March Creative Club

March Creative Club is scheduled for Friday, 3/11, at 7 pm! We'll be exploring 4 different coloring techniques using the ShinHan Touch Markers and the adorable Spring Critters stamp set and coordinating Thin Cuts Dies. 

Cost for the class is only $5! If you are in the Northern VA area I'd love to have you attend. To RSVP please visit my meetup.com group { HERE }!

>>> Michelle's Exclusive Special <<<

Purchase any 5 ShinHan Markers of your choosing and receive a FREE Colorless Blender from me! 

 To claim your free Colorless Blender simply place an order for 5 ShinHan Touch Markers on my website, www.michellebattitori.ctmh.com, let me know you ordered and I'll send you a Colorless Blender in the mail (or have it at club if you are attending). That's it!

This offer is not sponsered by CTMH and is only available through me, Michelle Battitori, CTMH Independent Consultant.

Share the Love Inspiration

The Share the Love stamp set is really pretty amazing. Not only are the images versatile and adorable but each purchase of this stamp set helps out Operation Smile, an amazing organization that provides surgeries for kids with cleft palettes.

Want to see what you can do with this set? Check out these projects from fellow CTMH Consultants:

{ THIS } card by Brenda Rose adorable! I love how she incorporated the phone booth with the phone image. Very creative and clever!

I'm loving { THIS } graphic card from Maz.CTMH! The watercoloring and splatters are a perfect background for the white Cricut Artistry font and phone 'O'!

And finally, { THIS } card from Vicki O'Dell makes me so happy! I love how she cut the balloon images from Cricut Artistry and popped up the card front to accent the subtle B&T paper from Charlotte!

Did you know that it only costs $240 and about 40 minutes of surgery to fix 1 cleft palette? That's only 35 Share the Love Purchases*! Please help me and CTMH change a child's life by purchasing your set today! To order, simply contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website { HERE }.

*This set is only available until 2/29/16.

Happy creating my friends!

~Michelle

Reflections of Me Scrapbook Layout

As scrapbookers we tend to create layouts about everyone but us. Last year I made an album for my hubby's 40th birthday, a little retrospective of the first 25 years of his life (after that it's part of our family scrapbooks). This year I decided to it was time to finally make one about me.

I've tried doing this in the past but for some reason it just didn't feel right. But, thanks to THIS inspiring post and awesome sketch I completed my cover page! I picked three photos from three distinct periods of my life and wrote a little about each (you can  click on the photo for a larger version to read the journaling).

I stuck pretty close to the sketch and used the Charlotte line to complement the photos. The color palette and patterns are pretty timeless and work well with the colors in my photos.

The title is from the Paper Fundamentals Basic Line. The foil alphabet is simply gorgeous! It's a perfect addition and the inspiration for the title, "Reflections of Me."

I look forward to completing and sharing more of this special album. I hope it inspires you to pull out some old photos and create something from your past.

~Michelle Battitori

Project Recipe (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Charlotte (X7205B), Cashmere Cardstock (X5932), Slate Cardstock (X5930)
Stamps: n/a
Ink: n/a
Other: Pink Enamel Gems (Z3091), Charlotte Compliments (X7205C), Whisper Thick Twine (Z3095), Fundamental Sticker Pack-Basic (Z3166), Keyboard Craft Alphabets (retired), Dimensional Elements Stars (retired), Treasured Puffies (Z3203), 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Journaling Pen

Balloon Animal Shaker Card

I recently purchased the Fuse Tool and finally had a chance to play with it on this shaker card. I used a 3" x 4" Flip Flap for the pocket and trimmed it to size using the Fuse Tool to seal the edges. 

The balloon shapes were cut from the Artiste cartridge. I added a thin layer of Liquid Glass for extra shine. The card design is based on Freshly Made Sketch #223. 

Such a fun and sweet little card!

~Michelle 

Project Recipe (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper: White Daisy Cardstock (1385), Gypsy Cardstock (X5757), Lagoon Cardstock (X5762), Blush Cardstock (retired)
Stamp: Balloon Animals (S1602)
Ink: Archival Black (44751), Lagoon (Z2195)
Other: Artiste Cricut Cartridge (Z3170), Neutral Metallic Bakers Twine (Z1921), buttons (retired), rhinestones (unknown), Liquid Glass (Z679), Flip Flap (Z3027), Fuse Tool (We R Memory Keepers)

Balloon Animal Fun!!

I'm having a lot of fun playing with February's SOTM, Balloon Animals! I have a few more projects I'm still working on but until I finish here's some more inspiration to get your creativity flowing!

Isn't ArtsyMargi's sock monkey card the cutest! I love how she incorporated the Share the Love stamp set too!

I love the simplicity of THIS CARD from Denise. Actually, her whole set of cards is pretty special in my opinion!

How creative is Wendy Kessler with these super cute Valentine's cards? I love how she created extra for next year. Super smart idea to get ahead! It may be a little late for Valentine's cards but the same concept would also apply for birthday invitations or goody bags.

As a reminder this stamp set is only available until February 29th. To order yours please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my webpage, www.michellebattitori.ctmh.com.

~Michelle

P.S. Don't forget to leave some love on these blogs. They are FANTASTIC resources for inspiration!

Little Critters Birthday Card

I really can't get enough of these adorable little critters! And the best part is that I don't have to fussy cut them since they come with coordinating thin cuts dies that fit perfectly. 

The bunny was colored with a combination of ShinHan markers blended together. I'm certainly no coloring expert but I'm trying! The card sketch is based on Mojo Monday Sketch #434. 

Happy crafting!

~Michelle

Project Recipe (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Penelope (X7207B), White Daisy Cardstock (1385)
Stamp: Spring Critters (C1638)
Ink: Black Pigment Ink (26697)
ShinHan Markers: ShinHan Warm Grey WG4 (Z2467), ShinHan Warm Grey WG7 (Z2468), Tender Pink 198 (Z2464), Barley Beige 29 (Z2445), Golden Yellow Y222 (Z2452), Marigold 24 (Z2457)
Other: Spring Critter Thin Cuts (Z3207), Playful Puffies (Z3205), CTMH Art Philosophy (Z3171), Thin 3D Foam Tape (Z2060)

Share the Love Blog Hop

Welcome to the Share the Love Blog Hop! Today, approximately 27 CTMH consultants will be showcasing projects made with the Share the Love stamp set! If you've arrived from Melinda Everitt's blog you are on the right track. Melinda's post also contains a list of all participants so if you get lost on the hop make sure to go back to her post.

I was very inspired by the "share the love" sentiment and decided to create a set of 12 note cards and box holder! These cards are perfect to add sweet little notes and encouraging words to my kids and husband's lunch boxes.

The project was created in Cricut Design Space using images from the Artiste and Artbooking Cartridges. I resized them to be 4" x 5" and stamped them using a variety of techniques such as masking and rock-n-roll. I also used the backside of the heart balloon image to create a fun and different look!

Aside from the awesome projects you'll see with this stamp set you should note it's also pretty special to CTMH. Not only is it  filled with adorable icons and lovable sentiments perfect for your stamp collection, but CTMH will also donate $7 USD of the proceeds from each set sold to Operation Smile, an amazing organization that provides surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates for children all over the world! If that's not "sharing the love" I'm not sure what is!

This stamp set is only available until February 29th. To order yours please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my webpage, www.michellebattitori.ctmh.com. Thank you for checking out my project. Now it's time to hop to Brenda Lapp's blog to see what's she's created!

~Michelle Battitori

Project Recipe
Stamps:Share the Love Stamp Set (CC1060)
Ink: Bamboo Ink (Z2103), Pomegranate Ink (Z2653), Poppy Ink (Z2652), Eggplant Ink (Z2647), Black Ink (Z2105)
Paper: Sangria Paper Packet (X7199B), Colonial White Cardstock (1388), Chocolate Cardstock (X5643)
Other: Red Enamel Heart (Z2009), Shimmer Trim-Coral (Z3088) Cricut Artiste Cartridge (Z3170), Cricut Artbooking Cartridge (Z3169)

Sweet & Simple Friendship Card

Sometimes a quick and easy handmade card is all it takes to add a little smile to someone's day and let them know you care! I'm hoping this little beauty does the trick.

I let the Cricut Artistry cartridge do most of the work with the adorable flower and jar combo on pg2. Stamping was kept to a minimum on this one.

The sketch is based on Freshly Made Sketch #222 (great sketch Narelle!). The color combo was inspired by Color My Heart Color Dare combo #179.

Hope your day is full of laughs and love!

~Michelle Battitori

Project Recipe:
Paper: Charlotte Paper Pack, (X7205B), Whisper Cardstock (X5929), White Daisy Cardstock (1385), Sorbet Cardstock (X5751), Blush Cardstock
Stamps: Share the Love (CC1060), Woodland Romance (D1683)
Ink: Black (Z2105), Z2164 (Sorbet), Slate (Z2173)
Other: Artisty Cricut Cartridge (Z3167) Black & Gold Ribbon (Z3197), Thin 3-D Foam Tape (Z2060)

SOTM Blog Hop - Balloon Animals

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! Today, approximately 40 CTMH consultants will be showcasing new and creative ways to use the February Stamp of the Month (SOTM), Balloon Animals, a set of 13 stamps.

If you've arrived from Priscilla Gotham's blog you are on the right track! For a complete of participants please visit Melinda's blog.

This set is so sweet and fun and I was totally inspired by the CTMH artwork for this set to create this two-page layout of my son's 6th birthday! I changed it up a bit by using the Urban paper pack and layout 9 from Make it From Your Heart V1.

The "balloons" were popped up using both Thin 3D Foam tape and regular 3D Foam tape. The varying dimension really adds a special touch to the layout.

I continued the stamping on the right side of the page by creating a journal card on the lower right corner. I had a few more things to share on this layout so I included two 3x4 flip flaps to create a little mini. The stamped monkey in the corner was added to the top of the flip flap to help keep the album closed. Once it's in the page protector I'll add a little velcro dot to keep it closed.

I hope you enjoyed the layout as much as I did! It was so fun to create and I hope it inspired you to create something new!

Balloon Animals SOTM is only availabe for the month of February. To purchase a set for yourself please contact your CTMH consultant or feel free to visit my webpage { HERE }. 

Please continue to Terrie Shortsleeve's blog to see what she's created!

~Michelle

Project Recipe:
Balloon Animals Stamp Set (S1602), Urban Paper Packet (X7204B), Colonial White Cardstock (1388), Pomegranate Cardstock (X5780), Make It From Your Heart Volume 1 (9035), Cricut Artistry (Z3167), Fundamentals Stickers-Enchantment (Z3164), Fundamentals Assortment-Peacock (Z3098), Thin 3D Foam Tape (Z2060), 3D Foam Tape (Z1151), 3x4 Flip Flaps (Z3027), Neutral Metallic Baker's Twine (Z1921), Whisper Ink Pad (Z2172), Saffron Ink Pad (Z2651), Peacock Ink Pad (Z2649), Pomegranate Ink Pad (Z2653), Black Ink Pad (Z2105), Saddle Ink Pad (Z2171)