Baby Layout

This layout was made for a friend's baby shower. A group of us got together and each made a layout for her. The book turned out really cute, with everyone's different styles and layouts.

I used the Close to my Heart book Imagine for this layout.

Close to My Heart February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop...

Welcome again to the Close to my Heart Stamp of the month Blog Hop. We have several talented ladies again this month ready to show off their talents with a really fun stamp set.

If you've come from Shirley's site you're on the right track.

I needed a gift bag for my daughter's friend and I thought this stamp set would be perfect for a bag and tissue.



I used Juniper, Tulip, Creme Brulee, and Sorbet.

Now hop on over to Laurie Newton's blog and see what wonderful and creative project she has waiting.

Day Forty. . .

Here's a nice little wall hanging to display some favorite Holiday pictures. It's 3 6 X 6 pieces of cardstock held together with twill ribbon. All supplies are from Close to my Heart.

Day Thirty Nine. . .

Here's a cute tag book I made for a friend at work. Her grandson was born December (her birthday too). I'm going to give her this to take with her at Christmas when she goes to visit so she can put her favorite photos in. I used a paper pack I got at Michael's a while ago, it was on clearance for $2.00 and has 6 sheets of paper, a bunch of die cuts, and some stickers. They all have glitter on them so they're nice and sparkly, and a tag book from Close to my Heart. I have enough supplies left over for another book or two. These tag books are great for your scraps too.

The tag book is a perfect size for pictures, 4 1/4 X 7 1/4. This one only took me an hour to complete.

Day Thirty Eight. . .

Cute clips! I used Close to my Heart's Creative clips to make these. They're perfect for scrapbook pages and cards. Just decorate them with paper, ribbons, embellishments, etc. They would make a great gift for that scrapbooker friend or loved one.

Day Thirty Seven. . .

I'm slowly catching back up. Here's a great idea for a cute brag book. I used Close to my Heart's tag book, Sonata Paper pack, and miscellaneous stamp sets.

Day Thirty Six. . .

Here's another quick gift idea using 4 inch square coasters.

I made this again at one of Miranda's events. It's so cute and bright. It's three 4 inch coasters covered with Close to my Heart background and texture paper from the Whoops a Daisy paper pack, some stamped images, and miscellaneous embellishments. The coasters are held together with small pieces of ribbon. Wouldn't this make a great gift with some pictures on it?

Day Thirty Five. . .

Once again I've fallen behind in the creative posts. I was gone all weekend for a unit retreat for some Close to my Heart Colorado consultants. I had planned on posting, but after a day of creating and fun, I was just tired. My friend Miranda and I stayed at the hotel where the meeting was held. We did stay up later than we should've talking and laughing and acting like teenagers at a slumber party. Here's one of the items we created, an altered paint can. Miranda taught the creative project. The idea is to take an plain paint can (found in any hardware store) and add paper and embellishments to it to make it anything you want. Miranda's example was a "goal" can where she can put her goals for her Close to my Heart business for the next year. I made mine into a cane where my kids and I can add ideas of things to do inside when it's cold and snowy outside. These would make a great way to wrap a present too. Miranda suggested using them for a holder for a gift card.

Enjoy. . .

Day Thirty Four. . .

Since the New Year is almost upon us, here's a cute idea for a calendar to give to family and friends.





I have to give credit to my friend Miranda again. She had a workshop for these, or was it one of her catalog reveals? Check out her creative ideas on her blog: www.scrampinwithmiranda.com She's got 25 days of Christmas going on right now so check out some of her nice gift ideas.

See you tomorrow. . .

Countdown to Christmas Day Three. . .

Here's the next gift idea on a budget.

How's this for thrifty. I found this paper frame at the dollar store, it's nice and sturdy made of think cardboard. I just cut out another frame from my paper pack, wrapped it with the floss to give it a little more pizazz, and cut some of the patterns from the left over paper to give it a more 3D look. If you look close, you'll see I cut the center a little large, at first I thought I would have to use another sheet of paper (and waste this one), but when I laid it on the frame it actually gave the illusion of a matte, so I left it. Sometimes mistakes work out better than you think.

Day Thirty Two. . .

Why not make those special people who love to read a hand made bookmark? These are very quick and easy and they look great sticking out the top of a book.

The other side

I took giant paper clips found in the office suppy section at Wal-Mart and attached various sizes of Prima Flowers to them. I layered the flowers first (glued them together with a little bit of Liquid Glass from Close to my Heart) I put a small bling flower gem in the centers. I put a glue dot on the back of each flower, put the paper clip in the center of one flower and stuck the other one to the back. So simple, yet so pretty. Make a little garden of your own. Why not trying them on skewers in a flower pot? Watch for that one ater one.

Count Down to Christmas Day Two. . .

Here's the second installment of gifts on a budget. A cute little card and tag box.



Here's a thrifty tip, instead of buying the expensive little jars of flowers at your local scrapbook store, try the flower section at the dollar store. I bought a stem of flowers for $1.00 and it had 24 large flowers (some LSS packs only have 15 in them for 4 times the price). I just pulled them off the stems and pulled the centers out so they would lay flat. I'm using the same paper from the 1/2 priced pad I got at Hobby Lobby, a 1/2 price pack of white 12 X 12, my dollar store flower find, and the off white floss I bought.



The flower centers were punched with a regular hole punch from the office supply store I've had for years.





Here's the link to the box pattern: http://tracysstampinschool.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/stationery-box-tutorial/

Enjoy. . .

Count Down to Christmas Day One. . .

Along with my 61 days of creative ideas, I'm going to share with you 24 gifts you can make on a budget. With the economy tight these days, every penny helps, so I'm going to give you home made gift ideas using things you have around the house and patterns from the internet. If you do need to purchase anything, paper, adhesive, ribbon, etc, watch for sales, and get things that co-ordinate to make the most of your purchases. The items I'm going to use for the projects were about $20.

Here's the before:



and the after:





I used a peanut butter jar and about 2 sheets of paper, and embroidery floss to create some tags and the jar to put them in. Who can't use gift tags? I saved all my scraps to use on another project. The whole project took me about half an hour.

Tune in tomorrow for another thrifty idea as we count down to Christmas.

Day Twenty Seven Get the Kids Involved. . .

I gave my daughter this cute little circle album from Close to my Heart and in a couple hours she created this really cute Friend book. Get your kids involved you never know what inspiration they'll come up with.