Top Ten Things that make me go Hmmm....

I must confess...I am a blog-a-holic. I love reading blogs. I love writing on my blog. I LOVE linky parties that help me find new blogs to love. And I especially love it when one of my favorite bloggers recommends another blog - so I know it'll be good!

I mostly follow crafting blogs, but one of my favorite "mom" blogs is Kvetch Mom. The stuff she writes is laugh out loud funny to this SAHM of three, irreverent, and sometimes just what I need to know I'm not alone on this crazy wonderful motherhood trip. Kvetch Mom recommended checking out the Monday Listicles - Stasha crated a list of ten things every Monday on different topics. This week's topic was Things that make me go Hmmm....  I clicked, I giggles, I read a few of the linkys...and then I thought, "Hey! I can make a list like that too! My blog is craft based but does that mean I can't play?" I hope not, 'cause here goes!

Crafty Things that make me go Hmmm....

1. How does everyone know when something is hot? Like when did hexagons become the thing on every single blog post? And why do I immediately fall in love and secretly covet a hexagon die punch when I never knew I needed one before...

2. Why is it that no matter how much space you have to spread out when crafting you (well, I) always end up working in a tiny barely 12x12 area? I have four 6 foot tables...

3. Can you ever really have too many Sparkles? What did I do before Stick on Bling?

4. Which came first, the photo or the scrapbook layout you're planning to put said photo on? Been there, done that, have the Layout!

5. Is there a chronic disease caused by inhaling too much secondhand glitter dust? If so, how many cases have I caused?

6. Is it kosher that my six year old can identify a crop-a-dile by sight? Of course, even my two year old can spot a Starbucks even blocks away...but that's a whole other issue...

7. Is it really wrong to choose new PJs for the kids' Christmas Eve present...so that the pics the next morning will be cure (and coordinated with the pre-chosen paper)?

8. When I lose something that I'm scrapping with ( a sheet of sparkles, a button, that StickEase I stuck to the edge of my table for later...), why is it always found on my bottom? Anyone...anyone else...oh, just me...

9. If a scrap never even makes it to the scrap pile, was it really a scrap to begin with?

10.  Will my dearly supportive husband let me call him a Scrubby? Video link here.

Life is Sweet Heart Banners Layout

Tuesday Trigger

Here they are - the last 2 pages our club will be making tomorrow night! These Roxie papers are so pretty, pink, and girlie...just like the Tuesday Trigger out on the Moxie Fab website! I just wanted to eat that Trigger up when it appeared in my inbox - yum! I don't often have the perfect pics for such a thing, since our pics typically include trains, dirt, trikes, and everything not girlie. My two year old growls, "Dark Vader" in a menacing voice then giggles like a mad man. It's not a girlie household. And Dark is not a title - all three refer to him as Dark Vader. I think he might not approve of these pages - but I do! Yea for pink! And Sprinkles/Bitty Sparkles!
So I did a couple of interesting things with these pages. Even though it's a flat Scrapbook layout, I'm linking it to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges 3-D challenge, since the punched pinwheels I incorporated required 4 layers of foam tape to pop my picture up level over them...I'm thinking shadow box, baby! I used a Martha Stewart punch to edge the long side of my pinwheel papers, then when you score and wrap it up, you get these lovely deco-medallions! I topped them off with the awesome buttons from our Bling Assortment. I swear I will never have a big enough stash of these sparkly Rhinestone buttons. 

Here's the second page. I used a smaller medallion here, and continued with the stamped/Cricut heart banner. I stamped the border image from our Roxie set in Bamboo, then layered on Cricut hearts cut fro the Roxie paper. I filled the spaces between the hearts with Bitty Sparkles, and added Black Hemp bows on each side to "hold up" my banners!

Can you see the dimension the pinwheels added to my layout focal point? I love this picture of my oldest. This Layout is definitely gonna need it's own shadowbox! Ann that title comes from the NEW Keepsake Alphabet, one of my fav new things from the shiny new Spring catalog. I just love a new alphabet set!

Linked to Paper Issues All We Need is Love Party and Practical Scrappers Ten Things Border punches

Roxie Zoo Pages

We love the zoo around here. We have a membership, and when the weather is nice it's not uncommon for us to hit the zoo more than once a week. Even when it's rainy we often go every week or every other week. The boys love the animals. They love being allowed to walk freely (so long as they stay reasonably close). I love that they know the paths at the zoo almost better than I do, so on the predestined day when Ben finally actually wanders off from me, I'll know where to look for him.

And we LOVE a good zoo event! The zoo here has lots of fun special events throughout the year. We have elephant ear headbands from Elephantastic. We trick or treat at the Zoo Boo! We stood in line for what-seemed-like-forever to meet Baby Sam the new elephant. And here, in this layout you see us decked out in all out rain gear to attend the Frogs and Princesses Party at the zoo. Nothing better than the zoo in the rain...unless it's the zoo in the rain with Buzz Lightyear and Lightning McQueen boots!

We're doing these two pages as part of our six pages for my Monthly Memories Club on Friday. I used the Roxie papers and my Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge to create our adorable little animal buddies. It always amazes me how a pile of simple circles and shapes can become adorable punch art! Can't wait for club!

I'm linking this post to the Heart 2 Heart Photo Inspired Challenge. Roxie is a pretty pink paper packet (as evidences in the other 4 pages we're doing), but the photo pushed me to work with the browns and blacks in the kit...plus I popped little Bitty Sparkles into each little animal's eyes!

February SOTM Blog Hop!

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring February's SOTM, which is called Thoughtful Tidings, a stylish set of 11 sentiment stamps! 

If you have come here from MELISSA'S BLOG, you are on the right path! This month we have 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

This month I made these delightful pages using the Roxie Paper Packet for my Monthly Memories club that meets on Friday. There's a lot of love and detail on these pages, which I've expanded on below, but here's a close up of the embellishment cluster I created using three of the images from the February SOTM. First I cut Colonial White CS to fit each image using my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. I stamped the Hugged sentiment onto the ticket in Cocoa Ink, then distressed twice, first with Tulip ink on a sponge, then with Cocoa Ink on a dauber. It gives a bit more dimension to the inking and sharpens the edge of the Tulip sponging.

For the Main frame image I inked the stamp in Tulip Ink, then I used the leafy vine image form the Roxie WOTG stamp set inked in Cocoa ink to "Kiss and Twist" over the surface of the inked stamp to create that pretty tapestry effect. Just keep inking, then pressing the stamp and twisting across the surface of the bigger stamp until you're happy with your marbling. Then "huff" warm air over the marbled stamp before stamping it onto your surface, in this case a Cricut diecut that matches perfectly! I pierced holes all around the diecut stamped image and detailed the line of holes with a Cocoa marker to create the faux stitching. I layered the pieces together using 3-D Foam tape and popped a heart Rolled in Tulip/Cocoa inks behind my frame along with a sparkly Bling Assortment beaded pin!

I put more pics and explanations below if you want to see more of the layout details and techniques, or you can  "Hop" on over to KRISTA'S BLOG to see her crafty work! Be sure to visit all of the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! 

Remember, this SOTM is only available until the end of February. Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5!

Here's a close up of the left page.  I cut the big frame on my Cricut using my Art Philosophy Cartridge. The butterflies are also from my Art Philosophy, cut as a solid and as a decorative layer. I cut the deco-layer apart so I could  make each butterfly be a bit more unique. I attached the butterflies with bling pins that are bent in half and tucking into the page elements.

 I stamped the title using the new Keepsake Alphabet debuting in the new catalog on February 1st! I stamped it in Cocoa ink, then double stamped it without reinking to get a slight shadow to my scripty text. It also comes with a plethora of tiny alphabetized sayings, so I added one of those right below my bigger title, accented with a couple of Bitty Sparkles. 

See that lovely wide stitched red ribbon at the bottom? It's actually just cardstock!! I was so pleased with how well this technique worked. I embossed a line right along the edge of my Cardstock Strip.  I did it just 1/4" inch in from the edge on each side. Then I flipped it over and sanded it with the fine grit side of the sanding block. The embossed line turns white. Next I used my CTMH piercing Ruler to pierce the holes along the embossed line, which makes the CS looked stitched along the sides! A bit of a notch on the ends and I have faux stitched - faux ribbon! 

Here are some other projects I have made using the February Stamp of the Month...

Team Embossing Challenge Card
HH Team Cards

And I'm linking this to the Paper Issues All We Need Is Love party - go check out the adorable love projects going on there too!!

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger + Card Patterns!

So I was working away at my final cards for Tina Lovell's cute card swap this week when I was blessed with a bit of kismet. The Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger popped into my inbox, bringing this gorgeous charm bracelet photo...that made me want to bling out my entire swap card, which I based on the sketch from Card Patterns Sketch 139. My colors were already similar, I already had a cascade of swirls with a flower or two on it...and I had a whole couple of the new Rhinestone brads that had been ever so quietly calling my name.... So I grabbed my sample card from the wall and started adding the bling. Well, first I grabbed my Liquid Glass and tinted a glob in a small cup with a few drops of Sky Reinker. The brads were calling my name, but once I saw the Trigger I knew that they needed to be the touch of blue in my card. So I painted them with the tinted Liquid Glass to change the color!

Here's my completed card, with rolled 3-D Cricut flowers, fussy cut 3-D layered flowers with the centers popped up on bitty brads, Glitter Glitz, Pearl Opaques, Sparkles, and the now blue hued Rhinestone Brads. I covered the black CS swirl die cut (Cricut AP cartridge) with a couple layers of Bronze Glitter Glitz. Plus I edge distressed the focal point with black ink and Bronze glitz. The papers are from the Roxie packet - I need like a million sheets of that big damask rose on canvas pattern!

It's so sparkly in person! I couldn't capture the full glory of the bling, but I love it almost as much as I love that whole jar of bling buttons you see there. No, I'm not hoarding them, I'm getting ready for my  Stamp A Stack workshop! Still, a little big grin spreads over my face every time I  glimpse the bling button jar as I'm working.

Speaking of Bling, I've got 3 more projects to post tomorrow to wrap up the Black Friday Holiday Hoopla peeks. Glitter is drying, and I'm putting finishing touches on the final project, the cherry on top if you will. Had to take a break tonight to hang with my scrapbook club gals - to scrap or not to scrap...is it even a question? See ya back here soon, and in the meanwhile, take a peek at the fun challenges on Moxie Fab and Card Patterns.

Mojo 212 & Swap Sneak Peek!

I've got a lot of crafty pots boiling right now, and one is a regular swap group run by a wonderful fellow consultant, Tina Lovell. When I saw the Mojo Sketch 212 tonight, I knew that it was perfect for one of the cards I owe Tina. In the next week or so. Chop chop!  So tonight after my team departed (Thanks, girls!), I started working on the sketch.

I used the Roxie Paper Packet -so girlie! I don't get a lot of girlie in my all boy household, so pink is always good for me. I wish the detail in that pink B&T came through - there are faint white roses sketched through out. So pretty...so I distressed it with Black ink, of course!

I rough sanded the Desert Sand base to continue to  tone down the girlie factor. I added a sweet branch and 3-D flowers cut on my Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, plus a tag with an adorable little heart cutout detail. I backed the heart with a bit of the plaid from Roxie.

The bottom scallop border is a piece of the Zip Strip you trim from along the top of the B&T papers. I love that there's no waste! A sprinkle of Sparkles and a swoosh of hemp finish off the embellishments. That is our CTMH hemp too - I just unraveled it into multiple strands, then grouped them in a wider band of fiber goodness. Now it's (way past) time for bed!

See ya back here tomorrow for even more projects!

Moxie Fab Challenges

I've been racking up the projects this week getting ready for my Open House, but I did manage to squeeze in two of the daily challenges over at Moxie Fab for their week-long celebration of Card Ideas for Paper Crafters! It's a new special edition from those folks at PaperCrafts magazine, and I love me some PaperCrafts!  I love the second card sketch so much, we're making it at the Open house now - such cute sketches! The challenges run through 9/19, so hop out there and play along!

The first challenge I created this week was for the Square sketch challenge. I used one of our cute Clear card bases and Roxie papers. You have to finagle the pieces a bit when working with a clear card so the adhesives won't show - I can't stand it when the adhesive shows! I hid the second half of the sentiment for the card on the inside under the flower, so you get a little surprise when you open us the card out.



I used the new Hooray Bouquet stamp set that matched perfectly with the new Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. It was so nice to just be able to stamp the flower down and not fussy cut! And look at that adorable spiral center - I know we can make those by handcutting the flower, but it is so much easier and tidier to make when it's cut out for you. Hooray Bouquet indeed! 

The second challenge sketch (Horizontal Sketch Card) made me giggle with delight. It's so clean and simple, but there's so many possibilities! I filled my squares with a bit of that pretty rose filled Roxie Paper. Then I stamped the Bicycle from this month's special Pair-A-Phrase stamp set and trimmed out just the basket. I added one of our pretty Pink Collection Buttons and some waxy flax and now I've got a hot air balloon! A little sparkle went onto the flower on my basket, and then I pierced around the outside of the card with my amazing new Piercing Ruler for a bit of extra texture.

We are SO making this one on Saturday along with 2 other projects, so if you didn't RSVP already, make sure you come early to get a hands-on kit!  See you tomorrow!

Thanks for making me wiser!

I'm off today to a team meeting hosted by my fabulus upline, Ginni. She works so hard to make sure our team trainings are not only informational, but downright amazing fun! It also happens to be her birthday, so I am bringing her a little gift. I'm posting this to my blog after the meeting starts so she won't get a sneak peek, lol!

First off, the gift...I painted a simple wood frame with creamy white acrylic paint, then stamped on the flourishes and "LAUGH" with Staz-on ink in brown. The papers are cut from our new Roxy Kit - so girlie!

A piled high pleated ribbon flower was contributed by my downline Cathy - she always knows how to make a cool new flower. We popped a new Bling assortment rhinestone button into the center...I know I am not going to be able to get enough of those! I finished it off with a border of rhinestones and some pretty Pearl Opaques. Hope she likes it!

Now for the bag - I'm hooting with delight over this one. I saw a cute thing on Pinterest that lead me to a blog by Lisa Storms with the cutest theme party ideas! This bag had the perfect sentiment for my team leader, so I stamplifted it lickety split!

All the paper for this bag is still from the Roxie Kit - that's one Leopard print owl! I hand trimmed triangles for his forhead and beak, and popped up the hand printed sentiment, "Thanks for making me wiser!"

Now I'm off to the meeting - Happy Birthday, Ginni! 

Mojo Monday 203

I'm so excited - a Mojo Sketch I finished on Monday! As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to go grab my new Roxie papers and get me some super girlie stamping fun! Plus I have a birthday party to attend this weekend, and I wanted a special card for a good friend, so...

Don't you just love the water colored blooms on the Roxie papers? In a houseful of boys, I just can't help but appreciate something pretty and pink!

I Stamped the background of the card with a dotty scallop stamp from D1482 Love Life in second generation Tulip ink so it wouldn't be loud. I layered the spiral stamp from that set in 1st and second generation Black ink over top the scallops.

I added rolled hearts and flowers from Love life  - rolling is one of my absolute favorite things! To Roll, you ink a solid image stamp in ink, stamp it onto scrap paper, then roll the edges back into the same or another ink before stamping the image on your project. I did some piercing around the scallop embellishment base image, and added one of our NEW Just Blooms Flutter butterflies. A bit of stitched ribbon from our new Red Ribbon Rounds collection and some Grey Pearl Opaques finished off the card with style.

Love this sketch? Play along at Mojo - find the sketch here!

I also posted this card to the Heart To Heart Challenges blog for the birthday challenge!