November SOTM Blog Hop - "Illuminate"

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring November's SOTM, "Illuminate", a set of 15 stamps. There are so many possibilities, both for cards and for scrapbooking with this stamp set! I love the banner, but I didn't have a chance to use it on the card I chose to create, but that would be a terrific addition to holiday cards or summer cards! If you have come here from Kathleen's Blog, 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. A complete list of blog hoppers can be found at Melinda's Blog.

This month we have approximately 45 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

Here is a picture of the images in the stamp set. 

For my card, I chose to use Laughing Lola paper. I love the intensity of colours in this paper pack and the fact the it had gold was perfect for the candles as well. I chose to use some black hemp to dress it up a little bit and to get the hemp to lay where I wanted it, I coated it with a very thin layer of Vaseline to make it a little easier to work with. The Aqua Dots were a perfect addition to the center of the bows. For the sentiment (and it's a little difficult to see here), I used Lagoon and Black pigment inks and just altered the colours beside each other. Yes, this can dirty the lighter ink pad if you're not careful but I have multiples of each and use certain ones just for this purpose. I also used the Black pigment ink pad to stamp with as it gives so much more intensity than the regular ink pad. The candles are embossed with gold powder.

Supplies used: 

Paper: Laughing Lola Paper Pack, Black Cardstock, Lagoon Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps: Illuminate
Inks: Black Pigment Ink, Lagoon Pigment Ink, Versamark Ink
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Corner Rounder, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Black Hemp, Vaseline, Aqua Dots, Laughing Lola Assortment

Now "Hop" on over to Elizabeth's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the November SOTM is only available until the last day of November! Click here to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5 this month! 

Enjoy, 
Alyson

3 More Christmas Cards

For my Christmas Card Workshop, these are the other three cards we will be creating. 

This first card doesn't use any stamping at all but a lot of cuts from the cricut instead. I like the way the red glitter gel sets off the poinsettia flowers just that tiny little bit. I also bent up the leaves and flower ends to give them more dimension. And rather than using the typical Christmas colour of Cranberry, I chose to use Ruby instead - a darker, more intense red. 

The next card did not photograph very well, but I love the idea behind it. The paper is from Laughing Lola and our Glitter paper. Some will be made using the Gold Glitter Paper and some using the Silver Glitter Paper - depends how fast I run out of each... It's difficult when you don't have an ink match for the purple in this paper pack... so I opted for gold (and silver) instead. The sparkles are coloured using a purple Sharpie marker.

The last card design is from the Make It From Your Heart Vol.2 Collection. I love these little penguins and wanted to use them on at least one card. The hemp baker's twine was a perfect match with the Frosted Paper and a wooden button finishes off the look - simple but cute. 

 

Supplies used are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted:

Paper: Frosted Paper Pack, Laughing Lola Paper Pack, For Always Paper Pack, Ruby Cardstock,, White Daisy Cardstock, New England Ivy Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Twilight Cardstock, Gold Glitter Paper

Stamps: Merry and Bright, Wintry Wishes

Inks: Versamark, Cocoa Pigment Ink, Twilight Pigment Ink, Twilight Alcohol Marker

Accessories: Art Philosophy Cartridge, Artbooking Cartridge, Artiste Cartridge, Red Shimmer Trim, Reg Glitz Glitter Gel, Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Bitty Sparkles, Scalloped Punch, Corner Rounder, Purple Ribbon (not CTMH), White Ribbon (not CTMH), Hemp Baker's Twine, Wooden Button (ret.), Colonial White Brads (ret.)

Enjoy, 

Alyson

Starting on Some Christmas Cards...

I have my annual Christmas Card Workshop coming up mid-November and I had to get the cards finished so my customers could see what we will be creating. I cased some of my cards from Pinterest (LOVE that resource) and some others from the new Make It From Your Heart Guide.

Below are two of the cards (we do 25 in total - 5 each of 5 designs, so it is kind of like a marathon...) that we will be creating. 

 I like the simplicity of this first card - using the Pirouette Stamp as the background and then just embossing a sheet of the same coloured paper, this could be done with any colour. I did use a retired stamp set - last October's Stamp of the Month - Very Merry Christmas. 

Before I decided to do this card, I made sure that I could get silver foil paper in bulk at a local craft store first. Usually it is purchased as part of an origami package where you get a bunch of mixed colours and I didn't want that. I also really wanted to use a Memory Box branch die and I like my customers to know that I am not 100% tied down to CTMH. The bird is cut from the Artiste Cartridge in 2 sizes for emphasis. 

Supplies used are Close To My Heart excepted where noted:

Paper: Pacifica Cardstock, Black Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, , Outdoor Denim Cardstock, Sky Cardstock, Silver Foil Paper
Stamps: Very Merry Christmas (ret.), Yuletide Greetings, Pirouette
Inks: Pacifica, Outdoor Denim
Accessories: Artiste Cartridge, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders (not CTMH), Clear Sparkles, Foam Tape, Bitty Opaque Pearl Adhesive Gems, Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon, Memory Box Branch Die (not CTMH)

Enjoy, 
Alyson