1/31/2012

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This month I am following Amy McVey's Blog, and we have over 60 Close to My Heart Consultants for the February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.


The February Stamp of the Month is entitled Thoughtful Tidings (Set of 11).  This stamp set is so cool because it coordinates with Close to My Heart’s Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge and actually cuts out the images. Then you can stamp on them.  Now how easy is that?  No cutting necessary!  Look at what you can make with these cute stamps.
0212_SOM_text
And here are the stamps.
Feb12SOTM
I accidentally turned this card for the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop into a challenge for myself.  I went down to Florida to visit my daughter and grandsons and packed everything that I thought I might need for this card.  Of course, I had no idea of what I wanted to do so I brought all of my inks and my new products and my tape and a few reinkers.  The reinkers were perfect matches for Cruisin, one of our super cute new paper packs.  Then when I started making the card, I decided I wanted to use Stella, another new paper pack.  I was in a bohemian kind of  mood. 


I had decided to use one of our Spray Pens (Z1380) to mist a white piece of cardstock so that it would have an uneven distressed look.  I did not bring the reinkers for Stella (I was traveling light – LOL)  I mixed a reinker I had with a little rubbing alcohol (my favorite misting solvent).  I was hoping the color wouldn’t be too far off.  SO, guess what color the piece of cardstock with the sentiment is.  Looks like Sunset, doesn’t it?  Well Sunset IS one of the colors in the Stella paper pack.  If you guessed Sunset, you are wrong.  It was Cranberry.  Who’d a guessed that Cranberry + Rubbing Alcohol = Sunset.  Too cool!!
feb sotm 2
I decided that I needed more going on on the now misted Sunset cardstock so I took the hatched stamp from the Rock the Block promotion and 3rd generation stamped Cocoa over it.  The card is one of our Kraft Die Cut cards and the border is one of the zip strips from the Stella Paper Pack.


Look at the cute butterfly.  The butterfly is from the Color-Ready Garden Wooden Shapes.  The shapes come plain - ready for you to decorate, sponge with ink, or stamp it like I did.  You will never guess what stamp set I used for the butterfly.  I was desperate and it needed something and all I had was new product…….  I stamped it with the flower stamp from the Pemberley Workshop on the Go.  Too funny huh?  It is amazing how creative one can get when they are desperate.  I was shocked that it actually looks like butterfly markings.


I am trying to get comfortable with clustering elements.  Can you see the green swirl?  It is from the Stella Complements package,  I wish that I had sponge distressed it before I adhered it.  Once it was down, it was down so there was no bringing it back up to distress.
close up of feb sotm
Now for the inside of my card.  I decorated the flat scalloped piece that normally fits over the front of the card to keep it closed.  Then I adhered it to the inside of the card to use it as decoration.  The sentiments on the outside and the inside of the card are from this month’s Stamp of the Month, Thoughtful Tidings.  I love large sentiments like these because you can use them as the main stamped image.
inside of feb sotm
Thank you for visiting my blog. Now please go on to the next stop, Wanda Riley's Blog and see what she has created for you!


This stamp set can be purchased or you can even get it for only $5 Between February 1 – February 29, 2011. If you do not have a Close to My Heart Consultant, you can purchase this stamp set on my website.

Supplies
  • Inks: Cocoa (Z2114), Tulip (Z2166), and Cranberry Reinker (Z2216)
  • Paper: Stella (X7147B)
  • Stamp Sets: Thoughtful Tidings (S1202), Rock the Block Promotion Stamp Set, and C1491 Pemberley Workshop on the Go Stamp Set
  • Tools: Sponge Daubers Z726) and Spray Pen (Z1380)
  • Embellishments: Just Blooms Paper Shapes Paradise (Z1710), Complements-Stella (X7147C), Opaques-Mocha (Z1333), Bohemian Assortment (Z1687), Color-Ready Garden Wooden Shapes (Z1718), Die Cut Cards and Envelopes (Z1474), and Badge Buttons-Pewter (Z1704)

1/07/2012

Close to My Heart Retiring List

These items are retiring January 31, 2012. You can still get them before they disappear forever by shopping at my website HERE.

I want to send a big thanks to Tamytha Jenkins for making up this slideshow.

Remember, you only have until January 31, 2012 to purchase these retiring items.

1/06/2012

A Perfect 10 Promotion!

What a great time for a Studio J Promotion!  As a hobby, my youngest daughter takes beautiful photographs of her son at his sporting events.  She has this camera with a gigantic lens and takes hundreds of pictures.  I have tried to interest her in scrapbooking but she just does not enjoy “cutting and pasting” (her words).

So this past Christmas we had time together and I showed her how to use Studio J, our digital scrapbooking program.  She absolutely loved it and in 3 hours from the time we turned on the computer, she had 12 – 2 pg layouts!

Now she has a way to scrapbook her memories and this month Close to My Heart is having a promotion that will save her and you money.  It is called Perfect 10.

January is free layout month for Studio J® members! For every 9 custom-printed Studio J layouts you buy, you’ll receive the 10th layout free. To receive the discount, just add 10 or more layouts to your cart. You’ll see a discount reflected in your order total. And you can totally take advantage of this promotion by ordering in multiples of 10. Buy 9, get 1 free. Buy 18, get 2 free. Buy 27, get 3 free. And so on! If you’re not a member yet, now’s a great time to join!

You do not have to become a member to use Studio J and there is no programs to load onto your computer.  The program is free and accessible here.  There are no charges until you actually order your finished layouts, so go ahead and try it out.  You will love the ease of use and the wonderful memories that you can scrapbook quickly.

1/05/2012

I’m Back and Rocking this New Promotion!

I have been gone awhile, but I have a great excuse.  My husband had a complete knee replacement right before Thanksgiving.  He has diabetes and high blood pressure as well so this has been quite a journey for him and I got to go along for the ride.
                                                                                 
I am hoping to get back in the proverbial saddle and wanted to post our wonderful January Promotion at Close to My Heart.  It is called “Rock the Block” and it is truly awesome.  Here are the details.


When you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, you can get two valuable new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set (available only during this promotion). This Rock the Block promotion represents a retail savings of almost $30! You're going to love the collage cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set, which work together for interactive, fashionable fun!


Dates: Offer valid December 19, 2011–January 31, 2012.


Here is a video that explains more about this great promotion.

Don’t you just love it?  All you have to do to get it is to order $25 in product, any product, from the Fall/Winter Idea book.  Then for only $15 more, you will receive the blocks and the E sized stamp set and save almost $30.  I will be having a workshop in February using these blocks.  You can order yours here.