March 2012 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!!!

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

This month we are featuring the March SOTM from the NEW 2012 Spring/Summer Idea Book, which is S1203 Potential, a set of 8 My Acrylix Stamps! 

If you have come here from Haley Dyer, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.

This month we have over 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. To join in the fun just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one!

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Here we go! I’m thrilled to share with you one of my Extravaganza submissions that I will be mailing off tomorrow to CTMH! I have been working on this project for several days and I’m really excited how it turned out.

If I had the time to scrapbook like this all the time…I DEFINITELY would! I love putting a lot into the details, but we all know that it just isn’t feasible all the time.

I incorporated a variety of products and techniques into this layout…such as, ink destressing, sanding, ink spritzing, Cricut Art Philosophy shapes, paper flowers, stamping, My Stickease & hand-stitching.

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That’s it for now…I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Now "Hop" on over to Adeline Brill to see her fabulous works of art! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas using this month’s stamp of the month!

To purchase your March Stamp of the Month (only available Mar 1-31, 2012) and other CTMH products like the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection…

Visit My Website to shop now!

or click here to contact me to place your order.

Thank you for stopping by and have a blessed day,

‘How Sweet It Is’ to Be Scrapbooking with CTMH’s Stella Kit

I am absolutely delighted with the new products from Close To My Heart! They have out done themselves with the new 2012 Spring/Summer Idea Book…it is overflowing with EIGHT stunning new paper packets, dozens of coordinating embellishments & stamps.

I love how quickly these scrapbook pages came together this weekend using the new Stella Paper Packet and coordinating products. They are definitely quick & easy…using only three products! I bet I had these cut & assembled within 30 minutes time. How’s that for faster, simpler & easier!?!

Tomorrow I will add photos and journaling and I’ll share my finished creations in the next day or two.

To create these adorable layouts, I used the following products…

Imagine How-To Scrapbook Program - Create your own 12" × 12" designer layouts with Jeanette Lynton’s second volume of incredible scrapbooking patterns. Packed with 50 all new, two-page patterns, complete cutting diagrams, and assembly instructions, plus inspiring techniques, Imagine™ is every scrapbooker’s best friend.

Stella Level 2 Paper Packet

Stella Complements Canvas Shapes

Bohemian Assortment

All these products can be ordered through my website by clicking on the red highlighted links or contacting me here.

If you have any questions about these projects, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Tomorrow, I’ll be sharing a fun little post-it note project using scraps from this same kit! Until then, God bless!

Jolly Good Memories

Hello there! I hope this finds you enjoying this wonderful time of year and celebrating the reason for the season, our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ!

I just finished up one of my scrapbook club layouts for December with photos and journaling. I love how this one turned out, especially because it was so fast and simple to create! I also like how I modified the photo wells to incorporate more photos…that’s always a good thing!

Would you believe I scraplifted this layout right off the back of the Mistletoe My Stickease Assortment package? That’s right…with a few scraps from my Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Packet, ribbon and brads…viola!

These are pictures from 2009 and are just a sampling of all the fun memories we made last year. I used photos of us and the things we did around the house to go along with the My Stickease title, All Through the House.

 

I’ll be finishing up a few more layouts this weekend using my Mistletoe Workshop on the Go Kit and our 12” assortment of flip flaps!

Stay tuned because you will not want to miss these really fun and interactive layouts I have to share!

Have a great weekend!

Studio J Membership Gift Idea

FOR THE ONE WHO HAS EVERYTHING.

Give the gift of memories this year with a Studio J Membership or 5-pack.

You may purchase a Studio J Membership or 5-pack directly on MyCTMH Website and Close To My Heart will email you a 16-digit membership code to give to your recipient. If you would prefer to have a beautifully handmade gift card to present to your recipient, contact me to place your order.

Check out some of the beautifully custom made Studio J layouts and then create a project of your own!

Learn more here…

Feel free to contact me with any questions you have. I’m more than happy to assist you in any way. Have fun creating!

Monday Magic Creation #9 (MMC9) – Using Different Color Combos

Welcome to the Monday Magic Creation challenge, hosted by me, Pamela O’Connor, your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.

Let me share how it will work. Each Monday at 10 am CST, I will post a new scrapbook layout pattern featured in CTMH's all-new scrapbook how-to program, Magic. I will share with you my completed scrapbook layout using the featured pattern and challenge you to play along with me.

So, lets get started!

This week’s (11/15-11/21) Monday Magic Creation challenge feature’s the Magic pattern on page 40 called Levitate.

Don’t have Magic yet? Order your copy of Magic HERE.

Here is my Monday Magic Creation for week 9 (MMC9)…

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This week, I thought I’d show you how the same pattern looks using two different color combinations/paper packets. These are two of the layouts that I taught in October and November at my monthly scrapbook clubs.

The below layout uses the Hooligans Workshop on the Go Kit found HERE.

This layout is using this month’s Olivia My Stickease Kit (Olivia Level 2 Paper Packet, Olivia My Stickease, Designer Ribbon Rounds Cocoa Collection, Brads Essential Assortment, Cocoa Exclusive Inks Pad, and Round Sponge.

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To play along with me, create your own scrapbook layout using the above featured pattern from Magic and upload your creation to your blog or online gallery. Then leave a link to your creation using the linky widget at the bottom of this post.

There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but I will close the linky form each Sunday night at 11:59 pm (CST). That way there's no confusion which linky is the current one.

If you upload to online galleries, please use keyword/tag MMC9 for this week (11/15-11/21).

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Have fun playing along with me!

Click the link at the bottom of this post for the entry form.  Please type your name or screen name in the Caption or Title field, then choose the link and photo you'd like to enter.  Please link directly to your specific blog post with your layout in it, and not your general blog url.

Note: If you're having problems linking, try entering the link to your card, then choosing From File instead of From Web. Then just browse to where your picture is saved on your computer to get your thumbnail.

Monday Magic Creation #6 (MMC6) – Mix & Match B&T Duos

Welcome to the Monday Magic Creation challenge, hosted by me, Pamela O’Connor, your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.

Let me share how it will work. Each Monday at 10 am CST, I will post a new scrapbook layout pattern featured in CTMH's all-new scrapbook how-to program, Magic. I will share with you my completed scrapbook layout using the featured pattern and challenge you to play along with me.

So, lets get started!

(Don’t have Magic yet? Order your copy HERE.)

This week’s (10/25-10/31) Monday Magic Creation challenge feature’s the Magic pattern on page 30 called Deck of Cards.

Here is my Monday Magic Creation for week 6 (MMC6)…

Going along with my theme of scrappin’ memories and events in October, I decided to make this week’s creation using photos that I took this past Friday night of my son playing in the band during half-time at the football game. This also gave me the opportunity to journal about his accomplishments and goals while he’s been in band.

This layout came together so simple! Our school colors are red & black, so I dug through some retired, retiring and new B&T papers to get the colors and patterns I wanted to use.

The Black B&T paper is from an oldie, but goodie paper packet called Giggles & Grins. The Desert Sand B&T paper is from a retiring paper packet called Stardust and the Cranberry B&T paper is from our new Mistletoe Creative Basics Kit.

I used Bamboo Cardstock and Colonial White Cardstock for my neutral colors.

For the title, Cougar Band, I sponged Black ink onto the Irresistibles Lots of Dots Stickers. These stickers come white and you can color them using Sponge Daubers & ink or markers. They have embossed dots on them already so the ink doesn’t fill them in. Makes for a pretty quick and easy title.

I used a few leftover Game On My Stickease to fill in the year and add some border accents.

I also used some stars from the Dimensional Elements Snowflakes package and covered them in Bamboo Cardstock and sanded the edges to give them a distressed looked and then inserted a Black brad into the center of it one.

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To play along with me, create your own scrapbook layout using the above featured pattern from Magic and upload your creation to your blog or online gallery. Then leave a link to your creation using the linky widget at the bottom of this post.

There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but I will close the linky form each Sunday night at 11:59 pm (CST). That way there's no confusion which linky is the current one.

If you upload to online galleries, please use keyword/tag MMC6 for this week (10/25-10/31).

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Have fun playing along with me!

Click the link at the bottom of this post for the entry form.  Please type your name or screen name in the Caption or Title field, then choose the link and photo you'd like to enter.  Please link directly to your specific blog post with your layout in it, and not your general blog url.

Note: If you're having problems linking, try entering the link to your card, then choosing From File instead of From Web. Then just browse to where your picture is saved on your computer to get your thumbnail.

Monday Magic Creation #5 – Power Layouts using Studio J

Welcome to the Monday Magic Creation challenge, hosted by me, Pamela O’Connor, your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.

Let me share how it will work. Each Monday at 10 am CST, I will post a new scrapbook layout pattern featured in CTMH's all-new scrapbook how-to program, Magic. I will share with you my completed scrapbook layout using the featured pattern and challenge you to play along with me.

So, lets get started!

(Don’t have Magic yet? Order your copy HERE.)

This week’s (10/18-10/24) Monday Magic Creation challenge feature’s the Magic pattern on page 28 called Backstage.

Here is my Monday Magic Creation for week 5 (MMC5)…

While working on my creation for this week, I got to playing around on Studio J again and I wanted to show you one of the cool things I love so much about Studio J. Remember, it’s absolutely FREE to try out. Pay nothing until you are satisfied with your creations and are ready to have your layouts professionally printed.

There have been quite a few times that I have gone into Studio J and created a project and chosen the same paper packet that I am currently working with in my ‘Classic’ Scrapbooking. If I’m having a difficult time deciding what B&T Duos & Cardstock to use for the pattern, I can ‘play around’ in Studio J before I actually cut my ‘Classic’ B&T Duos & Cardstock. No wasting paper or creating scraps I don’t need. I can actually use up a lot of my scraps this way!

Below is the Magic pattern that is featured this week and you can see how I played around with different colors of cardstock bases.

Using Colonial White Bases

Using Heavenly Blue Bases  

Using Desert Sand Bases

Using Moonstruck Bases

I have tentatively decided on the Moonstruck bases.

 

I will be taking in some negatives (do we all remember what those are?) to get enlargements from pictures I took at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in 1993.

(Just noticed my spelling error…will have to go back into Studio J and correct it next time I get a chance.)

I would love to hear your thoughts on the different bases I have shown. I’m still not 100% sure I want to use the Moonstruck. I will share my finished layouts with you once I get my enlargements done.

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To play along with me, create your own scrapbook layout using the above featured pattern from Magic or Studio J and upload your creation to your blog or online gallery. Then leave a link to your creation using the linky widget at the bottom of this post.

There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but I will close the linky form each Sunday night at 11:59 pm (CST). That way there's no confusion which linky is the current one.

If you upload to online galleries, please use keyword/tag MMC5 for this week (10/18-10/24).

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Have fun playing along with me!

Click the link at the bottom of this post for the entry form.  Please type your name or screen name in the Caption or Title field, then choose the link and photo you'd like to enter.  Please link directly to your specific blog post with your layout in it, and not your general blog url.

Note: If you're having problems linking, try entering the link to your card, then choosing From File instead of From Web. Then just browse to where your picture is saved on your computer to get your thumbnail.

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Monday Magic Creation #3 (MMC3) – Stories in Disguise & Flip Flaps

Welcome to the Monday Magic Creation challenge, hosted by me, Pamela O’Connor, your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.

Let me share how it will work. Each Monday at 10 am CST, I will post a new scrapbook layout pattern featured in CTMH's all-new scrapbook how-to program, Magic. I will share with you my completed scrapbook layout using the featured pattern and challenge you to play along with me.

So, lets get started!

(Don’t have Magic yet? Order your copy HERE.)

This week’s (10/4-10/10) Monday Magic Creation challenge feature’s the Magic pattern on page 22 called Now You See It.

Here is my Monday Magic Creation for week 3 (MMC3)…

I had a little brain storming session with myself this past week and got to thinking about the big picture of my scrapbooking adventures. I decided that each month, I will be focusing my attention and my creations on that particular month’s activities from years gone by. I will share more details in an upcoming post soon as I’m still processing my thoughts.

So, for the month of October, I will be highlighting October memories & photos from years gone by, such as football games, band, the CBC pumpkin patch, the Christoval Elementary Fall Festival and so forth.

This week, I’m highlighting memories from The Christoval Baptist Church Pumpkin Patch in October 2005!

I just love how this layout turned out! I used the Hooligans Level 2 Paper Packet for my creation this week along with some fun coordinating stamp sets and accessories.

Would you believe I got 15 photos on this layout? Doesn’t look like it from this view point…

The left page of this pattern is a really simple layout. However, I did alter it just a bit from the original pattern. There is actually suppose to be an 8” x 10” photo where I have the four 4” x 5” photos. I didn’t have one focal point photo I wanted to use, so that is why I did four smaller photos.

Notice the banner hanging in the upper left corner? It was cut from some of the stripe Hooligans B&T Duo Paper! The colors of the Hooligans Level 2 Paper Packet include four of our new colors: Gypsy, Lagoon, Pear & Sunset.

Check out the banners I put directly on one of the photos below…

This looks like another really simple layout with just 3 photos, but don’t be fooled!

Check out this cute little pumpkin next to my title! I used The Boo Crew stamp set along with Posterboard Alphabet.

Now check this out…

Jeanette Lynton shares a really cool tip for this pattern – Cut a window in the page to reveal part of a pullout, placing journaling or another photo behind the moving piece. I’ll have to share a tutorial of how I created the pullout in another post.

I also decided to use our new Memory Protectors 12” Flip Flaps Assortment on this layout. So, you just flip open the photos on the right page to reveal this…

Now you can see how I got a total of 15 pictures on this layout.

So stinkin’ cool, if I do say so myself!

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To play along with me, create your own scrapbook layout using the above featured pattern from Magic and upload your creation to your blog or online gallery. Then leave a link to your creation using the linky widget at the bottom of this post.

There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but I will close the linky form each Sunday night at 11:59 pm (CST). That way there's no confusion which linky is the current one.

If you upload to online galleries, please use keyword/tag MMC3 for this week (10/4-10/10).

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Have fun playing along with me!

Click the link at the bottom of this post for the entry form.  Please type your name or screen name in the Caption or Title field, then choose the link and photo you'd like to enter.  Please link directly to your specific blog post with your layout in it, and not your general blog url.

Note: If you're having problems linking, try entering the link to your card, then choosing From File instead of From Web. Then just browse to where your picture is saved on your computer to get your thumbnail.

Monday Magic Creation #2 (MMC2) & Faux Stitching

Welcome to the Monday Magic Creation challenge, hosted by me, Pamela O’Connor, your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant.

Let me share how it will work. Each Monday at 10 am CST, I will post a new scrapbook layout pattern featured in CTMH's all-new scrapbook how-to program, Magic. I will share with you my completed scrapbook layout using the featured pattern and challenge you to play along with me.

So, lets get started!

(Don’t have Magic yet? Order your copy HERE.)

This week’s (9/27-10/3) Monday Magic Creation challenge feature’s the Magic pattern on page 18 called Love Potion.

Here is my Monday Magic Creation for week 2 (MMC2)…

These photos of my husband with his big catch were just taken yesterday!

He called me about 30 minutes after he and Bevyn left the house to tell me that he had caught the biggest bass he ever had on the S. Concho River in Christoval.

I told him I’d believe him when I saw it! Well, a little bit later, he sent me the photo of the bass beside Bevyn. After church, I went down to the river to get the rest of the pictures to make this scrapbook layout.

For this layout, I dug out some retired Back Country B&T Duo scraps I have left. This pattern uses very little B&T Duos & Cardstock so it’s a fantastic pattern to use when you have lots of scraps hanging around. I also used some Dimensional Elements Monograms for the ‘C’ & ‘R’ and covered them in B&T Duos paper. The ‘&’ stamp is from the My Acrylix Cocktail Alphabet stamp set and the fish are from the My Acrylix Campin Fever stamp set.

Did you notice my stitching along the edges of the Bamboo Cardstock? I didn’t even have to pull out my sewing machine to do it because it’s Faux Stitching!

Let me show you how to make your own Faux Stitching…

I scored the BACK of the Bamboo Cardstock, then flipped it over and sanded the entire surface. When you sand over the scored line, it removes the color from the cardstock to reveal the white core. I LOVE that feature about CTMH Cardstock!

Using my Versamat (must have), I then used my Piercing Tool Kit (another must have) to pierce the Bamboo Cardstock along the sanded score line every 1/4”.

Lastly, I used the mat from my Piercing Tool Kit to re-pierce each hole to make each hole a little bit bigger so that it actually looked like stitching.

***By the way, if you love challenges, but are short on time, this week’s Hooked on Stamping’s Scrapbook Challenge is the same pattern from Magic! So, you can participate in both challenges by only doing one layout.***

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To play along with me, create your own scrapbook layout using the above featured pattern from Magic and upload your creation to your blog or online gallery. Then leave a link to your creation using the linky widget at the bottom of this post.

There is no time limit - you can always play any week at any time, but I will close the linky form each Sunday night at 11:59 pm (CST). That way there's no confusion which linky is the current one.

If you upload to online galleries, please use keyword/tag MMC2 for this week (9/27-10/3).

***

Have fun playing along with me!

Click the link at the bottom of this post for the entry form.  Please type your name or screen name in the Caption or Title field, then choose the link and photo you'd like to enter.  Please link directly to your specific blog post with your layout in it, and not your general blog url.

Note: If you're having problems linking, try entering the link to your card, then choosing From File instead of From Web. Then just browse to where your picture is saved on your computer to get your thumbnail.