Make It From Your Heart~ Cards

I submitted two cards to the Make It From Your Heart contest. They are both done in a Holiday theme and use several new goodies from the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.

The first card was submitted for the Elemental papers. I also used a couple new stamps, Bundled Buddies was on my "gotta have it" list right away and December 25th. I also got to use one of the new Journaling Spots and a Foundry Pin Clip. How much do you love that cocoa grosgrain striped ribbon?

This card uses a completely different Holiday color scheme thanks to the new Believe papers. I love how bright and cheery they are! The card design is from the Fancy File template in the Wishes book. I like how you can pull out the tag to reveal a message or perhaps some Christmas cash! For this card I also used the December 25th stamp set and the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

They were not winners, but they are still special to me. I have another two page Level 3 layout to share with you. Look for it soon!

Make it from the Heart ~ WINNER!

When I received my message from Close To My Heart that one of my projects won the Make it from the Heart contest I was completely surprised! I have entered artwork for the contest for a couple of years, but never won before. I was jumping around my craft room and shrieking with excitement. My husband and kids thought I lost my mind!

My project is a Level 2 meaning that I created a two page layout using one of the new Autumn/Winter paper packs {Roxie}, any embellishments from the Idea Book and the layout contains NO stamping!

Here is the story behind the photo's. They were taken this past August on our annual trip to Lake Tahoe. We go to visit my Brother and his family and take in the cooler weather and gorgeous scenery all around. For YEARS I have wanted to do the Flume trail and it was SO worth it. What I did not mention in my journaling is that I had a full blown asthma attack right from the start of the trail (5 miles all up hill!). My husband stayed right with me and I pushed myself to get over the top. So glad I did because I would have missed the cliff side views, the lakes {one that we actually had to cycle through the water} and the most amazing experience!

You can see all the winners of the make it from the heart contest on the CTMH website. Tons of inspiration there to get your creativity flowing.

I will share my other projects that did not win later this week.

Girlfriends & Chocolate

I created this sweet jar to place on the table when I hold my scrapbooking workshops. I feel that it makes the creative day complete. A bunch of girls getting together for crafts, chatting and chocolate! When I'm not teaching a class it will sit near my desk in my craft room ;) !!

Fall Fabric Card

I could not resist joining the fun challenge over at Ribbon Carousel this week! Using fabric on your project as well as the usual challenge of adding ribbon. I played with some fabrics on some scrapbooking pages last year and had some left over. Take a look at the card.

Wondering where the fabric is? Here's the swatch of fabric I had left over ~

Now you see it! The fabric does all the work for me. I simply cut out the image I wanted and glued it to the front of my card base. Pretty cute and simple...I need to do more projects with fabric!

Only Cardstock!

Heart 2 Heart challenges us to create something this week using only cardstock, no background and texture papers! I can do only cardstock, no problem, but I still want some 'texture'! I chose some fun Halloween colors and ran them through my Big Shot in a variety of Cuttlebug folders. I kept the rest of the card fairly simple with a stitched ribbon and spooky sentiment.


Close up on the texture, don't you just love that embossed skull?

Be sure to see what else you can do with only cardstock on the H2H blog!

Making Jewelry & Such

A brief detour from playing with paper! I do enjoy learning new crafts and expanding my creativity in various hobbies. I was looking up some videos on resin and using it to create jewelry items as well as this key chain. I found the metal base for it at Hobby Lobby. I used the Hope for Japan stamp or what I refer to it as my "Bon Jovi" heart stamp. {I used it for some Bon Jovi concert scrap pages!}

There are lots of tutorials out there for these washer necklaces. I was waiting on my hubby to find what he needed at Home Depot one day and they were calling my name. Super inexpensive and crafty cool!

Finally, Hobby Lobby also had these great ring bases. I knew there were lots of crafty gals out there creating fun button rings with these. My daughter wanted one to match her dress for a wedding we recently attended. How fitting that the black and purple will transition so well into Halloween too!

Cricut Cards ~ Die Cut H2H Challenge

They are all about Die Cuts this week on the Heart 2 Heart challenges blog. Now that Close To My Heart has introduced its very own Cricut Cartridge, I've been all about die cutting too! Here are a few cards I've made using the new cartridge. The card bases were even made using the Cricut. I have also incorporated 3 new paper packs: Roxie, Typeset and Believe.

Having the Cricut cut the rose spirals makes these beauties quick and easy! ~

I love that you can just layer the shapes together! ~

Imagine a cute family photo peeking through the window. Wouldn't family and friends adore receiving these for the Holidays! ~

Check out all the other great ideas on the Heart 2 Heart blog.

Teacher Banner

My daughter was thrilled to find out that she would have a teacher again this year that she had last year. She is a wonderful instructor and fairly new to teaching. Seeing that her classroom was a little empty, my daughter wanted to create something special for her.

I flipped through my Cricut Art Philosophy booklet and gave my daughter all sorts of options to choose from. {There are 700 images on this cartridge you know!} She chose the scallop banner and insisted on the layered butterfly. She also picked out some Wings paper which was a perfect fit for that butterfly image. The Cricut practically did all the cutting. My daughter inked and pieced everything together. I only helped with the ribbon connecting each pennant.

Bottom line~ The Cricut is so easy to use a "middle-schooler" can do it. A cute and simple project. Her teacher really liked it too!

Calendar Club ~ September & October

Calendar Club really worked hard at our last gathering as we needed to complete 3 pages. This month we will only be doing two, September & October. We will also get to play with lots of new goodies including: new paper kits, fun accessories and the ever popular Cricut Art Philosophy Collection. Take a look!

Discover My Colors {an H2H challenge}

Heart 2 Heart challenges us this week to share our favorite color combinations. I really had to think about this. What is my favorite combination? A glance around my craft room and a look through some past scrapbooks I found my "usual suspects"! I gravitate towards Autumn colors, that is reflected throughout my entire home decor. I pulled some faves, originally 7 colors on my list, then narrowed it down to just 4. Here they are:

Tulip Olive Juniper Creme Brulee

My card uses lots of new goodies. The flowers and branch were made with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. I chose a subtle background of creme brulee stamped with the Damask Tiles. The B&T paper in a soft Juniper is from the new Typeset papers and the Juniper triple stitched ribbon is from the new green ribbon collection. The base of colonial white cardstock and cocoa stamped sentiment gives just a touch of neutrals.

U & me {Mojo 206 Sketch}

Great sketch from Mojo Monday this week, check it out!



I chose the round sketch, but used a jagged edged circle thanks to my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. Some older Wings paper met the newer Typeset papers. The ticket was also cut on my Cricut and then simply stamped with a coordinating My Acrylix stamp set. I am also loving the new Green Collection Ribbons. Here I used this "triple" stitched Juniper ribbon, then finished it off with some mocha pearls.