Thanks from the June Card Kit

I got the cardmaking bug this weekend.  I made a couple of more cards from the SSS June card kit.  I really love the flower stamps in this set.  I foresee getting a lot of use from this one. 

 

The set comes with the solid color stamps and then the line drawings of the flowers, leaves, and little squigglies.  I started out just stamping to try out the set and test the colors I wanted to use.  Then I decided to keep the paper and use it in a card.  I used Blush, Juniper, Crystal Blue, and Buttercup ink from CTMH and stamped the flowers in second generation for the base color.  I stamped over the top of them with the line stamp in Black ink.  The sentiment is from SSS set called Lots of Thanks.  That's another go-to set for me.   I added some baker's twine and a little enamel heart that came with a previous card kit.  I mounted the card face on a standard size top fold card I cut from the cardstock in the kit.  I love the colors in this kit. 

The card on the right is another card I made with the stamp set, using it in the same fashion with the same colors. The sentiment is also from Lots of Thanks. 

 

Because it's still anything goes at SSS Wednesday Blog Challenge, I'll be posting these cards over there.  

That's it for me today.  I'm going to try to get a few more things done. I'll be sure to share when I do.  Just a side a note, if you like the colors Blush and Buttercup from CTMH, this month is your last chance to get them.  They will be retiring.   If these are colors you use often, grabbing another pad or re-inkers might be something beneficial to you.  You can click here to see all the other retiring items as well.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

 

 

Love is Everything

I thought I would share a card with you that I made from the Simon Says Stamp June card kit.  I already have my July kit and this is the first chance I have had to play in my June kit.   It's been so long since I have made a card. I think I was going through withdrawals :)

 

The stamp set in the kit is called Favorite Flowers.  It's a build a flower kind of stamp set, but it also has some nice sentiments.   The card base is Neenah Desert Storm and it's a standard sized top fold card.  I heat embossed the sentiment with Hero Arts white embossing powder. The baker's twine is from Lawn Fawn.   I loved all the soft muted colors in the papers that came with the kit.  

Over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog it's "Anything Goes" this week.  I'll be posting my card there. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great week!

Chantilly Flashback

Quick post from me this Sunday morning.  I'm still slowly trudging along in the pageant book trying to get it up to date.  Here's a layout I did using the retired Chantilly paper pack and complements.  I only had one picture from that night and I had multiples of it.  Because it was so small,  I used it twice.  So, no you are not seeing double, nor have I lost my mind....this time :) 

This layout is of a very simple design.  I used the printed paisley/floral paper from Chantilly along with Outdoor Denim, Juniper, Cotton Candy and White Daisy.   The scalloped edge was made with our border punch.  I used the Uppercase and Lowercase Glamour alphabet stamp set for the title and stamped directly onto my base.  I used the Keyboard alpha for the year on the banner at the top.  All the other embellishments are from the Chantilly Complements.  I threw in a few sparkles here and there and that was it.

Now, I have my first pageant done, and all I lack is the last.  One book almost up to date.  I realized there are several other pages I have done recently that I haven't shared.  As soon as I can get those photographed, I'll be sure to share.

A quick reminder, tis the season for a new idea book!  I can't wait!  Our new idea book will go live on August 1st.  All of the papers that are listed in the current idea book will be gone.  Nothing will carry over this time.  Our new book is huge and will be for the entire year.  All of the papers in the new book will be brand new.  Not to speak of several new items like new markers, base and bling, embossing powders, tools and new sparkly things.  Be sure to check out my website by clicking here to see all the items that are retiring.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to be back soon with some more layouts to share.  Have a great rest of your weekend!

Happy Scrapping!

A Couple More Layouts

I'll go ahead and apologize up front for the terrible lighting in the photos.  I really must devise a better system for photographing my layouts.  This past weekend I got a couple more layouts done in the pageant book.    I have also been trying to use up my stockpile of papers and goodies so these papers and embellishments are from long ago.

 

The papers in this layout came from an old Colorbok stack.   I only had scraps left, so I made good use of them.  I thought the colors went perfectly with her little outfit.  The title was made with the stickers from the stack as well.   This layout turned out to be my favorite of the two. 

 

This layout has papers from an old Doodlebug page kit that was all black and white.  I added some blue accents that I punched from scraps and some strips.  This layout is much prettier in person.  I think the floor is rather distracting in this photo.  But you can get the idea. 

I only have one more year to get caught up in this book.  I'll be sure to share when I get it done. 

Remember the new idea book goes live on August 1, 2014.  The idea book coming up will be active for a whole year!  That means that all the paper packs we have in our current book are going away.  Nothing will be carrying forward.  If you liked any of the paper packs in this idea book, you will have only month left to order.  If you have any questions about any of our products, please feel free to contact me. 

That's it for me tonight.  I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!

 

A Few Layouts in Ariana

Hello my blog friends!  It's June already!?!?!   Today was the last day of school for my daughter and honestly, I think I was looking forward to it as much as she was..lol.  This last month has been so hectic.   The good thing about having all these activities is it makes for good scrapbook material!  Now I just have to find the time to put it all together. 

Two major events she was involved in last month was a pageant and then her dance recital.  Both very scrapworthy.  I realized as I was trying to gather my goods to get organized that I have pictures from pageants and recitals past I haven't put into layouts yet.  I tried my best to get her pageant photos up to date since they were the fewest I had.  I broke out the Ariana paper pack to put a couple of pages together. 

 

I was a little unsure about this paper pack at first, although I loved the big florals. I have just never really used them.   I cut the title in CCR from the font on the Artiste cartridge.  After taking this picture I noticed I left off the "pageant" part of the title.   Oh well, it's fixable :) 

I found the next year's pageant photos and since I still had Ariana on my desk, I put together another one.   Same paper, totally different look.  On this one I used the Floral Happiness stamp set and second generation stamped some roses in Sorbet and Crystal blue for embellishments.   I really thought those roses from that set went well with the paper. 

I still have one more previous year and then this year's pageant to scrap.  Then that book will be caught up.  Woot!  I love to compile books of certain facets of our life and watch how people, styles, and places change over time.  I look at the layouts I did of her pageant photos from 2005 and then this is what I'll be working with nine years later.  Quite a change!

I can't wait to get these photos together and ready to do layouts.  I'm thinking Skylark may be a promising paper pack based on color.  I'll be sure to share when I get them done.

That's all for me tonight.  Thanks for stopping by!  I'm hoping that things have settled down enough I can get back to crafting, and posting, more often.  Until then.....

Happy Scrapping!

Happy Birthday Zoe!

Hello my blog friends.  I really didn't disappear from the face of the earth.  Although, it may seem that way. This last month (and probably until the end of May) has proven to be very hectic.  With school getting wrapped up, tryouts for things, pageants, recitals, concerts....and the list goes on.  All of the above hasn't left me much time to do crafty things.  I'm hoping next month, when school is out, things will settle down and I'll be able to get back to the craft desk. 

Today, is my daughter's birthday.  She turned 14!  Where has the time gone?  We had a little birthday party arranged by a dear friend of mine at her favorite restaurant.  I had told her she was going to have to wait to open presents, but I did bring her one little present and her card for her to open.  I must say I was touched.  When she saw the envelope she said, "Oh, this is my favorite part.  I get to see what card my mom has made me."  All this time, I really didn't think it mattered to her.  It brought a tear to my eye.   She opened it and loved it.  I thought I would share it with you guys, too.

 

This stamp is from Tiddly Inks.  They have some absolutely adorable images.   I stamped it on some SSS 120# white cardstock so I could make this a one layer card.  I colored her with copics and hit the highlights with my Wink of Stella glitter brush.  I iced the cake with some rock candy Stickles. The patterned paper is from Doodlebug 6x6 page, Take Note.  I added a little strip of black, tied some baker's twine around it, and rounded the edges.  That was it.  On the inside (which I forgot to take a picture of) I used several sentiments from the Birthday Messages stamp set from SSS, along with a cupcake image from the Tiddly Inks set. 

I didn't have time to do anything grand for a card, but I have always liked this little girl.  Both of them actually, the stamp and the recipient :)   Blue is Zoe's favorite color, so she got a blue dress.  She liked it, and that's what counted. 

That's all for me tonight.  Don't forget this month is National Scrapbooking Month.  In celebration of that event, Close to My Heart is offering a special paper pack for only $5 with ever $50 qualifying purchase for the month of May. 

 I hope to be able to get something whipped up from that paper, too.  My intentions are good, my follow through, not so great lately..lol.   But I'm going to try!

Have a great weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Studio J

The March special on Studio J has ended.  I couldn't help but take advantage of the sale.  I had forgotten how much I really enjoy our digital scrapbooking.  I started digital scrapbooking with Paint Shop Pro a long time ago.  It was a bit time consuming.  My introduction to Close to My Heart was actually through Studio J.  When I found how easy and quick a page could come together, I was hooked.  Don't get me wrong, I still love  traditional paper scrapbooking, but there is room in my life for both.  I had pushed it to the last weekend to take advantage of the sale.  I did eleven layouts.  There is no way I could have done eleven layouts in a weekend's time the old fashioned way.

I am not going to bore you with all my layouts, but I did want to share a few with you.  For those not familiar with Studio J, all of the papers available at Close to My Heart now, and most of the ones from the past are available to work with in a digital format.  And that is a lot of paper!  There is no program to buy and it's free to create.  You only pay when you decide you can't live without them :)  Even without the sale, $6.95 for a two page layout is still a spectacular price.  Not to mention that when you do purchase a layout for $6.95 you also get the .jpeg file.  You get a large version perfect to print your own or a web version, which is what you see below.  If you didn't want to purchase the 12x12 layouts, there is an option to just purchase the .jpeg's for $2.95 and you can print your own or keep them in digital format.  I usually order my layouts and then print mine out as an 8x10 picture and trim it down to 8x8 for my smaller photo albums.  It works perfectly.

Here's one of my favorite layouts I did this past weekend...

 

You have a lot of freedom even within all the presets in the program.   This paper pack, Giggles and Grins, which is retired, just happened to have the color yellow I was looking for.   Once I found the paper pack with the color I wanted, I was able to manipulate all the other papers to match.   Because the theme of the paper pack wasn't exactly "bee" themed, nor were they the right color, I didn't use the My Stickease that came with it.  Instead I made my own flowers out of ribbon, picture clasps, and a brad.  

These pages are fun to do and you can do them anywhere you can connect to the internet.   I won't bore you with all eleven of them, but I may share a few more later on.  If you would like to look around in Studio J, you can click on the tab at the top of the page or click here.  Remember, it is free to create!  If you should decide to make a purchase, make sure to join the Mystery Hostess party.  Did I mention that you can purchase Studio J layouts with hostess rewards, too?  It's a win, win, win situation :)

That's it for me tonight.  Thanks for stopping by!