Happy New Year!

I don't know that I will be around much in the coming week as I am preparing for my CTMH Open House on January 9th & 10th. I can't wait to kick off the new year with my new business! I am busy getting displays ready and prepping my make & takes. If you are in the area and want to join me...please do! Email me for details!

Don't forget to check out the new Art & Soul webisode "Resolve to Have a Great Year" that aired last week...I loved the calendar ideas!!


Have a great New Year everyone and remember the CTMH Spring 2009 Idea Book goes live tomorrow!

Wishing you all the best in 2009!

Life Delights Memory Keeper Box

Here is the gift I made for my MIL for Christmas. It is a Memory Keeper Box from CTMH and I loved making this! It was fun and easy! I included a 9x9 CTMH accordian album inside. She loved it and I think it made a fantastic gift!

The 9x9 accordian album inside...

A few closeups...

All products used are from Close to My Heart.

Life Delights Level II paper pack; Life Delights 9x9 accordian album kit; Celebrate Life and Frame of Mind stamp sets; Dimensional Elements Framed Fun chipboard set; Just Blooms Big Pinks paper flowers; buttons; Sparkles; Prisma Glitter; Chocolate, Lilac Mist & Blush inks; black hemp; Designer Chocolate Ribbon Rounds; Liquid Glass

Celebrating National Papercrafting Month!

The Key to My Heart kit includes:
12—12" × 12" B&T Duos™ (2 each of 6 patterns)
10—12" × 12" Cardstock Sheets (2 each of 3 colors, 4 neutrals)
1—My Acrylix® Key to My Heart E-size Stamp Set

CLOSE TO MY HEART IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE NATIONAL PAPERCRAFTING MONTH!
This January CTMH is introducing a new sensational month long event that celebrates all the amazing things you can create with paper and a little creativity! And to make it even more fun, we’re offering a fantastic kit that will enhance every one of your projects. The gorgeous new Key to My Heart Level 2 paper packet features all of our luscious new exclusive colors: Tulip, Juniper, Sorbet, and Crème Brulee.

The packet is accompanied by the awesome new E-size My Acrylix® Key to My Heart stamp set brimming with elegant, charming designs. It’s a great combo with a retail value of
$59.95—and from December 16 through January 31 it can be yours at substantial
savings, or even FREE!

Three Great Ways to get the new Key to My Heart pack:
• When you spend $160, you’ll get the Key to My Heart kit FREE
• When you spend $90, you can purchase the kit for just $25
• Buy it outright for only $59.95

What’s more, hostesses can get the kit FREE with a Home Gathering sales total
of $500 or more. And if you join Close To My Heart between January 1–31, you’ll
receive the kit FREE in your New Consultant Kit.

National Papercrafting Month promises something for everyone!

Happiness is Homemade

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

New Catalogue!!!

I have the new Spring 2009 Close to My Heart catalogue in my hot little hands and let me tell you...it is the most amazing catalogue yet!! Oh my word! I am going to go broke! Good thing I am a consultant. ;)

If you're interested in a catalogue, you'll want to swing by my Open House in January (Friday the 9th or Saturday the 10th). I will have catalogues as well as many new products for you to view, touch and drool over. If you are out of my area and would like to purchase a catalogue please drop me an email. The catalogues are $3 CDN. And if that option doesn't work for you, you'll be able to look at the catalogue online. No matter how you do it...your gonna want to see this stuff!

My newest venture...

Beginning in January 2009, I will be teaching scrapbooking and stamping techniques with Close To My Heart—a premiere scrapbooking and stamping company. I’m confident you will love their products as much as I do! I have been a hobbyist with this company for over a year and have decided to step it up and actually make it my business. Once upon a time I was a Creative Memories consultant...and a very unhappy one. One day I stumbled upon Close to my Heart and understood just how unhappy I was. I was leary at first to work the business as I had been down that road before with unsuccessful results. Over the last year I started to learn more about both the product and the company and I started to realize how amazing it was to be apart of this remarkable company.

And it really is a remarkable company. On top of having many of the best products on the market, they have an amazing attitude. They are motivating, inspiring and hardworking. They care about their customer and consultants alike. They stay on the cutting edge and are truly innovative with new products and designs. Who wouldn't want to be a part of this?

I am very proud to represent this company! If you are interested in checking out Close to my Heart for yourself please let me know. I don't yet have a CTMH website for shopping but you can contact me directly via lhouse@execulink.com and I'd be more than happy to place an order for you. If it's the business you are interested, drop me a line and I'd be more than happy to answer some of your questions.

This is a link to their online catalogue the Idea Book. You can choose from different current issues. The newest Idea Book will be released January 1st...so keep your eyes open for it!

And this is a link to the new CTMH TV show Art & Soul...a fantastic new 15 minute webisode is available every other Tuesday. They show new projects and techniques...it's a great instructional resource. A new webisode airs today...go check it out! You can can check out previously aired Art & Soul webisodes and also check out the archive sections for PBS webisodes as well. Lots of resources available!!

80th Birthday Card

My husband's Great Uncle Tom just celebrated his 80th birthday and this is the card I made to celebrate the day. It was inspired by a card in CTMH's Originals card book. I was really happy with it.

I used Colonial White and made the the card base a standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4. I stamped the corner flourishes (Legendary Moments SS) in Bamboo and then stamped the words in each corner (Happy Birthday SS) in Juniper. I distressed the edges of the card with a sponge and Chocolate ink (it is far more distressed looking in real life). I used K&Co. cardstock number sticker for the 80 and mounted it on Colonial White cardstock with edges distressed the same as the base. I mounted this using Pop Dots onto a mat which I stamped using the paisley background stamp (Adorable Backgrounds SS) on Barn Red CS using Chocolate ink. It was really simple and rustic looking and I was really pleased with how it turned out. In real life the distressing shows more...it looks very vintage...my photos never quite show the detail. But I disgress. I wanted something a bit more masculine and I think I acheived that.

All products used were by Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted.

Real Mothers

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a little voice says,

'Because I love you best..'

Real Mothers know that a child's growth

is not measured by height or years or grade...

It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother...

The Images of Mother

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEAR S OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears,

the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes,

Because that is the doorway to her heart,

The place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,

but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul.

It is the caring that she lovingly gives,

the passion that she shows,

and the beauty of a woman with passing years only grows!

Thanks Thanks Thanks Card

This is a card I made on the weekend. I pretty much copied the entire thing from CTMH's Originals book (page 100).

All products used were CTMH. I used the Rustic Flowers stamp set for the background (stamped in Bamboo) and the flower which was stamped on vellum using Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I stamped the sentiment from the For Every Occasion stamp set in Chocolate on Colonial White CS and then I used green chalk over every other word to make them stand out. The CS matting the background is New England Ivy and the the CS card base is Cocoa textured cardstock. The stitches around the background and down the border (the colonial white pieces) are from the Simply Stitches set and were stamped in Bamboo.

Thanks for looking!

Papercraft Planet...new community for papercrafters!

I love to check in on Kim at her blog Clearly Inspired. She recently shared about this brand new papercrafting community for which she has become a design team member - Papercraft Planet. Way to go Kim!! How cool to be a design team member! Here is her post about her news and about this brand new community for papercrafters of all kinds! You can post artwork to the galleries and see what others are up to as well. There are challenges and all kinds of idea sharing going on...I can never get enough inspiration...can you?? And there's blog candy too...what could be better!! :)

Now go scrap something!! :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

I made this card this morning for my Mom's birthday - which is today...Happy Birthday Mom!! The "template" came from CTMH's Original card program (page 109).

Thanks for looking!




Supplies...CM embossed cardstock (cardbase), CK Media polka dot paper, CK Media pink cardstock, the following are CTMH supplies - September SOTM Treasure Life, Birthday Script stamp set, creme brulee ink, colonial white ribbon, garden green brads

Evan's First Year - Custom Scrapbook

This is the project that I have been working on the last few months. It's my first big custom job and I am really happy with how it turned out. My cousin hired me to do this for her little boy and I was nervous at first but once I got going it was fun...especially to work on boy layouts for a change!
The following pictures are shown in the order they are in the album. There were so many supplies used I couldn't remember so I didn't list them all. If you have any questions just ask and I will do my best to let you know what was used.

I am not the best at taking pictures of my layouts so I appologize if they are a bit wonky or not square looking...I assure you that in real life they are fine. It's just my photography!!

Click on the photos for a larger image.

Thanks for looking!




The mini file folder in the above layout has a pull out inside with all of the ultrasound pictures...boy did she have a lot!!

The above layout has a pull out page pocket for Mom to journal all about the labour details.

This 2 page spread has two envelopes for letters from Mommy & Daddy.

The "Dedication" page has a pocket on the LHS to hold cards and additonal momentos from the day.

The above pocket has a library card with all of Evan's favourite foods.