Cats, Spiderwebs, and Holiday Wishes November Campaign

One of my favorite squares that I saved for last is the one below.

Again, I used Cherished Flourishes to dress this one up a bit, used my CTMH corner rounder for rounded corners, and with rhinestones and a pen I created a rhinestone spiderweb. It's so much fun to sometimes freehand in the last little details that you don't otherwise have a stamp for.

Every year since we have moved in and handed out candy, we have had at least one little munchkin look at us like we're going to eat him/her. It's the most adorable look I have ever seen. Let's see if this year proves to be the third year in a row.

After Halloween the next holiday is Christmas! Are you excited yet? I sure am - it's my favorite holiday of the year, and I celebrate it twice. Denmark celebrates it on the 24th, and of course Canada is the 25th. Speaking of holidays, CTMH has decided to gift us with a little something extra.

That's right - with a minimum order of $25 CAD between November 1-30, you can add this cute D-sized stamp set for only 5$! This stamp set normally retails for $19.95. As an added bonus, most of the images in the set coordinate with the Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge.

* Note: Stamp of the Month, K-sized customized name stamps, Cricut® Art Philosophy Collection and Workshop on the Go kits do not count toward a qualifying purchase. Tax and shipping applies.

Trick or Treat!

Hats and Cats

I am posting the last few cube decorations so I can get them all up on this blog before I hear "trick or treat!!" at my door! I'm saving one for Sunday so that I can put it up then just in time for Halloween.

A little bit of trivia from you, courtesy of Wikipedia: Halloween is linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, or Summer's End. To be honest, this year has been so gorgeous up to this point that I can hardly believe November is next week.

I'm not sure what inspired this when I made it, but looking at it now it reminds me of the TV show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. With her sassy black cat on this broom. It was one of my earlier ones, and I actually was experimenting with the red and black embossing powder from CTMH.

I just love the simplicity of these three hats lumped together. The hat in the middle, stamped with Cranberry Ink is raised up with foam tape. I use it all over my projects and I find it just gives my items that extra "oomph!" For the spiders to stand out, I embellished them with rhinestones and for those perfect rounded corners, I used CTMH's corner rounder punch.

Michaels:
* Cardstock, "Spice Market"
* Cardstock, "Gems"

CTMH:
* Bitty Rhinestones
* Wicked
* Red Embossing Powder
* Black Embossing Powder
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Cranberry Ink
* Smokey Plum Ink
* Moonstruck Ink
* Chocolate Ink

Remember to dress the kids up in bright costumes and arm them with flashlights!

Rhinestones and Witches

The only thing I don't like about transitioning into Fall and then Winter, is the ensuing sicknesses that always go around every year. I'm still unfortunately sniffling and exhausted and haven't done any new Christmas cards for a while. However, I am moving forward on Mom's Christmas present.

I have another Halloween cube decoration for show! I always have pictures to post, don't worry; and I will take some photos of the calendar when I get a chance. I'm waiting for the oven to warm up so that I can get my chocolate chip cookies in there.

This one required some fancy decoration. I was running out of ideas to use just Wicked (August 2011 SOTM) for the decor. So, Cherished Flourishes gave this one a fancy flourish which was finished off with three little rhinestones. I used Fiskar edger scissors for the "Have a Wicked Halloween" piece, and then distressed it with Chocolate ink. Did I mention how much I love inking up edges with sponges? The witch is also popped up with foam tape.

I also received spray pens, reinker and Pearl Paint in my latest order, and I can't wait to find a good use for them! This is my first time using them, so I thought I'd do a little research and lengthen hopefully the lifetime of the pens. The following video from CTMH is an excellent how-to video for this tool.

I'll be spraying up one of my Christmas cards up really soon! Keep an eye out for it - and in the meantime enjoy the cube decorations.

CTMH:
* Wicked (August 2011 SOTM)
* Cherished Flourishes
* Olive Ink
* Outdoor Denim
* Black Embossing Powder

Michaels:
* Embossing Ink (from the old days before I discovered CTMH)
* Cardstock from 'Gems' and 'Spice Market' sets
* Rhinestones

Only a few more days till' All Hallows Eve,

Wizard of Oz, anyone?

I have actually been sick as well as in all day training this week, so I have come home and straight to bed. Thus, no new cards to post about today, but I need to get started on Mom's calendar.

However, I did promise to slowly put up the cube decorations, so today's post is another one of them! The ribbon was actually sourced off a bag of Christmas goodies from last year. So let this be a tip to you - if you're feeling frugal, all those ribbons and bows off gifts can go to good use!

Strangely enough this reminds me of the Wizard of Oz, but I have no idea why. My favorite part about this one, other than the stockings sticking out is that I created a lattice with the border stamp that turned out really well! And finally, thanks to Carla for sourcing this amazing tip for stamping (from fancyMelissa) - so amazing that I just had to repost it here too.

Michaels:
* Cardstock from "Gems" set
* Cardstock from "Primary" set
* Gold Brads

CTMH:
* Wicked (August 2011 Stamp of the Month)

Our memories keep us warm...

Sometimes I end up with a stamp set that I like, but have no idea how I want to use it. Snow Days in the latest catalogue was one of those. However, it ended up featuring on this latest card inspired by one of Got Sketch?'s Anniversary posts : Sketch 79.

As you can see, more of the cut out nissers I had featured once again on this card. I don't remember what colors I used to color the elf, but I wanted his little lightbulb string to stand out a little. So I added a little liquid glass to each little lightbulb. It's neat stuff but takes a little while to dry.

Here's a close up - look closely! - of the liquid glass on the lightbulbs. The red one by his right foot shows the liquid glass clearly. To raise him up I used foam squares, also available in a spool from CTMH.

Finally, to finish off the card I created the inside; using a touch of red to match the red cardstock on the front of the card. I find that flourishes from various sets really help give it a little oomph and a nice surprise when the recipient opens the card.

Michaels:
* Jewel Cardstock set
* Gems Cardstock set
* Ribbon
* Rhinestones

CTMH:
* A Timber
* Snow Days
* Merry Pursuits
* Snow Flurries
* Festive Thoughts
* Liquid Glass
* Desert Sand Ink
* Olive Ink
* Cranberry Ink



Congratulations Kelsey & Matt!!

Ahh, Facebook is wonderful for social networking. Or so I thought, when I was lazily putting on lipchap Friday morning and doing my usual graze through my feed before I knuckled down for work, and noticed one particular picture. I dropped the lipchap and grabbed the phone to see if I was dreaming or not. I'm surprised the lipchap didn't go rolling under a few cubicles down the hall.

Nope... not only is that one gargantuous rock on her finger, she's got a killer manicure!!

Congratulations to both of you - and all the best for your years ahead together!

I passed the photo off to of course the lucky bride and caught up. What a great way to start a Monday morning. Apologies for the blurry photo, I didn't realize until after the fact. The inspiration from this one is an old Mojo Monday one from 2010: MOJO169. 

The card boasts 99.9% CTMH products! The only thing that isn't CTMH is that brad holding the flowers down, the blue strip and a wee bit of grey cardstock!

* Bliss Level 2 Paper Pack (retired)
* Bliss WOTG stamp set (retired)
* Just Blooms White Daisy Variety Pack
* Villa Irresistibles Chipboard Die Cuts(retired)
* Now & Forever
* Cherished Flourishes
* Pair-A-Phrase (retired promo)
* Chocolate Ink
* Sorbet Ink

Elves, elves, elves...

Interesting bit of trivia for you: in Denmark, elves are known as nissers, and they are generally planted in weird places around the house for guests to find. I was at a CTMH Christmas workshop years past where I cut out and colored enough of these little guys (stamped from the set Merry Pursuits) for probably 25 cards, 3 nissers per card. I never did finish them but I kept all the nissers just in case.

Today's inspiration comes from Got Sketch? : Sketch 129. 

When I saw the three triangles on the sketch, I knew instantly what I wanted to do - hourglasses! And I had the perfect set - so all I did was stamp out six triangles, glue them on, and add rhinestone sparkles. Remember those forgotten nissers? One of them made his way onto this card!

At the same workshop, my eyes lighted on a beautiful snowman card. I was warned by the consultant that it was a 3 hour card, but I didn't care; I had to make it. So, I did (and yes, 3 hours later) and then bought the same stamp set (All Decked Out) if I felt like doing it again at home. I haven't used the set since, but I thought he'd be a fun little friend for the inside.

Michaels:
* Cardstock
* Fiskars Border Punch
* Rhinestones

CTMH:
* Winter Memories
*  Merry Pursuits
* You And Me (retired)
* Festive Thoughts
* All Decked Out
* Wonderland Paper Pack Level 2
* Spring Iris Ink
* Moonstruck Ink
* Chocolate Ink
* Desert Sand Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink Pen
* Moonstruck Ink Pen
* Barn Red Ink Pen

Remember I promised to post the remainder of my Halloween project? Well, look for them - I may add the occasional item from those cube decorations onto the end of blog posts. They are now up and my boss really liked them!

The inspiration for the hand-drawn tree is from paper donated to me by a Creative Memories consultant. I didn't want to use the paper as it was too dark, but I definetly wanted a tree peeking out from behind the fence.

Michaels:
* Cardstock - Gems and Spice Market collection
* Rhinestones
* Brads

CTMH:
* Wicked (August Stamp of the Month)
* You And Me
* Outdoor Denim Ink
* Chocolate Ink

Happy Thanksgiving!

It rains, but it hasn't snowed yet

I'm glad that Calgary has not yet decided to snow. I have not been ignoring - I have been cardmaking! However the night grows late so here's a quick post.

Today's inspiration is from Mojo Monday: MOJO209 and mostly scraplifted from Stephanie Kraft at Handkrafted By Stephanie: Mojo 209 - Winter Wishes. Her colors are so beautiful, but for me I injected a bit of green.

Michaels:
* Cardstock, various sets
* Fiskars border punch
* Fiskars circle cutter

CTMH:
* Mistletoe Paper Pack (retired)
* Holiday Magic (October SOTM)
* Holiday Commentary
* Grey Wool Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Cranberry Ink

October Freebies and Holiday Magic

The campaign for new consultants in May was so successful (I was one of them!) that they're doing it again in October!! Instead, this time not only do you get the latest consultant kit, full of goodies but they're going to toss in one of their add on collections for free.

That's a value of $40 which has a retail value of up to $140; what a fantastic deal! To enroll it is only 99$ and they include all the important bits to get you started, such as order forms, enough supplies to do some awesome projects and even bags to put your orders in. Then top it off with a add on kit and you're good to go. If you were waiting to become a consultant now is the best time for it. Email me today for more details!

On top of this awesome campaign, we also have featured Holiday Magic, which is October's stamp of the month. It's getting cold and Halloween is around the corner; what better time to get started on those Christmas cards?

As always, with a 55$ minimum purchase this set is yours for only $5.00 more, or you can purchase this during the month of October for $19.95. For this month only I will also throw in a free A-size stamp of your choice on top of the SOTM. I feel that cool breeze coming... Christmas is only a few months away!! This month's project instructions can be found at: http://www.closetomyheart.com/en/Campaigns_and_Promotions/Stamp_of_the_Month.aspx?p=%7b6C4437B0-E3D4-4B89-96AC-6386AE507335%7d

Happy stamping!