Happy Forever (July SOTM) blog hop!

If you've just arrived here from Tammy's blog,

you are on the right path!

My first creation to share with you is a standard size card. The card design was inspired by the card layout from the Splendor Workshop-on-the-Go, using my latest favorite of course, the Splendor papers X7124B! The hedgehog was stamped with black ink on colonial white cardstock and then colored with parchment and desert sand markers. The hedgehog and kite were layered on top of the B&T papers using the paper-piecing technique.
Who can resist this adorable hedgehog (below) with the butterfly on his nose, lol?! Can you guess what I used to stamp the green grass that surrounds him? If you figured out that it is the outside edge of the hedgehog's back inked with topiary ink, you are correct! This 4.5" circle card design was inspired by Wishes - Box It Off (p. 93).
Finally, the 4.75x3" card below was inspired by Wishes - Three Tiers (p. 66) and uses the paper-piecing technique once again for the balloons. The 2.5x3.5" card below was inspired by Wishes - Mini Window (p. 105). A dimensional elements Heart covered with Goldrush cardstock and then stamped and distressed with Chocolate ink peeks through the window!
Remember you can click on any of my photos if you'd like to see the details up close! I hope you've enjoyed my creations!
Now you can continue along on the hop

by visiting Kristie's blog next!

Congratulations to all the Grads!

So tomorrow is Graduation day for much of the Barstow community (yes, it has been an extra long school year for us, lol)! Tomorrow my daughter Emily is graduating from the 8th grade and my nephew Andrew is graduating from Barstow High School - yaay class of 2010!! Can you believe that I am going to have a child that is a Freshman in High School next year?! (wow!)

I wanted to share these beautiful cards that one of my new friends and stamping customers created recently with the You Did It stamp set C1351. Aren't they fantastic?!! I was just so impressed by them that I had to ask Roberta if she would let me take some photos to share them on my blog (and I'm so thankful she said yes, because her cards are so great! - they deserve to be seen and appreciated by as many people as possible). Kudos to Roberta Clark of Barstow for creating such extra special cards for the graduates in her life (including her son - special congrats to him too)!! Roberta's cards are made with our Barstow High School Aztec colors (Cranberry, Honey, and Black) and liquid glass gives them a little extra sparkle!

Below is a photo of my daughter Emily (on the right) with her good friend (who is also named Emily, it was a popular name in 96, lol!) I snapped this photo of them this evening just before I took them to their 8th grade prom. I just couldn't resist sharing this photo of these sweet girls looking so beautiful. I'm so very proud of you, my Emily-O! Happy Graduation!!

Debbi's Paper Flower Tutorial!

I held a Cherry-O recipe/card box workshop on Saturday, June 12th, and since then I've had a lot of people who couldn't attend asking me how I made the paper flower that decorates the front of the box (Thanks for attending Debbie, Donna, and Karyn - we had so much fun - and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to show you how to make these already)!!

So I finally got around to taking some photos to post a flower tutorial for everyone - yaay! Let me first say, that all credit for these flowers should go to my very talented 5th upline and Executive Director with CTMH, Debbi Fournier of LaVerne, California. She is the one who shared and taught us how to create these awesome flowers at a consultant team meeting I attended recently in May. First, you will need to punch out some B&T paper with a punch (or use a die-cut or your cricut) to make FOUR 2-inch scalloped circles (my photo above shows you a few of these punched out, so I could show you the step-by-step progression of how to fold each of these pieces, all in one photo). You will fold your punched circle in half, and then in half again so it looks like the one labeled step #3 above. Then you will fold it in half one more time (because it will be so thick by now, it is easiest to just fold one flap forward and one flap the other way). Use your bone folder to crease your folds well, then open it up all the way and cut it in half on the first folded crease-line you made (as shown in step #5).
Next you will re-fold each half of the punched and creased circle pieces accordian-style (some may call it a fan fold; one piece forward, one back, one forward, and so on). Because you have made 4 scalloped circles cut in half, you should end up with 8 fan-folded pieces. You will also want to punch a cardstock circle using our 1.25" circle punch to use as the base to add your flower petals to. Fold the circle in half twice to create creases and help you find the exact center of the flower (I have marked my center with an x to help you see it more easily).
Next, cover your base cardstock circle with Tombow (or any permanent tape-runner adhesive) and begin adding the folded flower petals. Make sure that the top flap of the fan-folded part opens up facing the same direction as you are adding them all the way around.
Then insert a brad or button in the center of your flower
(I used a colonial white designer brad on mine Z1274).
Finally, I sponged the petals with a sponge dauber and chocolate ink and added a self-adhesive red Sparkle to the center of the brad. You can crinkle and wrinkle up your petals if you want to or just fluff them up with your fingers if you want them to stand up a little more. I adhered the flower to my box with glue dots on top of some crimped hand-cut paper leaves that I sponge-distressed with chocolate ink also. Here is the final view of the recipe/photo/greeting card box I decorated with Debbi's beautiful flower (below):
I hope you will enjoy making some of these simple but "wowie" flowers as much as I do. Have fun getting creative with them!

Special THANKS goes out to Debbi Fournier for sharing her lovely flower with us!

Happy Father's Day!!

Wow, guess what?! This card made the Friday Five over at the H2H challenge blog - what a great surprise!! Click on the button below to be taken back to that post!

• I want to wish all the men in my life a very happy day today!! I am so blessed to have many wonderful Father's in my life: my own beloved Father who raised me, my sweet husband Jose, my Pappaw (Dad's dad), the legacy of my Grandpa Orville who passed away shortly before I was born (but whose life, memory, and spirit has continued to bless and help me in spite of that), and an amazing Father-in-Law Juan! All of these men have made my life better in so many ways. I am strengthened by their faith, courage, and kind and loving example each day. I want you all to know how much I love, adore, and appreciate you!

• My little sister Mary is giving a talk today in her ward at church. I just read her talk that is posted on her blog and needless to say, it brought me to tears. Mary shares some of her memories and experiences with our Father over the years and it was so touching to me because I know this same man that she is talking about so well. Many of Mary's sentiments are mine exactly and I am so grateful that she has put into words so eloquently exactly how much I love my dad and all the men in my life also. I encourage you to read my sister's talk on her blog by clicking here! I promise it will uplift you and make you feel good (and for those of you who know me well, it will explain some of my family history to you and help you understand how I am continuing to become who I am). I have been so blessed throughout my life and have a lot to strive for and live up to!

• Now for the details about my card shown above (and below). I created it for the Heart 2 Heart challenge this week. Our challenge was to make a Father's Day card using up some of our scraps (and I certainly have plenty of those to use, lol!) I used the Simple Pleasures Level 1 Kit as well as My Stickease scraps I had a bunch of also. I did a lot of distressing with Cocoa ink, but amazingly there is absolutely NO STAMPING on this card (such a rarity for me)! I hope you enjoy my card and that it inspires you! Have a wonderful Father's Day everyone!

Heart 2 Heart challenge #10 - scrapbooking!

Yaay!! - this layout helped me make the top 5 this week (6/18/10):

This weeks H2H10 challenge was simple - do some scrapbooking - yaay, I am always up for that!! Remember, you can click on my photos to see the images up close if you want to (Can you spot the stamp "kissing" technique I used?!) These 12x12 pages were created with the following CTMH supplies:

• Splendor Level 2 paper packet X7124B
• Hot Diggity stamps C1407
• Intrinsic Backgrounds stamps D1334 (to do the "kissing" technique on my creatures)
• Posterboard Alphabet stamps E1014 (for my title stamped on B&T and cut out)
• Save the Date stamps D1386 (to stamp "July 2008" sentiment)
• Pizzazz Irresistibles die-cut chipboard (Z1307)
• Splendor Designer Brads (Z1317)
• Antiqued Copper Brads and Bitty Brads (z1217 Metal Brad assortment)
• Chocolate grosgrain ribbon and a little chocolate cardstock
• Chocolate, Goldrush, Moonstruck, and Topiary inks
• Timber Brown Staz-On ink Z1142 (for stamping "Hot Diggity" on chipboard)

My layout design was inspired by Cherish - Interesting Variation (p. 54). For a photo tutorial that shows you how to create the "Crescent Moon Paper flower" that I added to the 2nd page, just click HERE to go to my blog posting that is dated May 22nd, 2010. Hope you enjoy!

Wonderful Friend (June SOTM) consultant swap artwork!

Thank you consultant friends for another successful SOTM swap! I am so impressed by all of your beautiful creations! Please enjoy seeing all of our beautiful artwork using the Passages papers and the June Stamp of the Month - Wonderful Friend! Remember you can click on any of the photos to see the details up close!