Splash Zone Beach Layout: Studio J

This is the last of several layouts I created in Studio J last month. These pictures were from San Diego over the summer...I went to the beach with my dad, sister, niece and nephew.

This Splash Zone paper and matching stickers were perfect, and you can only find them in Studio J (CTMH's online scrapbooking). Studio J is free to try out here.

Thanks for visiting my blog :)

{New} Wings Clear Scalloped Card

I'm on vacation up in the mountains surrounded by snow, so what better opportunity to craft?! I just got the beautiful CTMH Wings paper and ribbon and the absolutely adorable January stamp of the month, so I wanted to play with my new stuff!

I decided to play along with the Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week...it's been forever since I have. We have a choice between a round or square card, and since I bought some Clear Cards when they first came out several months ago and haven't even made one yet, I thought I'd try my hand at a round one! This is what I came up with...
I wanted to share this next shot because I love the background. Look at the bluebird skies and snow in the window! Absolutely stunning!
Here's a picture I took out that window...my view as I scrapbook and make cards up here in Mammoth :) It was not this blue yesterday...we got 3 feet of snow!
And a close-up to see some dimension on the card.
Isn't the new Wings paper pretty? And that ribbon! It comes pleated and stitched already so the work is done for you. The new CTMH Idea Book doesn't come out until Feb. 1, but wanna know how you can get these items and some other great stamps and embellishments early...at a DISCOUNT?! Check out this flyer. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions! You can place your order on my website: jaymamalme.myctmh.com.

Here is the sketch from Mojo Monday...give it a try!

Mistletoe & Random-Stamped Christmas Cards + Gift Tags

I'm a little behind on sharing the rest of my Christmas cards. This is the last Christmas card post for 2010 :) I LOVE this Ms. Holiday Cheer stamp set...can you tell that I tend to lean toward more "cutesy" Christmas cards and stamps? I made her fur fuzzy by coloring it with a glue pen then sprinkling with fun flock.

TIP: After sprinkling the fun flock onto the glue, use your finger to push it into the glue to make sure it sticks well. The flock is so lightweight that it needs a little help settling in :)
This next card uses the Mistletoe paper, which seems not-so-cutesy to me, but the "jingle" stamp from Holiday Jingle is. Love that ornament stamp, too. It's in the Holiday Trinkets stamp set.
And here are a few tags I made using the Christmas Melodies stamp set. I just stamped the images, cut them out, and punched a hole. Love using baker's twine for tags.

I'm a Friday Five Winner at Heart 2 Heart

Yippee...I am one of the Friday Five winners at the Heart 2 Heart Challenges blog for my name frame. You can see the frame I created here.
To see the other winners, visit the Friday Five post at H2H. They're all fabulous!

Speaking of gifts, have you seen the AMAZING wedding cake gift that Tracey Mason created? I'm speechless. I've never seen anything more beautiful created with paper. Check it out here.

Baby Name Frame Using CTMH Bella

This week's challenge at Heart 2 Heart is to create a gift. I haven't participated in a H2H challenge in a while, and since I'm up to my ears in gifts this time of year, I thought now is perfect time to participate!

This is actually a "gift" that I sold, but the recipient and his wife are giving it to their 2nd little girl, who is due in January. You can see the frame I made for their first little girl here.
I use the same dimensions for most of the baby name frames I do...8" x 10" frame, 1-3/4" for the squares, and the letters are on a 1-1/2" square, mounted on a 1-3/4". To create the letters, I use Stampin' Up sticky pages...they're sticky on both sides. I run the page through my Cricut spell the name, then I mount it on the paper and sprinkle with glitter (always Martha Stewart glitter for EXTRA sparkle!).

I wanted to kinda match the glitter to the frame, so I mixed smoky quartz (smoky gold) with a little brownstone (bronze) to make a medium-bronze color. I used this glitter mixture to create the flower center as well. I started with just a small chipboard circle, then covered with liquid glass and sprinkled with glitter (let it dry overnight). It looks like one of CTMH's new Shimmer designer brads...but I got to customize the color and it was cheaper! (But I do LOVE those new brads!)

To see all the frames I've made, click here.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies:
Bella Level 2 paper pack (retired), mocha opaques, clear shapes (CTMH connections reward), Perennials dimensional elements, Pizzazz irrisistibles, Martha Stewart glitter (brownstone & smoky quartz), cricut, SU sticky pages, brads from Michael's, spiral clip sponged in brown staz-on ink, ribbon from Wal-Mart, Chocolate mini flowers from past special

Jingle with Pennants & Evensong Christmas Cards

It's about time I share some more of my Christmas cards! Sorry it's a little late now for you to use as inspiration, unless you are like me and even though you have your letter ready and many cards made, you still have more to make and haven't sent many out yet! :)

So, here are a couple more that I made for mine and Jen's Christmas card workshop last month. I used the small Christmas tree from the CTMH Evergreen stamp set to create Pennants.

And this card used some scraps I had left over from the CTMH Evensong paper pack. I've been hangin' onto what I have left, but I think it's about time I use it all up.
The dimensional leaves were really fun and easy to make. I was inspired by Tresa Black's ustream video on Lollipop flowers. I simply cut out a leaf shape by hand (imperfection is nice sometimes). Then I folded in half lengthwise, and made lots of folds going down the whole leaf. Ink the edges to pop.
I hope you were inspired by something today. Thanks for stopping by :)

"Friends" Papercrafted Photo Frame for 16-Year-Old Girl

I have to say, I think this is my favorite of all the "What's in a Frame" projects I've ever done! It must be the cool peacock feather that put it over the top for me. Maybe the glitter letters, too (but WOW were they messy to do!).
I had this idea a couple of months ago for a Christmas gift for my hubby's cousin's daughter, and put all the supplies aside, but just got around to actually making it last night. These are the colors in her room: black and white with blue accents. It's hard to get a good shot of it with the glass and glitter.
It's hard to tell, but the black & white circle paper is fuzzy. The black is velvet (which also makes it hard to get stray glitter flecks off).

This photo has better color, but bad glare. It's just hard to get a good picture with the glass reflecting back at me!
What do you think?! Here's a secret: even with the glitter mess I made, this took me less than 2 hours. Can you think of someone on your Christmas list to make something like this for? You can replace "friends" with a child's name and cover the chipboard letters in paper instead of glitter.

Let me know if you make one...I'd love to see it!

Using Seasonal Paper Kits for "Normal" Photos in Studio J

I love mixing up my paper kits and using them in unexpected ways. It's a little trickier in Studio J, but definitely doable.

This first layout uses the Studio J-exclusive Halloween paper kit called BOO. You can't even tell it's Halloween-themed from my layout.
These are the papers in the BOO kit. Plus, you can use any color cardstock and you can use the "backs" of the papers for a lighter tone in one of the patterns.This second layout uses another Studio J-exclusive paper pack called Class Act. As you can guess, it's a back-to-school theme.
Here are the papers in Class Act. I also pulled in some Crystal Blue with the cardstock, a color that doesn't come in the paper kit. But it works nicely with the papers I chose.
When using seasonal kits in Studio J, you'll find that most of the stickers are seasonal and probably won't work for your "normal" layout. In both of my layouts I found some star stickers to use, along with brads and buttons, but most of the other stickers were school- and Halloween-related. If you want a little more embellishing on your layout, just add some "real" embellishments once you get the prints! It'll add some nice dimension and you'll be able to use up some of your stash :)

You can play with Studio J here (it's free to try it out).