2010 Scrapping Counts

2010 ended up being a far busier year than I'd anticipated, so my scrapping totals were rather disappointing.  My scrapping goals for 2010 were 100 pages and 200 cards.  Here is what I ended up with:

Pages complete: 15
Cards complete: 40
Altered Items: 22
Digital Pages complete: 16

I never had time to start a scrap group or cardmaking group, I fell short on my blog posting goal (twice per week), and since I didn't scrap much, my Silhouette didn't get used much either (though I think I downloaded every file from the Silhouette store).  I didn't even mail out Christmas cards for 2010.  I did make a point of using my stash when I was able to scrap, although that was at least partly influenced by my location.  For 2011, I plan to start making others step up and do more at work, and not to volunteer to take on so many projects and activities this year.  I also intend to put scrapping on my schedule, so hopefully I will be able to do it more.  

My 2011 goals will be mostly a repeat of my 2010 goals:  100 pages (including digital), 200 cards, use my Silhouette more often, get cards done the month before they are needed AND actually get them in the mail (I'm a notorious postal failure), and try to get some of that old scrapping caught up.  Tell me about your scrapping goals for 2011.

December 2010 Spotlight Blog Hop

"If I gave you diamonds and pearls
Would you be a happy boy or a girl

If I could I would give you the world

But all I can do is just offer you my love..."

And with that bit of Prince, I bring you my contribution to the December 2010 CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop, featuring Sparkles and Pearls.  You may have arrived here from {DEBBIE'S} blog.  If that is the case, you are on the right path.  If this is your first stop on the hop, welcome!  Our hop is a circular hop, so you can jump in here and follow the links at the end of each blog to see all of the creations using CTMH Sparkles and CTMH Pearls.

My project this month is a {candy} jar for my desk.  Wearing combat boots for a living, I frequently feel the need to express my "grrl"-y side, which I do by carrying pink pens, working out in Running Skirts, volunteering as a cheerleading coach, and using cute stuff on my desk.  Truthfully, I don't need a candy jar on my desk, but I really do enjoy "marking my territory" in the land of testosterone.  LOL.  Anyway, back to the jar.  I actually lucked upon the jar for $.50 while at the thrift shop looking for accessories for my Halloween costume.  The previous owner had decorated it as well, but I looked beyond the decorations to see something that I could alter as I saw fit.  To me, that big cork top SCREAMED for a giant flower,  and I was happy to oblige with a CTMH Big Pink.  I mixed up a batch of glimmer-y mist using CTMH Re-inker in Garden Green, Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint, and water, which were placed in a Ranger Ink Mini Mister bottle (but you could use any leftover misting-type bottle, even your Spritz cleaner bottle).  I sprayed the flower with my glimmery-y mist and let it dry.  I used the adorable A Flitter stamp set to stamp the dragonfly and then random stamp the little butterflies in Garden Green ink on Garden Green cardstock.  The cardstock was attached with Liquid Glass.  Once the flower was really dry, I tacked it to the cork top (adhesive alone didn't seem to be the best idea) and then proceeded to decorate the flower center with CTMH Pearls and Buttercup Sassy Strands (retired).  To give some extra lift to the flower petals, I put a 3-D mounting foam square beneath each one.  Isn't this a yummy candy jar?

Now hop on over to {Tracey's} blog for some more BLING!

December 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the December 2010 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring Amore, a set of 13 Stamps.  If you've just arrived here from {Sarita's} blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, just jump in and enjoy our circular hop, which has over 60 participants this month.  When you reach the end of a post, click on the link at the end to go to the next post in the hop.  Prepare to be inspired!!!


I just realized that this is my 18th month of participating in this blog hop! I hope you enjoy hopping for inspiration as much as I do.  This month's project is a cute card that I made following the Satchel pattern from the book Wishes.  Originally I planned to stay away from the color pink for this card, but I just couldn't resist the That's Amore papers.

Papers: CTMH cardstock in Chocolate and Garden Green
Inks: CTMH Chocolate, StazOn Timber Brown (to color the Filigree Charm and the Colonial White Designer Brad)
Tools and Techniques: CTMH ribbon, Karen Foster Design Scrapper's Floss, Sponging (to color the Filigree Charm and the Colonial White Designer Brad), Wishes "Satchel" pattern, Liquid Glass
Stamp Sets: CTMH Amore

My bit of fun for this card was the closure.  I don't think I've ever made anything with a closure like this.  I attached the Filigree Charm (which I sponged with StazOn Timber Brown to make it match) to the lower part of the card.  I cut a little piece of foam to place between the front of the card and the charm in order to give it some lift off the page (so the floss would wrap around it easily for closure).  I colored a Colonial White Designer Brad by sponging it with Timber Brown StazOn, and attached it to the top flap of the card, also using a small piece of foam to give it lift, and using Liquid Glass to attach the floss to the brad before I inserted it into the card.  I think the little pieces of foam were the secret to making this closure work well.  The foam is scraps from something I made using those little foamy sheets that they have in the craft sections (the same material that those foamy stickers in the buckets are made of).  This closure would work great for gift card or money holders too.


Remember, Amore is only available 1-31 December 2010.  Contact your Close To My Heart consultant, or click here, to find out how to order your own--or maybe even get it for FREE!!


Now hop on over to {Judy's blog} to see her creation.


If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list on her blog. 

November 2010 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop Featuring Christmas Stamps

Welcome to the November 2010 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop.  This month we are featuring Christmas Stamps.  If you've just arrived from {Jenifer's} blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, simply click on the link at the end of the post to go to the next blog on our circular hop.

I am simply ADORING the cute little "A" stamp sets.  Firstly, the prices were recently reduced, and I can't resist a bargain!  But most importantly, they are fantastic little sets in a cute little package.  For this month's project, I used A Timber, which features a flourished Christmas tree, a few additional decorations, some flourishes, and the "Happy Holidays" sentiment.  I also broke out my package of Colonial White Circle Cards and the Mistletoe Creative Basics pack.  I stamped the cute flourished tree in New England Ivy on Garden Green cardstock, then cut it out.  The card front was covered with the patterned paper, the sentiment was stamped on a chipboard ribbon slide (which was sponged with Bamboo ink), and then the chipboard was slid onto the gold ribbon from the Creative basics pack.  Some 3-D Mounting foam to attach the tree to the card front, a few CTMH Sparkles, and there we have an adorable little card.  Little does NOT have to equal boring! 

I hope you're inspired to use one of your smaller stamp sets to create something fun!  Now hop on over to {Chris'} blog for some more Christmas project inspiration.

If you find any broken links along the way, Wendy has the complete list of hoppers on her blog.

A Little Thanks November 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the November 2010 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring A Little Thanks, a set of 16 Stamps.  This month we have over 60 Close To My Heart consultants participating in our hop.  If you've just arrived here from {Kristie's} blog, you are on the right track.  If you are just starting here, our round-robin hop can still be enjoyed in it's entirety.  Just follow the links at the end of each post, and eventually you'll end up right back here!

I am on a mission to use up my paper stash, so I went through my baskets of paper and decided on Boom-di-ada for my Thank You card.  Since I was watching a movie on my computer at the time I made this card, I pulled out Wishes, and made this card following the directions for "Down the Middle" (which happened to be the first page I opened the book to).

Papers: CTMH cardstock in Buttercup and Hollyhock, CTMH Boom-di-ada
Inks: CTMH Hollyhock and Sweet Leaf, Versamark
Tools and Techniques: Emboss resist, CTMH embossing powder in Clear Detail, CTMH ribbon, CTMH Buttons, Fiskar's Threading Water punch
Stamp Sets: CTMH A Little Thanks


I used the emboss resist technique for the stamping.  I stamped the image on Buttercup cardstock in Versamark ink, then heat embossed with CTMH Clear Detail embossing powder.  After that, I direct-to-paper ink distressed the edges in Hollyhock, then sponged Sweet Leaf over the cardstock.  I chose not to go for a dark/solid coverage with the Sweet Leaf, so I didn't remove the clear embossing powder.  Had I gone for a solid coverage with the Sweet Leaf, I would have put a spare piece of paper over the top of the sponged panel, and then ironed it to remove the embossing powder.  With the subtle color difference, I opted to leave the embossing powder to ensure the sentiment stands out.  All of the pieces (except the punched edge) were DTP edge-distressed with Hollyhock ink.

A punched edge, some buttons, and a piece of ribbon finish off this cheery card.

Remember, A Little Thanks is only available during the month of November 2010.  Ask your consultant, or click here, to find out how to get this stamp for a discount or possibly even FREE!

Now hop on over to {Mary's} blog to find some more inspiration. 

If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of participants {here}.
 

October 2010 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop

Welcome to the October 2010 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop.  This month we are featuring Christmas Projects.  If you've just arrived from {Nikka's} blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, simply click on the link at the end of the post to go to the next blog on our circular hop.

My project is a My Creations Memory Keeper inspired by the talented Lisa Stenz.   You could make a box like this to keep the holiday cards and pictures you receive from family and friends this year, or make dividers from cardstock and use it to house special ornaments or decorations, or you can do like me and use it to store the Christmas cards that you make throughout the year (because we have all been so diligently working on our Christmas cards since January).  This box was decorated with cardstock and the lovely Evensong Creative Basics paper (which, I'm sad to say, is retired).  For the top of the box, I covered some chipboard letters in Evensong papers, and then used the Finishing Files to clean up the edges before using white paint along the edges of the letters (because unlike the wonderful CTMH Dimensional Elements letters, which are white, the chipboard I used was that oh-so-attractive blah gray-brown color).  For the letters that were stacked, I used 3-D Foam Squares (which I cut in half through the height so they wouldn't pop up too much).  I added snowflake brads to the corners, and now I have a great place to keep the Christmas cards I make throughout the year.  (No, really.  I really DO start my Christmas cards in January.  Last year I even had them finished by early December.  Mailing them, however, was a different story.)  I've had a box like this for a while, and one thing I would do different is use glue instead of adhesive runners to attach the papers, especially to the top of the box.  After some time, the papers on the top of the box that I used adhesive runners on isn't as smooth as I would like.  This is a project that you can make multiples of:  one for Christmas cards, one for Birthday cards, one for Thank You cards, one for gift card holders, the possibilities are limitless.  These would also make great memory boxes for newlyweds, new parents, or grandparents.  Heck, you can make one to give as a gift and one to keep for yourself.  Those are the BEST kind of projects!

Now hop on over to {Traci's} blog for some more Christmas project inspiration.

Let your paper do the work

These cards are from my scrap weekend a little while back.  These are for me to send out to the guys in Afghanistan so they will have some cards to send home to family and friends.  I decided to let my paper do the work.  The papers are from the DCWV Holiday Collection The Christmas Stack.  I used the patterned papers, adorned with sparkles or Stickles, a big decorative brad here or there, and minimal stamping. 

October 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the October 2010 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring Share the Magic, a set of 12 Stamps.  If you've just arrived here from {Georgia's} blog, you are on the right track.  If you are just starting here, just jump in and enjoy our circular hop, which has over 60 participants this month.  When you reach the end of a post, click on the link at the end to go to the next post, easy peasy!!

My project is a set of 12 gift tags.  I thought it would be fun to do some heat embossing, so I chose a few different colors of paper with plans to use different embossing powders on them.  My first step was to punch out the tags, and then put in eyelets at the top for the ribbon/waxy flax.  Next, I put the "To:" and "From:" stamps on the block.  **Hint:  to put multiple stamps on the block exactly the way you want them, place the stamps on your work surface or on a piece of paper with the flat side up and in the positions that you want them in.  Then, set the block on top of the stamps and press gently.  Voila!  Perfectly positioned stamps for your project.  This is extremely useful when making words from alphabet stamps.**  The stamps were inked with Versamark, and then stamped on the tags.  Embossing powder was applied, making sure to brush away the excess powder before using the heat gun.  **Hint:  when heat embossing on both sides of an item, make sure that you remove the excess powder from the first side before embossing the second side.  Trust me, even if you don't intentionally put powder on the first side when you powder the second side, it WILL end up there.**  The snowman was colored in using markers, and ribbon and Waxy Flax were used for the hanging loop.

Papers: CTMH cardstock in Cranberry, Olive, Tulip, and White Daisy
Inks: CTMH Markers in Black, Chocolate, Cranberry, Goldrush, and Olive, Versamark
Tools and Techniques: Heat embossing, CTMH embossing powder in Black, Gold, and White, CTMH eyelets (old style) in Cranberry and Olive, CTMH Eyelet Kit (old style), CTMH ribbon, Waxy Flax, Marvy Uchida punch
Stamp Sets: CTMH Share the Magic


Remember, Share the Magic is only available during the month of October 2010.  Ask your consultant, or click here, to find out how to get this stamp for a discount or possibly even FREE!

Now hop on over to {Dawn's} blog to share in her magic. 
If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of participants {here}.

September 2010 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop

Welcome to the September 2010 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop.  This month we are featuring Dimensional Elements.  If you've just arrived from Chris' blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, simply click on the link at the end of the post to go to the next blog on our circular hop. One of the purposes of our Spotlight Blog Hop is to give you ideas to use up those items in your stash.  That is definitely something I need to work on (and, as I posted at the beginning of the year, is one of my scrapping goals for the year).  Hopefully you will find some great ideas to inspire you to use up some of YOUR stash!

My project is a My Creations Display Album (yep, in my stash!).  I covered the chipboard cover with CTMH Expedition paper (now retired).  The Dimensional Elements used are from Classic Alphabet (retired) and On Target.  Before adhering the paper to the DE, I used the CTMH Finishing Files to clean up the edges (particularly where they had been connected to the DE sheet).  I used Mod Podge as my glue, and after it dried I trimmed with my Cutting Knife.  I once again put the Finishing Files to use to clean up the edges.  I then did direct-to-paper ink distressing with Chocolate ink, using a Sponge Dauber (which, by the way, my *frugal* butt washes and re-uses!) to ink the inner part of the circle.  I cut a piece of Chocolate cardstock to back the letter (to help it stand out better against the green background), and attached with Liquid Glass.  I cut out the picture using my (now retired) Coluzzle Circle, and adhered that to the DE circle with Liquid Glass as well.  Just a few Basic Craft Buttons (also from my stash), and my cute little display album is complete.

I hope you enjoyed my project, and were inspired to use up some of your own stash!  Now hop on over to {Tracey's} blog for more inspiration.

September 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the September 2010 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  If you have just arrived from Antoinette's blog, you're on the right path.  If not, no worries.   Our blog hop is a round-robin, so you can jump in anywhere and enjoy the whole experience.  Just click on the link at the end of each blog to take you to the next blog on the hop.  This month we have over 60 CTMH consultants participating in our hop.  We are featuring the September Stamp of the Month Thriller, a set of nine stamps.

Although this seems to be a Halloween-themed set, when I saw the cute skulls with heart-shaped eye sockets, I thought of pink and black.  My project is a covered composition book.  I random stamped several of the images in versamark and heat embossed with black powder.  The main image on the front was stamped in Versamark, heat embossed in black, and then I colored in the skull with Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint.  For the distressing, I used black ink and Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint, and the techniques used were the stubble tool and fan brush from the Distressing Kit, and direct-to-paper edge distressing and cross-hatching.  For the spine, I cut multiple strips of ribbon, which I adhered to another piece of cardstock, and then attached to the composition book.  Photo was taken before coating with Mod Podge to protect it (I didn't want to have a glare when I took the photo).

Papers: CTMH Blush cardstock
Inks: CTMH Black, Versamark
Tools and Techniques: Heat embossing, crosshatching, direct-to-paper edge distressing, stubble tool, fan brush, Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint, CTMH ribbon
Stamp Sets: CTMH Thriller

Remember, the September Stamp of the Month is only available 1-30 September 2010.  Contact your CTMH consultant, or click here to get yours for a discount or even for FREE!!!

Now hop on over to {Amy's blog} to see what she's created. 

If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of participants here.

Thank You Cards from my Scrap Weekend

My plan for my scrap weekend was to make greeting cards for my guys in Afghanistan (where I would be now if I weren't in Okinawa), and to try to finish off some paper packs.  I sent them a greeting card organizer from The Container Store a few months back, and I wanted to keep them stocked with cards to send to their family and friends.

I would LOVE to tell you the name of this paper pack, but I threw out the label over the scrap weekend.  I can tell you that I got this CTMH paper pack at my very first scrap weekend in October 2006, and I used a good portion of it on a layout I did shortly thereafter of the annual Naha Tsunahiki.  I didn't quite finish off the pack yet, but I will soon.  All I can remember is the word "Country" is in the name of it...

Papers: CTMH, CTMH Cardstock in Autumn Terracotta and Dutch Blue

Inks: CTMH Autumn Terracotta and Dutch Blue

Tools and Techniques: Crosshatching, direct-to-paper edge distressing, CTMH  Brads, CTMH flowers, Prima flowers
Stamp Sets: CTMH Thank You, CTMH A Little Everything, CTMH Card Chatter-Thank You, CTMH  From Me to You, CTMH For Every Occasion

Perfect 10

This is the card I made for my son for his tenth birthday.  Of course, me and my postal issues didn't get it in the mail in time to arrive for his birthday.   This card used two previous Stamps of the Month (March and July 2010).

Papers: CTMH Stardust

Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Moonstruck, and Topiary, CTMH markers in Black, Chocolate (accents in hedgie's scruff), Crystal Blue, and Topiary, Versamark

Tools and Techniques: Heat embossing, CTMH gold embossing powder, crosshatching, direct-to-paper edge distressing, CTMH Watercolor Pencils, Waterbrush, 3-D Mounting Foam, Bella's Baubles
Stamp Sets: CTMH Happy Forever, CTMH A Little Everything

August 2010 Stamp of the Month

Wow, July flew by.  I just realized that I didn't post any of my creations this month.  I remember waiting so I wouldn't spoil anything, but here we are at the cusp of August (and I still have the unmailed items in my possession), and it's time for another Stamp of the Month blog hop.  This month we have over 60 Close To My Heart consultants participating in our hop, featuring the August Stamp of the Month Something Splendid.  If you just arrived from Angela's blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, our round-robin hop can still be enjoyed in it's entirety.  Just follow the links at the end of each post, and eventually you'll end up right back here!

My creation is an altered wood frame for a 4X6 photo.  I think I may have picked this up from the dollar bins at Michael's.  I mixed Delta Ceramcoat paint (available in the Distressing Kit Z1299) and Chocolate Re-Inker (Z2211) to achieve my desired shade to coordinate with the Cherry-O papers.

After painting the frame with a sponge brush (also in the Distressing Kit) and allowing it to dry, I mixed my second custom paint.  This one was made using the Create-a-Shade Pearl paint (Z1039) and Chocolate Re-Inker, mixing to a darker shade than my first custom color.

I then used the fan-shaped brush from the Distressing Kit and dry brushed the mixture on the frame.  The result is almost like a shimmery wood grain.  After allowing that to dry, it was on to the stamping.

The coolest (I think) thing about Something Splendid is the two versions of the large flower, which allow you to get lots of definition without lots of work.  I stamped the more solid image first in Blush, then followed up with the outline image using Tulip ink.  The image was stamped on the Crystal Blue side of the striped paper from Cherry-O.  The center of the flower was stamped with the second generation (in Chocolate ink) and rock and roll techniques (ink the image, stamp once on a piece of scrap paper, then roll the edge of the stamp on the ink pad to give more dimension and definition to the image, then stamp.  I used Tulip ink for this part.).  Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't use 3-D Mounting Foam, so the center of the flower has been mounted using it.  I added five Adhesive-backed Pearls (an old Connections Club reward) to the corner opposite the flower, and used a piece of Cherry-O paper so that the frame is decorative even without a picture.  If you love the Adhesive-backed Pearls like I do, just WAIT for the new Autumn Idea Book (***HINT HINT***), which will be available September 1st.

Remember, the August Stamp of the Month is only available 1-31 August 2010.  Contact your CTMH consultant, or click here to get yours. 

Now, hop on over to Traci's blog to see what she has created!

July 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's hopping time again!  If you just arrived from Melissa's blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just starting here, no worries.  Our hop is a round-robin, so you can jump in anywhere and still see EVERYTHING!

This month we are featuring the July Stamp of the Month Happy Forever, a set of nine stamps.  This set features the most ADORABLE little hedgehogs, along with a few sentiments.  These cute critters are sure to be great for a variety of projects for many occasions. 

This is only my second crafting project since I've arrived in Okinawa a month ago.  I'm still getting settled in, and haven't had much time for crafting.  I made this card following this sketch from Sweet Sketch Wednesday.  I used the Cherry-O Creative Basics paper pack, which includes that adorable Cranberry velvet ribbon.  Other challenges include Xtra Dimension at The ABC Challenge Blog, Paper Cutz Challenge #47, and Stampin' B's Challenge #64.  This is intended to accompany a gift for a friend.  But anyone who knows me knows I have postal issues, so this will definitely be posted before I actually get it postal!

Papers: CTMH Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, Tulip and White Daisy cardstock, CTMH Cherry-O Creative Basics

Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Crystal Blue, and Tulip, CTMH markers in Tulip (kite bows) and Chocolate (accents in hedgie's scruff), CTMH Re-inker in Blush (large flower)

Tools and Techniques: Paper piecing (kite), crosshatching, direct-to-paper edge distressing, CTMH button, CTMH Just Blooms, CTMH ribbon, CTMH Watercolor Pencils, Waterbrush, 3-D Mounting Foam
Stamp Sets: CTMH Happy Forever


Directions for coloring your paper flowers with re-inkers follows below.  Remember that Happy Forever is only available July 1st-31st 2010.  Contact your CTMH consultant, or click here, to find out how to get this stamp set for a discount or even for FREE!

Now hop on over to Debra's blog to check out her creation!! 

Coloring paper flowers with re-inker is fairly simple.  I recommend a shallow container with a mostly-flat surface (a shallow bowl or plate is perfect), tweezers (like these reverse-action tweezers from CTMH), and rubbing alcohol.  Simply drip some re-inker into your container, add a little bit of alcohol, and mix.  Paper towels are a quick way to get an indication of your color.  Simply dip a small piece of paper towel into the mixture.  If it is too dark, add a little more alcohol.  Too light, add more re-inker.  Once you've found your desired shade, grasp the edge of your paper flower petal with the tweezer and quickly dip in the mixture.  The flower will absorb the mixture quickly, so be prepared to move it quickly to achieve complete coverage, and then get it out of the mixture as quickly as possible and put it on a paper towel to dry.  If you leave the paper flower in the mixture for too long, some of the "texture" or dimension of your flower may be lost.  So work QUICKLY!!!!  You can probably also do this with water instead of alcohol, but the alcohol dries much faster.  This technique will give you flowers perfectly matched to your project!

For the teacher...

My friend B is at the end of her first year as a teacher, and her birthday is also this week.  So, my first scrapping project in Okinawa (this time) is a name placard shadow box for her classroom.  She loves butterflies, and the colors pink and green, so I wanted to incorporate all of those into the shadow box.  The box is 8X10, and I got it at JoAnn.

Papers: CTMH Blush cardstock, CTMH Emporium

Inks: CTMH Blush

Tools and Techniques: Sponge edge distressing, Silhouette Machine (words and butterflies), CTMH Big Pinks flower, CTMH adhesive pearls, Zva Creative crystal flourish, Karen Foster Scrapper's Floss, Making Memories button, 3-D Mounting Foam, Xyron Adhesive


The butterflies were cut out with my Silhouette machine.  I adhered one completely onto the base, and the second one was mounted using 3-D mounting foam only on the center.  The edges of the wings were rolled slightly to give it dimension.  A row of adhesive pearls defines the butterfly's body, and a piece of floss attached to the underside are his antenna.  The crystal flourish was applied before the top butterfly. 

A piece of floss was tied through the button, which was then attached to the flower with glue dots.  The flower was attached to the background using glue dots as well.  Letters and mats were cut with the Silhouette.  The mats were sponged with Blush ink around the edges.  Letters were run through the Xyron to attach to the mats, then the mats were run through the Xyron to attach to background.  The "W" was instead mounted using a double stack of 3-D Mounting Foam (two pieces stacked on top of each other--remember to remove the paper backing before sticking the pieces together) in order to raise it up enough to clear the flower.  

 

 

Reflections Layout Using Veranda

I had a gathering Saturday, and we made two projects using the CTMH Veranda paper pack.  This was the second project, a layout from Reflections titled "Bottom Border - Title".  I used direct-to-paper ink distressing around the edge of the Juniper B&T paper, and cross-hatching on the Cocoa and Garden Green cardstock.  I stamped the little bird from the Follow Your Heart stamp set, which is only available as part of the Veranda Workshop on the Go (item G1007, only available through April 30, 2010).   This definitely needs a title and some journaling, but since my stamps and my Silhouette are on their way to Okinawa, those will have to wait.

This is a close-up of the ink distressing on the various papers.

Papers: CTMH Cocoa, Garden Green, and Vanilla Cream cardstock, CTMH Veranda

Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Garden Green and Juniper

Tools and Techniques: Direct-to-paper edge distressing, cross-hatching
Stamp Sets: CTMH Follow Your Heart

Sneak Peek at Studio J

Soon, you will be able to create fabulous digital scrapbook layouts from Close To My Heart.  There is a wonderful selection of paper packs (including some retired favorites and a Studio J exclusive pack for each new Idea Book).  I played around with it a few weeks ago, and will be sharing some of my layouts.  Studio J should go live later this month, and you will be able to access it from my CTMH website.  In the meantime, while almost all of my scrap stuff is on the way to Okinawa, I will share my digital scrapping with you.

This is our annual Christmas Eve tradition, baking cookies for Santa.  I love that I was able to use that close-up of the cookies the same as you might use a patterned paper.

We also open one gift on Christmas Eve, and this layout is of that tradition.  I love that I didn't have to cut the circle picture myself.

The little bits of gray you may have noticed at the top don't print, they are part of the tools for when you are creating your layouts.  You can switch left and right, rotate each layout, and rotate the papers within the layout, among other effects).  There are lots of embellishments you can add, including ribbon, buttons, threads, metal (brads, photo clips, etc), My Stickease, and even various distressing techniques.  One thing I forgot to do on the left page (after I rotated it) was to rotate the papers so that both sides matched.  But did you notice that before I pointed it out?  That's EXACTLY how I missed it.  I'm going to make myself a quick little checklist of things to verify when I approve my future layouts.  This won't entirely replace paper scrapbooking, but I can definitely see it having its place (especially when I want to create multiple copies of a layout, either for gifts or for others involved in the event).

I have other layouts created, but I will post those at a later time.

Pastel'd Christmas Card

I made this acetate Christmas card following the Friday Sketchers Challenge #96 sketch, Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge #18 (inspiration photo), and Christmas Cards All Year 'Round April Challenge (at least one soft pastel).  Instead of buying acetate card bases, I just bought a package of write-on transparency film, and cut it with my paper trimmer.

This is the inside.  I haven't chosen this year's Christmas card sentiment yet, so I'll stamp it later.

Papers: CTMH Blush and White Daisy cardstock, DCWV Holiday Collection The Christmas Stack

Inks: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers, Prismacolor marker, Sakura Gelly Roll White

Tools and Techniques: Nestabilities Classic Oval Large, Nestabilities Labels 1 (inside), unknown ribbon, 3-D Mounting Foam
Stamp Sets: CTMH Snow Friends

Lots of Christmas Cards

Today I used a sketch from 365 Cards and followed Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge #17 (Snowflakes) and KL's Stampin' and Scrappin' (1-2-3 Recipe Challenge) to make a card.  Then I just decided to make a bunch of the same card, so I ended up with a total of ten.  The first five are mostly identical (I ran out of white snowflake brads, so I used embossing powder to cover silver snowflake brads to use--directions at the end of the post).  The next four, I kept the positions of the two papers the same, but on two had to use buttons instead of brads (because I ran out of snowflake brads), and the ink color for the sentiment and the distressing were reversed.  The last card has the paper position the opposite of the rest of cards, but I used the reverse side for some more variety.  The last five all received sparkles in the centers of the punched-out snowflakes.

Papers: CTMH White Daisy cardstock, CTMH Evensong Creative Basics

Inks: CTMH Cranberry and New England Ivy

Tools and Techniques: Nestabilities Petite Oval Large, Martha Stewart Snowflake punches, unknown white snowflake brads, unknown silver snowflake brads, Stampendous embossing powder (Winter Wonderland), Horizon Group USA sparkles, CTMH Craft Buttons (Holiday), direct-to-paper ink distressing (around the oval), Zots glue dots
Stamp Sets: CTMH Christmas Scripts

To use embossing powder to color your metal brads is fairly easy.  You will need a Craft Heater (CTMH product number Z555 is what I use), embossing powder, and some tweezers (I use CTMH Z1205, as they have a fine point, rubber grips so your fingers don't get hot, and reverse action so you don't have to squeeze to hold on to your item).  Grasp the brad by the "flaps" with your tweezers.  Using your craft heater, heat the front/top surface of your metal brad.  This may take some adjusting, depending on the size of your brad as well as the powder you are using.  I held these snowflakes fairly close to the heater for about 20 seconds, but a regular brad wouldn't require as much time.  Once heated, dip immediately in your embossing powder, tap off the excess and then heat again with your craft heater until the powder is melted smooth.  If a second coat is necessary, simply put it immediately back in the powder and repeat the tap and heat.  Voila, perfectly colored or matched brads for your project.  Keep in mind, some powders don't handle too much heat well, so err on the side of too little heat (which you can fix by heating more) rather than too much heat (which can cause your powder to discolor).

April 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

It's time for the April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  This month there are over 60 Close To My Heart consultants participating in our hop, featuring the April Stamp of the Month Flower Pot, a set of 16 stamps.  If you arrived from Latisha's blog, you are on the right path.  If not, no worries.  Our hop is a round-robin, so you can jump in anywhere and enjoy the sights!

This will likely be my last hop for a month or two, as I am about to be stationed in Okinawa, and the movers will be coming soon to take all of my stuff (don't worry, I will keep an emergency supply of scrap stuff here at the house so I don't go into complete scrap withdrawal).  Once me and my stuff are re-acquainted in Okinawa, I will jump right back in to our monthly hops.  The participants always make such amazing and creative projects with the Stamp of the Month, I LOVE all of the inspiration!!

I made this double pocket card following a tutorial found on Splitcoast Stampers.   However, I did not mount the pocket portion on a card base, it felt quite sturdy without adding a base.  I thought the tag would make a cute bookmark, and a bookstore giftcard would be a perfect addition.  I used papers from the Felicity Collection, with some additional cardstock and ribbon.  The Felicity Collection was a promotional kit which is unfortunately no longer available, and while I was using it I was reminded that whenever there is an adorable paper kit available for a limited time, STOCK UP!!!  Keep watching, because CTMH will be offering another adorable paper kit for National Scrapbooking Month.  National Scrapbooking Month is May, but Close To My Heart will begin to offer this special kit April 15th!

The flower pot was stamped on the plaid paper in Cocoa ink, and then cut out.  The flowers were stamped on white cardstock in Black ink, colored with CTMH markers and then cut out.

Papers: CTMH Twilight and White Daisy cardstock, CTMH Felicity

Inks: CTMH Cocoa and Black, CTMH Markers in Autumn Terracotta, Barn Red, Garden Green, and Olive

Tools and Techniques: CTMH Long-Reach punch, Terrifically Tacky Tape, CTMH Sorbet stitched ribbon, paper piecing, Sticky Dots Die Cut Adhesive
Stamp Sets: CTMH Flower Pot


Remember, Flower Pot is only available April 1-30th, 2010.  Contact your Close To My Heart consultant or click here to find out how to get this stamp for a discounted price or even FREE!!

Now check out Kami's blog to see her creation. 

If  you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of hoppers on her blog.

Another card from my scrap day

This is the card I started while my friends were still here scrapping with me.  No sketch, just winged it.  I wanted to use lots of flowers, and I had the piece of patterned paper already cut out with the Nesty, so I wanted to put that piece to use.

Papers: CTMH Chocolate cardstock, CTMH That's Amore

Inks: Versamark

Tools and Techniques: CTMH flowers, CTMH ribbon (Blush collection), CTMH Tulip Brads, Nestabilities Labels Eight, Cuttlebug, CTMH White embossing powder
Stamp Sets: CTMH Happy Birthday

Birthday card from my scrap day...

...sorta.  I had some friends over to scrap last weekend, but I didn't get much scrapping done while they were here (but had some good conversation and some yummy snacks!!).  I made this card after everyone left (instead of putting all of my supplies away, and they are STILL down on the dining room table). 

I made this card following OCC Sketch Challenge 7, using some adorable paper I bought at CKC Pasadena last year.  Other challenges include Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #75 (Spring Has Sprung), Pixie Dust Studio Pixie Challenge #12 (Buttons and Flowers), Crafty Calendar Challenge #6 (Flower Power), and Creative Card Crew Challenge (It's A Celebration). 

Papers: CTMH Chocolate, Clover Meadow and Twilight cardstock, Doodlebug Designs Dragonfly Stripe and Seedlings

Inks: CTMH Chocolate and Twilight

Tools and Techniques: CTMH Buttons, Prima Flowers, CTMH Chocolate Brads, 3-D Mounting Foam, Marvy Uchida circle punch, Marvy Uchida scalloped oval punch
Stamp Sets: CTMH From Me to You

Shaped Birthday Card

I lovelovelove my Silhouette.  I don't use it nearly enough (but then again, I don't scrap nearly enough either).  I signed up for the membership where I get unlimited downloads of digital images, so I have a lot of really cool files that I can cut out.  This card template (both the whole card and the striped piece) is one of my Silhouette files.  So I can make a really neat shaped card with very little effort (and no scissor-frustration).

I followed a few challenges for this birthday card:  Pile It On Challenge #10 (pastel colors),  Paper Cutz Challenge #32 (anything goes), Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge #74 (also anything goes),  Treehouse Thursday Challenge #40 (clean and simple), and Cute Card Thursday Challenge #103 (Celebrations).

Papers: CTMH White Daisy cardstock, Making Memories
Inks: CTMH Breeze (retired) and Grey Wool, Copic Markers

Tools and Techniques: CTMH Rhinestone Flowers, direct-to-paper edge distressing
Stamp Sets: CTMH A Little Everything and Card Sentiments (inside), Stamping Bella