April Stamp Set

Well- I am anxiously awaiting Sunday... by then my all day crop will be over and I can share some of the artwork I've been making for that day- I really want my croppers to see it first so until then- here's a card using the current CMTH Stamp of the Month- Express Postage- I used it last week or the week before on the pocket/ bookmark card that I posted here... so this is just another way that I've used it. Paper is the Good Times Paper Pack, I used Cocoa (or Chocolate?) ribbon and Colonial White Brads.

Colors: Twilight, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf, Chocolate

3x3 cards...

I was in a 3x3 craze last week. Here's my output: The card on the left uses retired paper (Winter Cozy B&T combo pack) and the new June stamp of the Month with a copper bitty brad (new in the Summer Idea Book) in the pink flower. Colors: Twilight, Honey and Hollyhock.

The middle card uses the new Boom-Di-Ada paper pack and the Be True stamp set. A silver bitty brad is in the middle of the flower. The heart was stamped in Hollyhock on Colonial White- it is covered in glitter

The card on the right was made with the retired Winter Cozy B&T combo pack and the Boom-di-Ada paper. The butterfly and Mother's Day stamps are from the May Word Puzzle stamp set and the "happy" is from the Be True Stamp Set.

One more for today...

Well- my goody bags for next weekend are nearly complete with the supplies I have on hand so far- I watched a few "made for tv" movies today and I'm ready to get cracking on more crop projects... before I get started I thought I'd post once more today since we are having company tomorrow and I may not get a chance. This card was sent to me from Korin of Sweet and Sassy Stamps- I happened to order one of the new April releases and she always sends a card with her orders (how does she keep up!!) The card is using a set that will be released in May (I think!! It's either May or June)- and her name is Gretchen. She's very cute and I just wanted to share her with you!! I have no idea as to what supplies were used since I didn't make it but I bet most of the items can be found in her store (her blog is listed in my links- and the store is listed in her blog..

I did it!!

The swap I found out about on Wednesday is officially complete... only problem is I've missed the mail for today and my local Post Office is only open 9-10am on Saturdays... and I really don't have time to drive into town to catch the big Post Office... I'll have to mail it Monday- but considering the fact that everyone else had weeks to order supplies, create and mail- I think I did pretty good. Here's the result.

The only requirement was to use the Blue Ribbon Level 1 Paper Pack (which I didn't own). The pack includes Colonial White, Cranberry and Outdoor Denim cardstock- since I have about 55 of 60 CTMH colors- I did have that on hand. The pack also includes one sheet of this stripe paper- a 12x12 sheet... All I had was a little 6x6 swatch that I had to split between 7 cards!! Yikes- so they each have the little 2x2 square in the middle. We could use any stamps we wanted as long as they are CTMH... since it's a consultant swap. I used the lighthouse from the New Horizons Stamp Set and the "Happy Father's Day" is from the May Stamp of the Month. The ribbon is from the Outdoor Denim Designer Collection, brads are antique copper. The white "stitching" is done with the CTMH white daisy marker. Works GREAT!! Final size is 6x6- not my favorite size but it was the only option left when I signed up for the swap... I prefer standard size cards!

Check back later- I've got lots of art to post at the moment but I'm busy working on Goody Bags for my crop next weekend!! Need to get that done before I play anymore!

Traci

Card display

Yippee!! I love to do craft shows in the fall- selling hand made items. I picked up this card display on e-bay... it was pretty pricey so I'll be keeping my eyes out for something less expensive in the future- but it sure looks pretty with some of my cards in it!!

I'm a little frantic tonight... I received an e-mail 2 days ago from a swap hostess double checking that my swap will arrive on time... it's due Saturday!! Well- the only problem is that I never received the e-mail stating the paper pack to use so I assumed I'd met my one year commitment!! Yikes- apparently not!! I don't even have the paper pack on hand for this swap so I'm making use of one ONE 6x6 swatch of one piece of paper to make 7 6x6 cards... So- I'm pairing a little 2x2 piece of this particular paper with coordinating cardstock in order to meet my obligation!! Thankfully she feels bad that she didn't check to see if I'd received the swap info... so she understands it being late. I'm working on it now and hope to have it in the mail no later than Saturday... so it will only arrive a few days late!! Once I complete it I'll post my card here- it's turning out nice given the circumstances!!

The winner is...

SarahG... Sorry for not posting last night- the weekend finally caught up with me and I was sound asleep at 9:40 last night- I never got on the computer!!

Here's a card for you today using all new supplies from the upcoming Summer Idea Book!! I used the brand new Whoops A Daisy paper pack and the new Be True Stamp Set- this stamp set is awesome!! I've made 3-4 cards with it already and each is totally different- lots of different looks are possible with this one!

(Supplies: Whoops A Daisy Paper, Be True Stamp SEt, Ocean, Watermelon, and Hydrangea Stamp Pads, Antique Copper Bitty Brads(come as a mix of the copper, black, white, silver, gold and pewter- 180 total) , White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon)

Blog Candy- my first!!

I'm excited that it appears that more people are visiting my blog- especially in the last week or two. So to celebrate my 300 hits (I know... it's ONLY 300!) I'm gonna give away a happy gift to one lucky person. The winner will receive a pack of 24sheets of 9x9 cardstock by Making Memories. It's a combo pack with 6 colors. It's the Harvest pack. I'll also throw in some CTMH stamps... probobly a past booking set which has 4 stamps and a 1x1 acrylic block :)
To be entered- simply add a comment to this post - and list your favorite stamping technique!!
You'll have until Sunday night (April 20th) because I'll be out of town for part of the weekend and hosting stamp club during the day Sunday. I'll post the winner Monday!!

Sorry I don't have art to post tonight- but rest assured I'm happily creating as we speak - so I'll be posting more this week!

It's Spring!

It's official- I have a flower blooming in my yard... one flower! Well... actually it looks like it's starting to spread- there might be 2 or 3 of them in this clump. I took this photo on my way out the door to work this morning... the car was frosted over the first time I walked out. I think the frostiness made the colors more vibrant! My tulips have all popped up - but it's still too early for those to bloom here.

I do have a scrapbook page to share tonight- it's the left side of the club layout for April. Everything was made with CTMH products except the scallop scissors used on the journal box to the right- those were provocraft scissors which are sold by CTMH (and probobly Michaels and Hobby Lobby if I were to wager a guess!) These are new to our product line in the Summer '08 book and I thought I'd give them a try!! If you subscribe to Creating Keepsakes Magazine- this might look familiar. This is almost an exact copy to the layout in the CTMH ad in the April '08 issue. I did change a few things- for one- they stitched the whole layout- which was nice- but too much for my stamp club to do in the amount of time we have. Also- in the ad- the ribbons used for the flower stems were white grosgrain- with green zigzag stitching- I went straight for the green ribbon (which now that I think of it- was purchased at Michael's- it's very close to our Garden Green. I did not have enough G. Green grosgrain for the group and no time to order- so I went with this). I also had to throw in a sneak peak at a new stamp set!! The larger stamped flowers are from the June Stamp of the Month set- I am LOVING this set and all the great artwork on the CMTH consultant site!! I'll be showing a LOT more of this set in the coming months.(Supplies: All CTMH unless noted otherwise: Baby Pink Textured Cardstock from the Spring Harmony Set, Paper Garden Level 2 Paper Pack, April Word Puzzle and June Stamp of the Month (With Love) Stamp Sets, Blush, Sweet Leaf, Petal, Sunny Yellow inks, sanding kit, Green grosgrain (Michaels), scallop scissors(provo)

Traci

Creative Weekend

What a productive weekend!! I took Friday off work to stay home and get some much needed housework done...cleaning closets out and getting a good start on Spring cleaning. I hauled out several bags of trash, had a bag ready to be donated, and assembled several boxes of unused items for an upcoming garage sale with my sister- yeah!! I get bored easily though with monotonous tasks and worked on a swap in between. It's the swap I mentioned way back in early March where I posted my butterfly card. I am not ready to post all of my swap cards since it hasn't even been mailed out yet- but I thought I'd post a sneak peek for you- This particular card took me about 1.5- 2 hours- although I have to admit- I think I worked on my closet during part of that time :) I am so pleased with all of the cards I made for the swappers and can't wait to receive my cards from them- once I do (about mid-May) I'll post all of the cards to show you! (Supplies used on butterfly: all by CTMH Co: 4 petals from a white flower in the Big Pinks Collection, 2 small silver spiral clips, fuzzy white sassy strands, pink cardstock, liquid glass (to both adhere the spiral clips and butterfly AND it was rubbed over the fuzzy sassy strands so that while they still look fuzzy- they are quite hard and won't come loose!), Lilac Mist reinker to dye the petals to match the card)

Yesterday I had a 10 cards for $10 workshop at my house- it was a small group- but still lots of fun!! While they were here I worked on a card that my Stamp Club will make next weekend. They like to make pocket cards- and I was asked to design something that held a "little something" for the receiver. I also wanted to use the April Stamp of the Month. I'm pretty pleased with this card- If you notice the picture showing the card open- look at the bottom of the book mark- they're hard to see- but I used clear self - adhesive mounting corners. This way- if the card is mailed- the book mark will still be in the correct position when the envelope is opened by the receiver. However- the bookmark can easily be removed for use!! Love it!! I thought about embellishing the bookmark more... but thought it would be too "bumpy" to be useful as a bookmark then- so I left it as is. As I'm posting this I'm realizing that the 3 brads on the bottom blue ribbon band look almost black- but they are actually silver!!

(Supplies used: All CTMH Co. unless noted otherwise: Crystal Blue, Honey and White cardstock, Crystal Blue, Outdoor Denim, Honey, and Sweet Leaf ink, Friendship Blessing Stamp Set, Express Postage(April Stamp of the Month), Outdoor Denim Designer Collection Ribbon Rounds, silver photo clip, silver brads, Creative Memories large circle punch, Stampin Up double slot ribbon punch, Clear adhesive mounting corners by DeluxeCraft)

She Dreams...

Wow- I dug deep to find something to post today- not because I'm not creating anything new... I just haven't taken photos yet. A good deal of my time these days is getting ready for a National Scrapbook Month Crop I'm co-hosting May 3rd with one of my downline. We have over 53 people registered... it will be crazy- but FUN!! I am also working on the art for my Stamp Clubs this month- and will post that soon. For now- I'm posting a page I did at an October crop last fall. One of my favorites completed that weekend. Of coarse- the subject matter of the layout is my favorite of all- my lovely 3 year old. The photo was taken in August and you can almost see, on the real photograph, the image of the plane in her eye- she was gazing out that day- watching a plane fly overhead...so sweet!!

The paper was some I'd bought at the local store quite some time ago- hidden in my stash. All the words are made with various CMTH alphabet sets. Enjoy.

Finally- a Scrapbook layout!

Well- here's one 12x12 scrapbook page for you- apparently I didn't take a photo of the second page (I always scrapbook as a 2-page spread because I do not scrapbook chronologically by any means- but I DO store the pages in my album chronologically- so by doing a 2-page spread- I know that I don't have to worry about whether or not a page will coordinate with whatever it's paired with later...)

Sorry for the glare on the larger photo (it's a 5x7)- I didn't realize it until I uploaded the photo and didn't want to take the time to go through picture taking and re-uploading.

(Supplies Used: All by CTMH- Good Times Level 2 Paper Pack, January Word Puzzle, Mini Medley Chocolate Collection, Silver photo clips, Sweet Leaf, Twilight and Chocolate Stamp pads- I'm certain I used Imagine to find a template for my layout)