I'm featured on Studio J!

My "Good Water" layout is being featured on the Studio J blog!  I'm so excited and honoured.  Can't wait to show my daughter.  That's her in the photos.
Check it out here: http://www.studioj.com/blog/post/2012/01/17/Add-Extra-Shine-to-Your-Layouts.aspx
Thanks, Close To My Heart, for making me feel like a million bucks.

New Year, New Action

When the new year arrives, I always get a little, well, hard on myself.  I think about how I spent my time and how I really need to do better at all kinds of things.  It's easy for me to get bogged down in thinking these things.  And I guess that's a big part of the problem.  I just think about what I should be doing and how I should improve, what I need to do to reach my goals.  But's that's often where it ends.  Well, no more!  I'm just going to keep thinking, "Take Action" and I plan to create something to hang on my wall to remind me every day, that just thinking about how to improve will get me nowhere.  I must take action.  Melissa Laverty inspired me with her artwork.  You can check it out here.  I'll post my completed work when I get it finished.

So, one of the things I want to improve at is my blog.  I hope to have more regular postings.  Not sure what that's going to look like, yet, but I'm taking action and writing a post.

Here are a couple of old projects I created for gatherings.  I had some extra kits just sitting around, so I thought I'd make them up.  Now, I made them a while ago and these photos have been waiting patiently on my desktop for me to post about them.  If you notice the blog address on them, you'll see that it's been a long time!  But I'm taking action and finally posting about them!  :)

 Inside of this card:

Both these cards use the Emporium paper pack.  I love these cards and the owl on the second one looks so fun with googly eyes!

Think you might want to make fun cards like these?  Then book a home gathering with me.  I'm scheduling into February and March right now.  We can do one or two cards with you and your friends and family.  You'll even get some free product and a special hand-made gift from me.  If you've hosted for me in the past, you can expect a phone call next week.  I've got a special announcement just for you...  Stay tuned!

Happy Creating!

CTMH: January Stamp-of-the-Month Blog Hop

Happy New Year!  I can hardly believe that 2012 is upon us!  I'm sure you'll hear that a lot over the course of the blog hop.
If you've come from my friend, fancyMelissa's blog, you're on the right track.  Just keep hopping by clicking on links in each post and you'll get back to where you started.
Here is the stamp set, called A Little Reminder:

It's a great set for remember-the-date cards, highlighting a special event or you could play on the passage of time idea or even just recording the date on your scrapbook layouts.  I've been sick with a nasty cold for almost the entire month and figured I'd be better by now.  No such luck.  I haven't had the energy to do the necessary things and some crafting.  So, I will show you a photo of Close To My Heart's artwork and hopefully add some of my own in the very near future.

Just remember that this stamp set is only available until Jan. 31.  And since our Canadian prices are dropping to match the American, you can get it for $17.95 or for $5.00, with an order of $50.00!

Now, hop on over to Traci's blog and see what inspiration she has for you.

Enjoy ringing in the new year and celebrating with family and friends!  May there be many happy creating days ahead, for you and for me, as soon as I get over this cold!

Crop 'Til You Drop

I'm hosting another 12-Hour Fundraising Crop on Saturday, January 21 and I'd love to have you join us!

We'll be cropping away from 9am to 9pm.  Here are all the details:

Why: to raise money for a medical mission trip to Guatemala in Feb. 2012. My husband and I have been doing these trips with Speroway for a number of years.  Your fee will help put medicine into the hands of those who need them so badly. Place: Hope Fellowship Church, 1685 Bloor St. E.Courtice Cost: $50 for 12 hours, $35 for 6 hours plus dinner, $30 for 6 hours no dinner Registration Deadline: Monday, January 9. Register by December 31, with payment and you'll get a tax receipt for this calendar year. Fee includes: 6’ table all to yourself Snacks and coffee, tea, bottled water all day (and dinner if you've chosen that option) Use of stamps, inks, and other tools Swap table Giveaways and goodie bag Layout workshop using Wonderland (open for anyone not attending crop as well): $5 cost for one-page workshop additional $5 for coordinating page kit We'll also have another Dollar Auction, with the entire proceeds going directly to the costs for our trip. And enjoy an on-site scrapbook store! Julie from Sassy Scrappin' will be joining us. Sign up today!

CTMH: December SOTM Blog Hop

Happy December!  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.  We had our first dusting of snow this morning and it looks beautiful.  We're here for another Stamp-of-the-Month blog hop.  If you came from Dawn's blog, you're on the right path.  If you're starting here, just keep clicking the links in each post until you get back here and you'll have seen all the inspiration we have prepared.

This month's stamp set will get your thoughts away from Christmas and on to Valentine's Day.  It's full of lovely images and sentiments.

You'll see that 4 of the images are compatible with the Art Philosophy cartridge as well.  So fun!  I decided to go really simple with my cards, just stamping directly on the card base.  The hearts in this set are perfect for standing alone and I'm really in a simple kick since planning workshop cards.  My own Christmas cards are going to be super simple, too.  Here are my cards:

This first one is a 3x6 card.  I used Tulip ink and the lighter one is second generation.  The sentiment comes from For Every Occasion.

This card uses Cotton Candy ink and I double-stamped the image.  The sentiment is from Pair-a-Phrase and is masked to get just that one word.  I added a line with my Legacy Writer pen.

This last card is also done with Tulip.  The sentiment is from Say It In Style.  What do you think about the line around the outside?  I'm not sure I like it.  Do you think I should add it to the first card or leave it as is?  

I have to thank my upline, Sheri Ballantyne, for help with the designs of these cards.

Now it's time to hop on over to Georgia's blog and check out the fabulous artwork she made.  Don't forget that this stamp set is only available for the month of December.

Happy Creating!

CTMH: Card Set Using Up More Scraps

I've managed to complete another set of paper from a past promotion.  This one was a fun kit all about celebrating.  It included a stamp set, which is the only set I used on these cards.

I believe the colours were Indian Corn blue, Sweet Leaf, and Chocolate.  It also included a set of Chocolate Mini Medleys.  This is a set that I'll be selling at my craft fair on Wednesday.  What would you pay for them?

Using Up the Old

I am getting ready for my very first Craft Show in a couple weeks and so I've been using up lots of old paper to create cards and other goodies.  I have so many left-over kits from workshops or gatherings and have made them all up to sell, but I've also been creating with scraps from old paper kits.  I wanted to show the last 3 cards I made with the Tickled Pink paper kit we had a number of years ago.  It was a promotion for National Scrapbooking Month.  I had fun coming up with the best way to use every last bit of paper.

I wish I could remember all the embellishments I used, but the stamped images came only from the set that came with the paper.  I know you're probably deep in preparations for Christmas, but hopefully these will make you think of spring.

A question before I go.  What sorts of items would you buy at a craft show?  Or, if you've been a vendor at one before, what types of things did you sell lots of?  As a newbie to this whole thing, I'd love your advice.

Happy Creating!