CMTH Embossing Folders

I haven't been creating much lately because of the kids being home now - All. Day. Long. Summer has just begun and we're all a little buggy!

Little Man has been having a hard time transitioning from the constant busy-ness of school to the laid back approach to summer. I've been using naptimes to get a little bit of work done for my church's women's group summer event next weekend (which I'll show you soon!) but yesterday's UPS delivery is what got me all excited - I got my Big Shot!

A little back story - because, really, a Big Shot is nothing new. I haven't jumped on the embossing bandwagon because when I first started scrapbooking oh so many years ago, we had to use brass plates and a stylus to "draw" the embossed design into the paper . Since the process was time consuming and my sister talked me into dry embossing all her wedding invitations, response cards and seating cards I never wanted to see another stylus or brass plate ever again. About two years ago, I bought a cheapo embosser and two folders and never used them. Then CTMH came out with embossing folders and I bought one. And quickly saw that my cheapo embosser would not work (CTMH embossing folders are slightly bigger than others, for good reason which I'll get into on another post). After some online research and a luckily-timed Zulily sale, I bought myself a Big Shot.

Since this embosser has been in my house, I have finished my women's group party favors - and I impressed myself!

Take a look at the in-process photos.... I'll post final pictures after my event (I don't want to spoil the surprise for my gals!)

Sorry, I can't figure out why Blogger is turning this picture ... :(

I used my flash so you could see the quadrafoil pattern embossed in the cardstock.

Little Man was very excited that I "let" him help with this project, but I figure that an almost-first-grader is capable of some flower assembly.

This is the final flower - I used the CTMH Quadrafoil embossing folder for all the flowers and a generic folder for the leaf. All flowers were inked with Cranberry (CS colors - cranberry, hollyhock and White Daisy) and the Garden Green leaf was inked in Olive.

Stay tuned because I'll post final pictures of this project but also because I'll be at CTMH's convention next week and there will be so, So, SO much news to share! I'll post pictures and a daily recap on my blog and facebook page but you can also keep tabs on the Corporate Facebook page for updates as well.

See you soon!

New! My First YouTube Video!

I am attempting to try my hand at something new...

Making YouTube videos!

Check me out on YouTube on my first video.... I'm showing a gift card holder for a card swap I'm doing and doing a tutorial on the 3D flowers from Art Philosophy.



 And let me know what you think in the comments section!!!

{Yes, I know the video is blurry when I move my hands and the sound quality is poor... I'm looking into getting better equipment, but this is what my laptop does for now!}

New Paper Pack: Lucy

With all the new paper packs that are in the new Spring Summer 2012 Idea Book, I have a really hard time choosing which one I like the best. I have a little boy so I love the Superhero and Victory paper packs and with a little girl on the way, I love that there are two paper packs (Stella and Lucy) I can use in her album but I'm going to have to pick Lucy as my favorite pack simply because I love how versatile it is: you can use it for a little girl's page, gardens or even for Mother's Day.

Here is a layout I am doing for my team's swap (**warning: spoiler alert**) using Lucy and the new stamp set: New Arrival. I was inspired by the layout featured on Jeanette Lynton's website on January 11, 2012. I simplified it a bit so I could make many copies. I used Gray Baker's Twine as the single embellishment on the right page so the photos really stand out.

 Here is a close up of the main embellishment I did with the Art Philosophy cartridge in Creme Brulee card stock. I used Sweet Leaf ink on Sweet Leaf card stock with the little stamps in the New Arrival stamp set.

 I used Sweet Leaf ribbon to make a banner to highlight the embellishment on the top left of the page. This image is also from the New Arrival stamp set.

Check back again in a couple of hours, I'll have some cards I made with the Victory paper pack and Family Love stamp set.

Journaling Book

This is a journal I made for an expo I'm going to this weekend - I realized I didn't have a whole lot to display so I spent my free crop day working on stuff for me! My gals are so good they barely need me anymore - unless it's to find something I've recently moved to a new location! I was able to create a lot of artwork today so you'll see more as the week progresses. Enjoy!

June SOTM

This is a card we made at my upline's team meeting last month and when I got home I discovered that I actually had some of the stamps to recreate it! She got the design from someone else, so if it's yours please let me know!

I used Juniper cardstock and ink, black cardstock and ink, mocha opaques and the June SOTM, Friendship Blessings and Unity stamp sets.