CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop

Welcome to our CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop! This month we are featuring the new paper packs in the Spring Idea Book, so I hope you'll hop along and check out all the fabulous inspiration! When you're done here, hop along to the Paper Crafting Princess to see more creations!
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I am featuring the Veranda paper pack - such a gorgeous paper pack with Juniper, Creme Brulee, Cocoa, and Garden Green. I took some old wooden frames that I've been storing for way too long and altered them with a bit of paper and some fun crumpled circle flowers in the corner.
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This first one was created for my SIL for her birthday. Her favorite color is green, and she has a pretty dark brown color similar to Cocoa in her living room so I knew this would be perfect. The frames didn't come with glass, so I cut a transparency to fit and then embossed it with Cocoa Embossing Powder using the Card Commentary stamp set - I think that will look nice over a picture. The ribbon came from the Veranda Creative Basics pack, but the papers came from the Level 2 pack. For this flower I cut circles of patterned paper, crumpled, and ink distressed. I also ink distressed the edges of the frame.


This second frame was created for the first customer of mine who noticed and mentioned seeing my girls in the Spring Idea Book - on page 51 if you missed it before ;-P For this flower and frame edges I sanded instead of inked.

To keep hopping, the next stop is the Paper Crafting Princess!
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To see one more project I have previously posted using this paper pack, just click on the following link - So Lucky

And to see a quick sample of what I've created using all of the newest Spring papers, check out the Valentine cards I made for my family - just click here!
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Thanks for looking!

10 Months Old - Challenge #115

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a recipe challenge from Janine. Use the following items on your project:

*Brads

*Buttons

*Color Blue

And here is the layout that I created - it's yet another page for Trysten's calendar - this has been such a fun project, now I wish I had done my girls' calendars the same way!

Remember, you can click on the picture to view it larger.

Products Used (all CTMH): Stardust paper pack, Rustic Numbers embossed with White Daisy Embossing Powder, Hodge Podge Alphabet, Summer Craft Buttons, Summer Brads

Other Products Used: Pinking decorative scissors

Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created using this Recipe Challenge - just click here!

Thanks for visiting!

Bruiser

Oops - I almost forgot to post this this week! This is my layout for this week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara}. We were to use the following sketch:

And here is my layout - I turned it into a two-page layout by flipping the sketch for the right page and just playing around with some different sizes and shapes for the photos. I also added my journaling on the right page. These pages were really simple - the most time consuming part was probably threading the buttons, the rest of it went together really fast. I used the Stamp Rolling technique on the Rustic Alphabet stamp set for the title - I wanted it to look like a bruise. I thought the colors in these You Rock papers went really well with the Bruiser theme!

Remember, you can click on the picture to view it larger.





Products Used (all from CTMH): You Rock papers, Autumn Craft Buttons, Indian Corn Blue Waxy Flax, Rustic Alphabet, Indian Corn Blue ink, Outdoor Denim ink, Sunflower ink.
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Thanks for looking!

A day (or two) late, but...Happy Easter!

I meant to post this Sunday, but I didn't get it finished and scheduled, and then the day got away from me, and then I tried to get it done yesterday, but that just didn't happen ;-P So here I am a couple of days late, but I hope you all had a very Happy Easter! I am so thankful for my Savior, Jesus Christ - He is Risen!

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Here are some more favorite Easter projects that I promised I would share...

...this isn't one that I did as a child, but I've done them with my kids for almost 8 years now, so I consider them an old favorite. These are Cascarones, or Confetti Eggs - you may remember me mentioning them when I posted pictures from last year's Easter Egg Hunt. First you hollow out the eggs (I use a spoon to break the fat end, then carefully peel away the shell and dump the insides in a bowl to use for scrambled eggs) and rinse them and let them dry, then you color them (we like to use markers, or you could use traditional egg coloring)...just be careful because they break easily! We had a lot more eggs when we started but thanks to a couple of mishaps, this is all we ended up with!

Then you fill them with confetti and cover the end with tissue paper - we attach the tissue paper with a glue/water mixture. They are a little bit of work, but it sure is fun to smash them over someone's head!

...another old favorite - some fun, washcloth bunnies

...and this one is a new project - we made these last year at Story Time at the Library so I decided it would be a fun gift for Grandparents for Easter. They are Handprint Lilies - a bouquet that lasts forever! I didn't want to mail them, so it's a good thing they last forever because it will be until the next time we see some of the Grandparents before they get theirs ;-P
...and since I haven't shared any pictures here in family quite a while, here we all are in our Easter fashions! This picture was actually taken the week before Easter since General Conference was this week. So we didn't have to get dressed up for church on Sunday - we had a nice lazy day together - recovering from our busy Spring Break week!

This picture would be better if Brianna were more centered, but I think it turned out pretty good - at least everyone is looking at the camera! I wish we had more time that morning to take pictures, but it's hard now that church is back to 9:00 in the morning - not much time for 6 people to get ready and pose for pictures ;-P

Thanks for visiting!

Flashback Friday

Today I am sharing some fun, old Easter themed projects for my Flashback Friday. I sure had fun looking back at some of these old creations. I will be sharing another old favorite Easter project that I created with the girls, so I hope you'll check back! Have a great weekend!

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First I want to share this old favorite project - one I remember doing with my mom. Here I re-did it using CTMH Sassy Strands but you can use any kind of thin string...

And here is how you create them:

*Blow up some water balloons (they are small and have an egg shape vs. other balloons)

*Dip your string in starch and wrap around the balloon

*Allow the balloon to dry completely (set it on wax paper to dry)

*Once the balloon is dry, pop the balloon and pull it out of your egg shape

And here are some fun pop-up cards with a bunny and a chick - I love these animals because they were created using the Happy Easter stamp set. Their bodies were the egg shape, the chick's feet were the tulip stamp, and the bunny ears were the leaf stamp - how fun is that! So many more possibilities with this stamp set than just eggs and flowers.

And here are some Easter pages that I created before I started blogging, so I haven't had a chance to share them here yet!

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You may recognize the big picture on the following layout if you have a CTMH Spring 2010 catalog - that's my girls on page 51! You can also check it out here if you missed it before! I used no patterned paper on this layout - only textured CS and the Friendship Flowers stamp set.

I created my patterned paper on the following layout using the Playful Flourishes stamp set with Buttercup and White Daisy inks.

And these pages I have shared on my blog already, but here they are again just because of their theme!

Here I used two Just Blooms flower petals for the bunny ears, and a pink brad for the bunny nose:

Notice how this page and the next are identical - I just used different papers but the same Imagine layout. This was a layout for a gathering, and I gave them a girly option and a boy option.

Thanks for looking!

So Lucky

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a Journaling Challenge from Anita - journal about "Ten Reasons I Feel Lucky"

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While my pictures on this layout just show 4 of the reasons I feel lucky, my hidden journaling mentions all 10.

My heart element is actually an 'Exploding Heart' that opens up to reveal my journaling. My original idea was to create a 4-leaf clover on my page using hears and each kid's picture, but once I saw this fun folding heart, I couldn't wait to try it. I like that once the heart opens, it looks like a clover anyway. Once I put this page in a page protector, the heart will actually go on top of the plastic so it's easy to open and read.

CTMH Products Used: Scallop Scissors, Veranda paper pack, Love Is In The Air stamp set, Hodge Podge Color Ready Alphabets, Garden Green ink, Juniper ink, Pewter Accents (Hinge, Designer Brads, Bitty Brads, Photo Clips), Creme Brulee ribbon from Veranda Creative Basics pack, Juniper ribbon from the Jingle Creative Basics pack.

Other Products Used: Heart template, Nestabilities Label, Zig Marker

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Thanks for looking - don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created using this Journaling Challenge!

Flashback Friday

I've decided to start doing my Flashback Fridays again - I will mostly include old projects since I like to see how my style has changed over the many years that I have been creating! Either that or I will be sharing new projects with old pictures.

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This is a layout that I did just over 4 years ago, shortly after I became a CTMH Consultant. I used the Discovery paper pack and some Stickease, along with the Playful Alphabet stamp set (my first stamp set I purchased from CTMH) and some Liquid Glass - I still love that stuff! Look how my girls have grown as well!

Thanks for looking!

Yippee!

I just found out that I won First Runner-Up for CTMH's Make It From Your Heart Contest! I am glad that I started submitting artwork again - it's been over a year since I've sent anything in, and this was a fun way to start off! My goal last year was to submit something every month, but it just didn't happen. I hope to try at least every other month this year so wish me luck - the other artwork is always so amazing, so any time I win, I am always thrilled! Thanks for letting me share - I needed this pick-me-up!

ETA: Sorry, I didn't realize that CTMH no longer posts the contest results on the public side of their website. For those of you who are not CTMH Consultants, I wish you could see all the fabulous artwork, but for those who asked, THIS is my card that won.

Thank You

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

I used this sketch to create a card for a dear friend who has really been there for me lately.

CTMH Products Used: Life Delights paper (retired), Thanks stamp set, Rhinestone Frame (CC Reward), Circle Window Charm (retired), Just Blooms Big Pinks flower, Chocolate ink, Blush Dot ribbon

Other Products Used: Fiskars Scallop punch

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Don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created using this sketch! Thanks for looking!

Head over Feet

This week's challenge over at Sketches! {by tamara} is a Recipe Challenge from Rachel - use the following items on your project:

*Vellum or Transparency

*Felt

*Embossing

I used the following sketch from Imaginisce...

...and created this layout. My journaling is hidden behind the pic on the left - just pull the tag to read. This page is about one of "Our Songs" - Head over Feet by Alanis Morissette.

Since the transparency and embossing is hard to see in the picture - here is an attempt to give you a close-up ;-P I heat embossed a line of circles around the edge of the transparency circle using clear embossing powder.

CTMH Products Used: Caprice paper (retired), Heartfelt Wonder Die-Cuts (brown felt scallop circle), Large Coluzzle Circle, Clear Embossing Powder, Circle Around stamp set, Chocolate Marker, Chocolate ink pad, Save the Date stamp set, 3-D foam squares

Other Products Used: SU! tag punch, Brown Thickers, Office Transparency

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

Hooded Towels

I've decided it's time for a break from posting paper-related projects and time to share something a little different. I've made lots of hooded towels - my kids love them, even the older ones still use them. Most of them have been plain, but I've done fun embroidered flowers on some and iron on ladybugs on others, but some have been even more fun. Here is the hooded towel I made for Trysten for his birthday - it's a frog!

And here is one I made almost 5 years ago - it was a horse! Kaylee and Brianna had fun modeling it for me ;-)

Thanks for looking!

Flyin' High

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

And here is the page I created using this sketch - I rotated the sketch to fit my pictures and took a sketch from the September 2009 PageMaps to create a companion page. I used some of the fun papers from Studio Calico that I won last year - I thought the butterflies were perfect.

For the butterflies I used my circle punch to punch the butterflies from the patterned paper - then I cut out another butterfly and pieced it on top using 3-D foam dots to add some fun dimension.

CTMH Products Used: Hodge Podge Color Ready Alphabet stickers, Summer Celebration Mini Medleys, Hodge Podge Alphabet stamp set, Friendship alphabet stamp set (small), White Daisy textured cardstock, Sweet Leaf cardstock and ink, Outdoor Denim Conchos

Other Products Used: Nestabilities Labels, Studio Calico papers, mini pop dots, circle punch, SU! photo corner punch

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Thanks for stopping by - don't forget to check out what the rest of the Design Team has created using this sketch, and I hope you'll get a chance to play as well!