June CTMH Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! All artwork on the hop will feature June's SOTM, "Tender Tags" a set of 15 stamps!

If you have come here from Reba's Blog you are on the right path! If this is your first stop, you may want to go back to Jena's Blog and start from the beginning.

This month we have 42 CTMH Consultants sharing their SOTM creations, and other great CTMH artwork. Joining the hop is fun and simple to do - just click the link at the end of each blogger's post to move to the next one! If you get lost or a link doesn't work just click on links in the list below... Here we go!

I designed this card for my June Card Class and besides featuring the June SOTM, it uses faux stitching, paper flowers and brads for extra eye embellishment, and 3d foam for popping up the tags. Other supplies include Emporium papers, Pansy Purple and Petal cardstock, Pansy Purple, White Daisy, and Twilight ink, and white brads. The card measures 4"x5.5".

I used the same cute owl and a few of the scrolly stamps from the June SOTM in this card! Remember, the June SOTM is only available until June 30th, so contact your CTMH Consultant (or Me!) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even free!

Thanks for stopping by! Now "hop" on over to Misty's blog to see her work! Or... click on the links below for ALL the bloggers participating in the hop:

Jena Devries
http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com/
Adeline E. Brill
http://adeline-brill.blogspot.com/
Deb Young
http://www.scrapbookczar.blogspot.com/
Chris Green
http://www.createwithchris.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Patrick
http://www.roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com/
Chris Shouse
http://www.houseostamps.wordpress.com/
Alanna Moses
http://www.damoses.blogspot.com/
Haley Dyer
http://www.inkyscrapper.blogspot.com/
Jen Rubio
http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com/
Kami Welter
http://www.scrappin4memories.blogspot.com/
Caren Goldsein
http://www.scrappycaren.blogspot.com/
Laurie R Newton
http://scrapsfromthebeach.blogspot.com/
Reba Poquette
http://www.thedirtyscramper.blogspot.com/
Nona Davenport
http://www.nonapearl.blogspot.com/
Misty Jackson
http://www.misstscraps.blogspot.com/
Julia Menssen
http://www.ralphandjulia.blogspot.com/
Anne Beck
http://www.anniemuses.blogspot.com
Jamia Bankhead
http://www.papermadnessinc.blogspot.com/
Dawn Ross
http://www.iamahappystamper.blogspot.com/
Sherry Thompson
http://www.picturespatternsandpaper.blogspot.com/
Laura Dame
http://www.thecroppersconnection.blogspot.com/
Lucia Grabb
http://www.luciasscrappinandstampin.blogspot.com/
Nancy Ball
http://www.ballisticdesign.blogspot.com/
Shannon Laux
http://www.rockinstamps.blogspot.com/
Melissa Laverty
http://www.fancymelissa.blogspot.com/
Terrie Dodd
http://www.my-life-in-real-time.blogspot.com/
Mindy Eggen
http://www.creativevalleycreations.blogspot.com/
Helen Onulak
http://www.hookedonstamping.com/
Ronnie Crowley
http://www.ronniecreates.blogspot.com/
Karen Strous
http://karensctmh.blogspot.com/
Jaime Benavides
http://www.scrapcrazydiva.blogspot.com/
Kelly Triggs
http://www.stampinallday.blogspot.com/
Lori Miller
http://www.clearlyfromtheheart.blogspot.com/
Brae Montgomery
http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com/
Shannon Pelletier
http://www.shannonmvt.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kessler
http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com/
Paige Dolecki
http://www.paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com/
Pamela OConnor
http://www.cherishyourmemories.blogspot.com/
Shari Odut
http://stampinshari.blogspot.com/
Tammy Lea Pinchard
http://www.creativeimpressions-pinchme.blogspot.com/
Dawn Heuft
http://www.stamptildawn.blogspot.com/
Cibele Glazer
http://www.flowerfoot.blogspot.com/
Sarita Schraeder
http://www.blessedscrapper.blogspot.com/

June's Workshop of the Month

Introducing my June Workshop:

"BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL BOARD BANNERS"
You'll absolutely love the project for June, a gorgeous, three dimensional work of art. It is the perfect mantle accessory, decorative element for a bedroom, or special gift for a loved one.

This virtual workshop features the new Bella papers and matching Creme Brulee Ribbons, as well as the awesome Foundary Bookplates and Dimensional Elements Simple Alphabet. You'll learn how to "antique" metal, make your own flower embellishments, and create wonderful banners using chipboard in this fun virtual workshop.

Feeling conciensious about your budget in these lean economic times? You'll be happy to know that I have two levels for this Virtual workshop. The "BASIC" workshop includes 8-pages of full color instructions in PDF format, 8 chipboard panels for one or more banners (depending on the length of the word you choose), Foundary Bookplates, and 4 layered flower embellishments like the ones shown in the photo - all for just $12 including USPS First Class shipping!

Click here to order the BASIC workshop -->

The "BEST" option includes everything listed above, as well as the Dimensional Elements Simple Lowercase Alphabet, Creme Brulee Ribbon Collection, and the Bella papers needed to create one or more banners. The "BEST" option is $32 and includes USPS Priority shipping!

Click here to order the BEST workshop -->

Gift Card Swap

I'm attending my upline's upline's upline, Naomi Smith's unit meeting today, and for the creative swap we are trading gift card holders! Here's mine:

I used the new Animal Cookies Creative Basics paper and wide White Daisy grosgrain that comes with the paper. I also used the Buttoned Together stamps, Confidential stamps, and Tulip and Dutch Blue inks. I coverered the button stamp with a circle window charm and attached it with glue dots.

These stamp sets are great - and did you know that all through the month of June there will be special deals on CTMH consultant's websites where you can get 50% off as well as FREE products with the purchase of stamps! Every day is a new deal, and you can start shopping June 1st! Check out MY WEBSITE for your shopping needs - remember that 100% of my CTMH income goes to our adoption fund. :) Only 3-4 weeks remain for our fundraising.

In other news, I anticipate that many of you will want the template for the gift card, so here is the youtube video I did on it a few months back. :) Enjoy!

2 Card Class Cards

These are two of the cards I'm teaching at my June Card Class. The designs for both come from the new Wishes book - a card guide book by CTMH's CEO and founder Jeanette Lynton. I love this new book and have already used it for several cards!

I'll be posting my third card class card on June 1st as it features the June Stamp of the Month and I'll be participating in a SOTM Blog Hop that day. So you'll just have to stay tuned! ;)

Supplies: Animal Cookies PP, Dimensional Elements Borders, cranberry grosgrain ribbon, dutch blue ink, 3d foam, Wishes template for "Card 6" on page 24 (modified from 6x6 to a standard size 4.25x5.5)

Supplies: garden green, cocoa white daisy, and indian corn blue CS; sorbet, garden green and indian corn blue ink, pewter photo hangars, winter cozy mini medley collection brads, colonial white waxy flax, Summer Sweetness stamps and Intrisic Background stamps, 3d foam, Wishes template "Name Plate" from pg 18 (modified from 3x6 to 4x5.5)

A Hat for my Sweetie

Dave wanted "summer weight" McSteamy hat, since his alpaca one was getting too warm. I whipped this one up in Knitpicks Comfy sport weight yarn in the Fedora color (a deep espresso brown). The pattern is my own design and I'm super proud of it! Enjoy!

Oh - and for everyone wishing that I would start posting paper creations again - don't worry! I have a whole bunch coming. I've just got to find a few minutes to take pictures of everything and post! But I have been playing in the studio and I have lots of wonderful things to share. Thanks for coming back to look in the next few days! :)

Sammie's Room, part 2

Here are pictures of Sammie's brand new room! It is PINK - shockingly pink... as in so pink it glows even when the lights are off pink. But we all love it - especially Sammie.

Speaking in Close To My Heart colors, three of the walls are Baby Pink, and the back accent wall is Hollyhock. Her grandma Marie had made her quilt last year, and it goes so well in the new room. The colors of the quilt were actually our inspiration from the start!

In case you are wondering, the "playhouse" (the thing the doll house is sitting on) was an etsy find. It's a cover for a card table and Sammie adores it. It's made of felt and has 4 interactive sides. This is the beauty parlor, but MissPrettyPretty, the artist that makes them, has several other styles as well. Sam has just adored it and plays in it constantly.

Also, the bookcase and fabric bins are from Target, and the whole combo was under $80. It's surprisingly sturdy and well made (for the price). I'm even debating getting a second one for the baby's room.

At this point the only thing missing in Sam's new room is some artwork for the walls. We are waiting on that until we can find something she loves - or until we have time to create pieces ourselves.

Sammie's Room part 1

A few weeks ago Sammie and I redecorated her room. Dave and I wanted her to have a special "big girl" room that better reflects her personality, and gives her a special space that is all her own. As excited as we all are to have the new baby come home, we didn't want Sammie to feel overlooked.

So we did this project together, and she absolutely loves her new space. :)

Here are the "before" pictures, and tomorrow I'll show you the after!

Dave and I had decorated her room not knowing if she would be a boy or girl. We painted the landscape scene, and then I cut out pictures of animals from books and decopaged them on the walls. NOTE - do NOT decopage things on to walls unless you want them stuck there FOREVER! We had to sand them off the wall, and then putty and retexture the walls. It was NOT fun.







This picture totally cracks me up. Lately Sammie has been obsessed with skunks. I think she saw a Curious George episode about skunks and ever since she just loves hearing about them. She went to the zoo with Dave and some of our friends last month and was so excited to get to see a skunk in person. She was extremely bummed to find out the zoo didn't have them there. This little guy had been behind her bookshelf, so she didn't know he was there. She was *SO* excited to have a skunk in her room she almost decided that she didn't want to repaint! If any of you happen to have pictures of a real life skunk let me know! I'm sure she'd love to see them. :)



This is what her room looked like when we finished plastering and patching the walls, re-texturizing, and priming:

Another brag on my hubby...

I feel that our hubbies don't often get bragged on enough (and more often get "nagged" on). So here's a big shout out to my sweet guy Dave. I'd been wanting to hang my uppercase living sign for a long time, and he made time the other day to put it up for me.

We live in a split level home, so as you come in the front door you have to go up a half flight of stairs to the main living space, or down a half flight to the scrap studio. He hung it just above the stairwell leading down to the scrap studio. It looks awesome too! Thanks honey!

BTW - if you need an uppercase living consultant, my friend Christine is just the person you are looking for!

Mother's Day Card

I feel badly for taking so long to post this because the card is so special to me. This is the Mother's Day card that my sweet hubby made for me! On special holidays he always takes the time to go into the studio and raid my stash to make my cards. I feel so blessed to have a hubby who not only supports my business but enjoys it too!

It was extra special this year. He painstakingly embossed and inked those raised edges, and he actually sewed the button into place. Oh and did you see the detail on the leaves? Yup - all his ideas! The best part though - as he was crafting with Sammie he yells up the stairs, "Honey, this is FUN!" I just had to laugh. Looks like I'll be gaining a full time scrappin' buddy once Dave finishes school in August! (Just don't tell his buddies.)

the Chandelier

Do you remember the chandelier story from last week? Well I decided to just keep this one in the baby's room and not buy a new one. It is so pretty and fits the room so well - even if it doesn't have purple crystals. So here are a few pictures for you. :)

These two were taken at night, and the last one was taken during the day:

Baby Dress

A few weeks ago I did a little baby shopping and came across this adorable sun dress. I just couldn't pass it up, and now every day I look at it and imagine how adorable our baby is going to look in it!

Just about 5-8 more weeks to wait! (Don't you just love that babies come when THEY want to, and not when we do! LOL...)

Baby Blankie

Having finished the beaded shawl (all 158 rows of it), I felt incomplete without having some ginormous knitting project to work on. Enter Main Street Yarn. (#19 on the LYS tour - Yes! I'm still talking about it. It was one of the most fun things I've done all year!) Main Street is one of the two stores I consider my "home" stores, although now I have a whole set of new reasons to love it.

The first, is that they have this AMAZING and ADORABLE heart blankie pattern that I just fell in love with. I picked up the Cascade 220 yarn above to make one for our baby and they went out of their way to print up the pattern for free - and then even emailed me the corrections when one row had a mistake in it! I can't wait to show you the progress of this blankie. If it knits up as fast as I think it will, the pattern will quickly become a favorite for baby shower gifts.

The second reason I now love Main Street is that they are under new management. Before I went to this store just for the yarn. Their staff used to be awful - just rude and snooty. I'd gone it to ask questions before, and left feeling shot down and stupid. My husband even kept asking why I would even bother going back... but I'm so glad I did!

Debrah is the new owner and she is *SO* helpful, friendly, and sweet. Her employees are awesome too. They went out WAAAY out of their way to make me feel at home in the store, even answering my email question promptly during the craziness of LYS. I went in today to sign up for their surprise Knit-Along, and got to talking with Debrah. She said that as new owner, her #1 goal is to make Main Street the most hospitable yarn store in the Seattle area. I'd say they are doing a great job - and I will definitely be going back!

Swap Card - Life is good

This isn't the best picture, but I think it shows off the card well enough. :) My team exchanged New Summer Idea Book cards at our last team crop night. I used a layout from the new Wishes card book (modified from a 5x7 down to a 4.25x5.5 card).

I used the new "Treetops" stamps and Spot on Backgrounds stamps. I also included a bit of the Back Country patterned paper, Heavenly Blue CS, Outdoor Denim CS, and Colonial White CS. Ink colors are Outdoor Denim, Bamboo, and Chocolate. I did the "rock and roll" technique on the tree top using Garden Green and New England Ivy. The tree is also popped up on 3d foam. I stitched around the outside of the card with my sewing machine, colored the dimensional elements bookplate with bamboo ink, and used Heavenly Blue brads as well. I think I'm going to send this one to corp for the monthy "Make it From Your Heart" contest too.

Hope "life is good" for you today!

"Family Adventure Day" photos...

Sammie and part of the Seattle skyline:


Dave and I on the ferry:

On Sunday I still needed one last stamp on my passport for the LYS, and the yarn store was on Bainbridge Island. The only way to get there is on a ferry, so after church Dave and I decided to take Sammie on a little family adventure.

It had been a while since we last took Sam on a ferry, so it seemed like a completely new experience to her. She loved that they said "All Aboard", and was a little perterbed that they only said it going and not coming back. She was also miffed that a little boy was running, because she's a stickler for rules and it frustrates her when people don't follow the rules. But, she loved watching the cars drive on and off the boat. She loved being able to see the birds and sea lions in the water as we sailed past. And she loved that I had thought to pack chocolate pudding in our sack lunches.

Once on the Bainbridge side, we enjoyed a leisurely walk in the gorgeous sunshine. It was about 8 blocks to the yarn store, but there were lots of other cute shops along the way so we window shopped.

The Churchmouse Yarn and Teas shop was amazing. Their stock was amazing - I saw so many yarns I'd not seen anywhere else. The layout was fantastic too and they had so many samples knit up. It was all so luxurious and tempting that I succombed to a ruffle scarf pattern that is to DIE for (and of course the $35 in yarn to go with it). They have incredible service also - we were served tea and biscuits while there. We missed "sherry hour" by about 30 minutes. LOL... If it wasn't so far away, I think I would visit this store VERY often.

We ended the day by getting all natural smoothies (and Sammie got a cone) at Mora's Creamery. Wow - they make a mean smoothie. It was sooooo tasty. However, they only sell one size, so in retrospect Dave and I could have split one because they are HUGE. We walked back to the ferry with very full (but happy) tummies.

A Lesson in Tension

I survived the weekend, and had an absolute blast! The LYS tour features 23 yarn stores and would you believe I made it to ALL of them!?! Here I am with a fully stamped passport!



In all I drove/rode over 550 miles, took a round trip ferry ride, and spent about 26 hours from Thurs-Sunday on the tour. I won't tell you how much money I spent, but don't worry - none of it was from the adoption fund! All of it was from my yarn budget that I've been saving up for months. Plus, as I start making creations they will go up for sale here and in my etsy site to raise money for the adoption. Win, win you see! Hehe... that's what I've been telling Dave too.

In other news, I finally finished the shipwreck shawl (will post pics after it has been blocked), AND I finished my second pair of baby socks. I'm not super happy with these socks, hence the title "A Lesson in Tension".



So... if you aren't a knitter, you should know that how tightly you knit is important. Above is a pair of socks. Each was knitted on size 3 double points, both using the Knitpicks Risata yarn in Spicy, both uses the same pattern. You'll notice that the right sock is significantly larger than the left sock. That is because my tension was looser for this sock than the last. Sigh... This also means that I get to knit a second left sock (knitted more tightly) and a second right sock (knitted more loosely) to end up with matching pairs.

I think what happened is that I was extremely stressed/overwhelmed/tense when I knit the first sock, thus my tension was super tight. After having a weekend of fun, I was super relaxed, and thus the other sock ended up much larger.

The moral of the story is to be careful about keeping consistent tension while knitting socks - or knit them both in the same time period - or knit them both at the same time on one long circular needle. ;) Take your pick.


PS... thank you for the blog prizes ladies! I really appreciate them! :)

LYS - yippee!

I won't have much blogging time for the next few days. It's our annual "Local Yarn Store" tour in the greater Seattle area today through Sunday and I'm trying to get to as many stores as possible!

I made it to 5 shops today (and drove over 115 miles!). I worked my way from the far south end of Kent north to Mill Creek. Gonna hit more of the Seattle stores tomorrow with my friend Heather! :)

In case you were wondering WHY I'd want to visit so many yarn stores, each store has drawings every day of the event for $50 gift certificates. They also all give out free 1 skein patterns, and 10% discounts on the yarn for those projects. Plus you get to check out all the great yarn stores in the area, and support local business. Finally, if you get stamps in your passport for all the stores on the tour, you get entered into a drawing for REALLY BIG prizes. However, even without all that great stuff, I'd still want to do the tour because I'm as much a yarn addict as I am paper/stamp addict! I've been waiting all year for this!

Today was lots of fun though, and I used up over 1/2 of my yarn budget! I got the cutest yarn and pattern to make a blanket for our baby girl. I bought lots of Toefootsies sock yarn for socks for my craft fair in November. I got some yarn that will make great fingerless gloves, and some for baby leg warmers/hats. Finally I purchased a few skeins for the few "knit for hire" jobs I've got going. :)

Can't wait to show off some of my knitted projects, or perhaps my "in progress" projects since I'm so excited I don't know where to begin!

Have a great weekend!

Nesting

Dave and I spent much of last weekend spring cleaning, purging our junk, and cleaning out closets. You might say we are starting to "nest" for the baby. It was a lot of hard work, but we managed to fill our van with things for Goodwill, and we still have a bit more to go. We also filled our garbage and recycle bins, so it's a good thing it was all collected today!

In addition to the hard work, I also got to do some really fun things - like shopping for the baby! This is the bedding I picked out for her room (see the picture below). I had painted the room chocolate brown last year, but it's not as dark as it sounds. We get a ton of light in that room (an Eastern exposure) and so the chocolate looks beautiful and rich. So to compliment the darker wall color, I decided on lavendar and white for the bedding, curtains and accents. I think it is going to be amazing when it is all done!



Our crib and floors look very similar to the picture too. Our dresser/changing table is also in that same light oak finish. I also purchased some really pretty artwork for her walls this weekend by the artist Laverne Ross. This is one of the posters I bought and will get framed. It's not super babyish, but I love the vibrant colors, and that the subjects are strong and beautiful African American women. I love it, so I hope the baby will too. :)

We also found the most adorable and elegant mini-chandellier at Home Depot. I thought it would be darling in Sammie's new room (will post pics tomorrow of that), but she decided to go with her "plain, boring light" -her words. Once she saw it hanging up however, she loved it. I don't know if it was really because she loved the sparkly crystals, or that it was on a dimmer switch that she found very cool. ;) Anyway... tonight while browsing online, I found a different chandelier with purple crystals. So I might try to convince Dave to give the first one to Sammie and let me buy the purple one for the baby's room. LOL... I'll tell you how it all plays out.

Sometime this week I'll go shopping for curtains and other fun accessories. My friend Christine sells Uppercase Living wall decor so I've thought about getting something for both the girls' bedroom doors. "Sammie's Room" and "...'s Room". Hehe... btw - we've picked our baby girl's name but have only shared with close friends and family for now. I look forward to announcing it here when she's born - along with pictures of course! Stay tuned...

Mother's Day Tea

Sammie's Preschool had a Mother's Day Tea celebration last week. The kids sang to their moms, made special crafts, and the teachers read statements that the kids had written about their moms.

Sammie's read: "My mom and I... like to eat breakfast together." and "My mom lets me... paint on canvases". It was really cute to hear all the kids share about their moms. :)

Afterwards we shared cupcakes and "tea" (water or lemonade for the kids). We were so happy that Grandma "Ree" could come too. It was a wonderful time together.

The Day The Goodies Arrived

Today has been such a great day! We had a yummy Mother's Day lunch with Dave's mom, dad and sister at our favorite Indian Restaurant. Then while Sammie had her quiet time, and Dave did some homework, I made this digi layout! I think tonight we're just going to relax and watch a movie.

I'm really, really proud of this layout (it's a 2 page spread) and I designed it all MYSELF (even the swirls!!!!) Whoohoo! The break in the text is on purpose - so that when I print the pages at 12x12 it doesn't cut off any of the journaling. To see the layout larger, just click on the image.

I've been feeling more and more confident with digi, and it's been so much fun to try new things. I find digi scrapping so fulfilling as an artist, because I can incorporate swirls, different opacities, and layering in ways that I never could with conventional scrapping. I'm getting to see the layouts I picture in my mind come to life and that is so exciting.

The supplies for this layout all come from Jessica Sprague's free kit "Echoes of Asia" with the exception of the "blessed" element and photo negative frame which are both by Katie Pertiet. Fonts are CK Invitation and Blue Cake. :)

Sammie's Nap Cot

It's been a busy, busy Saturday. We're spring cleaning (or nesting, however you want to look at it). We've purged a ton of stuff and have it ready to take to goodwill/the dump. Sammie and I finished up her room remodel (pictures coming shortly), and I also did some shopping for the baby's room. Overstocks.com had some great baby bedding, so I purchased a set, and I also got some beautiful artwork for her walls. I'll post pictures of the nursery once it's all put together. :)

We still have a few other errands to run, as well as some serious yard work to tackle today. Thankfully Dave had homework to do while Sammie had her quiet time, so I got a chance to do some knitting and a quick digi page. Here it is!

We're off again, so will post more about our weekend later. Happy Mother's Day everyone!


Supplies: Paper (Shabby Princess - Modish Girl Kit); Frame (K.Pertiet - Doodledo-frames number 5 - with soft light mode); Stitching (Shabby Princess - Autumn Medley kit - I changed the color); Buttons (Carnival kit from JS class); Journaling tag: (K. Pertiet -curled journaling spots);

Owl Card

I got to play with some new CTMH product last night! This card was inspired by a card out of the new Wishes book (the window cut out).

I also used the new "You're a Hoot" owl stamp set and the SOTM for June (the swirls behind the sentiment). Colors are Blush, Baby Pink, and Chocolate and I used textured cardstock. The brads are antique copper, and I used mini flowers from the white just blooms collection for the owl's eyes. The owl is also popped up on 3d foam.

Sammie and the Squirt Bottle

I'm still working on catching up on Sammie's 2008 scrapbooks, but was able to whip out this page in just 25 min with the help of ACDSee!!! I'm still loving this program to pieces, and the fact that it is so easy to mix and match my digi supplies. :)

I was also inspired by the silly mastercard commercials. Click on the photo to see the page enlarged.

Supplies: Purple Paper - Shabby Princess "Happy Go Lucky" (with added texture); Stripe - Shabby Princess Seasonal Sampler (changed the pink stripes to purple); frame - Katie Pertiet - Alandia Kit; Flowers - Amy Teets "Sunporch" kit; Bling Jewels - Shabby Princess "Carousel kit"; Journaling Tag - Jessica Sprague "Thank You kit"; Font TW Cen MT Condensed; Scallops and Layout - my own design.

Happy Mother's Day (to me!)

I was digi scrapping this weekend, and realized my NEED for some serious organization. I had all of my digi files saved in nice, neat folders on my computer... but the problem was I needed to open those files in order to see what I had!

For instance, I know there is an absolutely adorable red button by Shabby Princess that I have. I want to use said button, but I don't know which kit said button is in. AND I have 20+ Shabby Princess folders. Now I have to open and view (meanwhile waiting for thumbnails to load) every folder until I can find my button!

This made me sad, and not want to digi scrap.

But then I remember Jessica Sprague talking about a sweet little program called ACDSee. It is meant to be used for photo organization, but JS uses it exclusively for her digi stuff! I checked it out, and it was in the budget (about $50), so I asked Dave to get it for me for Mother's Day. He did me one better by buying and letting me play with it this weekend! Hip Hip Hooray for my sweet hubby!

ACDSee allows you to make categories and then tag items to these categories. Best of all each item can have multiple tags! So now I can have my little red button tagged as "button", "Shabby Princess", and "Red Embellishment" if I want. Two other cool things about ACDSee... First you can have your computer's folders on the left of your screen and your categories on the right. So you can search by category OR by your own files. Secondly, because this program runs independently of Photoshop you can scroll to your desired paper, brush or digi element, then DRAG it from the ACDSee screen and drop it right onto your Photoshop workspace. IS THAT COOL OR WHAT?!?!?

So I'm totally sold and hopefully this means I'll have lots more digi art to share soon. :) Here's a screen shot of me looking through my buttons. Can you see my favorite red one?

Worth a Try...

Last week I sent a long, heartfelt email to the CTMH corp. staff regarding the sale of templates.

The good news is that they took my requests to heart, and even spent last Thursday discussing the pros and cons of allowing consultants to sell their templates and workshop instructions. They said that they valued my comments and appreciated my speaking up for something I felt so strongly about. They feel it is important to keep up with the times, and make necessary changes to the consultant manual as needed.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that in this case they feel it is in the best interest of CTMH and the independent consultants who represent CTMH to keep this portion of the manual as is.

Many of you might be asking "WHY???" they have decided this way and I've been granted permission to include some of Kristine's email here to help explain.

The first issue is with competitive selling. CTMH has strived for years to have a brand that is dependable, of high quality, and is faster/simply/easier to use. Consultants are naturally associated with that brand because we represent the company. So, to allow consultants to sell their own ideas could ultimately hurt the CTMH brand if what the consultant offers is not in line with the same high standards of the company.

The second issue is with consultants charging for their time/knowledge. As it stands we are ONLY allowed to charge for the materials for a class. Kristine writes, "Affixing pricing to designs/templates/time is a wholly subjective business: one Consultant may feel her efforts warrant a $10 price point for a template when another might charge $5; another may feel that her painstaking prep work for a club night is “worth” $2 extra per kit she creates, above and beyond the supplies she charges. By loosening the policy to allow Consultants to charge for ANYTHING other than actual product, we risk frustrating, angering, or misleading customers about what it is they are actually buying."

I appreciate the time that the corp staff took to really evaluate the arguments I wrote to them about, and for taking the time to listen to my point of view. I'm also proud of myself for standing up for something I believe in - even if the end result is not what I desired.

One thing I've found in 4 years of being a CTMH consultant, is that everything corp does for us is truly in the best interest of the consultants. They want us to succeed and for our businesses to be strong. They want us to have the best product, training, and ideas to pass along to our customers. So I'm not upset by the decision that they have made. I hope that this post has shed some light on this issue, and that it clears up the reasons why I'm not able to sell my workshop instructions any longer. Thank you all for the support and sweet comments you have been sending my way! I feel so loved!

Moon Sand

I took these pictures a few weeks ago, but have been meaning to post them. This is a warning to all parents out there...

MOON SAND IS EVIL!!!!!

Sammie received said product as a Christmas gift (the giver shall remain nameless - you know who you are!!!). We pulled out the moon sand on this particular day, and I told Sammie she could play with it on the kitchen floor.

I thought it would be much like playdough - but gritty in texture. Ooooh no. This stuff is S A N D - yes, real sand. It has a slightly sticky feel to it - so it will clump together and you can make sand castle type shapes by packing it in a round container and slamming it on the ground. But let there be no confusion here. It is sand!

So Sammie is playing with her sand, on the floor, and I'm busy working on my computer. After a few minutes I peek around at her and my ENTIRE FLOOR is COVERED in sand. C-O-V-E-R-E-D... like little sand granules everywhere... and they are sticky.

I hate moon sand. I don't use that word often... but ooooh how i hate moon sand.

So once Sammie tired of playing with the moon sand I had a floor to clean up and a sticky, gritty, child to clean up as well. Fun fact about moon sand - the way you clean it off a kid is pretty much the same way you clean REAL sand off a kid - by hosing them off. Unfortuantely, real sand can get hosed off outside, with a hose. But the moon sand was inside and I had no hose. So I had to give Sam a bath. Then I had to shake her jammies outside to remove excess sand, then put them in the wash and pray that the sand wouldn't clog my nice washing machine. Then I got to mop the kitchen floor.

Have I mentioned I hate moon sand? LOL...

So, all you moms out there (or dads, grandmas/pas, aunties, uncles, friends, babysitters, etc.): moon sand is evil and should be left at the store. If you want your kids to play with sand, take them to the beach. I've learned my lesson.



(ps... these pictures really don't do the situation justice. They were taken about 1/2 way into moon sand play. My kitchen and child weren't fully covered yet.)

Digi Layout

It's about a month overdue, but I finally had a chance to sit down and do the last lesson in Jessica Sprague's "Digi In Deep" class. This lesson was very complex, but really fun. The only thing I didn't add was my scanned fingerprint, but since I'm still getting over this yucky cold it seemed like more work than I felt like putting forth effort. ;) Still a very fun layout, and I know I'll use the frame idea for future projects. Yep - each one of those frames I placed by hand! No simple element there! That's what makes it especially cool. :)



Now I'm going to go vedge on the couch. Dave's doing homework so I can watch Mamma Mia without feeling like I'm torturing him. Hehe... I've not seen it yet, but hear it is a total chick flick.

Smitten With You Baby - May's Virtual Workshop

Many have been eagerly anticipating my May virtual workshop (I have the emails to prove it!) and I'm happy to deliver! The "Smitten with you Baby" mini album virtual workshop is finally here - and features *new* Summer CTMH Idea Book product to boot! Yippee!

This virtual workshop features the new Animal Cookies papers and stickease, as well as the awesome My Creations 3 ring binder! It is a baby mini album with 10 adorable unisex tabbed pages. Finished size of the album is approximately 8.25" x 5.5" (inside pages are slightly smaller).

Included in the workshop are instructions, the binder, pre-cut papers sorted by page, stickers, buttons, and waxy flax. You will need a desert sand stamp pad and sponge, strong adhesive (like tombo) and glue dots to complete the project (they are not included).

The cost of this workshop is $27 and includes priority shipping.

Click here to order -->