Art

Stumbled upon this video at a teaching site. Thought it was so cool. Enjoy!

Right now...

I am inspired by Ali Edward's blog post on June 21st. I think it is a neat way to stop and journal the NOW. I think I might use it as a jump start for a scrapbook layout.

Downstairs...Jon is awaiting a late night conference call and the children are sleeping soundly in their beds.

I am thinking...about taking an online scrapbooking class. I am inspired by Ali Edward's upcoming Yesterday and Today class through Big Picture Scrapbooking, as well as Cathy Zielske's Me: The Abridged Version.

I am thankful for... two amazing vacations this summer...one in Maine and one in Florida. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed lots of quality family time.

In the kitchen...the dinner dishes are drying and the leftover steak tips, couscous and grilled vegetables are cooling so they may be put in the fridge.

I am wearing...shorts, a pink polo and no shoes.

I am creating...a baby album for a friend whose shower is this weekend. Better get cracking!

I am going...to watch Leverage when Jon is finished with his call. Love the DVR.

I am reading...(I will be reading) "Julie & Julia" as I just finished "Fortune's Rocks" by Anita Shreve.

I am hoping...to learn how to use my new camera on manual instead of the automatic settings. I need to take a class. Considering Karen Russell's online class called The Photographer's Workshop.

I am hearing...Taylor Swift's Fearless CD (when did I get a teenager) through Caitlin's monitor and the Music Together CD through Jack's monitor, but no little voices. ; )

I am proud...of my children and their new milestones. Jack is now swimming with a vest but no adult support. The boy can kick and could very well pass Caitlin in swim lessons. Caitlin is starting to read, which completely amazes me as does her ability to sing every Taylor Swift song word for word.

Around the house...are reminents of Jack's crib waiting for me to find the right storage spot for them as he is now in a big boy bed. (sigh!) I will never tire of hearing him say "my big boy bed".

A few plans for the rest of the week...trip to the playground, Davis Farmland, a baby shower and a pizza party with friends.

Get your own "list" started. I would love to hear what is happening at your house right now.

I'd like to leave you with a few other things that have inspired me:

• Check out Ali's Tuesday Tutorials posts. I especially enjoyed Cathy Zielske's tutorial on July 14th. I like her style and loved how she walked through creating a photo collage on PhotoShop.
• Nichol Magouirk recently posted a video tutorial on a layout she created using Close to My Heart's Moon Doggie paper and our Memory Protector Flip Flaps. I love her layout.
• Wishing I saw this post before I purchased Jack's big-boy-bed. How cool is that bed? Loving these organizational charts. How I love lists!

Specials and Events

There is so much going on at Close to My Heart that I don't know where to begin. Read on for all the excitement...

1. The Fall/Winter 2009 Idea Book goes live on September 1st. I have gotten a peak at it and am in love with many of the new products. Aside from the beautiful new papers and stamps, I think some of the new tools and accessories are awesome!

I love the clean, finished look of our post-bound albums, but we all know what a pain it is to unscrew the posts. Close to My Heart has developed a system called Snapease to make it easier to add new pages to your albums. All of the new My Legacy and Leather albums will come with the Snapease system. You can also buy the system to convert your current albums. So cool!

Wishes Card Confidence Program is one of the new "How-To" books by Jeanette Lynton. One really cool feature of the book is is comes with a template CD to make cutting even easier and more precise. It includes all new patterns and features 3 unique card workshops with instructions and cutting diagrams to make cards in bulk.

When I first started scrapbooking, I used a lot of eyelets in my pages. I love the look of them - they are practical as well as appealing. I just hated the noise the hammer created especially because I found my self scrapbooking during naptime and bedtime. Close to My Heart's new Soft Set eyelet tool and eyelets offer a new and improved (quieter and easier) way of adding eyelets to artwork. Check out the new tools in our Fall/Winter 2009 Idea Book.

2. Hurry to take advantage of the specials going on beginning this month.

Thanks-a-bration! From August 3–17, if you place a minimum order of $100, you will be rewarded with a number of extra perks! You’ll receive the August Stamp of the Month for FREE as well as a current, hand-selected My Reflections® Level 2 paper packet (a total retail value of $39.90)! Plus, CTMH will cover tax and shipping/handling on BOTH of these free products, saving you even more! Spread the word quickly, because this Thanks-a-bration campaign only lasts for 15 days!

National Stamping Month! September is National Stamping Month and CTMH is celebrating early and in a big way, with something for everyone! Between August 18–September 30 when you purchase a minimum of $60 in stamp sets (A, B, C, D, and E-size; some exclusions apply), you’ll receive a FREE Everyday Celebration card kit containing materials to handcraft 16 exquisite cards. Join the stamping festivities by making a qualifying purchase, or buy the kit outright for just $39.95. Hostesses and new Consultants can also get the card kit free during September. We’re also holding a drawing where we’ll give away an Everyday Celebration card kit each day in September. Check it out at my website beginning August 18th!

3. New Workshops. There are several new workshops using papers and accessorites from the Fall/Winter 2009 Idea Book. I love the new flyers showing what is included in the workshop price. Check out all the new workshops for scrapbookers and cardmakers.


Twitterpated Scrapbooking Flyer

Twitterpated Cardmaking Flyer

Grace Scrapbooking Flyer

Grace Cardmaking Flyer

Jingle Scrapbooking Flyer

Jingle Cardmaking Flyer

Sweethome Scrapbooking Flyer

Sweethome Cardmaking Flyer

4. In order to have the Fall/Winter 2009 catalogs available for September 1st, I need to place my order. I am trying to better guage how many to order. I would like to schedule my Home Gatherings for September now so I know how many catalogs to order. Please email me if you would like to host a Home Gathering or Workshop at your home. My schedule is flexible, but email fast to get your first choice.

Some Layouts

I carved out some time for myself this week to work on some of my layouts. Here are two of the pages I completed. I am very happy with the way they both came out. Unfortunately, the lack of sun and, therefore natural light, makes it hard to get a good photo. Hope these give you a good idea.

I saw this layout in CK - March 2009 and scraplifted it using CTMH's Emporium paper.

This is my favorite of the two layouts. I love the white dots the best. They were so easy to do. I used a piece of Knitting (?) material found at any craft store. The sheets are about $0.70 and I just cut out a small section of it. I dipped my pencil tip in acrylic paint and made a dot in every hole across the row. Love the effect it created.

Journaling reads, "It was tough for Mommy and Daddy to make the decision to put you in a cast or “sleeve” as you called it. You are an active little girl and with summer beginning, we didn’t want to slow you down. Once the cast was on, you never complained and went about your days as if nothing had changed.

One morning, a few weeks after your cast was removed, I was getting ready. You came to me and asked for masking tape, which I happily gave you. Later, I found you watching TV on my bed. You had wrapped your baby’s arm and leg in tape and were lovingly comforting her. You looked up at me sweetly and told me she had gotten hurt and needed a sleeve. ~ Picture taken July 9, 2007"

Baby Gifts

I have been preparing baby gifts for two dear friends of ours. As a mother of two, I have collected quite a libary of children's songs in iTunes. As part of the gifts I give, I often include a mix CD filled with our favorite songs (songs the children love and I can stand listening to over and over and over again). I recently found the most beautiful CD cases on etsy from a seller called QTCreations. I purchased two from her and filled them with mix CDs for our friends.


Here is one of the cases I purchased. Isn't is adorable?





The inside with CDs and playlists. Here are two of the playlists I created:








If you are looking for a baby gift, consider a CD case or one of these cute prints also found on etsy.


This one is from khamm75

Love this print from Penny People

Another sweet one from L.J ink

Enjoy these baby inspirations!

Ba's Tribute Album, part II

For some reason, blogger won't let me include text with the embedded object in the next post. Here is what I wanted to write in the post below.

This is another one of my "labor of loves" that has kept me from my scrapbooking pages. My grandfather, Ba, has always been a big part of my life. It has been hard to watch him deal with so many changes in his life...the loss of my grandmother, moving to assisted living and the loss of some of his memories.

We gave him a digital picture frame this fall and he loved it! I decided to make an album for him as a tribute. I did it through Shutterfly because the old pictures were too precious to me to tape to a page in a book. The album selections at Shutterfly are impressive as well. (I have often thought this one would be a neat gift for a young child because they love to look at pictures of themselves. It would be cool for a high school graduate going off to college as well.)

Scanning over 250 pictures into the computer and collecting family stories and histories has been time consuming, but well worth it. I can't wait to give him this album.

Ba Tribute Album

Click here to view this photo book larger