CTMH Announces Stamp Sets to Retire August 31. Shop NOW Before They Are Gone!

As I promised yesterday, (OMG, three blog posts in a row!!) I am dedicating this post to letting you know which stamp sets are retiring FOR GOOD from Close To My Heart, effective August 31, 2015, to make way for the brilliant new stamp sets due in the 2015-2016 Annual Inspirations catalog, due out September 1.  

What I have done is this:  I've copied photographs of the stamp sets so you'll be able to actually see the stamp sets. The first "sheet" will be the Retiring Fonts; the following seven pictures ("sheets") below can be cross-referenced with the lists below, to determine the stock number and title of the stamp sets on each picture.  I've shown them as listed, left to right, top to bottom, and hopefully I've matched them all up correctly.

For your information, the pricing on all of the stamp sets are as follows:

A Stamps are $6.95 USD

B Stamps are $9.95 USD

C Stamps are $13.95 USD

D Stamps are $17.95 USD

E Stamps are $29.95 USD

Any of these stamp sets can be ordered through August 31, 2015, and will be in stock. Please order your stamps directly from my Close To My Heart website, by going to http://cardmonkey.ctmh.com. 

There, look for and JOIN the party marked RETIRING STAMPS. 

In June, July and August, if there are enough orders to qualify for HOSTESS BENEFITS, I will raffle off the Hostess Stamp set of the winners' choice(s). These stamp sets are exclusive to party Hostesses -- and YOU have a chance to win with each retiring stamp set you purchase!  

That's right -- for every stamp set you purchase from now through August 31 whether or not they are retiring, you will have one chance to win a FREE Retiring Hostess Stamp Set of your choice!!!   And you MAY win more than one!!  

Good luck and happy shopping!

Retiring Fonts:

Sheet 1:

Sheet 2:

Sheet 3:

Sheet 4:

Sheet 5:

Sheet 6:

Sheet 7:

RETIRING FONTS: A1117	A Typeface
B1416	Keyboard Uppercase
D1469	Polka Dot Alphabet
D1507	Urban Alphabet
D1522	Glamour Lowercase
D1537	Glamour Uppercase
E1026	Vogue Alphabet
E1027	Framework Alphabet
E1028	Hopscotch Alphabet
E1029	Marquee Uppercase
E1030	Handwritten Print
Pictured on Sheet 1: A1146	Sincere Expressions
A1147	Hanukkah Celebration
A1150	Charming Chevrons
A1152	Joyful Wishes
A1153	Hope
A1155	Quick Cards—Japanese Blossom
A1157	Quick Cards—Island Greetings
A1161	Beyond Measure
A1162	Bright Spirits
A1165	Capture the Day
A1166	Quoth the Raven
A1167	Keep Your Chin Up
Pictured on Sheet 2: A1168	O Holy Night
B1403	To You and Yours
B1419	Joyful Birthday
B1428	Look to the Light
B1432	Love This
B1438	Banner Wishes
B1442	Belated Birthday
B1452	Funky Blossoms
B1453	Frightfully Fun
B1456	Born to Roam
B1457	Tweet Me
B1459	Celebrate Love

Pictured on Sheet 3: B1461	Happy Mail
B1462	Lovely Birthday
B1463	Thankful Heart
B1464	Puppy Party
B1465	Glitter Glam
B1467	You Mean the World to Me
B1468	Merriest Christmas
C1504	Fall Harvest
C1506	Flakey Friends
C1522	Creepy Creatures
C1533	Fabulous You
C1556	Paisley Perfect
Pictured on Sheet 4: C1557	Polar Bear Holiday
C1559	Always Grateful
C1561	One-Way Borders
C1562	Mary and Babe
C1570	Lifting Spirits
C1576	Pick a Posey
C1578	Camper Crazy
C1584	Feathers
C1588	Great Job
C1589	Lifetime of Happiness
C1590	Delightful Ditty
C1591	Merry, Merry
Pictured on Sheet 5: C1592	World Traveler
C1594	Treasure Friendship
C1595	Hello Summer
C1597	Rainy Day
C1598	Noel
C1600	Happy Birds
C1601	Nursery Charms
C1602	Magical Moment
D1540	In the Background
D1541	Fast and Furious
D1543	Country-Born
D1544	Distressed Backgrounds

Pictured on Sheet 6: D1550	Happy Autumn
D1552	Magical Days
D1553	Yuletide Greetings
D1554	Christmas Village
D1559	Geometric Backgrounds
D1578	Flight of the Arrows
D1584	Big Hug
D1600	Here We Go
D1602	A Budding Friendship
D1603	Shreddin' the Slopes
D1604	Season of Thanks
D1609	Seaside Greetings
Pictured on Sheet 7: D1612	Teacher Appreciation
D1613	Best Christmas
D1614	Reason for the Season
D1616	Have a Happy Day
D1618	Build-a-Cake
D1627	Your Own Kind of Wonderful
ALL HOSTESS SETS ARE RETIRING (Not Pictured), including:	YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO WIN THESE STAMP SETS:
A1163	Practical Planning
A1169	Well Wishes
B1454	Thanksgiving Wreath
B1455	Be Jolly
B1458	Cuddly Salutations
B1477	Exotic Flower
C1587	Sing Glory
C1593	Hats Off
C1596	Happy Hexagons
C1613	Paper Bird
C1614	Tagged With Love
D1608	Better With A Friend
D1615	Sweet As Sugar
ALL WOTG STAMPS ARE RETIRING (not pictured), including:	These stamp sets are included only with the Workshops on the Go; all of the WOTGs are retiring August 31, so be sure to look these over in the catalog, or online.
D1606	Chalk It Up Scrapbooking Workshop
D1619	Seaside Scrapbooking Workshop
D1620	Confetti Wishes Scrapbooking Workshop
D1621	Pathfinding Scrapbooking Workshop
D1622	Wanderful Scrapbooking Workshop
D1623	Brushed Scrapbooking Workshop
D1624	Pathfinding Cardmaking Workshop
D1625	Snowhaven Cardmaking Workshop
D1626	Yuletide Carol Scrapbooking Workshop
D1649	Blossom Cardmaking Workshop
D1650	Jackson Scrapbooking Workshop

Any questions?  Feel free to leave a comment here, or drop me an e-mail at cardmonkey@comcast.net.  

Thank you, and I sincerely appreciate your support of my Close To My Heart business. 

You're the Best Dad: Father's Day Card in "Jackson"'s Lovely Colors

This may come as a shock, but for all of the cards that I make and send, I am notoriously bad for being on time with my wishes. 

I usually can't blame it on the fact that my card is undone; it's usually just sitting on my desk, looking for an envelope, getting the postage right, and, and, and -- ohhhh, every excuse in the book.

The lovely Mother's Day card I posted last month?  Yup, I had to send it Express Mail ($19.99 -- you'd think that would teach me!) so Mom would get it on time.  I STILL haven't even made my Dad's birthday (May 28) card and that's inexcusable. BUT I did make AND he has already received* his Father's Day card, so let me show it to you today....

For this extra-special card, I used the tri-fold shutter card style -- ironically, the same style I used to make my Mom's Mother's Day card.  (I didn't think of that until I went to post the picture, incidentally.)

For this card, I used the "Jackson" Paper Pack that is featured in Close To My Heart's Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog. I also used some retired CTMH stash I've been hoarding, including the cork adhesive elements and burlap ribbon. 

I also cut up one of CTMH's mini burlap drawstring bags (pictured at right). I know you're saying "huh?" as you read that. See the burlap patch behind the deer and trees?  That was once a burlap bag. And I used the drawstrings to tie the bows as the right -- waste not, want not, right?  

These adorable mini burlap bags are very versatile even as bags. BUT if you want to get yourself some, you only have until August 31, 2015 to snap some up, as they are on the RETIRING list for CTMH.  Also retiring is the Jackson Picture My Life Scrapbooking Program (a-la carte cards) that I used for the "Dream Big" symbol -- see it at left, in the top row, center? Place your order at cardmonkey.ctmh.com now for the best chance to get the last of what is available, before the new Annual Inspirations catalog is introduced in September 2015!

Lastly, I used my Silhouette Cameo 2 and purchases from their Online Store for the evergreen trees, the deer, the front sentiment, and to cut the words for the closing sentiment.  

(*P.S. -- The only reason Dad got his Father's Day card EARLY was that I was mailing Mom her June 9 birthday card late -- yup, the one I posted to the blog yesterday. I am notorious, I tell you. How I hope to start thinking ahead!)

Painted Butterflies for Mom

Good morning, CardMonkey friends and followers.

First, let me apologize for my inactivity on my blog. It seems I have gotten wrapped up in the work of creating and the joys of sending -- along with babysitting and caring for family -- that I've neglected my dear friends here.  Forgive me?

Just after my last post (in May, egads), hubby and I traveled to Florida to visit my parents.

It is so wonderful to see them aging in place, as well as can be at 85 and 87. This spring, Dad completed a 9-week course of daily radiation to treat aggressive Prostate Cancer, which thankfully was fully encapsulated within the prostate and hadn't metastasized at all.  Mom has neck/back disc compression issues that have left her feeling a bit dizzy and imbalanced, so she has been taking physical therapy. Neither Mom nor Dad had been in their gorgeous pool in 2015, "life got in the way."  I'm glad to say our visit was good, and John and I got my parents in the pool every day of our extended weekend.

Mom's birthday was not long after our visit, and I knew that I wanted to break out some new techniques to make her a card she'd love. (Who am I fooling? She loves anything we kids make for her, always has!)

Here is Mom's card:

 

To make this card, I used the pretty stamp set from Altenew called Painted Butterfly. This is a multi-layer stamp set where you can use any/all layers to create lovely artistic butterflies.  Look here:

 

First I stamped the outlines of the butterfly (highlighted here with light blue circles), stamping them in Versamark watermarking glue/ink and sprinkling them with Ranger fine black embossing powder, available from Close To My Heart. I stamped the images onto watercolor paper from Canson.  I then heat-set the powder with a craft heater. This stabilizes the impression and makes it able to accept water or alcohol inks without smearing. 

 

I then took the first layer stamp (highlighted here in pink), laid it on my acrylic block and literally painted the stamp with watercolor paints onto the stamp, and stamped the paint atop of the embossed outlines.  Where needed, I filled in the color by pushing the paint with a water pen. When the image was dry, I cut the image into a card-sized rectangle, using a Lil' Inker Dual Stitched Rectangle die.

 

I created the inside of the card using the same method, and stamped both the front and inside of the card with a birthday sentiment from the "Card Chatter - Birthday" collection from Close To My Heart.  I added a few sparkle gems from CTMH, mounted the images on a vertical A2 card I created from Gypsy-colored cardstock from CTMH, and voila, happy birthday, Mom!