5 Year Anniversary!

Nope, It's not my wedding anniversary -

but my 5th Year with Close To My Heart!

They sent me a Sterling Silver Charm with the company logo!

I've waited all year for this! Here's to another 5 years!

$8 @ a Rummage Sale

Thursday mornings me and the hubby like to take in a few rummage sales if I'm not working. The hubby came across this and asked me what I thought.
It says Portable Lighting Studio - We asked the lady selling it and she used it to photograph things she was selling on eBay. I've been hating how dark my photos turn out for my blog so I told Gary (hubby) to ask her to take less - It was $10 - we got it for $8!

She said you use your own lights - it had lights in the back!

I don't think she knew what she had. She said she got it as a gift!

When you set it up it looks like this! There are two mini lights and a mini camera tripod. The card I made yesterday is in the box. I set it up on the floor, but I could see this out on a table all the time! Love the little blue screen - look at yesterday's card to see NO SHADOWS from my hands in the picture!

These little lites fold up and fit in the back - and they are bright! Below is a picture of the legs going back into the base of the lite.

The tripod - it folds up flat too. I think it's worth $8 - don't you? We Googled it and found them going for $45 used.

Tulip, Black & Buttercup Challenge!

I decided to try and do a CTMH Challenge

that is setup on the Heart to Heart Blog.

This week is 3 colors

You can also use White or Colonial White. So this is the card that I came up with:

I stamped lemons in Buttercup on Daisy White cardstock, I stamped Stawberries and made the stems and leaves black. The stamp set is new this year and it's called You're Sweet. I couldn't wait to use it.

The strawberries are raised with foam squares. I felt it needed a little more bling so I added Bitty Sparkles to each of the white spots on the strawberries - that took some time but I think it sparkles perfectly.

Thanks for looking!

Buckle Up!

Jeanie in her Lil Tikes Car. She looks soo darn cute in her tennies and socks. She never went anywhere without her pacifiers - she was really content with them. There is 4 tags in the pocket that are peeking out above. They describe what Jeanie is doing. I'm going to cut a slit into the page protector so they can be pulled out without having to reach into the protector.
She isn't strong enough to push the car around the sidewalk, so she gets in, shuts the door, turns the key, steering wheel, gets out check the gas tank and then repeats it all again.

This stamp set was great - retired, but I love the signs. I forget what I ran over the yellow paper to get the tire tracks - I think I took one of her toy cars to get them! The signs are raised up with foam squares. I did this layout a few years ago and just found them in the middle of organizing my office.

The Water Park 2008

Finally! I finished these layouts! I've been working on and off on this 4 page layout for over a year. I keep putting it off, filing it away, but now I finished it! A day at the free water park in Germantown.
Jeanie loved it, once she got used to running thru. Her cousin had to hold her hand thru it the first few times, but by the middle of the day, she was dragging him thru! The lettering I did on the Cricut and ran them thru the Xyron.

She loved putting her foot over the water that was

shooting up out of the ground. Look how she passed out afterwards.

I put Liquid Glass on the water drops and

the water splashes - it really gave it a wet 3D look.

Here's another water splash with Liquid Glass outlining it.

Look at her hand as she studies her toes.

What a great day she had!

Thanks for looking!

Mom & Dad's Cars

My vinyl lettering has extended to my family. Mom asked me to do Twilighter for her back car window - guess what movies she loves!??

Now, my Dad's convertible we put Statutory Rake - it sounds bad, but it's a play on words - in the world of wheels it means barely legal height for the rear end of the car (or so I'm told) Dad has a wild lift kit (I'm not sure if that's what you call it) but the car can go up and down with big shocks, the front and back as well as side to side can be raised and lowered - it's really crazy. He put one on each side of the wheels. I have some vinyl on my sister's Mini Cooper too - that I'll post next! I still need to come up with something for my car......

Cricut Classes

There are new classes on my calendar for Cricut Classes - West Bend on a Saturday. Some Appleton, Green Bay and Oshkosh locations. Check them out!

Click Mary's Calendar to go there.

Thanks for looking - email me if you are interested.

I'm working on a hands on class for the Cricut too - feedback/ideas would be great!

Baby Shower - Diaper Wreath!

Yes, you read that correctly. Again, my good friend Patti & I were in need of a great gift for another good friend's Daughter-in-lawS showers! Double Shower party! So I came up with the Diaper Wreath (after doing a little Googling!) The first one is done with plastic diapers. I wrapped them around a wire floral wreath and tied them with curling ribbon - all she has to do is cut the ribbon and she can use the diapers. We filled it with little bottles of baby products, booties, spoons, a few rattles, Q-tips, and a big present in the middle.

This one is done with organic diapers that don't stand up very well. I had to tie them together and put cardboard inside the diapers to give them a spine. Same items decorate this one and another present in the center. The cards are homemade too!

Here are the ladies! Lindsey (mommy to be) Patti, ME and Aggie (the other mommy to be!)

Good thing I didn't do the Diaper Cake because Lindsey made one for Aggie!

Lindsey did a great job on her cake! Love the colors!

They took the wreaths that the restaurant had in the windows down and put ours up on both sides of the food table! It couldn't have been better unless we planned it!!

Order Up!

I've been working with my Cricut, but posting been on the back burner.

I'll have to get caught up here!

My very good friend Patti has several siblings that went in together and created a coffee shop/ice cream parlor/candy store/sandwich shop - it's very cool and located in an old remodeled Victorian home! We went for the "soft" opening where they practice on friends and family They were having a little hard time finding the right guests for their orders so I went home that night and created these number cards for they can hand them out for the orders.

I laminated them so that they will last awhile. I also sponged the edges with Chocolate Ink to antique it. This is how tight I was able to get the numbers on to 2 sheets!

The cards are around 3 x4 inches big.

I ran the numbers thru my Xyron sticker maker. Made the gluing super fast and easy.
They loved them!!!

Paper Flower

I was going to make a pretty flower to put on a card, but it turned out WAY too big for a card.

It's made with squares that are folded and then trimmed to make the petals. I bet I could do this easier with a Cricut! But I love the curled petals and sponging.

Let me know what you think!

June SOTM Blog Hop

Hello Again!

We are hopping thru the June Stamp of the Month - see what over 70 ladies have created with this same stamp set - see how creative we can get!

You should have come from Jen Patrick's Blog, if you are starting here first, that is ok too - keep hopping and you will come full circle!

I did a card for my Father for Father's Day. I wanted to use several stamps from this set - I really liked this one!

I stamped the argyle print on a piece of white cardstock and then cut it out, sponged the edge. I stamped the pocket watch onto the white card, but I didn't like the messy spot so I stamped the My Hero, My Friend and cut it out and put it over the smugged area. I used Rustic Alphabet Stamp set to stamp the word DAD. I cut them out and glued them on.

I used foam squares to raise the circle so that it stood out

For the inside this setup was by accident - I was priming the stamp when I stamped these words over a pocket watch that was on scratch paper and like it!

Now, continue hopping by clicking here to go to Kristie Herdener's Blog!

Purse Gift

Here's something I did last month but haven't gotten around to posting - the days are just flying by. We spent all weekend out working on the lawn and I'm crispy and bright red!

My niece Tiffany turned 30 this last month and I made this paper purse for her. Sorry I didn't hide the office mess in the background. I rushed to get it done and then barely remembered to take photos of it when it was done. I scraplifted this from Renee R. and I don't know where she got it from. I'm testing a new camera (cheap thing I got the day after Thanksgiving that I just barely took out of the packaging) - looks like focusing is an issue - I can't find a way to auto focus. I used Veranda Paper Pack for this purse.
Filigree Charms were used for the button on the front of the purse. There is some weight to the brad and being metal it will keep the front flap from jumping open.


2 scores create the bottom of the purse. The finished size is 3.5 x 8.5 inches. I decided to leave off the handle and make it a clutch style. Base is 8.5" x 12" and it's scored at the 3.5", 4.5", 9" and 9.5" inches .

I cut triangles and glued them down for photo corners and they hold the $20 into the top of the card. I bottom I added another piece of Colonial White Cardstock and type the message of Happy Birthday. Her Mom took her to a Casino so the money was a little something extra for her to have fun with.

Thanks for looking.

Where O Where Have I Been?

I've been knee deep into other things that have been keeping me away from my scrapbooking and stamping, let alone finding time to blog!

First, we sold the lake house - no more scrapbooking retreats at the lake - (sob!) but also, no more mortgages - (Yeah!) It's a bittersweet thing. We moved across the street to a bigger house and I have a room for my scrapbooking! Yes, litterly across the street - we used the lawn mower and a trailer to move the boxes! Now to get 2 houses of stuff under control under one roof - I'm choking on furniture!

2 of our neighbors have come over to tell us that we can use their pier to park a boat or go swimming anytime. My daughter loves the lake and swims like a fish! So, it's not so bad. I'll miss my sunroom - three walls of ceiling to floor glass facing the lake, but I'm setting up my foyer to be the next best thing. I have an actual room you walk in when you enter my house that I call the foyer! I can put a small table and 2 wicker chairs in and still have room for a foot stool.

I'll survive.

I've decided to limit Cricut Classes and start doing more of my stuff. I have dozens of layouts (more than 100) that are pictureless and made for classes that I hope to start filling. Jeanie has turned 4 and I don't have one scrapbook finished for her.

I'll be doing another weekend retreat in January! Watch for more details - people are already signing up!

Enough chatter, I'll post stuff soon. Thanks for reading!

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

I can't believe it's another month!

We are hopping again with the Stamp of the Month! You should be coming from Traci's blog.

May has a great one for journaling called Cherish the Moment and I've tried to use it for a card.

I added My Creations A-Door-Ables to the front to make a moving piece! I had to add a few other stamps to make my card - It's a Zoo for the animals and "Wild & Crazy" and It's Your Day for the "Party" stamp.

I turned the Animal Cookies paper over to show the outline of the animals in green - I really like the shadow over the colored version. The front of the Door I sponged on it and it was darker than I hoped for. I stamped the Wild & Crazy and then stamped it again for a shadow effect, but the sponging is hiding the effect.

A hidden Monkey under the Door! These doors come in lots of different sizes and shapes - but don't look for them on the website until May 1st - they are new in the Catalog!

Here's a stamp from the set - I'll put the child's birthday age on the No. line and a little more sponging on the white area.

Inside on the right I have the Invitation stamp from the set with a little elephant.

Now jump over to Georgia's blog for more great examples of this stamp set.

Thanks for looking and feel free to leave a comment!

CTMH Product Blog Hop - April 2010

You should have come from Danielle's Blog - if you didn't you can keep hopping and you will do a complete circle.

This month we did Paper Kits. I did You Rock Level 2 Paper Kit. I cut up the whole kit to create these layouts. The majority of the kit was used up and I still have a few good size pieces to use as mats for my photos.

This first layout I did I incorporated a 9 x 9 layout protector into the layout as a moving element. You lift up the flap to show off more photos underneath! This a great way to add a few more photos without having to add a whole page or 2. You attach it to the page prior to slipping the base into the 12 x 12 sheet protector.

This layout above I love because the design goes thru both pages.

It really ties the two pages together.


When I was doing the layout above, I didn't want so many colors from the striped paper so I flipped the pieces over and used the backside - there is a solid color on the back with the same pattern as on the front! No paper goes unused!


This is the same layout on both sides but one page is turned 180 degrees. One large photo will go on one side and 4 little photos will fill the other white box!

Hope you liked my layouts. If you would like the directions for these - you need to purchase the Cherish and the Reflections Books - All of cutting guides are in these books!

Hop on over to Melissa's blog for more great ideas with paper kits!

Thanks for looking!