October SOTM Blog Hop - Yuletide Joy

Welcome to our blog hop featuring Close To My Heart's October Stamp of the Month! You may have just come from Corinna Murphy's blog. If so, you're on the right path. For a complete list of participants, visit Melinda Everitt's blog list.
This stamp set is perfect for the Christmas cards and tags I'm making. I chose to use the star image for my first SOTM post:

I cut the stars at the suggested side for the bottom stamped star and stamped it again on a smaller star. I cut out a larger version for the gold glitter paper star and the negative space in the main panel and its kraft mat.  Here you can see the way I used thin dimensional foam tape on the mat layer and regular dimensional foam tape to pop up both stars.

I also made two tags using the gold embossed stars and wreath-type cuts from Cricut Flower Market. I cut the square wreath from Fern cardstock, but after gluing it in place, I regretted not usisng New England Ivy cardstock, so I colored it with the ShinHan Sap Green marker.

You can use my cut file which sized all the pieces for the 6.5" x 5" card and 5" x 2.5" tags if you're interested. (These cuts require the Art Philosophy and Flower Market cartridges.)

Now you are ready to enjoy  Nancy Womersley's blog.

Card and Tag supplies (all CTMH):
Paper - Oh, Deer paper pack; White Daisy, Colonial White, Fern, Kraft cardstock, Gold Glitter paper
Ink - Versamark, New England Ivy, Desert Sand, Sea Glass,
Stamp - Yuletide Joy
Tools, Cricut Art Philosophy, Cricut Flower Market, Shin Han Sap Green marker, Gold embossing powder, craft heater, sponge daubers
Embellishments - Uptown Ribbon pack (gold), Rustic Home Ribbon pack (crocheted), Fern Thick Twine, gold sequins

Mojo Monday #462 - His Presence

I was playing with some Christmas paper that had Santa and some presents. My favorite sentiment to use with that kind of paper is from Verve: "The Magic of Christmas is not in the presents but in HIS presence." I'm glad to have a sentiment that emphasizes the presence of Christ, my reason for Christmas.  Material gifts can never compare to Christ's presence, strength, and help in my life.
I stamped the sentiment on a gift shaped die cut using Cricut Art Philosophy. The Mojo Monday sketch was perfect for the paper scrap I had.

Thank you for visiting! May you also focus on Christ's presence as you create cards and gifts of encouragement for those you love. Have a lovely weekend!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
4 Crafty Chicks #313 - get sentimental
12 Months of Christmas #20 - anything Christmas
Addicted to Stamps and More #208 - Holiday
Crafting by Designs - get ready for Christmas
Mojo Monday #462 - sketch
The Crafty Addicts #22 - use die cuts
Word Art Wednesday #244-245 - anything family friendly

The Real Beauty of Easter

The real beauty of Easter is knowing that you are loved so much by someone else that He would volunteer to take your punishment for all the wrongs you'd ever done in life by giving up His own life, dying in your place.  His death was cruel, traumatic, and ugly, but His love for doing it is beautiful, so we tend to make our Easter cards beautiful. This card is made in gratitude of Christ's beautiful love for me, for you, and for the world (Path of Positivity Challenge - Beauty).

I made the cross by cutting a border strip into two pieces and lining it with gold glitter paper to make the cross. I stamped the sentiment: You are Loved from the stamp set Your Own Kind of Wonderful.

The soft colors come from the Charlotte paper pack and the leafy branches are from Charlotte complements chipboard. The gold heart is one of my favorites from Treasured Puffies.  They have shine, dimension, but are fairly soft so shouldn't affect mailing.  The Whisper thick twine is also soft for mailing. The Cricut cut is from page 70 of Art Philosophy, If you use Cricut Explore, the image code is #M413F5.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you and your loved ones this Easter with the overwhelming realization of how very much you are loved by Christ the Lord!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
All Sorts #355 - Easter
Bitten by the Bug 2 - Spring flings and Easter things
Crafting with Dragonflies #53 - Easter
Crafty Cardmakers #160 - Easter
D.L.Art Thankful Thursday #176 - Easter
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #262 - Easter
Jo's Scrap Shack #130 - Happy Easter
Path of Positivity Challenge - Beauty
Where the HeART is Challenge 7 - Easter/anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #222/223 - anything uplifting

Basketball Super Stars Cards

Yesterday I watched five hours of the basketball tournaments that my two young grandsons played in. The youngest, age 9,  played in two games and his team lost in the last couple of minutes. He wasn't really upset because he's really easy going and received a medal.


 The oldest, age 11,  plays on a team of the best possible fifth and sixth graders who play really hard, win nearly every game, and look more like college players in their passion and techniques. They played two hours in a row and lost the final game of the tournament in the last quarter when I saw their energy begin to droop. He and his team mates all became tearful when they lost because emotions and energy ran high through the games. For this reason I decided to make him a card of encouragement. Of course, I couldn't leave out his brother, so here are two cards.

Several challenges guided my card construction. It started with Bitten By the Bug 2 with the theme, "LEAP." My interpretation was a basketball player leaping to dunk a basket. I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday #402, the theme of die cutting from Challenge Up Your Life, and creating my own background suggested by Cardz 4 Guys.

The Cricut cuts came from Basketball, CTMH Artiste (stars), and CTMH Art Philosophy (tags).

I made the background on this first card by rolling ink on the CTMH Stars embossing folder on the flat side with the stars recessed. The tag was embossed with The Paper Studio Stars folder and sanded so the stars would be white.

The second card has a lot of sports words stamped randomly all over with a retired CTMH stamp set, "My Game." The tag was embossed with Cuttlebug Stars and sanded.

Thanks for visiting! Now it's time for me to write the grandma words that help build character, win or lose!


I'm sharing this project with the following challenges:
Bitten By the Bug 2 - Leaping
Cardz 4 Guys #109 - create your own background
Challenge Up Your Life #36 - Die Cutting
Crafty Gals Corner #61 - about boys
Sketch Saturday #402

Snowflake Kisses Card for Atlantic Hearts Sketch #136

Have you ever lifted your face to the sky and let snowflakes kiss your face? I loved the sentiment I used today. My card may not do it justice. But it still reminds me of that delightful sensation from childhood, so I hope one of my grandkids will enjoy this thought.

This was a quick card using this week's sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, some glittery shimmer trim, a Cricut Art Philosophy snowflake pair, and border trim and clear acrylic sentiment circle from the CTMH White Pines collection.  I wanted this card to be fairly flat for mailing, so I added Glitz glitter glue on the tips of the snowflake instead of sparkles.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks #275 - Winter

All Sorts #340 - CAS

Atlantic Hearts Challenge #136 - sketch 

CAS-ual Chic #6 - snowflakes

Crafty Calendar - Let It Snow

Crafty Catz #304 - Let It Snow 

Creative Corner Challenge - Sparkle and Shine

Inkspirational Challenga #97 - word prompt "FLAKE"

Simon Says Stamp - Let It Snow

Candlelight Garden Stamp of the Month Cards

We're having unseasonably warm weather for December. Temperatures in the 50's seem like fall or spring. I took an evening off from making Christmas cards to play with some lovely pastel paper that reminds me of spring. This month the stamp of the month is a lovely combination of flowers, jar, and candle with sentiments perfect for thank you or friendship cards. I used it to make this week's Mojo Monday Tall & Skinny Sketch #426:

 

I stamped the jar and flowers for this one on watercolor paper and painted the flowers with watercolors. 

I'm sharing this first card with the following challenges:

Come and Get It - Anything goes with a sentiment

Crafting by Designs - anything goes 

Crafty Gals Corner #48 - anything goes

Dragonfly Journeys #33- Thank you

D.L.Art December Challenge - anything goes

Mojo Monday Sketch #426

Moving Along with the Times #9 - give thanks

Here are two more cards I made with this stamp set and paper pack.

I colored the flowers of the second card using ShinHan alcohol markers. I curved the stamp to curve around the larger sentiment and cut it so the flowers went off the panel. 

I wanted the third card to be light and airy to go with the candlelight idea so I chose the striped paper. It was also colored with alcohol ink markers and lightened with the colorless blender. 

Here's the inside:

Here are the images in this stamp set. It is only available in December and can be purchased at full price or for $5.00 with a $50 purchase. The links to see these items are below.  If you'd like to see more cards using these stamps you'll find a blog hop here.

Card Ingredients:

Paper - CTMH Kaleidoscope, Creme Brulee Cardstock, Watercolor Cardstock

Stamp - CTMH Candlelight Garden

Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black

Markers - ShinHan Touch Twin Golden Yellow, Marigold, Tender Pink, Cherry Pink, Pastel Green, Cerulean Blue, Colorless marker

Tools and Accessories- Watercolor Paints, Brushes, white Shimmer Trim,  Glacier and Pink Thick Twine, Purple Enamel and Glitter Hearts, Cricut Art Philosophy

Christmas Angel

I've been sick for a few days, but I'm thankful to finally be back in my craftroom and to share with you. Christmas is on my mind so I'm sharing this simple card of the angel proclaiming the good news of Christ's birth, the Son of God who came to be the Savior of the world. Truly good news!

The frame around the angel is a Cricut cut from CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. The sentiment diecut is from a spellbinders die, Fancy Tags Two. The blue swirl paper is a scrap from my stash that looked heavenly. The angel stamp is from a retired CTMH set called Angelic Blessings. The sentiment is "Glad Tidings" from the former company Layers of Color. I used CTMH Spring Iris to stamp them and copics to color the angel.  Ribbon is from my stash and the Pearls, button, and blue waxy flax are retired CTMH.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
A Snowflake's Promise #9 - Christmas/Winter theme
Fantabulous Cricut #264 - anything goes with Cricut
Holly Jolly Christmas - Ribbons and Pearls
One Crazy Stamper November Challenge - Christmas/Winter
The 12 Months of Christmas #11 - anything (option: sparkle, sparkle everywhere)
Unicorn Challenge #3 - Christmas is coming
Where the HeART is #3 - Anything Goes/Winter Blues

Christmas Love Card with Twinkle

It seems every year CTMH introduces a stamp of the month geared toward Christmas. This is a reminder that I need to stop procrastinating and make a serious start on my Christmas cards! The new one this year, "Twinkle,"  has so many Christmas possibilities. Here's my first card. It's really simple and uses heat embossing with the CTMH Fine Detail Silver embossing powder. I used the larger ornament stamp and the circle sentiment.

 The ornament is from Cricut Artiste and the frame was cut using Cricut Art Philosophy. The Pear background cardstock has swirls, one of the new designs in the Paper Fundamentals Adventure Collection. The Cricut Artistry branch cut is from Topiary cardstock in the same collection. The fun silver embossed bow is one of the shapes from the Fundamental Assortment, Cranberry collection. I used silver Shimmer Trim and the slimmer Silver Foil Tape together on the left. The sentiment, Christmas Love, cried out for a few enamel hearts. 

Here are the acrylic stamps included in this month's stamp of the month.

 You can get it for the full price of $17.95 or you can do what I do and get it for $5.00 with a $50 purchase. Please continue to check back on my blog for more ideas tomorrow. You can also check out the artwork of other consultants in my group who are having a blog hop starting here.


I'm sharing this Christmas card with the following challenges:
A Snowflake's Promise Challenge #6 - Christmas or winter theme
Aud Sentiments Challenge #141 - get started on Christmas projects with Sentiment (they've had 2 free Christmas sentiments the last two weeks!)
Christmas Card Challenge #43 - anything goes
Crafty Boots Challenge - Gold or Silver
Crafty Cardmakers and more... #148 - make it sparkle
Fab 'n' Funky Challenge #275 - Anything Christmas
Where the HeART is Challenge #1 - add some text
Word Art Wednesday #203 - anything uplifting

CTMH Zoe Cards

My previous day's post showed two of the cards I made using the Frames stamp of the month with Zoe papers.

I used some new poppy shimmer trim and green glitter triangles. The butterflies were cut using the shiny side of Lagoon cardstock from the Paper Fundamentals assortment.


I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
CAS-ual Chic CCC02 - pretty patterns (the Zoe designer paper)
Chocolate Coffee and Cards #98 - Use a sentiment
Die Cuttin' Divas #229 - Celebrate It
Polka Doodles Wk 33 - Use something new (glitter triangles, shimmer tape and paper)
Seize the Birthday - Anything that flies


Here are my Mojo Monday cards recently posted that use Zoe:

Thank you for visiting!

May God bless your crafting and giving!



Warm Wishes for Travel Card

One February we left the snowy airport of Kansas City at 10 degrees F. and landed in 70 degree Florida with trees and flowers in full bloom. It wasn't a trip for pleasure, but we took pleasure in every warm and colorful moment. I made these cards thinking of others who are tired of snow upon snow. I hope the warm colors and tropical birds are a feast for their eyes.

 The mat on the first card was cut with a Spellbinder's die. The papers are from Graphic45 "Tropical Travelogue" and the travel postmark and "tropical" stamps are very old retired ones from Close To My Heart, "Post Card-Travel Series." The warm wishes sentiment from "Happy Hexagons" is a current hostess reward. I thought large wooden buttons and hemp were perfectly natural for the rainforest theme.

I cut the gold flower with Cricut Art Philosophy.

Thank you for visiting. May God bless you with warm thoughts to share with others who have lost theirs! And if you're one of the lucky ones going somewhere tropical, Warm Wishes!

I'm sharing this card set with the following challenges:

Blogger's Challenge - Travel
CCEE Stampers #1510 - wild animals (mine are tropical birds)
FHL - Throwback Thursday - used a stamp set retired for many years!
Frilly and Funky - It's time for a vacation
Little Red Wagon #279 - Birds of a feather
Opus Gluei #203 - Need a little vacation?

"May God be with you" Card with A Happy Hello SOTM

I grew up in a church where we sang so many different old hymns. Those timeless songs left an indelible mark on my life. They play inside my head at different times throughout the day.  I wonder if everyone else learned countless truths from the repetition and repertoire. One we often sang at the end of a service was "God Be With You." Of course God is with us, but it's so important to focus on that fact - that although He's unseen, He's still there. Being aware of His presence helps me through many difficult times. I especially liked the part that says "'neath His wings securely hide you," whether it's from danger or the stresses of life. But as an adult I've also come to realize there are so many dear friends that I've lost through the years or will never cross paths with again. This sentiment in the chorus ends with ..."till we meet again." I'm looking forward to seeing them in heaven some day.

That's why I chose this sentiment as a favorite saying to go with the challenge at Crafting When We Can.

This card uses the CTMH Hopscotch paper and the February Stamp of the Month for the flower. I'm posting some of the other cards made with that paper and stamp set below.

 Thank you for visiting and May God be with you and bless you!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Crafting When We Can #87 - favorite quote/saying



Everybody-Art-Challenge #310 - sentiment as the focus
Loves Rubber Stamps #137 - anything goes
Through the Craft Room Door - anything goes
Word Art Wednesday #169 - anything uplifting

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More Cards using the February Stamp of the Month (A Happy Hello):

The last two are my CASED versions of the cards shown in the idea book for this stamp set. I cut the blue scalloped circle using Cricut Artfully Sent and the butterflies using Cricut Art Philosophy.

I cut this last one at 6.5" instead of 5.5," which better fit the added stamped circle flowers. It was cut using Cricut Artfully Sent. Links to the supplies are give below.

Hopscotch Paper Pack

A Happy Hello (available only through February)







5" x 7" Vine Embossing Folder

Green and Blue Epoxy Bubbles

Aqua Dots

 Cricut Artfully Sent

Birthday Blessings Card

I was organizing some scraps of paper this week and chose several that I thought would make lovely cards.  One of them was this vintage rose pattern from Graphic 45's "Little Darlings" collection. It seemed to be the perfect one for the #28 challenge at Creative Colors, to use pink, green, patterned paper and laces, inspired by this feminine photo:

I also wanted to combine this card with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and the Shining the Light Challenge #224 at Our Daily Bread Designs to use one of their stamps. I used two of the Birthday Blessings stamps, inside and out.  The birthday blessing stamped inside is from 3 John 1:2 : "Dear Friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even your soul is getting along well."

I stacked two pink laces and cut the oval and its frame using Cricut Art Philosophy. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you and your crafting that you may be a blessing to others as well!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Creative Colors #28 - pink, green, patterned paper, laces

Deep Ocean Challenge #96 - laces and pearls

Loves Rubber Stamps #136 - pink and girly

Mojo Monday #382 - sketch

Our Daily Bread Designs SLC #224 - use an ODBD stamp

Word Art Wednesday #167- anything uplifting

White and Silver Snowy Glad Tidings Card

I was inspired to make a white on white Christmas card.  I wanted to use Word Art Wednesday's great verse from last week for my Christmas cards this year. Because of the great news that the soon-to-be-born baby would be called Jesus for He would "save His people from their sins," I paired it with the CTMH stamp sentiment, Mary and Babe, about this being Glad Tidings of Great Joy!

I apologize for the poor lighting these dark wintery days that made my black print look brown:

I embossed the white panel on front with a Cuttlebug snow folder. I put a strip of white glitter trim on the bottom of the panel. I used the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut the snowflake tag. I stamped and embossed the bottom front with my Glad Tidings sentiment and small snowflake in the middle of the cutout using Versamark and Ranger Super Fine Silver Embossing Powder.  The top of the tag has satin ribbon and a row of white opal Liquid Pearls.

This was a fun, easy Christmas card to make in multiples. Thank you for visiting. May you be blessed as you craft your own for family and friends.

Crafting by Designs - Silver and white
Delicious Doodles Challenge #114 - winter whites
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog #241 - anything goes with Cricut cut
Fussy and Fancy Challenge #129 - snowflakes and ribbon
Little Red Wagon #267 - So Flaky - snowflakes
Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #108 - tags with ribbon or trim
Stampavie and More Challenge #226 - snowflakes
Take Heart Ideas Challenge #6 - anything goes with CTMH product
Try It On Tuesday - winter whites
Word Art Wednesday #162 - anything uplifting

Cricut Artfully Sent and Home for the Holidays Stamp of the Month

I had fun today playing with the October Stamp of the Month. The shapes for the stamps are cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy, but I couldn't resist adding backgrounds with the new Cricut Artfully Sent. 

This one is the snowflake "Sleeve" from page 49 and is backed with silver glitter paper.

It has strips of paper from CTMH Snowhaven. The ribbon is one of the specials this month - free with a $50 order. Before attaching the stamped shape, I cut the same shape 1/4" bigger in black for more contrast.

I'm sharing this card with Love To Create Challenge #135 - Ribbon - because this chunky ribbon seemed to set off the card when I added it. I'm also sharing it with Christmas Stampin' All Year #31 - Lots of Snowflakes and Completely Christmas #31 - anything Christmas.

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This card didn't photograph well. The light blue inked area has snowflakes in the design. I added silver sequins topped with sparkles on top of the snowflakes that were cut out of the card base above. 

This card was made using the card sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesdays Challenge #187, turned horizontally:

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This next card uses the "Joy" pocket card as the Black cut-out "Joy" sentiment from Artfully Sent, p.45. 

The gray baker's twine has a silver thread that runs through it, perfect for this Christmas paper. This card uses three different papers from the Snowhaven paper pack, so I'm sharing it with this week's challenge at  Jingle Belles to use 3 different papers.  I'm also sharing it with Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge - anything goes Christmas.

Here is the display board for this Stamp of the Month and a close-up of the stamp set.

This stamp set also has two tags. I used the "Home for the holidays" tag on two of the decorated Designer Creations Slate Paper Bags.

Thank you for visiting! October is definitely time to seriously start Christmas cards! I hope this gave you a few ideas! May God bless you as you share your art with friends and family!