Cricut You Are Here Collection Blog Hop

Welcome to the Cricut You Are Here Collection Blog Hop!

If you came from visiting Brandi Robinson, 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. 

This hop features inspiring projects created using the newly released You Are Here Cricut Collection.  I absolutely LOVE this new collection!  While on the surface, it looks like a travel-themed collection (which it definitely is!), there are lots and lots of great images and titles that can be used for so much more than just travel-themed projects.  Think holidays, school, sports, weddings, everyday life, etc. etc.  AND as always the cartridge includes a great font.  If you have not checked out this new collection, what are you waiting for??  You will LOVE it!!

In the spirit of thinking outside the box and beyond the intended theme of the collection, I chose to make a Christmas layout with the fun holiday images from pages 22 and 23 of the handbook.  (To view the complete You Are Here handbook, click here.)  I also used a great sketch from Splitcoast Stampers.  I love these sketches because they give dimensions for each of the paper layers.

Supplies used:

*You Are Here Cricut Collection
*Beary Christmas paper packet
*Beary Christmas Picture My Life cards
*12" × 12" Cranberry cardstock
*12" × 12" Fern cardstock
*12" × 12" Glacier cardstock
*12" × 12" New England Ivy cardstock
*12" × 12" White Daisy cardstock
*Enchantment ribbon pack
*Beary Christmas dots
*Silver shimmer trim
*Marvy Uchida LePen journaling pen

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 Cricut You Are Here Collection Blog Hop!  Next up on the hop is Jean McNulty. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more inspiration.

Until next time, design with {heart}!

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop -- A Little Bit of Pun

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

If you came from visiting Krista Hershberger, 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 S1712 A Little Bit of Pun  (pictured below).  This set is only available until December 31st and is only $5 with a $50 Close to My Heart purchase.

For today's project, I combined the trendy mermaid stamp from this set with the fun papers in the Bats & Cats paper packet.  I love how the Emerald color makes the mermaid tail look like Ariel's tail from The Little Mermaid.  To color the tail, I used my Emerald ink pad along with my small water brush.  By squeezing the top and bottom of the closed ink pad case, you can transfer ink from the actual ink pad to the inside of the lid -- giving you a perfect painting palette.  If you have never tried this quick & easy watercolor technique, you really should.  It's one of my favorites!

The card pattern comes from the free Basics Fundamental 64 Card Workshop Pattern CTMH shared on its blog a few weeks ago.  This great workshop shows you how to cut 22 out of 24 sheets in any of the Fundamentals paper packets to create the layering pieces for 64(!) cards.  The card patterns are so versatile, you can easily use them with other paper collections to create quick & simple cards like the one I have below.  To view the blog post and download your FREE copy of the workshop, click here.

Supplies used:

*A Little Bit of Pun stamp set (December SOTM)
*Cats & Bats paper packet
*12" x 12" White Daisy cardstock
*Silver foil paper
*5 1/2" X 4 1/4" white cards & envelopes, value pack
*Archival Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Emerald Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Waterbrush -- small round
*Clear sparkles
*Bitty sparkles

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 December Blog Hop!  Next up on the hop is Alyson Mayo. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more inspiration.

Until next time, design with {heart}!