Cross Canada Blog Hop October 2020 featuring Comfort and Joy

 Welcome to our October Blog Hop featuring "Comfort and Joy" Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

I have 2 cards for you today, both using stamps from the Comfort and Joy WYW Cardmaking Stamp and thin cut set. They both also feature some of our new book plate dies because I have been waiting for CTMH to hop on that bus for a while!! The Stitched lattice Background plate is subtle in the background of the shaker card, but I like it.

Products Used

Comfort and Joy paper and coordinating cardstock

Stitched Lattice Background Thin Cut

Silver Star Confetti

Bright and Bright Bitty Beads (white and glacier blue)

Stitched Rectangle Frame Thin Cuts

Medium Rectangular Shaker Window Foam and Acetate

Carnation Red Liquid Pearls

Again I wanted to play with a different die, it has been a while since I have crafted!

This one I covered the olives with the liquid pearls to make it look a little more festive

Product's Used

Comfort and Joy paper and coordinating cardstock

Gold Foil paper

Olive Branch Background Thin Cut

Stitched Scallop Bracket Thin Cuts

Carnation Red liquid pearls

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Dorothy

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the not yet released"Jingle Joy" Collection. So mark November 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Cross Canada Blog Hop- September 2020 Featuring Bloom With Grace

 Welcome to our September Blog Hop featuring "Bloom With Grace" Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. New core and season catty are out for September, so make sure you check all of them out!

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

So as much as I love sunflowers, and wished that last fall's sunflower set had coordinating die cuts I could not justify buying another set. We will see how long this strength lasts, since the sets are super cute! So this little card features last fall's sunflower set, so please don't be mad. I am still obsessed with hexagons, and sangria ribbon. I am not really ready to move on to fall colours from summer yet, but if I absolutely must, this desert rose is a pretty great colour. 

Product's Used

• Bloom with Grace Paper 
• Desert Rose Cardstock
• Fern Cardstock
• Sangria Ribbon
  
• Canary, fern, expresso and toffee stamp pads
• Stitched Hexagon Thin Cuts
• Wood Grain Embossing Folder

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Pam Furlong

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the "Lovely" Collection. So mark October 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Bonus sunflower vacation selfie taken at "The Chuckwagon" in Orwell PEI. Listen, your burger was great, but that corn maze was intense. BRING BACK YOUR RIBS CRAZY PEOPLE!

September 2020 SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is Here for the Memories, a set of 13 stamps.  If you have come here from Kathy Burrow's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog. 

This month we have Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go! Don't forget to go check out ALL the new Core and Seasonal Goodies that just became available today. You will be wowed is all I can say.

Hello, welcome to my blog and happy September!!! The summer flew by even with all the crazy going on and me having a heavy teaching load in the fall. I had great intentions that this was going to be a double page layout of my friends and I playing "Settlers of Catan" with lots of amazing hexagons, more colours, and all that jazz. However time got away from me, and without the full craft room arsenal, the idea seemed daunting. I thought I could scale my idea down for what I had with me, and created a cute little hexagonal card that gets the point across. This is a very scrapbooker oriented stamp, but with a little creativity, can be used for other things!

Products Used

• Hexagon stitched thin cuts (I didn't bring my die cutting machine to the cottage, so I just traced!)
• Lagoon, mint, white daisy, lemonade and nectarine card stock scraps
• Wooden Buttons
• Journaling Pen

If you are like me, you are not ready for summer to be over at all. We are enjoying the last few weeks of the summer at the family cottage, and this was my view as I sat reading text books earlier this week. Hope everyone is safe, happy, healthy and getting crafty.

Now "Hop" on over to Brenda Lapps's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the August SOTM is only available until August 31st!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

Dealing with Scraps Part 1/ Atlantic Hearts Sketch 382

If you are anything like me you are obsessed with patterned paper and want to hoard every scrap. I have done several posts about this before, but I definitely need to get more serious about practicing what I preach. So here are some things to consider before you pull out a new pack. 

1) Start with a "fresh desk". Do a quick stock of what is on your desk, and does it need to be there? For me this is a huge challenge, but I also know "out of sight, out of mind", so I am adjusting my scrap system into 3 piles. 

• Pile 1: Anything bigger than 6" by 8" goes back in the envelope with the rest of the patterned paper it coordinates with to be used on another project
  
  
• Pile 2: Card stock pieces that are midsize stay on my desk in the paper tray where I can see what it is, and use it up. I like to pull out patterned paper from this and challenge myself to create something with it. It is a great jumping off point.
  
  
• Pile 3: I have a small bin of paper that is big enough to die cut, create a small mat or stamp on, small mats or just add some interest. This bin should be regularly emptied (I will may some suggestions of simple ways to use things below, there are also a lot of amazing videos on Youtube)

2) Use it before you lose it!: I am notorious for creating one project out of a paper pack, then leaving it full of coordinating scraps, so lately I have been challenging myself to use an entire pack before I move on to something new. It takes some time, and if you have been following my Instagram you will see that almost everything I have posted lately has been from Summer Vibes. You will see some projects below of me trying to not have much left on my desk and there will be several more coming.

3) Sketches can help: So in a stroke of fortune, I was working on some "sunburst" designs to use up some 2" by 3" bits and got the notification for Atlantic Hearts Sketch 382 Challenge. There are many sketches available online as well as lots of card ideas in "Make it From Your Heart" Idea books. Cards using up far less paper than layouts, so you can usually get at least 3 double page layouts plus a good number of cards from a CTMH paper pack+ Coordinating cardstock, you just have to be creative. The other thing you may want to search for are "One Page Wonder" Card designs with cutting diagrams.

Some ways I use up smaller scraps: 

1. Triangle mosaics (these are all sunburst, but it doesn't have to be). These happen to be my submission for AHS 382 and the only one of these I have a decent image for.
   
   
   
   
2. Mosaic style backgrounds from die cut scraps. 
   
   
1. Try to stick with geometric shapes that you can piece together well
2. Can do for cards OR layouts, depending on volume
   
   
   
3. Add some texture to change things up, and then die cut 
   
   
   
4. Piece scraps together on a base, and die cut those. 

I will do more posts of cards made as I clean up piles, but for now I would love to hear how you all use up scraps! What are your favorite ways? Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting.

August Cross Canada Blog Hop- Timber

Welcome to our August Blog Hop featuring Timber Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. New core and season catty are coming for September, so make sure you order all the things you love now!

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

This card looks pretty simple gate fold card, but it has a surprise! I was inspired by a Youtube video by Jennifer McGuire to create this. So instead of just a single overlapped piece to close the card, there is a sentiment block hidden underneath!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Pam Furlong

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the coming soon "Bloom with Grace" Collection (You all are NOT ready for the level of fabulous, so make sure you have something soft for you jaw to drop on when you see the new catties!!!). So mark September 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Atlantic Hearts Sketch 380 Challenge

Hi Friends,

I had some issues with scheduled posts, and the post reverting to previous drafts so I thought I would run a little test post. Bear with me if anything strange happens!

I thought this week I would use a sketch for some inspiration, and I would love if people would join in playing. This one if from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge who post new sketches weekly to help people get crafty.

Since I already had some of Close to My Heart's featured paper pack of the month open on my desk (Timber), I thought I would use a little of it. If you would like more inspiration, stay tuned for this month's Cross Canada Blog Hop on August 10th. Also keep in mind that this is the last month for not only the current 2019/2020 Core Catty, but also the Seasonal Catty that this paper is from. Make sure you order soon if you have anything left on your wish list!

If you have been following me lately on Facebook/ Instagram (@colleenscraftyconstructions) you will probably have noticed that I haven't been into creating scrapbook layouts, so this is another card. It uses CTMH Value pack cards as the base, and then all sorts of flannel papers. Initially I had in some wood grain paper instead of the plain brown, but a little bit more texture was needed to balance out all the intense patterns. 

I wasn't super excited about this paper initially, so I didn't purchase any of the coordinating stamp sets since I couldn't see myself getting a lot of use from them. Instead I used the "Channel the flannel" sticker from the coordinating sticker sheet, so this card is pretty masculine but still suitable for a variety of occasions. 

Thanks for stopping by!

August SOTM Blog Hop- Floral Celebration

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring August's SOTM, which is Floral Celebration, a set of stamps.  If you have come here from Brandi Robinson's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog:  http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/p/stamp-of-month-blog-hop-list.html. 

This month we have Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

I am really loving the colour scheme from the Summer Vibes paper pack (Fern, Smoothie, Candy Apple, Nectarine, Lemonade, Glacier) so that was what I drew on here. I did a lot of stamping, but my advice is start with the biggest flowers, and work your way down. The other thing you will notice is that I tried to create visual triangles of flower types (and colours since each flower was made the same). This helps give some movement on a potentially busy card. The black is Intense Black so that you can colour with alcohol markers  and not have smearing (I had a little early, so I did stop and heat set).

Once I was done colouring, I used the Alphabet Thin Cut dies to cut out "Hello". Make sure you use a ruler to get these straight (mine is, despite the angle of the photo)!! Then use some foam tape to pop up the letters. It is subtle but I love the impact. The background cardstock is Smoothie as well, since I didn't have a coordinating marker, and love the colour.

Products Used

• White Daisy/ Smoothie Cardstock
• Intense Black, Smoothie, Candy Apple, Fern, Nectarine, Lemonade and Glacier Inks
• Shin Han Markers (Red, Ice Grey, Orange, Citrus, Dull Green, Earth Brown)
• Glue Pen
• 3D Foam Tape (Needed to be squares, not circles!
• Block Alphabet Thin Cuts

Now "Hop" on over to Haley Dyer's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the August SOTM is only available until August 31st!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount!

Cross Canada Blog Hop Summer Vibes

Welcome to our July Blog Hop featuring Summer Vibes Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. This is the last of our 2019/2020 new catalogs, with the new 2 month model. A new core catty is coming for August!


We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

This card features the Summer vibes Cardmaking Stamp set/ thin cuts. I coloured the fish with shimmer brushes, and then used the Dreamy holographic paper to create some bubbles. To stamp on holographic paper you can use Staz-on ink, just be careful to give it a few minutes to dry before you touch it. I added a few sequins and covered the holes with bitty sparkle bling. It is a little hard to see that I used the wave patterned paper from the pack, but I did.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Pam Furlong

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the coming soon "Summer Vibes" Collection. So mark August 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Stitched Together Cross Canada Blog Hop- June

Welcome to our June Blog Hop featuring Stitched Together Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. This is the 4th of our new catalogs, with the new 2 month model.

Sorry I missed the past 2 hops, life kept getting crazy! I was super excited about Seas the Day paper pack, and I have barely played with it.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

I wasn't super excited when I first saw this paper pack and I am not sure why. Once I actually had it hand it is actually really pretty, and my least paper is on the back of my fav! Happy coincidence. I challenged myself to make a more masculine and a feminine card, so here are 2 projects. Also know that BOTH projects were made with the leftovers from the National Scrapbooking Day layouts, so if you have some...

This first card uses the stamp/ thincut set I am most excited about from this catalog, which is the Stitched Together Cardmaking Set. I wanted to add some dimension so I actually stacked all sorts of the happy cuts on top of each other, and used some black velvet ribbon behind the "everything" sentiment. I stuck to the candy

My second card I did use the stiched square thincuts, and some lagoon ribbon from ages past (I admit, I didn't want to cut more lagoon paper, but it bothered me too much that it was the same height as the square!), and some candy apple enamel dots left over from the holidays! The stamp is Be Kind, which I think is so important to remember, especially right now. The embossing folder is the Flower Garden.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is our fearless leader, Brae Montgomery

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the coming soon "Summer Vibes" Collection. So mark July10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

PS I have been playing in the scrap room a lot during quarantine, so here is a bonus weird card of SHARKS IN SPACE (All CTMH product!!). I am really obsessed with inking/ painting galaxy backgrounds, and if you have been around a while at one point we had a shimmer acrylic paint. The sharks are all cricut cuts, with Liquid Glass helmets, and everyone knows, their ship would be a submarine. It's just science (trust me I am a doctor... of engineering). I cut that out of the amazing holographic paper

Yesterday and Today Cross Canada Blog Hop

Welcome to our March Blog Hop featuring Yesterday and Today Creations. To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. This is the third of our new catalog, with the new 2 month model.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop. You should be joining us from Michelle Stewart's blog, and if you get lost a long the way she also has the master list

I usually am super keen to create archival or historic photo layouts, which this paper pack is perfect for but this time of year I am struggling with the winter blahs I guess, and wished for a little more colour. So I used that as a jumping off point; add a little colour to some sort of interesting fold to spice things up. My card base is 4 1/4 by 11 inches, with the gates scored at 2 3/4 from each edge. I do really like the Cardmaking Set from this collection. The leaves are made with scraps of sweet leaf and evergreen still on my desk from holiday cards, with the flower on sugarplum. I wanted to highlight the beautiful gold shades from the papers without using the foil chipboard and making the card heavy, so there is a little bit of gold paper behind the sentiment, and then I used the medium embossing pen to add some gold embossing powder to the flower.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Brandi at Crazy4Scrapbooking

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's blog as she has the complete blog list.


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring projects created using the coming soon "Seas the Day" Collection. So mark April 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

March/April Catalog New Product Blog Hop

I hope you are enjoying all the phenomenal projects you have seen so far in this new product blog hop. You should be arriving from  Gina Brandstetter's amazing creation which I hope you enjoyed. Welcome to my blog, I have 2 creations to show you today, one from Yesterday and Today and one using Seas the Day Cardmaking workshop kit. If you are inspired, please contact your CTMH representative to order, and I would love to read your comments. If you get lost, the fabulously blingy Melinda Everitt has the full list.

I had intended to be a part of the stamp of the month blog hop for this month, so my first project incorporates it. I am still waiting on a picture from my dad of all the family in PEI at our cottage from when I was a toddler. It really is one of my happy places, and it is amazing that all my relatives are always around, 3 generations of them. I wanted to highlight that love and support, which the sentiments from the SOTM really do. I really loved the paper but had a hard time getting started with the neutrals. I love the coordinating foil and vellum embellishments that are available with the Now ad Forever collection

My 2nd project is also my contribution to the Canadian CTMH card swap. I am obsessed with colours, and nautical so I have ordered FAR too much of this paper, every stamp set and am trying to pace the creations. The holographic paper added such a nice little touch to this, with the Cricut cut being one that is free if you search "waves". I am obsessed with the little pink punches that add some feminine touches to this paper. You will be seeing more from me with this pack over the next few hops, so hope to see you back.

Your next crafty stop is Lauren Moore, so thank you for coming by. If you get lost, go check out the full list at  Melinda Everitt 's blog