Jessica's layout

Here's a layout I made for my niece Jessica that I am going to frame and give to her for her birthday! I used paper from "Notebook" level 2.

Christmas cards

Christmas mini album

September club projects

At September's club we will be making a card folio and two cards to go in it. The card on the left is made with paper from the Bella kit and the other card is made with paper from Moon Doggie.

August club project

For August club we will be making a card folio (two examples are posted in the top picture) and two cards to go in the folio! The card on the left uses paper from the "Bella" paper packet and uses the stamp set "Buttoned Together." The card on the right uses the August stamp of the month set "It's Your Day."

Christmas in July

I love Christmas! Every year I send out about 60-70 handmade Christmas cards to family and friends. The secret: I make them all year! Really there's no other way! If you wait until Nov. to sit down and make your cards you will be overwhelmed and just give up and go buy them, vowing to yourself you will do it next year!

Here are 6 Christmas cards I made using the 3 kits CTMH sells right now that are Christmas patterns (I'm sure there will be at least one more Christmas pattern in the fall catalog so be on the lookout!); the top card is from the Evensong kit, the second card is Aspen paper and the last card is Everlasting. Another secret for making a big batch of cards is to use stickease instead of a lot of stamping on cards-this will save you lots of time plus you will still have darling cards. All of these cards use minimal stamping and I've used stickease instead. What I do every year is buy a level 2 paper packet and the coordinating stickease; then use one of our card pattern books (Originals or Wishes), pick out 3-4 patterns max. and make your cards in bulk.

One thing I loved about CTMH when I found them was that they have stickease, stamps and embellishments that match their paper. This saves you tons of time and makes it much easier to make layouts and cards. For embellishing Christmas cards you can use ribbon, rub ons, sparkles, buttons, brads and we also sell fabric Christmas labels that are darling! You can then stamp a sentiment on the inside of your card and you're done!

Ok.....it's July now, do you want to send out handmade cards this Christmas? If so, get started now and use the tips I've shared, make a few every week and by the time late Nov. rolls around you'll have all your beautiful cards done and ready to send out!

Heart felt Whimsy die-cuts artwork

The HeartFelt Whimsy Die-Cuts are brand new to the summer 09 catalog and are one of my favorite new embellishments! You get 3 11x11 sheets of a variety of die cut shapes (flowers, birds, buttons, butterflies, swirls, arrows, hearts, etc) in 3 different colors (buttercup, garden green, and tulip). These die cuts are very easy to work with and you simply add them to your layouts with glue dots or glue! Because they are felt they add texture to your layout as well.

There are also several neat things you can do to alter them. On the top card here, I adhered the butterfly to my card then added several dots of glue with a glue pen and sprinkled prisma glitter over the glue to give my butterfly some neat accents! On the second card with the flowers, I swiped the edges of the die cuts with white paint from the distressing kit to give them a distressed look (just let them dry about 15 min. before you adhere them to a card or layout). I also added sparkles to the middle of the flowers to give them pop as well!

You can also paint the entire surface of a felt die cut to give it a matte effect or if you want to change the color of your die cut, simply put white paint (this comes in the distressing kit) into a craft jar, add a couple of drops of re-inker in the color you want to use, mix the paint and re-inker, and then paint your die cut the color you want it to be with one of the brushes that comes in your distressing kit (again let it dry about 30 min. before you adhere it to your card or layout).

These embellishments are so much fun to work with! Have a blast experimenting with them!

Chicago trip!

Here are some photos from the day trip we took this week to Chicago. We started at the Hancock building and went up to the observatory which is on the 90th floor! It's really neat there because they give you headphones and this ipod-like player. You go to different windows around the observatory and put the code into your player and then it tells you what you are looking at and also tells you about Chicago history; they have a separate player for kids, we loved it!

After the Hancock building we went outside and walked up and down Michigan Avenue (the famous "Miracle Mile") to see the stores and also visit my son's favorite place on this Earth-the Lego store! You should have seen him in there, he was in heaven! He was totally enthralled, kind of like me when I'm at the CTMH convention (like a kid in a candy store!) He bought 4 lego sets and promptly put them all together when we got home that night! If he's not an architect or engineer someday I'll be shocked!

We ended up dining at the Cheesecake Factory! One of my favorite restaurants! Ahhhhh....I just love, love, love Chicago :)

Card and sketch of the week

This card was made using paper from the "Good Times" level 2 paper packet. I stamped the word celebrate in twilight and rimmed the edges with the Sweet Leaf ink pad. I also used 3 pewter brads.

Layout and sketch of the week

This is a layout done with paper from "Magic Moments" level 2 paper packet and stickease. The swirls in the corners are rub ons!

Card and sketch of the week

This card uses paper from "Let's Get Together" level 2 paper packet. I just love this paper-it reminds me of summer!

"Bella" card

May Stamp of the Month cards

May's stamp of the month is called Be Yourself. I made the card on the left from paper from the Emporium paper packet and the card on the right uses paper from Silhouette creative basics collection.

New Summer products!

Here's a sneak peek of some new products from our Summer 2009 Idea book/catalog which goes live May 1st! The papers in this catalog are gorgeous! The first picture is a double page layout made with new paper called "Back Country." I used the level 2 paper packet and stickease. The second picture is a double layout made with "Bella" paper and under that are three cards made using "Bella" paper-isn't that paper beautiful!!!!!!!!!! The thank you card with the big T is made with paper called "Tinkerin'"and the congratulations card is made with paper called "Moon Doggie." The last baby card is made with paper called "Animal Cookies."

Card and sketch of the week

I made this card using paper from the Creative Basics Emporium collection. The scalloped edge was made using a corner rounder (the spring idea book tells you how to do this technique, it is listed on page 27); then I took a hole puncher and punched holes in the scallops. The word "Hello" is from the "Gracious Greetings" stamp set and is stamped in Vineyard Berry ink; then I outlined it in liquid glass to make it shine!

Card and sketch of the week

I made this card using one of my favorite paper packets, That's Amore! The word friends is a rub on from the Love Letters rub on set in chocolate. The circles and hearts are dimensional elements from the Fresh Shapes collection; I colored them using a sponge that I inked with blush, tulip or chocolate (just dab your sponge on the ink pad to pick up color and then dab it on to your dimensional element); attach the colored dimensional element to your project with a glue dot.

Easter pictures

We had a fun Easter this year! My parents visited with us and brought a darling cake for Patrick. He colored eggs with his friend David and then on Easter morning opened his gifts. The bunny was good to Patrick this year, he got 3 lego sets (legos are his favorite thing on Earth), 2 new Ninetendo DS games and a DVD of the movie "Marley & Me."

Tickled Pink!

Stardust layouts

As soon as I saw this paper in the catalog I knew I had to get it to scrap pictures of Patrick's 8th birthday party! This paper is from Stardust level 2 paper packet plus the Stardust flexi labels that coordinate with this kit!

April stamp of the month card

Here's a card I made using the April 09 stamp of the month set "World's Best Dad." Cardstock color is Dutch Blue and the striped paper is from the Free Spirit paper packet. Ink colors are dutch blue and cocoa.