Love of Color - CTMH Technique Blog Hop

Welcome to the December Technique Blog Hop. You may have arrived here from Lauren's blog, just keep following the links, hopping from blog to blog until you complete the circle. Please leave comments; we really appreciate them!  If you get lost, a complete list of CTMH consultants participating this month can be found at the end of  Melissa's post, which is also your next stop!
Since we're nearing the end of the fall/winter holiday season, I wanted to jump ahead and bring your attention to a stamp set that may have escaped your notice. You Have My Heart is on page 101 of the Holiday Expressions catalog. It may be a little early for Valentine's but this is the last month to order from this book and I don't want you to miss out! The main images in this set are large, and the example is a scrapbook layout, but it still works for cards. It also has a nice sized, non-fluffy "Happy Valentine's Day" sentiment.

I was thinking pink since February is one of the few times a year I get to use it, so I looked in Love of Color for the section with Ballerina,  new to the palette this year. The four color suggestion is Ballerina, Sugarplum, Carolina and Pewter. When this guide was introduced at convention, they emphasized suggestion. It's not set in stone. We were encouraged to swap one shade for a similar one, so I did! Instead of Carolina, I used Mint (see the three color idea on the next page?). And I didn't stick to Pewter, just grey in general.

The card design is Pattern #7 from Make It From You Heart Volume 4 - Cardmaking (MIFYHV4#7). I enjoyed mixing the papers together for this card, something I almost never do. I plan to do mostly mixing with the papers from the next Seasonal Expressions. I pulled the Mint B&T from Oh What Fun and the Wood Grain is from the Seasons Mix-ins. Do you recognize the heart border? It's a Zip Strip, also from Season's Mix-ins!

When I was making this card, I thought I would have to choose between the floral pattern and the sentiment to go on top of the heart shape. But I was able to layer ALL 3! The solid heart shape is stamped in Ballerina. Next, I stamped the floral design in Sugarplum and finally, the sentiment in Pewter. Remember, when using large, solid stamps, it is especially important to use the "squishy thing" (or VersaMat™) under your paper when stamping.

The first mat is Sugarplum glitter paper. Did you know our glitter paper doesn't shed? You won't be covered in fairy dust after working with it. I know, that's not nearly as much fun, but some people have an issue with it. Another tip, save an old cutting blade to use just when cutting glitter paper. I'm not sure the glitter paper dulls the blade, but you don't need a nice, new, sharp one for glitter paper, so why risk it? I also have a separate one for Kraft paper. It's easy to label the blades with a Sharpie. I always pull my blade toward me on the SureCut™ Trimmer. Someone, maybe Fiskars, told me NOT to cut back and forth as it wears down the wire. I also like to know which way I am using the blade, so when I switch, or it jumps out, I know which way to put it back.






On the inside I stamped the sentiment and some of the smaller stamps. I colored the floral spray with the Sugarplum Shimmer brush and then picked up Mint with a Waterbrush for the leaves.

Thanks for stopping by. When you are done here, hop over to Melissa's blog and check out her idea. I'm sure it's brilliant!










If you aren't already working with a consultant, you can shop here.













Here's a list of the products I used:

• D1796 You Have My Heart stamp set
• Z6501 Ballerina ink
• Z6500 Sugarplum ink
• Z2832 Pewter ink
• Z4189 Intense Black ink
• Z6503 Mint ink
• Z3224 Waterbrush - small
• X7238B Oh What Fun Paper Packet
• X9000 Seasons Mix-in Paper Packet
• X6027 White Daisy cardstock
• X5994 Ballerina cardstock
• Z4188 Sugarplum glitter paper
• Z4210 Shimmer Brush - Sugarplum
• 1772 Ultra-Thin Glue Dots
• X254 White Cards & Envelopes value pack
• Z1836 Non-stick Micro-tip Scissors
• Z3326 Tombow® Permanent Adhesive
• 9045 Love of Color guide (don't forget an Everyday Life™ album too)

It's that time of year...

The Holiday Expressions catalog will end December 31, 2018. That means there is a retiring list and items start selling out. If there is something you've been waiting to order, now is the time!!

You can find the complete retired list here. I have the list in order by page number. Major changes include:

• Red Album in post-bound and ring-bound
• Pink Album in post-bound and ring-bound

Most of the other items are "normal" retirement items, all the printed paper/kits, all the stamp sets, SOTMs, etc.

Items already sold out are:

• Z1382 Tweezers
• Z1767 Chalk Marker
• Z1768 Metallic Markers
• Z1795 Quilling Tool
• Z1805 Hook & Loop Dots
• Z2197 Edge Distresser
• Z3024 White Shimmer Trim
• Z3090 Red Enamel Gems
• Z3299 Cricut Artbooking Collection (CARTRIDGE)
• Z3371 Gold Pearls
• Z3400 Shimmer Brush-Bashful (previous color of the year)
• Z4238 Wonder of the Season Stamp + Thin Cuts Bundle
• Z4306 Thin Cuts--Merry Christmas
• Z5205 Red 12" x 12" D-ring Album

With the busy holiday season upon us, keep in mind that delivery times may take 3-4 days longer in transit than you are accustomed to for your area. Close To My Heart is committed to staying within the 2-6 day in-house turnaround time, and encourage you to allow a few additional days for shipping times in order to accommodate the increased loads placed on parcel delivery services at this time of the year.