Just around the corner!

Here is Christmas right around the corner and I thought, cause I haven't blogged in a while, some of my favorite Christmas cards I have made. All of these cards contain Close to my Heart paper and each one so individual!

This one has some great circles on it and I used a very old paper pack, Just Chillin, I still love the colors in this palette and the retro snowflakes.

This card is made entirely from cardstock alone. I love Pink for winter, it seems soft just like snow. But the multiple shades of pink make the card for me! With real stitching around everything you just want to touch this card over and over!

This is a fun paper pack called 'Jingle' and I love the different shapes on this card. With a heat embossed 'Jingle' and stitching I constantly run my fingers across it!

I constantly get compliments on this card, maybe it's monocromatic scheme or just a bit of sparkle but everyone loves this card!
This awesome card has some of my favorite colors, Blue and Brown, not overly traditional but with white snowflakes, rhinestones, heat embossing, ribbon and stitching this card has lots of elements to play with!
I hope you liked my cards and find inspiration in them!

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Heat/Dry Embossing

I went a little crazy with the Heat Embossing on this one, I choose just simple Clover Meadow Cardstock and Random Stamped/Heat Embossed the back ground. I then Stamped out the title and heat embossed that baby.

To add a soft touch to my page, I stitched this fun pattern up the side of the pictures to hopefully push the idea of 'Spring' with a little jump! Just a fun page using only pictures, 1 piece of paper and some embossing for that brilliant white!

Heart to Heart Challenges

What a great opportunity to be a sponsor for this weeks challenge at Heart to Heart Challenges! I have been very busy getting ready for craft fairs and jumpstarting my new family photography business, you can find my FB page called Just Peachy Family Photography. But I am excited by this weeks challenge...Dry/Heat embossing! If you never have done either you should definately try it...everyone I know who tries it falls in love with embossing, it brings your projects to the next level. I encourage you to try it and submit your finished project to Heart to Heart Challenges and you might win my fabulous prize, a full Key to my Heart Kit, this was a promotion a while back, you can not buy this from your local Close to my Heart Consultant, so play the Heart 2 Heart Challenge and this fancy prize might be yours!!!

5 for $5 - Halloween Treat Containers

This is my first class after having our new baby daughter, but she is now 9 1/2 weeks old and it's time to get back into the swing of things. The next couple of months are going to fly by, with lots of holidays coming up, ih ave a long list of everything I would like to get done. But my first 5 for $5 this month is for Halloween, we are making treat containers. These fun little things perk up any Spooky gift giving.

this easy little bag is made with patterned paper from Close to my Heart's New Hooligans line. Fun Halloween colors and the stamp set used is called 'Beware'.

This scary popcorn cup is made with Orange Close to my Heart Cardstock, cut on the Cricut, and embellished with some creepy patterned paper. To finish this cup off we cut tags and added some ribbon.

You can't see it in the picture very well but each box we will make has been random stamped with CTMH's September stamp of the month, 'Thriller'. Great art on this stamp set. I also used glimmer mist to give each box and eerie green shine. Fun and easy to fill, the clear front let's you show what's in the box...no suprises here.

Easy to make, this bag topper can be attached to any ziploc bag and given away with lots of candy inside...what a way to dress up a boring snack bag.

Super fun Frankenstien Matchbooks, just attach your candy to the inside and give away. I first saw this great idea on Vicki Wizniuk's Blog, thanks for the inspiration Vicki!
The class is tomorrow night and I hope that this one sells out...I am also opening this up to anyone who wants to do this in the afternoon if they can.

Autumn/Winter Idea Book Open House and Crop

It's National Scrapbooking Month and the kick off of another new idea book. The Autumn/Winter Idea Book is here and on September 25th from 10am - 5pm, we are having a party. I have prizes for those of you who come, gifts for those who RSVP with a friend so feel free to extend this invitation to your friends and anyone who does an order that day over $50 will recieve $10 of open stock scrapbooking supplies including paper, stamps, blocks and more. We would love to have you come and crop with us, try out the newest of the scrapbook 'recipe' books called 'Magic' or play with new paper and stamps, BUT if you don't have time to crop with us, let me know that you want to drop by and your name still goes in the draw for prizes! Crop fee for the day is $10/with lunch or $6/no lunch or drop by for FREE! If all this doesn't tempt you, this is my first event after the baby, so come over for a cuddle with the cutest 7 week old. Let's kick off September right, and do something more with our memories. Want to come? To RSVP, email me at jpeach1@q.com or click on the meetup group button in the side column.

Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book Sneak Peek

Here we are again for another great Idea Book. What better time to get your papercrafting going than the Autumn/Winter months with Craft Fairs, Christmas Cards, Halloween and Thankgiving just around the bend.

With four new, fun paper packs to display, more new stamp sets to mention and great coordinating embellishments to compliment your projects this Idea Book if full of great ideas too.

This new paper pack is called Magnifique, and has 2 brand new colors in it, Lagoon, Pacifica and Sky. With its regal design, fun coordinating stamps and embellishments to compliment the design, there are tons of great pages and products to be made.

This paper pack is named Olivia. It also has three new colors, Pear, Smoothie and Sunset. With great Autumn colors and awesome designs, I see a multitude of fun projects in my future.

Hooligans is the name of this paper pack and it fits it to a tee! This paper pack scares up four new colors, Gypsy, Lagoon, Pear and Sunset. With frightful and fun designs, you'll want to things to go BUMP in the night. There are also fun, fuzzy monsters that coordinate with this kit for eve more design possiblities.

This pack is ready to kiss, it's name is Mistletoe. With gentle colors and a classic christmas motif, this paper pack makes me want go caroling and invite friends over. With lots of great ideas including the keepsake ornaments that you can build from this kit, your gifts can become personalized.

After you complete your order, your could get this creepy stamp set for a discount or even FREE! It will be great for Halloween or anything else you can think of.
I am having a Autumn/Winter Idea Book Crop and Open House on September 24th, so you can see all the new products, if you are in the Denver Metro area, contact me for more information.

The New Arrival!

It has been a while since my last post but we have since had our newest addition. She is now 3 weeks old and I faintly remember sleeping well and not smelling like fomula. Another joy to our life and far more PINK than I ever seen, we are happy that she is healthy and a great little baby. Above is the Birth Announcement that was my first attempt in a long time at Photoshop CS3, and I can say, Thank Goodness there are so many Photoshop tutorials online, Phew! I hope to scrapbook my new angel right away and am ready to get back into the swing of things. I am also excited about the new Close to my Heart Idea Book that is coming out as of September 1, 2010 and am looking forward to kicking off that last part of the year being really busy with Crops, MOPS and Pre-school. I would love to hear what you think of my annoucement and welcome all comments.

Heart 2 Heart Color Challenge

This weeks challenge on Heart 2 Heart was a color challenge. I love color challenges and enjoy trying to use my colors in interesting ways. The color challenge this week was Black, Tulip and Buttercup.

As I was looking through everyone's entries on Heart 2 Heart, at last check no one had done a layout yet, it was all cards. With cards not being my forte, I choose to use a picture which has the perfect colors in it. I bought a top for my daughter from the Gap ages ago and when it finally fit we had to take pictures of it because she was and still is growing like a weed!

This is the layout I came up with and I think it turned out better than I expected. Using mostly Close to my Heart products, I think this layout ended up in one of my favorites.

There is a ton of faux stitching on this layout, including on this CTMH Chipboard border. I originally used this piece of chipboard as a mask for Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist, so it was already the correct color, what you can't see in the photo is that Candy Apple Glimmer Mist has some gold flecks in it which looks really great with the Buttercup Cardstock. Also the brads are a mini-brad from Close to my Heart and I used that to add some fun flair to the chipboard.

The top Buttercup cardstock die cut was actually had cut and I added the 2 colors of faux stitching around the border. Just for fun I added the mini-brads as an accent in the corner.

This is the element that brought it all together, the title, colored with Tulip Ink, these are an Close to my Heart exclusive, Color Ready Alphabets: Hodgepodge. I can choose any number of fonts and mix and match to my hearts content, I like the mixed font especially for kids as it shows whimsy and fun!!!

Journaling Reads: It gets a whole lot more complicated when you have kids...The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born...Your life, as you know it...is gone. Never to Return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn to talk...and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life. -
This Quote is from the movie, Lost in Translation, and it is better said by writers than by me!
Would love to hear what you think, and please play the Heart 2 Heart challenge with us next time.

Heart to Heart Father's Day Card Challenge

Another reason to get inspired this week, I decided to play along with Heart to Heart Challenges (see button in sidebar) and of course it was a Father's Day Card challenge. So as I was looking thru the latest issue of Papercraft's Magazine a card caught my eye. Following thier design, I created my own version of this card using Close to my Heart products.

Using a my favorite 2 patterned papers from the Sarsparilla Paper Pack and stamping with Western Flourishes in the background. Mostly monotone, this a cool masculine card that will please my husband.

As you can see I used a large Chipboard star(not CTMH), that was inked in Twilight and then stamped Western Flourishes in Black for a neat design. Colonial White buttons with Black embroidery floss finish off the center of the star.

Just for fun I stamped the inside with my favorite swirly star stamp from Out West, just to make the inside as cute as the front. Hope you all like my Father's Day card, I welcome any comments and suggestions.

5 for $5 Workshop - Thank You's

Lately, I believe thta there is a lost art of giving real, hold in your hand cards. Even I am guilty of giving e-cards, they are fast and some are really cute, even though I have a hundred cards I have made and can send at any time, convience is key with e-cards. So my goal this year was to stop sending e-cards and start making cards to give away. One set of cards I NEVER have enough of are 'Thank You's". I make them and send them out immediately. I like to give them to eveyone, for helping me with lunch, giving us a gift, for being nice, mostly for anyone who has gone that extra mile, I try to give a card that also goes tht extra mile, I made it for them. This month's workshop is dedicated to Thank You's. On Wednesday this week, we will be making 5 Thank You's for $5, a great price for any handmade card, seeing as how Hallmarks printed cards can range from $3 - $20, I am pretty reasonable!

I always try to give variety with my card workshops, using lots of different colors and trying interesting techniques on each of them.

This card is really fancy, with organza ribbon, cute scalloped edge and jewels.

A cool card for a male or a co-worker, this fun card has a fun design with a retro 'Thanks', this card can be assembled in under 5 minutes.

I adore the colors on this card, with a sampling of Close to my Heart's Boom-di-ada paper pack, this card is sure to please anyone. Front and center is a sweet flower Thank You for your friend.

With subtle colors and fun faux stitching, this card is an easy crowd pleaser.

This card was inspired by a fellow consultant, I call it Fairway Trees, cause it looks like the trees are on the fairway. This is an easy card to get more creative with because the Treetops (C1368), there are a variety of trees that you can choose from!
Each card is different and fun, I hope that when they take these cards home, they will be mailed out right away...why not when you have them on hand!!!

Random Stamping Project #2

This next project is one of my favorite newer stamp sets called Flourished Blessings (D1379). We stamped the background in Juniper, Cocoa and Garden Green.

I also did some Second Generation Stamping on the background to fill and not make it feel so layered. As I was searching through my pictures, I found this cute shot of my Daughter looking through one of the holes in the tubes at the local playground, she kept sneaking and peeking at me so I did get more than one shot of this, but you can tell in her eyes that she is smiling.

This layout is mostly Close to my Heart products except the chipboard letters are American Crafts and then I altered them with Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist to give it a pewter/hammered metal look. I also added the brad circle to mimic the circle in the picture. I still have room to add a journaling circle in the bottom left corner but I am not one for journaling...I like it when the pictures and titles tell the story.

I think this layout is fun and I love the colors in it. Next post is going to be the last sheet of random stamped paper and the projects I made with it!!!

Random Stamping Creation #1

Just as I thought the first thing I started on after random stamping my papers was Thank you Cards. Stamped with Aspiration(C1340)in Juniper, Hollyhock, Blush and Bamboo, the final page looked like this:

I finally decided that making Thank You cards you save me time when our little girl arrives in August and who wants to make Thank You cards after the baby comes! So this sheet yielded 16 small cards, each one an individual.

The cards are 3"x3.5", made out of Hollyhock Cardstock, then I took my cut up piece and lightly sponged the edges with Blush Ink and adhered to the cardstock base. Then I stamped 16 'Thanks' and matted them on a small piece of Hollyhock Cardstock (leftover from the cutting the bases), popped them up on 3D foam tape and Voila! they are complete.

I have already completed another project with the Random Stamped Backgrounds so I will post that tommorrow. If you have any questions or comments I would love to hear what you think.

Random Stamping Class

I have been inspired lately on the CTMH Consultant Bulletin Boards with Random Stamping, so I booked a class for June 9th and we will be playing with random stamping. Some scrapbookers are afraid of stamping in this is a great way to get over that fear and create something completely unique and fits your color schemes. This post I will show you the random stamped pages for my class and in a following post I will show you what I made with each random stamped sheet!

Using this My Acrylix Stamp Set - Aspiration - C1340 and using CTMH Exclusive ink colors: Bamboo, Juniper, Hollyhock and Blush, stamped on White Daisy Cardstock.

I have a feeling that this page will end up in Thank You cards as we are expecting a little one in August and I may as well get a jump on Thank You notes.

This My Acrylix Stamp set is Flourished Blessings - D1379. I wanted to use some darker colors so we used CTMH Exclusive Inks: Cocoa, Juniper & Garden Green stamped on Vanilla Cream Cardstock. I also used another stamp technique on this page, Second Generation Stamping, you will see lighter shades of leaves in the background and instead of choosing another color I thought this would fill up the page nicely.

A great print for fall or any outdoor layout...I am not sure yet what this will turn into but I am very happy with the outcome.

The final stamp set is Discontinued but one of my favorites, My Acrylix - Adorable -D1183. This stamp has been used over and over again, I always find uses for it. I paired the stamp with Exclusive Inks: Barn Red, Sorbet, Chocolate & Creme Brulee stamped on Colonial White Cardstock for an unusual color combo.

This page looks kinda western to me so we will see where it will end up. As for my class I hope to post thier random stamped pages and I hope they are as happy with them as I was with mine.

Welcoming Spring

The weather here is finally nice and I love to bask in the great tempurature. Besides scrapbooking and papercrafting I also make wreaths. You will never see me without one on my door and I think that last spring was the first time that I displayed a wreath that I did not make, it was a glitter egg wreath, for Easter, but when the hail hit, the next day it looked like all the little chicks had jumped out of thier fancy eggs and ran away. So this year I saw an example of the wreath that I liked in the Southern Living at Home catalogue and decided to reproduce it. Finally the stems I liked went on SALE and I picked them up and made the wreath today. It took me about an hour but I love the final result and I think I over wired those Hydreangea blooms in place! I look forward to having this displayed for the rest of the Spring and now my mind is rolling with ideas for a Tropical Summer Wreath. If you would like easy instructions on how I made this, comment or email me!

Summer Idea Book Kick Off

So here I am writing about my Summer Idea Book Kick Off Party before it has even started, I guess I am hoping for big things. This cute monocromatic tag is the Make n Take for the day, 90% Close to my Heart products*. I choose Tulip as my Exclusive color for this tag and used Candy Apple Red Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels* and a Dimensional Elements Border (chipboard) as a mask which gives us the cool swirl in the background. Using Tulip Ink, I stamped the May Stamp of the Month and cut out the Thank You, then adhered it to the tag with 3D foam tape. I also added the Just Blooms Paper Flower and Butterfly in Tulip. Threaded White Daisy Organdy Ribbon thru the hole and tied with Tulip Embroidery Floss. To finish it off I used our Clear Sparkles and made it shine. This whole project takes 10 minutes to make and shows like you spent hours slaving over it! I hope you try this Close to my Heart project and send it to someone you are thankful for!