CTMH-- January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop + Inspirations Special

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for January 2011 & Happy New Year!!

All artwork on the hop will feature January's Find Your Style, a set of 9 stamps! If you have come here from Adeline's Blog you are on the right path.

This month we have  about 60 CTMH Consultants sharing their SOTM creations, and other great CTMH artwork. Hopping along is fun and simple to do - just click the link at the end of each blogger's post to move to the next one!  Be sure to leave some love (comments) along the way :)

This month, I have created a layout to showcase some photo booth pictures from the 2010 CTMH Convention.  I used all new products from the January's INSPIRATIONS  special.  First, I chose the Wings paper pack because the theme of Convention "Picture This" also featured butterflys.  I created my own glimmer mist using Black Reinker, Create a Shade Pearl Paint, water & the new Spray Pen.  I sprayed my entire background paper.  I also sprayed the background for all my stamped images.  I used the butterfly and the sentiment from the Stamp of the Month.  I also used a special convention stamp set for the title "Picture this"

A close up of the top corner of my page, so you can see the detail of the glimmer mist!  This is a super cool technique and I'm so excited to finally be able to make my own glimmer mist.  I can make it in any color I want using CTMH's reinkers and the create a shade pearl paint.  I see a LOT of glimmer misting in my future!

 

Supplies:

Wings Level 2

Find Your Style
Picture This
Black reinker
Create a shade pearl paint
Spray Pen
Archival Black Ink
Vineyard Berry ink

You can see the entire January's INSPIRATIONS Flyer HERE.

Remember, the January SOTM is only available until 1/31! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

Now hop on over to Mary's Blog to see what she has created for you!

CTMH--- Magic Moments Layout + NEW product

The NEW Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book from CTMH is almost here!  In January there will be a preview of some awesome new papers, stamps, embellishments and a banner project!  Stay tuned for more on that.

I was able to play a little bit with some of my new products this week!  This layout uses the Magic Moments paper kit, NEW Bohemian Alphabet and NEW Dreams Come True stamp sets.  I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays (their Facebook only challenge).

Supplies:
ALL CTMH Unless noted
Magic Moments Leve 2
Bohemian Alphabet
Dreams Come True
State of Mind
Sweet Leaf, Cocoa, Indian Corn Blue inks
misc: Felt Heart
SU: Ribbon

You will be able to purchase the NEW stamp sets I used in this layout at a huge discount during the month of January!  Make sure you're on my email list to learn more :) 

Top Ten- Favorite CTMH Layouts of the Year

I've been going through my layouts from this year (some are in boxes, some are in a drawer, none are in albums yet) and I wanted to showcase my favorite ten of the year! 


Olivia Kit of the Month--- I was not a huge fan of the "fallish" layout that was featured, but I knew the colors would go perfectly with my daughters 2 year pictures. 

Ice Cream- Hooligans Papers, Party Pennants and I Scream stamps.  Simple, lots of white space, but just enough!

Magnifique Dad Layout- I love this pattern from the Magic How To Book

BOYZ- Zippidee papers with another Pattern from Magic

Another magnificent layout with Magnifique!  These blues are really amazing!

Sweet Cherries- Cherry-O had such great colors!  I used up every inch of that paper pack!

Spring Time with Splendor! 

Veranda- very elegant and perfect for this picture!

Rockin' the playful sporty layouts with You Rock

Felicity- flowers work with baseball stadium pics too!

And my very first Studio J layout!  I still love this one, even though I've come a long way with my creativity in Studio J and the program itself has come a LONG way!

You can still find ALL these paper kits in Studio J, but Cherry-O, Splendor, Zippidee, Veranda and You Rock will retire at the end of this week.  You can shop HERE to snatch them up before they are gone forever!

Linking to Top Ten Tuesday

Merry Christmas--- Studio J Mistletoe Layout

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!

I hope you had a fabulous Christmas with your loved ones and Santa brought you all you wanted!  Mine was perfect!

Here is the December layout from my calendar this year!  The large picture is what we used on our Christmas cards this year (from Costco).

I'm looking forward to a Scrappy New Year!

~*~ 5 Days of Gifts ~*~ Scrapbooked Calendar

This is IT!  This is the big gift that I make each year for my family (and myself)!!!!!

For the last two years, I've created traditionally scrapbooked 12x12 calendars for my parents, my in-laws and myself.  This year I switched over to using Studio J layouts and I LOOOOOOVE the outcome!  The pages are all so sharp looking, they are fully embellished and the calendar is super thin and light!  Woohooo!

All of my calendar layouts from Studio J have been posted already, but here is the final product:

Sorry for the dark pics, its been raining for 4 straight days here....

As a Studio J member, I was able to print out my layouts (2-pagers) for $6.50 (then I got my consultant discount on top of that!).  Then I got the JPEG images for free, and I printed 2 more copies of each calendar page at costco for $2.99.  So for $36, I had 12 layouts and the Calendar was another $7.95.  Pretty nice gift for under $50!  PLUS they will have scrapbooked layouts of their grandkids to keep FOREVER!!!!!
Last year, I gave them an album with protectors to put the calendar pages from the year before in, and this year I'm giving them more page protectors to add the 2010 pages. 

Try STUDIO J here today!  Get started EARLY on your 2012 calendars ;)

Thanks for joining me for 5 Days of Gifts!  I hope I've inspired you to make something!  If not for this year, for next year :)

Linked to:
Skip to my Lou
Tater Tots & Jello

~*~5 Days of Gifts ~*~ Hair Bows

As a mom of a daughter with beautiful curly hair, it is essential that we have a large stash of bows.  As she's getting bigger, so is her hair, so the bows need to be bigger. 

Most of the hair bows she has are made of ribbon- all bought by other people.  Then she has some awesome felt clippies- made by my talented cousin Pamela (check out her out HERE), and most recently from my friend Jayma (check out her shop HERE).   But I wanted her to have some flower bows and some BIG bows too. 

So I searched and searched through my large collection of flowers and here's what I came up with.  I secured the layers of flowers either with a brad or with hot glue, then hot glued it to an alligator clip.  Voila!  Cheap (because I had all that stuff) and EASY!

 

The red white and black one is my favorite and she'll wear it with her Christmas outfit!

~*~5 Days of Gifts ~*~ Gift Card Holders

It seems that the most convenient gift to give is a gift card!  I think if you're going to give a gift card, might as well have something nice to put it in!

I found a tutorial for this gift card from a CTMH goddess Tina Sutton: HERE

 Just slide a gift card in the center section :)

And this one I found from another Creative CTMH lady Jody: HERE

If you missed my stocking gift card holder you can find it HERE

Supplies:
ALL CTMH
Evensong Level 2
Jingle Level 2
Evergreen
Just for the Holidays
Circle Punch, Scalloped Circle Punch


Make something FUN to hold all your gift cards this year!

~*~ 5 Days of Gifts~*~ Stamped Tile Coasters

Today I'm featuring Stamped Tile Coasters.  I searched and searched, read many tutorials and blogs looking for the best way to stamp on tiles.  The tiles I bought were tumbled (aka not smooth).  It was not easy to stamp on them due to its uneven surface, as well as the slippery surface. 

I used Timber Brown StazOn ink with a few different stamp sets (Western Flourish, Delightful Things, The Goodness of Life and my favorite:  Alfresco). 

After stamping, I "baked" them in the oven at 300 for about 25 minutes to set the ink.  I added small felt feet on the bottom and wrapped them in sets of 4 for gift giving! 

Get out your favorite stamp set, some Stazon Ink and start stamping some of your own tiles!!!

~*~ 5 Days of Gifts~*~ Family Name Frames

For the next 5 days, I will be sharing some home made gifts that I have been giving for Christmas.

Family Name Frames:
I originally got this idea from my friend Erica.  I then created one for myself:

I took a 10x20 frame, some large cardstock (in the framing section) and cut it to size.  Then I cut out "Patrick"  and all the other little shapes using the Storybook font and used my cuttlebug to emboss it.  "family" was cut with Opposites Attract.  I added a little bling and voila!

We get SOOOOOO many compliments on this!

Then, I thought these would make great gifts.... so I made one for my brother and his wife:

 

I am making one for a gift this year, but I cannot reveal who its for....

AND I take special orders for these.  Email me if you are interested :)  roxybonds@gmail.com

Stay tuned for tomorrow's 5 days of gifts!

Linking to:

Lil'Luna

Tatertots & Jello

~*~ Holiday Blog Hop ~*~

Welcome to the Paper Secrets Holiday Blog Hop.

I made a couple of things to share with you today.

I created this lovely paper tree by punching a LOT of 1 1/4" circles of Mistletoe Paper, then used pearl floral pins to secure them in rows to a styrofoam cone.  As I neared the top, I had to use some adhesive so that they did not flare out, but sit in the cone shape.  At the top, I stamped 3 stars and adhered them to the top of the cone. 

Supplies:

Styrofoam cone

Pearl Floral Pins

CTMH Mistletoe level 2 paper

CTMH Mistletoe Creative Basics paper

D1320 Shining Star Stamps

I created a second paper tree using instructions from Tracey Mason.  I created an accordion flower with a stamped sentiment for my topper on this one.  

Supplies:

Styrofoam Cone

CTMH Mistletoe Level 2 papers

K& Co paper

D1380 Just for the Holidays Stamps

I created a total of four paper trees to sit upon my mantel!  The "subway art" was a free printable from eighteen25.  I changed the colors to match CTMH colors and the rest of my decorations, then printed and framed. The "JOYFUL" decoration was created by me- check it out HERE.  
My grandmother made the stockings for me 3 years ago, to match Pottery Barn Kids ones.
Do you see our ELF???  He wanted to help out too!

VOILA!

And here are some fun Christmas cards to share with you :)

Don't forget to leave a comment on all 25 blog posts & in our forum for your chance to win 1 of the 3 gifts Paper Secrets is giving away.
http://papersecrets.friendhood.net/blog-candy-blog-hops-f5/paper-secrets-holiday-hop-dec-10th-13th-t1113.htm

PLUS you can win some of my
BLOG CANDY:
1- Become a follower of my blog (or tell me you are already)
2- Leave a comment here
3- Join my mailing list (link on left side) for a bonus entry! 

Enter to win this stamp set by Close To My Heart CTMH from ME!!!! (shipping to US & Canada only)

C1371 Holiday Jingle

Your next stop will be CRYSTAL CANTU's blog.


In case you get lost, you can find a complete list of participating blogs here...
http://papersecrets.friendhood.net/blog-candy-blog-hops-f5/paper-secrets-holiday-hop-dec-10th-13th-t1113.htm

Happy Holiday Hopping :)

Be sure to check out the next post down to score some serious CTMH SALE items!   HERE

Linking to:

Someday Crafts-

Lil Luna

Tatertots & Jello

I (heart) Naptime- Sundae Scoop Link Up
DIY Showoff


Skip to my Lou

HUGE CTMH Sale!!!!! HURRY!!!!!

CTMH just released about 20 items at a HUGE discount on my website!  Check them out HERE and order before they're gone!  You'll find deals up to 90% off!!!!!

Add that to the fabulous promotion currently going on:  Spend $20 and get a D-size stamp set FREE!!!!  Amazing amazing deal!

CTMH will occasionally add to this collection of products when we have retired items left in inventory that we know you will love. Because inventory can fluctuate, check my website often to take advantage of these products that are offered while supplies last!

 Come back here in the morning for a HUGE blog hop with lots and lots of giveaways!!!!!

CTMH--Studio J Calendar layouts

I create 3 12x12 calendars each year- one for each set of "grandparents" and one for myself.  They are so well loved by everyone!

Here are October and November's Calendar layouts created with Studio J.  I have December's almost finished and then I can order and finalize my calendars for 2011!

October:
I used the "Boo" paper pack but completely changed the colors to match their costumes!  I love that you can use whatever paper pack you want and change the colors to meet your needs! 

 

November:

Here I went back to a well loved paper pack from last year- Twitterpated.  The little owl stickease went perfectly with the little owls on my daughter's dress!  And how sweet is this picture- certainly something to be thankful for- the sweet love of siblings (even if its for a split second!)

Check out more of my Studio J layouts HERE

and other Calendar layouts HERE

I'm having a HUGE special on Studio J memberships right now.... are you on my mailing list????  Email me to learn more about it:  roxybonds@gmail.com

CTMH--- Stocking Gift Card Holder with Jingle

This is the second year in a row that I have made these adorable gift card holders!  This is one of 3 gift card holders that my customers will make at the All You Can Create Christmas Card Class next weekend :)

I found the printable template HERE. 

 
Supplies:
Jingle Level 2
Holiday Jingle
Olive Ink
CranberryVelvet Ribbon
Pearl Opaques

Check back here for an EXCITING blog hop with the Paper Secrets friends!!!!!
YOU can win a stamp set from me too!!!

Linking to:
  
http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/