You Rock - Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop! This month we are featuring the stamp set D1346 You Rock. This was a fun stamp set to play with - I used it on my upcoming Workshop featuring the You Rock papers as well! I used the Workshop On The Go for the You Rock papers, but instead of using the Rockin' Top Coats and the Just Be You stamp set that comes in the Workshop Kit, I changed things up and used the You Rock stamp set instead.

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Here are the pages and cards that we will be creating at the workshop...remember you can click on any of the images to view them larger.

Here are some close-ups of the pages...

Since I didn't have the Rockin' Top Coats to use, I created my own by heat embossing on a transparency and then cutting out - I used Pansy Purple, Olive, and Goldrush (retired) Embossing Powder.

When I stamped the word 'YOU' I accidentally got an edge of the block in the ink and it transfered to the paper - so I made it look like I meant to do that by adding more and voila, I created journaling lines! I think the rough look goes along well with the paper. Here you can also see the crown from the You Rock stamp set that I embossed on a transparency and cut out to add to the page.

And here is my corner accent - I combined two different stamps 'I Love to Play' and 'You Rock' to make it say {I Love You} instead.

Here are the cards...

...for this one I heat embossed the guitar on a transparency and cut out...

...for this one I also used the Circle Around stamp set and Thanks stamp set...

...for this one I didn't use the You Rock stamp set, instead I used the Star Struck stamp set along with the Happy Birthday stamp set...

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The next stop on this blog hop is Tracy, so don't forget to keep on hopping and check out all the fun artwork using this stamp set.

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If you get lost or find links not working along the way, here is a complete list of hoppers...

Wendy K http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com/

Jenifer Benner http://www.jensmessystudio.com/

Jena DeVries http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com/

Tracy Oleksak http://www.mamaolie.blogspot.com/

Kimberly Smith http://verykimberry.blogspot.com/

Sylvia Jacquot http://stampinsylvia.blogspot.com/

Mary Eisen http://mestamp2.blogspot.com/

Carol Loftus http://www.carolloftus.blogspot.com/

Adeline Brill http://www.adeline-brill.blogspot.com/

And for those who would like to see the original Workshop On The Go designs - here is what CTMH created - you can see how I changed mine up.

Thanks for looking - I hope you enjoy the Blog Hop!

Love You Forever

Since the book, "Love You Forever" is one of my favorite books (even though I cry every time I read it), when I saw this new stamp set in the new CTMH Spring Idea Book, I just knew I had to have it. Plus the images on this set are just darling! So I decided to use this stamp set and each of the new Spring paper packs to make Valentine's cards for my kids - I really love how they turned out and the kids loved them - except Trysten who just wanted to pull his apart or throw it in the garbage ;-) For each of the following cards I used a sketch from the September 2009 CardMaps from PageMaps.

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Since Kaylee's favorite color is green, I decided to use the Caboodle papers.

Brianna's favorite color is blue, so I used Topstitch - this one ended up looking really baby-ish with the pale colors and the sheep but she thought it was adorable.

Brailee likes lots of colors but she tends to lean more towards the greens and yellows so I used Veranda on her card. She does like owls still, so this image was perfect.

And for Trysten, of course since he is a boy, I used the You Rock papers - love that blue pattern!

And I didn't use any stamp sets on this card, but here is the one I made for my hubby.

I hope you are all having a Happy Valentine's Day with your loved ones! Check back after midnight tonight to see a special CTMH Blog Hop featuring the stamp set, You Rock!

Love begins with a smile...

It's a good thing I checked my e-mail this morning before the post I had scheduled went live. This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} was supposed to be the Recipe Challenge, but Tamara decided to switch things up this week, so I would have had the wrong project posted this morning! Instead, this week's challenge is a card sketch, I just had to rearrange a few of my scheduled posts so here you go!

And here is the card I created using this sketch - I LOVE how it turned out! I usually don't like to take so much time or use so many accessories on cards, but I really had fun with this one! This card also goes along with this week's challenge over at Practical Scrappers - to use brads!

Products Used (all CTMH): Topstitch paper, Love Is In The Air stamp set, Chocolate brads (bigger, regular, and bitty), Vineyard Berry stamp pad, Heavenly Blue stamp pad, Chocolate stamp pad, Edge Distressor, Cottage Edge Anchors, 3D foam squares

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And here is a different angle so you can see the dimension and distressing.

Thanks for looking! And don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created!

Super Hero Style

I wish I were a Super Hero! This has been quite a week/month/year - I hope I make it through! My computer has crashed, so I am using my super slow laptop (that hasn't been used in over a year since it's such a pain), but thanks to post scheduling, I won't be disappearing from my blog anytime soon. I still have the rest of this month's Design Team work to share, plus I have been scrapping a lot lately - it helps relieve my stress! Thanks for sticking with me even though I am not able to return the sweet comments.

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Just a quick (but not complete) update - yesterday the two youngest kids were scheduled for their yearly check-ups at the doctor. Brailee went to her cousin's birthday party after lunch and got home about 45 minutes before her appointment. Shortly after getting home she started crying about her ear - she was clearly in pain and I just knew it was an ear infection. Out of all our kids, she has had them the worst - when she was a baby she had a run of them about one a month. We thought we were past that, though as I don't think she has had one for over a year...until now, that is. Usually our doctor visits go so well (even with the shots) but yesterday was a different story. Brailee was hurting and tired (she fell asleep on the way to the appointment) so she was a pill at first, plus it was a fill-in doctor since ours is on vacation, and a new nurse, so I don't think that helped either. After a while she finally got happy again and played with her sisters...but then it was shot time. She only cried for about 30 seconds but she wasn't too happy with me for letting them give her a shot. Oh, and sure enough, it was an ear infection. Trysten wasn't too happy at the doctor's office either - his nap schedule was off yesterday so he was tired as well. He also has at least 3 or 4 new teeth coming in, and on Sunday as we were getting ready for church, he fell and bumped his mouth and tore his frenulum (sp?) so his mouth is pretty sore and makes him cranky! So he wasn't too happy at the doctor, and then he got his shots too - boy that made him mad! We were only there for about an hour but I was glad to get out of there! Luckily David was just getting home from work when we got out so I dropped off all the kids and went to the pharmacy for Brailee's antibiotic. So, anyway, sometimes I just wish I were a Super Mom who could make it all better ;-)

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Anyway, enough rambling - here is what I came to share this morning. This was a page I did for the last PageMaps Blog contest, but thanks to my computer crashing, I was unable to get it uploaded in time for the contest deadline. I just checked out the winners - they are amazing - I never stood a chance anyway ;-P Here is the sketch used - I rotated it once to fit my pics.

I love these Let's Get Together papers - but you'd never know they were a favorite of mine since this one and Brailee's Birthday Girl pages that I posted earlier this week are the first ones I've done with them - and I've had the papers for over a year now! I want to re-do my journaling spot - the buttercup ink didn't show the journaling lines as well as I would have liked, and my Garden Green marker is going dry so it all just didn't work well together. This was the first time I've used the new Irresistables Color-Ready Alphabets and they are so much fun. I do love these pictures of Kaylee - they make me smile! So I do love the page - just need to order a new marker and fix my journaling spot...eventually!

Products Used (all CTMH): Let's Get Together papers, Posterboard Alphabet stamp set, Doodle Alphabet stamp set, Comments stamp set, Simple Stitches stamp set, Irresistables Lots of Dots (sticker letters), sponged with Breeze ink, Autumn Garden mini medleys (Olive Corduroy Brads)

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Thanks for looking - and thanks for your sweet comments, they really brighten my day!

Winter Joy

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a layout sketch:

And here is the layout I created...I had so much fun with this one, and you can see I stayed pretty true to the sketch. This page went together pretty fast, and I'm really pleased with it. This is Kaylee 6 years ago!

CTMH Products Used: Life Delights paper pack, Pearl Paint, Flurry Dimensional Elements, Blush re-inker, Snow Flurries stamp set, Clear Sparkles, Pretty Pins, Winter Cozy Mini Medleys
Other: SU! scallop border punch
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The pin in the sketch inspired me to finally use at least one Pretty Pin that I've had for almost a year now! Now I'm inspired to use them more.

I painted the chipboard snowflakes and edges of all the papers with the Pearl Paint for some fun distressing. For the flake in the bottom right corner I added some Blush re-inker to the paint for a pretty pink snowflake. In the following picture the coloring is off but you can see the paint distressing better...

To see what the rest of the Design Team has created, visit the Sketches! {by tamara} blog. Thanks for looking!

Piece of Cake!

Welcome to our CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We are featuring the February SOTM, which is called Piece of Cake.

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If you get lost along the way or find links that aren't working, click here to find a complete list of participants.

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When you're done here, the next stop is Helen's Blog, so don't forget to keep hopping and check out all the inspirational artwork!

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My computer is on the fritz, but I was able to use the laptop to get at least one new project posted. Here is a fun 2-page layout that I did from Brailee's 2nd Birthday. I used the Let's Get Together paper pack, Cocktail Alphabet stamp set, Togetherness stamp set (I LOVE that stitch stamp and have used it a ton already - stay tuned during the month of February to see more!). I used a layout from the January 2010 PageMaps.

Here is a close-up of the left page. Sorry for the glare on the photos. Isn't Brailee such a cutie!

I used some Flip Flaps to add more pictures to the right page - I also have some hidden journaling and extra pictures but I forgot to take pictures of that.

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Here are some cards I've already posted using this stamp set. On the following card, I used one of the cupcake stamps and masked off the stand to stamp just the row of cupcakes on this coordinating envelope.

Here I stamped one of the cakes and dotted with Liquid Glass. I then masked off the cake to stamp just the candles on the matching envelope. I also masked the sentiment to get it in a straight line instead of stacked.

Thanks for looking - happy hopping!

Fun Give-Away!

I know this is last minute since today is the last day to enter, but I just saw this on my cousin's blog so I had to get in on the action! It's a give-away for an adorable baby leggings set - click here to check it out!

Challenge #104

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a journaling challenge from Bethany. Here is the challenge:

"journal about something in your life that you have overcome -- it can be something very personal & of great importance, something that was a big moment or change in your life *or* it can be something that is more light-hearted, maybe not a huge ordeal in your life but still a situtation or something that you had to overcome & make it thru to get to where you wanted to be or to accomplish what you wanted to accomplish."

I obviously went with the more light-hearted approach. This topic was a huge challenge for me to journal about but I really like my take on it - totally not what you'd expect but I'm glad to have this memory scrapped, as silly as it is!

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For this layout I used a sketch from PageMaps, from their December 2009 sketches - I've used a lot from that month's sketches!

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CTMH Products Used: Colonial White, Tulip, and Blush cardstocks, Whimsy Heartfelt DieCuts (Tulip scallop and buttons), Winter Cozy Sassy Strands (Blush), Friendship Alphabet (small), Bold Color Ready Alphabet stickers (stamped with one of the Spot On Background stamps using Tulip ink, Comments stamp set, and Tulip and Blush inks

Other Products Used: Embossing Stylus, EK Success Large Corner Rounder

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To see what the rest of the Design Team has created, just click here!

Challenge #103

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a card sketch challenge.

Here is the card I created using this sketch. I used a fun new penguin stamp that Brailee got from my Grandma for Christmas - that's a tradition that she's done since I was little, all the girls in the family get a new rubber stamp. I guess that's where my love for stamping (and my collection) started! I pieced the penguin together with 3-D foam dots for added dimension. I also got to use some of my brand new Nestabilities - I love those things! I heat embossed the 'thank you' in white powder on the blue tag so this card also fits in this week at Practical Scrappers!

CTMH Products Used: Aspen paper pack, White Daisy Embossing Powder, Thanks stamp set, Liquid Applique, Outdoor Denim Textured CS, Outdoor Denim stamp pad

Other Products Used: Fiskars scallop punch, unknown white fibers, Hero Arts penguin stamp, Nestabilities Labels 8

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To see what the rest of the Design Team has created using this sketch just click here!

I Am a Child of God

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a recipe challenge - use the following three items on your cards or layouts. You can use more items, but these three items must be included.
*Rub Ons
*Flowers
*Bling

This layout also goes along with this week's challenge over at Practical Scrappers. I had so much fun with the following layout...you can click on the pictures to view them larger...
ETA: I forgot to mention that the sketch for this layout came from the December 2009 PageMaps. The idea to use the I Am a Child of God song like this with the birth details came from a wall hanging that I see in Shelly's house every time we visit her and my dad.


I used 51 bitty sparkles - I was fitting them in everywhere! Here are some close-ups of the sparkles, flowers, and rub-ons used.




This layout was my original project for this challenge, but I knew I wasn't going to get it done before the deadline to e-mail stuff to Tamara, so I quickly made the following circle card to meet the deadline, but then a day or two later I finally had a chance to finish up the layout and e-mailed it to Tamara as well. Here is the card that I originally submitted...



To see what the rest of the Design Team has created for this week's challenge, just click here!
Thanks for looking!

It's about time...

...I finally announce my blog candy winner! Sorry it's been so long, I've been super busy and kept forgetting to do the drawing!

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Congrats to Tammy!

E-mail me at jvdevries22@hotmail.com with your mailing info and I will get your goodies sent on their way!

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Thanks for everyone who participated - it was fun reading about some of your traditions and thanks to Rosie, we've added a new book to our Christmas Book collection!

First Christmas

Remember this layout that I posted back in October for my Word Puzzle Workshop? Well I had a chance at the end of 2009 to add a quick picture...I love this sweet little boy!

I'm keeping this short and sweet today but thanks for visiting and looking!

Challenge #101

This is the first week of my Design Team run on the Sketches! {by tamara} blog! I had so much fun with this month's challenges, so be sure to check back every Tuesday for that week's challenge - I hope you'll play along!

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This week's challenge is a layout sketch:

I used this sketch to work on Trysten's calendar - I am so far behind, he's going to be one this month! At least I've been pretty good about keeping the journaling side updated!

Instead of journaling strips I took a border stickease and cut it up. Don't you just love the touch of drool on Trysten's chin in this picture ;-) He is such a slobbery little boy and he only has two teeth to show for it! He does finally have his top two starting to poke through now, but all my other kids had a lot more teeth than this by the time they were one!

To see what the rest of the Design Team has done with this week's sketch, just click here.

Thanks for visiting!

True Friends Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we are featuring the January SOTM, which is called True Friends.

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What a fun way to count down to 2010 - come hop with us! If you get lost along the way or find links that aren't working, scroll down past this post and you will find a complete list of participants.
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When you're done here, the next stop is Jessica's Blog, so don't forget to keep hopping and check out all the inspirational artwork!
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Earlier this month I posted 8 cards that I created using the Just Because Card Workshop from the Wishes book - well I finally created cards #9 and #10 using this month's Stamp of the Month. Now I just have the pieces to create the same 10 cards again, but I'll be changing them up a bit.
This one is my favorite...


...this one was super simple...

...and this one I have posted before, but here it is again since I like it so much.



Thanks for visiting - don't forget to leave a comment and keep hopping along to Jessica's Blog and all the rest of this month's participants to see all of their fabulous creations! Enjoy and I wish you and your family a Happy New Year!

Blog Hop Participants

If you get lost or find links not working along the way, here is a complete list of hoppers...

Helen Onulak
http://www.hookedonstamping.com/
Jena DeVries
http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Jessica Booth
http://jessicabooth.blogspot.com/
Carla Ironside
http://www.carlacreates.blogspot.com/
Lori Miller
http://www.clearlyfromtheheart.blogspot.com/
Misty Jackson
http://www.misstscraps.blogspot.com/
Jen Patrick
http://www.roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com/
Susan Brooks
http://www.stampingintheopen.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Androlewicz
http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/
Dawn Ross
http://www.iamahappystamper.blogspot.com/
Amy McVey
http://www.clearlystamping.blogspot.com/
Antoinette Herrin
http://www.godblessyourart.blogspot.com/
Jill Lucas
http://scrapwench.blogspot.com/
Barbra Otten
http://barbraotten.blogspot.com/
Lori Brown
http://www.savingmine.blogspot.com/
Brae Montgomery
http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com/
Wanda Riley
http://www.creatingwithwanda.blogspot.com/
Adeline E. Brill
http://adeline-brill.blogspot.com/
Kami Welter
http://www.scrappin4memories.blogspot.com/
Judy Burger
http://makingtimeformemories.blogspot.com/
Pamela O'Connor
http://www.cherishyourmemories.blogspot.com/
Cindy Leek
http://www.paperspadsandpictures.blogspot.com/
Mary Eisen
http://www.mestamp2.blogspot.com/
Sylvia Jacquot
http://stampinsylvia.blogspot.com/
Laura Dame
http://www.thecroppersconnection.blogspot.com/
Melissa Laverty
http://www.fancymelissa.blogspot.com/
Haley Dyer
http://www.inkyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Terrie Dodd
http://www.my-life-in-real-time.blogspot.com/
Katy Donaldson
http://www.scrappinkaty.blogspot.com/
Chris Shouse
http://www.houseostamps.wordpress.com/
Tammy Lea Pinchard
http://mycreativeclubhouse.blogspot.com/
Krista Ritskes
http://kristaritskes-simplycreating.blogspot.com/
Shannon Pelletier
http://www.mycolorfulworldinvt.blogspot.com/
Deb Young
http://www.scrapbookczar.blogspot.com/
Amy Edwards
http://paisleysplayhouse.blogspot.com/
Sheila Bennett
http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com/
Kristie Herdener
http://www.goofyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Jen Rubio
http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com/
Jody Gustafson
http://www.cre8nmemories.blogspot.com/
Sarita Schraeder
http://www.blessedscrapper.blogspot.com/
Laurie Levnik
http://www.creationsbylaurie.blogspot.com/
Debra Van Patten
http://memoriesoftheheartbydeb.blogspot.com/
Kimberly Smith
http://verykimberry.blogspot.com/
Michelle Nist
http://michellenist.blogspot.com/
Karen Norman
http://www.gettinscrappywithit.blogspot.com/
Traci Godbee
http://createwithtraci.blogspot.com/
Nancy Brown
http://www.creativelyartsygallery.blogspot.com/
Maricar Harris
http://www.maricarharris.blogspot.com/
Nona Davenport
http://www.nonapearl.blogspot.com/
Laurie Newton
http://scrapsfromthebeach.blogspot.com/
Dawn Heuft
http://www.stamptildawn.blogspot.com/
Melissa Burch
http://melissaburch.blogspot.com/
Kim O'Rear
http://kimorear.blogspot.com/
Michelle Bourlet
http://michellescreativeconnections.blogspot.com/
Angela Tutton
http://www.tuttonstreasures.blogspot.com/
Jenifer Benner
http://www.jensmessystudio.com/
Shirley Ross
http://www.momnmescrap.blogspot.com/
Latisha Haag
http://domestichomefrontcoordinator.blogspot.com/

Check it out!

So check out the AWESOME prize that I won from the 12 Days of Holiday Giving - a Xyron Creatopia!!! I am SO excited! My dear hubby surprised me with a Cricut Expressions on Christmas morning but when I found out I won the Creatopia later that day, he first tried to get me to keep both of them, but was very understanding (once I explained the cost of cartridges for BOTH) and let me return the Cricut. So I can't wait for my new goodie to arrive so I can play!

Also - check out this awesome Basic Grey give-away over at Get Sketchy - don't forget to tell them that I sent you!

I will be back later to post some Christmas fun - have a great week!

Merry Christmas!

I just want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas - from our crazy house to yours!

We took this picture right before naptime so the only way we could get Trysten to sit still and look at the camera was to stick in the plug - oh well ;-P

Oh, and are you sick of seeing pictures of my ornaments? I have had some really fun opportunities to photograph them - we had some really cool frost on the trees recently so I snapped yet another one ;-)

Can can, can you do the can can?

Okay, sorry for the corny title but I couldn't resist ;-P I had intended to make all of my old Stephens hot chocolate cans into snowmen, like I posted HERE but then Brianna said, what about Rudolph? And then Kaylee wanted Santa and Brailee wanted an elf. So, with a little help from some pipe cleaners, felt, bells, and fabric in my craft stash, I think I pulled it off! Brianna gave Rudolph to one of her dance teachers - the other dance teacher got a snowman. Kaylee gave Santa to her piano teacher, and Brailee gave the elf to one of her Nursery leaders. They were fun to make - but I think next time I'll stick to the snowmen!

You can't really tell from the picture but the elf has a cute pointed collar cut from green felt - I sewed bells on the first two points and stopped at that - but it would have been cute going all the way around. The ears were from felt and just glued to the side of the can and I drew on the mouth with a black marker.

Rudolph was super simple - just used circle punches for the nose and eyes and covered the nose with red glitter. Then Brianna shaped some antlers from some black pipe cleaners and we glued those on.

Santa's beard and mustach was from white felt - I sewed the hat using some red and white scraps from my stash and made a white yarn pom pom to go on the top. I used my circle punches once again for the nose and eyes - the nose is popped up with a foam square.

Thanks for looking - Happy Holidays!