Blog Candy anyone?

I thought I would give away my very first blog candy since my counter hit 1,000 today! (I know that number isn’t very high for some of your blogs, but since I am so new at this blogging thing, I am excited!) I thought I would give away a few extra things that I have lying around including:

• CTMH Paper Sampler Pack with lots of fun stuff to stamp on
• CTMH Mini Circle Album
• CTMH Sanding Kit (LOVE THESE!)
• CTMH Craft Colored 3x3 Mini Album
• Marks of Distinction Angel Stamp
• Memories Blue Ink Pad
• AND a new PSX Pixie Curlz Alphabet Stamp Set

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and I will randomly choose a winner on Monday! Make sure to enter your email address so that I can contact you to get your mailing address if you are the winner. Since not to many people know about my blog yet, your chances of winning are pretty good.

I will be leaving tomorrow morning for CTMH's Regional Celebration in Vegas and won't be back until Sunday. It will be fun for me to see how many comments will be waiting when I get back!

Have a great weekend! *Ü*

Celebrate Today Card

I cased this card from my good friend and fellow CTMH consultant Christine Adams. She does such fabulous work!! I changed my version just a bit. I used CTMH’s Friendship Blessings and Rustic Flowers stamp sets and the sentiment came from Papertrey’s new Mixed Messages stamp set. I used a finger dauber to add a little black ink to the middle of the paper flowers, then I folded them over and glued them on. I used 3-D foam squares on the front panel to give it a little more dimension.

Cardstock: CTMH Black, Bamboo, White Daisy Stamps: CTMH Frienship Blessings, Rustic Flowers Papertrey Mixed Messages Inks: CTMH's Black, Bamboo Other: CTMH Just Blooms Paper Flowers, Cuttlebug Die for tag, CTMH Black My Accents (brad)

Precious Ryan

Even though it was almost 4 years ago, I still remember the day I took these photos. It was a really hot day and I had my little guy wearing nothing but a diaper to stay cool. I spread out my soft down comforter and we played on the floor for a while. He looked so cute that, of course, I had to grab my camera. These are a few of the shots that I took. It’s hard to believe that my precious Ryan is now a tall (although very skinny) 4-1/2 year old.

As with most of my old scrapbooking stash, I’m not sure where most of the products came from. I’ve had the metal-type letters and labels lying around forever. I am glad to finally use them.

It shipped! It shipped!

I have been wanting to get an inexpensive sewing machine to sew on my cards and layouts for a long time. (I would actually love to learn how to “really” sew someday too, but I just can’t afford another hobby at the moment.) I had heard that Janome’s Sew Mini was great for sewing paper and cardstock, so I checked it out online. I found one on sale for only $34.99 at Hancock Fabrics, so I ordered it. I just got a shipping notice that it will be here Tuesday! Yippee!! Now all I need to do is figure out how to use it. Hee-hee. If anyone has any tips or suggestions for a true beginner, I'd love to hear them. Hopefully I will be able to post something made with it next week.

Happy Day Card

I know that it isn’t Autumn anymore, but I just love this card. I wish I could take full credit for it, but it was actually inspired by a card by Yvonnne Wickham. The top panel is raised with some 3-D foam squares.
Cardstock: CTMH Autumn Terracotta, Chocolate, textured White Daisy Stamps: CTMH Autumn Splendor, So Sweet Seasons Inks: CTMH's Chocolate, Barn Red, Autumn Terracotta Other: CTMH Photo Hanger, Chocolate Ribbon Rounds, Edge Distresser

35 Things About Me...

This is a layout that I did a couple of years ago. (I will be 38 this May.) I am posting it because many of you don’t know me yet and I thought this was kind of a fun way to find out some silly things about me. Here are 35 “random” things about me at 35:
1. Married to my best friend.
2. Pregnant with my second child.
3. Favorite sound is Ryan laughing.
4. Favorite smells are citrus and cinnamon.
5. Love games shows.
6. I am a Christian.
7. The color yellow makes me happy.
8. Love to be creative.
9. Love taking naps.
10. Favorite fruits are nectarines and watermelon.
11. Favorite food is sushi.
12. I eat corn on the cob in a very unique way.
13. Favorite season is Spring.
14. Cheese danish is one of my big weaknesses.
15. Love vegetables.
16. Could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch, & dinner.
17. Love being a Mommy.
18. Miss my dad a lot.
19. Love stale Gummy Bears.
20. My toenails are always painted.
21. Drink nonfat milk.
22. Like Contemporary Christian music.
23. Love the beach.
24. Turning 36 in a week. (Actually I will be turning 38 in May.)
25. Love to scrapbook my photos.
26. Like to play racquetball.
27. Don’t care for country music.
28. Love to snuggle with my family.
29. Allergic to dogs & cats.
30. Don't like to cook.
31. Dream about being an Olympic ice skater.
32. Love to take pictures.
33. Love children.
34. Some people say I am a control freak. (Who me???)
35. I have been blessed with so much!

Paper: CTMH's retired Cocoa Cafe, Vellum Cardstock: CTMH's Blush, Chocolate Stamps: CTMH Solo T, Precious Alphabet Ink: CTMH's Chocolate

Welcome Baby Hannah

This is a layout that I entered in Close to my Heart’s Regional Celebration contest last year. It is the first thing that I have ever entered and I actually won!! Here is Jeanette Lynton, Founder & CEO of CTMH, holding my winning entry.
The contest was to create a layout using our E-sized alphabet or Alphabet Solos. I used the solos to create Hannah’s name.
Our next Regional Celebration is next weekend!! I will be leaving Thursday for Vegas! Woo-Hoo! I didn’t make anything to enter this time though. I will be lucky if I finish my rommie gifts. (I’ll post those after I get back, just in case any of my roomies check out my blog beforehand. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.)

Paper: CTMH's Sweet Harmony Level 2 Paper pack, Vellum Cardstock: CTMH's Sweet Leaf, Blush, White Daisy Stamps: CTMH Solo Alphabets h, a, and n, Believe Lowercase, Made by Me (tiny flowers on letters), Other: tons of CTMH White Daisy Just Blooms Flowers, CTMH Baby Pink My Accents

Cherish Friendship

I have been looking at my millions of Prima flowers that I have in jars decorating my craft room thinking, “Hmm...someday I will have to actually use some of these.” I found a great blog last night and came a cross a really simple, but elegant card that inspired me to create this “Cherish Friends” card where I was able to use some of my Prima flowers. Here is the card that inspired mine.

I also finally got to use some of CTMH's new Connections Club Rub On's. Oh, how I love these Rub Ons!! I hope we come out with more!

Cardstock: Papertrey Stamper's Select White Cardstock, CTMH's Chocolate & Heavenly Blue Other: CTMH Chocolate mini brads, CTMH White Connections Club Rub Ons

Waiting for his first ride

This is a layout I did a few years ago before I discovered clear stamps. Yikes, the title is just horrible! I used some old woodies I bought at Michaels and some craft paint. You know how you do a layout and then go back and look at it years later and think to yourself, "What was I thinking?" Well, that's what I think about this title. I am so tempted to redo it. The twill was kind of fun to make though. I ran it through my printer and it actually worked.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately for me) my husband sold his motorcycle a couple years ago, so my son will never get to ride it. I am actually really glad. It made me soooo nervous!

I wish I could remember where I got this paper and the rest of the embellishments. Back then I didn't keep track of where things came from.

Out on a Limb Card

I just got my Out on a Limb set from Papertrey and LOVE it! I whipped out a couple of super fast cards. Here is one of them. I used Papertrey's wonderfully thick cardstock and embossed a border using Spellbinder's largest Rectangle from the Small Nestabilities Classic Rectangle Set.

It is kind of hard to see in the photos, but I added a tiny dot of Cranberry Ink in the middle of each flower and then I used a Write and Rub pen to add another tiny dot of glue on top of the Cranberry. I added a little Prisma Glitter to finish it off.

Cardstock: Papertrey Stamper's Select White Cardstock Inks: CTMH Chocolate, BlushCranberry Stamps: Papertrey Out on a Limb Other: Spellbinder's Nestibilities Classic Rectangle - Small

Crafter in training

When I was using my Cuttlebug earlier today, my 16 month old daughter got so excited. She came right over, picked up a piece of my scratch paper and tried to do what Mommy was doing. Of course I had to drop what I was doing and grab my camera. I can't wait until she is older so she can craft with me.

One way to save those favorite baby clothes

After my first child was born, I wanted to save EVERYTHING. Being a scrapbooker, I am sort of a hoarder of all things. Ya just never know when it may come in handy on a layout. *Ü* Well, after keeping boxes and boxes of clothes, I finally decided that maybe it would be better to take a picture of my favorite outfits instead. So, I pulled out the clothes that had particular meaning to me and laid them down on the ground. I took a picture of each item. I then shrunk them down on the computer and printed them out on photo paper. After cutting each one out, I knew I had to scrap them somehow. So, I found these cute little clothespins at Michaels and created this layout. The clothes each have a pop dot behind them to give them some extra dimension. Each time I look at the layout, I remember how much we loved those tiny little socks with the ABCs on them and that adorable little bomber jacket. The onesies and the overalls are just things that he wore a lot.

Here's a close up of that cute jacket.

The alphabet stickers are from that massive pack from QVC and I have no idea where I got the paper. The cute 3-D flower and bird stickers are from K & Company.

New Blog Banner

I was thinking that my new blog was a little blah, so I designed a new blog banner. I was having problems making it fit. I finally got it to look ok on my computer, although I had to get rid of the border. Sometimes things show up differently on different browsers though. If you happen to visit my blog, would you do me a huge favor and check out the banner and let me know with a comment if it looks ok on your browser and also which browser you are using? Thanks a mil!

Cutie Pie

I just had to post this layout of my adorable daughter. We had her all bundled up last winter for a quick walk outside, which is funny because here in Southern California “it never gets that cold” according to my husband who is from the midwest. He laughs because I get cold when it deeps down below 70 degrees. It actually was pretty cold this day. My grandmother made this cute hat and sweater for her when she was born. (They were both way too big for her when she was a newborn!) She was finally able to wear it without it covering her eyes, although it was still a bit big.

I used a retired CTMH Kit called Between Friends with a little chipboard and ink. It is a super simple layout, but it makes me smile whenever I see it.

Papers: Retired CTMH Between Friends My Creations Kit Inks: CTMH Blush, Bamboo Other: CTMH Dimensional Elements Flower Garden & Classic Alphabet Stamps: Calendar

A last minute change of plans...

OK. So I have had this workshop scheduled for months. My hostess wanted to wait until the new CTMH catalog came out in January so that we could figure out what she and her guests were going to make. When I saw the new catty, I told her about the Silhouette papers and how much I loved them. So we decided to use them for a few cards and have an all-occasion card workshop.

While I was making the cards I thought it would be a great idea to have a variety of colors and papers, so I used a bunch of different papers including some pastels. Well, when I was done, I didn't like that everything was so different, so I designed more pastel cards so that everything would match. I was excited about the "spring" theme.

The night before the workshop, I called my hostess to confirm how many people were coming and to ask her how she liked the photo of the projects that I emailed her. She said she liked them but thought we talked about using the Silhouette papers on some of the cards. I got so into making sure that everything matched, that I forgot that she wanted to use that paper. Totally my own fault!! So I redesigned some of the cards with the black and white paper and then got frustrated again because it just looked so funny to have some of the cards pastel colors and some black and white. So, I ended up redoing all of the cards with the black and white papers and then recut all of the supplies. I think they turned out so much better with the black and white paper, so I am really glad that I redid them. Everyone at the workshop seemed to enjoy them too.

Here are the original projects with the pastel colors and the new ones with the black and white Silhouette papers:

This is the original workshop.

This is the revised workshop.
Here are close-ups of the cards using different papers and colors...

Ryan's 1st Year

This is one of those layouts that takes a while, but is really worth it. Actually it didn't take very long to make the layout, it just took a long time to find the photos and put them in order. I used a square punch to make sure they were all the same size and then just glued them down. What makes it worth it though, is being able to look through my son's album and see an entire year of cute expressions and smiles all on one page. I really need to do this every year for both of my kids. Lord knows I have enough photos to do one each year. In fact, I have enough photos that could probably do one for each month! *Ü*

I used some old clear stickers that I had from a massive pack that I bought from QVC years ago. I don't know what I will do with all of those icky alphabet stickers. They are just gathering dust at the moment. Maybe I should pull them out and use them again????

Something Different

This is a layout I did a couple years ago of my son and I playing on my bed. We were tickling each other and giggling up a storm. My husband took a few photos of us since I already had the camera out for something else. (I don't know about you guys, but I am not in very many photos since I am usually the one taking them.)

I used some old Basic Grey paper and stickers that I had bought a while back. Love Basic Grey and I wish I used it more. I still have a ton of paper. I have some hidden journaling down on the bottom left in a little envelope.

Serendipity Layout

This layout uses the Serendipity papers, stamps, and punch outs as well. We had such a fun time taking these photos. Believe it or not they are taken at Sears. I like Sears because you can get your photos on a CD. Love that!

More Serendipity Cards

Here are a few more Serendipity Cards. I just love the color combo. Actually, I am loving anything with browns lately. The top one uses a sentiment from CTMH's "For Any Occasion" set and the bottom one uses a sentiment from CTMH's "Friendship Word Puzzle" set.

Serendipity Card

This card was inspired by Melanie Mcbride. Her version was so beautiful that I just had to stop what I was doing and make a card like it. It uses Close to my Heart's Heart of Winter Promotion called "Serendipity," which includes patterned paper, textured cardstock, punchouts and a super cute stamp set. I also used CTMH's "Happy Birthday" and "Playful Flourishes" sets.

Cardstock: CTMH Colonial White, Textured Bamboo Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Bamboo, Outdoor Denim, Dutch Blue Stamps: CTMH Serendipity, Playful Flourishes, Happy Birthday

More Cards

This is another workshop that I will be teaching in February. These cards and purse use one of my favorite new CTMH paper packs called Silhouette. I love the colors and patterns in this kit!

The purse is simply made by cutting a white lunchbag down to a square and adhering cardstock to each side. Then embellish as desired and wa-la, you have a cute gift purse to hold your cards or whatever you'd like to put in it. Here is a tutorial for making the purse.

The Criss Cross Card is posted below with a link to the tutorial. I will post a close up of the other cards as soon as I photograph them...

Cards, Cards, Cards

I am a scrapbooker at heart, but just can't seem to get enough of making cards lately. It's probably a good thing since I need to stock up on them so that I have them ready when I need to send one out at the last minute.

This is a sample of some cards and a cute tote that I will be teaching at a workshop on Monday. The template from the tote came from paper Crafts Magazine last year. It is such a quick and easy little tote to make and fits standard sized cards perfectly. Here is the template in case you'd like to make one:
The Floral Elements Card is posted below. I will post a close up of the other cards as soon as I photograph them...

Criss Cross Card

I love these fun Criss Cross cards. They are so easy to make and look so great. This one uses CTMH's Silhouette paper. Check out the great tutorial here.

Floral Elemets Card

I have had my CTMH Floral Elements stamp set for quite a while and never actually used it. So, today I broke it out along with my Dimensional Elements Flower Garden chipboard (which now comes with an adhesive back) and this is what I came up with. Nothing too fancy, but it works.

Inks: CTMH Sweet Leaf, Blush, Lilac Mist Stamps: CTMH Floral Elements, April Word Puzzle, Blooming Flourishes Other: Dimensional Elements Flower garden Chipboard

Simple Birthday Card

This card was inspired by Nichole Heady. She created a card similar to this using papertreyink stamps. Check out her card here. I recreated her card using CTMH's January stamp of the month called Eastertime. I also used a few other stamps including "Happy Birthday," and "Friendship Word Puzzle."

Inks: CTMH Baby Pink, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup, Blush Stamps: CTMH Eastertime, Friendship Word Puzzle, Happy Birthday Other: CTMH Chalks

Valentine's Nugget Tins

Here are the Valentine's Nugget Tins I promised. Everything used is from Close to my Heart including the paper, cardstock, stamp sets, and ribbon. These are going to make great gifts.

Cardstock: CTMH Black, Cranberry, & White Daisy Inks: CTMH Cranberry & Black Stamps: CTMH Soul Mates Word Puzzle Paper: CTMH Silhouette Paper Pack

Celebrate

I saw this card design somewhere a while ago and can't seem to find it now. I sketched the layout of it when I first saw it because I knew I would want to use it again someday. Well, today is the day. I just wish I could find the original designer so that I could at least give her credit for the design. Anyway, my version uses the new CTMH Baby's Firsts stamp set and Happy Birthday which is one of my staples. I use it on everything!