Back 2 School

This week my kids headed back to school and they were looking way too cool! I try to capture these pics each and every year, its a good reminder. This time I remembered to add some identification cards with information like their height, weight and grade. It will be interesting to look back at these when they have kids of their own!

I am also entering this layout in the Back to School challenge at Heart2Heart Challenges Blog.

I used some older Typeset papers and canvas compliments. There is some really cool "new" products on here though. Check out those hounds tooth irresistibles chipboard letters inked in black and ruby. I doodled "school" on a chalkboard label using the chalk marker and finally finished it off with the black & white grosgrain ribbon and some strips of Moonlight paper.

As I was filling in the "school" letters on the chalkboard label, I was thinking about all the really big chalkboard signs at Chili's restaurants. The restaurants are super colorful and I don't think it's really chalk, but made to look like chalk.

How cool are these canvas stickease. Ironically only 2 came on the sheet and they both had the first initial of my children. This one for my daughter says R is for rabbit, she was born in the year of the rabbit and I used stuffed bunnies to decorate her nursery, crazy right?!

Be sure to share your back to school projects over on Heart 2 Heart this week!

Twine Jar

Here is a little project that I shared at my Open House using some new, very cool, products! We now carry sheets and labels of Chalkboard Paper. You can use the chalk marker to permanently add your words, letters or even doodles to these magical sheets of chalkboard. They are also self adhesive so your project is complete in a snap!

 My little jar is from IKEA. I wrote "twine" on the label before I applied it to the jar. Inside I've filled it with an assortment of twine on coordinating "spools" of cardstock which I cut on the Cricut with the Artiste cartridge. I keep my jar within reach on my desk and can clearly see the twine I need for my project. It's super cute and sooo easy!

Giddy-up with Clementine

Today I would like to share a little mini album I made for an event that my sister will be attending next month. She needed it to be a western theme with pinks and browns. The new Clementine papers worked wonderfully as did the new mini album pages and cover all created on the Cricut Artiste cartridge!

Color Challenge {Halloween}

The color challenge at Heart 2 Heart had me stumped at first. Then it occurred to me how wonderful these colors would be in a Halloween theme!

The color challenge: Lagoon, Pear and Sunset~

The card design comes from the new How-to book, Make It from Your Heart. I've used a couple new stamps; Perfect Fit-Frames & Perfect Fit- Halloween. If you look closely you'll see some of the new black Tulle Ribbon peeking out from under the pleated Lagoon cardstock.

With a black, white and gray base, these colors "scream" Happy Halloween!

Find Your Joy

I am playing along with Mojo Monday sketch and the photo at Inspired By this week. I just had to have this stamp set only available in the La Belle Vie Workshop on the Go. The little bike image is so pretty. Here is my card~

Inside~

I love this sentiment~

Here is the sketch

Photo at Inspired By

Be sure to visit these challenge blogs and play along!

Pear and Partridge Projects

At my Open House I gave guests a look at a variety of projects from many of the new products in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book. This season's Christmas papers are absolutely gorgeous! I love all the new home decor items and I am also impressed with the card workshop on the go offered in this book.

You can make your Christmas cards quickly and easily with this affordable kit. I created the cards exactly as shown in the instructions booklet included. I simply added a card holder cut on the new Cricut Artiste Cartridge.

I also created the new bracket frame in the Pear & Partridge papers. I was able to cut the bracket shape on the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge. I embellished around the frame using the coordinating dimensional elements. These are gorgeous by the way, they add so much dimension and are self adhesive. I added a background layout with some cardstock and one of the zip strips. I can simply add a photo from our Holiday celebrations later.

Open House~ Wall of "Colorful" Cards!

At my Open House last weekend I introduced my guests to the "new" color families. I am so glad that Close To My Heart decided to streamline them and personally think the change was a brilliant idea. I will miss some of the colors that have retired, but embrace the new changes! Here is a little clothespin idea I created to showcase the new "lines" of color!

I just love the new names they were each given as well! {Enchantment, Adventure & Whimsy}

I also displayed several cards within some of the color families using several new stamps from the Artiste Collection and the National Stamping Month promotion "It's Your Day"!

Here are some of the cards up close~

September 2012: National Stamping Month

More Project Pages {It's Your Day!}

Today is the day to begin ordering the National Stamping Month Promotion, It's Your Day double stamp set. I shared with you my project pages that I created for my Open House event. These were so much fun to create, so I decided to make some more. I used stamps from the It's Your Day double stamp promotion and a few others.

This is how the pages will look when they are in my album. The page on the left is a typical 12x12 scrapbook page. On the right is a horizontal page protector filled with photo's and journaling in the same theme. {Car's Land}

When you flip the protector page you will find more pics and journaling in another theme. {California Adventures} The right page is a standard 12x12 scrapbook layout again.

Be sure to get your double stamp set this month! It has quickly become my "go to" stamp set! Place your order here.

It's Your Day!

It's almost time to celebrate National Stamping Month! Close To My Heart has an awesome promotion once again. It's a double stamp set filled with images that are so versatile and trendy. It's called It's Your Day.

When I first saw this double set I immediately thought of the smash books and project life ideas. How perfect the images are for quick and easy scrapping! For my project that I featured at my Open House, I used CTMH horizontal pocket protectors to create a divided layout. This was the perfect solution to various random pics from a recent vacation. I had captured a few moments from here and there, but they were not enough pictures from one subject to fill a two page layout.

The front page~

The back page~

I am also submitting my post today for the "Dog Days" challenge on Heart 2 Heart! Our beagle Belle loves to go on vacation with us! She loves the adventure and all the new smells. She's not a girly girl either, which is why I thought how funny it would be to add a rhinestone collar with our bling gems to the page! Ha Ha! LOL!

The ladies attending my Open House loved the idea of these pages. The larger 12x12 pages can be somewhat intimidating and more time consuming. They loved that you could quickly and easily embellish a 4x6 section and fill the pockets as you go. The horizontal and vertical page protectors were my best seller at Open House!

It's Your Day double stamp set would be the perfect companion to creating these types of pages.

Starting August 15th, when you place a minimum order of $35 in retail product, you can receive this set for only $5. This promotion will run until September 30th. I will have some more cards to show you later this week using some of the images. You can place an order with me or shop online here.