So long, farewell.....

This is a sad post for me this week.....this post marks my last project and blog post as a member of the Heart2Heart Challenges design team.  I have had such a great time the past six months, using the challenges to really stretch my creative borders.  The other design team members have been wonderful to work with, and they are truly amazing (and TALENTED!!) women.

So this will be the last challenge of this year.  The new design team will ring in the New Year in January, and let me tell you, I can't WAIT to see what they have in store for us!  This week our challenge is to create a Holiday Wish for you, our blog readers.  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Merry Kwanza (I'm not sure what they say, so please forgive me!), and in general, a very HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  Thank you for being part of my life for the past 6 months, and please stop by often! 

Materials used: (all products are CTMH, unless noted otherwise):



-paper: Mistletoe Level 2 paper pack, Topiary cs, Sweet Leaf cs
-ink: Cranberry
-stamps:  Trinity alphabet stamp set
-embellishments: Color-Ready Alphabets Cork, Red Sparkles, Colonial White Waxy Flax, Art Philosphy Cricut Cartridge; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder/Cuttlebug machine

Sketch time!!

My post this week is going to be very, very brief.  Many of you know that I have had back issues, and had surgery in February.  I've recovered well, but I twisted wrong or something a few days ago, and it really really hurts to sit at a computer (don't know what I'm going to do at work this week!).  So, brief blog entry it is (it will make up for all the other posts where I tend to ramble on.....).

We have a sketch challenge at H2H this week.  Here is the sketch:
                                                

And here is my interpretation:

The stitches were hand stitched, using the amazing new Ruler to make guide holes.  I popped up the sentiment with some dimensional tape.  And of course I had to add some bling.  Here is a closer look:

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope all my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and that everyone has a fantastic week this week!  My son plays in his first high school basketball game tonight, so I'm excited to see that.  Go Vikings!  :-)

Materials list (all products are CTMH, except where noted):

paper:  Mistletoe Level 2 (retired), Chocolate cardstock, Cranberry cardstock, Colonial White cardstock.

stamp set: Just for the Holidays

ink: Chocolate

embellishments and tools: Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain, Mocha Opaques, Colonial White Embroidery Floss, Ruler, Scalloped Punch,

Color challenge....

So last week I said that Fall had finally arrived here in Virginia.  Well, this week, I think Old Man Winter wanted to join the party.  We had a whole heck of a lot of that white stuff on Saturday.  Yes, folks, it SNOWED in Virginia...in October!  What in the the world is happening?  The last time it snowed in the Old Dominion, the year was 1979.  So now we've had a tornado, a hurricane, an earthquake and a blizzard, all in one year.  I think I want 2012 to get here as soon as possible!  :-)

But I digress.  You're here to see the newest H2H challenge, not to read a weather lesson.  :-)  This week's challenge is to use the colors Autumn Terracotta, Juniper, and Bamboo.  I love color challenges, because these are three colors I would have probably never thought to put together.  Here is what I came up with:

The card design is based on a sketch in the Wishes book, Sundial on page 14.  The stamp set is a new set in the current Idea Book, called Remarkable Wreath.  I love this set!  Sooooo pretty!

It's probably hard to see in this picture, but I added some Liquid Glas to the berries and to the bow, to add alittle dimension.  The white lines on the Autumn Terracotta cardstock were made by scoring the cardstock every 1/4 inch, then using the sanding block to expose the white core (one of the reasons I love CTMH cardstock so much!!). 

Since tomorrow starts a new month, we have a new Guest Design Team member: Allisa Chilton.  Please give her a warm welcome, and be sure to visit her at http://rockymtnpapercrafts.blogspot.com/.  We will also have some new prize sponsors, so be sure to visit the H2H blog and see what goodies you might win.  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy crafting!!

Supplies (all materials CTMH, unless noted otherwise):

-cardstock: Autumn Terracotta, Juniper, Bamboo, Colonial White

-ink: Juniper, Chocolate

-Stamp set: Remarkable Wreath

-embellishments: Juniper ribbon (from the Wings Creative Basics collection, retired), Liquid Glass

-other: sanding block, edge distresser, Martha Stewart Scoreboard

Fall is finally here in Virgina....the leaves are turning glorious shades of red, oranges, and yellows, and there is a bit of a cool nip in the air.  My very FAVORITE time of year!!  Plus, it means the arrival of one of my very favorite holidays (second only to Christmas!)....Halloween.  The challenge this week at H2H is to create something Fall of Halloween themed.  So many choices!!

I decided on a simple card.  I found this tutorial from another CTMH consultant, Mandy Leahy, and knew I had to try it.  It's brilliant!  Go check out her blog for more awesome ideas...http://www.mypassionforscrapbooking.com/.

This is the card I made.  I like that it has just a bit of sass! 

You can check out Mandy's tutorial below:

Once again, thanks for stopping by!  I've been busy making things for some vendor shows coming up which I will post soon.  In the meantime, grab those pumpkin, ghost or leaf stamps, and make something fun!

Supplies used (all products CTMH, except where noted):

-paper: Mischief Level 2

-stamps: Mischief Workshop on the Go

-inks: Sunset

-embellishments: Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge (scallop circle and flower), Pearl Opaques, orange ribbon from my stash (maybe SU?)

1,2,3,4.....

This week at H2H, the challenge is to use a number on your project.  I was surprised to find how many of my stamp sets have numbers on them!!  Anything from "You're #1", to Bingo cards with numbers, to Christmas sets.  Wow!  I love when we can look at our stamp sets with a new perspective!

I decided to go with the "Dec. 25th" theme, since that wonderful holiday is fast approaching.  I used two new stamp sets...The sentiment is from December 25th, and there is another stamp from the set Countdown.  Can you find it?

Once again, I put my Cricut to work with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  This adorable circle card looks just like an ornament!  I used some Prisma glitter at the top to give it a little sparkle.

Have you figured ot what else was stamped, yet??  It is the ric-rac ribbon!!  I used the teeny-tiny Christmas tree from the Countdown set to stamp diretly on the ribbon.  Cute, huh?  A great way to customize boring old white ribbon....

I think I might add a small pocket to the inside of this card, so I can add a gift card.  Wouldn't it make a cute little present?

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you join us at H2H this week.  Our guest designer, Deb is playing along this week, too, so come check out all the inspiration!  Happy crafting!!

Supplies (all products CTMH, unless otherwise noted):

-paper: Believe level 2 paper pack, White Daisy cardstock

-stamp sets: Countdown, December 25th

-ink: Topiary, Sweet Leaf

-embellishments: Sweet Leaf Stitched Grosgrain, white ric-rac ribbon (discontinued)

-other: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Prisma Glitter, Bonding Memories glue stick, scallop circle punch

It's sketch time!

We have a sketch for you this week at H2H Challenges...won't you play along with us?  Here is the sketch:

And here is my simple interpretation:

I had a tough time with this one this week.  Not sure why.  Just wasn't feeling it, I guess.  But that's the fun thing about challenges...you can look at the challenge, and make it your own!     :-) 

Please join in the challenge this week, and stop by and say hi to our Guest Design Team Member, Debra Almanza, and our two prize sponsors this month:  Nichole Lewno, and Jena DeVries.  They have some awesome gifts to send to some lucky winners this month.  But, you can't win if you don't play!!  :-) 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!  I looooove comments, so feel free to leave one!   :-)  And, as always, Happy Crafting!  :-)

Materials (all products are CTMH, unless otherwise noted):
-paper:  Mischief Level 2
-stamp set: Mischief Workshop-on-the-Go
-ink: Black
-other: Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Just one stamp???

Out challenge for you this week at Heart2Heart is to make something using only one sentiment stamp...not one stamp SET, one stamp.  Huh.  I was originally stumped, because I normally use at least 3-4 stamps on any given project.  But then I realized that I needed to make a congratulations card, and hey! congratulations is one word!    :-)  This is what I ended up with:

I created the focal image by using just the one stamp, but stamping it several times.  I stamped it once in Smoky Plum in the middle, and used 2nd generation stamping with Smoky Plum for the other words.  Makes the intensity of the first generation stamping stand out a bit.  The flower was cut with the Cricut (duh!  Is there any other way to do it, anymore?!), and a pearl opaque was placed in the center, as well as around the focal piece (which, by the way, was also cut using the Cricut!).  Sonoma papers, and cocoa ribbon finish it off.  Here is my favorite part of the card, though:

Do you see that little hanging thingy at the bottom of the circle??  They are from the new Heirloom Assortment, which includes 6 self-stick resin flowers, and 6 dangle-jewels with brad (in 2 different colors).  Soooooo cute.  Totally adds that "wow" factor!

The recipient of this card has not received it yet, so I will let it be a surprise (although I think she reads this blog, so I probably just let the cat out of the bag.  Oh well).  Put on your thinking caps, make something using just ONE sentiment stamp (preferably a Close To My Heart stamp!), and link it up at H2H!  Happy Crafting!!

Materials: (all products are from CTMH, unless otherwise noted):
paper:  Sonoma level 2 pack, Olive cs, Smoky Plum cs, Colonial White cs
stamps: Limited Edition (this is the September stamp of the month...only 5 more days to purchase this stamp set for just $5!  Click the button on the right to see how.....)
ink: Smoky Plum
embellishments: Pearl Opaques, Heirloom Assortment, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Cocoa ribbon collection

H2H Challenge with shapes!

For the challenge this week over at Heart2Heart Challenges, we were asked to make a projcet using die-cut shapes.  Well, since my new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge has been in almost constant use since the end of July, this was an easy week!  :-)

One of the things I absolutely adore about the Art Philosophy cartridge is the ability to create shaped card bases.  This week's card was made using one of them.  My daughter's favorite gymnastics coach and his wife welcomed a new baby boy in to their lives a few weeks ago.  I have yet to make a congratulations card and/or purchase a  gift, so I used this challenge to get my rear-end in gear.  In addition to the congratulations card below, I am also making a mini-album, and I will share pictures of that later this week (as soon as I get it finished!). 

With the exception of the elephant and giraffe, every single item on this card was cut with the Cricut.  The card base and patterned paper?  Yep!  The scalloped circles?  Yep.  The focal sentiment piece?  Yep (and the cut-out piece was then stamped with a coordinating stamp that fits the shape exactly.  Heaven!!)  The teeny-tiny little tag?  Yep again (and the little heart on the tag, too!  See the picture below for a close up of the tag!). 

Dimensional tape was used to attach the sentiment to the inside of the card, so that it pops out through the window on the front.  I have to confess, and say that I did use my Gypsy with my Cricut to manipulate images and create the cut-out in the middle.....but only because I wanted to create the layered look with my patterned paper. With this particular card base, the front panel is solid, so I used the Gypsy to cut out the squared image in the middle.  It would be possible to do this with a Cricut Expressions or Create or Imagine as well, using the Center Point feature.  You can also check out the new Cricut Craft Room online....and it's FREE!!  Google it.  :)  There are plenty of other cards on the cartridge that would have worked if I just wanted the center panel cut out, however.  I just like to make things complicated.  :-)  Here is a picture of what the popped-up sentiment looks like:

Now I just have to find the time to finish the coordinating mini-album, and give it to Baby Carter and his family before he starts Kindergarten (yes, I know that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I work slowly!).  :-)   Thanks for stopping by, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you and our Guest Design Team Member, Jane Haas come up with.  Make sure you use mostly all Close To My Heart products, and be sure to link it up at http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/ for your chance to win some great prizes!!

Materials used (all products are Close To My Heart,except where noted):
-paper: Elemental level 2 paper pack, Desert Sand cs, Pacifica cs, Colonial White cs
-stamp sets: Zoology, Cricut bundle set, Love Life
-ink: Pacifica, Creme Brulee, Grey Flannel, Chocolate
-embellishments: Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, Pin Clips, Pewter Mini-Medley, mini diaper pins (from my stash...maybe Making Memories?), colonial white ribbon

Some new classes coming up.....

Over the next few days, I'll be posting some pictures of classes I'm offering in Sepetember.  The first few have registration deadlines that are very, very close, so if you're interested, let me know ASAP!  Here they are:

Scrapbook 101 using Elemental papers

Join me for this fun and quick class using the fabulous Elemental level 2 paper pack, and the coordinating chipboard Dimensional Elements Complements.  Participants in this class will leave with two 2-page layouts, completed and ready to be showcased in your album! All you need to bring is adhesive and a smile!

Date:  Weds., Sept. 21  7-9pm

Cost:  $18

Registration Deadline:  Weds., Sept. 7

Elemental Workshop On The Go

 

This class has that "Wow" factor, using beautiful stamps and gorgeous colors, as well as some really cool techniques like masking.  Students will leave with 5 versatile cards, as well as a 1-page layout that can accomodate several pictures of different sizes. 

Date:  Mon., Sept. 19, 6-9pm

Cost: $35 (includes the following):
 - a 6 double-sided patterned papers
 -6 pieces of coordinated cardstock
-exclusive C-size stamp set
-Just Blooms Flutter Paper Shapes
-Antiqued Copper Designer Brads
Registration Deadline:  Thurs., Sept. 8

 

Mini-Album using card bases:

 

 

 

This fun little mini-album uses the new Kraft Die-Cut Cards as the base....want to know how?  Join me as we have some fun with the new Cork Alphabet letters and Decor Journaling Spots.  Perfect for that quick family get-away pictures!

 

Date:  Friday, Sept. 23, 6-9:30pm

Cost: $20

Registration Deadline:  Friday, Sept. 9

 

 

See something you like, but can't make it?  Or not local to me?  You can order a kit, and I will send it directly to you (shipping charges will apply in addition to class cost).

 

It's rainy and dreary here today, so I think I'm going to head on up to my craft room for a little creative therapy!  Thanks for stopping by!

H2H Challenge...pear, sorbet and cocoa

This week at H2H the challenge is to use the colors Pear, Sorbet and Cocoa.  I chose to make a card, which I think I will give to my daughter, since today is her first day back to school.  She is starting middle school this year, and is a little anxious about the transition from elementary to middle school, and all the changes that entails.  Here is the card:

I used a clear round acrylic card, and decorated it with some Pear patterned paper from the retired Olivia paper pack.  Some sorbet patterned paper from the new paper pack Elemental, and some Cocoa cardstock, and poof! The card is ready for the sentiment (both the image and sentiment are from the new Pair-A-Phrase set...ask me how to get this versatile set for FREE!). 

Here is a close up of one of my favorite details...I used a stick pin from the new Bling Assortment.  I really like these a lot, and I need to figure out a way to use them in some more projects! 

I don't know if you can see it clearly in the picture (click it to make it bigger), but the "stitches" on the Cocoa cardstock were made with the new Ruler.  This thing rocks!!  It has evenly spaced guide holes, which made it easy to use my paper piercer to punch holes.  I then just used a regular pen to "connect" the holes, creating a faux stitch.  Looks cool, no?  :-)

Thanks for looking!!  Please be sure to check out what the other design team members have in store for you this week.  They continually blow me away with their creativity!  Why don't you play along with us this week, and create something yourself? 

Happy crafting!

Materials list (all products CTMH, except where noted):

-base:  4 1/2" Assortment clear cards

-paper:  Olivia L2, Elemental L2, Cocoa cs, Sorbet cs, Colonial White cs

-stamp set:  Pair-A-Phrase

-ink: black, Cocoa

-markers: Sorbet, Chocolate, Desert Sand, Bamboo, Sweet Leaf

-embellishments:  Pearl Opaques, Bling Assortment, Cocoa ribbon, edge distresser



It's the most wonderful time of the year.....

Around this time of year, I always think of that Staples commercial (or was it Office Depot?)...you know, the one that shows the dad flying around on the cart in the store, throwing school supplies in the cart, while the song "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" plays in the background??  Yep.  That's how I feel most years.  While I enjoy summer, and some relaxing, my family just functions much better with a scheduled routine.  I look forward to getting back in the groove every year.  This year is a little different, though... my oldest is entering high school, and my youngest is entering middle school.  It's such a bittersweet time, and the inescapable fact that my children are growing up is really hitting me hard.  In fact, I teared up at dinner tonight when my husband and I were talking about it.  That wouldn't have been so bad, except that we were in the middle of a restaurant!  :-)

The challenge this week on the H2H blog is to create something school related.  I chose to make a little back-to-school package that would be just perfect for a student to give a teacher on the first day back. 

I decorated an adorable mini-chalkboard I found at Ben Franklin's, made the little paper backpack, and added the 3 x 3 card to top it off .  Stick some little treats in the backpack, and you've got yourself a cute little gift package!  Here are some close-up pictures:

For the chalkboard, I simply positioned the patterned paper on the "naked" chalkboard, and used my craft knife to cut out the middle. 

I then used some old acrylic paint I had on hand on the new Milepost Shapes for embellishment.  Love these pieces!!

The backpack was made using a tutorial I found here.  I think it turned out really cute! 

A sweet little 3 x 3 notecard to finish it off....

There you go!  I know many of you have children that have already started back to school.  Our school system doesn't go back for another week, so I have seven more days to strengthen my resolve not to cry like a baby when Josh and Allie leave for the bus next week.  :-)  

Thanks for looking, and I hope you play along with us at Heart2Heart Challenges this week!  :-)

Supply list (all materials Close To My Heart, except where noted):
paper:  Typeset level 2 paper pack, Colonial white cs, Vineyard Berry cs
inks:  Bamboo, Vineyard Berry, Black
stamp sets:  Blue Ribbon, School Rocks
embellishments:  Milepost Shapes, white grosgrain ribbon, colonial white buttons, chocolate waxy flax, bitty brads (metal assortment), black eyelets (Making Memories),

From Our Heart To Yours.....

I have to start off this blog post by apologizing for the lack of posts recently.....I have been creating like a madwoman, though, and there will be tons of new paper art projects coming your way very, very soon.  I promise!  So please hang in there with me, and hopefully you will enjoy the projects I'll be sharing in the near future....

This week at H2H, each design team member created a card that was done in their own typical "style".  Challenge participants are then asked to CASE (copy and share everything) the design of their choice, and share the result with us.  I am excited to see what everyone comes up with! 

Here is my offering for the week.  My husband and I recently celebrated our 18th anniversary (has it really been that long????), and I made this card for him.  My typical style is very clean and linear.  I am drawn by muted colors, and the new Sonoma line was just calling my name for this card.  You can almost always find some dimension (in the form of ribbons, bling, metals, etc.) on my cards, and stamping is a must!  I also think my cards look naked if they are not inked up and distressed, so I usually distress the heck out of everything, usually with a sponge or a dauber, and almost always with Chocolate ink.

This card base and the Olive mat were both cut out with the new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I should probably say that almost everything I make from now on will also have something cut with this cartridge.  I just LURVE it!  It's really that amazing. 

I hope this card has given you a little inspiration.  Feel free to copy it if you'd like!  Thanks for looking, and happy crafting!

Supplies (all materials by Close To My Heart):
-paper:  Sonoma level 2 pack, Olive Cardstock, Colonial White cs
-stamps:  Key Moments B1392
-inks: Bamboo, Cocoa
-embellishments:  Foundry Metal Accessories, Olive Mini-Medleys
-other:  Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge

It's hot, hot, hot........

Our challenge for you at H2H this week is to use the word "hot" as your inspiration..... it can be an image, colors, whatever makes you think of the word hot.  I'm eager to see what everyone comes up with!

For me, the word hot is very relevent, as it's been HOT here in Northern Virginia!  To me, the best place to be when it's hot is sitting on the beach, toes in the sand, cold beverage and a good book in hand.  Unfortunately for me, I'm landlocked, with no beach nearby, so I thought I'd recreate a beach scene, so I can go there in my mind.  :-).  I wanted to try my hand at the brayer technique, since it's probably the one stamping technique I've not ever tried.  Splitcoaststampers.com has a wonderful tutorial on this technique.  It looks so easy!  You can see it here.  Well, let's just say I have some more practicing to do!  :-)  Of all the samples I attempted to make, this was the only one that even came close to resembling the image in my head. 

I created the sky by first cuting out a 1" circle, and temporarily adhering it to the top left corner of a piece of white cardstock (already trimmed to 6 1/4 x 4 1/4).  I used a piece of scrap paper, and covered up the bottom 1/3 of the cardstock, then inked up my brayer and ran it across the top 2/3 of the cardstock.  The circle acts like a mask, so when I was done rolling on the blue ink, and I took of the circle, I was left with a white circle.  I used the negative image of the circle (from the scrap that I punched it out of), and placed that over the circle, and sponged Sunflower ink and Autumn Terracotta in the open space.

I used Bamboo for the beach, and brayered that on the bottom of the card.  I used the Daydream stamp set to stamp the images on a scrap piece of paper, colored them with markers, and cut out the pails and the umbrella to adhere to the card (the "sand dune" was stamped directly on the card).  The sentiment comes from the special stamp set called "Pair-a-Phrase", which is only available from August 15-Sept. 30 (get it FREE with a qualifying order...more on that later!). 

OK, so I know we are our own worst critic, ad though I tend to be a perfectionist, I'm still pretty happy with how this card turned out.  Now I just need to figure out a way to get to the beach!  :-)

Hope you play along with us at H2H this week.  Our guest DT member, Debi, is playing along too, and wants some company!  :-)

Happy Birthday to You....

This week at H2H Challenges, we were asked to create projects related to children's birthdays.    Our guest Design Team member, Debi Davis is playing along with us this week, so make sure you check out her blog, and leave her some love!

I thought this week would be a perfect opportunity to put my new Cricut cartridge, Art Philosophy, through its paces.  It performed beautifully!!  I made a banner, cupcake toppers, and a card, all with some cardstock, and the Art Philosophy collection.  Here is a picture (click on the image to enlarge it):

The cupcake toppers were made using the scallop circles, cut at 2", a regular circle cut at 1 1/10" (did you know you can change the increments from quarter inch to tenths of an inch?  At least you can on the Cricut Expressions machine!), and the star cut at 1".  The white part of the star is a stamp that comes in the Art Philosophy collection, and coordinates with the star cut-out.  Isn't that cool??  Once I layered the circles and stars, I placed 2 back to back, and secured them with dimensional foam tape.  I just stuck the toothpick in the foam, and put them in the cupcakes.

The banner was also made with the Cricut.  I am really loving my Cricut these days!  :-)  I have to admit that I forgot to write down what size I cut the banners at, but really you can make them any size you want.  I think it was about 3", though.  I used some B&T paper from Fanfare, and made the pleated circles, then added letters stamped using my Pennant Alphabet stamp set.  The banner images already have a hole cut out at the top, so I just threaded white ribbon through.  I also covered some dimensional elements stars with the yellow paper, to add splash of color.  Here is a close-up of a banner piece:

Last, but not least, the card was also cut from the Cricut.  This image already has the cupcake cut out...how cool is that????  I just backed the cupcake with some patterned paper, decorated it with some bling, added the border (also cut using the Art Philosophy cartridge), threw some buttons on, and done.  Easy peasy!  Oh, and the Happy Birthday sentiment is from one of the sets in the Art Philosophy collection.

Contact me if you are interested in learning more about this amazing Art Philosophy collection.  I'll even tell you the secret of how to get it at a 50% discount.  :-)  As anyone who has talked to me in the last 2 weeks knows, I am absolutely, positively IN LOVE with this bundle, and it is a must-have for all Cricut owners!  :-)

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.  I hope you join us at H2H Challenges this week!

H2H Challenges...a sketch!

This week over at Heart2Heart Challenges, we were challenged to create a project based on this sketch:

This challenge was perfect timing....my fabulous upline, Traci Pasqualone, won the prestigious Rising Star Award with CTMH this year (YAY!!!!!!!), and I couldn't be prouder of her!  I wanted to make a card to congratulate her, so I decided to use this sketch as my starting point.  I followed the sketch pretty closely, and ended up with this:

Now, this may not look like a CTMH card, but it is....I made it with all -new product from the Fall/Winter Idea Book.  Our very generous company gave Convention attendees a ton of new product, and I couldn't wait to bust in to it and create something.  This was the perfect opportunity! The papers are from the Roxie collection.  And here are some close-ups of some new items:

You know how I love my bling!  CTMH has introduced a new Bling Assortment.  This includes two sizes of bling buttons, as well as some really cool stick pins (see next picture).  Awesome!

These stamped images are made with a new set called Blue Ribbon.  See the scalloped circle, and the star at the top....they coordinate with the new Art Philosophy Cricut caridge!  Woot woot!  And you can see the little stick pin from the Bling Assortment up at the top.....

One of the best announcements at Convention was the introduction of "Zip Strips".  These little strips of paper are on the edge of the 12x12 patterned paper, and are meant to be used as decoration.  One side identifies the paper pack, the other side is decorative.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am to get the little "CTMH" logo off the actual patterned paper!!  There are only so many creative ways you can cover that little guy up!  :-)  "You're My Inspiration" is from one of the papers in the new Roxie collection.  I simply cut off the words, and matted it to a piece of black cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create this week!  Make sure you link it up over at h2hchallenges.blogspot.com for a chance to win some awesome give-aways this month.  :-)