Hi There...

Hello you...

Let me start by saying that I am so sorry, that I have not been around for the past week or so.  Let me explain please.  Before this years CTMH convention, I was working a lot of hours making artwork, swap items, workshop layouts and much more.  After convention, I was putting the same amount of hours in as before convention and it really took a toll on my personal/family life.  I was not giving 100% to the blog, Facebook Page and most importantly my family.  I was making mistakes and forgetting to do things, which made me take a snap shot of my life in that instant.  On a side note... I have scheduled a biopsy on a funky spot that is growing at super fast pace (so another reason to go back to the basics).

Three years ago, I stopped working to be with my kids full time and to work on myself.  Unfortunately, I was loosing track of this very important reason, so I decided to walk away from blogging, posting tutorials, taking pictures, editing, updating my Facebook page and just spending so much time on my laptop.  The minute I shut everything down, I felt a BIG weight lifted from my shoulders.  It felt good!!!

Now that I have had time to think things through, I have decided to keep my blog on a VERY limited capacity.  I am not looking to grow my business at this time and definitely not looking to spend more than 2 hours a week on posting.  Time waits for no one and I want to be very present all the time for my children and all my family.

The response I received on the closing of Scrapbooking Ink was very eye opening.  I knew then; that I was not being "present" for YOU my blog friend.  So I will be working on the promised tutorials for my Extravaganza artwork and posting them soon.  And for my out of state friends that order my kits, I will continue to post pictures of my layouts.

Thank you to all of you who sent me emails and a special thanks to my friends who immediately came to my home to be by my side and support me.  I will update you all on my biopsy, when I get my results.  

Your Friend,

Final CTMH Extravaganza Art Work

CTMH Extravaganza Art Work Part 2

This party scene complete with garlands, wall mount, cupcake stand, candy jars, cupcake party favor / goodie bag , wand and pin was made with our new paper packet Elemental paper packet (Z7141C), Dark Chocolate Stripped Grosgrain Ribbon (Z1617), Natural Hemp (Z280), Designer Ribbon (Z1615), Milepost Shapes (Z1464), Make-It-Count Numbers Irresistibles (Z1465), Bronze Glitz Glitter (Z1483), Typeset Complements Canvas Shapes (X7139C), Blue Ribbon stamp set (C1464), Pin Clips (Z1612) and matching cardstock.

Did you hear that Tassels are making a HUGE come back??? Well you heard it here first!

Don't forget the garland!

Cricut cupcake holders serve as a party favor and a goodie bag as well. Every birthday boy/girl deserves to wear a HUGE button on his/her special day that says that they are the King/Queen for the day.

My son Hunter was turning 5 years, so he was the inspiration for this party scene.

Make sure you used glass jars without lids for kids party, you don't want to have anyone have an accident and get hurt.

This cupcake stand is from Party City and I simply used our paper and embellishments to cover, stamp and bling!

The party is not complete until you have the WHOLE picture scene flowing from top to bottom. The striped medallions are made using the new Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Z1617.

I would love to hear what you think, take a second to leave me a comment. I would greatly appreciate it!

CTMH Extravaganza Art Work

Here is round two of Extravaganza art work. Like I said in the last post... I am SO LOVING the medallions for any festive occasion. So the story about my art being in the trash is true, so I had to find a way to want to keep my creations. So I decided that it would have to be a really good reason for me to keep items... in this wreath, there are some very beautiful snowflakes given to me by my father-in-law and they belonged to his grandmother. So I KNOW for a fact that this wreath is NOT going anywhere the trash can or recycle.

There are 1", 3/4", 1/2" and 1/4" scored medallions and they range from 1" x 12", 2" x 12", 3" x 12", 4" x 12" and 6" x 12" strips. The Scor Pal or the Martha Stewart scoring tool come in very handy when making projects like these. The color combination is from the Wonderland paper packet in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.

The "Icing Overlays" top coats (Z1468) were perfect for this family garland and I even added them to the wreath.

These cubes can stay up all year long on a mantle, entertainment unit or book shelf. Each side of the cube is created to reflect a different season of the year. "Peace" for the Holidays, "Scary" for Halloween, "Autumn", "Love" and "Love". The cubes are from Michael's and if I remember correctly, they are in the "Dollar" section of the store.

These darling ornaments are the squares from the My Creations Memory Game, covered with the Wonderland paper. The embellishments are Designer Brads (Z1360), Pin Clips (Z1612) and the Bling Assortment (Z1466).

I would love to hear from you, leave a comment!






CTMH Extravaganza Art Work

Paper Medallions are officially my favorite paper accessory for any festive event!!!!
 

This is one of my tables outside my booth, the left side is a party scene and the right side is very Christmas / Holiday inspired. I will have more detailed pictures of this table tomorrow after this post.

Here is my second table outside my booth. The top three display boards are created by people at corporate and all four teachers in my category had the same boards outside their booths. Below are the detailed pictures of the items I created for my board. I was only able to make one board to hang, the rest of the pieces I made are on the first table. Made it hard for me to display all the my items after Extravaganza in another room. I was going to take too much room so Marcy and Amy were very kind to let skip the "Art Gallery" portion of it. Which makes my art work more exclusive... hee-hee!

Here is a headband I created with our pleated ribbon and some beautiful Designer Brads (Z1360), Pin Clips (Z1612), Bling Assortment (Z1466) and Just Blooms "Paper Shapes" (Z1463) they will be introduced in our Autumn/Winter Idea Book on Augusts 1st 2011. The ribbon flower was made using "Glubers", if you don't know what Glubers are, please search my blog on the top right and find the previous post on Glubers. I know you will fall in love with them as much as I love them. I highly recommend them to everyone.


Oh! By the way... On the evening of our Award Banquet, I let my friend Alisse Stephens wear this beautiful hair piece and she looked so beautiful wearing it and she received so many compliments for it, that she decided to purchase it from me. I told her that I would only accept her money if it was a donation to Operation Smile. As a lot of you know by now... I AM FAMOUS FOR THROWING MY ART WORK OUT IN THE TRASH. But my good friend Heather Plotzke is keeping a very close eye on me and not letting me throw any more art away. We are now going to sell it and the profits will go to Operation Smile.


So if you are interested in any of these pieces, (with the exception of the head piece) send me an email at Scrapbooking.Ink@gmail.com
and we can work out the details. Below is Alisse Stephens wearing her new hair piece... Doesn't she look beautiful?

Here is a bracelet and two matching rings made using our new Foundry Metal Assortments Z1460 and the Shimmer Brads Z1349.

Two very cool bracelets using the Foundry Metal Assortment Z1460, Natural Hemp Z280, Antique Copper Brads Z1410 and the Harvest Charms Z1633.

Of course there is a matching necklace for the collection, the detail with this necklace is that the large charms are double sided. So if your necklace moves, there is NO back side. How cool is that???? Items used: Harvest Charms Z1633 and Antique Copper Brads Z1410

 And last but not least, this adorable beach hat with a SUPER COOL and FUNKY flower on the side.  I actually wore another hat like this to the pool once to see what the moms there would say about it and the response was WILD!!!  I tell ya... If I decided to make accessories for a living, I might make a buck or two.  hee-hee! If  you are wondering why I made two of the same hats... the reason is that I almost always make one for my daughter and one for me.  She is so kind and beautiful, that she loves everything I make for her.

I would love hear what  you think, please take a moment to leave a comment.  I would greatly appreciate it!

CTMH Convention 2011: Tea Pot Hat

Kristen from Canada was the lucky winner of the Silent Auctions, proceeds go towards Operation Smile.

Kristen and Me!!

I wore my hat during Extravaganza and I have never experienced the paparazzi camera flashes like I did on that day.  I think I secretly liked all the attention... hee-hee!!!

Me saying goodbye to my hat.

I would love hear what  you think, please take a moment to leave a comment.  I would greatly appreciate it!