One Little Stamp Set

I was thrilled to see the re-release of Close To My Heart's Word Puzzle stamp sets.
Let me tell 'ya a quick story .... {I'm not good at quick storytelling but I'll try!}

The December Word Puzzle was one of the first stamps sets I ever purchased.

At the time I hadn't even so much as inked anything ... ever! My purchase was prompted by:

• A desire to expand and improve my papercrafting skills.
• An online episode of Art & Soul with none other than Jeanette Lynton herself demonstrating how to make lovely Christmas cards using the December Word Puzzle.
• A wonderful CTMH consultant and teacher by the name of Brenda Rose whom I had met earlier in the year at a craft vendor event in St Paul, MN 

All I had to do was call Brenda, order the supplies I needed to recreate the cards I saw Jeanette make. Before I knew it, there I was in my basement {cellar dweller that I was} inking, stamping, and making my first ever cards! 

Over the course of the next year, I purchased Word Puzzles until I had all twelve. I have them to this day and they are used often for both cards and scrapbook pages. 

Just a little side note ... these Word Puzzle sets sold for $26.00 each back in the day! That was a lot of $$ for me to spend at the time but I was right in thinking they were worth it!

So that's my story about how one little stamp set, one acrylic block (it was 2x2), three ink pads (Cranberry was one of them), one paper pack (Everlasting), and some Colonial White cardstock opened up a whole new paper-love adventure for me!

Here's a simple card I made using the very same little trees that Jeanette showed me how to stamp all those years ago:

Heat Emboss those little trees, stars, and sentiment so they pop right off the paper!

{just one of the many tricks I've learned since that first Christmas card!}

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Brenda and I became quick friends after meeting up all those years ago. I joined her Rose Blossom Team six years ago and we've enjoyed crafting, planning, traveling, chatting over a Starbucks, and solving world problems into the wee hours of the night! It's the little things that make all the difference.

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FYI ...

The Word Puzzle Stamps are only available until July 31st

margvp.closetomyheart.com

Sold individually for $17.95 each ... buy two, get one FREE!

Buy the entire set of 12 for $143.60!

RB Hop: Live Beautifully

Welcome to our Live Beautifully Blog Hop!

This month's hop is all of five stops .... 

Short, sweet and oh so inspiring!

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We're featuring the exclusive "Live Beautifully" product line this time around. The exclusive papers, stamp set, layout kit, and album bundles are only available during the month of May in celebration of National Scrapbooking Month! 

See the full line-up right here:

margvp.closetomyheart.com

While the gorgeous rose-floral prints are eye-catching headliners, I found myself drawn to the smaller graphic prints. What I really love about these prints is that they stand well on their own. I made these simple cards using my favorite Live Beautifully patterned papers:

This art deco-ish print is my favorite! 

I used Sea Glass card stock to coordinate with the zip strip.

The sentiment was cut using a Thin Cut and Black Glitter Paper.

I paired this dotty print with Emerald card stock, white Shimmer Trim, our new Star Thin Cuts, coordinating A-Stamp, and Emerald Ink.

This card was made using the gold dotty print, Desert Sand card stock, the Live Beautifully Stamp Set, gold embossing powder, Gold Glitter Gems, and Uptown Ribbon. 

This black and white floral was a perfect pairing for Raspberry card stock, a sentiment from the Live Beautifully Stamp Set, a glittery scallop border and a couple of staples!

Here's an easel card using using four patterned papers, a zip strip, the new Ovals Thin Cut, coordinating A-Stamp, Black Dots, White Twine, and various Shin Han markers.

Here's a few close-ups. 

Loving the Live Beautifully sentiments!

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This Blog Hop has been brought to you by these talented 

Close To My Heart Consultants:

Brenda
Lynn
Marg -You are Here!
Kim Hill
Morgan

Thanks for hopping with the Rose Blossoms!

You off to see KIM next and judging from the wee peek I spied this morning, 

you're about to witness "WOW"!

See you next month!

Cute, Practical, and Oh So Easy!

Just wanted to share the two card designs from the Sugar Rush Card Workshop Your Way.

This workshop kit comes with the supplies to make 10 each of the two designs you see here. You can mix it up anyway you'd like. The exclusive stamp set included in the kit can be used again and again to make more cards, scrapbook page embellishments, and more!

The Sugar Rush Card Workshop Your Way is available until April 30th right here:

margvp.closetomyheart.com

Papercrafting Meets the NFL

Question: What's a little friendly football smack-talk among fellow papercrafters ?

Answer: A whole lotta fun!

I've never met Tracey Pierce in person but this is what I know about her:

1. She has a really cool craft space

2. She's very creative {love her cards}

3. She loves her family and is a true country girl at heart

4. She's a die hard Seattle Seahawks fan!

I on the other hand  am an enthusiastic Minnesota Vikings fan. So, back in the 2015-2016 NFL season Tracey and I started some friendly online banter. That turned into a bit of a wager. When the Vikings and Seahawks play against each other, the losing team's fan had to create something using the winning team colors. That first year the Vikings let me down {go figure} and I made something for Tracey using a blue-green combo. 

This year however, the Seahawks lost to the Vikings and lookie-lookie what I scored:

Not only did she create with Vikings colors, but she included some wonderful treats

from her home state! How cool is that?

Super cute 6x6 card featuring Fundamentals paper and the exclusive 

Operation Smile Stamp Set

How about this 12x12 page!

I have the perfect photos in mind for this one.

And about the confetti sprinkles in the pics ... 

Tracey's green packaging didn't escape my notice!

Die-hard Hawks fan to the core I'm tellin' ya!

Thank you Tracey from the bottom of my Purple and Gold heart!

You can find Tracey and her creations here:

  Instagram

papercrafting_princess

Blog

papercraftingprincess.wordpress.com

RB Hop: Hello Lovely

Welcome to the Rose Blossom February Blog Hop!

This month we're creating with the Hello Lovely Collection. And lovely it is!

My daughter asked me for some note cards recently and that gave me a very good reason to create with the Hello Baby Cardmaking Kit. 

I used a cut from the {now retired} Artiste Cricut Cartridge to create this box with Sea Glass cardstock, and the signature Hello Lovely floral print paper. 

I wrapped the file box with our new Blush Shimmer Ribbon {fantastic ribbon!}

I used some leftover Hello Lovely Complements to complete the box. 

Here are the cards:

 Aside from the gorgeous papers, I was really digging the "Hello" sentiment 

in the stamp set that comes with the kit. 

 Then of course, there's that adorable and versatile banner complete with little end ties!

Always nice to have a "baby" card handy in the stash!

This card is one of two pre-designed beauties from the kit.

Full color, easy-to-follow instructions can be downloaded from my website here:

Hello Baby Instructions

Here's a look at the kit:

Create 12 cards using the downloadable instructions or use your own ideas and techniques.

You can find this and many other creative kits here:

margvp.closetomyheart.com 

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I had the pleasure of spending a retreat weekend with the {hello} lovely Shelly and got a first-hand look at her creations using this collection ... Awesome stuff!

She's your next stop!

Thank you for hopping with the Rose Blossoms!

Brenda
Lynn
Marg: You are Here!
Shelly
Kim Hill
Morgan
Mary Newman
Kristine Porter
Kelly Massman
Ginger 

Sugar Rush Bits and Pieces

I loved playing around with the new Sugar Rush papers in January! 

I'm moving on to February's Featured Paper Collection but, before doing that I used up some of my Sugar Rush scraps to create some fun treats for Valentines Day, a birthday or two, or any "just because" moment that may come my way. 

Cute little drawer-style card box inspired by THIS BLOG HOP POST!

Three of the cards inside are designs from the Sugar Rush Workshop Your Way. I made the layouts in the kit and had plenty of leftovers to create nine cards! (3 each of 3 designs). The fourth card is a simple design using the scrapbook Sugar Rush Stamp Set and was inspired by 

THIS BLOG HOP POST

I wrapped Hershey Bars and a variety of movie-box candy. 

Love how my leftover pocket cards made for perfect and easy designs!

There's also Sugar Rush Washi Tape and Dots shown here.

The Sugar Rush Stamp Set and Thin Cuts Bundle was also used.

There's always a reason to celebrate something

 and who doesn't like a sweet surprise every now and then?

See the entire Sugar Rush Collection and more by visiting my website today!

margvp.closetomyheart.com

RB Hop: Flower Market Fun!

Welcome!

Time to have some fun digging into the newest Cricut Collection from Close to My Heart: Flower Market. I'm willing to bet that this won't be the only hop we feature this amazing cartridge!

Our hops travel in a circle so you can "hop-on" anywhere and land back where you started to complete the tour! You likely just paid my friend Lynn a visit and undoubtedly came away with some ideas of your own. She often inspires many of us on the Rose Blossom team. 

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Here's the bundle we're working with:

Available as a physical cartridge OR a digital cartridge right HERE!

Both options include three exclusive My Acrylix  stamp sets and the Adventure cardstock pack featuring 10 delightful colors to choose from.

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While flowers are the main attraction on this cartridge, there's a whole lot to love about the other cuts .. and check out those stamp sets! There are eight background stamps and a full set of sentiments perfect for cards, tags, layout embellishments, and more. 

I used our eight new colors 

{Pansy, Lemon, Raspberry, Emerald, Willow, Blossom, Tangerine, and Sea Glass} 

to create these card-minis:

Just look at those great backgrounds!

How about those sentiments and fun-cuts?

See? There's whole lot more to Flower Market!

Leave it to Close To My Heart to offer yet another must-have Cricut Collection! 

This one is fast becoming a Rose Blossom favorite!

Your next stop will take you to see MORGAN who always has something really "tweet" to share! 

Thanks for hopping with the Rose Blossoms!

Wishing you a lovely and blessed Fall Season.

Here's your Hop Stop List:

Brenda
Lynn
Marg {you are here!}
Morgan 
Cathy A
Mary Newman
Kristine Porter
Kelly Massman
Sue Chapman

RB Hop: Magical Scraps to Cards

Welcome!

You likely arrived from Lynn's Bungalow and saw something Magical ...

 not just because we're featuring Close To My Heart's Magical Paper Collection, 

but because magical is what Lynn does with paper and ink! 

Rose Blossom Hops move in a circle. You can start at any one of the stops and hop through until you land back where you started. The complete list is located at the end of this post in case you need it!

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So many scraps ... so little time! My table top is nearly covered in Magical paper scraps, Sequins {love}, partial sticker sheets, stamps, and inks. There's been lots of scrappin' going on here at the Tator Patch. I'm still working on photo placement so my layouts aren't ready to share just yet.

In the meantime I decided to challenge myself. First, to straighten up some my Magical happy-mess {I know there's a pair of micro tip scissors in there somewhere}, Next, to see how many cards I could make in one hour using my Magical scraps!

Here are the results:

Simply cut down a 6x4 pocket page card, popped up the heart circle, added cranberry twine and sequins ... done!

Used THIS emboss folder to create the background, Magical Complements stickers, cranberry twine, and a stamped banner from an Art Philosophy stamp set ... done! **However, this is the culprit that put me 18 minutes beyond my one hour limit. I still struggle with clusters a bit but practice make perfect!

Super easy!! Strip of Magical Paper and zip strips, a pocket card cut, popped, and stamped, shimmer trim, and a heart ... done!

Another quick one here. Pocket card matted with a Magical paper scrap, stamped banner and 2" circle, zip strip across the front and done!

So how did I do? ...

My Creative Score = 4 cards in 1 hour 18 minutes 

My Clean Up Score = ziltch, zippity-do-da, nada. 

My Fun Factor Score = 110% {and that's what counts}

Now. I'm sending you off to see what kind of Pretty Piece the talented SHELLY has for you.

{I'll be in my crafty space ... cleaning up!}

Thanks for hopping with the Rose Blossoms

See you on August 1st with new Stamp of the Month creations!

Your Hop Route:

Brenda

Lynn
Marg - Your are here!
Shelly 
Kim Hill
Morgan
Mary Newman 

Find the Magical Paper Collection and other beautifully coordinated products here:

margvp.ctmh.com

RB Hop: Favorite A-List Stamp Sets!

WELCOME!

Willing to bet you just came from Lynn's Bungalow and saw something really lovely and inspiring! 

If this is your start point, no worries! You'll click through each Rose Blossom post and land right back here. We like easy and simply and hope you'll find inspiration along the way!

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With Stampaganza in full swing, we were asked to share artwork using our favorite stamp set. Well, my favorite stamp set is always the one sitting on my craft table at the time. Why not just go with that, right? Except, for the first time in ages my craft table was perfectly clear of clutter and all my stamp sets were put in their assigned bins ... really! Plan A was a no-go.

So , on to Plan B. I simply love my A-Stamp Sets. Hands down the easiest, cutest, and fun-loving little sets anywhere on the market. Not to mention they come with a very reasonable $6.95 price tag.

I got my stamping-start with "A" sets. For a beginner, they weren't intimidating. I was able to try stamping and learn various techniques with smaller images. Needless to say, I fell in love with stamping. These days I rarely create a layout without some sort of stamping, and manage to crank out a card or two without too much trouble. 

So ... I picked 3 of my favorite current A-Listers and created {or recreated} these little gems:

A1167 "Keep Your Chin Up"

This card appeared in our first Annual Inspirations (page 95)

I updated the papers with Charlotte and used Pattern 21 in Make From Your Heart Vol 1

*This set is on my Top 10 A-List. Who doesn't need to hear those words every once in a while.

And "no" ... I did not succumb to sewing on paper! I used our  Stitch Guide and Foam Mat to create the illusion of me operating a sewing machine!

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A1185 Friendly Wishes

Dug into some scraps from Charlotte and whipped up this easy card.

I used the "merci beaucoup" sentiment to create a tone-on-tone background on the Sorbet strip.

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A1175 "Pen Pals"

Straight off page 26 of the current Annual Inspirations, this set of little note cards is super easy to make. Add a slim, fine tip pen and you have a great little gift too!

Many thanks for hopping with the Rose Blossoms

We'll be back on April 1st to show off a new Stamp of the Month

I'm sending you off to be inspired by the one and only

  KIM HILL 

at Violets & Sunshine!