"Home Sweet Home" February 2013 SOTM Blog Hop

Hello my blogging friends and welcome back to the SOTM Blog Hop....61 Consultants this month!

   If you are coming here from Gina Brandstetter Blog you're on the right path.....and if you get lost along the way, its easy to get back on track, just go to Helen Onulak's Blog for a full list of hoppers and here we go....

First, I have to say.....this stamp set really challenged me?  I adore the set, but my creative mind was like what?...so much that I actually started the project 3 weeks ago and left it laying to the side in my craft room!  Now, when I say I started it, all I really did was stamp the sentiments on white daisy cardstock.....ever been there?
Anywho.....this is what came up with YESTERDAY and finishing a few minutes ago!  Literally, when I went to load my pictures and post, our home phone and internet was out????? I was on the phone for half an hour getting it fixed....thank you Brighthouse!!!
As I blabber on....I made Wine Tags....yep, we are always going to someone's house at least once a month and of course I take my favorite beverage, wine that is....so thought instead of a decorated wine bag, I'll make tags....4 to be exact.....they would be great for any occasion, but really awesome for a house warming gift. 

 Here is a view before they were placed on the bottles for the pics.

 All four tags.

 Tag #1

 Tag #2

 Tag #3

 Tag #4

 On the top of the tags I placed Grey Sparkle Badge Buttons on each corner.

  Using an oldie but a goodie.....Bless This Nest C1445, I made cute little house:)

 More houses.

CTMH Products used:

 NEW February 2013 SOTM "Home Sweet Home" S1302

Bless This Nest Stamp Set C1445

  Black Ink Z2105
Black Pigment Ink Z2503

Black Cardstock 1386

White Daisy Cardstock 1385

Ruby Cardstock X5927

 Ruby Ink Z2170
Ruby Marker Z2429
Slate Cardstock X5930

NEW "For Always" Paper Packet X7165B

NEW Silver Glitter Paper Z1829
Harvest Baker's Twine Z1751
Detail Clear Embossing Powder Z821
Non CTMH Product used:  Red glitter paper for the heart; red, black and white baker's twine; and Fruit Punch Stickles.

 Cricut Keys used are......

3 Key, page 33....Accent 1

 5 Key, page 35...Accent 3

Be Mine Key, page 71....Accent 2 (Shift)

Contact me and ask me how you can get your stamp set for just $5.00

Now "Hop" on over to Allisa Chilton's Blog and see her amazing work!

Thanks for stopping by :) and...stay inking my friends.

 

It's Almost Here.....CTMH 2013 Spring/Summer Open House

In 3 more days......Come see what all the excitement is about....Operation Smile Silent Auction, 5 Make-n-Takes, Cash-n-Carry, goodie bags, FREE Idea Book, door prizes, Valentine Themed, and much, much more....and don't forget the CLEARANCE SALE!
 One lucky person will win a special treat of 25% off their ENTIRE order.

RSVP Today for your special goodies :)
See you soon!

Open House: Friday, February 1st......1:00 - 7:00 p.m.
(Cash-n-carry, clearance sale items, make-n-takes and auction are cash or check payments only.)

Chalkboard Technique

I've been scoping out a bunch of chalkboard cards lately and I have fallen head over heels with this idea.  So I've put my own spin on this idea. 

 

 First, I picked this beautiful black on black printed paper from CTMH....did I say CTMH....yes this is just one of the new prints from the Spring/Summer Idea Book to debut February 1st.  This is going to be for always my favorite new paper packet.  Next, I had to find that perfect stamp set to create the perfect chalk image.  The rose picked here is from the Flirty WOTG stamp set "Seasons and Nature" G1515.  Get yours here today because it will be retired on February 1st.

 Let's get started....stamp the rose with White Daisy pigment ink and emboss with clear embossing powder.  Next, stamp the rose on a sticky note, cut and place over the embossed rose, otherwise known as masking.  Now you're ready to add the stems and leaves.  It's such a sweet life stamping and scrapping in my room.  Stamp the stems and leaves again using White Daisy pigment ink and emboss with clear embossing powder.

Can you see the color difference in the rose?  This is the amazing accident that happened while creating this card.  First, pigment ink is a wet ink that almost always goes on uneven when stamping, when I embossed the rose, I actually burnt it by heating it too long, but look what happened......the burnt edge came out a dessert sand color, then the middle of the flower is more white like the ink and parts of the rose that was stamped on a darker part of the black on black paper came out with a blueish tint...WAY COOL!!!!  I luv accidents :)

  

Before you run off to clean that stamp, add another bunch of stems and branches in the top corner of your card, then add some bling.  This card is super easy, with a card base and two pieces of coordinating paper, a sentiment (D1476 Card Chatter-Sympathy) and bling (Z1754 Black and Grey Sparkles) and you're done.

 Oh, don't forget the inside of the card....all that wonderful work needs to flow to the inside of the card too.

Thanks for stopping by and for checking out a few of the sneak peaks as promised.

Have a great evening and stay inky my friends :)

Happy Anniversary To Me

A pleasant surprise waits in my inbox.... what could it be, I received my Christmas Card from CTMH, and my happy birthday wish too.....

Congratulations, Tamra!

You have been a Close To My Heart Consultant for 3 year(s) now!  We love having you as part of the Close To My Heart team.  Congratulations and happy anniversary!  We look forward to the years to come.

Sincerely,

Close To My Heart

I can't believe 3 years have gone by since I started with Close To My Heart.  This is the most fantastic group to be a part of.   If you are looking for life long friendship you will find it here.  It takes a special person to open their arms and welcome you into their life like you were family.  That's what Jeannette Lynton has done and she continues to share her life story with each and every one of us.  Her spirit pushes me each day to become a better person and to share my love of paper crafting with you.  Inspiration comes in all forms, not just from paper, glue and scissors, but its funny how that's how it all began 3 years ago.  

And on my 3 year anniversary, I want to extend a warm hug to you for all the support you have given me through the years and to the friendships we have formed.   

Thank you....and remember stay inky my friends!

How does this happen?

It started so innocent....I was going clean out my paper drawers....and room for all the new goodies coming that day, 

and before I knew it stuff was everywhere.....and 10 hours, 2 garbage bags, and a roll of paper towels later.. ....

my craft room was clean again.

I snapped a few pics of my mess to share :)

I slept good that night, a clean room and new product in my dreams!
What you can't see here is the 3 boxes of paper, dies, embellishments, ribbon, stamp sets,and much more I cleaned out for my CLEARANCE sale at my Open House on February 1st.  See you soon!

Check back tomorrow for a sneak peek of new CTMH product and a wonderful 

and surprising mistake that turned out FABULOUS.

My Heart's Swap Group December

So the holidays are behind us, and we're off into the new year....and I'm finally getting the December swap group's cards up.....here are the guidelines:

1.  Must be at least 8 layers, seeing a consistency here :) ?
2.  Must use a winter themed stamped image, ie tree, bird, snowflake, snowman, ect.
3.  Must use at least 2 coordinating winter themed cricut images.
4.  Card can have no holiday sentiments on it at all (ie no Christmas or holiday themed sentiments on it)   Create the card with a general theme using winter images.....no merry christmas, happy holidays, etc.
5.  You can not use red, green, or blue.
6.  Must use at least one background stamp set or make your own background with multiple stamp sets.
7.  Must have at least 2 embellishments.

and.....here are the pictures of the My Heart Swap Group's card swap for December . To see more amazing work, click on each name under the cards to visit the participant's blogs.

 

 Hostess:  Tamra Pope.....that's me

 

 

 Tamytha Jenkins

 Wendy Coffman

 Tammy Wisterman

 Diane Fischer

 Nancy Clark

 Debbie Tibbetts

 Krystal O'Neil

 

 Julia Casell

Thanks for stopping by and make sure you check out this group of gals at their blogs....stay inky my friends!

42 Here I am!

It's my birthday and what a day I had.....I slept in until 9:30, a blessing...one that rarely happens....my phone started early with a whole bunch of birthday wishes :)....then some great conversation with my gal pal Diane Fischer in Canada.....She's back from visiting family and it was time to catch up!

Then it was time to sort through the bag of goodies I got last week when I went to Scrappy Boutique in Orlando with my friend Tamytha Jenkins.....look at all the cool stuff I got!

Paper, Paper, and more Paper!!!!  Did I mention that I luv PAPER?

I broke down and finally got the Cinch....I've been wanting one for about 3 years....

Also found a new small score tool by Martha Stewart....its like 8x8 and it scores at an 1/8 inch!!!!

Now, I usually spend my birthday with my mom, but my grandmother who is 87 is having some health issues and that wasn't possible this year....grandma should be coming home soon...and she will be moving in with mom and dad...its come to that point.  I did find some time this evening to have dinner with my husband and our friends Greg and Scotty....

We went to the Manson....this place rocks...casual/fine dining...reasonably priced.....upper deck bar, deli,winery and liqour store.....all in one.  I have so much fun looking at all the funky bottles and decor of this old house.

 Frogs are cool!

 Weird Beer....

 More Beer!

 

 Wine

 

Absolute Miami Vodka?  Never seen that before.

 

 This is way cool....a bird in a bottle.

 Now, this is my kind of Vodka!

 

Chocolate wine :) Yummy!!

 More, more and more......

 

Walk way and beautiful stain glass.

 

 Front entry.

 How about these window shutters?

Dinner was wonderful, the company was fantastic...and now I'm home with my honey...what a great day it was.