BFF Award

I have just received another Blog award, and I am so honored and excited. The Idyllhours blog award is the BFF award - Blogger Favorite Friend. Isn't it gorgeous? My wonderful friend and motivator sent this to me. Thank you so much, Tina!!

The rules of this award are: accept the award by commenting on the blog of the person that gave it to you; pass it on to five others; reveal five things you enjoy doing.

So here goes! I am sending the Idyllhours BFF award to Shannon, Debbie, Melissa, Mandy and Paige!

5 Things I Enjoy Doing:

• Spending time with my family and friends;


• Scrapbooking with CTMH prodcuts (DUHHHHH!!!) (melanieboyer.myctmh.com);


• Running/Working Out- I completed my first half-marathon (13.2 miles) in January and am working on training for it again -- Aramco Half Marathon -- January 17, 2010 Houston, Texas!


• Traveling -- looking forward to going to DC for CTMH Convention with my CTMH sisters and meeting LOTS of new ones (& hoping to get to go to one of Tina's retreats in Seaside...love that place, too)!


• Shopping!

Thanks again Tina... you are the best!

Studio J = Studio Scrapbooking

WOW! Close to my Heart just held Leadership Convention in Long Beach and has unveiled NUMEROUS wonderful things coming down the pipe.

They have been busy for the past three years working on their view of digital scrapbooking. Studio J is a combination of "Classic Scrapbooking" (known as "paper scrapbooking") and "Digital Scrapbooking." Visit http://www.studioj.com/ and watch the short video. It is TRULY amazing!!! The best part -- NO SOFTWARE NEEDED! You will create & purchase your layouts through my website and corporate will print and mail them to you.

Can you belive the layout below was done via Studio J?? Totally amazing!!



Roll-out expected First Quarter 2010. Stay tuned!!


HIDDEN WORD CONTEST: the first person to find & e-mail me the hidden word wins a prize!


HINT: item will be available on Studio J layouts in 2010.

Element of Surprise!!

Ahhhh, don't you just love that moment -- the ELEMENT of SURPRISE?!? Well, I definitely enjoyed surprising my very best friend, Jodi, for her 40th birthday (belated) by planning a surprise 40th birthday scrapbooking day at my house with our friends. She was TOTALLY blown away -- and couldn't figure out why her hubby was in such a hurry to get her out of their house (okay, albeit she was LATE...but that's okay...LOL).

I had been planning this for MONTHS (in cohorts w/her hubby, too, since he was planning something else as well); but I elected to postpone mine a month. You see, Jodi's b-day was on June 12th. Her mom passed away on June 7th. I didn't feel right having it that weekend. Well, things fell into place and we decided on July 25th. We had so much fun catching up with each other, having good food and finishing off with AWESOME CUPCAKES!!!!

Jodi -- if you're reading this, I truly hope you enjoyed it and had a great time. We all love ya! Happy Birthday!!!

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope everyone is having a safe and Happy 4th of July; but, most importantly, I hope you-all are staying cool! Is it hot out there or what?!?! I saw where June was the hottest month on record for Houston area (maybe even Texas....can't remember). I hate to even begin to imagine what July & August hold for us!

If anyone follows me on Twitter, you know that I baked & "attempted" to decorate cupcakes today to take to a 4th of July party. Well, this has given me a new respect for my FAVORITE cupcake place -- Sugarbaby's. While I had fun decorating them, I kept thinking -- and I'm sure -- there is a better/easier/cleaner way to frost cupcakes.

Below are a couple of pics. Zach wanted to put all the pinwheels in as he was so pleased to be helping. So, I let him. The cupcakes are vanilla and I filled them with sugar free vanilla pudding after they were baked. Not sure how much actually got in each cupcake...any cupcake bakers/decorators want to share tips on that aspect??

Back from Vacation!

Good afternoon! We are back home from vacation! The Frio River was AWESOME! I forgot how much fun it was, and I didn't realize how much I missed it! Lots of wonderful childhood memories came rushing back as we got closer to Sabinal/Concan/Frio River. We met some wonderful new friends and are looking forward to camping with them on the Frio again next year!! :) The temps were hot, but the river made it bearable. Too low to float; but PERFECT for swimming. Freedom LOVED the water. She was a natural...and she stole the hearts of many!

What have all of you been up to?

I'm Honored -- Another Award!!

My Upline, Tina Sutton http://www.missgingerdots.blogspot.com/, has honored me with the "Lovely Blog Award." I am so excited!!

The rules for this one are:

1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.


2. Pass the award to 10 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered.Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Here are my choices (in no particular order)

1. Debbie- http://www.texasbluebonnetscrappersblog.blogspot.com/;

2. Christa - http://www.scrapnfever.blogspot.com/;

3. Melissa L. - http://www.fancymelissa.blogspot.com/;

4. Mandy - http://www.mypassionforscrapbooking.com/;

5. Shannon- http://www.stampinbuds.com/;

6. Paige - http://www.paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com/;

7. Kristine - http://www.scramping-addict.blogspot.com/;

8. Tammy - http://www.creativeimpressions-pinchme.blogspot.com/;

9. Karen - http://www.karenpedersen.blogspot.com/

10. Antoinnette - http://www.godblessyourart.blogspot.com/

Thanks again, Tina! :)

Random Stamping = Unique Patterned Paper

I LOVE Random Stamping. It is one of the EASIEST techniques and most fun to teach. It's amazing to see all the different creations people can make when using the same stamp set to Random Stamp.

To summarize, random stamping is when you use a minimum of two different stamp images. You ink up and start stamping with the bigger image in the center of the paper and stamp in trianglular movements and rotate your paper so as to get a "unique" look. Don't forget to stamp OFF of the edge!! Once finished with the bigger image, you'll do the same thing with the smaller image. When all random stamping is done, you will have your very own unique patterened paper.

Below are just a couple of samples I've done. I also like that by using the random stamping technique, the "blank" white space staring you in the face. Random stamping gives it a more personal touch.

Want to learn how to add random stamping to your crafting? Let me show you how. Call or e-mail me!

Already like random stamping? Send me your random stamped pages by June 16th and I'll send you a small token for sharing!