Merry Monday #29

Hi Peeps,

So, I took a mini hiatus and did not make Merry Monday #28... but I'm back with my entry for Merry Monday #29. (Please excuse the quality of the photo since I had to use my phone to take the picture... my boyfriend took the camera for the day to Fan Expo!)

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

 

 

I used the new Pear & Partridge CTMH papers for this one! I don't usually love the over-rated red & green Christmas papers but these I do! The sentiment is from the Pear & Partridge Cardmaking WOTG and I LOVE how cute it is! It is stamped with Desert Sand ink which I think made a pretty good match :)

 

Anyways, that's it for now. Since BF is at Fan Expo today I was thinking of making today a full-on crafting day (I've got a scrapbook to work on and dozens of cards....) but we'll see how much I actually get done.

 

Thanks for looking :) Have a great Sunday!

Merry Monday #28 as Guest Designer

Hi Everyone!

Today I have the pleasure of being Lesley's Guest Designer for the Merry Monday Challenge. Thanks so much Lesley for choosing my one of my July cards as a winner and giving me such a great opportunity!

Here's the sketch:

And here is my card:

Poinsettias! Lots and lots of poinsettias! I used the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out "snowflakes" and stamped them with a stamp from the Snowflakes stampset from CTMH. The background paper was just plain old white cardstock but it is stamped with some snowflakes in Cranberry ink to create a beautiful, fun pattern! Each poinsettia is embellished with some rhinestones and my greeting is from the now retired CTMH Holiday Commentary stampset (so glad I got my hands on one!!! LOVE it!)

Wanna play along? Visit this week's Merry Monday Challenge post.

Over 100 flowers, some glitter, and lots of Real Housewives of Orange County!

Now.... I'm exhausted!

I had a pretty productive weekend, to say the least. Not only did I make my first scrapbooking layouts, I assembled well over 100 flowers, made 2 "flower balls" for the centerpieces I'm working on, made some bridal party thank you cards, made a cute little flower pomander for the flower girl to carry, even made it all the way over to Michaels (in the rain and convinced the boyfriend to come with me!!), AND... caught up on my backlog of Real Housewives of OC episodes (while crafting of course). I am so anxious to see how busy I'll be when it is actually MY wedding I'm crafting for.

In total, I have created 8 flower balls and only have 2 more to make with about 6 weeks to go!!! AWESOME! What I mean by "flower balls" is the tops of these things:

... these are the centerpieces I'm working on. Only 2 balls to go (that's about 90 roses to cut and assemble), and I need to paint the vases... but the majority of the "work" is done!

A couple days ago I came up with the brilliant idea "hey, what if I misted the flowers with glimmer mist?!?!" I've never used glimmer mist or "Perfect Pearls" before so I wasn't sure if it'd actually work. I found Perfect Pearls mist at Michaels, tried it.... and there's such a beautiful, subtle sparkle to the roses now!

I also used the Perfect Pearls to douse the flower pomander I made for the flower girl. So much so you can see the shimmer in the picture :) I think it's the perfect little ball for her to walk down the aisle with.





Anyways, that's my update for now peeps! This is why I've been MIA most of the summer... I have more projects I want to work on once I'm done these (come to think of it... I still need to work on my recipe book from MONTHS ago!!)... as a little tease.... my next BIG project involves more of these paper roses.... and a foam wreath.

First Ever Scrapbooking layouts... minus the embellishments

So.... I have decided to make a scrapbook. Now, if each 2 pages takes me as long as it took me this morning, well, I'll be working on this book for the next 6 years! LOL I am new at scrapbooking. I am a card maker, and sometimes paper home decor designer but I've never made a scrapbook. Well, I have arranged photos in an album, added some stickers, etc. but I've never made scrapbook layouts, you know the nice fancy kind scrapbooker's make?

Here is my are my first attempts at a layout:

I have yet to embellish the pages, but I'm exhausted after this effort! lol

All products are CTMH, here are the details:

Background is Outdoor Denim, I used some of the blue Pemberley paper for the stripes at the bottom and 3x3 mats on the right side. Other photo mats are black, and I ran 2 Colonial White squares through the Birds & Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder. The large shape is cut out of Bamboo paper with an image from Art Philosophy.

I'm awaiting a large CTMH order, and once I get it, I'll embellished with my new goodies :)

Ok... just another 28 pages to go...

Bridal Shower Card with matching embellished envelope

I felt kinda creative tonight so I finished my set of bridal party thank you cards... and I figured while I was on the bridal creativity wagon, I'd make a bridal shower card.

I layered thick purple ribbon on the base, pop-dotted a wedding dress (cut from Cinderella's dress on the Disney Happily Ever After Cricut cartridge) that I ran through my Cuttlebug with the Birds & Swirls embossing folder and embellished the waistline with teeny tiny pearls. I also added some glam with 4 purple rhinestones on the bottom of the card.

I absolutely LOVE running my envelopes through the Cuttlebug, so I ran the top flap through with the Birds & Swirls folder then lined the envelope with purple paper. Lining envelopes just makes a card set so much more luxurious... and embossing the envelope adds a pretty special touch!


That's all for tonight peeps :)


This weekend I'm gonna try my hand at my very first scrapbooking layouts... so stay tuned!

New Idea Book available to browse today!

Hi Everyone,

So... today is the day! Today is the first day you can purchase the fabulous new products in the Fall/Winter 2012 Idea Book!!!

Click here to browse the book online.

Click here to buy new products online. (or contact me for hostess reward opportunities!!! Who does not LOVE free stuff??)

Here are some of the new products, I love!

In addition to the Workshop On the Go Kits, Close to My Heart has designed Card Making kits!!! The first picture is the card designs in the Avonlea kit, and below are the Christmas card designs. Please contact me if you're interested in a workshop... I will be holding one in the fall to make Holiday cards!

Oh... and another product that I am super excited about:

A new Cricut catridge! This one is called Artiste.... and honestly, with these images, anyone can be a fabulous artist! There are over 700 images, including a font and very, very cool 3D projects. If you want one, you can buy one here.

Anyways, that's it for today peeps! Enjoy the new idea book (and making a wishlist!!)