February SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for February!

All artwork on the hop will feature February's SOTM,"Piece of Cake", a set of 10 stamps! If you have come here from {Judy's blog}you are on the right track!  Click the link at the end of this post to continue on the hop and see more great artwork!  As an added bonus this month, I'll be randomly selecting one person to win BOTH of my blog hop cards! To be entered, just post a comment below. Receive a second entry if you sign up to be a follower of my blog! I'll draw a winner and post their name at 8 am, Feb 2.


Here is a photo of the stamp set, and some great artwork that can be seen here in the current Close To My Heart Idea Book!

Card 1: 4.25" x 5.5".  I used the *new* Topstitch paper, Togetherness stamps (for the faux stitching), Create a Shade Pearl Paint, and Spring Buttons.

Card 2: Size 4.25" x 5.5". This card is more simple than I usually do, but is part of my Valentine Workshop Fundraiser which you can read about here.  I used the That's Amore paper, and red stickles for the cherries.

I hope you enjoyed my cards! Don't forget to post a comment. One lucky poster will win both cards!!!

Now hop on over to {Kim's blog}! She is sure to inspire you with her incredible artwork!

Quick Christmas Tags

I'll take a break from Studio J for the day, and share a quick Christmas Tag idea with you.  These little gift tags are adorning all of our packages this year.  They are super fast to make, and very cute!

I used a 2 3/4 circle punch and the Holiday Trinkets stamp set, and several different combinations of inks for ornaments.  You could write who the gifts are for on the front, or on the back.  Here are some ideas for ink colors you could use.  Stamp the ornament in the lighter color, and the design in the darker color.

Crystal Blue/Moonstruck
Blush/Tulip (or Cranberry)
Creme Brulee/Goldrush
Sweet Leaf/Topiary
I used Grey Wool for the ornament bow/wire

Or use a first and second generation inking technique and get the same look using just one ink pad.  To do this, ink your ornament solid stamp in the desired color.  Stamp off once on scratch paper, and then immediately stamp again on your project paper (this is called second generation).  Ink the decoration in the same color and stamp without stamping on to scratch paper (this is first generation).  This technique works best with colors that are dark, such as Hollyhock, Cranberry, Olive, Moonstruck, Autumn Terracotta, etc.

Fairy Anya

I watched a fun tutorial the other day on shading hair like the pros using copic markers.  I'm not even CLOSE to that, but I had fun practicing the techniques from the video on this Fairy Anya.

I also used some new papers from the Spring 2010 CTMH Idea Book called Veranda.  I absolutely *LOVE* this paper pack.  I've already gone through a full pack and the new book doesn't even come out until January 1.  Just one more reason it's awesome being a consultant!

The "have a fairy happy birthday" stamp is from Stamping Bella and is one of their sentiments.

Online Clearance Sale with CTMH - 50-80% savings!!!

Starting TODAY at 8 am (Pacific), you can purchase some amazing scrapbooking and stamping products from CTMH at a huge discount - everything is 50-80% off!  Not only that, but CTMH has set up super savings on shipping for these orders as well.

To purchase, go to my website:

  www.nonapearl.myctmh.com

and follow the links on the shopping page.  You can also use the item numbers from the list below and input them into the "quick add" box.  This will speed up your shopping significantly.  Remember that items are while supplies last only - so don't delay!

Note: Customers are restricted to 5 of each item, allowing as many people as possible to take advantage of the huge savings.  This will also provide a better shopping experience for everyone, as items will not sell out in the first few minutes of the sale.

Here is a list of everything that will be available:


CC1008 Grab Bag $30.00 (includes over $100 in product!)
Z9990 Key to My Heart Paper Pack $5.00
Z9991 Just Because Card Base $2.00
Z9992 Life Delights Pack $4.00
Z9993 Promise of Spring Pack $5.00
Z9994 Magic Moments Pack $10.00

Z464 Sassy Strands® Summer Carnival Collection $1.00
Z400 Sassy Strands® White Daisy Collection $1.00
Z467 Sassy Strands® Spring Blossom Collection $1.00
Z401 Sassy Strands® Autumn Harvest Collection $1.00
Z402 Sassy Strands® Winter Classic Collection $1.00
Z463 Sassy Strands® Spring Harmony Collection $1.00
Z466 Sassy Strands® Autumn Garden Collection $1.00
Z465 Sassy Strands® Winter Cozy Collection $1.00
Z468 Sassy Strands® Summer Celebration Collection $1.00

Z1108 Chocolate Brads $3.00
1759 Silver Brads $3.00
Z1105 White Daisy Brads $3.00
Z1107 Black Brads $3.00
Z1111 Brads Summer Carnival Assortment $3.00
Z1137 Brads Spring Harmony Assortment $3.00
Z297 Bigger Brads Autumn Harvest Assortment $7.00
Z298 Bigger Brads Winter Classic Assortment $7.00
Z1051 Bitty Brads $3.00

Z288 My Accents® Topiary Accessories $6.00
Z285 My Accents® Garden Green Accessories $6.00
Z286 My Accents® Outdoor Denim Accessories $6.00
Z284 My Accents® Cranberry Accessories $6.00
Z290 My Accents® Autumn Terracotta Accessories $6.00
Z196 My Accents® Baby Pink Accessories $6.00

Z1015 Clear Inspirations Believe Ribbon Slides $1.00
Z1013 Clear Inspirations Precious Ribbon Slides $1.00

Z1133 3/8" White Daisy Ricrac Ribbon (bulk) $4.00
Z803 Organdy Ribbon Rounds™ Spring Blossom Collection $4.00
Z807 Organdy Ribbon Rounds™ Autumn Garden Collection $4.00
Z802 Organdy Ribbon Rounds™ Spring Harmony Collection $4.00
Z808 Organdy Ribbon Rounds™ Winter Classic Collection $4.00
Z804 Organdy Ribbon Rounds™ Summer Carnival Collection $4.00
Z805 Organdy Ribbon Rounds™ Summer Celebration Coll. $4.00
Z1301 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Chocolate Collection $4.00
Z823 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Autumn Terracotta Coll. $4.00
Z1306 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Heartfelt Collection $4.00
Z1305 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Holiday Collection $4.00
Z816 Ribbon Rounds™ White Daisy Collection $4.00
Z814 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Cocoa Collection $4.00
Z812 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Hollyhock Collection $4.00
Z1303 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Outdoor Denim Collection $4.00
Z815 Designer Ribbon Rounds™ Twilight Collection $4.00

Z331 Eyelet Mat $2.00
Z169 Black Eyelets $2.00
Z159 Buttercup Eyelets $2.00
Z136 Heavenly Blue Eyelets $2.00
Z171 Pewter Eyelets $2.00
Z149 Garden Green Eyelets $2.00
Z165 New England Ivy Eyelets $2.00
Z153 Indian Corn Blue Eyelets $2.00
Z150 Autumn Terracotta Eyelets $2.00
Z179 Chocolate Eyelets $2.00

Z1012 Braggin’ Tags™ Mini Album $3.00
Z1017 My Creations™ Circle Album $3.00

1776 1/8" Long Reach Punch $7.00
1762 Write ‘n’ Rub™ Pen $6.00
X1401 StickStock® Linen $6.00
X1400 StickStock® Twill $6.00
Z820 Window Charms™ Squares $5.00
Z922 Pastel Coloring Pencils $4.00
Z920 Earth Coloring Pencils $4.00
X8701 Floral Impressions Embossed Photo Mats $4.00
Z1044 Dimensional Elements Basic Shapes $3.00
Z4128 Foundry® Frames $3.00
Z1134 Holiday Fabric Tags $3.00
Z309 Sculpting™ Foam $2.00
Z657 Vineyard Berry Embossing Powder $2.00
Z1010 Colored Staples $2.00
X277 5" x 5 1/2" Clear Cello Envelopes $2.00
4109 6" x 6" Matte Memory Protectors® (15) $2.00
X143 Door Hangers with Pouch (10) $1.00

X8519 My Child's Reflections™ All About My Family $4.00

X5802 Creative Basics® Everlasting Collection $5.00
X5803 Creative Basics® Silhouette Collection $5.00
X5804 Creative Basics® Boom-Di-Ada Collection $5.00

X7045A My Reflections® Vintage Travel Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7045C My Reflections® Vintage Travel My Stickease® $4.00
X7056A My Reflections® Discovery Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7060A My Reflections® Heirloom Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7060B My Reflections® Heirloom Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7061A My Reflections® Floral Impressions Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7061B My Reflections® Floral Impressions Lev.2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7061C My Reflections® Floral Impressions My Stickease® $4.00
X7062A My Reflections® Laid Back Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7069A My Reflections® Just Chillin' Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7069C My Reflections® Just Chillin' My Stickease® $4.00
X7071A My Reflections® Best Friends Forever Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7072A My Reflections® School Zone Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7072B My Reflections® School Zone Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7072C My Reflections® School Zone Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7073A My Reflections® Abundance Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7073B My Reflections® Abundance Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7073C My Reflections® Abundance Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7076A My Reflections® Sonata Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7076C My Reflections® Sonata Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7077C My Reflections® Sweet Harmony My Stickease® $4.00
X7078A My Reflections® Cutie Pie Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7078C My Reflections® Cutie Pie Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7079A My Reflections® Rough n Tumble Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7079B My Reflections® Rough 'N Tumble Lev. 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7079C My Reflections® Rough 'N Tumble My Stickease® $4.00
X7080A My Reflections® Route 66 Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7080C My Reflections® Route 66 Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7082A My Reflections® Expedition Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7082C My Reflections® Expedition Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7083A My Reflections® Let's Get Together Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7084A My Reflections® Floral Tapestry Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7085A My Reflections® Everlasting Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7085B My Reflections® Everlasting Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7085C My Reflections® Everlasting Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7086A My Reflections® Caprice Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7086B My Reflections® Caprice Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7086C My Reflections® Caprice Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7087A My Reflections® Enchanted Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7087B My Reflections® Enchanted Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7087C My Reflections® Enchanted Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7088A My Reflections® Free Spirit Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7088B My Reflections® Free Spirit Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7088C My Reflections® Free Spirit Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7089A My Reflections® Life Delights Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7089C My Reflections® Life Delights Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7093A My Reflections® Sweet Pea Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7093B My Reflections® Sweet Pea Level 2 Paper Packet $6.50
X7093C My Reflections® Sweet Pea Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7094A My Reflections® Paper Garden Level 1 Kit $5.00
X7094C My Reflections® Paper Garden Level 2 My Stickease® $4.00
X7099A My Reflections® Whoops-A-Daisy Level 1 Kit $5.00


X8524 Simply Snapshots® Rough 'N Tumble Album Pages $4.00
X8525 Simply Snapshots® Lets Get Together Album Pages $4.00
X8526 Simply Snapshots® Floral Tapestry Album Pages $4.00
X8528 Simply Snapshots® Everlasting Album Pages $4.00
X8529 Simply Snapshots® Silhouette Album Pages $4.00
X8530 Simply Snapshots® Sweet Pea Album Pages $4.00
X8531 Simply Snapshots® Boom-Di-Ada Album Pages $4.00
X8532 Simply Snapshots® Perfect Day Album Pages $4.00

X8608 My Originals® Groovy Blossoms Card Kit $6.50
X8611 My Originals® Pretty Purses Card Kit $6.50
X8613 My Originals® Peaceful Season Card Kit $6.50
X8614 My Originals® Holiday Photo Greetings Card Kit $6.50
X8615 My Originals® From The Heart Card Kit $6.50
X8617 My Originals® Holiday Wishes Card Kit $6.50
X8620 My Originals® Merry & Bright Card Kit $6.50

Stamp Sets
A1084 My Acrylix® Sweet Flowers (Set Of 6) $2.00
A1092 My Acrylix® Simple Invites (Set Of 16) $2.00
A1093 My Acrylix® Genuine Fun (Set Of 4) $2.00
B1071 My Acrylix® Playful Numbers (Set Of 20) $4.00
B1167 My Acrylix® Thinking Of You (Set Of 6) $4.00
B1182 My Acrylix® Let It Snow (Set Of 6) $4.00
B1215 My Acrylix® Life Is (Set Of 16) $4.00
B1258 My Acrylix® Merry Little Christmas (Set Of 7) $4.00
B1260 My Acrylix® Let Us Adore Him (Set Of 5) $4.00
B1262 My Acrylix® Celebration Labels (Set Of 34) $4.00
B1277 My Acrylix® Hello Friend (Set Of 13) $4.00
C1079 My Acrylix® Playful Lowercase (Set Of 52) $6.00
C1198 My Acrylix® Let's Play Ball (Set Of 8) $6.00
C1209 My Acrylix® Christmas Scripts (Set Of 13 $6.00
C1221 My Acrylix® Choo Choo Train (Set Of 8) $6.00
C1222 My Acrylix® Seasonal Thoughts (Set Of 39) $6.00
C1226 My Acrylix® Floral Charms (Set Of 12) $6.00
C1227 My Acrylix® Our Wedding Day (Set Of 13) $6.00
C1244 My Acrylix® Glistening Snow (Set Of 11) $6.00
C1245 My Acrylix® O Christmas Tree (Set Of 26) $6.00
C1252 My Acrylix® Abundance Borders (Set Of 4) $6.00
D1013 My Acrylix® Playful Caps (Set Of 57) $8.00
D1111 My Acrylix® Card Sentiments (Set Of 10) $8.00
D1115 My Acrylix® Princess (Set Of 17) $8.00
D1211 My Acrylix® First Class (Set Of 10) $8.00
D1126 My Acrylix® Precious Alphabet (Set Of 52) $8.00
D1140 My Acrylix® Miracle (Set Of 9) $8.00
D1146 My Acrylix® Back To Nature (Set Of 7) $8.00
D1152 My Acrylix® Follow Your Dreams (Set Of 15) $8.00
D1153 My Acrylix® Because Of You (Set Of 16) $8.00
D1165 My Acrylix® Bundled Up (Set Of 10) $8.00
D1175 My Acrylix® Steep And Deep (Set Of 12) $8.00
D1176 My Acrylix® Youthful Heart (Set Of 13) $8.00
D1179 My Acrylix® Festive Thoughts (Set Of 14) $8.00
D1086 My Acrylix® Birthday Bash (Set Of 16) $8.00
D1197 My Acrylix® My One & Only (Set Of 11) $8.00

Halloween

What a whirlwind weekend!  I had a fantastic time at the Close To My Heart Regional Celebrations.  We made some incredible artwork (4 scrapbook pages, 6 cards, a covered notebook, and a "Joyful" Christmas Banner to be exact), attended informative and fun classes, and even got another sneak peek at Studio J!  It's coming soon and I can't wait to share it with the world.  :)

I'm still working furiously to get ready for my craft fairs, so posting may be light for a few weeks.  However, I did have to share some Halloween photos.  These are my two princesses - Snow White and Tinkerbelle.  Our church does a great Harvest party every year, and this year was no exception.  They went all out and included Nacho Libre wrestling (Sammie was too overwhelmed to go near that one!  Boys that have been wrestling are sweaty and stinky after all).  They also had a princess pavilion and she got her photo taken with all the princesses.  The costumes were awesome, and the little girls got to make fancy crowns and get their nails painted after their photo op.  :)  So cute!

Beerafella and birthday wishes

My step-dad's birthday is on Saturday, but we celebrated with him over Easter because we didn't know where we'd be this weekend with the adoption. We had a YUMMY chicken fajita dinner and an amazing chocolate cake that mom whipped up from scratch.

This was the card I made for Rick. I finally got to use one of my "fellas" from http://www.stampingbella.com/. It's beerafella - doesn't he look just like Dave?! The sentiment is from a frog themed stamp set from SU! but it just seemed appropriate. I also used the SU! watercolor crayons to color him in. Everything else is CTMH (colors are Moonstruck, Topiary, Heavenly Blue, and Goldrush - the same colors as my Humble Artist swap card below).

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY RICK!!! We love you!

SWEEEET!

Guess what the man in brown brought me today? Yippee! I showed Samantha and the first word out of her mouth was a loud, emphatic "SWEEEEET!" Glad to know she's being raised right. Now I'm just waiting for my Bellas to arrive.

So with all this great new stuff, I guess I'm going to have to actually do some crafting. My hope was to post a card or layout everyday, but our schedule has been so full lately I've had zero time to do any personal projects. These are the cards for February's card class. 9 ladies came to yesterday's class (yahoo!), and I'm teaching them again tonight and tomorrow. All products are CTMH. For a complete supply list of each one you can visit my art gallery and click on "2008 card club".