First Communion

Welcome to ScrapFIT Workout #69!  For this workout, we have a sketch by Diana:

Here is my interpretation ~

This was Shane's First Communion.  It was unique because he took instruction two years before he supposed to in our Lutheran Church.  Oh, how we all loved that church!  It was Easter sunrise service, and the congregation created a huge circle within the sanctuary to pass the bread and wine.  Of course, children were always blessed, but that particular day it wasn't enough for Shane.  He wanted to know why, if everyone was welcome at the table, why did Communion bypass him?  When I shared that with our pastor, she said right away that he was ready for instruction and would teach him herself.  Six months later, he was taking his first Communion.  What a blessed day!  Our youth pastor sang "How Beautiful" by Twyla Paris, and it was very, very moving.  I think our little Shane really did testify that day just by his desire to be closer to Jesus.

For such a beautiful memory, I could only turn to Florentine paper.  I think that Close To My Heart created this paper just for me.  It is my very favorite go-to paper for memories such as these.  I did some stamping with Family Love, Trinity Alphabet, and He is Risen.  The embellishments are the Cocoa Ribbon, Garden Wooden Shapes and Mocha Opaque Gems.

I hope that you'll play along with this sketch at ScrapFIT!  The other design team members have created some beautiful work for your inspiration, so be sure to pop in and visit.  Our sponsor for this sketch is Holly Craft Originals, and the winner will receive a $20 gift certificate to her store!

June Specials and Classes - It's Stampaganza Time!!

JUNE SPECIALS

I am so stinkin' excited that I can hardly stand it!!  The June Special is Stampaganza!  Buy two stamp sets and get one free!  I love when this special comes around because it helps all of you that have been pining over stamp sets purchase them even more affordably.    You know, I have to say that our stamp sets are already at an amazing price point.  But when you get one free, that's like adding whipped cream and a cherry to your pile of frosted cake and ice cream - it's just all the sweeter!

It's so simple, but let me give you the specifics.  For every two stamp sets (A, B, C, D, or E) that you purchase at regular price, you will receive one of equal or lesser value FREE!  This is a savings of up to $29.95!  I know a lot of you that have been looking at the E-Sized Alphabets (pages 29, 36, 48, and 113-118) for your page titles and monogram cards.  I also know that a lot of you have been wishing to get some sentiments sets for your card making.  There is no better time than June to buy your stamps!

You know, when your order totals $50 or more, you can also buy this CUTE stamp of the month, Life is Tweet, for just $5.00! 

June Classes

June Card Kit ($6) 
Last Day to Order - June 11th

This kit consists of 4  masculine cards.  The last day to order this kit is Monday, June 11th, and cards will mailed on June 12th.  I want to have them to in time for you to use for Father's Day, so the deadline for ordering is a bit earlier this month.  You can pay via PayPal or check, and the cost is $6 delivered to you.  If you pick the cards up, the cost is $4 per kit.   All cards come pre-stamped, pre-stamped with instructions and envelopes.

June Card Kit

June Card Kit - Pickup$4.00 USD June Card Kit with Shipping$6.00 USD

Watercolor & Ink Blending Class - $10

Sunday, June 24 - 6:30 pm

Monday, June 25 -  1:00 pm or 6:30 pm
Tuesday, June 26 - 6:30 pm

In this class, we will be using ink pads, watercolor pencils, waterbrushes, and a blending pen to create 4 beautiful cards.  I know that you are going to love using these techniques!  This class includes 4 cards, all the pre-cut papers and supplies, and you will take your blending pen home with you.    These are two of the cards we are making, and the other two will be shown in class.  I will also have a special sale on one of the stamp sets that we use in class.  These classes will fill up very, very fast, so reserve your spot early!

Cruisin' Scrapbook Club ($20)

Wednesday, June 20th (3 openings)

Club Ingredients

• Cruisin Paper (pre-cut)
• Cruisin Foil Images (full package)
• Color Ready Cork Shapes (full package)
• Black Baker's Twine (1 yard)

Stamps & Ink Provided in Class:

• Pennant Alphabet
• Adventure USA
• Black, Honey, Juniper, and Cranberry Ink

You are also able to purchase this kit long distance at the cost of $25.  It will come to you pre-cut, sorted, and stamped along with a photo of the layouts.  Please order by June 10th so that I can prepare for you! 

June is GREAT time to invite your friends in for a Gathering!  It's a casual afternoon or evening of fun where everyone gets to leave with a free creative project, and you earn Hostess Rewards. I have a few dates left and would love to share this special with your friends!  Are you long distance?   No problem!  We can do a Party in the Box where you will get everything you need to have a home or book party.   In addition to Close To My Heart's generous Hostess Rewards, all of my June hostesses receive a FREE stamp of the month, a handmade gift, and a free paper packet! Please contact me today for more information.  You can call or text me at (763) 227-0583 or e-mail me at girlygirlrose43@msn.com.  I would love to hear from you!

Notes

There are just two more days to get your Dotty for You paper packet!  Place a $35 order and get your Dotty for just $5!  I have been working with this paper since the middle of April in order to show you all the wonderful things that can be done with it.  Today, I am bringing you a clipboard that I made ~

I can't remember where I got this clipboard.  I just know that it was super cheap, and I knew that it would make a fun decoration.  The mats, letters, scalloped borders, and flowers were all cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  Boy does that make projects fun and easy!  I added a little embellishment, and it was done in less than an hour.  I love it!

I'll be putting this in the Dots & Stripes challenge over at Heart 2 Heart.

Treasured Friend

Here is the second of four cards that I will be teaching in my Watercolor & Ink Blending class at the end of June.  The details will go out this week!

I used the May Stamp of the Month, Friendship Bouquet, in a very different color.  (There is still time for you to get your set!)  I love Smokey Plum and Olive together, and I think they were a perfect fit for this card!

Life is Good

I love it when I get to spend so much time in my room crafting.  Yesterday it was rainy, and today it is well into the 90's and humid.  So I am taking advantage of this time and getting some much needed crafting done!

In my blog hopping this morning, I happened to notice that Simple Stories is having a challenge to use their elements to create a project.

I actually used bits and pieces from 5 different elements to create this card.  It was so much fun to cut banners from here, a ticket from there, and so on.  This is one of their older lines, Life Documented, but I really like this one for distressing.  What a different card from the one I posted this morning, right?  I love that different papers can take us in different directions!

4 U

I saw some scraps of Pear cardstock sitting in my bin, and I realized that I hadn't worked with that color in a long time.  So I put together a simple card mixing it with Gypsy and White Daisy.

I love making 4x4 cards.  I can get four cards from a 12x12 sheet, and they fit in a standard envelope, so I can usually get by with one stamp.  It was fun to make a card completely using cardstock and stamping as I don't do that very often.  I also like clean lines, so the white daisy is very crisp.  I used only two stamp sets - Universal Background (to make the grid pattern) and Happy Clusters (star and sentiment).

I saw a couple of challenges where I will enter this challenge.  The first is Lily Pad Cards as they are looking for stars.  The second is CR84FN Color Challenge, and this is the palette:

June Card Kit

This kit consists of 4  masculine cards.  We need those cards for the men in our lives, and I wanted to make it a little easier for you!  The last day to order this kit is Monday, June 11th, and cards will mailed on June 12th.  I want to have them to in time for you to use for Father's Day, so the deadline for ordering is a bit earlier this month.  You can pay via PayPal or check, and the cost is $6 delivered to you.  If you pick the cards up, the cost is $4 per kit.   All cards come pre-cut and  pre-stamped with instructions and envelopes.  I've added a PayPal link to this post to make it easier for you!

June Card Kit                                            ( Select Your Option from the Drop Down Box)

Card Kit - Pick-Up at My Home$4.00 USD Card Kit - Mailed Directly to You$6.00 USD

May Stamp of the Month

You know, I have really grown to love the May Stamp of the Month - Friendship Bouquet.

I love the font and tenderness of the sentiments, but I have never been much for coloring.  I knew I would have to learn a little more.  And that was the key word - LEARN.  One of the things I love about being a paper crafter is the continual learning process.  So that is what I have been doing this month with this stamp, and I have really, really enjoyed it!  So much so, that I am going to be sharing what I've learned in a Color & Ink Blending Class at the end of June.  So watch for more details soon!

This is one of the cards we will be making in the class.  I don't use this color combination nearly enough, and I so love it!  The card base and matting are grey flannel, and I used a little grey Dotty for You as a layer.  I used ink, my watercolor pencils, waterbrush, and blending tool to color.  But I can't tell you how I did this because I want you to come and learn!

I'm off to close a couple of Gatherings and do a little Convention dress shopping today.  What a great day!  I hope you have plans for a good one!

Color Ready Seam Binding and a Gift Bag

I have been wanting to put together a little picture tutorial of how to use our Color Ready Seam Binding.  It is such a nice product.  I love it because it is one ribbon that easily be 60 colors!  Let me show you how...

Start out with ink, a sponge applicator, and the color ready ribbon.  You can use any kind of sponge you would like.  I have been using the Tim Holtz applicator for many years and have grown accustomed to it.

In this next photo, you will see that I am pushing the applicator tool quite firmly into the ink pad.  It's all right to do that because both the tool and the ink pad can take it!

Now it's just a matter of transferring the ink to the ribbon.  You can make your ribbon as dark or as light as you wish.

I wanted to take this next photo to show you the ribbon up close and to show you that my fingers are clean.  When using this process to color the ribbon, it dries right away, and it can be picked up and used.

Now I'd like to show you why I needed the ribbon.

This is a gift bag from the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I cut it "fit to page" so that I could have the largest bag possible.  I've used Sonoma paper for this project - one of my favorites!  I fussy cut the scalloped border, and used my finishing files to distress all the edges on the bag with those and smikey plum ink.  I cut a tag with the AP cartridge and the sentiment is one of the matching stickease.  I finished this little birthday bag with a little bling by adding purple sparkles and a couple foundry pin clips.

I made this card for the distressing challenge at Heart 2 Heart and the birthday gift bag challenge at Papercraft Star.

Prom

This is my nephew and his very pretty girlfriend at their prom.  I grabbed the photos off of Facebook, but I still think I was able to capture the beautiful yellow of that dress.

As beautiful as the dress is, I had to do some searching to find some paper that would match.  I finally decided on some of Authentique's Blissful.  I cut the flowers from a piece of the paper, and I used black cardstock, licorice gems, and dimensional elements from CTMH to compliment the Blissful.  Leaving the dimensional elements white was the perfect pop to match Trevor's white suit.

Notes

This was delivered to my sister today, so I can finally show you what I made her for her birthday.  I have wanted to make a memo board cookie sheet for so long!  She has a nice craft room, so I thought this might sit perfectly in there for her.

Of course, I used some Dotty.  I know you have seen a lot of projects from Dotty, but one package of this paper can go a long way!  It's so bright and cheery - and easy choice of paper for gift giving.  I love the dark chocolate striped ribbon with the Dotty paper.  I picked up this note pad in the dollar bin items at Target that were 75% off.  Always look there - you never know what you might find for 25 cents!

I especially wanted to give this to Linda because she helps organize a craft fair at her church before Christmas.  All of the craft items are donated so that 100% of the money can go to the church needs.  I was thinking that these would be a nice addition to the craft fair so I'll be making some more of these for them to sell.  Just think of how unique each one can be!

Off to bed now.  I am spending the afternoon out and about with Shane tomorrow and looking forward to it!

Single Stamps

I thought you would enjoy learning a little bit more about our single sized stamp sets.  At just $6.95, they are affordable and fun!  As always, you can shop easily on my website!

Whaley Good Time

I had a team meeting last evening, and one of my Rose Blossoms, Marg, brought this card for us.  Please go and visit her blog!  She is a wonderful artist and such a great blogger!

Oh is this so cute!  She has used Footloose paper along with the Under the Sea stamp set.  Well, now thanks to this enabler friend of mine, I am just have to going to get this stamp set!!

Pure Adventure

Today I am bringing you one of the cards that will be in my June Card Kit.  The next kit will be all masculine, so if you are as challenged with them as I am, you might want to watch for the details on that at-home class!

Now I am off to do a Home Gathering - I love sharing Close To My Heart!  And then this evening, I am welcoming a couple of lovely Rose Blossoms into my home for a team meeting.  What a great day!

Items used for this card that can be found on my website:

• X7150B Victory Paper
• C1497 Pure Adventure
• X1464 Milepost Shapes
• Z280 Natural Hemp
• Z1706 Durable Round Studs
• Z1686 Art Philosophy Cartridge (banner and tags)

June Club Layouts - Cruisin'

I love this paper!  We are going on a vacation in a couple of weeks, so it was fun to make these pages with that in  mind.  Be sure to read all the way to the bottom for the Summer Club Bonus!

I do have 3 openings for this class, so let me know by June 1st if you'd like to join us!

Club Dates:

• Monday, June 18th - FULL
• Tuesday, June 19th - FULL
• Wednesday, June 20th - 3 openings

Club Cost & Ingredients- $20

• Cruisin Paper (pre-cut)
• Cruisin Foil Images (full package)
• Color Ready Cork Shapes (full package)
• Black Baker's Twine (1 yard)

Stamps & Ink Provided in Class:

• Pennant Alphabet
• Adventure USA
• Black, Honey, Juniper, and Cranberry Ink

You are also able to purchase this kit long distance at the cost of $25.  It will come to you pre-cut, sorted, and stamped along with a photo of the layouts.  Please order by June 1st so that I can prepare for you!

I am really looking forward to teaching summer club!  I've created pages for the months that involve just that little bit "more," and I hope everyone picks up many useful tips!

Summer Club Bonus:  When you commit to June, July, and August, you will receive a free paper packet.  I will order it for you after August club - which is really fun because the new Fall/Winter Idea Book will be out by then!  Call or text (763) 227-0583 or e-mail me at girlygirlrose43@msn.com with any questions or to sign up!

Dotty for You

To say that I have loved working with this paper would be an understatement!  I think it's so much fun to create with dots!  If you have not purchased your Dotty for You paper yet, please visit my website!  Here are the details - when you purchase $35 in product from the Spring/Summer Idea Book, you receive the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5!  24 sheets of yummy dots and patterns!  I thought I'd put together a slideshow of some of the things I've created.  Enjoy!

ScrapFIT Workout #68 - Misting

If you are regular at ScrapFIT you must have noticed our wonderful Weekend Warm Up Coach, Missy's love of MISTING!  Missy does amazing things with mist including making it herself! So this Workout is a tribute to Missy!  We want to see a layout or project with a good amount of misting!  Be creative, make your own misting mask, mix your mist colors - think outside the box!


One of my very favorite things to do with mist is to "color" my background and stamp - or in this case - emboss over it.

This is one of my very favorite discontinued stamps to use with this technique, and it's called Find Your Style.  For this card, I embossed my card layer and butterflies first, and then I misted over them.  The embossing resists the mist, so it leaves a very subtle look.  I grab some random ribbon and added a couple of hat pins and gems to finish off this card.

Our sponsor for this challenges is Dusty Attic Chipboard, so I hope you'll stop by the ScrapFIT blog to check it out and to be inspired by other design team members!

What a Mother's Day!

It has been a perfect day.  Absolutely perfect!  I got breakfast in bed this morning (Shane's doing), did a little shopping with my husband, and then Shane made homemade lasagna with homemade tiramisu for dessert.  I don't think I've ever had a better meal anywhere!  It was absolutely perfect!  Shane paid so much attention to the detail of the things I love today, and I was overwhelmed to tears by the whole day.  When I was sitting down to watch television, he brought me this card that was truly icing on a perfect cake:

Shane made this card!  Isn't it wonderful?!  He grabbed paper from my stash, added some great stamping (the letters and stitching), and then he cut a star with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  He even popped up the star!  My 23 year-old son is just awesome!

I am so blessed to be a mother.  Every. Single. Day.

This is the Life

I saw these pictures of my nephew and his sweet girlfriend on Facebook.  Don't you love being a scrapbooker?  I so enjoy this hobby and love putting pictures to paper!

This happens to be a Studio J layout because I wanted to use the Moon Doggie paper.  Have you ever taken a peek into Studio J?  I love all the different paper packets.  Some are exclusive to Studio J, and I think that's fun!  Now I have this layout saved, and I can make copies for my nephew, my sister, and myself.  Pretty cool!

You're the Best

I so love working with the Dotty for You packet!  The colors are bright and fun, and it seems like you just can't go wrong with dots.  I've been wanting to play with some more of the unique card templates from the Art Philosophy cartridge so that's how I made this card base.  You know, I've been using that cartridge since last July, and sometimes it seems like I have even touched the tip of the iceberg.  And you, my blog friends, know just how much I use it for everything!

This is Smoothie - a color I don't work with very often.  The stitching is faux stitching done with a white pen.  The sentiment is from a thank you set that is exclusive to Consultants.  I love the shape of this card!  If you have the cartridge, I cut the base at 7".  This card will easily fit in a 5x7 envelope.

I am entering this card in 4 Crafty Chicks challenge.

Florentine Artwork

I am so excited to let you know that some of my artwork is on Jeanette Lynton's blog today.  I left early this morning before having time to read anything, and I received a text message from one of my dear friends letting me know it was there.  What a surprise!  I read it and then I sat in my Jeep in the DSW parking lot and cried.  I am so humbled that she chose my artwork, and I am also grateful that she felt my heart in each of the projects.  I hope you take a moment to read the blog post as Jeanette has captured my feelings perfectly.  Thank you so much, Jeanette, and I look forward to giving you a big hug at Convention!

 

It's a Dotty Christmas

I've been showing you an awful lot of Dotty for You examples.  So far, they have all been spring-y and summer-y.  But I thought it would be great fun to show you that it even works well for Christmas!

I used one of the exclusive Art Philosophy stamp sets for this card.  The dots on the tree stamp are just perfect with the sweet leaf dotty paper.  The stars, trees, and flowers were cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I love making clear cards and building both the inside and outside!

The Dotty for You special goes through the end of  May.  With a minimum $35 purchase, you can buy the special set of 24 papers for just $5.  What an awesome deal!!  I sure am getting a lot of use out of my Dotty packet!

Hello!

I am bringing you another example using this lovely Stamp of the Month, Friendship Bouquet.  Lest you think that you are "stuck" using yellows to color this stamp, I wanted to show you something a little different that is equally as lovely!

I stamped a piece of 2-1/2 x 2-1/2 piece of Colonial White cardstock using the largest flower.  As you can see, I stamped it off the edge.  I colored it very lightly using the sorbet watercolor pencil, and then used the Blending Pen to even out and add shades to the color.  This is a technique I'll be teaching in my Coloring Class in June, so watch for the announcement!

Father's Day Summer Cricut Cartridge

It was so much fun working with Father's Day, one of Cricut's seasonal collections that you can find at Memory Miser.  With 28 guy-themed images, it was the perfect cartridge for creating some projects that revolve around my husband.

For this layout, I used all matching paper from the Lucky collection.  That was important when cutting those beer cans as you can see they match perfectly on the page. 

One of the tags says "Best Dad Ever."  I simply cut the tag, and then cut out the letters I wanted to use for this tag at the top of the page.

One of the reasons I love my Cricut is that my image can be any color I need it to be to match my layout!

I love the shape of this tag.  It makes such a fun embellishment  for this Route 66 page!

In this project, I want to show how easy it is to create "game night" invitations.  This one was created for a card party, but there are great images for any other types of game nights, too!

I wrapped ribbon around the card, so in order to give this card a 3-D look, I used pop dots on the cards and poker chips.  Fun!

My husband was very happy to catch a 45" muskie last summer!  I wanted to make an inexpensive "frame" for this picture to have in his man cave.  (Man cave is one on the images on this cartridge, too!)  This is two coasters tied together with hemp.  So easy, fun, and perfect for a fishing picture!

When you look at this fishing basket and fishing pole closely, note that you could cut the fishing pole off very easily if you'd like.  That makes this a very versatile image!  The word "super" was cut from the tag that reads Super Dad.  I love when a dice-cut can be so much more than it appears!

It was so much fun to prepare my first reveal for Memory Miser!  Be sure to watch the blog throughout the month for other design team work using the Father's Day cartridge!

Happy National Scrapbook Day and Mystery Hostess Gathering

Celebrate YOU today!   You are the person that puts paper, embellishments, and adhesive together to create beautiful pages together for your family's memory books.  I so enjoy learning  from and visiting all of you!  You inspire me to be a better paper crafter and to make this not just a hobby and business, but something that is terribly important for my son and all the family that is to come.

So I hope you have time today to sit down with all your wonderful supplies, make a page, and celebrate why you are a paper crafter.  I am heading over to a local Senior Center today and spending my day with 24 wonderful customers at my 12-hour crop.  Vendors are coming in, there are tons of great prizes, and plenty of good food.  I love that I am spending the day with people that love scrapbooking as much as I do!

I hope you have a great day!  If you need a good sale for supplies, head over to my website and take a peek at the While Supplies Last items.  Add you order to the Mystery Hostess Gathering, and you could qualify to win the hostess rewards for the online Gathering I set up in honor of this day!

Friendship Bouquet and Blog Share

I am busy, busy, busy getting ready for my National Scrapbooking Day crop on Saturday.  It is full to over-flowing, and there are a lot of fun things going on that day.  I promise to take pictures so that I can share a slide show with you.

I wanted to stop in and share another May Stamp of the Month card.  I will be the first to admit that I am not much for coloring.  But I LOVE this set!  And the sentiments are so nice - a great value for just 5 bucks!

A little grid sanding using the paper trimmer, bone folder, and sanding can add a whole lot to a card!

I also wanted to mention that I received a lovely e-mail from a gal named Marci at The Whole Knit & Caboodle.  She wanted to let me know that she showed my Dotty for You card box on her blog in a National Scrapbook Day post.  Oh was I flattered to be included amongst the other websites she mentioned!  Please stop by and visit her.  Thank you so much, Marci!