January Stamp of the Month - Cross Stitch Wishes

Even if you don't like to sew, I think you will love the January Stamp of the Month, Cross Stitch Wishes!  

I don't very often take out pink in my craft room, but I really wanted to make a Valentine's Day card with these pretty stitches.

I used blush ink and the "XO" stamp in the set to create background on the lower portion of the card.  I took out cotton candy ink to stamp the sentiment box, banner, and hearts.  On of my favorite products is retiring at the end of January - the color ready seam binding ribbon.  It is a plain white ribbon that easily colored with ink.  I simply used a sponge dauber and cotton candy ink to create this beautiful pink ribbon.  I had a piece of pink cotton lace in my stash and fit perfectly on this card.  The grey rose is from the slate mini medley collection, and I finished off the card with some sparkles on the banner.

I hope that your new year is starting out most blessed!  Thanks for stopping by today!

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Happy Valentine's Day

You have a couple more days to order your January Stamp of the Month, Happy Valentine's Day.  It's such a pretty set, and those roses will be versatile all year round.  I saw this sketch at Mojo Monday this week, and I built my card around the round sketch.

I've colored the roses in the set using Blush and Olive Alcohol Markers.  This discontinued paper, La Belle Vie is just so pretty and romantic that it's perfect for Valentine's Day.  The black striped grosgrain and tulle really add to that soft romantic feel.

The stamp of the month can be purchased outright for $17.95 or with a $50 purchase, you can get it for just $5!  Aren't the fonts beautiful?

I'll also be entering this card into the following challenges:

• ABC Challenges - Valentine's Day
• Pretty Little Ribbon - Flowers and Ribbon

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Dream..With the January Stamp of the Month

If you have followed me for a time, you know that my team's name is the Rose Blossoms.  Well, the January Stamp of the Month was perfect for making Christmas gifts for each one of my team members.  I decided to make them post-it note holders.  Before I go on, I have to say that I am thankful that one of my Rose Blossoms, Marg, took photos when she received it.  In my excitement to get them in the mail, I completely forgot!!  (Be sure to visit Marg - she sure has a fabulous blog!)

On the cover, I stamped two of the smaller flowers with pigment ink, colored them with blush and olive markers, and then I used a texture tool to add depth.   The cardstock is from the Flirty paper packet, and the ribbon is color ready seam binding.  The stamp is from a special Consultant set, and I thought the saying was perfect.  I always like to hear what my team members are dreaming about!  Now let's take a look at the inside.

I stamped the inside cover with the large rose bouquet from the Stamp of the Month, and I did the same coloring and texturing.  One thing I forgot to mention is that I used bitty pearls for the inside of the flower on the cover.

I couldn't think of a more fitting gift for my Rose Blossom team members!

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January Stamp of the Month

This is my favorite stamp of the month from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  I am quite sure that the art studio at CTMH had me in mind when they created it - don't you think?  I love these roses!!

For this card, I actually used the large bunch of roses.  I colored them with olive and blush alcohol markers, and then I cut them out.  It was a lot of fussy cutting, but so worth it!  I created the card base using La Belle Vie paper.  It is hard to tell this in the photo, but I put droplets of Liquid Glass on the petals, too.  The different fonts and scripts are so pretty on this set!  I finished off the card with black-striped grosgrain, tulle, and some bling.

Thanks for visiting today!

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January 2013 News

First of all, Happy New Year to you!!  I love the beginning of a new year.  Of course, they come faster as I get older, but I still enjoy that feeling of a fresh start.  It's a chance to re-evaluate goals for personal and professional life.  I am not one for making resolutions, but I am an avid goal-setter.  Whatever way you enter into 2013, I hope your year will be blessed!

On to the January news from Close To My Heart.  I have told you about the Whooo's Your Valentine special and even how you can get that free!  Now I want to tell you about the Stamp of the Month, Happy Valentine's.  Hang on to your hat, cuz it's a beauty!

This set is filled with beautiful roses and delicate fonts.  And who wouldn't want a set that has the single word  "smitten"?  This set is fabulous for using with our Alcohol Markers, but today I want to show you how lovely it can be using cocoa pigment ink.

I used a sketch from Fetch a Sketch for this card, and I started out by stamping the large bunch of roses with cocoa pigment ink.  Even though it is no longer available, I used Florentine paper for matting because it was just so perfect with these delicate roses.  I sponged color ready seam binding ribbon with creme brulee ink, and added a couple of foundry pins.  It would be very easy to color the ribbon with a creme brulee marker, too.

So what do you think?  It's a must-have, isn't it?  Watch for many more examples this month - I love this stamp, and I'll show you many ways to use it.

January Classes

Of course, I have my four monthly club nights this month, but I have some other things going on, too.

• January Card Kit - I have just 10 kits left, so if you are thinking about this, you'll want to get your order in soon!  The cost is $7 for 4 cards mailed directly to you, and the kit includes instructions and envelopes.  CLICK HERE for more information and a payment link.
• Cricut Artiste Class - This class is being held on Tuesday, January 22nd at 6:30 pm.  The cost is $10, and all supplies are included in the cost.  We will be making a one-page layout, 3 cards, and one gift box.  Some things will be cut, but I will have you cut some of the items so that you can learn some of the buttons the Cricut.  I want this cartridge to add joy to your crafting life, so I want to show you how!  I am really looking forward to teaching you more in this class!
• Whooo's Your Valentine - This class is being held on on Sunday, January 27th at 4:00 pm.  It is free when you purchase your Whooo's Your Valentine kit from me!  Bring your basic supplies - tape runner, glue dots, pop dots, scissors, paper trimmer, and Liquid Glass.  I'll have blocks, punches, and ink for you to use, and you can follow my examples or do whatever you'd like!

New Consultant Kit

There is so much fabulous-ness in this kit!  Because I told you about it a few days ago, I am going to have you CLICK HERE to look at all the information again.  I will just say that it is $49 well spent!!

If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to contact me!!

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Roses

Every once in awhile, I just need some time for myself with my paper, inks, and stamps.  I think you probably know what I mean.  Just for the pure love of paper crafting, I need to sit down and create something pretty.  It is our 22nd wedding anniversary on Saturday, so I was thinking of my husband when I created this card.

I so enjoy working with the new CTMH alcohol markers.  They are easy to color with and because there are two in a set (base and shade), coloring is fun and easy.  It took me longer to cut the flowers out than it did to color them!  For this card I used the upcoming January 2013 Stamp of the Month which is called Happy Valentine's.  Those roses are just so lovely, and I think Ruby and Olive markers were a good color combination.  This is La Belle Vie paper embellished with black tulle and black striped grosgrain.  I finished the card off with some bling.  If you click on the photo, you might be able to see that I have dew drops of Liquid Glass on the rose petals.

My advice to you is simple.  When you are feeling the need to go and make something beautiful, just do it.  In the end, it will make you feel much better and you'll renew your energy!

I thought I would bring you another example using the January Stamp of the Month, Little Reminder.

There are a lot of uses for this set:

• Calendars
• Invitations
• Baby Congratulations
• Personalized Birthday Cards

Here is what I have for you today:

Don't you love the easy way you can make an invitation from this set?  That little background circular calendar is one of my favorite stamps in the set.  If you click on the photo and look at it in more detail, you will see that I have a white daisy line of stitching above the ribbon.  That's another little treat with this set - two long stamps that mimic stitiching.  Perfect for people like me that don't sew!  With your $50 order, you can get this set for just $5.00! 

January Stamp of the Month - Little Reminders

Happy New Year!!  My first post of 2012 - here's to another great year of blogging and sharing artwork!!  If you haven't commented on my giveaway post, refresh the page to see it at the top.  I will used random generator tonight to draw two names to win $25 in Close To My Heart product!!
Now, on to the January Stamp of the Month - Little Reminders.  I love that this is another set where you can personalize your cards or your pages.  If you work on calendars for gifts, this is also a very handy set for that because you have the days of the week along with nice-sized numbers  Fun, fun set, and I'll be showing you examples throughout the month.  Remember you can purchase your set for just $5.00 with a $50.00 order!

What a fun card base, huh?  This is from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  That is one of the many things I love about that cartridge - unique card bases.  I don't think I'll ever have a standard card again in my card classes - LOL!!  I incorporated the large circle of months, the numbers, and a sentiment on this card.  If you look closely, you'll also see a stitching strip at the top of the card - that is also one of the stamps in the set.  The paper is Elemental and the ribbon is from the Blue Collection.