Everything ABC blog hop- letter s

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter S. This may be the name of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their S element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda Norman- Scrappy Therapy

If you came from Jenny Gilbert- Jen's Creative Classroom then you're on the right track!

For my S project, I am finally doing a scrapbook layout! WooHoo! As much as I hate to admit that my oldest is growing up, reality has set in that she really is a Senior in High School.  This time next year, she will have flow the nest and start making her next chapter in life. So my letter S stands for school, senior, scrapbook layout, and shimmer tape.

Please forgive the quality of the pictures. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the sparkle from the shimmer tape and clear sparkles to show well.  Eventually I will actually get a place set  up with decent lighting for my photos.

I have already put her Kindergarten picture in, but I have to wait for her Senior pics... those are being taken next weekend.

The font for the word "Senior" is from the Cricut Craft Room Basics, cut at 2.5 inches. The "then and now", as well as "class of 2015" are all stamped using the Circus Alphabet stamps that were the stamp of the month in July.

I used the Reflections layout book for ideas for the layout.  Specifically pages 68 and 74. This book is wonderful for new scrappers to get some ideas of how basic patterns can be switched up and changed to create great pages. Even if you are a veteran scrapbooker, Reflections is full of beautiful projects that can't help but inspire you!

Below is a list of all products used and links to check them out in my CTMH site:

Reflections book

Chalk It Up paper pack

Teal Shimmer Trim

Clear Sparkles

Inks: Archival Black & Lagoon

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is  Stephanie- the Quilted Scrapper.

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

Artfully Sent is here! (And how to get free product!!)

Hi Everyone!

I have some exciting news... Close To My Heart's new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge is finally available!!! And I am going to show you how easy it is to get FREE CTMH product this month!

The Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge bundle is geared with card makers in mind.  With my card making focus, I have been looking forward to this release.

The bundle includes the exclusive to CTMH Artfully Sent cartridge, 3 coordinating stamp sets, and a pack of Daisy White Cardstock.  That is nearly $125 worth of product for just $99! You can order this great bundle by clicking here.

Artfully Sent has all kinds of cards including pop-ups, slide cards, scene cards and more.  I can't wait to check it out!

Also, did you know that September is National Stamping month?  To celebrate 30 Years, CTMH has a great sale going on! If you spend $30 on any regular retail priced stamp sets, you will receive this awesome set of 30 mini stamps for FREE! They are perfect for cards, tags, and embellishments! 

You can browse all of CTMH's stamp sets here: Acrylic Stamp Sets

As always, CTMH has a Stamp of the Month D-sized stamp set for just $5 when you spend $50 or more on ANY of CTMH's products.  September's set is this fabulous Family is Forever. To check out the whole catalog online, click here: melissahegwood.ctmh.com

OK--- I know you are all wondering how to get the free product I mentioned at the beginning, right?

So here is how- by hosting a party! I know, I know- that's not what you were expecting.  But stick with me for a minute....  A qualifying party is any order or group of orders that totals $150 or more. If you take advantage of all the great things going on this month, you only need $16 additional product to qualify for $25 in FREE products (including the exclusive Hostess Rewards Stamp Sets).  So even if you don't want to include your friends, there is nothing that says you can't have a party of 1 !

Here is the math:

Artfully Sent bundle $99 +  Retail-priced stamps  $30 (which gets you the additional free stamp set) + Sept. Stamp of Month  $5  +  additional products  $16 =  party minimum of $150.  Ta Da! $25 in free product!

If you want to place an order of $150 or more to qualify for party status, don't order through the links above.  Instead email me at melissahegwood3@gmail.com and I will contact you about setting up your party online.

For smaller orders, feel free to head on over to my website: melissahegwood.ctmh.com

My sister is visiting this weekend and I am planning on having a shared crafting marathon so I should have some new projects to post next week... come back and visit again soon!

Everything ABC Blog Hop- letter R

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter R. This may be the name

of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their R element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda Norman- Scrappy Therapy

If you came from Chantal Pearson- It's a Hoot! then you're on the right track!

This week's R inspired blog hop features a Red and Black mini album cut using the R key on the CTMH Artbooking Cricut cartridge.

Ok, so here is the deal with this mini album. It just so happens that I live very close to a college town. A big college town.  With a BIG football team (and lots of crazy football fans).  And it is beginning of football season. So there is red and black and bulldogs everywhere! And risking the possible backlash for admitting this- I am just not a big football fan. So I will never use this mini, but at least I know of dozens of friends and family that will have plenty of pics to fill this up. I just have to figure out who to give it to.

To the nitty- gritty of the album.... since long before becoming a Close to My Heart consultant, I have been a paper hoarder. Tryng to use up some of my stash to make room for new CTMH papers, I decided to use the red and black Recollections (look- another R!) cardstock from Michael's. 

I pulled out my new "go to" Cricut cartridge, CTMH's Artbooking, and set to work cutting out the mini album on the R key. This is actually shown as a baby book mini in the booklet that comes with the cartridge. Just by using different colors and changing the titles, this looks nothing like a baby book.  I love the versatility of this cartridge! I added pockets and tabs all over this mini too- so there is a ton of space for pics and journaling. I used Plantin Schoolbook font for the "Go Dawgs" and the Artbooking font for the "Sic 'em".  I used the Cricut Craft Room to weld the letters for easier placement.

I don't know how well you can see from these photos, but I do need to do some touch ups on some of the pages.  When I started embellishing, I felt like it needed some sparkle or bling.  Not wanting to go overboard on the girly (it is football after all!), I decided to add some touches of red glitter glue. I left it out on the table to dry overnight. While I was sleeping, someone decided he needed to supervise my work...

Obviously, Stormageddon is not a "Dawg" fan. During the night, he not only smudged some of the glue before it was dry, but also stole 2 of my binder rings that will hold the mini together. Maybe if the mascot was a panther, he would have left it alone! Anyway, I am just thankful that I haven't added the ribbon to the tags yet- he really likes to play with ribbon!

I hope you enjoyed my R themed project.  I can't wait for letter S, I already have big plans. 

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is  Darlys Recker- Crafty Happy

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

Everything ABC Blog Hop- Letter Q

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter Q. This may be the name

of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their P element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda- Scrappy Therapy

If you came from Wendy Kessler- My Scrapbooking Blog then you're on the right track!

This project has 2 q's in it- Quilted and Quick! The quilted is obvious- this is a quilt inspired design for an A2 card. And quick is for the fact that this card literally took me minutes to complete.  I knew the deadline was coming up and I needed to do my Q hop before midnight. Of course, the crazy long errands I had to do after work today all took longer than expected. When I finally got to sit down at 11pm, I remembered my deadline! Oops! Good thing I work well under pressure!

This card was all done using the Chalk It Up paper pack.  I used a Martha Stewart punch for the "quilt blocks". After attaching the blocks, I ran it quickly through my Sizzix Texture Boutique.  I have a Big Kick, but for most little card things, I find the little TB is much more convenient. The sentiment is from the Artbooking Cricut bundle stamped in Lagoon ink. Add a few clear sparkles, and Voila! A quick, quilted look card from start to finish in 10 minutes!

The paper, ink, stamp, and sparkles can all be found at my CTMH website (link to the right of my blog)

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is  Lauren Moore- CTMH Craftings

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

Girl Scouts and Ribbon Board

Hi Everyone!

It has been a hectic and transitional week.  Pretty much just trying to get back into our normal not summer routines. School, band, soccer, and Girl Scouts are all starting back up again.  All 3 of my girls are in Girl Scouts- all different levels and different troops that meet at different times.  And I am the leader for my 8th grader's troop. Sometimes I still wonder how I got suckered into leadership, but after going on 8 years, I wouldn't give it up for the world.  Some of these girls have been with this troop since the beginning.  It has been wonderful to watch these girls grow from little 1st graders to the beautiful, amazing young ladies that are ready to take on any challenge that 8th grade can dish out!

Anyway, one of my biggest challenges for my troop meetings as they have gotten older is finding activities that 1) takes more than 5 minutes but less than 1.5 hours to complete;
2) relates to what is going on in their lives or troop plans; and 3) something that will not just be taken home and thrown on the floor or in a drawer and forgotten.

So this week, my project doesn't actually involve paper.  Our "Welcome Back" project for my troop will be to make Ribbon Boards to hang in their lockers.  I thought about traditional cork boards at first, but I don't want the teachers and custodians mad at me when push pins and thumbtacks keep falling on the floor in the hall.  And magnet boards seems redundant considering the whole locker is metal! So came the ribbon board project- no pins to fall out and still plenty of places to put pics or notes or whatever they want!

Here is what I used for my ribbon board:

I used an 8x10 canvas (value pack is on sale at Michael's this week), quilt batting, fabric left over from other projects that I never started, staple gun, ribbon, and thumbtacks (but I will be switching this out for brads).

There are lots of tutorials online about using foam board or cork board, and I thought about those. But since I got the canvases on sale, that is what I went with.  The boards are actually very easy.  The hardest part was deciding which fabric and ribbons to use.

First, cut the batting and fabric large enough to have about 3 inches extra on every side. Lay the batting down, then place the canvas (face down) on top of the batting.  Pull the batting around the edges and staple to the frame of the canvas. It can help to cut the extra fabric away from the corners to keep the bulk down. Next, place your fabric good side down on your table.  Place your batting covered canvas on top of the fabric and repeat stapling like with the batting.  (Tip: pull fabric as tight as you can to get out any wrinkles, working with opposite sides) I didn't take a pic of this part.

Now that you have the canvas covered, play with the ribbon placement until you are happy with it. Place pins at the ribbon intersections to hold them in place. Flip canvas over and attach the ends of the ribbon to keep them in place. I went a little overboard with my staple gun trying to aim with my smaller ribbon, my troop will be using hot glue for this part. 

All that is left is to replace the pins at the ribbon intersections with something more permanent.  I used white thumbtacks (would have worked if I used the cork or foam boards). The canvas was pretty tough to poke through so I had to use one of my piercing tools. Then the tacks wouldn't stay by themselves. Again, improvising with extra school supplies, I cut up one of the extra big pink erasers and stuck them on the back of the tacks to keep them in place. I like how it looked from the front, but I will be replacing them with brads for a more permanent solution.  Attach a ribbon on the top and it's ready to hang!

I have a blog hop post coming up later in the week...  make sure to come back to check it out!

Everything ABC's- letter P

Welcome to the Everything ABC's Blog Hop!

For this hop we will be featuring the letter P. This may be the name

of a paper, a stamp set or an embellishment. Whatever the crafter has

chosen as their P element will be featured in their post.

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Linda's blog~ Scrappy Therapy

If you came from  Wendy Kessler ~ My Scrapbooking Blog then you're on the right track!

For my "P" project, I went way back to my pre- Cricut days. This card is old school and all about punches and polka dots. I started with a White card base, then layers of lagoon and daisy white, with a final layer of honey embellishments with canary inked polka dots.

Punches:

For the lagoon and white layers, I used an old Fiskars scallop edge punch on both sides (sorry I can't remember the name- I've had it for years). CTMH also has a Scallop Border Punch (item z1851) that would work well for this card too. The honey ribbon was cut using the Martha Stewart punch called Infinite Loop Trim. Finally, the circles were done with 2 1/4 inch and a 2 1/2 inch punches and attached with Pop Dots for dimension.  

Stamping:

The sentiment is stamped in Archival Black. The stamp is from the You Mean the World to Me set that coordinates with the Cut Above kits. Finally, I couldn't find any circle stamps as small as I needed.  Thankfully it is back to school season and the perfect solution was literally right in front of me. I used a pencil eraser with Canary ink to stamp the little dots that finished up the edges on the white layer. 

Hope y'all enjoyed my "P" project! Punches, Polka Dots, and Pre-Cricut cuts.

Here is a list of links to the CTMH products that can be found in my online site:
White cards and envelopes
Lagoon Cardstock
Honey Cardstock
White Daisy Cardstock
Canary Exclusive Inks
You Mean the World to Me stamp set

Your next stop on our Everything ABC'S blog Hop is Darlys Recker - Crafty Happy. 

In case you get lost along the way…go to Scrappy Therapy for a complete list of participants!

Base & Bling Oval Cuff

Hi Everyone!

I was so excited to get my package from Close To My Heart today!  Couldn't wait to open it and make something. The item I was most looking forward to playing with was the new Base & Bling Oval Cuff. Base & Bling is CTMH's jewelry line. There are also pendants and chains and charms in both antiqued silver or gold. You can use your own images or CTMH even has some great sticker image collections to choose from. 

I chose the Journey image sticker sheet for my cuff.  There are quite a few sayings and images that I really liked on this sheet. I finally picked "Just Keep Swimming".  It is a saying that we use in my house a lot.  It helps remind me that when things get rough and a bit overwhelming, if I "just keep swimming", eventually I can make it through anything. It took me longer to actually pick the image than it took me to put the whole thing together! There were just a few simple steps:

1. Use the Glass Oval Cover to trace oval over selected image.

2. Cut out sticker and adhere to Oval Cuff.

3. Cover image with Liquid Glass adhesive (it dries clear, don't be stingy with it)

4. Place Glass cover over image and use a damp paper towel to wipe off the excess adhesive that seeps out the sides.

Here is a list of products and links to my online store if you are interested in purchasing these for yourself.

Silver Oval Cuff

Oval Glass Covers

Base & Bling Journet Sticker sheet

Liquid Glass