One Wicked Stamp of the Month

Wicked! It's time for another Stamp of the Month Blog Hop with Close To My Heart's new August stamp aptly named "Wicked." You can view all the images in this great set in the right-hand column of my blog page. This month we have LOTS of consultants participating in the Blog Hop, creating all sorts of great projects, so be sure to click on the link at the bottom of my post to see where to hop to next.

If you are already hopping, you've come here from Teresa Scrivens' blog.

My creation this month is a BIG tag. Check it out...

The tag measures 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches and will make a great gift tag for a bottle of 7 Deadly Zins or Vampire Blood wine at Halloween time.

I took full advantage of our new "Art Philosophy" Cricut Cartridge when creating this tag. Wow, how fun and easy it was to create the images you see here.

Let's take a closer look...

The frame you see here is cut from a sheet of our new "Mischief" paper pack, and if you have this new Cricut cartridge already, this frame is from page 44, and I set the measure at 5 inches. At first I thought I'd use this frame over a solid card stock for the tag. But when I popped out the center...

I like this even more. So I put aside that pretty frame for another day.

Because I knew I was making a tag, I mounted this cut piece to a large piece of Black card stock, leaving space above for the tag topper. After trimming the tag topper, I eventually mounted this unit to a larger piece of Desert Sand card stock.

In the "Wicked" stamp set is a cool witch's broom, but I wanted to add texture and interest to my project, so I stamped just the handle of the broom and made the bristles out of small pieces of hemp bundled together by a longer piece.

I adhered the bristles to the broom handle with a little Liquid Glass. See how that wicked witch is standing on the front of the broom?

As soon as I got this "Art Philosophy" cartridge, I knew I had to try out those spiral flowers. There are six different style to choose from and this pointy one suited my project perfectly! I cut this flower out (page 69) four times:

Large Black flower: 4 1/2 inches
Small Black flower: 3 inches
Gray Wool flower in the center of the black one: 2 1/2 inches
Gray Wool larger flower: 3 1/2 inches

Then I filled each flower center generously with our new Silver Glitz Glitter Gel.

The witch, the broomstick, and the phrase you see here were all stamped with Versamark, then Black embossing powder. The "Have a Wicked Halloween" phrase fit nicely in this bracket label cut from Autumn Terracotta card stock (Cricut page 55, 2 1/4 inches) including its compatible Black border using the Layer key. The black embossing powder scattered a bit, but that's A-Okay. I think it would have looked cool to have more of that! Maybe I'll stipple some black over the whole label.


Here's my tag again below. Now keep on hopping to check out all the other creations. Head over to Adeline Brill's blog next. And have a Wicked day!

Just a Note to Say "Hi"

I hate not keeping up on my blog. Nothing worse than going to someone's blog that you enjoy and they haven't posted in weeks. (Well, there's actually a lot of worse things, but ya know what I mean.)

So this is just my note to say "Hi."

It's a busy time of the season, or should I say pre-season. My Close to my Heart Autumn/Winter Idea Books have arrived; my huge order is placed and arrives Thursday; my head is swimming with plans for workshops, clubs, new product samples, and details for my big Fall crop in November, not to mention my team meeting this Friday. I'm in full-on business mode!

Meanwhile, I'm not creating as much as I'd like to.

I made this card a few weeks ago after attending Stamp Fest Orlando with some of my gal pals. My buddy JoAnn and I "shared" the purchase of this stamp set and she physically has the set right now. What's funny is I can't remember the name of the company or the stamp set. So if you recognize it, please let me know. I thought it was Darcie's, but when I tried searching for it, I had no luck.

This card has lots of Tim Holtz action going on, from the pen nib to the texture fade to the stamped alphabet type in the background (Stamper's Anonymous "School Desk" set).

I used CTMH's Tiny Typewriter alphabet stamp set for the word "hi!" and "Just A." That little alphabet has come in handy quite often. 

So this was my note just to say "Hi" to you. Thanks for hanging in there, and please stay tuned for all kinds of new artwork coming soon!

A Match Made in (Cricut) Heaven

Close To My Heart just wrapped up their 2011 annual Convention, of which unfortunately I was not able to attend this year. But you can bet I was hooked up and following along via Twitter, Facebook and through Corporate postings while all the fun was happening.

First off, I want to congratulate my downline member Tamra Pope, who I am always talking about, because not only did her submitted album win her 3rd place in the CTMH Corporate vote in the convention album contest, it also earned her the coveted Consultant's Choice award of $500! Her album was amazing, and I have encouraged her to post photos of it on her blog. So check with her in the days to come at Tamra's Crafty Paper Creations.

There is so much more to share from convention, I'm ready to bust! But in a nutshell, there was fantastic news for customers and equally great news for consultants. Lower price points, new and improved thick double-sided card stock paper in our paper kits, a more affordable way to get the Stamp of the Month at a great discount... I could go on and on. Consultants will soon start to enjoy customized professional e-newsletters, a FANTASTIC improvement in commissions for those who are working their business full-time like myself, and so much more. I'm still learning about all the new perks.

While I have the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book in my hot little hands, it doesn't go live for customers until August 1st. BUT, I just had to share the biggest news this season with all of you before I explode.

Just watch this video from the corporate office...



I am awaiting my HUGE order with all the new goodies, including my own Cricut Art Philosophy Collection, so I can dig in and start creating samples to share at my upcoming open house, August 12th and 13th.

Watch for more news from me in the days ahead. I can't wait to share with you!!

Vintage Valise part 2

Finally finished my Vintage Valise mini album project. It's late and I'm tired, so I apologize for the lack of details. It's been a long, fun day of creating. Just wanted to share how the inside pages turned out. I stuck with the Kraft resist and the Lost & Found paper packs and pulled in lots of other Tim Holtz items, as you'll see.

I'd love to hear what you think. As always, you can click on a photo to see it up close. Thanks for stopping by today. Here you go...

Vintage Valise part 1

It's not exactly earth-shattering news that I am quite fond of all things Tim Holtz, so I guess it was inevitable that I would want to share that love with my fellow crafty friends here where I live. Inspired by Tim himself and Studio L3's design challenges, I recently started my own All Things Tim group where we gather once a month to create something totally Tim, designed by me.

Our first get-together is August 5th. I've been working away on the first project using Tim's Vintage Valise Alterations die. I knew when I first saw this die that it would make the coolest little travel journal. Then I caught a glimpse of a similar idea in a video at Winter CHA at Tim's booth. From that point on, I was consumed with the idea to make this project.

Although I'm not finished, I thought I would put up some photos as it is coming together.

This little valise measures roughly 4.25 x 6 inches.

To create a mini album, I built a spine and added a large ring binder inside. (Tim Holtz Idea-ology)

The spine is held together using Sticky Back Canvas.

With the help of just a few Close To My Heart vintage style postage and travel stamps, I decorated the spine.


As I finish more I'll share with you, so stay tuned and thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy your Saturday!

Grungy Monday 15 LOVE-WISH-DREAM

Oh, how I am digging this week's Grungy Monday Challenge #15 over at Studio L3 because the technique is not only super easy, but  produces some pretty amazing results.

Tim's technique from 2007 shows us how to create fantastic texture simply by rubbing a distress stamp pad onto card stock, embossing with clear powder, then topping it off with some more distress ink. Be sure to check out his steps here and view his beautiful Christmas tag using this technique.

Here is my card featuring Tim's technique...

The card base is black card stock and measures 5 x 7 inches. For my technique layer I used my Fired Brick distress stamp pad to rub over the entire surface of plain card stock. Then the clear embossing and a layer of Vintage Photo on a foam tool working into the crevices and around the edges. LOVE WISH DREAM is from Tim's "Grunge Cirque" stamp set and was stamped in Fired Brick, Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans. The papers are from Basic Grey's Basics line (my all-time BG favorite). I used my Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge for the center cut where the sentiment is stamped, and Spellbinders Lacy Circles for the outer circle. You may recognize two of Tim's On The Edge dies: Iron Gate and Brackets. The rest is from Close To My Heart: buttons, brads and card stock.

Thanks for stopping by today. Now make sure you head back over to Studio L3 to check out all the creative works of art using this week's technique. Just scroll to the bottom of the post and click on the links.

Have a great day!

Grungy Monday 14 plus the Cruise Girls!

Happy Friday bloggers! I'm so excited this morning because we just had our first Tim Holtz Caribbean Cruise meeting to plan our excursions for the September trip! Jet-skiing, Skyride, Parasailing and the Treetop Adventure Tour. Oh my gosh, we are going to have a blast!


Okay, so that photo of us planning our excursions was a little posed. Here's our happy smiling faces afterwards...

From left to right are Charmin, Tamra, Jo Ann, myself, and Sherry. Missing from our cruise group is Dotti who is up in Atlanta for the summer.


I wanted to make something fun for our kick-off meeting and what better way than to utilize the Grungy Monday challenge this week and make a fun cruise tag?

You can check out the Grungy Monday Challenge #14 over at Studio L3 hosted by Linda Ledbetter, who I hope it going on the cruise too.  Linda?

This week's challenge is Tim Holtz's March 2008 technique showing us how to create our own pearlized distress mist. Check it out here. Tim shows you step-by-step as he creates a fun tag, so be sure to check it out.

Meanwhile, heres my cruise tag...

I used several Close To My Heart stamp sets (Jungle Leaves, Ticket Tags and Horizon), plus Tim's compass stamp which is a single wood mount stamp plus the flourish in the background from his Artful Flight set. That flourish is done with the Snowcap White Dabber, like Tim shows in his tutorial.



Here are a few close-ups of the details...

I made one for each of the cruisers. I cannot wait for this cruise! I know we are going to have a fabulous time together.


Thanks for checking in today. Enjoy your weekend!

Butterfly Journal

In a little over a week from now, Close To My Heart will be holding their annual convention in Anaheim, California at the Disney Land Hotel. Sadly, I will not be attending this year, but am very excited for it nonetheless for several reasons. 

One is that one of my newest consultants, Tamra Pope is going for her first time, and has entered the album contest. There's nothing like your first CTMH convention and Tamra is UBER-talented, so I think she has a really good shot at the contest. Another is that the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book will be unveiled. And finally, they will announce any new changes, new products and programs, and the next location for Convention 2012. I'll be following Twitter the whole weekend!

In the meantime, while I wait for all the new goodies to be revealed, I have created a Butterfly Journal with other products outside the CTMH circle.

Products used in this journal are from companies like Bo Bunny, Tim Holtz, Pink Paislee, Basic Grey and Prima to name a few. I am offering this as a class July 17th for $45 here in Melbourne, FL. Keep scrolling through this post to get an up-close peek at all the pages and their lovely details. The journal is filled with inspirational quotes, beautiful overlays, little pockets and pull-tabs, plus layers and layers of feminine goodness.

At first glance, this might appear to be a mini album, but it's more of a true journal-sized book measuring approximately 7 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches. The purpose I had in mind when I designed this journal was for personal collection of one's thoughts, self-description, favorites, and dreams in their lives at this current moment. 

Something which could help one learn more about herself while also providing a lovely documentation of the person she has become to be shared through the years with her family now and far into the future. (I wish my own mother had done something like this at my age now so I could reflect on what she was like, was thinking, to discover how much we might have in common and to see how her life turned out based on her dreams and goals.)

I started compiling my own lists and information that I am planning to write in my journal and I found it to be a little daunting. It unearthed a few things about myself that I have allowed to go dormant for many years. While getting started was a little tough, once I got going things seemed to start to flow better, and I began to see that I still have dreams and wishes and positive thoughts I need to share. 

Some of the topics I will include in my own journal will be:

1. A brief description of myself through the years and the things I remember loving back then and the things I dreamed for my future, from childhood to high school, through my early marriage up to now.

2. Favorite things about myself right now in my life.

3. Favorite things in my life right now. (from foods to activities, hobbies, television, etc.)

4. Things I still dream of doing before I die. (my bucket list, essentially)

Here are a few close-ups of each page to share the details of the beautiful products used...

Thank you for stopping by today. Have a wonderful day!