Fall is finally here. The nights are a little cooler and the days find me grabbing a sweater before I leave the house. It also means Halloween is coming and I just love scrapbooking all those fun Halloween pictures.

This adorable frame was made by a talented scrapbooker at a recent crop I attended. I have, unfortunately, forgotten who created it so I can't give credit, but isn't it adorable?

The cute frame is made, using just the chipboard or front page  of the accordion style album. We cut the pages portion of the album off and then created our display page using permanent adhesive. The paper is Moonlight and all the accessories can be found in the accessory potion of the new catalog.

Do you have a new catalog? If not, give me an quick email and I can leave some on my porch. Feel free to take one for a friend. This issue of the idea book is full of creative scrapbook, cardmaking, and home decor ideas. It inspires me just flipping through the pages. So get yours today . . . it's free and will be available until they're gone!

Have a super scrapbooking day everyone!

Elaine, the Stamper Girl

Cricut Creations You Can Make!

The Cricut machine sat for years  in my closet. In it's cute little leather bag I looked at it occasionally and thought about dragging it out, but really it seemed like a lot to do and I wasn't really sure what to do with it. And then Close To My Heart introduced the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge bonus bundle and I decided, "whoa there, this is the coolest thing since sliced bread!"

 I returned from the CTMH convention and proceeded to set up that green little Cricut critter on his own table and have been happily Cricut cutting ever since. Out of sight, out of mind I guess.

I thought I'd share a few things I've made in the last week or so. My favorite is the scrapbook page I made for my daughter's National Charity League album . . . it's SO beautiful!  
 

These pages were made with the Mayberry Level 2 paper and the Cricut cut the flower border and the fun 3D flowers.

Side view of the 3D flowers.

Then I made some cards which were amazingly fun!

This card was fun to make since it had the hand cut paper doily and the fun sunflower looking flowers.

This card not only includes the flowers cut with the Art Philosophy cricut, but I used one of the stamp set that came with it to stamp the "Thanks." It's just a beautiful card with the larger flowers bringing out the paper pattern (Mayberry again).

This card looks like a big postage stamp to me with it's fun, decorative edging, all cut on the Cricut. I also cut out the dragon flies, using the new Dreamin' Paper pack. I used the under layer with the decorative squares and the top part is the sold blue, Pacific cardstock. (Note: stamplifted from Jeanette's website.)

Have fun with your Cricut . . . but remember, don't tuck it away, bring it out, give him a home and USE him! :-)

Crop Escape!

Chandra and Elaine, working HARD!

You know you need a break when you're too busy to stamp and/or scrapbook all you want to do. Running away doesn't have to be very far away and maybe, to not scare the husband and children you could call it a business trip. It's business, it's your business.

Denise, organizer of Crop Escapes and Elaine

This last weekend Chandra W., a dear friend
and member of my CTMH team, and I escaped to Milpitas, which is literally 30 minutes from my house. We stayed at a very nicely decorated Courtyard Marriott. Not only did I catch up on my sleep, I completed pages and pages, as well as several cards. I played with my Cricut machine and familiarized myself with the new CTMH Art Philosophy set (it comes with stamps and die-cuts).

I did not want to leave, but alas, real life called me back to reality . . . but when I came downstairs and saw all my pretty artwork I was already plotting my next escape. Come with me?

Father and me layout.

Creative Convention Extravaganza

Oh yeah, baby! Close To My Heart Convention is ALL about the artwork . . . not only do the Consultants get to see some of the best artists at work at Extravaganza, but the attendees also receive all the products they need to create their own fun artwork with the new tools, papers, stamps, and doo dads (oh, how I love the doo dads!)

 These two pages (which I wish I could figure out how to display side by side) was the project layout idea we were given at Convention.(And yes, we received EVERYTHING we needed to make it including the awesome bling, found on page 127 & 128) I used photos highlighting a recent stamp session with my very good friend, Michele, who is SO creative. You should definitely check out her blog for ideas too: http://michelesinkitstampit.blogspot.com/.

I created the pages in her Studio and then went around her beautiful rural property and took some pictures. Michele also took me to a fun lunch place and  . . . yes, there was a chicken store next door. Alas, no big chicken artwork, but I have not lost hope.

These pages were created with the new Roxie paper pack and the stamp set, 10 Things C1474 (remember new stamp prices so it's only $13.95!!!) and the ribbon (which I just noticed is majorly crooked . . . ah well, I'm not perfect either) is from the Designer Ribbon Red Collection Z1615 (only $5.95). I wrote something I love about stamping with Michele on each of the little tags in the pocket (on page 123 of the catalog . . . only $3.95). Michele has a rockin stamp room, you can see from the picture of us . . . don't even worry, I'm heading back that way SOON!

Convention attendees also received everything to create a darling mini album using 6x6 Kraft Cards (p. 123 and only $6.95 for 10 cards & envelopes). The stamp set was an exclusive Convention attendee only stamp set, featuring that adorable castle which Megan, my oldest daughter, says is a rendition of Hogwarts! LOL

The book is created using 3 of the Kraft cards, folded accordion style and attached with strong adhesive. Pictures of my friends from high school playing in Mickey land look GREAT in this book! I love it!

Stay tuned . . . I'm stamping again today! :-)

Scrapbooking in Studio J

https://stampedbyme.myctmh.com/Retail/StudioJ

I bet you didn't know this, but I have expanded my Studio . . . don't even worry, Dave won't be mad, because the Stamp Studio, also known as our living room, is still the same. I've expanded my studio with Studio J, which is the Close To My Heart digital online scrapbooking program.

I know, first I was using the Cricut this week and now I'm scrapbooking online. It's crazy! Today I created 4 beautiful layouts this afternoon and I have submitted them to print . . . my total cost: under $25.00 and I get free page protectors and earned free shipping! And that's not all! I immediately received the jpg images so I can show and tell them here or on Facebook or if I wanted to print them myself (although the CTMH printer uses higher quality and the colors are much better than my Canon.)

For a VERY short and easy training (7 minutes) we have a video on YouTube: 

 This is the link to the video if this doesn't work: http://www.youtube.com/Studio J
This is the link to the pricing information . . . there are several options to pick from, but to just try the software and creative your page so you can see how it works . . . that's FREE! http://www.studioj.com/studioj_pricing.html  Let me know if any of those links don't work!

(To see the layouts in a larger size, click on them and it will enlarge them!! Magic!)
The first layout I created featured my fun day at Disneyland last month:

Then I had some more fun with our trip to the zoo!

And the last two were memories from my two summer birthday children. I am so excited to get so much scrapbooking done!

Hope you enjoyed my show and tell. If you have any questions regarding the program or the how to's, just give me an email or call and I'll walk you through it. It sure does make scrapbooking SUPER fast and super easy. And did I mention cheapest way I can think of to get some cute pages done too! Make sure to tell all your friends about my blog so I can get more followers and I won't feel so sad that I only have 12 people. LOL

Happy Scrapbooking!

Zoo Inspiration

Yes, we can keep him if he follows us home!

Well known fact: Elaine adores animals and it isn't just animals, she would pet or save or bring home critters of all shapes and sizes, breeds and colors. So when I was trying to think of something to do with Chris that was fun and didn't cost a fortune and would be close, the zoo popped into my mind and I wondered if a teenager, about to turn 15, would think the zoo was cool or dumb. When I announced my desire to go to the zoo I was met with more enthusiasm than I ever though possible. Or maybe I thought it was enthusiasm, maybe he was thinking about his next meal and that was the expression, but needless to say, I started plotting, er I mean planning our visit to the zoo. I even downloaded the map of the zoo and checked out the collection of critters at the zoo.

No stress from this tall guy!

I picked the Oakland one, only because it's closer, and San Francisco traffic can make me crazy and stressed and I didn't want the animals to be stressed by me being stressed. You see I had a plan. And it wasn't just to have fun with the animals, I wanted to take a bunch of pictures . . .

Pictures that would inspire me to get scrapbooking again. I imagine if your photo collection is like my photo collection of unscrapped pictures, you are probably thinking why would she need to go and take MORE pictures when so many are in the boxes and on the hard drive of her computer? Simple: inspiration is sometimes the pictures that are the most recent or something that tickles your fancy and a day at the zoo with 2 teenage boys will do just that!

Look, the elephant is right by me!

And truthfully? I have zoo paper and stickers to use and just needed some zoo pictures. Yes, I have lots of zoo pictures from when the kids were little, this is true, but it seemed easier to go back to the zoo, than to try and find the old pictures. I know, I admit, I need professional organizing help . . . but one thing's for sure! I bet Chris and his friend, Cory, will remember this day and how I appeared to enjoy talking to the critters and snapping photos more than any other mom at the zoo that day in the summer of 2011!