Time for a new challenge at Merry Monday!  Show us your red, aqua and white Christmas card creations.  Be sure and use circles!  I am still working on finding my crafting mojo...and decided CAS was the best way to go this week!  Can't wait to stop by your blog and see your creation!


Supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
C1379 Holiday Commentary Stamp Set
1272 Cranberry Cardstock
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
Z2116 Cranberry Ink
Z1752 Clear Sparkles
Felt Snowflake by SU
Circle Stax Dies by MFT

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Time for a new challenge at Merry Monday.  This week we want to see Santa Claus on your creations!  My stamping room is still in a state of chaos....so I put my stash of DSP to work on my card!


My card is based on the sketch challenge this week at the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.


Supply List:
Desert Sand Cardstock by Close To My Heart
Santa Claus Paper Pad by MME
Christmas Day Brads by Carta Bella
Retired Ribbon by Close To My Heart

Thanks so much for stopping by!

We are having a bird themed challenge this week at Merry Monday.  Life has been a little crazy and I have taken a few weeks off from Merry Monday.  So happy to be back.  I can now finally get to my stamps in my craft room!  The bird themed challenge was the perfect opportunity to ink up the To You and Yours Stamp Set.  I have had this set in my collection for awhile now, but it had yet to see ink.  I colored my bird and holly with Copics and fussy cut them out.  I then layered them onto my card for more dimension.



My card is based on the sketch challenge this week at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown.


I added a few layers to the inside to balance out the weight from the front of the card.


All supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
B1403 To You and Yours
D1560 Holiday Tags
Retired Pear & Partridge Paper Pack
Christmas Day Papers by Carta Bella
1273 Desert Sand Cardstock
1272 Cranberry Cardstock
1282 New England Ivy Cardstock
Z2135 New England Ivy Ink
Z2116 Cranberry Ink
Tuxedo Black Ink by Memento
Copic Sketch Markers, BG10,E37, E39, R24, R29, Y17, Y19, YG61, YG63
Z1837 Wooden Mini Medley Accents Collection
Circle Stax Dies by MFT

I have also entered my card in the following challenges:
Christmas Stampin All Year Long-Circles (I counted my holly berries as well as my circle shapes)
Crafty Creations-Winged Things

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Amy has a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches! The sketch was a perfect fit for me to break into the new to me Giddy Up papers by Carta Bella.  You all know I have a great fondness for western themed cards! Here is the original sketch design for you to create with:


 I have a ton of Thank You cards to send out.  I have been going through a huge transition in my life, which has left me with little time for blogging as of late.  Thanks so much to my friends both online and off that helped give me the courage to leave an abusive relationship.  I am forever grateful for your support.  I know many of you have sent e-mails inquiring about my absence from blogland.....I greatly appreciate your concern!  The blog community is an awesome place to be a part of!  I do hope to be back to blogging on a regular basis.  Moving my craft room and getting it set back up has been a daunting task....which is still a work in progress!  Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers, they are greatly appreciated.

All supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
D1187 For Every Occasion
X5643 Chocolate Cardstock
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Giddy Up Papers by Carta Bella
Z2111 Chocolate Ink
Circle Stax Dies by MFT
Z1753 Brown & Tan Sparkles

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope to see your creation in the gallery this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

I think I have finally made it back to blogland!  I am the hostess this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  If you have been around my blog very long you know that my style leans to the clean side with lots of layers!  Hope to see your card in the gallery this week!  I have so missed my craft room and stopping by your blogs to see your creations!


All products by Close To My Heart:
C1559 Always Grateful Stamp Set
Retired Felicity B&T Papers
X5642 Cocoa Cardstock
1270 Autumn Terracotta Cardstock
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z2114 Cocoa Ink
Z2104 Barn Red

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope to be back to posting on a regular basis in the coming weeks.

Welcome to the September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring September's Stamp of the Month, Poster Tidings, a set of 2 stamps.  If you have came here from Traci's Blog, you are on the right path.  The blog hop is a great big circle, you can start here and work your way around.  If you get lost along the way, you can find a complete list of participating consultants here.

The September Stamp of the Month can be yours for only $5 with a qualifying Close To My Heart purchase.  You can see all the details on my Current Specials page!

All supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
S1309 Poster Tidings (September SOTM)
D1560 Holiday Tags
X7173B Babycakes Paper Packet
Z2503 Basics Pigment Inks
Z2501 Adventure Pigment Inks
Ribbon-Unknown

I have entered my card in the following challenges:
Kaboodle Doodles-Season of Fall
My Sheri Crafts-Fall Colors
The Squirrel & The Fox-Autumn
 
We have over 50 consultants participating in the blog hop!  Hop on over to Susan's Blog to see her artwork.  Be sure and continue on with the hop for more stamping inspiration!  Get your set before it's gone!  The last day to order is September 30, 2013. 
 
Thanks for stopping by!

Come join us in the celebration at Freshly Made Sketches!  We are having our 100th sketch challenge this week!  In celebration we are featuring our very first sketch design and have lots of fun stamping goodies to give away!




My card was created with Close To My Heart products, except where noted:
X7170B Laughing Lola Paper Packet
X7170C Laughing Lola Complements
Vertical Greetings by MFT
Z1862 Black Mini Medley Accent Collection
Z2503 Basics Pigment Inks
Z821 Clear Embossing Powder

I have entered my card in the following challenges:
Allsorts-New Stash (papers and embellishments)
Kaboodle Doodles-Song or Quote
Papertake Weekly-Flower Power
Sweet Stampin-Bold & Beautiful

Thanks so much for stopping by...be sure and come join us this week!  We would love to see your creation, plus you get the chance to win great prizes!

Time for a new sketch at Merry Monday!  I kept my card on the clean and simple side with a cluster of buttons.  Love the fun new glitter buttons in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book!  Here is the original sketch design-


I added a few layers to the inside for more contrast.


Supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
D1560 Holiday Tags Stamp Set
Clearly Sentimental About Christmas Stamp Set-MFT
Handmade Holiday Pattern Papers-Simple Stories
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
1282 New England Ivy Cardstock
X5927 Ruby Cardstock
Z2170 Ruby Ink
Retired Green Buttons
Z1861 Ruby Mini Medley Accents
Red Twine-American Crafts

I have entered my card in the following challenges:
Christmas Stampin All Year Long-Stitching
Delicious Doodles-Christmas in August
Divas by Design-Christmas in August
Winter Wonderland-Red & Green

Welcome to the New Product Blog Hop!  We will be featuring many of the great new products that can be found in the NEW Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  If you have came here from Jean's Blog, you are on the right path.  The blog hop is a great big circle, you can start here and work your way around.  If you get lost along the way, you can find a complete list of participating consultants here.


My new artwork will be posted later this evening, until then please continue on to Lucy's Blog!

Rita has a great circle inspired sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  I struggled narrowing it down to just what I wanted to put in those circles!  In the end, I decided it was not too soon to think about a Halloween card...especially when all I see is the candy corn display when I go to the grocery store!  I flipped the sketch, here is the original design for you to create with-


Clean and simple on the inside.



Design Tip-Stamp in black pigment ink, emboss with clear powder!  Crisp clean embossing with no worries of black stray flecks on your project!

All supplies by Close To My Heart:
B1413 Perfect Fit-Halloween Stamp Set
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
1386 Black Cardstock
X5758 Sunset Cardstock
Retired Polka Dot Paper
Z2503 Basics Pigment Inks
Z821 Clear Embossing Powder
Z1702 Paradise Assortment Baker's Twine

I have entered my card in the following challenges:
Pattie's Creations-Embossing
The Pink Elephant-Orange
Top Tip Tuesday-Embossing

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope to see your creation in the gallery this week!

We are back with a new sketch this week at Merry Monday.  After going through various papers and color schemes, I ended up with a rather non-traditional Christmas card.  I love the simplicity of it though!  Here is the original sketch for your take-


This Merry Christmas sentiment from the Ornamental Cheer stamp set has earned it's self a permanent spot on my desk!  I am a minor crisis when I could not locate the set for this card, then I saw the sentiment just sitting there waiting to be inked!  Not sure where the rest of the set has taken off to, probably out searching for a new home where it will get inked....but my sentiment was waiting for me!  Love this font!


All supplies by Close To My Heart, except where noted:
D1483 Glory to God
D1520 Ornamental Cheer
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
X5642 Cocoa Cardstock
Z2503 Basics Pigment Ink
Z821 Clear Embossing Powder
Grosgrain Ribbon-Unknown

Jen M has a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Amazing how fast summer is fading...school will be starting soon and fall will be here before you know it.  While the leaves have yet to start falling, it was the perfect opportunity to create an Autumn themed card.  Here is the original sketch design for you to create with-
My card is created with new papers and stamps from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book!  I layered a few stamp images on the inside as well.  I stamped the tree in second generation Cocoa Ink and the sentiment in first generation Barn Red ink.  My overall card size is 5" x 5".


All supplies by Close To My Heart,
C1559 Always Grateful Stamp Set
X7174B Huntington Paper Packet
X7174C Huntington Stickease
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z2114 Cocoa Ink
Z2104 Barn Red
Retired Buttons

I have entered my card in the following challenges:
By Lori Designs-Designer Paper
Great Impressions-Square Card
Paper Pretties-Two or More Designer papers
Papertake Weekly-Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Hope to see your creation in the gallery at Freshly Made Sketches!

We are back to our regular schedule of weekly sketches at Merry Monday!  Thanks so much to everyone that participated in our Anything Goes Challenge in July!  Here is the original sketch to get you started-


I added a few layers to the inside.  My card was almost entirely created with scraps from my scrap bin!  I have got to start using more scraps before they overtake my room!


All supplies by Close To My Heart except where noted:
B1412 Perfect Fit-Holidays
D1480 Snowflakes
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
1273 Desert Sand Cardstock
X5666 Twilight Cardstock
X5637 Barn Red Cardstock
Winter Fun Paper by Carta Bella
Z2500 Whimsy Pigment Inks
Z2503 Basics Pigment Inks
Z2104 Barn Red Ink
Z821 Clear Embossing Powder
Z1752 Clear Sparkles
Retired Grosgrain Ribbon

I have entered  my card in the following challenges:
Crafting for all Seasons-Christmas in July
Crafty Ribbon Challenge-Use one or more circles
Little Red Wagon-Christmas in July
Shopping our Stash-Use your oldest punch (circle punches have been in my collection forever!)

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring August's Stamp of the Month, A Chocolate Affair, a set of 16 stamps.  If you have came here from Laurie's Blog, you are on the right path.  The blog hop is a great big circle, you can start here and work your way around.  If you get lost along the way, you can find a complete list of participating consultants here.

I created my card with the ProPlayer papers.  A little out of the box for this paper line, but I really loved the Ruby red print!  I added a little texture to the slate print with second generation Ruby ink.  My card is based on the sketch challenge this week at Mojo Monday!


I went with the inspiration photo at Just Us Girls to make my "white chocolate" covered strawberries!  I love all chocolate, but white chocolate is my favorite!