New Catalog Goes Live Today!

I spent the month of January playing with the new CTMH papers and a few stamp sets as well. I'm lovin' them! Here's a preview of what I've been working on:

I had almost all of Anna's formal baby portraits to scrap yet and this paper packet worked PERFECTLY with these 6 month photos. This is Superhero. Although there is a good amount of comic/superhero patterns, there is also some great Americana papers as well.

This paper packet is Lucy. Those large 8 x 10 and 10 x 13 photos are hard to scrap but when you have pretty paper to help carry the page, it makes them much easier to work with. I've been avoiding these 3 month pictures for, well, 3 3/4 years and I'm glad I finally found something I like!

I believe this paper packet, Stella, is my favorite. I used it for not only Anna's one year pictures, but also . . .

one of my favorite pictures of Ella. This is nearly an exact duplicate of the catalog cover.

This page is also taken directly from the catalog with only a few changes. The paper packet is Florentine and works awesome with this fall layout but would be great with beach photos and all types of pictures. It's very versatile and so pretty.

This paper is the new Footloose packet, which features patterns perfect for the beach and summer. I can't believe I never scrapped a bath photo of Anna either . . . man, am I behind! I couldn't resist the stamp set, either. LOVE IT!

Finally, I have my only interactive layout so far . . . a trip we took to Chicago in Summer of 2008. The paper is called Cruisin' and is perfect for road trip layouts. And how much do you love that argyle?

I have several more layouts done but lent them to a friend so I can't post them today. I also have every intention of having more done for the Sabre Crop on the 17th so come join us and take a look at everything you can do with the new catalog!

You are My Sunshine

If this page were to win any type of a competition, it would be "most hours put into a page". My friend, Marla, and I spent many hours over the span of five days working on this little treasure. I started with a concept and CTMH's new Splendor paper packet (probably my favorite EVER) but I really wanted sewing on the page. Alas, I cannot sew. That's where Marla came in . . . sewing coordinator and layout consultant.



And, to be fair, I need to credit Jessica for the help with the lettering of the titles and both her and Emilia for advice in general. Fortunately, they didn't let the Sangria do the talking and I think we ended up with a pretty good page. Here you can see some of the details of Marla's sewing . . . every sun ray has a zig zag stitch as well and just about every other piece of paper has a straight stitch. I am proud to report that I did do one little bit myself - the running stitch on the clouds and rainbow.

I hope many of you get to see this page in person because I'm in love and it always looks better when you see it face-to-face.

May you all have a sun-shiney day!
Tanya

Holy distractable scrapbooker, Batman!

So, the first week of the month is terribly busy for me on account of ALL of my monthly groups meeting that week. Stupid, stupid, stupid . . . I know. But I like it that way. Anyway, I should be working hard but I found some inspiration and I couldn't help myself from doing a layout this morning. The inspiration comes from Lisa Stenz, a favorite scrapper of mine because of her simple style. Here's what caught my eye: http://lisascreativecorner.blogspot.com. A very simple card with a very simple flower. Here's what I got from it:

I just added a little black and green for fun and tackled a picture that's been sitting around here for a year and a half.

Now this next layout is really the brainchild of my daughter's babysitter, Becky. Becky came over to watch Anna last Friday (she comes once a week so I can get some work done) and instead of watching Anna, we ended up scrapping some pictures that she wanted some advice on. Becky knew exactly what she wanted: a huge bus with windows and doors that popped up and over and every which way to reveal hidden pictures of her class' trip to Washington DC.

To get the bus window to be interactive, we cut out page protectors from CTMH's mini-album, which were perfectly sized at 3 x 3. For the door, we cut right into the page protector so it popped open to reveal journalling and a seriously ugly lamp.

Like I said, I can't take credit for the idea but this layout has some great interactive features so I thought I'd share with you. Not a bad morning's work, even if the work was not what I had been planning to do :)

Alright, now to distract myself even more, I'm going to feed Anna, put her down for a nap, and clean the house. I can't work when it's this messy!

Until next time,

Tanya

Sue's a Star!

On Sunday, Sue and her friends will be creating this layout at her home show. What I didn't show in the picture is that I'll be including a page protector and Flip Flaps for everyone so they can go home with an awesome page ready for (6) 4 x 6 photos!


This page uses paper from the the new "You Rock" paper packet. Stamp sets include "Extreme Alphabet" and "Shining Star." We just found out last night that the Packer's playoff game will be at 3:00 on Sunday so I've put together a page that will be quick and easy for everyone with a pre-scalloped border and pre-punched stars, but still teaches a ton of techniques . . . sanding, direct to paper distressing, edge distressing, popping up with foam squares, and, of course, Flip Flaps.

I hope Sue and her guests enjoy their pages. Maybe they'll like them so much they'll forget to rush home for the big game!

Tanya

A word on friendship . . .

Being a Close to My Heart consultant has truly been one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Sure, I love being creative and I love helping people learn to scrapbook. And earning my scrapping supplies for free is awesome. But I think the best part of this "job" has really been the friendships I've formed with other scrapbookers and the tighter bonds I've created with pre-CTMH friends while scrapping. My life is truly full and has been truly blessed.

While musing about all my new and old scrapping friends, I felt inspired to make a page honoring friendship. It's really a very simple page that uses paper from the Emporium Level 2 paper packet. I've edged the entire page with Cocoa ink using a brayer and the Crystal Blue photo mats are dry embossed around the edges and then sanded for definition. The half circles around the photo mat are 1" circle punches from one of the sheets in the Emporium packet. The title is 1/2 Field Trip Alphabet and half good, old fashioned printing off the computer. And then some cute little flowers and brads for fun.

I hope you enjoy the second page in my series of cute, quick, and inexpensive one page layouts. My plan is to include this page as one of my make and takes for the Scrap for Alexis next Saturday.

Take care,
Tanya

Here comes Santa Claus . . .

The mission: to create cute, simple, and very inexpensive one page layouts. "A Visit From Old St. Nick" is my first attempt. All the paper on this layout, with the exception of the base sheet and the double mat, is all leftover paper that I either needed to find a use for or send with my daughter to school for their scrap box. I'm rather happy with the way it turned out.

Also on this page is a row of sparkles colored black with a Sharpie marker (thanks for the idea Karen Pederson!) I happen to not like the square sparkles very much so this is a way to get rid of the sheets and sheets of squares I have laying around. Finally, the glittered snowflake on this page is a 3 dimensional element; however, for everyone else it will be a glittered and punched cardstock snowflake. Much cheaper! Finally, I edged the page using a ruler and a black pen and then sponged on some Juniper ink. Wa-la . . . cute, quick, and cheap!

If you'd like to make this page and live in the Fox Valley, come to the Scrap for Alexis and be one of the first to sign up before they're gone!

See you then . . .
Tanya