Life is Better with Friends Frame

One of my favorite parts of traveling with my team for Convention each year is the exchanging roomie gifts. I often make something for all my traveling ladies instead of just my roommates, because it's just too much fun!

This year we are in Orlando, so I went with a gold glittered Flamingo frame! You might remember me posting on Instagram a week ago about running out of gold glitter....now you can see why.

I used the new Tickled Pink stamp set, which has a coordinating set of Thin Cuts dies. I also gave up a bit of my wide gold stripe hoard from the May Happy Times special. That's how they know I really {heart} them! I can't wait to pass these out to my peeps today!

Day 3: Paper Flower Frame

So as part of my Choose Happy Campaign, I excused myself from some responsibilities I had taken on that were keeping me from activities that would make me happier. 

One bonus of not choosing those things is that I can share some artwork I've been holding back for advertisements for classes that will not be happening. Like this adorable little plastic frame. They carry these inexpensive frames in a lot of stores. I decorated this one with handmade torn paper flowers and Teresa Collins Rub-ons.  

These little flowers are so quick and easy. Just tear out four circles of similar size. A scallop circle punch works too. Stack the circles and attach in the center with a brad. Then scrunch up the circles around the brad and fluff to make adorable little flowers! I dropped some glitter gel int he center of the black flowers, too.

I've got good news, too - I thought that the stamp sets from the Seasonal Expressions book were retiring at the end of March, but most of them are carrying on. That's good news for my Hello Sunshine card workshop! If you've ordered already, I'm cutting as fast as I can - this week's orders should ship by Friday. Stamp sets are ordered too!  See ya back here tomorrow for another project!

Practical Scrappers Scrapping Our Stash Halloween Hop

Welcome to the Practical Scrappers monthly hop. This month our theme is Fall/Halloween, using up materials found in our stash. If you've arrived here from MONICA'S BLOG, you're on the right path!

My stash is about 99% CTMH. I have a few inks, and a snip of paper here and there that's not, but in general, most of my projects are made with CTMH products. Last month I was super excited to win an Instagram giveaway from Simple Stories and Big Picture Classes, and they sent me a huge kaboodle of Frankie and Friends goodies. Since I was elbows deep into Scardey Cat, Frankie and his friends sat neglected and lonely, just waiting for a chance to come out and play. I also had this pumpkin frame that I had painted in like August. I painted it, applied copious amounts of glitter....and then it sat. And sat. And collected dust. And sat some more. One day I moved my pile of Frankie stuff and laid it on top of my Pumpkin frame and suddenly I figured out what needed to happen. 

The frame was originally painted with orange acrylic paint and coated with orange glitter. The stem is multiple coats of brown sparkly nail polish. I pulled some old Chipboard letters from the closet, and coated them with some glow-in-the-dark fabric paint left over from making bat gadgets for my 4 year old's Halloween costume. They glow green in the dark! 

These chipboard pieces in this line are too adorable! I added some sparkly glitter and glow in the dark accents, plus wiggly eyes of course. 

At the bottom my collage was looking a little thin, so I cut some very skinny (slightly larger than 1/8") strips of Scaredy Cat Paper and curled it using my paper quilling tool to create some color burst filler for the cluster. You can see the glow in the dark paint on the windows, plus a generous sprinkling of black acrylic star embellies. I don't think I caught a close up, but I had a few gold sequins sitting in my scrap bin, so I added those and topped them with more wiggly eyes.

Attaching the chipboard to this chicken wire frame took a bit of finagling. I finally settled on putting tiny dots of liquid glass on the twisted parts of the frame and propping the chipboard in place until it dried. Once everything was tacked on and dried in place, I flipped the whole frame over and went to town drizzling on Liquid Glass with abandon and now it's a pretty sturdy little piece! And yes...since I decided I needed a pic of the back I added a bead of gold glitter paint along the rope binding where I didn't bother to paint the orange color. 

Next up on the hop is WENDI'S BLOG.  A list of all the scrappers participating this month can be found over at Practical Scrappers. Happy Halloween, Stampin' Friends!

CTMH New Product Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH New Product Blog Hop!  We will be featuring lots of yummy new goodies from the Spring Summer Idea book.  If you have come here from DANA'S BLOG, you are on the right path! Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

When I got my inky paws on the new Idea Book I was in heaven over the paper packs, each one cuter than the last. Ariana was at the top of my must have list, and I knew just what I wanted to do with it. 

Look how pretty the Ariana Complements are! I love the texture and detail in these chipboard pieces. I layered them with the new Black and Grey Epoxy Bubbles.

I built a sweet little album to suspend in the new Pennant Frame. It's full of flips and flaps, and when filled with pics of my sweet hubby it'll be perfect to hang in our bedroom after our move to Spokane. I'm linking up to the Heart To Heart Let Love Inspire You Challenge since this project was inspired by my honey, and the Paper Issues Fill 'Er Up Party since I filled this altered frame with a handmade mini album. 

Now "Hop" on over to HALEY'S BLOG to see her fabulous project! Be sure to hop to all the Consultants Blogs to soak in the new product ideas! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get your new CTMH Idea Book!

Here are a couple more projects I have made using products from the new Idea Book...

Pick A Posey Card with Gold Washi Tape

Foxy Card with Paper Fundamentals Assortment

H2H You've Been Framed!

I'm honored to be helping out as a guest DT member over at Heart 2 Heart in December. The first challenge is called You've Been Framed. So I grabbed a frame from my stash and glitzed it up with some Sparkle and Shine papers, red shimmer tape, and some glittery flowers and snowflakes. I don't actually have my prints yet from our fabulous Apple Blossom Photography shoot, so this is just a printout from my computer until the prints arrive. 

I used the centers from the snowflakes I cut for this project all stacked up to create my flower centers. The swirls are Bamboo CS covered in washi tape BEFORE I cut them on the cricut - so cool! I did a liberal sprinkling of sparkles over my frame and scrappy photo background. And yes, those are some of the sparkly Rudolph noses that I made for the craft fair in our photo. Adorable!

I hope you'll pop over to Heart 2 Heart to play along!

Practical Scrappers Ten Things Stars

Today Practical Scrappers is focusing on Stars, and I'm just so glad that you are all still with me after a month of hibernation. I'm super excited to share what I've been cooking up in my top secret Stamp Pad! First up is this adorable Mickey Themed paper fireworks Display Frame, which is also my first summer workshop! No more hibernating - it's great to be back!!

I built these origami "fireworks" with Cricut diecut stars and twist tie streamers dancing in the background topped with quilled Mickeys for this Disney inspired photo display frame. You can find the quilling and origami tutorials I used to learn these skills out on my Pinterest board called Convention Inspiration. The glitter stars and banner were cut on the new Cricut Artbooking cartridge (available on my website August 1st). The Display Tray is a beautiful, sturdy wooden frame that will be a lasting handmade touch for your home decor.

Ready to make your own? I'll be hosting the workshop for this project on Saturday August 3rd at my New Catalog Reveal! RSVP by July 19th to reserve your kits - if you don't have Disney pics we can leave off the quilled Mickey heads and replace them with bling for birthday or Fourth of July.

Workshop and To Go Kit Options

Disney Frame Workshop Kit $35.00 USD (2) Disney Frame Workshop Kit $70.00 USD TO GO Disney Frame Workshop Kit $45.00 USD (2) TO GO Disney Frame Workshop Kits $80.00 USD

Are you a CTMH consultant who wants to teach this project? 
Check out my Consultant Kits page instead!

The Practical Scrappers team have tons more star themed inspiration, so shoot by and check out the hoopla!

Auction Poinsettia Frame

Hi, Stampin' Friends! Quick peek at the second project for Ben's preschool auction this weekend...a way easier than it looks Paper crafty frame class. Oh, how I love glitter glitz!

The poinsettia flowers are graduated snowflakes cut from Art Philosophy which I worked over with an embossing stylus to shape them and give them dimension. I added extra lift by layering foam tape in between the layers of petals. The carnation flowers are 1 1/4" scallops (also cut on art philosophy). It's one of my favorite quick flowers. You stack up four scalloped circles and attach in the center with any brad. Then scrunch, scrunch, scrunch until it's an adorable little flower.

I'm linking this up to the H2H Photo Inspiration Challenge. I love the colors in the photo with the pear and wine. 

I'm also linking this up to the Paper Issues Holiday Happy Party - make sure you hop over and check out the amazing projects there!

I should have Black Friday Classes ready to post in a day or so. Catch ya later!

Welcome to the July SOTM Blog Hop!

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!  We will be featuring July's SOTM, which is called Live Out Loud, a graphic set of eight sentiment stamps.  If you have come here from ALLISA'S BLOG, you are on the right path!

This month we have almost 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM (and other great CTMH products) on their blogs. Hopping is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

This month I used a sketch from Freshly Made to create my project, which I twisted into a scrapbook layout. Technically, this is the next installment of a set of 10 x 10 pages I'm framing to hang together! I got gobs of these silver frames at Target forever ago...like 8 years ago-ish...and recently I've been filling them up with favorite photos. This photo we took a couple of weeks ago, right around our 14th anniversary.  I've noticed that there's hardly ever a picture of John and me as a couple in our family trip photos, so I'm gonna be more mindful of that...

I pierced the frame around the outer edge of where I wanted my photo to go. Then I filled in the left half with tiny paper flowers attached with an assortment of brads. I used the color challenge from Stamptacular Sunday - John's favorite color is Orange, and I love that combined with Blue and the bold sentiment in black. I added some Orange to the Sentiment with a marker as well. Clean and simple - not my usual boat, but my glitter is probably breathing a sigh of relief for the (brief) vacation!

I'm linking this to the Heart 2 Heart Wedding challenge - anniversaries are wedding related, right? And also to the Get Your Craft On Party over at Today's Creative Blog and the always fabulous DIY Dreamer Linky Party! Go check them out for even more DIY home decor ideas!

Now "Hop" on over to NANCY'S BLOG to see her rock this awesome stamp set! Be sure to visit all the Consultants Blogs to soak in the creative SOTM ideas! Remember, this SOTM will soar into the sunset at the end of July, so contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5!

Here are lots more projects I have made using this Stamp of the Month...I think I got quite a range of different looks!
Pretty in Pink Card
A Rainbow of Butterflies Card
Black White and Retro Sketches Card
Black White and Moonstruck Card
Imagine the Possibilities Card
Pink Layered Flower and SuperHero Cards

June Warm Welcome Workshop is here!

Howdy, Summer! I am ready for flip flops, lemonade, and sunny days...it'll be here before we know it!

Give your guests a warm WELCOME with June's Creative Club kit! We'll be making this adorable Frame Wreath decor piece at the June Workshop, or you can order up a kit to go.

Not sure that Stella matches your home decor? The kit can easily be altered to fit anyone of our current paper packs! Please specify at time of RSVP or Stella will be ordered.

Finished frame size is 11 x 14.

 Sessions available at 9 am or 1 p.m, or crop all day from 9 to 4 with no additional fee.

Kick back, relax with a cool glass of lemonade, and craft your warm weather welcome with me on June 16th!

Please RSVP by JUNE 8th!

Each kit includes pre-cut papers, Frame (styles may vary, we will paint to match), and embellishments including a full package of the new Baker's Twine Assortment plus full color instructions to make everything pictured - just add adhesive! 

Please RSVP by June 8th to reserve your kit for the Warm Welcome Frame workshop. You can contact me via email, or reserve your spot via the Paypal Link below. You don't have to have a Paypal account to use this feature!

To Go kits are not limited to quantity, but the June 16th Workshop (which includes a light lunch at no extra charge) is limited to 8 attendees total per session.

P.S. Don't forget that June is STAMPAGANZA time - buy 2 get 1 free stamp sets are back!!!

Workshop and TO GO Kits

Welcome Frame Kit$25.00 USD TO GO: Welcome Frame Kits$30.00 USD

Consultant Kits available here!

November SOTM Blog Hop!

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We will be featuring November's SOTM, which is Cherish The Day, a set of 44 stamps! If you have come here from BRAE'S BLOG, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

This month we have almost 60 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

This month I made a crafty picture frame for my friend and downline Bao, who just welcomed beautiful baby boy Joseph to her family! I used the October image stamped on tickets cut with my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to create the big flower in the lower frame corner. I rolled the image in Sweet Leaf and Vineyard Berry inks, then pulled each ticket over the handle of my piercing tool to make the "petals curve". The paper is retired (Wings), but I have a not-so-secret stash since I just LOVE butterflies! I painted the frame with White acrylic paint, and stamped directly onto the painted surface with my CTMH inks for the swirls and title. Final touches included a few Just Blooms Flutter paper butterflies, Bling collection buttons, and Stardust Glitter Glitz. Now I have something fun and hand-made  to bring when I get to meet Baby Joseph!

Now "Hop" on over to DAWN'S BLOG to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! Remember, this SOTM is only available until the end of November! Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set for just $5!

Here are some other projects I have made using this awesome Stamp of the Month...

Upcoming Holiday Gift Calendar Workshop
4th of July Scrapbook Wall Hanging
Set of 12 SOTM Cards

Thanks for making me wiser!

I'm off today to a team meeting hosted by my fabulus upline, Ginni. She works so hard to make sure our team trainings are not only informational, but downright amazing fun! It also happens to be her birthday, so I am bringing her a little gift. I'm posting this to my blog after the meeting starts so she won't get a sneak peek, lol!

First off, the gift...I painted a simple wood frame with creamy white acrylic paint, then stamped on the flourishes and "LAUGH" with Staz-on ink in brown. The papers are cut from our new Roxy Kit - so girlie!

A piled high pleated ribbon flower was contributed by my downline Cathy - she always knows how to make a cool new flower. We popped a new Bling assortment rhinestone button into the center...I know I am not going to be able to get enough of those! I finished it off with a border of rhinestones and some pretty Pearl Opaques. Hope she likes it!

Now for the bag - I'm hooting with delight over this one. I saw a cute thing on Pinterest that lead me to a blog by Lisa Storms with the cutest theme party ideas! This bag had the perfect sentiment for my team leader, so I stamplifted it lickety split!

All the paper for this bag is still from the Roxie Kit - that's one Leopard print owl! I hand trimmed triangles for his forhead and beak, and popped up the hand printed sentiment, "Thanks for making me wiser!"

Now I'm off to the meeting - Happy Birthday, Ginni! 

April Workshop: Mother's Day Frame

Hello, stampers! I've been hibernating this month, getting ready for the CK show this week. Are you going to be there? Look for a coupon and more detail in your email tonight! We have a fabulous booth planned, with awesome (and affordable) hands-on projects, adorable page kits, and outstanding products, of course! Hope to see you there - I'll have a gift in my pocket for the forst 25 of my stampers who come visit me at the booth!

I've also been a busy bee working on our workshops for April. Monthly Memories club pages for April are Sophia - so adorable! Those will be up on my website later today. For now I want to share the Mother's Day Frame project we'll be doing at the crop day on April 30th. I just LOVE this project!

We'll be learning to make three different kinds of paper flowers, and tips for pleating that yummy extra wide Stitched Sweet Leaf grosgrain ribbon. You can even change the title to whatever you need for your gift! Best of all the project will be $7 or 2 for $12 - an affordable, beautiful, handmade gift from your heart!

I'm only planning to make 24 kits for this frame project, so RSVP asap to reserve your gifts! I can make them up as a take home kit if the date doesn't work for you too. See ya at the show!!