Another quick layout

Another sad layout for me to complete ...I am really missing our girl time! And our kids time, too! Anywhoo, this layout is kind of a companion to the last, simply because they are only a handful of single page layouts I have ever done and these two will go in the album facing each other. The girls spoiled me for my birthday last year and we all went to Cloud 9 for tension massages! It was extraordinary! My first ever massage, and hopefully not my last.

Sketch: PageMaps book
Paper: CTMH Life Delights
Quickutz: Stardust Grand, Flourish 24, Daisy 36
Embellisments: CTMH Baby Pink buttons and lots of chocolate inking.

I miss you Jodi!

My friend Jodi moved away recently and although Tara and I have kept up the Friday night tradition, it is just kind of sad when I scrap a layout of the three of us :o( This is from Taras birthday a couple years ago when we all went to the Melting Pot for dinner. The sketch is from the PageMaps book although I cheated a little, okay alot! Jodi, actually did the exact same layout awhile back and I really liked it. so, when I came across these pics in my own stash, I knew just what to do with them. I even had Jodi send me a pic of it so I could get it just right. I changed the slightest few things, but it was sooo good to begin with. Thanks Jodi, I miss you!

Sketch: PageMaps book
Paper: CTMH More to Adore
Title: Quickutz Paige Mini
Embellisments: CTMH Baby Pink Brads, Bigger Brads, and Buttons. CTMH Chocolate RicRac and Brads. Quickutz Flowers, I have no idea which ones. The biggest flower is a 4x4 flower that looks like a propeller and I rolled the ends of the petals around a paint brush to make it smaller and give it dimension.

So Easy!

Another layout for my Cruise Album. These layouts have been so much FUN to do, no pressure, no deep journaling, we just decided we wanted to go for Cmas last year, saved up, and went! The really cool part is, I feel like I am re-living the trip all over again as I scrapbook it!

These photos were of the day we boarded the ship and were leaving out of the Port of Tampa, FL. Carnival Inspiration was the name of our ship. I used Quickutz Blossom Grand and Maddie Anne Classic for the title, a few CTMH blooms and brads, finally some of my new CTMH RicRac, and got to use up some more of that Calendar Pack paper and some old B&T. Such a simple layout but perfect for what I was working on, I actually copied it from one of my best friends Jodi, who copied it from Simple Scrapbooks Mag...isn't that funny! Come to think of it, I think the layout started out as a one-page 8.5x11 layout and now we have taken it over. My other best friend Tara actually used the same sketch on her layout as well! I need to get them to post their layouts here too so you can see how different but alike they all turned out. So funny, I love when that happens!

Happy Fourth of July!

My mommy would be so proud of me! I made this dress for Hailey for the festivities on the fourth! Happy Independence Day!

Beach Beauty

These are some more papers I got at Scrapbook Market, they are the Making Memories Tropical Collection. The patterned papers, flowers, and stickers all came together. When I got out these papers and pictures I was so excited by the colors and the fun pictures, but... then I was stumped with the sketch. I couldn't find any sketches that would do it justice, I even googled the paper collection and checked the manufacturers website and nothing! And duh! what about using my own brain! I rely on my sketch books and websites so much that I get discouraged sometimes when I actually have to use my brain :o) But, I have to admit that I am so happy I challenged myself to come up with my own sketch! I actually even managed to incorporate stickers! into this layout. Of course they did come with the kit and were adorable! I also used stickles for the first time and fell in love! The glitter definitely is not an everyday thing, but they were just what this layout needed! BEACH is CTMH Dimensional Elements inked with Heavenly Blue and beauty is Quickutz Spicy Chicken cut from CTMH Bubblegum CS ... by the way I always forget and call this font Funky Chicken ;o)

I wish I were here now...

Oh, how I wish I were back in Mexico right now, soaking up the rays and snorkeling in the crystal blue waters and actually not sweating my butt off! This layout was so much fun to do, it was actually scraplifted from a combo of places including the PageMaps book and the Quickutz Gallery! I know, another using a plain background but it so beautiful in person! That colonial white textured cardstock is my new staple! It looks so much better in person, too! I believe the pp is BoBunny, the ribbon is American Crafts, the title is Quickutz Maddie Anne and Moxie, and of course the cs, flowers, buttons, and brads are CTMH.

I (heart) ScrapbookPictures!

Just read that sbpics is having a sale until July 7th... 25% off all squares! Ya know 2x2, 3x3, 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, 8x8, 10x10, all the way up to 12x12. So if you are a digital scrapper, now is a great time to print some of those layouts and add them to your albums. I love square prints from some reason, I guess to my eye they seem captivating because they are unusual or something, idk. But this sale is a great excuse to go do a few layouts that require some square prints ;o) They haven't posted what the sale will be the other weeks of the month, but it looks like it will change each week! Cool!

Oh, and I just noticed they seem to have added a bunch of new print sizes including 4x5.33 which is true size to digital camera proportions! Have I mentioned how much I love ScrapbookPictures!

Easy Pleasy :o)

I was so happy to get these pics back from www.ScrapbookPictures.com because the colors were just awesome! I had them printed at Walgreens and the colors were distorted and just looked awful and they had looked so nice on my computer, so I sent them off to sbpics with a little note to please adjust the colors as they see fit. As usual, they did a fantastic job!

This was a quick layout to do, just what I needed clean and simple to keep the focus on the photos, but really fun to put together. The base is White Textured CS with just one sheet of pp for a little color and all the matts are Watermelon for a little pop! Man, I really seem to be favoring Watermelon lately, must be all the summer & spring layouts I am catching up on. The font is Quickutz Merry & Bright and the flowers are CTMH of course.

eGgCitEd......to be scrappin again!

It has been so long since I have scrapped, I am sooo happy I actually got to play today! These are some papers I picked up at Scrapbook Market on our last visit to Tallahassee and the title is CTMH's monogram dimensional elements. At first, I was a little hesitant to use all the different fonts together (i guess it goes against my concrete-sequential brain and the part of me that scraps with a T-square!) but I really like the way it turned out. I was in a hurry to post and the ink was still drying so they are varying shades of Watermelon. The base is our Colonial White textured cardstock (hard to see in the photo) and I am loving having all these textured versions of our white core already fabulous colors with a second shade on the back! The sketch is from PageMaps March2006 Newsletter Archives.

Online Somewhere

Hi, I just wanted to let you all know I added a few more layouts to my gallery over there --> they are at the end. You may have actually seen them before, but I am trying to organize all my artwork. I realized last night as I was falling asleep that I have this one layout in particular that I know I finished but don't remember seeing it in my gallery... part of being "finished" in my mind is uploading it somewhere. The other issue I am realizing is that I upload my layouts to too many places! I would really like to have them all in one place, so if God forbid, something happened to my albums I would still have a digital version online somewhere. The problem is that online somewhere is all over the place! So, I am taking advantage of this rainy day to organize all of online somewhere! So, my question is where do you upload/frequent/comment on others' layouts?

Everyone's Favorite Sale if almost over!

For those of you that might need a little reminder about the special this month (just 6 more days!)...

I cannot believe June is almost over already, but through June 30th, all of the My Acrylix Stamps are Buy 2, get 1 FREE*! (*—a savings of up to $22.95) Everyone's favorite sale is back!!! Here are the details...the 2 stamp sets purchased must be at full retail price (no stamp of the month, or clearance sets off my website) and the FREE set must be of equal or lesser value (and cannot be the Stamp of the Month, Clearance Sets, or "E" size sets) Of course the sale ends at midnight on the 30th, so get shoppin' and email or call me if you have any questions or would like to know what block sizes go with what sets, etc!

Whatchya doin' this summer?

We will be spending our Tuesday mornings in the cool movie theater with a free small popcorn watching a free movie...every Tuesday & Wednesday! If you don't already know about it, go check it out here --> Regal Free Family Film Festival. You get the free popcorn on Tuesdays thanks to the Regal Crown Club Card, which is also free to sign up for!

Inspiration in the oddest places

So, oddly enough I saw this page on the front page of a JoAnn's flyer and though I liked the lines, but it is definitely not my colors! So, I tore out the image and stashed it in my sketch binder, until I came across these pics of my friends and I eating some chocolate cake batter! I am so glad I held onto this! I really liked the way mine turned out!

12 cents prints!

Just a heads up that www.scrapbookpictures.com has 12 cent prints through June 18th! And metallic prints at regular prices from June 19th - 30th! If you haven't created an account there, you should! They have the best prints, the best color, unlimited storage space, no fees to sign up or maintain, and super cheap prints and shipping. Only $2.00 shipping, no matter how many prints your order or what size they are! On my last order, I noted that the colors were a bit off and asked them to correct it how they saw fit...needless to say the prints came out beautiful and they didn't charge me any extra! Plus the customer service is awesome, a super nice Dad & Son team! I love supporting the small fish! I am off to go order another hundred prints or so! ;o)

I Won!!! I Won!!!

I cannot believe it...I won one of the three $100 Grand Prizes from the Quickutz Register & Win Contest! All I did was register on the QK Community and upload a layout! And yesterday I got an email telling me to pick out my prize! Of course, I got another alphabet... Mary Jane Grand! I cannot wait to play with it! Not to mention the customer service was top notch! If you haven't register, you should go do it now and see all the other talented QK artists out there. There are some very creative and sweet people on the boards! Go check it out!

Introducing CTMH TV!

Did you miss seeing Close To My Heart’s recent appearances on PBS? Or would you like to see them again? Well, it’s now possible! We’re making web videos available that demonstrate fun tips, techniques, and product highlights as seen in video segments from the PBS show “Scrapbook Memories.” Every few weeks we’ll add more episodes from “Scrapbook Memories” or PBS’s “Paint, Paper, and Crafts,” so you and your customers can watch them at your leisure. (Don’t forget the popcorn!)

To see these informative and entertaining web videos, simply visit my MyCTMH website and click on “CTMH TV.” Happy viewing!

Coloring Chipboard

So, I was just reading another blog that I frequent and she said the most time consuming part of her layout was cutting the cardstock to cover her chipboard letters for the title. So, I wanted to share a little tip for those that have not tried it. Save yourself some time and just take your chipboard letters and rub them around on the face of your stamp pads. So much quicker than cutting cardstock and gives a much more vivid color. Also, if you don't like colored fingers you may want to wear gloves, but I wear my colored fingertips as a badge of creativity ;o) Also a great way to "own" more colors...ie, if you don't have cranberry cardstock (but do have the ink pad) and wanted your accents to be cranberry on your layout, you can use your ink pad to color your chipboard letters and embellishments. Voila!

It's Back!

It’s back! Buy two My Acrylix® stamp sets and select a third stamp set of your choice FREE!* Whether you’re a long-time crafter or brand-new stamper, now is the perfect time to grow your collection of My Acrylix® decorative stamp sets! From June 3–30, 2008, when you purchase two stamp sets at full retail price you will receive a third stamp set of your choice FREE*—a savings of up to $22.95

We're Home!

So, for the last 9 days we have been traveling and I mean alot! We visited Seaside, Oregon...Victoria, BC, Canada...and Seattle, Washington! We had an awesome time but are sooo happy to be home, even if life is very chaotic right now. I will have plenty more to share later, but just wanted to share this pic for Granny, who really needs a little Hailey fix ;o)

Happy Mother's Day!

I just wanted to say Happy Mothers Day to my mommy! She is such an amazing person, so talented, creative, caring, smart, and beautiful both inside and out! I love you so much mom! And Hailey loves you more than I think she can express in words, but is shows in her face when she talks to you on the phone or sees you in person. Her face lights up about her "Granny"! So, I hope you enjoy your day and wish we could be with you, but I think you understand ;o) Go take a drive with your top down, let your hair blow, and let the sun shine on your face! We love you!

And Happy Mothers Day to all the other Mommy's out there! Or, as Hailey spells it... Happy Momee's Day!