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Friday, February 1, 2013

Club Layouts from the Past 6 Months

 
Hi All!  While I am away I understand that you are going to have a "catch up" night where you can work on some projects that might be collecting dust on your shelves.  I thought I would upload a few photos from the past few months' projects to help.
 
 
Using your "Make It From Your Heart" book:
Pattern 9 (Page 22)
Clementine Paper Pack
 
 
Pattern 2 (page 8)
Taken from the "Dakota Workshop on the Go"
 
Pattern 7 (page 18)
Moonlight Paper Pack
 
Pattern 14 (page 32)
Scholastic Paper Pack
 
Pattern 4 (page 12)
Pear and Partridge Paper Pack and Rub ons
 
Pattern 1 (page 6)
Pear and Partridge Paper Pack and Rub ons
 
 
Hope this helps!  Looking forward to a new season with you all!
Thanks for all the support last year!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

February is New Catalogue Month!

Hi all!  I am so excited about the new catalogue!  I think that it has something for everyone - especially boys - which I find is usually what lines are lacking.

I am offering a couple of specials for February to celebrate!

Anyone placing an order with me by February 19th will pay NO GST and NO Shipping - that is a savings of 15%!  Also, anyone including a donation to Operation Smile on that order will be placed in a draw for a special stamp set. 

Don't forget about the Studio J offer for February as well as the CUTE Stamp of the Month set!!

Email me for details! Or comment here!

Friday, April 27, 2012

April Club - photos and instructions

Hi All.  Finally I have the pictures from the April Club ready to post with instructions for those of you that couldn't make it.  Sorry it took so long - this new 'blogger format' is a bit more work until you figure it out.
Here goes!
This is page 1.  The centre block is 9x9.  THe far right patterned paper is 3.5" and the strip on cardstock in 1".  We used the Love Life stamp set to stamp the border around the centre block.  We cut 4 "bumps" off the flower in the top left hand corner (any used them on the second page as you will see).  I meant to mist the background page but forgot until after I had adhered everything but when you are creating - fell free to ink it up!
This is page 2.  The patterned paper across the bottom is the reverse of the patterend paper on page 1 cut at 2 1/2".  The 2 photo mats are big enough to put a 4x6" and a 3.5x5" picture on with a little border stamped "Simple pleasures" from the Live Life set again.  We stamped the flowers using the "Hooray Bouquet" set in coordinating colors.  You'll have brads or buttons to accent your flowers in your kit.  The part flower at the top of the page is the 'left-over' piece from the big flower on the first page.

Here is our second layout.  We spritzed away on the background sheet.  For page one - the top page, the large die cut was made using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. We cut the mats about 4 1/4x 6/14.  We used the 'zip strip' from the top of our patterned paper as an accent  on the title block and the top left had corner.  I cut mine 'banner style' - with a little indent in the one end, for added effect.  I used American Crafts canvas letters for the title and spritzed them too.  The second page is spritzed too.  There is a 1" strip of the patterend paper across the bottom and a 1 1/2" circle punched  in the centre and layered with cardstock and a felt heart (with a little stiching for effect).  We made GOOD use of the 1 sheet of patterened paper!  We used the carstock at varying sizes to mat our  photos - whatever size you have you can cut accordingly.  There is a little accent up in the top right corner and another little section of the 'zip strip' cut banner style again in the bottom left corner.  Super easy!  These 4 pages were done with a $7.50 kit!  Frugal, frugal, frugal!!!  Enjoy!  (Each kit had somewhat different accents in it but the general layout and positioning should work for you - you might have received chipboard and buttons vs felt accents.)

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Thank Goodness there are 29 days in February this year!

I am just a bit behind in updating the link for the NEW Close To My Heart Idea Book for spring and summer 2012 - but thanks to leap year - I am still within the month that it was released!

I have a couple of layouts to post - for club and a few more so stay tuned - hopefully today! Have a great "extra" day!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Heart Day!

Happy Valentines Day!
Here are a couple of virtual Valentines Day cards I spotted over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges for you to enjoy - sans the chocolate - much healthier for you, my dear reader! Have a crafty day!


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

New Years Thoughts/Resolutions

This is a bit late but I was cleaning out my printer tray and I did print these out Dec 28th and Jan 2 so my intentions were good! They are a bit general but I think that they are worth repeating and could certainly be applied to your scrapping goals and relationships! Enjoy and I look forward to your feedback!

The first one is from our internal Close To My Heart "Weekly Wisdom" email. It was titled "Set your 2012 Goals". This is an excerpt from it that spoke to me:

"Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, recommends finding those small things you can do right now to help achieve your more ambitious resolutions. Is your goal to be more active or healthy in 2012? Then the key is to isolate the smaller tasks that you can do to achieve that - maybe it is getting up a little bit earlier, or cutting down on sodas and drinking water instead. Whatever it is you determine to do, Covey explains that "The main thing is to make a promise to yourself and keep it. When you make a promise and keep it you will find yourself grow in self-assurance and confidence."

The second was a list of resolutions from a "Monday Morning Motivator" that I subscribe to from Gail Blanke, author of Throw Out Fifty Things. They were very positive and somedays a positive attitude is all you need!

1. I will assume the best case scenario in every situation - even when someone hasn't answered my email, returned my call... or looks at me kind of funny.

2. I will become an "adventurer." I will look at myself, my work, the people I love and the world in general with "new eyes" - every day.

3. I will press my "mental delete button" when I wake up at 3 AM and start worrying about the stuff I haven't done - or the stuff I should've done differently...and sleep like a baby.

4. I will assume the best intentions in people - and anticipate that they will deliver on them.

5. I will not become exhausted by the mere thought of all the things I have to do; I will imagine myself taking energy from the doing of them.

6. I will not over analyze things, people and situations. I will trust my instincts - and act.

7. I will remind myself when the things I'm attempting seem especially hard that they're supposed to be hard. If they weren't hard, someone would already have done them.

8. I will remember - on the inevitable occasions when somebody doesn't buy my "act" - that wonderful advertising mantra: if enough people love ya, the ones who don't, don't matter.

9. I will wrap my arms around the really good moments - little ones, big ones - and say out loud, "Right now...isn't this good? Aren't we lucky?"

10. I will choose to be happy.

So with these thoughts in mind - I'll leave you with a couple of inspirational layouts in the spirit of New Years Resolutions. They are both from the Club CK gallery and were highlighted on their blog yesterday. (Kind of neat how both of them did not have photos! That is something I rarely do but it is a powerful techinique.)

By Itarbox

By Celeste Smith

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Organization...


I was cleaning out my office - totally needed to be done - stuff from 2005-2006 and more back as far as 1998!!! Sheesh!!! Anyways found this blurb that I had copied out of a 2007 or 2008 Creating Keepsakes magazine. It spoke to me then and it speaks to me now- thought I would share it! I think it is a bit paraphrased so my apologies to Britney if I really messed up the context!

"October Afternoon" by Britney Mellen

As a busy mom, I know the value of a single afternoon. However...(when) I have a few hours for myself, sometimes I panic, paralyzed by so many choices and so little time. That's when I end up...doing something necessary but boring (like mopping the kitchen floor). So I created a premeditated to-do list of fun and productive tasks that will help me...maximize a quiet...afternoon. Don't think about your "other" to-do list, just whip this...out and get to it!"


Now to just find the time to make the to-do list!!!