Reminder (MAY) contest

Don't forget TODAY is the last day to enter my May giveaway!!!! make sure to fill out the quick form, just your name and email is needed THAT'S IT!!

So either click HERE or click on the Giveaways tab up top ^^ I will be announcing the winner tomorrow at around 1pm (EST) Here on my Blog!!! so make sure to check back to see if you have won!

Its OVER $50 worth of Close to my Heart products!!

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Update/ Flip flaps

Just wanted to update everyone that my 2nd lay out for this past week (Week #2) is temporarily on hold. Its done just decided that I wanted to add some more pictures to it, BUT dont have the space for them on the layout so I will be adding Flip flaps.

What are Flip Flaps? well they are one of the best invention in the Scrapbooking world! (according to me) LOL.

They come in handy when you have about a thousand (well maybe not that many) pictures of the same day, or for the same LO but you cant fit all of them and want to. Well this is where flip flaps come to play! Unfortunately I dont have any on hand so had to order some. As soon as they come in I will be placing the extra photos on to the LO and will be done.  In the mean time I will be working on Week 3 LO 1 so that I dont fall behind.

Here is a picture I found on Google that best shows how the flip flaps work this is for a 4x6 which are the ones I will be using, but they do come in different sizes :) cant wait to get mine!

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CTMH contest!

Hey everyone! I have entered a contest on the CTMH FB page... and would love if you helped me out by voting. Just click on the link: Vote for me :) and that's it!

Thanks so much! This is the art work I submitted it had to be using the dotty paper pack:

Thanks Again!!

Week 2 LO 1

So I think I may be falling behind. Maybe my two 2 pg LO's are starting to feel like  a bit of a stretch?? Its Thursday and although I finished the LO last night. I still had to take the photos and edit them for this blog post. So it has taken me all week to do this, but I still have today and the rest of the week to at least attempt to get the 2nd LO done right? wish me luck! I really would like to get 2 in every week but we will see.

SO these are the next set of photos in the the album. I as with ALL my LO's and photos I never know where I am heading. So for this one I knew I wanted to at least us the adorable "Bath tub" cut from the Everyday paper dolls cartridge from Cricut. I ended up cutting out the "Splash" and the tub "shower" part to it from there as well. I knew this cartridge was well money spent. I used the Art Philosophy CTMH cartridge for the letters. I hand cut all the drops that are used.  The paper packet that I used was an old CTMH one called "Building blocks".  I used Heavenly blue, sunkissed yellow, outdoor denim, and white daisy card stock for the rest.

Very straight forward LO

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stay tuned for my next LayOut.

Week 1 Layout 1 and 2

Ok so as you all know I set out a goal for my self to do two 2 page layouts (LO) each week for my sons baby album. Yes I just posted that  a few days ago, but as I was going through the album I found 2 LO's one with pictures attached (no tittle or embellishments) and one with no pictures (some embellishments). So I figured since I had set the goal in the middle of the week, I could either stat next week fresh. Or I could semi "cheat" and use these two I had already started WAY back in the day, and get a head start. So I did the later one... lol

So the one with the pictures already attached I hated!! I wasn't even sure I would use. I didn't want to just start completely over, so I decided that I would just go with it, and try and make it "better".  I am not a huge fan of using black on LO's, but I figure it was what the LO was missing to pull it together. Not sure why I thought it would be black but I did... what do you think???

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I chose to go with "Ronald's many faces" for the title. I know not too Original, but what the heck I think it works. Given the amount of pics and different "faces" he was making.










I also chose to use the April SOTM "You Are..." (S1204). Not too sure if that was the right choice of stamp to go along with the title, but what's done is done. Plus I think I went the lazy way out with this LO. I guess it may have something to do with the fact that I didn't love it from the get go. Either way I "think" it turned out ok.

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Here is a close up of the LO. I love my baby's faces... lol I think EVERY mom has said that at one point or another, right?

This Next LO I completed at a friends Workshop, I want to say maybe 2008 sometime? not too sure. She was who introduce to me to Close to My Heart!! Love her for THAT and many other reasons too... lol! This was the LO with out pics. I don't remember what paper pack this was, or what stamp set was used... Wait! I think I may have an old Idea Book (IB) with this info.... give me a sec. Ok so the paper pack that was used is called "Good times". Cant seem to find what stamp set was used. (Sorry)

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I wasn't sure where I was going with it. These were the next set of photos in the album. I didn't want to stray from the order of the photos, and I wasn't about to search through the album to see which photos would "go" with the LO. So I just stuck with these and made the LO work.

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The Left page, I cut the pics to size (really only the bottom left one). I made a small pocket out of what should have been a "title" block. I stamped "moments to share" on it and made a small card with the AP cartridge (cart), Wrote a note for my son. Just above that I stamped "Just for you". Simple enough and it works. I made a slit in the page protector for easy access of the card. With out having to slip the whole page out to get it (more on that later).

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The Right page, I had set it for a 5x7 photo, but instead I stamped the mat and used a 4x6 photo. Since I hand wrote in the card I continued it on this pg. on the top left it says "Pull if you dare" with the arrow pointing to the photo. I also cut a slit in this one, so if you wanted to you could pull the picture out. Again I converted the "Title" block into a pocket for the pic I stamped "Peek A Boo". The  bottom right arrow reads "I love baths". I felt that I needed to balance out the arrows and hand writing. Overall I am happy with the way this came out. Since I was using a previously made LO.




Alright so now time for the close up of the slits. I cant remember exactly where I saw this, I know it was in one of our books, Maybe it was Magic? Any how all I did was place the pages in their page protectors and then I cut a slit.

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 I apologize for the quality of the photo... BUT you should be able to some what see the slit. On this one you should be able to see it a lot BETTER. So what I did was I took an Exacto knife and used a ruler to guide my cuts. I didn't do a single line cut. I actually did like a small thin rectangular cut, this way you can actually see where the slit is and just reach in and pull out the card or the picture. Hope this helps "visualize" the slits.

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Well there you have it, my first sets of LO's. I know I semi cheated with the ones already being made and everything, but I did start mid week ;)

Stay tuned for next weeks LO's!

MY GOAL

I have set a GOAL for myself. I realized that I started a scrapbook album of my son as soon as he was born. I SWORE I had at least done 8 moths of his life... come to find out I have about 15 (2pg) Layouts of  the first 3 months of his life..YIKES!!! have I got some catching up to do!

I have decided that I will attempt to make two (2pg) layouts each week. Realistic?? I sure hope so! I figure That this will at least help me play catch up. I love that I have a regular 4x6 picture album full of his baby pictures in chronological order all the way up to 4 1/2 months! This is how I started to scrap... I started with the ones  at the beginning and worked my way through the album so I wouldn't miss any pictures/ moments. So this album holds 200 photos, and I did double up on some slots of same poses to maximize my space. over 200  photos and only about 4 1/2 months of his life.... no wonder I ordered over 2000 photos 2 years ago and only covered from age 1 to 3 1/2. Just 6 months ago I placed another order for about 900 or so for the last year and a half... can you say WAY too MANY photos! LOL.

I cant help it I LOVE to take photos, and I love my little guy! but my organization ended there.. all the other photos that I ordered are still in their envelopes and boxes. Oh! did I mention that the ones that managed to make it to the photo album have dates and age on the back of them! I was so excited about that, that I almost did a little happy dance! (Yes I know I am silly). I was happy to know that the guess work was taken care of for me. I didn't have to sit there and think about how old "exactly" was my son in a certain picture. I will post some pictures of the lay outs that I have in the album already....

I hate some of them, I love some of them BUT I am leaving them just as they are. This was my 2nd scrapbook album EVER attempted and this was back in 2006. I didn't own a cricut (my friend did) so I made the layouts and I would go over to her house and cut out the "titles". I didn't own 75% of all the cool tools, embellishments, papers and all the NEW found knowledge that I have acquired over the past many years.

 So here are a few photos of the some of the lay outs I did for the album:

Disclaimer: these are circa 2006... lol Really old so don't judge them... ;)

 This is the "real" first photo... he was several weeks early and my labor was a HUGE surprise, plus it was only a few hours total. We didn't have a camera ready, we expected to be sent home. BUT 3 hours later here he was, and we had to resort to a camera phone "photo op" for his first photos.

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 Here was his first time meeting "Abuela" (Grandma) he was early so it was a surprise, plus we lived clear cross country.

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 This was our first family photo:

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Yes, He was a chicken... lol only wore it for the photo... he was 2 months old in this picture.

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I love this photo! Here he is wearing my own outfit that my grandma made for me way back when! lol.

 And I love his tiny fingers and toes.... :)

I am excited to see what I come up with.... I have also decided that I will start a separate album for his school years. I figure I will make lay outs for each of his school year Photos and maybe at a few through out the school year of events and what not. Figure this will be nicer to have than photos up on the wall, and then still have to figure what to do with the photo's after the years have passed. Good Idea?? I think so,  at least for now I do.

Stay tuned for my next layouts.... Hopefully they are bigger and better than these first EVER layouts I created in 2006 :)

Posted some new items for sale

Hey check out "My Shop" Tab for some New items I just placed for sale.

• There are two Cricut cartridges
• Cricut design studio
• Cricut Juke box

comment or email if interested :)

my Mom's Day cards

Quick post Here are the cards  I gave on mothers day. Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

The "Inside"

Mother's Day

Just wanted to send a Wonderful Mother's Day Wish to all the mothers out there. 

Hope you all have a Fabulous day tomorrow!

Don't forget you have until May 31st to get in the Dotty FUN! place a $35 order and get the Dotty paper pack for $5! that's a value of $19.99!

May Stamp of the Month

May 2012 Friendship Bouquet

Each month you can enjoy a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5—that’s over 70% off retail! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.

May 2012: Friendship Bouquet (S1205)

Spend $50 and get this Stamp of the Month set for just $5.

A Bouquet of Projects

In love with the artwork created with this stamp set? Get ready to make it yourself! Purchase the materials listed here along with your deeply discounted Stamp of the Month set to get started!

Materials Needed

1. S1205 My Acrylix^® Friendship Bouquet
2. X7148B Pemberley Paper Packet
3. Z1734 Irresistibles™ Persnickety Journaling Spots
4. Z1695 Urban Felt Alphabet
5. 3174 Blending Pen
6. Z1142 Brown StazOn^® Ink Pad
7. Z2140 Outdoor Denim Exclusive Inks^® Pad
8. Z2310 Buttercup Exclusive Inks^® Marker
9. Z2311 Chocolate Exclusive Inks^® Marker
10. Z2362 Honey Exclusive Inks^® Marker
11. Z2337 Olive Exclusive Inks^® Marker

Required Tools

1. 1385 White Daisy Cardstock
2. Z697 Sponge
3. Z341 Memory Book Mini Glue Dots^®
4. Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
5. Y1002 1" × 3 1/2" My Acrylix^® Block
6. Y1003 2" × 2" My Acrylix^® Block
7. Y1012 4" × 5" My Acrylix^® Block
8. Adhesive
9. Sewing Machine and White Thread

Here's How!

12" × 12" Treasured Friend Page

Helpful Hints

To create this artwork, follow the helpful hints outlined below and the assembly instructions found on page 52 of our how-to book Reflections^®.

• Use cutting diagrams on page 52 of Reflections to cut papers, including one 11 1/4" × 11 1/4" Outdoor Denim cardstock.
• Sponge edges of A, B, C, and photo with brown ink.
• Lightly sponge Journaling Spots with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Using masking technique, stamp sentiments on inner solid area of Journaling Spots with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Stamp one large flower, three small flowers, and six leaves on scrap White Daisy cardstock with StazOn ink.
• Color each stamped flower with Buttercup marker; color inner portions of flower petals with Honey ink; color circles with Chocolate marker; color leaves with Olive marker; use blending pen to soften the colors.
• Assemble page according to pattern on page 52 of Reflections, using 3-D foam tape as desired.
• Sew border around outer portions of A and B.
• Embellish, using 3-D foam tape as desired. 

 

5" × 7" Thanks Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helpful Hints

To create this artwork, follow the helpful hints outlined below and the assembly instructions found on page 52 of our how-to book Wishes™.

• Use paper dimensions on page 52 and templates on CD-ROM of Wishes to cut papers.
• Sponge edges of all papers with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Cut away striped edging from rectangle Journaling Spot, leaving an outline of resist around the plaque. Sponge Journaling Spot with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Stamp sentiment on C and inner portion of Journaling Spot with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Stamp two small flowers and four leaves on scrap White Daisy cardstock with StazOn ink. Color stamped flowers with Buttercup marker; color inner portions of flower petals with Honey ink; color circles with Chocolate marker; color leaves with Olive marker; use blending pen to soften the colors.
• Assemble card according to pattern on page 52 of Wishes, using 3-D foam tape as desired.
• Embellish, using 3-D foam tape as desired.

5 1/2" × 4 1/4" Friendship Card

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helpful Hints

To create this artwork, follow the helpful hints outlined below and the assembly instructions found on page 53 of our how-to book Wishes™.

• Use paper dimensions on page 53 and templates on CD-ROM of Wishes to cut papers.
• Sponge edges of B and D with brown ink.
• Sponge edges of card base, A, and C with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Sponge Journaling Spots with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Stamp sentiment on D with Outdoor Denim ink.
• Stamp one flower with stem and one leaf on scrap White Daisy cardstock with StazOn ink. Color stamped flower petals with Buttercup marker; color inner portions of flower petals with Honey ink; color circle with Chocolate marker; color leaf with Olive marker; use blending pen to soften the colors.
• Assemble card according to pattern on page 53 of Wishes, using 3-D foam tape as desired.
• Embellish, using 3-D foam tape as desired.

Monthly Card Club

I have decided to start a monthly card club. Please click here to see more info, or click on the "monthly Club" tab on top.

Starting in June 2012.

In June I will be featuring the "A Tree" stamp set (A1124).

Every month I will feature a different "A" size stamp set.

It's Giveaway time!

Check out my month of May giveaway... click here to be taken to the "Giveaways" tab (To Enter) or click on it from the tabs section.

Here is what you can win:

Make sure to Read the Rules and Fill out the Entry form.

Good Luck Giveaway ends May 31st!

Mothers Day cards

So I have seen a few of these cards from a few other CTMH ladies and I love them! I got this wonderful Idea from Jayma Malme another fabulous Damask Diva!

I am making these for my mother and Sister, Hopefully I have time to make some for my aunts... time will tell.

Here is what the card will look like put together:

Isn't it Just ADORABLE!!!


Here is the rest of the card once "pulled out"

Its Perfect for any woman in your life!! Flowers they can keep for ever!

For this one I used all papers from the Stella paper pack. AP cartridge for the flowers.

Have a HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Teacher Appreciation week.

I have been gone for a few days, been busy with quite a few things here and there. I put together this card for my sons teacher. I really wanted to make something different. Step outside the box, nothing too "teachery" (if that's even a word). I didn't want to do the traditional "apple" or "books" or too red/black/green. I wanted to also use some of my older paper pads that I have left over from my purchase at Michael's. I did get to in corporate our wonderful ROXY paper (top Zebra portion) in here as well! :) I just cant  stay away from CTMH...(hehehe).

Any who.... I used a regular old 5 1/2" x 4" card base and cut the papers to size. I also cut out Two 3 1/2" scalloped circles from the Wonderful AP cartridge! I then scored them in between each scallop all the way across and then I cut down one of the score lines stopping at the middle. This will help me accordion fold the circle. I did this to both circles and then I glued them together to make my "medallion".

I also used the AP cartridge and cut out Two 3" "banner" tags and used as the ribbon bottoms. This cartridge is SO versatile I LOVE IT!

For the inside since I got his teacher a Starbucks GC I created a small pocket to hold the card.  super simple just measure a piece of matching paper rand cut to size. ONLY adhere the side edges and the bottom and Viola! you have an instant pocket.

I had my son sign it and add his own little sentiment this morning. He was so Proud to give this to his teacher!

BBQ Invites

Its been a few days since I last posted. I have been busy babysitting my sisters kids and I have had my hands full... In between naps I have been working on these for an order :)

Both use the sample template from the Originals Card confidence program book. Titled Aubreys invitation pg 81. 

Super easy to Do!

"Front"

"Inside" Tag pulled out

 

"Front"

"Inside" Tag pulled out

 

Hope you like my creations!

Stay Tuned for my MAY giveaway!