My family - I was once a teenager! CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

I nearly lifted this layout directly from a fellow CTMH consultant, Lisa Stenz.  She is amazing!  Hers was so beautiful that I couldn't see much sense in changing it.  Of course, it's MY family photo - tee hee!  I think that we all coordinate well with the paper except for my mom and Jeannie. 

I am the huge one on the left.  I have always been the biggest!  Sigh.  Some things will never change, I suppose. 

Until later,

SFYTT Sympathy Card CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

I decided to give my mom a second option for her sympathy card.  Unfortunately, she needs it now as her friend's dear daughter has passed away.

I used Jen's SFYTT sketch  this time.  It certainly makes things go quicker when you have a sketch, although most of the time I like to play around with my supplies.  Lately, though, I've been on a mission to use up some supplies as well as post more often, so I've found the sketches are often a nice jumping-off point.

CTMH's wonderful Veranda paper packet includes all of these paper patterns.  What appears to be cocoa cardstock (for the mats) is actually the reverse side of the paper upon which the image is stamped.

Now.  I left my cuttlebug and folders at my friend Amelia's house a couple of weeks ago.  Which is why I have not used any of my loving Spellbinders dies lately.  Expect that to be remedied soon!  The reason I bring this up is to tell you my little trick for the sentiment panel.  Without my Spellbinders dies, I was at a loss for what to do.  So I pulled out a sentiment panel that is part of the Queen Bee kit, flipped it over and used the outer edge as a template on my Veranda paper!  Cut it out, then taped it to the cocoa side and trimmed out a little mat that way.  I thought the Verve sentiment might be comforting, and the CTMH flower and charm finish it off simply.

Enjoy your evening!

SFYTT with Veranda and a big ol key! Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

So I've been trying to do more of these sketch challenges.  This weekend I made this card for Jen's SFYTT (sketch for you to try).

As I mentioned, the paper is from CTMH's luscious Veranda collection.  You've seen me use it many times....just a few days ago in the Chipboard Mother's Day Album.  The sentiment is from last year's Heart of Winter promotion, and the flourish is from this year's Heart of Winter promotion!

For the three little heart elements on the sketch, I used two pewter brads and one of CTMH's filigree charms (LOVE them!!!).

Now.  About that big ol' key.  My good friend Amelia decided that I needed more scrapbook supplies, so she called me with the 'heads up' that JoAnns had some rockin' cool vintage elements - from Jolee's, no less!!!!  So I mosied on over there (Friday post, remember???) and picked up a package of four different keys and a whole bunch of fleur de lis, which I am sure will show up very soon on a project or two- tee hee.  So what do you think?  Purty?

Did I tell y'all how awesome you are??? I believe I might actually make it to 25K hits before my first blogaversary on April 21!  You guys ROCK!!!!  You can bet I'll be digging out some blog candy to post this weekend.  Thanks for your loyalty!  It's much appreciated, though I may not mention it often enough.

Cheers!

Veranda Chipboard Album CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

Happy weekend!  Where have I been?  Well, sorta down in the dumps.  Unfortunately, I had to use all three of those sympathy cards (from my last post) in one week.

I was expecting to use one, and the second was a possibility but I was hoping not, but the third......so sad.  The 18-yo son of a workmate was killed in a one-car accident, just a block or two from home.  So now his dad  has to drive by the site every day.  It's unimaginable and so so sad.  It really puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

So my mojo has been down in the dumps.  I just haven't had the desire to start anything new, but give me time....I'll get to it!

In the meantime, I'm thinking about following my friend Kathi's lead by doing a little blog maintenance.  My friend Amelia is having a new blog headers designed for me as a birthday gift - how awesome is that!  So I'm looking forward to a clean, fresh look!

So I thought I would share my "most favorite" project thus far.  I created this album for my mom for Mother's Day this year from CTMH's Veranda paper pack, our chipboard album and a few accessories (remember those filigree charms I love?  They're in there!).  This is also one of the projects that I e-mailed to Spellbinders when I applied to the Design Team. 

These are the inside pages - you can click on the images to enlarge them.  I believe I used four different stamp sets, but you could certainly improvise (but why would you want to?  wink).

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my ramblings.  Be sure to stop by Thursday for our April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - it will be a little taste of spring!

Deb

HAGS? HAS? tee heee CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

Hey y'all!  My back is aching.  I am packing my office to move.  We received boxes today and must be ready when we leave work Wednesday.  Needless to say....since I have been working here for nearly 16 years, I have a TON of stuff to toss.  So I have been tossing and shredding and boxing.  Ugh.  So I was even happier than usual to be home this evening!

Here's a quick post.  I was invited by my friend Nancy to join CTMH's Humble Artists' Swap.  Now, Nancy's e-mail (correct me if I am wrong, Nancy) said "Humble Artists' Group Swap".  So of course I called it the HAGS swap.  LOL!!!!  It's the HAS swap......not HAGS!!!  But I will forever think of it as HAGS.  Mwah ha haaaa!

I said this was going to be quick - but here I go - blah blah blah!  I took a snapshot of the card here before I sent it off to the other four ladies in my swap group.  Well....Nancy received hers about three weeks late.  Turns out my card was traveling the country, making snow angels along her merry way!  Actually traveling the continent, as I am in Florida and Nancy is in Canada!  My card arrived wet and crumpled with all the stamping washed out.  Good grief!  Thankfully I snapped this photo.

I mailed my next HAGS HAS swap card last week - we'll see how it fares!  Will post it towards the end of April - but let me just say that I loooove it!!!

Thank you for sticking with me and all of my ramblings.  And thank you for your sweet comments....I just love my cyber friends!!!

Deb

Sympathy Card for Amelia Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

My good friend Amelia lost her father-in-law this week.  He had a rapid decline over the last few weeks, but it is never expected, is it.  I wanted to make a special card for her, Tom and the girls.  I opted for this week's Mojo Monday sketch. 

I paired this spring's Creative Basics collection from CTMH  with some Juniper and Garden Green cardstock.  A few of the new Spring Flowers and a great brad are my accents. 

The sentiment, as well as the birds and leaves, are all from one of Verve's stamp sets.  Julee does such a wonderful job with her images, sentiments and fonts.  This set has several stamps that are appropriate for sympathy cards.  I consider it a must-have set for such occasions.  There are a couple of other images included as well.

Here's a closeup of the sentiment (click on the image for a larger view.

Enjoy what is left of the weekend.  Oh, why do we have to go back to work on Monday?  Oh, to be able to create all day, every day.....what a life that would be!

Deb

Monochromatic Challenge - Think Ink Tuesday! Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

It's time for a challenge from Artful Inkables!  This week's challenge is to create a monochromatic card.  How cool is that!

I don't know about you, but I am finding that participating in challenges is  really making me break through my comfort zone to try things that would not have otherwise entered my thick skull - tee hee!

For my card, I used Colonial White as my color, punched up with Cocoa.  It won't surprise you to hear that I used "A Bird's Song" to stamp the nest and sentiment!

I've been dying to use my Labels Seven Nestabilities dies -it really looks like a little book!  I sandwiched some 'pages' die-cut from an old book and bound them al together with a bit of waxy flax.  The cute little flourishes are cut from Spellbinders' Doodle Parts, and flower is made with six circles cut using Scalloped Circles Nesties.

The Cocoa paper is the backside of a couple of papers from CTMH's Veranda collection.  The rest of the paper is Colonial White cardstock, with the exception of the 'background', which is textured Colonial White cardstock.  I used my stipple brush to 'knock down' the brightness of the paper with Cocoa Ink.  You can click on the image to view it up close. 

So why don't you stretch your creative boundaries and join us in our challenge?

* You are not required to use AI stamps, but if you have them, we'd love to see you use them! **IF YOU USE AI STAMPS, YOU GET 2 ENTRIES FOR YOUR CREATION! JUST ENTER YOUR NAME/LINK TWICE ON MR. LINKY!!!

* You have until Monday, January 18, 2010, midnight Pacific Standard Time to link your creation to this post. A winner will be chosen Tuesday, January 5, 2010 to win a GRAB BAG of AI STAMPS!

* When posting your link, please post the link directly to your creation- so if it's on your blog, please link it directly to the specific post with your creation.

* If uploading to SCS or PCP, please add the keyword AIC11

Good luck!


Deb

Well, I took the plunge! CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

I just sent out a newsletter announcing an Open House January 24, so I guess I'm committed now, right?  tee hee.  I am so enthralled with the new products in CTMH's Spring 2010 Idea book that I added an extra Open House to my usual schedule. 

This card is made with the brand new "Veranda" paper collection.  The workshop-on-the-go kit includes instructions for this card, as well asa Level II paper pack, the stamp set with the images shown and the Filigree Charms - how gorgeous are they!!!  Just $3.95 for eight heavy, metal charms and brads - I'm on my third pack...ha!  You can order them from my website and have them shipped right to your home.  You know you want them!  And the flowers are new too...100 flower and paper butterflies for $7.95!  Gotta love it.  It's all in the details, right?

Anyhoo......if you can't make the Open House, you can still browse the new book online here. 


I have to tell you that we are absolutely freezing here in Florida.  Now, I know that some of you (in Minnesota, for example...ha) will scoff at me, but good GRIEF, we are not used to this!  The high Saturday is going to be 44 with rain!  What will we do if it snows - I am supposed to be at a crop!  Woe is we.  I don't know how y'all live like this for months at a time.  I just couldn't do it.  Props to you!

Now I'm off to don my Snuggy that Hughie got me for Christmas - Dodger Blue, of course! ;-)

Deb

Happy New Year!  wooooHOOO!!

And welcome to Close to My Heart's monthly Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Blog Hop! We have over 60 gals participating with dozens and dozens of great ideas to use January's Stamp of the Month, "True Friends".

I really love these label stamps. You can use them individually, stack them, cut them in half and use them as tags...etc, etc. etc.  And the 'friendship' sentiments are perfect for altered items, scrapbook pages, cards and more!

I decided to do something simple this time.  Using our brand new (gonna be hoarding it!) Veranda papers, I put together a quick card that could easily be duplicated.


I used Juniper ink to stamp the label on the top layer, with the sentiment stamped with Cocoa.  After cutting that out, I stamped a different label, using Cocoa ink, onto a second paper from the Veranda collection.  I used our foam tape to lift the top layer, then adhered it all to a circle, accented with Antique Copper Brads.  Wait til you see the new Antique Copper collection of metals in the new book!

I cut in half one of our brand new flowers (OMG- to DIE for!) and slipped it behind the element, then placed it all on a card base decorated with two other papers from the Veranda collection.  The Creme Brulee ribbon is slipped through an Antique Copper photo hanger, then gathered together, held in place with glue dots. 

You'll have all day January 1 to browse through the new Spring 2010 Idea Book!  Check out your consultant's website to view it, or see it here. Want to own this Stamp of the Month yourself? Ask your consultant how, or e-mail me for details!

Now hop on over to my friend Amy's blog for some more ideas on using "True Friends"! 

See you next year!


Deb

Happy Birthday to you....dear Kristin! CTMH Scrapbooking in Melbourne, Florida

Happy Birthday, Kristin!  Here's a card just for you!  

Kristin is the amazing talent and inspiration behind Artful Inkables.  Heck, Kristin is Artful Inkables! She is the designer, creator, distributor...you name it...she is IT!

Thank you, Kristin, for allowing me to be one of your Design Team members.  I have enjoyed every minute of it!  I love playing with your darling stamps.  The anticipation builds every time I know that a new set is on its way.  Thank you so much!

The card I created for you cannot be recreated til January as it uses new CTMH products that will not be on the market till next year!

I thought this new stamp set, "Authentic" would be perfect to describe just a few of the attributes that make you so wonderful!  The design that is stamped on the flower, as well as the label, are part of the stamp set as well.  The amazing papers and Creme Brulee ribbon are the Creative Basic collection, created to coordinate with a breathtaking new paper pack in the Spring book called "Veranda". 

Enjoy your day, Kristin!  Happy Birthday!

Deb