Oh Baby! -- Baby Boy

Warning!!  This post is VERY picture heavy!

This is a continuation of Friday's post, Oh Baby! -- It's a Boy -- which featured a shaker card and pop-up gift card tag.

In addition to the group gift I shared with my sisters, I also wanted to make something personal and special for my cousin and her husband from me.  A long time ago, I saw an adorable baby-themed mini album online that had been crafted using the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge (I wish I could remember where online, but sadly, I can't).  I don't traditionally make mini albums, but at the time, I was looking for something I could create using Artbooking to display at my workshops and vendor events.  So I decided to put together a mini using my son's baby pictures.  It was a true labor of love that I will cherish forever.  Anyways... back to my cousins... I love my son's baby mini so much, I decided to make one for my cousins' baby.

Supplies used:
*Artbooking Cricut collection
*Wild Wonders stamp set 

*Slate Exclusive Inks stamp pad
* Diamond embossing folder
*Slate Diagonal ribbon
*Slate Baker's Twine (retired)

*Recollections cardstock / patterned paper from my stash
*1" clear round epoxy circles

*Brads from my stash
*Cork heart from my stash
*Washi tape from my stash
*Ribbon from my stash

To order any of our fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Oh Baby! -- It's a Boy

The same weekend of my friend's wedding I posted about yesterday, I was in Wisconsin celebrating the upcoming birth of my cousin's little boy.  It was a quick trip, but for family, it is always worth the travel!  My sisters and I left Friday afternoon and came back to Michigan on Saturday afternoon.  It was the first time we have ever roadtrip-ed with just the 4 of us.  Lots of laughs, a little traffic, and definitely lots of fun!  And as if the 5-hour road trip wasn't enough, my aunt and uncle were gracious enough to host the 4 of us in addition to 5 other family members in town for the baby shower.  11 of us under one roof... overnight...??  Talk about laughter and fun!

Since my cousin lives in California and had to fly in for her shower, we decided to give her a gift card so she didn't have to deal with shipping her gifts back to L.A.  To still make "unwrapping" out gift fun, I made a shaker card and super cute pop-up gift card tag.  

To be honest, this was the first time I tried a shaker card and I had a little trouble.  Every time I shook the card, sequins kept flying out the top.  LoL.  After several hours minutes of frustration and multiple times of tearing the card apart only to put it back together and have sequins fly everywhere again, I realized I forgot to take the backing off the foam tape along the upper edge.  UGH!  Way to go, Jen!!

Shaker card featuring sequins from SpiegelMom Scraps

While super fun and adorable, this pop-up gift card tag was much easier to create than it may look.  First, I used my Gypsy (I know -- I'm so old school!) to flip / weld together two matching tags from the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge.  After cutting them out, I folding them in half at the seam creating a folder of sorts.  Then, I created a belly band from the green gingham paper to complete the "pocket" effect.  Before slipping in the gift card, I threaded a long length of ribbon through the tag (more than double the length of the tag) and slid the gift card in between the tag layers -- pushing the ribbon down to the bottom of the pocket making sure not to twist the ribbon.  Once the gift card was completely in the pocket. I tied a knot in the ribbon to hold it in place.  To get the gift card out, all you have to do is pull the ribbon and the card "pops" out.  So fun!!

Supplies used:
*Art Philosophy Cricut collection
*Wild Wonders stamp set 

*White Daisy cardstock
*Slate Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Crystal Blue Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Blue Lagoon sequins from SpiegelMom Scraps

*Punches from my stash

*Recollections cardstock / patterned paper from my stash
*Ribbon from my stash

To order any of our fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Wedding Wishes for the New Mr. & Mrs.

In June, a co-worker friend of mine & my husband's married the love of her life.  I, unfortunately, was out of town due to another special occasion being celebrated in my family.  My husband stayed home with our son and attended the wedding on behalf of our family.  Reason #484 I love being married -- the ability to split up and represent at multiple events at the same time.  :-)

As a pre-wedding gift, I made a banner for our friend to use at the reception.  I used CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Collection along with the Damask embossing folder to add some fun texture.  It's hard to tell in the picture below, but the black banner bases are all embossed.  I apologize for the bad picture; the sun was setting and streaming in the window across from the door opening into my studio, and I was in a hurry to snap a quick pic so I could give my friend the banner the next day at work.

Since I felt bad about being unable to attend the wedding, I wanted to make my friend a gift instead of buying something at the store.  So I covered this cute recipe box with paper from my stash in her wedding colors (which also coordinate with her kitchen!) and then used the same paper pack along with some of my CTMH favorites to create a coordinating card set.

Supplies used:
*Art Philosophy Cricut collection
*Damask embossing folder
*You Mean the World to Me stamp set 

*White Daisy cardstock
*Black cardstock
*Cranberry Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Red shimmer trim
*Sparkles Clear assortment
*Black & white paper pack from my stash
*Red shimmer cardstock from my stash
*1/8" Ribbon from my stash

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Here Comes the Bride

Today, I had the joy of attending a bridal shower for my cousin.  We had so much fun showering her with love and blessings as she prepares to become a Mrs.

When it came time to make a card, I knew I wanted something elegant and simple that incorporate her wedding colors.  As she had recently joined the Cricut family, I decided a fun Cricut card was the way to go.  I used the CTMH-exclusive Artfully Sent Cricut collection along with some Pinterest-inspiration from Courtney Lane Designs.  Have I mentioned how much I love this cartridge???  It helps you create beautiful, easy-to-assemble cards in no time!  I also used Artfully Sent along with the coordinating stamps to make a simple tag to put on the second gift so the bride knew which gifts went together.

Supplies used:
*Artfully Sent Cricut collection
*Just to Say stamp set (Artfully Sent exclusive)

*Curlicue Frames stamp set (Artfully Sent exclusive)
*White Daisy cardstock
*Champagne cardstock
*Olive Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Champagne Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Gold sequins assortment
*Navy satin ribbon from my stash
*Navy twine from my stash

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

SpiegelMom Scrap Party 15 Challenges

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of her Etsy shop, Jody at SpiegelMom Scraps has been hosting a week long online party featuring a blog hop and lots of fun challenges.  I decided to participate in 4 out of 7 of the challenges to show my support and crafty love for Jody.

Shaker Card Challenge

Featuring Daydream Sequins Mix from SpiegelMom Scraps

Stars Challenge

Featuring Patriotic Star Sequins Mix from SpiegelMom Scraps

Sequin Challenge

Layout Sketch Challenge

CTMH Supplies
*Jackson paper packet
*Colonial White cardstock
*Cocoa cardstock
*White Daisy cardstock
*Kraft cardstock
*Black cardstock
*Jackson WOTG stamp set
*Shower Flowers stamp set
*Lovely Birthday stamp set
*American Celebration stamp set (retired)

*Lagoon Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Pacifica Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Sorbet Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Pixie Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Cocoa Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Barn Red Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Jackson compliments

*Glacier extra thick baker's twine

*Oceanside sequins assortment

*Gold sequins assortment

*Lagoon baker's twine (retired)
*Diamond embossing folder

*Art Philosophy Cricut Collection

SpiegelMom Scraps Supplies used:
*Patriotic Stars Sequins Mix
*Daydream Sequins Mix

Miscellaneous Supplies used:
*Recollections Textured cardstock
*Scotch brand washi tape

To order any of these or other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Jump on it July Blog Hop

 Welcome to the Jump On It July Blog Hop!

If you came from visiting Priscilla Gotham, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon my little corner of the blog world, simply start here and continue hopping until you return here -- our fun hop is one big loop for your viewing pleasure. 

This hop features the Close to My Heart July Constant Campaign called Jump On It July.  For every $25 you spend on current, retail-priced stamps, you are eligible to receive any current Hostess Rewards set for only $5!  These sets are normally only available to hostesses with qualifying workshop sales, but  in July, everyone is able to purchase these exclusive sets. This special is only available until July 31st -- so be sure to "jump on it".

As many of you may have heard, last week was CTMH's annual convention.  The online world was buzzing with convention-related news and sneak peeks.  We will soon have an amazing new collection of products to play with.  However, in the meantime, I am diving into our current line and re-visiting some of the collections I haven't played with since last Fall/Winter.  I would encourage you to do the same.  There are LOTS of great products in our current collection.

In that spirit, the layout I have for you today features the Confetti Wishes collection - one of the first collections I worked with from the current Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  I also used the Hostess Rewards set "Happy Hexagons" along with a sketch from Sketch Savvy.

The Sketch

My Layout

Supplies used:

*Confetti Wishes paper packet
*Pacifica cardstock
*Crystal Blue cardstock
*White Daisy cardstock
*Pacifica Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Thistle Exclusive Inks stamp pad
*Gold shimmer trim
*Gold sequins assortment
*Artbooking Cricut Collection

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.  And for full details on the "Jump On It July" special, please my July 1st blog post.

Thank you for visiting me at JD Designs and for hopping with us on the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month Jump On It July Blog Hop!   Next up on the hop is Lisa Plummer. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more inspiration.

Until next time, happy crafting!

Happy Everything Blog Hop

 Welcome to the Happy Everything Blog Hop!

If you came from visiting Terrie Shortsleeve, then you are in the right place.  If you just happened upon my little corner of the blog world, simply start here and continue hopping until you return here -- our fun hop is one big loop for your viewing pleasure. 

This hop's featured stamp set is the Operation Smile set for the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog called Happy Everything (pictured below).  This set is only available until August 31st.

When I saw this stamp set in the Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog, I knew I had to have it!  It is my favorite from this idea book and BONUS -- it is the Operation Smile set, too.  This set is simply wonderful and so versatile for both cardmaking and scrapbooking!

For today's hop, I decided to share BOTH a layout AND a card.  You get two-for-one with me today!  Like I said this set is my SE2 fav and I couldn't resist creating multiple projects.

ENJOY!

First up, the scrapbook layout...

And now for the card...

Supplies used:

*Happy Everything (Operation Smile) stamp set

*Blossom paper packet

*Blossom compliments

*Glacier cardstock

*Lagoon cardstock

*Pear cardstock

*Sunset cardstock

*White Daisy cardstock

*Sunset Exclusive Inks stamp pad

*Oceanside sequins assortment

*Coral Reef sequins assortment

*Glacier extra thick baker's twine

To order these or any of our other fabulous Close to My Heart products, please visit http://jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Thank you for visiting me at JD Designs and for hopping with us on the Close to My Heart Happy Everything Blog Hop!  Next up on the hop is Brenda Lapp. I hope you'll hop on over to her blog for more inspiration.

Until next time, happy crafting!

July Close to My Heart Specials

Jump On It July Constant Campaign

During the month of July, when you purchase $25 USD in current, retail priced stamps, you qualify to receive either the July Stamp of the Month, My Acrylix® Life Is Wonderful, FREE or any one of the Hostess Rewards stamp sets featured in Annual Inspirations 2014–2015 or Seasonal Expressions 2 for only $5 USD! That is a savings of up to $17.95 USD! The July Stamp of the Month is a lovely, versatile stamp set that is a great match for your cards and layouts that celebrate all the wonderful things—big and small—that life has to offer. Additionally, the Hostess Rewards stamp sets have previously only been available as part of the Hostess Rewards program, which means now is the perfect opportunity to get those special stamp sets you’ve had your eye on! To get your FREE stamp set or your $5 USD Hostess Rewards stamp set, simply place an order for $25 USD of any current, retail priced stamps. This offer is available only during the month of July and applies only to the July Stamp of the Month and current Hostess rewards stamp sets, so spring into action and jump on this deal before it’s gone!

* * * * *

July Stamp of the Month

Only $5 with a $50 purchase

To order these or any of the other fabulous CTMH products, please visit my online store at jddesigns.ctmh.com.

Until next time, happy crafting!