Dreamin'

Full of light and shimmer the Dreamin' papers from Close to My Heart are the prettiest in their new line! Though full of fall colors, the hues of blues and golds worked just as well to highlight my summer photos. A bit of white added to the page above helps to give this page a summery feel. The butterflies were cut with the Art Philosphy Cricut cartridge and then colored using my blending pen with the watercolor markers. Simply rub the nib of the blending pen onto the nib of the watercolor marker to pick up the color and then paint your image. I love this technique as the colors intensify and blend so smoothly without using any water. To switch colors, simply wipe the tip of the blending pen on a piece of scrap paper until the color disapears.

My next page is created using sketch #50 from the Scrap A Little's sketch blog. The sketches from this blog are among my favorite when I'm looking for a little inspirational help in laying out a page. Notice the borders strips across the center of the page? One of them is cut from the backside of the paper and the other is simply the zip strip - or back of the informational strip -- attached to the paper. Close to My Heart has made coordination so simple!

Don't you just love it when there is no thinking involved? This layout is taken straight out of the Autumn/Winter Idea Book. I changed it up just a teensy bit to suit my photos, but it's pretty much just as  you see on on Page 32. The blue scalloped background, leaves and the rolled rose are cut with the Art Philosphy Cricut cartridge so the entire page could not have been any easier! I love the Cork Alphabet, it is one of my new favorite go-to items this year.

One more for sharing:

This time the Cork Alphabet is colored with Chocolate Ink, I simply daubed it on and it took the color so easily. The Harvest Charms are really a fun addition to the page and coordinate beautifully with the Dreamin' line.

To get any of the papers, pens or embellies listed in this post, simply click on my CTMH shopping link on the top right of this page. And don't forget to share your creations. I woud love to see how you use this beautiful line from CTMH!

It's Elemental!

Here's a riddle for you. What two CTMH items go as well together as peanut butter and jelly? The answer is elemental. The new cardstock-weight Elemental paper and the new CTMH Art  Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to be exact!

I've been having so much fun locked in my scrap room with these two products lately that my husband thinks I left town and my cat won't speak to me. But never mind, they'll come round soon enough. Meanwhile, let me share with you a few of my projects. The first one above scanned a bit wonky but you can see all the layering that is available on this new cart. I added some Pearl Opaque Adhesive Gems to the centers of the flowers and butterflies for even more added dimension and shine.

This next page is a lift of a featured project in the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book on page 86. I used the Horray Bouquet stamp that coordinates with the Cricut images. So easy. So fun. Love the page!

The design above is from a make-n-take by my friend Helen of Scrap a Little. I love her designs so much that I recreated one using the Elemental papers and look how lovely it turned out! The wave at the bottom comes from the 'Zip Strip' - something new that CTMH has added to their papers. You simply trim it off the bottom of the sheet and it makes a great border or accent on a coordinating page.

'Down by the River' utilizes the 'Love Life' stamp on page 29 of the Idea Book and this layout is my take on the project on the same page.  I really like the Decor Journaling Spots. I made one stationary and the other allows the journaling to pull out of the tag. The yellow stripe is another Zip Strip from the paper pack.

I know you are dying to see what is on the new CTMH Cricut cart so here is a scan of the cover. As you can see it offers over 700 shapes, many of which coordinate with the CTMH stamp sets. There are circles, flowers, snowflakes, leaves, tags, cards, 3-D images, ornaments, frames, hearts, acorns, brackets, borders, birds, trees, Christmas trees, flourishes, decorative corners and tabs, arrows, keys, lace images, and a font with a font layer. Who could ask for anything more? To get yours, simply click on the link on the top right of this page.

I hope I have inspired you to start scrapping. Feel free to contact me with any questions or to share your ideas. I look forward to hearing from you!

Wicked Cool

Have you heard about the new - and more affordable - Stamp of the Month program at Close to My Heart? Now with any order of $50 or more, you can get the Stamp of the Month for just $5. That's over 70% off retail.

The "WICKED" stamp set is available now to August 31st. You can purchase it for the great low price of $17.95 or get it for just $5.00 with every CTMH order of $50 or more. Simply click my link to the right to order.
 
I'm not much of a card maker so I chose to use my stamp on a layout. I used the new "Mischief'' line of paper and I have to say that I am so very happy that CTMH went to this new cardstock-weight of patterened paper. It is so much more substantial with the same great color schemes to mix and match with inks and cardstocks.
 
Here is a list of supplies used to make my page 'Steppin' Out':
     Mischief Level 2 Paper Packet
     Aug Stamp of the Month - Wicked
     Opaques Licorice Adhesive Gems
     Black, White Daisy and Sunset Ink Stamp Pads
     Color-Ready Kraft Borders
 
So much has changed with the release of the new Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book. It's really given me a new incentive to get my scrapping done. I've got a couple of workshops scheduled and hope to fit it in a few more events. In the meantime, feel free to contact me if you have questions, want to place an order or just want to share your mojo. I can't wait to hear from you!

Basic Grey Kit Club

Each month I go to my friend's house and we do a Basic Grey Page Kit. Each kit comes with everything you need to complete 4 pages -- 2 single pages and one double page layout. All the instructions are there for you and what I enjoy about this the most is it frees up your mind so that you can chat and catch up with what all the girls have been doing all month. Plus, our hostess Helen Croft of Scrap a Little is such an awesome cook so there is always plenty of goodies to chow down on. It's a really great way to get together with your friends.

Anyone else out there have any monthly clubs like this? I would love to hear about it.

Meanwhile, here are just a few of the page kits we have worked on and how they have turned out.

This is the Life of the Party page kit.

 Next is the Capella Page Kit - such a pretty kit for weddings. I used photos from a recent wedding and also did a layout of my own wedding 30 years ago. Can you beleive I have never scrapped these photos before?

Next up is the Hello Luscious page kit. This one is bright and cheerful and I can't wait to finish the other pages in the kit. As you can see, it's easy to change the layout a bit to suit your photos.

And next, the Curio kit - great for older photos such as my baby pictures. As you can see, the page instructions are simply guidelines and you can change up the title or the placement of the die cuts as you see fit.

And I'll end this post with one from the Wander kit.The journaling fits nicely inside the little file folder that came with the kit.

We've done plenty more pages in the last year, but I hope you enjoyed this sampling from a fun Kit Club.

FREE Close to My Heart products

In honor of National Scrapbooking month Close to My Heart is offering half price membership and 4 FREE scrapbooking kits to those who sign up as consultants during the month of May. The cost to join is now only $65 and for that prices you receive +/-280.00 worth of scrapbooking kits, inks, stamps and embellishments with no strings attached.

Whether you are just looking for scrapbooking supplies, or you have an interest in becoming a consultant - this is a deal you won't want to miss. Should you need assistance, or more information, feel free to Email me (link on the right) for more details on how to get all these goodies for yourself. I promise you - there is no further purchase required and this is a deal too good to pass up!

From http://okispice.myctmh.com you will need to go to "Your
Opportunities" at the bottom of the left-side bar. 

Next under "Be A Consultant" at the bottom of thepost it says "Click Here"
and you will begin sign up.

You will need to put in a Credit Card information and give that card a name.
For example, I call my card "Mileage Card".

Next, choose 3 of the "Choose Me" packages listed. If you want more than 3,
you will pay a bit extra but you do have that option.

Then you will be done and you should receive immediate confirmation that you
are a Consultant and will receive your own Consultant number! 

God Bless America and Japan

Last Friday, while returning from a trip north, we experienced a moment that I thought should be shared...

As my husband and I drove into the city of Nago and were slowing down to stop for a traffic light, the JAL tour bus pictured, pulled up beside us. The tour-guide in the photo began waving excitedly until she got our attention, at which point she raised the handmade sign you see in the photograph. We were both very happy and extremely touched by this unsolicited show of affection and gratitude towards America. To us, this is yet another reason that we love Japan and her people. It is also a testament to the level of support we all, as Americans, have provided. Our military has jumped in with both feet and we have all opened our hearts and sent or given whatever support we can. Given the political differences we have experienced in the past, it is nice to know that not everyone thinks our presence is a bad thing.

God Bless America and God Bless Japan!

In March of 2010 I visited the beautiful Shukkei-en gardens in Hiroshima. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom and it must have been an auspicious day for a wedding as the gardens were filled with happy couples posing in their wedding finery.

I can only imagine the very different scene that took place this year as the country recovers from the damage that has been caused by the terrible earthquake and tsunami.

Though I currently live in the southern island of Okinawa, my heart remains in the enchanting Honshu province of Japan. I would like to share with you some of my Mosaic Moments pages of my time in Japan in the hopes that if you have not yet helped out the tusnami victims, you might still find it in your heart to consider a donation to the Red Cross .

All these pages were made with Mosiac Moments papers. If you would like to purchase some Mosaic papers, click the SnapNCrop link to the right of this post. Thanks for stopping by!

Close To My Heart

Recently I joined Close To My Heart as a consultant as I have been going to a monthly club and really enjoying myself there. There are many items in their current catalog that I find to be of the utmost quality and I wanted to share some of them with you.

First up, I really love the album labels. Even though I have albums in various colors and sizes I still couldn't seem to find the one I want when I was looking for it. With these nifty labels, I can now easily browse for the album I want and so can my friends and family should they feel like taking a look.

Next, I really love the ink. Not that I am a super-stamper or anything, but I love to ink the edges of my pages or embellies for added dimension and this ink is so perfect. I love the colors that match all the papers and the packaging with the easy-to-read labels. The storage tower makes my ink easy to store and I got it for a steal when it was my turn to hostess our group!

I also love to use the Sponge Daubers and have one for each ink color. I keep these in the tray on the top of the tower. You can see there is also room for the markers.

I would also like to share with you a few of the pages we've done at our club meetings.

The above page was made with the Miracle papers, Canvas Buttons and The Delight Stamp Set. My scan did not come out quite right on this page, unfortunately.

The Relax page was created with the Wings paper, Mini Medly Black Accents, Wings Assortment Ribbons,  and the Dreams Come True stamp set.

Oliva paper collection, Foundry Flourishes and Mocha Opaques complete the page above.

And just for fun, here are two more pages I made last year from beautiful Close To My Heart papers and stamp sets.

If you would like to make any of these pages or purchase any of the supplies I've mentioned here, go to my link or click on the shopping cart above right. I'll be starting a monthly club soon and welcome new members, whether locally or online!

How to make pretty paper roses out of heart shapes.

As a scrapbook instructor, I always have to be one step ahead of myself. So while I still have Christmas photos to get into an album, I'm busy making Valentine pages for next month's scrapbook classes. No problem though as I know my students are going to love this next project. It's fun, simple and each rose took me less than five minutes start to finish! They look great on my scrapbook page too. Check out the photo at the bottom of this post for my final result. Meanwhile, here is how to make your own:

1. The roses are made with a series of 19 hearts in different sizes. I used the Cricut and the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge to cut mine out of some pretty pink papers in the following sizes:
              a. Five 2" hearts
              b. Four 1 ½” hearts
              c. Four 1 ¼” hearts
              d. Four 1” hearts
              e. Two ½” hearts
Of course, you could also cut the hearts with punches or even hand-cut them for an interesting look.

2. In addition, you will need a tiny hole punch (a push pin works just as well); scissors; a skewer, stylus or pencil; a brad; some ink and Stickles ( I used Cotton Candy pink).

3. Punch tiny holes in the bottom of each heart.

4. Cut each heart about ¾ of the way in half to make petals. At this stage you can distress and Ink the edges of all petals if you desire.

5. Curl (don’t roll) each petal using a skewer or a stylus.

6. Beginning with the smallest hearts first, layer the hearts onto the brad.

7. Finish with stickles and let dry about 20 minutes.

To make a smaller flower, repeat steps b-e above, but make one extra b size ( 1 1/2") heart.

 And finally, here are some heart-roses on a page using Bo Bunny's Crush line. Have fun making your own heart-roses and if you do, I would love to see your final result! And if you are on Okinawa and would like to join me, the class is at Foster Fine Arts Center on Feb. 17. I would love you to join me!