June Stamp-of-the-Month Blog Hop

A new month is almost upon us.  Is it really June already?!  I'm sure you're going to see that a lot this time.  It seems like each month goes faster and faster.
If you came from Kimberly's blog, you're on the right track.  If you get lost along the way, just click here to get a complete list of all the participating blogs.

I love the truly masculine stamp set CTMH has for us this month.  It's perfect for all the Father's Day cards that will be made for those special men in our lives, but it's also fabulous for a birthday card or any other occasion when we want to celebrate that guy.

Here are the two cards I made:

Inside:

If they look familiar that's because they're taken straight from the artwork in the Idea Book, showcasing this set.  I taught a masculine card workshop last month and we made these two cards.  The larger, 4 1/2x4 1/2, card is a complete lift.  For the smaller 3x3 card, I used the colours from the artwork made with the May SOTM in the Idea Book and the layout from this set's artwork.  I love the fact that our catalogue is such a treasure trove of ideas!  No wonder it's called an Idea Book.  Want one for yourself?  Just email or call!

Now it's time to hop on over to Teri's blog and see the fabulous work she's made.

Happy Creating!

Unforgettable Moments

I finally got around to scrapbooking my daughter's first real haircut.  My mom used to cut my hair, now cuts my nephews' hair, and of course, had to cut Arianna's.  I had a lot of fun with this layout, just playing with all sorts of aspects, including using an old brads package to house those precious curls.

I did some zigzag stitching for the first time, added lots of distressing along with some My Stickese.  I am trying to use up my older paper kits and after choosing the fun flowered paper that matched Arianna's top so well, I realized that I didn't have enough for the layout.  So I just stamped another one.  Can you tell the difference?

I always get a bit nostalgic when I work on old photos.  Arianna looks so little and still a bit baby-like in these photos, even though she was already 2 1/2.    Here is what she looks like today:

I guess the other reason I'm feeling nostalgic is because she's turning 5 on Sunday and I can hardly believe it!  She's a sweet girl, so smart and imaginative.  She loves school, already reading at an early Grade 1 level even though she's only in Junior Kindergarten!  We love her to bits.  Arianna is really excited about her first friend birthday party and I'm hoping that I can kick my present cold before my family comes on Sunday.

Okay, thanks for letting me ramble on.  I'll quit now. 

Happy Creating!

Celebrating Babies

I love our church.  We attend a Christian Reformed Church just minutes from where we live.  It's a fun, lively congregation.  We have a live praise band every Sunday and our pastor preaches from the heart.  We also have lots, and I mean lots, of young families.  In the past year there have been probably 10 births, with more on the way.  Most of these have been to brand new parents.  That means baby showers!  I'm not particularly close to all those young moms, but I did get invited to my friend Ruth's shower.  Her little guy Noah is adorable and I got to cuddle with him while she opened her gifts.  My mom "expertise" was put to work and I was able to get him to sleep.  I got my baby fix in.  I wish I had a photo of Noah to share with you.  It was strange, for most of the shower I was the most experienced mom there!  That's not my normal situation and it was kind of nice. 

Ruth has expressed an interest and desire to start scrapbooking and we've been trying to set up a date for a home gathering, but life is busy for her, and I completely understand.  So with that in mind, I made a special little gift for her.  I went to Ruth's registry to see what sort of theme she had for Noah's bedroom.  This is what I found:

Now doesn't that just scream Magic Moments?  The following accordian album is 9x9 and almost totally copied from another consultant, whose name I did not save. I wish I had.  

I used all kinds of stamp sets and had a lot of fun making it.  This paper is still one of my most favourite.  Because the paper looks better with Colonial White and the album is White Daisy, I sponged the edges with Cocoa ink to make the white less obvious.

All the guests really loved this and are talking about wanting me to do a workshop with this.  We'll see what happens.  I made this to celebrate my friend's new baby.  I wanted something really special for her.  But using Close to my Heart products really sells them and I might have new customers.  Two birds, one stone.  Love it.

And of course I have do make a matching card using Love You Forever and an Irresistible frame.  Here it is:

And the inside:

Happy Creating!

It's the May SOTM Blog Hop!

It's a new month and that means a new Stamp-of-the-Month is available.  It also means we have another blog hop.  If you've come from Kimberly Smith's blog, you're on the right track.  If this is your first stop, just keep clicking until you get back here and you will have seen all the gorgeous artwork!  This month's stamp set is lovely.  It has some fabulous images that are perfect for adding a classic look to a card or layout, celebrating just about anything.

May also means that a new Idea Book is going live to customers.  I have chosen to use some brand new products on my card.

In fact, the card itself is new!  It's one of our new clear cards.  We have scallop circle ones and square ones with rounded corners.  I loved working with this one, my first clear card!  I also used our new Splendor paper pack, the cloud paper is one of my favourite new patterns in the whole book!  The flower and leaf are our new Irresistibles Pizzaz and the brad is a new Designer Brad that matches the Splendor pack.  Here are a couple more views:

The design is a pattern from Wishes, one of our How-To Programs.  I divided the pattern between the inside and front of the card.  You can see what I mean in the next photo.

And now, it's time to move on to the next blog, Angela Tutton.  Keep hopping to see the fabulous work she's created.  If you get lost along the way, Helen will have the whole list of participants on her blog.
Happy Creating!

Studio J Goes Live Tomorrow!

It's finally time.  Studio J will be going live to everyone, including you, tomorrow morning at 8am mountain time, 10am eastern!  You will now get the chance to create your own beautiful studio layouts in no time at all.  Choose those photos you took just yesterday and get them scrapbooked! 
How do I get to the Studio J website?  Just go to my website, simplycreating.myctmh.com, and you'll see a link to Studio J.  I'm not sure where it will be, but when I do, I'll edit this post to add that information.

Need some incentive to check out this amazing new product?  The first five customers (sorry, no consultants allowed!) who can tell me their favourite part of Studio J, will win a card handmade by me!

Please note that my website will not be accessible from midnight to 8am mountain time tomorrow morning to prepare for the Studio J "roll-out"!

Have fun!
Happy Creating!

It's Almost Studio J Time!

As consultants, we've been playing with Studio J for a little while.  I just love it!  I'm getting so much scrapbooking done.  I've completed some 2-page layouts in about 15 minutes.  I am normally a very slow worker when it comes to scrapbooking.  It takes me a while to choose which photos in particular to use, unless I don't need to worry about that step because my layout is for club and I'll add photos later.  Then I need to choose papers and try to picture what each paper would look like on my layout.  I change my mind so many times!  Then I have to choose the right pattern and once I get things cut, choose the right embellishments.  It can take me hours!  So 15 minutes for a layout was mind-blowing to me. 
These layouts look fabulous when printed.  You'd actually have to run your hand over it to realize that those brads aren't actually real brads.  Of course, you can always add your own "real" embellishments afterwards for a mix of online studio and classic.
Here's a sneak peek of a couple layouts I've made that I just love.  Just click on the images for a closer look.

One of my favourite features is that you can re-size the My Stickese to fit whatever you need, which is what I did with the kite, and the innocence and play images.

This is my favourite one so far.  I don't actually own any of this paper pack, for some reason, and so had fun playing with it on Studio J.  I can't wait to see it in person!

Stay tuned for more project examples (I'm working on our El Salvador trip right now!) and to find out when you'll get the chance to play with this great online digital scrapbooking program.

Happy Creating!

April Stamp-of-the-Month Blog Hop!

I'm back in the SOTM blog hop!  And so happy to be back.  This month we are featuring the set called "Flower Pot".  It is simply adroable!  Perfect for all those spring and summer occasion cards and layouts.  If you've come from Michelle's blog, then you're on the right track. If this is your first stop, be sure to keep clicking until you get back here.  There are 67 consultants participating this time so I'm sure you'll get lots of fabulous inspiration.

Here is the project I created with this sweet stamp set:

The idea for this card came from the title page in our book, Wishes.  I loved the card pictured there, so I set about copying it.  I found the pattern that was used and then used my own supplies.  I changed the colour from blue to Hollyhock and stamped the flowers from Flower Pot instead of using our Just Blooms paper flowers.  I also used Spot on Backgrounds for the dotted background, which has been adhered with 3-D Foam Tape.  The lines on the card front were scored and then sanded.  I stitched, which is still something I'm relatively new at, used a heart punch that I had given to my daughter to play with (guess I'll have to borrow it from her now) and a Dimensional Element for the large heart.  I also used a Foundry Bookplate and Hollyhock Ribbon Rounds.  I used Liquid Glass to attach the flower in the focal point.  I also added some Bitty Sparkles (love those!) and some Pewter brads.  Here is the inside:

I carried the scored and sanded look to a strip here and then stamped a few more flowers (with a few more Bitty Sparkles) and then added the sentiment.  All the stamping was done in Grey Wool ink. 

I plan on giving this to my mom for mother's day.  (I can say that because she's rarely online and doesn't look at my blog.) I am quite proud of how this turned out.  Now I want to make another one!

If you'd like to get this stamp set, just contact me today to find out how you can get it at a discount or even for free.  Only available during the month of April.

And now it's time to hop to the next blog.  Click here to go to Jenna's blog and see what lovely project she has created!

If you get lost along the way just click here to go to Helen's blog.  She's got the whole list of participants.