Getting Crafty CTMH Style

Thought I'd post some recent crafts made with Close To My Heart products, or mostly CTMH.

These coasters and boxes are now on sale for $5 at my website: Sumscrapbook.ctmh.com. You can find it in their While Supplies Last part of the Shop Section. The Webelos turned these into countdowns for Christmas, using the new Magical Days Stamp set, which I LOVE and paper I had lying around. Some was DCVW, SU, and CTMH. . . I'm an equal opportunity shopper.

 On the back were scriptures about Jesus so they read one a night during the whole month of December with their families to help them feel the true spirit of Christmas. It can also count for their Faith In God award, so I was glad to be able to help them earn that as well as count this as our final project for our Craftsman Activity Badge. It was tedious for the boys to glue, but they were excited to have this project made and its something they can use year after year. They also stained and took home 3 wooden projects that we made the week before. Sorry I forget to take pics. They made a display stand for their pinewood derby cars, a key ring holder for their dads for Christmas and a recipe card holder for their moms.

 Our ward's Fabulous Fun Friday was last Friday night. Besides the wonderful soups, salads, and desserts we had, we all made crafts. Mom was in charge of one this year, so I helped her and MyGirl came with us and made several. She liked this fabric necklace and the monster cupcakes class the best.

 I, knowing she was taking this class, bought CTMH's bling base necklace for her. It made it really easy to have a space to glue these fabric rosettes onto and will keep it laying flat. We'll be making these for gifts for others this year. . . easy craft with a glue gun :-)

 Mom's big project was this perpetual calendar. You have all the numbers of the month on it and then you write down whose birthdays are on which day and you don't have to rewrite them every year. Genius, right? We've sold these for years. My aunt ordered several once for her ward and Mom and I had made one for ourselves a few years back, but I guess she just wanted to support my business. She's always too good to me!

I told you I was quitting, and I fully intended to be done. Then someone came and placed a big order on my website. I didn't have to do anything, but I got commission off of that. Then the next catalog came out, and frankly, even though I don't need a bunch of stamps and paper, several of the things you're about to see were in it because they are just TOO CUTE! So, yeah, I'm still a Consultant. Fortunately, when people place orders, it makes it really easy for me, and I've met some people lately who seem interested, so I'll have to see how it goes next year and if it doesn't go well, then I'll just really quit next time. . . I know. . . I'll believe it when I see it too. I'm adding inks and colors in case I want to repeat this project again - for my own personal reference.

Jan: Black Ink, Crystal Blue and Amethyst Cardstock

 We put a little glitter on each image. I used the Prisma Clear Glitter, my mom used Martha Stewart's colored glitter. Both looked good. The colored obviously gave it more color. Sometimes I thought that was perfect and other times I thought it was too much, so I opted for the more neutral to keep my life simpler, as I finished most of my glittering at home.

We had six people sign up to make this project and we were busy for almost three and a half hours helping them. It takes time to stamp, glue, and glitter twelve different images, plus we stamped smaller images down the side of the calendars for each month. We used over twenty-five inks and stamps to create this project, and helping people figure out which ink was which took time. But, since we had it all out, we made two more for ourselves while the mess was already there. You can see a little example below. Mostly we used open or very small stamps down the sides, as we wanted there to be plenty of room to write in the birthdays.

Feb: Blush and Cranberry Inks and Cardstock

Mar: Sunflower and Clover Meadow Ink, Sunflower and Pear Cardstock

This flower did look really pretty with pink glitter around the outside. . . I may be making a change here. . . hmmmm.

April: Honey Ink, Hollyhock and Amethyst Cardstock

May: Smoothie and Lagoon Ink, Honey and Lagoon Cardstock

June: Brown Bag and Sweet Leaf Ink, Creme Brulee and Chocolate Cardstock

July: Outdoor Denim and Honey Ink, Holiday Red and Outdoor Denim Cardstock

August: Gypsy Ink, Pear and Lagoon Cardstock

Sept: Saddle Ink, Green Colored Pencil, Topiary and Buttercup Cardstock

Oct: Slate and Sunset Ink, Topiary and Sunset Cardstock

Nov: Autumn Terracotta and Chocolate Ink, Creme Brulee and Chocolate Cardstock

Dec: Cashmere and Sunkiss Yellow Ink, Ruby and Olive Cardstock

Last but not least, another cardboard box. This time its smaller, about 4 x 6, that I covered with Washi Tapes from Target and Tim Holtz. I just cut a few ribbon cuts on the ends of some and let them be the whole design. Easy peasy! My children all use one of these to hold their wallets, keys, phones, whatever they want in their rooms, and not left in their backpacks or purse, which we tend to leave not in our bedrooms.I like that these CTMH boxes come with magnetic closures, so they always stay shut and flat, but are super easy to access also. The cardboard is smooth and easy to adhere to, and is thick enough that you can manipulate what you want on it and it doesn't get bent out of shape. Our catalog is constantly changing which cardboard items we carry. In the past they've had milk cartons, dimensional stars, journals . . . a bunch of things. I like to buy these when they get cheap and are about to run out as they aren't Necessary, just fun and as My Girl likes to say, "I'm getting my Crafty on now."

The Halloween Party

This was a big week for LittleBuddy.

Monday - appointment with the pediatric cardiologist - three different issues - Sheesh! None fatal, but two problematic, so we're making some changes, keeping our eye on things, and waiting. 

 Wednesday - Court of Honor - earned Life. Only Eagle left to go.

Saturday - The Halloween Party at our house. Here are a look at some of the decorations.
Clearly I was having fun, though everything I bought was either at the dollar store, Walmart's cheap section or free from the internet.

 I saw some vinyl monsters online and because I'm cheap, I just kind of made up these after looking at those. They're similar but not exact. And, since I used my Cricut rather rarely, I had plenty of black vinyl on hand.

 I had the boys mixed up as to where they sat and what teams there were on in the games by numbers on their menus. It made it easier for their "waiters" to find them and kept everyone mingling together all night.

I forgot to take a picture of the entrance to the bathroom. . .  monster teeth hanging under the top door frame with eyes above it. Hanging on the door is a sign with a skeleton that reads "Enter if you Dare." I liked this. Mike says I'm morbid. I just think its fun to be silly sometimes. There was also spiderweb stuff everywhere and Big spider stickers on the windows. Those came down the next morning. . . kind of freaking me out every time I looked their directions.

I couldn't have pulled this off without My Girl's help and My Mom's. From going to the Dollar Store to decorating to food prep, this was not something I could have done all on my own.
For me, one of the most fun parts was our meal menu. The boys ordered 12 different items in different orders. Their menu included items like the following: Petrified Rodents

 Mummy Cakes - of course, not knowing what they really were when they ordered.

 Spider Bites, Zombie Heads, and Caterpillars, as well as other things like Frankenstein Heads, Gooey Goblins, Silent Screamers, Bloody Stubs, Bat Bites, and the Poison choices were Elixir of Eel, Frog Venom or Witch's Brew - different soda/ice cream combinations.

 Some kids did great with this, others not so much, but they all ate something, and downstairs when they watched the movie there were snacks to eat too so I know nobody left hungry.

 There were games, like Mummy Wrap, Howl like a Werewolf, and Monster Feud, The boys had more fun with these than I even thought they would.

 Did I mention they also had crazy utensils. Here one of the boys eats his Silent Screamers (mashed potatoes) with a spaghetti spoon.

7 layer dip was Melted Monsters and the chips to go with them were Chipped Headstones - Fun Times!
The best part was LittleBuddy had  fun with his friends - 10 boys in all and they made some unique memories I hope they'll remember.

Thoughts on Conference

Just got finished spending the last two days watching and listening to General Conference. Our church holds this twice a year to let the leadership teach the membership. To say its inspiring and uplifting doesn't begin to do it justice. If you're interested, and missed it,  and even just want to spend ten minutes listening to any one talk, it can be found at www.lds.org.

Every year I say it was the best one. Every year I feel that many of the talks were speaking just to me.
This year is no different.

I was grateful for the messages about women and to women. I'm grateful to belong to a church that not only values women but encourages the men to value women more. I'm grateful to belong to a church that teaches that things work best in a marriage when husband and wife are partners and in the capacity of the church, that women are just as contributing as the men. I'm grateful to hear that the role of being a stay at home mother is still valued and appreciated. It is a lot of work, most of it without a lot of recognition, so when you hear it, it feels good even though we'd still do it without any acknowledgment.

I'm also grateful to belong to a church that values men. So many men today on television are ridiculed and I am grateful for the examples of good husbands and fathers to the men of the world, where the values of loving and being patient and forgiving and working hard and being unselfish and making time for your family are taught as the standards and lived by the leadership. I'm grateful for the emphasis and appreciation on morality and living a clean life. We hear examples of righteous men and women. We hear of making mistakes and making changes, of lessons learned and trials endured. Everyone in the church is not perfect - not even close. Nor in the leadership. I know that for a fact. However, these are good people trying to follow the Savior and bless their families and I'm grateful to be unified with them as we all strive to do the best we can.

I also appreciated the love and compassion I felt as I listened. Life is hard in so many different ways and everyone's trials are different but when you listen to Conference, you come away feeling that with the Savior's help you can get through this. We are reminded that part of the point of the plan of happiness of this life means that we have to come to realize our great Need for the Savior. There is no lasting happiness without Him, but with Him there is more than enough of his Spirit enabling us to endure, to grow, and to carry on, when its hard. There was compassion for those who suffer from mental illness. Elder Holland moved me to tears as he showed a great understanding for the reality of the suffering. He didn't gloss over anything, but spoke to the potential for hope in the eternal life to come and the ability to endure in spite of the pain and the fears this challenge brings as we face it in mortality. To hear a Priesthood leader speak so eloquently (as he always does) about a subject I have not heard from that pulpit before in such detail spoke volumes to me about the Savior's love for each of us, no matter the affliction or challenge.

There were wonderful talks on the power of the promises we make with the Lord, in the power of His redemption and saving graces and in the blessings of the commandments He has given to us. There is a great Spirit that witnesses to the truth of the messages and brings peace, hope and empowerment to want to try harder to reach the best that is within us. To hear the Prophet of God talk about the pain of losing his beloved companion of over 64 years and then in the very next sentence talk about the joy of knowing exactly where she is, and his joy over being able to be reunited with her again gives us perspective. To be reminded that the only life that is taken too early is the one where one is not prepared to return to the Savior again gives all of us hope for children taken when they are young and reassurance for those around us who do love the Lord with all their hearts.

It is good to hear of others all over the world who share our faith and make sacrifices to live their covenants just as we do. As a people we make a lot of sacrifices and the world shakes their fingers and laughs at so much of what we believe, yet at Conference, coming together in the unity of the faith reminds us why we are the peculiar people that we are - because we love Jesus Christ more than we love the philosophies of men. We send our missionaries to share this message because it is the one thing that cannot be taken away when everything else in the world can be.  The prophet reminded us all to share this message, so this is how I am sharing today. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth today to teach us how to return to our loving Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ after we die. Their plan to be reunited with us is indeed a great plan of happiness, and I am grateful for the scriptures and Conference that teaches me these great truths. In following the commandments there is safety from spiritual death and peace in this life and the world to come. I look forward to re-reading these talks in the future and re-feeling these powerful feelings again.