Simply Inspired Blog Hop - New Product Showcase

It's time for another blog hop! And this one is all about new product available in the new CTMH catalog to be released on Friday, August 1st. We want to give you a sneak peek of some of the great new stuff you can order in just a couple of days. You should have arrived here from the inspiring Krista Hershberger's blog.  If you get lost along the way, you can go here to see a full list of all the bloggers in the hop and get back on track.

Mini albums are a favorite of mine. And a mini album that can be used as a travel journal or a quick capture of a recent vacation or road trip is a great way to show off the new Wanderful paper packet to you.

I love this travel themed paper. I'm always on the look out for travel themed paper and products.

 I used the World Traveler stamp set. How cute is that suitcase? And the bike on the next page?

Check out the circle in the upper left. I covered it with the black arrow washi tape. I do love washi tape.

See that little Hello World in the corner? It's from the Wanderful assortment--such cute accents for any pages, not just travel.

And I LOVE this cute purple ribbon. Can you ever have too much ribbon as a crafter?

The album is created from an 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper. However, I had a little difficulty figuring it out so I made a little video to show you how. Now, please realize I am not a videographer and I am not a hand model either. Just trying to make the world a little easier.

I hope you're excited for the new catalog. And now, on to the beautiful (inside and out) Brenda Rose's blog. Happy Hopping!

Only a few days left for retiring product!

Don't forget, the Retiring Product list (see here) is only available through the end of July. Come August 1st, the items on this list will make way for the new 2014/2015 catalog. So get them while you can.

The Proplayer paper I used on this card is already gone. And I loved it so. 

Don't miss out on other favorites. Shop while you can (do you really need an excuse?).

August Stamp of the Month: Circus Alphabet

You know what is great about alphabet stamps? Everything. You need a title quickly and your printer is out of ink? Pull out those alphabet stamps. You want letters in colors to match your paper? Alphabet stamps and matching ink are the answer. You want to mix and match letters? Alphabet stamps will do the trick. This month's stamp of the month, Circus Alphabet, is a must have if you love alphabet stamps. It's got uppercase and lowercase letters and yes, numbers too.

Today I took a few minutes to play around with this fun alphabet. Another great thing about alphabet stamps? They can be the message, the background, the embellishment... whatever you need.

 

Easy, Breezy Bookmark

Don't forget, you can only get Circus Alphabet in July. Come August 1st, it's gone! Spend $50 and get it for just $5.00 or buy it for $17.95. But with the retiring products going away August 1st as well (see this blog post for the list) you may want to stock up now and get it for $5.00.

 

Happy Stamping!

Paper, Paint and Multi-Medium

Last night, I had an opportunity to participate in a class that took me a little outside my comfort zone. I attended a class taught by the oh so talented Stephanie Ackerman in Heber, UT. It was called 52 card pickup and she gave us each a deck of cards and taught us how to turn those cards into individual works of art.

First of all, let me just say that Stephanie is a great teacher. She is generous, sincere and very encouraging. And she's pretty funny too.  I have found that some of the best artists I have met are also the most selfless and that was true of Stephanie.

I started out tentatively. I always do when I play with multi medium. But as the evening progressed and with some encouragement from Stephanie, I threw caution to the wind (well, somewhat). I had a pretty thick coating of multi-medium and various colors of paint on my fingers by the time the night was done. But you know what? I think I did pretty well. Here are a few of the 12 that I worked on.

 

I couldn't resist using the "half off her rocker" phrase. I feel that way so often.

This house card turned out to be one of my favorites. It was the last one I did because I was contemplating chucking this card in the garbage. It started out with red paint but because I was being so tentative, it looked like I had pricked my finger and bled all over it. Stephanie told me to work the paint on with my fingers so I did and then it just looked like a red mess so I set it aside. After I had done my other prepped cards, I figured I had nothing to lose so I just started layering with paint and paper and ended up with something I'm pretty proud of. I think of cards like these as happy accidents--it didn't start out the way I intended but it turned out well in the end.

You know what was easiest for me? The shading. Using a Tim Holtz distress marker, I would shade around the various shapes and then blend it with a tiny bit of multi medium and my finger. I joked that it was because it was ink so I was back in my element.

I'm not finished. I still need to add words to some of these. I still have 40 more cards in my deck to create with. But this was really fun. I can't wait to play some more.

Hi!

Just wanted to say Hi!

Family Gatherings

It's been a busy summer of family gatherings. My brother got married a month and a half ago, my nephew got married a month ago, his brother got married yesterday, my brother's family came to visit from Connecticut. It seems we have just moved from one family event to another but that's the fun of it!

When my daughter first arrived in the US from Russia, we introduced her to good old summer gatherings right off the bat. We took her to my uncle's farm home, fed her watermelon and took her to her first rodeo. Welcome to America, sweetie! Close to My Heart's Jubilee paper (which is retiring at the end of this month so get it while you can) was perfect for these photos. I love the country look of these papers (thank you to Karen Naylor for the inspiration).

I love these pics!

My daughter--queen of the goofy face!

Now to dig in and scrap some photos from this summer's fun. Take care all!

Home from Convention

I just got home from the Close to My Heart Annual Convention. I LOVE convention. This was my 20th. I have not missed a single one, even when I had heart surgery (who else moves a heart surgery up a month in order to attend convention?). And this year was at Disneyland! What could be better? My favorite company and my favorite place together at the same time!

The trip started out perfectly when we met Goofy while checking into the Disneyland Hotel.

And it just got better from there with an evening in the parks on Tuesday, a fabulous dinner and special seating for Fantasmic on Wednesday, and a fabulous Director's dinner and preferred viewing for World of Color on Thursday. I even participated in a 5K on Saturday morning to benefit Operation Smile. Admittedly, I walked, not ran but it was amazing to get to see California Adventure without people!

  

Of course, the highlights of convention were the new catalog reveal and playing with some of the new products! But, you are going to have to wait until August 1st to see them. Okay, that's just cruel of me. Here's one little sneak peak. You are going to love the new Picture My Life packets. Here is a new one called Chalk It Up. The cards were made into a very simple and fun mini-album.

As always, convention was a wonderful opportunity to hang out with friends that share the same passion that I do. Some of them I see often, others only once or twice a year.

As an almost 20 year veteran of Close to My Heart, I have to say that the friendships have been one of the best perks as a consultant. Have you ever thought about doing what I do? I think you'd love it. If you want to learn more, contact me or check out this link.

Watch my blog for upcoming sneak peeks of the catalog and for workshop announcements. I have lots of fabulous workshop ideas floating in my head that I want to make into reality for this fall. And here's a little Disney inspired artwork for you.

Yes, this paper and the stamps are retired but it may still inspire. Which reminds me, there is a lot of retiring product that you can see on this post so don't miss out while waiting for the new catalog. Just last night I noticed there were a few items already sold out.

Happy Stamping and Scrapping!