A Chocolate Affair - SOTM Blog Hop...

Well...this month is EXTRA special!!!  Not only are most of you getting a NEW Idea Book to drool over but the very first SOTM is all about what we men & women LOVE....CHOCOLATE!!! 

Here's what the stamp set looks like and a little something the creative team at CTMH put together...

If you've come from Traci's Blog, you're on the right track...keep on hopping 'till you get back around to where you started!

Now...time for me to share what I was inspired to make!

And here's the inside...

Your next stop is Gina's Blog...hop on over and see what she's created!

H2H goes OMBRE...

Ombre is one of my favorite things to look at but I have to be honest in saying that it's not one of my go-to techniques when creating!

I was so happy to learn that my girls over at H2H are challenging our readers to link up their OMBRE projects this week!

Here's what I've been playing with....a Studio J layout!  It's not completed yet and as soon as it is, I'll be posting a tutorial showing you guys how to do it!

Have FUN with the OMBRE challenge this week...don't forget to link up your project!

NEW products and Chicken Little...

If Chicken Little were the author of this Blog, he would be saying...

The products are coming, the products are coming!!!

On August 1st, you will able to come to my blog and see SOME FABULOUS artwork using some of the NEW products!  I don't have all the new product (although everything is on my wish list...lol) but never fear...there will be a Blog Hop where you can see TONS of artwork from various consultants.

Don't forget to check back August 1st and see what falls from the sky!

10 Things We Buy Every Week...

I recently learned of this blog called The Good Life where EVERY MONDAY they have a blog post titles "Monday Listicles"...it gives you a list of 10 things to blog about and in my case I might just scrapbook about!

This week is "10 Things We Buy Every Week" so here goes...

1. Milk - with a house full of growing BOYS and a one-year old 'princess', Milk is a staple in our home.  About 8 months ago, we started buying ORGANIC Milk which makes me feel better as a Mommy knowing that the 6 gallons of milk we consume EACH WEEK are not filled with hormones!!! It's either Great Value (if we're shopping at Wal-Mart), Central Market (if we're shopping at HEB) or Horizon (if we're shopping somewhere that doesn't have their "store brand" of organic milk).
   
2. Gas - with 3 drivers in the house (my husband works out of town, my 18-year old thinks it's a SIN to not go pick up all his friends and 'cruise' all over town on our dime and I'm the family taxi for the rest of us) we use A LOT OF GAS!!!!
3. Cereal - because I work full-time during the day and full-time at night keeping up with 4 kids' schedules, sometimes it's a "cereal-for-dinner" kinda night...PLUS we started buying ORGANIC cereal which contains less sugar and lots of fiber!!!
4. Dill Pickle Sunflower Seeds - because they are YUMMY and I crave them!!  
   
5. Red Box Movies - we {{{LOVE}}} Redbox!!!  At only a little over $1 a night, we can rent 3 movies and everyone gets to see what they want and it doesn't break the bank!  Even if we don't get to watch them all, at $1 a night we can keep the ones we didn't finish and still come out WAY CHEAPER than renting from the traditional stores! 
   
6. Gum - I always have gum in my mouth!  I think it's a comfort thing and it's better than always having food in my mouth which I'm pretty sure would happen if I didn't have gum!
7. Diapers - nuff said! 
   
8. Bread - My husband takes his lunch to work so bread is a staple plus I have some boys that LOVE cinnamon toast!!!
9. Ground Beef - only ORGANIC...it's not that much more expensive and we feel better about serving it to our children!
10. Eggs - only ORGANIC, Range Free, Hormone Free...our 1-yr old is at a stage where she doesn't want to be fed with a fork/spoon...she likes to feel independent and feed herself.  Eggs are a wonderful source of protein for her growing body and she is able to pick them up with her fingers.

Water, Water Everywhere with H2H...

This week over at H2H Challenges, we're challenging you think WATER...use the ocean, a lake, or even a glass of water, as your inspiration  for your artwork.  We cannot wait to see what you come up with. 

Here's what I did...

I used the Surf's Up paper packet and the NEW Artbooking Cricut Cartridge (not available 'till August 1st!!!)!  Let me tell you...this cartridge is the BOMB!!!  It's designed to cut layouts and mini-books with one key and one size but, as you can see here, I used the image re-sized to fit on a standard-sized card. 

If you want to get your hands on the stamped image up in the corner, it's part of the Surf's Up Workshop on the Go and is only available 'till July 31st!  I just LOVE this stamp set and it would be PERFECT for all your Summer photos!

Here's what the page from the Artbooking Cartridge looks like...

And...I also used these keys for the other types of waves...

Here are some close-up shots of my card to show the dimension...

And...here's the inside

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Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you found some inspiration and will play along this week.  You have 'till the end of the month to link to any of July's challenges so get busy creating!


 

Mix & Mingle with H2H...

It's time for Team Sunset to ROCK H2H!!!  I'm back for another term as a Design Team Member for H2H Challenges!  I couldn't be happier because I get to start this term doing something I've LOVED for years...mixing B&T from different CTMH Paper Packets!  In fact, one of the years I taught at Extravaganza, all my artwork sent to Corporate was mixing Paper Packets...they ended up renaming my class "From Color Know How to Color WOW!"

We will be Mixing and Mingling by using either three different paper packs and/or three different stamp sets. Coordinating paper, ink, and stamps is one of Close To My Heart's strong points. Whether a paper packet is current or several years old, the colors will coordinate beautifully.  

 

Here's my card using three different paper packets (all returning in the NEW Idea Book)...For Always, Chantilly & Surf's Up!  Three TOTALLY DIFFERENT Paper Packets but they all seem to "mingle" nicely (hahahaha...like my pun?!?!).

 

Here are some close-ups...I used Chantilly Complements Dimensional Elements for the sentiment "Wonderful"...

And here are some close-ups of the wonderful hand-cut pennants which I left the bottoms un-adhered for more dimension...

And...here's the small detail on the inside...

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So...what are you waiting for?  Grab some Paper Packets and start mixing!

Want to see my inspiration piece for this card?  Click here to see it pinned on my "Cards" Board over at Pinterest!