Feel the Colors

October is my favorite month.  Not only is it my birthday month, but the colors here in New Hampshire are incredible.  Today we are having quite a bit of rain and wind, so those beautiful leaves will be scattered on the ground.  

When I went to the CTMH event weekend, we made a six page layout for Halloween.  I can't wait to get those pictures of my grandchildren so that I can use these adorable pages designed by Lynn Como.  It is so much fun to create pages that are so incredibly cute.

It was so much fun to see these pages come together.  With a few stamps, a few Cricut cuts, the Scaredy Cat paper pack and the Scaredy Cat Compliments, and a few extra pages of cardstock, you can make these adorable pages.  If you are interested in creating these pages, just place a $30 order on my website, and I will email you the files to complete these pages.

I went out one day last week and took pictures of some of the beauty around my own home.  I will share those with you soon.  If you are in a part of the country that escaped this wind and rain and still have beautiful colors on your trees, get out an enjoy the beauty around you.  Feel the colors......

Chalk It Up 

It's so beautiful here in New Hampshire at this time of the year.  I can't believe we are almost halfway through October.  I have a couple of crops that I am attending so I am looking forward to creating more layouts and scrapping more of my pictures.  

As soon as I got my first box with the goodies from the new catalog, I couldn't wait to start creating.  I love the Chalk It Up paper pack as you don't have to use it solely for school pictures, although I did when I created my layouts.  Here is what I chose to do with the beautiful paper and a few extra pieces of cardstock. I'm currently working on Pathfinding (Fall Theme) and when I'm done with that I'll have to start working on Confetti Wishes (Birthday Theme).  So many paper packs, so little time.

Here is what I created using the Chalk It Up Workshop on the Go.  It was perfect for my granddaughter's apple picking field trip.

I love the colors in this paper pack.  They are so bright and cheery.  I should go out and get some pictures of the beauty around me so that I can scrap those using my Pathfinding paper pack.  Enjoy the colors!

As Promised!

So today was spent figuring out my new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge.  It wasn't that there was anything difficult about the cartridge, I was just having an off day and couldn't seem to do anything right. My first card didn't make the cut so I decided to do some simple cards and at least work on something.  Some days are just like that.....

Here are the three cards that I created.  I love how there are so many different occasions represented in the cards and I love that each occasion has title cards that you can either use in a layout or even attach to the front of a card. The wonderful thing about Close To My Heart Cricut cartridges is that you can do so many things with them.  There are 700 items in each and every cartridge.  That means with just the four Cricut cartridges from Close To My Heart I have 2800 images!  

Here are the cards I made today.  Please don't judge.  I have been struggling physically with a nasty cold and just wanted to curl up on the sofa all day, but those CTMH boxes were calling my name and once I opened them up and got that Cricut cartridge out, I could not wait!  

They are so simple to make.  All you need  for one card is two pieces of cardstock and a little bit of glue. I saved the cutouts from the butterfly cards to use on other cards or layouts. All three cards are 5 x 7.  I'm so glad I decided to work with this  new cartridge.  Next I want to make some cards for my scrapbooking.  

What a Month!

What a Month I Have Had!

September is always busy for me.  I'm the Administrative Assistant in a Christian school so most of August and all of September is busy for me.  This September was also very exciting for me with Close To My Heart.   I loved the two CTMH Conventions I attended, but I couldn't justify the cost of going every year because it always includes a plane ticket as well as hotel stays.  My wish has been that somehow CTMH would have an event that was close enough that I would be able to drive to the event.  Not only did my wish come true, but the event was so close, I was able to drive home afterwards and return the next day for another wonderful event!  Thanks goes out to Lynn Como for sharing this wonderful event with my team members.  

I got lots of ideas from the event and I've been busy putting things together for my crops and my scrapbook class that I teach at the school.  (Yes, I get to do what I love and show students how to preserve memories.)

The event that we had on Saturday was filled with create and takes for consultants and I actually brought home a six-page Halloween layout and 12 beautiful cards.  (Pictures will be coming.)  

The next two weekends I was happy to attend two crops. I had been anxiously waiting for September 13th for our first TCCA Booster crop of the year.  I miss those ladies over the summer.  We had lots of laughs and caught up on what had been happening over the summer.  Then I was a vendor at a Crop for the Cure.  Cancer research is near and dear to my heart and I was glad to be able to participate in something that would benefit those who are affected by this terrible disease.  Meeting new ladies who who love to scrap and make cards was a bonus.

Another exciting event that happened this month is that the new CTMH Cricut cartridge, Artfully Sent, was released!  I have been anxiously waiting for that to happen.  My Artfully Sent is currently on the way to my home.  I can't wait to play with it after it arrives on Tuesday!

I have to get busy taking pictures of the layouts I've created this month.  In the meantime, here are some pictures of the beautiful sunsets I've been enjoying.

Isn't it amazing?   What beauty God has created.

I'm So Excited

I spent the last week in Kansas with my son and his family.  He is preparing to deploy to Korea and it had been almost two years since I saw him.  It was a wonderful time of sightseeing and connecting with this beautiful family.  While I was there, the annual Close to my Heart Convention was happening.  New and exciting product was introduced to thousands of excited Consultants and I was where I longed to be, with family.  It was a wonderful but short week and I'm so happy to have had the opportunity to see my son, daughter-in-love, and my grandchildren.

While we were out and about we went to my granddaughter's favorite place Barnes and Noble.  It's also one of my favorite places.  On our way to the checkout, I noticed these adorable 3D cards and told my daughter-in-love that I was going to go on YouTube and figure out how to make them.  You can imagine my excitement the next day when I signed in to view our new catalog and saw that the new Cricut cartridge is all about those 3D cards.  It's almost like the designers at CTMH tune in to my wishes and come up with a Cricut cartridge to fulfill those wishes.

Another exciting thing about this cartridge is that you will be able to create Picture My Life cards to add to your Picture My Life scrapbooking.

Here is a video that will be sure to get you as excited as I am right now.



Aren't these just adorable?

I cannot wait to get my hands on this cartridge.

Till next time......

So Excited

I just pre-ordered the new Close To My Heart catalog!  They start shipping on June 26th.  I'm always excited to see what Jeanette Lynton and her designers come up with every year.  Every new catalog is more amazing than the previous catalog.   This year Close To My Heart celebrates 30 years so I'm expecting something big.

There is a difference with this year's catalog.  We have gone down to one large catalog per year called Annual Expressions.  Everything in this catalog is available from August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2015.  It will be larger than our other catalogs, 192 pages!   We will also have two mini catalogs called Seasonal Expressions 1 that come out in December for the winter scrapbook themes and Seasonal Expressions 2 that comes out in April with spring scrapbook themes. The products in these catalogs will be available for a 4-month period, but the stamps that are showcased in these catalogs will be available for 12 months.

It seems that this company is always looking for ways to keep us all supporting our habit.  

I hope all of you were able to order the National Scrapbook Month special in May.  It was such an adorable paper pack.  I was able to make a couple of layouts using this trendy paper and a layout for each of my scrapbook students at school.  I ordered two paper packs and I have so much left over for more layouts and cards.  I can't wait to get down to my scrap corner to use these beautiful papers.

I'll be busy next week preparing for my 10-page layout class using our gorgeous Jubilee Workshop on the on The Go and the June Stamp of the Month.  We always have a big 4th of July get together with friends. This year I'll be ready to scrap those pictures ahead of time!  Here is an example of how you can use the June Stamp of the Month.

Isn't it just adorable?  I think I know what one of my pages will look like in the 10-page layout.  

Hope you all are enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having for the last few days here in New Hampshire.  It's been a long time coming, but now that it's here it is just spectacular!  

Mother's Day Fun

Every year I make a card for my Mom for Mother's Day.  This year I decided that I would make a card in a box.  I had seen several examples on the internet and when I went to my scrapbook retreat, a Stampin' Up consultant taught a class making one of these adorable cards. I watched tutorial videos online to learn how to make the cards and found out that I could make this card using the Close To My Heart Artiste Cricut cartridge!  It was so easy and fun that I made cards for my daughter and daughters-in-law.  I could have cut out the flowers using my Cricut cartridges, but decided to use up some of my stash.  Here are a couple of the cards.....

I have to say that I'm hooked on these cute little cards. My grandkids can expect these cards for their birthdays this year.