Simple Minion Cards

My son just celebrated his 11th birthday with friends at the movies. What did we see? Minions, of course!

Writing thank you notes is a requirement in our family. I know, some think it's old fashioned, but I believe it's teaching my kids about gratitude. If someone takes the time to give you a gift, you can make the time to show your appreciation.

Using my Shin Han alcohol markers (sold by CTMH, naturally), I whipped up these cards in just a few minutes.

Bello and tank you are Minionese for hello and thank you (if it wasn't obvious enough)! I used the old Cocktail Alphabet stamp set for the lettering (one of my all-time faves). Those little cupcakes with Minion twinkles were a big hit with the kids, and simple, too!

For family members who didn't come to the party, I made the above cards.

Can you tell how much I love the Shin Han alcohol markers?!? They're so awesome at giving some fast color to a quick project.

April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Balloon Talk

Welcome to the April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring Close To My Heart's Balloon Talk stamp set. Thanks for visiting from Krista's blog. Balloon Talk is a set of 24 stamps with cute expressions and talking balloons you can use on a variety of layouts, cards or projects.

I was recently a vendor at a crop and made these cards for all of the crafters. Beate Johns' card (found on Pinterest) was my inspiration. The croppers loved their gift from me!

Products I used to complete the card (all Close To My Heart)

• Artiste Cricut Cartridge, Z1790 to cut the balloon at 1 1/2" Accent 2 <b> 
• Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Z1686 to cut the Kraft tag at 3 3/4" <Tag 4>
• Balloon Talk Stamp Set, only available in April 2014! S1404
• White Cards, X254
• Kraft Cardstock, Z1375
• White Daisy Cardstock, 1385
• Baker's Twine Paradise Assortment, Z1702
• Archival Black Ink (a must for crisp stamping!), 44751
• Flamingo Dots, Z1934
• Sparkles Clear Assortment, Z1752
• Washi Tape: 
• Lagoon Houndstooth, Z1950
• Honey Triangles, Z1931
• Smoothie Striped, Z1923
• Black Journaling Pen, Z1979
• Ruler, Z1471

Head on over to Michelle Johns' blog to see what crafty creation she's come up with! If you get lost along the way, click here for a complete list of participants.

Frosted Thank You Card

If you saw my last post, you know I'm teaching my boys to write thank you notes. The best way to teach, model!

Here's the simple thank you note I created to send for my Christmas gifts.

Instructions for the card, using CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge:

• Pennant using B&T from Bulk Frosted (BULK306): 1" Shift + Accent 4 <%>
• Snowflake in Twilight CS: 1 1/4" Accent 1 <NOEL>, stamped with snowflake from Frosted WOTG stamp set in Colonial White Ink, Z2168
• Thank You stamp from Banner Wishes, B1438, in Twilight Ink, Z2160
• Shimmer Trim, Z1799 cut into a scallop shape with the Scallop Border Punch, Z1851
• Corner Rounder on Bulk Frosted, Z1912
•  All on a Colonial White card, X1410

Sparkle & Shine Kids Thank You Note

My grandmother taught me to write thank you notes. She had oodles of nieces and nephews and would send them each $10 for their birthdays. She recognized that it wasn't a huge amount, but it did show them that they were thought of by her on their special day. Well, she really thought of you on your special day if you didn't write a thank you note...in that she wouldn't send you a check the next year. I remember her wondering if they received the gift or not or impressing upon me the importance of a simple thank you.

I'm teaching my sons that important lesson from my Grammy Kogle. I admit that sometimes it takes us a few weeks to get out our thank yous, but we always send them.  Here is the card I made for my boys to send:

Since they're only nine and seven, they still need lines to write their notes. This flip open card is perfect because I was able to adhere two index cards to the inside, one from each boy. I'm so sad I forgot to get a photo with their actual notes (Dear Ant Melissa...precious!).

Thanks to my wonderful CTMH Director, Fancy Melissa, for the inspiration for this card. She gave me this sweet tag on a Christmas gift:

To make this card, I used my CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge and my favorite CTMH supplies:

• The card base is Sparkle & Shine bulk, Auto Fill for the size, Card <b>
• The White shape is 2 3/4" Card <Halloween>
• The stamp is from Wintry Wishes, C1560
• I stamped the penguin in Archival Black Ink Pad, Z888
• To color in the stamp, I used CTMH's Exclusive Inks Markers in Slate (Light) Z2431, Ruby Z2429 and Juniper (Light) Z2403

Monogram Cards

I have the best customers!  I enjoy and appreciate each of the women who I get to scrapbook with each month and truly look forward to my time with them.  So, at my Open House today, I gave each of them a little "thank you" for supporting my business in 2012.  It's a set of monogrammed cards with the coordinating monogram stamp.

Below is a closer look at the card.  You've probably seen it all over Pinterest.  It was designed by the amazing Lisa Stenz and just about every CTMH consultant I know has "scraplifted" it!  If you haven't been to her website, Lisa's Creative Corner, you've got to check out her gorgeous, clean and simple designs.

Thanks so much to my wonderful scrappers!  I look forward to making even more fun memories with you, and some new friends, in 2013!

Avonlea Thanks

One of my closest friends (and biggest supporter!), Jorie, asked me to make thank you cards for her.  Here's what I came up with:

They are sweet and simple.  I love the on-trend colors of Avonlea and know she will, too.

List of supplies used:
Colonial White Value Pack Cards (X1410)
Avonlea Bulk Paper (BULK255 for Consultants)
Chocolate Cardstock (X5643)
Colonial White Cardstock (1388)
Cricut Artiste, for shapes, (Z1790)
Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2111)
Bulk Chocolate Grosgrain Ribbon (retired)

Happy Columbus Day, everyone!

Name Cards

My wonderful sister-in-law, Melissa, asked me to make notecards for her three boys to put in their Christmas stockings.  Melissa has taught her boys to write beautiful thank you notes and they're usually in the mail before I've even cleared the wrapping paper from the floor!  Unfortunately, thank yous seem to be a dying art, and I'm so glad she's passed on gratitude to her boys.

Michael, age 12, was his football team's Defensive MVP. Andrew is a handsome 15 year-old who's holding the ladies at bay.  Sweet David is nine and obsessed with anything army. 

All items are CTMH.  I cut out the football and army tank with the Boys Will Be Boys Cricut cartridge. 

What kinds of thank you notes do you use?