January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Happy New Year! 

Welcome to the January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  The stamp set featured this month is D1452 Find Your Style.  This month we have almost 60 wonderful consultants participating and showing off their creations!

If you have come from Paige's Blog then you are on the right track.  

If you get lost along the way Helen at Hooked on Stamping has a complete list of all the participants this month. 

Instead of doing a card or a layout for this month, I decided to try my hand at some home decor.  I used several new techniques on this project.  First off, I was inspired by Helen Onulak to create this cute little wall hanging and the December episode of Art & Soul taught me the technique I used to create the marbleized background paper.  I used CTMH's new Spray pen to create the splatters on the passage.  I had a lot of fun creating this project so enjoy!  Feel free to contact me for more details on how I made this project.

Products used (all CTMH):
D1452 Find Your Style stamp
My Creations All Sorts Mini Album
Wings Level 2 paper pack
Wings Level 2 Assortment - ribbon
Black Mini Medley
Spray Pen
Liquid Glass
Inks in: Vineyard Berry, Juniper, Sweet Leaf, Sorbet, Black
Vineyard Berry Reinker
Create a Shade Pearl Paint

Now "Hop" on over to Corinna's Blog to see her work!  

Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, the January SOTM is only available until January 31st!  Contact me (GrigsterN at yahoo.com) or click here to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

Holiday Wishes to all and H2H challenge!

Hello all, just wanted to stop in to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and post a few of the cards I made this year...maybe you got one!  The Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog this "season" has a challenge to post your favorite Christmas card.  Well, I made something like 60 cards and I don't know if I really have just one favorite so I will post a few here that I like the best.  I also will include the Hanukkah card I made for my boss!

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!!

Materials:
Mistletoe Level 2 paper pack, Magnifique Level 2 paper pack
Mistletoe Creative Basics
Inks: Cranberry, New England Ivy, Garden Green, Cocoa, Bamboo, Sky, Pacifica
Stamps: A Timber, Share the Magic, I Believe, Tag the Occassion, Holiday Juiblee
Watercolor pencils, and Glitz Glitterglue

MyCTMH discounted products!

Just got word that Close to my Heart is offering some deeply discounted products for sale through consultant websites so I went to check it out.  WOW!  There are some great products that are reduced up to 90%!  Some items are just $1.50!  Hurry and get shopping because deals like this are sure to disappear fast!  Oh, and check back often because new items may pop up.  These items are all while supplies last.  And don't forget, this applies to the plenty for Twenty sale too, so stock up on greatly reduced embellishments and more, spend $20 and get a stamp set worth $22.95 FREE!  How do you beat that!?!?

Head on over to my website to start shopping!

Holiday Festivities!

Many of you know already that ScrapThat2! at the Burlington Center Mall is having their huge, annual Holiday Crop this Saturday.  I thought that since I gave a teaser of my make and take projects in my email newsletter that it might be nice of me to show you some pictures now that the samples are done.  As I mentioned in the email, if you know you are attending this crop and want to reserve your kit, by all means, email me or post here!  There will be about 150 croppers there and these are sure to go fast!

Make and Take #1: Mistletoe 6" x 6" accordion album  $10   Makes a great gift!!  A huge thank you to Helen Onulak for sharing this pattern with me and letting me use it to share with everyone!

Make and Take #2  Magnifique Flip Flaps Layout   $15  Many of you have been asking for this!!

All pages closed:

Left page opened up:

Right page opened up:

Make and Take #3 Mistletoe 2 page layout  $5   The usual deal themed for the holidays!

Picture coming soon!  (I forgot to take pics of this one to post it)

Reminder:  Plenty for Twenty is still going strong!  If you place a $20 order on my website by December 31st, you will receive a surprise D-size stamp set for free (a $22.95 value)! And maybe even a Sticky Boy!!   If you want your order to ship in time for Christmas, make sure to order by Dec 13th.

If you want to receive email newsletters from me, just post here with your email or email me at GrigsterN at Yahoo.com.

Happy Crafting Holidays!

Plenty for Twenty in December!

Wow, tomorrow is December 1st already!  November sure did fly by!  The holidays are just around the corner, are you ready?  Close to my Heart has a great deal to take advantage of for the month of December that should help with some holiday shopping -

Plenty for Twenty - Spend $20 or more in December and receive a FREE D-size stamp set!

PLACE AN ORDER OF $20 OR MORE* ON my CTMH website from December 1–31, 2010, and we’ll reward you with a popular, retired D-size stamp set for FREE!  Talk about getting more for your money - the free stamp set is valued at $22.95! We’re sure you’ll be thrilled with the set we pick out for you. We’re also giving you FREE shipping/handling and tax on your free stamp set. That’s a lot of Plenty for your $20.  Visit My CTMH website and making a qualifying purchase today!

*Excluding tax and shipping/handing. Qualifying purchases must include shippable products (Studio J® layout purchases excluded, Studio J memberships and 5-packs will count toward a qualifying order only if shippable items are also ordered).

 So starting tomorrow - do a little shopping and get a little something for free!!
And because I always like to leave you with something to inspire your creativity....a sneak peak at Saturday's Make and Take featuring Mistletoe paper at ScrapThat!

Happy Crafting!

 

Mix and Mingle album

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted!  Life has been a bit busy with craft shows and crops and other holiday ish and I unfortunately have had to be present in real life rather than here in blogging world.  But I am back to share some great projects that I have done recently!
Close to my Heart has this great little item called the Mix & Mingle album and I have made several of these into great home decor pieces to sell at the craft shows - they are a big bit!
Here are some photos of what I have created:

These little gems are 2 sided - one for the fall and one for the winter.  I added some ribbon at the top so they could be hung on the wall or a door.

Here are 2 others that I did horizontally so they could sit on a shelf or table or even a mantle.  These are also 2 sided to allow use for more than one season or holiday.

Materials used:
Aspen paper pack
Twitterpated paper pack
Mistletoe paper pack
Olivia paper pack
Feathery Flakes stamp set
Many Thanks stamp set
I believe stamp set
A Timber stamp set
All Decked out stamp set
Mocha Opaques
Liquid Glass
Glitter Glitz gel
Cricut for letters
Coordinating Inks - New England Ivy, Garden Green, Cranberry, Sweet Leaf, Sorbet, Chocolate, Cocoa, Barn Red, Smoothie, Sunset, Pear, Outdoor Denim, Twilight

If you would like to make your own Mix & Mingle home decor, feel free to comment or email me for details and shop on my website 24-7!

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!

Close to my Heart Thanks YOU in November!

Close to my Heart is running a wonderful special this month!  For each $100 order you place from now until Nov 30th, you will not only get the stamp of the month for free but an additional stamp set (A-D size) of your choice free as well!!  That's almost $46 of free stamp sets!

DURING NOVEMBER WE’RE EXPRESSING OUR GRATITUDE TO YOU BY helping you earn two fabulous My Acrylix® stamp sets for FREE! When you place a minimum order of $100, you will not only receive the November Stamp of the Month set, A Little Thanks, for FREE, you will also receive one stamp set of your choosing from the 2010 Autumn/Winter Idea Book for FREE*! This means you can increase the value of your purchase by up to $45.90—that’s almost 50 percent more in value! It’s just our way of imparting A Little MORE Thanks to you for being a great customer.

*Free stamp sets include A-D size sets. Stamps that are not available as the free set include Workshops
on the Go,™ Stamp of the Month retail, E-size, and customizable K-size. Tax and shipping/handling may apply. Offer good November 1–30, 2010.

 To place an order, feel free to email me, call me, or shop online on my website: http://nicoleg.myctmh.com

Maybe you'll get the stamp set featured on my layout, Circle of Love, with its beautiful peacock images!

Happy Crafting!

H2H Spooky Challenge!

This week over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog they are getting ready for Halloween!!  I thought it would be fitting and festive to join the fun!
Here is my "Spooky" home decor project - I love how it turned out with the little monsters and the sparkly letters!

Materials:
Mix & Mingle Album
Hooligans Level 2 Paper packet
Dimensional Elements Alphabet Uppercase
Party Animal Stamp Set
Opaques Licorice
Sunset Mini Medley
Black, Pear, Gypsy, Sunset, Lagoon, and Smoothie Inks
Blending Pen
Prisma Glitter

Now get spooked and create some creepy crafts for Halloween and then share or check out more at the H2H blog!

Holiday card workshop!

Yep, time to get ready for the holidays already....Christmas is only 2 months away!  I've got something for you that can help you prepare....a card workshop!

At the workshop, you will be able to make 17 cards, some rectangular, some square and even a few round!
Check out the pictures below to see some of the cards you will be able to create.

I have several dates available for this workshop but there are limited spots left for each date so if you are interested, contact me as soon as possible!

Dates:      Sunday, November 14th from 1-5pm at my home in Hamilton
                Friday, November 19th from 6-10 pm at my home in Hamilton
                Saturday, November 20th from 10-2 pm at ScrapThat2! in Burlington

Cost is $20 prepaid by October 31st and includes:  All paper, card bases, envelopes, embellishments and a cutting guide to complete all 17 cards. 
Also: available at the workshop (included in cost): Use of any of my Holiday themed stamps as well as coordinating inks and several tools.
Please bring: Paper Trimmer, Scissors, and your favorite adhesive

Hope to see you there!

Fall into scrapbooking this month with Olivia!

Fall has arrived and the weather is beautiful!  (Well, if you don't count that today is very summerlike and it rained most of last week...)  Anyway, enough about NJ weather....let's focus back on Fall, beautiful colors, cool crisp air, apples, fright fests and all the things that the change of seasons brings in October.  Well, certainly after doing all these fun fall activities and taking photos of course, you'll need to scrapbook them!  The Olivia paper pack from Close to my Heart is beautiful with its balance of rich reds and browns complimented by the bright oranges and greens.  Great for whatever Fall has in store for you!

I am offering several Olivia Workshops this month so check out below for more info.  You will complete 4 pages no matter what level you choose. Pages will be different by level.

Dates:
  Thursday, October 28th from 6:30-9:30 pm      OR        Saturday October 30th from 10am-1pm

RSVP and PREPAY by Saturday October 16th

There are 3 different level choices: (all 3 are available for either session)
Level 1 - for beginners or those that like things to be time efficient and easy.  Very little paper cutting.
Cost: $9.95 (plus ship/tax)

Level 2 - for advanced beginners or somewhat experienced scrapbookers, paper cutting is involved but no stamping is required.    Cost: $17.90 (plus ship/tax)

Level 3 - for the more advanced/experienced scrapbooker.  Kit comes with an exclusive stamp set and much more!  New techniques will be introduced.  Cost: $29.95 (plus ship/tax)

If you are interested in attending one of the sessions, feel free to post a comment here or email me at GrigsterN at yahoo.com.

Happy Fall!!

October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the October Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring the stamp set D1443 Share the Magic.  We have over 70 participants this month so hopefully you have seen lots of wonderful artwork to inspire you for the holidays!

This stamp set is perfect for the holidays and very much my favorite stamp of the month from this Idea Book.

If you have come from Toni's blog then you are on the right track!

I have made a several cards that are a part of my Holiday card workshop as well as a little clear paint can with gift tags in it so I will share them all with you - the more ideas the merrier, right?!?

For the paint can, I stamped Santa on a clear sheet with staz-on black ink.  When that was dry, I used the embossing pen to color in the areas I wanted to be white and then used white embossing powder to emboss.  After that was finished I used re-inker to color in the rest of the areas of Santa so that you would still be able to see through parts of him.  I also sponged versamark ink onto the white paper on the bottom and embossed in white to make it look more like snow.

These cards are just a sampling of the cards that we will be making at my card workshop in November. I used the Mistletoe Creative Basics and the colonial white card bases.


Materials Used:
Mistletoe Creative Basics
White Daisy Embossing Powder
Cranberry, Garden Green, New England Ivy, Cocoa Inks
Cranberry, New England Ivy and Cocoa Reinkers
Colonial White card bases
Circle Cards in Colonial White
Cardstock in Cranberry, Garden Green Colonial White
Colonial White Ribbon Rounds
Bitty Sparkles
Opaques Mocha
Cranberry and Cocoa Markers

Now it's time to head on over to Kathy's blog and see what she has created!

If you lose your way or just want to check out the list of participants, Helen's blog has a complete list.

If you like what you see here and would like to get your own stamp set or other supplies or sign up for my holiday card workshop, email me at GrigsterN at yahoo.com.

Fall/Winter Idea Book Open House!

It is time again for a new Idea Book open house already!!  I can't believe it is going to be October in just a few days!  Time to spread out the feast of new scrapbooking and cardmaking products.  See below for more details and a sneak peek at the make and take projects.

Dates:  Friday October 1st from 7-9pm    or     Saturday October 2nd from 10am - 1pm

If you are in the Hamilton, NJ area and would like to come, please comment below or email me at GrigsterN at yahoo dot com.  If you can't come but are interested in finding out more also feel free to email me!  You  can still get tickets in the raffle even if you can't attend in person!

• FREE Idea Book and Make & Take projects for all attendees
• 8 new colors, 4 new paper packs
• New How-to Book, Magic, featuring interactive layouts
• New Hostess Rewards Program
• Raffles for new products - get more tickets, increase your chances of winning! (see below!)
• How to earn raffle tickets:
• RSVP by Wednesday September 29th
• Be on time either day
• Bring a friend
• Sign up for a workshop class
• Place a $25 order
• Place a $50 order
• Place a $100 order
• Host a gathering in October, November or December

Hope to see you there!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge 25 - A sketch!

Wow - since school started up again, life has surely become hectic again!  My crafting time has seriously been impacted but I did get a chance to make up something this week.  We are following a sketch this time around for the Heart to Heart Challenge 25. 

I have been having tons of fun playing with our 4 new paper packs so I decided to use Magnifique for this challenge.  I love blues so this one really appeals to me.  I also found some Martha punches on sale at Michael's and grabbed a set that looked fun, this one is called quilted.  I used the stamp set from the Workshop kit and layered all the flower images for a complete dimensional look on the flower.  I also layered the 2 different ribbons to add more variety.

Now get crafty and check out what everyone else has done for the H2H challenge this week!

Materials:
D1438 Circle of Love stamp set
Magnifique Level 2 paper pack
Heart to Heart stamp set (comes with Workshop on the Go)
Chocolate, Lagoon, Pacifica, Sky Inks
Chocolate and Colonial White Ribbon rounds
Colonial White brads (big and bitty)
Glitz Glitter gel Stardust
Martha Stewart Quilted punch and scallop circle punch

Heart 2 Heart Color Challenge!

It has been some time since I have participated in a challenge over at H2H....that's what happens when you go on vacation for a week and then have to get ready to go back to school!  The first week is over and it seems like my classes should be pretty well behaved (haha, who am I kidding, we've only had 3 days of school!?!)  Anyway, that brings me to the challenge, lovely fall colors to go with the changing of seasons.  This week we are working with Autumn Terracotta, Honey and New England Ivy. 

 Not my personal favorite but after trying out 2 cards for this week, I looove how this one turned out, simple but cute.

Materials:
Stamps - D1375 Treasures, D1371 Many Thanks
Inks and Cardstock in Autumn Terracotta, Honey and New England Ivy
Liquid Glass
Autumn Terracotta Ribbon
Colonial White Cardstock
Cuttlebug postage stamp die

Now get creatin' and head on over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog to play along or just check out all the artwork!