Colors of Summer

OK, so I have been spending some time this weekend working on some projects.  For one, I have been wanting to scrap my daughter's pics from a horse show she just competed in.  I decided to use my CTMH "Dream Pop" pack as there are so many sheets and can be used in so many different ways.  Here is one of the layouts I did...

I took quite a few pics, so I just chose a handful that really told the story of that day.  In this layout I included a Loudoun County FD Tanker as this event benefited the volunteer fire department of Philomont.  I also included pics of my girl riding "Easy" A.K.A. "Mendocino" and mapping out her 8 jump course.

Here I took some time scrapping her number....

It was her lucky number that day as she came home with a blue ribbon.  So happy I got to scrap her pics.  Now I can get ready for the next project!

~Danielle

Dream Pop Mania! May Sketch Challenge!

Hello, everyone.  Happy Sunday to you all.  What a dreary day it is here in Northern VA.  Cool and rainy....ick.  I did get to spend some of my time playing with CTMH's May promotion pack, "Dream Pop". What a pretty paper...very refreshing and makes me want summer to come even faster!  I took my supplies which included my "Dream Pop" paper pack, My Creations Paper Pouches, Washi Tape, and a handful of fun colored buttons.

 I did something a little different this time...I added my journaling along the side of my photo.  This page is actually one I created for The Memory Nest's May Sketch Challenge.

 For the "Pinwheel" I used our May Stamp of the Month!!!


 Our Close To My Heart Cricut Artiste cartridge includes the "pinwheel" image that coordinates with the stamp set.  Which means you can cut your image and stamp perfectly right on it!  You can buy your May Stamp of the Month at full price of $17.95 OR if you order $50 worth of merchandise you can get the "Dream Pop" paper pack for $10 AND the Stamp of the Month for $5....WHAT A DEAL!!!!  If you would like just the paper, it can be purchased for just $10 with ANY $35 purchase on my CTMH website.  Visit my website by May 31st and get your own "Dream Pop" and/or May's Stamp of the Month today!  Contact me with any questions....

More Layouts will be posted soon.

~Danielle

Hello, everyone.  What a busy weekend.  For starters, I am honored that my niece asked me to be her sponsor as she received her confirmation on Sunday.  So we spent the day celebrating...and I feel truly blessed to have an amazing family.

Saturday, we had our "Cropical Paradise" event at LVCC and had a blast!  We had 36 tables registered and are grateful for the vendors who came and helped make the crop such a success.  Our croppers had the following vendors offer their help and product:

Autumn Hoyler:  31 Bags
Sharon Cline:  Stampin' Up
Amber Fries:  Creative Memories
Clare Smith:  Scentsy
Sherry Newman:  Tastefully Simple
Danielle Valentino, Ursula Chandler, Chrissy Curtis and Emily Eden:  Close To My Heart

We had some fabulous door prizes including a Polaroid 300 camera with film, a complete "Project Life" kit, a sweet tote from 31, a scrapbook paper pack and tote from Stampin' Up, a SUPER kit from Creative Memories filled with all kinds of scrappin' goodies, and so much more!!!!  Plus we raffled off the Cricut Artiste cartridge! 

Chrissy made these adorable place markers for each cropper's table.  They were a big hit and sooo cute! 

Our croppers made themselves at home and set up their tables with all their scrapping tools.  We also had whomever decorated their table space "beachy" earn extra door prize tickets.  We played BINGO several times (Ursula was a great number caller!!!)  and also played "Steal the Coconut Bra".  Sherry Newman provided us with a Tastefully Simple lunch, and we had our croppers bring desserts to share.  The best part is we were able to offer this crop to all for a very low price.  All of those who registered by March 20th got in for just $25.....talk about DEAL! 

What's even better is that we announced our Fall crop at LVCC!  Harvestin' Memories will be held Saturday, September 28th from 8a-7p.  Cost is $35 per person and it is sure to be an event you won't want to miss.  We already got half the spaces filled as we started registrations already so get yours in today!

A Whole Lotta Craftin' Going On

Hello, everyone!  So I am spending a little time crafting on this beautiful afternoon.  What's not to love?  The sun is shining, it's in the low 80s here today, my scrappin' kitty, Ella, is by my side

and I have NEW paper to play with!!!!  What gets better than that?  Back to the NEW paper.  Close To My Heart will be running a special in May for customers but I wanted to give you all a sneak peak.  We have an exclusive paper pack called "Dream Pop" that has a total of 24 sheets of paper:  12 pieces of cardstock and 12 pieces of B&T Duos.  The colors in this pack are very bright...colors like tangerine, raspberry, mint, and banana yellow to name a few.  Take a look as some of the patterns.

so I started creating and so far I designed a couple of cards. Here is the first one..

With the help of some baker's twine, pop dots, April's stamp of the month from CTMH, and my Cricut Artiste cartridge, I was able to create this and easily at that.  Notice the textured dots on  the cardstock!  One side of the cardstock has this texture and the other side is plain.  So you choose if you would like the to add some "POP" to your project or not.  Take a look at another design...

The hearts were cut out using Artiste and again, notice the texture to the cardstock :).  Now instead of using basic envelopes to package these, I decided to use CTMH's glassine treat sacks. 

So that is your teaser...stay tuned as it gets closer to the time where you can buy this paper yourself for more ideas.  Until then, happy crafting!





  

Elegance Made Simple

One thing I love about what I do as a Close To My Heart consultant is the network of people I am blessed to interact with on a daily basis.  Other CTMH consultants, consultants from other paper craft companies, crafters who just love what they do.....just a plethora of inspiration.  This morning I sat down to combine ideas from various contacts and came up with a simple card that I just adore it's sense of elegance.

I used two colors (Saddle Exclusive Inks by CTMH and Cocoa cardstock, also from CTMH) in addition to the card base which was Colonial White.  OK, so how did I do this?  Well this is what you do:

Take your 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card base and pressure emboss it using  a Sissix embossing folder.  I used my Sissix Texture Boutique

Then roll a rubber brayer in ink color of your choice ( you might not want to use a pigment ink with this project).   Now here is the fun part.  You can either roll the brayer over the inside of your embossing folder OR directly over the raised portion of the embossed card.  Be gentle and be sure to clean your folder with a baby wipe when you are done.

Then embellish...done!!!!!  See?  Told you it was easy.....I would like to make note that I got this idea from Sharon Cline who is an awesome Stampin' Up rep I know from my area and who taught us this technique at a crop we were at in February.  I couldn't wait to try it !!!!

OK, now you try it and have fun!

~Danielle