Wednesday's "W"

From the title, I bet you're say..."What is she talking about?" Well, last week we were asked when did you start stamping? This week's question of the week is, "Where do you find inspiraton for your creations?" That is a hard question to answer. Since I started stamping, way back during the dinosaur age, I have found inspiration almost everywhere. I remember doing a card once with the wall paper my parents had in their kitchen when I was growing up. But nowadays, I find inspiration everywhere. I love looking at other individual's creations. I'll see something I like and I'll make a mental note, then on another, I'll see something else. I do this till I think my head is going to burst, and then I get creative.

But where do I go to find this inspiration? I have so many different avenues to explore, that is hard to pinpoint just one or two. As you can see over on the left, the column of blogs I visit, well that's one source of inspiration. I also visit Close To My Heart's corporate message board for artwork. We sure do have a great group of talents ladies! Another source I have, when I have lots of different things I want to try but no foundation, I'll check out Becky's page maps. (www.pagemaps.com). Not only does she have sketches for layouts but also for cards. In the beginning, I started out purchasing magazines to find inspiration. I'd even purchase a subscription or two. But it seems in the magazines are turning to the internet and blogging. Then there is always other message boards on the web, to bring some inspiration. I love this craft, because so many want to share. And then, last but by no means, least the books I love the most. They are from Close To My Heart and its Jeanette's "how to" books. There is 5 of them now, and the best source of inspiration. The 5 books include, Cherish, Imagine, Reflections, Originals, and Wishes.

As I explained yesterday, unfortunately, I don't have any artwork to share today. I am up to my neck in laundry. I've didn't finish it last week, so this week, I have almost twice as much. This is one chore I could really do without. But, we can't go around in dirty underwear now can we?

So, until the next time.....
Happy Stamping!


Leanne

You and Me Card Kit

A while back, (maybe 18 months or so), CTMH offered a card kit in celebration of National Scrapbooking Month. I believe that was in September 08...some correct me if I'm wrong. Anyhow, they offered this adorable card kit. Its everything you would need to create some adorable cards. Well, I bought one of those kits and its been sitting on my desk ever since. Now since I am in the card making mood, I thought I would pull out this kit and put the cards together. Only problem, is like my scrapbooking pages, I don't like alot of blank white space on my cards. So, I rifled through my scraps, and found some coordinating B&T paper to go with these cards. Otherwise, I did manage to follow the instructions, somewhat. LOL I worked on these over the weekend. Its been so windy here, that I haven't been able to get outside to photograph them. Today isn't so windy, so I was able to get them out and photographed.

I've seem on so many other blogs, where they photographed their art by placing it in a bush or a tree. I thought that was so cool and really compliments the artwork. Well, I thought I would give it a try. Only thing around here (in the desert) is my Oleander bushes out in the back of the property.

Perhaps next time I'll try placing my artwork in the Flowering Plum Tree in the front yard.

This next card I want to share with you is done with CTMH's Treasure Life and Silhouette Paper Pack. I got the inspiration from Kathi Carlson's blog(http://kathiscreativecorner.blogspot.com/) and some others. I am quite pleased how this turned out. I think I may have to make some more, just to have them on hand.

Today is laundry day. I haven't done laundry in who knows how long. So, I probably won't get to my rubber room today,

unless its to clean it. So hopefully, by Thursday, I'll have more to share.

So, until next time...

Happy Stamping!!!

Inky Hugs,

Leanne

Blog Candy from Melissa!!!

You've got to go check out the amazing blog candy that Melissa is giving away! WOWZERS!!!! Good luck. ;)

Happy Birthday!

Happy Saturday!

What a week this past one has been! My daughter moved into a new apartment, and we spent the week moving things from one apartment to another. I can't believe the amount of stuff she had to move. My back knows now! LOL

But now she's all moved over. She has the wonderful chore of unpacking and finding places for all her stuff. I can't even imagine moving at this point. We've lived in this house since 1997 and for us to pick up and move...well it just wears me out just thinking about it!

Anyhow, yesterday was my DH's birthday and today is my granddaughter's 7th birthday. I was unable to make a card for DH, I will this next couple of days, he'll understand, but its quite difficult for a 7 year old to understand why...even though she knows we've been busy moving her family to a new apartment.

So bright and early this morning, I got to my work table and made this card for her. I used the BoBunny papers I still had on my table. I also used CTMH's Cranberry and Buttercup cardstock. I also used the Cuddlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder and the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The big brads came from www.just4funcrafts.com and the ribbon came from www.reasonableribbon.com. The lady bug came from Wal-Mart about 6 years ago and its been sitting in my stash since.

I apologize for the card looking so lopsided. I couldn't get it in the scanner properly. Its just too crowded in here when the twins are here.

Thanks for letting me share and don't forget to leave me some lovin' if you like the card.

Till next time...

Happy Stamping!

Leanne

Remember when?

I was asked when did you start stamping? Well, pull up a chair, grab yourself a cuppa and let me tell you a story! You might have heard this one before, but for those of you who haven't...let me continue. I've always been involved in some sort of layout and design. I was in the military for 8.5 years as a Graphic Specialist. Then I worked in advertising for a few years and then went to work for a newspaper as a cut and paste associate. I continued with the marketing idea with MWR (Morale, Wellness, Recreation) at Norton AFB. I would write, design copy for this particular division for almost 3 years. I knew there was something better out there, but just didn't know what. Meanwhile, my love for genealogy, and photography continued to grow. Everything has to be documented. Then we moved to the UK. Oh the photo opportunities were unbelieveable. And every time you turned around, one of my kids had some sort of field trip, which meant, more photos. And if the photos were not permitted, there was always postcards. Now, remember, this was before the digital camera was available.

Then in December 1998, my mother passed away. I took it kinda hard and the best way I found to cope with the lost, was to throw myself right back into my genealogy. We were just introduced just a few months earlier to the wide wonderful world of the internet. I wasn't having much luck in finding those long lost dead relatives, so I started calling aunts and uncles and asking questions. I found out alot about my parents, those early years. Then my aunts and uncles started sending me pictures. My one uncle, Uncle Fred, he had gobbles and gobbles of pictures, that he sent me. I felt somewhat selfish in hoarding all of these pictures, so I decided I would make a scrapbook for each of my brothers and sister and share with them all these pictures and our heritage.

So in my quest began. Every time we would go into town, I had to go to Michaels, and see what new things for scrapbooking they had. I'd buy a bit of this or a bit of that. Then I was introduced to ebay. WOW, I didn't even have to leave the house, I could order right there from home and have it delivered. This went on for a few years...the collection portion of my journey. I kept saying, one more thing and I'll be ready. Just one more thing.

Then in January of 2002, my best friend asked me for some help. She and her husband were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They rented a local hall and she and I made up the invitations to their party. Then Janet wanted to put out on display, a few pictures of their wedding so share with everyone. She asked for my help and instead of using just a few pictures, I ended up sorting through her tub of pictures and getting them organized. Instead of just showing them getting married, I took them on the long road of how they started out getting married and their journey of 25 years. I took all those papers and stickers and did 30 pages in 5 days time. Then, with the help of my children, we attached those layouts to butcher paper and that night, it was on display for all to share in their journey.

That is when, the bug really hit me. I had done this for Janet, so why not do it for myself. But I still didn't know where to start. I still didn't know what to do. It was so overwhelming for me. Then one day, I picked up a magazine, "Simply Scrapbooks". It was their premier edition. In leafing through the magazine, I came across an advertisement. I was so enthralled with the artwork in this ad. I said to myself...this is what I want my pages to look like. There was a website listed and I went to the site and just drolled over the artwork I saw there. I knew then, I had to have more. Little did I know, that this company was not a scrapbooking company, but a rubber stamp company. But they had papers and I thought I could learn to use both the rubber stamps and papers and create the pages I was so desperately trying to create. There was a toll free number I could call for find a consultant in my area. This wonderful pleasant sounding individual was so kind and courteous, that I knew I was at the right place. This gal gave me the number of a consultant in my area and I called her that evening. She came right out and we spent hours talking about scrapbooking and stamping. When she left that evening, my head was a spinning. This is what I wanted. I wanted to be a Close To My Heart consultant. But I had done other home parties and they didn't end up so pleasant. I was so afraid to take that plunge. Well, my soon to be upline and I discussed and talk about it and finally I sent off the paper work to become a CTMH consultant.

So in March 2002, I had my jumpstart party. I invited a few friends and what a time we had that afternoon. My upline showed us how to create cards, and a scrapbook page with just stamps. I was just so excited. Then right in the middle of my party, the man in brown arrived with my package from corporate. The box was full of papers and catalogs and a stamp set that had a strawberry in it. I knew right then and there I had made a good choice. Meanwhile, my husband who is my biggest supporter and who was as addicted to ebay as I was...found a gal selling her rubber stamps. They were all from CTMH. She was leaving CTMH and selling her stamps. He surprised me with this big box full of stamps. I was thrilled. So I set up a table in the closet of the spare bedroom and stated to play. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I had never made a card in my life. I knew my graphic design was going to help me with my scrapbooking, but what about the cards? So, I sat and watch the video that came in my kit. I kept saying, I can do that...I can do that. So, two weeks after my jump start party, I had my first gathering. I used that strawberry stamp and made the cards I thought people would enjoy seeing. The night before my first party, my DH came home from work and saw all the cards I had created and he said to me. "If I didn't know better, I would have thought you bought these at a store." What better compliment could anyone ever ask for?

So, for the past several years, as Close To My Heart has grown and changed and improved, I like to think, that I do have grown and changed and improved. I am sure I still have alot to learn, but for now, I am a happy camper, just sitting and stamping and scrapbooking. My rubber room was once a closet, now its expanded to the whole room, and this is my happy space.

I don't seem to have any of the original layouts I started doing, but these layouts were from the early years. I use to do 8.5"x11" layouts, but since 2004, I started doing 12"x12" layouts.

Well, that's my story. Thanks for letting me share.

Until next time,

Happy Stamping!!

Leanne

Miss Daisy

My sweet darling husband bought several of Elizabeth Bell's stamps from her sweet ebony line for me last December. With all the excitement of Christmas then cleaning up after Christmas, well, sorry its taken me this long to pull out these adorable stamps. Well today I did pulled out Elizabeth's "Daisy" stamp and made this card. I took this week's sketch from this week's MojoMonday.blogspot.com. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye and BoBunny, cardstock is Cranberry, Buttercup, and Garden Green from CTMH. Inks are the same colors as cardstock with Indian Corn Blue and Blush included.

I really did have a fun time putting this card together. I had forgotten how much fun it can be just to play with stamps and not have a purpose. I think I will have to do this more often. LOL

I hope you like what I've done, if so please leave me some lovin'.

Till next time,

Happy Stamping!!

Leanne

Something New

I have never been much of a card maker, but since I've been blurfing, I have come across so many cards that has just inspired me to no end. One blog I enjoy visiting and seeing how creative she can be, is a fellow consultant, Kathi Carlson. You can visit her blog at http://kathiscreativecorner.blogspot.com/ I look forward every evening to see what fun cards she has produced to share with us. I don't know how Kathi does it...she works full time, has a couple of grandsons that she spends alot time with. Kudos to you Kathi, if you happen to be reading this!!

I decided to give my hand a try at making a couple of cards. Now, I came across a blog, http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/ and every Monday, the post a card sketch. So, I decided to give it a try this past weekend. Here is my results. I used "Let's Get Together" paper pack, along with "Delight in Everything" stamp set. I used my nesties for the scalloped circle and my Making Memories circle cutter for the inside circle. I embossed the flowers using Buttercup embossing powder and the biggie brads, I had in stash, but they came from my good friend, Jennifer, at http://www.just4funcrafts.com/, along with the white gel pen that I made the stitch lines with.

I think I may be too critical of my work, but I think this card could have been a bit better. But perhaps, with practice, my card making will improve.

Did you know, that Jeannette Lynton, our founder and CEO if Close To My Heart, has a new cardmaking book out? Its absolutely wonderful. This book is full of artwork in full color, and gives you creative stamping tips and techniques galore. It has 3 bulk card instructions for making 8, 12 or 16 cards in a jiffy. And it helps you make the most out of your papers and time. I can't say enough about this book. I have the Original Card Confidence Program hard cover book, and this new book is just the thing to add to my creative library. This card I am sharing with you, comes from the new "Wishes" book. It was originally at 4 3/4" x 3" card, but I enlarged it and made a few tweeks and made it into a 5" x 7" card.

I use to frown on my customers, who would change a card I was presenting at a workshop or a gathering. I would think, why can't they follow instructions? You know, I should listen to myself more often. Never will I question my customers creativity! And until I get a bit better at card making, I will not try to tweek perfection. LOL This is the card I also made this weekend. I used "Unforgettable" paper pack along with "Treasure Life" stamp set and "Say It With Style" stamp set. I also used my Fiskars border punch.

I have three birthdays coming up this month, 2 of them are this week. So, stay tuned cause I'll be sharing them later.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time....

Happy Stamping!

Leanne

On The Trail

Can someone tell me where the time goes to? It just seemed like yesterday, it was the beginning of May, and here it is...the last day of the month. Its been a busy month, but did manage to get the layouts done for my May Workshop. The layouts are from CTMH's WOTG, but as usual, I changed it up a bit to fit my needs.

The pictures are of the first outing, we took as a brand new Junior Girl Scout Troop back in 1992. We were stationed in the UK at the time and the base was offering a 5k/10k run out in Thetford Forest. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity, for the girls to earn their first badge "Walking for Fitness." This was just the beginning of 3 years of fun and excitement and a terrific learning experience for both the girls and myself.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to have a couple more things to share in the next day or so. So stay tuned.

Leanne

Princess on Parade and A Prince of an Escort

I wanted to share with you the layouts we did at my March workshop. Now, I've shared these layouts on some of the groups I belong to. But in case you're not on any of those groups, I thought I would post them here. I've added a few items since the workshop just to "jazz" it up a bit. The photos were taken in 1990, Kelli was in the first grade and Kevin was in the second.

Thanks for letting me share.

Until next time,

Happy Scrappin'!

Leanne

Please welcome our latest addition...

Let me introduce you to our latest addition to the family. Her name is "Isabella Elizabeth" or "Marley" as soon as we find out what sex she/he is. Hubby thinks its a girl.


Let me tell the story of how this adorable little thing came to become part of the family. Yesterday, my granddaughter, Deborah, took the bus from school to here. She loves to come and visit directly after school. She had just finished her homework and went outside to play. Next thing I knew it, she comes running in yelling about how Auggie was barking at the kitten. I asked, "What kitten?" and she drags me outside to see the kitten. This poor helpless defenseless babe, was stuck between a big black toolbox and the storage unit and screaming!!! So, here I have, a 6 year old yelling, a 10 month old pup barking, and ???weeks kitten screaming. Wanna talk about how rattled my nerves were! LOL I persevere and rescue the kitten. I scarfed her up and took her into the house, leaving Auggie outside and of course Deborah on my heels. So, I spent the night cuddling with this adorable little creature. Of course I had to call DH at work and tell him. He brought home, everything imaginable that a young kitten would need. I immediately call the vet this morning and we have an appointment later on this afternoon. Now, I had to protect this little thing from the likes of Auggie. Auggie thinks its a toy that moves! So, I put the kitten in a box temporarily, and Kevin and I got the day carrier out of the backyard and cleaned it all up. I put the carrier out in the kitchen, out of the way of normal traffic flow. But once Auggie knew we had a new family member, she started sniffing till she came up upon the carrier. You see her in the picture just eyeballing that kitten. Later, I put the kitten and Auggie, nose to nose and Auggie gives the kitten a big ol' lick!

So, dh said, that since Deborah found the kitten, she's the one to name her/he. There was no hesitation at all. Deborah immediately said...I wanna name her Isabella Elizabeth. Isabella from the movie "Twilight" and Elizabeth because that's her middle name and she loves it. So, let me introduce...Izzie Lizzie. LOL Oh I then asked, what if it a boy kitty? Well, Deborah hemmed and hawed and I finally suggested the name "Marley." Oh she liked that a lot! There ya have it.
My not so quiet Thursday afternoon.

Thanks for letting me share my adventure.
Till next time...

Inky Hugs,
Leanne