H2H Extra Extra Read All About It

Greetings! I am so excited to continue as the guest designer over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges. This week's challenge, if you choose to accept it, is "Extra, Extra! Read All About it!"

I had a couple of ideas spinning around in my head, but decided there was no time like the present to complete my daughter's birthday layout from last weekend...you know, while the memories were still fresh. We had a tea party theme, and I'd love to say I got tons of great pictures, but with 13 children all together, and me being the only person in the bunch that they all knew, I was on my feet and moving the entire time. It was great fun, and the girls are still talking about it a week later. I call that a success!

Without further ado, here is my layout:

Recipe:
Paper: Brushed, Buttercup CS (retired), Pear CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Stamps: Friendship Alphabet - Small (retired), Trinity Alphabet (retired), Tea Time (retired) (CTMH)
Inks: Pixie, Buttercup (retired), Hollyhock, Slate (CTMH)
Tools: 2" Scallop Circle Punch (retired), Paper-Piercer, Foam Mat, Micro-Tip Scissors (CTMH)
Other: White Embroidery Floss (retired), Pink Buttons (retired), White Enamel Stars, Glue Dots, Foam Tape (CTMH)

According to Wikipedia, "Hear Ye, Hear Ye" translates to "Listen up!" In England, town criers were the means of communication with the people of the town since many people could not read or write. Proclamations, local bylaws, market days, adverts, were all proclaimed by a bellman or crier. 

Before I go, I wanted to share a piece of advice with you. If you don't currently have good storage for your embellishments, I urge you to make that your next purchase. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, so long as you can see what you have so you use it. I bought a medium organizer from Close To My Heart to store my embellishments in. Now, I know exactly what I have, and that means that I will remember to use it. Use it or lose it. :)

Have a wonderful day!

Casandra

Jackson Rainy Day Blues Layout

Good morning. I am enjoying the sunshine today.

I forgot to add the last layout that I created with my Jackson kit. Oops. Life has been busy.

Recipe:
Paper: Jackson, Glacier CS, Juniper CS (CTMH)
Stamp: Trinity Alphabet (retired) (CTMH)
Ink: Barn Red (CTMH)
Tools: Paper Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors (CTMH), Hexagon Punch (Fiskars)
Other: Jackson Assortment, Jackson Complements, Brave Embellishments, Boardwalk Washi Tape (CTMH)

Did you notice the title? I used the ink swiping technique on it. Simply ink up your stamp, then smear (or swipe it) down the ink pad. The beauty of our clear stamps means you can see the ink coverage you have before you stamp it on paper. Awesome, right? I see mud but my Jackson thought it looked like wood. 

These pictures were taken about five years ago. Can't believe how much my babies have grown since then. For the next couple of weeks, I have a seven and eight year old. Time flies....

Casandra

My Love Affair With Paper

My love affair with pretty paper began back in 2001. My cousin introduced me to scrapbooking and I was hooked. With the release of each new Idea Book from Close To My Heart, I find at least one new paper pack that becomes my new favorite. The funny thing about the papers that I chose for this blog hop is that they were actually my least favorite from the 2013 Spring/Summer Idea Book. BUT, my fellow Close To My Heart consultants kept displaying artwork with it that made me fall for it, and I snatched up a kit shortly before they sold out. My daughter's Hello Kitty dress pairs perfectly with this paper. Love happy coincidences like that.

If you have come here from Janet McCormick's blog, you are on the right track. 

I created two layouts from the Claire paper pack, and a friend loaned me her wotg stamp set. 

Products Used:

Paper: Claire (retired), Outdoor Denim CS, Colonial White CS, Hollyhock CS, Sunset CS, Blush CS (retired) (CTMH)

Stamps: Claire WOTG (retired), Keyboard Uppercase Alphabet, Trinity Alphabet (retired) (CTMH)

Inks: Hollyhock, Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Champagne, Cotton Candy (CTMH)

Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Glue Pen, Watercolor Pencils, Corner Rounder, Sanding Kit (CTMH)

Other:Bitty Sparkles (CTMH)

Your next stop on the hop will be Priscilla Gotham's blog. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Casandra

Snowhaven Winter Layout

Hello. I'm so happy it's Sunday. It is always my favorite day of the entire week. Not only is it a day to rejoice in the life that God has provided us, but it is also the one day that we are all at home and enjoying each other's company. Of course, right now as I type this, the kids are in their bedrooms playing on kindles and my husband is relaxing in front of the tv.

So today I finally found time to complete my journaling for this next layout. It required a bit of research to locate snowfall totals for the 2013-2014 Winter season. Our closest town ranked 9th in the state for most snow at 183.1" last year. Wow! Apparently, we set a record.

Recipe:

Paper: Snowhaven, Whisper CS, White Daisy CS, Glacier CS, Cranberry CS (CTMH)

Stamps: #30yearsofhappy (retired), All Decked Out (retired), Trinity Alphabet (retired) (CTMH)

Inks: Crystal Blue, Glacier, Slate, Black (CTMH)

Tools: Craft Heater, Craft Tray, Clear Detail Embossing Powder, Prisma Glitter (retired), Glue Pen, Shinhan Alcohol Markers, Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Journal Pen (CTMH), Snowflake Dies (MFT)

Other: Clear Sparkles, Aqua Dots, White Embroidery Floss (CTMH)

This past Wednesday, Let's Scrap posted their weekly sketch, and I really liked the clean lines of the squares. Plus it looked  like a pretty straight forward sketch to interpret. I would also like to enter this into H2H's Challenge "Old is New". I used a favorite snowman stamp set (old) and combined it with this year's Snowhaven paper pack. For anyone trying to interpret the paper sizes, they are 3" squares, and the background paper is 6"x12", with 1/2" zip strips bordering above and below the background paper. Psst. Did you notice the title was outlined with our journal pen? I love how it makes my title pop.

If I have a recommendation for today's layout, it would be to take the time to capture the story in journaling. It will be fun to read years from now.

Happy Sunday to you!

Casandra

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Layout

I have been busy trying to finish up my layouts for the baby album I plan to gift. This next layout had a lot of fussy cutting, stamping and glue pen action.

H2H has a great challenge going on this month called "Guilty Pleasures". So what is my guilty pleasure? If you haven't guessed it already, it really is papercrafting. It's great therapy, though I can't decide if it saves more money than seeing a doctor. LOL But it does keep me balanced and happy.

I used two Reflections patterns and drew initial inspiration from a Zoology stamped layout in a previous idea book. From there, I decided to go with the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star theme. Can you see all the hand-stitching and glue pen/prisma glitter action? It's rediculous the amount of hours I spend sometimes on a layout, and I think nothing else can possibly top it, but then another one steals my heart. 

I probably could have taken the easy route and cut the alpha's out on my Cricut, but I love stamping, and I truly don't mind fussy cutting. There's something relaxing about it at the end of a long work day. 

Recipe:
Paper: Miracle (retired), Outdoor Denim CS, Crystal Blue CS, White Daisy CS (CTMH)
Stamps: Babycakes (retired), Trinity Alphabet (retired) (CTMH)
Inks: Outdoor Denim (CTMH)
Tools: Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Prisma Glitter (retired), Glue Pen (CTMH), 2" Circle Punch (Fiskars)
Other: Silver Stars (Jo-Ann's), White Epoxy Stars, Glue Dots, White Embroidery Floss, Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon (retired) (CTMH)

I have several other layouts I need to share with you that I've been working on. Meanwhile, don't forget we have an awesome promotion going on all October called "Ribbon Revelry". It just so happens I used some of the chevron ribbon that is part of this promotion in the above layout. You can find out more about that here.

Casandra

Frosted Workshop

Good afternoon, my friends. I hope you are all doing well and staying warm this winter.

In honor of the weather we are currently having in Northern Michigan, I would like to share my Frosted layouts with you.

Our snowman has lost a little weight in the last week. In five days, we went from temperatures like 20 below zero to a high of 39 degrees. And in the past hour, we are thankfully getting snow again, after freezing drizzle overnight. 

I love how these layouts turned out. When I first sat down with Frosted, I loved the colors and the patterns but felt it was pretty neutral. Like a mad scientist, I gleefully began sorting through kits to find hollyhock cardstock but could only come up with 1 sheet. What's a girl to do? So I took some Smoothie, Cotton Candy and Blush and put it up next to my daughter's winter coat to compare color contrast. In the end, Smoothie was the closest fit for me, and I love how it makes Izzy's snow gear pop. 

I also added gypsy and smokey plum to certain layouts for a nice contrast of color. For the "All Bundled Up" layout, I added some White Daisy, Slate and Juniper cardstock to pull colors from my son's winter gear. I love how the photos pop on that layout with the white daisy photo mats. On the last layout, I decided to embellish the overall story with a retired stamp set called "Bundled Up". Jack and Izzy played in the snow that day making snow angels and throwing snowballs. Did you happen to notice the winter hat I stamped and fussy cut above the "O" in the title? It was a last-minute addition, and I totally love the effect.

Thanks for stopping by today. My new Spring/Summer 2014 goodies should be here tomorrow. :) Have a happy day!

Casandra

Later Sk8r Workshop

Good morning. This is a quick post to share my Later Sk8r pages that we made at my workshop on Sunday.

Recipe:
Paper: Later Sk8r (retired), Outdoor Denim CS, Slate CS, White Daisy CS, Black CS, Lagoon CS, Pear CS (CTMH)
Stamps: In Gear, Fast & Furious, Boys At Play (retired), Roar (retired), Love Life, Pinwheel (retired), Trinity Alphabet, Varsity Alphabet (CTMH)
Inks: Lagoon, Slate, Outdoor Denim, Pear, Black, Black Distressing Ink (CTMH)
Tools: Cricut Artbooking, Cricut Artiste, Paper-Piercer, Micro-Tip Scissors, Sponge (CTMH), Hexagon Punch (Fiskars), Scallop Border Punch (SU!)
Other: Later Sk8r Stickease, Blue/Green Epoxy Bubbles, White Daisy Bitty Brads (CTMH), Foam Tape, Glue Dots, Embroidery Floss

This was definitely a favorite kit of mine. It is now retired, but if you love it as much as I do, there are still ways to create with it. Have you ever tried digital scrapbooking? Close To My Heart offers several templates where you can upload your photos, change up some colors, such as adding sunset orange (for instance) to this fabulous kit, and in Studio J, the papers never retire. If you would like to learn more, please visit my website.

Happy crafting!

Casandra

Chantilly Workshop

Good morning! After nearly a month of working on my Chantilly layouts in my spare time, I finally finished them up last night. Feeling happy to have my crafty mojo back, but wish I could sleep at night. LOL

After debating on whether I liked the workshop on the go layout for a while, I finally decided that it would work perfectly with the theme of my photos. Sometimes, it's nice not to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. 

I saw this beautiful layout created by fellow CTMH Consultant, Sherri Tozzi. She did such an amazing job. Thank you, Sherri, for the inspiration. I was going to use Easter eggs and bunny stamps and really fill it up, and then decided that my photos did such a nice job with that so they should be the focus instead. I've been impatient to use my new hexagon punch and that is how the title came about. Yay! Have you used our new Tiny Type Epoxy Alphabet yet? It's so adorable, and the perfect accent, too.

For my last layout, I found a sketch at Scrapbook Generation and paid for the download. I wanted to try something different, and as soon as I saw it, I knew my Pinwheel stamp set would be perfect with it.

I've been using my Cricut cartridges a lot lately to create my titles, and yesterday I decided to get back to basics and pull out some of my alphabet stamps. The birthday title was stamped with our retired Friendship Alphabet, and the titles for my other two layouts were stamped with Trinity Alphabet stamp set. It felt so refreshing.

Supplies Used:
Paper: Chantilly, White Daisy CS, Twilight CS, Garden Green CS, Cotton Candy CS, Buttercup CS, Champagne CS
Stamps: Trinity Alphabet, Friendship Alphabet, Pinwheel, Chantilly WOTG
Inks: Cotton Candy, Buttercup, Twilight, Pear, Desert Sand
Tools: Hexagon Punch (Fiskars), 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Micro-Tip Scissors, Paper-Piercer, Scoring Tool, Cricut Artiste
Other: Pink Glitter Gems, Chantilly Assortment, Tiny Type Epoxy Alphabet, Foam Tape, White Embroidery Floss

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope you like what I've created.

Casandra