Flower Card

I saw a cute flower shaped card here a while back and downloaded the template. When I came across Kathi's version here, I knew I had to print out the template and try one too. Here is my version. It could use a little dressing up, but sometimes less is more...Cardstock: White Daisy Stamps: Friendship Word Puzzle, Playful Petals Ink: Blush, Sweet Leaf Paper/Cardstock: Garden Paper (purple B&T), Sweet Leaf & Blush Cardstock Other: Circle Window Charms, Scallop Punch

Digital Layouts

I have to confess that I am a QVC junkie. OK, I said it. It's out there, so there's no taking it back now. Mock me if you will. LOL! I was turned onto QVC by my mom years ago when she showed me something that she ordered. (I can't even remember what it was.) Whenever they have their scrapbooking shows, especially when they devote an entire day to scrapbooking, I have to watch. I don't order as much as I would like, but once in a while I get sucked in and order something that I really don't need.

Well, last May the "Today's Special Value" was this great Memory Mixer digital scrapbooking software, which of course I had to order. (I know a few of you out there ordered it too... Barbara!! *Ü*) I don't think I used it until just a few months ago.

These are a couple of the layouts that I did. I printed them as 8x8s, but need to send them off to Costco to print 12x12s.

3-D Dress Card

There was a pattern in a past Paper Crafts magazine for this cute skirt. (I'm not sure which issue it was. I'll try to dig through my past issues to find it for you.) Another CTMH consultant posted a card similar to mine on the consultant bulletin board and I knew I had to make one too. I used the polka dot B&T from the Good Times paper pack for the skirt and the backside of the B&T (brown) for the top. I also added a little knotted, chocolate grosgrain ribbon around the waist.

The background is simply a sheet of Chocolate cardstock matted with some sanded Sweet Leaf cardstock. I used a stamp from the Happy Birthday Set for the "Celebrate" and another matching sentiment on the inside that says, "Happy Birthday." They are both stamped with Chocolate ink.

"I Scream" Card

I made this card a while back, as the I Scream set is now retired. I had a couple of people comment on it lately, so I thought I would post it. I forgot how much I liked this stamp set.

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Blush, Chocolate, Brown Bag Stamps: CTMH I Scream, Happy Birthday Ink: CTMH Chocolate, Baby Pink Other: Colonial White Ribbon Rounds, 3-D Foam Squares, Round Sponge, Prisma Glitter

Thank You and Baby Card

First I wanted to send big "Thank You" to everyone who posted or emailed me in regards to the passing of my grandmother. You are all so sweet! We got back late last night from our trip to my mom's. The funeral was lovely. I even had an opportunity to show my son where his grandpa (my dad), his other grandpa (my mom's 2nd husband), and 4 of his great grandparents were buried. He was fascinated by the headstones and wanted to stop to read each one.

On a happier note, I recently found out that one of my friends is pregnant with a baby girl. That inspired me to create a baby card which I haven't done in a while. I thought it was so appropriate to post a baby card after posting about the passing of grandmother. The circle of life is amazing.

Anyway, here it is. It was inspired by a card that Kristina Werner posted last week. For some reason I can't link to the direct post of her card, but here is a link to her website. Her card was posted on March 18th.


I used CTMH Baby Pink Textured Cardstock (which is dark on one side and light on the other.) Papertrey's Polka Dot Basics with CTMH Baby Pink Ink, SU! So Many Scallops with CTMH Blush Ink, SU! Short & Sweet with white embossing powder, Fiskars Corner Rounder, Scallop Scissors, white grosgrain ribbon, and...well, that's about it! *Ü*

Make it a blessed day!

Floral Elements Card

I thought I'd post an extra little something tonight since I will be heading out of town for a couple days for my Grandma's funeral and won't get a chance to post anything until I come back. This card was inspired by Kathi's card here. I loved the simplicity of her card and wanted to recreate it. The colors I used were inspired by the "Let's Get Together" Paper Pack.

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy Stamps: CTMH Floral Elements, March Word Puzzle, Thoughts of You, Simple Stitches Ink: CTMH Breeze, Buttercup, Cranberry, Garden Green Other: Dimensional Elements Flower Garden

Spring Layout

Whenever I get my new Creating Keepsakes Magazine, the first thing I do is flip it over to check out the CTMH ad on the back cover. As soon as I saw the ad on the back of the current issue, I knew I had to create the same layout! I only made a few minor changes.

Papers/CS: Paper Garden B&T, Blush Textured Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock Stamps: April Word Puzzle Inks: Blush, Petal, Buttercup Other: My new Sew Mini Sewing Machine (don’t look too close. This was my first attempt to sew on a layout.), Dimensional Elements Flower Garden, Colonial White Ribbon Rounds
Cuttlebug & Nestibilities for the Scallop Journaling Circle, Expressive Fonts CD, Colonial White My Accents, Blush Waxy Flax, Winter Cozy Buttons

Goodbye Grandma...

Today is a sad day for my family. My maternal grandmother passed away early this morning. We were in the midst of planning her 90th birthday celebration which will now never happen. She had been ill on and off over the past few years, but I never thought she would pass away so soon. She was one of those ladies you think will live forever. She was always so sharp and could finish a Crossword Puzzle in no time flat! Here are a few pictures from my daughter's first birthday last year when Grandma came to visit. I love the first one because it shows 4 generations including my grandma, my mom, me, and my daughter. These sweet memories will last forever. Now I just need to scrap them so my kids can look back at them when they are older.
I'm not exactly sure what Grandma was telling Hannah here, but it looks like something very important from the look on their faces. *Ü*

Fun Desktop Images

Many of you may already know about Shabby Princess, but I just found their website and blog and am so excited. If you like digital scrapbooking, you will love these sites! The website has lots of great free downloads. The blog has fun monthly calendar downloads that you can use as a desktop on your computer each month. I added a couple photos of my kiddos and kept the left side blank for my computer folders and files. I love having the calendar (and my kiddo's pictures) on my computer's desktop. They also have a super cute "collection" of images called the Promise Collection, and it's FREE! I think I may use some of the images to create a new Blog banner at some point.

"A Friend is..." Card

I love this stamp set and don't use it nearly enough. I created this card with a hidden pocket on the front. I used my CTMH Pivot Point Stapler to add a small piece of ribbon on the side to make it easier to pull out and my blending pen to color in the petals. The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory so I won't into too much detail.

Edited to add: Sorry, I thought this was my Friendship Flowers set, but it is actually called A Friend is...

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy & WD Textured, Hollyhock Stamps: CTMH A friend is... Ink: CTMH Black, Hollyhock, Garden Green, Goldrush Other: Hollyhock Ribbon Rounds, Staples, Blending Pen, Round Sponge

My Little Diva

I just couldn't resist posting these cute pics of my daughter. She is a total girly-girl. She loves to wear hats and her pink sunglasses...even inside the house! What am I going to do when she becomes a teenager? Oh my!

Easter Nugget Tin

I needed to whip up a couple of quick Easter gifts for my son's preschool teachers and fell back on my old favorite Nugget Tins since I still had a few left from Christmas. I was kicking myself for not ordering Papertrey's "Limitless Labels" but then remembered that I had the "Holiday Treats" set that I could use instead. So I ended up using the label from that set, the "Easter Wishes" from Papertrey's Mixed Messages set, and the flower from CTMH's "Made by Me" set. I added a tiny bit of Prisma Glitter to the inside of the flower after I dotted it with an Amethyst Marker. (I should have used Lilac Mist, but oh well...) I used CTMH's Blush and Sweet Leaf ink pads.

Hopefully his teacher's will enjoy them. I still need to make the little purse to put them in and a matching card. Nothing like waiting until the last minute. He needs to take them to school tomorrow! Yikes!

"My Li'l Old Fashioned Boy" Layout

This is not a very "creative" layout, but I love the photos of my little guy. I took him to JCPenny a couple years ago to have some color photos taken. After they took a few photos, they suggested dressing him up with the big shoes, tie, etc and shot a few of these adorable pictures. I have another layout I did with more shots from this session that I will post later.

Cardstock: CTMH Cocoa, Colonial White Papers: CTMH Simple Pleasures Paper Pack Other: Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon Rounds, Pewter Brads, Vellum, Dimensional Elements Ribbon Accenta

File Folder Book

Here's a fun way to use your File Folder Coluzzle Template. We made this project in one of my hostess clubs a couple years ago.

First we cut out two large file folders and then glued them together to create the little book. Then we decorated them with Groovy Blossoms B&T, which I believe is now retired. We also used Love Tags and Simple Stitches stamp sets and a few eyelets to spruce it up. I just found this little book and realized that I never added any photos. I guess I better get some old photos out to add, huh? *Ü* Cardstock: CTMH Hollyhock, Cocoa, Vanilla Cream, Sweet Leaf Papers: Groovy Blossoms Stamps: Simple Stitches, Love tags Ink: CTMH Hollyhock, Cocoa, White Daisy Other: Hollyhock Eyelets, File Folder Coluzzle Template

I've Been Tagged...

by Kari to do this 7 random facts thingy. The rules of the game: • Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. • Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them. • Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. • Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Hmm...I think I will link you back to my "35 (random) things about me at 35" post. This layout tells a lot of random things about me a few years ago. Here are the top 7 most random things about me from that layout:

1. Favorite smells are anything citrus and cinnamon.
2. I love games shows. (It drives my hubby nuts!)
3. I eat corn on the cob in a very unique way. (Don't ask.)
4. I love stale Gummy Bears. (They are too hard to eat when they are gooey and soft.)
5. My toenails are always painted.
6. I like to play racquetball. (I don't get much of a chance to do it these days.)
7. I have always dreamed about being an Olympic ice skater.

I am supposed to tag 7 people now, however I still don't know most of the gals whose blogs I visit regularly, so I feel little weird about tagging them. And the gals whom I have become "blog buddies" with, have already been tagged many times. So, I would like to tag all of you who happen to read this and if you would like to join in, just post a comment with 7 random things about yourself, and if you would like, feel free to tag someone else. *Ü*

Congrats Cards

I like to reward my downline every now and then for their accomplishments, so this quarter I am sending anyone who made their $300 quarterly minimums in January, a card and a free ink pad. These are a couple of the cards I made for my fabulous gals. Both cards use CTMH's Paper Garden paper pack, a flower from the Autumn Daisy Just Blooms collection, a button from the Colonial White My Accents Tube and a stamped sentiment from the For Every Occasion set. On the Petal base card, I used white embossing powder and on the Colonial White base card, I stamped the sentiment with Petal ink.

The card design was cased from Nichole Heady, just like the one I posted a few days ago using SU! products. I like it because you can use your B&T scraps and they are quick to make.

Here is another version of the same card using CTMH's Simple Stitches stamp set.

Sympathy Card

I have a friend who just lost her father and her brother only 12 hours apart. Her father had been ill for some time and her brother had some heart problems, but to lose them both in the same day is just heart breaking. I wanted to send her a handmade sympathy card and when I came across the beautiful card that Kathi made here, I knew that I had to "case" it for this occasion. (BTW, if you haven't visited Kathi's blog before, be sure to check it out. She is amazingly talented and inspires me daily!)
I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the front of the card and then used CTMH Chocolate cardstock on the inside overlapping it just a bit. Then I added a sentiment from Papertrey's Mixes Messages set in Chocolate ink. I finished off the simple card with some satin ribbon I found at Big Lots for only $1. (Can't beat that!)

Easter Layout

This layout is my version of a similar one designed by Amy Mayhew. (Thanks Amy!) I will be teaching this at a workshop next month along with a Spring themed layout. I used CTMH's new Reflections Layout Book on this one. (Love this book!!!)

Cardstock: CTMH Buttercup, Petal, Colonial White Papers: CTMH Paper Garden Paper Pack and Level 1 Kit Stamps: Charm Alphabet Upper and Lower/Numbers Ink: CTMH Petal Other: CTMH Big Pinks, Circle Window Charms, Colonial White Ribbon Rounds, Edge Distresser

Another SU! Card

Here's another card made with the SU! Berry Bliss papers. I figured since I had them out, I might as well make another card with them. I also used the free Rub-Ons I got from the Sale-a-bration promo. (I love rub-ons!)

I cased the card design from one of my heroes, Nichole Heady. I want to be just like her when I grow up! I didn't have any of the velvet flowers that she used on her card, which is surprising since I have soooo many flowers, so I used some Primas and a stamped flower from SU!'s One of a Kind set.

Cardstock: CTMH Chocolate, White Daisy Papers: SU's Berry Bliss Stamps: SU's One of a Kind Ink: CTMH Chocolate Other: Prima Flowers, Pink brad from who knows where?, SU! Love & Happiness Rub-Ons

My First SU! Card

OK, so you are probably thinking, "Why in the world would Lisa (Ms. CTMH) make a card using Stampin' Up products?" Well, to be honest I have liked many of their images for a long time and have always been curious about their products. I have a friend who is a SU! Demonstrator and she told me about the sale-a-bration promo that is going on right now, so I figured that now would be the time to try out some of their products. I actually got a bunch of different things including a few stamp sets, some patterned paper, rub-ons, punches, and a few other small things.
This is the first card I made with their products. I used SU's Berry Bliss paper, and One of a Kind and Short & Sweet stamp sets. (Love the cute sayings and images in the Short & Sweet set.) I was a little bummed about having to cut the rubber and mount them myself. I knew that their stamps came that way, but never realized what a pain it would be. If I had as many SU! stamps as I do CTMH stamps, I'll bet at least half of them would still be unmounted.

In any case, I got a few mounted and starting playing with them . I think I am a little spoiled with my clear stamps because I found it a bit hard to know where my image would end up. I used rubber stamps a few years ago but have since been using clear stamps, so stamping with these woodies was a bit awkward. I still love the images and will continue to use them, but probably not as much as I thought.

I wanted to add something in the middle of the flower so I used a sentiment from Papertrey's Mixed Messages set. (It's one of my favs!) I also wanted to add a small window charm but my CTMH ones were to big and the ones I have from Joann's are very yellow. Oh well, I will figure out something...

Cardstock: CTMH Hollyhock, Chocolate, White Daisy Papers: SU's Berry Bliss Stamps: SU's One of a Kind, Short & Sweet, Papertrey's Mixed Messages Ink: CTMH Hollyhock , Chocolate Other: CTMH Chocolate Ribbon Rounds

Celebrate Life Butterfly Card

I saw a similar card on SCS but now cannot find the name of the person to created it. I would love to give them credit. If it is by chance you, please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due.

Since I still had my CTMH Celebrate Life and April Word Puzzle sets out, I recreated the card to look like this...

This is one of the stamps from the April Word Puzzle. Gotta love the acrylix. Can't do this with a rubber stamp! I also used my paper trimmer to score the lines on the baby blue CS. Then I sanded it along with the edges of the sweet leaf CS.
I did the same thing on this butterfly that I did on the ones on my LO I posted the other day. Just stamped the butterfly in Cocoa on the card. Then on another piece of CS, I inked the butterfly in blush and rolled the edges in petal. Cut him out and added some Prisma Glitter. Then I folded the wings up and adhered him onto the card directly on top of the Cocoa image, just gluing down his body.

Precious Paisleys Circle Card

This is a card I did a while back using CTMH's Precious Paisleys Paper. I believe that it is retired now, but I still love it. I have a small amount left that I am saving for a layout for my daughter. (It's one of many layouts that I have in my head at the moment. If I only had time to create everything I envision.)

I used a Circle Coluzzle to cut the card, the patternd paper, and the Kiwi Cardstock. I used CTMH's Happy Birthday set and bent the sentiment to wrap around the flower. I didn't have any pink flowers, so I used blush re-inker to dye the white flower and then used a buttercup brad in the center. The edge looked kind of plain, so I used a My Legacy Writer to add the border. Looking at it now, I think I should have used CTMH's Simple Stitches stamp instead. Maybe I will make another one and actually sew the edge with my Sew Mini that is currently gathering dust. LOL!

And the winner is...

I used the online random number generator and it chose #7, so congratulations to:

Maricar who said...

“I just came to poke around and see what you've been creating lately. Kathi sent me your way to look at a few of your cards last week, and I was inspired and impressed.”

Maricar, please email me your address so that I can mail you your goodies. My email addy is lisa@myctmh.com.

Thanks for playing everyone. Check back again as I will be giving away more goodies soon. (I have a lot in my stash and am running out of room to store it all.)

Paper Garden Spring Layout

This is one of two layouts that I will be teaching at a workshop in April. The hostess wants one Spring layout and one Easter layout. (I'm still workin' on the Easter LO.) I really wanted to add some photos to this layout, but it's not Spring yet and I don't have any photos to add. LOL! I used the new CTMH Paper Garden paper pack.
The flower at the bottom is a revised version of the card I posted earlier that I cased from Carolyn Hulin. I used a different stamp set for the stem and different colors to match this LO. The butterfly was inked up with CTMH Blush ink and then the edges rolled in Petal ink. Then I covered the entire butterfly with Bonding Memories Glue and covered it in Prisma Glitter. I bent the sides up a bit and glued the body to the layout so that the wings would lift up.

Don't forget to leave a comment on the post below to enter to win my blog candy. *Ü*

Cardstock: CTMH Blush, Sweet Leaf, Buttercup, White Daisy Papers: CTMH Paper Garden Paper Pack Stamps: April Word Puzzle, Rustic Alphabet, Card Commentary, Celebrate Life, Angel Whispers Ink: CTMH Petal, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf, Blush Other: Prisma Glitter, Colonial White Ribbon Rounds