Convention 2018

I have just recently attended a most unforgettable event. As a consultant for over 11 years, I have never attended an annual corporate convention. This year it was held so close to home that I could not pass up the opportunity!

I knew that I was in for a treat, but still was caught up in such a whirlwind of excitement, entertainment, information, and inspiration! I think that now almost a week after completion I am finally digesting it all.

The opening entertainment was all set to a Greatest Showman theme, which happened to be my favorite movie of 2017! Our Founder and CEO Jeanette Lynton welcomed us all and boy what a fantastic kick off to this party it was! I can't quite share everything from this extraordinary event yet, you will have to wait unfortunately. I can, however share with you the cards I created to trade with other attendees. I made a total of 7 different designs.

For these first three cards I felt they were a good representation of who I am and where I'm from. The card on the left is a cricut cut of some mountains with a sun burst pattern of Fresh Air papers. This is to represent that convention was held at Red Rock Hotel and Casino. If attendees were lucky there hotel room had a view of the gorgeous Red Rock mountains in the distance. One of our favorite nearby places to hike. The cards in the center feature a succulent flower, some of my favorites and a chalkboard technique as my "normal" job is instructing in a classroom. There are two versions only because I ran out of ribbon! Finally, the card on the right is a darling bicycle. I enjoy riding my cruiser with the family on vacations or for a more grueling ride my husband and I venture out on various trails on our mountain bikes.

These next cards are all about my passion for Close To My Heart. I love creating with my own hands, making beautiful art and preserving my family memories. Some cards were just a standard card, some contained a bookmark, one of them was a holder for the bookmark and the last card at first look appears normal, but fold up like an easel to display the best sentiment ever! {Look for that stamp in August!}

The theme of this entire convention was CREATE! I love the meaning of it too, check it out~

C~ community
R~ renew
E~ elevate
A~ achieve
T~ tell your story
E~ empower

Good reminders of why I chose to represent this company 11 years ago and hope to continue for many more!

Wedding Card and Mini Adventure Album

Besides decorating for their wedding, I wanted to give the Bride and Groom a special handmade gift. I used some Cricut cuts for the card along with lots of ribbons and bling. I kept it all within their wedding colors. {Do you recognize the paper collection?} I even decorated the envelope with some stamping.

The card contained a small gift, but I really wanted to give something personally from me. After hearing plans for their honeymoon, I knew exactly what I wanted to make for them. A kraft mini album for them to keep all the photo's they would capture on their adventures through wineries and vineyards! Why the bicycles? They both enjoy riding their bikes, but their adventures through wine country will be on bike.....how cool does that sound?!!

If you follow me on Instagram you would have seen a sneak peek of the album cover. I layered the cover with some For Always papers, burlap ribbon and a couple of For Always PML cards. I added some stamping and hand stitching. The neutral colors will be a great base to add any photos no matter the colors. Here is a look at some of the pages inside. I left spaces for pictures and journaling.

 My favorite is the "Happy Hour" page. You know there will be lots of hours that will be happy on a wine tour!!

I also liked the card I created from the zip strip on the For Always paper and the new Documenting Moments stamp set.

Finally, this is how I wrapped the card and book together. Just a simple bag tied together with ribbon.

The kraft mini album is simple to decorate and put together with PML cards. It makes a great gift or keepsake. The My Crush books are also fun to assemble, but wait until next month to see the awesome deal that Close To My Heart is offering on them!!

Think Pink Bicycle

The challenge this week on Heart 2 Heart Challenges is to think pink!! What is your favorite Close To My Heart pink? This could certainly be a tough choice. CTMH offers a wonderful variety of pink hues, but my favorite has to be Cotton Candy.

I choose this color in my clothing too, even down to my saucony running shoes. My beach cruiser is even this color. I think that is why I love this card so much! This pop up bicycle card is made from the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge. I added in some banners and clouds to the inside of the card. On the outside I used some polka dot Washi tape and glitter paper.

For the outside of the card I cut a PML card on the cartridge to fit the 5x7 base. I layered some glitter paper behind the image to make the bike pop! Just a few banners and embellishments finished the front.

As you open the card the bicycle pops out in the center. I also popped the little cloud and the bike and banners were cut on fundamentals paper giving them a little bit of a shiny texture.

Too much pink you think?!! Yeah....I don't think so either!

Artfully Sent Spring Card Class

Yesterday I held a class to teach some of the fun Spring themed cards on the Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge. This class helped the ladies get more familiar with this cartridge, it's features and the endless possibilities it holds. One of the participants was also getting to know her machine for the first time, as was I since I never worked with an Expression 2 before! We had a ball and everyone went home a little bit more confident and ready to play!

Here are the 3 cards I had for examples, but as the day went on I would surprise them with another variation of it or a different style!

Here are more variations of the adorable birdcage cards.

A simple flower pot swing card.

For the bicycle card I had pre-cut several little bicycles and banners in an assortment of colors. Here are some detail pictures of the sample card.

As I mentioned before, throughout the class I continued to surprise them with another card. I was having a little bit of fun revealing each card as I pulled it out of my Lagoon Chevron shoulder bag! After receiving instructions to make a card they would start experimenting on their own. During this time I was also playing on my machine and would reveal a completely different card that I just cut and assembled. I will show these cards in upcoming posts so stay tuned....You want to know what I had in my bag don't you?!!

Family Adventure

Am I Artbooking or Scrapbooking? Both really!

 

These pages were so simple to put together. In fact I was able to create them while at a crop. The template for my layout came from the new Make it From Your Heart Volume 2 how-to book. I cut some overlay pieces from the Artbooking cartridge where some background texture papers would normally go. I also cut out a few title pieces I wanted to use. I brought along a few stamps and embellishments to add details. It all came together easily and the finished page is a great way to showcase some family vacation pictures.

 

I love this stamp set with the little spinner! It contains some great sentiments and adds lots of interest. The new red shimmer tape is so cool and so easy to add to your projects. That cute little bicycle paper clip was found while standing in line at Cost Plus World Market of all places!

H2H ~ National Scrapbooking Month

This past Saturday was National Scrapbooking Day. I had my photo's printed, but did not get these pages fully completed until yesterday. I had great intentions to do it all on Saturday, but this month is also National Bicycling Month so I was celebrating with family! Both scrapbooking and biking are passions of mine. That's why I am sharing this layout with Heart 2 Heart challenges who is celebrating their favorite scrapbooking pages all month long.

This layout uses the awesome Later Sk8r papers and embellishments. I added in the purple cardstock because of the colors in the photo's. I thought it tied everything together well!

Bicycle Canvas Art

I have a fun project to share with you today. One of the newest Home Decor items available in the Spring Idea Book are these awesome 6x6 canvas displays. I of course had to go with a bicycle theme!

I am also entering this at Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week for their Home Decor challenge! I can't wait to add more canvas displays of my favorite things and create a whole wall in my scrap room!!

The canvas display comes in a natural color. I roughly painted the sides and about 1 inch from the edges on the top. I used this great paint color called Caribbean, but it reminds me of Close To My Heart's Lagoon color!

I then used Mod Podge to adhere a square of the chevron patterned For Always paper. I let that dry over night then added the other elements which included some Chantilly papers, embossed bicycle, color ready ribbon, and a chipboard bubble with an embossed sentiment.

I love how cute it turned out! Can you imagine several colorful variations decorating a lonely space on your wall! Be sure to check out the other creations for your home decorating needs at Heart2Heart!

Parade of Pages {Let's go for a Ride}

Summer time means lots of activities to keep the kids moving. Us adults too! We love swimming, hiking and riding the best! For these pages I used the Elemental papers again and a mellow color combination. I'm on a mission to collect stamps with bicycles lately. Unfortunately this means I purchase from other than Close To My Heart, I promise though it's just for the 'wheelie' cool bike stamps! : ) The stamps I used for this page are from Hero Arts. Everything else is CTMH!

Celebrate Spring

The cold wind stopped blowing and the warm sunshine was out yesterday so I was inspired to create this card for a couple of challenges.

The sketch is from Mojo Monday, the spring theme and colors are inspired by...well, Inspired By Blog and I've added the sweetest little pink felt flower for the Ribbon Carousel Challenge.

Inspired By Photo



Banner ~ Bike ~ Birthday! {H2H challenge}

The challenge this week on the Heart 2 Heart Blog is to create a project for a child's Birthday. I created my card today with one of my own favorite Birthday gifts I received as a child. A bicycle!

There is such a thrill in receiving your first bike. Overcoming your fears learning to ride it, then getting the freedom to take off through the neighborhood to visit a friend. It's your first taste of freedom, before turning 16 and getting to drive a car!

I went with a girl theme, because I don't think a little boy would ride a bicycle with flowers in the basket! {Ha Ha} I stamped some stripes creating my own background card base, added some fun banner pieces with pearls and finally a simple sentiment.

Be sure to check out the other artwork on H2H and come back tomorrow as I will show you more artwork from this special stamp set.

Calendar Club ~ June, July & August

This month my Calendar Club will not be making just 2 pages as usual. Instead they will be making 3 so that we wrap up this project in time for gift giving at the end of the year.

For June's page they will use the subtle colors of the Miracle papers. They will hang some "glowing" lanterns as the finishing touch to this simple design.

For July's page I "steered" clear of the typical stars and stripes of the season. Instead I've created the scene of a festive bicycle parade!

By the time we reach August we will need to "cool" down. What better way than ice cream and a splash of color!

Buttons for the Boys!

They're all "buttoned up" at Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog this week. I love embellishing my cards, scrapbooks and other projects with buttons. When I sat down to create something for this challenge, for some reason, all of the creations were masculine. These projects are great for the big and little boys!

This first card uses the new bicycle stamp. I've wanted to play with this stamp for some time now, it's so cool! CTMH's new buttons were perfect for the wheels. What would typically be seen as a flower design, I saw as wheel spokes!

How about some Birthday Party paper lanterns strung together with chocolate twine!

Finally, some party balloons! and don't forget those "button" brads embellishing the bottom corner!

Be sure to check out what the other talented artists created with their buttons....I mean, their wheels, lanterns and balloons!?! Go to H2H to see them all.