Christmas Card Week 7

Well- I missed my Sunday deadline AGAIN!! I made this card Sunday while my Stamp Club was here- but my camera batteries needed recharging so I just took the picture this morning. (Sorry it's crooked!!) I really liked this card and didn't want to mess it up by coloring the tree- so instead I added liquid glass and glitter to each ornament.

{Supplies: Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Pack, Colonial White Textured Cardstock, Juniper and Chocolate Ink, Magical Season Stamp Set, December Word Puzzle, Chocolate embroidery floss, liquid glass and prisma glitter (all CTMH) Other: button from my stash}

last club post

Here's the layout I designed for this weekend's club- I meant to post it at the beginning of the week and kept forgetting to take a photo- unfortunately my photos this week aren't that great because the space I usually use for photos is FILLED with projects and supplies for my upcoming shows and classes and it was easier to take the photos elsewhere than clear the space :)

I wanted a generic themed layout this month that would work for either gender. A lot of the layouts I design are a specific theme so this one was a fun change! I can't wait to see what photos my clubbers use!

Because of the exposure on these photos it's hard to see all the scallops- but the Creme Brulee cardstock on the bottom of the left page and to the side of each photo mat on the right page is scalloped with eyelet holes(used the Threading water punch by Fiskars). The two mats on the right page each also have a pull out journalling tag.

{Supplies: CTMH: Sweet Leaf, Chocolate, Colonial White and Creme Brulee cardstock, Chocolate ink, Friendship alphas (large and small), Simple Stitches stamps, Cocoa grosgrain ribbon, Sweet Leaf eyelets, copper photo clips

Other supplies: CM circle punch, Fiskars Threading Water Punch}

another club card-

Here's the final card for clubbers making cards this Sunday-

The patterned piece of Sweet Leaf is the back side of a pattern from an older paper packet- I can't remember which pack it's from at the moment but it was solid green- so I used Sweet Leaf ink to stamp the small flower from the Blooming Flourishes stamp set. It's hard to tell here but the main image piece and two white photo corners are all scored for a "framed" look. I used a sponge to color the larger flower Bubblegum and the smaller flower Blush.

Supplies: ALL FROM CTMH: Cardstock: White and Sweet Leaf Patterned Paper: hmmm... not sure but I used the back side of a pattern Stamp Pads: Sweet Leaf, Bubblegum and Blush Watercolor Pencils: Citrus Leaf, Clover Meadow Green and Bubblegum Embellishments: White Daisy Just Blooms (sponged with ink), and White Daisy Mini Medley (small white flower centers), Other: Edge Distressor, Waterbrush, Embossing Stylus (used with my paper trimmer to make score lines)

Club Cards- February

Here are two projects for my club members to make if they choose cards this month (there's a 3rd- but I apparently haven't taken a photo of it yet so I'll post it tomorrow.)
First: "Hello" Card- Should be self explanatory as you read the supply list but to note: A circle was punched using a CM circle punch and the same egg image used to stamp the eggs was used to stamp the circle... love the polka dots!!

Supplies: White Daisy Cardstock, Let's Get Together Paper Pack, Sweet Leaf Ric Rac, Easter Eggs Stamp Set, Say it in Style Stamp Set, Bubblegum and Chocolate Ink Pads

Second: Not actually a card- but a bookmark!! I've been wanting to use these beads I bought from Hobby Lobby for quite a while and came across these bookmark holders I'd bought from Clearbags.com a while ago.

NOTE: the beads are perfect as the pack contains orange, blue, green, purple, clear and butterflies!!!

First I stamped the butterfly with black ink on white cardstock. Next I stamped the same image on vellum with Staz-on and cut around the wings and body(only the middle segment- not the bottom or head. I attached the vellum to the original image only at the body segment part so the wings are not "flat" I wanted the wings to lift off slightly and tried to think of what would work - I wanted it to be 3-D ish while still being flat enough to use in a book- so I folded a glue dot in half and attached it to the wings right past the body segment- it gives it just the lift I was looking for.

Supplies: CTMH: Ocean and White Daisy Cardstock, Vellum, Black, Ocean, Amethyst Stamp pads, March Stamp of the Month (Butterfly Wings- avail. March 1-31)), and Be True stamp set, Hydrangea embroidery floss

Other: Staz-On Black stamp pad and mini glue dot (avail. through CTMH), Orange Sharpie Marker, Bookmark holder, Beads

Christmas Card Sunday...err Tuesday! Week 6

Well- I made this card for my Sunday post and ended up being so busy that I didn't get a chance to post it!! I had a gathering on Sunday and then yesterday was a busy day at work followed by my daughter's dance class- it was after 8pm by the time things slowed down and I was exhausted.

So- here's this week's card: (As I look at it- I think this is one of those that looks better in real life than on a computer screen...)

Supplies: All CTMH: Pattern paper: hmmm.. I think it's the Everlasting Level 2 Kit, Holiday Joy Stamp Set, White Daisy Just Blooms, Cranberry Stamp Pad, Gold Bitty Brads and Cranberry Grosgrain Ribbon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Just a quick post to show the Valentine's I made for my daughter's daycare friends... I only needed to make 12- it took 2 hours!! A lot of time for some 1-5 year olds that will throw them away but it was fun and my daughter loved them!! I'm still learning how to blend really well with these markers but I'm happy with how they turned out!

Supplies:

CTMH: Cranberry and White Daisy Cardstock, Cranberry Embossing powder, Bunny Love Stamp Set

Other: Copic Markers, Versamark Stamp Pad(available at CTMH)

Hey Sweetheart!

Here's a fun card I made using the new Ms. Sweetheart Stamp set by Close To My Heart.

The front of the card is trimmed shorter than the back- such that the pink pattern on the right is actually the inside of the card.

Supplies: All CTMH unless noted: That's Amore Paper Pack, Ms. Sweetheart Stamp Set, Black Stamp Pad, 1/8" long reach punch, Colonial White ricrac, Blush, Hollyhock, Chocolate and Vanilla Cream markers, Bonding Memories Glue Pen, Prisma Glitter

Other: Copic markers

A sunshiny thanks!

I'm so bad at post titles... but it'll have to do.

Today's card is a simple one- I seem to be doing a lot of those lately!! Not that it's bad but I need some more involved cards for this class as well! This card is for the upcoming 10/$10 classes in March. This one stayed simple since there's a bit of coloring involved. The full sentiment including the inside is:

"you remind me of the sun... you brighten my day. Thanks"

I'm contemplating going back over the water with liquid glass so it looks wet- and now that I've typed it out i think that's exactly what I'll do!

Supplies: Ms. Gardener Stamp Set, Black, and Bamboo Inks, Various Watercolor pencils and blending pen, Vanilla Cream Marker(my marker of choice for skin) , Emporium Creative Basics Paper Pack, White and Vineyard Berry Cardstock

Christmas Card Sunday- week 6

Usually I do most of my creating on Saturday- but yesterday was a busy day spent vendoring a crop and I returned home exhausted!! So for today's Christmas card I needed something relatively simple and quick. I decided it'd be a great day to pull out my stash of "recyclable" cards and see what I could come up with-

Here's the result:

Before- this is a card I received from my Aunt and Uncle. I chose to follow the original colors and theme- If you can't read the wording that repeats itself it says "Let it Snow" all across the lighter colored lines.

Here's my after version: I shifted the greens in the card to a more "traditional" tone for Christmas. Then the sentiment seemed silly with the colors- like I should have used Merry Christmas or something.... then that didn't seem to "go" with the snowflakes so I just left the sentiment as is and realized that's probobly why they used the blue/green on the original card. The photo was taken at an angle so you can see the rhinestones added to the center of each snowflake. Hope you like my take on this papercrafting redo- It was pretty darn quick (other than the time it took to second guess my idea multiple times!!)

I'll be back this week with more art- I spent some time designing a baby shower invite for my sister in law's shower and I'll be working on centerpieces this week as well- plus I've started playing around with baby announcement ideas for my own bundle of joy's arrival this spring!!

Thanks for looking :)

Another layout...

Here's the second layout for my 4-layouts for $20 class in March... Just trying to crank through the projects I need to create since I have a busy couple of months!!

The supplies are all the same as the last layout posted... except we use the Cupcake Sprinkles Stamp set... which is sooo cute! Even though there's a lot of blue- I would definately use this for a girl's birthday layout so I think it's pretty neutral. If my customers want, they can leave the cupcake off and use for Graduation or some other fun event to "Celebrate!"

This will be a busy weekend... tomorrow I'm vendoring a scrapbook crop and need to finish packing for that tonight. Sunday I'm hoping to finish cleaning out my spare bedroom and start fixing any wall "problems" there may be- I don't think there's many- just a dent here and there from moving furniture in and out. Then I've got to settle on a new paint color... should be fun!!

Time spent with Friends...

... is time well spent!!
I spent some time over the previous week planning for an upcoming class in March. It's the same group that has hosted Scrapbook Layouts previously. They will each receive half a Stardust paper pack and half the Unforgettable pack. They'll create 2- 2 page layouts from each paper style for 4 total 2-page layouts. My goal is to always make the layouts as gender neutral and age neutral as possible to make sure that everyone attending can use them at some point or another. Each person will be receiving the Connections Club clear shapes which is the reward after they've spent $200 in product. I NEVER incorporate these types of rewards into my customer project but this particular group of ladies have spent a fortune through me. This will be the 4th Scrapbook class in a row that the hostess will have hosted and most of the same people come each time. Several of them buy from 2-3 different consultants so if they're spending a lot with me- they probobly are with my downline as well and they deserve to be rewarded!! I hope they have as much fun using the clear shapes as I am designing the layouts!! One this page they are using the brackets. We are backing them with a patterned paper that matches the Topiary dotted pattern on the right page.

(Supplies: Stardust Level 2 paper pack, computer journaling on white cardstock, Connections Club Clear Shapes. )

It's a simple layout that still requires a fair bit of time to piece all of the squares. The left page holds 2 vertical 4x6 size photos and the right side will hold either one larger (5x5) photo or several smaller photos.. there's also the option of leaving out a few of the 1 3/4x 1 3/4 squares and replacing them with small photos. The tabs on the right page are for journaling names and dates/ place etc.

Christmas Card Sunday- week5 and more!

I wasn't sure I'd ever get to my craft room this weekend but my hubby was kind enough to take our daughter shopping so I could have some time to myself.

I thought about starting out by cleaning my workshop area- and realized I pretty much needed all the same supplies as the last time I was down there- so just went to work instead.

This week's card uses the same stamp set and gold cording as last week...because... well- it was there. It's hard to tell now as I look at this photo- but the lighter colored panel was made with the lined notebook pattern from the Notebook Level 2 Kit. The ornament was stamped on Colonial White Cardstock and cut out before adhering to the card.(Supplies: Topiary Textured Cardstock, Chocolate Cardstock, Colonial White Cardstock, Notebook patterned paper, Giggles and Grins patterned paper (retired- I used the back side of the designer black paper - which is red- to stamp the "Noel"), Gold embossing powder. The only non-CTMH item is the gold cording.)

The second photo is a card I designed for an upcoming 10/$10 class I'll be teaching in March.

I pulled out a stamp set I hadn't played with in ages!!! It's the Simple Stitches stamp set.

All of the stamped images you see came from that set and the "Thank You" stamped on the inside (view not shown) is from Say it in Style which was last May's Stamp of the Month.

There are 2 colors of stamped stems- the darkest is Topiary and the lighter is 2nd generation Topiary. For a little depth I dyed a paper flower with Blush to match the lighter colored flowers on the card. Some Sweet Leaf ricrac just about matches the lighter colored stamped stems... that was a mouthful!! I added a rhinestone to the center to finish it off! (Supplies: Desert Sand and Colonial White Cardstock, Simple Stitches Stamp Set, Say it in Style Stamp Set for inside sentiment- not shown, Desert Sand, Cocoa, Topiary, Blush and Cranberry Ink Pads, Blush reinker, Sweet Leaf Ric Rac(from Designer Ric Rac Ribbon Collection), Clear Sparkles

Last but certainly not least is the second card we'll be making at gatherings this month. This card was made using a fabulous new set by Close To My Heart called Good Times!! Did you know that 2009 is the 25th Anniversary of the beginning of our stamping business? For those that don't know- Close To My Heart was originally called D.O.T.S (Dozens of Terrific Stamps)!! It was founded by Jeanette Lynton. A few years after starting a scrapbooking company (Close To My Heart) she decided to merge the two into one. The D.O.T.S name was dropped and the entire company was then known as Close To My Heart! It's a fun story and this year is sure to be a fun year!! The best part about this month is that when you place an order of $25 or more in My Acrylix stamps- you'll receive this Good Times stamp set FREE!! Awesome deal! To see the stamp set and more artwork click here. The photo is on the main page of my website!! (Supplies: Emporium Level 2 Paper Pack, Bamboo, Colonial White, Sweet Leaf and Chocolate Cardstock, Twilight, Chocolate, Sweet Leaf and Bamboo Ink pads, Good Times Stamp Set- available Feb. 1-28, 2009 only)