CTMH's Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for December

Welcome to the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for December. This month we are featuring the stamp set "Mad About You".

Along this month's Stamp of the Month hop you'll find dozens of fabulous creations using this stamp set - all brought to you by a very talented group of CTMH Consultants! If you've come here from Fancy Melissa's Blog, you are on the right path. If this is your first stop on the hop, that will work too (just keep hopping till you get back here again).

To continue along the hop, just follow the link at the end of each post to go to the next site. We hope that following the hop will give you lots of inspiration and ideas for using this month's stamp set, along with the many other great CTMH products you'll see in each post!
 
My creation for you today is a Valentine card measuring 5" by 7".  My creation was inspired by a card I saw HERE on Splitcoast Stampers.  This card could easily be adapted to a wedding or anniversary card by simply changing the sentiment.
 



 Materials Used (all Close to My Heart):
Roxie Level 2 Paper Pack
Made for You stamp set (December 2011 Stamp of the Month)
Colonial White Designer Ribbon
Hearts & circles cut with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
Vanilla Cream cardstock, Black Cardstock
Tulip Ink, Black Ink
Foam Tape
 
The "Made for You" stamp set is available from your consultant from December 1st to 31st! You can purchase it for the great low price of $19.95 or get it for just $5.50Cdn with every CTMH order of $55 or more placed in the month of December!

Thanks for stopping in!! To continue on the hop, visit Traci's Blog to see what she has created for you!

And the Winner is . . .

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Thanks to all of those who commented on my Thankful Blog Hop post to enter to win two great CTMH stamp sets!

The winner is . . . .

Jamie said...



what a great 2 page layout I absolutely love it.. its so nice and i love the colors you used. tfs


Congrats Jamie -- send me an email at csironside@shaw.ca with your mailing address & I'll get those stamp sets in the mail to you!

A Thankful Blog Hop

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my US blogging friends :-)

The girls at Scrap it With a Song are celebrating Turkey Day with a Thankful Blog Hop!

We are all taking inspiration today from Kelly Clarkson's song "Thankful". 

If you have arrived here from Jennifer's Blog, then you are in the right place!   If you'd like to hop from the beginning, you can head back to the Scrap it With a Song blog and start there!  

Be sure to stop by all of our designer's blogs to see what they've created for you & then head back to SIWAS to leave a comment for your chance to win this great prize from Pretty Little Studio:

As a bonus and a thank you to everyone who stops by my blog during our hop, I am also giving away a prize!  Be sure to comment here on my blog before Friday at midnight for your chance to win & I'll draw a random winner from all of the commenters!  If you feel so inclined, I would love for you to become a follower here at Carla Creates as well - - but that isn't required to win :-)  I'll be giving away these sweet CTMH stamp sets to the lucky winner:

Holiday Magic:

and Abundance Borders:

And now, with all that said, here is my Thankful project (you can click on it to view it larger!):

My layout was created in CTMH's digital program - Studio J, using the Dreamin' kit (also available in paper format!)

Photos used in this layout were taken by DeannaMae Photography!

I'm definitely THANKFUL for my hubby and the life we have built together and I was glad to be able to express that on this layout with the gorgeous photos from Deanna!! 

Now for more Thankful inspiration, hop on over to the next stop on the hop:  KYLIE's Blog!

But don't forget to leave a comment here first to be entered into my prize draw!

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day if you are in the U.S., and if you are not (like me!) . . . Happy Thursday!!



A Thankful Blog Hop

Be sure to check back with me on Thursday!  The Pop Gals & Rock Chicks from Scrap it With a Song will be hosting a Thankful Blog Hop in honor of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday!     Some great artwork with a "Thankful" theme & a few prizes too!

See you then!

A Toast

Canadian Scrapbooker magazine recently introduced a monthly Sketchy Challenge on their website.

I created this layout for their October sketch, but sadly did not get it photographed & submitted on time . . . I always feel a step behind on everything this time of year!  So much to do, so little time!!

In any case - thought I would share it here with you:

Another layout for the wedding album . . . slowly chippin' away at it, LOL!

Materials Used (all Close to My Heart):
Wings Level 2 Paper Pack (retired)
Eclectic Chipboard Alpha
Black ink for distressing
Vineyard Berry ink to colour alphas
Black Mini Medley accessories
All shapes cut with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

The November sketch looks like a great one too -- hopefully I'll be a little more timely with that one!

Have a great week,

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Time for a new song on the playlist at Scrap it With a Song.
This week we have the 80's classic "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".  

I have another layout from my Vegas girls' trip!  The sketch is #59 from Sketches in Thyme.

Materials Used (all CTMH, except as noted):
Mayberry Level 2 Paper Pack
Kraft Cardstock
Colonial White Cardstock
Thickers (AC)
Kaiser flower embellishments
Bazill Basics alpha stickers

Be sure to stop by Scrap it With a Song - - the rest of the DT has some fabulous layouts to inspire you!  Hope you'll play along with us too - - the deadline to link up is November 30th!

Kraft Card with Mischief

Every once in a while I scroll back through my photos and I find a few projects that I haven't yet posted here.
This is one of those projects.  I made this card back in September to showcase the Mischief paper pack at my Fall/Winter Idea Book open house.  As it was so long ago - - I have no recollection of whether this card was inspired by someone else, whether I used a sketch or whether it was a creation 'all my own'. 
But - - I think it is a great card & was worthy of sharing  . . . so if this looks familiar to anyone - please speak up so I can give you proper credit  :-)

Materials Used (all Close to My Heart):
Kraft Die-Cut Cards & Envelopes
Mischief Level 2 paper pack
Black grosgrain ribbon
Sunset Mini Medley
The Present acrylic stamp set
Black ink
Sunset cardstock

Hope everyone is doing well - - I'm busy cutting pieces for my upcoming card workshops.    Tedious work!  Not a great start to the week with a bit of a snowstorm here today also!   

I've been contemplating doing a "December Daily" album this year (CTMH style, of course!).  Curious - - how many of you are planning on doing one or have done one in the past?  Any tips for me?

First Day of School - Digital Style!

A new installment of Studio Saturday for you today - - I have a layout to share that I created in CTMH's digital program "Studio J".

This two page layout features the Typeset kit -- great paper patterns & stickease for all your school themed photos!

A fun technique I used on this layout was to create transparent journal boxes which I layered over top of the very cool tags and ledger paper found in the Stickease selection for this kit.  This makes it look like I journalled directly onto the tags/ledger paper.

Contact me if you'd like to set up a Studio J consultant to learn how to do this (& other great Studio J techniques!)

Have a great weekend everyone!

Give Studio J a try - it is FREE to play with!!  Truly Faster, Simpler, Easier scrapbooking!!

Shop my CTMH website!

Believe Workshop on the Go Layouts

I was kept pretty busy during the recent Canmore retreat I was hosting & didn't have a whole lot of time to work on my own projects - but one thing I did have a chance to complete was the Believe Workshop on the Go.  I love the CTMH workshop kits because I can grab a kit and it has everything I need in it to complete some great projects - no thinking or pre-planning required, other than which photos to use! 

With this kit - you can complete two great 2-page layouts.  (With a few extra materials - you can also complete a set of cards & a card box, but I opted to stick with the layouts for this one!)

Here is the first layout from the brochure:

And here is my take on it (click on it to view larger):

And now - this is the second layout as shown in the workshop guide:

And my completed layout:

Quick & easy scrapbooking for holiday photos!

Materials Used (all Close to My Heart):

Believe Workshop on the Go Kit (includes paper, accessory kit, chipboard stars, stamp set, workshop guide)

First layout also uses the Trinity Alphabet stamp set for the title

Second layout also uses the Cocktail Alphabet stamp set for the title

I used Topiary, Holiday Red, and Black ink in the first layout and New England Ivy ink in the second layout.

A sad day . . .

Fellow papercrafter & blogger Katie Renz lost her battle with cancer this morning.
Please join me in sending thoughts and prayers to her family. 
Rest in peace Katie, thanks for taking us along on your journey.

Mojo Monday Congratulations

It has been forever since I played along with Mojo Monday.  Mainly because I've been doing more scrapbooking than cardmaking lately.  But this week I was in need of a card to congratulate friends of ours who just became engaged . . . and Mojo Monday's sketch provided me with the needed inspiration!

Materials Used (all Close to My Heart):
Wings Level 2 paper pack (retired)
Veranda Creative Basics paper pack (retired)
For Every Occasion acrylic stamp set  (best EVER stamp set for cardmakers!!)
Soul Mates acrylic stamp set
Spray Pen (with Pearl Paint, Vineyard Berry Re-inker, and water)
Licorice Opaque Gems
Colonial White Waxy Flax
Black Ink
Cardstock: Black, Juniper, Colonial White, Vineyard Berry
Foam Tape

Have a great weekend!

My Darkest Fear

We have a new song up on the playlist for you at Scrap it With a Song!
The new selection is "Can't Change Me" by Chris Cornell. 

I wasn't familiar with this song - but after a listen, one line in particular resonated with me.    Part of the lyrics are 'uncover your darkest fear'.  This inspired me to create a layout about a fear that I don't ever talk about. 

I used Creative Scrappers Sketch #180 for my layout.

The hidden journalling talks about how my biggest fear as a cancer survivor is that my cancer will one day return.  The journalling on the front of the layout reads the famous quote "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that is why they call it the present".    I chose this to embellish my layout as a reminder to myself to live every day, one day at a time & not worry about what the future might hold.  For that reason, I think my darkest fear does affect the way I live my life - but in a positive way!

Materials Used (all Close to My Heart, except as noted):
Dreamin' Level 2 Paper Pack
The Present stamp set
Harvest Happiness stamp set
Journal box and Leaves were cut with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge
Decor Journal Tags
Inks: Chocolate, Pacifica, Goldrush
Cardstock: Chocolate, Colonial White
Large Chipboard Alpha (Pink Paislee)
Small Alpha Stickers (from my stash)

I hope you'll check us out at Scrap it with a Song!  This is a great song with some very powerful lyrics to inspire you!  Hope you'll play along!