Stuck on You!

I'm stuck on craft challenges lately. They help to launch my creativity with an idea or a sketch. This card is the result of 2 challenges this week. The first is a sketch challenge found on Freshly Made Sketches. It's pretty straight forward resulting in a clean and easy card. The other challenge comes from Heart 2 Heart Challenges which is a stitching theme. I chose to go faux!

I love the bright whimsical colors of the Prickly Pear papers, but I wanted to create more authentic looking cactus. For this I reached for an older stamp set called, Stuck on You. This is one of those sets that came with coordinating Thin Cuts making it all too easy. The more difficult part is coloring in the cactus, however I find this to be relaxing. The faux stitching is made by using some wavy Lawn Fawn Die Cuts.

Pretty clean, simple and cute! Be sure to check out these blogs for some challenges and inspiration!

No Worries Bear!

I'm sharing a card with you today for the Heart 2 Heart "No Worries" Challenge. I love this paper collection and found that it can be more versatile than just a beachy theme! On this card I used the Jack cardmaking stamp and thin cuts to create a laid back, fishing bear. Obviously, he has no worries now that he is retired!

Be sure to check out the other entries at H2H. Make sure to stop by the website to order these fabulous products.

P.S. The retirement sentiment is from the No Worries Cardmaking and thin cuts set. All items are on the website and currently available until the end of July.

Thanks Little Critter

Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog {and any stamping enthusiast} is celebrating Stamping Month all of September. With the newest Annual and Holiday Idea Books just having been released, there are all sorts of new My Acrylix stamp sets to play with this month. One of the stamp sets that caught my interest in the Holiday Expressions book was the Woodland Critters. The animals are adorable and the sentiment bubbles are cute for any occasion. It was really that raccoon that stole my heart though!

I am entering this card in the H2H challenge for that stamped raccoon. I did choose to use the "thanks" thin cut instead of one of the sentiments on the stamp set. {Don't worry I'll be showing more of these critters with the talk bubbles soon!} I chose the Swan Lake papers in a variety of colors and patterns to be the backdrop for Mr. raccoon.

Get more details on these products or order online here.

Stay tuned for more fall inspired cards featuring some more of these adorable critters!

Congrats Smarty Pants!

The theme last week on Heart 2 Heart Challenges is a "congratulations" theme! Perfect timing for all those High School and college grads! I just celebrated my nephew's graduation this past weekend. While celebrating with him and his family, we came to the realization that several of the cousins were going to be graduating back to back for at least the next 4 years! So why not make a few graduation cards to prepare and since my own daughter will be one of the graduates next year, she was my inspiration for these cards. I like to call them the Smarty Pants Series!

I made a total of 4 cards that all vary in size, but carry the same theme by using the papers from the Magical collection, the eye glasses cut on the Cricut Artistry cartridge and images stamped from the new Smarty Pants MyAcrylix stamp set.

Pretty cute collection of cards to celebrate that super smart graduate on their success! Be sure to visit the Heart 2 Heart Blog to see how others celebrated this theme!

You can order the Cricut cartridges, Magical papers and the Smarty Pants stamp set online here.

Calypso Van and First Flash Sale

Did you take a look at the Stamp of the Month yet? It really is adorable and perfect for those summer road trips! When I started playing with the little van it reminded me of the iconic VW van of course. I immediately think of our visits to the beach towns along the California coast. I love to look at the old vans that are rusted out and the freshly restored ones decked out with a couple of surf boards. For this card I wanted the fun and freedom of the cute little van to come out. Calypso was the perfect paper to make this card with that hippie, laid back feeling! The "way awesome" sentiment really helps capture the feeling also. You can find more awesome sentiments on the Beyond Awesome stamp set in the newest SE2 Idea Book. The Long Way Home stamp set however, is only available at a discounted price for the month of June only. I am also entering this in Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week for their "Vintage" theme. What's more vintage that an old VW van!??

Today is the first day of the June Flash Sale! You can check out my website to see the sales going on this weekend. Sale begins at 2 pm {pst} The sale runs until Monday afternoon or while supplies last. Click here to see the bargains!

Regatta Graduate

Today I'm playing along with Heart 2 Heart Challenges. They are inviting guests to use the wonderful Regatta papers for their projects. This collection has been so much fun to play with! Sadly, it will be retiring in just a few days.

For today's card I decided to use the Regatta PML card and other patterned paper to create a graduation card. It fits the theme really well! I love the sentiment that was on one of the zip strips; nothing but blue skies ahead! It's so true at graduation time. Your whole life is there ahead of you just waiting to be explored! The graduation cap and the sentiment I stamped on the inside are from a new stamp set coming in May in the Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Book.

Hello H2H Sketch Challenge

It's been awhile that I've played along with Heart 2 Heart Challenges. Its a sketch challenge this week. I was able to use up some Cricut cuts I did some time ago and added the pretty Springtime Wishes flowers that were pre-cut with the thin cuts. Just a bit of white & gold ribbon and some bling in the corner and this card is complete!

Wedding Diamond Layout

I attended my cousins wedding last weekend and was just scrapbooking some of the photo's I took. There are just a few really good pictures from within the reception. Let's face it, sometimes your just having too much fun and forget to take pictures! I did get three that really captured the feeling in the room and includes a photo of the couple at their first dance. I am also entering this layout in the Three Challenge at Heart 2 Heart Blog.

I decided to layout the three photo's on this diamond design inspired from the Close To My Heart homepage and a layout that Jody Gustafson did here on her Cre8'n Memories Blog. Along with the gorgeous soft Charlotte papers I pulled in some yellow Georgie papers to match the theme of the reception.

I used a combination of stamps and embellishments from the Charlotte collection to finish the layout. Even with just three pictures I am able to still capture our memories from this special day.

Make a Splash!

This little crab is making a splash on the Freshly Make Sketches Blog and the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog this week. I have used the adorable crab from the Beach Days stamp set (D1684) for the sketch on FMS this week and used the colors for the color challenge on H2H. The colors were black, white and red so Mr. Crab was just perfect for the color scheme as were the La Vie En Rose papers. I liked that the sketch was pretty open for playing with images in the space at the upper left side of the card. I also liked the little piece of chevron paper to fill in that little peek-a-boo space in the sketch.

Be sure to check out the FMS and H2H blogs for more information! Have a fun weekend!

Pink Elephants

Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog is asking what is our favorite paper collection. It's difficult to pick only one as each collection can serve a different purpose... holiday's, outdoor, big and small celebrations! Sometimes a paper pack can be versatile, fitting many different themes. I have to say that I fell in love with Charlotte at first sight. I love the soft color combination and how gorgeous it looks with pops of gold. I also love the floral print, but appreciate the modern and trendy prints too.

On this card I used those more trending prints to create a cute card with the Stamp of the Month Balloon Animals. It can be a playful Birthday card or even a baby card.

You can get the Balloon Animals for only $5 this month with qualifying order. Add the Charlotte paper pack in your cart too, you won't regret it!

Live Your Day Calendar Page ~ August has ABC's

National Papercrafting Month is almost over! If you want the exclusive Live Your Day Picture My Life collection you will need to order before this Sunday!

You may recall that I decided to pull all the month cards from the collection to create a traditional 12x12 calendar. I was working on the August page last night and incorporated the ABC challenge on Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog. August is typically the month that we all head back to school. Even if you don't still attend school I think its important that we never stop learning. Here is the page I created for this challenge~

A close up of each square random stamped with a different letter of the alphabet. The top title for my page was cut on the Cricut using the Artistry cartridge. The bottom portion of my title was stamped from the same alphabet stamp that I used on the 3x3 squares. The black and white really pops with the primary colors.

Perhaps you'll be inspired to create your own calendar, but you need to purchase the Live Your Day PML set soon!

Have a Cup of Cheer

Tomorrow I will get to celebrate with the students I teach. We are having a little Christmas party in class and will play some fun games. I can't wait to give them these cocoa treat bags I made using a printable tag and Close To My Heart products of course!

I filled the Ruby and Lagoon treat bags with some cocoa mix, mini marshmallows and chocolate dipped candy canes. They wrapped up easily with a free printable I found on Pinterest and some red twine.

I am entering this again in Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week, as these are truly a gift from my heart. I hope the kiddo's love them and enjoy a cup of cocoa over their Winter break! {and hopefully they get out all their wild energy before they return!!} :)

Holiday Cheer my Deer

Today I created a card for both Freshly Made Sketches and the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog. I have been slightly obsessed with the deer head decor that's trending everywhere lately! I've used the sketch on FMS in which the deer nicely dressed up the tag portion of the card. I also incorporated the White Pines paper and stamps which is part of the "Holiday Expressions Product" challenge on H2H!

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.

RX: Stress Relief

I have a quick little project that I made for fun. I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would put the CTMH spin on it. Plus, I knew a couple of gals at school that would enjoy the surprise! I am also submitting this to Heart 2 Heart Challenges for their doodling theme. Adding the doodling frame really made it feel finished!

Let Them Eat Cake!

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog is pretty sweet! The theme this week is "let them eat cake". A celebration just isn't complete without some cake and I think the Confetti Wishes paper collection and MyStickease is perfect for the occasion.

I included several different papers from the Confetti Wishes collection as well as pieces from the zip strip. I added some chipboard glitter letters and some fun embellishments. This card has lots of layers!!

Why stop at just a card! I also created a coordinating gift box and tag, because after you eat cake it's time to open presents.

The tag was from the sheet of MyStickease. I simply backed it with some Thistle cardstock, added some ribbon and a piece of zip strip. {the presents}

This cute little box can be found on the Artiste Cricut cartridge. I just added some cardstock and design paper to each side. I love how the lid just folds over the handle keeping your gift securely inside.

Finally, a few detail shots from the card. Check out the other sweet cake creations on H2H!