker coloring technique" to ink some of my images, I instead chose to use my micro-tipped scissors to cut my stamps apart for faster and easier stamping. I cut the "Two hearts that beat as one" sentiment out from the center of the swirly frame stamp that it was a part of and I also cut the small flower and stem out from below the letter "e" on the "Amore" sentiment stamp. This small flower and stem stamp is what I used to stamp the flowers all around the heart-shaped leaf wreath image with Smoothie ink. All ink distressing/sponging was done with Barn Red ink. Remember, you can click on any of my photos to see them even larger up-close if you want to!

Next, I have a 3x3 card inspired by Originals - Squares & Overlay (p. 65) and a 4.5 x 4.5" square card inspired by Wishes - All Squared Up (p. 101). I used just basic stamping with Barn Red and Smoothie inks to create these simple Valentine cards . The scrolling that the "I Love You" card is bordered with is just one edge (the top) of the heart-shaped leaf wreath stamp stamped along the outside edge of the square piece of cardstock. I've used more sponge-distressing with Barn Red ink on these cards also.

Finally, I have a 2.5 x 3.5" card inspired by Wishes - Simple Strip (p. 37) and a 3x6" card inspired by Wishes - Name Plate (p. 18). You can see a close-up shot below that better shows how I cut out and layered the "Amore" sentiment using 3D mounting tape to make it pop-up above the heart. Again, I've used lots of Barn Red ink to sponge-distress it all.

I hope you have enjoyed and are inspired by my creations! If you'd like to see a whole lot more artwork created with this stamp set by the very talented members of my consultant SOTM swap group, please visit my blog again on Friday (12/3) when I will be sharing all of their artwork here too! Now you can continue on the hop by visiting Brae's blog next! Enjoy!!

"A Timber" Card with Curves!

The Heart2Heart blog challenge this week was to create a card that is "out of shape" (not rectangular or square) - what fun!! Real women have lots of curves right?... and so aparently does my latest creation! Here is the curvy Christmas card I made this evening using one of my favorite new little nifty stamp sets - "A Timber" (it's an A-size stamp set, sells for just $7.95). I also used our Mistletoe papers X7130B and Mistletoe assortment of embellishments Z1330 with Cocoa sponging and Cocoa ribbon (adhered in place to make it look like a Christmas gift/present). In case you're wondering how I came up with this curvy shape for my card, the answer is simple. I used one of the pages from our My Creations All-Sorts Mini Albums Z1224 as a guide to trace the pattern and form the front of my card (card front measures 6.25" tall by 5" wide at the mid-point).
Here is a view of the back-side of my card (below) so you can see that I adhered my card front to a 3x6" cardstock base (a 6x6" square of cardstock before it was folded in half). This was just my way of trying to keep the cutting for the card base as simple as possible. It's also a good reminder that you can't always judge a book by it's cover, lol.
Finally, if you've never seen the All-Sorts Mini Album Z1224, here's another view of this album with one of the white chipboard pages covered and decorated up a bit (although, it is still in need of some photos and journaling, so this little album isn't quite complete yet). The papers I used to cover this page are from the Twitterpated X7118B paper pack (which is still currently available to order, but it is on the retired list making it still available, but only while supplies last).

Congratulations Penny and Roberta!!

Those of you who came to my Autumn/Winter Product Preview Workshop last September 4th may remember that I issued a challenge to all who attended. Two of the cards we created at the workshop that day were designs that were inspired by the Magnifique Workshops-on-the-go brochure (see brochure and the cards we made below). I challenged each of you in attendance to create another card using that same pattern with any CTMH stamps, papers, and embellishments you have to use. This challenge was to be our first ever customer card contest!! I was hoping to have lots and lots of contest entries and even sent out a few e-mail reminders to attendees, but alas, I ended up with just TWO beautiful card contest entries. None the less, these two cards are absolutely fabulous so therefore...I decided to give the grand prize to both contestants!
A big Congratulations goes out to Penny Gallegos and Roberta Clark who created the lovely cards you see posted above! Each of them is receiving a $12.50 credit from me (splitting the $25 grand prize) to reward them for their awesome efforts! They can use their credit towards any workshop, class, or purchase of their choice. Your cards were both so equally excellent, I just didn't want to have to choose between the two of you. Well done ladies, well done!!!

$5 Creative Class projects for 11/6!

Here's a sneak peek at what we're making at my $5 Creative Class coming up this Saturday evening! It's only $5 per person to attend and learn how to create one of each of these 3 projects with me (or make two of each item for $10 - still such a deal)! 8 of my 12 spots for this class have filled so far, so I have just 4 spots left. Please contact me to RSVP soon as I'm predicting that it will continue to fill up quickly. For full details about what tools to bring with you, what time we start, etc... click here to visit my myctmh website calendar for more information!Side view of the Post-It Note holder/cover (below)
Front view of the Post-It Note holder/cover (below)
Standard size Thank You card (below)
4.5 x 4.5" square Autumn/Thanksgiving card (below)

More "A Little Thanks" Artwork!