Damask Divas Timberline Blog Hop!

Welcome back to another amazing Damask Divas Team Blog Hop!  Oh my word, I am beyond blessed to be a part of the crazy creativity going on here!  :)

NOTE:  If you happen to stumble upon our hop before June 1st, you might want to come back once we get the kinks out.  ;)

Otherwise, sit back, grab your mouse, and enjoy the wonderful creations of the Damask Divas!

If you came from the super-talented Stephanie's Blog, you are on the right path!  If not, you can find the entire lineup on the Damask Divas Blog.

Timberline is one of the BEST paper packets for scrapbooking camping, hiking, or any outdoor events.  After watching one of the inspiring Artbooking Made Easy videos and reading THIS POST on Jeanette Lynton's Blog, I grabbed some of my waiting pictures from a family trip to Tennessee and and my Cricut Artbooking Cartridge and got busy!

I love any excuse to use these gold Durables Triangle Studs, and the Lagoon Baker's Twine is JUST the right thing to mix up this cluster...

One of the wonderful features of the Artbooking Cartridge is the pre-made titles...

The patterns in Timberline are great for outdoor pics--there is one with a wood grain, a celestial pattern, and one with sort of a map design showing lines of elevation.

Another favorite embellishment that I love to add to my layouts are the White Marquee Enamel Shapes.

My personal favorite pattern in this paper packet is the wood grain!  How about you?  This wonderful paper packet will only be around until July OR when supplies are gone, so pick some up while you can!  :)

That's all I have for you today, so now you are off to the mulit-talented Michele's Blog to see another fantastic creation with the Close to My Heart Timberline Paper Packet!  Enjoy!  :)

Don't forget!  June is a brand new month with some BRAND NEW specials on my website!  Get ready for the Fourth of July with KABOOM!, the June Stamp of the Month!

Also, you are really going to want to check out the six limited edition gift collections available while supplies last during June!  You can't get these retired products anywhere else!  :)  Celebrate 30 years with Close to My Heart with at least a 40% savings on these collections!

Here are the 6 Collections to choose from!  They are each yours for just $30 with a $50 purchase!

Delightful Ribbon and Trim Collection--a $54 Value!

• Hemp Black
• Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
• Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon
• Party Washi Tape 3-Pack
• Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape 3-Pack
• Colonial White Rosette Ribbon

Extraordinary Embellishments Collection--a $50.55 Value!

• Mini Medley Accents Antiqued Gold Collection
• Just Blooms™ Floret Paper Shapes
• Pixie Glitter Alphabet
• Glamour Glitter Alphabet
• Color Ready-Canvas Alphabet
• Chalkboard Shapes
• Durables Round Studs
• Durables Square Studs
• Colonial White Rosette Ribbon

Accessory Coordinates Collection--a $53.55 Value!

• Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
• Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
• Huntington Complements
• Chantilly Complements
• Huntington Assortment
• For Always Assortment
• Tommy Assortment
• Surfs Up Assortment
• Chantilly Assortment

Holiday Happiness Collection--a $64.55 Value!

• Season’s Tweetings Gift Bags (2 sets)
• Frosted Paper Packet
• Frosted Complements
• Frosted Assortment
• Sparkle & Shine Textiles
• Sparkle Holiday Shapes
• Sparkle & Shine Complements
• Sparkle & Shine Assortment

Papercrafting Possibilities Collection--a $61.25 Value!

• Color-Ready Seam Binding Ribbon
• Bronze Glitz Glitter Gel
• Almond Glitz Glitter Gel
• Colonial White Die-Cut Cards
• My Creations™ Cubby
• My Creations™ Collage Cubes
• My Creations™ Star

Gifts and Kits Collection--a $64.70 Value!

• Hemp Black
• Glamour Glitter Alphabet
• My Originals™ Matchbook Card Kit
• Chantilly Textiles
• Seasons Tweetings Gift Bags (2 sets)
• My Creations™ Collage Cubes

Last Call for May Specials!

Yes, I am totally serious!  I cannot believe it either, but today is the LAST day of MAY!!! 

It is the last day to get your hands on the May Stamp of the Month, You've Got a Friend...

AND the final day to pick up the Free to Be Me paper packet for just $5!
 

reverse side of gold polka-dots

See you in June!  :)

Last Call for Graduation Decor!

Yikes!  I totally forgot to write my post for today!  I have already been consumed by summer, lol and it is only day two of break.  So have my kids by the sound of things...it is already 8 am and no sign of life downstairs yet!  ;)

Well, the very last piece of my daughter's graduation decor is probably one of the most fun for me.  I made a sign to put up outside (and thank you, Jesus, it was gorgeous weather!) to direct people to our house.  Pssssht, let's face it--I was claiming my bragging rights as MOM!  ;)

I used two Cricut Cartridges for this one on my E2...Create A Friend and the Close to My Heart Cricut Artiste Cartridge for the lettering of her name.  I used the tassle on the cap to create her honor cords worn over her shoulders.  :)

 I also used the cap and diploma to make easy-peasy decorations about the house--seriously fun!

Here is what the sign looked like attached to the fence stake.  I used two layers of poster board and attached them to the stake with packaging tape.  It wasn't going anywhere, trust me!  :)

I just heard the water running upstairs, so time to put on my mom hat!  I hope you guys were inspired by my graduation decor this year to make some for your own grads...I have a good four years before I pull them back out of storage!  ;)

Balloon Ride Home Decor

Hi there!  A few months ago I was asked to make a framed project that resembled this:

It was my very first Instagram request, lol.  I saw the balloons and immediately responded that I would LOVE to try!  :)

I found a beautiful wood 5 x 7 frame to use and went to work using the Close to My Heart Balloon Ride Paper Packet, Outdoor Denim Chevron Ribbon, and Color-Ready Trinket Shapes.

Isn't this a lovely sentiment?

Just two days left to take advantage of the Close to My Heart May specials and get over $80 worth of products for $60!  Check them out!  I used them to make this card along with the paper from Balloon Ride! 

May Stamp of the Month

Free to Be Me Paper Packet

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

We made it!  Today is the last day of school for my clan!  (besides that graduate still in bed, lol!)

I hit the easy button this year and bought each special teacher a gift card, so just had some cards to whip up to go along with them.  :)  I pulled out my favorite teacher card stamps from Verve...

I needed several cards since my kiddos have so many teachers, so I went with two sentiments, but just one pattern for all of the cards...

The paper is an awesome retired Close to My Heart packet called Typeset.  The letters and numbers are PERFECT for teachers!  :)  The zip strip from one of the papers actually made a cute little addition to the inside of the card.

I used my Close to My Heart Corner Rounder to give this card a unique shape.  I LOVE this new style corner rounder!  It lines up so easily and cuts through both layers of the card at once.

 This one is my personal favorite sentiment in this set...

How many days of school do YOU have left? 

Easy Graduation Centerpiece for Tag (You're It!) Tuesday

This week is one of those times during the year when you can't remember which day it is all week.  I am especially confused since I have been playing catch up for a while since graduation last weekend.  I think I have just a couple more project to show you from the festivities. 

First up, I made some very easy centerpieces for table decorations that you can easily make for a celebration of any kind...

I used an empty cylinder-shaped container that used to hold glow-sticks to make the main centerpiece.  I put some old glass rocks in the bottom for stability.  The rest is easily made with a spray of fake flowers (orange is one of her school colors), balloon on a stick, and tissue paper.  Then I used some ribbon to tie an adorable little tag around the top of the cylinder.  I used a die cut chipboard tag from the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection, my black glitter paper, Congrats Graduate My Acrylix, and the dies from MCT. 

Then I just used the rest of the tissue paper from the package, candy, and ribbon to make these for the rest of the tables...SOOOOOOO unbelievably easy!

Here is the main centerpiece on my kitchen island...

Now I have to go finish dealing with the rest of the May craziness--the end of the school year!  We are down to two days here, how about you?  :)

Freshly Made Sparkle!

Hey everyone!  I finally got to use it!  I snatched up this great new stamp set from My Favorite Things, because it's all about MY favorite thing--SPARKLE!  I paired it up with the fab new sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, and ended up with some serious bling going on.  :)

I used several different products on this card.  From Close to My Heart I used Black and White Daisy CS, Lollydoodle Paper, Black Glitter Paper, Black and Cotton Candy Ink, and the Timberline WOTG My Acrylix set.  I used some silver vinyl from Silhouette for the faux sequins that are so easy to make with the MFT Sequin Dies.

Can you see where I used the Wink of Stella Glitter brush?  It sure makes it easy to leave a little sparkle everywhere you like!  ;)

I have lots more to come from this stamp set, so stay tuned!  :)

Shop 24/7 from home at my website, mimimyselfandi.ctmh.com, for some of the products I used for this card, and this month's specials:

A Photo Booth Fit for a Graduate

Welcome back!  I really mean it!  I have finally started to receive email notifications from my blog again!  If you thought I haven't been posting for a while, you might be surprised to look back a few weeks to see that indeed I have been!  The service that sends out email notifications stopped functioning a while back, and, well, I just didn't have time to deal with it because my daughter was graduating.  I was a LITTLE bit busy making this :

AND these...

Don't get me wrong, I WANTED to figure it out, but I don't know the little elf who delivers my mail very well, so there was no way I was going to be able to convince him.  ;)   I had SUCH a fun time making this photo booth for Kaylee and her friends to use at her graduation party.  They really did have a fun time with it, too!

It was not very expensive to make either!  I needed foam board, crepe paper, cardstock, adhesive, ribbon, removable wall hooks,  balloons, Liquid Glass, and long sucker sticks.

The lettering is from the Cricut Artiste Collection.  The fun camera and film strip cuts are found on Artbooking as well as the banner shape.  Some of the fun props are found on other cartridges like Paper Doll Dress Up and Create a Friend.

I figured everyone would have their own camera these days, so no need to supply one!  ;)

I used the Close to My Heart Chalkboard Vinyl to cut a fun reusable word bubble from Artiste...

Make sure you plan ahead for this type of a project!  I started two weeks ahead of time to be sure to get it all ready in time.  :)  Visit my Pinterest board for this and other great graduation party ideas!

Laughing Lola Picture My Life Card

Happy Throwback Thursday!  Today we are going waaaaaaayyyy back.  Remember when I used to make cards?  LOL!!!  I haven't made any in ages, it seems, since preparation for graduation commenced, so I wanted to show you I still have it!  :)

For this quick card, I used the Laughing Lola Picture My Life Kit.  Wait, what?  YEP!  This kit is intended for scrapping, BUT when I went through the adorable assortment of cards, I found this one...

...and it asked me to turn it into a card!  :)   I loved using the gold Polka-dot Washi as an accent to this one.  (Could my nail polish have been ANY more perfect for this one, lol!)

Even on the inside!  

This was literally super-quick, and I had the entire card finished in about 20 minutes after I found the card!  I embossed the Kraft CS with the Close to My Heart Dot Embossing Folder and added some Durables Triangle Studs as well.  The cute little U and R come from my favorite My Acrylix alpha set called Framework Alphabet.

I will be back with more graduation ideas tomorrow!  :)

Don't let these May Close to My Heart Specials pass you by!  Shop mimimyselfandi.ctmh.com any time of day!

Pinterest + Graduation = Success!

Hey there!  Alright, yes, I survived graduation with a little help from Pinterest.  I am so excited to have a place to actually gather my ideas into one place and NOT loose them!   Here is a link to my Graduation Ideas Pinterest Board.

Here is one of the projects that I made to prepare for my daughter's big day-- Reece's Peanut Butter Cup Mini Graduation Hats, aka mortar boards.  Seriously, how can you NOT wonder how these things were ever thought up anyway, lol?

These were quite simple with some BIG bang because not only are the candies a hit, but so were the simple way they were dressed up.  When I say simple, I mean it.  I cut 1.25 inch squares of my Black Close to My Heart CS, added a short piece of backer's twine to a mini glue dot, and then added the silver embellishments or crystals.  It really doesn't get much easier than that!  A larger size glue dot holds it to the candy, and you just add a little knot near the end of the baker's twine.  Badda-boom, badda-bing!  DONE! :)

The next easy-peasy Pinterest idea was the Jenga game.

I scored a pack of fine-tip Sharpies on clearance (boo-yah!) and even used a coupon at Meijer on the Jenga!  I made up a little sign for all the party guests to help "build" my daughter's wisdom by leaving a bit of advice on a block.  The game will be a wonderful memento for her to take with her through life.  :)  I was sure to add a block of my own advice...never let anyone dull your sparkle!  ;)