$5 Card Class on Friday 2/8 at 7pm!

Here are the three cards I'll be teaching my students to make during our
$5 Card Class this Friday, February 8th starting at 7pm! 
I hope you can join us for the creative fun!!

I still have room for a few more guests so it's not too late to
please call/text me to reserve your spot now! (760) 220-0683

6x6 wedding card featuring the For Always papers X7165B and The Happy Couple D1539 stamp set. Embellished with our NEW Glitter Paper and Green Epoxy Bubbles Z1806.
 

Standard-size card featuring the Claire papers X7166B and Home Sweet Home S1302 stamp set.

Embellished with our NEW Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon and Blue Epoxy Bubbles Z1806.

Standard-size card cut from the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge featuring the Home Sweet Home S1302 stamp set (February SOTM) and the Whooo's Your Valentine kit stamp set.

Embellished with our NEW Durables Artisan Studs Z1816.

Inside view of the "Love at Home" card!

March SOTM Blog Hop!

Thank you for stopping by to enjoy our March Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring this month's SOTM - Potential S1203! If you've arrived here from  
Mary's Blog then you are on the correct path.

The 6x6 card I've created this week is inspired by Originals - The Main Idea (p. 96). I've used paper from the Cruisin' paper pack Z7154B and a color combo that includes Black, Juniper, Twilight, and White Daisy. On the right side of the card I've done some "tone-on-tone" stamping using Juniper ink on Juniper cardstock to create my stamped background. I also sanded a few of my elements with sand-paper to reveal some of the white core of my cardstock to achieve that "shabby" look. While I absolutely LOVE the huge variety of different flower shapes I am able to cut with my CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge, I think that these flowers are my most favorite ones to use right now -
as I so love those heart-shaped petals!

There are so many lovely images included in this Stamp of the Month set! I think it would be fair to say that it definitely has lots of "potential"!! (pun intended) "wink" ;) and I look forward to creating more with this stamp set, as I already know it will be one of those sets I will find myself using over and over again!

Now you can continue on with our Blog Hop to be inspired by more creativity with this stamp set by visiting Traci's Blog next! Enjoy!!

February 3 and 4 Card Classes!!

You are invited to join us for my monthly card classes coming up on February 3rd and 4th (6:30pm-8:30pm). Join us on Friday night or Saturday night or even both nights if you want more time to create.
Let me show you how to create a variety of 3 different hand-made greeting cards using the latest NEW stamps, papers, techniques, embellishments, and our Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge that cuts paper to perfectly fit the images we'll be stamping on them! You get to choose how many of each card you make!

3 cards for $5 or 6 cards for $10 (when you bring your own adhesive)

3 cards for $6 or 6 cards for $12 (when you use my adhesive)

4.5" square card (above) featuring the "Affection" stamp set with the Lucy papers

Standard-size card (above) featuring the "Thoughtful Tidings" stamp set (February Stamp of the Month) with the Florentine papers (When you make this, you get to choose which of the following sentiments you want to use: "Consider Yourself Hugged," "You're Top Notch," or "Many Thanks").

Standard-size card (above) featuring the "Just for You" stamp set with the Stella papers

At our last class we also discussed adding a "Christmas Card" option for those who might want to make more than just 3 cards with me each month. Those who wish to create the extra 3 Christmas Cards every month will then have a good selection of cards made and ready to use by the end of the year. I am still working on designing this month's Christmas Card, but will get it posted here as soon as I can!

September SOTM Blog Hop!!

WELCOME to our September Stamp of the Month blog hop featuring this month's new SOTM - "Limited Edition" S1109!
If you've just joined me from Gina's blog,
then you are on the right path!

First, I'm sharing a 4.5" square card that features the Typeset papers X7139B and the lace zip strip from Typeset. I used the the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to cut four different parts of this card (Butterfly1 and Butterfly 1 layer are cut at 1.5", Rectangle 1 cut at 2", and Rectangle 2 cut at 2.5"). Colors are Cocoa, Colonial White, Creme Brulee, and Juniper. This little card also fits perfectly in the "Petal Box" (below)!

This "Petal Box" is cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (Bamboo cardstock cut at 11"). This box also features the Typeset papers X7139B and is the perfect size to also fit the five 4.5" square cards that are the "bonus project" for the Typeset WOTG that is shown on page 19 of the Idea Book! Remember, you can
click on any of my photos to see them up close!!

Here is another view of the "Petal Box" (above) so you can see that to get to the box to open it, you simply slide the "belly band" off the top/bottom of the box. The measurements for the "belly band" are one strip of b&t cut to 2"x12" and another cut to 1"x12", then layer and adhere the 1" strip of top of the other, and wrap around the box. Use your bone folder tool to crease the belly band where it will need to bend to wrap around the edges of the box. The ends of the belly band should overlap each other by about a half inch and this is where you adhere it together. Allow the seam where you adhered it together to show on the front of the box so you can cover the seam when you add the stamped tag to the front of it.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing my artwork! Now you can continue on with the rest of this blog hop and see more creative ways to use this "Limited Edition" stamp set by visiting Wanda's blog next! Enjoy!!

Consultant Team Swap Cards!! (from July 23rd meeting)

So I've just starting hosting a brand-new monthly swap for members of my consultant team! Our first "virtual" swap card was due to me in July, and I am happy that I am finally ready to post and share all of these beautiful creations! My card for this swap (above) is a standard size card (5.5" x 4.25"). The stamp sets I used include 3 different stamp sets - Happy Clusters C1471 (p. 93), Love Life D1482 (p. 29), and A Typeface (August promotion). Cardstock colors I used are Olive, Smokey Plum, and White Daisy. Ink colors used are Bamboo, Black, Desert Sand sponging, and Smokey Plum. I cut the star out using our NEW Cricut Art Phiilosophy cartridge!!! The catalog doesn't include a red line around this image on p. 93, so I wasn't sure if it would be compatible, but discovered that the "Star" image cut at 2-3/4" size worked perfectly!! I am thinking that A LOT more of our images will work with this cartridge than are shown in the Idea Book - you just have to experiment and try different things until you find the right size to cut them!!!

I'm including the swap guidelines that I gave to my team (below) so you can read the specific challenge I gave them for creating this time. I am hopeful that next month a lot more of my team members will be able to participate along with us! Now please ENJOY all of these fun, creative cards made by some of my wonderfully-talented team members and friends (the Friends Forever Stampers Team)!

(visit PaulainPS.blogspot.com for details)

Cardstock: Sunset, cocoa, desert sand, olive; Stamps: You & Me, August SOTM Wicked, Hodgepodge Alphabet; plus: mocha opaques, and chocolate buttons threaded with raffia. (no blog to link to yet).

(visit NikkaGeers.blogspot.com for details)

(visit GracefulCardmakers.blogspot.com for details)

Hoppy Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop!

I’m so happy (or should I say "hoppy"?!!) that you are joining us for the very first Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop celebrating my friend April’s favorite color - GREEN!

If you are coming from Cherie's blog you’re on the right track. If you just joined us, you can go back to the beginning (April's blog HERE) to enjoy the entire hop along with us. We’ve had so much fun doing this hop, and we have a wonderful line up with some oh-so-talented creators. You will see some lovely projects and have a chance to win some blog candy along the way, including a fun grand prize for this hop from April.

This hop runs all day on April 30th, so you have plenty of time today to check out each project!

1. April Nourse http://curlsngrins.blogspot.com/
2. Mandie Wade http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/
3. Jennifer Blue Hawkins http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/
4. Emily Lahham http://www.createserendipity.net/
5. Deborah Foti http://www.scrappingmamma.net/
6. Corrine Paul http://celebratingordinarymoments.blogspot.com/
7. Lisa Tehonica Pontious http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/
8. Stephanie Jones http://missprissygraceann.blogspot.com/
9. Lucy Kelleher http://love2createitall.blogspot.com/
10. Theresa White http://treasures4lifeby-t.blogspot.com/
11. Martha Galvez http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/
12. Lisa Norris http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/
13. Cherie Pemberton http://www.gracefulcardmakers.blogspot.com/
14. Jen Rubio http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com/
15. Lisa Peters http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

What would a birthday be without gifts? This gift could be yours because there is also an overall grand prize just for hopping with us! The grand prize is sponsored by April from Curls & Grins Creations (the first blog on the hop). In order to be eligible for the grand prize you must leave a comment on every blog in the hop and become a follower of April’s blog.

Your next blog to visit on the hop is Lisa's blog at
http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/.
Happy hopping!

Finally, before you go, here are some details about my hand-stamped card (shown above): It's a 6x6 card that uses b&t paper from both the Sophia X7131 and Bliss X7132B paper packs. The stamp sets I used include A Little Everything D1408, Fun Times B1309, and Soul Mates D1254. As I came up with my design for this card, I was careful to also meet the requirements listed below so that I could also use this same card design for the "Humble Artists Swap" that I am a participant in. So I ended up duplicating this card 4 more times to mail them out to my HAS friends in February as well (I hope you enjoyed them ladies)! The challenge for the HAS this time was to create a card that meets all of these requirements:
Must be square and at least 5x5"
Must depict an animal
Must be LOVE themed
Must use only neutral colors with only one other color
(excluding all shades of red!)
Must have 7 layers of paper, stacked and countable, all in one place
Use at least 3 embellishments
And...just for the fun of it...let's add some liquid glass!

December SOTM Blog Hop featuring the lovely "Amore" stamp set!

Welcome to our December Stamp of the Month blog hop featuring this month's new SOTM - Amore D1445!

If you've just joined me from Sheila's blog then you are on the right path!

All of my artwork with this stamp set uses the Olivia paper packet X7128B (colors are Barn Red, Colonial White, Pear, Smoothie, and Sunset). First up (above), is a 5x7 card inspired by Wishes - Bullseye (p. 33). While I could have used "masking" or "marker coloring technique" to ink some of my images, I instead chose to use my micro-tipped scissors to cut my stamps apart for faster and easier stamping. I cut the "Two hearts that beat as one" sentiment out from the center of the swirly frame stamp that it was a part of and I also cut the small flower and stem out from below the letter "e" on the "Amore" sentiment stamp. This small flower and stem stamp is what I used to stamp the flowers all around the heart-shaped leaf wreath image with Smoothie ink. All ink distressing/sponging was done with Barn Red ink. Remember, you can click on any of my photos to see them even larger up-close if you want to!

Next, I have a 3x3 card inspired by Originals - Squares & Overlay (p. 65) and a 4.5 x 4.5" square card inspired by Wishes - All Squared Up (p. 101). I used just basic stamping with Barn Red and Smoothie inks to create these simple Valentine cards . The scrolling that the "I Love You" card is bordered with is just one edge (the top) of the heart-shaped leaf wreath stamp stamped along the outside edge of the square piece of cardstock. I've used more sponge-distressing with Barn Red ink on these cards also.

Finally, I have a 2.5 x 3.5" card inspired by Wishes - Simple Strip (p. 37) and a 3x6" card inspired by Wishes - Name Plate (p. 18). You can see a close-up shot below that better shows how I cut out and layered the "Amore" sentiment using 3D mounting tape to make it pop-up above the heart. Again, I've used lots of Barn Red ink to sponge-distress it all.

I hope you have enjoyed and are inspired by my creations! If you'd like to see a whole lot more artwork created with this stamp set by the very talented members of my consultant SOTM swap group, please visit my blog again on Friday (12/3) when I will be sharing all of their artwork here too! Now you can continue on the hop by visiting Brae's blog next! Enjoy!!

"Crescent Moon Paper Flower" tutorial!

Today was a good day (exhausting, but good). I got up early to drive out of town to attend a CTMH consultant team meeting most of the day at my 3rd upline Cindy Baker's house in Menifee (about a 2 hour drive for me). The "creative" theme for the day was learning how to make all the different kinds of paper flowers that are so popular right now! Several different consultants shared and taught us how to make different varieties of flowers. It was so fun and I learned a whole lot!! You can bet I'll be sharing more flower ideas with you in future blog postings, but I learned way too much to share it all at once. The 4x4 criss-card (shown above) is the little project that I provided and taught everyone how to make! The "crescent moon paper flower" I taught is created with our NEW 1.25" circle punch that I have enjoyed using so much recently! These flowers are much simpler to make than they appear (I'm all about faster, simpler, and easier lately!!) Please enjoy this photo tutorial on how to make them! Using Splendor B&T paper that is pre-cut to 2.75" x 4.25", punch out 6-1.25" circles. Because the backside of the Topiary leaf B&T paper I used is Goldrush, you can use both sides of the B&T paper and you will be able to use your scraps that you punch from each circle as the leaves (how economical of me, lol)!
Punch a "leaf shape" into each circle (I like to stack them and punch three circles at a time so it only takes me two separate punches). It also helps to insert your circle just far enough into the punch that none of it is visible sticking out on the outer-side of the punch. This will just help you in measuring and keeping each of your punched pieces approximately the same size.
Next you will use a sponge dauber with Chocolate ink to sponge the edges of all 6 of the crescent moon shapes and 3 of your leaf scraps. You will also want to punch another circle from Goldrush cardstock to use as the base for your flower.
Now use the handle of your piercing tool to wrap the cresent moon petals around and curl them to give them a little bit of shape. As you adhere the petals to your base, it is okay if they flatten a little, you can just plump them back up with your fingers again when your flower is finished. Cover your Goldrush cardstock circle with tombow adhesive and adhere two of your curled petals just as shown.
Next you will adhere two more petals going the opposite direction so that you will see a little square or rectangle of Goldrush cardstock peeking out in the middle.
Finally adhere your last two petals diagonally from the other four petals, covering the Goldrush cardstock that was peeking out in the middle. Now you can adhere your three leaves to the back side of the flower as well.

Now you can reward yourself with a pretty brad or button in the center of your flower. I used one of our new Z1317 Splendor Designer Brads (below). You can use any brad or button that you want, but I really LOVE how much fancier it looks with the designer brads!

If you enjoy making these paper flowers and have any success using them on your artwork, please feel free to let me know, as I would love to see what you've created!!

My Mother's Day Card for the latest H2H challenge!

So the Heart 2 Heart blog challenge this week was to create a Mother's Day card, which is just perfect for me because I was wanting and needing to make a Mother's Day card this week anyway!! My 6x6 card above is a design inspired by Wishes - Keep It Level (p. 107). I used Cherry-O papers as well as the Cherry-O Creative Basics papers too. To stamp the flower I used Something Splendid D1424, the upcoming August SOTM, with Blush and Tulip inks. I tried to keep my card somewhat simple (since I have a lot of Moms/Grandmas/Sisters and will need to make quite a few of these). I'm also going to be creating this card with my customers at my NEW Summer Idea Book Open House that I'm hosting at my house today starting at 1pm!

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!

May 1st Product Preview Workshop!!

6x6 card (above) featuring You're Sweet B1351 stamps,

Cherry-O papers X7123B, and Pizzazz Irresistibles

chipboard die-cuts Z1307

Standard size double-pocket card (above) featuring Wonderful Friend D1422 (June SOTM) stamps, Passages papers X7126B, and our new 1.25" circle punch Z1311

3.5x8" tall card (above) featuring A Little Buzz B1353 stamps
and Zippidee papers X7125B
Ghirardelli Chocolate holder card (yes, there's a sweet chocolate
surprise inside!) featuring Tasty Treats D1427 stamps
and Cherry-O Creative Basics papers X5810

• Here's a sneak peek at some of the items we'll be creating at the Summer Product Preview Workshop that is coming up this Saturday, May 1st! I'll share the rest of the projects we're creating in my next post!

Thanks a Bunch-My Humble Artists Swap Card!

I was really late getting my Humble Artists swap card done this time around. It was due to be mailed out to my fellow swap participants by the 10th of September, but I wasn't able to get mine done and in the mail until mid-October - yikes! - so sorry ladies!! I really had trouble finding my creative mojo this time around. I think it's mostly because I have been so overwhelmingly busy and then also really sick with a sore throat/cough for almost three weeks now. I think I am finally starting to beat this cough now though and I can't wait to feel like my normal self again soon.
The guidelines for the swap this time around were:

• Choose card size/shape
• Choose color combo
• Random stamp CS and use 2 or more B&T's minimum
• Use a minimum of 5 layers of paper
• Use 3 brads, plus at least one other embellishment of your choice
• Most importantly, let's have fun!

So this is my swap card - it is 6x6 in size and the card design is inspired by Originals - Button Trio (p. 90). I used mostly Bon Appetit stamps (D1367) and a tiny little circle stamp from the Endless Friendship stamp set (D1354) with B&T duos papers from the Bella pack (X7114B) and the Evensong pack (X7104B). The "Thanks a Bunch" sentiment stamp comes from the Thank You stamp set (D1361). Ink colors I used are Desert Sand, New England Ivy, Olive, and Smokey Plum (1st and 2nd generation). The big leaves were stamped in Olive, cut out, sponged around the edges with NE Ivy ink, and paper-pieced on top of the grapes. It may be hard to tell from this scan, but I also added lots of liquid glass. I hope you enjoy this card as much as I enjoyed designing it!

August SOTM Blog Hop!!

Welcome to this month's blog hop - featuring the August Stamp of the Month - It's Your Day! I just love these fun and festive bold stamp designs - perfect to create cards, gifts, gift wrapping, decorations, and scrapbook pages for any birthday party or celebration!

I have had so much fun creating a few things with this stamp set recently - The first two cards are featuring our Animal Cookies papers (X7112B). I think the bright basic colors of this paper packet work perfectly with this stamp set. The first card is a standard size (4.25 x 5.5") inspired by Wishes - Stay Left (p. 55) and the next card is a 3x6 card inspired by Wishes - Long Layers (p. 81).

The last two cards were inspired by my friend and downline consultant Starr Nelson. Starr and her teaching partner, Sharryl Hales, taught an Art of Business class for consultants at the CTMH Convention last Summer (July 2008). Starr's class was titled "From Kit to Cash" and she shared some easy ways new consultants can be profitable utilizing just the items in their new consultant kit. So if you are a consultant who attended Convention you may have been lucky enough to attend this class or if you purchased the Convention CD, you can look up her class notes and handouts there also. The 3x6 and 4x4 cards I've shared (above) using the Bella papers were created using the simple sketch and pattern Starr taught as part of her Convention class. I'm even including a copy of the card sketches and cutting diagrams here in case it inspires you also (you can click on it to see a larger view if you need to). The cool thing about this pattern is that it allows you to create 8 cards of two different designs from just a few sheets of 12x12 paper which can really help a new consultant utilize limited supplies in a cost-effective way. I'm thinking that these are the cards I will be creating with my customers at all of my home gatherings in August, and if they inspire you, you are welcome to use them too! They are simple to create but do use a few basic techniques that I always enjoy teaching new stampers - 2nd generation stamping, distressing with a sponge dauber and desert sand ink, and distressing our cardstock with sandpaper - so fun!

To continue on in the hop and see even more excellent artwork using this must-have stamp set, please enjoy visiting Misty's blog next!

Here is a list of all of the participating CTMH consultants, so if a link doesn't work or you get lost along the way, you can always return here and click on any of these names to continue on in the hop! Now please go enjoy all of these wonderful blogs and more August SOTM ideas!!
Jena DeVries

Kristie Horness-Herdener

Carla Ironside

Deb Young
Alanna Moses
Paige Dolecki
Wendy Kessler
Heather Painchaud
Helen Onulak

Barbra Otten
Haley Dyer
Nona Davenport
Michelle Robinson
Cindy Leek
Melissa Laverty
Katy Donaldson
Amy McVey
Tammy Lea Pinchard
Leslie Markland
Judy Burger
Laurie R Newton
Kami Welter
Tracy Oleksak
Karen Norman
Chris Shouse
Cibele Glazer
Debra Van Patten
Terrie Dodd
Jamia Bankhead
Anne Beck
Jennifer Patrick
Laurie Levnik
Lori Miller
Brae Montgomery
Dawn Ross
Dawn Slipcevic
Barbara Harris
Carol Taggio
Jill Lucas
Chris Green
Nancy Ball
Dawn Heuft
Kelly Triggs
Beth Naumann
Antoinette Herrin
Jessica Booth
Jen Rubio
Misty Jackson
Adeline E. Brill
Lori Leng
Pam Klassen
Pamela OConnor
Jennifer Royal
Caren Goldstein
Shannon Pelletier
Sherry Thompson
Maricar Harris
Traci Godbee
Laura Dame
Miranda Kurz
Leisa Hubley

Julia Menssen

Jan Moxey

Jody Gustafson

The rest of the November SOTM swaps!

Here are the rest of the swap items from my CTMH team's SOTM swap this time around. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Beautiful work everyone!!!

Humble Artists Swap Card (using my first "Color Me Challenged" color combo!)

I just mailed my swap cards last week for the "Humble Artists" swap group (due Sept 10th) that I participate in. The guidelines for this swap this time around were:

-We will create a 6x6 card.

-Please use at least a little bit of any one of the 5 new My Reflections paper packs in the new Idea Book!

-You must use something you can see through (clear buttons, vellum, transparency, organdy ribbon, liquid glass, etc...).

-You must use some element on the card that is round or curved (you know how popular circles and scallops still are).

-Please use any kind of dimensional element.

-Finally, include at least three different stamped images on your card (the images can be from the same stamp set or different sets).

For this card I also used colors from the first color challenge posted on the NEW "color me challenged" blog!! (http://colormechallenged.blogspot.com/). Colors are Vanilla Cream, Vineyard Berry, Juniper, Sorbet, and Desert Sand. If anyone wants to play along and create a card using any of the guidelines listed above I would welcome you to do so and share the link to it here in the comments section if you can!! One thing I really love about my humble artists swap is seeing how different everyone's cards turn out considering we're all using the same exact guidelines! Once I figure out how to post links to some of the other swap participants artwork on their blogs, I will do that here too, but for now I am still learning and haven't figured that out just yet. I'm just happy to finally be posting and using my blog - lol!!