Seaside for Spring Break!

Greetings from spring break!  I used the Seaside Paper Packet from Close to My Heart to scrap some pics from spring breaks past...don't judge, I have LOTS of years to catch up on!  ;)

The Brown and Tan Glitter Paper sure looks GREAT with this color combo...and the zip strips from the pattern papers make FANTASTIC journaling strips!

That's my shadow at the bottom, not a smudge, lol...

I used Desert Sand CS and Ink to create this complementary layout.  The seashell images are found on the Treasured Friendship My Acrylix stamp set, and the little antiqued gold shapes are in the Seaside Assortment.  

LOVE this paper for my beach pics...stick around all week for more!  :)

Shop my Mystery Hostess Giveaway and win FREE CTMH products!!!

Picture My Life in Hopscotch

Here is another week of my life in pictures this year...thanks to the super quick and easy Picture My Life system of scrapbooking, my pics are all scrapped so far in 2015.

I love mixing it up for these pocket pages!  I took a pic of an old pic that I printed out many years ago...a great way to preserve a fading memory!  How many of you have pictures that are fading in a frame from years ago that you have no idea where the NEGATIVES are stored...or if they are on a ZIP disc somewhere???  Yeah, admit it! This is one of my big motivations to get my pics in albums--technology is in constant motion whether we like it or not.  Scrapbooks will be there to flip open at any time!  :)

I have been eying these hexagons from the Happy Hexagon Hostess My Acrylix set for a long time, and I finally had the page to use them...

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, you know I love me some sparkle in my creations, and I try my best to keep on sparkling no matter what...which is where my CTMH glitter paper really comes in handy!  My friend, Jayma, shared this little FB post on my wall at the end of January, and I just loved it so much, I had to print it out for my album!  :)  Thanks, Jayma!

Unfortunately, the Hopscotch Kit that I used for these is leaving our warehouses as soon as they run out, so get your hands on them if you like them...they are becoming some of my favorite PML cards!  Check these out...

Don't wait too long to get yours!  :)

Join my team HERE!

Using Negative Cricut Cuts on Your Scrapbook Pages

Goooooooood MORNING!  I am extremely upbeat and chipper today!  Don't hold it against me because I am typing this on Sunday, not Monday, lol!  ;)

Anyway, I showed my Facebook fans a sneaky peek of this fantastically easy layout that I made by using the part of my Cricut cut that I would normally discard--the negative.  Follow me on Facebook HERE to see more sneak peeks like this one.

I cut out a bunch of circles with my Cricut and was left with this...

I am a keeper, let me tell you...so as I was tossing it out, that little voice popped out and whispered, KEEP IT!  Use it!  I have learned to listen to that little voice, my friends!  ;)

I carefully evened up all the edges, and used it to make a cute little beach layout with the Seaside Paper Packet and the Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Collection...

Here comes that gold polka-dot vellum from the retired Free to Be Me Kit...I am down to just a little bit left, gasp!

This is what the White Daisy CS looked like on the back as I was using my ATG to adhere the little squares of paper and the pics...

It was really easy, and I think it makes a BIG statement! 

Year Noted is available in January ONLY!

Available to help support Operation Smile through March!

Stamp of the Month for January ONLY! 

A Lawn Fawn Shaker Card

Hello my fellow paper addicts lovers! 

I had a special card to make for a special Grandmother this weekend.  Her 91 year old body is suddenly acting its age, and she could use a smile or two.  I decided it was time to leap into the world of shaker cards for this one!

I love finally digging into my acetate packaging stash from all those cricut cartridges I have collected!  ;)  I used the Lawn Fawn Into the Woods Pattern Papers and Sequin Mix from last fall, Get Well Soon stamps and dies, You're a Hoot stamps and dies, and my freebie "sending hugs" sentient.  The jar dies are from PS, and the inks, CS, and Glitter Paper are all Close to My Heart.  

I  think the little leaves in the shaker jar are the perfect addition for this season.  The little band-aids were the perfect size to add!  Yay! 

Paper-piecing is just what the doctor ordered to dress up this little birdie...

I used my thin foam tape for this one, but will try the thicker version next time to get a little more "shake" to my shaker!  ;)   Either way, I am pretty sure Grandma will be smiling soon! 

Framed Newspaper Article with the Timberline Workshop on the Go

Hi there! 

Another crazy summer day = a short but sweet blog post! 

I framed a couple of newspaper articles for my hubs to give his high school track girls at the end of the season this year.  When he first asked me to do it, I was a bit concerned that I didn't have any "track" themed stamps--but I soon realized I DID!  The Timberline Workshop on the Go Scrapbooking Kit to the rescue!  :)

I backed the articles with Brown Glitter Paper because, well, it IS a girl thing!  I love how it contrasts the newspaper print!  

The footprints and sentiments in the stamp set were just perfect!  I also used an arrow that comes with the Cricut Artbooking Collection.

 Yep, Making Tracks!  Couldn't get any more perfect than that!  :)

Hope this give you some useful tips and ideas for your own projects! 

You can shop 24/7 on my website at mimimyselfandi.ctmh.com!  :)

Counting Down to Graduation with Ariana and Artbooking

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday celebrating a special mother in your life.  Time to turn things over to celebrating a fabulous daughter in my life this week!  My oldest is graduating, and it totally sneaked up on me...

Reminiscing is something that I can easily do with this sweet mini-album I made with my Cricut Artbooking Cartridge on my Expression Machine.  Here are a few more looks inside!

I don't think the Polaroid trend will ever leave my pages...I just love the look!  This particular cut is a great way to use the Close to My Heart Glitter Paper.  Again, one of my go-to products, I just love how these Marquee White Enamel Shapes POP off the Outdoor Denim CS.

I completely adore this combination of stripes and floral in the Ariana Paper Packet!

The beautiful patterns and blooms are wonderful to use in conjunction with vellum and sparkles to make it even more feminine.  I added these Bitty Sparkles to the chipboard flower from the Ariana Complements--see what a difference just a little bit of embellishment can make?  The tiny little bows in the Ariana Assortment are also perfect!

Simple pages in mini-albums are a quick way to add photos without taking a big chunk of time out of your scrapping.  I used just a bit of Silver Shimmer Trim and an Artbooking cut to dress this one up.

I just love this trio from Junior High! 

I made more simple embellishments using patterned papers, Enamel Shapes, and Shimmer Trim.  :) 

Why does it seem like time is flying JUST as fast as the pages in this album are turning?  I will show you more later this week!  :)

More Stitched Flowers for Mother's Day!

What can I say...I just could not stop myself!  Once I started cranking out these gorgeous flowers, the ideas came fast.  Here are two more Mother's Day creations I have to show you!

I used my FAVORITE paper packet for this one...Ariana!  That beautiful floral print was BEGGING me to make these flowers with it. 

I used two different My Acrylix stamp sets:  Holiday Tags for the sentiment, and Perfect Fit Mom for the little accent around the flowers...

I had some gorgeous Teresa Collins sequins and Rosewood Accents to add for the flower centers.  Can you see the amazing, deep color of the glitter paper I used?  This is a dark brown/bronze and it plays sooooo nicely with Ariana! 

One mom down, and one to go!   I used more elements from the Rosewood Accents Mini-Medley Collection...

Perfect Fit Mom again, too...

 Loving that stitched label die for these sentiments!  Thanks, Emma!  :)

I am linking this up with the MCT Designer's Challenge, so go check it out!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!!!  BIG HUGS to you all!  :)

Stitched Flowers for MCT Designer's Challenge!

I am SO glad I finally picked up this flower die and played with it!  I am a HUGE fan of Emma's stitched dies over at My Creative Time, and I am slowly building a collection.

Can I just say the timing was excellent for me to grab this one, because this month's MCT Designer's Challenge is to use a FLOWER on a Mother's Day project!  YES!!!

I just LOVED using the Jubilee Paper Packet from Close to My Heart to make the flowers!  It reminds me soooooo much of a retired paper packet called Pemberley that I adored when I first became a Close to My Heart consultant.  :)

I actually even used the Pemberley Assortment resin flowers to complement the paper flowers and the gorgeous font from the Mother's Day My Acrylix Stamp Set.

I was in my craft cave with my teen hanging around trying to butter me up for some reason, when she showed me how she had twirled a skinny triangle of glitter paper around my tweezers.  I was so annoyed!  I reprimanded her for playing around with my things, especially my precious glitter paper, and took it, only to exclaim a moment later that she was BRILLIANT!

Aren't they just the perfect thing to add to flowers?  Oh, I could kiss her!  But don't tell her that!  ;)  The glitter paper is just stiff enough to hold its shape after you let it go. Can't hold it back anymore!  ;)  I used 5 of these die-cut flowers to layer on my card, so I am off to link up with Heart 2 Heart Challenges: Take 5!  You should check it out over there--serious CTMH inspiration, my peeps!

Hope you decide to try this neat little embellishment idea yourself!  :)

More Beautiful Ariana Artbooking Mini-Album Pages

Happy Hump Day!

This week is flying by so fast, and I just want to hit pause!  Anyone else feeling like that?

Here is the next page in my Cricut Artbooking Mini-Album that I made to chronicle my daughter's yearly pics up to graduation.  You can see the first two posts HERE and HERE if you missed them.  I used the Love Mini-Album elements on the Cricut Artbooking Cartridge from Close to My Heart.

I have always adored this picture.  I only have it in a small size, so it is perfect for this album!  If you have a lot of school photos in a wallet size, then a mini-album is definitely a fun way to capture these memories!  I used a border cut to accent the side of this page.  

DO you see the "LOVE" cut on the side?  It is automatically attached to the page when your Cricut machine cuts it out.  I cut it on a second color cardstock to offset it a bit for interest.  I love adding these Bitty Sparkles to lettering...

The Close to My Heart Marquee White Enamel Shapes have become a staple in my crafting.  I added a bit of liquid glass to this one to back it with Tan Glitter Paper.  In fact, all of the embellishments on my pages of this album have Liquid Glass added to give them staying power. 

If you like this mimi-album and want to check out more images on the Cricut Artbooking Collection, click HERE.  The Close to My Heart Cricut Collections each have at least 700 images and include both chipboard shapes and coordinating stamps, making them the BEST value of all the cartridges Cricut offers.  They are available exclusively through your Independent Consultant.  If you don't have a Close to My Heart Consultant, I would love to help you out with anything you need!  You can contact me through my website HERE.