In Summerrrrrrrr!

Brrrrrr!  It's officially Summer, and let me tell you, Olaf does NOT need to worry about melting in our current Midwest low temps, lol!  I am SO excited that June is here at last as well...not only is it my birthday month, but I also positively adore the new Close to My Heart JUNE Stamp of the Month, Ice Cream Dream!  Take a look!

I TOLD you it was super cute!  Here is the first card I made with it...

I used the Puddle Pad technique to drop different colors of reinker on a baby wipe.  Then I chose different images to use in the colorful "puddle."  I completely forgot to take a picture of it, but I used Lagoon, Gypsy, Crystal Blue, Glacier, Pear, and Thistle on this portion.  I random stamped the popsicle for the background...

The Sparkles Flourishes from CTMH made a great swirly exhaust!  Did you know you can cut them apart and rearrange the parts however you like?

It was really fun to find the matching colors to use from my ShinHan Alcohol Ink Markers that I used to color the image of the ice cream truck and the sentiment on the inside. I used Leaf Green, Lavender, Turquoise Blue, and Peony Purple...

If you look back, the green pattern paper I used to mat the front images is from the Blossom Paper Packet.  I cannot get enough of that paper!

I cannot WAIT to show you the other projects I made over the weekend with this set!  :)

Close to My Heart Designed Decor Display Tray with Ivy Lane

*A Side Note*  Are any of you who subscribe via email getting notifications from my blog?  Would you please let me know.  Thanks.  I think there is a glitch with Blogger.  OK, on with today's post! 

I have been putting this off for a bit now, but only delaying the inevitable.  I can't change the date of graduation just by not posting my project pics, lol.  Sigh.

My Display Tray turned out really different than I originally intended, but I love that it did!  Sometimes you just have to be flexible with a project, even if you think you have it all planned out.  I thought I would put one picture for each year of school since there were 12 slots.  I did not take into account that fact that my daughter would nix some of those pics, lol!  I did allow her to have a say in the final product, including the Ivy Lane theme, and here it is!  (Lots of pics...sorry!)

Our Designed Decor Display Tray is SO versatile for cherishing and documenting your precious memories.  I used both retired and current products to create each of the different boxes.  This one features the Ivy Lane Complements and a flower from the retired Frosted Assortment.  I love when older products combine well with new ones!

A girl needs glitter!  Well, this girl does anyway...so I was sure to use the Pink Glitter Paper to back this picture along with the retired Glamour Glitter Alphabet.  The pic is popped up with our foam tape which is hard to see with all that sparkle!  ;)

I adore this little tag I created with one of the Complements stickers and retired Cherish the Day My Acrylix stamp set.  I used some retired Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon and Bitty Sparkles to glam this one up...

Banners are just beautiful ways to display a name, and this one turned out JUST right.  The flowers are from the retired Bitty Buds Assortment...I know, I know, I wish they were still available too!  The pennants are cut with the Art Philosophy Cartridge.  There is still time to get this amazing staple Cricut Cartridge FREE!  Click HERE for all the details...

It ended up being SUPER-easy to add the banner to the Tray with these clothes pins that I attached using my trusty, must-have-on-hand-at-all-times, Liquid Glass...

The overall feel of this frame is very elegant, so I used flowers from the Ivy Lane Assortment and the retired Frosted Assortment, AND was sure to add a very romantic Sparkles Flourish to this box...

Vellum, anyone?  One of my new favorite things is vellum!  I stamped this image from School Years with White Daisy Pigment Ink and zapped it with a heating tool to dry.  You always have  to be careful about placing adhesives on your vellum because it will show through.  One of my favorite methods for dealing with this is embellishing right over it!  I used the Rosewood Mini-Medley A here to do just that.  This picture was a true 4 x 6 which fit perfectly when chopped right down the middle due to the pose. 

And now my favorite Embellishment!  Ever since I got my hands on these White Marquee Enamel Shapes, I have loved the look of backing them with patterned papers.  I did that here to replace the "O" in this clever play on the word, "BEAUTIFUL" that I stamped with the Framework Alphabet.  My daughter is by no means afraid to be herself, and I am very grateful for that blessing.  This sums her up in one word perfectly.  

There you go!  This has been my ultimate labor of love project!  I just need you all to help me out with ONE little detail!  I cannot for the life of me decide what to do about the middle two boxes behind the banner.  Should I leave it black or add these green papers?  I don't like being so indecisive, and I really love it both ways, but what do YOU guys think!?  Please, please leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts!   :)  I will chose a winner at random from all the comments to send a little thank you gift to at the end of the week, ok?  Ready, set, go! 

ALSO!  Speaking of vellum...I wanted to show you a sneak peak of something you will see on tomorrow's Damask Divas Blog Hop project!  I have been waiting forever to share!  Are you as excited as I am?  :)

AND last but not least at all, today is THE LAST day to purchase the new consultant kit and receive your choice of Cricut Collection absolutely FREE!  No strings attached, I promise!  :)

Click HERE to see more or sign up for the kit! 

AND it is the LAST DAY to get your hands on the AWESOME stamp of the month on my website!

Can you handle one more?  AND it is the FINAL day to make any purchase and be entered to win the Mother's Day My Acrylix!!!  SHOP HERE on my website today for these deals!

Freshly Made Penguin

Whew!  Can you say, "just in the nick of time?"  I made this card yesterday after some inspiration from a friend, lol.  She wanted to know if I had any troubles with this particular stamp, so I gave it a few good tries and let her know it was A-ok.  THEN I remembered the awesome sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week, and WALLA!  A card was born!  ;)

This poor chilly penguin sure needs a warm scarf, so I knit him one with my Sparkle and Shine Washi tape!  Take a peek at how I did it...super easy!  Just lay the washi over the image you want to color with it, then trim it out!   :)

...and glue it on!  :)  I topped the hat with a tiny glitter gem.  He is leaving a breezy trail of Sparkles Flourishes behind him and breathing out some frosty breath in front. 

Inside, is a great anytime sentiment.  This My Acrylix stamp set is adorable and only available to hostesses for a limited time.  Contact me here or at mimimyselfandi@outlook.com to earn it for free with your own home or online gathering! 

Here is another cutie pie card made by our corporate offices from the set...

and another one I made...

I am also linking this darling up with the Simon Says Stamp CAS Challenge this week!  :)

Don't forget to check out the Stamp of the Month by clicking on the tab up above!  :)

 

Want to win your choice of Cricut Collection?  Click the Rewards Club Tab up above for all the details!!!

Freshly Made for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I made a special card in honor of a relatively new friend of mine that I happened to meet through my Close to My Heart business.  I am rather pleasantly surprised by all the new friends I have made along my journey so far as a consultant.  I feel so blessed!

This new friend is a former consultant who has just fought the fight of her life against breast cancer, and I am so happy to say that she has beaten it!  There are far too many people I know who have battled and are still fighting this thing including my Aunt.  I unfortunately also know one who was not able to overcome it in this life.

I dedicate this card I made for Freshly Made Sketches 107 to all of the women who bravely do battle.

I used a new die cut and stamps from MFT (clear stamps, so I am linking up with Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday challenge again!), Close to My Heart Chantilly Pattern Paper, Inks, CS, Sparkles Flourishes, and the Cricut Artbooking Cartridge.

Next week I will have a special project related to this for you to see! 

Edited!  I just linked up with DL.ART's Linky Pinky Party for the month of October.  Go check out the pink HERE!

Mojo Time Again! :)

I haven't played at Mojo Monday for a while so I figured I would jump in this week and use the sketch for a birthday card, or two, or three that I needed to make this month.  Raise your hand if you know a lot of someones with March birthdays...what is up with that?  :)

Anyway, I have been super-addicted to the Chantilly Paper Packet lately.  I think it is the springy colors that have me craving warmer weather here in the Midwest.  It will come, it will come!

Here is my entry for Mojo Monday #283...

And here is the sketch...

You can get the bling gems I used for the center of this flower in the While Supplies Last area of my CTMH website right now for a steal!   Hurry though, because when they are gone, they are GONE!  Did you know they can be colored with permanent markers or our Alcohol Ink Markers?  Yep!

I love how this flower turned out.  I am usually very careful to not mix my inks on my ink pads, but I just HAD to try this out.  I inked up the flower stamp from the Hello Love My Acrylix in Buttercup Ink first, then rolled the edges in the Cotton Candy Ink before I stamped it!  Isn't it gorgeous tipped like that?  The cut for this flower as well as the rest of my cuts on this card are on the Close to My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge.  To celebrate National  Scrapbook Month, I am offering the Artiste Collection with FREE SHIPPING!!!  Just click on THIS LINK to order! 

I have been trying out some different things with ribbon lately.  I used this Sweet Leaf Grosgrain  ribbon for leaves by folding it in half lengthwise after cutting the end at an angle.  Glue dots easily hold it in place.  The little Birthday sentiment is found on one of the My Acrylix sets that is included with the Cricut Artiste Collection!  I love this one!  I stamped it in Blush Ink onto the shape that my Expression 2 cut out so nicely for me.  I am sure glad you can see through all of our stamps to line it up just right.  ;)

I really wanted the shadows of this beautiful doily cut to show through for depth, so I popped it up with my foam tape.

The blank space at the top of the card was absolutely stressing me out for some reason.  I wanted to remain true to the sketch, so I left it out for the Mojo entry, then added some carefully trimmed Sparkles Flourishes after I was finished, lol!  Now my brain can rest!  ;)

The Box--Take Two!

I couldn't wait to try my hands at another box makeover, and I had the perfect reason to do so...we needed a gift box for a sweet sixteen celebration!  With some input from my daughter on colors and patterns, I got to work.  Here it is!

 We both agreed that it HAD to be zebra print, and what better place than the lid?  It is the perfect backdrop for the beautiful flowers that I cut out on my Cricut with my Art Philosophy Cartridge from Close to My Heart. 

The beautiful bling on top is also from Close to My Heart and is one of the Sparkles Flourishes.  I wanted to add some class with the pearl brads and even added more glitz with my Sakura Gelly Roll stardust pen to the flowers.  I think the finished product says "teenage girl" all over it!  :)