April's SOTM BlogHop!!!

Welcome to another fantastic Close To My Heart BlogHop!!!

Hopefully you've arrived here from Gina Brandstetter's Blog or perhaps you've started here, which is great, remember to click on the link at the bottom of my post to continue on as this is one big circular Hop featuring 50 talented CTMH Consultants' artwork using :

April's Stamp of the Month set, 'You Are...'  

This set is available from April 1st-30th only!!!

 Contact me to see how you can get this set for only $5.00

This stamp set is great for scrapbook layouts AND cards as you can see here...

and here's my card

Check out this new 'Dotty for You' National Scrapbooking Month paper packet (coming soon)...don't you love it! 


These colours really make me feel like Spring is here, even if our weather outside is trying to confuse me ;)

Thanks so much for taking the time to check in here and I hope you enjoy the rest of the Hop...now off you go to see what's up at Kim Schnoor's Blog

Kathleen Androlewicz http://BowlOfStamps.blogspot.com

Helen Onulak http://www.hookedonstamping.com

Georgia Hauglid http://inkygeorgia.blogspot.com/

Debra Van Patten http://memoriesoftheheartbydeb.blogspot.com

Shannon Beck http://www.cardsfromthefarm.blogspot.com

Dawn Heuft http://stamptildawn.blogspot.com

Lisa Sargent http://www.lisasargent.net

Brae Montgomery http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com

Nikka Geers http://www.nikkageers.blogspot.com

Krista Ritskes http://simplycreatingtogether.blogspot.com/

Michelle Loncar http://michelleloncar.blogspot.com

Sarita Schraeder http://www.blessedscrapper.com

Teresa Scrivens http://www.creatingwithinkypaw.com

Dawn Ross http://iamahappystamper.blogspot.com

Lori Brown http://www.savingmine.blogspot.com

Angel Sawyer http://RunningwithScissorsDesignCo.blogspot.com

Jill Lucas http://scrapwench.blogspot.com

Elizabeth Mindemann http://www.ejoym.blogspot.com

Traci Godbee http://www.createwithtraci.com/

Melinda Everitt http://www.ifyoublingit.blogspot.com

Melissa Laverty http://www.fancymelissa.com/blog

Katy Taylor http://www.scrappinkaty.blogspot.com

Wendy Coffman http://www.stampingrules.blogspot.com/

Haley Dyer http://inkyscrapper.blogspot.com

Wanda Riley http://Creatingwithwanda.blogspot.com

Kami Welter http://www.scrappin4memories.blogspot.com/

Mary Eisen http://mestamp2.blogspot.com

Jen Rubio http://JenRubio.blogspot.com

Annette Green http://AnnettesCreativeJourney.blogspot.com

Amy McVey http://www.clearlystamping.blogspot.com

Krista Hershberger http://kristascraftycorner.blogspot.com/

Carla Ironside http://carlacreates.blogspot.com

Angela Tutton http://www.tuttonstreasures.blogspot.com

LeAnne Dudley http://www.dudleychickdesigns.blogspot.com

Tamytha Jenkins http://www.paperheartist.com/

Pamela O'Connor http://cherishyourmemories.blogspot.com

Sheila Bennett http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com

Traci Pasqualone http://ScrapiTraci.blogspot.com

Adeline Brill http://www.adeline-brill.blogspot.com

Shirley Ross http://www.momnmescrap.blogspot.com

Judy Burger http://www.makingtimeformemories.blogspot.com

Gina Brandstetter http://gmbscrapper.blogspot.com/

Kristine Ponte http://www.kponte.blogspot.com

Kim Schnoor http://www.creativehands-hearts.blogspot.com

Allisa Chilton http://rockymtnpapercrafts.blogspot.com

Karen Fullam http://www.enrichingmemories.com

Judy Faye Garner http://judyfaye.blogspot.com

Lalia Harris http://www.craftylalia.blogspot.com

Jean McNulty http://stampinmaui.blogspot.com/

I'm just 'Dotty For You'...

Check these out!!! I got my UPS delivery today and our 

April/May National Scrapbooking Month special was inside my box...Dotty For You can be yours too starting April 17th but I thought you might enjoy a little preview now :)

These photos really don't do this package justice but you get the idea...and I'll be posting some artwork soon too just to tantalize your creative taste buds ;)

 24 Coordinating B&T Duos sheets (2 each of 12 patterns)

There is even a sheet with 7 different projects and their recipes!

Three ways for you to get these awesome papers :)

1. Place an order of $35 anytime between April 17th and May 31st, and add this Dotty for You paper packet for just $5.

2. Host a gathering with a sales total of $400 or more between April 15th and May 31st and receive this Dotty for You paper packet for  FREE!!!

3. Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 15th and May 31st and receive this Dotty for You paper packet FREE.

Stay tuned for more fabulous Dotty For You artwork...and April's Stamp of the Month BLOG HOP coming in just a few short hours...

Idea Books are going!

When I sit down to create, I need inspiration. I look to my sketches and I look to my CTMH How-to Books for that little creative nudge!

These beautiful books are full of blueprints, paper dimensions and artwork inspiration for cards and scrapbooks. Sometimes I copy a layout pattern exactly from the book, other times I just browse through, looking for embellishment ideas or title inspiration. My collection is within easy reach in my scrapbooking room, I use them often.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. Close to My Heart has retired every single one of the How-to Books and they are only available while supplies last. I’m so glad my collection is complete, as I will continue to use the ideas and patterns for years to come.

It’s not too late for you. Although Originals and Reflections are now sold out, there are still 4 how-to books still available.

For scrapbookers: Cherish, Imagine, Magic
For cardmakers: Wishes

Over 120 pages in a beautiful hardcovered-bound book with spiral inside (so they lay flat!), filled with full color artwork and plenty of tips, techniques and ideas to spark your creativity! All for $21.95!!! Incredible price for so much value...

Can’t decide which ones to get? You won't be disappointed with any of them but Magic and Imagine are my favorites for scrapbooking and Wishes is often my card go-to book!

These books won’t be around much longer, so get them while you can!

Shop now!

metal mouth

This layout has been sitting on my table in my studio for a couple days...I've been at the rink with my son for Goalie training and now we are in a Spring Break final Bantam tournament...so I'm trying to squeeze some 'me' time in :) Now this layout is the perfect example of why I love to buy those coordinating cardstock sticker sheets with paper collections...almost all of my embellishing was with those stickers...

This was a fun Let's Scrap sketch from last week and I was snooping around for some photos that were already printed and came across these pictures of my son getting his braces on! 

Seeing as he is my third and final child to go through braces, I was keen to take some photos of the process. I kept the appointment cards from his big day and wanted to include them somewhere so I tucked them into the file folders.

I dug into my stash for this one...old Basic Grey 'Granola' collection with the stickers...I also came across some of those Bazzill 'Just the Edge' cardstock strips (pre-cut border strips of different designs) which worked out great and of course was an instant black border along the bottom of both pages and one strip added a touch of black zig zag to the right page!

The shiny American Crafts chipboard alphabet sheet was great for the title and I thought it needed something on the top of the right page so I decided to add the date there...the dots and star also came from the alphabet sheet...easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

more from my 20 Layouts Class

Hello!

I have been showing you some of the layouts that I've completed from the 20 Layouts class that was offered at Cherish the Thought and taught by Jennifer Edwardson...well here's another one!

Super basic design concept and it uses up your photos and scraps of papers...these are 1½" squares and the photos are popped with 3D foam tape and all edges have been sanded. 

I''ve dug into my stash and used up some very old papers, 'Moondoggie' and the fantastic stamp set that went so well with this paper...even though the papers are discontinued, the stamp set is still very versatile and I'm glad to have kept it this long! 

In addition to rummaging through my old stash from years past...I also got using up some of the 'Newsprint' rub-ons...there are sooooo many letters in this pack for just $8.95 that it was a great investment as it will take a while to run out of letters :)

I've popped up the flowers and found one of the old journalling spots that was with this kit...talk about a hoarder...gotta get this stuff used up! Still need to add some journalling but other than that, this one is done!

Thanks for visiting today...Happy Scrapin'

Let's get Frosty!

I've just finished my layout for Frosted Designs weekly sketch challenge!

This is the sketch they wanted us to work with this week:

Now this is what I created:

Pictures from my son's grade 3 year during the school Christmas Concert...Matthew looks a little confused :) 

The chipboard glittery title and all the stickers are from an extremely old bunch of stash from WeRMemory Keepers and the paper collection is an old Christmas one from Crate Paper... 

It's funny when you go looking through your bins of paper and find new to you treasures because its been several years since I've even looked through this stuff! So exciting to finally be using some of this paper and embellishments :)

Happy St.Patrick's Day!!!

I know I should be posting something 'green' today, but I did post three cards and a layout in festive St. Patty's Day colours yesterday and now I'm all green'd out!

So I'm moving onto one of my favorite things...my niece!

As I'm sure you've gathered if you follow any of my posts, I am spending a lot of time creating layouts using photos from our Christmas/New Year's holiday to Mexico...

I have a habit of taking oodles of photos of any kinda event because, you know, it's digital!!! and of course the progression of my nieces hair braiding is no exception :)

In the creation of this layout, featuring a wonderful sketch from Let's Scrap, I was rummaging through my never-ending STASH for some pink papers. I actually do not have a ton of 'pinks' because my girls are no longer 'pink lovers' and I find that I scrap them in some of their favorite colours...anyways, I'm getting off topic :) I stumbled across 4 or 5 sheets of this Crate Paper 'Pink Plum' collection and luckily I also found the coordinating chipboard sheets I bought a very long time ago! 

I have to say if I was to instill any scrapbooking wisdom your way...when you purchase papers of a certain line, make sure you also get at least one coordinating embellishment...whether it is a  package of decorative brads or a sheet of chipboard bits, because when you do, it sure does make for a FAST layout...you don't need to labour over what matches what because the manufacturers have already done that for you!

I took a 4X6" piece of coordinating patterned paper and after typing up a quick journalling bit, ran it through my printer and I was done! Super fast, simple design using TEN photos! Take some time this week to do this sketch too!

It's all about the colour 'green' !!!

Good Morning...with St. Patrick's day just a day away...I thought I'd join in a couple of 'Green' challenges.


...here's what I found over at Close To My Heart's Challenge Blog, Heart 2 Heart

Pull out your GREEN...it's all about St. Patrick's day inspiration in this Colour Challenge!

This is what happened when I did :)

I used this week's sketch from Mojo Monday:

and then I made this:

This cute little flower was stamped with the *new* Just for You set

using this Mojo Monday sketch:

 and because I was on a roll I created this St. Patrick's card

using this Mojo Monday sketch:

Yippee! I did it!

Ok, so I might be a little bit too excited about getting a layout done...but this Monochromatic Challenge over at Let's Scrap was a little too challenging for me as it has taken several days and several layouts later to actually do it!

Now trying to find paper that all works together in the same tones of one colour sounds easier than it was for me!

 After looking through my stash I found some really old Little Yellow Bicycle, My Mind's Eye and Bazzill cardstock that all worked together...I also found some BoBunny chipboard for my arrow and flocked brads and epoxy chipboard buttons from LYB.

I pulled out my favorite stamp set with Close To My Heart called 'Enjoy Life' for the swirly flourishes and the 'Boys at Play' for the Full Speed Ahead sign. 

Now for the required handmade embellie part of this challenge, I happened to come across the PERFECT colour match in fabric, some scraps from a project my girls were working on and so I cut three circles and layered it with a button and an arrow!

Alphabet letters are from Jillibean Soup (corrugated), Cricut and punch for the splash letters and splash( I added some Glossy Accents to these) and Thickers (glossy green)

So now that I know I can handle even the toughest challenges for me...I'm off to work on yet another one...stay tuned!

Monochromatic Challenge anyone???

Well, I'm trying to do a Monochromatic Challenge over at Let's Scrap for their month long challenge...click on Elizna Parsons Month long challenge here for rules etc.


Basically you need to use this sketch:

and you also need to:

• choose one colour (varying shades are good)
• use a large title
• use a stamp
• use a handmade embellishment (made by you) that matches your papers/layout/style
• use your STASH, no new items

Anyways...I started one layout and I got a little side tracked because as I was trimming my photos and looking for paper I got on a roll...and in the end I can up with this:

Love how this turned out in the end even if I failed at the challenge :)
I still got 2 pages scrapped!!!

I added 3D foam to every other letter to add dimension and also to be able to fit this huge title on the right page :)

These were stickers I purchased to match this paper...I wanted to pop these off as well so I mounted them onto some patterned paper and inked the edges in Brown Bag ink

I wanted to add this title but it was lost on this patterned paper, so I chose another sticker from my sticker sheets and mounted these great alphabet letters to it :) 

More stickers...so glad to be using this old stash up! 

As you can see, I have one large title (check) and the basic sketch design is there...the papers are not Monochromatic (oops) and I used papers and embellies from my stash (check)...kinda made my own embellishments...I layered the stickers onto cardstock...not really handmade as per the challenge BUT this is a perfect example of how I got a double page layout completed using this challenge as a starting point...because in the end it really only matters that you are getting something done and using up your STASH :)

Canadian Scrapbooker's Sketchy Challenge

You got it! Another Challenge for you to get scrapbooking and using up some of your stash...this one comes from Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and I thought it would be easier for you to see the details if I just copied it all here!!!

It’s a Sketchy Challenge brought to you by Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine!

Welcome to our NEW monthly sketch challenge! Design a layout inspired by this sketch and email it me at sketchy@canadianscrapbooker.ca. We will post your layout in the gallery for all our readers to enjoy! Want a chance to be published? OF COURSE YOU DO! We will be looking for one or two or three layouts to be published in an upcoming issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine – inorder to qualify to be published you have to use ONE Canadian manufacturer on your layout! That’s right! Doesn’t matter if your from Canada, England, China or Africa – if you use one Canadian manufacturer on your design you could be the next person published in an upcoming issue!

If you decide to not use a Canadian Manufacturer on your design – no problemo! We will still post your layout for all our readers to see in our Sketchy Gallery! Sounds cool eh?

We will be posting a new Sketch at the beginning of each month! You have until the end of the each month to submit your designs!

Let’s get Sketchy!

So I'm going to get busy and you can too! Let's meet back here in one week with what I've created and you can let me know if you got it done too!!!

Cricut cartridge bundle for FREE!!!

When I first joined Close To My Heart, I did it with the intention to get the products for myself and close friends at a 22% discount...after signing up and discovering their great incentives and commission schedules I thought, maybe I'll have a class or two so more people can have access to these great products...and now I'm happy to be spreading the word and growing my own team of Consultants...

Whether you love the products and just want to get them at a personal discount or you want to be able to sell these products to your friends or you want to start your own small home based business...this company is the place you can do it!

Any questions at all, day or night...because I love to burn the midnight oil in my Workshop...just ask!

Now is a great time to join Close To My Heart because when you sign up as a new Consultant between March 1–31, you’ll receive a FREE Cricut® Art Philosophy collection! 

The collection’s retail price of $99 adds incredible value to your New Consultant Kit and will give you hours of creative fun with the included exclusive Cricut®cartridge, three coordinating My Acrylix® D-size stamp sets, and three sheets of matching Dimensional Elements shapes. Already own the collection? You can always give your free one as a gift or choose to receive $100 in select product credit** instead. Talk to me about how to embrace the philosophy of fun—Consultant and Cricut® fun!

*Offer available March 1—31, 2012. No additional tax is charged on the Cricut® collection when ordered during enrollment.

**Additional requirements and limitations regarding the redemption and shipping of Select Product Credit apply. Select Product Credit is added to new Consultant account following approval of enrollment.