Laughing Lola

Laughing Lola is a fun, bold and inspiring paper pack from Close To My Heart. That snakeskin print is just my favorite, love it!!!

I did a Workshop On the Go class Monday night this week with some of my favorite gals and we definitely did lots of laughing while putting together the layouts below!

Make It From Your Heart, Volume 2, Pattern 15.

ProPlayer Scrapbooking

Two active boys means lots of red, blue and black colors zipping around my house. I'd love to scrapbook pink, frilly things, but that's just not my life, and I'm pretty lucky so I'll deal!

ProPlayer is Close To My Heart's answer to my needs for boy paper. While these photos don't do the paper justice (my good camera's in the shop!), you can see how boy oriented, gamer, and fun these patterned papers are!

The first two layouts are part of the ProPlayer Workshop on the Go. The third layout is one I put together using the Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 pattern book inspired by Jeanette Lynton. I used Pattern 02. I just love CTMH's "How To" series of layouts and card patterns!

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Poster Tidings

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring September's SOTM, which is Poster Tidings, a set of two large stamps.  If you have come here from Helen's blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.  If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

I recently renovated the top two levels of my house and have really been enjoying using my favorite CTMH products to decorate my house. I have this plate on a stand that I often write bible verses that I want to commit to memory. This month, I decided to add the Autumn sentiment and some burlap ribbon to dress up my plate.

I used CTMH pigment inks in Autumn Terracotta and Cocoa to stamp the sentiment onto a piece of Colonial White cardstock. I used a piece of B&T paper from the Huntington Paper Pack and 3-D foam tape to highlight the word art.

Now "Hop" on over to Tamra's blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting and other fun ideas! Remember, the September SOTM is only available until September 30th!  Contact your CTMH Consultant to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

New Product Blog Hop - Designed Decor Colonial White Frame Featuring Huntington and Cricut Artbooking

There is so much new product to love in Close To My Heart's Fall/Winter 2013 Idea Book that I had a hard time picking just one project to focus on. And, that new Cricut Artbooking cartridge is simply to die for! I can't wait for you to play with it.

I know the other consultants participating in this blog hop feel the same way, so make sure you complete the circle and visit all 32 blogs! Thanks for hopping over from Wendy's blog.

I decided to use the new Designed Decor Colonial White Frame, the Huntington Paper Pack and the CTMH Artbooking Cricut Cartridge to create this piece of home decor:

Here's the list of supplies I used (all NEW) product from CTMH:
Designed Decor Colonial White Frame, Z1865, $26.95
Huntington Paper Packet, X7174B, $9.95
Huntington Assortment, Z1881, $5.95
Bronze Shimmer Trim, Z1849, $4.95
Jute Ribbon, Z1867, $7.95
Mini-Medley Accents Rosewood Collection, Z1857, $5.95
Mini Clothes Pins, Z1815, $3.95
Cricut Artbooking Collection, Z1906, $99

Here are the cuts I used from Artbooking:
1) To cut the mat underneath JONES, I set my Cricut to Real Dial Size, selected Photo Mat 2 and chose to cut at 3". 
2) JONES and the Colonial White shadow were also cut using the Real Dial Size, I pressed Shift and cut each letter in capitals at 1 1/2". 
3) The pinecones were cut using the flower pattern, rolled up then shaken out to be loose. I cut them at Real Dial, selected Icon, pressed and cut them at 4" and 3". Thanks Laura Petruso for telling me my wonky flowers looked like pinecones!
4) To create the honeycomb overlay, I turned OFF the Real Dial Size, selected Overlay, pressed <4> and cut it at 8". 
5) For the overlay on top of the photo of my husband and I, I turned the Real Dial Size OFF, pressed Photo Mat 1, Shift and cut at 11" using the button.
6) For the mat under my boys' photo, I turned the Real Dial Size ON, selected Photo Mat 2, and cut at 5".

Continue the hop by visiting Helen's blog next! She always shares the best tutorials so make sure you read to the bottom!

August 2013 SOTM Blog Hop - A Chocolate Affair

Thanks from visiting from the super talented Helen's blog!

Who doesn't love chocolate?  There may be a few out there, but no one loves it more than one of my BFFs, Jenny. She eats it after every meal and stays thin by lots of activity and portion control.  I haven't mastered either of those, but I do share her love for chocolate!

Here's a peek at the super cute Stamp of the Month for August, A Chocolate Affair:

Jenny blessed me with her two oldest kids this week.  They came to "Auntie Shell" camp for three days and we had a blast at a local farm today, are headed to the Turkey Hill Experience tomorrow and the free movies in my town the next day.  My kids are in heaven playing with their best friends and I'm enjoying the sounds of giggles and outdoor fun that I'm not directing.  Anyhow, I think I'll send this card to Jenny when her kids go home...it only seems appropriate!

I combined a few of the sentiments for the inside of the card and masked the sentiment on the front of the card to just include the top portion of the "DEATH BY CHOCOLATE" sentiment.  The Babycakes Paper Pack (X7173B) worked great with the Chocolate colors as did the Babycakes Assortment (Z1869).  I added a little of the Prisma Glitter (Z134) to the top of the chocolate cake for some added bling!

I hope you enjoyed my card.  Now, head over to Sheila's blog to see more creative uses of A Chocolate Affair!

Artbooking - Star Happy Birthday Card

The new Artbooking cartridge from Close To My Heart is going to be my new go-to Cricut cartridge this fall.  I can't wait to try some of the amazing layouts they have ALREADY PROGRAMMED in for me (yes, they did is just for moi).

With major renovations going on in my house, it's been hard to find time for crafting.  But, with my dad's birthday a week in the past and a visit coming this weekend, I grabbed my Artbooking cartridge and spent five minutes (that's it, promise) cutting out a few things from the "happy" key to create this cute and simple card:

Scraps and a little Chevron ribbon (it comes in Cranberry now, too!), voila!  Card complete!

Sweet Life - July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Thanks for coming over from Wendy's blog.

Sweet Life features three beautiful fruit images and six scripted verses.  It can be yours this month for just $5 with a qualifying purchase of $50 or more.

I gave my "secret sister" a bracelet for Convention and wanted a pretty bag to put it in.  I stamped the apple on one of the CTMH Muslin Drawstring Bags using Chocolate Pigment Ink. Then, using the Ruby and Sweet Leaf alcohol-based markers, I added a bit of color to the apple and leaves.  Finally, I used my fingertip to dab a little pigment ink, in Ruby and Olive, to fill the color.

Now, take a look at what Michelle Johns has to show you.