Best Stamping Tip EVER!!

Seriously!! I have never heard this tip (I need to be at your table next convention, LOL!)!!  LOVE IT!! Works every time! Try it - you will get the best stamped images ever!
Thank you, thank you Fancy Melissa!  You rock, my friend!

Capturing Summer Vacation Highlights with Studio J

A great video tutorial for you for this week's installment of Studio Saturday!  Enjoy!

Studio Saturday

Hey all!!  Time for my weekly Studio J installment!

A new tutorial for you this week!
The latest episode of LOVE YOUR LAYOUT has been released!  I absolutely LOVE this fun summer layout!  I'll be recreating this one for myself for sure!  I have a ton of fishing and boating pictures from this summer (and prior summers, for that matter) that will work great with the ideas they've shown here!  Hope you'll take a quick few minutes to check out the video:


Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

2 More Sleeps!!

Just two more sleeps until I host my first ever weekend scrapbooking retreat.  I'm co-hosting with a couple friends, Noreen & Heather, and we are looking forward to a great weekend with 40 fabulous crafty ladies!!    We are headed out to Canmore, Alberta - - a beautiful little town in the Rocky Mountains for some rest, relaxation & scrapbooking! 

Needless to say - with the retreat just a few days away - I've been BUSY BUSY BUSY with preparations.  We want to make this a really great weekend for our guests!  Here is a quick peek at one of the projects I've been working on:

I stamped, scored  & folded a total of FORTY of these cute little bag-a-lope gift bags!! (Who knew you could get a sore arm from stamping?!?!)   This is my favourite go-to pattern for gift bags/treat bags!!  You can make them any size you want . . . just by using a different sized envelope! Check out this great tutorial from Tresa Black.   For mine here, I used standard envelopes that fit 4.25" x 5.5" cards and my scoring lines were at 3/4" from the edge. 

Now - back to work for me!! Still so much to do!!

Studio J Tutorials

For anyone new to Studio J - - a fellow CTMH consultant - AMY ULEN - has put together some AMAZING Studio J tutorials!!  13 videos so far . . .more to come!!   I am in awe after watching her videos.  I absolutely love Studio J - but I have learned a ton of cool new things from Amy!  She's a Studio J guru!!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge Amy!!

You can find Amy's Studio J tutorials on her You Tube channel "Create with Amy".  Enjoy!!

After watching Amy's videos - you'll be ready to give Studio J a try - - you can find it HERE - free to create with!! You pay ONLY when you are ready to purchase a completed layout! 

Magnifique Gift Card Holder Tutorial

My first tutorial!!  I recently created this cute gift card holder and loved it so much that I shared it as my "Make & Take" project at my September Close to My Heart Open House.  I promised those in attendance that I would share the instructions on my blog - so here they are (better late than never!).  And as fate would have it, Tresa Black is having a 'tutorial' party on her blog Fabulously Artsy this week - so I'll be joining her party with this post!   [EDIT 10/11- Darn, I missed the deadline (by minutes!??!) for Tresa's Tutorial Party! That's what I get for leaving my post to the last minute!! That's OK - I had fun putting this together anyway and learned a few things about creating tutorials in the process, as well!!]

My gift card holder was inspired by Karin Menghini at Two Friends Stamping!  Thanks Karin!

Instructions for Gift Card Holder:
1) Start with a piece of cardstock measuring 4 1/4" x 7".  Score along the 7" side at 2.5" and 5.5".  (I score my cardstock using the track of my paper trimmer and a bone folder or embossing stylus).

2) Fold cardstock on score lines as shown.

 3) Cut two pieces of patterned paper.  The top piece measures 4 1/8" x 2 1/4".  The bottom piece measures 4 1/8" x 1 1/4". 

 4)  Adhere patterned paper to cardstock as shown.

 5)  As I used a dark coloured cardstock, I added an extra piece of colonial white cardstock inside my gift card holder in order to be able to write a message to the recipient.  This piece measures 4 1/8" x 2 1/4".  Adhere to the inside of the top flap of the gift card holder as shown.

 6)  Using the piercing tool and your self healing mat, make a hole in each top corner of the bottom flap of the gift card holder.  Insert a 'bitty brad' in each hole to secure your gift card pocket. 

 7)  Stamp a sentiment for the outside of your gift card holder.  I used a 1 3/8" circle of colonial white cardstock on which to stamp my sentiment, and matted it with a chocolate scalloped circle. 

 8)  Create a 'belly band' to wrap around your gift card holder to hold it closed.  I used a piece of chocolate cardstock which measured 1" wide by 9.5" long.  I then adhered a piece of patterned paper measuring 3/4" wide by 9.5" long onto the chocolate cardstock.  I wrapped the cardstock strip around the gift card holder to determine the appropriate fold lines and then secured the ends using my stapler. 

 9)  Adhere your sentiment piece over top of the belly band in the center (ensure you cover your overlapping ends and staple). 

 10)  Stamp an image that coordinates with the image on your sentiment piece inside the gift card holder.

 Here is the completed gift card holder shown open & with gift card inside:

Front of Gift card holder shown closed with belly band:

 And the view from the back (note that your belly band also covers up your brad prongs on the back!)

Materials Used (all Close to My Heart):
Magnifique Level 2 Paper Pack
Tag the Occasion acrylic stamp set
Antiqued Copper Bitty Brads
Cardstock: Chocolate, Colonial White
Inks: Sky, Pacifica, Chocolate

Very easy to make & you could change it up with your papers/stamps for any occasion!  If you make one using my tutorial - please be sure to comment here & leave a link to your project (or Email Me a photo)!  I'd love to see what you come up with!!