Stamp of the Month Blog Hop -- June: Ice Cream Dream

 Welcome to the June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

If you came from visiting Sarah Stone at Sarah Stone Creations, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon my little corner of the blog world, simply start here and continue hopping until you return here -- our fun hop is one big loop for your viewing pleasure. 

The month's featured stamp set is S1506 Ice Cream Dream (pictured below).  This set is only available until June 30th and is only $5 with a $50 Close to My Heart purchase.

For today's layout, I used a sketch I found online.  I love using sketches as a starting point for my layouts.  Sometimes I follow them exactly, but most times, I add my own creative spin.  I tried really hard to follow this one as close as I could, but after struggling with those top three hanging embellishments, I gave up and switched to the banner.  I am proud of myself on this one -- I was able to use all but one of the stamps in this month's set.  I love that cute little puppy, but he just didn't fit this time.

 And now for my interpretation...

Several close-ups...

{Click on any one to enlarge the picture}

Supplies used:

*Ice Cream Dream stamp set (Stamp of the Month -- June 2015)
*Paper Fundamentals Adventure assortment
*Lagoon cardstock
*Pear cardstock
*Sunset cardstock
*White Daisy cardstock
*Lagoon Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Pear Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Slate Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Smoothie Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Sunset Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Oceanside Sequins assortment
*Blending Pen (for coloring using my stamp pads)

*White Rockabye Thickers

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Thank you for visiting me at JD Designs and for hopping with us on the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month Ice Cream Dream Blog Hop!   Next up on the hop is Lilian Forsyth. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more Ice Cream Dream inspiration.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Berry Sweet with Taste of Summer (LAST DAY!!)

LAST DAY!!

Time is running out to order the exclusive Taste of Summer pack packet and bonus stamp set.  These delicious items are only available through the end of the day, and then they will be gone forever.  While the yummy front side of each paper design is perfect for Summer festivities such as picnics, fruit picking, festivals, and more(!), remember the back side features a solid color with a light tone-on-tone fundamental print that is great for everyday crafting!

Purchase this fun paper packet from me and I will e-mail you an exclusive workshop on the go guide to help you create either 2 fabulous scrapbook layouts or a yummy set of cards.  I used a bonus WOTG guide to create the layout below.

Supplies used:

*Taste of Summer paper packet
*Documenting Moments Stamp Set
*You are My Happy stamp set (retired)
*Washi Wonders stamp set (retired)
*Choose Happy stamp set (retired)
*Black cardstock
*White Daisy cardstock
*Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Hollyhock Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Silver Sequins Assortment
*Artiste Cricut Collection

*Open Scallop border punch
*Simply Charmed Cricut cartridge

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Orange You Sweet -- Taste of Summer

Time is running out to order the exclusive Taste of Summer pack packet and bonus stamp set.  These delicious items are only available through May 31st, and then they will be gone forever.  While the yummy front side of each paper design is perfect for Summer festivities such as picnics, fruit picking, festivals, and more(!), remember the back side features a solid color with a light tone-on-tone fundamental print that is great for everyday crafting!

Purchase this fun paper packet from me and I will e-mail you an exclusive workshop on the go guide to help you create either 2 fabulous scrapbook layouts or a yummy set of cards.  I used a bonus WOTG guide to create the layout below.

Supplies used:

*Taste of Summer paper packet
*Hopscotch Stamp Set
*Glacier cardstock
*White Daisy cardstock
*Slate cardstock
*Sunset Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Black StazOn™ ink pad
*White Daisy cardstock
*Silver Sequins assortment
*Slate diagonal ribbon
*1 inch circle punch
*Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ journaling pen
*Blending pen (use with Sunset ink to color title)
*Sponge

*Amy Tangerine Thickers -- Muse
*ek Success Bumpy Road edge punch
*3/4 inch circle punch
*1 inch clear epoxy stickers

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Life is Grand with Taste of Summer

Time is running out to order the exclusive Taste of Summer pack packet and bonus stamp set.  These delicious items are only available through May 31st, and then they will be gone forever.  While the yummy front side of each paper design is perfect for Summer festivities such as picnics, fruit picking, festivals, and more(!), remember the back side features a solid color with a light tone-on-tone fundamental print that is great for everyday crafting!

Purchase this fun paper packet from me and I will e-mail you an exclusive workshop on the go guide to help you create either 2 fabulous scrapbook layouts or a yummy set of cards.  I used the WOTG guide to create the layout below.

 

Supplies used:

*Taste of Summer paper packet
*Documenting Moments Stamp Set
*Black cardstock
*Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*White Daisy cardstock
*Silver Sequins Assortment
*White Shimmer Trim

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

National Papercrafting Month Flashback Friday

I know it's technically National Scrapbooking Month and you've been hearing lots about the CTMH exclusive Taste of Summer paper packet, but while working in my studio this week, I decided to use up some scraps I had laying around from the Year>>Noted paper packet offered earlier this year during National Papercrafting Month.

Although the Year>>Noted paper packet may be retired, these simple, fun layouts can be recreated with any of our fabulous Close to my Heart paper collections.

Supplies used:

*Year>>Noted paper packet (retired)

*Happy Everything stamp set (Operation Smile set)

*Wish stamp set

*Kraft cardstock

*White Daisy cardstock

*Gypsy Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Desert Sand Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Sorbet Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Glacier Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Glacier extra thick baker's twine

*Gold Shimmer Trim

*Gold Sequins Assortment

*Gold foil Year>>Noted stickers (retired)

*Scallop embossing folder

*Art Philosophy Cricut Collection

*Medium Shipping Tag (from SpiegelMom Scraps)

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Just So Blessed

Over the weekend, I challenged myself to make a layout using only the backside of all the Taste of Summer B&T papers.  As yummy and pretty as the fruity side of this paper pack is, I wanted to show that even if you weren't a fan of the main fruit patterns, the back side of each paper features a fun fundamental pattern that can be used for so many things... like this bright cheery layout below!

ENJOY!!

Supplies used:

*Taste of Summer paper packet
*Happiness Lives Here stamp set (retired)
*Black cardstock
*Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*White Daisy cardstock
*Black & Grey Epoxy Bubbles
*Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen
*Artbooking Cricut Collection

I bought two of these fabulous paper packs.  I'm thinking I'll keep the second one just to use for the back sides of the B&T papers.  They are so fun!!!

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

A New Baby!

In April, my cousin announced that she and her husband are expecting their first little one.  I am so excited for them and cannot wait to meet the newest addition to our ever-expanding family.

Upon hearing the news and congratulating her (both on Facebook, of course!), I wanted to send her a card letting her know we are thinking of them.  In today's world of technology and sometimes impersonal communication, I find it more important than ever to keep up the tradition of physical cards and letters -- keepsakes that can be held onto for generations to come.

My Mom's side of the family has a {seemingly unhealthy} attachment to elephants -- mainly white elephants.  My maternal great-grandparents own a tavern in Wisconsin called the White Elephant.  The house/tavern still stand today; although it is now a biker bar called the Hogs Nest Saloon.  Once every five years, we make the journey back to our roots and reunite as a family at the former White Elephant.  But I digress... 

Back to the card... I reached into my stash for most of the items used on this card (the cardstock, ribbon, punches, elephant stamp), but did pull out a stamp of the month set from last November for this sweet greeting.

Supplies used:
*It's the Little Things stamp set (Retired SOTM)
*Slate Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Bitty Sparkles clear

*Punches from my stash

*Recollections cardstock from my stash
*Ribbon from my stash

To order any of our fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

National Scrapbooking Month Blog Hop

 Welcome to the Close to My Heart National Scrapbook Month Blog Hop!

If you came from visiting Judy Faye Garner at Judy Faye's Place, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon my little corner of the blog world, simply start here and continue hopping until you return here -- our fun hop is one big loop for your viewing pleasure. 

The month's featured constant campaign features the exclusive Taste of Summer paper pack.  This paper is only available until May 31st and is only $8.95 with any Close to My Heart purchase.

For today's card, I scrap-lifted an idea from Page 16 of the CTMH Seasonal Expressions 2.  I simply fell in love with the simplicity and power of this layout when I saw it in the most recent mini idea book.

Supplies used:

*Taste of Summer paper packet
*Hopscotch Alphabet stamp set
*Black cardstock
*White Daisy cardstock
*Black & Grey Epoxy Bubbles
*White Shimmer Trim
*Thistle Extra Thick Bakers Twine
*Mini Stapler

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Thank you for visiting me at JD Designs and for hopping with us on the Close to My Heart National Scrapbook Month Blog Hop!   Next up on the hop is Lauren Moore. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more Taste of Summer inspiration.

Until next time, happy crafting!

SpiegelMom Scraps & Southern Girls Combined Bloghop

 Welcome to the SpiegelMom Scraps & Southern Girls Combined Bloghop!

If you came from visiting Laura at Beads, Buttons, & Birds, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon my little corner of the blog world, be sure to hop over to the SpiegelMom Scraps blog for the full line-up. 

For today's layout, I scrap-lifted a layout from the Close to my Heart blog.  The artwork designed by the CTMH team is simply too beautiful not to recreate!

Supplies used:

*Blossom Paper Packet
*Blossom Complements
*Coral Reef Sequins

(Yes, that's it! Our paper packs and coordinating compliments make it super easy to create beautiful layouts without any stamping or many supplies.)

To order any of these (and more!) fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.  I am offering FREE SHIPPING (US only) this weekend in honor of National Scrapbooking Day - simply place an order in my online store using the FedEx SmartPost shipping option, and I will refund your shipping via PayPal.  In addition, for every $50 spent in my store, you will be entered into a drawing to win the Hostess Rewards earned from all National Scrapbooking Day sales.

Also, be sure to head over and check out the SpiegelMom Scraps Etsy shop.  Jody has been kind enough to offer a special discount code for anyone who shops with her today -- simply enter NSD15 at checkout to receive 15% off your order.

Thank you for visiting me at JD Designs and for celebrating with us on the SpiegelMom Scraps & Southern Girls Combined Bloghop!   Next up on the hop is Rachelle. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more scrapbook inspiration.

Until next time, happy crafting!

SpiegelMom Scraps National Scrapbook Day Card Sketch Challenge

In honor of National Scrapbooking Day, my friend Jody over at SpiegelMom Scraps is sponsoring a fun weekend full of challenges and a blog hop.  I have donated a great Close to my Heart prize set and will be participating in the challenges today and the hop tomorrow.

For today's 8 PM CST Card Sketch Challenge, Jody shared two sketches.  I loved them and decided to work with both of them.

Here's my take on the sketches...

Supplies used:

CARD #1

*Confetti Wishes Paper Packet
*Pacifica Cardstock

*White Daisy Cardstock

*Tagged with Love Hostess Exclusive stamp set

*Pear Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Pacifica Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Gold Sequins Assortment

*Thistle Extra-Thick Bakers Twine

*Art Philosophy Cricut Collection

CARD #2

*Taste of Summer Paper Packet

*White Daisy Cardstock

*Finding the Words stamp set

*Canary Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Thistle Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Coral Reef Sequins Assortment

*Bitty Sparkles

To order any of our fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

I hope you'll take the time to visit SpiegelMom Scraps on Facebook and participate in the National Scrapbook Day challenges.  Join us tomorrow for the SpiegelMom Scraps & Southern Girls Combined Blog Hop.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Close to my Heart Making Connections event

On Friday, April 17th, I had the opportunity to attend a regional Close to my Heart event in Livonia, Michigan with over one hundred of my fellow CTMH consultants.  The night started with a presentation by CTMH's Chief Operating Officer, Brian Holman.  Brian spoke about happiness and how happiness leads to success, not the other way around.  It was a great presentation.  After Brian's talk, we gathered for a group photo (below) and then began my favorite part of the evening, the creative session!

Our group with CTMH C.O.O., Brian Holman.

Before I show you the projects we made during the creative session, I want to share with you another highlight of the night.  As many of you know, Close to My Heart actively support Operation Smile -- an organization that provides free surgeries to repair cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities for children around the globe.  So as part of the Making Connections events, Close to my Heart designed and sold an exclusive a limited edition Base & Bling style sheet with all proceeds going to Operation Smile.  The Livonia group raised enough money to support 4 Operation Smile surgeries ($240 / surgery)!  And if that wasn't enough, several consultants donated various CTMH works of art which were auctioned off and raised enough for almost 6 surgeries -- bringing the grand total to nearly 10 life-changing Operation Smile surgeries.    I am so proud of not only our group, but all of the CTMH family who continue to support Operation Smile.  If you'd like to join in the effort, please contact me for more information.

Now onto the artwork... the creative session was designed to help us think outside of the box.  We were given one of the newest additions to the CTMH My Crush Line -- the My Crush for Her book and instructions on how to create two beautiful 2-pages layouts using 1 book plus some basic supplies and also a 6 card set from another book plus basic supplies.  I'll admit I may have shed a tear when I deconstruction the first book, but the final projects were SO WORTH it!!

My Crush for Her book

Here are the layouts...

Layout #1

We used one of the photo sleeves as a flip flap
and inserted one of the vellum pages.

Layout #2

And now the cards...

 

If you would like to try these layouts or cards yourself, please contact me today.  I have a supplies list available and would be happy to share the instructions with you if you purchase the supplies from my online store at jddesigns.ctmh.com.  Or if you are local to me in Grand Rapids, why not gather a group of your friends and host a craft night/afternoon?  I will order all the supplies in advance and bring them with me on the day of the event.

As always, to order any of Close to my Heart's fabulous products, please visit my online store at jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

SpiegelMom Scraps National Scrapbook Day Sketch Challenge

In honor of National Scrapbooking Day, my friend Jody over at SpiegelMom Scraps is sponsoring a fun weekend full of challenges and a blog hop.  I have donated a great Close to my Heart prize set and will be participating in the challenges today and the hop tomorrow.

For today's 8 AM CST Sketch Challenge, Jody shared a one-page sketch created by Kat, a member of the SpiegelMom Scraps Design Team.

When I saw this sketch, it just screamed Picture My Life cards to me.  So I grabbed 3 cards from the For Always PML collection and a picture of my sweet boy and got busy scrapping.  For those of you who know me or follow my work, you know I don't usually do single page layouts and I haven't gotten into the trend of only using 1 photo on a page.  So this layout was definitely a challenge for me.  I had to walk away from it a few times, but in the end, I love how it turned out.

Supplies used:

*For Always Picture My Life Collection
*Snowhaven Paper Packet
*Glacier Cardstock

*Lagoon Cardstock
*White Daisy Cardstock
*Glacier Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Artiste Cricut Collection
*Corner Rounder
*Paisley Cricut cartridge (non-CTMH)
*White Wedding Sequin Mix (SpiegelMom Scrap Shop)
*American Crafts Roller Date stamp

To order any of our fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

I hope you'll take the time to visit SpiegelMom Scraps on Facebook and participate in the National Scrapbook Day challenges.

Until next time, happy crafting!

National Scrapbooking Day Giveaway & Specials

Happy National Scrapbooking Day, crafters!!

I get almost as excited for today as I do for Christmas.

Today is the day the crafting world celebrates our efforts to preserve our memories for years and generations to come.  What an awesome scrapbooking world we live in today!  From traditional paper scrapping to digital scrapbooking, now we have pocket scrapbooking, Smash books (or My Crush in the CTMH world), and most recently, day planner scrapbooking.  How lucky are we to have so many options for preserving our memories??

In honor of the day, I am offering FREE shipping on all orders placed via my online store at jddesigns.ctmh.com AND as an added bonus, I will send a FREE gift to anyone who places an order of $100 dollars or more.  Simply place an order on my online store, select the FedEx SmartPost shipping option, and when I see the order come through, I will contact you to refund your shipping cost via PayPal.

In addition, every $50 you spend in my online store this weekend (before 11:59 PM EST on Sunday) will earn you an entry into my National Scrapbooking Day giveaway for ALL the Hostess Rewards earned from all National Scrapbooking Day sales.

  

Also, Close to my Heart is joining in the National Scrapbooking Month celebration.  Be sure to check out the Taste of Summer paper pack and bonus Taste of Summer stamp set only available in May (while supplies last).  I am loving this collection and trust me, you will, too!  Here are some fun & fabulous projects created with Taste of Summer.

 

Now for a giveaway!

Enter below to win the Doodled Designs stamp set -- perfect for adding fun embellishments to your scrapbook projects.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As always, to order any of Close to my Heart's fabulous products, please visit my online store at jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

May Close to my Heart Specials

National Scrapbooking Month Taste of Summer Constant Campaign

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month during the month of May with our exclusive mouthwatering Taste of Summer paper packet, available for only $8.95!  Plus, as a special bonus, during the month of May, you can also purchase the exclusive Taste of Summer bonus D-size stamp set for $17.95.

* * * * *

May Stamp of the Month

Only $5 with a $50 purchase

To order these or any of the other fabulous CTMH products, please visit my online store at jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!