June Constant Campaign

JUNE CONSTANT CAMPAIGN

I have a great special EVERY DAY this month for you over @ my Close to My Heart webpage.
Bookmark the link and check it EVERYDAY for a NEW fabulous product special available only that day. Two types of offers will be available: FREE items with any single My Acrylix® stamp set purchase (K-size and Stamp of the Month excluded), and loaded goodie boxes for a savings of at least 50% on retired favorites and a few current items, including stamp sets, paper packets, and a wide variety of embellishments. Deals are available for 23 hours beginning at 10 a.m. on the day announced through 9 a.m. the following day or while supplies last. (I suggest checking the site at your leisure, not right @ 10:00) What’s more, the irresistible shipping discounts will blow your mind!

Buying online @ my website will be a great deal for you, and it will help me out a lot too....My annual website fees are coming up and my website doesn't get a lot of traffic, so your purchases/visits will justify keeping it alive next year for great sales like this!

Guest Designer AGAIN!! Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge # 34

My Twilight mini-album was chosen to receive the Audrey Award and I was asked to be a guest designer for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge blog again!!

This week the movie is Ocean's 11 and the challenge was to use brads...for BRAD Pitt of course! I hope you will consider playing along this week!



For my card, I decided to create a 'Vegas' sign. I found an online sign generator, changed the text and printed it onto vellum. Next time, I think I will just use regular cardstock, as the vellum seemed to roll up when I added the liquid glass + glitter. I added brads where the 'welcome' greeting is because it didn't really go with my "Thanks for a Good Time' sentiment!

The clear overlays are hambly as well as the gold shimmery card base. I wanted to capture the glamor and glitz of a Las Vegas casino with this card, in honor of the movie Oceans 11.



Here is the second card I made with the sign generator. You can see that the Welcome sign fits this time for "Welcome home, it was boring without you." He he....super fun!! (It is a little hard to read the 'welcome' part....but you get the idea!)

Also, head on over to Robin's blog, this week's other guest designer!

Bring on Summer!

Hey everyone!! I am going camping this weekend so I won't be around...no crafting or computers allowed! I am taking my camera and a sketchbook, so we'll see what happens. Thank you for the blog awards, I will try to pass on the love next week sometime. Today was the last day of school for me so I have been busy wrapping things up and getting ready for summer school which starts on Monday. Watch for my post tomorrow with this week's Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge creation, I think you will like it!

In the meantime, here is a mini-book I started to capture my summer memories this year. It is a baseball card collecting book, but I am using it to tell the story of my fun summer. I started it last weekend at a crop. I always take lots of extra pictures and I decided to pair them up with my huge stash of colorful papers. Enjoy!!

Color Me Monday...the last one for May!!

This week's color combination is a tough one for me. I don't have all the ink colors or all the paper colors so I had to improvise!

I focused on clear embossing for the background and texture paper on petal card stock. Then I stamped the 'vine' on white daisy. I made the vine using a flourish and a leaf from 2 different stamp sets.

A simple card, thanks for reading!!

Color Inspiration Challenge # 53

Hey guys! Just a quick post for Kwerner's color inspiration challenge!!

This card features some basic faux stitching, new-to-me hounds tooth ribbon, a CTMH stamp set called 'In the Wild' and a little bit of flocking around the lion's mane. I rarely buy outline stamps, but this one was fun to color with my blending pen and markers. A little tip about using flocking....use liquid glue, apply glue and flock liberally and then press it firmly onto your image. Allow the glue to dry for a few minutes before coloring with a marker.

Blue Sun Emporium @ Etsy

I just love buying things on Etsy....Every month, I take an hour or two to browse the treasures of handmade things. I have gotten some neat stuff and some beautiful artwork. Recently, I learned that a friend from college has a shop Blue Sun Emporium. She sells the most wonderful Victorian modern jewelry. I ordered a few things on Friday, and they arrived today!!






If you love what you see, you should totally check out her shop...I [heart] many things....Here is my newest treasure...an APPLE locket and flower earrings....sooo awesome! Thanks Leandra!! I love it!!!

Project 52 and The Numbers Game

The prompt this week over @ The Creative Type is to use numbers....

I decided to put together a little page using some of my favorite spring flower pictures and a countdown for the last weeks of school for a page in my project 52 album.


I used some chipboard #s and letters from the paper studio, some hambly screenprints & rubons...


Ooh, I should probably tell you that I received an Audrey (it is a little award for being a favorite...see my sidebar for the 'trophy' image) for my Twilight book...I am pretty stoked...I will be a guest designer again next week!

Guest Designer! CSCC # 33 EVER AFTER

YAY!! This is my first time to be a guest designer for anything, so I am pretty excited. The movie this week is Ever After with Drew Barrymore. I had never seen the movie, so I rented it on Monday and watched it right away. I could hardly wait to make something with this Cinderella story as my inspiration!! The very first movie I saw in a movie theatre was Disney's Cinderella. I remember hating the wicked stepmother and sisters, and I truly wanted to believe in the magic that took Cinderella away from the horrible home she knew, and turned her into a princess. I think there are many little girls who can relate to this story. Ever After is beautiful. i was so inspired after watching it to create something wonderful!!

This week, I was asked to be a guest designer for the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge.
Tuesday evening, I was working away in my craft room, making some beautiful transparency bling flourishes (the challenge this week is to use a flourish in your design....i learned this really cool new technique from this tutorial!!) and I was thinking about the handsome prince that swept Cinderella off her feet and the beautiful glittery makeup that Drew Barrymore was wearing when she walked into the masque with her shimmery wings.

"In the world of stamping, cartoon princess are acceptable....Besides, there is a story behind it....and other stampers will appreciate it.....And I am making a card and gift bag for a niece's birthday on Saturday...and the cartoon princess is completely appropriate for this challenge."
You know, I have never considered myself a perfectionist....If something isn't good enough, then I will do better next time, but I am not going to KILL myself over something that is perfectly acceptable and appropriate for a situation. I am driven to create something using the means available, limitations on time, inspiration and flow of ideas. If something better just isn't there because of time constraints (like the American Idol Finale!!), means available (I lost my Silver Pearl embossing powder, it would've been perfect for this card!), inspiration (the movie IS about a princess), and flow of ideas (I tried to combine a new technique, a sweet memory, and the experience of watching the movie into the creative process of this card)

I hope you like this card and gift bag. I am sticking by the cartoon princess.


I used some beautiful shimmery watercolor paint for her dress and hair....The card features lots of bling with glitter, rhinestones. I also used rubons and some sticker bling from the Paper Studio. All the stamps, ink, and patterned papers are CTMH.

I did end up making an extra card, I like it.

My Swap Club

I decided to start a summer swap club. Basically, I set up a theme for each month and I have invited my friends to participate. Friday night will be our first swap night. (You can see the dates and themes in my side bar for more info.)

Each month, we will make between 5-10 of the same card and when we meet, we will exchange the cards so that we all go home with a variety of different designs. At the swap, I will provide a fun 'craft' activity and some snacks for everyone.

This month, I have decided to keep it simple and showcase patterned paper+stamping techniques. I will give everyone a 1" ring to store a variety of 3 1/2 " X 4 1/2" cards or 4" circle cards that could be used as a reference 'book' or be added directly to a scrapbook page or card later. I will demonstrate basic paper piecing and stamping on to patterned paper (both as a background as a pattern and on the main image).


By keeping it simple, I am leaving off fancy froo-froo, bling, and embossing powder....Super hard for me.....But I think simple will be good.

Another feature of keeping it simple includes: ONLY 1 STAMP Set and ONLY 1 INK Color....sometimes, I think I overwhelm people with too much variety. And, since it is free, I don't want to give away too much of my stash.




Everyone will also have a chance to sort through my punched papers and attach little pictures to the back of their 'cards'. I have a new plan to only save 6X6 pieces of paper or larger...anything smaller will be PUNCHED. I will take a bunch of punches and punch it to smitherenes, until only tiny shards are left for the trash....Hopefully, this will give me a variety of shapes to work with for quick embellishments and it will force me to clear out the clutter...I can even use the punched shapes as confetti for gifts or in cards. YAY!! Who doesn't love that??




Here are my cards for this week's swap "Make Your Own Embellishments." It features 'treetops' with desert sand, ocean, tulip and colonial white as the color scheme.

Just a fun card

Hambly overlay, circles, butterflies, journaling stamps....turquoise, magenta and lime green with black and white....

This card was going to serve 3 purposes....answer a design team call, use color inspiration challenge colors, and serve as a graduation card....It ended up landing in my 'card' box fulfilling none of these challenges or needs...but thats okay. I had fun making it, so I am sharing it with you.

Enjoy!!

Scrap space...some butterfly art...Happy Tuesday!

This is basically just a bedroom. Originally, my space was just a desk in the corner of a bedroom. In the last year, I have purchased several items to help organize my growing supplies, gotten rid of the bed and I have now taken over the entire room. It is all mine.

The new furniture is on the right. My desk is in front of the chair, it is on wheels, very nice for vacuuming thousands of tiny scraps! The wall art....well...those are
just some black and white photos from college...and the wicker shelf is for displaying cards at workshops and my open house. Those will be leaving that wall whenever I get some new shelving...eventually....



I got some new wooden blinds for the windows and it is very easy to let in the natural light. I have a list of things I still need to make it complete, but I think it will always be a work in progress. I would like to get some wall-mounted shelving and some track lighting eventually. I also need another 'cube' storage unit, as the top of one of the dressers now holds 3 cubes. I also need a place to put my paper cutter, right now it is on a wooden chair!



That marker holder is an old wine bottle rack. And I thought I would tell you that my new stamp pad tower is awesome. I organize my stamp pads as either HOT, COLD, or NEUTRAL. This is the same system I use for my cardstock.

The DH looks at this shelf and says, "What is all that?" Well, I could probably organize all the things on this shelf a little better, but that is a project for another day.


I spent most of Saturday morning cleaning, vacuuming and organizing this room. I haven't done much cleaning in a while so I went through scrap boxes. After working on my Twilight book all day, this is what the room looked like on Sunday!


Just after spring break, I decided to break out an old canvas and see what I could do with it. I painted over the started-but-forgotten butterfly painting with a thin coating of white paint. Then I started punching and cutting butterflies out of scraps of cardstock. I did buy a set of chipboard butterflies from K&Co. to use as tracers. I attached all the butterflies with either glue dots or modge podge. I inked the edges of the canvas with black ink as a finishing touch...This now hangs in my newly painted turquoise hallway. The hallway is a little dark, even with lights on, so this isn't the best photo, but I just thought I would share! It would be great to do this for a baby's room in pinks.

Cinema Saturday Creative Movie Challenge #32: Twilight

This week's movie over at Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is TWILIGHT!! I would say that I probably liked the book and the soundtrack more than I liked the movie....so I decided to listen to the soundtrack while I worked on this week's creation.

I have had this mini-book for a couple of weeks and I was just looking at it Saturday morning, trying to decide what to do with it. I thought maybe I would save it for a trip....and then the movie challenge was posted. Waaaaahoooo!! I got a great idea to create a book about the Twilight Saga 'FAD'.

I would like to create more mini-books like this....With journaling and photos and ephemera (like the patch that I used on the cover!) as I am living the experience. I went back through my photo gallery and found pictures of me with various friends who love Twilight and this book shows the progression of how the 'wildfire' spread.

Abbey>ME>Kaley>Kannan>Johni

Yesterday, I printed the photos onto white cardstock. Then, I found papers that would match this week's challenge: Use red, black and white, and sparkles. Most of the paper comes from Hambly....I LOVE their clear overlays, perfect for this type of project.



(feel free to click on the pictures to see stuff up-close!)

Then I did my journaling. I typed a Word document with a short blurb about my experience with each friend, Abbey, Kaley, Kannan, Johni and then each 'thing that I wanted to talk about, books, movie, shirt, soundtrack, Cullen Crest lapel pin, etc. I printed that onto a sheet of cardstock.



I also printed a page with the soundtrack playlist.


As I was thinking about the things I wanted to include in my mini-book, I realized that I needed more visuals. Stickers, stamps, chipboard....nothing seemed quite right.....That is when I got the idea to use FLAIR. If you don't know about Flair, it is a Facebook application. You can pick out little buttons to send to your friends that say things like: "BFF" or "I[heart]Twilight". I have out tons of flair just before the Twilight movie came out last November. My favorite: "Edward Cullen, bringing Sexy back since 1901". Hehe





So, when I got the idea to use flair, I just opened the application and started dragging the ones that I liked into Word. Once I had about 2 pages, I printed it on vellum. After I trimmed a couple of pages to use as actually 'pages in my book' I had leftover circles that I used my circle punch to cut out to use on various spots around my book.








This was a very fun book to make. The entire creative process was so fun. Last night, I had to see it all the way through. I couldn't wait to take pictures this morning. I didn't include every picture of the book here because it was too annoying to move around all the codes... So, you can view them all over at my flickr album.

I am super excited about this creation!! I can't wait to make more mini-books just like this. The 3-rings made it very easy to move things around and change up the order of my pages and I could also include entire pictures as the 'page'. Wow. I want to make more of these!
I saved room at the back to include my ticket stub and a picture of whomever I go see the next movie with, or whoever I lend a copy of one of my books to next so the saga will continue to spread and grow.




Ooh, I hope you will consider playing along this week!! This was so fun!! I love the movie challenges. (I wore my Cullen Crest shirt all day yesterday!!) Even if you don't play along this week, maybe next week....I WILL BE A GUEST DESIGNER!!! I am super excited to be guest designing for next week's movie with Jamiee. We were asked to be guest designers after our Steel Magnolia movie entries!! You don't have to make a mini-book or anything too crazy to play, just a card or even a book mark!! Thanks for reading!!


Also, I have to give credit to the fabulous Ali Edwards for inspiring this book. She makes mini-books over at her blog all the time and I just love seeing them!