January's Stamp of the Month..."Cross-stitch Wishes"

Welcome to the CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

January 2014's Stamp of the Month is called.....

****Cross-Stitch Wishes****

With over 40 participants, you are surely to find wonderful inspiration through this blog hop.  It makes a circle so if you are starting here just continue until you make your way back and you will have made it through them all.  If you have already started and are coming from Dawn Heuft's blog, "Stamp Til Dawn", then you are on the right track.

January's stamp of the month brings back memories of one of my first "addicted" hobby...cross stitching.  I think back to when I first got married 21 years ago (aaahhhhh...the days before children...when there was less housework and distractions and a whole lot more down time...lol).  While my hubby and I were watching tv, I would color.  Yes.  Color.  Like crayola and coloring books. And yes, my hubby made fun of me...some things don't change.  Then somehow I discovered cross stitching. Although I can't remember how I came to select cross stitching, I recall that I loved how a colorful x here and a colorful x there ended up creating a beautiful picture in the end.  Then...about four years later...I was pregnant with my first child and my friend introduced me to scrapbooking. A year later, in searching for difficult to find scrapbook supplies, I discovered stamping and that was "all she wrote" (as my Granny would say).  I've been scrapping and stamping ever since.

I'm always amazed at how the creative process can work. With this stamp set, I started with the idea in my head after seeing this sketch at Mojo Monday.  I began to create my "vision" to only decide that I hated it, so I took my card in a slightly different direction. The final thing I needed to do with my card was decide on an embellishment to go with the sentiment.  I tried stamping the heart stamp on different colored paper, different arrangements, etc. Yuck! Didn't like it. As obvious as it seems now, it took a little while for me to think "Buttons!".  After going through my shameful collection of buttons and adding them to my card, I ended up with a project that I love. 

 Supplies used (all Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted):

Papers: White Daisy CS, Ruby CS

Stamps Used: Cross-stitch Wishes
Inks: Black, Ruby

Embellishments: Ruby Chevron Ribbon, Bitty Sparkles, Neutral Embroidery Floss (WQL), Red Buttons (retired)
Other: Artbooking Cricut Cartridge, 3D Foam Tape, Glue dots, Microtip Scissors, Bone Folder, Paper Trimmer (Fiskars), ATG Adhesive (Scotch)

Here's a look at the entire stamp set...

...and the Mojo Monday sketch I used...

Pick up your own Stamp of the Month for only $17.95 OR this month only you can get it for FREE with a $50 purchase!  Be sure to contact your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant to get yours.  If you don't already have a consultant, I'd love to be yours.  You can find details on the "Stamp of the Month" by clicking on the "Promotions" tab at the top of the page or purchase your SOTM here.  Of course, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

If you have time, take a moment or two to check out the rest of my blog.  If you enjoy your visit, then please consider "Following Me", signing up to receive blog updates, and/or leaving a comment (we all love comments...the nice ones anyway), then be sure to continue along on the hop by heading over to my insanely creative friend's blog, Jen Patrick's, @ "Roxybonds" and check out her creation.

If for some reason you get lost along the way, you can always find a list of all this month's CTMH SOTM Blog Hop participants on Kathleen's blog.

Happy hopping!