The Pocket Album

Christmas cards are arriving in the mail now. What are you planning to do with them after Christmas? I keep all the cards and scrapbook them. I think this year, I am going to use the pocket album and showcasing them as shown in this video.

My Crush Book

I spent last weekend relaxing with my girl friends at a scrapbooking retreat in Carmel. Oh! How I love these weekends! This retreat was hosted by Scrapbook U. I truly recommend taking advantage of Monica and Veronica's fabulous service. They take care of all the details so you can just relax and work on your crafting.

And I did. I relaxed. I laughed with my friends. I took a walk to the beach and saw dolphins playing in the surf. I sat in front of the fire. It was a wonderful weekend.

Plus I worked on my craft. I made cards, finished a lot of scrapbook pages, and finished a My Crush album.

I am working on the My Crush Bluebird album to showcase my September photo of the day pictures. I follow a blog called Fat Mum Slim which puts out a monthly list of photo prompts.  I try to use that photo prompt sometime during the day and take a picture of my family. I usually get one or two a week. But in September, I decided to commit to getting a picture every day.

And I did. Some days were harder than others. Some days I just totally missed the perfect shot. But all in all, the set of pictures were great. I took pictures of things I hadn't thought of taking pictures of -- like my engagement ring. The prompt was vintage. My husband gave me a vintage ruby and diamond ring as my engagement ring. It was so beautiful and so different. I still love it more than anything I owe. However, I don't wear it. I wear very little jewelry and no rings at all. When I took the ring out to photograph it, I discovered that my daughter didn't know I had it. Being able to tell the story of the ring made my taking these photos all the more important to me. 

I took all those wonderful pictures and put them in the My Crush book. I gave an explanation of each photo.  This book ended up being a snap shot of my life. 

The pages of the My Crush book are in place and you can't change things around. This is a great book for a lot of different projects. I think I'd use this as a travel album. I can keep a journal and add postcards and ticket stubs. I am also thinking about this as a gift for a few teenage girls I know. 

There are two sets of paper embellishments that you can add to it. 

You can also stamp in the book. I added these flowers and then added a little glitz to put a bit of sparkle.

One of the assortments comes with little envelopes. Here I added our favorite cookie recipe which is really the recipe on the nestle chocolate chip package with a little tweaking.

I really enjoyed working on this project and think I need to do it again. December sounds like the perfect month for a photo of the day album.

Here are the products used:

My Crush Bluebird Book

My Crush Memories Assortment

My Crush My Favorites Assortment

Enjoy! And be sure to have fun with paper today!

Join Club CTMH

Close To My Heart is a great company to team up with to start your own business. Take a look at this video and see why.

I have more info on my Join CTMH tab above or go here to join now.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Here are two more projects from last weekend's holiday card workshop.

I love the look of the tri-fold card. I guess it is all the different papers that draw me to it. True- there is no good place for a signature. I have left that space next to the reindeer for the signature. But I know many card makers using this design just write on the back. Despite having little room to write, this card is a winner. People look at it with a wow. Yet, it is an easy card to make; it just doesn't look like it.

The base paper is 12 by 5 1/2. I used ruby card stock. At the 2 inch mark, I cut at 1 1/2 inch to the 10 inch mark. Turn the paper over and do the same thing. 

Next, score the paper at 2 inches, 4, 8, and 10. Then the folding. Basically you need to make sure that your fold are opposite. I think this is the only hard part. Take at look at the above picture to see the folds. 

Now it is time to decorate and embellish your card. You can go simple or elaborate. It is all up to you. This is the card flat on the table.

I used the Sparkle and Shine paper pack and the Santa Claus stamp set. The reindeer and believe are cut from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge. 

This treat box was cut out of Sparkle and Shine paper using the Artiste Cricut cartridge. The stamp is the Holiday Tags set (a must for all card makers!). I also used some bakers twine and silver shimmer tape.

Be sure to have fun with paper today!

Peace and Joy Card

I had another Holiday Card Workshop today. I have been having a lot of fun playing with my ink and paper and coming up with more and more Holiday cards.

On this card I used the stamp set from the Frosted Card Kit.

This stamp set is wonderful. I have used it on so many  cards (and a scrapbook page).

On the above card, I used Kraft and Frosted paper and desert sand and slate inks. I also used some 3-D foam tape to pop up the sentiment and a little bit of bitty sparkles to add a little bling.

Have you planned out your holiday cards? Don't wait until December. Plan out what you need to do and order your supplies today. If you need any help with ideas, please give me a call. I'm happy to help.

Hope you have fun with paper today!

November Stamp of the Month: Illuminate

This card uses this month's stamp of the month, Illuminate, which is yours for just $5 with a $50 purchase.

Card stock used was slate, juniper, ruby, and daisy white. On the daisy white, I stamped the background in slate ink using the Distressed Background stamp set. The bottom of the lantern is cut so that the tip sticks out. After stamping I cut the straight line but then hand cut around that lantern bottom.

Add a little bakers twine, glitz, and shimmer tape you have a lovely card.

Be sure to have fun with paper today!