Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Verve Diva Dare

As we are closing in on the end of the year, over at the Verve
blog they have come up with a great Diva Dare to end
the new year. The Dare is called "Playing Favorites."

You either post your favorite Verve creations from 2013 or make
a new creation using your favorite Verve products!
I chose to pick two of my very favorite cards I made this past year!
Both use Verve stamps

Card one using Birthday Bots:
Original posting here

Second using Happy Anniversary plain Jane:
Original posting here

Close To My Heart Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book!

Merry early Christmas to me!! I just received a big box
of the brand new Spring/Summer 2014 Close To My Heart Idea Books
on my front steps this morning:


New catalogs!! These catalogs are only sent out to 
consultants so to get your own, you need to go through a consultant.
The online version won't be available until February 1st as that
is when the new products will be available for purchase!

Want to know how to get your hands on one of these babies?! I will have
a limited amount that will be up for sale  after January 1st (click here) or between 
January 1st and February 1st, if you spend $50 or more on my Close To My Heart
page I will send you one for FREE! That's right, free! 

Twisted Tuesday #66

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Hope y'all are having a 
great holiday time hopefully spent with family!
Are you ready for another Twisted Tuesday challenge??
Well here it is!

New Beginnings

The Challenge:
Show us something crafty new to you, either bought, or received as gift

The Twist:
Make your creation something new or the beginning of something
(marriage, baby, new house, ect...)

My creation:

For Always paper pack
The happy Couple stamp set
Black and Ruby ink

Monday, December 23, 2013

Scrapbooking with Studio J: part 5

Today I am sharing my last project with Studio J... for now
anyways lol! If you haven't read my first post about Studio J, please
click here and read it first! I just love how
beautifully these come out! And how unbelievably simple
it is to do! With no software to buy or even download! Not to mention
you can create your layouts for free and they are saved for up to 
one year so you can decide to purchase whenever you want!

(Please note these are photos of my layouts so the quality
isn't near as good as the real thing...)
  



Shop with me Here!!

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Scrapbooking with Studio J: part 4

I hope y'all are enjoying my Studio J projects! They were
so fun and easy! As you can probably tell, I'm not much of a 
scrapbooker, I'm a cardmaker. Scrapbooking is difficult for me
but not so with Close To My Heart's online scrapbooking, Studio J!
If you missed my first Studio J post, please go here and read it first!

(Please note my layouts were photographed so it
diminishes the quality from the original image... aka
they look so much better in person!!)
  



Shop with me Here!!

Friday, December 20, 2013

Sketch N Scrap card #16

Good morning Sketch N Scrap fans! Hope y'all are having
a fabulous week! Ready for Christmas yet?! I am! Or at least
to have the day off! Working in surgery during the last month of
the year mean lots of overtime! I'm thankful for the extra
pay, but I'm tired at the same time! 

Here's the new sketch:

My take:

Supplies used:
Sparkle and Shine paper from CTMH
Scandinavian Wishes and Perfect fit Holidays stamps from CTMH
Sparkles stickon gems from CTMH
misc button and twine

Shop Close To My Heart Here!!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Scrapbooking with Studio J: part 3

If you have not seen my first post about Studio J, please
click here to read it first! I have another great layout to share
today! This one was from my honeymoon!
I do need to stress to y'all if using Studio J, please proofread!
Studio J does a good job of hounding you when checking out to make
sure you proofread, but of course I didn't and clicked yes I did
and I mis-spelt 'Honeymoon' oh well... lol

(Please not these are photographs of my layouts so the
quality is a bit diminished from the real thing) 




Shop with me Here!!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Scrapbooking with Studio J: part 2

If you have not seen my first post on Studio J,
please click here and read it first!
Here I am just sharing the second layout I made using
Close To My Heart's fabulous online-scrapbooking!

(Note that these are photos of layouts so quality
is a bit diminished) 
  



Shop with me Here!!




Sunday, December 15, 2013

Scrapbooking with Studio J: part 1

So I'm sure there are plenty of you out there that are not
scrapbookers. Maybe not even papercrafters, or even crafty
for that matter. I'm also pretty sure y'all have friends
that make those pretty little scrapbooks and think to yourself
that would be a pretty cool thing to make but in the words of Sweet Brown,
"Ain't nobody got time fir that!"

Well you are in luck! Close To My Heart has a great thing
called Studio J Online Scrapbooking. 
There are many ways to use it and all you need is
a computer, the internet, and some digital photos. There 
is no software to buy or even download. You can make an
account with CTMH by clicking here

With Studio J you can go the simple route by picking a paper pack
that goes the best with your photos and then choosing 
from the available layouts what you like best, or you can search 
through layouts and pick from there, or you can make up your own!

What does is cost you ask? Nothing to create your pages and
they are saved for a year! Once you decide that you
want them in print, just buy a 5-pack card for only $39.95 
and that gets you 10 pages printed and shipped!!

Here are the first two pages I did on Studio J. They are fabulous
in person! I was shocked by the quality!:
(Note that I took pictures of these, they are much prettier in person!)




Keep checking in as I will be posting more Studio J layouts!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Twisted Tuesday #65 with CTMH

Hello friends! Sorry this has taken me so long to post...
and sorry I haven't posted much this last month, just been so
busy! There is a fabulous challenge going on over at
Twisted Tuesday and I hope you'll join us!

Cutting Corners

The Challenge:
Fussy cut something on your project

The Twist:
Do something fancy with some corners on your project.
Use a corner rounder, ticket punch, or some nifty border punch.

For my card I used paper from the Sarita pack from 
Close To My Heart. I also used the hostess rewards stamp set
The Party is On which I stamped in Lagoon and Outdoor Denim ink.
I rounded the corners with a Marvy corner punch. The banner
that I fussy cut I popped up on pop-dots.


Shop with me HERE!!


Thursday, December 5, 2013

Sketch N Scrap card #15

Good morning Sketch N Scrap fans! Wow it's December already!
So hard to believe! This year has flown by! Well I hope
y'all will be having as good of weekend as I will be!
I leave today to go to a scrap retreat with some ladies in Texas!
We will be there until Sunday! So excited to spend the whole
weekend making cards and such!

Anyways Kelly has given us another great sketch
for the first part of December:


Here is my take:


Products used: All Close to My Heart
Frosted paper pack
October SOTM Scandinavian Wishes
Whisper ink
Assorted Sparkles

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Twisted Tuesday #64

Good morning Twisted Tuesday friends!
Happy almost Thanksgiving! Hope everyone has
something wonderful planned with friends and family!
We are going to my grandparents house this year!
I'm happy because we used to do that every year but
haven't the past 2 years so it'll be nice to be there for my
favorite holiday again! Don't forget to thank God for
all the good things he's given you! Well we should do that 
everyday but especially this holiday week! Now onto the challenge!

Autumn Thankfulness

The Challenge:
Fall/autumn themed

The Twist:
make it Thank you themed

My creation:


Supplies:

Paper Studio paper
CTMH Always Grateful stamp set
CTMH barn red ink, MFT kraft ink
Darice honeycomb embossing folder
jute, brown button

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Sketch N Scrap card #14

Good morning Sketch N Scrap fans! 
Y'all all ready for Thanksgiving?? I am! Can't wait to
have a long weekend and see some family! 

We have another great sketch from Sketch N Scrap for
y'all this week! Here it is:


Here is my take:

Supplies:
Paper and stickers from Paper Studio
Stamp from Verve
Ink from CTMH

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Twisted Tuesday #63

Good morning Twisted Tuesday friends!
Wow did we have a lot of entries for out Free-for-All
challenge over the last 2 weeks! Well as usual there is
another great challenge for y'all this week!

Pop Dots and Polka Dots!

Challenge:
Use pop dots, dimensions, or foam tape
on your creation.

Twist:
Have polka dots on your creation.

My creation:

Supplies:

Inkadinkadoo stamp
Colored pencils

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Sketch N Scrap card #13

Good morning everyone! Hope y'all had a good Monday!
It's getting closer to Thanksgiving weekend! My favorite
holiday! I just love getting together with family
and good food! Best thing ever! I am so grateful for
the wonderful family and friends God has blessed
me with! Don't know where I'd be without them!

Ready for another great sketch from Sketch N Scrap?!
My card for this weeks sketch is yet another card using
CTMH Always Grateful set (see I said y'all would get tired
of seeing this set lol) I can't help it! Love the trees and
the wonderful thankful/grateful sentiments!

Sketch #13 (due Nov. 30th):


My take:

Supplies:
Paper Studio paper
CTMH stamp set
CTMH ink in Olive, MFT ink in kraft
creme embroidery floss



Monday, November 4, 2013

A few Fall Cards

Good Monday afternoon friends! Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend!
I know I sure did! Apparently Michaels is having an 80% off 
fall stuff sale and my mother went and bought me some fall paper
and embellishments! She's awesome! So I thought I'd share some cards
I made using my new supplies!

First card I followed the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:
Paper and Flowers: Recollections
Stamp and Ink: CTMH



Second card I followed the sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday:
Paper and gem leaf: Recollections
Glitter leaves: MAMBI
Ink and Stamp: CTMH




Third card I followed the Sketch from Mojo Monday:
Paper: Recollections
Leaves: MAMBI
Ink, Stamp, and shimmer trim: CTMH




Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Twisted Tuesday #62

Good morning Twisted Tuesday fans!
We had a lot of great entries for our Celebrate Naturally
challenge! Can't wait to see what y'all do this week!
And being the 5th Tuesday of the month, you know
what that means?!

This week's challenge:

Anything Goes!!

That's right! Go crazy people! Do anything you want!

My creation for this challenge:

Supplies: All from CTMH:

Ruby and pacifica ink
Metal badge from ProPlayer assortment



Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sketch N Scrap Holiday Blog Hop!

Good morning Sketch N Scrap friends!
Hope you are liking our daily Holiday Hop so far!
For my holiday, I actually chose two...
I have made cards for both Mother's Day and Father's Day!

My Father's Day card:

Supplies:
CTMH ProPlayer paper pack
SU! sentiment stamp
CTMH Slate ink
CTMH Ruby Chevron ribbon
CTMH metal badges from ProPlayer assortment

My Mother's Day card:

Supplies:
CTMH Sarita paper pack
Verve sentiment stamp
CTMH flower stamp from NSM special
CTMH one-way borders stamp set
CTMH gypsy and outdoor denim ink
CTMH Outdoor denim chevron ribbon


Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sketch N Scrap card #12

Good Sunday morning everyone! Hope y'all have had
a good weekend so far! Thought I pop-in right
quick before heading off to church to share the new
sketch over at Sketch N Scrap!

Sketch #12 (due Oct. 31st):


My take:


Supplies:
Fancy Pants paper
Verve stamp, CTMH black ink
Stick-on jewels

Saturday, October 19, 2013

CTMH Sparkle and Shine and Freshly Made Sketches

Good morning friends! Hope y'all are having a great weekend so far!
Today is my mom's birthday so we will be having a party tonight!
Our Texas family has come up for the weekend which makes me happy!

I'd thought I'd share a card right quick before I head off to finish
the cupcakes I made! I made this card using this weeks sketch from
Freshly Made Sketches and I used all new Close To My Heart products!
I used the new Sparkle and Shine paper pack and stamps from Perfect Fit Holidays
and  the October Stamp of the Month! The SOTM is only available this month for
the regular price of $17.95 or only $5 if you spend $50! It's such a
great set! You can't really tell but I stamped a snowflake background in Juniper ink
on a piece of juniper cardstock. I stamped the Heart in ruby and the sentiment
in juniper ink. I also added some ruby shimmer trim and Sparkles for some bling!


Come shop with me Here!!

sketch:

Friday, October 18, 2013

CTMH Frosted and Sketch N Stash

Good Thursday afternoon friends! It's almost the weekend!
I made a few cards last night and thought I'd share one
with y'all this afternoon...

For this card I used the sketch over at Sketch N Stash.
I used all Close To My Heart products for this card.
I used the Frosted paper pack along with some colonial white cs.
I stamped the wreath from Remarkable Wreath is slate ink and the 
berries that go with the wreath in ruby and then dotted them all with
some liquid glass to give them some shine and dimension. I stamped the
bow in juniper ink. I then got out Perfect Fit Holidays and stamped the 
fancy circle in champagne ink and the sentiment in slate.
I added some silver shimmer trim for some bling.


Shop with me Here!!

Sketch:

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Twisted Tuesday #61

Good morning Twisted Tuesday friends!
Wow half through October already! Where does
the time go?! We had some fabulous entries for last week's
Heavy metal challenge! Can't wait to see what y'all come 
up with this week!

Celebrate Naturally!

The challenge:
Make your card/project a celebration theme.

The twist:
Use some natural element in your creation.
(hemp, jute, leaves, twigs, wood embellishments...)

My creation:


Supplies:
CTMH Laughing Lola WOTG stamp set
CTMH ink in black
Jute, misc buttons


Friday, October 11, 2013

Mojo Monday and Twist of Faith

Good morning friends! Happy Friday! Hope everyone has
fun and fabulous plans for the weekend! Before I get to
my card for this morning I have some exciting news
I want to share! I got a new job!! :-) I am super pumped! 
A great pay raise, better (and cheaper) benefits, and get this,
It's ONE MILE from my house! I can walk or ride my bike!!
I will be working strictly in surgery which is great because I love surgery!
Oh and it's M-F with 6 paid holidays a year!! 

Now onto my card... I used the sketch from Mojo Monday and
am also entering into this week's challenge at Twist of Faith
which is fall colors. I also CASE'd this card from my friend Vickie, hers is here.
For this card I used CTMH Huntington paper, Darice embossing folder,
brown seem binding, and a paper doily I sponged with goldrush ink.
The sentiment I stamped in olive is from the Always Grateful stamp set.



Original sketch:

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Fun with CTMH One-way Borders stamps!

Good morning y'all! It's getting closer to the weekend!
Hope y'all are having a great week! I thought I'd share two
cards this morning that I made using CTMH products.

For my more feminine Thanks card I used a lagoon cardstock
base size 4.5 x 6.25 with a mat in gypsy and a background 
base of white daisy. I stamped various borders from 
the One-Way Borders stamp set in gypsy, lagoon, goldrush,
and whisper inks. Then for the sentiment I used the alphabet from
the September National Stamping Month promo. I stamped
it in Versamark on daisy white cardstock then embossed 
with clear embossing powder. I then used a bit of my sponge
and rubbed in circles over my paper with lagoon ink. 
This technique is called emboss resist. I set this on a piece of goldrush 
cardstock, then popped up on pop dots. I finished up with a bit
of Silver Shimmer Trim for some sparkle.



For my masculine version I used the same techniques. The cardstock
I used was ruby, slate and white. The inks I used were
ruby, pacifica, and slate. I emboss resisted in pacifica ink.
I finished off this one with a bit of Ruby Chevron Ribbon.

Come shop with me here!





Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Using up the rest of my CTMH Laughing Lola pack

Good afternoon y'all! Hope your having a great week so far!
Some of you may know that this past Saturday
was World Cardmaking day! So of course I had to 
participate in some sort of card challenge so I thought 
I'd like to share my favorite card I made for the 4 part
challenge. The challenge for this card was to use the provided
sketch and either use chipboard, use an uncommon sentiment or
make a masculine card with a feminine embellishment or all three.
I chose the first 2. 

For my card I used some left over bits of  Laughing Lola paper
that I had. I second generation stamped two different paisleys
from Paisley Perfect stamp set in slate and lagoon inks to made 
the sentiment background. The sentiment I stamped in black is from the 
September National Stamping Month promo. The arrows and flower
are chipboard pieces from the Laughing Lola Compliments. To add
a little sparkle I used some Black Shimmer Trim and two different
sizes from the Sparkles Clear Assortment.

Come shop with me here!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Brandi is having a giveaway!

My friend and fellow Sketch N Scrap designer Brandi Matos 
is having a giveaway on her blog:



Stop by and check out her simple rules to join in!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Sketch N Scrap card #11

Good Saturday morning Sketch N Scrap friends!
Hope y'all are having a fabulous weekend and gearing
up for some good fall weather! We have another
great sketch to get your creating juices flowing
this weekend! There is so much you can do with this
sketch! I thought about doing little tags like Kelly did on the
sketch but then of course I looked at my new CTMH Always Grateful
stamp set and thought I had to use the trees! Y'all are going to
get tired of  me using this stamp set... I can't help it, I love it!

Sketch #11 (due Oct. 31st):

My take:
I had fun with these trees! I stamped the evergreens second generation
 in olive. (means after I inked the image I lightly stamped it
on a piece is scratch paper first them stamped it on my piece of
paper so the image looks lighter) The tree in the middle I inked the
image in Goldrush then used a piece of sponge and added some
Barn Red to it to look more fall-ish...


Supplies:
Paper Studio paper
CTMH Always Grateful stamp set
CTMH ink in Olive, Goldrush, and Red Barn

Friday, October 4, 2013

CTMH Huntington and Always Grateful

Good morning friends! It's Friday! Whoop Whoop! 
Think it'll be a good weekend of cool temps, laundry, and crafting!
Oh and I guess cleaning house since the hubs and I are hosting
Bible study on Monday night... Suppose it's a good thing
since it'll make me have to clean house!

I have a cute little card for y'all this morning! I used the 
CTMH Huntington paper pack for this card. I just love these beautiful
colors! The base is redbarn cardstock cut to a 5.25 square. The olive
piece is embossed using a Darice honeycomb folder. I also added
some CTMH Bronze Shimmer Trim. I used the stamp set Always Grateful.
First I stamped the tree and sponged redbarn and goldrush inks over
my stamped image to give the illusion of leaves. I stamped the sentiment
in Olive and the little pumpkin in goldrush (it is from the Autumn/winter
petite perks set only available through a CTMH consultant) Be on the
look-out for a give-away I will be doing with this little set!

Click HERE to shop with me!