CTMH Australasian Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - August 2014 - What a Hoot

Hello and welcome aboard our Close to My Heart Australasian Stamp of the month Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Jenny's Blog, Jen's Creative Classroom, then you are in the right place. If you landed here by accident, no problem, please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you this special birthday card which features the August Stamp of the Month - What a Hoot, available exclusively throughout August for $27 or for just $5 when you spend $75.

At first glance, you would think this is very much a "Halloween" stamp set, but I beg to differ. Owls of all shapes and sizes have been in style in crafting for a while now, and I for one am a little obsessed :-). When I saw the line drawn owls on this set, with options for eyes and hats, I knew I wanted to do a little paper piecing.

I took colour inspiration from my first favourite paper set out of the new Annual Inspirations book, called "Brushed". I absolutely love these prints and colour combination.

I stamped the standing owl onto the B&T paper, using the more subtle pattern for the body and the large print for the belly. Then I stamped the wings and the party hat onto a small piece of Olive cardstock. I stamped all the images in black ink to emphasise the paper piecing.

I used the Cricut Artbooking cartridge to cut the branch and the title. The images are actually from a Nursery layout (p.84), and the title says "Look Whoos here" but I trimmed off the last word by hand, so I could add the numbers for the age birthday. The titles are cut from Cranberry cardstock.

I love that all the Cricut cartridges from Close to My Heart are so versatile, with over 700 images on each, that be used in so many different ways.

Both the branch and the tree on the left side of the card were embossed with the new Woodgrain embossing folder, using colonial white cardstock as the base. Then I swiped Chocolate ink over the top of the embossed lines, and filled in with the Chocolate ink and a sponge dauber.

The base of the card is Champagne cardstock. I stamped some light clouds in the background from the C1570 Lifting Spirits set, with Glacier ink. Most of the card was assembled with flat adhesive, but for the 40 and the party hat I used a bit of foam tape to give the card some dimension. A little bit of sequins and sparkles finished the card - you always need a little bling, right?

I had tons of fun making this card, and hope the recipient likes it as well. 40 is the new 30, apparently lol

S1408 What a Hoot is only available until 31 August 2014 from your CTMH consultant.

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop,  Lauren Moore's Blog, CTMH Craftings.

Yours in Craft,
Monika

Artbooking Made Easy - All Star Layouts

Hi crafty friends,

do you have kids (or family members) who love all sorts of sport? the Sports Keys on the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge, exclusive to Close to My Heart, are just the ticket for getting your photos scrapped - or making gorgeous off-the-page items to display their talent!

Contact me if you would like to get your hands on this fantastic cartridge, or any of the tools and materials shown on the video.

Artbooking Cricut Collection

Yours in craft,
Monika

CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - December - Special Care

Hello and welcome aboard our Australasian Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Blog Hop for December. If you have arrived here from Jo Armstrong's Blog, then you are in the right place. If you landed here first, the blog hop is a big circle, so please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

The SOTM for December is called Special Care and is a set of 6 stamps with a "washing instructions" theme. My first thought when I saw these stamps was for baby or children-inspired cards or scrapbook pages.

I have been a bit remiss with scrapbooking pages for Isobelle, as all her photos are digital and I don't often print them out any more. These pictures were taken by an amateur photographer friend of mine when Isobelle was just 3 weeks old, on 27 November 2009.

I wanted to keep the focus on the photos, so used colonial white card for the base pages and photo mats and embellishments in Cotton Candy. I also stamped in Cotton Candy and Slate, and added a touch of bling with the silver washi tape out of the Sparkle & Shine pack. The shapes come from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, and the title is from Artbooking, both exclusive to Close to My Heart.

I used one roll from each of the special Washi tape packs we currently have, the Party and the Sparkle and Shine packs. Each roll in this pack is 15 yards (13.7 metres) so the pack is great value.

This exclusive  stamp of the month is only available during December. It can be yours for just $5 with a qualifying order of $75 or for $24 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order in my online store here.

The Washi tape and many other Christmas themed items are from the Holidays with Heart Gift Guide, available now through December 31 from your CTMH consultant whilst stocks last. Some items are in short supply so order early to avoid disappointment.

Orders totalling over $130 between now and 31 December 2013 can choose one starred item from The Holidays with Heart gift Guide for free so it is an ideal time to get your hands on one of our Cricut Collections or some Workshops on the Go (WOTG) kits for yourself, or as gifts, and be able to claim some lovely Christmas products, and your purchases will count towards 2 promotions!

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Marianne Lamont's Blog.

Products used:
1388 Colonial White cardstock pack
X5760 Cotton Candy cardstock pack
S1312 Special Care
Z2173 Exclusive ink - Slate
Z2193 Exclusive ink - Cotton Candy
Z1908 Party Washi Tape - 3 pack
Z1907 Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape - 3 pack
Z1701 Baker's Twine - Neutral Assortment


Yours in craft,
Monika

Cricut Cartridges from Close to My Heart

Did you know that Close to My Heart has 3 exclusive Cricut cartridges in the product range?

They have all been designed to coordinate with many of our stamp sets, and also with the chipboard shapes. In fact, when you purchase a cartridge, you will receive 3 stamp sets and 3 sheets of coordinating chipboard sheets in the bundle, for only $130.

The three cartridges are Art Philosophy, Artiste and the newest one, Artbooking. All 3 come with 700 images each, and can be combined in an unlimited number of ways.

The Artbooking cartridge was just released in June this year, and the company is presenting a series of videos over the coming months on what you can do with this cartridge. The link to the first one is below:

I will be running workshops each month to coincide with these videos, so you can create these pages, or similar, with your own photos. To make sure I meet your needs, please contact me to confirm you are interested, and your preferred day and time for these workshops. All dates will be advertised on my Facebook page as soon as they are confirmed.

I have also started a Cricut Crop, on the last Friday night of the month, from 7pm to 10 pm, where you can come along and do a normal crop using all my tools, or bring card stock and papers to cut shapes with my Cricut machine and cartridges. Cost is just $5 to cover wear and tear on my cricut. I will be presenting a quick project from a Cricut cut, and of course there will be supper provided. Please RSVP a week before each event so I can be prepared for projects and catering.

Do you have your own Cricut? you can get your hands on these cartridges by ordering on my website, just follow the Shop with me link.

Or, you can host your own gathering with a minimum sales of $300, and in addition to $50 product credit to spend on stamps or papers, you can order a Cricut cartridge (or any other item from the catalogue) for half price. That means the cartridge would only cost you $65!

Below are the 3 cartridges available, with the bundles you receive.

Artiste

Artbooking

Art Philosophy

So what are you waiting for? Like my Facebook page for workshop updates, and reserve your preferred Artbooking workshop date today!
http://www.facebook.com/Madcrafter72


Yours in craft,
Monika