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Sunday, May 31, 2015

Ice Cream Dream June 2015 SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the Ice Cream Dream June 2015 SOTM Blog Hop. There are about 50 bloggers participating in this hop. If you are new to hopping, blog hops are a big circle so just keep clicking on the link (typically near the bottom of the post) to visit the next blogger.


The SOTM for June 2015, Ice Cream Dream, is a D-size set of 7 stamps that is only $5 with a qualifying purchase. Here are the stamps in the set:


You should have arrived here from ***Living, Loving, Laughing 4 Life by Lela Norris***. If you get lost along the way, a complete list of participants is always listed at Melinda Everitt's If You Bling It.

Here are the pieces that make up my card:


And here they come together into my card:



And here is a close-up of the sentiment where I used the Crafting Technique A Bit of Blot shown on page 55 of Annual Inspirations. I recently followed the A Bit of Blot blog hop (it started here) and I was very inspired by it and could not resist trying it here.


Before you visit ***Carol Taggio's Crafty Carol***, additional information about how my project was created is below.

All supplies are from Close To My Heart except where noted:
Here is a screen shot of my Cricut® Design Space cutting file. All of the images are from the "Insert Shapes" on the left bar (including the ice cream) so this file will be free for anyone to use. I kept adding circles, re-sized them without the proportions locked and welded them to create the ice cream. I was inspired by and used the Pull Slider Card Tutorial for Repeat Impressions Stamps by For the Love of Cardmaking by Deonna Bemish to learn this card technique.


In the end I trimmed the edges of my slider mechanism and made it more square. Trimming it allowed the ice cream truck to get closer to either edge of the card. In hindsight, I might not trim the right side of the mechanism so the dog enjoying ice cream does not get "run over". Either that or I would leave the dog off the card. What do you think?

I really enjoyed creating with this stamp set and I have several other cards created. One was created using the Watercolor Pencils (3505) and water brush (retired) and one was created using the Blending Pen (3174) with Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pads. Since my blog post is already so long I will share those cards over the next few days.

If you are not already working with a CTMH Independent Consultant, you may purchase all of the supplies I used at my Online Business Address.

I love to read comments so if you have a moment, please let me know what think of my card. So you do not have to scroll up, the next stop on the hop is ***Carol Taggio's Crafty Carol***.

CTMH June 2015 Stamp of the Month: Ice Cream Dream

The Close To My Heart June 2015 Stamp of the Month is Ice Cream Dream.


Ice Cream Dream (S1506) is an exclusive D-size stamp set of 7 stamps that you can only purchase during the month of June 2015. The stamp set can be yours for $5 when you place an order of $50 or more in qualifying Close To My Heart Products. Alternatively you can purchase it for $17.95. Recommended CTMH My Acrylix® Blocks are: 2" x 2" (Y1003), 3" x 3" (Y1006), 2" x 6½" (Y1010) and 4" x 5" (Y1012).

Items created with the stamp set by CTMH Corporate artists are this layout and invitation:



If you would like a list of the products used to create the above items, you will find the information in the Recipes (clicking the link will open a PDF in a new tab), a booklet that works hand-in-hand with the Idea Book to provide details to re-create any projects at home. Also check my Pinterest Board CTMH 2015 06 Jun SOTM Ice Cream Dream for additional ideas using this stamp set.

Please stop back tomorrow for the Ice Cream Dream Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. My blog post will be here.

June 2015 also brings Summer Crush


During the month of June, when you purchase any My Crush™ book and its accompanying assortment pictured in Annual Inspirations 2014–2015, you will receive the coordinating stamp set FREE! That is a savings of at least $9.95. The items are shown on pages 150 to 157 of Annual Inspirations 2014-2015. This offer is while supplies last and once a book is sold out, it is gone for good.

This table of eligible product combinations was on a flyer created by CTMH Corporate:


UPDATE 6/16/2015: The My Crush™ In the Pink Assortment has sold out, but the My Crush™ In the Pink Clips (Z2048) will be available as a qualifying item for the In the Pink campaign combo while supplies last.

The table below contains the same information as the one above, but has images of the eligible products — just choose a row that interests you — mixing-and-matching across rows cannot be done as part of this offer, add the book and accompanying assortment to your shopping cart and at checkout you will be prompted to add the stamp set for free.

Purchase This Plus ThisReceive This Free!
My Crush® In the Pink Book
(Z2000)
My Crush™ In the Pink Clips
(Z2048)
My Acrylix® Glitter Glam
(B1465)
OR
My Crush® Wildwood Book
(Z2001)
My Crush® Wildwood Assortment
(Z2040)
My Acrylix® Born to Roam
(B1456)
OR
My Crush® Holiday Happenings Book (Z2098)
My Crush® Holiday Happenings Assortment (Z2062)
My Acrylix® Magical Moment
(C1602)
OR
My Crush® Modville Book
(Z1855)
My Crush® Besties Assortment
(Z1886)
My Acrylix® Reel Life
(B1431)
OR
My Crush® Modville Book
(Z1855)
My Crush® Best Day Ever Assortment (Z1887)
My Acrylix® Reel Life
(B1431)
OR
My Crush® Bluebird Book
(Z1856)
My Crush® Memories Assortment
(Z1888)
My Acrylix® Love This
(B1432)
OR
My Crush® Bluebird Book
(Z1856)
My Crush® Favorites Assortment
(Z1889)
My Acrylix® Love This
(B1432)

There is no limit on the number of books and assortments you may purchase and free stamps sets you qualify for.

While not part of the Summer Crush promotion, there are additional My Crush products available for purchase:

My Crush™ In the Pink
Clips
(Z2048)
My Crush™ In the Pink
Sticky Tabs
(Z2043)
My Crush™ Wildwood
Clips
(Z2047)
My Crush™ Wildwood
Sticky Tabs
(Z2041)
My Crush™ Holiday Happenings
Badge Buttons
(Z2051)
this space
intentionally left blank
My Crush™ For Her Book (Z3081)
My Crush™ For Him Book (Z3080)

I will be pinning the ideas I find to my Pinterest Board CTMH Promo Summer Crush; I tried to tag my previous and current pins with #CTMHMyCrush (so you did not have to wade through a bunch of hard bodies), but it looks like my previous tag of #MyCrush "stands" in the Pinterest database so unfortunately some of my pins.

Pages from the My Crush books and the coordinating assortments and stamp sets may be used on traditional 12" x 12" layouts and in cardmaking too. I attended the Fall 2013 Album Retreat in Salt Lake City and we used the assortments and stamps to embellish our 12" x 12" layouts. Admittedly I still do not have all of my layouts complete (I find it difficult to scrap about myself), but you may view the layouts I completed by going to my Fall 2013 Album Retreat page. Items have also been made with pages from the books; people have liked pages so much that they removed them from the book to use them like any of the CTMH paper packs.

Please stop back May 7 for the Summer Crush Blog Hop. My blog post will be here.

If you are ready to place an order or would like to research any product, the Shop Now button will take you there.


If you have any product or promotion questions, do not hesitate to email me. You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Happy Birthday Slider Card

I could not leave this card unfinished a moment longer. As soon as I got home from work (and took care of my cats, made dinner, cleaned up, etc.) I sat down to finish it.

I added a "pre-sentiment" and a stamped, fussy cut image.


And here is how the card looks "open".


In addition to the supplies listed when I shared how this card was created and the CDS link, I used the following items:
I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant and most of the linked products above may be ordered from my Online Business Address. The list of other products and links to them (if any) are for your convenience only; I am not an affiliate of any other retail outlet. If the craft projects I share inspire you and you would like to use Close To My Heart products to create them I would be grateful if you placed an order on my OBA.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you like my completed card.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Happy Birthday Slider Card

I am working with a new stamp set for a blog post next week and I had the idea to have one of the stamped images move across the card. I did not want to use the Penny Sliced Technique because I wanted to "control" the image more, that is, I did not want the image to rotate. This is the card I created to test the Cricut® Design Space file I created and make sure I understand the assembly instructions.

A search for slider card tutorial yielded many results. I looked at a few posts before I decided to try the Pull Slider Card Tutorial for Repeat Impressions Stamps by For the Love of Cardmaking by Deonna Bemish. I do not have some of the punches that Deonna mentioned in her post, so I decided to turn to Cricut® Design Space and my Cricut® Explore. I used Deonna's instructions for assembly.

This is what my Cricut® Design Space file looks like (without the embellishments). I used only free "Insert Shapes" images to create the file. You will find my file here if you would like to use it. If you use the file, I ask that you leave me a comment letting me know if you found it useful and that, rather than sharing the file, you direct people here for the link.


Here the the pieces I used to create the card (the brown in the upper left is the foam pad from the tool kit used to shape the flower):


The "half-circles" are applied to the slider mechanism (front and back), the foam tape is applied to the card back and the "round" pink item in the top middle is the mechanism that makes the flower slide on my card.

Here is my card with the slider in (or the card in the closed position):


And here is my card with the slider out (or the card in the open position) so the greeting can be read:


I was very pleased with how easy this card was to put together. The only place I had to trim was on the mechanism that makes the card slide. Where I overlapped the circles and welded I could have overlapped a little less and created a "skinnier waist" (I think we all wish for that). I just used a craft knife to slice a mm on either side of the "waist". I recreated that piece in my CDS file, but did not cut the file again to test.

I do think I will go back and decorate the front a bit more before sending it to someone, but first I need to work on the blog post featuring that new stamp set.

I used several supplies from my stash to create my cards:
  • Scallops (item #SD14010) from Summer Days designed by Bella Road for Echo Park Paper Co. - my friends from CC might recognize this
  • pink and green cardstock
  • Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive
  • bling
  • Sizzix Accessory - Susan's Garden Tool Kit inspired by Susan Tierney-Cockburn
  • Close To My Heart products:
  • Cricut® products:
    • Cricut® Design Space
    • Cricut® Explore
    • Sophisticated cartridge - flower - CDS image #M45BD7
I am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant and most of the linked products above may be ordered from my Online Business Address. The list of other products and links to them (if any) are for your convenience only; I am not an affiliate of any other retail outlet. If the craft projects I share inspire you and you would like to use Close To My Heart products to create them I would appreciate it if you choose to order from me.

Thanks for visiting today. I would love to know what you think of this card and/or CDS file.

Promotions Ending May 31

I am posting today because there are a few promotions that are ending on May 31. The first is something I am doing on my own. I am giving away the Shower Flowers stamp set from Seasonal Expressions 2. I posted the details on the Shower Flowers Giveaway post on May 5. No purchase is necessary to win.

The May 2015 Stamp of the Month, Just Sayin’, will no longer be available for purchase after May 31.


See my CTMH May 2015 Stamp of the Month: Just Sayin’ post for additional details about the stamp set and the suggested acrylic block sizes. I created a card for the Just Sayin' Stamp of the Month Blog Hop and have a Pinterest Board CTMH 2015 05 May SOTM Just Sayin’.

Also unavailable after May 31 are the National Scrapbooking Month paper pack


and stamp set.


I created two cards for the National Scrapbooking Month Blog Hop. You will find additional inspiration on the Taste of Summer Pinterest Board. If you order the paper pack or stamp set I will send you two PDFs; one with cardmaking ideas and one with scrapbook layouts.

Today's post updated to add: As a special offer to my customers, when you purchase the National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer My Acrylix® Stamp Set (CC1039) at a Gathering or from my OBA during May 2015 I will send you as many die cuts as I can fit on one sheet of 12" x 12" White Daisy cardstock. The cuts you will receive include the label cut to fit the phrase "Orange You Sweet" and cut to fit the frame and the banner to fit the phrase "Yummy" — at least 12 of each die cut.

I would like to remind you when you place an order at my Online Business Address you will be promoted to add a free Idea Book to your order (if you have not already done so). I am "old school" and I much prefer to look at catalogs "in hand" rather than on-line.

If you are ready to place an order or would like to research any product, the Shop Now button will take you there.


If you have any product or promotion questions, do not hesitate to email me. You will also find me on Facebook at Brenda's Paper Crafts.