What Now?

Yesterday I received an email from CTMH corporate (all consultants did) that had the weeks updates.  There was some exciting news in there, but the most startling announcement was that the Make It From Your Heart contest is being discontinued.  Yes, you read that right, the semi-annual contest that I freak out over and go nuts for is going away.  So, now what?

It's both good and bad news.  The best part is now I can share all the projects I'll be making during the preview month.  With no contest to enter, I don't have to hide them away until winners are announced.  Woo Hoo!!  Of course it also means I have to remember how to place a preview order without the contest in mind.  It's a totally different thought process, but I'm okay with it.

I think I've narrowed it down to paper packs called Stella (if you're in my club, we'll be creating with this in February), Pemberly and Crusin' to start.  There are a few more on my list, but they'll have to wait.  New stamp sets I'll be getting are called Just For You, Just a Number and a few other A size I haven't decided on yet.  I'll also be ordering some new accessories like bakers twine (I'm thrilled we have this now), color ready garden wooden shapes, velvet rub-ons, sparkles flourishes and more.

I've also started thinking about my new year scrapping goals.  Have you?  I'd love to catch up even more than I  have this last year and setting goals, not resolutions that will be toast by February, works best for me.  I'll post my goals tomorrow and maybe you can get some ideas from me and set your own goals for the new year.

Have a great Friday,


P.S.  Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes!  I had a great day and am heading to the scrap store's big sale today which just extends the birthday happiness.  :)

Blitsy Madness!!

Ok, I know it's right before Christmas...but I can't not tell you about the sale that was just released on Blitsy.

Everything - literally everything they've had on the site since they opened is now back up for sale through the end of the year.  It's while supplies lasts and they have some serious steals!!  I've got a cart full and will be whittling it down to what I really "need" and getting my order in before things are gone.

Go check it out before it's all sold out!  :)

Happy last minute shopping,

Wacky Wednesday

Want to see my latest inspiration piece?  Brace yourself, it was on a piece of junk mail...

Darn cute if I say so myself.  Of course I believe I can make this out of paper and make it adorable.  Wish me luck and I'll share what I come up with.  Here's hoping it's cute and I've got a tutorial for you in a week or two. :)

Tea Spoon Box

My hubby gave me a little project about a week back and I just got to completing it.  He got a new tea spoon from World Market for his loose teas and wanted to keep the box for storage and travel.  However, the box was boring...just green.  He gave it to me and asked me to do my thing.  This is what I came up with.

Nothing too fancy - he's a simple style guy.  I'm trying to use up what I've got left of papers so that I can get new ones with the new book.  I grabbed some leftover Elemental and the olive pattern was a near perfect match.  Woo Hoo!  I set to work covering the whole inside of the bottom portion of the box and then made one piece for the inside of the top of the box as well.  I distressed the whole outside of the box with some chocolate ink and added some lightly distressed letters and an antique copper brad.

When I handed it over the reply was, "Cool, thanks hun."  Which is hubby speak for, "That's totally awesome!  I love it, babe.  You did a great job."  Good thing I speak hubby.  :)

Holiday Tags

I haven't had too much time to create lately since the holiday season is upon us.  However, I was able to sneak a few moments to create some tags.

This one uses Tresa Black's technique on shading for a vintage highlighted look.  I also colored the bling with some brown Stazon - it's much more sparkly in person.

This one was stamped and then covered in Versa Mark followed up with some clear embossing powder mixed with silver glitter to give it some shine.

This last one was shaded, stamped all over the place and then covered in VM followed by some clear ep and prisma glitter mix.  The second photo shows the shimmer better.

From my tags I learned a few things...
1) Glitter and bling of any kind is darn hard to photograph.
2) No matter how hard you try to get it off yourself, you'll be covered in glitter until you shower.
3) Mixing ep with glitter and heat setting is brilliant!  Shine without the recipient being glitter-fied.
4) It's all worth it - sparkle makes everything better.   :)

A Special Thank You

Today I have a special card to share.  This was the card that I made for those people who placed orders to help me reach my goal in November.  I am truly grateful for their support and made this card for each of them.  I jotted my note on a sticky inside so that they can use the card for themselves if they wish.  A sincere thank you - you know who you are.  :)

I had the pattern paper laying around in my stash and finally had a reason to use it.  It was one of those papers that I bought because the pattern and color struck me.  I knew I'd use it for cards since I wasn't interested in any of the other coordinating papers.  When I received my Dreamin' WOTG kit, I was thrilled to see that the stamp set for that kit coordinated with this paper.  I love it when everything works together even if things aren't from the same company.

Have a great weekend!

Fall Retreat

I haven't shared photos of our fall retreat yet!  Yes, that would mean that I'm officially beyond behind.  :)  It happens.  So, before I get to some crafting projects, I'm sharing these. 

 Before we left, my mom and I stopped for a coffee.  I'm really excited about my coffee, can you tell??  Yes, that whole thing is filled with coffee - 64 oz. of wonderfulness.  In MI, we have a local coffee shop called Bigbby where you can get this mug, or the even larger one, that is 100 oz.  We opted to go small.  LOL!

 When we arrived, I got to setting things up.  Nicole arrived a tad earlier than the others so that she could bring these and set them out for everyone.  Aren't they cute!  They were yummy too.

 We decided to take the group photo on the first day this time when we are all looking rested.  LOL!  I think it turned out great.  :)

 This is me in the dungeon.  That's what we called the center of our cropping area.  I wound up in there because I needed to liquid glass and glitz a bunch of letters and I didn't want them to get bumped on my table and smudged.

 While we were there, the center was having a fall family day.  One of the things they were showing off was their apple cider press.  We had to go take a peek and take photos of the action of course.

 Toss the apples in the top, turn the wheel and you get this.  Then you put the press on top and squeeze.  Ta-da, apple cider and it's delicious!

 Here's a quick pic of our cropping mayhem from the view of my corner.  I'm missing Genia and Annette in this particular photo - they just got lucky this time that I'm putting this one on the blog.  :)

On the drive out, we spotted this.  Can you see it too?  Yes, I halted the car in the middle of the drive, threw it into park, grabbed the camera, jumped out of the car and managed to fire off this shot before they took off.  There was three of them when we first spotted them.  At least I got one.  Did you miss it?  It's a deer in the middle of the photo.  What we first saw was a whole family.  Wonderful sight.  :)

Gloria Rogers, confessed scrapbooker and insane photographer.

Have a great Wednesday!

Enabler Alert!

Just found this new site called Blitsy and it ROCKS!!  It's awesome craft items that are on super sale for a limited time or until they run out.  The items change all the time and they have some great stuff there!  Tim Holtz, Stickles, ATG guns, Spellbinders, punches and more.

To get the word out, they are offering a sweet deal.  Head to the site using My Personal Link and I'll get a $10.00 credit when you become a member (totally FREE btw) and make your first purchase.  Want an even bigger incentive? You can refer friends and get the same deal.  Make it bigger, you say??  How about $200.00 free?!  They are giving away $200.00 to the 20,000 member to sign up AND to the person who referred them.  Now that's what I call awesome.

Check it all out by heading the the Blitsy site and be prepared to be addicted.  :)

Have a great weekend,


PS. Go Lions!!  :)

Sales Alert!

New items have been added to the "While Supplies Lasts" section of my online shop.  Check it out and get great deals before it's too late!  Just click on the shopping cart icon on the right or click here.

For you card makers - there's 8.5 x 11 cardstock packs!
For the scrapbookers - recent level 2 paper packs as low as $5.00!

Stock up before it's gone!  I know I'm going to.  :)
Have a great day,