Latest artwork

I've been busy making more pages for my 2014 album. These are just some of the pieces I've made this week using CTMH products and sketches from CTMH and Scrapbook Generation. Have a look!


I'll start with the pages I've been making for my brother's wedding. I started out with this layout from Make It From Your Heart Volume 2, retired Ivy Lane papers, retired Swirls Around stampset, retired Ivy Lane stampset, Happy To Be Friends stampset, multiple inks, and retired Ivy Lane complements. Just because items have been retired doesn't mean I don't use them. I bought em, paid good money for em, I'm gonna use em!

Inks used: blush (retired, replaced with pixie), bamboo, smokey plum, sweet leaf, slate.

And here's the (almost) finished page. Gotta get the right names and spellings, add some journaling, and maybe some stamping before it's really done. I love the Kraft cardstock page bases with this layout!

Next is my entrance with my groomsman Dex. As we are the first couple down the aisle, we get our own page. ;) I used a layout from Scrapbook Generation for this one. I also used a mix of retired items (Skylark paper packet and blush ink) and current items (colonial white cardstock, kraft cardstock, heart vine and quatrefoil embossing folders, multiple inks) for this layout. The wedding colors were purple, gray, and accented with burlap so using a blue and green paper packet is a bit challenging!

 As you know, I have 2 babies waiting on the other side of eternity. I wrapped my double butterfly pendant around my bridesmaid bouquet (with permission and blessing from the bride) and echoed the pink and blue in my title piece here. A little pink and blue flower for my babes. I like including them in big family functions (this is their uncle's wedding) and have decided to include them in ink here.

See? I used the Happy To Be Friends stampset with a bunch of inks to make this bit.

Happy To Be Friends stampset wreath stamped in sweet leaf, flowers stamped in blush, slate, bamboo, glacier, and smokey plum. I love this effect!

I kept the embossing folders to 2 designs and used the Chocolate squares as photo mats.

I had to add some blingy bits to the flowers so I dug through my stash to find some sequins and glitter gems. Now it feels done!

Julia's flower is in blush (retired color) and Evan's flower is in glacier (new color).

 The finished page with pictures and journaling!

For the rest of the bridal party, I squished em all onto the same page, just because I can. ;) Another Scrapbook Generation sketch, Skylark papers, quatrefoil and woodgrain embossing folders and inking up the embossed bits. I'm really enjoying the collage pages from Scrapbook Generation!

I've started the page for my new sister's entrance and haven't printed the pictures (yet). I'll hopefully get this layout done this week.

A couple weeks back I got these wooden letters from spotlight and covered them using Hopscotch paper and liquid glass. I finally got around to sticking them up on my office wall with good old blutack!

I decided to challenge a new mate to a color challenge the other night using these colors.

I used them to finish off a card design we learned at Convention back in October. (Yes, I have had the pieces for this card cut and waiting since October!) This card also features the Happy To Be Friends stampset and flaxen smoothie thistle and glacier inks.

One of the facebook groups I'm in is doing page challenges. This is one of the current challenges from Make It From Your Heart Volume 1. I've embossed the purple strip with our Damask embossing folder. Not sure which wedding photos I'll use on it yet. The mint bit is a place holder for a 5x7 photo so I don't forget.

I'm toying with ideas for save the date cards. This is the idea that popped in my head the other night. If you're getting married soon and are looking for unique save the dates, invites, or thank you cards, I can help whip up something that suits your taste and colors. With a palette of 42 colors (including 2 shades of white), and a mix of alphabet stampsets, the options are nearly endless.

And finally, the layout I finished yesterday before heading to the pool for a looooong soak. This is for formal wedding party shots, it's also another scrapbook generation sketch.

I decided to use the Woodgrain embossing folder on 2 squares to add some visual interest, then decide some stamping would help too. The tree and heart images are from September 2014's stamp of the month. Never pass up the SOTM, you never know when I'll pull out an older design and use it again!

I decided to add some hearts in smokey plum, sweet leaf, bamboo, desert sand, and glacier inks.

This is the layout design I'm teaching in February's Scrap Your Stash sessions. I did it first in Heartstrings, then in Ivy Lane as I loved it so much! There's space for 12 photos on this layout. 12!

12 photos spaces: four 2x2, one 4x6, five 3x4, two 3x5.

The smaller rectangles are photo mats for 2x2 photos. They look a bit like polaroids to me. I cut a 2x2 square, lined it up on each mat, and used my micro tip scissors to lightly score around as a guide for where to place the photos later. If you embiggen this one you'll see a faint score line.

I stamped this one with the Year Noted arrow stamp in ruby ink and i adore you (retired stamp) in black.

Love You is from Happy To Be Friends and I stamped it in blush.

Heart embossing folder, and lagoon inked edges.

Now for the Ivy Lane version! I chose to use B&T paper for the base of these pages instead of cardstock. You don't have to use cardstock as a base, you can use paper!

Space for 12 photos, yes 12!

Here you can see the outline for the 2x2 photo that I mentioned earlier. I added some pen stitching just for grins.

 This is my favorite bit on the page. The embossing, the sticker, the dovetailed bits, *swoon*.

I used the woodgrain and damask folders for these parts. I ran the woodgrain through my cuttlebug and the damask I just used my metal waterbottle to lightly press the design into my cardstock. It's a nice change of texture for the page.

Love this 12 photo layout? Want to know how to make it? Guess what, I'm teaching them during Scrap Your Stash! Want to come to a Scrap Your Stash session? Let me know!

Shop with me today!

 

National Scrapbook Day - Details

In case you missed it, yesterday was my repeat National Scrapbook Day event. One lady came and we had a great time. That tends to happen when you have a couple cuppas, beautiful papers, and lots of stamping inspiration! We made 2 pages each in 7 hours and loved it. When you're distracted by another cuppa or a funny story, it makes the day all the more fun. My customer loved the sunburst (I shared the youtube tutorial where I learned the technique), as well as a crash course in scrapbooking and stamping the Close To My Heart way. I enjoyed having someone else to bounce ideas off of and to share what I love doing! I had a yummy dinner planned, which we never got round to as my lady has allergies that I wasn't prepared to cater for. (Oh well, I'll know for next time!)

Wanna see what we got up to? Read on!

The calm before the storm... The pile of papers -plus prizes!- for my customer, the inks, stamps and other tools we used. Esther was rewarded with two prizes. A free workshop pass (for ordering earlier in the week) and a Ruby Exclusive Ink pad (for coming to NSD). I love spoiling my customers!

Trimmer, papers galore, stamp blocks, oh my!

Esther, my lovely NSD test subject. She had a blast! I did too!

A better shot of our page.

Close up of the stamping we did.

We chose colors that matched the Ivy Lane papers. It came out quite pretty, better than I thought it would! I so love this stampset.

Our sunburst page.

We inked the edges of this matting before we stuck it all down.

So many layers. So much fun to put together!

Our finished layout. We had a great time. Are you coming to my next big scrapping day? Check my events tab!

Like these pages and materials? You can pick up the supplies listed here: Papers - Ivy Lane WOTG Scrapbooking kit, Cardstocks - Bamboo, Colonial White, Chocolate, Whisper, Tools - Surecut™ Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer, Non-Stick Micro-Tip Scissors, Versamat, Ruler, 2" X 3.5" and 1" X 1" My Acrylix™ Blocks, My Acrylix™ Stamp Scrubber, My Acrylix™ Spritz Cleaner, Bonding Memories™ Glue Pen, Reflections™ Scrapbook Program (Soft Cover), Stamps - Ivy Lane WOTG Cardmaking kit, In The Background, Exclusive Inks - Blush, Chocolate, Bamboo, Slate, Hollyhock.

Esther's free pass prize.

For all my new customers, with your first order from my shop, you'll also get a free pass (worth $10). It's my way of saying thank you! You can use it at any of my workshops listed below:

Shop with me today!

 

National Scrapbook Day

Meet the lovely Esther, my newest customer.

We made two pages today in about 7 hours. (Lots of cups of tea, coffee, laughing, etc.) It's her first introduction to CTMH scrapbooking, stamping, and cropping. She's in love with the trimmer, the versamat, the stamp scrubber and spritz!

The calm before the storm...

Supplies!

I rewarded her with a free workshop pass (as she placed an order this week), and a ruby ink pad (for RSVPing in advance). She was so excited! An ink to start her collection! (I love spoiling my customers!)

When she told her son (6) that she was coming to my house, he got so excited and blurted out ":D you're going to work on my album!?!" (His baby book is a work in progress.)

Esther and I showing off our day's work. :)

We made a sunburst page, and a page from Reflections (p 16). We stamped the whisper photo mats with slate, blush, and hollyhock inks. Such a fun day!

It almost looks like a lace overlay!

Products used today:
Ivy Lane WOTG Scrapbooking kit B&T paper,
Cardstocks: Bamboo, Colonial White, Chocolate, Whisper,
SureCut Deluxe Paper Trimmer, Nonstick Micro Tip Scissors, 2x3.5 and 1x1 MyAcrylix blocks, stamp scrubber, stamp spritz, glue pen, Ivy Lane WOTG Cardmaking kit stampset, Exclusive inks: Blush, Chocolate, Bamboo, Slate, Hollyhock exclusive ink,
Reflections how to book.

Shop with me today!