June Worldwide Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring June's SOTM, which is The Long Way Home, a set of 15 stamps.

If you have come here from Tamytha'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.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have over 25 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!

My husband is mad on bikes, and he makes me smile everyday, so I wanted to create a note for him to say how thankful I was for the things he has done recently while I have been sick.

I started off by stamping the front of the card with the bicycle stamp in Black ink, and adding a sentiment among the bikes.



When you open the card up, there are some Cricut cut clouds, a stamped sun from the June SOTM, and a Cricut cut bike as well.


I added the sun as I thought it looked cute but not too feminine!



I really love how this card has turned out, and the Artfully Sent cartridge made it super easy! This cartridge is retiring at the end of July, so if you don't have it yet I highly recommend you contact your consultant.



Now "Hop" on over to Krista'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 June SOTM is only available until 30th June!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

CTMH supplies used:
Cardstock: Black, Glacier, Lagoon, Slate
Cricut Cartridges: Artfully Sent, Artistry
Ink: Black, Honey
Stamp set: The Long Way Home

Featured Product- Artistry Cartridge

Hello and welcome to our CTMH Featured Products Blog Hop. This week our featured product is the Close To My Heart Artistry Cartridge for the Cricut.

If you have just joined us you can start here and continue on, as this is a circular hop or if you get lost along the way you can find the complete list at the end of this post.   If you came here from Annette you are in the right place. Now on to my project:

Here are the pieces I cut from the Artistry cartridge. The kite comes in two layers, and I also cut this sweet bird on a branch. I also cut a cloud from the cartridge- colour doesn't matter for what I need it for!



I used the cloud as a stencil for my sponging to create a cloud background. I simply moved it across a piece of 4 x 5 1/4 White Daisy cardstock, sponging with Lagoon ink.



Each layer is slightly different, and I kept moving the cloud across the page and sponging in a left to right movement.



Here is my finished sponged background, complete with the kite, bird and a sentiment.



And here is my completed card! I love the touch of the glitter triangles on the kite to make the bows stand out, and the sentiment is stamped in Desert Sand ink from the For Family stamp set.



Thank you for checking out my project. If you would like to purchase our featured product of the week or any additional supplies you can buy them here. If you enjoyed my project please comment below as we love feedback! Next on our blog hop is Kim from Scrappin With Heart. Make sure to check out her amazing work featuring this same product.

If you get lost, here is the complete line up of hoppers!
1. Lauren Moore
2. Kim Loewen

3. Corinna Murphy
4. Annette Clark

Why I became a CTMH Consultant

Welcome to our special Blog Hop!  This month is a bit different- each consultant is sharing the reasons why they became a CTMH Consultant.  We have a fabulous recruiting offer this month- maybe your "why" will be the same as one of ours!

If you have come here from Brenda'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.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have 18 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their stories and artwork on their blogs. This hop 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!

One of the main reasons I became a Close To My Heart Consultant was that I missed having a creative outlet. I became a mother in 2009, and again in 2012, and my time was so stretched that often I wouldn't have anything of my own to focus on. I became so wrapped up in helping everyone else, that eventually I knew I had to find something to let me relax.

The thing I loved about scrapbooking was that it was social- I worked better when I had a creative time each month with my sister and friends. These ladies have turned into my customers when I became a consultant, and we still enjoy our monthly get togethers! This way I get to fund my creative hobby, have some relaxation time and catch up with my friends- a perfect trifecta of scrap-happiness.

Because my friends, family and my CTMH team members help make me scrap-happy, I decided to create a card for each of them to say thank you for being so supportive of what I do.

I used the Regatta paper packet under an overlay from the Artistry cartridge. The scrap happy sentiment is also from the Artistry cartridge, and I used a frame from the Art Philosophy cartridge. I also added some blue glitter gems to the side of the sentiment.

I stamped some flowers from Birthday Wishes in Archival Black ink, then painted over them with watercolours and splattered them with some blue watercolour paint. I then fussy cut them and adhered them to the corner of the card. This way no two cards are exactly the same.



I am so lucky to have such wonderful people around me as a consultant, fellow scrapbooker and team member. I hope these cards go some way to show these people how much I appreciate them!

Now "Hop" on over to Michelle'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, this recruiting offer is only available until 30th April!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can join our fantastic company.

Frozen Tote Bag

This week's theme at Heart 2 Heart Challenges is Frozen!

Even if Elsa and Anna aren’t your thing, no matter which hemisphere you live in, you’re either frozen in winter or cooling off with a frozen beverage like me.

My niece is a big Frozen fan, and I wanted to make her a special Frozen Christmas gift.

I turned to my Cricut, and added her name in the Frozen font. This was the tricky part as I used a font generator and then turned it into an SVG and imported it to my Cricut account. I then added some snowflakes from the CTMH Artistry cartridge.



I cut the name and snowflakes with my Cricut onto white iron-on vinyl, making sure I used the mirror cut setting.



I then ironed the vinyl onto the bag and peeled away the transfer paper, leaving the design on the black bag.



Here is the finished bag- my niece was very happy with it!



We would love to see your Frozen projects, whether you take inspiration from the movie, songs or the weather.

Seven Days with Sangria- Day 6

Welcome to the sixth post in my Seven Days with Sangria feature posts! Each day for seven days I am sharing a project created with the Sangria Paper Packet, Complements, Assortment or WOTG, or a mixture of these, as well as other wonderful CTMH Products.

Today's layouts are based on the talented Lisa Stenz' Huntington Flip Flap Kit. I purchased the instructions for this, and then adapted it using the new Sangria Paper Packet with matching Complements and Assortment.

Here are the three base layouts, which are mostly adapted from the MIFYH Volume 2 Ideas Book.



These all use the Sangria Paper Packet with matching cardstock, and I have added some additional Cricut cuts from the new Artistry cartridge.



The Sangria WOTG stamp set also helped to set the tone for the family theme, and I added the banner as a point of interest to the right hand page.



If you haven't used flip flaps before, they are an amazing tool that help to take your projects to the next level by providing interactive layouts and the capacity for more photos. These three layouts will now hold up to 35 photos thanks to the genius design!

Here is a short video demonstrating the layouts complete with flip flaps.

Once I add my photos and journalling, which I plan to do after our family reunion, this is going to be a wonderful addition to my family album.



The layouts are cut and inserted into the flip flaps to make two interactive pages with additional inserts for even more flip flaps.



The right hand page opens top and bottom, which adds an extra fun touch.



This six page double spread will be used for some family reunion photos, and I cannot wait to share the finished product with you. A huge thank you to Lisa for her guidance with this project, I thoroughly recommend her kits and instructions!

Come back tomorrow to see the final installment of my Seven Days with Sangria posts.

Artistry Blog Hop

Welcome to our special Artistry Blog Hop!  We will be featuring the new Artistry Cricut Cartridge from Close To My Heart, featuring over 700 fantastic icons, overlays and layered decorative elements.

 If you have come here from Michelle'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.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog.

This month we have 30 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using the new Artistry cartridge 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!



I made a double page Picture My Life spread of my son's cross country race at school, and the Artistry cartridge provided some fun extra touches to the spread.



The 123 banner was a perfect addition to the page, which I backed with some washi tape.



This overlay coordinated beautifully with the star theme of this page and the Chalk It Up PML in general, and I also added a piece from the Chalk It Up Complements and some journalling on the cards.



The Artistry cut arrows make a fun border on this photo, and take your eye to the next page.



The right hand side of the page shows my son finishing the race.



This GO icon was also cut using Artistry, and can be made with our without a matching blank panel to put under it. I opted to let the photo show through, but you could back this with any colour or trim you wish.



I used the overlay from the other page to create a stencil for this piece, and sponged over the overlay using Lagoon ink. I love that overlays can be used like this, and Artistry has so many of them! I also added some more Chalk It Up Assortment stars. The PML card also had a few embellishments added from the Chalk It Up Complements and the Zoe Complements.



This journal card from the Chalk It Up PML didn't need much, but I did add a vellum piece from the new Zoe collection as I love my son's big happy smile!



I had so much fun using the Artistry cartridge to add some extra pizzazz to a PML layout- the possibilities with this cartridge are endless and would work well on any type of paper crafting project, as you will see when you go through the rest of the hop.

Now "Hop" on over to Maria'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! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this amazing cartridge.