Happy Flash Mob of Close To My Heart Consultants

One of the best, most fun moments at Convention last week was this Flash Mob I participated in!  Over 400 ladies dancing and laughing, swinging and shouting.  

The three on stage are our Exec. VP team and they looked like they were having as much fun as us!

  

 

 

Who knows what next year will hold...want to join me?? 

 

Acrylic Frame Dry Erase Board

My last kids' class was yesterday.

I was a little apprehensive about teaching middle school and high school students, but was told they were a good bunch of kids. And they were! I think I was more worried they would deem the projects "lame"...but to my relief they loved them.

Here is what we finished yesterday. It is a dry erase frame for your favorite top 5 list. Here you can see my son's top 5 things he wants to do this summer.
 

Papers: Holiday Red (retired), Star Spangled Blue (retired), White Daisy, Black cardstock

Accessories: Silver Shimmer Trim, Hook and Loop Dots



Because I was on a kind of small budget for these projects, I stopped at just about every Dollar Tree I could to find enough of these cheap acrylic frames.  I also found packs of dry erase markers...which didn't totally work really well, but what did I expect for a $0.33 pen?  So in our house we'll use one of my good markers.

The marker has our small Hook and Loop dots attached on the back at the cap and end of the pen. The pen is attached to the back of the frame when not in use, so it won't ever get lost. Well, the chances of it getting lost are reduced.

This is a fun, cheap project for kids to make on day this summer.  If you ever start hearing the "I'm bored." mantra, try this!

Do You Have Your PhD?

I came across this today and thought it totally described me!  How about you?

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May the Fourth Be With You

Yes, yes...I know.  For non Star Wars fans this joke must get pretty old.


But for the rest of us it's a great day to get together and celebrate one of the greatest Sci-Fi franchises in the galaxy!


Granted, we are fans of all kinds of nerdiness in this house...Star Wars is just the tip of the iceberg!

So what kind of crafty project could I possible share today.  While it doesn't cover just the Jedi/Sith saga, I did create a friendly reminder that now hangs on our fridge.

Faux Antiqued Silver Square Pendant

Spare Glass Covers

Craft Queen Charms

Free Thinker Style Sheet

Clear Sparkles

Grey Baker's Twine

Liquid Glass

Magnet



I used another Base and Bling pendant, but turned  it upside down and attached a charm!  If you look closely, you'll see a Clear Sparkle in the lens of the camera charm.  It's the perfect size!

Now whenever the boys stop at the fridge,
   which they seem to do more and more these days, they'll always be reminded that all things nerdy are loved and welcomed in this house.

Get To Know CTMH

From now until July 31, CTMH has a cute free download you can save and print!  Use them in your cards, scrapbooks or just print them and give to someone as a thank you!

How many ways can you tell someone they make you happy?

Birthday Cupcakes

I know the end of the year is the start of the holiday season for us all, but it also seems to be the start of our family birthday season as well!
 

Earlier this year we had a very special lady join our family, my step-mom Diane!  We all love her so much and she has been a real blessing in my Dad's life.  Her birthday was just before Thanksgiving and I wanted to make something special to help her celebrate it.

I've had the idea floating around in my head ever since I saw this fantastic card Tresa Black made and showed us at Convention.  And who wouldn't love a cute cupcake card?  Especially one that is low calorie!

I paired it up with a mini birthday cake made from a battery operated tea light candle I had.  (Don't worry, I know how some of you are and yes, I'll tell you how I made it!)

Stamps: Artiste Cricut Bundle Birthday Collection

Inks: Chocolate

Papers: Perfect Day Reflections Kit (retired), Bella Reflections Kit (retired), Colonial White cardstock, Chocolate cardstock

Accessories: Colonial White Rosette Ribbon, Red Button Assortment, Opaques Mocha Gems, Chocolate Embroidery Floss, Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

Tools: Artiste Cricut Cartridge, 2" Scallop Circle Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Micro-Tip Scissors

Other: Transparent Velcro Dots, Battery Operated Tea light Candle, Scor-Tape

Making the Card:
The card itself was cut using the button on page 70 in the Artiste handbook, set at Fit To Page, which turned out to be 6.5".  It's a bit too big for a 6"x6" envelope, so next time I think I'll just cut it at 6".  I used the card base to trace and cut the front and back of the wrapper, as well as the cakey part of the cupcake.  I lightly scored the front wrapper and inked everything with Chocolate ink.  The banner is the button on page 58, cut at 1".

For the icing, I placed strips of Scor-Tape on the top portion of the cupcake.  Then attached strips of the rosette ribbon, trimming as needed.  I placed medium sized Mocha Opaques around like sprinkes and added the button to the top for a cherry.

Inside the card I made a gift card holder.  I asked my Dad to pick one up from her favorite restaurant in their town...totally surprised her!  (I had another piece of cardstock we all signed that I attached to the inside wrapper of the card.)

And now

Making the Cake:
This was totally fun to make, and really easy!  (You can use all paper for this, but with CTMH Dark Chocolate Ribbon looking so much like a layered cake, how could I not use it?!?)
I first put a strip of Scor-Tape around the candle. Then wrapped a piece of ribbon around it and secured the end with more Scor-Tape.  This ribbon is a bit too wide for the candle, so I simply trimmed it flush with the top of the candle.
The frosting is made with the scallop punch and Chocolate cardstock.  Use whatever "flavor" cardstock you like!   You need to have a hole centerd on your scallop big enough to fit over the flame.  I tried to eyeball it with a hole punch, but ended up just folding it into quarters and snipping off the tip to make the hole. Try what works for you!
I colored the edge with my Chocolate marker and spritzed it a bit with water to make it a little more pliable.  I ran a thin strip of Scor-Tape around the top edge of the candle and placed a few bits of it on top as well.  Then I placed the cardstock over the flame and pressed it onto the tape strip to keep it in place.
The roses were done with the 1 1/4" circle punch and scissors.  Punch out five circles and cut quick spirals with the scissors.  Yes, I know the Cricut has flowers on it, but these are so small I was afraid they would just tear on the mat.  And really, it didn't take long at all to do by hand.  I used mini glue dots to secure the flowers and keep them on the cake...after I had inked the edges with more Chocolate ink.
The cake plate is just 4 layers of Colonial White cardstock and 1 layer of B&T paper.  I used my Juniper marker to run around the edges as well.
I dug through my velcro stash.  I placed a velcro dot on the battery cover so when it needs to be changed, it's easily accessable without tearing apart the whole thing, but will sit still on the plate!

So I hope this gives you a quick and cute idea to make for birthday gifts...have your cake and eat it, too!

The Thoughts Of Crafters...

I'm busily working on new projects for our team's upcoming Open House Bash featuring the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  That means I should have lots of things to share with you in the weeks to come.  But as I was going through the blogosphere gathering ideas, I found this video on my friend Buffie's blog.

I can relate to just about everything these two girls say...can you?!?

CTMH Convention 2012 Roommate Gifts

It seems I've been neglecting my blog lately!

I'd love to say I've been on an extended holiday,

or become rich and famous,
or even been approached by a tall, dark and handsome man with a british accent and magic blue box.
But sadly, none of those things have happened...yet.

What did happen was Blogger changed things around and with the end of school and summer travels, I just did not have the time, or patience, to sit and figure things out again.

I did start several different posts, but ultimately had to just give up.  Things looked wonky and I had to wait for my IT guy (Engineer) to sit down with me and help.

But now I think things are settled down and I can actually get some things posted!

Let me start with sharing this necklace I made. 

A couple of weeks ago, our CTMH Convention was held in Dallas.  I've always brought the whole family with me to convention, but this time they opted not to join me.  Dallas in July...can't imagine why.


Anyway, since I was going to stay with friends, I wanted to join in that long tradition of giving roommate gifts.  I wanted something we could wear the whole time and decided on these stamped washer necklaces.  Do you like?

Inks: Ranger Inks Black, White, Stream, and Silver

I got a metal stamp set earlier this summer and was happy to find another use for it!  As you can see, I stamped "CTMH  Dallas  2012" on the back and colored the letters with a black sharpie.  Then I used rubbing alcohol to quickly wipe off the excess ink.  I used Ranger Inks to color the front of the washer to match our convention group color (Lonestar Lagoon) and then covered it with CTMH Liquid Glass.  I let them dry over night.  I found charms that would mean something to this convention: our initial, a heart with a rhinestone, and a boot.

I had so much fun making these!  I'm going to have to look for more excuses to whip some up...or not!

So now that I think I won't blow a gasket every time I try to post, I promise to be better about sharing things.  After all, a new CTMH Idea Book is almost here and it is full of fantastic things for the upcoming holiday seasons!

But if I do see a magic blue box around my house, you may not hear from me for a long time!

The Craft Closet Is Now Done!!!

So its been three months since I was last on my blog.

Holy Cow is right! What have I been doing all that time? Let me show you.


When we moved into the new house, we each got to choose a room. Since Engineer's office furniture wouldn't fit into this room, it was then set aside for my craft space/office.



The previous owner had left all this wonderful exercise equipment for us. You can see Knock-Out here doing some miles on the treadmill. The boys thought it was awesome and said I could stamp and do power lifts at the same time.


Now this is a photo of when the room was relatively clean...meaning no boxes. The months after the move found this room quickly getting filled with box upon box. And it spilled out into the front room, too! We called California Closets and had a wonderful design consultant come out and help me create my dream craft space. Well, as much of my dream space as we could fit into the room!

After new paint, new floors, new lights, new window shutters, and new cabinets...my room is ready to play in.


Take a look at it now!







That big space on the wall is for my computer monitor. Engineer has already picked out a computer for me...I think he's tired of us sharing the same one! And yes, that's Knock-Out again, peeking around the corner at me.



The boys and I found this nifty hourglass at a craft store and they insisted I buy it. They said I was only allowed to play in my room until the sand ran out...then I had to come out into the real world.



Engineer picked out the lights for me. They give off great light and it makes me feel like I'm in a design studio!



I asked for some shelves to showcase a couple of special things. I have photos of the boys, a framed layout, and some other stuff. The bear was my mom's...so it has a special place in my room.



And here is my little helper again. He just really loves my chair...and to be in pictures.

So that's a quick go around of my new room. I know some of you have been patiently waiting to see pictures of it. And some of you, not so patiently!


Now you know what's been keeping me busy for the past couple of months. And now that I have a space to create again, let the crafting begin!

As You Gather Together This Holiday...