Courtney's Creations

2011-12-13T22:19:00.000-06:00

Hello to all. My days have been really busy lately. So sorry for not posting more often. I have my own two little ones to chase, plus I have been teaching all day and these last two weeks I have been teaching paper crafting in our after school program as well. Wears me out, but I have been having fun. I have 20 6th-8th grade students in my class for card making. For this project the students made 10 cards and a matching card box. Here are some samples of their work.

Student #1 Front

Student #1 Inside

Student #2 Front

Student #3 Front

Student #4 Front

Student #5 Front

Student #6 Front

Here is what I need from you. I need you to vote on your favorite card above. Place you votes on the poll in my sidebar. I told the students the winner gets a prize, for entering they all got to be featured on my blog. These are the six that have entered. We practiced using spray ink, distressing the edges with ink, dry embossing, and learning to stamp. This was the first time all the kids had ever used any of the techniques. I think they turned out great! What do you think?

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T22:57:00.001-05:00

I know I have been neglecting my blog lately. These past few months have been filled with two toddlers, and 130 seventh graders, and 2 major evaluations on the new evaluation model for teachers. Basically on this model we are being told reaching a 5 is impossible so to shoot for 3. So you can imagine how hard I have been working. One lesson plan for one day on this model took me two full weeks to complete and was 5 pages long typed not counting all the typing I did creating the supplies for the lesson. So scrapbooking has been low on the totem pole lately.

Over my fall break I went on a much needed vacation and did manage to find the time to make my girls Halloween Costumes. They went as Tinkerbell and Sleeping Beauty. I saw a similar Tinkerbell costume and wand on etsy for $50-$60 dollars and I thought to myself, "I can make that!" So for about $12 each here is what I came up with.

Close to my Heart Convention Sneak Peaks!

2011-07-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

Ladies it has just been announced that CTMH will have an exclusive Cricut Cartridge that will have over 700 images and will go with several of our stamp sets! B&T paper (pattern paper) is now cardstock weight as well! You can begin to order this and all the other fabulous new products Aug 1st so start saving now! This catalog will make you want to spend!

Mommy Day Crop!

2011-06-19T13:43:00.000-05:00

The other day my great friend and I got together to scrap while our wonderful hubby's kept our kids. It was so great to spend some time talking and relaxing while working on our baby books. I am terribly behind in my two year old's book. I am only up to about 7 months old for her and have not even started my 1 year old's book yet. So I needed this day to get in gear. Here are the pages I completed.

This layout pattern I did on my own. I used CTMH Kraft Cardstock and the circle is from an old CTMH Constant Campaign kit called Felicity. The chipboard letters I bought a few years ago at a scrapbook convention but I do not have the company name. I was just proud I finally used them. The leaf is from the CTMH stamp set Many Thanks. Then I had a journal block that I cut up and sponged ink over each line in CTMH Ink's (Honey, Tulip, Sweet Leaf, Twilight, Chocolate, and Autumn Terracotta). What I LOVE about CTMH paper and inks is that they all match and it makes doing your pages super easy.

For this page I used Kraft Cardstock again as my base and B&T (background and texture) paper from Felicity. I lined my photo on Chocolate CTMH cardstock and the letters were done on my Cricut using the Zoobaloo cartridge and done with Colonial White CTMH cardstock and I sponged the edges in chocolate ink. Then I added a pumpkin adhesive felt border I got at a scrapbook convention, some orange buttons I attempted to make look like pumpkins and the Autumn Terracotta leaf is once again from the Many Thanks stamp set. I used the Tiny Typewritter Alphabet stamp from CTMH and chocolate ink for my journaling.

Here are the other two pages I did. This pattern was straight out of our new CTMH How To Book called Magic. If you like making your pages interactive then this book is for you, even if you don't you can make the same layout without the hidden items just like I have done here. It is such a versatile book!

The stamp images were all from the Beware and Creepy Cobwebs CTMH Stamp Sets I just LOVE these stamps...so cute! I used my Cricut to create my letter's on Autumn Terracotta cardstock and I used the Felicity Paper mixed with Black Cardstock. I LOVE this layout! It sure does help that my hubby takes such great photos and captured this great photo of my little girl on her 1st Halloween.

In this close up you can see I wet embossed my black circle element with white embossing powder. This stamp image is meant for a square corner, but the great thing about clear stamps is you can shape them on the block or see through them enough to line up your stamp and make it fit your shape. The Boo sentiment is also done with white embossing powder. I also dry embossed my black strip with my Sizzix to add some texture to the page.

For the last page and this one I sanded the Autumn Terracotta cardstock to reveal the white core that all CTMH cardstocks have. I embossing this black strip with my sizzix as well and used my cricut for the letters and the oval shapes. The "So sweet it's scary" sentiment was done using the Hodgepodge Alphabet stamp from CTMH. The bat image is embossed with black glitter embossing powder. Add a few other embellishments and Voila! Making these pages was so much fun remembering how cute she looked as a little pumpkin. It would have made me a little sad to realize how fast she is growing up, but then I remember I still have to scrap my baby girl's book and she wore this outfit too. That is the great thing about having two girls...I get to see the cute outfits again!

It has been way too long!

2011-06-18T21:35:00.001-05:00

Hello? Is anyone there? Really? You still read this site? Yes folks...it has indeed been way too long since I have posted any artwork. I have had some time recently to finally be crafty again and will have several new posts of projects I have been working on. This first project was created last month for one of the teachers on my team (I teach middle school) who was retiring. We threw her a party and I was in charge of making the little sign that would be placed with her guest book.

This is what the guest book looked like and I tried to keep to the color scheme with the sign.

Here is a close up of the little sign. For this project I used Chocolate cardstock from Close to my Heart and embossed it with my Sizzix then backed it with a Crystal Blue cardstock from CTMH so you could not see my ribbon glued in the back. I used some lace ribbon from the dollar bin at Wal-Mart, and some Prima Flowers. I used Colonial White cardstock then printed in brown ink from my computer the sentiment. If you look really close you can see I scored two lines above and below the sentiment and then used Chocolate Ink from CTMH to distress it. Then I finished it off with a my stickease butterfly from the Miracle Kit that I stuck to a Taffy colored CTMH paper clip. I hope you like it

Just an Update!

2011-05-21T13:01:00.000-05:00

I have new artwork to show you as soon as I get my computer back. My brother in law is working on it and I should get it back next weekend. So hang tight and I will have some more to show. I also will be starting my summer next weekend (I teach 7th grade) so I should have more time to keep up with this blog again.

My firstborn is 2!

2011-04-20T23:29:00.000-05:00

My firstborn girl M turned 2 Monday. This was the spread I made for her spring themed party. We had cake and donut holes (bought from publix) Fresh fruit, candy covered marshmellows, and birds nest cookies (made from scratch).

This was one of the crafts I did in preparation for the party. It was my first time making this tissue paper pom pom, and I LOVED how they turned out. I think I may hang these in my scrap space now.

Here is the full effect.

The fruit on a stick.

Close up of the birds nest cookies (peanut butter, choc. chips, and chow mein noodles mixed together and shaped like a nest with candy eggs on top.

I saw the inspiration for this here. This blog was great! I wanted to make my own birthday banner like they did, but I ran out of time.

My 7th grade girls named these marshmallow pops "cloud pops".

These were marshmallow on a stick, dipped in vanilla candy melt, and while wet dipped in sprinkles. Then I placed them in the freezer for a few minutes to harden again and presto, marshmallow pops.

The cake, there is a story with this. I was not overly impressed with out publix cake. I mean, sure it's cute. However, I ordered an 8" round cake covered in fondant with fondant polka dots, pastel colors, and half chocolate half white. I got an 8" round cake covered sloppily in fondant (creases, cracks, etc), these bright colors, and layered choc, white, choc, white. The taste was not the best either. I think it worked and it was cute, but did not fit my vision and I was upset about the quality of the look. I know it looks pretty good here because I found it's best angle and took the picture. Don't get me wrong I tried to take it as a glass half full kinda gal, but it just still irks me a bit.

The spread again.

My birthday girl in front and my little one in back.
I would love to hear your comments and critiques. What do you think?

Yes...I am alive.

2011-04-16T11:17:00.000-05:00

Sorry everyone, I know I kind of just fell off the face of blogland for a while there. I have begun a new hobby, couponing. It is saving me a ton of money, but it takes a lot of time. With two girls two and under it pretty much has taken all my free time lately. But I am getting a handle on juggling it with everything else now. Just had to convince myself I did not need every deal and that yes, it would go on sale again soon. :) Well, my daughter turns 2 Monday and her party is this next week. I am going to attempt to craft some things for her decorations. If I am able to find the time I will post them here soon.

blog candy

2011-02-22T21:47:00.000-06:00

Leisa over at Big Red Scraps is giving away this awesome blog candy! She hosts a searchable blog of CTMH crafts and products.

My newest layout showcasing my favorite feature of my girl

2011-02-19T20:52:00.000-06:00

I love how this layout turned out. I got the sketch idea from my scrapbooks etc. magazine. This layout showcases one of my favorite features of my little girl...her eyes. They are my eyes. Some how, even though my husband has dark brown soulful eyes both my girls have my blue eyes. After M had such powerfully blue eyes I thought for sure my second girl E was going to have her Daddy's deep rich brown eyes, but nope. We defied the odds and have two blue eyed girls. Having a husband with brown eyes I did not think it would be likely I would have any blue eyed children, but here they are. I love that I can see myself in their eyes. So to steal a line from Harry Potter....

This is a picture of my firstborn girl when she was about 6 months...now she is 22 months...where does the time go? my second one is even older than this now, she will be 8 months! She is a petite little thing though and still in 3-6 months clothes so it makes me feel like she is still a little baby.

That pink lace you see on this layout started out twice a wide and white with a blue ribbon in it. It was not the look I was going for, so I pulled out the ribbon, cut it in half, and used my spray inks to die it pink and let it sit overnight. Worked like a charm. You can see from the picture I used one of my homemade shimmer mists. I challenge you to look through the supplies you have and don't use. How can you re-purpose those items to make them new again?

Blog Award!

2011-02-17T22:07:00.000-06:00

Janice from cricutology awarded me with this lovely award! Check out her blog !

Thank you so much Janice! You are too sweet!

When you receive this award you are to:

1) thank the person who gave this award to you and link it back to their blog
2) share 8 things about yourself
3) pass this award to 8 other individuals that you have recently discovered
4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition!

Now, 8 things about myself.

1. I am a Christian, wife to my college sweetheart and mother to two beautiful baby girls (age 22 months and 7 months).
2. I teach 7th grade social studies full time.
3. I enjoy sharing my passion for paper crafting with others.
4. I love crafting with my friends, but don't get to do it often enough.
5. I want to start teaching scrapbook classes, have a scrap club that meets regularly, and do and host more crops. Now I just need to find the time to do it.
6. I am a Close to my Heart Independent Consultant.
7. I love to shop for deals on scrapbook supplies online.
8. I am currently obsessed with finding extremely good deals on items to use as storage for my craft room. I am currently looking for 30 slot scrapbook paper racks (recently lost out on a craigslist find for $30 by getting in touch with them a 1/2 day sooner...so sad.) I am also looking for rotating greeting card holders, mainly a small one.
Here are 8 fabulous blogs I have recently discovered in no particular order:

http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2011/02/decoupaged-back-splash.html

http://bethybrat-bloomingwhereimplanted.blogspot.com/

http://cupcakescreations.blogspot.com

http://tmasonstudio.blogspot.com/

http://alittlemcd.blogspot.com/

http://www.crapivemade.com/

http://isntthatsweet.blogspot.com/

http://livingorganizedchaos.blogspot.com/

Valentines Tutorial and Cricut Crawl Blog Hop Entry

2011-02-11T23:22:00.001-06:00

Are you tired of the cold weather yet? I know I am. I teach and we were on our 15th snow day today. So I decided to have a Mommy Day today and sent the girls to daycare to play while I got somethings done. The day started off great. I ran to Wal-mart then came home and got to work in my craft room making my girls Valentines Cards. Now my girls are only 21 months and 7 months old so I made the cards myself. Monday at daycare their classrooms are trading valentines and being into crafts I thought, "I can make them!" So after several days of intending to do them, I spent today getting them done. Anyone who knows me, knows I take FOREVER when I do projects. So one thing that excited me today was that I finished them in record time. The designs popped into my head and I went with it instead of second guessing everything and I LOVE how they turned out. Hope you like them.

Today I am going to show you how to make these sucker toppers.

For my older daughter I bought a $1 box of 4 suckers for the kids. Her class has 4 students in it including her so this was a very affordable project. I kept the packaging to keep my suckers in, but I altered the front and sides of the box to make it look nicer and not like a cheap box from the store. I random stamped the CTMH colonial white cardstock with blush and tulip inks and heart stamps. The smaller heart is from Close to my Heart from the Hello There set. The larger one I believe is from a Fancy Pants set. The Love sentiment is from Paper Studio and I did first generation stamping and then shadowed it with a second generation stamping both in tulip ink from CTMH. To do generation stamping is easy, stamping after inking is 1st generation, then stamp a second time without inking and that is 2nd generation, then stamp again without inking is 3rd generation, etc. I also made my own shimmer mist filling a bottle 2/3 full of water, adding reinker to liking, and then a dash of perfect pearls powder and spritzed my random stamping.

To make the valentines candy toppers I used my Cricut Expression and the Accent Essentials Cartridge to make the hearts and the scalloped circles. The hearts were cut out from CTMH tulip cardstock at 2" and the scalloped circles were cut from a scrap of CTMH colonial white cardstock at 1.5".

I used my embossing pen to hand write the words "From: Mayli Milburn" on the back heart and then as seen below poured white embossing powder on them and used my heat gun to set it. I LOVE how this worked.

I also stamped the letters "U R" in versamark ink using my CTMH Alphabet set that came with my Felicity Campaign Set. I did the same embossing technique as seen above to set these letters as well...really easy and very quick. I would stamp and pour embossing powder on each heart then set them all at once with the heat gun. (p.s. like my stamping mess?)

Here is a shot of my other supplies, you can see I also stamped all my scalloped circles at once for easy assembly. The circles going on the front of the hearts were stamped with the sentiment "so sweet" from the CTMH stamp set Just for Girls. The circle going on the back heart was stamped with the sentiment "Handmade with Love" from the CTMH stamp set Made with Love.

Here is the finished sucker from the back. I pop dotted the scalloped circles on each heart for dimension.

Now I have a 7 month old girl as well and she is one of 8 in her nursery classroom. Since the babies don't eat suckers, I just made cards. I had these 4.5" circle cards laying around left over from a previous project. I had made them using my SCAL software and my Cricut machine. I used CTMH chocolate ink to distress the edges, Bazzil Basics Black textured cardstock, and the dot border is from the CTMH stamp set Jingle Borders. Other than that the front was made the same way as the suckers except I pop dotted the heart and the scalloped circles this time.

Can you read those names? My girl is Emersyn, but this just goes to show you that people are trying to be more unique.

Close up of the front. I did my daughters first and used a first generation border, but thought it was a bit too strong and took away from the heart.

So I changed it to second generation stamping for the others.

Back of the card. Stamps from CTMH sets Made with Love and Angel Policy.

Inside of the cards were stamped with the Felicity Alphabet stamp again and hand written salutation was done with my embossing pen and black glitter embossing powder.

What did you think? Was it tacky to give myself a shameless plug? I just wanted people to know where to find my other artwork ideas, so hope it was not a bad idea to include that.

Now I am sitting in my very cold living room writing this post. After this amazing day of getting projects done I managed to have enough time to visit an antique store in search of cheap things I could re-purpose. Went to the library, picked up the girls and when we got home....discovered my HEAT WAS OUT AGAIN THIS WEEK!!! Only this time we could not get it going again and heating guy can't be reached for some reason (we have his work and cell #'s). So I am sitting here getting colder and colder and hoping my girls don't get any sicker from this. Little one already has a cold. We may converge into one room tonight with room heater. It is probably 50 something degrees in here right now. Well, at least it was a good day...cause tonight is going to be rough.

Ok Blogger Girls...I need some help

2011-02-11T11:14:00.000-06:00

I am trying to decide between a Cuttlebug and a Sizzix Big Shot. What are your thoughts? What are the pros and cons of each? How are the prices between the two machines and even the embossing folders? I am looking to mainly emboss with them as I have a Cricut Expression. I don't know much about either one, so any information is helpful. I do more scrapbooking and paper crafting than card making. Thanks for the help!

My Scrap Space Redo

2011-02-08T22:27:00.001-06:00

Recently I gave you a sneak peak at my scrap space and the embarrassing mess I had in this room. After a few inspiring blog posts about organization I decided to jump in and reorganize my space.

****Warning...this post is LONG.

These next three pictures are the before shots. Try not to judge.

I am horrible about getting out several projects at once or getting out multiple supplies and not putting them each away before getting out more. This results in a mess like this. My table gets so cluttered until I have no room left to scrap.

I told you in the last post that my wonderful parents built this shelf for me for Christmas 2009. We saw some similar in a pottery barn catalog and decided Dad could make me one to my size specifications. Even with all this space, I still managed to be unorganized.

Behind my table area was this card table with my Cricut Expression on it. Since my laundry machines are downstairs, my drying rack was in the way right in front of the table and I was using the top of it to hold my mats, etc. In general I was not putting things in their proper place and this was the result.

_________________________________________________________________________________

AFTER

Now in this corner I have my carts of storage (not sure what to do with my decorative suitcases or metal cart yet now that it is clear. Any suggestions?) I also had my husband install two IKEA rods that can be found in the kitchen section for about $1.99 each. How can you beat that? In my old scrap room, before my new baby took it over, I had IKEA metal baskets hanging from these rods with my tools in them. I had these stickers and die cuts hanging in my closet. Now that I don't have a closet I hung them from these rods.

I have to be able to see my stash and had previously organized them in a binder, but then I never knew what I had. So I grouped them into themes and put all items of the same theme on an "o" ring and clipped it up. Now when I need something for a page, I unclip the ring and take the whole lot to my table. Open packaging are stored in zip lock bags or the smaller jewelry bags if they would fit.

Here is a close up of my ring of rub-on's. I have them separate because I don't want them to get squished or pressed on.

We rearranged the table and turned it, it really opens up the room now, though you can't tell it here. I now have space for my Cricut table in this corner, the bag and box are just being kept for future trash containers, but will eventually be gone. My Cricut mats are all nicely placed behind the machine. The blue box is of wood letters from my daughter's room, but I have to return them and get different ones and the plastic bag is my current trash bag for my crafts.

Here is another angle of this side of the room. You can see I have plenty of natural light. The foam on the wall is not my decorating, I share this space with my husband's studio in the other half of the room. My Hubby's a musician so I have to deal with the foam (sound echo dampeners) taking up my wall space. Hubby also got the best part of the room since he was there first with the nice long wall above where the table would go that could have been used for storage of tools...sigh...maybe one day I will have my own room again. I know he would like his room back too. But two babies back to back will cause the house to be taken over with large toys and two nurserys.

VIOLA! My new oragnized shelf. It is not all color coordinated like I would LOVE to have, but it works, and it looks much better with better use of space.

Originally I had my Dad build in this ribbon rod on my shelf, but I decided I preferred to take my ribbons to my table then cut them to fit my project as needed. So I ended up mostly sticking my ribbons in the following storage options.

I placed my loose ribbon in these jars from Michaels, and I LOVE that they are decorative and functional.

Then all my ribbon that would not fit on the rod were stuffed into this random canister that had once held chipboard and I had outgrown this storage and had ribbons just sitting near it like you can see if you look closely behind the canister.

So instead I took out the ribbon rod and I ended up placing all my ribbons in this basket and it holds them all perfectly and I can easily take the basket to my craft table to match ribbon to my project. I still have my loose ribbon in the jars which you can see in the left side of the photo.

I have decided to recycle my baby food jars...like I said, I have two small children and no shortage of baby food jars. Someday I hope to make them cute, but I think they work great despite looks. I also use these super cute IKEA jars on the right of the photo. I they come in sets of 3 and were also really cheap..between $1.99-$5.00 I can't remember now. I store all my small embellishments in them.

In this section, which is now right next to my chair and within arms reach I keep my go to items. My flowers, buttons, home-made spray inks, reinker, paint, ink pads, and chalks.

I used to keep my inks just in the cube, but I kept knocking them over, now I can easily pull out the basket and see what I have, yet keep them contained in one place.

I used to just stack my inks in the cube but this left a lot of unused space in the back section of the space. So now I have them in a narrow basket I was not using at the moment from my IKEA shelf so I can use the space better now.

Now I have this caddy filled with all my Close to my Heart Embellishments sorted by color.

As you can see I can easily grab the color I need and put them away easily.

I placed all my punches in this wire basket to contain them without taking up too much space. Honestly I don't use them often since I have my Cricut.

Now I store all my cartridges ( I don't have many since I have Sure Cuts A Lot) with their names showing for easy access as well as my acrylic blocks.

Finally I store my Close to my Heart stamps in these two cases, my floss in this plastic storage along with envelopes and canvas I can alter.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my space and hopefully I can inspire someone else to make better use of their room. What do you think? I would love to hear any suggestions of how you store your stash and how I can change mine for the better. Thanks!

My Scrapbook Storage

2011-01-31T21:58:00.000-06:00

Heart 2 Heart Challenges is starting a new challenge called From Your Heart to Ours. The Challenge this week was to show how we organized our supplies. It has inspired me to start thinking about reorganizing my entire scrap space. My scrap space is in a terrible state right now (which will be a post soon all its own soon) so I took a few pictures of how I organize my supplies that I do like right now.

I am embarrassed to post this, but here is a sneak peak at the horrible state my scrap space is in. (Seriously how do I let it get this bad)

My wonderful father built me this shelving system for Christmas last year and I LOVE it. We took a picture of something similar in a Pottery Barn Catalog and my Dad sat down with me and we designed it from there. I am currently working on organizing the lower half of the shelf better (as well as the floor in front). You see that box in the middle on the bottom shelf? It has all my stickers in it. I recently had a second child and had to evacuate that room and move to the basement. But I had been using the spare closet shelves (wire kind) and the "O" rings to hang all my stickers in baggies. Each ring held a certain theme of stickers (wedding, baby, travel, etc.) So they are still on the rings, but I am planning on getting a few IKEA shelves to clip these to now that I had to move to the basement.

This is how I store my buttons. I originally used the jars on the right of the picture which are from IKEA. Since I have two girls who are 21 months and 7 months I have a lot of baby food jars and I decided to make use of this opportunity to recycle and reuse. Someday I hope to have the time to make them cutesy, but for now they work great.

I store my loose ribbon in these jars from Michaels, I love how the colors show through and act as decoration as well.

My Dad built in this ribbon rod on my shelf, but I recently decided I like being able to take the spool to the table more than having it dangle, so I will show you how I am keeping them all in a basket now in my future post about my room redo. So be on the lookout in the next few weeks for my redemption post.

So excited!

2011-01-20T23:47:00.001-06:00

I was so excited to receive honorable mention as the cream in their coffee at The Play Date Cafe this week. The layout I selected to enter was in the previous post. I can't tell you how honored I am. Those ladies that play are VERY good and I just have meager skills. Congrats to all the other ladies...your works made me swoon.

PDCC64 challenge entry

2011-01-16T21:58:00.000-06:00

This week at the play date cafe this is the color challenge. LOVE IT! I may make a few more things with this color scheme in the future. Here is the layout I created. My blue was a little darker, but I think it has the same feel. All the products are from Close to my Heart except the ribbon in the corner and the thread.

I hand stamped my own background onto the Colonial White Paper using Cocoa and Twilight ink from CTMH. I LOVE how it turned out. Having two girls I never get to use blue, but I went for it this time and I am pleased with how it turned out.

New Years Resolution

2011-01-16T15:45:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone! I have several new years resolutions, one of which is to do a better job taking pictures of my projects. I want to do a better job both in quality and in showing the projects in various steps for all you visual learners out there. So hopefully in the new year you will see some tutorials on my blog finally. :)

Currently working on a scrapbook page. Maybe this means I need to go take some pictures. :)

Candy Giveaway- Share the Love

2011-01-14T10:59:00.000-06:00

Hello Everyone! I have some great news! Dawn over at Dawn's Craft Place is giving away some blog candy in honor of her Son's wedding coming up. Hop on over to her blog for your chance to win.

More Christmas Gift ideas on the cheap!

2011-01-01T14:55:00.000-06:00

This year our budget was tight so I ended up making almost all my Christmas Gifts. In the previous post you saw my message board I made my Mom. I made 3 more done in different styles for the other women I had to get for this year. However, in the hussle to leave the house on time for the holidays I forgot to take photos of those. I had one done for an elementery classroom for my sister-in-law that was for writing to do lists and list of what needed to be copied. The second was done in a music/drama style for my aunt for work. She works in the music department at a college and it had room for notes and appointments as she is a busy woman. Finally the 3rd was for my Mother-in-law who I made on similar to my Mom's but done is brown and blue colors. It has a place for notes and grocery lists too.

I did remember to take photos of my gift card holders I made using my cricut and SCAL program.

To make this gift card holder I used an SVG file of a fish and cut it using my SCAL program and my circut using green paper. I made 2 of the same cut so my fish is 2 sided. Then I used the blackout feature on two brown cardstock sheets which gives you a solid filled in version of your shape. I adhered one green side of the fish to the brown cardstock fish and used some scrap paper to tape in a pocket that would hold the giftcard, then I taped the other green fish to the other brown fish shape and then adhered the two brown pieces together leaving room for my giftcard to slide in and out. Still using scrap paper I hand cut a fish hook and taped it to my giftcard, tied some natural hemp from CTMH to my hook and my pole which is just a rolled piece of left over brown cardstock. So this is what it looks like put together with the giftcard inbetween the 2 brown pieces of cardstock.

So now when you pull on the fishing pole the giftcard comes out. My brother is a big fan of fishing, hunting, anything outdoors so I got him a card to Cabellas.

For my mother-in-law and brother-in-law I made a much more traditional holder...a stocking. This one I hand drew the stitches and cut the toe and heal out of my second pattern paper. I used ctmh jingle paper and stickers.

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-27T22:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays everyone!

I hope everyone had a Happy Holiday this year. My family and I traveled back to IL for two Christmas celebrations with each side of our family. I made several gifts this year and took pictures of a few of them. Now that I have given the gifts I can finally post them! So be looking for those posts in the next few days.

Enjoy your last few days of 2010!

Just a Note...

2010-12-04T23:30:00.004-06:00

Christmas Gift Ideas on the Cheap!!!

This weekend I was able to finish one of my to do projects. I tried another new idea I had seen done creating a message board from a picture frame. Now all I have to do is buy a dry erase marker.

Supplies:

1 10"x13" Frame from Hobby Lobby - on sale for $4.99

1 pack of level 2 paper from CTMH - $11.95 (I had this Grace Paper on hand so it was free)

1 Alphabet Stamp Set from CTMH (can't remember the name off hand)

1 brad

CTMH Black Ink Pad

CTMH Barn Red Ink Pad

CTMH Sponge for distressing the edges of the paper and flower

1 scrap of green paper for the leaf

Cricut Expression and Accent Essentals Cartridge for flower and cut 6 flowers at 4"

Note: The flower would have been 3-D if it was not in the frame. To do that you wet the seperate petals and gently crumple them up into tight balls of paper. Then immediately and gently undo taking care not to tear the wet paper. Then secure all the petal layers with a brad and scrunch them all in toward the brad, then gently pull out from brad a bit and they will dry like that. Looks more like a carnation when done that way.

Thankful for Family - Shabby Tea Room Challenge

2010-11-27T08:53:00.004-06:00

The challenge this week at The Shabby Tea Room was to create a project or a card using no squares or rectangles. This Thanksgiving Holiday I was able to find some time to try my hand at something new.

I made my first wreath! My Mother-in-Law's birthday was this week and she is down visiting us today so while I was out shopping I found this beauty on sale for half off at Hobby Lobby. I had seen a picture of a similar wreath done by another consultant at the CTMH Convention this year. I am not sure her name, but she did the poster titled Boutique Chic on the art wall. If anyone knows her, I would love her name to give her proper credit.

Now I forgot to take pictures of the before supplies, but this wreath was just a plain grape vine wreath at first.

Supplies:

1 plain grape vine wreath (Hobby Lobby)

1 sprig of artificial flowers (Hobby Lobby)

4 sheets of CTMH colored cardstock ( I used crystal blue, colonial white, sweet leaf, and blush)

2 strings of CTMH Natural Hemp

1 Sheet of CTMH plain chipboard

Glue Dots Adhesive

Tacky Tape

Liquid Glass Adhesive

Maybe even a hot glue gun or super glue

Paper cutter/scorer

scissors

I also used my Cricut Expression to make the letters with Opposites Attract Cartridge

and Sure Cuts A Lot to make the pennants

To make your own just follow these directions:

Cut branches off your sprig of flowers and weave them into your wreath using the grape vine twigs to hold them in place. Cut 2 stings of hemp and cut your pennant shapes. Mine are cut at 4.5" long. Score top part of the triangle (thickest end) about an inch down and fold over to the back. This will allow the pennant to sit on the banner. Use your scissors to cut off the excess that is showing and use the glue dots to adhere the pennant to the hemp and repeat until all your pennants are hung. Attach your banner to the wreath how you wish. Then cut your title, I used chipboard for mine and this is the hardest part, attaching your title. Try the adhesive that works for you, I am probably going to get a hot glue gun to better secure my letters. I used tacky tape and liquid glass, but the liquid glass does not dry fast enough and the tape seems a little loose. So I recommend hot glue or super glue for quick, strong bonds. This took me about an hour to complete, but that was with constant breaks to take care of my two babies and even held one while working at one point.

I would love to hear from you...what do you think? It was my first try after all.

Blog Candy Winner!

2010-11-26T23:23:00.000-06:00

According to Random.org the candy winner is Debbi! Congrats Debbi...e-mail me at cjmilburn06@hotmail.com to tell me your address. Thanks for playing at Courtney's Creations!

Friday's Feast Blog Candy Giveaway!!!

2010-11-21T19:03:00.003-06:00

Blog Candy Giveaway just got Sweeter!!!

I am giving away some blog candy as a way of saying Thanks to those who help get the word out about my Black Friday Sale.

I have scoured my stash and I have come up with the following items to add to this blog candy.

3- Hand made Thank You Cards with a blank inside.

1- CTMH Twilight Exclusive Ink Pad NIP

1- Fall Flouish Clear Mini Stamps Pack

1 - CTMH Spring 2010 Idea Book

1 - CTMH Autumn/Winter 2009 Idea Book

4 - 12"x12" Pre-Printed Layout Pages from the CTMH Unforgettable Level 1 Kit

2 - 12"x12" two sided We R Memory Keepers Comstock Collection Cotton Candy Papers

3 - 12"x12" Karen Foster Design Photo Pedigree Chart Papers

4 - 12"x12" Karen Foster Design Life Story Papers

1 - Vintage Lace Theme 12"x12" Paper

1 -DCWV 12"x12" Ancient Scroll Paper

1- 12"x12" Ireland collage Print Paper

3 - 12"x12" School Themed Papers

1 - Bag full of Chipboard saysing for Children and Family

1 - NIP SEI Sparklers Dimensional Glass Beaded Stickers

1 - Zoophabet Borders Stickers NIP

1 - bag of paper photo frams

1- NIP EK Success vellum stickers baby theme

1- Quick Quotes mini book kit NIP

1 - CTMH My Originals Card Kit Rex and Friends NIP

Below are some close ups of this huge lot of goodies!

All you have to do is the following 3 steps:

1.Become a follower and grab my Black Friday Button on my sidebar and post it on your blog.

2. Write a post advertising my Close to my Heart Independent Consultant Black Friday Sale and the Blog Candy giveaway. Feel free to use this picture of the candy in your post.

3. Link your post up below using my Mr. Linky link-up directing me to your post.

This Blog Candy Giveaway is good until 10pm November 26, 2010 at which time I will pull a random winner.

Don't have a blog, but still want a chance to win?

If you do not have a blog, then leave a comment directing me to your facebook post or include me, cjmilburn06@hotmail.com, in your e-mail to your friends advertising the sale. Ready...Set.....GO!!!!

Black Friday Sale!!!! One day only!!!!

2010-11-18T23:31:00.006-06:00

It's the BIG Day After Thanksgiving Special!!!

Friday, November 26, email me or comment here between 3pm and 10pm and take advantage of these specials! Get up early and hit the mall. When you have shopped till you drop, take a break from the crowds, grab your idea book (or go to this link for the online idea book) and shoot me a message, or send me your order via e-mail @ cjmilburn06@hotmail.com *

For every order over $40 get a SECIAL BONUS GIFT FREE!!! I will sweeten the deal even more! For every $40 you spend you get another FREE GIFT!!! Your order can also qualify for the Stamp of the Month Special. If you spend $25, you can get the Nov Stamp of the month for $17.21, spend $50 and get it for just $11.48, spend $75 and get it for just $5.74 and spend $100 and get it for FREE! And don't forget that during November we’re expressing our gratitude to you our customers. When you place a minimum order of $100 US / $117.50 CAN, you will not only receive the November Stamp of the Month set, A Little Thanks, for FREE, you will also receive ONE STAMP SET OF YOUR CHOOSING from the 2010 Autumn/Winter Idea Book for FREE! It’s just our way of imparting A Little MORE Thanks to you this November.

Nov. Stamp of the Month

Place your Chistmas Orders between now and December 1st and I will giftwrap them for free and send them to the address of your choice. This deadline is to ensure delivery by Christmas Day.

OK here is how this BLACK FRIDAY SALE will work. When you place an order with me of $40 or more between 3pm and 10pm Friday November 26, 2010 you will recieve 1 FREE BONUS GIFT OF YOUR CHOOSING from the following list from the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book:

1 pkg. Waxy Flax (Bamboo, Black, Chocolate, Colonial White, Cranberry, Crystal Blue, Juniper, or Sorbet)
1 pkg. Hemp (Black, Natural, or White)
1 pkg. Opaques Adhesive Gems (Licorice, Mocha, or Pearl)
1 pkg. Sparkles (Blue and Green Assortment, Red, Pink, and Purple Assortment, Clear Assortment or Bitty Assortment)
1 pkg. Twinkle Brads Jolly Assortment
1 pkg. Colonial White Designer Brads
1 pkg. Pewter Designer Brads
1 pkg. Pretty Pins
1 pkg. Flexi Labels
1 pkg. Badge Buttons
1 pkg. Fancy Fuzz Borders
1 pkg. Fancy Cuts Die Cuts
1 pkg. Foundry Tabs
1 pkg Epoxy Clips
1 pkg. Filigree Charms
1 pkg. Tiny Tabs
1 pkg. Soft Set Eyelets
1 My Creations Memory Showcase Accordian Style Albumn
1 pkg. A-door-ables
1 3"x3" Mini Albumn
1 pkg. Dimensional Elements ( Fresh Shapes, Perennials, Simple Numbers, Stars, Plain make your own Chipboard, Hearts, or Monograms)
1 pkg Dimensional Elements in Color (Organic or Adventure)
1 pkg. Miracle Irresistibles
1 pkg. Color Ready Alphabets
1 pkg 6"x6" White Daisy Cardstock
1 jar of Embossing Powder
1 Embossing Pen
1 Rub and Remove Eraser
1 Dry Embossing Stylus
1 Sanding Kit
1 Edge Distressor and Sponge
1 pkg. Distressing Inks
2 Sponges
1 pkg. Sponge Daubers
1 container of Liquid Applique
1 Red Eye Pen
1 Blending Pen
1 Container of Create a Shade Pearl Paint
1 Pkg. Craft Jars
1 Marker (Color of your Choice)

Please tell me in your e-mail your order, how you are paying (Cash, Check, Credit, or Paypal) and which item from this list you wish to be your FREE GIFT and which color or design you want if applicable! Also let me know if it is a present for someone else you want gift wrapped for FREE and shipped to the address of your choice. HAPPY SHOPPING!

* note* This offer is only good with Courtney - Close to my Heart Independent Consultant at cjmilburn06@hotmail.com.

Shutterfly may be my new favorite company to print with!

2010-11-17T22:04:00.037-06:00

I used to print my photos with a competitors site, but I may switch now after hearing such great things about Shutterfly. Just check out a few of my favorite designs for this years Christmas Cards.

More Than Merry American Lung Association Holiday 5x7 folded card

I like this one to show off a family photo and one of the girls alone

Counting The Days Christmas 5x7 folded card

This one is really cute and childish which will fit nicely with my girls baby pictures I want to exhibit

All Of Us Christmas 5x7 folded card

I like how this card has room for a full length and head shot of each of my girls and I love the colors.

What A Year Christmas Card

This next two are probably my favorite because of how much they can be personalized and their fun color schemes. I love this one for the Christmas letter with photos incorporated idea.

Top Ten Moments Christmas Card

And I love this one for the same idea, but a little more concise with some very bright, fun colors. This has been a year I could sum up with 10 points.

Now to go play on Shutterfly and create some CUTE cards!

A little Thanks H2H Challenge entry.

2010-11-17T16:35:00.002-06:00

Heart 2 Heart Challenges is doing another 4 for 40 challenge. The goal this week is to create your best thank you cards in honor of Thanksgiving. Here is the card I created:

I hand stamped the dots just by eyeballing where they should go, I used a fiskars embossing template and a stylus to emboss the Twlight cardstock, and used the generation stamping technique to create a shadow look behind my thank you sentiment. I also used Diamond Stickles on my flourish. I can't remember which stamp sets I used off the top of my head. I will have to look and edit this later. Thanks for looking!

This card is one of a set that actually match this card box

All created with CTMH products (except the ribbon and embossing plate) using the colors Cocao, Colonial White, and Twilight.

For the purse/cardbox I used Accent Essentials Cartridge.

H2H Challenge - Make it Girly

2010-11-15T23:23:00.000-06:00

I am so excited about this challenge since I am the proud Momma of two baby girls. When I thought of something girly this layout came to mind.

I used the following supplies:

All CTMH except the flowers and I used the Cricut for the letter cut outs but on CTMH paper

Topstitch Paper

Chocolate Ink

Blush Ink

Chocolate Ribbon Rounds

The pink flower image was from a CTMH stamp set, but I don't remember which one.

Natural Hemp

Chocolate Brads

This was the layout I made of my first Mother's Day as a Mom myself. I hand stamped my own background on the Colonial White Cardstock, and used my Cricut Opposites Attract cartridge to cut the title. I used Chocolate Ink to distress the page and edges as well. I was not overly impressed with my photography, but decided it was important to document the event anyway and I ended up loving the final result.

My daughter is dressed in what was my take home outfit and her booties were made by my Grandmother for me when I was a baby. My Grandma passed away from cancer when I was in 4th grade so they are something special I have of hers.

What do you think...is it girly enough?

Scrappy Saturdays

2010-11-15T22:56:00.000-06:00

Maryanne at Scrappy Gifts is hosting an online crop! Go take a look and leave a comment telling her I sent you. Then tell one of your friends and have them do the same! Check out all the great inspiration for all us ladies who are too busy to attend a regular crop.

My favorite CTMH Product Right Now

2010-11-11T19:01:00.001-06:00

My Favorite Close to my Heart prodcuts would have to be the paper...both the cardstock and background and texture (B&T) papers. I just LOVE how all the colors are coordinated for me. It takes the guessing and matching paper part out of the equation.

Just look how well the papers coordinate with each other and how perfectly they match the inks I used on my background stamping.

Just look at how the white core of the cardstock shows through with some sanding.

Play Date Cafe Color Challenge

2010-11-07T22:20:00.000-06:00

This is my submission for this week's Play Date Cafe Color Challenge. For this layout I used the Twitterpated papers from CTMH and the stamp set from the Twitterpated Workshop on the GO and the Felicity Constant Campaign Paper Pack. The colors are Sorbet, Chocolate, Sweet leaf, and Colonial White. I used the Reflections How-to Book from CTMH for the layout patterns.

You can't see it here very well, but I made my own shimmer mist and sprayed the family title.

I hand-stamped my own background on the colonial white paper.

Added some ribbon

Another look at my hand-stamped background.

Close up of the second page.

I distressed the edges of the sweet leaf paper with chocolate ink using a sponge. I also hole punched the chocolate cardstock and layered sorbet cardstock behind it to create my own background and some texture.

I stamped this tree using the treetops stamp from CTMH and cut it out to make a die-cut shape for my journal. Leave your comments here and tell me what you think.

Mommy and Me artwork

2010-11-07T17:20:00.000-06:00

This is the first paper craft project my little girl (age 18 months) and I have done together. I punched out some different size squares from my paper scraps and we worked on saying square and understanding the square shape and learned to glue things with a glue stick...she was the glue stick queen. She would get very upset if I took it from her and she wanted to do it herself. Then she learned how to stick something to paper. That part was tricky as she just wanted to keep gluing and she wanted to pull off the already glued pieces, but eventually we ended up with this lovely piece of artwork that is now hanging on our fridge in true proud Mommy fashion. I have to teach her young so she will become my scrapping buddy someday.

Without further adieu....here is the beautiful picture.

New signature line attempt

2010-11-07T11:06:00.000-06:00

Paper Issues Scalloped Challenge Entry 5

2010-11-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

This is my 5th entry into the Paper Issues Peer Pressure Challenge. To make my scallopes on this page I broke out my ancient fiskars scissors.

Paper Issues Scalloped Challenge Entry 4

2010-11-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the bad picture. This is my 4th entry into the Paper Issues Peer Pressure Challenge. For this layout I used Close to my Heart Miracle Constant Campaign kit, Amore Alphabet and Numbers stamps, and Posterboard Alphabet Stamp. This layout was about when my oldest daughter caught the swine flu at 5 months old last year.

Paper Issues Scalloped Challenge Entry 3

2010-11-06T07:44:00.000-05:00

This is my Paper Issues 3rd entry for the Peer Pressure Challenge. I created this purse/gift box/card holder using Close to my Heart Twilight, Cocoa, and Colonial White Cardstock and the Annotations Stamp set. I also used my fiskars embossing plates and my Cricut Expression with the Home Accents Cartridge.

Paper Issues Scalloped Challenge Entry 2

2010-11-06T07:37:00.001-05:00

This is my second entry to the Paper Issues Peer Pressure Challenge. I got this layout idea from the Scrapbooks Etc magazine.

Paper Issues Scalloped Challenge Entry 1

2010-11-06T07:33:00.000-05:00

This is my 1st entry for the Paper Issues peer pressue challenge. I used Grace Paper from Close to my Heart and the CTMH Posterboard Alpha and Basic buttons.

NVS Challenge #8 Entry

2010-10-31T11:58:00.000-05:00

I created this layout of my daughter and my friend's son when he came to visit. We tease that this is her boyfriend. I used my cricut expression to cut out the letters and they were on white paper. I used my chalk inks and colored the letters. I used my sewing machine to stitch around the photo and felt shapes and chipboard for the accents. I truely hope these two will be friends always.

This is my entry for the challenge at NVS challenge #8 due today 10/31. If you would like a chance to earn the prize from BlueMoonScrapbooking then enter today.

Heart 2 Heart Challenge - Embossing

2010-10-24T11:17:00.000-05:00

I am re-posting this purse/greeting card holder/gift bag that I created on my cricut expression.

I used the Accent Essentials cartridge and the following supplies:

14" of ribbon...not sure what brand mine is as I store them all together

2 eyelets, mine are making memories

CTMH Colonial White Cardstock

CTMH Twilight Cardstock

CTMH Cocoa Cardstock

6 CTMH Colonial White Brads

Fiskers Embossing Plate

Tacky Tape strips

Velcro adhesive dot

CTMH Bonding Memories Glue

Diamond Stickles

CTMH Annotations Stamp Set

CTMH Twilight and Cocoa inks

Mommy's Free Day!

2010-10-20T23:05:00.000-05:00

Here is my latest artwork from my Mommy only day with my good friend Megan. She and I were able to get free from our little ones and get scrapping! I myself have not been able to scrap since my second baby girl was born almost 4 months ago. So not only have I not been able to start her album yet, I am still only on months 4-5 of my first baby girls album!!! Does this sound familiar? I used Close to my Heart paper kits on several pages to help me get caught up. I LOVE the fact that the paper packets all come like a kit with all the coordinating papers. It takes the guessing out of it for me.

This layout was of my daughter at 5 months old when she had caught the swine flu. It was scary, but she had no major complications...in fact you can see she was still a pretty happy baby.

Supplies:

All CTMH

Felicity paper pack

Sweet Leaf and Crystal Blue Ink

Bamboo Brads

Amore Alphabet

Posterboard Alphabet

I apologize for the glare on this page. One night my daughter was playing in her exersaucer and it was really loud. Just jumping and jumping and jumping. I had sort of tuned her out while I was on the computer since she was having fun close by. Then I had one of those Mommy moments where everything got really quiet and you know you need to go investigate. Well this is what I found. She had just kept jumping until she got so tired she fell asleep right there! If you knew my daughter at all, you knew she was a horrible sleeper so this was a tiny miracle!

Supplies:

CTMH Topstitch Paper Pack level 2

CTMH Chocolate distressing ink, Stipple brush, and sander (all from the distressing kit)

CTMH Alphabet Stamp set from the Felicity Kit

CTMH Chocolate Ribbon

CTMH Amore Numbers and Letters Stamp sets

CTMH Spring Harmony Brads

Making Memories Copper Brads

Pink Thread

Cricut Opposites Attract Cartridge

This picture has bad color, so let me show you 1 page at a time.

For this layout I used a scrapbook overlay. These overlays come with the squares cut out already and you just place photos behind the squares or paper scraps like I did. It really helps speed up the page. I think I am going to re-do the journaling block as my handwriting got sloppy, but other than that it turned out really cute. Can you tell my daughter was not into it! Ha Ha! That is what I get for trying to get in a photo shoot before nap time! I am not sure of which company's these papers came from since I store mine by theme. These were not CTMH though.

Jump for Joy!

2010-10-02T10:15:00.000-05:00

October is the best time to hold your own Home Gathering. Why, you ask? During October, all of my hostesses will earn more Hostess Rewards with a qualifying Gathering of at least $450 US in sales. How does this work? As a qualifying hostess, you'll automatically jump up to the next Hostess Rewards level. In other words, if your Gathering sales qualify you to receive $100 in free select product and two items at 50 percent off, you'll actually jump up to $120 in free product and three items at 50 percent off! This means more for you! You'll earn at least $20 more in free product and may even earn an additional item of your choice at 50 percent off. So, don't wait! October is a great time to invite your friends and family over to do some holiday shopping with Close To My Heart, order their holiday card, craft, or scrapbooking supplies, and have a fun night out crafting, laughing, and relaxing.

It gets even better! Beginning October 1, 2010, an EZ Invite Gathering can be held completely online. As long as two orders are placed (either through the Consultant or online via EZ Invite) by guests invited through EZ Invite, and as long as the total reaches at least $150/$175, the hostess will qualify for Hostess Rewards. That means hostesses holding face-to-face Home Gatherings or virtual Online Gatherings can both reap the benefits of Hostess Rewards! So this means you don't even have to actually clean your house. You can have a completely online catalog party! Now your party guests can be from all over the country!

Contact me today to Host a Party! This offer only good this month.
cjmilburn06@hotmail.com

OMG look what I just learned!!!!

2010-09-12T11:23:00.001-05:00

Check out this video to see how you can emboss with your circut machine for free! No additional parts needed other than a rubber type mat and she shows you which one she uses. WOW! I may have to try this now!!! I have seen additional parts you can buy from a company that works with cricut, but WOW! Now I can try to do it free. Why did I not think of this! Ok I will try to calm down now.

Heart to Heart Challenge - Stitching up some artwork

2010-08-24T15:14:00.000-05:00

Here is my artwork I am re-posting as my entry for this weeks Heart to Heart Challenge. Having two girls I hardly get to use blue in their scrapbooks, but I LOVE how this one turned out!

For this layout everything is CTMH except for the blue threads and ribbon.

Supplies:

1- 12x12 Colonial White Cardstock

1 - Felicity Pack of Paper and stamp set

several scraps of Colonial White Cardstock

Cocoa rectangular plates and Bamboo bitty brads.

Basic Brads and Basic Buttons

Natural Hemp

Amour lowercase alphabet

Reflections Pattern Book

1- Dollar Spool Ribbon

For this layout I followed the basic layout in my Reflections How to Book from CTMH. I turned it on its side to accomidate my 5x7 photo. I made a return to sewing on my page with this layout as I have not done so in a while. I had never sewn directly onto a photo before and I really love the results. Doing girl pages, I hardly use any blue and I must say I LOVE it!. I also random stamped the Col. White background. What do you think? I would LOVE to hear from you!

$2, $4, $6, for 8... It's YOU We Appreciate!

2010-07-31T09:46:00.000-05:00

Close to my Heart wants to show how much they appreciate YOU! To do so, we're bringing SUPER deals to you for 8 days only. From August 4 through August 11, while supplies last, you can purchase selected My Stickease® assortments for only $2, My Reflections® Level 1 kits for only $4, and My Reflections® Level 2 paper packets for only $6 on my website. The deals are amazing!! With a sale like this you will want to be sure to get online on time in order to get all the great product at such a great price!! What a steal! I've already started my wish list.

The sale will begin at 11:00 am EDT on my CTMH website: http://courtneymilburn.myctmh.com/ and all sale items are available while supplies last for up to 8 days. With our large variety of Level 1, Level 2, and My Stickease® products to choose from, everyone can get something they love! I don't know about you, but I'm thinking Christmas gifts for my crafty friends! You will also be able to combine sale items with regularly-priced items.

If you'll be at work or out of town when the sale starts, I would be happy to be your personal shopper and order for you. I can combine orders and have them shipped to me, or I can ship them directly to you. (I will need your credit card info, which I will keep absolutely safe and confidential.)

To help you get a jump start, Level 1 kits features four preprinted 12"x12" scrapbook pages, two 12"x12" sheets of B&T Duos (two-sided designer paper), and two 12"x6" My Stickease adhesive artwork (a sheet of letters and a sheet of artwork). Level 2 paper packs contain twelve 12"x12" B&T Duos (two each of six patterns) and 10 sheets of coordinating card stock. The My Stickease assortment that you can purchase separately is different from the My Stickease in the Level 1 kit, but they coordinate beautifully. This package includes two 12"x6" sheets of gorgeous adhesive artwork that you can use on just about any project.

Enjoy the sale! Many of these items will be retiring at the end of this year...so stock up now! Remember, these deals are while supplies last, so get started at 11:00 AM EDT on Wed., Aug. 4 at http://courtneymilburn.myctmh.com/.

See below for the complete list- print, highlight and shop early.

X7045A My Reflections Vintage Travel Level 1 $4.00

X7045C VintageTravel My Stickease $2.00

X7056A My Reflections Discovery Level 1 $4.00

X7060A My Reflections Heirloom Level 1 $4.00

X7060B My Reflections Heirloom Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7061A My Reflections Floral Impressions Level 1 $4.00

X7061B My Reflections Floral Impressions Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7061C Floral Impressions My Stickease $2.00

X7062A My Reflections Laid Back Level 1 $4.00

X7069A My Reflections Just Chillin Level 1 $4.00

X7069C Just Chillin My Stickease $2.00

X7070A My Reflections Simple Pleasure Level 1 $4.00

X7070B My Reflections Simple Pleasure Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7070C Simple Pleasure My Stickease $2.00

X7071A My Reflections Best Friends Forever Level 1 $4.00

X7072A My Reflections School Zone Level 1 $4.00

X7072C School Zone My Stickease $2.00

X7073A My Reflections Abundance Level 1 $4.00

X7073B My Reflections Abundance Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7073C Abundance My Stickease $2.00

X7075A My Reflections More To Adore Level 1 $4.00

X7075B My Reflections More To Adore Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7075C More To Adore My Stickease $2.00

X7076A My Reflections Sonata Level 1 $4.00

X7076C Sonata My Stickease $2.00

X7077C Sweet Harmony My Stickease $2.00

X7078A My Reflections Cutie Pie Level 1 $4.00

X7078C Cutie Pie My Stickease $2.00

X7079B My Reflections Rough n Tumble Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7079C Rough n Tumble My Stickease $2.00

X7080A My Reflections Route 66 Level 1 $4.00

X7080C Route 66 My Stickease $2.00

X7081A My Reflections Majestic Blue Level 1 $4.00

X7081B My Reflections Majestic Blue Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7081C Majestic Blue My Stickease $2.00

X7082A My Reflections Expedition Level 1 $4.00

X7082C Expedition My Stickease $2.00

X7083A My Reflections Let's Get Together Level 1 $4.00

X7084A My Reflections Floral Tapestry Level 1 $4.00

X7085A My Reflections Everlasting Level 1 $4.00

X7085B My Reflections Everlasting Paper Packet $6.00

X7085C Everlasting My Stickease $2.00

X7086A My Reflections Caprice Level 1 $4.00

X7086B My Reflections Caprice Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7086C Caprice My Stickease $2.00

X7087A My Reflections Enchanted Level 1 $4.00

X7087B My Reflections Enchanted Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7087C Enchanted My Stickease $2.00

X7088A My Reflections Free Spirit Level 1 $4.00

X7088B My Reflections Free Spirit Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7088C Free Spirit My Stickease $2.00

X7089A My Reflections Lifes Delights Level 1 $4.00

X7089C Life Delights My Stickease $2.00

X7090A My Reflections Silhouette Level 1 $4.00

X7090B My Reflections Silhouette Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7090C Silhouette My Stickease $2.00

X7091A My Reflections it’s a Guy Thing Level 1 $4.00

X7091B My Reflections it’s a Guy Thing Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7091C it’s a Guy Thing My Stickease $2.00

X7092A My Reflections Good Times Level 1 $4.00

X7092B My Reflections Good Times Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7092C Good Times My Stickease $2.00

X7093A My Reflections Sweet Pea Level 1 $4.00

X7093C Sweet Pea My Stickease $2.00

X7094A My Reflections Paper Garden Level 1 $4.00

X7094C Paper Garden My Stickease $2.00

X7095A My Reflections Boom-Di-Ada Level 1 $4.00

X7095B My Reflections Boom-Di-Ada Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7095C Boom-Di-Ada My Stickease $2.00

X7096A My Reflections Blue Ribbon Level 1 $4.00

X7096B My Reflections Blue Ribbon Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7096C Blue Ribbon My Stickease $2.00

X7097A My Reflections Game On Level 1 Kit $4.00

X7097B My Reflections Game On Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7097C Game On My Stickease $2.00

X7098A My Reflections Sarsaparilla Level 1 Kit $4.00

X7098B My Reflections Sarsaparilla Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7098C Sarsaparilla My Stickease $2.00

X7100A My Reflections Perfect Day Level 1 $4.00

X7100B My Reflections Perfect Day Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7100C Perfect Day My Stickease $2.00

X7101A My Reflections Magic Moments Level 1 $4.00

X7101B My Reflections Magic Moments Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7101C Magic Moments My Stickease $2.00

X7102A My Reflections Notebook Level 1 $4.00

X7102B My Reflections Notebook Paper Packet $6.00

X7102C Notebook My Stickease $2.00

X7103A My Reflections Aspen Level 1 $4.00

X7103B My Reflections Aspen Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7103C Aspen My Stickease $2.00

X7104A My Reflections Evensong Level 1 $4.00

X7104B My Reflections Evensong Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7104C Evensong My Stickease $2.00

X7105A My Reflection sEmporium Level 1 $4.00

X7105B My Reflections Emporium Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7105C Emporium My Stickease $2.00

X7106A My Reflections Unforgettable Level 1 $4.00

X7106B My Reflections Unforgettable Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7106C Unforgettable My Stickease $2.00

X7107A My Reflections That’s Amore Level 1 $4.00

X7107B My Reflections That’s Amore Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7107C That’s Amore My Stickease $2.00

X7108A My Reflections Daydream Level 1 $4.00

X7108B My Reflections Daydream Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7108C Daydream My Stickease $2.00

X7109A My Reflections Stardust Level 1 $4.00

X7109B My Reflections Stardust Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7109C Stardust My Stickease $2.00

X7110A My Reflections Back Country Level 1 $4.00

X7110B My Reflections Back Country Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7110C Back Country My Stickease $2.00

X7111A My Reflections Moon Doggie Level 1 $4.00

X7111B My Reflections Moon Doggie Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7111C Moon Doggie My Stickease $2.00

X7112A My Reflections Animal Cookies Level 1 $4.00

X7112B My Reflections Animal Cookies Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7112C Animal Cookies My Stickease $2.00

X7113A My Reflections Tinkerin Level 1 $4.00

X7113B My Reflections Tinkerin Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7113C Tinkerin My Stickease $2.00

X7114A My Reflections Bella Level 1 $4.00

X7114B My Reflections Bella Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7114C Bella My Stickease $2.00

X7115A My Reflections Jingle Level 1 $4.00

X7115B My Reflections Jingle Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7115C Jingle My Stickease $2.00

X7116A My Reflections Sweet Home Level 1 $4.00

X7116B My Reflections Sweet Home Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7116C Sweet Home My Stickease $2.00

X7117A My Reflections Grace Level 1 $4.00

X7117B My Reflections Grace Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7117C Grace My Stickease $2.00

X7118A My Reflections Twitterpated Level 1 $4.00

X7118B My Reflections Twitterpated Level 2 Paper Packet $6.00

X7118C Twitterpated My Stickease $2.00

Remember to shop at my website: http://courtneymilburn.myctmh.com or click here .

Look at this Amazing Idea

2010-07-20T11:25:00.000-05:00

I saw this amazing idea on my sister CTMH consultant's blog. Becky LOVE your idea so much I am posting it here for more to see. To see more of Becky's ideas visit her blog here.

She bought a thread holder and hung her sponge daubers and sponges on it for storage. I also love how she uses the clips to hold her sponge so her fingers don't get as inky!

Sure Cuts A lot 2 giveaway

2010-07-15T12:02:00.000-05:00

http://www.PumpkinCartCrafts.com/ For all my circut users out there you need to check out this site! PumpkinCartCrafts.com has the best deals on Sure Cuts A Lot 2 which is a program that allows you to cut just about anything from your cricut. Check it out!

They are giving away 3 copies http://svgcuts.com/blog/2010/07/14/sure-cuts-a-lot-blowout/ so don't miss out!

Welcome to the World Little One!

2010-07-05T19:52:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that I may not have new artwork up for a little while. I am adjusting to having two baby girls now. We just welcomed our second daughter June 29th. Our first is only 14 1/2 months old. So we have our hands busy! There will be many new scrapbook pages to come of the girls...so keep watching for updates.

New artwork - getting my mojo back

2010-06-26T00:35:00.001-05:00

For this layout I used mostly CTMH products unless noted:
To make this layout you will need:
1- 12x12 textured cardstock from Bazzil Basics in pink.
1 - 12x12 CTMH cardstock in Petal
Blush Ink CTMH
Petal Ink CTMH
A paper trimmer and either a score function or bone folder.
CTMH Sanding Block
CTMH Blush Arrows with brads
1- Ric Rac Ribbon
2 - Just blooms white daisy variety pack
1 - Floral designer brad in yellow
Yellow brads - Making memories
Pink Flower brads - Making Memories
CTMH Amour Alphabet lowercase
CTMH Posterboard Alphabet

For this layout I used several new techniques for myself. I tried scoring my paper at an angle every inch and then turning and repeating for a lattice look. Once raised I turned to the raised side and sanded the raised lattice, exposing the white core cardstock. Love how it turned out for my first try. I challenge you to try this technique today! I was very easy. I also sanded the edges of my photo mat and I love how that turned out as well. I wanted to capture these first moments and expressions of my daughter trying her first foods at 4 months old.

Blog Candy!

2010-06-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

Emma at Paper Addicts Anonymous is giving away blog candy for her 1 year blogiversery. Click Here to see how to enter you have until June 30th!

1st Ponytail 12x12 layout

2010-06-09T22:59:00.000-05:00

This was my baby girl's 1st ponytail!

For this layout I used:

CTMH White Daisy Cardstock and Random Stamped it using the Connections Stamp set from CTMH and another stamp from a different brand (the light brown cluster of circles). I hand cut around the circles which was my husband's idea...I think it made the page.

I used pink paper and white paper from Bazzill Basics Textured Cardstock

the paisley strip cut from patterned paper.

Home-made shimmer mist using Perfect Pearls, water, and Petal re-inker from CTMH. (For the title)

CTMH Chocolate Ink and a sponge for distressing

CTMH Petal, Blush, Buttercup Ink as well

1 embossed piece of designer paper

1 button

CTMH Chocolate Ribbon Rounds and Natural Hemp

A few stickers

A Day at work with Grams 12x12 layout

2010-06-09T22:21:00.000-05:00

Mommy and Daddy went on a 4 day weekend to Colorado and our baby girl stayed with Grams. Since Grams has to work too, she got to spend a day at the office.

I created this layout using:

CTMH Jingle Level 2 papers

CTMH White Daisy Cardstock

1 orage Bazzil Basics Textured Cardstock for Giraffe spots

CTMH Jingle Borders Stamp set

Cricut Zoobaloo Cartridge

CTMH Stamp that came with Felicity Set

CTMH Reflections Book for Layout

4th of July 2-page 12x12 layout

2010-06-09T21:49:00.001-05:00

For this layout I used the following supplies:

2 12x12 pieces of White Daisy Cardstock from CTMH

1 piece of old star patterned paper from CM years ago.

1 Firecracker die cut from CM years ago.

1 Bazzill Basics Textured Cardstock in some shade of red.

Tulip CTMH ink

Tiny Tales 4th of July saying that I cut into strips and inked every other one.

Playful Numbers CTMH Stamp for the 2009

CTMH Reflections Book for the layouts.

Here are more pictures.

Grams LOVES to dress my daughter up and have a photo shoot. What I think is funny is this particular day she was not happy about it at all! :)

I love how this page turned out. I feel the first of the two pages is still missing something and I may have to work on that. In the bottom pic she is sticking out her tongue..apparently not a fan of July 4th yet. :)

Close up of the journaling.

Father's Day Layout

2010-06-09T21:21:00.000-05:00

Here is a 12x12 layout I created of my husband's first Father's Day. I used paper from the Grace Paper Pack and a layout from the Reflections How-to book from CTMH.

Purse card holder or gift bag using the Cricut

2010-06-09T18:19:00.002-05:00

This is a purse/greeting card holder/gift bag that I created on my cricut expression. I followed the tutorial found here. I used the Accent Essentials cartridge and the following supplies:

14" of ribbon...not sure what brand mine is as I store them all together
2 eyelets, mine are making memories
CTMH Colonial White Cardstock
CTMH Twilight Cardstock
CTMH Cocoa Cardstock
6 CTMH Colonial White Brads
Embossing Plate (I believe it is Fiskars Brand..but I am not in front of it right now)
Tacky Tape strips
Velcro adhesive dot
CTMH Bonding Memories Glue
Diamond Stickles
CTMH Annotations Stamp Set
CTMH Twilight and Cocoa inks

Here is a closer view of the front details. Don't peek too close as I have some mistakes on this first try.

Here is a close up of the back of the purse. Do you think this should be a card holder or a gift bag. How would you use it? I would LOVE your ideas.

It's Jackpot June! Here is what you could win today!

2010-06-07T10:14:00.002-05:00

Today if you buy 1 of 5 level 1 kits you could win this jackpot item. These tags are not only great for use as a tag, but also for embossing under your cardstock as well! Get yours today here.

H2H 9 Challenge entry - Father's Day Cards

2010-06-02T21:38:00.000-05:00

Here are my H2H 9 Challenge Entries. If I had to choose one I would pick the one with the words around the circle as my favorite. Instead of doing a rectangle card like the sketch suggested, I chose to do a circle card since I had some in my stash ready made that I needed to use up. I used my Cricut Expression machine to make the circle cards using Sure Cuts Alot. The paper is not CTMH, not sure what brand it is sorry. The paper for the DAD label is CTMH White Daisy Cardstock. I also used CTMH White Daisy Cardstock for the base of the cards. I sponged the cards edges in Chocolate Ink and I also used chocolate ink for the other brown stamping you see and Buttercup ink for the Argyle Stamp. I used the following CTMH Stamps: Connections and the set that came with Felicity CC. I also used the tiny words from a non CTMH stamp set...not sure which brand it was.

Close up of Father's Day Card that tried to follow sketch more with a stripe element.

Close up of Father's Day Card that is my favorite. I love how the word border turned out. I feel like they represent characteristics that makes a great Daddy.

The inside of both cards are the same. I left room to write a personal message to the Dad's in my life.

Jackpot June

2010-05-30T17:37:00.001-05:00

Hit the jackpot and win free products OR grab loaded goddie boxes at 50% off or more. Enjoy two types of deal days in June!

On goodie box days... you can purchase one box filled with popular prodcuts at 50% or more off retail value! Each goodie box day will feature different surprise items, so you can score a wide variety of current and recently retired products.

On jackpot days... 5 products will be offered for sale at discounted prices. One of the 5 products is the mystery jackpot item for that day, but we're not telling which-exciting, isn't it! If you happen to order the mystery jackpot item, we'll reward you with one or more FREE Close To My Heart products, with shipping included on the free items! If you purchase all 5 products, you're guaranteed to hit the jackpot! There's no purchase limit-if you order multiple secret jackpot items, we'll send you the same number of free items.

These special offers include discounted shipping/handling and are only available on my Close To My Heart Website. Check back every day for the latest offer.

* Offer valid June 1-July 1 at 8:00am (MDT), on MyCTMH websites only. New deals are posted each day at 9:00am (MDT). To be eligible for discounted prices, your order must contain only Jackpost June items. Visit facebook.com/closetomyheart or closetomyheart.com to see what the mystery jackpot item was for the previous day. Offers are while supplies last.

FAQ

How many free items can I earn?
If you purchase multiple quantities of the Jackpot item, you'll receive multiple products FREE. So, buy as many as you'd like of each item—there's no limit—and you could be a big winner!

What is in a goodie box and how much are they?
The Goodie Box contents will vary by day (we're not revealing specifics but you'll be thrilled!) and will include favorite current and retired stamp sets, paper packets, embellishments, and other great scrapbooking, stamping, and cardmaking items.

We have made every effort to differentiate the Goodie Box offerings by date so you can purchase boxes on different dates and receive a wide variety of products. The prices of the boxes will vary but each will be at least 50% off retail value. The higher the box price, the greater your savings from the original retail value. We're also offering discounted shipping.

On Jackpot days, how will I know which discounted product is the Jackpot item?

You won't know—that's what makes this campaign so much fun! You won’t know until the following day, after the opportunity to place an order has passed. Simply visit www.facebook.com/closetomyheart or www.closetomyheart.com to see what the Jackpot item was for the previous day.

How do I know what the FREE item will be on Jackpot days?

The free item(s) will be featured on the Jackpot June shopping page, alongside the 5 discounted products.

What is in the Goodie Boxes?

If we told you it would spoil the fun! However, we can tell you each box will be filled with popular current or recently retired products, and we have made every effort to vary the box contents by date. This means you can buy boxes on each of the days they're available and stock up on a wide variety of favorite products at unbelievable deals!

Where can I see the Jackpot June items?

Images of the daily deals can be found on the day they're offered on a special page on MyCTMH® online shopping sites. Look for the Jackpot June link to see that day's deal. You won't find an image of what's inside the Goodie Boxes—it's supposed to be a surprise!

recent Artwork - Family

2010-05-27T14:02:00.000-05:00

For this layout I used Grace Paper from Close to my Heart. I used the posterboard alphabet stamp and it was my first attempt at that particular type of paper flower. What do you think?

Recent Artwork- Adorable

2010-05-25T00:03:00.004-05:00

This layout idea came from my Scrapbooks Etc. Magazine. It was my first try with this particular flower/pinwheel look.

Recent Artwork- Look at that Hair!

2010-05-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

For this layout I used Sweet Leaf, Buttercup, and Chocolate Colors from CTMH.

For the Title block I used the technique of placing a piece of chipboard under the paper and sanding the paper to expose the white core which in this case made a flower.

Recent Artwork- You make me Smile

2010-05-24T23:40:00.001-05:00

This was the layout I created using the Twitterpated Worshop on the Go from CTMH. Several techniques were used in this layout. I stamped the title with the Posterboard Alphabet and colored it in with chocolate ink and a sponge. I used liquid glass on the small dots on the sorbet paper. I scrunched a ribbon in the corners, handstamped the chocolate backgrounds, randomly placed buttons and brads, and even stamped and then cut out a few images to make die-cuts.

Here is a close up of the ribbon and liquid glass technique.

Close up of the title and buttons.

New Overlay Available

2010-05-23T23:01:00.002-05:00

This is a one-page overlay that holds 5 photos. This one was made by request from my Aunt Renee. The title on this overlay is removable if you wish to use this versitle overlay with a different theme. Just click my paypal icon off to the side here. $5.00

The First Page Kit has Arrived!!!

2010-05-08T22:14:00.005-05:00

It is Mother's Day weekend and in celebration here is a 12x12 page kit great for any grandmother's brag book. Can fit three pictures and has a solid black space in which to place a journaling block. Made with heavy-duty textured black cardstock, and includes the 12x12 background paper as well. With this kit you get to choose your color for the overlay and I will try to follow any theme you prefer for the background paper. This one-page 12x12 Overlay Kit is just $5.00. Just Click the Paypal icon under the Buy Overlays now section of my blog!

With the introduction of this overlay kit I will take orders for customized overlays as well. I can have it say anything you like and be any theme you wish.

Studio-J Has Arrived!!!

2010-05-01T14:22:00.000-05:00

Celebrate New Beginnings Introducing scrapbooking the Studio J™ way! Studio J helps you turn digital photos into two-page layouts quickly and easily, saving you time and money. For a limited time, for every 5 Studio J layouts you purchase in a single order, you’ll get free Memory Protectors® with your custom prints. Orders of 10 or more layouts get free shipping and handling as well. Create an account and get started today! Click Here to Try Out Studio-J Today by Visiting my CTMH Site and Clicking on Studio-J.

Coming soon! Page Layout kits for sale!

2010-04-18T21:04:00.002-05:00

Coming soon from your independent scrapbook consultant. Scrapbook Layout kits and card-making kits for sale. For those of you who think they are too busy to scrap...here is your answer! These pages either come already done and you just add photos or in a nice kit all together where you just place where you want and add pictures or follow the provided layout guide.

If you are interested in multiple pages from the same paper CTMH already provides several options. One with the kit elements all together is the Workshop on the Go kits which are each sold with an exclusive stamp set. E-mail me at cjmilburn06@hotmail.com or courtneymilburn@myctmh.com to learn more or go to my CTMH website at http://www.courtneymilburn.myctmh.com/ to order yours today! Below are some sample artwork you too could create with the Workshop on the GO. These are from the Cherry-O pack! If I get enough interest I will host a workshop in May.

Scrapbook Month Campaign

2010-04-12T23:28:00.001-05:00

I am getting this flyer out a little early so that you can plan your April spending to get the most bang for your buck. Spend just $60.00 on an order and get this kit for just $5.00. If you spend $100.00 in April on an order you will get your Stamp of the month for FREE and the Miracle Kit for just $5.00.

Miracle Kit Contents

5 – Colonial White Cardstock

1 – Bamboo Cardstock

1 – Floral B&T Duos® Paper

1 – Stripe B&T Duos® Paper

1 – Crystal Blue B&T Duos® Die-Cut

1 – Sweet Leaf B&T Duos® Die-Cut

1 – 6" × 12" My Stickease® Assortment

1 – 6" × 9" Irresistibles™ Chipboard Die-Cuts

1 – Mini-Medley Accents Colonial White Collection

12" Colonial White Waxy Flax

3 – 4" × 6" Memory Protectors® Flip Flaps™

2 – Sponge Wedges

1 –Brochure

Colors: Sweet Leaf, Olive, Crystal Blue, Bamboo

THIS CHARMING SCRAPBOOKING KIT FEATURING spring-inspired

colors and ﬂoral patterns is miraculously easy to assemble with

no stamping required. The brochure will guide you through easily

creating two beautiful 2-page layouts.

There are several ways to snatch this fashionable Miracle kit at a

great discount or even FREE*:

• Purchase the kit outright for $19.95* (CC1009).

• Place a minimum order of $40 and purchase the kit for only

$10* (CC1009A).

• Place a minimum order of $60 and purchase the kit for only

$5* (CC1009B).

• Sign up as a new Consultant between May 1–31 and receive

a kit FREE!

• Host a Home Gathering between April 15–May 31 with minimum

sales of $300 and receive a kit FREE!

Amaze yourself and your friends during National Scrapbooking

Month in May with gorgeous layouts you create using our Miracle

kit.

* Tax and shipping/handling apply.

Oﬀer valid April 15—May 31, 2010.

Limit of one discounted-price kit per order. Available for a limited time while supplies last. Qualifying minimum purchases do not include Studio J™ orders.

Great Stamp oragnization idea

2010-04-12T23:08:00.000-05:00

Saw this post about how another consultant organizes her stamps.

My sister consultant listed

http://triplethescraps.blogspot.com/2010/03/organizational-friday-revisiting-stamp.html

as the place to go to find out how she organizes her stamp images. Just look at this great idea!

Check out Patter’s Blog and get the instruction from her. She tells it better than I can try to explain, but not only is this process fun but I am wondering why I did not think of this?

Yes it is labor intensive if you have a ton of stamps, BUT if you are just starting out then it would be an easy project to start so that you always know what stamps you have and cut down on duplicate purchases.

Summer Idea Book and Catalog 2010 - New Lower Prices

2010-04-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

As you know CTMH consultants get the catalogs a month before you do so that we can prepare for workshops or upcoming gatherings. While checking out the catalog ourselves here are the price reductions we have noticed, get you pen ready:

Item old price / new price

Snapease 9x9 $4.95 $1.95

Snapease 6x6 $3.95 $1.95

Black Ribbon Round $9.95 $7.95

Ricrac Ribbon Round $9.95 $7.95

Heavenly Blue RR $7.95 $5.95

Sorbet Ribbon Round $7.95 $5.95

Cranberry Grosgrain $6.95 $4.95

White Just Blooms $7.95 $5.95

Summer Posies $8.95 $5.95

Metal Tags - Flowers $4.50 $2.95

Voice Recorder $14.95 $11.95

Autumn Garden MM $7.95 $5.95

Holiday Mini Medley $7.95 $5.95

Spring Blossom MM $7.95 $5.95

Winter Cozy MM $7.95 $5.95

Rustic Edge Anchors $5.95 $4.50

Kraft Mini Album $3.95 $2.50

Artboard $10.95 $5.95

Black cs 8 1/2x11 $6.75 $5.50

Font CD 1&2 $15.95 $9.95 (This was on MY WISH LIST)

Ribbon Organizer $22.95 $16.95

Paper Org. 12x12 $10.95 $7.95

Paper Org. 8 1/2x11 $7.95 $5.95

Check your past “wish lists” and see of anything is on there that you will need and place it on your May Wish List. Prices start May 1, 2010.

New April Stamp of the Month

2010-04-12T15:14:00.000-05:00

This stamp set is only available during April, so don't delay. Visit my website at www.courtneymilburn.myctmh.com to order yours today! E-mail me at courtneymilburn@myctmh.com to ask me how you can get this stamp at discount or even free!

2010-03-20T16:24:00.000-05:00

New March Stamp of the Month!

Order today from my website: www.courtneymilburn.myctmh.com!

Only available during the month of March so don't delay!

Hand Stamped Candles

2010-02-14T19:59:00.000-06:00

I have accomplished a new technique! I hand stamped these plain white candles I am going to give as door prizes at my upcoming all day crop. They are among a variety of items I plan to give away every hour on the hour. So be sure to come to Dickson Middle School Library February 27th, 2010 from 9am-5pm.

To hand stamp candles you follow these steps:

1. Choose a candle, white is best.

2. Choose your stamp.

3. Cut a piece of white tissue paper that will fit your desired image.

4. Choose your ink color and stamp your image onto the glossier side of the tissue.

5. Cut your image out, does not have to be perfect.

6. Place it on your candle with just a tiny bit of glue.

7. Wrap the candle and image in wax paper with plenty of extra on the back to use to hold onto. Make sure wax paper is smooth where the image is.

8. Use your heat gun to melt the image to the candle…don’t hold gun in one place too long.

9. Gently peel back wax paper and you have stamped your candle!

10. Embellish as desired.

Topstitch Layout

2010-02-09T17:33:00.001-06:00

For this layout I used all Close to my Heart products except the flowers. I also used my cricut Opposites Attract cartridge to cut my CTMH Cardstock for the title. My inspiration came from the Timeline layout on pg. 31 of my Imagine How-to idea book. I used Topstitch level 2 paper packet, and I stamped the flower background on my colonial white paper using blush ink and the Connections Stamp. I also used a sponge and chocolate ink along my edges to distress them, except the strip of pink in which I used the blush ink and sponge to distress. Then I used the sponge on dabbed chocolate ink on the background papers. I embellished with Chocolate Brads and Natural Hemp. The flowers were not from CTMH, but you can order some from us. If you would like to copy this layout go to my website: courtneymilburn.myctmh.com and order the following items:

9030 Imagine How-to Book

D1330 Connections Stamp

Z2106 Blush Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad

Z2108 Chocolate Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad

Z697 Sponge

X7120B Topstitch Level 2 Paper Packet

Z1218 Basic Brad Assortment

Z280 Natural Hemp

Z1300 Big Pinks Just Blooms Paper Flowers

Z1270 Soft Suede Pinwheels

Family 12x12 layout

2010-01-28T22:49:00.000-06:00

I took the 1st page of the main Back Country scrapbook workshop layout about fishing and adapted it to fit my family page for my daughter's baby book. The only thing I would change is I would use a masking technique for the stamping on the journal section to create sharper lines. I used the Grace Level 2 Paper packet and Posterboard Alphabet. I embellished with basic buttons and clear and white embossing powders. I used Barn Red ink on my letters and border stamping. I clear embossed around my letters and used white embossing on my small words on top.

Welcome

2010-01-08T17:33:00.001-06:00

I am a Close to my Heart Consultant, Middle School Teacher, Wife, Mother of a 9 month-old girl and soon to be Mom again. I love to scrapbook with friends in the little free time I do have. Follow along to see the projects I come up with and even some contests I will post just for my blog followers.