Isabel Title Page

Shhhh!  My older daughter's best friend turns 15 soon, and I am creating a scrapbook for her and including some supplies to help her get started scrapbooking.  Here is the title page that I made for her album:

I began with a pre-printed page from the (You guessed it!) Dream Pop paper pack and a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1.  Here's the plain page first:

I embellished the layout with washi tape, shimmer trim, pearl opaque flourishes, Just Blooms Flutterbyes, and  the Pixie glitter alphabet.

Of course I'm going to link this up to H2H's creature feature challenge with those darling butterflies!

H2H Challenges: Creature Feature (#2)

This Dream Pop paper is so fun that I had to make another card for the H2H creature feature challenge!  The only reason I could cut up the owl paper is because there's another identical sheet in the pack, so I cut the corner to fit the front of my standard-size card.

The sentiment is from the 4 My Friend stamp set, stamped in Slate.  I added Licorice Opaques to the eyes and a few pink Sparkles to the flowers.  The seam binding knot was the perfect finishing touch for this simple, fun card.

Have you checked out the H2H blog yet?  Did you know our challenges run ALL month long?  Hop on over to check us out!

H2H Challenges: Creature Feature (#1)

Now that the weather is turning warmer, it's time to share your "critters" with us at Heart 2 Heart Challenges with a creature feature!  Share whatever kind of creature- real or imaginary- that you'd like.

Since I broke into my cool Close To My Heart Dream Pop paper pack, I had to use this fun birdcage print. Doesn't the Honey pair well with Slate?  Can you see the embossed chevron pattern on the card stock?  Each sheet of card stock in this special pack is pre-printed with a graphic design. (Is pre-embossed a word?)  This card sketch is from the Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 1 how-to guide.  I stamped the bird cage and chain with slate and then finished off the front with some seam binding ribbon.

The inside also uses the same Hello Tweety stamp set.  Both are stamped in Slate: the sentiment in 1st generation and the birds in second generation.

Be sure to link up YOUR creature feature before this month ends at the H2H blog!  Also, if you'd like to get your pack of the awesome Dream Pop paper, visit my website.

Dream Pop CTMH Special Offer

This month only, in honor of National Scrapbooking Month, Close To My Heart is offering the really cool Dream Pop paper pack!  The month is already half over, so don't delay and get yours today.

Click HERE for a flyer with complete info, and then click HERE to start shopping.  Be sure to add your order to my "mystery hostess" card class on 5/18!

Also, anyone who orders the Dream Pop special from me is invited to a special {free} scrapbooking workshop on 6/13 @ 6:30 PM.  Bring your basic tool kit and your Dream Pop paper pack!

H2H Challenges: May Flowers

Hopefully spring has sprung where you are!  We are waking up to temps in the 30s which is unusually cold for this time of year, but the flowers are blooming.  This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is all about flowers.  We want you to share their beauty!  My flower project is my Mother's Day project:

Everything was made with the CTMH/Cricut Artiste cartridge and the Chantilly paper pack.  Isn't that flower box adorable?  It was so easy to make!

 Finally, here's the card that I made for my Mom.  

Now it's your turn- visit the H2H blog to share you floral creations.

SOS May Challenge: Three Patterned Papers Plus Rub-Ons

Happy Mother's Day!  Photos and projects will be coming soon.  Meanwhile...

The May Scrap Our Stash challenge is to use at least three different patterned papers from different collections and some rub-ons!  I dug deep into my stash for these photos from Spring Break 2009 when we took the girls ice skating for the first time.  They found it was harder than they thought it would be!

My photos definitely determined my color choices.  The green patterned paper came from Close To My Heart's retired Olivia paper pack, the purple from CTMH's Hooligans paper pack, and the blue from a Colorbok pack.  The green letters came from a different Colorbok pack.  For my embellishments, I used some Around the Block chipboard flowers (It was Spring Break, after all!), some Queen & Co. Sassy Sequins & brads, and some of CTMH's (retired) Nature's Ambiance rub-ons.  It was super fun to mix & match!

Don't be afraid to try your hand at mixing & matching your patterned papers.  It's a really great way to Scrap (y)Our Stash.  Be sure to link up your layout HERE by May 29!

Snow 2013 {Layout Share}

Have I mentioned how much I love Studio J?  It is so easy to upload photos, choose the number of photos I am using to pick my layout sketch, choose a paper pack, and then get started!  Here are some photos of our February snow.  Fortunately, it is warming up here just a little bit.  There's no snow in our forecast, but I sure am sick of this wet, cold spring we've had.  I'm looking forward to summer!

Traditional paper and glue scrapbooking will always be a part of my life too, but I love the ease of creating (and sharing!) Studio J layouts.  You can get started HERE if you'd like to give Studio J a try.  It's free to play!

P.S.  In addition to our big remodel and having only 7 days left of school, my laptop is giving me trouble!  I can't upload photos to Blogger, so I will be back to share when I can.

May 2013 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Pinwheel

The May stamp of the month, Pinwheel, is so much fun!  Don't take my word for it: check out this month's blog hop to get tons of great ideas!  If you've already started the blog hop, then you should be arriving here from Jill's blog.  After checking out my card, click her name to go to Beth's blog next.  Are you ready for the fun?

This card came together quickly using a sketch from the Make It from Your Heart how-to guide and the CTMH Cricut Ariste cartridge.  I love the spring-y colors of the Chantilly paper pack!  To jazz it up, I used silver shimmer trim as the pinwheel stick instead of the stamp in the set.

 

Thanks for spinning by!  Now check out Beth's creation next!

Heart 2 Heart Challenges: Tuck It In

The final April challenge @ Heart 2 Heart is to "tuck it in."  With graduation quickly approaching (5/17!), I couldn't help but think of cards that can easily have a check or cash tucked into them.  Here's what I created:

 I used my Cricut Artiste cartridge to cut everything on the front, starting with this cool card base from Crystal Blue card stock (p. 57, cut @ 3-3/4").  The banner is from the Artiste collection stamp set, Birthday (p. 58, cut @ 1").  The adorable hot air balloon is part of the April stamp of the month, My Sunshine* (p. 70, cut @ 2-3/4").  The clouds can also be found on p. 70 (1" and 3/4" cuts).  I chose the Gypsy and Honey color scheme to match our school colors.  The "grass" is a strip of Chantilly B&T that I hand trimmed to mimic the banner.

 The two stamps on the inside are from the Artiste Kudos stamp set.  At graduation time, I always think about Dr. Suess's book, Oh, the Places You'll Go! and the hot air balloon reminded me of that too.

Now, can you tuck it in?  Since the end of the month is tomorrow, we've extend this week's deadline to Saturday, 5/4.  All the other April challenges will close tomorrow at midnight.  I hope you'll join us at H2H!  Be sure to check out our Design Team's inspiration for you this week.

*If you'd like to see a layout with the adorable April stamp of the month, click HERE to check it out.

Washi & Shimmer Card Class 5/18

Wondering about the new trend, washi tape? Come play and create with washi and CTMH's shimmer tape at this fun card class on Saturday, 5/18 @ 2 PM. (I'll even show you how to make faux washi tape!) You'll create a set of darling summer cards as you explore these cool products and the Dream Pop paper pack (only available in May). The $5 class fee will be waived with a minimum $25 order. Please RSVP by 5/15, and I'll give you directions to my temporary location (near my house). If you can't attend, you can still get a card kit. Contact me for more info.

Also, anyone who purchases the Dream Pop promotion in May will be invited to a special, free scrapbook workshop (6 two-page layouts!) on 6/13 @ 6:30 using your Dream Pop pack. Contact me for more details and save the date!

For Always Harry Potter

In my family, we are all big Harry Potter fans.  I began reading the books because they were all my students could talk about (and I finished the 6th before the 7th was finished, so it killed me to have to wait).  My older daughter has also read all the books, and our younger has tackled a few.  Of course we love the movies too, so when our friends also wanted to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Island of Adventure, we knew were going!

We didn't let something like a little rain stop us from enjoying our adventure.

Can you believe that this is the elegant For Always collection? You can use it for so much! Ruby and Honey are great matches for the Gryffindor colors. Did you know that in Studio J you can use any of our 40 beautiful colors?

Also did you happen to notice the "stitched" lightning bolt by the title?

Thanks for sharing our adventure with us!

Disney Layout Share & Challenge Combo

Last week was spring break, and since our older daughter was going on a cruise with a friend, we took our younger daughter and a friend to Walt Disney World.  I am loving Studio J because I was able to scrapbook our trip this week.  It is so easy to use!  The Giggles & Grins collection was the perfect match for our photos.  I'm linking up my layouts to the Frosted Designs travel challenge and the Lasting Memories challenge #134, childhood memories.

If you have lots of digital photos and want to scrapbook, then you are going to love Studio J.  All you do is upload your photos, select your collection (paper packs), the number of photos you plan to use on your layout, and begin creating.  Can you believe that in less than a week's time (more like a few hours worth) I have the pictures from my trip scrapbooked?

 The flower festival and all the topiaries were really cool!

 We camped at Disney's Fort Wilderness campground:

I even made a layout for my daughter's album (all the above go in our travel series):

If you want to give Studio J a try, just click and go!  You only pay for the layouts or JPGs that you buy.