Technique Hop - Create Your Own Argyle

Welcome to the Technique Hop. If you'd like to see a complete list of artistic participants, click here. If you came from Wendy's blog, you are on the right track.

Wow! it felt good to get back in the studio to create for this month's Technique Hop. I took a longer-than-expected break for the holidays and some remodeling. I must admit when I first looked through the 2011 CTMH Fall/Winter Idea Book, I completely overlooked this Argyle Technique, but as you will see through this hop, there's more than meets the eye. Get creative * think outside the box * argyle isn't just for diamond-shapes anymore.

CTMH 2011 F/W Idea Book pg91

Ta-Da! Here's my interpretation of Argyle stamping with Tag The Occassion stamp set (B1362). I was inspired by the next holiday, Valentine's Day.  You can hop to Lisa's blog to see more creativity.

I also used Roxy Level 2 paper pack (X7140B) * Bling Assortment (Z1466) * Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain ribbon (Z1617). Below is a glimpse into my creative process:

What a MESS!

Arglye with Hearts.

Have a Memorable Day,

Sheila

 

Cozy Teacher Gifts

One of my children has 9 teachers, and buying gift cards or presents for all of them would get pretty expensive. But I want to show them we appreciate them and give them some holiday cheer. I've made up these Slide Cards for them. It's all in the presentation, right?  These will be easy for my daughter to take to school rather than 9 tins of popcorn. LOL

I really like these Slide Cards. When you pull up on the ribbon a nice surprise appears. We chose a gourmet hot chocolate mix. You can also use apple cider mix.

I used CTMH stamp "A Sip" (A1109) and Wonderland paper (X7146B)

Happy Holidays,
Sheila

Technique Blog Hop - Glitz Glitter Gel

Gold and Silver and Rubies - Oh My! The Glitz Glitter Gel is probably my most favorite new product in the Close To My Heart Fall Winter 2011 Idea Book. And it's only $2.75 each! Thanks for visiting our Technique Blog Hop. If you came from Tabbi's blog, you're on the right track. To see a complete listing of this month's participants, click here. You can move through the hop and see how this group of talented artists used this to add some bling-bling to spice up their creations.

I love the Silver Glitz the most...it looks like diamonds, and diamonds are a girl's best friend. See how they make the snowflakes pop on the following cards. This ornament-shaped card and snowflake border were made using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

One more example of flashy snowflakes on a 12 x 12 layout...

Thanks for stopping by. Now hop on over to Tracey's blog to see more creations. Have a memorable day.
Sheila

Studio J-Poloosa

I like to work with Studio J (On Line "Digital" scrapbooking from Close To My Heart) when I'm catching up on movies on the DVR.  All I need is my laptop; no card table, no Ott light, no adhesive, paper trimmer, box of photos...you get the picture. I'm at least two years behind in archiving my memories, so I decided to do all of my 2010 photos using Studio J, and I made quite a dent last month when I created these pages:

This is a "members only" paper kit that is themed around tools and building, perfect for those masculine layouts.  In addition to members only paper kits, there are members only patterns as well.  If you're interested in a Studio J membership, contact me.  There are additional perks like free shipping and page protectors.

Notice the stitching around the title in this layout. No blood was shed in creating this stitching. LOL  In Studio J, there are options for stitched hearts, circles, and squares.  You can even zig-zag.  LOVE IT!

One of my favorite things about Studio J is the ability to click and drag my photos into the photo wells and watch them resize to fit the space, whether its 2x2 or 8x10.  I don't have to worry about cropping photos.  This feature is great for deleting people out of a shot too.  Another great thing is nothing is crooked, unless it's supposed to be.

Another favorite thing about Studio J is how easy it is to make these collage-type layouts.  I was able tell the story of our trip to Disneyland with one layout.  This wasn't our first trip to the happiest place on earth, so I didn't feel like it was necessary to scrapbook every single moment.  But if I wanted to I could with Studio J.  Oh and notice the captions right on top of the photos, I like that too.

I've already got a few more layouts in my Studio J cue.  My goal is to cue up 4-10 layouts a month and then place my order.  If you'd like a personal demo of Studio J, let me know.

Have a memorable day,

Sheila

December Stamp of the Month Hop

Is it too early to think about Valentine's Day in December? Not when you can get this adorable stamp for just $5* from Close To My Heart. Mad About You is the Stamp of the Month available through December 31st. And the images are compatible with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. (*$5 with a minimum $50 purchase, or $17.95. Shipping & handling applies.)

This is a blog hop featuring artwork using this exclusive stamp set.  If you came here from Melissa's blog, your're on the right track.

 

 

Thanks for looking.  Now hop on over to Judyfaye's blog to see more inspiring artwork.

Sheila

Technique Hop - Ghosting

Welcome to our Technique Blog Hop. This month we are showing examples of Ghosting, as seen in the Close To My Heart 2011 Autumn/Winter Idea Book on page 45. If you've come from Michelle's blog, your heading in the right direction. Click here to see a list of all participants in this hop.

In this scrapbook layout I used the Wonderland paper from CTMH. The stamped image is from the Snow Flurries stamp set. I stamped the snowy flourish with Versamark Ink then sprinkled clear detail embossing powder over the image. After setting the embossing powder with a heat tool, I sponged Twilight Ink over the area. The embossed image resists the Twilight ink and creates a negative image. After that I used a clean white piece of copy paper and covered the embossed/sponged area, and then pressed a hot iron on top to remove the shine of the set embossing powder and leave behind a white matte finish.

Thanks for looking, now hop on over to Debi's blog for more artwork featuring Ghosting.

Have a memorable day,
Sheila

Finally, The Camping Layouts

I'm a little behind in my scrapbooking, okay almost two years behind.  I had so much fun creating these four layouts of my men on their annual "boys camp" as my littlest man calls it (he's 4 in these pics).  The paper is Back Country from Close To My Heart and I'm sad to say it is no longer available.  I sure hope there's another awesome outdoorsy paper collection in the upcoming Spring Summer Idea Book, due out in February 2012.  As you'll notice in the layouts below, I haven't journaled yet, so technically I'm not done; but I wanted to share them with you.  I used a few different Cricut cartridges along with the Bank Country Stickease for embellishments.  Enjoy...