Inspired by Five (Jan 23 - 29)

Okay ... here they are.  In no particular order.  Five projects that I found this week that I just LOVE.

1.  More Bliss at Big Red Scraps
2.  Pinwheel Cards at Big Red Scraps
3.  Lamp Cards at Inking Idaho
4.  Bathtime layout by Kristine Davidson
5.  Always layout by Kristine Davidson

Are they not all just fabulous???  It was really hard narrowing it down to five this week.  Even harder than last week.  :-)

Linky Blog Hop!

Tresa Black is hosting a Linky Blog Hop, along with other fellow Close To My Heart Consultants, to give you a sneek peek of stamp sets and products in the brand new Spring / Summer Idea Book/Catalog.

The new Idea Book/Catalog will be available for viewing online on 1 February 2011.  I must say I am liking a LOT of the new items, stamp sets, and papers in it and I have a very loooooong wish list.  I take hours going through each new book, poring over projects and circling items I would like to own.  I got through it at least a half dozen times when it first comes out and every time I see something I didn't notice before.

If you're like me, and would like a copy in your hands (rather than viewing it online), drop me a line at my Email Address  and for only $2.28 plus shipping, one can be yours!  (Plus I take the purchase price off your first order from me, so it's technically free!!!!)

Now on to the Linky Blog Hop!  (No drooling on keyboards, please!)

Inspired by Five ... (Jan 16 - 22)

I visit a TON of blogs every week and have so many ideas bookmarked in my Favorites that I want to CASE in some way and I thought I would share some of them with you.  I am going to keep it to my top five, though, so it's manageable.  I usually bookmark about four times that many!  LOL

They are from all types of stampers, papercrafters and fellow CTMH Consultants.  I find that even ideas from other stamping companies can translate so well to our CTMH products that I save them all, with ideas on which stamp sets or papers would really make the project my own. 

I am going to 'try' and make it a weekly post but it may be every two weeks.  We'll see how it goes.

1.  Sneak Peek at Bliss by Leisa Hubley from Big Red Scraps
2.  Birthday Wishes by Debbie Henderson from Debbie's Designs
3.  Cards Cards Cards from Just My Scrapbook
4.  Elegant Thoughts by Lynn from LW Designs
5.  Thinking of You by Kerin Sylvester from Stamps, Paper, Glitter!

My Craft Area - A Work in Progress

Over at the Heart 2 Heart CTMH Challenge Blog the challenge is all about organization this time around so here we go on the grand tour of my scrap room.

This room belonged to my son when he lived at home.  Once he moved out, we stripped it and redid it, including taking out the close that used to be inside the door.  It really cut into the dimensions of the room and I really wanted the extra space.

This first picture shows the view from my doorway.  The workstation in the middle of the room is made from the modular units you can get at Michaels.  I bought them at 40% and 50% off over a period of time until I had enough.  We assembled them and place them back to back to create a work surface for me to stand at.  There are a total of 16 units, 8 on each side.  My hubby and I added a piece on the top because it wasn't quite high enough.  It gives extra storage, too, so I can put my paper trimmers etc in there as the spaces (three) run straight across the top.  (Better seen in a later photo.  The top measures 57" x 31.5" and it is 3 feet high.  I also got a bar stool to sit on as my feet get sore quite quickly, though I prefer to scrap standing.

And from the next corner.  You can't really see it because I forgot to move my office chair but you can, over the top of the chair back, see a basket with CTMH stamp sets in it .... Well, that basket is sitting on top of 6 My Acrylix organizers and there is another two on the floor next to that stack.  :-) 

The brown desk holds my computer, printer, phone ... There is another piece not in the photo but it has my Silhouette and Cuttlebug on it.  (You can see it in the next picture)

And from the next corner.  My ink carousel is in the way but hubby added a shelf onto the stand my water jug (offering hot and cold water) is on and I have my Cricut there, along with my embossing gun (that you can kind of see the tip of).  See that stack of paper on the desk in the bottom right corner?  That is 134 sheets I am offering up as part of my own challenge this month.  It's on this blog if you want to check it out.

Under the water cooler is all of my embossing folders and Sizzix dies.

And the next corner.  That white spot is NOT from forgetting to paint that section.  LOL  It is a foam core board that I have notched and use as a backdrop to take photos of my projects.

More photos ... lol  These units are from the closet storage section at Zellers and got them when they were all on sale.  I "may" get doors for the top section, too, but have not decided for sure yet.  I am not done organizing and sorting all my stuff so if I get get it organized well enough and it looks nice, I may leave them open.  They'll probably hold all of my My Acrylix organizers anyway.  :-)  The unit on the far left has baskets for my punches that don't hang on the rod and the doors have all my old scrappy magazines that I am slowly geting through and tearing out the ideas I like.  Those are going into binders - it will save me a TON of space and I can  use it for something else.

All the middle sections under the windows hold misc altering stuff (boxes, tins, tubes etc) as well as my bags and such for storing stuff in.

The unit on the right holds - for now - my flowers.  They look tidy now that I've sorted and purged.  That shelf is a LOT fuller than it looks!  No more room.  There are more flowers in the basket next to the two My Acrylix organizers that are there.  The rest of the section holds CDs, family history stuff, address books and blank CDs.

These two units I got at Canadian Tire several years ago.  The wire racks hold all my CTMH cardstock and I have our cardstock samples hanging from the spots that corresponds to the cardstock on the shelf.  At first I thought this was a good idea but they hang too low so if I need something out of one of the drawers, I have to hold them out of the way to close the drawers.  Time to rethink this .... hmmmm. 

The next row is my TV and stereo and the drawers hold embossing powders, paints, my stamping blocks, glitter, hand punches, misc. tools and such.  A work in progress still.

The next row down is all my patterned paper housed in Cropper Hopper paper keepers.  Yes, there is a LOT of it.  I LOVE me some patterned paper!!!!

All my CTMH paper packs are in the one furthest on the right, in alphabetical order so I can find them easier.  Yep, a little anal.  :-)

The bottom row holds Iris craft containers from Michaels that have all of my alphabets (stickers, chipboard, rubons etc), bling, stickers, chipboards, felt, diecuts, transparencies, rubons.

My fab hubby made me this ribbon organizer and most of my ribbon is on dowels behind those lovely strands that are hanging down.  Eventually I want to put doors or something over this.  Eventually.

This is the right hand side of my work table.  This is where I will have all my personal scrapping stuff eventually.  Most of the drawers have stuff just thrown in there until I can get around to finish sorting etc it all.  I've been purging as I go and listing my excess on a seperate blog so it's taking some time.

This side of the work table will be for all of my CTMH business items etc.  Easier to keep everyting seperated out.  Once I am done sorting and etc., of course. 

Well, that's it for now!  The basic bones are exactly how I want them, I just need to finish sorting and organizing - a little at a time. 

Altered Notepad using Wings

This is the best shot I could get of the interior.  My camera does not like white so changed out the background behind the notepad and that's as good as it gets.  LOL

I've been wanting to do one of these for a while now.  I've seen several versions on various blogs so I don't know who to give credit to but they all influenced me in some way.

I borrowed the interior of Chiaki's second notepad (scroll down if you click on the link) where she made a little pocket on the interior of her folder.  I covered mine with patterned paper, though.

My folder dimenstions for cutting and scoring are different, too, as I had different sized note pads than she did so had to design my own template.

I am absolutely in LOVE with the new Wings paper pack and bought one back in December before it was available to the general public (because I'm special ... but actually because I am a Consultant and we get to get our hot little hands on new items one month before our customers).  I have another set on the way and HOPE it will be here tomorrow.  LOL

Anyway .... when I saw this notepad folder by Jen (Roxybonds), I knew for sure that I wanted to do something almost identical. 

 I love the new butterfly stamp from the January Stamp of the Month.  I am all about butterflies!!!  I covered my stamp in Juniper ink, then daubed on Vineyard Berry down the body and some of the wings, then daubed Black on the outside edges. 

I didn't add any bling or use ribbon on the cover like Jen did but substituted a border punched piece of patterned paper.  I also wanted a way to close the pad, so added a piece of ribbon that I could tie if I wanted.

The sentiment on the front is from the Wings Workshop on the Go, exclusive to the kit, and I can't wait to use the other images from this set on a future project.  Definitely my style.  :-)

Supplies Used (All CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Cardstock: Black, Colonial White

Patterned Paper:  Wings Level 2

Inks: Juniper, Vineyard Berry, Black

Border Punch: Stampin' Up
Ribbon: Michaels

Stamp Sets:

D1452 Find Your Style (Jan 2011 SOTM)

B1376 Wings Workshop exclusive

Discounted Items!

You really need to go and check out the Discounted section from Close To My Heart!  They've added quite a bit of new stuff since the last time I looked. 

Hurry over (click on Discounted Products icon at right) as they are only there while supplies last!  Except for two items, everything is 50% or more off. 

New items I've noticed in the last week:

- card kits
- Stickease Assortment sticker sets
- Level One and Level Two paper packs

There's even a pack of Textured 12x12 cardstock on there if you're running low on some summer colors.  :-)

Blog Candy!

A fellow CTMH consultant is celebrating one year as a blogger and is giving away a TON of stuff to someone.  You really have to check out the post to see all of the stuff that is going to be included. 

Run, don't walk to Isn't That Sweet? to get your chance to win.

January 2011 Challenge

Was November and December crazy busy or was it just me? I know it normally is but it seemed worse this year for some reason.

I know I sure didn't get the challenge done that was due the end of December ... lol. No one did, actually, so I am going to use the same prize package for January. I think it's a good one. Who doesn't need more patterned paper?

Here it is again:

TWO (sometimes FOUR) sheets of EVERY Close To My Heart paper pack that I have, including any from Constant Campaigns that I've ordered as well !!!

I've gone through all of my paper packs from CTMH and the winner will receive 134 pieces of patterned paper!

Here are the paper pack sheets that will be included (I ended up putting in FOUR sheets of ones I had multiple packs of):

Aspen - 4

Bella - 2

Best Friends - 2

Boom-Di-Ada - 2

Caboodle - 2

Caprice - 4

Cherry-O - 2

Elegant Bouquet - 4

Emporium - 4

Evensong - 2

Felicity - 4

Floral Impressions - 4

Floral Tapestry - 2

Free Spirit - 4

Good Times - 2

Grace - 4

Heirloom - 4

Holiday - 2

Jingle - 4

Key to my Heart - 4

Life Delights - 4

Magnifique - 2

Miracle - 4

Mistletoe - 4

Moon Doggie - 2

More to Adore - 2

Notebook - 4

Olivia - 4

Passages - 2

Perfect Day - 4

Sarsaparilla - 2

Silhouette - 4

Splendor - 2

Sweet Home - 4

That's Amore - 2

Tickled Pink - 2

Tinkerin' - 2

Topstitch - 2

Twitterpted - 2

Unforgettable - 2

Veranda - 4

Victorian Elegance - 2

Vintage Travel - 2

Whoops-A-Daisy - 2

Zippidee - 2

Now, on to the challenge:

As always ... a sketch. I loved this one from last month so am using it again this month since I didn't get it done anyway.



Sketch by Stacy Cohen on the Pencillines blog.



For those of you who are cardmakers (you need to make THREE cards using this sketch), here is your sketch:



Sketch by Becky Fleck of Page Maps.



OR

Use your stash of flowers in a different way on a layout. I want to see some creativity here, ladies! (I went through my stash of flowers the other day ... OBSCENE! I am going to try and do this one as well as the sketch one.)

You have until midnight on 5 February 2011 to complete the challenge. You get one entry per layout you do (or per three cards for cardmakers).

Three ways to enter:

1.  Email me your completed projects

or

2.  Post your photos to my CTMH Group on Facebook (open group that anyone can join)

or

3.  Comment on this post with a link to your completed project.

Winner will be chosen by random drawing on 6 February 2011 using random.org. (Each entry will be assigned a number in the order they are posted/received by me and those numbers will be used in the random draw.)