The magic of CTMH's How To Books!

Can you tell, I still have Disney on my brain? I am sure I will for quite awhile! Today I want to share with you some of the artwork that I created for my Convention that I wasn't able to share until I returned home. My friend Barb orchestrated many of the gals on the Scattered Hearts team to create an album for Tina who is my fearless leader and grandma up-line (who by the way finished with the top sales in the ENTIRE company! Wahoo Tina!). We each created a 6x6 page with the Sweetheart paper collection that included a picture of us with Tina and a short text about what she had done for us. I found the journaling to be challenging as most of you know me, I love to journal and confining what I wanted to say in such a small space! aaahhhH! Anyway, I used one of our designs from our card book to create the layout. I also created a card with the same pattern so that you could see how the patterns could be interchangeable! Love, love, love the versatility & magic of going back and forth!

This design is the card design Pieced Together from Wishes.

A few cupcakes...

Such a super cute cupcake card! Created with the scallop punch, sanding tools, the texture tools and a shimmer mist! Pull all of these tools together and the result is an adorable card! Thanks to friend Barb for the adorable idea! The card design is On Your Left from Originals. Stay tuned later this week for a step by step tutorial on how to create this cute card!

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: I have used this design before...but keep going back to it!

Busy little card makers

Our house was quite busy on Sunday with creating the boys Valentine's cards and treat bags. They both insisted on making their own cards and treat bags (although at about card 35 Mommy who wasn't feeling the best, was wondering why we didn't buy Mickey Mouse ones at the store!). I am very proud of my boys and their creative abilities. They are learning the fundamentals of card making and stamping which to some might seem silly, but secretly, they are also learning diligence, the ability to see things through, responsibility of caring and taking care of something (they each washed their stamps and were careful not to get too rough), and self improvement (each time they tried to improve upon the last one).

I had to laugh at Nicholas though, because he could have been a walking commercial for Close to My Heart...repeating "twist, twist, tap, tap, tap" every SINGLE time he inked his stamp!

Gabey wanted to make "Monster-teins" this year, so these are his little treat bags!

Nicholas' treat bags...Nicholas chose to have Dr. Seuss bookmarks, pencils and erasers this year or his Valentine's so we tried to find paper that coordinated with his "theme". I will post his card a little bit later.

Ctmh keeps up with the trends!

Have you noticed that all of a sudden, there are pennants and banners everywhere? Not just at sports games or birthday parties, but now as a part of our culture...the designs are being seen in clothes, magazines, and all over the scrapbooking world. I must admit, that I wasn't sure how to incorporate these banners in my artwork, however once I started playing with them, I quickly found that I love, yes, LOVE, them! This is our new Pennant Alpabet set ($34.95 retail) which has many options for your creativity.

And now, here is one of my layouts that I used the pennant alphabets to create with.

This is the Sweetheart Workshop To Go. I altered the pennants by leaving a little bit of the white edges visual and rounded the edges of the triangles for a softer edge. This workshop was given to all of my weekend croppers last weekend however, I will be having a date in March for those who want to create them together. Of course, anyone else that wants to join may do so-you will just need to pay for your kit ($34.95 plus shipping and tax).

Supplies used: Sweetheart Level Two paper, Sweetheart Epoxys (level 2 assortment), Cotton Candy, Tulip & Black exclusive inks, Sweetheart Exclusive guide and stamp set.

Some Valentine's To Warm Your Heart!

Card design is: File Pocket from Wishes.

Card Design is Circle Collection from Wishes.

Card design is Simplicity from Wishes.

Card design is unknown.

Card design is Winning Combination from Originals.

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 208 card designs. 127 completed. 81 to go.

Card Club with a gloss!

I wanted to try something new with our Acrylic cards...because I discovered that you can emboss the cards with embossing templates in the Sizzix or Cuttlebug machines. And this works awesome! The only down side, is that the gloss that makes these cards so beautiful also makes it difficult to photograph. To enhance the glossiness of the cards, I also used the new Sweethearts Level 2 Assortment Epoxy stickers. Love, love, love them! Want to learn to create them? Join me on Wed. night for my Card Club. 6 PM. E-mail me for directions! The class is just $10.

The card designs are from Left to right:

Card 1: My original design

Card 2: Fancy Four from Wishes

Card 3: Winning Combination from Originals

Card 4: Merry Go Round (tweaked) from Wishes

Card 5: Box It Off from Wishes

Card 6: Inner Court From Wishes

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 124 cards completed. 84 to go.

Mommy's Monster Cards!

The Card design is Keyhole from Wishes. Finished Size: 4 3/4" x 3".

The card design is Sweetly Offset from Originals.

Finished Card Size: 5" x 7".

Supplies used: Sweethearts Level 2 Paper Pack, Sweethearts Level 2 Assortment Epoxys

Featuring the colors of Cotton Candy, Tulip and Black.

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 2 more complete! And cute ones I might add! Which brings me to: 119 completed. 89 to go.

Valentine's Day is Monsterific!

Reflections: Half and Half - Split Focus

Reflections: Sidebar - Originals

It is almost Valentine's Day and my little people are all about making Valentine's (maybe it is because their mommy has been making Valentine's left and right?). Anyway, the children have been begging to make Valentines! Gabe was supposed to go make Valentine's on Saturday with Grandmommy but he wasn't feeling the best so last night we were able to create some! He chose monsters so he and Mommy both had fun creating! So, I thought I would share a layout that I created documenting both his coloring and his writing as well as our Valentine making. Maybe this will inspire some of you to scrapbook your Valentine making this year! Since I just did this layout, the count still stays at 55 completed and 95 to go.

Love Grows Here...

I couldn't wait to share this layout! I am so happy with how it turned out! I used one of the pre-designed layouts in a Level one pack of the Sweethearts collection and used black and white photos to enhance the layout. Funny story, Abby was wearing the cutest little pink dress when we went to Build-A-Bear but all of the fixtures were primary colors and the two just clashed indescribable! I was so bummed out...but now, I love the pictures!! This layout is one that I am teaching as a fundraiser for my daughter's preschool.

The Layout Design is Sidebar-Original from Reflections.

The Layout Design is Title Toppers-Photo from Reflections.

Materials used: Sweethearts Level 1 Collection, Pink Brad Collection, All Our Adventure Rub-ons and foam squares. Featuring the colors of Cotton Candy, Black, White Daisy & Tulip.

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: I have used the left design before, so this one is 1/2. 55 layouts now completed. 95 to go.

A Sweetheart Debut

No, I am not actually not talking about my daughter this time although she is indeed a sweetheart! lol! The Sweetheart collection is one of our new Spring/Summer paper collections, and like my daughter, I am in love with the color pink so this paper pack suits me well! This layout is one of two that I created for a Fundraising Workshop for my daughter's preschool: Morning with my Friends! I used a Level one pack with the coordinating My Stickease, some of the new Pink collection buttons and brads and foam squares. I think it came out adorable...or "pinkalicous!" indeed! Want details about the workshop, e-mail me and I would love to share them with you!

The Layout Design is Sidebar - Photo Focus from Reflections.
Previously Used.

The Layout design is Half and Half - Split Focus from Reflections.

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 54 1/2 completed. 95 1/2 to go.

Mom & Me Valentine Card Workshop!

Card Design is Three in A Row from Wishes.

Card design is Small Wonder from Wishes.

Card design is my original card design.

Card design is Simple Strip from Wishes.

Card design is Mini-Windows from Wishes.

This is a Mom and Me Card Class that I designed as a benefit workshop for Morning With My Friends Preschool! oh, so cute! My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 117 cards created. 91 to go.