“I love scrapbooks. They are one of the finest ways of dejunking life and abode... A good scrapbook is interesting and inspiring even to the stranger...Well put together scrapbooks and photo albums have warmed more hearts than any bound book... Without a good scrapbook, much that's memorable in life is forgotten or damaged or lost...."

~ Don Aslett

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

H2H Color Challenge for the week of 7-26

It has been a couple of weeks since I have participated in the Heart 2 Heart Challenge but I am happy to say that this weeks color challenge inspired me to come back and play!  The colors are Vineyard Berry, Blush and Creme Brulee. 

I was just starting to work on the pages of my hair cut/donation to Locks of Love and this happened to work very well!  Great timing indeed!  So the first set follows the challenge exactly and just uses the 3 colors and a neutral, the second adds a splash of Juniper to the mix.  Only the first layout is for the challenge but the colors worked so well, I used them on my second layout as well!


Materials:
Paper: Emporium Creative Basics, Key to my Heart, Unforgettable Paper Pack, blush and Colonial White Cardstock
Inks: Vineyard Berry, Blush, Creme Brulee, Cocoa
Stamp sets: Something Splendid, Chocolate Alpha large and small, A Love
Other Embellishments: Blush Brads, Creme Brulee Ribbon, Color-ready Alphas, Irresistibles Lots of Dots Alpha

Be sure to check out all the other entries this week and play along at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

A taste of things to come...

Well, I must say Convention was a blast! Every bit what I expected and more.




Sooo many things to tell you and show you but some of it must wait!  All I can say is that in a day I will have in my hot little hands brand new Fall/Winter Idea Book products and I am so excited to start playing and create great projects and workshops for all of you!   There are great new colors and awesome new products, even a new How-to book. 




Studio-J has some great new features too so be sure to click the link on my side bar and check it out.  Oh, and BIG NEWS....On August 1st I will be signing up for my very own CTMH website, so you can shop from me in your pajamas any time you want!!! It's so easy!  If you want to have access to all these fun new things, then ask me how you can be a part of my awesome growing team. Leave a comment with your email or just email me directly at GrigsterN at yahoo.com.  Consultants have access to all the new Fall fun starting August 1st.  Why wait until September?!?

Friday, July 9, 2010

Summer time!

Right about now I am just starting my second day of the Close to my Heart Convention in Washington, DC!  Since I am writing this to post while I'm gone, I'm going to assume that I am going to be having a blast with all my other consultant "sisters (and brothers)"!   I wanted to leave you with something while I was gone so you didn't think I fell off the planet.  This was a page I made to remember all the wonderful people that I taught with in the Math Department this past year.  4 of those people will not be with us again next year, some retiring and some just moving on with life.  It turned out even better than I had hoped so I wanted to show everyone.  Keep in mind as well that I am a 2-page layout girl so this single pager had me stepping out of my "circle" of comfort!

Enjoy!



Materials:
Splendor Level 2 paper packet
Just Blooms White Daisy
Dimensional Elements On Target
Splendor Designer Brads
Cherished Flourishes Stamp Set, Summer Wishes Stamp Set, Cocktail Alpha Stamp Set
Moonstruck, Topiary, Goldrush, and Heavenly Blue Ink

Be back on Sunday to give you a preview of all the great new stuff CTMH has for the Fall!!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Sketch week - Wishes - City Scape

This weeks challenge over at Heart 2 Heart was to follow the card pattern City Scape from one of CTMH's great How-to books, Wishes.  When I looked at the pattern I realized the card was smaller than I had imagined and my first idea was going to need more space.  I had also wanted to incorporate Jeanette Lynton's Color Me Monday combo for this week into my creation.  Well after playing around for a while, I decided to do both!  My first card follows the pattern size 4 3/4" by 3" and does indeed use Jeanette's colors of Chocolate, Sunflower, Twilight and Sorbet.  I used the Petite Perks stamp set available to earn during this Idea Book period.  I do like how it turned out, I used my blending pen to color the flower and butterfly.



But, wait, there's more....I did a second card as well to satisfy the first idea that I had, the one that needed more room!  I converted the card into a 5" by 7" to accommodate my runner girl on her jaunt through the grass and flowers.  I am enjoying using the Splendor paper pack and the designer brads that match - so much that you might just see it show up again soon!



I've enjoyed playing with this sketch - now head on over to the H2H Challenges blog to gather inspiration to create your own art!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Happy 4th of July!

This weeks challenge over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog is a festive one - somehow include stars and/or stripes (and Maple leaves for our Canadian friends) in your project.  Well, everywhere I went it seems like everyone was getting ready for this upcoming holiday weekend so I decided to work with that and combine a whole bunch of challenges into one.  My card follows the Mojo Monday sketch for the week.  It also includes the colors from Jeanette Lynton's Monday color combo.  Lastly, of course it has lots of stars and even some stripes!

Front of card when it's closed:

 Inside of card when open:


It took a little bit of playing with scraps to get this to come together the way I wanted it to, but I am very pleased with the results!  Now go check out what everyone else has created by visiting the H2H challenge blog - and maybe even get crafty yourself!

Materials:
Papers: scraps from You Rock (outdoor denim), scraps from Cherry-O (tulip), Tulip, Desert Sand, Crystal Blue, and Colonial White Cardstock
Stamp Sets:  A Twinkle, July Word Puzzle
Inks: Crystal Blue, Desert Sand, Outdoor Denim, Tulip
CTMH round scallop clear card
Bling!