Artbooking in August Blog Hop: Day 2 of the Fun

Hi All! Inspired by what you saw last week? Just wait 'til you see what's in store for this week as Artbooking in August continues.

If you just hopped over from Krista's Crafty Corner (blogging home of the super talented Krista Herschberger),  you're in the right place. If you're just joining the hop now and want to go back to the beginning (you don't want to miss ANY of the inspiration!), go on over and visit Adeline Brill's Creative Space for the whole list of participant blogs.

So today I decided to share a wee layout that I made to include in one of the new Close To My Heart My Crush Books that I did for a recent trip to Vermont. (I'll do a whole separate post on the book a little later this month.) The lay out is double sided so that it slides perfectly into the CTMH 6x6 Flip Flaps. (These little Flip Flaps can increase your photo real estate by a lot on any layout!) Here's a look at side one:

Again, this is a 6x6-inch layout. The great thing about Artbooking if you're doing layouts, is that it figures out all the proportions for you.  I used the Bluebird My Crush Book, which looks great with the Twilight cardstock I used for the base of these pages. I added Whisper cardstock to tie in the other colors. I mixed in elements from the Memories and Favorites assortments that are designed to go with this album. The doily is from Artbooking and the patterned paper is from Pro Player. (That's a seriously versatile paper pack!) The stamps (including the arrows around the edge of the frame) are from All the Details, Sightseer, and the Artbooking collection. I used Olive, Smokey Plum and Twilight Exclusive inks for stamping and inking around the edges of some of the elements. Here are some close-ups of side one:

(See the scalloped edge on the Whisper cardstock? That's from the new CTMH Scallop Border punch!)

And now for side two:

Because these are going in Flip Flaps that will be flipped up, I had to make sure the back sides of the layout were upside down. (You could put the Flip Flaps in so that they flip left/right, which would eliminate the need to make sure side two was upside down, but I didn't think of that until it was too late.) Since I wanted a half-inch border around my page, I cut the overlay from Whisper cardstock at 5 inches instead of 6 inches. The journaling element,"smile," and Date stamps are from the Artbooking collection. I cut the element at the size indicated on the stamp. The LOL spot and little tab are from the Memories assortment. The film strip element on page two is cut from Whisper cardstock at 8 inches (6 inches made it too small to fit decent sized pictures). The camera and "click" stamps are from the Sightseer stamp set. I used Olive, Smokey Plum and Twilight Exclusive inks on these pages as well. Here are some close-ups of side two:

Here are some pictures of the layouts in the My Crush Book:

Artbooking makes doing any size layout a breeze. Now, for more inspiration, hop on over to Scrappin' in Paradise and see what the talented Carol Horton has in store for you. And don't forget to stop by next week for Week 3 of Artbooking in August!

Artbooking in August Blog Hop: Day 1 of the Fun

Hi All! Welcome to Week 1 of the Artbooking in August Blog Hop. Nearly 40 talented Close To My Heart Consultants have conspired to inspire you to get creative with CTMH's new Artbooking Cricut Cartridge. We consultants were challenged to make 4 projects for the month including a scrapbook layout, a card, a mini album, and a home decor or gift piece all with the Artbooking cartridge. If you have hopped over from Krista's Crafty Corner (blogging home of the super talented Krista Herschberger), you're in the right place. If you're just joining in, keep following the links and you'll be inspired, I promise! (Or if you want to start at the beginning, hop over to Adeline Brill's Creative Space for a complete list.)

I thought I'd start out the month with a little card that I made for my husband. With all its different icons and phrases, Artbooking is great for cards! Check it out:

For this fun little 4x4-inch easel card, I used Close To My Heart's new Pro Player collection. (That's right, it's not just for teen video game geeks!) I used Black and Outdoor Denim cardstocks as accents.  The hearts are an overlay that I sized at 5 1/4 inches. The people icon was sized at 1 1/2 inches using real dial size. For the heart speech bubble, I adhered the center heart to the card and then popped the bubble up around it with dimensional adhesive. I used a little white gel pen for accent. The arrow is  from the new "All the Details" stamp set. (This is one versatile little set. I find myself using it all the time!)

Here are a couple of close-ups:

And here's a little picture of the card opened:

There's so much that you can do with Artbooking! For even more inspiration, hop on over and see what the talented Carol Horton has in store for you at Scrappin' in Paradise. And don't forget to stop back by next Monday for week 2 of our Artbooking in August series!

BLOG HOP TIME!

Hi All! Welcome to the Rose Blossoms Spring/Summer Idea Book Blog Hop! I am so glad that you have stopped by my blog along the way! You should have come to me from the incredibly talented Cindy Dale's blog, It's All In the Details. The rules for the hop are simple, but first let's take a look at this little Welcome Sign I created using the new Buzz & Bumble line.

For this project, I used a CTMH My Creations Bracket Frame, and covered it with Buzz & Bumble patterned paper. This can be done in a snap using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. Just cut the bracket image at fit-to-page, and you're pretty much there. I added a little zest using strips of our new Glitter Paper! For the banner, it's Art Philosophy once again. These are cut at 1 1/2 inches. "Welcome" is from the Irresistibles Houndstooth alphabet, which I sponged with Sweet Leaf Exclusive Ink. The flowers are from our Just Blooms collection. While the Florets would go nicely, I chose to use Paradise. I fussy cut the bee and leaves from the Buzz & Bumble My Stickease Assortment. The "friends" pin was made using a sticker from the Buzz & Bumble Assortmentand a paperclip (you gotta use what you have, right?). The wooden flowers and bees are also from the Assortment. I used Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon and a little Burlap Ribbon to make the bow and add a little accent to highlight the sentiment. Some Brown and Tan Sparkles, small Sparkle Flourishes, and retired Sparkle Brads add a little whimsical bling. The sentiment is from Home Sweet Home, the February Stamp Of The Month, and is stamped in Goldrush and Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks.
Here are some close-ups:

I hope you enjoyed a little Spring Buzz.... Now on with the blog hop!

Now, here are the blog hop rules:

**Collect one word at each blog stop
**My word is "the". 
**Brenda is at the end of the hop, and you will write your completed sentence there. Don't worry that your comment doesn't show! Brenda has the comments hidden for the blog hop!
**The winner of the grand prize will be randomly selected from the completed sentences!

And what is that grand prize you ask? A Buzz & Bumble paper pack and Honeycomb Stamp Set!! With it, you could create a project like this:

Isn't this FANTASTIC? So be sure to get those sentences done!

If you are inspired here today, I would love for you to follow me and comment on my blog! Your next stop on the hop is the über-talented Kim Richardson's blog. Should you get lost along the way, here is the order:

Lynn
Kristine
Marg
Sara
Tammie
Cindy
Kim H (YOU ARE HERE...in the blogosphere anyway....)
Kim R
Crystal
Brenda

Blog Hop Sneak Peek....

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

I can't believe February is half over and it's been two weeks since my last post! Folks, it's been that kind of year already. I was trying to decide what to give up for Lent, and was reminded that actually, at this point, my life is one big Lenten season. So I'm adding in a break rather than giving things up. (Or I suppose I'm giving up chaos for a couple of hours a week.)

It's been so crazy around here that I haven't had time to let everyone know another Rose Blossom Blog Hop is coming your way! TOMORROW!!! The new Close To My Heart Spring Idea Book is in and so we thought we would share a little inspiration from all its awesomeness!

Here's a sneak peek of what you'll find here. I can't wait for the full reveal!

This hop has a full little twist to it. Each participant has a secret word. When you get to Brenda Rose's site, which is the last on the list, you can leave the sentence in her comments section. (The comments will be hidden for this hop, so no peeking!) At the end of the hop, Brenda will draw a
random winner from the correct entries.

Wanna see what you could win?....

So it's not a layout with the photos of complete strangers. It's the components you need to make it yourself! To the winner goes a Buzz & Bumble  paper pack (that's what my project is made from) and the Honeycomb Stamp Set! (All those cute little hexagons are made using these stamps. You're gonna love it!)

Be sure to hop along with us tomorrow. If you can't make it through the list in one sitting, that's okay. The hop goes through Sunday, 17 February!

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Oh Happy Day!

Hi All! There's just so much to be excited about today!

First of all, it's my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday, Kris! I hope your day is full of fabulous things. You are an awesome, wonderful person. (And I promise, your birthday goodies will be there soon!)

Second, it's Friday!!! WOO HOO!!!!

And, finally, in honor of my sister's birthday (okay, not really, but it should be) the new Close To My Heart Spring/Summer Idea book is available to you TODAY! (Go ahead and do your happy dance, I'll wait....) Done? Okay. There's more...

This month, CTMH is running a special on Studio J layouts. That's right. This month you can purchase Studio J layouts for just $5 per 2-page spread. If you haven't yet discovered the beauty of the digital layout, this month's special gives you even more incentive to try it out. If you already know the joys of Studio J, this is your month to go wild in you creativity! All of the new patterned papers are available in Studio J, along with dozens of others from past Idea Books. Whether you do your layouts from start to finish on the computer or like to add a little traditional elements to the page when it comes to your door, Studio J has you covered!

To give Studio J a try, click here!

To peruse the new Idea Book or shop for all things Close To My Heart, click here!

And by way of a heads up: This month Violets & Sunshine will be participating in the Rose Blossoms Blog Hop on 15 February and in the Kraft-y Heart's Stamp Of The Month Blog Share. Look for more coming on both of those AWESOME events!

Happy Friday!

And the WINNER is....

Hi Folks! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. If you hopped along with the Rose Blossoms, I know it was an inspirational weekend! The ladies really made some OUTSTANDING projects. If you missed it, just scroll on down and you'll find the links to hop to at your leisure. 

I wanted to give away a little something to let you, my readers, commenters and followers, know how much I really appreciate you. (This little gift really doesn't come close to expressing my thanks, but you gotta start somewhere, right?) ;) So I entered everyone into a drawing and with the help of random.org (my own little electronic Vanna White), the winner is...... [off-stage drum roll here]

Mary Flayer 

a.k.a. 

NJ Stamping Queen

Congratulations, Mary! I'll be sending you an email for you address and particulars, or please send an email to me at krmhill@gmail.com.

Thanks, everyone, for all you sweet comments! I really enjoyed reading them!

Have a wonderful day!

Rose Blossom Christmas Blog Hop 2012

Welcome to the Rose Blossom Christmas Blog Hop! If you just hopped in from Lynn Darda's Bungalow, you're on the right track. If you want to start from the beginning (and there are prizes if you do), there's a list of participating blogs at the end of this post.

Now on with the show!

The display is made from an unfinished frame I purchased at my local craft store for $1. (These are great little things to have on hand!) I covered it in the barn red houndstooth paper from the Dakota paper pack. For the insert, I covered a piece of metal flashing (cut to fit) with weathered wood paper--the back side of the houndstooth. (The whole project was made from one sheet of Dakota paper and scraps of other papers.) I then stamped around the edges of the frame in Olive Exclusive ink using the August Stamp Of The Month. The insert is stamped in Olive and Barn Red Exclusive inks using the Trinity and Token alphabet stamps and the October Stamp Of The Month. The numbers are from the November Stamp Of The Month, stamped in Olive on Avonlea off-white cardstock. (If you don't have the Avonlea cardstock, I recommend it highly. However, you could probably substitute Whisper though it's a bit darker.) "Merry Christmas" is cut at 3 inches using the Artiste Cricut cartridge. I cut one in Avonlea off-white and one from a scrap of Pear & Partridge paper. I then layered them slightly off center for an extra pop. The star dotting the "i" on "Christmas" is a center from one of the snowflakes at the top, which are cut at 2 inches from Avonlea off-white card stock using Artiste. The mittens are cut at 2 inches using Artist  and Pear & Partridge Paper. I flipped the cut to get both a right and left mitten. I used Avonlea off-white scraps for the cuffs and stamped them in Barn Red Exclusive ink using a stamp from the Flirty Workshop On The Go set. I added a little Almond Glitz Glitter Gel for some extra sparkle, and voilà!

Here are some close-ups:

I also covered a little box to hold the extra numbers in. The edge of the lid is covered with the zip-strip from the Pear & Partridge paper.

Don't forget to leave a comment and follow to qualify for the grand prize, as well as for a prize from Violets & Sunshine. What prize you ask? A brand new Baroque Borders Stamps Set (the August Stamp Of The Month) and a Slate Exclusive (dye) ink ink pad! 

Now hop on over to be inspired the show-stoppingly talented (that's why she's last!) ;) Brenda Rose (the eponymous leader of the Rose Blossoms)!

If you want to start back at the beginning, here's the list:

Marg Van Patten: I Didn't Have Potatoes

Tammie Chelberg: I Love to Craft

Chrystal Heavrin: All Things Crafty

Kim Richardson: Just A Small Town Girl & Her Stamps

Lynn Darda: From My Bungalow

Kim Hill: Violets & Sunshine (You're Here!)

Brenda Rose: Rose Blossom Legacies

Hoppin' Your Way

Coming to your computer tomorrow! WOO HOO!

Here's a sneak peek of what I'll be sharing here at V&S:

I'll also be giving away a little blog candy to one lucky winner who comments on the blog. If you'd like an extra chance to win, become a follower of Violets & Sunshine. Winners will be drawn and announced on Monday, 26 November.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi All!
Welcome to my first ever blog hop with the Rose Blossoms! I'm so excited to be participating!

You've probably just hopped over from Sara's Kreative Korner. (Is she loaded with talent or what?!) I'm so glad you've hopped by. I have a couple of projects to share with you, along with a little give-away goodness. All the projects I'm featuring were made with the new CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge. Folks, this cartridge is AWESOME! So much creative material here! Let me show you just a fraction of what this little cartridge can do.

First up is a birthday card and box combo that I made for my niece who turned 18 this month.

The card and envelope are found on page 52 of the Artiste handbook. I cut both at 5 1/2-inches. The motif on this particular card is found on page 33.  (By the way, this is just 1 of 9 s-fold cards on this cartridge!) I used cocoa card stock for the base layer of the card and covered that with B&T paper from Stella. The flower accent is from the Bohemian assortment, the button is from the pink assortment, and the twine is from the neutral assortment. The envelope and accent pieces are cut from colonial white card stock. (I lined the envelope with Stella B&T paper to match the card.) The sentiment and accent flower are from the Card Word Puzzle stamp set, and stamped in smoothie pigment ink and bamboo exclusive ink. I inked around the edges of everything in either chocolate exclusive ink or the smoothie pigment ink. Finally, the "18" on the inside is made with our new irresistibles houndstooth alphabet inked with smoothie pigment.

The box is found on page 74. It is cut at 1-inch, which is the height of the sides, from cocoa card stock and Stella papers. The flower embellishment and leaves are found on page 54. The flower is cut from Stella B&T and the leaves are cut from olive card stock. The flower button is from the basic assortment. I used tan pearls from the opaques mocha adhesive gems in the center of the button and then in graduating sizes on each side. The button on the front of the box is from the pink assortment, and the bakers twine is from the paradise assortment.

The next project will go to a lucky follower. I'll be doing a random drawing on Monday morning and will announce the winner on Tuesday. (I'm kinda excited because I've never done a give away before!)

This is a cute little note set that I made using the magazine box on page 47 and the card and envelope on page 73. (This idea was inspired by fellow CTMH Independent Consultant Mandy Leahy.) I cut the box at 4 1/2-inches from kraft card stock, and the cards were cut at 4 inches from the saddle and cashmere card stocks in the Clementine paper pack. The envelopes were cut at 4 inches from kraft card stock.

I decorated the box with Clementine paper using a template I made from scrap card stock. The chocolate twine is from the neutral assortment, and the wooden flower is from my stash. It's inked with twilight, sorbet and crème brulee pigment inks from the Whimsy Exclusive Inks mini pigment pad set. The canvas and button sticker is from the Clementine Workshop On The Go kit. The flags were made using the Card Word Puzzle stamp set, and were stamped in chocolate ink on sorbet card stock. Tucked in behind them is a little bit of frayed burlap ribbon.

Here are the cards that are included:

And here are a couple shown close up:

The lucky winner will also receive the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book packed with creative inspiration!

I hope you enjoyed my little smidgen of what the Artiste cartridge can do. Don't forget to post a comment and become a follower. Now hop on over to see what the über-creative Marg Van Patten has in store for you.

If you find yourself hopping off track, here's a list of the participants:

1) Brenda - http://roseblossomlegacies.blogspot.com

2) Sara - http://saraskreativekorner.blogspot.com

3) Kim - http://violetsandsunshine.blogspot.com (YOU ARE HERE)

4) Marg - http://ididnthavepotatoes.blogspot.com

5) Crystal - http://craftinginlove.blogspot.com

6) Lynn - http://frommybungalow.blogspot.com

7) Tammie -  http://tchelberg.blogspot.com