RAWR!! = Party!!

A crazy little monster wants to wish you a Happy Birthday with a sketch from Freshly Made Sketches Blog! This card combines patterned paper, Picture My Life card and some cool Cricut cut designs. It all comes together for a colorful, fun card perfect for any little wild one celebrating a special day!

Hello Lovely Brush Box

Every once in awhile you come across an item that you simply can't discard, because you see other potential in it. That was the case with this tea box I received over the holidays. It was a great, sturdy box with a nice sized drawer that pulled out. My daughter just received some new makeup brushes that I knew would be scattered about and needed to be contained. Take a look at the box before.

I debated whether to use the Dreamin' Big paper collection or the Hello Lovely papers. The brushes have beautiful rose gold handles so the decision was easy....Hello Lovely it is!

Also, I am entering this project in the Heart 2 Heart silver and gold challenge for those beautiful gold accents and brush handles of course.

On the top of the box I used some of the coordinating papers, a PML card and some complements. I even lined the inside of the drawer to pull it all together. Now her brushes will stay clean and organized and I was able to re-purpose a lovely box.

The Hello Lovely paper collection is available now in the Seasonal Expressions Idea Book.

Flash Sale Number 2

The second Flash Sale this month is on now! Don't wait to get these deals! Sale ends Monday, June 13th. Let's go shopping!

Perfect for Prom

My daughter attended her High School Prom a couple weeks ago. Luckily for me, I just received the perfect papers and products to showcase some of the photo's that I took. I am entering this layout in the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog this week in celebration of National Scrapbooking Month. If you know me, you know one of my favorite subjects to scrapbook is my daughter. I have created traditional pages, digital pages, pocket pages and baskets full of mini scrapbook albums too!
I like to try all sorts of scrapbooking styles and I'm never afraid to combine them either. For this traditional 12x12 layout, I did not hesitate using the PML cards outside of the pocket!

This month's special Happy Times paper works great for the soft subtle colors and the gold paper really adds pizazz. Plus, there is another special product that made the layout even more spectacular. The brand new Picture My Life watercolor with gold cards are amazing!

I love the wood grain paper and the gold paper is amazing too! Let me tell you about these PML watercolor cards! They come in gold and clear. On these pages I used the gold obviously to match the gorgeous papers. They have 3x4 and 4x6 sizes and a variety of sentiments and patterns. You can color right over the gold foil with our watercolor paints and brand new waterbrushes. {That's right, brand new waterbrushes!} You can also stamp on them!

Here is a sample of the gold Picture My Life watercolor cards~

There are 3 new waterbrushes. The one pictured here is the flat brush which is great for covering a large space quickly. You can also get a medium tip and a fine tip for those intricate projects. These are just a few of the new exciting products you will find in the Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book.

Don't forget that if you place an order of $60 you will receive the Happy Times paper collection for free.

Plus! Get an album for 25% off to hold all of those wonderful scrapbooking layouts you will make this month!

To place an order and see the new Idea Book please visit my online website!

Matters of the Heart

A very good friend and customer of mine recently went through a life changing event. She had a stroke back in January and ended up having a triple bypass heart surgery.

I've been keeping in contact with her as much as possible, allowing her lots of time to recover. When I asked her how she felt a couple weeks after surgery, she mentioned that she really misses our craft classes and is way behind on her scrapbooking. I got to work right away creating a two-page layout for her to record this big event in her life.

 I apologize for the glare on the photo. I hope you'll understand the reason for it is that I decided to use a Picture My Life format on the right side. This way she only needs to pull out the cards to journal and can add any photo's she may have from the hospital or post surgery.

When I arrived to deliver the pages to her I held up a box of cheerios in front of them and joked that I brought a box of cereal to her, because they're heart healthy. Then I revealed the layout and I think she was much more pleased with that then the breakfast in a box! I'm certain she will enjoy the pages more and take time to journal when she fully regains her strength!

Take time to record all the memories of your life, you'll be glad you did!

Live Your Day 12x12 Calendar

Did you know that January is National Papercrafting Month? I shared with you earlier this month how Close To My Heart is celebrating with the Live Your Day Picture My Life pocket scrapbooking cards. They are perfect for adding to your Everyday Life planner, however they can be used in many more applications.

It occurred to me this past weekend how perfect these cards would be to add to a 12x12 calendar. The collection contains a black and white card for every month. They can be displayed vertical or horizontal making them perfect for many layout options. I pulled out all the monthly cards for the group and a 12x12 My Creations calendar I have been saving.

Strangely I started with a page for March. Typically I would have gone in order, but I felt like I had my idea for this month and just went with it. {I'm learning to let my sparks of ideas & passion for creativity override my O.C.D.!}

I pulled some older papers and stamps for this page, but added in some newer La Vie En Rose papers. I love the graphic black & white with pops of color!

As I was looking at my new paper collections, I came across the Penelope papers featured in the current Seasonal Expressions 1 book. I wanted to use these papers in my calendar also and thought that they would be wonderful for the month of September! This layout was inspired by one in the book. I loved the use of bright vivid yellow papers and the watercoloring on the center white cardstock. I finished this page with just a bit of embellishments from the Penelope collection and of course the Live Your Day September card.

These are just a couple pages of the calendar to give you an idea of how you can use these cards. Keep in mind that they are only available this month. Click on the Current Specials tab at the top for more information or go online here.

Giving Peace

Today I am sharing a card made especially for a little girl in New York. The story has been on the news and throughout Social Media about Safyre, an 8 year old girl that lost her dad and 3 other siblings in a house fire in 2013. Her wish is to receive cards from around the world this Christmas. Happy to help, I used some inspiration from the Freshly Made Sketches and the lovely White Pines PML cards.

I added the PML card with just the simple word of 'Peace' to some gold glitter scalloped paper and some topiary green fundamental papers. I dressed up the PML card just a bit by stamping some leaves & sprigs and adhering a pinecone White Pines badge button. A beautiful card, with a simple message, to a sweet little girl.

 

Joy to the World...and a Gold Glitter Deer

I have another deer head for you today! {This week may very well have a deer theme?!} This time I cut the deer head on gold glitter paper with my Cricut Explore. It sits so pretty atop a White Pines PML card. These cards are typically intended to be used in pocket scrapbooking, but as you can see they complement a greeting card beautifully!

I am also entering this card in Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week as a revisit, or rewind,  to the Holiday Expressions product challenge!

 The White Pines collection will only be available until December 31st.

Holiday Pals

White Pines Picture My Life Cards are not just for your pocket pages! They also make adorable additions to your Christmas cards. On this card I trimmed down one of the PML cards with these cute caroling critters, mounted it on some glacier cardstock and then onto a card base that I dry embossed with the confetti folder making it look like snow. Some Fern Twine and a Happy Holidays sentiment completes this card.

The White Pines Picture My Life collection can be found in the Holiday Expressions book and is only available until the end of December. Use them for pocket scrapbooking or on a card like I did!

{56 cards for only $8.95 Item #Z3176}

Homecoming with Beautiful You

My daughter just celebrated Homecoming this past weekend. In our small town we have only one beautiful golf course that makes the perfect back drop for photographs. She invited her group of friends and their dates for a photo session before the dance. I am entering my pocket pages in the Heart 2 Heart Home Is..... Challenge, because for my daughter right now home is enjoying all the High School events, celebrations and sports games. That's what you do as a teenager in a small town!

With the long three day weekend I had extra time to actually get the pictures in my scrapbook! One of my earlier purchases from the new Idea Book was the Beautiful You Picture My Life collection. I knew that these cards were going to be perfect for my daughter and her Homecoming event was the best fit! The black & white cards are neutral enough to blend with anything, but it just so happened that the Homecoming theme was Burton's Bash...as in Tim Burton movies. {Beetle Juice, Alice in Wonderland, Corpse Bride and Nightmare Before Christmas} The gold foil finish of the cards blended beautifully with a couple of the dresses and gentleman's vest. Lastly, the bits of floral complemented my daughter's dress.

I filled a total of 3 pages. The first page is an introduction to the event with some hand written journaling from my daughter. Then you open to pages 2 &3 that contain more couple pictures and some group pictures that were just for fun!

I love that I was able to talk my daughter into doing the journaling. It's like injecting her personality directly into these pages. I would never think to write the year like her, 2K15!!

These group photo's are my favorite. The upper left is what the kids call a squad pic! The lower right photo was an on the spot idea seeing that one of the dates was actually on crutches. That's a memory they will never forget!

Some of my favorite cards in the pages and collection. I love the script, colors and design. You can see more of these cards online.

This is why I scrapbook...she is making memories and I am recording them for us! I will forever enjoy looking back at these times and she's so busy living right now, that when she finally slows down she will enjoy looking back also.

Thank you for stopping by. If your interested in the pocket scrapbooking style and not sure where to start I can help you! Contact me if you would like more information or to attend a workshop.

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!!

Some Familiar Faces in Seasonal Expressions 2!

It's always fun to get a new Idea Book and browse through the pages admiring all the beautiful artwork and writing out my "I want that" list of products! It's even more thrilling to turn the page and see the faces of your family in a gorgeous layout!

I submitted some photographs to corporate some time ago. They needed some outdoor adventure, biking, hiking type photo's. That's totally up my alley. I actually forgot about them, but strangely as I started to flip through the pages of the new Seasonal Expressions 2 book I thought about them. The very next page I turned there we were!! I was elated and the layout the artist created with them was amazing. Here is how the layout looks in the book on page 23 featuring the Campfire Lifestyle stamp set.

I wanted to re-create my own layout using some current photo's from a recent camping trip. I used the same Jackson paper and incorporated some PML cards, Boardwalk Washi tape, Jackson Complements, Jackson Assortment, Glacier twine and Oceanside sequins. {some older stamp sets were used also!}

A few close-up shots of the details. I had a blast using new stuff with these awesome papers.

 I took the tip on page 23 to make the Washi tape an attractive accessory to my page 

by simply taping it to cardstock and cutting it out!

 The HELLO portion on this tag was actually cut out from a PML card.

 This ticket is from the Complements sheet and you can see just a bit of bronze shimmer trim.

 I can't decide if I like the feather or sentiment more from the Complements sticker sheet. {arrow Washi tape is not CTMH :( sorry}

I couldn't resist pulling out some older stamp sets on this tag.

This sentiment was actually taken from a zip strip on the Jackson papers. The trees in the circle is from the Jackson Assortment which is a metal-rimmed piece and very cool!

I absolutely love the layout that was created with my family pics and hope that my own rendition is comparable. Regardless, it will always remind me of the time I had my family photo's featured in the SE2 publication!

If you are ever inspired by artwork in the book, you should try to recreate it yourself and put a little different spin on it. You can purchase all the new products now with me or online. Remember if you order online this month you can score a Deal of the Day!