First Christmas For Mallie

Ok, so one of my best friends in the world had a beautiful baby girl on October 10th 2009. I have taken many pictures of her and like most of them but this one is a favorite! I did not take the photo but I got to choose from several poses and I think this one captures her the best. I made this layout for her mom and I am giving it to her in about 8.5 hours. I hope she likes it!

This is a layout from CTMH's how to guide called Reflections. I know I mention this all the time, but those books allow me to be so creative when it comes to my artwork. I changed a few things about the embellishments and kind of added my own flair to the layout, but overall CTMH takes all the worry out of scrapbooking.

I added the pics in the wrong order. The layout says: Your first Christmas as a baby...My first Christmas as a Mother. I thought this was perfect for the reason I made this. I sure wish I had been into scrapbooking when my daughter was born, or even photography!

I typed out my saying on my laptop and then printed to my color HP printer and then trimmed the edges. I sponge daubbed them in Olive ink for a more textured look and added bitty sparkles to either side of the saying for some bling! Every girl loves bling!!

Next step was adding the sparkle brads to the snowflakes. These are one of my favorite new CTMH products. They can be used for any occassion but go with this paper packet (Jingle) very well.

For the word FIRST I stamped it with our "E" sized Alphabet called Rustic. It was my first alphabet stamp purchase as a consultant with CTMH and it is very used. I used Olive ink and stamped on white cardstock and cut the letters out and glued them to the page. For the word CHRISTMAS I used a stamp set called Chrsitmas Greetings. It is also well loved and I stamped this in Tulip ink directly onto the layout.

I thought some ribbon would balance out the top of the layout texture wise. I have to have things looking as balanced to the eye as possible. So not only is color scheme important but balance is as well. However, do not get confused and think that means everything has to be symetrical, there is a difference.

When I look at this picture and I think of Mallie that Stevie Wonder song, Isn't She Lovely, comes to mind. He wrote that song the day his daughter was born and if you listen to the words you are filled with joy for a man singing the details of his new baby girl, a baby girl he has not and never will see with his own eyes. That song to me is Mallie Elizabeth! I love you Brooke and I love you too "Mal~Mal".

We Went To Ice At Opryland!

My mom took the four of us to Oprylands Ice, an indoor Ice Exhibit. This year the theme was The Peanuts and being the Snoopy lovers that we are we just had to go. This was part of our Christmas present from my mom. At almost 30.00 per ticket it can be very expensive for a family to go to this. Thanks Mom! We had a blast!

Everything is carved out of huge blocks of ice. I heard rumor that the carving starts several months before the tour opens and Japanese artists come here to carve the ice inside the building after it is unloaded from trucks. Everything in this place is ice. Even the pink chain link in the above picture. The detail is incredible. I know my kids will always remember this day.

Jake was amazed at all of the bones that Snoopy had in his bowl. This is the beginning scene when you walk in. It only got better from here with a HUGE ice slide. They provide the jackets and let me tell you those jackets are perfect for sliding down those ice slides. I flew down that thing and laughed the whole way! I felt like a kid again!!

In this rare photo you see two kids who love each other very much and were actually showing it this day. Nothing makes me happier than my kids loving and hugging and smiling with each other. If you are a regular follower of this blog you know that my husband and I lost a baby in October. While it has been the hardest thing we have been through, these two have helped us make it through. I love you Alexis and Jake and thank you for what you do to my soul.

Here is a happy Momma and her babies after being in the cold ice exhibit. Part of our VIP passes included hot chocolate and then a meet and greet with Charlie Brown. This is a day I will never forget and I wanted to share it with you. Sometimes art blogs do not get personal enough. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our weekend adventure.

One Last Christmas Card

I decided to make one last card today. This one is for my childcare sitter...let's hope neither she nor her husband see this post before they get the card!! I am so thankful for them, despite having an illness that keeps David in and out of the hospital those two manage to come to my house every morning, watch my 3 year old son, pick my 10 year old daughter up from school and run their own errands and teach my son everything a home schooled kid would learn. I couldn't be any luckier or more blessed.

For this card I used CTMH's paper called Evensong. It has rich red toned colors and then a pop of green. Traditional? Hardly. I love the way CTMH's papers can be reversed and used to make a layout or card look totally different. You can see that on this card: The light sorbet piece in the background is the reverse side of the rich Tulip piece under the felt tree. Same page just different looks.

The stamp that I used is called Christmas Greetings and it has several bold images of snowmen, trees, ornaments etc. I love the font on this stamp set. I have used this set so much the acrylic is stained red for all eternity, but I dont care...that just means I love my stamps.

In this last image I have chosen to show you a close up of our new Heartfelt Die Cuts. They are the perfect way to dress up any layout or card. I love cards and layouts that are built up in several layers. I love the look of texture as well. My ribbon is from Michael's craft store and was a 1.99 for a roll. I think it brings everything together in a unique way.

So thank you again to David and Amy for everything that you do for my family and here's to many more years as friends!!

My Son's Birthday Card

I love this stamp and paper set. It has been one of my favorites for almost a year now, or since it came out. The paper is called Stardust and the stamp set is called Reach For The Stars. They are both so versatile. I have used this paper for both my daughter and my son. I have made it fit all kinds of holidays and celebrations. I absolutely love it!!

You can see in the picture above that I stamped the image on the background and textured paper so that it looked like I paper-pieced it together. I love the way the Moonstruck ink looks against the patterned paper. You should try this technique!

I love CTMH's dimensional elements, they are one product that I collect every one of as soon as they come out. I used stars for this card. I sponge daubbed them with Honey and Moonstruck ink. I love the way sponge daubbing creates texture to the element.

Here is another example of a larger dimensional element. I put this one on the front of the card. These particular ones were self adhesive, but now they do not come that way. I think that is a good idea because then you can use both sides of the element.

I LOVE the colors in this paper pack. Green is my favorite color and here I used Clover Meadow (I love that name) to stamp the Dream Big image. I added some White Daisy brads for a bit more texture and to me they kind of looked like stars out in space.

I am sure my son, who will be four on New Years Day, will love this card. He loves anything I make, but expecially anything with rockets or trains or construction vehicles. I love you Jake and I hope you have a very happy birthday!!

Paper and Stickease Only!

Tonight I wanted to make a layout using a picture of my kids that I cherish. The photo is B&W and for some reason it has been hard for me to select a paper that "goes" with it in my mind. I also have a son and a daughter so sometimes choosing the right themed paper is hard as well.

I wanted to show you that pictures of little boys look just as good on "girly" paper and that B&W photos really do go with pretty much any paper design. I also wanted to show you how very little product one needs to create something like this.

I used CTMH's paper pack called Bella which has a floral/garden theme. The deep purples and rich yellows make this the perfect paper to showcase how my kids have "grown". The only other product I used was the Bella My Stickease collection.

CTMH's Stickease are a high quality, high detail cardstock sticker. They are repositional until rubbed on with your fingers. They always match your paper 100% and there are often times enough leftovers to make cards to match your layouts! At just 8.95 for two sheets these are a steal!

I am a big fan of journaling and a persons handwriting. However, in this layout I did not feel it necessary to have much journaling. I let the title tell the story, along with the picture and simply stated my kids names, their age and the month and year the photo was taken. I hope you enjoy this layout and let me know if you need any of the items mentioned above!

MoJo Monday Sketch 116

Every Monday I try and complete a sketch from the MoJo Monday website. Each week they give you a sketch and then you create a card or layout with that sketch and then post it to your blog and then upload it to their site. This week there will be several winners and the prizes are Verve Stamps! How much fun is that?

By doing these sketches I have gone outside my comfort zone and created things I otherwise would not have thought of and may have missed out on. I mostly use my CTMH products but on this card I used punches both from Marvy Uchida and Martha Stewart and dollar bin ribbon and stick on snow flakes from Michael's.

The paper pack that I used is from CTMH and it is called Rustic Trail. It is very masculine paper and is more often used for fishing or camping layouts and cards. I do think it reminds me of winter and snowmen so it goes well with this theme. I just love the Martha Stewart snowflake punch!

This ribbon adds some texture and character to the card because it has that little pop of red mixed in there. Not all winter/holiday layouts and cards have to have your traditional red and green combo to go with the season. So try and step outside the lines and use different color combos on your artwork whenever you get the chance.

The stamp set that I used is called December Word Puzzle and is still available with CTMH until the end of the year I believe. It has several fun images on it and several different wording options for anything for this time of year.

So why dont you try a MoJo Monday sketch and send me the link to your blog and I will check it out. One lucky designer will win a CTMH grab bag that is sure to make your holiday projects sparkle this season!

Thanks for looking!!!

Ten Tags In A Tin (say that 10 times fast!)

I did this project last week with my customers and friends. Another consultant on my CTMH Bulletin Boards gave me the idea and I customized it to fit the supplies I had on hand. I purchased the tins in the wedding section at Michael's. Everything else is CTMH product.

For the tags I used a 2 inch and 1 inch circular punch and a 1.5 inch scallop punch. I sponge daubbed the scallop punch to match my paper and punched the 1 inch circles out of CTMH background and Texture paper.

The nest step was stamping my images. I used a CTMH stamp set called Christmas Greetings and for this tree I used the Ponderosa Pine ink. The other ink colors used were Cranberry and Desert Sand.

Using the same stamp set on the back of each tag I stamped To: and From: so that I do not have to write on the front of the gift tag. I then punched a hole with my Crop-A-Dile to string my hemp through so i can tie it to the package.

The final step was to use glue dots around the base of the tin and adhere ribbon to the tin so that it can be hung on the tree. I keep mine there so that in case of last minute gift wrapping needs I am not fumbling around in the closet looking for a tag.

Merry Christmas to everyone and if you need any of the supplies to make this project please do not hesitate to contact me and I will hook you up!!