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!

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.

Do You Ever Crave a Donut?

Every once in awhile I absolutely crave a donut. Thank goodness this craving does not happen often! Too many calories and fat, but I have a much healthier option for you! Keep your hands busy and your creativity flowing by stamping an adorable donut on your projects.

As promised, here is a look at some cards using the new Treats of Friendship stamp set.

This first card uses the sketch on Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog this week. Thanks for the inspiration H2H design team!

Be sure to check out what the artists on Heart 2 Heart Blog designed using the sketch!

The pink on both of these cards reminds me of the little doughnut shops in Vegas called Pink Box. If your ever in the area check them out and try a few, they are fantabulous!! {yes, that is a real word...my mother says it all the time!} My favorite is the sweet potato cake, sounds crazy, but it's amazingly moist and just the right amount of sweet!

Be sure to get this stamp set to cure all of your cravings and don't forget to grab your Deal of the Day!

February Cricut Club

Did you like my 3D Heart project I made yesterday for the Heart 2 Heart Love challenge? I made another one on a little bit smaller scale for my Cricut Club that's meeting this Saturday. It still has plenty space for some sweets like candy or chocolate and could be the perfect tote for a small set of 3x3 cards. The details are simple, but cute and this little heart could easily be duplicated for all of your sweethearts this Valentine's Day!

Calendar Club {February & March}

When my Calendar Club meets next time they will be creating the February and March pages. For February we made the focus on Valentine's Day and LOVE! Sweetheart floral papers are perfect! Club members received the new spritz pen at the first meeting, so we will use it again for this month. This time we fill it with Hollyhock re-inker and the shimmer paint to add a bit of sparkle. Did you know that you can spritz directly on our paper flowers to add some color? You bet we can, it really makes them come to life!

The March page incorporates that fabulous Trees & Things stamp that I featured here on my blog last week. I stamped the leaves in Juniper and Olive to match the Wings Basics papers. The little swing was hung on some hemp that has been tucked behind the page. This page is also unique because instead of one photo you can feature 4 of your favorite snap shots.

H2H Going Wild with Animals & Birds

This week on Heart 2 Heart blog they want to see your wild side. The challenge is to create something with an animal, bird or insect on it. I thought of these cute little "hoot, hoots" right away. I used some new papers from the Wings collection and the Sweetheart collection. I also used some of the new button assortments in the pink, red and green collections.

Check out the other "wild" creations on the Heart 2 Heart blog.

Card Club Box

I held my first Calendar Club this past Saturday. So far everyone is off to a great start and I am excited about the next pages to be completed. I am equally excited to start my other club that will be alternating months with the Calendar Club.

The Card Club will kick off its first class by making this darling, oh so girly, card box. It is made from the same box I used last summer as a Recipe Box. I dressed it up in fancy new Sweetheart papers and adorned it with frilly ribbon and pearls. It is an awesome start to what will be a fun club.

First H2H Scrapbooking Challenge

For some time now I have been participating in the Heart 2 Heart challenges. As the blog continues with their weekly challenges it has added a second blog for scrapbooking challenges. I am very excited about it and hope to join in as often as possible.

Here is the first challenge, a sketch challenge. To see the original sketch and details on the new blog click here.

I decided to take the sketch this week and turn it upside~down!!

Supplies:

Sweetheart Level 2 papers

Pink collection Designer Ribbons

Black corduroy brads from Mini-Medley collection

Black ribbon from Mini-Medley collection

Hodge Podge Alphabet

Love Story rub-ons

Oxford Color Ready Alphabet

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Coloring and stamping on the color ready alphabet is a cool technique and super easy. The letters can be colored directly on the sheet, but if you want to stamp on them then here's the trick. Use the left over sheet from your Stickease or the waxy sheet used to separate the sheets of rub-on letters like I did here. You'll then space out the letters you need and stamp them. Here I used a tiny dot pattern from a background stamp. After stamping you'll simply peel the letter from the sheet and place it on your project.

The result~