The picture above is the same page as the picture below. Top - the flaps and doors are closed. I love the way Sue created the closure on the right. Below you can see all the detail on the inside of the left page, and I love the pull out tag on the right with room to journal.

Sue personalized these two pages with the names of my 2 grandsons, Bryce (Age 5 1/2) and Tanner (Age 9 months). She also did actual stitching with our floss on both pages (see the "X").

These two pages have a lot of great embellishments! Notice the corner on the left bottom with eyelets, ribbon, and a corner that you can slip a photo under. The tiny buttons, brads and metals all add to the great look!

The back cover has a flap (bottom right) with a special message from Sue. It closes with one of our brads and metals.

Believe

Oh happy Thursday! As you read this, I am out of town AGAIN. I think most of the summer will find my guys and I out of town, or just about out of town, or just home from being out of town! Between the packing and cleaning before a trip, and the unpacking and laundry after a trip, it's keeping me hopping! Thank goodness for pre-scheduled blog posts, that's all I'm sayin'!

Today's card features Stardust paper . . .one of my favorite collections. Perfect for little boy projects, of which I am always in the mood to create! Also terrific for Congratulations cards, Summer projects, and quite honestly, there are enough neutral patterns in this pack, that you really could use it for just about ANYTHING! I also used a coordinating Stardust Flexi Label. How CUTE are these? I LOVE them. Slap one of those on a simple card, and it really turns it into a SUPER COOL card! Lots of foam tape, and a bit of Liquid Glass on the polka dots creates a lot of texture and dimension here!

I hope you are enjoying this warm, sunny June! I'll be back next week . . .from wherever I am. (I think I'm home next week. I think.) ;)

Good Luck!

Did you read yesterday's post about all the terrific deals you can score this month, from Close To My Heart?? I wish you GOOD LUCK in your attempt to win the JACKPOT!

Just for the occasion (but actually quite coincidentally) I have a Good Luck card for you today! I used some of the new Splendor paper that I was able to snag from my sweet mama's booth at Scrapbook Expo, along with Cocoa ribbon and cardstock, and a sentiment stamp from Dainty Thoughts.

I didn't have a scalloped punch that was quite the right size, so I used a small circle punch to create my scallops. I also used that same circle punch to punch out the corners of my layered squares.

There just might be a whole BOX of CTMH goodies heading my way soon, so I am looking forward to having lots of new projects to share with you in the coming weeks!!! I'm super excited about this, and this, and most especially this!! (Come on, go click on them. . .you know you want to!!!)

See you next week!! Thanks for stopping by!

Close To My Heart has announced a special deal for June!
Read on for more information so you don't miss this exciting special!

50% OFF Products & FREE Goodies!

Hit the jackpot and win FREE products with Jackpot June!

This Close To My Heart special, starting June 1, provides you with a different deal each day. . .
Check out my web sit at susan.myctmh.com daily for each new and exciting offer!

· Some days you can grab loaded Goodie Boxes at 50% or more off retail value.
· Other days are Jackpot Days. These days give you a list of 5 products offered at special discounted prices - - one of which will trigger the Jackpot - - a surprise product you’ll receive free! Take a chance and hope that you buy the right item that gets you the free product, or play it safe and buy one of each, guaranteeing that you will hit the Jackpot!

Either way, you will save money on favorite scrapbooking and stamping supplies by grabbing a different bargain each day in June. Deals include discounted shipping/handling, too! These special offers are available only online so be ready every day to check out my website and get your deal! New deals are posted each day at 9:00 am (MST).

Jackpot June purchases must include ONLY Jackpot June items (the Goodie Box or the discounted items) and nothing else. This will streamline orders and allow Close To My Heart to offer discounted shipping for this exciting promotion.

A great big thank you to Julie Reynolds for sharing her post!

Whoooo loves you?

Sunflower, Citrus Leaf, Tulip. . .three of my most favorite colors. Add in Star Spangled Blue (which is quickly becoming another of my go-to colors!) and there you have the color combo for this card!! I was totally inspired after seeing Susan's fruit card a few weeks ago - I love the way she random stamped the fruit in all of those bright cheery colors! (And I LOVE cheery colors!)

As you read this, my sweet mama and I, along with our trusty sidekicks (our men doing manual labor and babysitting) will be setting up the Close To My Heart booth at Scrapbook Expo in Orlando! We're hoping for a great show, and lots of happy scrappy fun! Then we'll be heading for a day at SeaWorld. I am so excited to be there with my parents and my family - the boys will have such fun with Mimi and Poppy there!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

(card goodies: Whoo Loves You stamp set, along with. . .another set for the scalloped circle, of which i can NOT remember what set it is!!!)

everything grows better. . .

Layers and layers . . . .I don't normally have the patience for this many layers. But I layered it on, and distressed like crazy for this card. (You can see it closer up, if you click on it!) I cut the leafy circle with a circle template (but a cup or bowl works well too. After I attached my circle, I stamped the tree . .. .now here's a secret. since I was stamping on two different layers of paper some of my image didn't completely stamp where the leafy circle meets the trunk - so I filled it in with colored pencil! Perfect!!! I decided after stamping the tree, that I really wanted grass there - so I used an exacto knife, and cut away the bottom of the tree and slid my torn patterned paper underneath. LOVE the way it turned out!!!!

I adhered the sentiment with foam tape, as well as the hearts. But before I attached them, I stitched a little embroidery floss through each one, and tied a tiny knot at the back.

Thanks for stopping by today!

(card goodies: Grown With Love stamps, Veranda paper, Cocoa ink and cardstock, and a little scrap of sorbet paper for the hearts)

a couple of little cuties!

Simple. Simple. Simple. 8 cards. (I spared you from seeing all 8 of them!) A cute little matching set. Perfect for gift tags, for throwing in with a package, or for packing up as a gift! I used Dream Big and sentiments from Say It In Style. These cards are 3x3 - which means you can make 8 card bases out of one sheet of cardstock. I stamped each image on a 1.25 in square, and matted it on a 1.5 inch square.

I really dig SIMPLE. Cute images, and fun colors can stand alone and make a statement without having to do anything fancy! You could make these cards a thousand different ways, with different stamps and colors. And it's a great way to use up scraps!

So there you go! :)

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful end-of-the-week! (It's almost Friday!!!)

C1407 Hot Diggity!

This 8 X 3 1/2 card was made with the new Hot Diggity stamp set. I love the "creatures" in this set. They are fun, adorable, and super cute!

Ink Colors include: Moonstruck, Topiary, Brown Bag, and Goldrush. The cardstock is Goldrush, Topiary, and Colonial White.

B1351 You're Sweet

This card was created using the new stamp set, You're Sweet and the following ink colors: Holiday Red, Clover Meadow, Bubblegum, Citrus Leaf, Orange, and Sunny Yellow.

The brads are Clover Meadow from Z1214 Summer Carnival. The cardstock is White Daisy, Clover Meadow and Citrus Leaf.

D1431 Happy Holidays

I love this new stamp set, and I also used paper from the new Creative Basics Cherry-O Collection.





The ink pad colors are Chocolate and Tulip. I also used Colonial White Cardstock and Chocolate Cardstock. The brads are from Mini-Medley Autumn Garden Z1119.

New Zippidee Kit

This layout was created with the new Zippidee Workshop on the Go Kit plus the Cocktail Alphabet Stamp set E1015.

The cute kids in the pictures are my niece and nephew, Ruby and Ian, at various ages. They are both in college now!

Happy Mothers' Day!

Happy Mothers' Day to my mama!

I have a Mothers' Day card to share with you today, with very little stamping! I decided to try out the flower technique on page 13 of the Summer catalog. I could use a little extra practice, and I think that my circle punch wasn't quite the same size that they used. . . .but I am still happy with the outcome! I used Veranda patterned paper, and added a Filigree Charm to the center of my flower. For the leaf, I just punched out another circle, crumbled it a bit, sanded it a bit, and tucked it behind the flower. (And the twine is just from the hardware store!) The sentiment is from Say It In Style. (Always one of my go-to stamp sets!)

TIP: Because my flower was getting a little. . .rustic (messy and not as precise as I wanted) I went in that direction and decided to make this a very RUSTIC card . . . I had fun distressing the paper, using scissors and my fingernail to rough up the edges. I do the same thing if I get an ink smudge somewhere. . . .I just go ahead and ink up the edges and rough things up a bit, and it often will totally cover my OOPS!

I hope you'll try out that flower technique!! I definitely need to play with it some more. . .I'd love to see what you can come up with! So link it up here, if you do some flower-making!!!

Happy Mothers' Day!!!! I love you, my Mommy-O!!!

XXOXOXO

Happy Birthday Laura Ann Tomaino Williams

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU LAURA!!!

And a Happy Anniversary to you and Eric today too!

Here's a picture of the day you met my dad, Grampa Grumps when you were just a baby! LOVE IT!!!

Happy Birthday Laura and a Happy Anniversary to you and Eric.

grow. . .breathe. . .enjoy!

Hello! Hello! Happy Thursday! Today's card is a bit larger than I normally work - 5x7. But this big wonderful tree just didn't want to be cropped or cut apart, so I used a larger format. These stamps are from Grown With Love. (There's another really cute sample from the catalog, if you click on that link to the stamp set! Seeing that card, makes me want to go play with this some more!) I also used Twitterpated paper and matching Dimensional Elements chipboard buttons.
There are some great polka dotted circles in this stamp set, but to make the circles on my tree, i just punched out paper, and then added some buttons. The leafy trio is also a stamp from this set, as are the little words scattered around - grown, breathe, and enjoy.

TIP: to create the brown background layer, I cut a rectangle, and matted my image. Then I used a circle punch, slightly larger than the buttons, punched out four brown circles, and matted them behind the rectangle.

Thanks for stopping by today!!!! Can you believe it's almost MAY!!???

Happy Birthday to him!

Gotta a little boy? Or a big guy? Here's just the card! I stamped the images on three squares, and then stamped them again and cut them out, adhering them with foam tape. (I added faux brads using my tip from a few weeks ago. . .the period from an alphabet set!)

These fun "boy" stamps work great for a little boy (like one of my little guys) or for a teenage guy, or even for a Father's Day card!

Thanks for stopping by today! See you next week!

(colors: Dutch Blue, Outdoor Denim, Citrus Leaf/stamps: Playin' Hard, Dainty Thoughts - sentiment)

Be Yourself

Wow! It's Thursday again! Today I have two new cards for you, using the set Be Yourself. This set was a Stamp of the Month a while back, and now it's in the brand new summer catalog. I am THRILLED, because I LOVE this stamp set!!! It always works well with the bright, bold color schemes I like to use! This color combo is Outdoor Denim, Bubblegum, and Kiwi. . .and I must admit, Kiwi is not available anymore, and I try not to use product that isn't available - BUT. . .I ADORE kiwi. It is one of my most FAVORITE colors ever. So my dear mama, and favorite CTMH consultant helped me stock up on it before it was gone!!!! But you could easily substitute Citrus Leaf, and it would probably look JUST ABOUT as good!! ;)

This second card I put together using scraps sitting on my desk from the first card. (The first card is based on Tami Mayberry's sketch for next week at Card Positioning Systems . . but shhhh!) I hope you like them both! And if you give this (or a similar) color combo a try, leave us a link! My mom and I would both love to see what you create!

See you next week!

TIPS: use your scraps and make a second card, while all of your supplies are out!

Sand the edges of cardstock (especially textured cardstock!) for an easy finishing touch.

Topstitch Baby cards

Happy Thursday! I'm back to share some more goodies with you today . . .I created two baby cards using Topstitch paper, and the Love You Forever stamp set.On this card, I paired the little birdie from Love You Forever (C1398) with the Congratulations sentiment from Forever In Love (B1345) ( it's a great little set of sentiments and flowers. (You'll be seeing more from me with this set soon!)

TIP: I was running low on ribbon, and I didn't have quite enough to make a bow. Instead, I folded the ribbon over, in the "shape" of a bow, and used a piece of twine to tie the center together. I kind of like the way it looks!

And on this card, using stamps from Love You Forever, I got crazy with the distressing. I used my little scissors, and my fingernail to really rough up the edges of this patterned paper.

TIP: No brads handy? Use the period from an alphabet set, to stamp faux brads in the corners. (I used Friendship Alpha small -C1401- to do mine.)

Thanks for stopping by to see me today! I hope you had a terrific Easter week! We are Spring Breakin' it up around my house. We've had a couple playdates, and yesterday we went to paint pottery. Hopefully I can occupy my little man with a nice long movie soon, so I can try to find some more STAMPING TIME!!!

See you back here next week, but in the meantime, come by and visit me at my blog too! Have a terrific weekend!

A Miracle Awaits You! Special

This beautiful scrapbooking kit is available beginning April 15 through May 31. You can order it outright for $19.95, place a minimum order of $40 and purchase the kit for $10.00 or place a minimum order of $60 and purchase the kit for ONLY $5.00.

The kit has all the supplies to create four 12 X 12 layouts. Not a scrapbooker? You can use the kit to create over a dozen cards! The cards I created using the kit are posted below.

Dream Big!

Hello, hello! I am so happy to be here to share a bit of what I'm up to, using some fun Close To My Heart products!

This is a clean and simple card that I decided to duplicate and try with a few different color schemes and stamps. (This first one is my favorite though!) I stamped the flower patterns using stamps from Dream Big, onto white cardstock squares. (I used Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf on this first card.) I did some layering, and sanding and added a sentiment from Say It With Style. (This is one of my all time favorite and most practical stamp sets in my stash!!)

I'm looking forward to sharing my cards with you every week!!! I'll be back next Thursday with another card! (or maybe two!!) Happy April! Have a terrific Easter weekend!

Tip: Use a piercing tool to pierce a row of holes to finish off edges.

Stamps: Dream Big, Say It In Style

Coming Soon!

You've seen her artwork published in:

Cards Magazine

Paper Crafts Publications

Paper Trends

CardMaker

Scrapbook Trends

Simple Scrapbooks

CardMakers Sketch Book

Creating Keepsakes

and online all over the place!

.

.

She's been on the following Design Teams:

Apron Strings

Card Positioning Systems

The Stamps of Life

4 Scrappy Sisters

Card Studio Designs

Scrapbook News and Review

Pink Persimmon

Unity Stamp Company

Keep In Touch Card Shop

Sweet n Sassy Stamps

.

.

She's been honored with the following Contests Awards:

Kitchen Sink Stamps - best use of color

Kitchen Sink Stamps - thinking outside the box

The Pink Tomato

Impression Obession

Simple scrapbooks

Paper Crafts

.

.

And NOW....

you'll be able to see her fantastic artwork using Close To My Heart products

right here about every week beginning next month!

Don't miss a single creative inspiration by the very talented....

.

Laura Williams

Stamp Fest by the Bay

Thanks to everyone who attended Stamp Fest by the Bay in Clearwater, Florida this past Saturday. What a great day to spend with friends doing something you love. It was great seeing old friends and making new friends.

The artwork by the vendors was inspiring, and I sure do love seeing all the ideas from so many talented people!

A great big thank you to Adeline Brill for her help and support!

New "A POSY" Stamp set

I love the new A-Size stamp sets. Not only are the designs great, but the new lower price is FANTASTIC!

For this card I used A Posy stamp set for the leaves, stems, and words. The colors are Sorbet and Sweet Leaf. I also used our clear buttons on this card and the Sorbet ribbon.

Christmas Tags

I love the stamp set, Merry Wishes (C1332) because you can create a bunch of tags quickly. Stamp your image on the fold of your cardstock and cut it out leaving the fold. Next add any one of a number of embellishments: liquid glass, primsa glitter, sparkles, waxy flax, ribbon, brads, eyelets, or pearls. You can also layer your image for more texture!

Announcing Tanner's Arrival!

Tanner is finally here! He arrived this morning at 7:13 am. Weighing in at over 9 pounds, he has very chubby arms and legs!

Bryce is excited

It was fun to watch Bryce meet his new baby brother. He was sweet and adorable! See for yourself!

Tanner 10 hours old!

A little more CPS inspiration!

Here are two more cards based on last week's Card Positioning Systems sketch, created by some of the CPS designers. Don't forget about the great deal, being offered through the month of August . . .

Save 25% off any CTMH order you place through me, Susan Tomaino, through August 31, 2009. To take advantage of this special please email me at JoeSusan@aol.com with your list and mention CPS. Visit my website for the complete line of CTMH products!

This first card is by Melissa Phillips. Be sure to visit her blog . . .it is always full of AMAZING inspiration, and super sweet projects! Melissa always makes amazing use of little embellishments and bits of this and that, and puts them together in such a lovely way!
The second card is by Lea Lawson. I am always inspired by Lea's use of color - her cards just make me HAPPY to look at! Be sure to stop by her blog! She is working on some amazing photography, and has lots of bright happy cards to share as well!

I am the CPS Sponsor - August 9

I am the CPS sponsor for the week of August 9, and I wanted to share a card I created using the design for my week. The stamp set is the August Stamp of the Month special, D1352 It's Your Day. The ink pad colors are Moonstruck and Dutch Blue. The paper pack came from X7109B Stardust.

Visit the CPS blog and check out all the other creations using this design and Close To My Heart products.

http://www.cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/

Creative Idea

My sister Nancy came to Fort Myers for a visit and I locked her in my "Art Room" (that's what my 4 year old grandson calls it) and made her create some cards! Although this picture isn't the greatest, I loved the card. Actually I loved everything Nancy designed, so watch for more ideas in the new few days.
The colors used are Twighlight, Sweetleaf, and Colonial White.

Animal Cookies & Backwoods

Sometimes you have to think outside the box. Traditionally we stamp our trees and leaves in shades of autumn, but I thought I would go primary with my color choices. The paper pack is from Animal Cookies and the stamp set is Backwoods.

New Layouts

The Workshops on the Go for the new Summer Idea Book are GREAT! Here's something to get you excited!

Using our new Tinkerin' paper pack and "Gear Up" stamp set, these layouts were really fast! Colors: Clover Meadow, Sunflower, Sunny Yellow and Twighlight.

Simple Scrapbook Magazine May/June

Hi Everyone,
I'm so excited and proud to share with you my daughter, Laura Williams, is published in Simple Scrapbooks Magazine. Check out Page 46 & 47 to see the cute layouts. Isn't Bryce adorable?!

Enjoy!

Susan

Liquid Glass Idea

This cute car is part of a scrapbook page created by my daughter, Laura Williams. I love the way she used Liquid Glass on the wheels and also as the glass on the window. Laura put Liquid Glass right over the photograph of Bryce and directly on the stamped image for the wheels. Great idea! Liquid Glass is a super product with many uses! It's also a fantastic adhesive for those big, bulky, or heavy items.

New Summer Idea Book Coming Soon!

I'm so excited about the new Summer Idea Book. Lots of new stamp sets and papers that I can't wait to play with! Watch for some new samples and ideas soon.