August SOM Layout

Hello crafters! In my last post I talked quite a bit about Close to My Heart's August Stamp of the Month, Wicked! I have been working on a scrapbook for my niece and nephew and had yet to make the Halloween layout for little Olivia's book. I decided that this stamp set was perfect for the task! I took the photos on my i-phone, again, and during the evening, so the colors didn't show up very well. Keep reading for more details on the layout!

The title on this page was cut using the Mini Monsters cricut cartridge at 11" wide. I use my gypsy (cricut handheld design gadget) the majority of the time so I apologize that I didn't jot down the height measurement (the height is what you would enter if you were cutting directly on your cricut). It doesn't show well in this photo but the orange is actually the pearlescent paper from Wal-mart again (LOVE it)! All of the remainder of the cardstock is CTMH. The fun witch in the middle is from the Wicked stamp set (August SOM). I wet embossed it with gloss embossing powder (I'll add more details about wet emboss stamping at a later date) and love how it turned out! The border along the bottom was made using, you guessed it, a Martha Stewart Halloween punch! I believe if you click on the picture you can enlarge and zoom in if you'd like to see more detail.

Now onto the right side of the layout! Lets start in the top corner. The little witches hat and broom are also from the Wicked stamp set from CTMH stamped using black ink. To make the broom, I simply masked the bottom part of the stamp so I would only stamp the handle. I then cut several pieces of hemp and tied them together. I originally attached the bristles with a glue dot but it wouldn't hold so I used some liquid glass from CTMH and it stuck like cement! The little purple "goop" in the top and bottom corners opposite each other are actually the "trash" from where I punched the border on the previous page, I thought they worked out perfect! I use every little scrap I can when I paper craft! The "I want my Mummy" phrase was also cut using the Mini Monsters cricut cartridge at 3" high. The cute little mummy was cut with the same cartridge at 3 1/2". The purple (gypsy), green (pear), black, and teal (lagoon) are all CTMH cardstock colors.

I hope you enjoyed this layout as much as I do and found some creative inspiration! Don't forget that the only time you can order the CTMH August stamp set, wicked, is in August so don't delay, contact me to order today! 

August CTMH Stamp of the Month

I'll be honest, when I first got Close to My Heart's, CTMH, August Stamp of the Month, SOM, my first thought was, "what in the world am I going to do with this?!?" After looking at the set a little closer I realized that I could do a lot that wasn't necessarily "Halloween!" I thought the above card, which measures at 4" x 3 3/4", could be given as a motivational card. To stamp just the bottom half of the witch, I "masked" the image by placing a handy post-it note on only the top half of the stamp. I stamped the phrase on a small piece of sweet leaf cardstock from CTMH and "popped" the image up by placing foam tape under it. I also used a decorative corner rounder on the edges. The decorative border along the bottom and on the inside was also a stamp from this set.

The fun little accordion flower turned out oh-so-cute but was sort of a pain to make! I cut a strip of petal CTMH cardstock 3/8" wide by 7" long. I then used my Martha Stewart scoreboard to score the strip every 1/4 of an inch. You then fold the paper back and forth at the score lines and glue the ends together. Make sure you use a SUPER strong adhesive or it won't stay! The hard part is getting the flower to stay flat! You just have to mess with it for awhile to make sure it lays flat and sticks to the card. I then stuck a little bling in the center using a glue dot.

The purple (petal), green (sweet leaf), and blue (twilight) papers along with the stamp set and ink are CTMH products. If you are interested in ordering any of the products used in the above project, contact me via e-mail or facebook! I hope you enjoyed this project using the August SOM from CTMH!

Custom Name Frame

I'll start by apologizing for the photo quality. I don't have a good camera to take photos of my work with so this will have to do for now! Some of you have seen this project already but I wanted to add some more detail as to what I used to complete it. The above name frames were made for my niece, Olivia Nicole! I used the Create a Critter cricut cartridge for most of the "critters" and the Songbird cricut cartridge for all of the letters. On the Nicole frame, the caterpillar was made by punching five 1 1/4" circles and the butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch. The grass was made using a Friskars punch.

Most of the paper is a pearl paper that I got at Wal-mart. I'm not sure if Wal-mart still sells it but I LOVE it! One piece of advice, pearlescent paper does NOT stick well on cricut mats so it's best to use a newer mat that's still super sticky or your paper will move on you! I like to roll a rubber brayer over the pearlescent paper once it's on the mat to make sure that the paper really sticks. Also, pearl paper is typically very thick so make sure that you have your blade depth set to 6 and your pressure on either 4 or 5; I almost always keep my speed on 5 unless I'm cutting something very intricate. As you can see from the bottom picture, I chose colors that matched the bedding in the nursery. If you have any other questions about this project or about ordering your own custom frame, don't hesitate to contact me via e-mail, facebook, or leave a comment below! Thanks for viewing!

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Ah! First off, I want to apologize for my lack of posting this summer. I decided to focus on renovations in our home and spending time with friends and family this summer. Take a peek around the blog for all of the exciting new products/promotions CTMH has to offer! Very soon I will be posting a project made using the August stamp of the month, stay tuned! :)

I'm back!

Hello all! Sorry that I didn't get a post up earlier this week, things have been pretty busy at work with the end of the school year nearing! I've also been busy working on some craft projects. The picture above is a custom name frame that a friend of a friend ordered. As you can see, they requested a Cleveland Browns theme and the baby's name is "Trip." I struggled with this one as I'm not used to doing masculine projects but my creative juices started flowing after I googled Cleveland Browns. I used the Everyday Paper Dolls cricut cartridge to cut out the pennant, goal post, and foam finger. I used the Birthday Bash cricut cartridge to cut "TRIP" using the blackout feature to add some depth. I think it turned out pretty cute! :)

Being a high school teacher, I get many graduation party invitations so I came up with a very simple design for graduation cards this year! The above is just a plain white cardstock base using some old cardstock I had lying around. The patterned paper is 4" x 2 3/4" and it's some VERY old creative memories paper I had from where I used to sell creative memories. I placed the patterned paper 1" from the base of the card. I punched the scalloped circle in blue to match the graduation caps. The white circle was punched at 1 1/4". The graduation caps are from an old sticker set I had. Do you notice the trend here, old products I had lying around?? LoL! I'm trying to get rid of some of the items I've accumulated to make room for my new CTMH products!

The wonderful stamps are from the brand new CTMH "You and Me" stamp set and were stamped using CTMH's outdoor denim ink. The "You and Me" stamp set comes in the "You and Me" kit which is one of the CTMH specials for the month of May. The kit is $34.95, BUT with a $50 purchase, it can be yours for only $15! That's more than half off! Or even better, when you sign up to become a CTMH consultant in May (the consultant kit is half off in May!), you receive the "You and Me" kit for FREE! What a deal! Order a "You and Me" kit today so you can start creating fun cards as well! :)

Close to My Heart Products

After much invested time, I was finally able to get everything linked for ordering CTMH products online! :) Take a look at the new links above to explore the products Close to My Heart has to offer! Interested in earning free products?? Contact me about holding a home gathering or catalog party!

I am very excited about becoming a Close to My Heart Consultant and hope to be able to help individuals learn new techniques while making fun projects along the way! Please feel free to visit my Close to My Heart website here, MyCTMH!

It's Official!

Good Sunday afternoon everyone! I was going back and forth on a decision for some time now and finally took the plunge. It's official, I'm now a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant! I will be posting more information about my new business venture soon! For now, please feel free to take a look at the current CTMH Idea Book located here:

http://www.ctmh.com/en/Products/Online_Idea_Book.aspx

See something you like? Contact me via e-mail at bigkar03@aol.com to place an order! :)