Merry Christmas!

I am too tired to post TWICE...so go here Jackson Family to see my latest post! lol...I have lots to post but it will all have to wait until JANUARY 2010!! Hope everyone had a very Merry CHRISTmas and will have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Gingerbread Houses and Gum Drops....Magic of Christmas...

While cutting out some Acorns from the Many Thanks stamp set (CTMH) the other night...I thought to myself..."hum, these totally look like a Gum Drop!!" SOOO with that in my brain and the itch to make a Gingerbread house with the "Around the Block" Stamp of the Month. (this month!)..I was sooo sucked in to CREATE this page!!!! I love my gum drops!!!! I embossed them with clear embossing powder mixed with just a bit of prisma glitter (CTMH). I even used the ITTY BITTY acorn stamp to make my tiny gum drops for the windows of my gingerbread house and the the bases of my "candy cane" corners!!! I used a regular ole hole punch and punched out circles for the roof, random triangles for the ends of my candy windows....Cute little Trees from the "DEC Word Puzzle" (soon to be retired get yours NOW!!!) I fun flocked, glittered and glued my way into a frenzy of Christmas Magic!!! We make gingerbread houses every year and I am SO looking forward to filling up these pages with Magical FUN!!! I have MANY Thanks for the WONDERFUL stamp set made for the fall season only to be used as my walk of candy on this SUPER FUN PAGE!! I TOTALLY love the JINGLE paper packet!!!!

^
^
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GUMDROPS!!!! Do them with Chocolate/Cocoa ink and Make CHOCOLATE drops :) LOVE IT!!!!
Remember November is STAMPAGANZA month. (only until Nov 30th!!!)..Buy 2 Stamp sets get 1 free....
Stamp sets used on this layout:
Poster Board (34.95)
Many Thanks (22.95)
Dec Word Puzzle (22.95) - Free....
Jingle Paper Packet (12.95)
Stickease (4.95)
Fun Flock (4.50)
Prizma glitter (4.25)
Liquid Glass (6.95)
Creme Brulee Ribbon (7.95)
Cranberry Buttons/Brads
*PLUS...if you spend a 100.00 you get the Around the Block Stamp set FREE...meaning 2 free stamp sets for this order retail value : 57.90!!!! SWEET!!! and you have LOTS of fun left overs to keep creating MANY MANY MANY more pages/cards/crafts...ect.

Team Jacob..... :)

Okay...I was not the BIGGEST fan of Twilight...the book or the movie....and while away from the movie I believe Robert Pattinson(Edward) to be nice looking...BUT seriously blog lurkers out there....Taylor Lautner (Jacob) WOW...Not only did he do a great job at being Bella's best friend but he is way less weird!!! And gotta LOVE that smile...and I am not even embarrassed about it..even if I am totally way old and married to my own "jacob" (hehe) I LOVED NEW MOON!!! Can't wait for the next one...I fought soooo hard to stay away! Just to get sucked in by the second BOOK! LOL!


















*Jacob...warm blooded and super duper cute!!!! A protector....

*Edward....cold...no blood :)....okay on the cuteness...and a Stalker!!!
*Both together....they Love Bella!

LOL....too funny! Had a super great time I will post pictures from the Midnight premier soon! :) Now gotta get back to scrappin! Love the Jingle paper! :)

A few fun Halloween projects....

Holy Halloween Batman!











I always have a good time with the kiddo's on Halloween. We trick or treat around our AWESOME little neighborhood and the last two years we have a little Halloween Party at our house with the neighborhood kids we trick or treat with. Last year I made the little scare crow costume - valerie wore it this year, and a zorro costume which sadly stayed in the box...Dallin chose to be the mighty hunter! Jentrie was an Angel...she wore her Baptism Dress (i know scary!)...this year I made Peyton's batman costume...I just can not make myself pay all that $ for costumes....I bought black sweat pants at walmart ($4.00) and he had a black turtleneck shirt (yay) and it was $5.00 for the material for the cape (double sided-double the fun!, the iron on pellon, and the fun foam for the mask....lol...$9.00 A costume that he will WEAR OUT!!! (he stayed home from church today with dad and put his costume back on after his bath...and went to bed with it still on...hum...I wonder if I will be able to wash it tomorrow! lol! I had fun making it!

I also played with MORE fondant! I had so much fun making this Pumpkin Candy Bucket Cake!!!! I saw the idea in a woman's day magazine. The cake is TWO bunt cakes bottoms together (with chocolate cream cheese frosting as a filling..yum) I also cut out the face with fondant. Then covered the pumpkin with orange colored sugar, a pipe cleaner for the handle, and CANDY...the outer candies have tooth picks in them so the inner candy would stay, same with the treats along the bottom...the kids loved it and I was so happy I made it...instead of cutting out the idea and putting in my "someday I am going to do this...." file! lo! Next year I want to do a Witch Calderon...only were the candy is do bugs, spiders, worms..eyeballs and in the very middle an empty veggie can (hidden) for some dry ice! cool huh! already can't wait! :) Lots of fun pictures to SCRAP!!! Happy Halloween!

Home Sweet Home....

Here is a layout I accomplished last week for club.....( i think i am getting my weeks confused! LOL!) anyway, our CTMH play group was last THURSDAY (the 22nd) and this is one of the pages I had finished to show for Novembers play group. I love the layout, I love the colors, I love the leaves!!! I love it! Now...This layout idea was found on Karen's blog here. Karen did this layout with the Grace paper...which I loved. But to make it my own...this is what I came up with! Thanks Karen for the inspiration of this layout! LOOOOVE it! I have a few more I need to post, but I have yet to take their picture :) Happy Scrappin & Stampin'!!!

Items Used:

• Sweethome WSOTG
• Many Thanks stamp set (love it....)
• Dimensional Elements Organic (covered)*
• Dimensional Elements Fresh Shapes
• Cocoa Ribbon*
• Color Ready Alphabet Oxford

*leftover from the Twitterpated WSOTG kit!!!

Happy Scrappin & Stampin! :)

My Business of last week....

She's 8!!! FINALLY :)




















I took the blogging break due to my Daughter Jentrie's Birthday/Baptism Week.....which turned out fabulous! :) Here are a few pictures of WHAT I was up to the week of the 14th! I managed to make her dress and her cake. I usually always make my kids a birthday cake...but this was the VERY first time using rolled fondant....SO FUN! loved it!!!! and it was YUMMY! Thanks to my friend Hope for the fabulous recipe! and hints! It was also my FIRST time in making a dress that had a LINING in it! I usually do easy things like skirts...no zipper, no buttons...this time, however....we had to do a lining and a ZIPPER! sheesh...but it worked and she looks BEAUTIFUL!!! (if I don't say so myself!!) In honor of FINALLY turning 8, Jen was able to FINALLY get her ears pierced...(that was the deal with dad) thanks Camille for sharing the moment with us!!!




It was a great week (busy) and a wonderful day! My little girl was soo excited and happy! The spirit in the room was fabulous! It was fun to share her excitement with our family and friends who were able to join us that day! :) Thanks everyone!





Could NOT get a serious picture out of this child! lol!...Baptism dinner at the Park :)





















Sparkly ears!

Servin Up a DARLING Birthday Party IDEA!!!!

In my last post I talked about the Birthday GIFT idea...in this post it is the PARTY favor!!! SUCH a cute idea...and my daughter LOVED it! She went to a COOKING party! How cute is that! The cute mom made each one of the girls a darling apron made out of a hankie (i need to get a picture of it) and then the girls each made a cook book out of paper bags! HOW CUTE are THEY!

















Each girl received paper and accessories to decorate their own cookbook along with 6 recipes to put in it.
















THEN extra paper to put in side the openings! TOO CUTE! Jen had a blast and is CHOPPING at the BIT to make something :)











The one little funny...When it comes to MY pages I really, really REALLY don't like glue sticks...this is NOT a secret...if you have EVER scrapped with me, you will know I think they are evil! lol!....well, my friend (the mom of this clever party) had to tell me about Jentrie's comment about the glue sticks.... "My mom would really hate these glue sticks....they are crap!" (apparently they weren't sticking the glitter paper) LOL....My friend laughed and said "you are right they aren't very good..." sheesh! lol! I have since had a talk about keep certian opinions to ourselves! lol!.... ANYWAY...Love this idea! What a fun idea for mom's and daughters, grandma's and granddaughters...oh the possibilities! :)

Happy Scrappin' and Stampin' :)

Birthday Gift Idea's......

My 8 year old had TWO birthday parties last saturday....sheesh...TWO!!! I am a SAHM and my husband is a High School Teacher...we get paid ONCE a month and it was a BUSY month...nearing the END of the month, so what is left of my 'budget $' I really didn't want to spend on friend parties (over all it was the 4th one in that week!!!!) SO, I have a TON of memo notebooks on hand and found MONTHS ago a cute little gift idea for the mini clip board. They took me aprox. 1 hour per set to make...SO much FUN! The covered notebooks quickly became a darling journal (the first one was with same paper...just done differently...but I was late so I didn't get a picture of it...) The idea for the Journal came from a scrap retreat I attended about 5ish years ago (I think...Tammy can you remember when we did these? Anyone?) Anyway...just measure the parts you want covered, cut out your paper (back is covered but not the inside) then decorate as desired....the "K" is the inital of the friend who recieved this gift. I use modge podge to glue everything down and my fun little sanding block (ctmh) to clean up the edges before inking. As for the cute little clip board (I do NOT remember where I found this idea. I have seen it many times over the last year of my blog lurking. Because I don't remember where I found the Idea i just want to make it clear...it isn't MINE!) By using a 4x4 square of chip board, modge podge and paper WHALA...you have a fun little gift! For the clip I meausured it, cut my peice of paper (i believe it is 1" x 2 1/2", but don't take my word for it...take a piece of ribbon and measure it then cut your paper) I then modge podged the ribbon to the clip and tied a piece of ribbon around the top (lifting one clip so it stays up...). The clip board will hold half of a regular stack of sticky notes, of which I stamped a little design on random pages and left a Birthday message...(beats a card...ran out of time! lol!). On this set I used the "Out West" stamp set (CTMH). All items are CTMH product (except for the MODGE PODGE! lol!)

Items Used:
*paper from "Tickled Pink" special
*Cocoa and Tulip ribbon
*Out West Stamp Set
*Big Blooms Flower (cut in half)
*Twilight covered brad
FUN! FUN!

IT'S HERE!!!! Buy 2 Stamp Sets....Get 1 FREE!!!

Stampaganza 2009




















Stamp lovers rejoice! We are making it easy to build your stamp collection and your business! Cardmakers and scrapbookers alike will love this opportunity to earn free stamps during our November campaign.

From November 3–30, 2009, customers and Consultants who purchase any two stamp sets (sizes A, B, C, D, and/or E only) at full retail price will receive a third stamp set of their choice FREE (of equal or lesser value for your entire order)

Stamp sets available for FREE include: A, B, C, and D-size sets only. E-size, customizable (K), Stamp of the Month, and Art & Soul® sets are not available as the free set. Stamps that do not qualify toward a qualifying purchase include Stamp of the Month, Art & Soul, Workshops on the Go™, and customized (K) stamps.

Think Christmas GIFTS!!! Whew WHOO!!!

Stake Conf. Couples Session....PLEASE Come...

those of you local ladies who follow my CTMH blog more than my family blog...please check out the newest post on the Couples Session of Stake Conference. This will be a great "date" night for ALL married or soon to be married couples!!!

I lied.....blog lurking and found BLOG CANDY.....

I had said I was taking a break...but then decided to do some lurking! On one of my most FAVORITE blogs I found that Tresa had posted some blog candy....how cute is this 12 x 12 canvas! I so would NOT have ever thought to do this! Check it out here!

Tresa is AMAZING and I love all her work!

Gotta take a break....

K...I have stuff I really need to finish and post but I gotta take a break...you see my little girl turns 8 next week and on Saturday she will be getting Baptized! I am trying to get her a dress made and her cake and ....lol...stuff to get done, house to be cleaned that kind of stuff. SO.. bare with me while I take a break to finish some really important things! I will be back posting as soon as I get this dress DONE! My goal for all of TOMORROW! wish me LUCK!

"I'll be back..." (it is really late and I am really tired....was up late last night with a coughing child...bare with me! haha)

Sneak Peak... "Sweet Home" WSOTG

This is a cute little 6x6 accordion album using the "Sweet Home" WSOTG Best packet....love it!
I will show this kit in Oct. at club and hopefully post more before we leave for UEA weekend!


Front...










Inside front








inside back








Back
















All products are from CTMH:

Sweet Home WSOTG Best Kit....
Framed Fun Dimensional Elements
6"x6" Memory Show case Album


FUN!!!

Happy Scrappin' and Stampin'

Twitterpated!

One of the Layouts that we will do at club...


















Card options....
















If you are LOVING this paper and all that comes with...check the info here...

SO much fun!

Happy Scrappin' and Stampin' :)

Everyday Celebration Card Kit...get yours FREE before the 30th of September....

I love this "Everyday Celebration" Card Kit! It makes 16 cards, it comes with 16 card bases (pre-cut), 16 envelopes, 4 sheets (two patterns double sided back ground and texture paper), 2 sheets card stock (1 dutch blue, 1 colonal white) ink, embellishments, ribbon, 3-d square pop ups, sponge, Card Instructions, D-Size Everyday Celebration STAMP Set...that is SOOOOOO cute! This fun stamp set came together super fast (seriously...cuting, stamping and putting together was aprox 3 hours....not bad! it takes me that long to pick out a card! :) And I used the stamp set with different paper, the stamp of the month "Treasures" and made a few more super cute cards! Wha Whoo...get your card kit now...only available until Sept. 30th. $39.95 if you just want to buy it out right or FREE with $60.00 purchase of CTMH Stamp Sets! WAY cool! and if you order the September WSOTG Best Kit for $40.65 you will get the Fabulous "Treasures" stamp set for free TOO! that is over $60.00 in free product!





I found this super cute card kit on Tresa Blacks blog...click here for instructions to make your own...love this I have made many!!! Holds at least 8 cards and 8 envelopes! WHAT a great GIFT!!!

LOVE IT!!!

I had sooo many scraps leftover, I really debated... do I do a scrapbook page or should I see how for I could stretch my scraps! :) I know I am goof! oh well....SO with a few more sheets of Colonial White Cardstock I made the Card Holders and a cute little flip flap album....SO fun!....on the Flip Flap Album, I used a whole package of flip flaps and made a little pocket on the opening page for tags and notes...I will post a finished product (when I get that done!) lol! Had so much fun creating with this paper!

Happy Scrappin' and Stampin' (if you want to place an order...leave me a message...goes straight to my email!)

Remembering.....

I didn't lose someone I love, I didn't know anyone who did....
But I will not ever forget the way I felt that day......where I
was, what I was doing.... I was 8 months pregnant with
my 2nd child....My then 1 1/2 year old had, had a rough night
and so I had ended up in bed with him...Rhett came screaming into the family room, turning on the T.V. adamant that we we under attack...and right he was! Like many Americans, I was GLUED to my TV for days in hopes they would find survivors....there was so much sadness...so many questions....so many tears for people I didn't know but ached for....for a minute we as Americans were united....that now I feel has been lost :( The war on Terror is a noble cause...I believe in it...I hate it...but I believe in it. Many of our young men and women joined the United Forces to fight the big fight...my brother being one of them. He is currently home and has been for 18 months...I am so proud of him and the sacrifices he has made to serve. I do however, have 1 cousin serving in Afghanistan, and another on his way as an Independent Worker (organizes city councils and stuff!) So much has happened the last 8 years...life goes on....but I will not ever forget that day! May God be with those of you who were there and felt ever brick fall. Hang your flag America in Honor of those from 9-11-01 "Attack on America"......

I am "Twitterpated" over "TWITTERPATED!"....

*(the art work done here is not mine...it is art work done by CTMH ~as soon as I finish my pages I will post them....but these are examples of the art work in the Kit)
The New WSOTG (click here to print off your own flyer!)....I LOVE IT!!! I love everything about it...I love that the Direction guide (all in color) gives you fabulous directions to make putting together 2 / 4-page layouts and 6 cards....SO COOL! The directions for 1 layout and 3 card aren't in the cutting guide..(just the idea)....BUT you can get those directions out of the Imagine and Wishes layout and card idea books! and super fast and easy! The kit is $29.95 and includes

The cute B-size stamp set "Hello There"

• My Reflections Twitterpated level II paper packet
• My Acrylix Hello There Stamp Set (exclusive to this packet only)
• Designer Ribbon Rounds Chocolate collection
• Workshop Guide

BUT...the BEST option is to add the following items:

• Dimensional Elements In Color - Organic (new)
• Natural Hemp
  
• Brads Basic Assortment (new)
  

Which is only $10.70 more....but you will use them and everything you need is right there..grab your inks, blocks, cutters and adhesive and you can put your WHOLE kit together in a day! SOO awesome! (sorry the stamp set in this kit does not work toward the Celebrations Card Kit... :( )
SOOO...to get your FREE STAMP of the MONTH and the CELEBRATION'S Card Kit this is what you can do:

• Buy the Best WSOTG for 40.65
• $60.00 in stamp sets (includes A, B, C, D and E size stamps sets only)
• the sub total is $100.65 (yay) then you get the DARLING SOTM and the Card Kit FREE...(retail value of $62.90) SOO COOL!

FREE ITEMS: (with $100.00 order!)
Sept Stamp of the Month: Treasures
(way cuter in person...I will hopefully get some cards made
soon and post!) retail Value: $22.95


"Delight in the Everyday!" Celebrations Card Kit, I have made my cards and they went together really quick! (about 3 hours if you have NO interruptions!) lol! at my house almost near impossible unless my husband takes the kids and goes to grandmas! :) But sooo cute! And you get a darling
D-size stamp set "Everyday Celebrations" ($22.95), all the paper needed for the cards (plus leftovers!), 1x1 chocolate and dutch blue ink squares, Chocolate Mini Medly Accents Kit, Ribbon, 50 3-D foam squares, a sponge for inking and a color step by step instruction brochure! SO COOL! (retail value $39.95)





The "Everyday Celebrations" stamp set

IT'S Officially HERE!...NEW FALL CATOLOG!

Click here to view the new FALL Catalog from CTMH! LOVE IT!! I am soo excited for all the NEW things in this Idea Catalog! Hope you are too! Featuring this month for the WSOTG is "Twitterpated" (more info. to come soon...need to finish getting kids off to school!)

Happy Shopping!

NATIONAL STAMPING MONTH!!!

September is National Stamping Month! To celebrate, Close to My Heart is giving you three ways to get this free Everyday Celebration card kit for making 16 beautiful cards!

For My Customers:
Dates: August 18–September 30, 2009
You may purchase the Everyday Celebration card kit outright for $39.95 (item number CC1006B) or you may get one card kit for FREE with a minimum purchase of $60 in stamp sets (includes A, B, C, D, and E-size; excludes Stamp of the Month, Art & Soul, and K-size custom stamp sets). (Item number CC1006C). There’s also an exciting daily drawing for a FREE card kit thru CTMH! YAY!

For My Hostesses:
Dates: September 1–30, 2009
When you set up a Home Gathering with me, as hostess, you will receive the Everyday Celebration kit for FREE (Item number CC1006D) if your Home Gathering sales total $400.

For New Consultants:
Dates: September 1–30, 2009
When you join my team as a new consultant between September 1–30, you will receive the Everyday Celebration kit FREE as part of your New Consultant Kit!

Don’t miss out on this great deal–click here to learn more!

Contact me today to place your order (leave me a message...it goes straight to my email!) and your card kit will ship directly to your front door! Or book/Host a party and get one FREE with a $400.00 sales order!

Celebrate everyday with Close To My Heart,

Tinkerin' WSOTG....

Tinkerin' WSOTG Kit to order this month and put together next month...Such fun bright paper! I love the "gears"!

The first layout is out of the Summer Idea Catalog right on the 'Tinkerin' page! So fast and easy to put together!








2nd layout idea came from Inspired Blueprints which is a blog that posts layout ideas...(stole from Karen's Blog...which I LOVE! Thanks Karen!)

I thought it worked up really well and SUPER fast! This is sketch #26. I found this darling poem about "laughing" from Inspirational Short Stories, under positive Laughter Quotes. I am a collector of quotes and poems and things... and this page reminded me of fun, which then leads to smiling...which leads to laughing and wallah! :) The poem goes like this:

"A smile starts on the lips,
A grin spreads to the eyes,
A chuckle comes from the belly,
But a good laugh bursts forth from the soul
overflows, and bubbles all around"

When I get my pictures on this layout, on the first page, I am going to use chip board letters that say "laugh"...but I want my pictures to be underneath...and sooooo......

Layout 3, kindof came from CTMH only I changed it up a bit....added "Summer" using the Essential Alphabet and "fun" using the new (well..in the summer catalog new) Field Trip Alphabet.


Happy Scrappin' and Stampin'!

FOUR more days

until the release of the NEW FALL CATALOG! YAY! Can't wait..next tuesday you will be able to view the catalog online or call me for one of your VERY OWN!!! :)

THANK YOU Lynnette

Thank You Lynnette for this BFF Award! I am always excited when someone thinks my blog deserves an award. And this is a FIRST for me! So excited! The Idyllhours Blog Award is the BFF Award (Blogger's Favorite Friend). THANK YOU!!!!

The rules of this award are:
~Accept the award by commenting on the blog of the person that gave it to you.
~Pass it on to five others.
~Reveal 5 things you enjoy doing

The five people I have chosen to award this BFF to are: Click on their names to lurk on your own! :)
Kim: a friend from home....so much fun!
Holly: (sweetapple studios...she is amazing!)
Lisa: (another blog I lurk from Karen's blog...fabulous!)
Callie: (sorry it is a private blog...but still one of my favorites :)
Vicki: (blog lurk from Karen's blog all the time...awesome!)

1. I love being with my hubby and my kids! Check out my family blog
2. I love taking pictures!!! of my kids! my hot hubby! football practice, other family members, you name it ~ I will be happy to snap it! :)
3. Spending time with my FAMILY (you know, parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, ect..)
4. SCRAPBOOKING...(like you couldn't tell :)
5. Hanging out with the girls...really between Church, CTMH club...I have the greatest friends ever!