Graphic 45 Altered Box and Mini Album

I had the opportunity to design and teach a class at my Local Scrapbook Store PaperCandy Crafts. I am so blessed to get to do what I love and get paid to do it. I chose the Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium paper line. Its got fabulous vintage graphics and the patterns on the papers are just so luscious. I fell in love with this paper on sight. I use the Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecone die to make pinecone for the top of the box. The Santa on the cover was just begging to be fussycut and dimensionalized. I love how he turned out. I added stickles to the ornaments on the tree. I popdoted the banner and the naughty and nice list. I curled the ends of the list to follow the lines the paper already had.

I added the chipboard elements to the side front of the box to add detail to it. I tried to keep it simple so it would be easy to store or give as a gift.

I added a peak a boo spot on the top of the mat for this page. I added an envelope with an invisible hinge to hold tags.

For page two I put a border on the bottom to hold vintage postcards that came in the paper line. The images on these postcards are fabulous. For page three I fussy cut the holly wreath paper to get a border for the top of the photo mat. I added an image on the side again using the invisible hinge. I put a chipboard piece on the top side of the photo mat.

On page four I went really simple and used a photo mat with a Martha Stewart border on the bottom with some green ribbon to hold some more of the vintage postcards. On page five I gave the page two photo mats and a chipboard frame from the collection. The top of the frame remains open and ready for a picture. I added a sentiment from the paper over the frame.

On page six I used a photo mat wrapped with photo corners in ribbon. I added a chipboard picture to the left side of the mat with bakers twine from Martha Stewart.

On page seven I added a photo mat a border strip which I tied ribbon to and added a chipboard element hanging off of. For page eight I added a facing photo mat and mirroed the border on the other side. I used a chipboard ticket saying Peace next to the stamped image border.

For page nine I used a border on the bottom with tinsel trim, a Tim Holtz stick pin, and a stamped statement from Close To My Heart. On the top of the page I used one of the chipboard frames and backed it with the tree from the Santa paper that was left over after I fussy cut out the Santa. I left the top of the frame open and ready for a picture but thought it just added a nice touch to have that tree peaking out of that frame. For page ten I used the music sheet paper, again making a pocket to hold tags. I added another border to the top of it using the Martha Stewart punch from previous pages so the album has cohesiveness.I added chipboard tags to the top of the paper tags and tied them off with ribbon that says Merry Christmas. I used a thin strip of ribbon to the center of the paper to follow the line across both pages for visual evenness. I love the way this album turned out.

On page eleven I added a holly print to the bottom and left it open to hold photo mats. I added a pretty border to the top of it and added some chipboard tickets to the bottom which I used red line tape on so you can stick something behind the tickets. For page twelve I added a photo mat made a border in the corner, used ribbon and added a photo mat on top of that. I hope you liked this album and stay tuned to see how the class went as I will post pictures.

This is a two page layout I designed using Close To My Heart's Elemental Papers. I love the Close To My Heart papers because everything coordinates so well and when I want to pound a layout out all my inks, embellishments, and papers all match without me spending hours figuring it out.The die cut in the upper right hand corner is cut on the Cricut using the Art Philosophy cartridge available exclusively at Close To My Heart. This cartridge has over 700 images, comes with three coordinating stamp sets, and three sets of Dimensional Element chipboard shapes. Its my favorite cartridge and the last two months I have used this cartridge exclusively.

I used the Martha Stewart Floral Tile Punch Around The Page punch. I loved using this. It was easy to line up, the magnets hold the paper in place, and it added just the decorative element to perfectly compliment the Elemental papers.

I added some Tim Holtz stick pins and used the butterflies from Close To My Heart to add a decorative element with whimsy to this page. The circle chipboard piece is from the Elemental Collection. I inked the butterflies with the Sunset and Lagoon ink.

I made the flower using the 2 inch scallop punch from Close To My Heart. I inked the edges and crinkled them to give them dimension. Again, I added a Tim Holtz stick pin and stamped two hearts with Lagoon ink. The stamp set is from Close To My Heart. The stamped swirl on the journal spot is also from Close To My Heart. Its called Love Life. You can find all these things by visiting my consultants site at: http://www.scrapnhearts.myctmh.com

Frames and Things

I have been busy getting stuff done and just plain crafting. My kids are gone for most of the day and so I have plenty of time to get stuff done.

This is a frame I made for a craft night at church

I made this frame for my friends daughters new room.

I made this Christmas frame with punches from Martha Stewart. I love this snowman punch so much!

This little guy door hanger was a make and take at my Close To My Heart consultants house. I think he turned out fabulous and I hope she makes one in Santa for Christmas.

Cards I have worked on.

These are some pictures of cards I am finished with. All materials used are Close To my Heart. I love the stamps I used on these cards. The papers are really great. I hope you enjoyed them.

Cards for Fundraiser

Hey,
I am back. My daughter is doing well physically. It will be the mental and emotional healing that will take a while. I took some time out to make these cards for a fundraiser my friend is having for a mutual friend. Her husband unexpectedly died a few weeks ago leaving them with no income and six kids. He had no life insurance from what I can gather. All products used are from ColorBox (I have no idea how to add the two dots over the O). I love their products and I love it even more that I get them for free when I fill out surveys they send out. So I took regular A2 cards and added a 4X5 square of the paisley patterned paper as the background and centered a 2 1/2 inch stripe of diagonal stripe over that. I added some sweet leaf ribbon from Close To MY Heart. I stamped a Fiskars cupcake stamp on a piece of white card stock and mounted that on some chocolate card stock from Colorbox. I added that off-center and put a sentiment in the corner.

Missing In Action

Sorry ladies. I did not fall off the face of the Earth. I had to pack up all my beloved Scrapbook Stuff and move. So I have missed being creative for the last three weeks and am sitting at the dining table with the little travel bag of goodies I keep close to me out and have spent all day creating. I have no idea if anyone looks at this blog but somewhere down the line I want a record of where I have been and where I am going creatively so here it is. I jones for crafting and creating like a drug addict for its next fix...maybe not that drastic but when I cant find time to be creative it starts to stress me out. Having said all that...I belong to a Scrap Club from Close To My Heart. I love my consultant and I love the products I purchase from her. She designs the greatest pages and I cannot wait to go and recreate her Magic. I also love her laugh and when I was gone missed it tremendously. There are just those people in your lives you crave to be around because they inherently lift you up without effort. I made the six pages she designed then went on to use up the extra's and create a page of my own. Along with the pages are instructions for cards if you are not a scrapbooker. I used the cuts they gave and loosely followed the design. I have this problem with wanting to copy but always put my own twist on things. I hope you like the cards I made. The chipboard pieces and all materials used are Close To My Heart. Did I mention I love their stuff!!! Enjoy and thanks for stopping by. ok so I will come back and add the pictures becuase the internet is not cooperating with me. Night All.