Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Mojo Monday 149

It's a good thing that there will be no judging on this weeks Mojo Monday! This had to be the most challenging card I have ever made! I was just not gelling with the design on this weeks challenge. First of all, time was not on my side yesterday - so I wasn't able to spend much time on it and did a shortcut using Close to my Heart's Blue Ribbon paper pack and coordinating stickease. The only thing that is stamped is the Happy Birthday message on the label. I almost didn't post it, but I wanted you to see that sometimes we can still create a card (whether it's a fav. or not) in a short amount of time.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Blog Candy Winner

Congrats to Liz! Her name was drawn from all the people who posted about their favorite summer activity. Email me your name and address so I can send you all of your goodies!
Keep checking my blog...more candy will be coming soon!

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Happy Birthday Gram!


Today would have been my Grandmothers 95th birthday. She has been gone 5 years now, but I wanted to remember her in a special way by sharing this scrapbook page I made, honoring her and her special holiday recipe for Jerusalem Pudding. The recipe is in her own handwriting too, which I think is special for future generations to see. A couple of years ago I made an 8x8 recipe album for my mom for Mothers Day. It contains family recipes/pictures, especially of my grandma. I am still adding pages to the book as the years go on. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAM - MISS YOU! {Hugs} to you.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Mojo Monday 148

Ok, so it's not Monday - but luckily we have a week to post our artwork created from the posted sketch. Below is the sketch for week 148:Here is my interpretation of the sketch...I used the Close to my Heart Unforgettable Level 2 paper pack. The delicious colors are Sorbet, Chocolate, Desert Sand, and Juniper. The stamp set is Aspiration. The brads on the flower were inspired by a fellow CTMH consultant, Annette G.
Here is a close up of the brads used. The middle of the flower is one of CTMH's filigree Charms! Love them!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

StarDust

This layout is of my oldest son from when he was 15 months old. It is one of my favorite pictures taken of him because he looked like such a "little man" with his hat on backwards and his little tennies on. It's like he had gone from a baby to a toddler overnight. I used the Close to my Heart Level 2 paper pack/stickers called StarDust.
This is the left side of the layout:

Below is the right side of the layout:

I just had to show you a close up of this picture...so sweet!

Rusty

Here is one of my favorite pages of my favorite fur-baby, Rusty. Yes, I have to admit, I have a whole album of layouts of just my cats. They get their own album, just like the other members of the family! I'm sure I'll be showing more at a later date. I am not a CTMH "snob" and only use their paper. I came across this pet paper from Cloud 9 Design and fell in love with it. Even though I used another brand of paper, I still used the Close to my Heart layout design book called Imagine. Close to my Heart has some awesome layout idea books that truly make it faster, simpler, and easier! I used the layout called Classic Look - this is the left side only. The unique thing about this page is that I used the Sassy Strands (now retired) to cover the chipboard letters for the name. The color matched Rusty's fur purr-fectly (sorry, couldn't resist the pun).

Here is the closeup of one of the letters...looks just like his fur. I thought it was pretty clever.

Why A Son Needs A Mom

This is one of my favorite pictures taken of my oldest son and I. It was taken last year on 4th of July and I just love it because it shows how much we really look alike. Our blue eyes are almost a mirror image (JMO). I scraplifted the layout from a Creating Keepsakes book, but made some changes to make it my own. The sayings at the bottom are from an awesome book by Greg Lang called Why A Son Needs a Mom: 100 Reasons. I used Close to my Heart products from the Blue Ribbon Level 2 paper packet/stickease. I also added some CTMH brads and dimensional elements (arrow) that I sponged using the coordinating cranberry ink pad.

Here is a closeup of some of the reasons that a son needs a mom...

What A Goof!

I used a page from a Close to my Heart Level One scrapbook kit called Animal Cookies to create this page of my youngest, who was about 2 1/2 at the time. I looked out the back door to see him looking in with his nose smashed against the glass. It brought quite a smile to my face at the time and still does every time I look at this layout.
When using a Level One kit, all the guesswork is pretty much taken care of for you. The design is all done - you just add pictures/mats, title or journaling, and embellishments. Fast, simple and easy!


Here is a closeup of one of the pictures. Even though it's a little dark, you can see how much fun he was having!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Win some BLOG CANDY


Leave a comment below telling me what your favorite thing to do in summer is and on July 26th, I will draw a name from the comments posted and you will win all these little goodies to use on your own scrapbooking/cardmaking creations! Have fun!

July Card Workshop

Join me on Monday, July 26th at 11:00 a.m. OR 6:30 p.m. to create the five birthday cards pictured above. The highlight is the easel card using the July SOTM, and one of the new CTMH clear cards. You will also make an adorable gum holder. Contact me by 7/21 to sign up. Email me for details regarding cost, directions, etc.

July Stamp of the Month - Happy Forever


This set is only available during the month of July and could possibly be retired after the 31st. Only a select few SOTM sets make it into upcoming catalogs. The new Autumn/Winter catalog is already printed, so IF it is chosen- it won't be until a much later date. This may be your last chance to get this adorable set and you can even earn it for free. Details are below.

If you spend $25 (b4 tax & S/H) you pay only $17.21
If you spend $50 (b4 tax & S/H) you pay only $11.48
If you spend $75 (b4 tax & S/H) you pay only $5.74
If you spend $100 (b4 tax & S/H) you get it for FREE!

*If you are interested in getting this stamp set, please contact me no later than 7/26/10

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

How I organize all my goodies

This is one of my favorite organizational things that I came up with so far...only because I think it's so stinkin' cute. The bonus is that it only cost about $5.00! I bought the plastic tray out of the Target (once again - my favorite place) "dollar" bin for $2.50. Then I bought a Rubbermaid plastic kitchen turntable and hot glued the tray on top of the turntable. Now I have a spot in the middle of my tables to hold all my items that I use a lot when creating. Who would have thought that something so inexpensive could dress up an area so well?!?

Below is a shelf that was added recently between the counter top and the cabinets. It holds all my embellishments (anyone think I have a hoarding problem yet?) It took a lot of convincing to get my husband to build this for me because he told me if he made me more storage space, I'd just buy more to fill it up (he knows me well). Anyhow, it has been one of the best things because I can see all my little embellies and tend to use them more because they are right there in arms reach and in plain view for me to see. It freed up a lot of cabinet space too. You know how it is, you have a deep pantry and all the stuff that gets pushed to the back never gets used. That was the case here, but not anymore!
Below are some more cool Target finds. The 6 container holder thingy (sorry, can't think of a better name right now) was a year end sale item in the garden dept. It's a perfect spot to store scissors, embossing tools, Exacto knives, markers, etc. LOVE IT! The black container is from the kitchen dept. and would typically hold kitchen utensils, but holds my crafting utensils just as well. It spins too, so that's a bonus. The jar was another year end clearance item and is a great home to my much-used sponges.
I have the handiest father-in-law in the world and he created this awesome stamp pad holder for me w/o a single complaint. It was designed for the old style pads, but was easily adapted so the newer ones fit too. It also holds the reinker along side the pad. When I was drawing out the design sketch, I made sure it would hold 2 pads of the same color because I have to have extras for workshops, etc.
Here is another great deal I came upon at an antique store. I bought these adorable little jars for under $3 a piece and they hold all the CTMH buttons and look adorable too. Yes, the size of the shelf was designed to hold these jars.

My Workshop Area - aka my HAPPY PLACE

Below is the "wall" that I built using a variety of storage frames purchased at my favorite place...Target. It separates the office/computer area from my workshop area. On the backside I had a large piece of paneling that holds it all together and makes for a nice bulletin board in the computer area. All the fabric drawers house my stamp sets. I use the other areas to store albums, artwork, design books, catalogs, and order forms. As my collection grows (always) I can add more shelving, cubes as necessary. I also added wheels to the bottom (that lock) so that I can move it out of the way if needed.

This is one of the bins that holds stamp sets. I'm sure if you multiply what you see below by the 13 bins I have, I'm sure you can imagine how many sets I have! If you haven't guessed...there is a purpose to the color. Each colored bin coordinates with the type of stamp set it is. CTMH separates their stamp sets into colors and each one means something. For instance, pink is sentiments, blue is alphabets, etc. The big plus to having Arcylic stamps, is how little space all these stamps sets take up. Can you imagine if they were wood mounted? Yikes, we'd be talking room additions!
This is where I house all my paper. Yes, this is all only CTMH paper! All 60 cardstock colors and current paper packets. I keep it separated by season. In each baggie I keep the 12x12 whole sheets and scraps. Previously I tried to throw all the scraps together in one bin, and that didn't work - I ended up not using them. On top of the cabinet is all my Close to my Heart chipboard die cut elements.
This is my cutting/die cut table. I have my Cricut machine (best invention in the crafting world), my Sizzix machine and dies. I use my Sizzix to cut with my Nestabilities dies. You can see them to the left. I have them hanging in groups on strips of magnets.
I have a wall of cabinets that I use to store all kinds of embellishments, etc. I got them at a cabinet outlet store and was lucky enough to come up with bank of them that fit exactly in the space. I think I paid $264 for all 3 double cabinets. They originally retailed at almost $300 a piece, so I lucked out. Below it I had a countertop installed to use if I needed extra workspace. Underneath the counter I have my rolling carts with punches, tools, etc. in them. This is also where I store my rolling bags that I take to crops. In front of this counter I have two 6 foot tables that I use for workshops. When I am creating...I can fill them up on my own!

Monday, July 12, 2010

7.12.10 Mojo Monday 147



Thanks to my new attitude about my business and making it more current (thus this blog)... I decided to dive right in and do my first Mojo Monday sketch. I had a lot of fun with it and hope you like the results as well. The first picture is the actual sketch I had to follow in creating my card and the second picture is my interpretation of the sketch using all Close to my Heart products. I think I will be doing this more often!

The Result:

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Recently, I was taking random pictures of the back yard. Here is a shot of the top of the shed. I was real pleased at the outcome.