May Workshop & Special

This month Close To My Heart has a fantastic special for National Scrapbooking Month called "You and Me". You get darling papers, a fantastic stamp set that can be used over and over again, embellishments, and directions for 2 two-page layouts. These are some samples I made with the kit. I, of course, changed them up a bit by switching the colors of the two layouts and changing the picture sizes to make them more accomodating to standard size photos (5x7 and 4x6).

The papers are just beautiful! You should see them in person!!!

I changed the purpose of this layout because I wanted to use it for some miniature golf pictures, so the title reads "CELEBRATE Good Times". My workshop was this past Friday and we had a great time! Thanks so much for stopping by.

April Workshop

This Friday is my April Workshop and this is the layout we will be making. Once again we're doing the "pick-a-kit" workshop where each attendee makes the same layout using papers of their choice. For this layout I used CTMH's Mayberry papers. I'll post pictures next week with the layout with photos. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

March Workshop

Edited to add pages with photos:

My March Workshop is coming up this Friday, and this is the layout we will be making. (I'll post pictures sometime Saturday of the layout with pictures). Each workshop attendee will be completing this layout in papers of their choice, so it should be fun to see the different combinations they come up with! For this layout I used CTMH"s Sweetheart papers and the Bohemian alphabet. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Celebrating 40

Just a quick post today to share a card I made for one of my dear friends, who turned 40 last week. I bought this stamp set & dies specifically for this card, but I know that I will use them again and again! Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Stamps: PTI Distressed Stripes, Bitty Background Blocks, Big Birthday Wishes
Cardstock: PTI Rustic White, Aqua Mist
Inks: CTMH Heavenly Blue, Sunset, Chocolate
Accessories: PTI Numbers Die, Large Scallop Die, Brown Grosgrain Ribbon

February Workshop

Edited to add pages with photos: Just thought I'd add some photos of the completed pages. These pictures are of my daughters at a photo shoot for a local clothing designer. They started modeling for Isabel Garreton when they were about 18 months old. They stopped when they became too big for the clothes. It was a fun time in their lives & we created memories we will cherish forever. Isabel was a joy to work with, and I'm so glad to have known her!

I am starting a new series of workshops for my CTMH customers called "Pick-a-Pack" Workshop. Each lady orders one of the new CTMH paper packs, and any accessories/embellishments they want to add, and we all create the same 2-page spread using the papers each have chosen. Our first workshop is this Friday, and I am so excited to see all the different variations each girl will make! For this layout, I used the CTMH Wings Kit. The top page is a 12x12 layout that I left empty. This second layout is a 9x9 that I added pictures to.

I'll have to update you all of how the workshop turns out. I'm going to try to take pictures of the different layouts, but the workshop is in the evening so lighting may be an issue. We'll see how it goes. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Fallen Off The Face of the Earth

So, no, I have not fallen off the face of the earth, but it sure might have felt like it. I'm not even going to try to give you a ton of excuses. Let's just say, "Something had to give!". Anyhow, I'm glad to be back, and am looking forward to posting more. Mostly, though, I am looking forward to visiting some of my favorite blogs!

Here's a card I made awhile back for my niece using some of CTMH's new products from the Spring/Summer catalog. I always love getting new stuff to spark new creativity & inspiration!


I also thought I'd let you know that I haven't taken a break from crafting, just blogging. I've been busy making lots of fun scrapbook pages, cards and some home decor items. Below is a photo of one of the home decorating projects I've been up to.

I had these boring beige armless chairs for some time now, and I felt like it was about time to give them a facelift. I decided to sew some slip covers for them, which, by the way, was my first time sewing slipcovers. I couldn't believe how nicely they fit my chairs, and I am so pleased with the new life they were given. I also sewed some pillows to coordinate. I cut out some flowers from some fabric & appliqued them onto some white linen. I loved how they turned out. These chairs (2 of them) sit on either side of our tv cabinet and are pulled into the seating area if & when they are needed. Most of the time, though, they just sit there looking pretty.

Anyhow, glad to be back, and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Birthday Sketch Challenge

Here's another card I made using the 2 Sketches 4 You challenge (I told you I would use this one again and again). I kept it easy by using a white card base, and added a punch of color. This card was for my niece's birthday and these happen to be her favorite colors right now (CTMH's Outdoor Denim, Lagoon and Pear). I stamped up a striped background strip to pull in all of these fabulous colors.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Just Be You, Connections; PTI Background Basics: Distressed Stripes, Just the Ticket, Everyday Treats

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Outdoor Denim

Inks: CTMH Outdoor Denim, Pear, Lagoon

Accessories: PTI Dies

Vintage Thanks

I had the day off and it felt great to be able to do nothing but the things I love (shopping, reading a good book, and playing with my stamps!). This afternoon I decided to meet a last minute color challenge at the Embellish Magazine Blog. Such beautiful colors, especially for fall (only today in Southern California it was 93 degrees - not exactly fall-like). I used CTMH's Creme Brulee, Olive and Brown Bag. The added challenge was to make it vintage. I did that by adding some ink to give it that aged look.

I also took advantage of the sketch challenge at 2 Sketches 4 You. This is a sketch I would come to again and again. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Everyday Treat, Tiny Treats Christmas, Background Basics: Diamonds

Cardstock: CTMH Brown Bag, Creme Brulee, Olive; PTI Rustic White

Inks: CTMH Creme Brulee, Brown Bag and Desert Sand (for distressing)

Accessories: Ivory Grosgrain Ribbon; PTI Dies; Cuttlebug Dies; Marvy Punches; CTMH Creme Brulee Brad

Happy Belated Halloween!

Well, I'm back (finally) with a card to share with you. I was able to play a little on Saturday with some ladies who were over, and how great it was to get my fingers inked up! It was long overdue. I wanted to make a hostess card for a friend who had us over for a little Halloween celebration on Saturday night. I started with some damask stamped in Sunset, and I was thrilled with the results! Added some black and cream polka dot edging, and then sewed on some ruffled up black satin ribbon. I was also wanting to use my new dies from PTI, so I added the pumpkin image to the circle for just the right seasonal touch. This card is also a perfec t fit for the Diggin' on Damask Challenge over on the Moxie Fab World blog. Cath's blog is always one of my first stops for inspiration and challenges - check it out and play along! Hope you enjoyed your Halloween weekend!!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies:

Stamps: CTMH Damask Tiles and Hit the Spot; PTI Vintage Picnic and Everyday Treats

Cardstock: CTMH Black; PTI Rustic White

Inks: CTMH Sunset, Black, Olive, Desert Sand (for distressing)

Accessories: Black Satin Ribbon; PTI Dies

Feeling Grateful

So, I can't even begin to tell you how much I've missed the blogging world lately. I'm getting ready to finish up the last two weeks of my long-term teaching position, and I am counting down the days!!! It has been so crazy busy around here with working full time, keeping up with my kids' activities and my PTA responsibilities, let alone, trying to be a wife, daughter, sister and friend. I have failed so miserably at saying proper thanks to some very special people, so I set out today to make a card/box wrap for my neighbors. They took care of our pets, plants, and mail while we were away in August. (I know, long overdue!) I had this idea in my head to make some chrysanthemums inspired by the cover of the Paper Source catalog. I decided to keep the colors realistic and fallish.

I made a larger flower out of CTMH Goldrush and a smaller one out of CTMH Tulip and added some Olive Green leaves. And, it wouldn't be a "Karla" project if I didn't include a stamped background, so I stamped up a plaid pattern using CTMH Chocolate, and mounted the whole thing on PTI Kraft. I bought my neighbors a box of See's Candies (Yum!!) and simply wrapped the box with two pieces of ribbon, and then attached the card to the ribbon. So there you have it, a wrap and a card in one! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Distressed Stripes and Fillable Frames #4; Verve So Thankful

Cardstock: CTMH Goldrush, Tulip, Chocolate, Olive; PTI Rustic Cream and Kraft

Inks: CTMH Chocolate, Goldrush, Tulip

Accessories: CTMH Chocolate brads, Cuttlebug leaves die, PTI Fillable Frames Die, Marvy Uchida flower punches (3 sizes)

You're an Allstar

Hey bloggers! Just a quick post tonight to show you the token gifts I gave to the teaching staff at the school I'm working for. It just so happens that the school's nickname is the Allstars, and their colors are red & blue. I intentionally bought this stamp set from PTI because of the phrase "You're An Allstar". So perfect!

I purchased some plain white popcorn boxes from Michael's and filled them with a bag of Caramel Apple Popcorn, which I purchased from Cost Plus World Market. Made a wrap for the box and a tag.

I made about a dozen of them. They looked so festive when they were all together. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: PTI Just the Ticket, Distressed Stripes; CTMH Just Be You (stars)

Cardstock: CTMH Moonstruck and White Daisy

Patterned Paper: Carolee's Creations Hot Stars

Inks: CTMH Moonstruck, Holiday Red

Accessories: PTI Ticket Die; Cuttlebug Tags Die; Red Grosgrain Ribbon

I Know, I Know....

Hello bloggers! I know, I know, I'm about the flakiest blogger out there! I promised a post earlier this past week, but time got away from me. I went back to the classroom to set up and prepare for my students, who start this coming Wednesday, and then my own children started school this past Wednesday. Just a busy time a year. Naturally, I went to the sketch from Clean and Simple to make a quick card to post for you. I happened to have a stamped up card base from when I was working with the new colors from Close To My Heart, but I hadn't used it, yet. I added the cocoa sentiment strip and the text style butterflies, and the card was done! As you can tell, I kept the same color scheme from this card, which is why I had a stamped up card base to begin with, but ended up taking a different route. Anyhow, enough rambling. I have been working on some back-to-school "trinkets" for my fellow teachers, which I hope to share soon. Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies

Stamps: CTMH Damask Tiles; PTI Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics: Text Style

Cardstock: PTI Rustic White; CTMH Cocoa

Inks: CTMH Smoothie, Cocoa; Versamark

Accessories: CTMH Clear Sparkles; Ivory Pearl embossing powder

Reason for my Absence

Hey fellow bloggers! Sorry for my absence this week, but there was good reason. The Kroese Family went on vacation! I suppose I could have set up some posts while I was away, but I had a houseguest until the day before we left - a little busy around here! Anyhow, I thought I'd share a few pics of our trip (sorry, no artwork today, but hopefully tomorrow??) As you can tell we started our vacation on a drive to the San Francisco Bay area and took all that SF has to offer, like the Golden Gate Bridge.

And, of course, it was a must for my kids that we stop in at Ghiradelli's Chocolates - yum!!

And, naturally, we took a ride on the trolley cars. My husband and I have been to SF several times, but this was my kids' first visit. The street cars were a highlight for them!

It wouldn't be SF without a visit to the famous Lombard Street. We drove down it twice, and then walked it to take in the beauty of the landscaping.

Here's a close-up of one of the many beautiful hydrangea's on Lombard Street. Though they were on the tail end of their bloom, they were still magnificant!

We left the Bay Area on Thursday to head up/over to South Lake Tahoe, but on our way we just had to stop in Fairfield for a quick tour of the Jelly Belly Factory. This was fun for all of us! We dared the boys to try one of their "Bean Boozled" flavors, which they agreed to do if I paid them $1. Chad tried "barf", and Seth tried "canned dog food". It was hysterical watching their eyes water as they courageously ate their so-called candy! Chad recovered okay, but Seth's breath literally smelled like dog food the rest of the day! We all covered our nose every time he tried to talk to us. Boy did we laugh!!!

From Fairfield, we travelled through Sacramento and stopped in Old Town for a bite to eat. We decided on Fanny Ann's Saloon for burgers. We also took a few minutes to take in the Capital Building.

Our next destination was South Lake Tahoe for a couple of nights of camping. Talk about beautiful! Our campground was across the street from the beach, where we went each night to watch the sunset and see the stars. The weather was amazing, not too hot, not too cold, and the views were unbelievable! On Friday we drove over to Fallen Leaf Lake to take an easy hike up to a waterfall, which the kids thought was fun. There wasn't that much water, so they could climb all over the rocks - they had a ball!

So that's what I've been up to. Now I get to do laundry to try to get the campfire smells out of our clothes (that might take awhile). It was a nice get-a-way before school starts on Wednesday (uugghh!) We had such a nice summer, I'm sad it's behind us, but it's always good to get back into routine & schedules, too. Chat at you soon!

Magnifique Layout

Hey fellow bloggers!! Thought I'd post a layout once (I know, it's been awhile!). I used a NEW Paper Kit from Close To My Heart's Autumn/Winter Catalog, which comes out Sept. 1. This kit is called "Magnifique", and it is truly stunning!! The pictures are of my twin girls when they were 4 years old. They're 8 now, so now you know how far behind I am on my scrapbooking. It's okay, though, because for me it's about the process, not the product (at least that's what I try to convince myself. HaHa!) Aren't they adorable? I wish I could bottle some of that cuteness. Don't get me wrong, they are still adorable, but that cuteness somehow morphed into prettiness, and I just miss those cheeks! (: Thanks so much for stopping by today!

All Supplies from CTMH

Patterned Paper: Magnifique My Reflections Paper

Cardstock: Colonial White, Chocolate, Lagoon

Accessories: Mini Medley Accents Shades of Chocolate, Twill Ribbon, Color Ready Oxford & Bold Alphabets