Freshly Sharpened Pencils

Call me weird, but I love the smell of freshly sharpened pencils almost as much as I love the smell of a new of paper pack from CTMH.  Am I the only one out there that does?   Okay maybe I am, but nothing reminds me more of Back to School than a row a freshly sharpened pencils.  For this week's Back to School Challenge at Heart 2 Heart, I paper pieced a row of pencils, using Sunflower, Creme Brulee, Grey Wool and Blush Card Stock.  I added Outdoor Denim B&T Paper, Cranberry Cardstock and added accent apples to give it some color. 

The cover and sketch from Card Ideas for Paper Crafters  that I ran across at http://www.moxiefabworld.com/ inspired me to create my "pencil" card. 

Happy Back to School!!!

~Amy

Crop Night and Other Info

Crop Night

Thursday, August 25 at 7PM

Bring your own projects and enjoy an evening of crafting and fun.

Gets lots accomplished and use any of my stamp sets, inks and/or Cricut supplies. 

Please bring a friend.  

Message me if you would like to come so I can make sure I have enough table space for you 

 Scrappy Creations Club will be meeting on Thursday, September 15 at 7PM.  

Will be creating beautiful cards and/or a layout using the new Dreamin' Paper Pack seen below. 

Class prices range from $15 (Basic Kit)-$25 (Basic Plus Kit)  

Let me know by Friday, August 26 if you would like to attend this class.  I will send you more info via email.  You will need you to prepay for the the class by the beginning of September.   

 Don't have time to attend the crop or the class, Shop Online.  The new catalog is available to order online and has a great selection of new papers and embellishments, including the new Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge.  Plus there are some amazing deals to take advantage of.  Purchase August's "Witchy" Stamp of the Month for only $5 when making of a purchase of $50 dollars or more. 

 In addition receive a Free Bonus Alphabet Stamp Set when you purchase the Stamp of the month. 

 Spend $20 more for a total of $75 and receive this cute "Double" Stamp Set....FREE.  That is and exceptional value in which you will  receive $40 plus dollars in Close to My Heart Exclusive Acrylix Stamp Sets, Free.  Don't Miss Out! 

Online ordering is now more affordable than ever.  Shipping rates are now equivalent to when ordering directly from me.  Hostess Rewards may now be collected on orders from one person.  Hostess rewards cannot be collected from online orders, so let me know if you plan to order $150 or more so I can help you earn FREE hostess rewards.  

Hope so see you this coming Thursday.  Love Crop Nights! Love to see everyones' projects!
~Amy

Scrappin' it Old School

Remember this old CTMH paper pack, "Birthday Bash"?   Last week's Heart 2 Heart Challenge entailed creating a card, layout etc. centered around a child's birthday.  I immediately thought of this paper pack I purchased ages ago and never used.  The colors went right along with my son's Construction Birthday Party, so I was inspired to finally create a birthday layout for him. 

I wanted to add a dump truck on the first page, but didn't have any stickease, cricut cartridges or anything simple to use that had a dump truck.  I was tempted to just put a picture of his birthday cake in the corner  (see picture here), but was up for a challenge, so decided to try to make one myself.  I was very pleased with how it turned out.  I found a simple line drawing of dump truck at http://www.crayola.com/ and simply paper pieced it together.  I also used some simple stickease stickers to add some more dimension on the wheels and cut small strips to add to the truck.  Not too shabby!

  I also used colorful paper clips to add some ribbon embellishments.

Flags cut out of stickease labels.  Did you know cornstarch works perfectly to remove the "sticky" off the back of stickease stickers? 

Glad to have used one more paper pack in my stash!  I am on the road to recovery.  No longer am I a "hoarder", but a "user" of my supplies!  Thanks Heart 2 Heart for giving me the inspiration....even though I am a week late.  ;o)

~Amy

"Racoons"

Wanted to share one of my recent Studio J layouts and a fun idea for a summer science experiment.  Earlier this summer, the kids and I "grew" butterflies.  It was a great experiment and so fun for the kids to watch them grow from tiny caterpillars to butterflies.  It happened so quickly that the kids didn't loose interest and were so excited when the butterflies finally emerged from their chrysalis'. 

 Unfortunately, my camera broke mid-butterfly growing and I had to make due with a cheap disposable camera.  You can definitely tell the difference between the "good" digital pictures and those taken on the disposable camera.  Even though my pictures weren't perfect, I still wanted to make a layout to document this fun experiment and to remember the fun we had studying them.  The point being, even with bad pictures, the layout still looks good and will be fun to look back on regardless.  I have enjoyed Studio J, because it has allowed me to scrap and document memories immediately.  My journaling has more detail and contains fun antidotes that I might not remember if I waited.   

~Amy

Fun with Flowers

I have had a fun time this week using the bright and flowery Sophia paper pack from CTMH.  It is funny how inspiration hits you and this week it seemed that each project led me to the next project.    

First I made this 3-D "R" for my daughter's room.  I found this cute "R" at Hobby Lobby several months ago and have been wanting to embellish it using the Sophia papers.  I love the fluffy flowers and although you can't really see it I added some "bling" to give it a little sparkle.   

 Next I saw this sketch on this weeks Heart to Heart Challenge.  Makes sure to go to the link and check out all the other awesome artwork inspired by this sketch. 

 I liked those flowers from the "R" so much I thought one would make a nice anchor for those 3 stripes. 

 The flower is a nice 3-D embellishment, but not too bulky that it can't be flattened and mailed in a card.  I used this tutorial by Fancy Melissa to create this flower.  The tutorial is for a carnation.  I decided to just use the first layer of the carnation and add a button for the center.   

After creating that card, I then had the idea to make the stripes stems of flowers and flip the card.  At first I was going to use the "fluffy" flower, but that was a little too much so I create simple circle and button flowers.  The hand stitching really helped to finish this card.   

I am always happy when inspiration hits and like how my cards and "R" turned out.  It was a good day for crafting!  

~Amy

Last Chance....

To make room for new paper packs, Close to My Heart will be retiring 8 paper packs at the end of July.  Don't miss out on purchasing these gorgeous papers!  Simply click on the names to browse and shop for the papers you like.  Hurry you have until Sunday, July 31st before these papers will no longer be available.  

  Magnifique

 Mistletoe

 Miracle

 Olivia

 Sweetheart

 Hooligans

 Bliss

 Wings

In addition to getting these beautiful papers, don't miss out on July's MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK deal.  Spend $50.00 or more and chose one of the below items for only $1.00. 

Make sure to check back August 1st as Close to My Heart unveils it's 2011 Fall/Winter Idea Book.  Lots of great new products to check out!

~Amy

I May Have a Problem!

I have a confession to make....I am totally addicted to Close to My Heart's online scrapbooking site, Studio J.  It is so quick and easy and it is mess free.  I love that whenever I have a creative urge, I can simply sit down at the computer and create a simple layout within minutes.  Don't get me wrong, I still love traditional "hands on" scrapbooking, but sometimes when you just have the need to scrap and not a lot of time this is perfect.  

I just ordered a few layouts and thought I would share my favorite one I created from pictures taken several years ago.  I love these pictures of my daughter out playing in the dirt with her cute little strawberry hat and have had these photos printed out ready to go on a layout for a long time, but just have never gotten around to it.  I always had an excuse; the layout wasn't right for the pictures, it didn't have the right colors or there were just too many other important pages to put together instead of this one.   This layout only took me about 45 minutes to create on Studio J.  I am so glad to have this page now and will happily remember this happy time for years to come.     

 I really think Studio J has made me a more confident scrapper.  I have always been nervous to add embellishments or stamp directly on the layout and/or pictures and have always avoided it and just made simple layouts with not a lot of pizazz.  Now, not so much.  Thanks to Studio J, I can play around with my embellishments without fear of ruining my pictures, thus making it easier to do when actually working with paper and photos.   Check out the cute "stickease" flowers I made with ribbon stems.  I think they add the perfect finishing touch to this layout. 

Studio J has really taken my scrapbooking to the next level.  Not only have I made many more layouts than I ever would traditionally, but I have become better at combining colors and patterns, as well as clustering and layering embellishments.  I just can't stop creating with Studio J! 

Tip of the Day:  Don't be afraid to try something new.  I was a little leery about trying online scrapbooking, because I love creating with my hands and didn't think the quality of the printed page would be equal to paper pages.  I was wrong.  They blend wonderfully and just are so easy to create.  I am helplessly hooked!

Please feel free to create a free account and try Studio J for yourself.  Simply click here to get started. 

~Amy

It Doesn't Get Much Better!

Last week Close to My Heart had it Annual Convention and unveiled it's new products for their Fall/Winter Idea Book.  I did not attend, but I have been chomping at the bit to get the new Idea Book.  I have been able to see the new products online and can't wait to get my hands on them. 

One product I am super excited about is the CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Package, which includes an exclusive Cricut Cartridge with more then 700 images including fonts, coordinating shapes and 3-D elements (flowers, gift boxes/envelopes), plus 3 D-size stamp sets and 3- 9 x 12 inch chipboard dimensional elements.  Check out the video below for more info. 

I can't believe that two of my favorite paper crafting companies have teamed up to provide an awesome package that compliment each other so well.  I can't wait to try it out.  This cricut package will be available for purchase August 1st. Simple visit my website to see and order all the new products, or click on the link on the right hand side of my blog.  New products will not be available until August 1st.  Mark you calendars and check back then.   Happy Shopping!

~Amy

P.S.  The CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy would make a great gift for YOU.  Book mark my website (mnmscrapbooking.myctmh.com) and share it with your husbands, family etc.  What an easy way for them to shop and buy you something truly awesome. 

You are my....Inspiration

I am really literal when it comes to inspiration.  I am a huge "scrap lifter" and a lot of my creations are copies of some form of direct artwork.  I like to keep a journal/scrapbook (nothing pretty) of ideas and sketches I come across.  I steal from magazines, blogs, card stores etc.    Tip of the Day:  Keep a journal of ideas you can flip through, when you need inspiration.  Cut out pictures from magazines, sketch ideas for cards and layouts, draw ideas for embellishment clusters etc.  Don't rely on your memory to help you when you lack ideas.  Flip through your idea journal and you will be inspired instantly. 

This weeks Heart 2 Heart Challenge is to create something and share your inspiration for it.  For this card, I was inspired by the cover of Scrapbooks Etc., July/August Edition.  Can you guess what the inspiration was?  

You guessed it the cute paper pieced sunshine on the layout. 

~Amy

Make the Most of Your Paper Pack

"Scrappy Creations" club, don't let your paper pack go to waste!  Use ever last bit of your paper by completing one or more of these projects in addition to those created at club.  You may obtain written instructions tomorrow at class, and make sure to stamp any images you may want to take home with you, so you can finish your projects at home. 

This is an additional layout from Fanfare's Workshop on the Go.  

 Simple Cupcake card.

 More cupcakes.  Notice the how the words flow around the scallop cut circle.  My Acrylix stamps are flexible and can be manipulated to be straight or curved. 

 A few very simple, but summery ice cream cards. 

 Blow out those candles!

The optional cards are very simple and can be embelished with ribbon, buttons and brads.  The paper patterns can be changed and mixed so you can create your own look and use whatever paper you have left.

Enjoy and don't let your paper sit unused!

~Amy