Seasonal Expressions 1 Blog Hop

Have you seen all the cool new products in the Seasonal Expressions Close To My Heart Idea Book supplement?  I am not sure that I can choose a favorite!  You won't have to either as you follow this blog hop for tons of great ideas!  (If you're already hopping, then you've arrived from Brenda's blog.  If you're starting here, thanks!  You'll visit Tammy next.)

When I saw the new Regatta Workshop Your Way scrapbooking kit, I knew it would be perfect to scrapbook our recent cruise photos.  I began by creating the three scrapbook layouts and pocket page basically according to the workshop directions.  The kit includes Complements, Puffies, and ribbon!  Then, I began using the rest of the kit for more pages.  The title page, above, is on the back of the "happy place" layout below.

 The "Adventure at Sea" pages use the back of the page above and the pockets from the pocket layout spread.

My pocket layout is almost identical to the guide.

For the "You Are Here" layout, I customized my photos to the basic design.

To make my photos fit the "explore" layout, I added flip flaps to the left page.  Also, I added White Daisy card stock to stretch the pack even further.

Layouts aren't the only thing you can make with the Regatta Workshop Your Way kit!  It includes instructions for 8 cards (requiring additional card bases), and I added a 9th with my scraps.  I used the cute new Beach Days stamp set with the Regatta kit.  For most of the pairs, I created one according to the guide but added watercolor paint to the other.

The Beach Days stamp set coordinates with cuts on the CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge.

 Here's my bonus card.  I had to use that cute octopus!

Thanks for stopping by and hanging with me through the end!  Be sure to leave a comment and then continue on to TAMMY'S BLOG to continue the hop to see more great ideas.

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

H2H Challenge: Frozen

This week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge introduces our Peacock Team, and the theme is "Frozen."  Whether you love (or hate) the movie, live buried under the frozen chill, or are simply dreaming of a frozen beverage, we hope this theme will inspire you to play along!  Since we got the first snow fall of the year on Sunday (that fortunately didn't stick), I sent my photos off to the one-hour lab to create this layout for you.

To create my layout, I decided to use a new sketch from the Regatta Workshop Your Way, but instead of using the new Regatta papers, I chose Zoe for the great Glacier houndstooth and those pretty Sorbet polka dots.

The title and snowflakes were all cut out of White Daisy card stock using the CTMH/Cricut Artistry cartridge.  I dragged out the black snowflake paper from a retired paper pack to match my theme and photos.  If you look closely you can see that I stamped the polka dots from Charming Cascade in White Daisy ink all across the background of both pages.  Here are a few close ups.

If you look closely at the zip strip, you can see where I circled the date.

For the second page, I turned it 90 degrees to better match my photos.

For my final embellishments, I used Glacier and Whisper thick twine and white enamel gems.

Thanks for getting Frozen with me!  Be sure to check out all of the great H2H designers' projects.  I hope you'll join us too!

Live Your Day National Papercrafting Month Blog Hop

Close To My Heart is offering a fabulous promotion this month in honor of National Papercrafting Month: Live Your Day Picture My Life cards!  Join my talented group of blog hop consultants as we share ideas with this pretty product.  (If you're already hopping then you've arrived from Darlys' blog and will visit Jennifer next.)

To maximize these PML cards, I decided to get a start on my 2016 photo-a-day project.  (Last year I commemorated every single day with a photo, and I decided to carry on in 2016.)  Above is my album opener.  (The top right and bottom left will feature family photos from later this year; I'll know when I have two good ones!)  I paired up the Live Your Day PML kit with the Beautiful You PML kit.

I just realized that I flipped the January card for the photo!  January will actually be on the back of the layout- the 2016 side will be on the front!  Anyway, for the top left card, I colored the heart and the flourish with Pixie ink and a blending pen and then traced the arrow with my black journaling pen.  Dream Big is from the retired November stamp of the month.

These cards got a little embellishing from some random Cricut shapes (leftovers from other projects that match this one well) and pink enamel gems.

Here is the back of the title page.  Again, the 2016 card will be on the front and the January card will show on this side.  We had a great New Year's Eve with friends, and actually stayed up until the 1st.

 Here is the next page with photos from Jan. 1, 2, and 3. My goal is to work on this project weekly because I do not have all of last year's photos scrapped (in part because I ordered my pictures monthly and I got overwhelmed).

Thanks for stopping by!  Now go check out Jennifer's project next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

Heart2Heart Challenges: One

It's time to kick off the year with the first Heart2Heart Challenge: ONE.  I was stumped for a bit on what to create and then it hit me!

This hybrid layout started with an Express Collection in Studio J.  I wanted to preserve a funny family story about our then-two-year-old daughter and her favorite song, "Yellow Submarine" (which is on our Beatles 1 CD, hence the H2H tie-in).  I was able to find digital images of the CD cover and Yellow Submarine artwork, but I didn't have a digital picture of our daughter.  I went ahead and created the layout and changed the photo well on the left page into a matte only.

After my Studio J layout arrived, I found a picture that coordinated with the layout.  I added two Cricut shapes for more (handwritten) journaling and then embellished the layout with all kinds of doodads (mostly retired but the red enamel gems are current).

Now the story of "Lo Sa Marie" and our family's love of the Beatles is preserved for all time.

Be sure to visit the H2H blog for lots of inspiration!  I hope you'll kick off the new year and join us with your ONE project, too.

January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Beloved Bouquet

Happy New Year and welcome to the January stamp of the month blog hop!  This month only Close To My Heart is kicking off year with the beautiful Beloved Bouquet stamp set.  If you're already hopping along the blog hop, then welcome from from Darlys' blog.  If you're just getting started, from here you'll go to Gina's blog next...

With all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I decided to create a simple, easy card using a sketch from Make It From Your Heart and the La Vie en Rose paper pack.  This two-step floral stamp makes it so easy to create a beautiful blossom (or bouquet).  I started with the solid base stamped in Pixie and then stamped the coordinating floral outline on top of it in Pomegranate.  I added this piece to the Pixie card stock base and La Vie en Rose black and white B&T.  I made a simple banner with the sentiment and accented it with pink shimmer trim.  A pink epoxy gem and some Whisper thick twine finished off the card.

Thanks for stopping by!  I wish you the very best in 2016!  Please leave a comment before visiting GINA'S BLOG next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

Merry Christmas!

My family and I would like to wish you and yours a very merry, blessed, and peaceful Christmas!

We are spending time offline with extended family to celebrate the holiday together.  May you be surrounded with love and peace today and always!  Thank you for being a part of my life!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today we are celebrating my Mom's momentous birthday in style!  (More on that later with pictures too!)  The festivities began with our 2nd annual birthday spa day  over a week ago for my mom with my sister, sister-in-law, and me.  (Hey, we celebrate birthday SEASON!)

Today I'll be giving her this 5"x7" card, made with the Kaleidoscope Workshop on the Go stamp and the Kaleidoscope paper pack.  (I thought she needed a big card for a big birthday!)  To create the focal image, I worked from the bottom up, stamping the cake plate in Whisper, then the cake layers in Pear, Canary, and Pixie with Gypsy and Canary candles on top.  (I used Slate for the sentiments so they would stand out a little more.  My embellishments include green and pink shimmer trim, green enamel and glitter triangles, and a faceted circle gem from the Kaleidoscope Assortment.

Happy birthday to the best mom I could ever ask for!  May today be as special as you are!

A Few More Base & Bling Necklaces

Here are a few more of the Base and Bling necklaces that my daughter and I made to give to her besties.

We hope that they like them.  They are so fun and easy to make!

H2H Challenges: Gifts from the Heart

We all know it's better to give than to receive, so the final Heart2Heart challenge of 2015 is "gifts from the heart."  We'd love to see what you're making for gifts.  (All of our December challenges run through the end of the month, so you can wait until after the holidays so that you don't "spill the beans.")

This evening my older daughter and I made pendants for several of her girlfriends.  When they are thoroughly dry (tomorrow), then we will add charms (snowflakes, jingle bells, and charms) before sending them to their special someone.  Here they are modeling two of the jingle pendants.

(For some reason the girls wouldn't let me show their faces.)  I would like to wish each of you a very blessed Christmas!  Be sure to check out what all of the H2H Designers have to share with you this week.

CTMH Blog Hop: Stamping Techniques

This month, my group of blog hoppers decided to share some stamping techniques with you!  (If you're already hopping along, then you should have found me from Michelle B.'s blog.  You'll visit Terrie's blog next.)  I wanted to give you some easy gift ideas.  You can take one stamp set and paper pack to create a lovely card set to give as gifts.  For the first cards, I random stamped the flowers from the Sangria Workshop on the Go stamp set on my card bases.  The first cards use the Sangria paper pack (Poppy, Pomegranate, and Eggplant inks) and the second uses the Nevermore paper pack (Eggplant, Slate, and Whisper inks).  When you random stamp, start with the largest image first and work in triangles of 3 images.

For the next cards, I used the vine stamp in a very definite pattern.  There wasn't anything random about the stamping on these cards!  Again, the first picture is the Sangria collection and the second is Nevermore.

Don't you love how changing your color palette/paper pack totally changes the feel and look of your cards?  Though I did use my Cricut for some of the card sentiments, you could fussy cut the pieces also.  I am a huge fan of our shimmer trim since it easily adds lots of sparkle without any bulk.  I used Coral on the Sangria cards and Silver on the Nevermore set.  I also used Poppy thick twine, metallic bakers twine, and silver sequins for some holiday sparkle.

I hope these cards have given you some ideas for some quick and easy stamping techniques and holiday gifts.  Now go see the terrific project TERRIE has to share with us!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

December Stamp of the Month: Candlelight Garden

Welcome to the December stamp of the month blog hop featuring the Candlelight Garden.  (If you're already hopping, then you should have arrived from here from Terrie's blog.  You'll visit Michelle B.'s blog from here.)  I have two very different cards to share with you today.  Both of them use our watercolor paints.

When I saw this stamp set, I knew that I wanted to watercolor the flowers in the mason jar.  I used the Kaleidoscope paper pack and its pretty pastel palette as my inspiration.  To keep my stamped images from smearing with the watercolors, I stamped them in Slate pigment ink.  Doesn't the B&T paper look like flower petals?  In case you can't tell, I stamped the string of lights across the top of the Pear card base and then colored the lights with yellow watercolor paint.  I like how the paint holds its color on a colored base.

The second card features the White Pines paper pack.  You can read more about it HERE if you'd like.  All of the yellow on the card is watercolored.  I used Chocolate pigment ink to keep the images from smearing and paper pieced the votive candle.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope that my Candlelight Garden cards have inspired you to start creating.  Be sure to check out Michelle B.'s blog next to continue the hop for even more great ideas!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.

CTMH Cyberweek Sale!

CTMH is offering a fabulous Cyberweek Sale on 39 different crafty items, just in time to get your holiday craft projects ready for the gift-giving season.  The CTMH/Cricut Artfully Sent collection is included too!  This sale will run while supplies last, Monday 11/30 (11 AM EST) through Friday 12/4 (6 PM EST).  You can order directly on my website or contact me directly.  Also, the planner bundle will be available 12/1.

Z3111 Base & Bling Snowflake Charm—Faux Gold 

Z3112 Base & Bling Jingle Bell—Faux Gold

 Z3135 Base & Bling Snowflake Charm—Faux Silver 

Z3136 Base & Bling Jingle Bell—Faux Silver 

Z3138 Base & Bling Red Bead Charm—Faux Gold 

Z3139 Base & Bling Red Bead Charm—Faux Silver

 Z3180 Picture My Life™ Going Places Scrapbooking Program 

Z3147 Cut Above™ Dapper Giraffe Card Kit

Z2028 Designer Creations Short Stack Album 

Z2036 Designer Creations Slate Paper Bags 

Z2037 Designer Creations Lagoon Paper Bags 

Z2038 Designer Creations Ruby Paper Bags 

Z2039 Designer Creations Honey Paper Bags 

Z2049 Designer Creations Cupcake Box 

Z2050 Designer Creations Takeout Box 

Z2053 Designer Creations Buttoned Bag 

Z1838 5" x 7" Hinged Display Tray 

Z1750 Designed Décor Display Tray 

Z2006 Designed Décor Red Magnetic Chalkboard 

Z2015 Designed Décor Black Shadow Box 

Z2016 Designed Décor Colonial White Shadow Box

 Z1833 My Creations™ Kraft Container 

Z1871 My Creations™ Kraft 3-Ring Album

 Z1953 My Creations™ Journaling Cards Box 

Z1956 My Creations™ Hip Pics Album 

Z3043 My Creations™ Black Mini Book 

Z3044 My Creations™ Kraft Mini Book 

Z3069 My Creations™ Mini Mix Album 

Z3137 My Creations™ Pint-Sized Container 

Z3168 Cricut® Artfully Sent Collection 

Z1476 4 ¼" x 5 ½" White Daisy Envelopes 

Z1477 5" x 7" White Daisy Envelopes 

Z1478 6" x 6" White Daisy Envelopes 

Z1756 3" x 3" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1757 4 ¼" x 5 ½" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1758 5" x 7" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1759 6" x 6" Colonial White Envelopes 

Z1851 Scallop Border Punch 

Z1997 Triangle Border Punch