CTMH August SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month blog hop. You may be starting here, or you may have hopped over from Teresa's blog, either way you are in for a treat.  Once you're done checking out my creations, simply follow the link at the end of my blog post and continue along on your journey.  Eventually you will finish the loop and see all the fun projects.

This month we are featuring S1208 Baroque Borders.

Baroque Borders is one of those stamp sets that is great to add to your collection.  You can use it to create quick and easy backgrounds that will add richness to any project.  I've taken one of the stamps in the set and stamped champagne ink on champagne cardstock to create the background below.  You could use this same technique on a scrapbook page or a 3-d item.

I also used our new Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge to cut the paper the saying is stamped on.  Not only do the stamp sets tell you which cartridge to use and what size to cut the image, but now they also tell you what page the image is on in the book. I simply chose my stamp, next to it it said "1 1/2" pg. 65," so I flipped to that page, found my image and cut it.  Definitely Faster, Simpler and Easier!!!

You can also use the images as a focal point on any project.  On the card below I decided to use one of the beautiful corners as my main image.

I stamped it in outdoor denim on the blue grid pattern in the new Scholastic paper pack.

And just for fun, I flipped the same paper over and added some of our new burlap ribbon to create the card below.  You would never know I created both of these cards with the same paper pack!  They look completely different!

Supplies Used

• Champagne  and Outdoor Denim Inks
• Scholastic Level 2 Paper Pack
• Z1701 Bakers Twine - Neutral Assortment
• Z1760 Burlap Ribbon
• D1525 Casual Expressions (set of 12)

Please contact me or shop on my website if you would like to purchase any of the items featured.  I conduct workshops in Lakeside, CA and am available for retreats, parties and private workshops in the San Diego area.

Now it's time to hop on over to Judy's blog to see what she created

Sight Seeing during the CTMH Convention in Dallas

One of my favorite things about attending Convention (besides getting to see all the amazing new products live and in person!!!) is the opportunity to hang out with fellow consultants and team members.  It is always a crazy fun time.  Some of them might say I bring along the crazy, but I think my buddy Heather might have to take on some of that responsibility too.

First we hopped on a bus to take us to downtown Dallas...

Heather wore her new boots!  Apparently they serve drinks and very hot cowboys help you try boots on.  Her story about her shopping experience definitely made me consider buying some boots!

But we went to dinner next door instead.  We enjoyed some fabulous steak!  Yummm... Texas serves my kind of food!  Sorry, but there is not a vegetarian bone in my body. 

Sure wish I had my bike so I could join the group ride that was going by!

Thankfully Heather had taken a tour of Dallas before we arrived and she has an AMAZING memory!!  She shared all sorts of cool stories, facts and trivia about the area.  I think she could seriously get a job as a tour guide!!

I love taking pictures of beautiful buildings with interesting architecture!

This JFK monument was purposely built to look unfinished to represent the unfinished life of JFK.

I have grown up hearing all the speculation and conspiracy theories about the assassination of JFK, but it was a little before my time so I never really had a personal connection to it.  Visiting the area and the site gave me a very different perspective.  I was amazed at what a small area it was. It was fascinating to see where the route was originally planned and where it was changed to.  

I am so glad that we took the time to visit this area during our trip!

The Grassy knoll.....Even this picture makes the area look bigger than it is.  It is not a large sprawling area of grass.  It's very small and the street is only two lanes.

I had such high hopes for this picture!  You would not believe how long it took us to pose and get the camera set up...but then it was getting too dark.  I had to lighten the photo up so you could even see us!

CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Project - Vinyl on Cups

I held a scrapbook retreat for my customers at Rabbit Hill Ranch back in June and I still have projects and updates to post about it.

This was one of my favorites! 

Forgive the crazy photo...we had to hold up a black hoodie to make a makeshift backdrop in order to get the cups to show up in the picture. LOL.  We forgot to take a picture before a few of the cups went home. 

I like to put little goodies out on the tables throughout the weekend so I kind of collect things in the weeks and months leading up to the retreat.  Thanks to my buddy Candace, I was able to pick up these acrylic tumblers.

I had planned to put a cute tag or something on them and then at the last minute I had a brainstorm....

Why not cut their names on the cricut with the Art Philosophy cartridge and personalize them??

So I enlisted the help of my husband and we quickly put the names on the night before the retreat.  I still had plenty of vinyl leftover so I turned it into a vinyl lesson at the retreat and let my customers cut out the design of their choice to add to their cups.

They turned out so cute and it ended up being a fun project!  So fun that I will be helping the girls at church to decorate their water bottles for camp tomorrow night.

Workshops Available! - Contact me to book your own Cricut Vinyl workshop in the San Diego area.

CTMH Footloose Projects from Workshop

We had a fabulous time at the workshop on Saturday.  We even had to pull in an extra table to accommodate everyone!  I put up a huge display with all my Extravaganza artwork and new product bundles from the catalog, everyone brought some delicious "Hawaiian" food for the potluck and Genie treated us to a mini hula lesson that was so popular we will be doing it again!!

I featured the Footloose paper pack and Workshop on the Go and had some cute samples out for inspiration. (Important!!  The Footloose line of products are all retiring on 7/31/12 and they are selling fast.  Place your order right away if you still need this paper for your projects!!)


Here is the calendar page we did this month

We also did the banner featured on this post

And in keeping with the new page kits I've been offering, here's a footloose page kit.  I believe I still have 6 of these available for $7.50 each.

Products Used:

• X7151B Footloose Level 2 Paper Pack*
• G1036 Footloose Workshop on the Go Kit (stamps on calendar page)*
• C1495 Just Chillin
• Inks: Sweet leaf, Creme Brulee and Lagoon
• Z1327 Blue and Green Assortment Sparkles

*products retiring 7/31/12

CTMH Home Decor - My Creations Bracket Frame

Here's a sneak peek at some fun new products in the new CTMH Autumn/Winter 2012 catalog.  This catalog is full of amazing home decor items that are inexpensive and easy to decorate.  They are perfect for your home, office or to set the stage for a great party.

This is the My Creations Bracket Frame.  This whole project went together so quickly!!!

• Cut Bracket Shape using Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge Square 4
• Glue shape to bracket frame
• Flip frame over, cut square out of middle using craft knife.  Leave 1 1/2 border
• Snip border in diagonally in the corners of the square.
• Fold back edges to create finished inner edge.
• Sponge edges
• Embellish with roses and scroll from Artiste Cricut Cartridge
• Add Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems

Products Used:
La Belle Vie Paper Pack
Desert Sand Ink
Opaques Pearl  Adhesive Gems
Close To My Heart Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge
Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge

These products featured are all available on my website beginning August 1st or you can email me now to pre-order.

CTMH Footloose Summer Banner Workshop and Catalog Unveiling

Woo Hoo!  There is going to be so much excitement at this month's workshop that I'm not sure we're going to be able to handle it!!

I am featuring the Footloose paper pack and I have a ton of adorable samples that will give you great ideas for creating your own "Luau" party, summer scrapbook pages and fun cards.  In addition, I have talked my buddy Genie into coming to give us a hula lesson!  So pull out those Hawaiin shirts and come join the fun.

But wait, that's not all!  I have all the artwork I created featuring the La Bell Vie Paper Pack and the Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste cartridge too....AND....new catalogs.

This is the time to bring a friend and check everything out.  Can't make it?  Contact me to schedule your own workshop, gathering or online party!  I would love to help you earn FREE product.

Here's a picture of the banner project.

CTMH Convention - Another Fabulous Year

Whew, I just got home from another fabulous convention for Close To My Heart and boy was I keeping a secret from all of you!!!!  Did you notice my blog was a bit silent lately?   I was busy creating fun artwork and surprises for my customer retreat and creating artwork for my extravaganza booth at convention.  By the time I got back from the retreat I was so busy finishing up my prep for convention that I just couldn't find a spare moment to blog....

All that means that I have a TON of things to share now!!!!  So hang on folks, we're about to have some fun.

I was absolutely honored to be selected once again to teach at Extravaganza.  32 consultants were chosen.  I have been blessed to teach many times, but this year was completely different.  It was full of new challenges and excitement. 

Shortly after I found out I was selected, they told us that we would be featuring a brand new CRICUT CARTRIDGE called Artiste.  I still have a million ideas to share using Art Philosophy and now I have an entirely new cartridge to share.  Wowza!! 

It was fascinating to get a little peek behind the scenes and hear about corporate's vision for the cartridge and how much input they had in designing it.  They came up with some incredible organizational ideas that made this cartridge the MOST amazing one yet!!!!! 

So let's step back in time and see what I've been doing for the last couple of months...

At the end of May I got a big box full of new products.  I put all the accessories in a fun box I got from Michaels so I could keep them all together...

I was given the La Belle Vie paper pack to use for all of my artwork in my booth so you'll be seeing these new exciting colors a lot over the next few days....

There were four teachers assigned to each topic.  When Krista and Alyson ended up popping into my booth at the same time, we couldn't resist taking a picture.  We were bummed Laurie wasn't around.  It would have been fun to get a picture of all four of us!

Tomorrow I'll start posting fun art pics and Cricut Artiste ideas!!

I know many of you just can't wait to get your hands on this cartridge so I am taking pre-orders now!!  Want to earn free product too?  Contact me and I'll help you maximize your purchase and get you free product too!!  We can do a gathering, workshop, individual order or an online gathering.  There's something for everyone.