Attend Scrapbook Expo for a Good Cause!

Next weekend the Scrapbook Expo comes to the Chicagoland Area. August 23-24, 2013, scrapbookers, rubber stampers and paper crafters will converge on Pheasant Run in St. Charles, IL for the annual event. For my friend Betsy, the Scrapbook Expo is also a chance for her to do good.

Betsy is involved in a group called Shoebox 1k. This group helps to pack shoebox gifts filled with; school supplies, personal hygiene items, toys, a stuffed animal, hard candy and more. These boxes are then sent to needy children all over the world  along with the good news of God’s love, through an organization called Operation Christmas Child. Last year Betsy and her group packed over 1200 shoeboxes that were then distributed to Uganda, Madagascar, and the Philippines.

At the Scrapbook Expo in addition to running the baggage check area, Shoebox 1k also holds “basket raffles.” Manufacturers and businesses  have donated over $1000 in prizes to be given away. Tickets can be purchased for $1 each or buy 10 get 2 free and are available at the Baggage Check booth at the Scrapbook Expo that weekend. All money raised goes to help purchase items for the shoeboxes and cover delivery costs.

 I am one of Betsy's sponsors for this event, providing a gift basket full of awesome Close To My Heart goodies! In addition to my gift basket you will find baskets from these wonderful sponsors:  Archival Inn, Cafe’ Crop, Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine, Craftwell, Creative Memories Consultant RuthAnn Lewckyj, Creative Options, Genuinely Jane Studios, Hydrangea Hippo, JoAnn’s Creations, Linnie Blooms, Pampered Chef Consultant Shirley Van De Wedge, Peddler’s Den, Robin’s Nest, Scrap Addict for Life, Scrap-It Girl, Tim Holtz, Wild Tree Organic Consultant Dot Alcorn, Xyron, and MORE!

To help promote this fabulous cause Scrapbook Expo has generously donated 2 pairs of tickets for us to give away to a couple of Chicagoland Scrapbooker Magazine readers.

 What do you have to do to win? Check out the Rafflecopter giveaway for all the ways you can enter! Two winners will be selected at random to win a pair of tickets for free admission to the Scrapbook Expo.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
A big thank you to Scrapbook Expo for their generous donation. To learn more about the Shoebox 1k project or the basket raffle event at the expo, visit Betsy’s blog Aim Happy and click on “Shoebox 1k” or “Events” at the top menu.  Good luck to everyone!

Giveaway - Win It Before You Can Buy It!!

Capture the Date is November's stamp of the month but I have an extra set that you can win now!  Enter my giveaway and you can be one of the first to have it in your hands.  I love this kind of stamp set because there is so much that can be done with it!  I haven't made anything with mine yet, but here are some ideas from the CTMH Art Department:

 

I especially like using the different styles of numbers for a background design - all kinds of uses for that around here!

Be sure to enter using all three contest options for multiple entries!  You can use one of the options to let me know what YOU would like to make with this stamp set.  Good luck to all! Contest ends at 12:01am on October 31.

 Rafflecopter giveaway

Cards with Echo Park Paper - and a Giveaway!

If you're new here and visiting from Cutters Creek, welcome! I'd love it if you'd take a look around at some of my other projects while you're here.

I have been extremely lucky, and got my hands on both the 12x12 and 6x6 Country Drive from Echo Park Paper.  I immediately had a project in mind, and used some product to make three thank you cards for some very special people!

All three 6x6 cards were made with papers from the 6x6 pad, some embellishments from the 12x12 collection and a few items from my stash.  You can see the details and supplies used over on the Cutters Creek Blog today.

I also have a giveaway for you today!  While at CHA, the nice folks over at Northridge Publishing let us have complimentary copies of some of their beautiful publications.  Kim at Cutters Creek will be carrying several titles, so to celebrate I am giving away BOTH the August issue of Scrapbook Trends (Kim has September available for preorder) AND a copy of Cricut Cards (which Kim also has available for preorder).  In order to win, you need to leave a comment both here and on today's post over at the Cutters Creek blog.  All comments posted by Midnight Central Time this Friday August 12, will be eligible to win.  US and Canada entries only please!  Of course, we would love it if you would also follow or subscribe to both blogs as well!

Win a Black Cat Lynx!

I got an email today from SVG Cuts.  In addition to their regular free cut file (a cute Wonderland inspired group), there was a nice little surprise waiting for me.  It seems that the super nice folks at the Black Cat Company have donated a Lynx cutting machine to be given away! 

I have been coveting one of these babies for a while now, and any one of us could be lucky enough to win one.  It's super easy to enter, so just click here to see head over to SVG Cuts and enter!  Good luck to us all.

Make New Friends and Use the Old (and Giveaway Day 4!)

Good evening, and welcome to the Stamp of the Month blog hop.  For those of you waiting patiently for my final daily prize giveaway, it's here too!  If you've arrived here from Traci Godbee's blog, you're in the right place.  When you're done here, you can hop along to Teri Baxter's The Midnight Artist.

This month, I wanted to show you that just because we buy new goodies doesn't mean that we have to abandon the things we already have.  I combined our versatile stamp of the month, Friendship, with a discontinued paper from (I believe) the Perfect Day paper packet.

I chose the Tulip colored piece of patterned paper to fit the 40th Anniversary theme, and used one of the stamps to give my layout an elegant feel by stamping in black on white cardstock, creating an additional patterned paper.  My layout is from the Magic layout pattern sketch book.  I enhanced my Tulip patterned paper by adding Glitz to the dots printed on the paper, and I stamped my title using Tulip ink and the Old World Alphabet stamps.  Finally, I added a few simple embellishments using brads and a photo turn (on my journaling block) from the Mini-Medley Accents Tulip Collection.

Now, for the giveaway!  Today's prize consists of a couple of "lovey" stamp sets from CTMH, a pink ribbon assortment, more of the "Be Mine" ribbon from American Crafts, and 3 packs of colored chipboard accents form Heidi Swapp. 

Rules for entry are easy and as follows:

• You must be a follower
• Just leave a comment to enter (limit one entry per person, and make sure I have a way to contact you) 
• Entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 4th.

There's still time to enter for the other days' prizes as well!  Just visit my older posts to enter.  Now, it's time to hop along to The Midnight Artist!  Enjoy the rest of the hop.

Giveaway Day 3 & CTMH New Product Blog Hop

Good Morning!  I'm posting today's entry early so I can link up to a Linky Party blog hop.  First up, the layout I created for the blog hop - who says pink is just for girls?

My poor son was forced to endure some odd hand-me-downs as a third child after two girls.  However, he absolutely loved that bright pink Trix yogurt when he was younger, so I chose to play it up with the new Sweetheart papers from Close To My Heart (available February1).  I used black for my page bases to tone down the "girly" factor.  I also added accents from the new Sweetheart Level 2 Assortment of epoxy stickers, which are all black with white polka dots.

Here's the entire list of products I used in this layout:

• X7134B Sweetheart Paper Packet (NEW)
• Z1386 Sweetheart Level 2 Assortment (NEW)
• Z1393 Black Mini-Medley Accents Collection (NEW)
• Z1370 Pink Assortment Buttons (NEW)
• Z1261 Lots of Dots Irresistibles alphabet
• E1009 Building Block Alphabet stamp set
• D1348 Priceless Love stamp set
• Z282 Black Hemp
• Z1096 Neutral Assortment embroidery floss (white)
• Z2193 Cotton Candy stamp pad
• Z2102 Baby Pink Stamp Pad (sponged on journaling paper)
• Z2105 Black stamp pad
• date stamp (office supply), notebook edge punch (SU)

Now, for the giveaway and rules!  Today, I'm adding a little twist.  One commenter will win, PLUS if they tell me who referred them to my blog that person will also win!  Each person will win the Around the Block stamp set, and a paper pack or kit based on what they tell me in their comment.  Here's an image of the stamp set :

Now, here are the rules:

• One entry per person, and please be sure I have a way to contact you.
• You must be a follower.
• In your comment, tell me who referred you (if applicable); if you are mainly a scrapbooker, cardmaker, or other paper crafter; and what themes or subjects you work with most.
• Entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, February 2nd.

Giveaway Day 2 (and a card share)

Good morning!  I've been in a Valentine mood, so today I decided to share a quick card I made using Make The Cut software and some SVG files from Lettering Delights with my Cricut.  As it turns out, today's prize is also Cricut-related... read on!

I made this cute easel card using Basic Grey's Urban Prairie papers and cardstock scraps from my stash.  The border punch was from Stampin' Up and the glittery Twinkle Brads and "bitty" size black brads (on the frog's eyes) are from Close To My Heart.  The pink glitter cardstock is by American Crafts (available at www.cutterscreek.com).

The super cute frog and the sentiment are both from the Frogs and Kisses SVG set at Lettering Delights.  They have a ton of other "love" sets, including printables, and they're all on sale right now.  In fact, they even have a free Monster Love set ($15 value) on their site through February 14th, so be sure to pop over and check them out!

Now, for today's prize!  I am giving away a Nursery Rhymes Cricut cartridge as well as a $10 gift certificate to Lettering Delights!  (Don't have Make The Cut or SCAL?  No worries, they have a ton of fonts and printable graphics also.)  The Nursery Rhymes cartridge has a great font on it - it's really the reason I broke down and bought myself the cartridge too!   Here's a shot of the main images included:

 

Rules for entry are easy and as follows:

• You must be a follower
• Just leave a comment to enter (limit one entry per person, and make sure I have a way to contact you) 
• Entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, February 1st

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Let the Giveaways Begin! (And a Layout Share)

Good morning all!  I've had a productive few days around the house clearing out some outgrown kids' clothes and scheduling the hubby to take our giant paper weight at the electronics recycling drop-off.  And my scrap room looks fabulous again!  (Next on my agenda: going through my own clothes and cleaning out the pantry!)

So, for those of us stuck at home and unable to attend CHA, I thought I'd have some giveaways to make us happy.  Be sure to check back daily through Monday for a new prize every day!  I assembled a fun little assortment of goodies for the first prize.

I'm including a D-sized stamp set from Close To My Heart (Amore), 3 bird silhouette stickers from Heidi Swapp, about 2 yards of "Be Mine" ribbon from American Crafts, a set of 3 ribbon slides from CTMH, and a mini album from CTMH.  Rules for entry are easy and as follows:

• You must be a follower
• Just leave a comment to enter (limit one entry per person, and make sure I have a way to contact you) 
• Entries must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, January 31

OK, on to the layout I wanted to share.  Now that I have a clean scraproom again, I was able to finish a cute layout yesterday afternoon. I have to admit, I started this layout a couple of weeks ago.  Something about it just didn't feel right the way it was, so yesterday afternoon, I wound up peeling a bunch of circles off of my layout and replacing them with different colored circles.  I like the way it looks now MUCH better.

If you think there's something missing you're right.  I have no journaling, other than a date, on this layout.  It is my opinion that some pictures just don't require words - I think these are pretty self-explanatory, lol.  Also, a quick tip on the big butterfly - to get the multiple colors in one step, just ink up your stamp with the lighter color then "roll" the edges of the stamp through the darker stamp pad.  Easy peasy! 

I have to say, I'm really loving this Wings kit!  And for some reason, it just felt right to use butterflies with pictures of bubbles... it's probably just me...  OK, supplies used for this layout are as follows (all supplies are from Close To My Heart unless otherwise specified):

• "Magic" pattern book (Juggling Act, pg 110)
• Wings Paper Pack (See below to read how to save on several new products when you buy the Wings Workshop Kit.)
• Bohemian Alphabet stamp set (title)
• Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Sweet Leaf, Juniper, Vineyard Berry, Black, and Twilight
• Save the Date stamp set (date in circle)
• Just Be You stamp set ("spirograph" looking thing in Sweet Leaf circles)
• Find Your Style, January stamp of the month set (butterfly)
• Opaques Pearl Adhesive Gems
• Sparkles Blue & Green Assortment
• Foam Adhesive Tape
• Cricut cartridges - Opposites Attract for title and George and Basic Shapes for the circles
• I-Top brad maker from Imaginisce

A quick reminder - you have only a few more days to take advantage of the January preview specials (ends 1/31).  Here's the gist: purchase the Wings Workshop Kit at a discounted price of $29.95, and get great discounts on several stamp sets.  Plus, get your stamp of the month set free with a smaller than usual purchase this month.  You can view the complete brochure here for all the details.  If you any questions, just drop me a line through my website & I'll get back to you ASAP!

Don't forget to enter for today's prize, and check back for additional giveaways in daily posts through Monday!

My Word for 2011...

STREAMLINE

Last year, I tried "organize", which didn't really seem to get the job done.  We have a problem with clutter, and I am just as guilty as everyone else in this house.  The problem is, that for me it causes depression (which means I overeat and gain weight, which makes me depressed...), slows me down, and makes me lose my focus.  I swear, I have NO energy anymore.  Plus, it just plain makes me mad!  I am determined to conquer the clutter this year, streamlining our household, change the way I do things, whatever it all entails.  I want to be in a happy place again, and this will help me do it!

I was actually inspired by an article I saw inline at the grocery store.  A woman last year blogged about her attempt to remove 500 pounds of clutter from her home in one year, and she managed to succeed!  I'm currently trying to find a home for a non-working TV, which would probably get me a good chunk of the way there, lol, but I'm not setting a specific number goal.  This is like weight-loss for me -- I'll do better if I keep working on it until I feel better about it and I don't know where that is yet.  I do hope to track some progress, and even share it here, but success is not about a number for me.  And I'm starting with that 50 pound behemoth in my living room -- as soon as I'm done here, I'm off to find a place with electronics collection going on soon, then I'll assign my hubby a honey-do task to get it there!  Because if I have to take it myself, I will be a very unhappy camper.

To this end, I will be blogging "light" for a couple of weeks while I tackle a couple of timely projects around here.  Besides the TV, I'm currently cleaning my craft room, hoping to keep things more organized this time around and actually get some stuff used up!  This week, I hope to tackle the pile of outgrown kids clothes and my closet for the consignment store and/or Goodwill again.  I actually just made two trips to Goodwill last month, but it really wasn't much in the way of size, and I need to make a habit of getting things there more regularly!  So at least until the craft stuff is in a usable condition, you probably won't be seeing any posts of new projects.  Hopefully I'll be back crafting by the end of the week!

But take heart!  I do have plenty of giveaways planned, starting this Thursday.  I can't afford a trip to CHA right now, and I know most of the rest of you can't go either for one reason or another.  So to make us all feel better, I'm giving stuff away!  And as an added benefit to ME, I'm getting a few more things out of my house.  I'm sure my hubby will be happy!

Imaginisce Blog: Release Party for Garden Party: Box of Tags Tutori...

Just wanted to share this beautiful new release from Imaginisce - AND tell you they're having a fabulous giveaway!

Imaginisce Blog: Release Party for Garden Party: Box of Tags Tutori...: "Today we begin shipping our 'sPriNg' collection, Garden Party. Yes, you heard it...spring! I know it's right before winter and there's..."

Huge Giveaway Alert!

You could win an entire store's worth of product! Sassy Designs, Ltd / @sassydesignsltd / sassy-designs.net is having a birthday—win the ENTIRE STORE at paperieboutique.com by @shutterblog

To find out how you can enter, just visit here.

It's a Miracle!

I can't believe I finally used all but the smallest scraps from my Miracle kit. Who would have ever thought that just two pieces of patterned paper would go so far? I did add some cardstock/card bases and embellishments to the mix, but in the end I wound up with the two layouts (4 pages) shown in the kit guide as well as eight cards in various sizes and designs. Not bad for my $5, plus stuff from my enormous stash! I have shown a couple of the cards in previous posts, but I've decided to show everything again here so you can see it all at once, as well as a list of the extra supplies I added. (I haven't journalled my layouts yet, as I really need to have more brain power for that than I have had this week, lol.) I apologize in advance for the long post today!

Here's layout #1 from the kit, and below the same layout with the Flip-Flaps open.


Next is layout #2 from the kit, and below the a closeup of the same layout with the Flip-Flaps open.

What I like most about these layouts is the Irresistible chipboard accents. You can color them any color you desire to match your photos. I used Bubblegum pink in the first layout, and Tulip in the second layout. I wouldn't have thought about using flowers & butterflies for a Thanksgiving layout before, but I think it looks just great!

Now for the cards I made to use up the rest of the paper.

First I made this note card for Mojo Monday. My additions for this were some twill tape and a sentiment stamp, plus I used a border punch.

Next I made this 5"x7" Mom card for the H2H challenge sketch. I added some paper flowers, a corduroy brad, some "gems", alphabet stamps, and foam adhesive. I cut the circles using my Cricut.

Since I made the Mom card, I made a masculine card next, using CTMH's new Clear Cards (available May 1st). I pulled out a discontinued set of farm stamps with a tractor image I just love. I chose to use Barn Red to add in, since my dad is a "crops are green, tractors are red" kind of farmer!
The second picture really shows how these clear cards can give some awesome dimension simply by knowing how to layer. I adhered the Barn Red CS to the back of the card, the green PP to the inside right of the card, the striped PP to the inside left of the card, and the image to the front of the card. Before adhering the image, I used brown Staz-On ink to stamp my barbed wire image once on the inside right (I was covering a seam!), and twice on the outside over the stripes. I cut out my image using an out-of-the-box technique, sponged the edges to imply earth and sky, and adhered it to the front.

I loved making that Clear Card so much, I tried my hand with the other shape in the package, a scalloped circle, and went back to a more feminine look. I again used my Cricut to cut my circles, adding a scrap of Sweet Leaf CS, and some Colonial White CS for both the inside left and right, perfect for note writing. The Sweet Leaf was cut 1/4" larger so it appears as a border around the floral PP when the card is closed. For this card, I added paper flowers & leaves, some "gem" flowers & circles, a piece of light green ribbon, and a sentiment stamp.

Next I made a fun little gift card holder, by elongating a card template in the Wishes book. The button serves as a "handle" to pull the enclosure card out of the pocket. There is plenty of room to write a note on the front, with the gift card attached to the back using just a mini glue dot so it's easy to remove. I added just a couple of cardstock scraps to this, and cut out the baby buggy using my Cricut and the Mother's Day limited edition cartridge.

For my final three note cards, I pulled out some card bases in solid blue and green, and also added some scraps of CS and more light green ribbon. The first two use the same sketch pattern, just different colors.

I first made a monochromatic green card using the back side of the floral PP. I sponged the edges of the PP with Topiary ink, and the Colonial White CS with Bamboo ink. I added some of the remaining brads to my tree for dimension, then assembled everything.

The second card using this sketch also uses May's stamp of the month set, Cherish the Moment.

Finally, I made a patchwork-type card using the last scraps of PP and the last 2 brads from the kit. The stamps are from the July stamp of the month set, Happy Forever. (That little hedgehog looks just as great simply stamped in a neutral color as he would colored!) I also added a piece of light green ribbon.

If you read this far, you deserve a reward! I'm going to give one lucky person their very own Miracle kit! In order to win, you need to 1)be a Follower of my blog and 2)leave a comment by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 29, 2010. I'll select a random winner on Friday morning (4/30).

Good luck!

Happiness is...

an organized pantry!


Some of you know that my resolution for this year is to continue decluttering our home & ORGANIZE! In fact,if I chose a word for this year, organize would be the one. Since I can't work on the room I really want to work on, I started in the pantry.

We are somewhat blessed with a large pantry in our house. I say somewhat because I really wish it wasn't in a shared space with the laundry/mudroom. Plus, I don't care for wire shelving, but this is what the builder installed. I'm too cheap to spend money on new, so I'm working with what I have. I did not buy anything new for this project, but I did buy a few things last year and even before, some of which I'm just finally using! Here's what I have done:

• I had a sheet of plexiglass cut to size for one shelf. I put things like extra spices on this shelf. I can't stand to have things tipping over or falling through.
• I have some thinner plastic sheets that are made for this purpose across 2 shelf sections. This is where my can racks reside so the legs don't fall through the wires.
• I purchased 3 can racks last year from LTD Commodities for about $4 each. They are a little flimsy, but once I figured out how to use the extra supports that came with them, they work pretty well. I use these for items we use frequently, but don't really buy a bunch of at one time. Each section has only one type of thing in it; I even had room to separate my light red and dark red kidney beans!
• I've picked up a couple of wire baskets at a garage sale. I use these on the bottom shelf for snacks & things so the kids can help themselves and I don't have stuff dumped all over the floor.
• Hubby got a great deal on canned veggies around Thanksgiving (like 50 cents a can for name brand - I HATE generic vegetables!), so he bought an entire case of each and brought them home in the boxes - what a smart man! Nothing tips over and they slid right in on the bottom shelf.
• I separated everything by type to make it easier to find. All baking items are on one shelf, pasta & rice on another, etc. Extra cereal & stuff I don't want the kids in go on the top shelf on one side, along with the ice cream maker, coffee maker, & other stuff I rarely use on the other side.

I hope this provides you with a little inspiration! Now I just can't wait for the DVD cabinet to arrive. Then I clear them out of the craft room, remove the shelving they're on to the basement, and take a trip to Ikea for my new workstations. Then, several days of reorg later, I'll be all ready for crops again!

If you've read this far, leave a comment letting me know your resolution/goal this year. A random person will win a prize! I'm not sure what it will be yet; let's see if I have something that will work with goal of the winner! I'll choose a winner on Tuesday, January 12th.

National Papercrafting Month

Did you know that January is National Papercrafting Month? Get a whole month of daily tips and daily giveaways at the official blog site! Close To My Heart is giving away a Felicity kit every day this month. If you'd like to buy one outright, or earn one free with purchase, check out all of the details here.

Don't forget to visit the National Papercrafting Month blog daily for your chance to win!