Stephanie Loves Scrapbooking

Milford Oyster Festival

2012-01-30T17:19:00.000-08:00

I have gone on a creating frenzy! I am super excited because I am preparing for this year's Milford Oyster Festival where I will be displaying and selling my beautiful handmade crafts. I have been papercrafting like a mad woman and loving every minute of it! Here are a few of the projects that I have created so far. Please leave me a comment and tell me what you think! The festival will be held on August 18th and I would love it if you would stop by my booth Stephanie Loves Scrapbooking!

Shadow Box Frame with hand rolled paper flowers- just add your own photo

Display Album for Baby- holds 12 pages of your cutest photos inside

Sweet Recipe Box- holds 4x6 recipe cards (some cards included)

Haunting Halloween Showcase- decorated on all sides, just add your photos!

Perpetual Calendar- use this year after year for birthdays, anniversaries and recurring events

4 Blocks- 4 Words- Home, Luck, Play, and Love

Oh boy do I have more to show you so check back again soon! :)

Happy Crafting! :)

Playing with Blocks!

2012-01-12T18:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, I have been playing with blocks and I have been loving every minute of it!!! It is true, I have finally had some time to craft in the past few days with our new My Collage Cube set, part of the Rock the Block promotion that is going on now until January 30th. With this set you not only get 9 super cool chipboard cubes but also a storage tray AND an E (for extra big) size stamp set especially designed and sized for these blocks. I have had so many ideas for these blocks that I have had to make an Excel spreadsheet to organize them! (Those of you that know me will know that I am NOT joking!) :)

The blocks have six sides. I choose to use a variety of techniqes to decorate them including embossing, stamping, die-cutting, shadowing, and distressing. I knew I wanted to have one side say "Welcome", one side for Halloween, one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas, one for Valentine's Day and lastly one side that was patriotic. I tried to be able to rotate the blocks every few weeks.

I started my blocks by distressing every corner of every block with Chocolate ink. This is one of my favorite CTMH colors because it matches everything! I also distressed all of the corners (both inside and out) of the storage/display tray. Distressing the edges of your cut papers and letters is a technique that you can do in very little time and one that pays off BIG time in the look of your final project. I highly recommend that you try it on your next project- I know you will agree with me!

For two sides of the blocks I used the embossing technique. I love the look of black embossing on a project especially when the letters are embossed such as I did on the "Be Mine" side of the blocks. I also used embossing on the Halloween layout. The witch, crow, and fence are all embossed. I think embossing really adds a lot of interest and texture especially to these blocks of which you really can not use any 3-D elements such as foam tape on. The embossing technique is perfect- it really adds demension and an amazing gloss without preventing the blocks from fitting nicely together.

For three sides of the blocks I used the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the letters for me. How easy was that! I absolutely LOVE this cartridge! It has everything you need from an alphabet to symbols which perfectly fit on these blocks. I used the 1 1/4" size to cut and a pressure of 2. This cuts beautiful and FAST letters and intricate shapes that I would never be able to do even with an exacto-knife. For the letters I cut two sets out and used one set as a "shadow" behind the other to make them pop. You can see that I did this with both the "Thanksgiving" and the "America" sides. For the Christmas side I used the decorative Font to add a bit more interest to the letters and topped the "i" with a cute snowflake cut right from the Cricut too!

As you can see you can leave the blocks in the tray to display them or you can stack them or line them up - it is totally "hip 2 B square" with this set! When you spend just $25 in products from our current Autumn/Winter Idea Book, you can order this set at a very special price of just $15! Visit my website here to place your order online.

Lastly, I could not help but decorate both the inside and outside of the storage/display tray too! I wanted to decorate the tray in a neutral fashion so that all of the various sides would match with the tray at all times. I used the neutral B&T Roxie paper and some metal Antique Copper corners on all sides.

I hope you all have some time this year to craft too! Make it your New Year's resolution to finally get your family's memories preserved. I can help! Contact me at s.m.brown@sbcglobal.net for more details on how you can get all of our products at 20% off!

May you have a blessed, happy and healthy 2012! Hope to hear from you soon! :)

List of Materials Used (All CTMH):

My Creations Collage Cubes/Rock the Block set

Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge

Cardstock Papers: Pacifica, Colonial white, White daisy, New England ivy
Paper Packets: Fanfare, Mistletoe, Mischief, Roxie
Stamps: Wicked s1108, Spot on backgrounds d1280, fright night b1359, Thanksgiving c1426, Baroque alphabet E1006, Notice the details d1378, Amore d1445, Ms. Sweetheart d1345, Bohemian alphabet E1019
Ink: Black, Chocolate, Pacifica, Pear, Cranberry, Sunflower, Barn red, Autumn terracotta, Creme brûlée
Other materials: Black embossing powder, Versa mark ink, Craft heater, Blending pen, Liquid glass, Sponge daubers, Micro tip scissors, Mini medley Antique copper

Happy crafting! :)

Rock the Block!

2011-12-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

I just love these blocks! So many wonderful uses! This set includes the new Collage Cubes and the exclusive E-size stamp set all for just $15 when you place a $25 order from the current Autumn/Winter Idea Book. Check out this video for more details on this super cool product!

The December Stamp of the Month is also a must have! And better yet you can get it for just $5 with a $50 purchase. This is a significant savings from the original SOTM program. I am already planning to use it to make Valentine's Day cards for my son to give out at school and, of course, to the BEST Grandma and Great Grandma's in the world! :)

So if you spend just $50 in product this month you can take advantage of both of these amazing specials! What cool holiday gifts would these be for your most beloved fellow papercraft lovers?! :)

Also check out all of the fabulous products whose prices are further reduced up to 80% off in the While Supplies Last section of my website.

Here are some more ideas to get your creative juices flowing! :)

Mandy Leahy did an amazing job with the Rock the Block set! Can you believe she used just one set of blocks to make all of these beautiful decorations! Super cool!

Who wouldn't love a holiday card or tag hand-made especially for them?!

Email me to place an order or order right from my online CTMH website for shopping 24/7.

Happy Crafting! :)

You Rock! Joshua's 4th Birthday

2011-10-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Joshua recently rocked out at his 4th birthday party! He had a party at McDonald's Playland and another one at home! What a blast! He was so excited when he saw his new ride cymbal for his drum set and the new Guitar Hero Wii game that I know we will both enjoy! :) He has grown so much in the past year and has started taking drum lessons with an awesome drum teacher. He is enjoying school and having lots of fun with his family and friends! I had some free time today (no school/work- yippee!) and was able to work on some of his birthday layouts. I hope they inspire the rockstar in you too! :)

CTMH Material List

Reflections- Main Frame Perfect Square, Title Topper, Half & Hal, and Front & Center patterns

You Rock Paper Packet (retired but available on Studio J)

Opaques

Sparkles

Studio J- First Day at School

2011-09-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

Joshua recently had his first day of school in his new Pre-K-4 class. He is having a blast again this year! Since I am so busy lately with starting another school year myself (I am a Science Professor at Norwalk Community College) I used our online scrapbooking program, Studio J, to create this beautiful and oh-so-quick layout. The best part was that I did this two page layout in about 1/2 hour and had absolutely no mess to clean up after and I had Joshua right by my side helping me push the buttons on my computer!

I didn't have my blog last year so I thought I would also include pictures of last year's first day of Pre-K-3 layout as well. I used the same paper packet called Class Act to keep with the school theme since these layouts are both in Joshua's School Scrapbook.

If you are looking for more ideas for Back to School layouts check out this Back to School Studio J blog. You can also check out these really cool Teacher's gifts made by my amazing friend and fellow CTMH consultant Crystal.

Here is a link to Studio J. Try it and you will be hooked too!

Joyful Stars Swap #1-- Autumn/Winter Idea Book

2011-08-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in the Joyful Stars Team swap for the NEW Autumn/Winter Idea Book. Usually everyone participating in the swap chooses a new paper pack and a Stamp of the Month to create a 2-page layout or 3 cards, but for this swap since the date of the swap is August 20th, we decided not to use the August SOTM and to choose any other stamp set instead. I chose to use the Mischief Level 2 Paper Pack and the Royal Birth stamp set. I wanted to show another use for the clearly Halloween themed Mischief papers so I decided to use only the B&T paper with the damask pattern on it and the back side of the Halloween label paper which has a delicate weave pattern on it.

My layout is called "Queen for a Day" and it was inspired by this year's CTMH Convention in Disneyland where I was excited to meet the CTMH Dream Team royalty: Karen Morris, leader of the Dream Team, and her downline Naomi Smith, leader of the Connected Hearts Team. I am a very proud downline of both of these teams. So proud in fact that I decided to "curtsy" in front of Karen and she thought that was just too silly! What fun we have! Oh my, what fun we have! And what an honor it was to meet them both. I can only hope that one day I might be a fraction as successful in my CTMH business as they are in theirs. I know one thing is for sure, that we all have the time of our lives at Convention every year! :)

A close up of my journaling printed on purple vellum.

A close up of my tiara and wand. I used silver embossing powder to make them shine!

NOTE: I based this layout on Harmony in Cherish pg. 38 except for I did not cut pieces A or G. Instead I cut three 1 1/2 x 12 pieces and attached two to the sides of the left page and one to the center of the right page. I also chose to use the journaling space on the right page for a picture and the bottom picture space for my journaling.

CTMH Materials Used:
Mischief Level 2 Paper Packet
Smokey Plum, Gray flannel, and Black cardstock
Royal Birth stamp set (tiara, wand, gem, Queen for a Day, Yes I am Royalty)
10 Things stamp set (small flourish)
Black stamp pad
VersaMark ink pads
Silver embossing powder
craft heater
Licorice opaques
Black grosgrain ribbon
Foundry metal ribbon slides
Heirloom assortment (hanging crystal)
Midnight felt shapes (corner bracket)
Cherish (Harmony layout)

Please let me know if you would like to learn more about CTMH products! My next post will feature the Halloween artwork we will make in my September workshop class. Make sure to RSVP by September 11th!

Happy crafting! :)

Grandpa's Remembrance Album

2011-08-12T05:50:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest men in my life, my grandpa Bernie, passed away this week. My grandfather was the most gentle, kind-hearted and loving man I knew. He was always welcoming, smiling and happy. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he was never afraid to let you see him cry.

My grandfather was also the bravest man that I have ever known. He was in the Army, fought in WWII and was wounded very severely. He had many scars on his body from places where shrapnel had punctured it. Some shrapnel staying inside of his body for his entire life. He was among those that fought in Normandy and was awarded the purple heart for his bravery. But my grandpa would rarely talk about those days. I think he did not really want to remember them. Or, more correct, he did not want us to remember him by those stories. What he wanted us to remember him by was another story. The story of my grandmother and my grandfather: Ruth and Bernie. Henceforth, and for all of my life, just known as "THE story". For as soon as you would meet my grandfather he would ask you "Did you hear THE story?" No, you say? Well then let me tell it to you!

My grandfather met my grandmother on a Sunday. 3 days later they got engaged. 30 days later they got married.

Yes. I got the story right. Believe me I have heard it a million times and yet I NEVER got tired of hearing it! For his face would light up everytime he told it. My face would light up too everytime I heard it. My grandparents fell in love and got engaged in 3 days and were married 30 days later! Today one might think "that's crazy!" but, if you saw my grandparents, it is NOT so crazy after all. For they were crazy about each other. Even after almost 63 years of marriage they were still crazy about each other. My grandfather worshiped my grandmother ("Ruthie!" he would call her) and my grandmother took care of my grandfather's every need. What a marriage they had! Everything my grandmother did, every meal she made, every day of her life, my grandfather was greatful for her and he told her so not only in words but in his actions too. What a MAN! She knew that she was "#1" in his book and he knew that he was "#1" in her's. It was a real-life LOVE story. One that I was blessed not only to hear but to be a PRODUCT of. Because without THIS love story, my dad would not be here, my dad would not have met my mom, my parents would not have had their own love story and I would not be here.

I know that grandpa will not be able to tell THE story again here on Earth but I also know a LOT of people that can and WILL continue to tell THE story long after he is gone.

I could not have asked for a better grandfather. I could not have asked for a better role model for my son. I am so happy that Joshua got the chance to know and LOVE my grandpa ("Poppy" to Joshua) and although grandpa has left this Earth, I KNOW that he has really NOT left. He has not left MY life. I will not see him in the flesh anymore but his love, his legacy, and the traditions he instilled in me will always live on in my heart. I love you Grandpa. YOUR story will live on forever.

left page and cover shown above: My grandparents at their 60th Anniversary Party. How beautiful!
right page: My grandpa Bernie when he was young, very handsome and in the service.

left page: My grandpa and me in his pool when I was about 2 years old
right small page: The Tapestry of Life.

left small page: My family posing with chocolate cigars. The night I brought my son Joshua home from the hospital. I love grandpa's face (grandma and grandpa are in the bottom right of the picture)
right page: My grandpa Bernie kissing grandma Ruth's hand. I loved to see him to do that!

left page: My family at Rosh Hashana dinner (Joshua's first in 2008). One of the best meals and days of the year.
right page: My grandparents on Father's Day this year.

left and right pages: My grandparents in Florida. They were so happy to spend the summers there. We were so happy to visit them too! (2005)

left page: My grandparents on a "night out on the town" many years ago.
right page: Poppy and Joshua (2008)

back page: My grandparents at a friend's wedding years ago. What a stunning couple!

"And in the end it's not the years in your life that count.

It's the life in your years."

-----Abraham Lincoln

My journaling reads: "Grandpa & Poppy, You will live on in our hearts forever! 2011 "

I miss you Grandpa. I love you.

To make this album I used all Close To My Heart materials of course!
Sonoma Level 2 Paper Packet
Sonoma Level 2 My Stickese
Purple Sparkles
Liquid Glass
Microtip Scissors
Acrylic Album
Organdy Ribbon

Please let me know if you are interested in making a memory album of your own.

Yeah!! The New Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book is HERE!!!

2011-08-01T07:11:00.000-07:00

The new Autumn/Winter Idea Book is here and it is gorgeous!!! Click here to view it online! With bigger pictures of the artwork and even detailed supply lists for the featured projects, this new idea book is really the BEST yet! See for yourself!

The new August SOTM (Stamp of the Month) is really WICKED!!! For the month of August only, the Wicked stamp set with a Halloween theme (duh!) will make your inner witch kackle! Perfect timing I think for getting ready for that big Halloween party! Click here to purchase!

The new Mischief Paper packet is awesome! I will feature this paper packet in my September Workshop Class. Click here to purchase it separately or click here to purchase the WOTG (Workshop on the Go) that we will be using in my September Workshop Class. I'll post that artwork soon. Email me to reserve your seat as seats in my classes are limited.

So much to say and so very little time! My son Joshua is calling now and finally feeling better! He had a 104 fever from Tuesday night to early Sunday morning. Summer virus the doc said.

Stay tuned to my blog for more updates, new products and new info that I know you will love! Such as our even lower prices on stamp sets and thicker double sided paper! More details soon! Happy crafting!!! :)

NEW CTMH Idea Book only a day away!

2011-07-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Drum roll please....The new CTMH Idea Book is being released on August 1st! I am so excited because I know you will absolutely LOVE all of the new and fabulous products and I can't wait to show them to you!!! I have had the amazing opportunity to get my copy of the new Idea Book already at Convention and I also received lots of gorgeous new papers and accessories for FREE (click here to sign up to be a Consultant and you can be just as LUCKY as me!).

Wow are you going to LOVE LOVE LOVE the new CRICUT cartridge!!! The flowers and doilies in the beautiful artwork showcased above were made using our new Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. Yes we have really decided to make papercrafting FASTER. SIMPLER. EASIER. for you. After all our motto is: We show you how to celebrate relationships through discovering your creativity, to preserve and share the moments that matter most. And we really mean it! Even if you think you are not a creative person I KNOW I can help you discover how with our patterns, instructions and guidance you can make the most amazing papercrafting projects that your family and friends will just go crazy over. And best yet, you will have the confidence in knowing that your precious memories will be preserved for future generations to enjoy and treasure!

There are so many things to show and tell you that I will also be holding a CTMH Open House on August 14th from Noon until 3 p.m. Come and see our new products and get your very own copy of the new Idea Book for FREE with your order. I will also have some cash & carry items and of course a make & take! What's that? You can't wait until August 14th? (I don't blame you!!!) You can also click here to place an order online at my website at stephaniebrown.myctmh.com right now for products in the current Idea Book and starting August 1st for the new products in the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book! Please let me know if you will be attending my CTMH Open House as I want to make sure to prepare enough make & takes for all! RSVP through email by August 12th at s.m.brown@sbcglobal.net and I will send you all the details. SEE YOU SOON!!!

Happy crafting! :)

Destination Home-- Connecticut

2011-07-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

"There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!"

Oh my! I just clicked my beautiful ruby slippered heals together three times and voila I'm home!!! No really, I am not in Oz anymore, or Kansas or California or Nevada...you get the idea.... I flew home. Family missed us too much. We missed our family. We felt that we had seen everything that we had wanted to see (for now at least). So we decided to fly back home to good ole Connecticut, the Constitution State. They say "home is where the heart is" but I think that home is a place where the hearts of those that you love are. We missed everyone and we were very happy to get home especially to the awesome welcome home duo that greeted us at the airport. Welcome home signs, smiles, hugs and a few tears too. Thanks Lisa and Tracie!!!!

There really is no place like home.

Thank you for following my blog and please continue to follow me in all my travels and scrapbooking endeavors! LUSM!

Destination Home-- Sightseeing in Las Vegas

2011-07-23T00:19:00.000-07:00

We stayed at the ULTIMATE hotel in Las Vegas, the Bellagio, but we also got a chance to visit some of the other hotels along the strip such as the Paris, Mandalay Bay, Excalibar, Luxor, Venetian, Wynn, and Caesars Palace. My favorite was the Paris. The Paris is right across the street from the Bellagio and has a HUGE Eiffel Tower in the front of the hotel with the casino at the bottom of the tower and a restaurant about a third of the way up on the 11th floor. You can also take a ride up to the top of the Eiffel Tower if you so desire. I passed on that one; sorry but I have had enough of high altitutudes for a while! :) We ate the most delicious meal at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant! Five courses of utter bliss!!! We have really eaten some EXCELLENT meals on our vacation (Bobby Flay's MESA Grill was by far the BEST meal we have ever had). We also had amazing seats to see the Celine Dion concert at Caesars and she did not disappoint! I am really sorry to be leaving Las Vegas. I have had such a great time these past four weeks that I don't want it to end! But alas all good things must come to an end, I guess... Enjoy the pics!

The Paris as seen from our hotel room!

The Eiffel Tower at night is beautiful!

The inside of the Eiffel Tower on the Casino floor is surrounded by french apartments/rooms and shops.

We are up in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant with an amazing view of the Bellagio and its famous fountain (really a lake modeled after Lake Como in Italy). We were on our third out of five courses here. No joke! :)

Mom and Josh had to "walk like an egyptian" at the Luxor hotel which is in the shape of an Egyptian pyramid complete with Pharoahs and Sphinx gallore. (You can stop singing that Bangles song to yourself now please)

The outside of the Luxor. It is hard to appreciate the massive size of the pyramid and sphinx here but maybe looking at how small the cars are will help.

Mom and Josh at the foot of the Great Sphinx of Giza.

Joshua enjoying the view of a Caesars Palace fountain.

Joshua and his new favorite drink-- a Shirley Temple with extra cheries!

No my seats were not THAT close! but they were really good (box orchestra heehe!). Celine actually emailed me a few pictures from her show and a specially recorded thank you message. No joke! Really! Go to her show and you will get one too!!!

OK enough for now. My next post will be from home. "I am leaving on a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again." Now stop singing John Denver for goodness sakes! We decided to fly back home from here. If I don't go home now, I may never go home. :) SUS!

Destination Home-- Las Vegas, Nevada

2011-07-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings or should I say "Ciao" from the unbelievable Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada! We are on our way home now from our California trip but we are sparing no expense! This has been the trip of a lifetime! (and I might need to spend the rest of my life paying for it but C'est la vie!) This is really a site to see! Here are a few pics of the Bellagio for you to drool over...

The grand size view of the Bellagio from across the street in the Eiffel Tower Restaurant of the Paris (post more on there soon). In the lake in front of the Bellagio a jaw dropping water show is presented about every half hour where the water is shot up into the air as high as the Bally's hotel nearby!

Joshua at the entrance of the Bellagio. Love the lions!!!

Mom and Josh walking under the many upside down umbrellas throughout the Bellagio's grand walkway of shops such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi. (I am in the back taking the picture and getting my credit card ready :)

The longest long-stem roses I have ever seen. I swear I think they are about 5 feet tall! The colorful over-the-top glass flowers hang from the ceiling in the lobby.

The courtyard is just amazing. There are more flowers there than I have ever seen in my whole life combined! There is also a merry-go-round which Joshua was very disappointed to find out was just for "show."

Here is the other side of the courtyard which would be just incomplete without the ferris wheel, don't you agree?

The center view of the courtyard with the large eagle made out of flowers, twigs and seeds. There are also huge bears and "paintings" made out of all natural materials.

This is the largest moving chocolate fountain in existance. The chocolate flows right down from the ceiling! Too bad I could not find the hole at the bottom to fit my open mouth into. Oh well. I settled for a pistachio gelato instead which was delicioso!

I really want to write how much I miss you all but sorry I just can't! ha ha! LUSM!!!! :) See you soon!

Destination California-- Sightseeing

2011-07-20T15:28:00.000-07:00

WOW we had an AMAZING time in California!!! I have already posted two times on our fun in Disneyland and also a few posts from my exciting CTMH Convention, but along the way we also had some time to do some COOL sightseeing. We visited Graumans Chinese Theatre to see the many hand and foot prints of celebrities in the cement, walked along the stars on the sidewalk, took a tour of celebrities homes in our very own white stretch limosine and walked along the BEAUTIFUL beach in Long Beach! Here are some pics of the highlights...

The star of Michael Jackson was right in front of the Chinese Theatre

Che Bella Sophia Loren. Even her shoe prints are gorgeous!

Crazy yet loveable Jack Nicholson

Go ahead Clint Eastwood make MY day! Mom sure was happy! :)

Steven Spielberg's house was on the top of a huge hill

Keanu Reeves' house was very industrial

Cameron Diaz's house (mansion!) was beautiful!

Christina Aguilera's house (behind the big wooden gate!) was pretty in pink!

Me on Rodeo Drive! Check!!!!!

Joshua and I in front of the REG-BEV-WIL (Regent Beverly Wilshire) Yeah!!!! Is that Edward Louis stopping by to pick me up?!

We had a GREAT view of the hollywood sign. Very cool!!!

Josh and I on the California sand!

Mom LOVES palm trees. Too bad they don't sell those in the gift shops!

My next post will be from LAS VEGAS Baby!!!

CTMH Convention: 3 Make & Takes

2011-07-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Last night was the last night of Convention and WOW am I EXCITED about all the GORGEOUS projects we made this year!!! and best yet I was able to finish them here!!!!

This is the front cover of Convention Display Album made by attaching 3 Kraft cards together and accordian folding them. The following pictures are of the inside pages...

I am going to go back later and darken the new cork letters with a little Cocoa ink to make them pop more, add my pictures to the white spaces and my journalling to the tags. Here is the second project we made a 12 x 12 2-page layout using the new Roxie papers, 10 things level 2 accessory, bling assortment and red ribbon. I absolutely LOVE how this layout came out!!!

Here are a few closeups...

Now all I have to do is add the pictures and the journalling! The three black 4x6 spaces are to be filled with pictures and the journalling will be added to each of the numbered pull tabs from the 10 things pocket. Don't you just love the addition of those cute pearl stick pins!!!

The third make & take was the new Memory Game Box. This 3 x 3 box has 24 chipboard coasters/cards inside. We decorated the box featuring the new Elemental papers. It is such a cute box and I can't wait to do another one of these and fill it with a collection of my 3x3 thank you cards.

Although I did not find a Sticky Boy again this year I had a BLAST with all of my CTMH friends some of which found a sticky boy (or two!) of their very own! You LUCKY rascals! I will post more pictures later. I am eager to place my CTMH Convention order!!! :)

CTMH Convention - Roomie Gifts Given

2011-07-14T00:04:00.000-07:00

As promised, these are the roomie gifts I made. They are perpetual calendars. I used the CTMH 3 x 3 white mini album as the base. I personalized each album as to the paperpacket that my friends liked the best.

This is what the inside first page looks like of the album I made with Sophia papers... It says "Dates 2 Remember"

The next few pages are calendar pages, one for every month with a few extra "Remember" pages at the end of the album. Here is a sample page from my album that I used the Bliss paperpack to make...

My friends can stamp the dates of their family's important birthdays on the inside as I have done above.

The back cover of the album looks like this...

I try to always add that Made With Love stamp to the back of my projects. It is one of my favorites. Here is what some of the albums looked like all wrapped up...

I hope you have enjoyed the pics. If you would like more details on the materials I used just let me know. Tomorrow is day 1 of Convention and I am SO EXCITED to see all of the fabulous NEW products CTMH will be presenting. Until tomorrow this scrapbooking diva is signing off.... :)

CTMH Convention - Roomie Gifts Received

2011-07-13T23:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my CTMH friends and I exchanged roomie gifts. I have to start by saying that I have the BEST CTMH friends ever and that they make the BEST roomie gifts! :) I am going to be all "blinged-out" at Convention this year! Jolene made the very cool hand-rolled beaded necklace with a Sticky Boy shrinky dink charm. Sticky Boy is the first clear My Acrylix stamp made by CTMH and an awesome treat to those that find one of the many that are hidden every year around the convention rooms. The cute flower rings were made by Crystal. The beautiful hand-rolled beaded charm bracelet was made by Jean. Stacey made the adorable tag mini album for all my Convention memories. I will post the roomie gifts that I made for my friends in another post. For now, enjoy the pics...I am off to find my very own Sticky Boy...Wish me LUCK!!!!

Destination California -- 7th Stop: Disneyland Part 2

2011-07-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Joshua was SO excited to meet Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Winnie the Pooh, Eeorye, Ariel, Belle, and Tiana (to name a few!) and I must admit I was excited too! :) We are having a GREAT time!!! Enjoy the pics, post more soon!

Destination California -- 7th Stop: Disneyland, Anaheim, California

2011-07-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

We have arrived at our destination!!!! We are finally in DISNEYLAND in Anaheim, California! Joshua is in heaven and I am certainly amongst the stars! What a truly magical place! I feel like a little kid for sure! :) The Disneyland Hotel is awesome, the wall behind the beds has a HUGE wood carving of Cinderella's castle with fireworks that really light up in the sky above! Very cool! (I know I like it a lot more than Joshua!!!) The room has Mickey-touches down to the littlest detail. Even the faucet knobs and shampoo bottle caps are Mickey shaped!!! The pools have 3 different water slides of different sizes; Joshua and I went on the smallest and we got soaked! He really loves to play in the water. I'll write more later, we are off to have more fun at Disneyland!!!!

Destination California -- 6th Stop: Laughlin, Nevada

2011-07-09T18:04:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last few days relaxing and gambling a little at the Aquarius Hotel and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Boy did we enjoy seeing the water again! We are finally back down almost to sea level at about 585 ft. The hotel is located right on the Colorado River and surrounded by beautiful palm trees. The Laughlin area is like a mini Las Vegas with about nine different hotel/casinos, an outlet mall and many other places to have fun :) We were able to see a Beatles tribute show which was excellent; we had a great time dancing and clapping to the music. Mom and Joshua even got to share a "peace" with John Lennon :) I especially enjoyed the buffet breakfasts and dinners! :) I will not miss the heat though. It was 106 degrees and it felt like much hotter! I thought I might melt like the wicked witch! Glad we decided to stay inside most of the time, only walked by the river at dusk. My next post will be from DISNEYLAND CALIFORNIA!!!

Destination California -- 5th Stop: Grand Canyon, Arizona

2011-07-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

In the words of Joshua, "Yeeaaaaahhh We Made It!!!!" There is really no words to describe the view other than OMG this is the most totally amazing, unreal, overwhelming, magnificent, beautiful, awe-inspiring, unbelieveable site (I am trying to descibe the view without using swear words by the way...) that I have ever seen. We are at about 7120 ft above sea level, my head feels as if it is going to blow up from the altitude and my eyes are popping out of my head at the view! If you ever plan your own trip here make sure to get lots of strong drugs (to treat you for the altitude!). Enjoy the pics but they really do the Canyon no justice...

Destination California -- 4th Stop: Colorado Springs, Colorado

2011-07-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

WOW! What a view! We are at 6035 ft above sea level here in the Cheyenne Mountains in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Cheyenne Mountain Resort is BREATHTAKING (literally!!!) . I have had a bit of altitude sickness here and am starting to feel a little better and boy am I looking forward to getting back down closer to sea level! Joshua is doing great thank goodness and Mom is doing well too. Check out these awesome mountain and lake views right from our hotel room...

here are a few more pics of the beautiful hotel and amazing scenery for your viewing pleasure...

going to enjoy the pool now, post more soon! :)

Destination California -- 3rd Stop: Kansas City, Kansas

2011-07-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

We we are in Dorothy's home state of Kansas! The land of the twister but we have thankfully seen none of those. But we have seen alot of wolves! Stuffed ones, that is! We are at the awesome Great Wolf Lodge. It is beautiful and fun!!! The entire first floor is a WATER PARK!!! The HUGE water park has five gigantic water slides (some of which carry you out of the hotel and back in again!) and three kiddie slides. We all had a BLAST playing, splashing, and riding the water slides. After we took Josh on the big yellow slide, which was mostly in the dark, Joshua said "I wanna do that again!" It was so funny!
There is a floor to ceiling fireplace with wolves on cliffs and a really big clock tower with trees and animals that sing and dance!

They put on a cute show that ends with a storytime at night that Joshua loved. At the end of the story we got to meet Wiley the wolf!!! Inside the hotel they also have different game stations set up such as treasure chests that open and light up and pictures that talk to you! All you have to do is wave your magic wand at them. You have to gain powers to defeat the goblin king and dragon. This is part of the MagiQuest interactive action adventure game. They also have lots of indoor and outdoor crafts to do and an arcade on the first floor of the hotel which Joshua thought was like Chuck E. Cheese's.

Well I am off to find the yellow brickroad now. :)

Destination California -- 2nd Stop: Indianapolis, Indiana

2011-06-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Wow! We had a 10 hour drive today and are very tired. We are now in Indianapolis, Indiana our second stop.

Staying in a real Pullman train car. Very cool! Joshua is loving it! :)

Yes our hotel room is actually in the train! The trains are actually in the hotel! Crazy but true! We are also surrounded by lots of white ghost-like statues. I decided to join them and sneak a ride on the train. Whoops, I hear the conductor calling "all aboard" now so gtg ttyl :)

Destination California -- 1st Stop: Pennsylvania -- Hershey Park

2011-06-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

We had a blast today at Hershey Park! Joshua was SO EXCITED to see all of the big machines making the yummy chocolates! We were given a sample of some at the end of the ride which was my favorite part!
We all loved the slow yet oh so refreshing float down the shallow waters of the Intercoastal Waterway ride. We got soaked!

Joshua also loved the carrousel, his yellow hot air balloon ride and the train ride on the Gulch railroad. He even got to play the drums of one of the marching band members!
Well, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow with a 10 hour drive. Setting our sites on Indiana. Stay tuned...

Destination California -- 1st Stop: Pennsylvania -- Historic Strasburg

2011-06-27T17:14:00.000-07:00

We left home today with our sites set on sunny California! Our first stop was the Historic Strasburg Inn in Pennsylvania. This stop was special to us because this is where my parents celebrated their honeymoon over 37 years ago. It was nice to go there and see the same sites my parents saw and even eat at the same restaurant they ate at. It was very cool! Even Joshua had a blast learning how to swim in the hotel pool!

Tomorrow we go to Hershey Park and I can't wait! I am looking forward to tasting every piece of chocolate that they have to offer! :)

Mix & Mingle Showcase

2011-06-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

My sister Lisa recently celebrated her birthday. She absolutely loved the cute little picture showcase I made her using the My Creations Mix & Mingle (X1334) Album. The album comes with 3 clear and 3 white chipboard pages and enough jump rings to link the pages together in the order of your choosing. All of the pages are 4 x 4 so it is a snap to decorate and it is the perfect size to use as a small display piece.

To create her album I chose to use 2 of the chipboard pages and 1 clear page (now I have 3 pages left to make one for me!). Taking center stage in this display showcase is this cute photo I took of my sister and her new puppy Tessa. This photo went perfect with the colors in the new Mayberry paper pack (X7136B). To decorate the pages I used the Irresistibles Eclectic Chipboard Die Cut alphabet letters(Z1395) to write Lisa's name on one side of the album and added a few Irresistibles Villa Chipboard Die Cut shapes (Z1390) on the other. I also added some Glitz Glitter Gel (Z1313) and Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems (Z1333) to glam it up a bit. How do you like my big handmade paper flower in the upper right corner? So pretty, right?! Just like my sister!!! Love you Lisa!!! :)

Display Album using Sophia

2011-06-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

My great Aunt Joyce recently celebrated her 85th birthday with a party given by her family. Even though she asked for no gifts, I could not resist making her a My Creations Display Album (Z1054) to showcase all of her beautiful pictures. The album has chipboard covers and 12 6x6 page protectors. It looks like this (right) before it is decorated.

I love the colors of Hollyhock and Pear together in the Sophia paper pack (X7131B) and the new Pink Collections ribbon (Z1384) is a perfect match! Here is what the finished album looks like:

Here is a close up of her initials JB on the big Just Blooms Paper Flower daisy (Z1266). The letters are from the Eclectic Alphabet Irresistibles (Z1395) and I colored both the letters and daisy with Pear. The letters have a resist pattern on them that resists the ink color. The resist adds a lot of texture to the letters, don't you agree? I also used a few Summer Posies (Z822) and Pink Sparkles (Z1326) scattered throughout for some added bling. Did you notice my custom Sophia brad in the center of the flower? It was made using the i-top Brad Maker (love this tool!).

I used a Foundry Bookplate (Z1147) to highlight the Celebrate the Occasion stamp to which I added some Glitz Glitter gel (Z1313) and more pink sparkles. It isn't often I get to do a "girly" layout since I have a son so when I get the chance I take full advantage! ;)

I kept the back very simple, just adding a Made with Love (D1387) stamp and another small flower. Tied a bunch of coordinating organdy ribbons to the top to finish it off. How cute is that! :)

End of the School Year

2011-06-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Today was my son Joshua's last day of Pre-K-3. The class had a party and Joshua gave each of his teachers a small handmade gift. Joshua enjoyed Pre-K-3 this year and is especially happy to know that he will have his two favorite teachers again next year in the 4 year old program.

I made Miss Michele a box of goodies using this clear partitioned storage container (KRUS jar with lid) from IKEA.

It has a clip on lid and I just love them so much I am going to go buy more!

I decorated the outside in one of our retired but totally appropriate CTMH paper packs called School Zone and used our beautiful Just Blooms Paper Flowers (Z1266) and new FanFare Level 2 Assortment brads (Z1400). I also used the retired organza ribbon that I just love and the new Red (ZZ1369), Blue (Z1371) and Green buttons (Z1372) with Colonial White Waxy Flax (Z1081) to look like thread. I wanted to stay with the primary colors and this paper and embellishments worked out perfect! This is the finished outside:

I filled the container with some necessary items that every teacher must have! Here is a pic of the inside.

For the teacher's assistant Miss Maureen I made a customized My Creations Journal (Z1268) using the same School Zone paper pack and the coordinating My Stickese. I added some organza ribbon to the sides and some buttons on the top.
Here is the finished journal:

Both of these projects came together pretty quickly and that was good because I am also hard at work on the "roomie gifts" for Convention which is in a few weeks. I am leaving on June 27th and so those need to get done before I leave! For now I will leave you with this tip:

Did you know that you can ink the Bliss Level 2 Assortment metal flowers!!! HINT HINT!!!

And also Did you know that purple hair is very cool!!! (I am definitely getting into the Jasmine spirit!!!!)

34 Days to Convention!!! :)

Leadershare April 2011

2011-05-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

I recently attended the Close To My Heart Leadershare in Pennsylvania. What a blast! We got lots of free gifts such as papers, stamps, and accessories and were able to make two fun projects. I really enjoyed spending time with my fellow consultants especially my friends on the Joyful Stars team of which I am a proud member. Here are a few more pictures for your viewing pleasure: