THOUGHTFUL FLOWERS -December Stamp of the Month

It's that time again. The first of the month is a great time to hop with the Rose Blossoms to see some amazing artwork using the current Stamp Of The Month. Look at that variety of flowers!!

Make sure that you look at all of the blogs in this hop to see some stunning artwork with this beautiful set.  I you came from Lynn Darda's blog you're at the next stop.

I made a scrapbook page for you today. I can't wait to make amazing cards with this set but I have sooooooooo many pictures to deal with. I'd love to tell you the story of the mayhem involved in bringing you this page but you'll just have to believe me when I say that this comes to you due based on a creative idea, a series of debacles and a colossal mess! I loved making the mess too.

This is NOT what the idea looked like in my head. My imagination had a lot more variety of colors and more focused attention to each individual flower. But I love this too. Maybe next time I'll have to try the other idea again. All I did here was to paint a colorful area on a piece of watercolor paper and then stamp flowers in black in a fairly random way. You can't really tell from the straight on photo, but there's a little bit of a layering thing going on. I did do a tiny bit of fussy cutting as you can see below.

It was hard to decide if I needed a title for this page or not. And truthfully I ran out of creativity by the time that finishing touch needed to be added. I looked for an easy way out. The Adventure Fundamentals Complements were there for me with work "dream" already cut out in these beautiful glittery letters.  My life is better than I ever would've tried to imagine with this awesome man by my side. We have love and friendship and sooooooooooo much more. I'm truly living the dream.

Make sure to hop over to Kim Hill's blog next. I can't tell you what she made but this time around I know it will have flowers. 

YULETIDE JOY - October Stamp of the Month Rose Blossoms Blog Hop

It's that time again. The Rose Blossoms are creating with the newest Stamp Of The Month, Yuletide Joy.

If you came here from Marg's Blog then you're following along perfectly. I'm sure you saw something fantastic there. You can also start right here and hop all the way around so you can see all of the inspiration. Whichever way you do it make sure to click on the link at the bottom of each post to keep seeing new artwork until you arrive back to where you started.

This stamp set has me thinking about waaaaaaaaaay too many ways that it can be colored or painted or embossed or any other number of creative ideas. Instead of running off in every direction I decided to do the most basic thing. Here's a card I made for you with ink and card stock. There are no fancy techniques or additional tools. It's so easy. I was able to use the majority of the stamps except for two of the sentiments. AND I love the results. It's colorful and subdued all at once. 

I used the bell, stocking and present to make the background pieces by stamping the images side by side. Originally I thought those would turn out to be something else, but when you work with CTMH products things more or less create themselves.

Thank you for taking a look. Now it's time to hop over to Kristine's Blog to see what she did with these images. I'm guessing colored pencils!! BUT it's strictly a guess. 

BLESSED BEYOND MEASURE - September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's that time again ... another awesome blog hop with the Rose Blossoms. Today we're showing you the September Stamp of the Month called "Blessed Beyond Measure". If you came from Marg's blog you're right on track. I can't wait to see how she embossed with these stamps. When you get to the end of this post make sure to click on the link to the next blog. You will want to see ALL of the creative inspirational ideas. Once you get back here you've seen it all.

 This set is just beautiful and so versatile. I'm sure you are going to see some very elegant creations. I have turned in a different direction. That pumpkin caught my eye immediately and I thought about these awesome photos from last October. My hubby and I were chosen to judge this amazing family pumpkin carving contest. I love our badges that provide me with a title AND journaling all in one.

If you've see the new Holiday Expressions you might just recognize this design. It's part of the City Sidewalks Workshop. Do you see the resemblance?

How exciting is it to have a whole bunch of new products to create with starting today. I used paper from the Jeepers Creepers paper pack, along with the embellishments. Never be afraid to mix and match papers with great ideas that you see in our catalogs. 

Here's a closer look at both of the pages.

I really love this layout because I REALLY love this memory. I've been hearing about this family pumpkin carving party heavy duty competition for nearly all of it's 29 years. It's not for people outside of the Matuseski family unless they're judges and we were honored to take on this position for the first time. We weren't even allowed to come until all of the pumpkins were carved and lined up. This way we couldn't play favorites. This is hardcore, which made it pretty stressful to judge. One of my favorite parts is that there was a beautiful scrapbook there showing all the years before this one. I'm thinking we'll be in that scrapbook when the family gets together this year. What a great book of memories they've made. We're so happy to be a little part of that.

Here are a couple of close ups of the stamps I used. Several of them match the Artbooking Cricut cartridge. I also got to play with our awesome new stamp pads in bold new colors.

Thank you so much for stopping by today. Please hop along to Kim Hill's blog to see what sort of awesome item she has created. I've seen a sneak peek and I can't wait to see it myself.

PURR-FECT HALLOWEEN - August Stamp Of The Month Blog Hop

Welcome to another fun Rose Blossoms Blog Hop. Today we're showing you what you can create with the August Stamp Of The Month. If you came from Lynn's Bungalow you've certainly already seen something fun. After you take a look at the creation below make sure to hop all the way around the circle so you get to see everything in this short little hop. It's sure to inspire you.

Here's the stamp set that can be yours for only $5 with a $50 order. Cute stuff!

Is it time to think about Halloween? Yes, if you want to get all of your creative projects finished. The good news is that this set can avoid Halloween altogether if you aren't quite ready. I concentrated on the cat. I've been coloring for the past 27 days. Awhile back I posted THIS as part of the process.

After painting the cats to the sides the middle one just wouldn't come to me, so I stopped and called the cat "uncooperative".  When it came time to design something for this hop I zoomed in on the idea that the cat just may be crazy!! I started coloring more cats.

Those are all fairly "normal" cats. I was looking for something crazier!!

I tried to make a crazy cat two different times. I have a favorite card of these two. What do you think?

These cats were colored with watercolor pencil and then "painted". The coloring was fun but you never know what will happen when you start painting. Some things get better and some don't. Here's the before picture. I'm not even a cat person but this was really fun.

It was so much fun there's an envelope too!! This is a business size card in order to make lots of cats.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. The next stop is Kim Hill over at Violets and Sunshine. She is sure to have something to entertain and inspire you.

Color Dare #195

Join me in this HAPPY moment. I am posting to this creative blog a day after the last time I posted!!! I have goals this month and they involve creating. In order to create more I'm tuning into a whole lot of challenge blogs. Today is the last day over at Color My Heart. Since I had my SOTM out on the desk from yesterday I'm jumping in with this cute little matchbox card. 

I slid the mini bus (so adorable) across the ink pad in order to show a little motion.

This vehicle is definitely going places.

Here are the colors and I used them all. 

Thank You for taking a look today.

THE LONG WAY HOME - June 2016 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's so exciting to be able to bring you some Stamp of the Month artwork along with my sister Rose Blossoms. You're going to love to see what every has made with "The Long Way Home".  There are 15 stamps in this set for only $5. (with a $50 order)

If you came from Marg's beautiful blog you're on the right track. OR you may just be getting started. Either way - yippee. You're in for a creative adventure as you hop through all of the blogs.

Recently I was asked about my creative process. My first thought, "there's supposed to be a process?".  Words like process and structure are scary to me because they indicate order. AND well, I'm not exactly orderly, EVER. As I started creating the layout I made for you today I looked through Pinterest and blogs for ideas. I wasn't inspired and it felt scary because I'm only scrapping one photo here people. I rarely do that.

Since there was nothing online I gathered the stamp set, a piece of cardstock and some scraps together in a pile. The pile looked like this ...

Here's what my "sketch" turned into. 

This was a really great way to jump start my creativity literally using scraps on my desk! I will definitely try this again as a "process". The result make me happy.

Here are some closer looks at parts of this page.

Mixed font titles are fun. I used to do them on Studio J and now I'm trying to take the time to make them with paper.

One of my favorite things to do with stamps is to make borders. In order to isolate this arrow stamp I took a scissors and cut the actual stamp in half. Yes, it's ok to do that. Then the stamp can be used three ways.

In honor of my team leader Brenda Rose I made a cluster!!!!! For two of these shapes I used the back side of the stamp because I didn't want the words, just the shape. I love that road sign but there's no "road trip" on this page.

Thank you for stopping to look. Please keep on hopping by traveling to Kim Hill's creative blog. 

I saw a sneak peek and it looks like fun, as usual.

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SUNSHINE BIRDIES - February 2016 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to another awesome blog hop with the Rose Blossoms. We're here to show you the March Stamp of the Month ... Sunshine Birdies.

There's so much to love with this set. If you came from Marg's blog you've already gotten a creative eyeful. If you're just starting here make sure to click on the link at the bottom and hop all the way through to build your idea file. You are sure to find several reasons to love this stamp set.

This adorable set is full of images that beg to be colored. I'm only guessing but I feel confident that you're going to see lots great coloring from other Rose Blossoms in this hop. I decided to see what would happen if there was no actual coloring allowed. You can use any stamp set with black and white as you can see above.  Since it's a CTMH stamp it's cute without any color.

You can add lots of color to stamped projects without picking up markers or paint.

Here are two examples of just letting ink pads add the color.

Paper piecing is an awesome way to add color to a stamped image. Here two examples of that.

To create color using paper piecing you stamp the image on several different papers using the same color ink. Then you cut out the parts that you want to highlight in various colors. I love how cute this little bird turned out with just some patterned paper and a little adhesive. And of course the awesome micro tip nonstick scissors from CTMH. 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today and hopping with the Rose Blossoms. Please make sure to hop on to Morgan's blog - TweetScraps. Just the name of her blog makes me certain that she has created something wonderful with these adorable little birdies.

BELOVED BOUQUET - January 2016 Stamp Of The Month Blog Hop

Happy, Happy New Year to you. Here's to another great year of blog hopping with the Rose Blossoms. You'll see us getting together on the 1st and 15th of every month to show you some phenomenal art work using current products. It's the desire of my heart not to miss a single hop this year. It's such an honor to be part of this amazing team.

Here's our featured stamp set. It's called Beloved Bouquet. So lovely.

 You're going to want to contact your consultant immediately after you see the gorgeous creations coming your way. If you came from Marg's beautiful blog, I Didn't Have Potatoes,  I'm sure you've already started making creative plans. Click the link at the end to keep hopping all the way through.

I have been watercoloring a lot lately to try to get the hang of it. All three cards below were made by grabbing some squares I had been practicing on and seeing what would happen next. Each card is pretty much a free for all and I couldn't be happier with the results. I made the square first and then added the card, which feels a little backward.

I'm sure you're going to see a lot of that big beautiful flower as you hop. It's really gorgeous in every color. My favorite part of this set is the wide variety of sentiments. I will keep this set close at hand for a variety of cards all through the year.

This is kind of a lazy card since I'm not a fan of fussy cutting. The most ambitious thing I did here was to separate the twine to make a little skinnier piece. I just love that stuff!!

This is my favorite. I can't explain why other than it was messy fun to make. I also used a tiny piece of our new ribbon. It's a dream to work with and comes in two colors. It's a nice touch of shimmer without getting carried away.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Keep hopping on to see what my creative friend Kim has for you at Violets and Sunshine.

CANDLE LIGHT GARDEN - December 2015 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

YES, I am amazed that it's already December!! How about you? Before you get too wrapped up in your December activities, NOW is a great time to take a look at the Stamp Of The Month and get your order placed so you don't forget. The Rose Blossoms are creating beautiful ideas for you to make when your stamp set arrives. If you're starting at my blog just read through and click on the link to the next blog. It's also possible that you came from Lynn Darda's amazing blog. Wasn't it spectacular?

This is Cyber Week at CTMH. You have until 4pm Mountain Time to order 39 different items (while supplies last). Each item is 25% off. I'm pretty sure that a lot of people would agree that one of the top items by far is the Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge. So I decided to run some paper through my Cricut and show you how easy it is to create some adorable cards with just a little stamping using this terrific SOTM. All of these cards were cut quickly and stamped on even faster.

Just a touch of water color paint ... they say less is more and this makes the case.

This is by far my favorite sentiment in the set. I have other plans for using this stamp but since we're just playing with Artfully Sent cards I can't show you that right now!!

This took no time to cut, minimal time to stamp and then slightly longer to paint. I'm still working on my watercolor skills but this bouquet really begs to be colored. I will definitely need to work with larger spaces to get good at this, but I'm not afraid to show you my first stab at this bouquet. Everyone has to start somewhere. 

 Thank you for visiting my blog. Now click HERE to see what Kim Hill has for you over at Violets and Sunshine. I'm sure you'll love it because Kim has been excited to play with this set.

CHEERS - November 2015 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the Rose Blossoms Stamp Of The Month Blog Hop. If you came from the lovely Marg's blog then you're hopping right along. If you are just starting here make sure to click on the link at the end of this blog to move on to Morgan's blog. We've all got a treat for you using the brand new SOTM. You're sure to be inspired by what you see.


This Cheers 2016 stamp set has given me the opportunity to do something that's certainly not my "normal". I created a cover page for my 2016 album already. Sometimes I don't make that until half the year is over. I always like to have a page to kick it all off. I use one simple photo of our family.



Here's the title page I wound up with. Now all I need is a family photo when we're all together again.

 I just recently added the watercolor paints, the watercolor paper and the paintbrush set to my collection of crafty tools. This is my first time using them. AND of course I had to try out as many colors as possible. Do I know what I'm doing? Not yet, but this is a fun start.

To make the rainbow panel I stamped the image straight down a piece of watercolor paper and then heat embossed it in silver. I used my Versamat to keep everything lined up as best I could. I was stamping white on white, not exactly easy to see. I also wanted to show you what the paints look like brand new because ... well, they'll never look like this again!

 Maybe you noticed this ... (OOPS)

That's part of the whole white on white problem. I stamped the same image in the same place (sorta). BUT this mistake led to this fix ...

And for that I'm truly thankful. It really gives my layout just the right little boost I was looking for and I was able to use one more of the stamps in the set.

I have lots of other ideas for this stamp set that I hope to show you as the month goes on. For now, hop on over to see what Morgan has for you over at TweetScraps.