Stamp Til Dawn

Step by Step with Studio J

2012-02-07T12:53:00.000-08:00

Still not sure what Studio J is? Not sure how to get started? Worried about learning something new?

Well, I'm going to put out a little challenge to show you how simple it truly is and when I issue a challenge...there's sure to be a reward!! The best part? You can access Studio J, play with it, create layouts and see if you like it and you do not pay a thing. You only pay when you choose to purchase your creations.

Step 1 - go to my website and set-up your Studio J account - Click Here

Step 2 - Go to the Studio J Art Gallery and pick out a layout to experiment with. Choose one that has a link under it that says "See the Layout Instructions"

Step 3 - Login to your Studio J account and follow the instructions you selected to create your layout.

Of course you can create any layout you want, change the colors and personalize it in any way you'd like, but these fun step by step instructions help you to become more familiar with all the amazing things our digital software can do.

When you decide you love it...you'll definitely want to take advantage of our February Special.

Create your account and purchase a 5-pack from me by February 29, 2012 and I will enter your name in a drawing to receive an additional FREE 5-pack!! That's 15 layouts for the price of 5 for the lucky winner!!

February 2012 - SOTM Blog Hop

2012-01-31T18:25:00.000-08:00

zIt's here, it's here - the February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. Whether you're starting here, or you came from Pam's blog, you're on the right track and you're sure to see a ton of great samples using February's Stamp of the Month - Thoughtful Tidings. I absolutely love this stamp set because I always need to share a little gratitude with the amazing people in my life.

We'll be making all three cards at this months workshop. Kits are $5 each and include envelopes. Reserve your kit right away!

Supplies Used:
X7147B Stella Paper Pack
Z1617 Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain
Z1705 Durable Studs
Z1702 Baker's Twine - Paradise Assortment
Z1710 Paradise Paper Flowers
Z1333 Opaques - Mocha Assortment

Next up on the hop is Debra

Glass Etching with CTMH Art Philosophy

2012-01-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

This was so much fun! I was completely addicted to it for a couple of weeks around Christmas, but I couldn't say anything because I didn't want to spoil the surprise.

The hardest part of the whole project was....finding etching cream! I ended up having to order it online from walmart.com.

I'll try to write up a tutorial later, but here are a few little tips...

Supplies needed:
Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (ok, you can use something else, but why?)
Vinyl or Contact Paper
Transfer Tape
Etching Cream
Pyrex Glass Dish (I bought these at walmart too)

Tips:
Pick images that are fairly simple with large open areas.
It's easier to work with a flat surface for your first piece.
You have to place each letter separately when working on a curved surface.
I used a wide popsicle stick to spread the cream. You can also scrape the excess off and put it back in the jar.
Do not spread the cream too thick...it will drip!!
Do no get it on your hands!! It's acid! Be careful!!!

Sorry my pictures are so bad. It was really hard to photograph these.

This picture might spoil a surprise, but it shows how I placed the vinyl letters on the plate. You might want to add some masking tape or more vinyl to the glass areas around the letters to give you more room when spreading the etching cream so that you don't accidentally etch the open areas.

I think I saw my Mojo!!

2012-01-18T11:36:00.000-08:00

I don't want to keep making excuses, but I kind of feel like I owe some kind of explanation...especially since I have been helping so many people get their blogs rolling...and then suddenly I stopped blogging.

I've been a bit sidetracked with training for my first half-marathon. In 13 days I'll be attempting the Tinkerbell Half-Marathon at Disneyland. I'm super excited and I finally know that I can totally handle the miles. My only problem is I'm still too slow.... I'm going to go for it and do the best I can, but I'm fully prepared to get pulled off the route. It will be a happy little miracle if I get to finish!

Training and reading my new Kindle Fire (hubby spoiled me at Christmas) has done a great job of keeping me distracted from some other issues that have been weighing on my mind. I'm waiting to get some more definitive news before I figure out my plan of action. Keeping busy distracts me, but for some reason I just couldn't get into the swing of things with stamping!

But, thanks to an amazing workshop with my wonderful customers...I think I see my mojo. I'm starting to feel like stamping again. The crazy thing is, I actually have a ton of projects to blog. I have pictures on my camera and everything... so let's just get started and see if I can get my act together.

I got inspired to make a "Love" banner when I was helping Jennifer create hers at the crop. I didn't have the same adorable paper she had, so I had to look through my stash to see what I had. I used the Sweetheart Paper Pack and I kind of felt guilty using something that is retired...

But Guess What????

It's in the "While Supplies Last" section on my website for the amazing price of $3 - so hurry on over if you want to create some fun Valentine decorations and goodies!

Happy New Year!!! - Blog Hop Update

2011-12-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

Next up on the hop is Vicki - head on over to her blog to see what she has created..

Whew this has been a long six months. My auto-ship for catalogs/stamp of the month sets, got messed up and I have been scrambling to get the stamp of the month stamp sets in time to meet my commitment to the blog hop each month... and this month I completely forgot to order it. Sheesh!!!

Good news is I have already received the next six months of stamp sets and I'm all set to get back on track.

Thank you for your understanding and I hope you have fun and get a ton of inspiration on the blog hop.

Christmas Cards

2011-12-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Have you finished your cards yet? Need a couple to add to gifts? Well here are a couple of quick and easy ones....

Way back in August, when I was playing the the Elemental Paper, I set aside all of the Cranberry/Olive sheets so that I could use them at Christmas. I love it when a paper pack is so versatile that you can use it for a variety of projects!

One of the things that makes these cards so quick and easy is... I cut the tree and the ornament with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge!! I put a sheet of paper in my cricut, selected the image and auto-fill and let it cut away while I cut the layers for the cards.

Posting Issues - Christmas Fun

2011-12-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I planned a bunch of posts and scheduled them too...sadly something happened and they never got to you. (haha, the holidays must be invading my brain and incorporating sad rhyming in my writing)

I figured the problem out a while ago, but for some reason I just didn't feel like fixing it. I guess I was irritated, annoyed or just plain overwhelmed with life. Maybe I just needed a break?

Well folks, my "break" is over and it's time to get this show on the road and start posting all the cool things I have been creating. I'm sure many of you need some last minute inspiration, right?

First up is a little box I made using the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. I used plain white cardstock and the stamp set from the Believe Workshop on the Go to add my own pattern to the box. This is a very economical way to decorate your boxes! And the best part? I can switch up the colors and use the very same design for any party all year long!

I also used the B1390 Countdown for the little circle on the front. Another fun set that can be used all year long.

Why not...

Create a scavenger hunt birthday and number little gifts or clues along the way.
Create birthday cupcake toppers with the age (1, 2, 3, 50, 60, 90!)
You can use the numbers on a birthday card too.

I'm always looking for fun container to "alter" and I picked this one up at Smart N Final. The "trick" to this is, you have to create a angled pattern to wrap around the container. Everyone who attended my Santa's workshop had the opportunity to copy my pattern so they could use this idea again.

Love the little tag on the top! It's from...you guessed it... the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. It has a little tree cutout so I placed it on Topiary paper. Fun and Easy!

And every other year or so I have to put a new spin on Snowman Soup. This year I found these cool truffle boxes. They are clear so you can see the contents inside. My upline, Bren Yule, saw me designing my project...I had the card cut...the layers done...and I was working on the cocoa cup and she said.. "I have the perfect idea for you....Put the All Decked Out Snowman head in the cup." It was the finishing touch I needed!!!! Plus I was able to show my customers how to use a mask when they stamped their cup and snowman.

Well I hope you have gotten a little inspiration. I have a few more photos to post...and a brand new camera (that was ANOTHER reason I was absent for a while...my camera bit the dust!). Anyway...my new camera takes amazing pictures!

Mad About You - December SOTM Blog Hop

2011-11-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  If you came here from Susan's blog, you're right on track and I'm the next stop.

I have been working on an album for a wedding present and this stamp set worked perfectly. Here's a couple little embellishments I made for this page.

Now it's time to hop on over to Haley's blog to see what she came up with.  She always does amazing work, so I'm sure it will be something terrific.

CTMH Cherish the Day - SOTM Blog Hop

2011-10-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the SOTM blog hop. This month we are featuring a stamp set with 44 stamps called Cherish the Day.

If you came here from Jen Patrick's blog you're on the right track...just follow the link at the end of my blog to see more fun examples using the Cherish the Day stamp set.

(Artwork to come....was out of town and just got my stamp set... And then I had to make my Halloween costume. Oops...I'm working hard to get it posted. Sorry for the delay!!)

Next up, let's see what Shannon came up with...

CTMH Paper Hearts Team

2011-10-28T12:15:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about being a Close To My Heart consultant, is the relationships you build with your customers, fellow consultants and team members! Now that I've been a consultant for over 16 years, I have built some wonderful friendships with consultants from all over North America and every once in a while we get to gather together in the same room......

On Saturday, October 15th, Bren Yule and Close To My Heart hosted an event called Leadershare. We were treated to presentations from CTMH corporate staff and several local consultants, including yours truly. You may have seen my silly video I posted here.

My upline, Bren Yule, was the local hostess for the event and you could see her little touches all over the room. She truly made the day special. She even set up a fun little photo booth area. Of course we had to take a few pictures.

Sadly, my team member Lauren isn't in any of the pictures. She was the one that reminded us to go do it...and then she had to leave before we were able to. We may have to have a make-up picture day!

Patti, Dawn, Patti and Patty

How funny is that!!! I actually have 3 darling Patty's (Patti's) on my team!!!

You know...there's still a couple of days left on the consultant special!! I have two more Paper Hearts team shirts that I'd love to give away. And if your name is Patty or Patti, I just know this is the team you're meant to join. If your name isn't Patty or Patti, we have room for you too!! At least the whole room won't turn around when I say your name.

My buddy (partner in crime) Candace posed with me too. You gotta watch out when the two of us are together. We are nothing but trouble!

Digi Scrapping the Studio J way

2011-10-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

I know the words "digi scrapping" just struck fear into the hearts of more than a few of my customers. Have no fear!!! Just take a moment to read my series of posts and see what I have to share. It just might be easier than you think. (I was surprised at just how easy!!!!)

Ok - so this is post number 1 in my Studio J series. I'm going to give you little bits and pieces to slowly introduce you to all the amazing things that Close To My Heart's Studio J can do. If you're a "techy" girl (or guy!) I'm sure you'll take one look and fall in love...the rest of you... I'm sure you'll love it too, but we'll take our time and learn and explore together.

Here are a few reasons why I think you should try Studio J

You do not have to load any software on your computer!! Just visit our Studio J website.
The software is absolutely FREE to use and you NEVER have to update!!
You never have to buy packages of digital images or paper. Every pattern and every sticker is included. (There are additional items available to members...but we'll talk about that later.)
Retired paper pack prints are still available on Studio J.
Patterns from our fabulous scrapbooking programs are included so you don't have to come up with your own design. Just click a button and then customize to your hearts content.
Just wait until you see what we can do with the jpg images of your pages (jpg's are available for purchase but they are FREE for members!)
On vacation, want to scrapbook? No need to bring any materials with you! Just a laptop and an internet connection.
Quick and easy way to catch up on your scrapbooking.
You can change the color of any patterned paper to match your pictures or theme!!
Prefer to scrap the old fashioned way? Design your page on the computer and then copy it with real paper and embellishments. (Great way to see how patterns look together, etc.)

Want to see a couple of samples? Here are the first two layouts I made with Studio J.

Ready to take a look for yourself? Visit my website and see what you think of Studio J

Traverse City and Flushing - The Food we ate....

2011-10-25T09:46:00.001-07:00

Half the fun of traveling is trying out the local food! I was more than a little bummed when I tried to find little mom and pop burger joints when I was driving from Detroit to Traverse City. I saw plenty of McDonalds, Taco Bell, Wendy's, Arbys (it seems like Arby's is BIG in Michigan) and Subway. I'm sure there might be other choices, but you probably have to drive a couple of miles away from the highway to find them.

Thankfully I was visiting family and friends so I was able to try a few fun places during the trip...

First stop - Flushing Michigan with Lori

Lori took me to her favorite local deli and we had a delicious philly sandwich on chipotle bread with spicy mayo. Yummy!! The staff was hometown friendly. (The Deli is in the building below along with some kind of town office.)

The Rye Bakery - Sadly the bakery is closed on Monday's and I was visiting on...you guessed it, Monday. Thankfully the coffee shop next door had one vagabond pastry. I am not a desert/pastry girl but oh my goodness, it was absolutely delicious. So delicious that I made a special trip back through Flushing on my way home so I could pick up some to share. I wish I had more time, the bakery was full of wonderful delights!

Next Stop - Frankenmuth

My hubby's family is German so Lori and I went to Frankenmuth to pick up some treats. We found the most delicious Cinnamon bread at the Bavarian Inn Bakery (downstairs). It was topped with a cinnamon type icing.

Traverse City

We had to return to two of our favorites in Traverse City - Pangea and Scalawags Whitefish & Chips. The pizza at Pangea is delicious. They have a wide variety of choices, but we love the pizza and can't seem to try anything else. Scalawags is a family favorite. We get the whitefish and chips and my mother inlaw always gets the perch. One of these days I might have to try the perch.

Here's a weird little tip for Pangea's... make sure you stop by the bathroom. Check out the amazing mural! The entire bathroom is covered. Rumor has it there's an eagle in the men's bathroom. I guess the menfolk aren't as weird as I am. They didn't think to take pictures. LOL

New favs -

Flap Jack Shack

We loved this place so much that we had to eat there twice. It's a cute restaurant with a retro 70's decor that is done really well! Apparently I picked the best thing on the menu because everyone loved my choice so much, that the entire family ordered the same thing on the next trip... Corned Beef Hash and Eggs. I love corned beef hash and tend to try it everywhere I go so it's a big deal when I say...this is THE best corned beef hash I have ever had!!!!! Loved it!

Buffalo Wild Wings

I think this is actually a local chain restaurant. It was a fun sports bar with tons of tv's all around the room. We thought about going at night, but saw a big crowd outside so we went back for lunch. The service was wonderful and the wings were good (I love wings and these were good, but similar to most wing places)...the thing you HAVE to try is the fresh pretzels. They were absolutely delicious!

Back from Vacation!

2011-10-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

I find it pretty hilarious that I just taught a blogging presentation and broke every single rule I shared. Oops! In my defense, it wasn't entirely my fault. I had the best of intentions, but sometimes life happens... I was busily prepping for my presentation,creating artwork and planning for my Michigan vacation when everything kind of collapsed around me.

I broke a tooth and the dentist found another tooth with a broken filling. I spent two mornings with the dentist (and I still have to go back to get the work finished...) and then all of the sudden I was a sniffling, sneezing, eyes watering mess. I mean MESS!!!! I tried everything. Do I have a cold? Is it allergies? Is it a sinus infection? (I'm still suffering two weeks later, so if you guessed sinus infection, you win! LOL)

The last few days before I hopped on the plane are kind of a blur. Packing was hilarious! I just opened up my suitcase and started throwing things in. I ended up forgetting three things: an umbrella, phone charger for the car and my jacket. Did I mention I went to Michigan? Yeah, jacket was kind of a big thing...but hey... shopping was fun!

The good news is that I took a ton of pictures in Michigan and started work on some fun projects to share, so give me a couple of days and I'll get my little blog back on track.

Here are a few things I'm working on:

Studio J Series - (Digital Scrapbooking the Close To My Heart way!)
Hubby and I literally made my inlaws take the old family photos off their walls so we could scan them. I can't wait to show you what I'm doing with them now....

Bicycling in Michigan
Yep, we made it...Hubby thinks I was in stage one hypothermia, but we were able to sneak in a bike ride between storms.

Fly and Rent a Car - Best way to see someplace new!
The absolute best decision I made for this trip, was to fly to Detroit and drive the 4 plus hours to Traverse City!! I think I might plan every trip this way. I got to see so much more of Michigan.

So stay tuned!! Some great blog posts with gorgeous pictures, are headed your way!

Fall Blocks

2011-10-20T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here are the cute Fall blocks we made at the last workshop.

Supplies Used:
Dreamin Paper Pack
Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (letters)

My friendly woodcutter, Ivan, cut the blocks for me. Check out his blog to see the adorable wooden toys he makes!

My Blog Song...

2011-10-16T22:57:00.000-07:00

I had the amazing opportunity to do a presentation on Blogging at Close To My Heart's San Diego Leadershare yesterday. I was so excited to talk about blogging!!! I've been saving it all up for 10 years. hahaha! There was a point when all my friends thought I was a little weird because I "blogged." I can't lie. I kind of love the fact that now they are asking me for tips so they can start their own blogs.

I got a little crazy when I was preparing my presentation and I sent my manager, Bren Yule, the following text message..

"You know what would be really cute...a blog song a la the mom song...listing all the things you could blog about."

Sometimes I should just stop and think before I say (write) things like that!!

So here are my suggestions before you watch the video

I know I can't sing.
If you focus on the words written below me, it kind of keeps you from concentrating on how dorky I look.
I promise, it's the last time I'll sing on a video.
These blogging tips are geared towards CTMH consultants and not "blogging" in general so you may disagree with my suggestions and I know they go against some of the "norm" for regular blogging.

Get a Fab FREEBIE in October!

2011-10-06T17:05:00.000-07:00

Have you ever thought about becoming a Close To My Heart consultant? Want to join my Paper Hearts team?

Well this just might be the time!!

Here's a picture of the Basic Kit - $99

Become a Consultant in October and get one add-on collection FREE*!

Here's the Roxie Add-on Kit.....

Or...

Want to try Studio J? You can pick the Studio J

Add-On Kit

Or....

Were you lovin all the Elemental Samples I shared a while back?

You could pick the Elemental Add-On Pack...

I would love to have you join my Paper Hearts team

Click Here to contact me

Click Here to Sign-Up Now

Sign up as a new consultant between October 1-31 and receive one New consultant Kit add-on collection of your choice FREE! Add-on collections are priced at $40 each and have a retail value of $80, making this an incredible deal!

For just a $99 enrollment fee, you'll receive a New consultant Kit packed with business essentials and new products valued at over $280, plus a FREE add-on collection to enhance your kit! Then you can choose to buy one or both of the other add-on collections for just $40 (US&CAN) each. It's an incredible deal!

*Shipping/handling and tax may apply. Offer good October 1—31, 2011. Limit of one free add-on collection per new Consultant. Available only during enrollment. Contents of the New Consultant Kit and Add-On Collections are subject to change at any time without notice.

CTMH Art Philosophy - It's Border Time!

2011-10-03T10:58:00.000-07:00

I hear ya, I hear ya... Now that you have dusted off your Cricut and have your CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge in your hot little hands... you want to make borders!

The good news is that the borders cut beautifully and they work exactly like they are designed to work. It's just that WE want them to do more and more. LOL!

Today's video concentrates on how to use the borders using just the Cricut. We have a ton of Cricut newbies that just invested in the cartridge and the machine and they aren't quite ready to buy a Gypsy or learn how to use software. Not everyone has a laptop to take with them to crops... You get the idea.

So sit back and enjoy my video where I share a few tips about

how the cricut measures borders
increasing the size and length
adding embellishments to hide border seams
and much more.

I'd love to know if this video helped you, so please leave me comments and feel free to let me know what other videos you'd like me to make!

CTMH Blog Hop - Holiday Magic Banner

2011-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the CTMH Stamp of the Month (SOTM) blog hop! This month we are featuring S1110 Holiday Magic (set of 18). If you came here from Paige's Blog you're right on track!

I love it when our SOTM sets have stamps in them that can be used all year long and this stamp set definitely fits the bill!! There are only a few stamps that are exclusively Christmas...

This fun garland can be made in a variety of colors and you can re-use the idea all year long! Come back soon to see my garland...spooky style. (I have an Art Philosophy Borders video ready to post tomorrow...so I'll post the garland on Sunday or Monday)

Shh... this little elf put the garland up in a few places around the office to take pictures. It looked so cute!!! I can hardly wait to bring it back (I'll make it longer...) when it's time to decorate for the holidays!

(along the edge of our counter)

(On the door... It looked so cute in person!)

You can purchase the Holiday Magic stamp set for $17.95 during the month of October, or you can buy it for only $5 when you spend $50.

Here's a list of wonderful coordinating items that will make your holiday crafting easier. Mix and match to create your own $50 kit and then add a little "Holiday Magic" for only $5.

X7145 Believe My Stickease Assortment - $4.95
G1030 Workshops on the Go Believe Kit (I think this is a must have!! Great deal!) $29.95
B1390 Countdown $9.95- (make a cute countdown calendar and much more.)
X254 Cards and Envelopes (50 card value pack!) $14.95
All of the above is only $59.80 and you will be able to make a ton of projects

(hint, hint... I'll be sharing tons of ideas with these items over the next couple of months.

Buy them now and you'll be ready to copy away!)

Well let's hop on over to Angel's blog to see what fun she had with this stamp set.

Book Card Video Tutorial

2011-09-25T23:41:00.000-07:00

I taught this fun card at my workshop a couple of weeks ago and my customers asked me to create a video so they can watch it again later.

I aim to please...
so here we go....

National Stamping Month Tip #4

2011-09-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Need inspiration? Well, put down the stamps and papers and go take a walk. Yep, my tip for today is to go outside. Go for a walk, a run, a bike ride, play frisbee, chase your kids around the yard. You decide on the activity...but it must be outside! (Even an invigorating walk to the mailbox in the snow can work.)

Being outside elevates your mood and opens up the channels to creativity. Don't believe me? Try it!

Whenever I'm stuck on a project or I don't know where to start. I pull out the paper, stamps, inks and accessories that I know I want to use and I lay them on the table. I take a good look at them, put the leash on the dog and go for a walk.

Bonus Tip: This makes the kids and the pups happy too! They'll stay out of your hair for a bit while you create.

I'd love to hear what you do when you're stuck? Have you tried my suggestion?

CTMH Fall Banner Workshop

2011-09-19T10:44:00.001-07:00

Here's the fall banner that we'll be completing at my October crops/workshops. Fee is $5 for this project and includes the rubons. (We used the Halloween portion of the package on the September projects. You will have additional rubons leftover that you can add to the banner or use on another project.) I currently have 10 kits still available at this price. Additional kits will receive a full package of rubons and the price will be $8.

It was really hard to photograph this with my limited photography skills. It is so adorable in person!!! I took the picture at an angle so you can see the dimension on the letters.

Techniques used/highlighted on this project:

Tone on tone stamping
Applying rubons
Sponging/Distressing
Art Philosophy cutting techniques

CTMH Imagine Layouts featuring Dreamin

2011-09-16T08:56:00.000-07:00

Just look what you can do with 1 Level 2 Paper pack, 1 package of My Stickease, 6 pieces of neutral cardstock and the Imagine Book. (I actually have a few pieces left over that I'm creating cards with so stay tuned to see what else I made!)

I sponged a little ink on some of the pages, but didn't add anything else. I wanted you to see exactly how it comes out when you use the supplies listed above.

I will be featuring these layouts at my crop on October 8th. If you purchase a level 2 paper pack and 1 package of stickease, I'll share the handout with you. (Please remember, you also need the extra neutral cardstock to complete the layouts as pictured below. You are welcome to order that too!)

Thank you to fellow consultant Barbara Trommer for the inspiration and help!

National Stamping Month 2011 - Tip #3

2011-09-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about adhesives... There are tons of adhesives on the market and my choice of adhesive changes, depending on the project I'm working on. This is not a complete list of adhesives!!!! This is just what the normal stuff I use over and over again. I'll chat about some of the specialty stuff as I use it on projects. For everyday scrapbooking and cardmaking, you should be all set if you pop this in your tool bag....

Avery or Elmers Glue Sticks (not pictured)
Yep, I'm a glue stick girl. I love them. If you want glue stick success you need to
Be patient - roll it with a brayer and hold that puppy down for a minute, especially if you're working on a dimensional item AND be generous with your glue sticks! Cover that paper!!

Bonding Memories Glue
This comes in two sizes. The wide tip is pictured below. Beyond being a wonderful adhesive, I love that this glue becomes repositionable! I use it for masks all the time. Put a little glue on and wait for it to turn from blue to clear. Once it's clear it's a repositionable adhesive! Which means, I use this wide tip one to refresh my cricut mattes! I use the narrow tip version for small items like letters and cricut cuts and I use it with glitter.

Glue Dots
Every tool kit needs these!! You can adhere ribbon and flowers and buttons and all sorts of fun accessories.

Tape Runner
I haven't ventured into the ATG gun world....yet...I keep thinking about it.... I love that these little tape runners are small and fit in my bag. I kind of interchange the use of tape runner and glue sticks depending on my mood. Tape runner is quick and less messy.

Other Adhesives I use

Modge Podge
Hot Glue
Xyron

CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Tips #3

2011-09-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick little video with more cricut tips for the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge.

Bonus tip for my blog readers!
Here's how I cut my shapes to make the most of my time...

Select several images at once. (Shape 1, Shape 2, Shape 3, Shape 4, Shape 5)
Set size = 1/2 inch
Cut

Repeat Last
Set size = 3/4 inch
Cut

Repeat Last
Set size = 1 inch
Cut

Then I took a sharpie and labeled each piece with the name of the shape and the size I cut it at.

Are you going to create your own? I'd love to see how your organize them or how it works for you!

National Stamping Month 2011 - Tip #2

2011-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Getting Organized.... It seems like I'm much more productive when I actually know where my supplies are... so here are a few of the organizing tips that work for me...

Stamps
I file by Color - Below is a picture of how the stamps are packaged.

As you can see they are already "color coded." I can tell by looking at this picture, that the "pink" set is a sentiment set and the "blue" set is a "frame, tags and borders" set. Instead of reinventing the wheel, I just go with what CTMH provides. My customers at my crop will often say "Where can I find Easter stamps?" and I say "Check yellow." It takes a little time to memorize the "code," but once you get it....you'll always know where to look!

While CTMH sells an awesome stamp holder that I use when I'm on the go.... I have way too many stamps at home for that system to work for me. My stamp organization has evolved over time. Here's the latest version from Ikea!! Love, love, love these!! They hold a ton of stamps, look cute AND match my room!

I turned one of the small ones sideways so you can see the stamps inside. The package from Ikea comes with two small containers and one large.

Stamp Pads and Markers

I use the Exclusive Inks Organizer to hold all my stamp pads and markers. It's on a lazy susan base so you can spin it around to see the different colors. I haul this organizer all over the place!! I move it around my table as necessary and I slip it inside it's case to take it to all my crops. If I had to pick just ONE organizational item from CTMH that I absolutely could not live without....this would be it. Love it!

How do you organize your stamps, stamp pads and markers?

National Stamping Month 2011 - Tip #1

2011-09-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

September is National Stamping Month and I'm planning to celebrate by sharing tips, techniques and ideas to help you make the most of your stamping time.

How many of you have had your husbands tell you that you have to have the right tools for the job? I know this mentality has sure helped me in my house. My husband fully supports all gadget and gizmo purchases and if they are on my wish list....I'm sure to find them on those special gift giving holidays. Of course he has a shed full of drills and saws too. LOL

Today I'm going to focus on a few of the basic tools that I think should be in every good stamper's toolbox.

You definitely need a good paper trimmer and I've had great success with the Fiskars trimmers. I have a big CARL trimmer to prep for workshops, but my everyday, cart around in my bag trimmer is an old fashioned fiskars. I have 6 of them that I take with me to workshops and crops. (I got this picture from my CTMH website and it's so stinkin cute. I may need to upgrade one of my trimmers.)

Not all cutting can be done on a trimmer, you'll also need a pair of micro-tip scissors. Don't buy inexpensive kids scissors. You need a good sharp pair that will do intricate cuts! (Z534 $9.95)

Piercing Tool Kit - Love, love, love this little kit! It comes with a piercing tool, two sewing needles and a push pad. This is perfect for making holes for brads and sewing. I could right a whole post (hmmm...maybe I did?? Coming Soon!) about using the piercing tool to add some pizazz to your projects. (Z1114 $5.95)

This is a bone folder and it makes all your folds crisp and clean! Once you tried it out, you won't want to work on a project with out it. (Z1204 $4.95)

Next up is a rubber brayer! My regular customers know the great value of this little tool and now I'm going to tell you. Not only does it make incredible backgrounds (which I'm often too lazy to create - hey, I have awesome texture paper!) but I think it's real, everyday, gotta have it in my tool kit talent, is....helping to glue things down.

You know the drill, you put some glue on your paper, you attach the paper to your project and you rub it down....well grab your brayer and roll it baby! No smudges on photos, the pressure activates the tape runner and gives you a solid bond. (Z616 $12.95)

Next up is our handy dandy Versamat. The mats create a great work surface. This side is the self-healing side, perfect for using a craft knife, but I use it to measure, measure, measure... Just cut a bunch of pieces for your card or layout from a sketch and don't remember which is which? Lay it on the grid and measure it. Need 9 inches of ribbon...lay it across the grid and snip it.

But wait, that's not all! Flip this baby over and it has a "cushy" side which makes it a perfect cushion for stamping. (Z1279 $14.50)

Got tools? Now you need something to put them in. My customers laugh at me because I can fit a whole lot in one of these little babies. I have several that we'll be chatting about later in the month. But for now, you need one for your tools. ;-) (Z4200 Accessories Case $12.95)

If your toolbox is missing any of these items pop on over to my website to pick them up or add it to your order for our next crop, workshop or gathering.

I hope you'll check back often this month because I'll be sharing the following tips and much, much more....

Stamping Tips and Techniques
Adhesive
Card and Scrapbook Sketches
Mission - Organization
Unlock your creative side
and even more tool time (Besides the "necessary" tools there are a whole lot of "gotta haves!"

CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2011-08-31T18:22:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! If you came here from Sarita's Blog, you're on the right track. This month we are featuring "Limited Edition."

It took me about two seconds to see that there was a bicycle in this stamp set, so of course I had to use it. I had fun adding the little zip strip from the top of the Roxie paper pack that says "You're my Inspiration."

And then I decided to scrapbook some pictures from our trip to Catalina. While there are no pictures of us riding bikes on the layout, I still had to use the little bike stamp because that was the whole reason my sweet hubby took me to Catalina. He read an article about how you can ride around the island and decided it would be the perfect anniversary destination. I can't think about that trip without thinking about the thoughtfulness behind it....so I added the little bike stamps to the layout.

Now it's time to head on over to Wendy's Blog to see what she has come up with.

CTMH Studio J Fun!

2011-08-29T09:22:00.000-07:00

Want to work on your scrapbooks but...

Don't have room
Not enough time to pull out all your supplies
Forget to print your photos
Or is your craft room as hot as mine is?

Then now might be the time to try out Studio J!

It's sweltering in my house and I really wanted to scrapbook, but I just couldn't motivate myself to hang out in my stamp room when there's a perfectly good air conditioner in my bedroom. I played on Facebook for a while, updated some spreadsheets on my computer...but I really wanted to play. Finally I thought "Hey, I should try Studio J."

In less than 40 minutes I created two fun layouts with pictures I kept forgetting to print.

The coolest thing is that you don't need to download any software and you don't have to buy any digital kits. You can set-up your account for free and explore Studio J without paying anything. If you create a layout you love, then you can purchase the layout or the jpg file. You can purchase layouts and jpg's individually or save money by purchasing 5 packs or memberships! (Your layouts are 50% off when you purchase a membership and you get free shipping on one order per month when you meet the minimum/maximum layout criteria.) Please contact me if you have any questions and I'll help you get the best deal you can.

Head on over to my website and then click the link for Studio J. It's a great way to relax during a hot, hot day!

Cricut Class and CTMH Team Meeting

2011-08-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a fun filled weekend full of Close To My Heart! Friday night I held my first Cricut Class and we had a blast!! It was a crazy group of ladies that kept me on my toes. Lots of laughter and fun as we explored the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge!

Here's a little outline of what we covered:

Getting to know the machine (speed, pressure, size...oh my!)
All about mattes (care, refreshing, cleaning)
Getting to know Art Philosophy Cartridge
Using the creative features buttons (fit to length, center point, auto-fill...)
And then we created a couple of little projects

Today (Saturday) I went on a little mini road trip with my upline (Bren Yule).

We drove up to Cindy Baker's team meeting. We were a little surprised when traffic backed up and we saw a convoy of military vehicles along the side of the road. Not sure why they were hanging out along the freeway, but it felt a little strange driving through a "military zone."

Cindy's meeting was great! We went over a few business items, ate a wonderful potluck lunch and then Debbie and Cindy shared a fun project.

My favorite part of the meeting was when we went around the room and we each shared a project or tip. I loved seeing the amazing things everyone created. I even got to meet Mandy Leahy! It was nice to be able to share some techy/video tips with a fellow blogger.

Now I have a ton of ideas swirling around in my head. I just have to figure out how to prioritize them and get them done before the creative inspiration leaves me.

Elemental Paper Pack and Art Philosophy

2011-08-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

The other night I realized that I had barely used the stamp sets that came in the Art Philosophy Bundle, so I grabbed one and quickly cut out several of the matching images and then stamped them with inks that coordinated with the Elemental paper pack... I think the whole process took less than five minutes.

I grabbed some Elemental paper scraps and less than an 1/2 hour later I had these three adorable cards all done....

How did I survive before this cartridge?

One of the cool things about the Elemental Paper Pack is that it is sooo versatile! One of the patterned papers has a cranberry pattern on one side and an olive pattern on the other. Perfect for Christmas and Valentines Day!!

Of course this cute little card really could be used all year long....

A Stamptildawn Crop

2011-08-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

I always forget to take pictures at my crop, and truth be told, my customers are a bit camera shy. But I actually pulled out the camera a took a few pictures towards the end of this months crop. I won't identify my buddies and maybe they'll let me take more pictures next month. ;-)

Every month I bring my cricut. Occasionally someone will use it, but mostly it just sits in the corner, lonely as can be... until Art Philosophy!! Tammy saw J trying to trace one of my cards so she could make more and "ratted her out." We had to stage an intervention and teach J how to use the cricut. I don't think anyone got to talk to J the rest of the day. She was too busy cutting and cutting and cutting... I think she and the cricut are good friends now.

I put together a few little cardpacks for my card makers. The pieces were pre-cut and based on the samples I posted here, but I told them they could stamp whatever images they wanted. Here's what Tammy came up with. Aren't they adorable? She used images from the Pair-A-Phrase (Earn your own FREE Pair-A-Phrase set. Here's a post I did about the specials this month.) set and miscellaneous sentiments from other sets. Great job Tammy!! (She always improves upon my designs!)

While I offer special projects and workshops during my crop, I also provide space for everyone to work on their own projects. Here's a little picture of someone creating 100 candy bar wrappers. We are a productive group! (If you look closely you can see the original See's Candy wrapper in the picture, the tip of a "Junk Journal" (workshop coming soon) and a little corner of the wall hanging we did this month)

My next crop/workshop is September 10th, 2011. I'll be featuring the Mischief paper pack and I have a Halloween workshop that I'll be posting soon. My workshops are located in Lakeside, CA (east side of San Diego County). See the calendar and workshop tabs above for more information.

Cricut Class - Sneak Peek

2011-08-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

I'm offering a FREE cricut class for all of my customers that purchase the Art Philosophy Cricut Bundle this month ($10 for consultants or those who have not purchased their cartridge from me.) I want to make sure I show you tons of cool ways to use your cartridge so that you get the most for your $$. We'll make a couple of projects and I'll demonstrate some quick tips and techniques to make things Faster, Simpler and Easier!!

So mark your calendars and RSVP!

Close To My Heart - Art Philosophy Cricut Bundle Class

Friday, August 26th - 6:30pm
Rec Room - Lakeside, CA 92040

(contact me for the complete address)

Here's a little sneak peek at one of the projects we'll be completing.... (I have a non- Halloween option available. You must request it when you RSVP)

This fun little treat bag can be adapted to any holiday or party. Just switch out the papers and stamps for a completely different look. Make it a little shorter and it can be a cute place setting. The ideas are endless....

Supplies Used:

Mischief Paper Pack
August 2011 Stamp of the Month - Wicked
Black Ink
Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Mojo Monday - #204

2011-08-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking about playing along with some of the challenge blogs. This week, instead of just "thinking" about it... I did it! And it was so quick, easy and fun!!

Here's my version of Mojo Monday 204

Supplies Used:

Elemental Paper Pack
Elemental Compliments - circular saying
Opaque Pearls
Cricut Art Philosophy (fancy corner)

Stamping Technique:

I kept it simple, but added some sponging with Desert Sand Ink

Combine the Specials starting today!

2011-08-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!! I know many of you have been patiently waiting for today because....today you can combine two different specials, order your Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge and get FREE stuff!!! I always love to maximize the deals!!

**For my customers only**
I filled in the Close To My Heart pdf order form for you with the basic information and order totals. Email me and I'll send you a copy so you can start your order.

So here's the deal...

Order the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge Bundle for $99 and that qualifies you to

Receive the National Stamping Month Promotion (Pair a Phrase Stamp Set) for FREE

You can also purchase the August Stamp of the Month (Wicked) for only $5

And!!! If you buy the Stamp of the Month, you receive the A Typeface stamp set FREE!

If your order is shipped to my house (my sales tax rate is 7.75%) Your total is $125.70 and you will receive $185.59 worth of product!!!!!! Amazing!!

Want more FREE stuff? Turn your order into a party by bumping it up to $150 in retail product or gather some orders from your friends...and then you'll qualify for Hostess Rewards too!

But you have to hurry!!! In order to maximize the deals like I've described here, your order must be placed by August 31st. Email me if you have any questions!!

Here are a couple of links to inspire you on how to use your new treasures!
August Stamp of the Month - Wicked
Art Philosophy Samples

Another Art Philosophy Video Tutorial

2011-08-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

I have been having so much fun making cards with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge that I decided to make another video to show you how easy it is. This is another in the "beginner" series. I took some time and showed how to move the blade around the mat and select the different features. I may skip some of that on future videos so they aren't so long....I don't want to bore you!

Here are pictures of the cards featured

And here's the video!

Supplies Used:
Miracle Level 2 Paper Pack (Retired)
Pair a Phrase Stamp Set
Inks: Chocolate, Bamboo, Crystal Blue
Markers: Taffy, Buttercup, Colonial White, Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf

Someone Turned 40!

2011-08-03T12:00:00.000-07:00

One of my buddies turned 40 recently so I just had to whip out the cricut and the Art Philosophy cartridge to create a fun card. Welcome to the 40's my friend!! (hey, it's not that bad...I'm paving the way for you...)

The numbers are the decorative font layer. There are little holes beneath the pearl embellishments, which means you can simply let the paper below show through, or bling it up with some fun. It's cute either way!

Supplies Used:

Cricut Art Philosophy - Numbers background label (black/hollyhock)
Sophia Paper Pack
Opaque Adhesive Gems (in pearl)
Cute Ribbon - sorry, it some contraband ribbon from my stash...but isn't it adorable!!

August 2011 SOTM Blog Hop

2011-07-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the August SOTM blog hop!! If you came here from Vickie's Blog you're right on track...

I love this stamp set so much that I had my samples done for over a week... I was just dying to share them!

First I had to break out the Art Philosphy Cricut Cartridge and create a fun door hanger.

While I had it out.. I had to cut a fun label to stamp my saying on....

And then, my wicked card needed a little tab on it...

I hope you'll add this fun set to your collection. It's sure to help you plan a Wicked Halloween!!

Let's see what wickedly delicious things Georgia has in store for us!

Art Philosophy Gift Bag Tutorial

2011-07-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

Edited to Add: It's a Blog Hop!! Thank you Tresa Black for hosting! Once you're done viewing my tutorial, you can hop around and see many other GREAT pieces of art.

I've been getting a ton of questions about the Art Philosophy Cricut Bundle so I thought I'd make a little tutorial and include a project. See how easy it is to create a cute little gift bag using the cricut cartridge, dimensional elements and matching stamps.

More Sneak Peeks...

2011-07-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

To be honest...elemental was my least favorite paper pack in the new catalog, but it came in one of the bundles I purchased so I've been playing with it. The more I use it, the more I love it!!! It features a few colors I haven't used very much (lagoon, pacifica and sorbet) as well as some old favorites (olive and cranberry). It's amazing how many different looks you can get from the same paper pack. I can't wait to show you a couple of Christmas cards made with the same pack!

I adapted the All Wrapped Up pattern in the Wishes book to create both of these cards. I just switched up the focal point. And.... of course I used the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. I think I'll be trying to find a way to use it on every project! It's an obsession....

I cut out the Happy Birthday label as well as all of the flower images with the Art Philosphy Cricut Cartridge. The scalloped circle on the hip, hip, hooray card is from the dimensional elements complements

Supplies Used:

X7141B Elemental Level 2 Paper packet
X7141C Elemental Complements Dimensional Elements
Art Philosophy Celebration (Happy Birthday - part of the bundle)
D1491 Hooray Bouquet (Flowers and Hooray Saying)
Z1338 Sunset Mini-medley Accents (buttons and ribbon)
Ink - Sorbet, Lagoon, Pacifica, Desert Sand

Sneak Peek Pair-A-Phrase

2011-07-26T10:47:00.000-07:00

My convention order arrived on Saturday. I had so many things to choose from....but since I have spent so much time begging for bicycle stamps, I feel compelled to buy all of them and use them first.

So here's your sneak peek at a few new items that will be available soon....

Supplies Used:

X7141B Elemental Paper Pack (Available August 1st)

Pair-A-Phrase Stamp Set (National Stamping Month Special - Available 8/15-9/30)

Tag with sentiment was cut using Art Philosphy cartridge!!!
Ooops - I think I may have used a retired stamp set for the striped background
Ink: black, desert sand
Markers: honey, tulip, garden green, sunset

Bubba Good Time...

2011-07-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hubby's home so I'm a little slow at putting up these posts... I guess I'm just trying to stretch out the fun...

After our team meeting at convention, 12 (two aren't pictured in the group photo) of us headed out to Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. I was a little worried about this excursion because I was the one that just "had to" go there again. What if nobody else was as impressed?

Well, I didn't have to worry at all. We had a GREAT time, a wonderful waiter and delicious food!!!

The waiter said that all of the alcoholics had to try the Fleur de Lis. Heather tried to order something else and he told her she didn't really want that... sure enough, they all liked their drink! Bonita got a lemonade in a special glass (it was a light show!)...I missed that boat. I thought only the bar drinks came in cool glasses.

(Pictured - Patty, Aisha (with the fleur de lis) and Bonita with her fancy lemonade

The tables have cool signs... Gail wanted to keep Forrest running...

When you need something, you flip your sign and your waiter stops to help you out. Karen and I were a bit needy. (Thankfully I don't think any of the waiters saw us doing this....)

As you can see...we had a great time!! Our waiter was hilarious. He kept us laughing and even split our check into 12 checks. (We didn't even ask him to do it!!) Smart guy if you ask me....because we definately tipped him well for such great service.

When You Wish - Convention 2011

2011-07-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Wow! What an incredible week!! I don't know how you can plan a more perfect convention. Disney + Close To My Heart is a fabulous combination....especially when you throw a little Provocraft in there!!

I was so excited about heading off to Disneyland, that I forgot to get excited about convention. I know that sounds odd....but I just kept thinking about good old Mickey.... plus I learned a long, long time ago, that I can't even dream as big as Close To My Heart. I never even come close to knowing what they have up their sleeves.

Judging by the incredible skits and presentations. I don't think I was the only one that had Mickey on the mind. I think Tinkerbell sprinkled a little magic throughout the classes and all of the teachers and presenters embraced that Disney philosophy.

We started the convention off at a Mad Hatter Team Meeting. Bren Yule, Cindy Baker and Kay Pekin combined forces to throw us an awesome Unbirthday Party. The hat contest was amazing!! Of course, I was off at girls camp and running around before convention, so I made my newspaper hat at the last minute. Shocking, I know... it had cute paper flowers on it, but you can't see them in the picture.

Patty and I modeling our "hats"

I think this picture gives you a pretty good idea of what it was like hanging out in my room..... (fyi - we had just gotten done riding splash mountain. I didn't spill my drink on Candace and Karen. LOL)

There's never a dull moment when you put Karen, Candace and I together! Karen moved to Northern California a few years ago so it has been a while since the three of us have been together....and let me tell you....it was as if no time had passed!!! We had such an amazing time.

Goofy is as Goofy does.... oh wait... I think I'm getting confused. My Bubba Gump story is for tomorrow!

Watch out Disneyland....

2011-07-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

The crazy Close To My Heart gals have taken over the Disney Hotel. LOL. Nothing much to report yet...but here's a picture of the goodies I brought for my downline and my roomies.

The small Mickey head was a little foam stamp I got at the 99 cent store. I made the large Mickey heads using the circles in the Hit the Spot stamp set. I had so much fun making these...

Tinkerbell Half Marathon

2011-07-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

I must be half mad because I signed up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon.... Running is not my thing. LOL. At this point, I'm just hoping I can walk it.

But since I'm never one to suffer alone....I have been busy telling everyone how amazingly fun it's going to be. So far my Mom and I have signed up, two of my aunts are thinking about it (maybe they already signed up???) and three of my coworkers are planning to do it.

Just to keep them focused on the plan (and make sure no one chickens out....) I brought some little goodies to work today. (That, and I'm obsessed with Disney since I leave for convention in a little more than 24 hours!!! Woo Hoo!!!!)

I put some sport beans, gatorade mix and a granola bar in the cups. Just a little something to help them while they are training.....

And here's a little goofyness from camp.... We played minute to win it games. Our girls took my camera and then decided that Tanya and I needed to participate. Since we're such good sports.... we let them take some crazy pictures of us, while we tried to move a cookie from our foreheads to our mouths without using our hands.

July 2011 SOTM Blog Hop!

2011-06-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

If you came here from Katy's Blog, you're on the right path

Welcome to the July 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This month we are featuring D1458 American Celebration (set of 12).

Now let's hop on over to Annette's Blog to see what treasures she created.

June SOTM Blog Hop

2011-05-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the June Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. If you came here from Melilssa Robinson's blog...you're right on track!

This month we are featuring the totally versatile set Jubilation! It has 24 images that you can use throughout the year. I can't wait to see all the amazing creations on the blog hop. This is sure to be a favorite set!!

First up, here's a basic card style that you can use with any of the images! I simply created a background by random stamping the image on Hollyhock cardstock and then used the same image as the main focus. Easy Peasy!

You can punch out the circular images perfectly with our 1 1/4 inch punch and then use them to create a variety of fun little accessories for cards, scrapbook pages, goodie bags, treats.... I mounted my images on a 1 1/2 inch scallop punch (not available from Close To My Heart)

Here I added one of my little medallions to a goodie bag.....

I had planned to show you another cute idea for these little guys, but my peppermint patty stash is gone. Who ate them? I may have to stop by the store and re-stock so I can show you more cute pictures tomorrow. Until then.... let's see what Angela Tutton came up with!

Strawberry Festival Ride

2011-05-31T10:40:00.001-07:00

(Candace and Su)

A couple of weeks ago I got an email for a new bike tour that was added to the Vista Strawberry Festival. Hmmm...strawberries at the aid stations. End of the ride Strawberries? A route that included a nice ride along the beach in Oceanside... It didn't take me long to talk Candace and Su into doing the ride with me.

It's been a while since we've done a long ride. In fact, we've had a hard time getting together to do any rides! I've been going to spin class and we've all gone on a few rides around the neighborhood, but that's about it.

We were a little nervous about jumping right into 34 miles. But hey, it's only 800 feet of climbing and we know we love the beach part of the route. There's 8 miles on the San Luis Rey trail. How hard could it be?

Ha ha ha!! It was the hardest stinkin ride I have ever done. It was hill, after hill, after hill. At first I thought it was great. I was so proud that we could do it. Each hill we went up made me feel stronger. Su and I were even laughing, joking and singing (poorly). Candace was a little sleepy so she didn't join in on the singing.

We met some fun people and had a great time playing leap frog for the first half of the ride. I think there was a group of about 10 of us that kept running into each other. We'd pass a couple, then they'd pass us. We'd catch them at an aid station and they would leave... and then there was the group that stopped for coffee... What a bunch of slackers! haha!

About 25 miles in to the ride, we started to get tired and sore. It was cold. It was windy. It was hilly. My knees started hurting for the first time ever. Usually it's my hands or my shoulders. I felt good everywhere else (well except for my tush...but that's not a big surprise)... and we hadn't seen any of the other groups for a very long time. We started to wonder if the ones behind us quit. Are we the last lone survivors at the end of the ride?

Finally we popped out of the river trail and a SAG wagon pulled right up. What incredible timing!! They checked on us, pointed out the next turn and we were on our way. During the last 6 miles the two sag wagons came by a couple of times. It was the most amazing ride support I have ever seen! I wish I lived closer because I would definately go to that bike shop!!!!

The last few miles were really hard. We had a couple of long slow climbs and about a 1/2 mile from the end...those coffee stoppers passed us. Darn it... Not only did they pass us, but then they took us on an off route climb. Ooops. Instead of making a left turn at an intersection. The ride planners had us take a right turn and then we were supposed to immediately turn around and go through the intersection. Makes sense now. Didn't make sense on the directions and we ended up going up another hill before we figured it out. Sheesh... Sure hope we got bonus points for that!

Over all, it was a GREAT experience. I am so glad we did it and I am so glad we had no idea how hard it would be because I think we never would've tried....and now we know we can do it! What a great way to start off our summer of long rides and adventures! If this is the beginning... I can't wait to see the end!

Craft Time with Aunt Cindy

2011-05-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

My Aunt and Uncle went on a Grand Adventure and took a road trip to visit the family. They visited the Nydams in Bozeman, Mom and My brother (and family) in Prescott, the Merrills in Yucca Valley, the Heufts (me!) in San Diego and Marilyn and Nikki in Placerville. Whew... what a fun trip!

We had so much fun while they were here. We went hiking at Mission Trails, Cindy and I took several walks, Mike and Josh went ocean fishing and supplied two yummy dinners, and of course Cindy and I found some time to hang out in the craft room. It was so fun stamping with Cindy. We both got a lot done. Cindy poked around, looked at a catalogs for inspiration and then just whipped up some great cards!

I loved both of these so much, I had to post them. The bottom one is similar to one in the Wishes book and the top one was inspired by a card I received in a swap. Too bad Cindy doesn't live closer...we are so productive when we hang out together.

Lucky Birthday!

2011-05-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun at the crop Saturday!! It was a smallish group so it was much more intimate. I felt like I actually got to visit with everyone and pay attention to the wonderful things they were creating. And... I even created a few things myself!

I had so much fun creating this birthday card. I needed a few non-girlie cards for my stash. The inside says "and many, many more" so I stamped several little trees along the bottom of the card. (I forgot to take a picture of the inside). I was feeling quite proud of myself for coming up with that. Sometimes its the little things that amuse me. LOL.

Supplies Used:
X7137B Lucky Paper Pack
Olive, Chocolate and Outdoor Denim Ink
C1368 Life is Good (Tree)
D1475 Card Chatter - Birthday (sentiment)

Enjoy the Ride....

2011-05-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

While Southern California doesn't experience "winter" like most of the country...it was pretty cold around here, and we did get enough rain to end the drought, and the days were short enough that I couldn't sneak a ride in after work....so I spent the winter spinning at the gym....And I fell in love with it!

While I have definately noticed that I am getting better in class, for some strange reason I was avoiding riding outside. I thought I would be out of shape. I was absolutely shocked at how good I felt on my first ride...and then I got a flat....and then I had to replace the tire...and then I started another ride and half a mile down the road....I got a flat.... Suddenly, I wasn't enjoying my bike so much. I never get a flat in spin class. :-)

Well, I had my mechanic check out my bike. The bike is fine. Apparently I have to do a better job at avoiding glass.

Last week, the stars aligned, my bike was fixed and it was time to start riding... and I rode and rode and rode!!! Joshua made me go up a killer hill in the neighborhood on my first ride. I wasn't real happy about the route choice, but when I almost made it to the top without stopping....well....I ended up thanking him. Then Candace and I did a couple of laps at Lake Murray and then... I ventured out on my own and did a great ride down by the bay... No flat tires and it was awesome. I couldn't believe how good it felt and I think I might actually be in BETTER shape than I was last summer and there's only one reason why....

Spin class!! So I had to make my favorite instructor a little card to show my gratitude. Yes, I actually thanked her for trying to kill me every week. hahaha!

And this card is from my Super talented Aunt!! She always makes the BEST birthday cards!! Gee, do you think everyone knows that I have a cycling obsession????

May 2011 SOTM Blog Hop

2011-04-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the May 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. This month we are featuring D1456 Chairs to You.

If you came here from Cindy's blog, you're on the right track...but don't worry, you can start and stop anywhere along the loop.

Next up on the hop is Adeline. I'm sure she has something wonderful to share.

April 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2011-03-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's blog hop time!! If you came here from Katy's Blog, you're on the right path...but don't worry... you can start anywhere on the loop and work your way around!

This month we are featuring D1455 Blessed (Set of 12).

One of the fun things about this stamp set is that it features several base and shade stamps. On the card below I stamped the outline of the bird/swirl and then stamped the solid bird inside the outline. To add more variety to the bird, I inked it up in blush, rolled some of the edges in hollyhock and then sponged a little goldrush on the belly.

Products Used:

X7131B Sophia Level 2 Paper Pack

Z1370 Pink Assortment Buttons

Inks: Hollyhock, Blush, Goldrush, Chocolate and Pear Marker

Now hop on over to Shirley's Blog to see how she used the Blessed Stamp Set.

Got Scraps?

2011-03-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

Once I was done cutting paper for last month's projects, I was left with a ton of little strips of paper, so I had to find something to do with all those little pieces and now I am obsessed!

Here's a little sampling of what I started out with. I ended up cutting them into 1.25 x 1.25 inch squares.

I started out making the card at the top of the post, but I had a "million" little squares so I had to find something that used a few more than 4 per card... so I started making some "faux tile" cards. I kept making them and making them and my stack of scraps didn't seem to get any smaller... so I decided to whip up some kits for a craft show I'm doing in a few weeks... I changed the design on those a bit to be more make and take friendly...

Hope for Japan

2011-03-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

I was struck by a few things when the Earthquake hit Japan. First it was amazement. There have been many large quakes around the earth, and there have been other tsunamis, but this was the first time I recall being aware of how the two go together. It broke my heart to see how quickly everything was broken and washed away. Of course some of my first thoughts were with my cousin and her family. I was so grateful that they were no longer stationed in Japan, but I was sure that it had to be hard for them to see the places they had lived and visited ravaged so badly.

As the news came in and the stories about how the Japanese people were coping with the devastation, I was struck by the grace of the Japanese people. There were no riots. There was no whining or complaining. On NPR radio I heard about a store owner that didn't have a cashier, so to make it easier on his customers, he sold everything for $1, not $10, not $100... just $1. There have been stories of small communities working together to get things done. Men gathered water so the women could heat it up and wash the clothes.

There are many opportunities to show your love and concern for the Japanese people. You can contribute to the Japanese Red Cross or you can research and find other worthwhile charities to contribute to. My family and I contribute regularly to the Latter-Day Saint Humanitarian Fund with cash donations and by fulfilling the requests for items such as hygiene kits, school supplies, quilts....

And now I am proud to say that you can also contribute by purchasing an exclusive stamp set from Close To My Heart.

From now until April 30, purchase the exclusive, non-commissionable “Hope for Japan” A-size stamp set for the special price of only $5 (retail value $7.95 US) and Close To My Heart will donate 100% of the profits to the American Red Cross’ efforts in Japan. This beautifully designed stamp set reminds us of how our hearts are hopeful for those who are in need.

"Non-commissionable" means that consultants do not receive their commission on these sales! That money will be contributed to the American Red Cross efforts in Japan....

So check out the stamp set.... Love it? Be sure to add it to your next order, or hop on over to my website and order it now... Send a little Hope to Japan and share a little love with others as you create fun projects using this great set.

Video Tutorials are Back!!

2011-03-21T09:55:00.000-07:00

I promised I would start making videos again now that I got my own little Macbook Pro!! So far I have recorded three new videos and I have edited two of them. I cannot tell you how much quicker and easier this is. Why oh why did I wait so long?

Want videos? Tell me what you'd like me to show and I'll add it to my list.

Today I'm posting my video featuring the Canvas Badge Buttons.

Coming Soon -

New Monthly Feature!! - Wall Hangings

I'm starting to get quite a few people ordering my wall hanging kits by mail so I thought I'd start doing a little video to share some tips/tricks for assembly. Miss the workshop? Order by Mail? Now you can get a quick overview of the kit to get you started.

Easter Baskets

Again... I got a lot of mail orders for my cute easter basket so I created a quick little video to show you how to put your kit together.

Both videos are fun to watch, even if you haven't ordered the kits. You can still get some tips and ideas to use for your own projects.

And now... here's the badge button video...

Two New Purchases

2011-03-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

I went shopping at lunch and found a couple of goodies I'd like to share...

Artist's Loft - Colored Pencils

I'm using colored pencils at my workshop tomorrow so I decided to see about purchasing a couple of extra pencils so that people won't have to wait too long to color their images. I love, love, love, my prismacolor pencils, but at $2 each, buying duplicates can add up quickly. I noticed the Artist's Loft brand also sold a blending pen so I thought "maybe these will work with the odorless turpenoid..."

I pulled the pencils out while I was in my car and gave them a try during lunch and.... they work pretty well!! I still love my rich and creamy Prismacolor's the best, but the Artist's Loft pencils do blend. I think it's a great alternative for the budget concious.

CardMaker - The Perfect Sentiments

I love making cards but I have a hard time deciding what to write inside. I have a couple of great stamp sets with sayings, but after a while you've used them all up. This magazine is full of great quotes and sayings for all occasions. I've only skimmed it so far, but it is definately worth it.

A little of this, a little of that....

2011-03-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Oh what a neglectful blogger I have been. Here's a little catch-up post to get things rolling again...

I've been stamping....

Here's this month's wall hanging. I used the Mayberry papers and the March Stamp of the Month.

And here's a couple of bonus projects I'm featuring at my workshop this weekend.

I've been shopping....

A Macbook pro is on it's way to my house. This is only exciting to you because it means I'll be making videos again! Woo Hoo!!!

And I've been hooping....

I'm taking part in a 30 day challenge at Hooping.Org. March 1st-March 30th we are hooping 30 minutes a day for 30 days. What do I have to say for my first 8 days? "Ouch" and "I'm exhausted." Ok, maybe that's what I said for the first 6 days, I'm feeling better now.

Now hopefully I can start adding....

I've been blogging....

March 2011 SOTM Blog Hop

2011-02-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month blog hop!

If you came here from LeAnne's blog, you're on the right track.

This month we are featuring the Sensational Seasons Stamp Set

I am soooo excited to see what everyone came up with. I love this set and I've colored a bunch of images already. I just need to finish making some card bases to put them on!

Here's my little bunny....

Now hop on over to Laurie's blog to see what fun the bunnies are having over there....

Wall Hangings - It's an Addiction

2011-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more in the wall hangings series. Hahaha... like how I made it sound all official? A few months before Christmas I designed a Christmas wall hanging for my workshops and I had so much fun that I created a Halloween one too....and suddenly... I had committed myself to creating a new one each month. There are some days when I think I'm crazy and I have no idea why I committed to doing it...but then I finish a new one and I'm glad. LOL.

So here's the March Wall Hanging that we'll be making on Saturday at the workshop/crop.

And... then my Aunt had a birthday so I decided she needed a special one for her stamp room. (I actually made this a couple of weeks ago - before I got my new photo tent that fits 12 x 12 layouts!!! Hopefully this is the last crappy picture of a 12 x 12 - but I couldn't post it until I actually mailed it. It has been received and she loves it...so now I can share it with the world.)

February 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2011-01-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the February 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!!

If you came here from Toni's Blog, you're on the right path.

I love this stamp set and I am sure you are going to see a ton of brilliant ideas! I only wish I had had enough time to make a fraction of the things I thought of to do with this set.

You can use each stamp individually as a focal point on your page or card or try repeating them to create a unique background! Using our inks you can create a background to go with any color scheme. What a great stamp set for a wedding!! Create cards, favors, scrapbook pages....

Have I convinced you that you need this set? Contact your consultant to order yours today.

Now hop on over to Beth's Blog to see what wonderful creations she has come up with.

I got a Kindle for Christmas.....

2011-01-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

If you know me in real life you've probably heard this a few times already. I'm tired of boring my real life friends, who probably don't care, so I've decided to move on to my cyber friends. (If your eyes glazed over and you thought... Oh no, she's talking about her Kindle again, you have my permission to stop reading now.)

One of the most common things I've heard when I've mentioned that I got a Kindle for Christmas is
"I thought you already had one."

Truth be told, I've been using the Kindle ap on my phone and my Ipod Touch and I thought that was totally cool, until I unwrapped the lovely Kindle that is now mine... all mine... and all Hello Kitty like too. (Joshua bought be the Kindle. Breanna bought me the Hello Kitty skin.)

In addition to the new little gadget, hubby bought me an Amazon gift certificate. Do I really need to tell you how I spent my vacation? I thought I was being all wife-like by sitting with my husband reading, while he watched the History Channel (ewww...) Normally I would escape the room as fast as I could or beg to change the channel. Apparently hubby expects me to sit in the room and watch what he is watching in order for it to be quality time. So....did I mention that I read a lot on my vacation? hahaha... (I'm sure there are days he wished he hadn't married such an independent woman. LOL)

One of the books I read was:

The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christan, A Jew -- Three Women Search For Understanding

by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver and Priscilla Warner

It was absolutely fascinating. It was one of those books that just sticks to your soul. I think I will be forever changed because of reading it.

The three women develop a wonderful friendship, grow in their own faith and gain a greater understanding of the other faiths as they explore what they have in common and where their faiths differ.

As a Christian, you would think that I would immediately identify with the Christian author, but the truth is, I did not. Because of the fact that many Christians do not accept that the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are Christian...I found that there were pieces of each story/journey that I identified with.

I hope that you'll add it to your reading list and let me know what you think.

Know any good books I should add to mine? They don't have to be as thought provoking as The Faith Club. I read a couple of juicy vampire books during vacation too.

Spray Pen - Unplugged

2011-01-11T09:56:00.000-08:00

Hi there everyone! I'm putting my finishing touches on my projects/samples for the Crop/Workshop on Saturday and I'll be featuring the Close To My Heart Spray Pen. We'll be using it on our January Wall Hangings and a spray pen is included in the Wings Workshop on the Go.... (which is our featured project in February)

Here's a sneak peek at some of Close To My Heart's tips for the spray pen. Come on by to hear what I have to add. I'm sure you'll be putting "Spray Pens" on your wish list!

January Wall Hanging

2011-01-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

Hi there everyone! I finally un-earthed my stamp room and finished up the January Wall Hanging. Woo Hoo!

My good friend Jennifer came over to create hers and to help me fine tune the design. We couldn't decide whether to mount it on Pacific Cardstock or Sky Cardstock. Here's pictures of both... we ended up deciding on Sky. It just makes it "Pop" when it's in the frame, but both look beautiful.

(Please note.. our items aren't glued down in the pictures...we were still deciding what color... so pretend that everything is perfectly placed. LOL)

(This is mounted on Sky)

(This is mounted on Pacifica)

Want to make your own? Please email me or leave me a comment so I can reserve a kit for you. Kit's are $5 each and will be available at the crop on Saturday. I can also ship these if you can't make it to the crop. Contact me for details.

January Specials!

2011-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Sneak a peek at great Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book products—including amazing deals on new stamp sets and the January Stamp of the Month when you buy the new Wings Workshops on the Go Kit! All of our Workshops on the Go kits come with paper, accessories, and an exclusive stamp set designed specifically for the workshop projects. A new workshop kit is available each month at a discount off of the full retail value.

During the month of January, when you purchase a Wings Workshops on the Go Kit, you can get:

The stamp sets featured in the Inspirations Brochure at a deep discount!
The January Stamp of the Month set at a substantial discount or even FREE!

Get your hands on an Inspiration brochure to find out all the details about these spectacular savings by contacting me today or you can download a pdf version by clicking here!

This month you can earn the stamp of the month at a discount or free in many different ways. Buy the Wings Workshop on the Go Kit and mix and match the new products found throughout the pages of the Inspirations to earn the Find Your Style Stamp of the Month at a discount or even free!

Purchase the Wings Workshop On The Go Kit plus:

any 1 item in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp at 25% off

any 2 items in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp at 50% off

any 3 items in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp at 75% off

any 4 items in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp for FREE!

You can also purchase products from the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book and earn the January Stamp of the Month at a discount or free!

Spend $25 - get the stamp at 25% off ($17.21)
Spend $50 - get the stamp at 50% off ($11.48)
Spend $75 - get the stamp at 75% off ($5.74)
Spend $100 - get the stamp for FREE!

Order all of these exciting new products from my website today! Or contact me to set up a workshop, home gathering, or catalog party where you can earn even more free goodies!

January 2010 - Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2010-12-31T18:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! And what a year it's going to be. So many fun paper packs and stamp sets coming our way!!!

Starting with.... the January Stamp of the Month

Find Your Style (D1452 - Set of 9)

(If you came here from Traci's Blog, you're on the right path.)

I love, love, love this stamp set! It is so fun to stamp! You can stamp it in a solid color and it looks beautiful or you can do some stamp rolling, like I did in the sample below. Ink the stamp in the lighter color first (Sweet Leaf) and then roll the edges in a darker color (Juniper).

Now head on over to Judy's Blog to see what she came up with.

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2010-11-30T20:22:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the SOTM blog hop. If you arrived from Melinda's blog, you're on the right path!

This month we are featuring D1445 Amore a set of 13 stamps. I had a hard time deciding what I was going to do when I picked up this set. There are some great stamps, but I just wasn't feeling the pull of Valentine's.... I'm right in the middle of the mad Christmas stamping rush!

So instead of creating a "Valentine," I decided to just make a simple "I love you" card and I had so much fun! I loved how it turned out. I especially loved adding some sparkles from the Blue and Green Assortment (Z1327 $2.95).

Supplies Used
Magnifique Paper Pack
Lagoon and Pacifica Ink
Blue and Green Sparkles

Next up is Shannon! Hop on over to her blog to see what she came up with....

Race for the Cure - Walking for Debbie

2010-11-10T16:33:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I walked the Race for the Cure 5k in memory of my good friend Debbie Hall. I had been wanting to do something like that for a long time. When I found out that Ali Vincent was the captain of Team Designer Whey, I knew I had found what I wanted to do.

Dawn and Ali Vincent

I loved watching Ali win Biggest Loser. There's just something about her that I could relate to. I've read her book and listened to many of her interviews and she's so enthusiastic and motivational. I was excited to meet her in person.

Candace, Ali and Dawn

Barbie, Dawn and Jacqueline

One of the best parts of the walk was the fact that so many of my scrapping buddies joined me! I have another picture with Patty and Tammy in it, but I can't find it. I'll have to add it later. (I'm typing this in my hotel room in Catalina) Barbie, Jacqueline, Patty, Tammy and Candace did the walk with me. Jennifer, Bethany and Ivan had planned to join us, but poor Jennifer ended up in the hospital (gallbladder surgery). I guess that's a pretty good reason to skip the walk!

One of the best parts of the walk was the part where we got to walk on 163. I've always loved that freeway! This is a shot looking down on the runners leading the pack.

And here's a picture of us getting ready to walk under the bridge.

It was a great experience and Designer Whey was so generous and welcoming!! They sent us emails with training tips leading up to the race, gave us a ton of free products (watch for my review and recipe using the Blueberry powder!! Yummy!!) Ali was very personable. She gave hugs, chatted with us and signed a ton of autographs.

And now I know... I can do a 5k. Well, I know I can walk a 5k. I guess I still have to work on that running part if I'm going to do my triathlon next year.

Scrappin Escapes Retreat

2010-11-09T11:10:00.000-08:00

It's going to take me a couple of days and a couple of posts to catch up on all the fun I had last weekend. I thought I would blog from the hotel room, but I think I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. I spent the weekend at the Scrappin Escapes Retreat at the Kona Kai in San Diego. It was absolutely amazing! I've held some small retreats for my customers and I've gone to many conventions but this was something I had never experienced. Check out what it looks like to have 1400 feet of scrapbooking tables!! (140 women x 10 foot table. There was one row of tables behind me when I took this picture.)

You can get a sneak peek of some of the things I completed. The Mistletoe WOTG layouts and cards are on the table.

Here's a picture of Barbara and Gail looking out on the Marina. As you can see, it was a gorgeous weekend in San Diego!!

Ooops, I forgot to take a picture when this table looked all nice and fancy. I brought a yummy dinner (Chicken Salad Croissants, Grapes, Chips and Lemon Cake) for Gail's birthday and it ended up being a great idea! We were able to save a ton of money by eating leftovers for lunch and we had tons of snacks for the whole weekend.

We had so much fun that we're already signed up to do it again next year. Who can pass up an opportunity to hang out with your girlfriends, laugh until you cry and be in a room with 139 other crazy people that love scrapbooking as much or more than you do?

Stay tuned for more updates! I have pictures of what I completed at the retreat and a little Race for the Cure update coming soon.

My Thanksgiving Project

2010-11-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

I am really excited to share a fun project I'm doing for Thanksgiving this year. Below is an excerpt from my customer newsletter that explains a little bit about what I am doing. If you would like to participate. Please leave me a comment and I'll send you info on where you can send your cards.

******
Military Thank You

I have been blessed to be part of a family with a rich military tradition and I am truly grateful for all those who serve to protect the freedoms that we have.

Periodically I participate in projects that send cards to those who are deployed.
This year I would like to share the opportunity with you.

I am "adopting" my cousin's unit in Korea. His Korean assignment is "unaccompanied." Meaning that while he is not in Iraq or Afghanistan, his family is still not allowed to accompany him...so he and his unit live in Korea, while their spouses live in the USA.

At my November workshop I will have a couple of cards for everyone to sign, if you would like. In addition I will be accepting donations of cards that we can send to the unit. We will send Christmas, birthday, anniversary and thinking of you cards. This will allow the unit to select cards to personalize and send back home to their family.
As a military "brat," I can tell you, there is nothing more exciting than to see your Daddy's handwriting on an envelope or card!

I hope you will help me celebrate Thanksgiving this year, by taking a few minutes to thank our military and help a unit that is Close To My Heart.

****
I will be accepting card donations until November 15th. At that point I will put the cards in clear envelopes, sort, organize and mail the package to my cousin so that it will get there in time for them to distribute the cards and mail them back home with their personal messages. Not only do they need Christmas cards to send home, but many have birthdays and anniversaries too. So look through your card stash and pick a few to pass on. I'm sure the unit and their loved ones will appreciate it!

November SOTM Blog Hop!

2010-10-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! If you came here from Angela Tutton's blog, you're on the right path. This month we are featuring D1444 A Little Thanks (Set of 16).

I love this set. It has so many sayings that are perfect for cards and I love the little shapes around some of them... AND.. I think EVERYONE needs a great thank you set. We all need to spread a little gratitude around. :-)

I've seen a couple of renditions of this cute little pumpkin treat bag/box around the blogosphere and I just loved it so I created my own rendition.

Edited to add: I found the link to the original pumpkin basket with the tutorial that I saw.

Thank you for the inspiration Debbie!

Supplies Used:

Scallop Circle - cricut
Leaves - D1371 Many Thanks
Paper - Autumn Terracotta, Colonial White, Chocolate
Inks - Olive, Barn Red and Chocolate
I embossed the pumpkin on the Big Shot

I filled these bags with M&M's and planned to use them for Halloween, but that never happened so I decided to see if I could use them for the Blog Hop... I started out with the folded flower and the little saying and it just needed something....as soon as I added the leaf I had laying on the table... I absolutely loved it! So cute. It looks like a sunflower. I'm sure this idea could be used year round with different colors of M&M's!!

Supplies Used:

D1371 Many Thanks

Inks: Olive and Barn Red

Paper: Colonial White and Scraps from the Grace Paper Pack

I hope you've enjoyed my creations! Now it's time to hop on over to Brae Montgomery's Blog to see what she has created.

Halloween Costumes

2010-10-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I can finally show you what I've been up to the last couple of weeks.... Our department's group costume was... a 6 pack of diet coke so we have been creating Coca-Cola Costumes! They turned out so cute! I drew the logos on grey sheets and then we just had to paint the logos and then sew the sheets into tube dresses. It just took me a bit longer because I had to do three of the costumes (two people were out of town on a business trip), but really, they were pretty simple.

We even decorated our office to match (Thank you Melissa for the decorations!)

...and of course we gave out Coke and Diet Coke to all of our visitors.

My Boss asked me to make up some award certificates for the costume contest. I couldn't just do plain and boring....

And then I had to stamp the goodie bags of course.....

And that is what has kept me busy the last couple of weeks...whew...it was a whirlwind...but it was fun!

Chaos and Costumes

2010-10-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

Whew, it's been a whirlwhind around here!! Every day I go to work, go home, walk the dog and then head to my stamp room where I'm busily cutting paper, stamping images, designing projects, using the cricut, packing kits... I'm thinking that maybe I'll be brave and take a picture of the chaos tonight.

On top of that I've been helping dream, create and design the halloween costumes for our department. I'm hoping to finish up my prototype tonight and prep everyone else's so they can "do their homework" over the weekend. I'd love to tell you what we're going to be, but... I can't. We don't want the other departments to know what we're up to. I will tell you something though... one of our "props" is music....hmmm.... (Feel free to email me and I'll tell you what we're going to be...unless you work at GCCCD or are good friends with someone who works at GCCCD...in which case I cannot trust you because you might be a spy!)

Halloween Treats and Tutorial Link Party

2010-10-08T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have to make this quick... I'm on my lunch... I'm participating in a link party on Tresa's blog. Today's theme is tutorials. Read her post and then start enjoying all the fun tutorials that are posted.

Check out the cupcakes that my upline (Bren Yule) made for our unit meeting! Aren't they just ghoulish? I'm whipping up a batch tonight for tomorrow's crop/workshop. Hope to see you there!!

Thank you to everyone who has told me how much they enjoyed the tutorials I did recently. I'm working out the bugs and almost ready to record a few more...AND...heads up to my long distance customers. I'll be creating some great videos of some of my projects and kits I'm doing for the Santa's Workshops!! So stay tuned. You too, can join the fun!

Halloween Treat Bags

2010-10-05T12:27:00.000-07:00

Ok folks this is just the beginning of paper bag fun!!! I bought a whole case of these cute little bags and I have oodles and oodles of ideas swimming around in my head! I can't wait to share them with you. I'm sure a few of the projects at our Santa's Workshop will feature them!

Tips and Techniques
Stamp up a hole page of these cute little monsters from the Party Animal set. Put the stamped images (I like to cut them into squares so I'm working with one image at a time), a pair of micro tip scissors and colored pencils in a zip-top bag. Clip the bag to a clipboard and you're ready to go. Grab the little kit and color while you're watching tv, during your lunch at work or while you're waiting for kids at soccer practice. Before you know it you'll have a whole little stash of these monsters ready to go.

I put together about 20 bags in less than a half hour. I cut the tags on my cricut, sponged the edges, added a spider web and a scrap piece of patterned paper and boom they were done!!

I'm thinking a little box of these goodies might be headed to the dispatch team at hubby's work.

Close To My Heart Supplies Used:
D1437 Party Animal
D1439 Spook Alley (spider web and saying)
X7129B Hooligans Paper Pack

September 2010 SOTM Blog Hop!

2010-09-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!! It's blog hop day. I can't wait to see what everyone created.

If you came here from Jill Lucas' blog, you're on the right path.

This month we are featuring D1443 Share the Magic (set of 12) I love, love, love this stamp set. Maybe it's because I have always loved a good coloring book and these images remind me of coloring book images. Or maybe it's because they remind me of those fun Christmas Cartoons/Specials... All I know is I love them and they make me happy!!

I am having a blast designing projects for this year's Santa's Workshops, so I was really excited to start playing with this set. I used a cardboard cd holder to create a fun gift. You can slip a gift card, gift certificates, movie tickets or candy into the little pocket. Even with all the coloring, this little gift went together super quick!!

I stamped the trees on one of the printed papers in the Mistletoe paper pack.

Supplies Used:

D1443 Share the Magic (October 2010 Stamp of the Month)
X7130B Mistletoe Level 2 Paper Pack
Cardboard CD holder
Prismacolor colored Pencils
Desert Sand Ink (sponged edges)
Black Ink

Need Colored Pencil tips? Check out the video tutorial I did.

Colored Pencil Tutorial

Now it's time to hop on over to Misty Jackson's blog to see what she came up with.

Update and Colored Pencil Tutorial

2010-09-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yep, I disappeared for a bit. Here's life in a nutshell

Car was in a minor accident

Car ended up being totaled. I was shocked!

When we went to clean the car out at the dealership I saw the smiley on the back and had to take a picture. There were other cars that were obviously totaled and they didn't have smiley faces so I have no idea why ine did. Maybe they like AAA. Maybe they liked my car. I decided it was a good sign that things were going to work out fine....

There's a lot to do when your car gets totaled, but let me just give a little shout out to AAA. They made the whole process smooth and easy.
Spent the next week or so looking at cars online, test driving cars at the dealer, narrowing down what I wanted....
Meanwhile I told Tony, the king of craigslist and cars, what I was looking for and he found me a great deal!! One owner, always serviced at the dealer, 58,000 miles, beautiful condition... I had to buy it! So here's my new (used) car. So far I am loving it!!

Still have a bit of work to do. Got most of the DMV stuff done. Now I just have to get my tow hitch installed and I'm upgrading the stereo to one with an auxiliary port. You can blame the stereo on the rental car. I loved hooking up my ipod!!

All that means that I haven't had time to even go in my stamp room, but I created this tutorial and totally forgot to post it. So, enjoy... and I hope to take some more pictures and finish up a couple of projects in the next couple of days...

Ustream, I stream...we all stream....

2010-09-10T11:56:00.000-07:00

oo Hoo! After hours and hours of trying to figure it all out, I finally created my first ustream broadcasts. It's actually a pretty easy process, we just had extenuating circumstances... like... my laptop is too slow and then I couldn't figure out how to override Joshua's internal webcam so that we could use the external one I bought.

But you don't really want to know all that boring stuff. Here are the two videos I created.

If you're coming to the Hooligans workshop tomorrow, please watch the first video. It gives you some tips and tricks you can use.

(Ok, so I just watched the video... little did I know that I hit the cord to the camera, moved it... and you get to see the top of my head a couple of times.... Dang, I hadn't blow dried my hair yet so I look even more bald. LOL. Oh well.... Hope you love me anyway....)

What else would you like me to make a video of?

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2010-08-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the September 2010 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop. If you came here from Michelle Loncar's blog, you're on the right path! This month we are featuring D1442 Thriller (Set of 9).

Ok, true confessions here...Many, many, many are sooo excited about this set. Me? Not so much. Good thing I "have" to use the stamp of the months in order to participate in this hop because I found myself starting to like this set, the more I played with it. That vampire guy is kind of cute. I love the sayings!!! And I love the little heart, crown and fleur de lis.... and the skulls....well, it's hard to find them too scary or creepy when you see their heart eye patch. LOL...

Stamping Tips:

Sponge Sunny Yellow ink on your cardstock before you stamp the image in black
Use colored pencils to add color to pumpkin and white on vampire
Tear paper around saying to add a more creepy look...then sponge with black ink

Stamping Tips:

Sponge edges around skull so that the skull stands out more

Supply List:

Black Ink
Colored Pencils
Sunny Yellow and Black Stamp Pads
X7129B Hooligans Level 2 Paper Pack
D1442 Thriller

Now it's time to hop on over to see what Jody Burger created....I hope it's not too scary.....

Bike the Bay - I did it!!!!

2010-08-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo!!! So two years ago I did a little bike ride with my friends, called Bike the Bay. The cool part of the ride was that we got to ride over the Coronado Bridge. A bridge that is closed to pedestrians and cyclists. I was not ready for the ride and I wasn't feeling well when we started. I hit one of my lowest points ever on a bicycle. I felt defeated and frustrated and slow and.... Here's my blog entry after that ride.

Every time I see the bridge, I am reminded of that day and I feel like I have some unfinished business.

So this year I decided it was time to try it again. I'm lighter. I'm stronger. I know how to ride better. Would it be enough to make it over the bridge without stoppin.... Oh yeah baby!!!! It is!!!!!!!!

Candace is still nursing her fractured elbow so Su and I were on our own...

We have our own paparazzi (Josh) so we have some fun pictures. This is the beginning of the ride. I have no idea what Su is looking at. LOL

The let us go in small heats...so here's our little group heading out..

This time I approached the ride much differently. Since I knew I got all excited at the beginning last time... this time I took my time. We weren't in one of the very first heats. We were in heat 8. I didn't even attempt to follow anyone else's pace. I just set my own warm-up pace and enjoyed the ride... I was feeling great when we got to the bridge. I downshifted and went right up the ramp!!! As soon as I made it up the ramp, I knew I would make it the rest of the way. It's still a decent climb for me, but I just kept pedaling. I looked at the view and truly enjoyed where I was and what I was doing. And... I was actually passing people. Trust me, many others were also passing me. LOL!!

As I was climbing, I started to notice a couple of girls in pink tops way ahead of me. Over time I could tell I was gaining on them. When it started to get harder, I just kind of watched them and kept pedaling towards them. I wasn't really trying to catch them. It just gave me something to focus on and follow... Eventually I caught up to one of them and she was really struggling, but we were really close to the top, so I started chatting with her and encouraging her. When we got to the top we celebrated and she said "I don't think I would've made it without you." Ahhh...that totally made my day!!

Here's a picture I took from the top of the hill. Not the greatest picture, but when you stop to think that

I could still breathe.
I could pull out my camera.
And I could take a picture...

This little picture takes on a whole new meaning! (At least it does for me!)

A few miles from the end we met up with Sue!! Yes, it was Su, Sue and Me. We were excited to be able to all finish together! It was a great day and a great ride and now??? Now I can look at that bridge and feel pride in my accomplishment.

Here's Su and I after the ride...with that Beautiful Bridge behind us. Unfortunately you can't see the part we climbed, but you can see the nice little descent we got to enjoy. :-)

Simply Irresistible

2010-08-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

I made this video in May and never finished it. Ooops. The good news is that I actually did the whole thing by myself so hopefully I'll be quicker about filming, editing and posting videos now. I need to do another one quick...before I forget how to do it. LOL. Josh is patient...but I'm not sure how many more times he'll answer my 10,000 questions.

Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book Blog Hop!

2010-08-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to our Close to my Heart New Product Blog Hop! Over 40 Fabulous Close to my Heart Consultants are celebrating the upcoming release of the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book by giving you a Sneak Peak of some of the great products available in the new Idea Book starting September 1st!

If you have come here from Karen Norman's you are on the right path!

While we have had the Workshops on the Go for a whole year now... this is the first time they have been pictured in the catalog!! Soooo excited. Now you can read all about the kits and see what's included in your idea book!

Here are a few items I made with the leftover pieces from the Olivia Workshop on the Go. (first I created the featured layout, an alternate layout and then I used what was left to create more fun projects.)

Now "Hop" on over to Lori Blehm's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some fun crafting ideas and see the great new Paper Packs and My Acrylix Stamp Sets!

The Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book

Goes Live on September 1st!

My Creations CD Holder Tutorial

2010-08-25T12:46:00.000-07:00

I don't know who the original genious is that came up with this idea, but I heard about it from Bren Yule and immediately loved it!!!

Basically you create a pocket, by glueing three sides of the internal pages and then put a cd in the pocket! What a great idea. It's a perfect way to have a little memento from a trip or a special occasion and a back-up of photos from your computer too?

Or... Do you create a year in review cd/dvd? What a fun way to store your annual dvd/cd?

The ideas are endless. Please be sure to leave me a comment if you use this tutorial to create one of your own. I'd love to share your creation and link back to you!

Ok, so let's get started!

You start with a 6x6 My Creations Memory Showcase

I covered the pages with paper from the Passages Level 2 Paper Pack

Create a cut-out so that you can see where the cd is.

I started by tracing the Circle Template 2 from the pattern DVD for the Wishes book. You could look around your house or stamp table for something round that is similar in size.

I wanted to make sure that my cut-outs lined up perfectly, so I cut through both of the inside pages at the same time...which left me with some jagged edges. You could avoid this by cutting through one page at a time or by using an exacto knife. The scissors bite into the pages because of the odd angle. You'll understand what I'm saying as soon as you try to start cutting. ;-)

Thankfully I had the awesome finishing files handy so I just used them to finish off the edges and sand away the rough edges.

Now that you have your opening cut, it's time to glue the pages together. You'll need a strong adhesive. Please note you need to raise the tape up a bit higher on the bottom or the cd will fall to the bottom of the pocket and you won't be able to see it in the cutout.

I used a wider than usual adhesive tape on this one so my pocket ended up being really snug. Learn from me and use something a little more narrow!

Now it's time for the fun part!! You can embellish with a few photos that are included on the cd. Add quotes or sayings...whatever your little heart desires. On this one I decorated it with pictures from our beautiful Sedona bike ride and then put a cd with the rest of the pictures in the pocket. It's a fun memento for someone that went with me on that trip...hmmm.... I wonder who's getting some happy mail. (assuming I finally go to the post office and mail it!)

Salads for Crops

2010-08-17T13:18:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of big project designs, but nothing is finished so no photos... What is a girl to do? Why not share some of my favorite salads that have appeared at our monthly crops? My customers not only create amazing scrapbook pages and cards, but they also "create" in the kitchen.. Yummy!!!

Please forgive me if I mess up any of the recipes. This is what I remember. Feel free to correct me in the comments.

Jessica's Fruit Salad
Fruit cocktail
Cool Whip
A couple of tablespoons of dry pudding mix

I fell in love with Jessica's salad and have changed and adapted it a million ways. I've used vanilla and banana pudding mixes. I've also created it with fresh fruit. I've added chopped bananas. And now that I'm writing this I'm wondering if it would be good with lemon pudding...hmmm... I've also used sugar free pudding and fat free cool whip. Turns out great everytime. Easy Peasy and yummy!

Patty's Creations
Ok, Patty is the salad queen. She puts together the most amazing ingredients and it always tastes good! She has brought us oriental salads, chicken salads, green salads..... One of my favorite ideas that she shared is....
Chop up your cucumber, bell pepper, celery, carrots, etc. and put it in a dish with your dressing. Then just add to your salad each day. Yummy! No need to bring an extra container for dressing. It's already mixed in.

Crop Stop Salad
Years ago I went to a Crop Stop Crop and the hostess made a yummy salad with ...
Bowtie Pasta
Chopped Chicken
Dried cranberries
Vidalia Onion dressing

To die for!!!!

Barbie's Creations
And then there's Barbie... Oh my... Barbie made us THE most delicious chicken salad on Saturday. I never did hear what she put in it, but this is generally how the conversation goes every single month:

Me: Barbie, your __________ is delicious
Barbie: Oh, it's just stuff I had on hand that I threw together.

There never seems to be a "recipe," She's just one of those amazing cooks that knows what to put together. Maybe someday we can coax her to share a couple of recipes. She also makes incredible potato soup. Yummmmm

I've only highlighted a few fav's here. So don't be hurt if I didn't mention you. Maybe I'm saving it for a future issue of foods Dawn loves at crops. LOL.

So tell me? What is your favorite summer salad? Let's have a virtual crop with a Salad Potluck. What are you bringing?

Triple Play - National Stamping Month

2010-08-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

Celebrate your love of stamping by using stamps to embellish the three mini albums in our exclusive National Stamping Month kit, Triple Play. With inks, stamps,albums, and pre-cut accents for stamping,you’ll complete all three albums in a jiffy. Since each album has its own color scheme, all three are unique and ready for many different kinds of photos. Make one for yourself and two to give away—if you can bear to part with them!

In honor of National Stamping Month, you can get huge discounts on the Triple Play kit when you purchase My Acrylix® stamps from your wish list, or get it free when you host a qualifying Gathering or become a Close To My Heart Consultant.

Here are five ways to get this outstanding mini album kit: (Note: We’ve saved the best for last, so be sure to read all five!)

1. Buy the Triple Play kit for $29.95 US.

2. Purchase $25 in My Acrylix® stamps and get the Triple Play kit for just $15.

3. Spend $40 on My Acrylix stamps and get Triple Play for only $5!

4. Host a Gathering with sales of $300 or more and get Triple Play FREE!

5. Join Close To My Heart as a Consultant and get the kit FREE!

National Stamping Month is always fun, but this year you’ll get three times the excitement with Triple Play!

*Qualifying stamps set purchases exclude Stamp of the Month sets, K-size custom stamps, and Workshops on the Go™ stamp sets. Tax and shipping/handling may apply. Offer valid for customers and hostesses August 15–September 30, 2010. Offer valid for new Consultant enrollees September 1–30, 2010. Limit one discount-priced Triple Play kit per order per customer. Offer valid while supplies last.

$2, $4, $6, for 8 Days... Who do we appreciate....

2010-08-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

Close To My Heart is having an AMAZING sale!! For 8 days, starting August 4th, you can take advantage of some great deals on my website. Stickease $2, Level 1 Paper Packs $4, Level 2 Paper Packs $6 (selected items only...)

FYI - These items are also on our retired list, so if your favorite is here, or if you have been waiting to purchase some of these... now is the time!!!

X7045A My Reflections Vintage Travel Level 1 $ 4.00

X7045C VintageTravel My Stickease $ 2.00

X7056A My Reflections Discovery Level 1 $ 4.00

X7060A My Reflections Heirloom Level 1 $ 4.00

X7060B My Reflections Heirloom Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7061A My Reflections Floral Impressions Level 1 $ 4.00

X7061B My Reflections Floral Impressions Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7061C Floral Impressions My Stickease $ 2.00

X7062A My Reflections Laid Back Level 1 $ 4.00

X7069A My Reflections Just Chillin Level 1 $ 4.00

X7069C Just Chillin My Stickease $ 2.00

X7070A My Reflections Simple Pleasure Level 1 $ 4.00

X7070B My Reflections Simple Pleasure Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7070C Simple Pleasure My Stickease $ 2.00

X7071A My Reflections Best Friends Forever Level 1 $ 4.00

X7072A My Reflections School Zone Level 1 $ 4.00

X7072C School Zone My Stickease $ 2.00

X7073A My Reflections Abundance Level 1 $ 4.00

X7073B My Reflections Abundance Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7073C Abundance My Stickease $ 2.00

X7075A My Reflections More To Adore Level 1 $ 4.00

X7075B My Reflections More To Adore Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7075C More To Adore My Stickease $ 2.00

X7076A My Reflections Sonata Level 1 $ 4.00

X7076C Sonata My Stickease $ 2.00

X7077C Sweet Harmony My Stickease $ 2.00

X7078A My Reflections Cutie Pie Level 1 $ 4.00

X7078C Cutie Pie My Stickease $ 2.00

X7079B My Reflections Rough n Tumble Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7079C Rough n Tumble My Stickease $ 2.00

X7080A My Reflections Route 66 Level 1 $ 4.00

X7080C Route 66 My Stickease $ 2.00

X7081A My Reflections Majestic Blue Level 1 $ 4.00

X7081B My Reflections Majestic Blue Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7081C Majestic Blue My Stickease $ 2.00

X7082A My Reflections Expedition Level 1 $ 4.00

X7082C Expedition My Stickease $ 2.00

X7083A My Reflections Let's Get Together Level 1 $ 4.00

X7084A My Reflections Floral Tapestry Level 1 $ 4.00

X7085A My Reflections Everlasting Level 1 $ 4.00

X7085B My Reflections Everlasting Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7085C Everlasting My Stickease $ 2.00

X7086A My Reflections Caprice Level 1 $ 4.00

X7086B My Reflections Caprice Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7086C Caprice My Stickease $ 2.00

X7087A My Reflections Enchanted Level 1 $ 4.00

X7087B My Reflections Enchanted Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7087C Enchanted My Stickease $ 2.00

X7088A My Reflections Free Spirit Level 1 $ 4.00

X7088B My Reflections Free Spirit Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7088C Free Spirit My Stickease $ 2.00

X7089A My Reflections Lifes Delights Level 1 $ 4.00

X7089C Life Delights My Stickease $ 2.00

X7090A My Reflections Silhouette Level 1 $ 4.00

X7090B My Reflections Silhouette Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7090C Silhouette My Stickease $ 2.00

X7091A My Reflections it’s a Guy Thing Level 1 $ 4.00

X7091B My Reflections it’s a Guy Thing Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7091C it’s a Guy Thing My Stickease $ 2.00

X7092A My Reflections Good Times Level 1 $ 4.00

X7092B My Reflections Good Times Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7092C Good Times My Stickease $ 2.00

X7093A My Reflections Sweet Pea Level 1 $ 4.00

X7093C Sweet Pea My Stickease $ 2.00

X7094A My Reflections Paper Garden Level 1 $ 4.00

X7094C Paper Garden My Stickease $ 2.00

X7095A My Reflections Boom-Di-Ada Level 1 $ 4.00

X7095B My Reflections Boom-Di-Ada Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7095C Boom-Di-Ada My Stickease $ 2.00

X7096A My Reflections Blue Ribbon Level 1 $ 4.00

X7096B My Reflections Blue Ribbon Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7096C Blue Ribbon My Stickease $ 2.00

X7097A My Reflections Game On Level 1 Kit $ 4.00

X7097B My Reflections Game On Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7097C Game On My Stickease $ 2.00

X7098A My Reflections Sarsaparilla Level 1 Kit $ 4.00

X7098B My Reflections Sarsaparilla Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7098C Sarsaparilla My Stickease $ 2.00

X7100A My Reflections Perfect Day Level 1 $ 4.00

X7100B My Reflections Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7100C Perfect Day My Stickease $ 2.00

X7101A My Reflections Magic Moments Level 1 $ 4.00

X7101B My Reflections Magic Moments Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7101C Magic Moments My Stickease $ 2.00

X7102A My Reflections Notebook Level 1 $ 4.00

X7102B My Reflections Notebook Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7102C Notebook My Stickease $ 2.00

X7103A My Reflections Aspen Level 1 $ 4.00

X7103B My Reflections Aspen Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7103C Aspen My Stickease $ 2.00

X7104A My Reflections Evensong Level 1 $ 4.00

X7104B My Reflections Evensong Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7104C Evensong My Stickease $ 2.00

X7105A My Reflection sEmporium Level 1 $ 4.00

X7105B My Reflections Emporium Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7105C Emporium My Stickease $ 2.00

X7106A My Reflections Unforgettable Level 1 $ 4.00

X7106B My Reflections Unforgettable Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7106C Unforgettable My Stickease $ 2.00

X7107A My Reflections That’s Amore Level 1 $ 4.00

X7107B My Reflections That’s Amore Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7107C That’s Amore My Stickease $ 2.00

X7108A My Reflections Daydream Level 1 $ 4.00

X7108B My Reflections Daydream Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7108C Daydream My Stickease $ 2.00

X7109A My Reflections Stardust Level 1 $ 4.00

X7109B My Reflections Stardust Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7109C Stardust My Stickease $ 2.00

X7110A My Reflections Back Country Level 1 $ 4.00

X7110B My Reflections Back Country Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7110C Back Country My Stickease $ 2.00

X7111A My Reflections Moon Doggie Level 1 $ 4.00

X7111B My Reflections Moon Doggie Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7111C Moon Doggie My Stickease $ 2.00

X7112A My Reflections Animal Cookies Level 1 $ 4.00

X7112B My Reflections Animal Cookies Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7112C Animal Cookies My Stickease $ 2.00

X7113A My Reflections Tinkerin Level 1 $ 4.00

X7113B My Reflections Tinkerin Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7113C Tinkerin My Stickease $ 2.00

X7114A My Reflections Bella Level 1 $ 4.00

X7114B My Reflections Bella Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7114C Bella My Stickease $ 2.00

X7115A My Reflections Jingle Level 1 $ 4.00

X7115B My Reflections Jingle Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7115C Jingle My Stickease $ 2.00

X7116A My Reflections Sweet Home Level 1 $ 4.00

X7116B My Reflections Sweet Home Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7116C Sweet Home My Stickease $ 2.00

X7117A My Reflections Grace Level 1 $ 4.00

X7117B My Reflections Grace Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7117C Grace My Stickease $ 2.00

X7118A My Reflections Twitterpated Level 1 $ 4.00

X7118B My Reflections Twitterpated Level 2 Paper Packet $ 6.00

X7118C Twitterpated My Stickease $ 2.00

*Available August 4-11, 2010; while supplies last

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

2010-07-31T18:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!! If you came here from Brae's blog, you're on the right track.

This month we are featuring D1424 Something Splendid (set of 13 stamps).

Stamping Tips:

The large flower featured in this set is a "base and shade" stamp, meaning you can stamp the base in one color and then stamp the the shade in a deeper tone to add depth and detail.

Sometimes it can be a little tricky to figure out how to line the stamps up so here's my tip. Place two blocks side by side. Remove the stamps from the carrier sheet and place one on each block, being careful not to shift the angle of the stamp. If you place both images on the block similarly and pay attention to how you angle the blocks when you stamp, it will make it much easier to line up the images. (Hopefully that makes sense... maybe I need to may a video?

Next up on the hop is Nancy Brown. Head on over to see what beautiful work she came up with...

Wishes Project - It's Back!!

2010-07-29T10:43:00.000-07:00

I bet you thought I forgot about the dear old Wishes Project.... I didn't really forget, I just got unorganized!! If you've been following closely, you might notice that I skipped a few....ooops... I'm pretty sure I actually made all of the cards. Some of them might have been on my convention boards. I know I sent one to corp when I applied to teach... I plan to go through my photos and figure it all out soon, but in the mean time I need to start getting them posted!!

So without further ado.. here is Number 22 Simple Expression and Number 23Three In A Row.

Supplies used:

Splendor Paper Pack
C1407 Hot Diggity Stamp Set
Topiary and Spring Iris Ink

All the Scrappin Ladies...

2010-07-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Had a great meeting with my team last night. I shared all the bundles of product I earned by teaching at convention, we talked about all the cool things that are coming soon, chatted, ate, created and had fun!

Soooo...I'm a closet dancer...LOL.. Love to dance. Grew up taking tap, ballet, jazz. Cheered in high school... I routinely dance around my house and am addicted to So You Think You Can Dance. Love it!!

Imagine my excitement when there was a little dancing at the CTMH convention! First we were treated to the adorable dance in the youtube video below - All the Scrappin Ladies.. And then they set-up the wii at the end of banquet and we played Just Dance. Too fun!! I made a fool of myself and loved every minute of it. It was fun to see a whole room of women doing the dances I routinely do in my living room.

Zippidee Artwork

2010-07-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo! It's like Christmas at my house right now...except it's hotter than any Christmas I remember! As much as I wanted to open my bundles from convention, I just couldn't. I had to stay focused on my workshop. I opened the top and pulled out one stamp set to use as a giveaway, and then quickly closed it back up lest I be tempted.

At convention I taught "But Wait, There's More" and it was all about the Workshops on the Go (WOTG). I love, love, love the WOTG and use them every month with my customers so I shared some ideas about how to organize, promote and use the WOTG.

I didn't have enough new products to complete the six boards I was assigned AND create some items for my table so I used the Zippidee WOTG. Here are a couple of the projects I made with the materials I had left over after creating all of the workshop projects.

We eat a lot of peanut butter at our house.... I used this jar for the raffle tickets at my workhop, but I'm thinking about turning it into a bank to save for convention next year since it is at the Disneyland Hotel!!!!! So exciting!! (Obviously I need to fix the lid a bit... it didn't travel too well and I didn't notice until I looked at the picture...oops!)

Next up... I used the My Creations Memory Showcase (6x6) to create a cd holder (detailed pictures and tutorial coming soon!). What a great way to share a cd of photos with someone you traveled with... or to keep a back-up from your computer!

And since I was going with the Mickey Mouse theme, I decided to put together a little treat bag and goodie that could be used at a party.

Supplies Used:

G1011 Zippidee Workshop on the Go Kit
C1406 Hit the Spot (to make Mickey Mouse)
Z2105 Black Stamp Pad
Z2116 Cranberry Stamp Pad
Z1162 Foam Die-Cut Numbers
Z1263 Bitty Sparkles
Z1195 My Creations Memory Showcase (6x6)
Red Sparkles are in the new catalog starting September 1st!

My box is here...

2010-07-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

My box is here and I'm gonna take some pictures

hey la, hey la, my box is here...

(Sung to the tune of My Boyfriend's Back and You're gonna be in trouble...)

Ok, so I'm typing this early in the morning and technically my box won't arrive until sometime later today when I'm at work, but I've had this silly little song rolling around in my head. I guess I'm excited to get my convention artwork back, eh?

And as if that wasn't enough excitement for one Close To My Heart consultant, my new product is on it's way too! It's going to be like Christmas at my house soon.

Thank goodness I have a few things to keep me busy while I'm waiting.

Take pictures of artwork tonight
Bike Ride tomorrow
Finish prep and goodies for Saturday's workshop
Saturday I'll be hanging with my buds at my workshop
Sunday is church and hopefully I'll edit a couple of videos I shot
And then Monday, Monday, Monday... hmmm...maybe I'll play with goodies on Monday....

And now here are a few random pictures from DC... first up... a totally unattractive but fun picture of me on the plane with my buddy Gail! We took about five of these photos. LOL What can I say...we were bored and we were on a plane for a VERY, VERY, VERY long time... (we spent about two hours on the runway waiting to take off. Joy!)

My good friend Heather was so sweet! I pointed out the totally decadent kettle chip creation on the Cadillac Ranch menu so she ordered it and forced me to try them. (friend or foe...hmmm... LOL. I got a taste and didn't eat the whole plate so I'm thinking friend!) Oh my!! They were delicious. And check out the "wedge" salad in the background. I do believe that is a whole head of lettuce. LOL.

Sunset in National Harbor... I'm directionally challenged and all I could see is water so I guess the sun sets over the water on the East Coast too. LOL

The tour bus driver for one of the tours our roomies did, suggested an inexpensive organic place to eat. Since sandwiches were $9 at the hotel, it was quite refreshing to get a burger and fries for less than that!! And it was all organic too. Organic does mean low calorie, right? I got my burger wrapped in lettuce so I could have some fries. Of course some of my table mates tried to say that since the fries were fried in olive oil they were low-cal too...hmmmm...

But seriously, my burger was absolutely delicious, so if you visit National Harbor, check out Elevation Burger.

The Washington DC Bike Ride

2010-07-14T14:55:00.000-07:00

Biking the Mt. Vernon trail sounded so peaceful and fun when I found the info on the internet. What a great way to see DC. 18 miles? Easy, peasy.... Well little did I know that DC would be overtaken by a record breaking heat wave with high humidity. Thankfully my buddies and I were dedicated to the idea. Dedicated or Crazy...hmmmm.....

We took a shuttle over to Old Town Alexandria and then walked down King Street to the bike shop. Our first clue that this was going to be a difficult ride should've been when we were way too excited about going into a Walgreens for a few minutes because it was air conditioned.

A few blocks after hopping on our bikes, we turned onto the trail and it was absolutely beautiful!! I can only imagine what it would look like in the fall. It was a nice, easy ride, but the heat was really working us!

At one point we stopped at a map to see if there was someplace nearby to stop, get out of the heat and get something to eat. A local rider stopped and suggested that we head over to the National Horticulture Society, pick up some water and turn back! Yep, it was so bad that a complete stranger told us it was time to turn back. :-)

We met James at the Horticulture Society and he escorted us to their kitchen and hooked us up with ice water. He invited us to stay in the a/c as long as we needed and shared a little of the history of River Farm.

After we cooled off we headed back and found that....it was all downhill. We practically coasted the whole way back to the bike shop. Once we turned the bikes in, we had just enough time to grab a bite to eat before we took the water taxi back to National Harbor.

It wasn't quite the ride I had pictured in my head and I would've loved to go all the way up to Mt. Vernon...but there's not much you can do when it's 104 degrees and you're on the verge of heat stroke... I'll have to save the rest of the trail to ride another day.

Convention Fun

2010-07-13T11:05:00.000-07:00

Hi there everyone. Now that convention is over I can give you a little peek into what my life was like for a while.... Some of you already know that I was one of 32 teachers selected to teach at Extravaganza at our Convention in Washington DC. It was a huge honor and I loved every minute of it! But it did mean that I was a little busy for a while...

My class was called - But Wait, There's More and it focused on the awesome Workshop on the Go Kits. I shared tips on how to use the kits, how to promote it to your customers, how to run the workshop and other little tips that I've learned along the way.

I was sent two new WOTG kits, some accessories and some My Stickease and I had about two weeks to create six boards. I told you...it was a whirlwind.... In addition I chose to take some of my Zippidee samples to use in my booth so I had to keep all those projects top secret for a while too....

So now, I'm home and I'm ready to post, but my artwork is in transit between DC and here... ooops... While I'm waiting for my goodies to arrive, I'll share a few pictures from convention...

Here are all the goodies I received for FREE at convention except the cool bag. I forgot to put it in the picture! We received all 8 of the new stamp pads, several stamp sets and a small sampling of accessories to use on our create and take projects.

Here's a picture of the artwall outside my booth. I was even able to bring the sign home on the airplane! Josh saw the sign and said "how did you get that home?" It was a little awkward, but the flight attendants were very helpful and let me take it on the plane!

I always forget to have someone take a picture when I teach so this year I put my camera front and center on my table so I could ask someone to take a picture during my first class!

And here are pictures of my first class...

And here is a goofy picture with of me and Corina (one of my roomies)... Hello Kitty, Heart Shaped Glasses....could it get any better than that?

Stay tuned, I have more to share... including pictures from the hottest bike ride I have ever gone on? Who rides a bike in record breaking heat with high humidity? Me. It was a little insane, but we survived and now I have bragging rights.

July SOTM Blog Hop

2010-06-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

Next up on the hop is http://carol-scrappininparadise.blogspot.com/

I can't even believe I did it again.... My mind must be in another world... or at least another city.... could it be in Washington DC?

I've been trying to tie things up at work so I can start vacation, it's fiscal year end, my stamp table is full of Zippidee samples... and I forgot the SOTM again. I suck!!

Hopefully I can get this fixed in the morning....

Las Pulgas to Dana Point - Take 2

2010-06-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Friday we repeated one of my favorite rides. Looking back, I'm not sure why it was one of my favorites LOL. Here are a few things we remembered from the first time we rode it.

I rode the first half of the ride with a flat tire.
My chain came off on the rolly polly hills that seemed like they'd never end (I'm sure it was because I wasn't shifting properly)
We rode up "Mt. Everest" (Joshua's nickname for the never ending hill on a crazy busy street)
Tony thought we were going 20 miles round trip. Surprise, surpise.. it was 20 miles one way!
I was at the back, working my butt off to just try and keep sight of everyone else.

I guess I loved it because I pushed myself farther than I thought I could go AND it was breathtakingly beautiful. (I didn't take enough pictures to do it justice)

Well, my memories of the ride this time are quite different; even though there was a mix-up about the route and we ended up on the crazy, busy street on the first half of the ride. At least it was downhill this time. Joshua quickly gave us a new route home. No way were we climbing "Mt. Everest" in traffic again. LOL.

This time....

It was easy peasy!!
Most of the time I was relaxing and hanging out with our newbie riders.
Instead of pedaling like a mad woman to keep up, I was spinning easily and reminding myself to slow down!
Those rolly polly hills that worked me over last time? They were so much fun! My favorite part of the ride!
Instead of being thrilled to be done... I was kind of sad it was over.

Next week we're planning a 14 mile ride along Highway 56. 14 miles? I'm thinking I might have to do it twice.

Time will pass,no matter what....

2010-06-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm going to try not to start every post with "I'm sorry I haven't been blogging...." but I'm going to do it one more time and hopefully get my act together from here on out.

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging but... I haven't been creating. Oh the shock and horror of it all. Every day I start the day out with high hopes of hanging out in my stamp room when I get home from work, but somehow I never quite make it. I'm blaming my summer work schedule and a little bit of stamping burn-out. I created a bunch of fun stuff for future workshops that I can't share quite yet.....

For the most part, working 4/10's has been wonderful. I'm kind of liking it and I'm starting to wonder if it will actually be a tougher transition when I go back to my Monday-Friday gig. I made a promise to myself that Friday's would be my fun days. I am not grocery shopping or cleaning house or sitting around the house or running errands... I'm bike riding and hanging out at the pool and socializing and it is oh so fun!!! It reminds me of the summer vacations of my youth.

I'm also totally loving my new fitness level!!!! I know I'm always talking about the many bike rides I do and everyone is probably sick to death of it, but here's the thing... At first I really had to work hard on those bike rides. Even my little mini-midweek rides would kick my butt. My legs were sore. My back was sore. I was exhausted. I would come home from the ride and want to go right to bed. I was done for the rest of the day. Now? Now I come home pumped up and excited. I walk the dog. I do the dishes. I clean up the house. I actually have a hard time sitting still; which is yet one more explanation about the lack of artwork around here. ;-P

On Friday we rode 21.5 miles, did a little workout in Candace's pool and relaxed in the jacuzzi and then bright and early Saturday morning we hit Mission Trails and did a little two hour hike. It was absolutely amazing. I am generally not the happiest hiker. I'm usually miserable. I like the idea of it and I like it when I'm done, but I used to struggle through it so it wasn't all that much fine WHILE I was doing it... but guess what... I totally loved every minute of it! I wasn't huffing and puffing and trying to catch my breath. I actually enjoyed it. Hallelujah!! I can hardly wait to go on another hike.

And so...my faithful readers... you may have to be a little patient with me. I'm probably going to be mixing in some fitness stuff and some cycling stuff and some artwork stuff... while I try to find balance again, but hey... if you stick with me I know good things are in store!!

I have some fun artwork that I will be posting starting July 9th!!

I am leaving for Washington DC in two short weeks! I'll have fun pics to share from conference and of course... A bike ride in DC. hahaha!

And I hope, hope, hope... that I can inspire a few of you to make a little fitness time for yourself. Try something new. Do a little bit every day. Time will pass whether you do it or not. The difference is that in two years you could be the one LOVING what you can do.... or you can still be wishing you had the energy to do something different.

Jackpot June - Goodie Box Day!

2010-06-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today is a Goodie Box day! Today you get a box filled with popular products at 60% off of retail value. Plus, you get a slammin' deal on shipping and handling. Purchase today's Goodie Box for only $100 (retail value over $250)!

To purchase, head to my website, then click on "Shop Online" then "Jackpot June". Have fun goodie boxing!

Catch Up Post

2010-06-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ok... I'm back... I think... Whew... It's been a whirlwhind the last few weeks. I had planned to keep up on the blog, but it just didn't happen. Here's a little catch-up post to get back on track.

1) I'm now working 4/10's, which I love way more than I thought I would. It's a bit of an adjustment. Mostly I don't feel like getting on the computer when I get home. Sorry about that!

2) I've officially lost 20 pounds! Woo Hoo!! And that means I got to open my 20 pound gift I bought for myself...ahead of time. Remind me not to do that again. It was pure torture. I thought I'd never get to open it. I bought the Wii Walk it Out game, which I am loving! There was a point during my little plateau that I thought... "maybe if I opened my game and played it, I'd magically drop that last pound." But I'm a little rule follower so I waited.

Here's a minus 20 pound picture.

3) Since I have Fridays off this summer, my buddies and I have planned some bike rides! Last Friday we rode 35 miles. It was a little chilly in the beginning and extremely windy...which made a generally easy ride, a little bit tougher. But hey, it busted my plateau so it made me happy, happy, happy!

This is when the wind was at our backs and we were flying down the strand...oh so fun...

Candace at the beginning of the strand

4) I'm working on my Zippidee samples so hopefully I'll have some artwork to post soon!

June SOTM blog hop!!

2010-06-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

If you came here from Judy's Blog, you're on the right track.

Ooops, I had a big project due yesterday and I totally forgot to post my SOTM creation!!

I hope my fellow blog hoppers will forgive me!!!

In the meantime, here are the links to keep the hop going until I get my act together.

Next up on the hop is Lori Leng

Man... I better come up with something good to make up for this!!!!!

CTMH Splendor WOTG

2010-05-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

Woo Hoo... Look who's been scrapbooking...with pictures even!! I've been creating the samples for the Splendor Workshop on the Go and I am loving this paper pack and stamp set!!!!!! I even pulled out some old pictures of my "baby boy" and scrapbooked them. How about that!! Kind of impressive if you ask me. LOL.

Here's a sample of the additional layout that is featured in the Workshop on the Go flyer. You can see Close To My Heart's version on my website here. Shh... I like mine better. I swapped the flower paper with the green paper and used the adorable striped paper that comes in the kit instead of stamping the flower border. Lovin it!! It's so easy to personalize and adapt the layouts to suit your own creative eye!

And check out this great picture I took on our bike ride Monday... I'm trying to learn how to ride and take pictures at the same time. I love this picture of Su and Candace!!

It was my first day back on my bike after my brutal cold! I felt surprisingly good and cranked out two laps. I seriously thought about doing a third one but there wasn't enough time...maybe I can do three today!