Time Flies

This week I have been working on Close To My Heart's "Avonlea" workshop. The workshop features a two page layout entitled "Time Flies". YES IT DOES. Last night I had a date with my husband. We went to the Poison/Def Leppard concert here in Virginia Beach. The songs took me right back to my high school years. Poison has been performing for 25 years; Def Leppard for 34 years. I remember watching their videos premier on MTV! It was a great break to go and get my wiggle on at the concert; I didn't sit down the whole time the bands were on!

As I was working on the "Time Flies" layout, I was able to see how quickly my son, Bryan has grown!

I love the color combination in Avonlea. When you have boys, you don't always want to go with typical BOY papers. The colors in the kit (teal, olive, chocolate, slate) are masculine in my opinion. It was nice to mix-up the image colors with this kit.

LOVED the velour rub-ons! Not only did they add great texture to the layout, they were super easy to apply!!

This is the first time I have used my acrylic stamps reverse side! You use the back of the stamp in "second-generation" stamping, and then stamp the correct side with "first-generation" stamping! I know you are saying, ?WHAT? Second-generation means that you ink your stamp, stamp it on a scrap paper, and then stamp it a "second" time on your layout. It comes out lighter and gives an "aged" look. Then you can put your "first" and regular stamp on top of it and have a light outline to it. See the picture to clarify my words.

I will be sharing the additional layout from the Avonlea workshop and the additional project later this week! Let me know what you think of Avonlea! I am getting really excited for my FIRST gathering that I am hosting at my home this Saturday!! Can't wait to share my excitement, passion and knowledge of CTMH with my friends!! Wish me luck!!!

Brothers Layout using "Dotty For You" Paper Packet

Close To My Heart has a lot of cool specials every month.  Recently I was able to take advantage of one of them and purchased 3 packages of paper called "Dotty For You".  The colors are really great, so I thought I would use some black and white photos from when the boys were young.  What do you think??

When you are building a page, having a strategy for contrasting papers works well. In this instance, I used coordinating papers (thanks CTMH!) in a small dot, stripe, and a large pattern. This would also work with a small check (or small pattern), a stripe, and a large floral. The contrast of the different papers is very appealing to the eye.

The colors in this project were so bright, that adding Black and White images really works well to bring the attention to your photos. All items used in this project are CTMH except for the "Brothers" alphabet is from ColorBok and I'm not sure about the round wooden circle.

I AM NOW AN OFFICIAL CLOSE TO MY HEART CONSULTANT!!!!

I have been waiting for MONTHS to become a CTMH consultant! I have been a CTMH customer for YEARS! I LOVE their products. They are high quality, very affordable and they carry a great selection of items! I returned from our 3 1/2 years in Japan (My hubby recently retired from the NAVY!); and started planning for my business. I finally took the plunge on August 1st so that I could take advantage of the Bonus Free Exclusive Tote Bag!

When a new Consultant joins Close To My Heart in August they will receive an exclusive Damask Tote Bag for FREE (retail value $50)! This offer has limited availability, so if you have been thinking about becoming a scrapbook consultant act quickly to ensure you score this darling tote bag. This offer is good for both the $49 and $99 New Consultant Kits (while supplies last). This is the same cute bag we gave to Consultants who attended Convention 2012 in Dallas. Bag offer is valid August 1, 2012 (9:00 am MDT) – August 31, 2012 (11:59 pm MDT)

I love paper crafting from card-making to scrapbooking and many other things in between. I have a shop on Etsy.com to sell some of my creations. You can find it at

I will be using this blog to share techniques, tips, and how-to's about my creations. I will also share current CTMH information. Please contact me if you have any questions regarding CTMH products.

Over the next week I will finalize planning my first home-gathering in my home. I will also be taking on-line courses learning about Close To My Heart!