Baby Boy

I found out that my sister-in-law is expecting a baby boy. This will be her fourth. She has her own little army or team! I wanted to make her a special card to let her know that we are excited to meet her little bundle of BOY!

I used crystal blue B&T paper from Twitterpated and the stamp sets Treetops and TLC. I did some more sewing on this card as well, not very good, but it's o.k.!! To achieve the blue skies behind the white clouds I stamped the cloud on a post-it-note and sponged around it. The clothesline was made from some hemp. Oh, and the baby onesie is from an older stamp set called For Baby.

Piece of Cake

I was playing with the Stamp of the Month and a new scallop punch I received in January. I saw the scalloped background idea on another blog and thought is was very creative. I am really loving what others are doing with the Piece of Cake stamp.

The first card is done in bright summery colors and uses the textured cardstock. The second card uses B&T papers in primary colors. Yes, that is some "real" sewing you see on the white cardstock. Not really good sewing, but it added fun texture to the card. The glitter on the cupcakes also adds some great texture and makes those cupcakes POP!

Back to Basics ~ February Edition

Last month I told you about a new club I started this year called Back to Basics. Ladies meet once a month to create a 2 page layout with a monthly theme. The class is designed to keep scrapbooking faster, simpler, easier and well... BASIC! The cost is minimal, the products are minimal, time spent is minimal and you go home with fabulous pages.

This months pages features the calm and cool colors of the Veranda paper collection and the lovely Love Birds stamp set. Random stamped pages are done with coordinating colors and cut to fit both pages. The embellishments are simple yet add just a touch of interest with a cinched ribbon tied together with a button and floss. There are plenty of spaces for multiple photos and a large area for journaling.

I hope those attending this Friday will be delightfully surprised.

Valentine Treats Machine

It's Thursday. In our house we call it Survivor night! If you missed the premiere last week, you missed a great show and fantastic start to season 20. Go Heroes!!! Get caught up on what you missed here.

Now on to the artwork....

I made these cards for my children on Valentine's Day. I used a new stamp set and treats cup from the Stampin' Up mini catalog. They are super simple to use and make a card so much fun. So far the kids have not tried to open them, but it won't be long until they want to eat the chocolate inside.

I used some Blush textured cardstock as the base. It's great to sand paper and distress the edges. I also used some Tulip b&t paper from the Jingle collection and a sparkly twinkle brad.

Birthday Chocolate

So it's my sisters Birthday today {her and Abe} and this is the card I made her. We are both huge fans of chocolate and I know that she would want nothing more than some delicious chocolate on her B~day! She does not live in the same town as me, so I had to send her just a bit of chocolate to hold her over until her next visit. Hopefully on the next visit she can indulge in some of her favorite goodies I create. She loves my chocolate drop cookies and cakes, but nothing is more decadent than my flourless chocolate cake with ganache and raspberries on top!! Yummy!

Here is the card done with the Topstitch papers and the Piece of Cake stamp set.


This card actually has several layers giving it great dimension!



The buttons were all strung together on a single piece of hemp, then glue-dotted to the card.

Inside the envelope I was able to stick this candy bar also wrapped in Topstitch papers. The frame stamp is from January's stamp of the month; True Friends. The stamped heart is from Star Power and the sentiment is from Love of my Life. I was so glad to hear that it made it to her in one piece. I was worried that someone might get a whiff of the chocolate and steal it! Ha, Ha Ha!

I suppose I've been on a chocolate bar wrapping frenzy. Here are some more I did for my daughter's school leadership group. They get together every few months just to celebrate some of the members birthdays. It's a small contribution on my part, but I think the kids enjoy them.

All this talk about chocolate, Valentine's day must be near!! Last night I made one of my favorite chocolate treats; chocolate covered strawberries. Sweet juicy berries covered in dark delicious chocolate makes me very happy.

What is your favorite dessert to eat on Valentine's day? Please leave a comment, I would love to hear about it!

Yummy Cupcakes & Candy Bars

This months Scramp Club project is so yummy! I have been known to recycle plenty of containers, but the new Crystal Light containers are fabulous. After peeling off the label you are left with a clear oval container.

~Because it is clear I wanted to only cover a portion of it so that you can peek at the goodies inside.

~The goodie inside this container is a milk chocolate candy bar covered in coordinating paper.

~And the paper is pretty yummy too. I used the new Topstich papers which worked perfectly with the February stamp of the month, Piece of Cake!

Here's a close up of the stamped image. I used some markers, paper piecing and Liquid Applique to make the frosting even more delicious!

Valentine Goodies

Yesterday I created my daughter's Valentine treats to pass out to her classmates. I had a few ideas in mind for this project, here's how it all came together.

On our weekly shopping trip I let my daughter pick out the goodies she wanted to give with each Valentine. She chose the Air Heads taffy candy which had the cutest flying cupids delivering a very hip message. They also had perfect valentine colors of purple, pink, red and a pop of shiny gold! The candy inspired the next ideas!




Inspired by the candy choice, I used CTMH exclusive colors of Hydrangea, Bubble Gum, Holiday Red, Amethyst, & White Daisy. Because of the darling cupid featured on the wrapper I wanted to incorporate the heart and wings from the Star Power stamp set. I was also dying to use these new envelopes and scalloped mini cards. {Stampin' Up}

Here is everything cut out and inked up. Those are 28 hearts and 56 wings I had to cut out. {what else is there to do while watching Super Bowl Pre-Game show}





Here are all the cards assembled and waiting for the gold glitter to dry. {Martha Stewart}




Here is the finished Valentine card. Ain't it SWEET! The heart and wings were rock and rolled in 2 inks then cut out and sponged in ink. The wings were given just a touch of gold glitter. You'll notice that the card base is on textured cardstock in Bubble Gum pink and there is a small square of White Daisy textured cardstock as well. Adding the textured cardstock became another goal in this project because of this month's promotion. You can find out more about Hearts For Haiti at the end of this post.

When my daughter was in first grade I made this mailbox for her to collect her cards and treats. It was a class contest. The base is a shoe box. At the time I had it mounted on a wood post and it was standing in a pot of gorgeous purple flowers. She won best valentine collection box and it amazes me that she has kept it for 5 years now. She will use it to collect her Valentines this year again.

She will tote her Valentines in the mailbox to school.

This is the finished project. I tucked the card into the envelope and then 2 air heads carefully not to burst the seams. {it was a tight fit} We then found some old stickers that had my daughter's name on them. This made it really quick to finish them off, rather than signing her name on all 28 of them. These should be fun to give and receive!

Do you like the textured cardstock I used for this project? During the month of February you can purchase a pack of textured cardstock and get one free. For every purchase Close To My Heart will donate $2 to Operation Smile for Haiti relief efforts. Please go to www.closetomyheart.com for more information and wonderful artwork using the textured cardstock.

Somebirdy Loves You

Only a cute card to share with you today. While I had the Love Birds stamp set out, I put together this simple card. The crystal blue background paper is from caboodle. I also used cocoa, tulip and sweet leaf.

Rock Star Celebration

We celebrated some Birthday's this weekend that totally ROCKED! Here are a couple of the cards I made for the "Rock Stars" that were partying this weekend. Both use the Star Power stamp set and the You Rock level 2 papers {CTMH}. Look for the skulls in the first one, they were embossed using the Cuttle Bug.

You & Me Tag Book

I've been playing with the Love Birds stamp set and Veranda papers. They are both great products and the paper is super versatile. Anyhow, this is a little tag book I put together for my "love bird"! I took 4 thin coin envelopes and glued them together in the middle only leaving the sides to open like an accordion. I cut the tops off with the round coluzzle. I used some cardstock to create a front and back for the book and reinforced the bottom with big brads to hold everything together. The top flap uses velcro to open and close. I simply decorated the tags with cardstock, B&T papers and a ribbon held in place with a brad. All that is left to do is decorate the tags with photo's or some journaling. Ooooh, or maybe they will become "love" coupons for Valentines Day!!! {wink, wink}


BTW ~ "You and Me" is actually a wonderful song that my Love bird and I enjoy listening to together. Check it out in my playlist by Dave Matthews Band.

With Sympathy

It's very rare that I create sympathy cards. Quite simply they are made because of an unfortunate event or out of sadness. I much prefer Birthday cards, Thank You cards, etc. Sometimes you just can't avoid it though.

I was able to use some new products on these cards which made it a bit easier. The reason for making them is that my Uncle passed away this past weekend leaving his wife, my Aunt {whom also happened to be my God parents} and two daughters with families of their own. As I created the cards, I was able to reflect back on some memories. I realized that the process was quite therapeutic. Hopefully these cards will give you inspiration when you are not inspired to do something that is unavoidable.




{blue b&t paper from Caboodle, cardstock, stamp "TLC", white daisy ribbon (CTMH) scallop punch (Stampin' up)}



{garden green and creme brulee b&t paper from Veranda, frame stamp "Jan. SOTM True Friends", phrase "TLC", twilight organdy ribbon, antique brass brads, all CTMH}

{b&t from Veranda, cardstock, stamps "Love Birds" & "Doodle Alphabet", phrase stamp "Say it in Style", cocoa buttons, inks and water brush all CTMH}

Back to Basics

I decided to begin a new monthly class this year called Back to Basics Class or B2BC. I have some new customers this year that have done little or no scrapbooking before. I really had to take myself back a couple of years to remember where I got my start. The idea is to make simple pages that still have a pop of personality. They require little time, minimum supplies and low cost. Perfect for beginners or those who need to catch up on some scrapbooking in their busy lives.

Here is my January page. The photo does not give it justice. The colors are truly more rich in person. I will share my next pages as the year goes on.

Pockets on my Pages

I am so close to completing my 2009 family scrapbook. Here are just a few last pages I created for it. What makes them unique is that they have "pockets"! Creating pockets on your pages are a great way for storing unusual items or memorabilia.

For this first page I was making a layout for my daughter's Christmas play. She played the part of Mrs. Claus and I thought it would be cool to hold on to the script and sheet music. There are a couple pages stapled together that she can pull from the pocket and read again to bring back memories. My page here is not complete, however I will include photo's from the event along with a list of the cast members featured in the play.

This next page is something that I started a few years back. The very last page in my scrapbooks are a "pocket page" made purposely for all of those post cards and photo's we receive from family and friends every year. These are the latest pictures of friends, cousins, nieces and nephews and I would hate to lose them. By creating a pocket page I can easily look back every year and see their smiling faces!

Here is a top view so you can see that the pocket was hidden behind all of the cute houses. I used a strip of cardstock as an example of an insert, but believe me, once I fill in the post cards and photos this pocket will be bursting at the seams!

Supplies: (all CTMH) Jingle Paper Level 2; cardstock and ink in the following colors: black, white daisy, juniper, creme brulee, tulip and olive; Stamps: Heartfelt Christmas, Felicity Alphabet, Around the Block; Embellishments: Creme Brulee ribbon, twinkle brads

Mini Milk Cartons

I got some new stuff yesterday and wanted to play with it right away! Big Shot has a new die called mini milk carton. They are just adorable and will be perfect for classroom treats, valentine surprises or party favors. They are super simple to assemble and can be decorated for all sorts of occasions. I whipped these cuties up just last night.

This one would be fun for Valentines day!

Pretty pastels are perfect for Easter! Fill to the brim with jelly beans or chocolate eggs!

Finally, this one is great for any occasion, having a party or as a gift to a friend. It also features the color challenge this week on Jeanette's Blog.

**WARNING** These cartons are not recommended for holding real milk!!