April's Inspiration (and more calendar pages)

I have been working on the last few pages for a 12x12 calendar using the PML cards that were a part of the Live Your Day promotion in January. Inspiration struck one day while scrolling through my Instagram feed. Close To My Heart posted a page using the gorgeous Charlotte papers in a very visual graphic design. I just loved it and knew I wanted to recreate it for my April page using some Zoe papers. As it was starting to come together I quickly knew which photo to use as my son's Birthday is in April and this picture fit the sentiment on the Zoe complements. Take a look~

Here are all the pages laid out before I added photo's on them. Each month is very differently themed and designed.

 Just a few more pages I'd like to share with you~


The July page uses the new Regatta papers and the Beach Days stamp set. You may have noticed how much I've been using this stamp set, its really a fun set and the stamping is so easy as the images can be cut out on your Cricut!
This is my brother's family that we got to visit last summer in Lake Tahoe. Very fitting with the Regatta papers wouldn't you say?!!

The June page uses a rainbow assortment of the lovely fundamentals papers. It's bright and fun, but mostly I wanted to show you what you can essentially create with leftover strips of paper. Sometimes my 'scraps bag' tends to overflow, so I need to clean those out and use them up!

Here you can see that I used some of the strips showing the matte side and others have the shiny side showing.

If you would like to create your own 12x12 calendar its lots of fun and makes a great gift too! You can order the calendar online here.

Freshly Made Sketches 200th Celebration

Freshly Made Sketches is celebrating their 200th sketch! They are celebrating with a ton of inspiration on their blog. Not only has the Freshly Made Sketches Design Team offered gorgeous art, but so has several design team members from the sponsors of some amazing crafting companies!

The sketch is super clean this week and allows for all sorts of themes and ideas.

I pulled in some fabulous Zoe papers and a few little extras that you might not have seen yet?! I'll tell you all about these 'mystery' products soon! For now enjoy the fun friendship card with lots of patterns and pretty colors!

Please visit the FMS blog for more inspiration. You can see more Zoe products online here.

Ice Cream Dream Complete Layout

You're probably thinking... "Why is she posting about the Ice Cream Dream stamp set, that was two months ago?!" Maybe you can think of it as a little Flashback Friday!! {tee-hee} Plus, I would hope that it still inspires you by the use of papers, the color combination, using some new and old stamp sets or simply the template (sketch) of the pages.

You will recall that I created a 12x12 page using the adorable Ice Cream stamp set in June. You can see the original post here. I had a couple ideas of possible pictures that I could place on it. I thought maybe we could visit our local ice cream shop this summer or perhaps there would be a chance to visit a favorite stop with my nieces in Lake Tahoe. I was so excited to get to do the second choice! The 45 minute wait in line at Camp Richardson is worth the memories!!

Now I had a main photo for the original page I created, but I couldn't leave out the individual pictures I took of my kids and my 2 beautiful nieces. So, I created a companion page. This page was so easy to put together and was inspired by a layout in the newest Idea Book coming in September!

I loved using the different blocks of paper and photo's to fill this page. If there was not a photo in a square then I used it to build clusters of stamped images and embellishments. This was inspired by the layout I saw in the new book as I mentioned earlier. The stamp set they used however is not brand new, in fact you may already have it in your stash. It's called Documenting Moments and is a super functional stamp set.

 Here are a few close-ups of the clusters in individual squares.

This cute camera is from the new stamp set found in the Zoe Workshop on the Go available now!

 This layout just makes me happy! I hope it inspires you to do some crafting today!!

You can find the products I mentioned in this post online here.

All New in August!

The 2015-2016 Annual Inspirations Idea Book will be released to customers on September 1st. However, there are a few goodies that are available starting today! These amazing products should keep you busy until you can order from the new book! Take a look~

As anticipated with a new Idea Book, there is a new Cricut collection called Artistry.

The newest Cricut collection, Artistry, includes shapes spanning a wide variety of themes for holidays and seasons. Get back to basics with the unique font, banners, layered shapes, borders, backgrounds, and other fun icons you'll find on this cartridge.

The collection includes:
1 cartridge with 700 images
3 My Acrylix D-size Stamp Sets and
1 Enchantment Cardstock Combo Pack

{The Enchantment cardstocks are all reworked, you will receive the newly added colors to this combo pack!}

The cost for the collection is $99.

It is also available in a digital collection for the first time! You will receive the same products, minus the physical cartridge. Instead you will be able to access the images with an online code. This option is for Cricut Explore and Cricut Explore Air users only. Cost is only $79!

(See all the images on this cartridge in the Cricut Collections link at the top of this Blog.)


 A brand new paper collection will also be available to you starting today! Please welcome...

ZOE

Zoe is one of those paper collections that can lend itself to so many occasions and themes. It has a calm and quiet color palette of canary, glacier, slate, sorbet, sweet leaf, whisper and white daisy. You will be able to order not only the papers, but the complements, assortment, enamel and glitter duos green triangles and coral shimmer trim. All of these coordinate so well with the papers. You can also order the Workshop on the Go Kit.

Please go online to see all the lovely products available, including the Studio J collection for those digital scrapbookers. Order online today!

Close To My Heart has added some new organization products as well. These Roll-Up's compliment the other organization products perfectly!

The Marker Roll-Up and Accessory Roll-Up will be available to purchase August 1st. Not only can you get these awesome products early, but you will receive a couple of "freebies" with your purchase!

With the purchase of the Accessory Roll-Up you will receive two new Base & Bling style sheets Free! The accessory roll-up contains 16 clear plastic pockets with zippers to hold Base & Bling products, embellishments, or accessories. Rolls up and secures with snap closure. Includes hanging loop for easy vertical storage.

 

With the purchase of the Marker Roll-Up you will receive the Balloon Wishes My Acrylix D-size stamp set Free! This is an ideal stamp set to use your ShinHan Touch Twin Markers. The organizer holds up to 25 markers with interior elastic loops. Rolls up and secures with snap closure or can be hung vertically when unrolled. 

Last, but not least, CTMH has a Stamp of the Month at a discounted price of just $5.

Framed, is the August Stamp of the Month and will be available August 1-31, 2016. You can receive it for just $5 with a qualifying order. This is a great stamp to "frame" a variety of sentiments! From Mother and Father's day sentiments to wishing someone a Happy Birthday or simply send best wishes.

So many great products to choose from this month! You will have plenty to keep you busy crafting and preserving those memories!