January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the January 2014 Stamp of the Month blog hop.  It's the last one of the current Idea Book, the first one of the new year!  If you've come from {Melissa’s blog}, you’re on the right track.

I mixed the country soft texture of stitching with the elegance of the For Always paper packet.  To give it a friendly feel, not lovey-dovey, I used Buttercup cardstock as my accent color.  I must note that the For Always paper and the creamy white seam binding ribbon are being discontinued at the end of January.  They're likely to sell out.  Don't wait until the 31st to try & order them!  

This set really would also work well for Valentine's Day.  Have you realized the pattern?  CTMH now releases stamp sets a month or two before the holiday so we have time to use them!

There's so many possibilities with this stamp set.  That's why these blog hops are so amazing.  You'll see many of these ideas coming to life as you hop through the links.  Remember, this set is just $5 with a $50 purchase.  Here's a great deal:   If you order the Cloud 9 promotion with a $35 purchase, you're already qualifying for this stamp set.  I'll get you the link to the Cloud 9 details when it's available!

Hop on over and see what {Dana} has whipped up for January!

Most Popular Posts of All Time

As I’m wrapping up 2013, I have some fun posts for you.  According to my blog statistics, these are my all-time most popular blog posts.  Not all of of them were published in 2013 but they still get the most traffic. 

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  Very Merry Christmas Blog Hop with my Advent Calendar  If you’re thinking about this calendar, the cubby that holds it all together is being discontinued 1/31/2014.  Order it now and assemble it before December. You’ll be thankful that you did.
  
  
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  Cricut Craft Room: My newest favorite tool, especially for the CTMH Advent Calendar.  Here’s a clever way of rearranging shapes and saving a whole lot of space and paper for another project using Cricut Craft Room. 
  
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  Mother’s Day Card  This is a beautiful card but I know this is a hot post because I have a link to some labels on how to set up your card so your recipient knows how to display your card.
  
  
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  Cascading Card  This one was a blast create.  Between my samples and workshop attendees, I created and cut nearly 20 of these cards.  That’s well over 300 flowers cut out on my Cricut.
  
  
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  Navigating the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge with Ease  This little guide really helps you navigate the Art Philosophy Cartridge without a handbook!
  
  
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  New Product Blog Hop: Florentine & Garden Wooden Color-Ready Shapes  Not sure why this one was so popular.  Probably because it was one of the first projects I ever pinned from my own blog with Pinterest. 
  
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  Rock the (Home School) Block Blog Hop
  Starting December 19th thru January we will be celebrating National Paper Craft Month! SO JOIN THE CRAZE! When you place a minimum order of ...
  
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  A Chocolate Affair Blog Hop  This card was fun and is a one of a kind. 
  
  
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  A Preview of the new CTMH Artiste Cricut Handbook  Still a great post if you’re wondering about the Artiste cartridge. 
  
  
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  First Card from the CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge  Such a happy fun card.  Did you know that you can color our sparkles with a Sharpie?  
  

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hello friends!  Two posts in 24 hours, how about that? 
Welcome to this month’s Stamp of the Month blog hop!  A blog hop goes in a big loop so once you see our 60+ participants, you’ll be right back here.  If you came from {Brae’s blog} welcome!
The December stamp is Special Care and is available for just $5 with a $50 purchase! 

I put together an album for a sweet little gal this summer who arrived last month.  This stamp set is perfect for babies and bigger kids in so many ways.  This little gal has a mommy who does not like pink but does like our Lagoon and Gypsy colors.  I might have to pull a few pages out that are too pink now that I look at the album again.

I used Artbooking to create this album back in July.  Here's the original post.  This tag is 3" wide and barely fits the "Warning!  Hugs and Kisses Required" sentiment.  I can't wait to get more pictures so I can complete the album and send it off!



 
 Please hop on over to {Maureen’s blog}.  Her artwork is up and it’s fabulous!

If you get lost along the way, here's the master list of blog hoppers!
 
Have a great night!

Advent Calendar 2014

Tonight I’m cutting out two Advent Calendar kits. It’s bittersweet. 

I don’t know how many more of these delightful kit I’m going to be able to make.  The cubby, the base of the calendar, is sold by Close to My Heart and is being discontinued.  They’ll be available thru the end of January, if supplies don’t run out in the mean-time.  So if you want one, please don’t delay.  I know that CTMH has something fabulous up their sleeve that’s going to keep me busy.  I don’t expect to have time to reconfigure this kit to work with another brand of drawers. 

Okay, no more moping.

Check out the new and improved version!

This is my friend Libby’s Advent Calendar.  I hosted a Christmas in July workshop this summer.  On July 5th, of all days, just 24 hours after celebrating America, summer and apple pie we were looking at stockings and mittens.  It was a wonderful unhurried, no deadline time of creating for the holidays. 

We brightened things up a bit and added images from the Glory to God stamp set. 

 

Either way you make it, it’s going to be lovely. 

Want the kit?  Hop on over to last year’s blog post for more details. 

If you’ve joined my team in the last year (or anytime in the future) and want the make kit, please let me know.  I’ll send you the electronic portion of the DIY workshop kit at no charge. 

 

P.S.  Christmas is in 25 days.  We get to start using our beautify calendar tomorrow!

Black Friday Fun Starts Now!

My Black Friday Specials have never been sweeter!  Thank you CTMH for adding some awesome discounted Hostess Only stamp sets to our rewards program! 
My Special is simple:  Shop between now & December 1 on my website and you’ll earn back 10% in hostess rewards.** 
In this Idea Book, we have some FABULOUS stamp sets that can only be purchased with Hostess Rewards.  That generally means you have to be a Hostess in order to get them.  Through 12/1/2013 you’ll be able to earn them when you shop my website!  And they’re discounted too!!! 

Let’s look at the Penguin Stamp Set!!!   That’s right, it’s really called Wintry Wishes.  Does anybody call it that?  It’s regularly $13.95.  As a hostess exclusive, it’s only $8 in Hostess Rewards.  You can get this for free with an $80 purchase between now & Dec 1. 
You’ll still be able to purchase other hostess rewards such as inks, papers, blocks & stamps but these Hostess Exclusive stamps are by far the best deal in town!

Don’t forget about the “regular specials!”
Stamp of the Month is just $5 with $50 purchase.


Holidays from the Heart earns you one free Red Star Item with $100 purchase!


With all of these specials, you can save a “TREE-MENDOUS” amount when doing your holiday shopping! 

The Fine Print:  This special is only available from Lalia Harris, CTMH Independent Consultant.  Available through 12/1/2013 from my website www.ctmh.com/LHarris only and cannot be combined with any of my other personal specials.  Hostess Rewards will be ordered after I close my 12/1/2013 gathering as actual Hostess Rewards.  I’ll be contacting you regarding your selection.  Please allow for processing time from CTMH, shipping time from CTMH to me and back to you.  Hostess Rewards are defined by CTMH, click here for qualifying items.  10% reward is calculated on total product ordered between 11/1/2013 & 12/1/2013 (multiple orders included) but does not include shipping or tax.  US customers only. 

4th generation ink pads

I inherited some ink pads last weekend.  They belonged to my beloved sister.    I know they're the old style but they're in mint condition and I haven't even needed to reink them.  I'm keeping them for workshops, when extras are nice to have around. 

The remarkable thing is that they have passed through so many hands.  Jaqui had introduced her sister in law to stamping about 5 years ago.  In turn, Penny introduced her and me to CTMH.  As Penny built up her stash of new products, she gifted a few of these things to my sister.  I believe these ink pads were part of that stash.  However, Penny's name is not on the underside of the ink pad.  It's somebody else.  That makes me the 4th owner.  HOW COOL IS THAT? 
I love the fact that these ink pads are an amazing investment.  I used to buy the ones from the store, they were a couple bucks cheaper. But they dried out in a year or so. That didn't make them cheaper, just cheap.

CTMH ink pads are keepers.  You can even pass them down to family members.  I hope you don't have to do that anytime soon, but just know that you can.  You can find them on my website here.

Fry Box treat holders—a versatile design

This fall I created the most adorable Halloween treat boxes for a group of friends.  Did I share them with you?  Nope!  So 6 days after the big Orange & Black holiday, I’m sharing them with you now.  Why?  Because I feel pity on my neglected blog and we can always convert a great idea from one occasion to another!

This treat bag is the Fry Box from the Art Philosophy Cartridge.  I cut it at just under 8” so that two would fit nicely on a page with a little extra paper at the bottom for another project.

The Fry box is the simplest of the boxes.  Two pieces of adhesive required, one for each side.  Minimal folding too!  They can also stack after they’re assembled, just like at the fast food places. 

 

Now let’s change up the design for Christmas:

Use the new Sparkle & Shine Papers

And the Santa Claus stamp set that’s compatible with the Artbooking cartridge.  You could use the Merry Christmas, Ho HO HO.  If you cut a box from cardstock, you could stamp it with the santas to make your own design. 

Or a baby shower with our fun Babycakes paper B is for Baby stamp set

How about for a birthday?  This single stamp “Heartfelt Birthday”  is only $2.95

Boys would love the ProPlayer papers

Don’t forget the baker’s twine!  We have 3 assortments to choose from as well as Ruby & Hemp  in their respective mini-medley’s. 

 

Don’t forget, right now through the end of the year, you can get a free item from the Holiday’s from the Heart gift guide when you order $100 in regularly priced product.  The Santa Clause stamp set and the Sparkle & Shine Paper are two of the eligible free items!  Start shopping now!

Artbooking Made Easy Episodes 04 & 05 Halloween

I didn’t get a chance to post last week’s video so I’m doing both this week.  I have to say THIS WEEK’S VIDEO IS FANTASTIC!!!!  (It’s in all caps because if you were in the room with me, I’d be screaming!)  Both videos are using the Halloween buttons.  In Episode 5, you’ll get a clear view of this album, I think you could pretty much replicate what they’ve one.  (No more angled camera shots.  We get to see everything!)

First up is last week’s Episode 04 featuring 12x12 Halloween layouts.

 

Now for this week’s fabulous  Mini-Album episode! 

There are so many tips and tricks in this video that will work for any album.   WATCH IT, even if you’re not wanting a Halloween Mini-Album.  I learned a ton and will be using a technique or two from this album in my Christmas Mini Class.   This screenshot shows how she cut a smaller page to make a mini-flap in the middle of her album!  Love it.  I think I’ll do something like that for my Christmas Mini-Album workshop that is coming up in November. 

This mini album was made using the features from pages 54-55 in the Artbooking handbook. 

Here’s another reason to watch.   She shows you that the Halloween buttons are not just for October 31st.  Make a Disney castle from the spooky mansion!

 

I’m offering free product  when you order Artbooking or any of the 3 Cricut bundles.  Contact me for details! 

Scandinavian Wishes Blog Hop

Welcome to this month’s Stamp of the Month blog hop!  A blog hop goes in a big loop so once you see our 60+ participants, you’ll be right back here.  If you’ve come from {Melissa’s blog} welcome!
This month’s set is Scandinavian Wishes with 12 stamps in the set.  It’s compatible with shapes on the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.  With this adorable set, I created a gift card holder. 
I paired the champagne cardstock with a strip of Crystal Blue cardstock, red shimmer trim, Ruby Mini Medley and Ruby ink.  I love that little corduroy button on the tab.  It’s so soft and fuzzy, not to mention self adhesive! 

Click here to pin it. 
The gift card holder and the curvy banner on the inside were cut with the Artiste Cricut Cartridge. 

Click here to pin it.
This gift card holder was cut at 2.75” from page 57, letter j, Card Feature of the Artiste Handbook.  Did you know you can get 5 of these babies from one sheet of paper?  (4 down the page & one across the end of the paper, Cricut Craft Room isn’t even required!)

Flip the page of the handbook to page 58, letter K and you’ll find the banner!  Just use uppercase K and Accent 3 and cut it at 1”.

Last but not least, I do sell Studio J gift cards!   They are perfect for gift giving.  This is a great way to give the gift of Studio J, our online digital scrapbooking studio.  It includes 5 double 12x12 layouts and shipping for $39.95.  Studio J is our amazing online scrapbooking Studio.  You never pay anything until you are ready to print, and you only pay for printing and shipping.  There’s no software or images to purchase and keep track of, it’s all online and available to you.  (Note: Ordering the gift cards online will give you an gift code that will be provided by email.  If you want an actual gift card, contact me.  They're the exact same price and I have them on hand.)


You can purchase this set for $17.95 or just $5 with a $50 purchase!  On my project, I used 5 of the 12 stamps in this set.  Here’s a view of the full set!


Do you love this set yet?  Hop on over to {Nikka’s blog} to see more! 

Mini-Album Mix Up?—Yes, you can!

Earlier this morning, someone asked “Can we mix & match any Artbooking album page?

The short answer is Yes, you can cut the album page at any size.  Your Cricut isn’t going to beep at you if you set the dial size to 7” when the handbook says this is an 8” mini-album.  It’s going to cut.  You could cut EVERYTHING in this handbook at 7.”  The Cricut would not care.  But you might. 

The only problem is the holes for binding.  They won’t line up.  In this picture below, I’ve put 5 albums into Cricut Craft room at 8.” 

The first two are the 8” travel & baby albums in red.  They’re a perfect match and fit.  I mixed them when I made a baby album in August. 

The second one in blue is the 8 x 3.5” sweetheart album.  The holes continue to line up. 

The 3rd one in gold is the 10” Christmas album.  The holes do not line up and are a bit smaller than they should be.  They look pretty good but when cut, they’d tear because they aren’t quite perfect. 

The last is the 11 x 8 1/2” elegance album in green.  The holes are way off.  I’m not sure why the middle hole is off, but it is!  You’ll notice the holes are a bit smaller too.  That’s not a good situation either.

There is a fix!  It’s called Hide Contour. 

 

Click this button and you will be able to click on any of the lines you don’t want cut.  When you are done, click on the exit button at the bottom of your shape. 

Hover over a line and it will become red .  That’s the one that’s going to be hidden when you click.  My screen is jumpy.  Sometimes I can’t just click where I think I should.  LOOK for the RED.

If you’re not paying attention, you may end up hiding the border of the page.  It will look really strange to see you’re only cutting holes and not an album page.  Below I hid the center hole, the outside cut of the album page and one piece of the damask flourish.  THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANTED. 

The UNDO button will be your friend for this.  You can also go back into the Hide Contour mode but undo might be easier. 

After you click undo, go back & hide the contours the way you wanted. 

 

As for punching new holes, I’d make a template and do a test punch to make sure they are the way I want.  Then I’d line them all up and punch them together with my Crop-a-dile. I’d do this before embellishing.  That way any mistakes don’t ruin a finished page and you don’t put embellishments where a hole was needed. 

I hope this helps.  It’s going to be great fun mixing & matching album pages! 

 

Don’t have the Artbooking cartridge yet?  Now is a perfect time to order!

You’ll get the Stamp of the month for $5 (you actually qualify for two of them with a $104 purchase $99+$5 from the first stamp of the month). 

You’ll get this month’s special triple stamp set for $10 (And also qualify for two of them in the same way!)

I have additional Chocolate Affair stamp sets left over from last month.  If you purchase the Artbooking bundle from me, (or any other bundle) I’ll send you one ABSOLUTELY FREE when you join my “Happy Customer Club & Wonder Customers” Gathering before checking out. 

 

Start shopping now!  Be sure to click JOIN immediately because the website doesn’t remind you. 

 

Have a fantastic Friday!

Artbooking Made Easy 03

It's time for another installment of Artbooking Made Easy!  This weeks installment features the summer mini albums on pages 52 & 53 of the Artbooking Handbook.

If you’re viewing this from an email or blog reader, click here to view it on YouTube.

Close To My Heart's revolutionary Cricut® Artbooking collection will take your papercrafting to a new level! Learn how to use the new collection to turn your themed layouts and mini scrapbooks into beautiful works of art. Be sure to come back next week for the next video. 

It’s a perfect time to get the Artbooking!
With any (any every) $50 purchase you can get the You are My Happy triple stamp set for only $10. That means you can get one for yourself and another as a gift or for a friend when you purchase the Artbooking Cartridge. $99 + $10 for the first set = $109 which qualifies you for the second set. This is a promotional stamp set and only availableSeptember 2013.

You are my Happy Blog Hop

Hello friends!  You’re in for a treat this month! 

We have a fabulous TRIPLE stamp set for only $10 with any $50 purchase.  That’s right!  3 stamp sets in 1 set.  You’ll get cute icons, fun sayings and an adorable alphabet that all coordinate.  To top off this treat, this blog post is part of a blog hop.  That means a few of you have come from {Carla’s blog}.  Welcome!  If you’re starting with me, you’ll view my friends’ artwork using this stamp set and end right back here when you’re done. 


I created my card using the Chantilly & Surf’s Up paper packs.  I used a smaller card base from a set of cards I purchased years ago.  It’s just 3.5” x 5.”  It’s not that much smaller but makes an feels much like a little note card than a “big” A2 card. 
As I mentioned, this triple stamp set is just $10 with a $50 purchase.  It can’t be purchased separately.  But who would want to?  It’s valued at $47.90 so you’re better off getting some great product instead of paying full price for it. Here’s what the whole set looks like.  You should be able to click on each pic to zoom in. 
  
If you’re one of my awesome customers, you can start Start shopping now!.  Don’t forget to check out the While Supplies Last area where newly retired items are now available for up to 75% off! 
If you want to keep blog hopping, continue to {Tracie’s blog}. 

Have a great day!