CTMH Altered Composition Book, Coaster Post-it Holder, Happy Endings stamp set

About a year and a half ago a good friend invited me to a Close to my Heart gathering at her house. My youngest son had recently been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor and I was looking for a way of coping with the stress and uncertainty upon us. I knew I wanted to start scrapbooking so I could document our lives and really capture the essence of what makes my family unique - the love my kids have for eachother, what good friends they are to each other, the fun we all have together as a family and in general the deep unconditional love I have for my mad monkeys. Long story short - I fell in love with Close to my Heart products and their how-to books and philosophy. A couple of months later I became a consultant and I've been having fun and relieving stress ever since! There are three things in life that keep me sane - friends and family, paper crafting and Tae-Kwon-Do (terrific stress reliever).

So anyways, this friend who started me on my journey with CTMH has a daughter turning 7 and asked me to come to the party and lead a group of 7 year old girls through a couple of projects. Yes, these are all simple projects - I have a 7 year old so I know what their attention spans are like!

I've pre-embossed the girls names on their journals and I'll let them stamp as many butterflies as they want on the front and back covers. This one was done by my 13 year old - I think she liked that blue color - what do you think?










Then we'll do the frog and heart treat bag (kind of a princess theme going here) using the Happy Endings stamp set from CTMH. I've pre-made the tags so they can write their names on them to keep track of their stuff.




















After that we'll do the super simple post-it holder using the Daydream Level 2 paper pack from CTMH (covered coaster with a clippy) and then a very simple book mark using that terrific stamp set again. My daughter is totally out of the little girl princess stuff but I couldn't resist getting this too-cute stamp set. It was the frogs....I have a thing for really cute frogs.... I'll be curious to see how long these projects take. I have about a hour for the paper crafting part. Who thinks I'll only be getting through half the projects????





One of the things I adore about stamping is that you can use your stamps for so many different things! Its not just about layouts and cards - its about lunch bags and candles, journal covers, post it holders, pencil cups, etc. I have to admit I am nuts about our stamps and THANK GOODNESS they are acrylix on the carrier sheets. Because of this I can store my 300+ stamp sets in two 8" wide and 40" high towers instead of an entire bookcase. Yes, I am totally addicted to CTMH stamps. I guess I'll have to join a 12x12 program (budum-bum-bah!)

Products Used: Paper: White Daisy Cardstock, Hollyhock Cardstock, Daydream Level 2 Paper Pack
Stamps: Happy Endings, Butterfly Wings (March SOTM)
Inks: Cocoa, Blush, Topiary, Sweet Leaf, Heavenly Blue, Spring Iris
Other: Colored Pencils, Hollyhock RicRac (from Boom Di Ada Creative Basics Kit), White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon, Gold Embossing Powder
Non-CTMH: Coasters, White lunch bags

CTMH Paper Garden Level 1 and Level 2 Layout with Butterfly Wings Stamp

Here is a sweet Easter layout I made with a bunch of terrific women at an all day crop fundraiser for a local Girl Scout troop. I had a terrific time meeting a bunch of women who enjoy paper crafting AND supporting a good cause! My good friend Kimberly H. came with me - because, well - SHE ROCKS! Kimberly is the kind of friend you can call up and ask "will you do this with me" and she just says YES. She is definitely one of my blessings.
This layout uses Paper Garden from Close to my Heart - both Level 1 and Level 2. Level 1 is the left side - it means the page with the exception of the corners and journaling tag is pre-printed. We used the Journaling Jots stamp for the tag along with second generation stamping with the butterfly. The right side is a Level 2 page (cut paper from a Level 2 kit) and we used Eastertime stamp set and the March Stamp of the Month Butterfly Wings. I love the variety of butterflies in that set!

Products used: Paper: Paper Garden Level 1 (left page), Paper Garden Level 2
Stamps: Journaling Jots, Eastertime, Butterfly Wings March SOTM
Ink: Blush, Petal, Sweet Leaf
Other: Colonial White Grosgrain Ribbon, Copper Brads