Christmas Card Workshops

Here's what I'm doing this year for my Christmas Card Workshops. This is my blue set using the new Close to My Heart Aspen papers. Attendees will be making 2 each of 5 cards for $10.00. So far, I have 3 workshops that are filling fast!

And these are the more traditional red and green set made from the new Close to My Heart Evensong papers. I can't decide which ones I like better. I have a feeling I'll be making a bunch of both for myself!

News from My Open House... But First!

Did you all see those adorable little girl invitations I was going to do for my daughter's upcoming baby shower? Well, she had her 2nd level ultrasound last Wednesday and guess what... here are the NEW shower invitations!That's right! They are NOT pink! Shelly and JR are having a boy! Devin James. I know... Devin is spelled wrong on this one, but this is just a sample. All of the ones we made last night have the correct spelling!

Shelly told me Friday morning she is so glad it's a boy because she was already sick of PINK! She is such a "NOT PINK" girl! Yeah! We are so excited!!!

I'm working on finishing up my Open House stuff and I'll post soon! I promise!!!

Memory Box

This is my take on the Memory Keeper, a new Close to My Heart product. I had been uninspired until I saw the one in Keynotes, our bi-annual newsletter we consultants get from Corp. I lifted the idea and changed is just a hair. I love it now! This is my mom, Trella and my granddaughter, Trella, who, obviously, was named after her. I put the My Pages Talk inside and told Baby Trella about who she was named after. Very cool!
It's for my open house Saturday and then, I'll put some stuff in it and give it to Baby Trella for Christmas. My mom has been gone for 10 years. They never knew each other.

Holiday Bows

Check out these bows made out of a 6 x 12" piece of paper! I love them. Here is what you need:

6" x 12" piece Double Sided Patterned Paper (which we now have!)
Paper Cutter
Pop-Up Glue Dots
Adhesive
Brads
1/16" Circle Punch

And here is the link to the directions... SUPER simple! Enjoy and let me know if you try them!

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/paperbow.php

Busy, Busy, Busy

I've been busy, busy, busy getting ready for my Close to My Heart Open House this coming Saturday. I always like to have as much new product to show along with examples of projects made of as much of the new stuff as I can.

I hope to have a good crowd. So far, the RSVP's are looking good!

I am going to be doing this cute flip top recipe album as a workshop in November. It has 12 pages and is just adorable. We learned to make this at our retreat last weekend.


I am also going to be holding a Christmas Card Workshop in October. Such cute ideas! I just might even make some for myself!

I've also been trying to organize my stamps sets. Whew! Now that's been a chore! I have over 150 and after about 80, I felt like I was completely out of control. At least now, I know what I have, now finding it is another story!!

We are planning a shower for Shelly and baby Devan the first weekend in October. I am doing the invitations. What a great excuse to get my newest toy... a CUTTLEBUG! Check out the embossing on this sweet little dress. It is much prettier in person, but I think you get the idea.


Oh, yeah, I started another newsletter this past week. It all about Cricuting! How much fun is that! If you'd like to join, just send me an email and I'll add you on.

Well, I'd better go. Today is the last full day I have to finishing preparing for my Open House. I'm getting pretty close, so it will just be adding finishing touches.

So, until next time... HAPPY SCRAPPING!

Local CTMH Consultant's Retreat

Well, today was our local CTMH Consultant's retreat. Christina had us all gather at a building next to her church. There were 22 of us present and I completely lost track of what all we made. It was a marathon day of creating. Every project we did was absolutely fantastic. I was going to take pictures of all of my projects, but Lyla put the pressure on to get my blog updated.... before she got home! So, I'm at least doing that!

Once I finish up all of the projects... (tomorrow, I promise!) I'll get pictures taken and posted here. I am just too tired tonight!

This is a great shot of the group hard at work.

And here is one of not so many at work! You'll see why in a couple of pictures down (and no, I have no idea why this is underlining or how to make it stop!!!!)


Here's Miss Bettyann concentrating very hard on her project.


And THIS is where everyone was! There was more food than we had sense! And of course we had to fill up to be able to continue on to an afternoon of intense creating.

And finally, it was time to just take pictures because we knew there would be no way our minds would retain what all we saw and did today.


I so love getting together with this group of women. Everyone is so fun and kind and caring and simply wonderful to be around. Bettyann and I were talking about why we do what we do. And we both agreed the creating is awesome... the additional income (if you're lucky enough to have any!) is nice... but the friendships you make with these other consultant's are absolutely priceless. I truly am blessed to have been introduced to so many creative and and just plain NICE woman. I consider each of you a friend.

So, until next time, I only have one thing to say.... HAPPY SCRAPPIN' TO ALL OF MY CTMH SISTAHS!

Friday Night Crop at Sarah's

Last night was our monthly Friday Night Crop at Sarah's! Here are the pages we did. The baseball pages were done with Game On paper pack and the School pages were random stamped using a new stamp set Stamp Around. These were a lot of fun and the ladies seemed to get through them quickly. Of course, I had to put my Cricut to work to cut the team name and position names in the team colors. That was so cool!

Monthly Crop at My House

Last night, I held an open crop at my house. There were 7 of us and we had so much fun! We had more food than we knew what to do with and stuff was spread out everywhere!

Here is Lori trying her hand at our acrylix stamps. She did great! I'm not sure how many pages she got done, but I do believe she may have been the most productive! Yes, right there on the lower left corner of the picture is our new Ink Pad/Marker carousel! New products aren't to be revealed until September 1, but it just kind of slipped into the picture! I LOVE IT SO MUCH!


This is Dorinda, Becky and Judy (my sister and holding Angel) working (looks more like talking) away!


Here is Shirley very involved in her pages. I think she gets the award for bringing the most stuff! (Shirley, you DO give me a run for my money when it comes to volume!)


And there's Rebecca. No, we did not banish her to my scrapbook desk! She chose that spot so she could spread out more (and spill powder EVERYWHERE! - that's another story!)


We really had fun and I can't wait until next month!

Man Makes Card

I found this website this morning and watching it cracked me up! And, I needed that to start my day today! I thought you could use a laugh, too!

I couldn't get it embedded in here, so just copy and paste this address into your browser. You'll need to turn the volume up, it seemed really low to me.

Enjoy!

http://www.livevideo.com/video/537FF9DA20B44560845DEE157D1F9DD6/man-made-card.aspx?m_tkc=7540036

Busy Busy Week

This has been quite a busy week! Since learning on Tuesday I was going to be Grandma again, I learned on Wednesday it is going to be a girl! Here are the ultrasound pictures. The first one is of her precious little face!

And this one is her feet. She had her legs crossed at the ankles and you can see her feet!

Technology amazes me! When I was having my babies, the only time you got an ultrasound was if there was a problem, so you really kind of hoped you never had to have one... which I didn't!

In between spending a lot of time on the phone with both of my girls, I have also been very busy designing 6 cards for our Consultant's retreat in a couple of weeks. Designing is one thing but cutting all of those pieces for 40 sets of 6 cards is a LOT of work! But, I'm almost done. I've got 5 done and cut out and have to start on the 6th one. It's so much more fun when you are working on NEW product, which I am!

I can't wait for my open house on September 6th so I can show everyone all the new and fun goodies from Close to My Heart.

Well, I've gotta run. It's getting late and I was up late last night watching John's band, Wire Road, make their debut performance at the Outback in Branson. They did good but those late hours are NOT for old folks!

I'm Gonna Be a Grandma Again!

Well, I got back from Convention safe and sound. My mind is still whirring with information and ideas! I wasn't sure how long it just might take me to settle down! Yesterday was my first day back to work, so for the morning, I was just taking it easy and tryed to slowly settle back into reality when, a little after lunch, I got a phone call... I'm going to be a Grandma again! The most amazing thing is that we didn't thing Shelly would be able to have children! Woohoo!

I am so excited! It was quite a shock to her as she is right at 5 months along! I know... I know... how in the world would you NOT know! Well, she had her reasons and was truly SHOCKED when that big ole + sign showed up! She has her OB appointment this morning and will get a due date along with what she is having! That may feel like the shortest pregnancy in history!

JR's text to me last night was so cute..."What a pleasant surprise! 5 Months.... WOW!... SO much to do!"

I told Shelly I needed to get home and start knitting! PLUS... another subject to SCRAPBOOK!

2 Cards

While packing for Convention, I felt a need to create hit me! So, I sat down and made these 2 cards. They were very simple and quick! I love that!

The pink circles are punched out of Blush CTMH cardstock. I used Chocolate CTMH grograin ribbon and Chocolate ink for the stamped lined circles (I don't remember what set I found that in!

I stamped the stems and flower centers with Garden Green and the flowers and words with Honey (my new favorite yellow!). The flowers and stems are from June Word Puzzle (I so love the Word Puzzles - you can do SO much with them!) and "Happy everything" is from the June SOTM (stamp of the month) "With Love" (another favorite set!)

OK, so that is out of my system... I can get back to cleaning house! Day after tomorrow I leave!!!! WOOHOO!!! Orlando, here I come!

Only 3 More DAYS!

I am getting so excited about CTMH Convention 2008. My friend Lyla, will be here Tuesday and she and I will be heading to Kansas City to catch our plane early Wednesday morning to Orlando! This will be my first convention and with all the hype that is going on in the Bulletin Boards, I am getting so excited, I can hardly wait.
So, this weekend is my planning time. Cleaning house, doing laundry, getting the last minute errands run, making sure bills are paid... you know the drill. There is just so much to get done to get ready to be gone for 5 days!
Anyway, I gotta get busy. I just wanted to quickly type in an update. I hope to update while I'm there (every room has its' own computer, so I don't have to lug mine through the airports!).
Later...

And the winner is...

www.clearlyinspired.blogspot.com is the winner!

Kim has a great site and fabulous tutorials. Be sure to go check out her site if you haven't. You won't be disappointed!

I Won an AWARD!

WOW! Check this out! My friend and CTMH sister, Tracy http://www.joyinliving.blogspot.com/ blessed me with this WeBlog Award! I was so surprised and honored! How exciting it is to be honored and recognized by my stamping peers!

It's a special award that's given to weblogs that somehow catch your eye! The rules to rules for this award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

I am going to nominate these ladies as their blogs have been an inspiration to me and ones I check on daily.

http://www.simplybeautifulcreations.blogspot.com/
http://www.clearlyinspired.blogspot.com/
http://www.stampspaperscissors.typepad.com/
http://www.cindyscreativecrafts.blogspot.com/
http://www.sullyscrapandstamp.blogspot.com/
http://www.createwithtraci.blogspot.com/
http://www.trinkaking.blogspot.com/

So... vote here! Leave a comment or send me an email and I'll announce the winner next Monday! Vote for your favorite!

My Grandkids

I guess I'm like every other Grandma, I think my grandkids are the cutest ones in the entire world! Miss Trella just turned 2 in May. I used Whoops A Daisy B & T paper and Ocean and Kiwi cardstock. I used Home Accents for the scrolls and Stone Script for her name on the Cricut. I am usually the one who wants to get as many pictures on a page as possible, however, when I saw these two pictures, I just had to do the "single picture" page... just once, well, twice! Let me know what you think!

Brenden turned 9 in May. I used It's a Guy Thing B & T paper and New England Ivy, Barn Red and Desert Sand cardstock for the rings, which were all cut on my Cricut. I've been wanting to do something with rings but just didn't have the right layout but this B & T paper just screamed for them! Let me know what you think about this one, too!

I love my grandkids, I just wish I lived closer so I could see them more. In the meantime, I'll just focus on scrapbooking them! Thanks for looking!

4th of July - Scrapbooked!

Well, this is nothing short of a miracle! Only one, count them... ONE short week after the 4th and I have my 3 2-page layouts of the weekend done! I can hardly believe it! My sister and I got up this morning and by 8am, we were printing pictures. And shortly after that, we were on our way to designing pages. I finished my 6 pages about a 1/2 hour ago and she is finishging up her last 2-page layout. That's a total of 12 pages between the 2 of us in one day! WOWSA!

Check them out and let me know what you think! My red didn't show up as well as I'd like for it to have. I used all Close to My Heart product (except for the red stickles on the cut out stars!). I used the stripe and butterflies from Blue Ribbon Paper Pack and I used Cranberry, Outdoor Denim, Indian Corn Blue and Colonial White Cardstock. My Acrylix stamp sets I used were Vintage USA, June and July Word Puzzles and stamp pads to match the cardstock. I typed my journaling and enhanced the journaling blocks with stamps and ink distressing on the edges. I also used Twill and Cranberry ribbon.

All of that with fantastic pictures of a great family finished up these pages. Phew... until next 4th!

4th of July - Lewis Reunion

Everybody converged on my brother's house for the 4th. It has almost become tradition... this is the third year, so I guess it now qualifies! We just hung out, talked, ate, watched the kids have a great time and just enjoyed the day. Here's some random pictures taken of the day.



That's my Grandson, Brenden



That's my son-in-law, David and my brother, Jim Bob.


Taylor, my great niece, Trella, my grandaughter and Shelly, my oldest daughter



Shelly and Brenden



Miss Trella



Sue, my sister-in-law, Liam, her grandson and Trella



Taylor and Shelly



Trella and Lisa (Taylor's mom)





At the pool My bathing beauty!


Of course there were games. Guess How Many M & M's are in the jar was quite interesting. My lame 150 didn't even cover the bottom of the container! I think there ended up being over 700 or some rediculous number. Pamela won! Woohoo! And she shared the M and M's with all of us!

Sue even had personalized M and M's made just for the occasion!

Then, we started playing charades. That's me on the left doing who knows what. Even the kids got into the game. We really had a lot of fun with this.

And here we are just sitting around after playing charades and other games. What a great time we had!

My brother was pretty tired after a long day with family. Poor baby! I'm just not sure how he could sleep with all the people around! I sure don't think I could have! But he had to get his nap in because he would soon be cooking hot dogs and making homemade ice cream for everyone!

It was a fantastic 2008 4th of July! Thanks Jim Bob and Sue for making it a great time!