Spotlight on Art - Jeanette Lynton's Blog

Last week I received an email from Close to my Heart telling me that I had earned a spot in the Spotlight on Art segment of Jeanette Lynton's Blog!!!  I was completely BLOWN AWAY when I received the news!!!

I had submitted my Flakey Friends/Pun Fun cards using Dakota in late October and received a quick note 4 days later thanking me for my submission.  When I read the email, I figured that I had not been chosen.  SO much to my surprise when I checked my email last Tuesday, I had indeed been chosen and it was being featured THAT DAY!!  I was SO excited that someone could have slapped me and I would have still been smiling!  LOL

I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason....this could NOT have come at a better time in my life....

Let me explain why....

4 1/2 years ago in August of 2008, my SIL (my hubby's sister) was diagnosed with Leiomyosarcoma (uterine sarcoma) cancer.  When she was diagnosed, she was given 6 months to live which was devastating to us all!  She immediately had a complete hysterectomy and started her chemo treatments within the month.

Her first round of chemo treatments proved to be successful!  Her scans showed the cancer to be gone! But towards the end of that first year, her cancer had moved to her lungs and liver.  By November 2009 she was on her second round of chemo with the hopes of slowing down the growth.  She was told that any chemo treatment from here on out would be to extend her life, but that curing her cancer was not a possibility.

Over the next 3 years after many hours of research by not only the dr. but my hubby, they would try several different chemo treatments and even go on to try some trials that had shown success.   Some were successful at shrinking the tumors that had grown on her liver and her lungs.  But unfortunately that success was not long lasting as the cancer was spreading through her body like wildfire.  After trying radiation to shrink a mass in her abdomen, she stopped any and all treatments in the summer of 2012.

Rhonda was admitted to the Hospice House on Wednesday, November 21st 2012 and passed away 3 weeks later on Friday, December 14th 2012. She fought to the bitter end...as we expected she would!

When I received the notification of being featured in the Spotlight on Art, I was at lunch with my hubby after a LONG night at the Hospice House.  My heart was heavy and my eyes burned from the tears that kept welling up in my eyes that day.  Jeanette provided a BRIGHT moment in my day and words cannot express what it meant to me to be in the Spotlight during such a dark period in my life.  This moment will never be forgotten....

Rhonda as a toddler.

Rhonda's High School Graduation Photo

Rhonda's family at a Christian Convention in 2007.  Matt, Dan, Rhonda and Mandi.  

Rhonda with Rod (her brother and my hubby) at our daughter Rachael's graduation ceremony in May of 2012.

Rhonda attending Rachael's graduation party in June of 2012.  Rhonda was very sick when this photo was taken, but she was NOT about to miss her niece's graduation party.  

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!

I hope that this inspired you to submit your favorite art to Jeanette Lynton's Blog....

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!!

Jen

Video on CTMH's new Alcohol Markers

Check out this AWESOME video from Close to my Heart on how to use their new Alcohol Markers!  It only takes about 6 min. to watch and you will come away being able to color like a pro with the new markers!!

Learn how to use our markers with embossing, coloring in small images, and coloring the stamp itself with the markers then stamping.  I just LOVE how Monica and Christine are SO excited about the new markers!  

Thanks for stopping by!!

Hope this inspires you to check out the new Close to my Heart Alcohol Markers and create something fun with them!!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

La Belle Vie...NOT My Favorite Paper Pack??

I know that we all have our own unique style of crafting.  That's what makes this craft fun!  What is your style?  Do you have a specific style that you are drawn to?  My style is more on the whimsical side....

For example, I LOVE the Clementine paper packet...the colors and prints are TOTALLY ME!!  Dakota and Moonlight are 2 of my other favorites in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.  Clementine and Dakota are more countryish (is that even a word??)  Where Moonlight, even though it is Haloweeney (and yet another made up word!) has a more whimsical feel to it.  These are the types of colors/patterns that I am drawn to....

Which brings me to my post!  It was NOT love at first sight with La Belle Vie with me!!  It did not give me "goosies" when I saw it!  I really could not imagine in my head what I would even create with it...scrapbook pages OR cards.

WELL...the beauty of being a consultant who runs regular scrapbook groups and card classes is that even though I may not be in love with a certain paper packet, I have customers who have different styles than I do....SO I went WAY out of my comfort zone and decided to give La Belle Vie a try for my card class in December.

Each month, my card class creates 2 each of 5 different cards.  How the heck was I going to come up with 1 card let alone 5 using this paper pack that I was not a huge fan of??  I just took it little by little, starting with the paper that I like MOST out of the paper pack....then just went from there!

For this set of cards, I decided I was going to create the cards first, then look for a stamp set that fit the look, shape and feel of each card.  The first 2 cards, I felt, did not need any stamping on the outside of the card.  SO I stamped a Sympathy Sentiment on the inside....my group girls can either leave it blank, use the same stamp OR stamp a different saying inside.

This card and the one above use the "Country Life" stamp set that debuted in the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book.  I LOVED this set when I first saw it and ordered right away!  Well, that was back in January and I am JUST NOW getting around to using it!  Not that I have not thought about using it, or pulled it out to use on a different card, it just never seemed to speak to me till THESE cards and THIS paper pack!

This last card is my least favorite card of all 5.  I LOVE the flower...the paper and the pattern, just not a big fan of the sentiment....not sure if it fits the style of the card.  SO I may change it before class in December!  

Thanks SO much for stopping by today!!

Hope this has inspired you to step out of your personal crafting "style" and try using papers/embellies that don't speak to you.....you never know, they just might speak to your friends, family or customers.

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

Moonlight NON Halloween Cards!

Happy FRIDAY all!!!  WOO HOO!!!  The weekend is here, the weekend is here!!!  Everybody's working for the weekend....  well except for me cuz I don't consider what I do as work....sure there are business details that I have to take care of, but for the most part, my "J.O.B" is F.U.N!!!!

I am just excited for the weekend to be here because I have been going NON stop for the past several weeks.  Mind you, the last 2 weekends were spent doing FUN things with my business and my friends, but the days in between the weekends have been spent away from home as well.

My SIL has been fighting stage 4 Leiomyosarcoma cancer for the past 4 years and she is now losing her battle.  SO I have been spending the night 2-3 nights out of the week to give my MIL a MUCH needed break in the evenings, overnight and first thing in the morning.    Between my being out of town and my hubby being out of town AND my spending 2-3 nights during the week at my In-Laws, I have not seen much of my hubby and I am honestly going through some serious snugging by the fire while watching movies withdrawals!  LOL

 So, I thought while I was sitting here in my pajamas, soaking in the smell of laundry going and dinner cooking that I would share the cards that my card class will be making this month using Moonlight.  As with Dakota, I thought it would be fun to try something OTHER than Halloween cards with this paper...since my Scrapbook Group Pages are NOTHING BUT HALLOWEEN!!

If I do say so myself, I was PRETTY DARN TICKLED with the way these cards turned out!!  I hope that my card class is just as tickled to create them and send them out to their friends and family!!  I always worry about my cards or scrapbook pages not being cute enough for my group girls!

My club card kit included a Moonlight Paper Packet, Black Tulle, Black & Grey Sparkles and the Haunted Assortment.  Stamp sets that I used are Pun Fun, Bountiful Season, Trinity Alpha, Words of Comfort and 4 My Friend.  

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!!

I hope that this has inspired you to take a 2nd look at the papers that are themed and turn them into cards/scrapbook pages that are something completely different!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

  

Dakota and Flakey Friends??

I just returned from an AMAZING scrap weekend with my girlfriends!!  I laughed SO much over the past 4 days that I am pretty sure I got a nice ab workout in without really having to work at it!!  We have been planning out this weekend for 6 months and I cannot believe it is already over.  When we first started getting together for our weekend scrap retreats a couple of years ago, we would start on Friday night and go through Sunday noon.  NOW we go from Thursday afternoon till Sunday evening!  This time we even talked about planning a WHOLE WEEK in the summer!  I wonder what will be next....a 10 day cruise??  LOL

ANYHOO...I got a TON done....I worked on my Card Class cards for October and December (November were already completed).  Plus finished my scrapbook pages for my December Scrapbook Group.  After I completed the projects that I NEEDED to get done...my girlfriends INSISTED that I work on my own stuff....SO I started playing with one of my FAVORITE paper packs, Dakota AND one of my favorite new stamp sets "Flakey Friends".

Who knew Dakota and Flakey Friends would be SO STINKING CUTE together???  I LOVE playing with papers and using them for something COMPLETELY different than what they were intended for. I added Crystal Blue to brighten it up a bit and OH MY GOODNESS did I have fun playing with it!

You know....I just realized that I USED to list my embellies and papers at the bottom of each post!  SO I think I will start doing that again!  STARTING TODAY!

Supplies are ALL CTMH and can be found on my website to order! 

Paper - Dakota with Crystal Blue CS added

Stamp Set - Flakey Friends 

Inks - Staz 0n Black, VersaMark, Black (for distressing) Ruby and Twilight Markers

Embellies - Black Sparkles (black and grey assortment) Black Sparkle Flourishes, Black Tulle, Black Opaques, Black Hemp, Pewter Badge Buttons, Pewter Mini Medley, Color Ready Ribbon

Tools - Embossing Gun and Edge Distresser and Cricut Art Philosophy

Other supplies used - Clear Embossing Powder, Glue Pen, Prisma Glitter

HOLY SMOKES that is one HUGE supply list!!  It was SO much fun using all of my WONDERFUL CTMH products to create these cards!!  There are MORE to come....so STAY TUNED!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!  

I hope this has inspired you to DO SOMETHING FOR YOU today!!  Schedule some YOU time and just PLAY!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

CTMH Regional Celebration 2012

It's been a while since I have posted to my blog...so thought I should share SOMETHING!  LOL  Since I just returned from the Regional Celebration in St. Louis, I decided I would share some pictures of us girls doing what we do best at Close to my Heart events....HAVING FUN!!!!  OH and we do "work" a bit as well!  lol

Brenda and Lori waiting to get the party started on Friday morning.  Thanks to Stacey for bringing her personal Keurig machine, we were able to start the mornings off right with a cup of Java!  YAY Stacey!!

Vickie and Stacey ready for the morning session to start....registration did not start till 8am, but we were  up and ready to go by 7am!!  We even beat the corporate group down to the convention room!

This is us "working" hard at one of the MANY projects that Close to my Heart provided for us!!  

Lori looking all innocent....don't let her fool you for ONE minute!

Brenda looking SO guilty....what did you do now, Brenda??  LOL

Brenda, Lori, Vickie, Stacey and myself.....LOVE these girls!!  ALL of the girls on my team "Creativity in Motion" fill my life with joy!  I feel so blessed to be part of this AMAZING company!  It is because I am a part of this company that I have met each and every one of my "girls" and I can't imagine my life without ANY of them!  

Jan was our adopted team member this weekend!  She fit right in with the rest of us MISS FITS!  (i know I spelled it wrong....kind of on purpose!)

Lori, Brenda and Jan....getting ready for our evening Creative Session on Friday night.  GOOD TIMES, GOOD TIMES!!

Vickie taking a picture of me, taking a picture of her!

Me taking a picture of Vickie, taking a picture of me and Stacey!  Funny thing is I had NO idea Stacey was posing next to me when I was taking the picture of Vickie until Vickie posted this pic to our team's Facebook Group!  TOO CUTE!!

The girls just being silly....I think they like me!  lol

Can't you just feel the love??  

Stacey is my FOREVER convention roomie!  We are like 2 peas in a pod...  When my hubby saw this picture, he said we look like we could be sisters!  I guess we ARE CTMH Sistahs!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST....apparently the people who stayed in our room BEFORE us were smokers as they covered the smoke detectors with SHOWER CAPS!  Stacey noticed this as we were laying in our beds chatting at the end of the first night....  I swear, only Stacey and I would have the luck to find these in our room!  LOL

The Regional Celebration is on a much smaller scale than our annual Convention each summer....BUT I STILL LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!  Thanks to CTMH for putting on another AWESOME event for us to attend!  

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!  

If you have ever considered joining Close to my Heart as a consultant, I hope that this has inspired you to follow your heart and sign up!!  If you do not have a consultant....I would LOVE to have you join my team "Creativity in Motion" (click the link to find out how to join my team) where creativity keeps moving forward!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

Altered Notebook in Clementine

SO I found these little notebooks on clearance a while back and am just now getting around to doing something with them!  They are 4 x 5 3/4, so the PERFECT size to find a card pattern for.  I found this card pattern in the Make it from your Heart book that CTMH released with the new Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book.  If you have NOT seen this book YET....I HIGHLY encourage to check it out!!  In fact...here is the link to it on my website....go ahead, CHECK IT OUT!!!

ANYHOO....On to the sweet little notebook....I used my FAVORITE papers from Clementine and my new FAVORITE stamp set Pun Fun.  As you can see, I paper pieced the cupcake and topped it with Liquid Applique and Prisma Glitter.

I can't wait to get back to my shop and make up a few more of these!  These make GREAT little gifts!! PLUS I love me some notebooks!  I am always filling notebooks up with ideas, lists, and notes that I don't want to forget.  This is the PERFECT size to keep in my small purse as they don't take up much space at all!

Well, thanks AGAIN AND AGAIN for stopping by!!!  

I hope that this has inspired you to get out those clearance notebooks that you JUST HAD TO HAVE 2 years ago and have not done anything with yet!  LOL or head on over to the closest store and check out their notebooks...you never know, they may have some on clearance as well!!  

Happy Stamping and Scrapping!!!

Jen

Another Card using Moonlight!

HAPPY SATURDAY!!!  I am sitting outside on my deck, overlooking the lake and soaking in the GORGEOUS Saturday morning weather.  I plan on spending as much time as I can OUTSIDE this weekend!!!  It is hard to believe that we are already at the beginning of SEPTEMBER!!!  OH MY GOODNESS where did the SUMMER go??  This time of year is always bittersweet for me.  I LOVE the Fall and the cooling temps, BUT I DISLIKE the COLD in the winter and I have a feeling that we are in for a long, cold, miserable winter.  THANK GOODNESS I have paper crafting to keep me busy...otherwise I think I would go CRAZY!

WHEW....I am done ranting now!  LOL  ONTO the card...

I am SO STINKING excited to share this card with you all.  NOT because it is the CUTEST card I have EVER created, BUT because this was my FIRST Creativity in Motion TEAM swap!!!  We had 8, yes 8 girls on my team that participated in the first month's swap!  And let me tell you, they are some STINKING TALENTED girls!!  I am SO blessed to have such a great group of girls on my team!!!!!

I will share my card first, then I will share EVERYONE'S swaps over the next couple of days....

SO when we were swapping our creations, as my card was passed around, everyone mentioned how HEAVY it was!  LOL  Yeah, I guess I got a bit carried away with the layers of paper!  There are 6 layers of paper, then the sprial thingy on the top plus the cardstock circle and flower on the top of that.  OH not to mention the layer of Tulle....I guess I just could not help myself.  Each layer complimented the other and I don't think it would have turned out at cute with out each of the complimenting colors!

Thanks for stopping by to check out my latest creation!!  

I hope that this has inspired you to add a few extra layers to your card patterns!  HAHA  Might not want to mail it though...might cost you a small fortune! 

One more thing....If you are thinking about joining Close to my Heart, I would LOVE to have you on my team!!!  In August alone, we welcomed 6 new girls to Creativity in Motion and I tell you what, we are REALLY setting things in motion and moving forward!!  Join us on this AMAZING ride!!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!!

Jen

Moonlight Puzzle Piece Card

Happy Thursday All!!!  I am finally getting around to "playing" with the AWESOME new Artiste Cricut Cartridge and am LOVING all the new features and functions that this cartridge has!!!  One of the SUPER COOL features on this cartridge is the Puzzle pieces.  There are several different ways to cut out these pieces...

For my card, I used the square that cuts out 4 puzzle pieces.  There is another square that cuts out MORE pieces, a rectangle that cuts out puzzle pieces AND a super cute border with puzzle pieces.  These could be used for cutting photos, used to piece backgrounds OR just have random puzzle pieces adhered to your pages or cards.

My card is a 4 1/2 x 4 1/2.  I cut one 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 square 4 piece puzzle from the owl print and the same size square 4 piece puzzle from the dark Smokey Plum pattern.  This will actually make 2 cards when cut out and pieced together as you use 2 puzzle pieces per pattern per card.  Clear as mud?  LOL

The "sweet" little cupcake is from the stamp set "Pun Fun".  I stamped the image on my Colonial White card stock first, then stamped on 2 different patterned papers to create the cupcake paper and topping.  To finish it off, I added a little Liquid Applique and sprinkled a bit of Prisma Glitter then heated just till the Liquid Applique popped up, but NOT so the glitter dulls.  

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!  

I hope this has inspired you to check out the new Artiste Cartridge from Close to my Heart!!  It has opened up SO many creative possibilities for me...just think of what YOU can do with it!!!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

It's Your Day Card

Happy Tuesday!!  I am SO excited to share with you all these SUPER CUTE cards that I 100% scraplifted from Brenda Thacker (fellow CTMH consultant).  Brenda created these at the beginning of this month while we were at a consultant scrap weekend.  They are such HAPPY cards that I knew I NEEDED to make them!  Thanks to Brenda for sharing her creativity with us!!!!

Brenda created each of these cards using the National Stamping Month stamp set "It's Your Day".  This set is AWESOME!!!  If you have NOT purchased yours YET, you are MISSING OUT on a TERRIFIC deal!!  You will receive a double d sized stamp set for $5 when you purchase $35 in CTMH products.  Special ends at the end of September!  Check out my website to see the stamp images and to place a qualifying order!!  www.lovinscrappin.myctmh.com 

In addition to totally scraplifting these cards...I am offering a card workshop where we will make 2 each of the 5 different cards using ONLY the It's Your Day" stamp set for the sentiments AND for creating our own background patterns!  Check out my Monthly Classes and Workshops tab or go to my Meetup.com group site for more details and to see the rest of the cards.....

The patterns followed to create these cards can be found in the NEW CTMH how-to book "Make it from your Heart".  There are 12 card patterns in total!!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!

I hope this has inspired you to take advantage of this AWESOME deal in September!!  OR If you already own this set...create your OWN patterned paper and cards!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

Clementine Card Class - September

I am SO LOVING the Clementine papers!!!!  I don't know if I have been this in love with a paper pack EVER!!  Well, maybe one or 2 in the past....BUT I am TOTALLY IN LOVE with the colors and prints and accessories to Clementine!  AAAHHHH!!!!

I had SO much fun creating these cards yesterday for my September Card Class.  These cards just make me smile!  LOL  SO I thought I would share them with you all.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

These cards were created using the Cottage Assortment that coordinates with the Clementine papers.  I threw in a little Burlap Ribbon and some Color Ready Seam Binding Ribbon as well, but found that with all the distressing and the coordinating embellies that I did not need much more on these cards.

Here we go....I took 2 pics of each card.  One of the whole card, then one close up to show the details of the embellies.

Stamp set used for this card is "Dream Big".  I distressed the edges of this card using an Edge Distresser and sand paper from our Distressing Kit.  These papers just SCREAM Vintage to me so I feel like I have to distress them one way or another to give them an old vintage feel.

Stamp set used for this card is "Casual Expressions".  Have you seen the new Burlap Ribbon from Close to my Heart?  OH MY GOODNESS!!!  I LOVE it!  For this card, I cut it in half and "frayed" the cut edge a bit.  Some on purpose....lol....some by accident!  But what a HAPPY accident it turned out to be!!  LOL

When I set out to create my club cards, I had MORE than enough inspiration when I opened up the NEW "Make it from your Heart" book from Close to my Heart.  If you were one who was disappointed when CTMH retired their AWESOME How-to books....You are going to FLIP for this book!  You get 16 two page LO's PLUS 12 card patterns in this GORGEOUS book for....get this...just $7.95!!!!  I am not sure if they are even making money off this book!  You really need to check it out!

The sentiment on this card is from "Words of Comfort".  

Speaking of NEW AND AWESOME!!!  Have you seen the NEW "Artiste" Cricut Cartridge from CTMH??  Well, if you have not, you NEED to check it out!  This "flower" was cut out and scored using the cartridge...all I needed to do was fold along the score lines and put together.  EASY PEASY!!  

Stamp set used on this card is "Card Chatter-Birthday".  

Last but NOT least is this card....another pattern that is from the Make it from your Heart.  The sentiment is from the Clementine WOTG stamp set.  

If you LOVE these cards and live in the Omaha, NE area....you can come to one of my card classes in September to create 2 each of the 5 cards.  If you do NOT live in the Omaha, NE area....I can send you a pre-cut, pre-stamped kit so you to can create these super cute cards!!  

Check out the details on my Meetup.com group site "Jen's Scrappy Pages!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

I hope that this has inspired you to get yourself a pack of Clementine, the coordinating Cottage Assortment and the NEW inspirational book "Make it from your Heart" and get creating your OWN SUPER CUTE cards  OR just contact me and I will send you a kit to make these!

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!

Jen

I Have a Facebook Page Now!!!

Hey All!!  I wanted to let you know that I started a Facebook page about a month ago.  I am doing MOST of my posting to my page now.  I will STILL come on here to post my art, but my Facebook Page Jen's Scrappy Pages  will also have info on my upcoming events as well as updates on specials that Close to my Heart is holding each month.

I would LOVE it if you stopped by to check it out and MAYBE, just MAYBE like it too!  If there is anything that you think I could change, or any techniques that you would like to see me use on my cards, scrapbook pages or paper crafts, let me know!!  I am ALWAYS up for a challenge!!

 I wanted to share my Scrapbook Group Pages from the Flirty kit that 1/2 of my groups are doing this month.  I say 1/2 because Close to my Heart ran out of the kit that I had planned for groups this month before I could order it for my 3rd Friday group.  SO I had a change of plans and had to offer Flirty as a replacement.  

 The colors in this pack are SO BRIGHT that I thought I would tone them down a bit by sanding the card stock and some of the patterned papers.  It has been a while since I have used sand paper on my pages, so I forgot how much I LOVE the look!  In addition to sanding my papers, I also took my Edge Distresser to some of the cardstock to make it pop a bit more.  A few of my photos are also distressed to help them stand out a bit more.

Thanks SO much for stopping by!!!

I hope that this inspires you to get out your sand paper and edge distresser and take out all of your aggressions on your paper!!  Or am I the only one who does that??  LOL   I am ALWAYS saying that paper crafting is therapeutic!!  Add a glass of wine and all is good in the world!  lol

Happy Scrapping and Stamping!!!

Jen