Reinker Techniques

Somehow I missed the sign up for this month's Close To My Heart Product Spotlight blog hop! The gals who actually are hopping are focusing on reinker techniques. Here's the card I made for my part of the hop. (If you'd like to check out the hop, go straight to Wendy's blog HERE.)

The piece across the bottom of this fall card uses the "cottoned color" reinker technique. Basically, you dab up some reinker with a cotton ball and then pounce it on your project. I used Desert Sand reinker and (non-CTMH) gold. It is very shimmery and pretty IRL.

This card starts with an A2 Desert Sand base with a matte of Sunset B&T. I used three different stamp sets (Love Birds and the retired Grown with Love and Flourished Blessings) and four different colors of ink (Desert Sand, Cranberry, Sunset, and Goldrush).

We are off to our local fall festival today! It has been really great having my cousin in town for a few days, and we hate to see her go. Hope you have a wonderful day no matter what you're doing!

Cute Cupcake Idea

One of the teachers' moms made these cupcakes for her daughter's class. (Do moms EVER get to outgrow doing things for their kids? LOL) Isn't it the cutest?!? A cupcake, chow mein noodles, melted icing poured over the top, pretzel sticks, red hots, mini marshmallows, and a little more frosting... Yummy-ness and adorable-ness all wrapped up in one!

The First Day of School (Layout Share)

We are home this week from school (Fall Break) so I am cleaning, cleaning, CLEANING. There's a reward for my hard work, though, because my cousin (who now lives in Wisconsin) is coming for a visit. I am really excited about it!

This layout is from the first day of school, over eight weeks ago. I actually worked on it the weekend following and then dabbled a bit here and there until I liked the results. (Of course, I saved up ordering until I had several layouts ready. As a Studio J member, I get free shipping once a month on up to 20 layouts.)

STUDIO J TIP: See the banner at the top of the page? They're made of the "tails" of the winner's ribbon My Stickease (that you can see on the lower left side of the right page). It was easy to copy and paste them where I wanted them. Whatever hangs off the page doesn't get printed (just like how you can stamp off the edge of your project). I also "stapled" the top of each one. I didn't not use the precision tool to line them up perfectly exactly, because life just doesn't work that way for me!

{Layout 2011 #66}

H2H Challenge: Storytime! (AKA Journaling on Your Layout)

This week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge is to tell a story on a scrapbook layout (AKA to use journaling on your layout). (And I have to say that if you're NOT journaling on your layout, why are you scrapbooking? If you have to narrate your layouts as someone looks through your albums, what will happen when you're gone?) Okay, maybe I digress, but I guess you could say that I'm pretty passionate about journaling! That doesn't mean, however, that I feel like I am good at it.

For this particular layout, I actually wrote my journaling before I even took the pictures! Our older daughter was leaving for a school trip to Washington DC (10 hours from home) so I posted my thoughts on my family blog. From there, it was easy to incorporate the text with the photos I took of her departure. (She will be home this morning and has had a great time!) Feel free to click on any of the layout photos to enlarge them in your browser.


JOURNALING TIP: Begin each paragraph with the same phrase (in this case, "It's hard for me to believe that..."). Now, of course, your scrapbook would get boring if you always wrote in this style, but it's a fun tip/trick to use sometimes.



If you're interested in the deets of this particular layout (artistically speaking), I made it in Studio J. (She left Thursday evening, I worked on the layout online Thursday night, ordered several Studio J layouts Friday evening, and had my JPEGs delivered to my inbox Saturday! The actual printed layouts will be printed early next week and mailed directly to my door, complete with page protectors.) I used the Discovery kit but changed it up to match my photos better with the addition of the Grey Flannel background and the Vineyard Berry cardstock (both of which I toned down a bit with some virtual sanding). This layout sketch is the members-only "Through the Lens" pattern. Instead of using six photos, I deleted two of them to then create a larger journaling box.


If you have any questions or would like to learn more, just leave me a comment. Now, head to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog to see what all of our design team members have created and to enter your layout. We have two terrific prizes this month! You can find all the design team members and this month's sponsors on my sidebar. Thanks for stopping by!

{Layout 2011 #65}

Scrap Our Stash Challenge Blog

You've probably already heard me mention how much I enjoy the Scrap Our Stash Challenge Blog, because they literally encourage you to use up whatever you've got with some fun challenges each month. This month's challenge is to use a quote on your project.

I was super thrilled when I was invited to join the Design Team! You can see my October challenge project over there today, but be sure to visit often to see all the great projects. You can email your project or project link (details at SOS) and your work will be featured too. Won't you join us?

Today, Little Bit and I are headed to our local Sorghum Festival parade. If you live in the South, then you probably already know what sorghum is, but for the rest of you, sorghum is a cane similar to sugar, and it is used to make syrup (which I do NOT like) that many sop up with a biscuit. The Sorghum Festival is going on this weekend and next if you'd like to join us (but the parade is only for today)! Many of my students (past and present) and friends will be in the parade, so we'll enjoy some hometown goodness on this beautiful fall day.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes! (August Stamp of the Month)

Though August has come and is (long) gone, I had to wait to share this project with you because I entered it into a Close To My Heart consultant contest (but didn't win), so I'm sharing it here and linking it up to the Make It Monday blog too. Once again, I wanted to use the August stamp of the month set, Wicked, beyond its obvious Halloween intentions.

I searched online for shoe templates, and found several, like THIS ONE from Creating Keepsakes (click to download a copy for yourself). I used this slightly different version from Stacey Cohen, for my paper shoes. If you're in a shoe mood, what about these witch shoes from Skip To My Lou? They would be perfect for this time of year! Finally, why not create a pair of baby shoes?

As they say, if the shoe fits, buy a pair in every color! My pink-loving daughter has claimed these for herself, and my blue-loving daughter is hinting at the need for her own pair...

H2H Challenges: Sketch for You to Try

It's time for a sketch challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! Mary has created this one for us to try, so why don't you give it a go? It's easy to play along each week: just interpret the challenge we've thrown down, using some Close To My Heart products, post your project online, and then link it up to the H2H Challenge blog. You have all month to play any of this month's challenges, and we've got another set of fabulous prizes this month, thanks to our two new sponsors!

I was feeling a bit festive for this sketch challenge, so I pulled out the new October stamp of the month, Holiday Magic, and the Believe paper pack. I ended up rotating the sketch to accommodate that adorable stocking stamp. The horizontal stripes are from the "zip strip" (located at the top of each sheet of B&T paper).

I used a Holiday Red button to "hang" my stocking and then had to glitz it up a bit with the addition of Red Glitter Glitz Gel on rows of the polka dots on the top of the stocking. I also added a dot to serve as a "bullet" to highlight the word, celebrate at the bottom right.

If you're up to the sketch challenge, give it a try, and link up your creation to the H2H Challenge blog. The Design Team loves checking out your creations each week. YOU inspire US, so keep the crafty goodness coming our way!

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Holiday Magic (October 2011)

It's time for the October edition of the Close To My Heart consultants' Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We're spreading a little Holiday Magic (and cheer) with the October stamp of the month. If you've already started the hop, then you should have arrived from Melinda Everitt's blog and you will heading to Jen Rubio's blog next.

You may be wondering where the Holiday Magic is with my first card, but those beautiful tree stamps turned upside down look like pennants to me! I had scraps from the Typset paper pack out on my table, so I got to work on this card (which I think fits the Play Date Cafe Challenge 101, Wine, Smudge, Leather, and Parchment, pretty well). The letters are from The Works stamp set.

My second card definitely fits the Holiday Magic theme. You can see the two trees as they were intended, along with the sleigh, snowflakes, and sentiment. Again, I used the Typset paper pack and color scheme, so the trees and snowflakes are Juniper and the sleigh is Vineyard Berry and Black.

Can you see how I tore a piece of Colonial White cardstock to make the "ground." I accent the "snow" with Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel to make everything sparkle.

Thanks for hopping by! Go check out Jen's pretty cards!

The Present 5"x7" Home Decor

This project was originally meant for the current Heart 2 Heart Challenge (Sentiments Only), but then I found out that I couldn't use it for the challenge. Why, you ask? My project is based on a beautiful sketch I found on the Got Sketch? blog (#129). I'm glad I went to the blog itself instead of just reading it my Google Reader (you do use Google Reader, don't you?), because you are NOT allowed to use their sketches in any design team work. Oops! So I whipped out a quick card for my DT project instead and saved this one to show you today.

This frame starts with a 5"x7" base (all of the paper is from the Typeset paper pack). I then embellished to my heart's content, maybe going a little overboard with those yummy Licorice Opaques.

I'm not sure where this little project will sit, but I'm sure it will find a good place in my home. I certainly need a reminder to slow down and enjoy TODAY. It's the only guarantee that we have!

H2H Challenges: Sentiment {Only}

At Heart 2 Heart Challenges, we're getting sentiment-al this week! You have to use a sentiment as your focal image, but no other stamps. For you stampers out there, this week will certainly be a challenge. You definitely need to go see what our talented Design Team and Guest Designers have come up with this week to inspire you!

My card uses the sentiment from The Present stamp set and the Sonoma paper pack. I made nested rectangles to frame my sentiment easily. Since those rectangles seemed a little lost on the Smokey Plum card, I added the strip of B&T to the left side to anchor it and then added one of my leftover "zip strips" (the top of the B&T paper). The floral element is my current fave thing to add to my projects: crumple up several scalloped circles, pierce a hole in the middle, attach them together with a brad, and then smoosh and fluff until you like it. To finish off my card, I added some purple sparkles. The large one completely hides the pewter brad! The metals came from the Pewter Mini Medley accents.

Be sure to visit the H2H blog for some inspiration, then get sentiment-al yourself! You have until the end of the month (Friday!) to link up any of this month's challenges, so there's still time- of you hurry.

Autumn/Winter CTMH Swap: Slideshow

Happy Fall! Here is a slideshow of artwork created by some amazingly talented Close To My Heart consultants! Here are my two cards from the swap:


The first uses the A Holiday stamp set (only $6.95!), the Believe paper pack, and some red Glitz Glitter Gel.






You probably remember this card, but just in case you missed it, here it is again. It features the Key Moments stamp set, Dreamin' paper pack, Just Blooms butterflies, and bronze Glitz Glitter Gel.

Pink Owl Cards

Who says owls can't be pink? At last month's card class, we used this card design, but everyone chose the stamp of their choice from the National Stamping Month special Pair-A-Phrase stamp set. I thought that a pink owl might be cute, and I think that I was right!

My friend Joy embellished her focal image with the tiny flourish stamp and the sentiment with the flourish and stars stamp. Wish I'd thought of that!

(This stamp set is only available through the end of this month. If you haven't gotten yours yet, contact me ASAP! There are so many cute things that you can do with it.)