April SOTM blog hop

Wow...third post in 2 days... it's a miracle!

Welcome to this month's installment of the Stamp of the Month blog hop where approximately 60 CTMH consultants show off our artwork using April's stamp of the Month :  You Are.

If you've arrived here from Elizabeth's blog- you are headed in the right direction and the next link in the loop is posted at the end of this one.  If you are just joining the hop here- no problem... it should circle around to all of the blogs in the hop.

I had soooo much fun with this set.

First up is the stamps themselves and a reminder-  Our Stamp of the Month sets are $17.95 but when you spend $50 or more you can purchase the set for only $5.  Or you can hold off till April 17th and that $50 purchase will earn you this set for $5 AND the awesome National Scrapbooking Month special of 24 sheets of fabulously designed paper (2 each of 12 designs) for another $5!!!  More on that special...including artwork... will be posted leading up to the 17th of April when the special begins.


ok... back to the stamp of the month:

Up next is my artwork.  I was inspired by the artwork shown in our Spring/ Summer Idea Book and those of you with a copy will notice that the left side is similar.  I've put my own spin on the colors and I totally guessed on their sizing.  The second side is all mine.  I wanted a 2 page layout for my daughter's soccer photos.  Since I have dial up- I have to physically go to the store to have my photos printed and I ran out of time BUT... I know we already have a 5x7 verticle of her soccer photo, and a 5x7 horizontal of her team photo.  I anticipate printing 2 3.5x 5 photos to go above the journaling/ purple rectangles on the left page.  I will print several photos to line up on the grey piece on the right side.

Once I get the photos printed... I will re-post the completed layout. 

On this first side- the vertical 5x7 will completely cover the non-stamped white... in between the grey borders.

I used my cricut to cut all of the stars- and one scalloped circle that was cut and used on both pages.

Colors:  Black, White Daisy, Gypsy and Grey Wool.

I LOVE the banner I cut for this page.  I inked up each letter of the "cool" stamp individually and made sure to clean any stray ink off surrounding stamps- to stamp one letter per banner.  It's hard to tell but my white and grey papers are sponged with either purple or black inks.

So there you have it- my April stamp of the month layout is all ready for some purple-uniformed soccer photos!

Up next- Visit Melinda's blog to see what she's created.

And don't forget to check out my shadowbox post from March 30th... you can enter for a chance to win a Footloose paper pack!  Just leave a comment ;)

Lots of Footloose...

Here's the second batch of photos using Footloose paper... this time layouts!  Feels great to get these photos scrapbooked.  You'll see some photo repeats between layouts.  That is because this was a family vacation to England in 2010 and I did a layout for each child's book and one for mine.

I started out with the Footloose Workshop kit which comes with the most awesome stamp set ever!!!  It also comes with full color cutting diagrams for this layout:  Ignore the cruddiness of the photos... the lighting is bad and I had to take them at an angle to get rid of glare...

As suggested in the kit- I used my Rustic Alphabet Stamps (not included in the kit) to stamp my Beach Babe title and used my CTMH scissors to cut around the letters.

The cool technique was to actually stamp on the wooden circles that came in the kit- the wooden badge buttons can also be purchased separately.

While the directions are not included in the kit... the full color sheet does show a second layout.  Mine is a similar replica althought I think I flipped a page sideways if I remember.  I just eyeballed the sizing - but this is my version of the second page.  All items are still part of the workshop kit.  I did follow the suggestions for both this layout and the one above , and used our sanding kit to sand just about all the paper edges.

Then, I was down to a few sheets in the kit but more photos to go... so on this layout I added some Lagoon patterned paper from the Elementals Level 2 paper pack.  I also wanted to try out some of the other fun embellishments that coordinated with the paper so I pulled out my Paradise Paper Flowers, Seaside Wooden Shapes, clear sparkles and Cork Alphabet.

And Finally,  a break from the beach to scrapbook my daughter's luau themed birthday party last fall... just one layout for her album.

The addition to this layout is 2 sheets of Cotton Candy cardstock.

I'm loving our new baker's twine so of course I had to sneak some of that in too!  I wrapped it around the little shell.

Ink Colors used throughout the artwork:  Creme Brulee, Lagoon, new England Ivy,  and Sorbet

I posted a contest at the bottom of the Shadowbox post... head there and leave a comment to be entered to win a FREE Footloose Level 2 paper pack... DO NOT LEAVE your comment here or it won't count.  You must leave a comment on the shadowbox post to be entered.  The winner will be announced on Tuesday April 3rd.

Footloose Frenzy

Hello!  I am warning you right now that I will be posting more Footloose artwork later tonight and an autopost Saturday night for the April Stamp of the month blog hop... so if you get updates in your inbox-  you know in advance that they are coming!!

Ok... on to the artwork.  First of all- my trip to Florida earlier this month put me in the mood to scrapbook ALL the beach photos I've ever taken that haven't been scrapbooked.

Don't get too excited though... I didn't do it! lol... I did scrapbook a lot but not ALL of them.

While in Florida we also decided that we would re-do our butterfly bathroom which is purple... into a beach themed bathroom.  It's not done either...

I did however, make a shadow box to put in that bathroom once I get it painted... and yes- the shadowbox is done.

Here's what I did:

 I bought an Approximately 7x7 3/4 inch shadowbox at Michael's in the unfinished wood section for about $1.99.
I took it apart and painted the frame white.. just a whitewashed look- it's not a pure, crisp white- but you'll see what I mean in the last photo.
I used some scraps from the Footloose Level 2 kit and adhered them to the shadowbox "back".  Then I used natural hemp, several longer strands, and tied them together in a knot.  I adhered them to the back with liquid glass.

 

I used several more lengths of natural hemp and tied them in knots, connecting the origanal lengths into a net.

I used the wave and flower chipboards from the Footloose Level 2 assortment, as well as the large starfish from the Seaside Wooden Shape assortment and adhered all to the project using liquid glass.  I added several self adhesive, clear Sparkles to my flower centers.

I finished my 3-d design by adding a variety of shells we collected from our family vacation to England in 2010.  I did add a lagoon and a creme brulee flower along with an additional clear sparkle.

I finished it off by printing a label about where the shells were collected.  I printed it with my computer with color settings at:  R-99, G110, B-77 under the custom color option.  This setting mimics the CTMH color New England Ivy which is the dark green throughout the paper.

I am soooo excited to get my bathroom done and hang this up!  Let me know what you think in the comments section and I will award one lucky winner with their very own Footloose paper pack!  Comments must be made by Midnight April 2 (Monday- EST) to be elegible.

Quick card- Butterfly

Close To My Heart came out with some super fun $6.95 stamps in our spring book and one is this Quick Cards-Butterfly stamp set (click here to see)

I made this super fun card for my April stamp club.

Also used:  Pemberley Level 2 paper, natural hemp, Bronze glitz and antique copper brads from the assorted metals set.

better late than never...

...my posting that is!

This has been such a busy spring that my posting has been MIA for the most part.
Last week my family went on a much needed vacation to visit family in Florida.  Unusual timing since Michigan residents typically leave the cold weather to go to sunny beaches and pristine sand...  this year- it was in the 70's while we were gone and as I type right now...the inside of my house registers 85 degrees.  In March.  In Michigan.  Seriously.

Anyway... I have been a busy crafter in between posts as I continue my clubs, classes, crops, expos etc.  No posting does NOT mean I'm slacking off...lol. 

So here are some project and vacation photos for your viewing pleasure:

My March club cards:  You may recognize the top card... it was my Stamp of the Month blog hop post on Feb. 29th.  Here it is shown with the other two cards.  Club members could choose this card set.  The kit creates two of each card shown.  Club members had other choices as well.  One other choice was the layout shown in my blog header using the Florentine paper pack.  I've actually just about completed that layout with photos and I will share that once it is finalized.

Pictures from Florida... the Gulf side.  I took these with my handy dandy automatic Nikon.  Love it!

Reminders:

1) New consultants in March can choose to add either the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge OR $100 select product credit to your new consultant kit FREE!.  Kit price is $99 plus shipping and tax (about $120 total in Michigan) for about a $450 value including the added freebie(s).  Click here to sign up.

2) New "while supplies last items" were added to my website this month.  click here to shop.

3) Our how to books are discontinued and only available while supplies last.  Reflections and Originals have sold out.  Limited quantities remain for the rest.  Click here to view books and order.

Recipes...anyone?

I have had this recipe box sitting at my house for oh... a year.

It was the new Florentine Level 2 paper pack that sucked me into finally decorating it.

This project is one of my club projects for March.

For $13 you can create this fun recipe box.  Cost includes the box, papers, pattern, button, cork alphabet (1/2 package), a small amount of creme brulee bakers twine and me pre-sponging the recipe box.  It also includes sales tax.

If you are local to me:

my March 17 spaces are sold out but I have 2 spots March 19 at 6:30 pm at my home near Kalamazoo/Battle Creek (address will be sent when you register)

If you are NOT local- you can add $5 and I will ship your kit to you!

******If you are planning to sign up with CTMH in March to take advantage of our Free cricut collection/ or $100 in free select product credit promotion- you can join my "Scrap Your Stash" consultant team by clicking here  - I will contact you within 24 hours after signing up to answer any questions you may have.  OR e-mail me and I will respond faster!******