Retreat Report

This last weekend was jamed packed with so much fun. My upline Karen and I hosted a retreat for our two teams. We decided a fun theme would be CPR- Create and Prosper Retreat. We worked around the medical theme during the entire weekend. I will be posting in several different posts the fun things we did and made all weekend. It was lots of work, but so much fun and worth every second. We each taught business classes and creative classes. OHH and not to mention we all ate plenty of treats as well as scrapbooked til the morning hours.

No I am not trying to commit a murder here or film a horror movie. Besides Karen is my partner in crime so I would never think of knocking her off.-Teeheheh. We kicked off the retreat with a fun skit. That is Karen lying on the table and yes that is me with the knife (not real of course). I am actually doing surgery on Karen as well as a little bit of CPR. We did a very fun skit to the music "Like A Surgeon" by Weird Al Yankovic to introduce our theme of C.P.R.

Well after our fun skit and a great business class by Karen we passed out some fun gifts to our team. First thing was a fun CPR layout that I will post later once I get photos on it. We then passed these Dr. Bags out. Well they may not really look like Dr. bags but I told everyone to use there imagination and pretend they are. These are really fun gift items you can make. They work up really fast and can be used for any theme. The template for this box can be found HERE

Of course inside the box was a survival gift of chocolate. A must have item at any retreat.

Then of course we handed out scrub tops that I had embroidered a fun logo to fit our theme. You will see more of our scrub tops later.

Check back a little later for more posts on CPR.

Scrapbook in a Box

Lid

Open View

Add photos to the back side of the flaps

Due to popular demand I bring you a "Scrapbook in a Box". Many of you have requested I post instructions on how to make this fun little gift. On my box I added "Background and Texture" paper to each flap creating a pocket. I then made some tags to fit the pockets. I interviewed my kids and put there responses on each of the tags. Boy did I get some interesting responses. It was really fun.

So as you can see each kid has three pockets with tags and on the back of the flap has there Christmas photos on it. The three tag questions are: 1) To me Christmas is all about? 2) My favorite Christmas Tradition is... 3) My favorite Christmas memory is...

I created a step by step tutorial for you. Click here for tutorial once on the site click on "download now". It will take just a few seconds and the document should come right up for you.

Enjoy making your box and let me know if I can help you. All products used to make the box can be ordered on my website at http://www.stampinscrapexpress.myctmh.com/

MIA for weeks???

Yes I know it seems like I have been missing in action for weeks. The truth of it all I have been right here working like mad on several events and getting only 3-4 hours of sleep each night. There were many days I wish I was lost in Paradise. Such as this cute little island my husband and I visited when we took our Europe Trip with CTMH one year ago. It actually happens to be the set of Popeye. How fun it that.

Anyway, the last few weeks I was busy with workshops, Scrapbook USA Expo and then a really fun team retreat which was so fun to plan. I will give you more details about the retreat later. Therefore I have lots of artwork to post in the next few days. So check back often as I get things posted for you.

Talk to you all very soon.

A Proud Moment

Don't you just love teenagers. Well I do at least. I just love these teenage years we are going through. It makes me feel young and fancy free. On the flip side it makes me sad because that means my kids are moving to the next stage in there life.

As most of you know this is my second daughter Alyssa. Ohhh and just so you know this is her darling boyfriend Chanse. We love him just as much. No worries you will see plenty of him later as I scrapbook some of the photo's I have taken of them.

Anyway, Alyssa is a senior this year and it's time to think about getting her senior pictures done. So I called my photographer up and we did a little photo shoot. Well actually they took thousands of photos and I wish I could buy them all. Anyway the photos turned out fantastic. They put a few of her on there blog so I wanted to share them with you and you will see that I am a very proud parent.


Click on this link to take a look. Jolley Photography-Utah Urban Senior Thanks for letting me share my proud moment with you.

Team Edward

Hey all you "Twlight" fans check out my new little blinkie on the left side bar. Somedays I really wish that I was a vampire and didn't have to sleep. I am having one of those days where my list of things to do is much longer than the hours in the day. However, I found this little blinkie and just had to add it.

I also like to drive my girls crazy because they are "Team Jacob" fans. Well, thanks for helping me feed my addictions.

1 card, 1 layout, 1 photo tip and lots of distressing

I thought it would be fun to take "Paper Take Weekly Sketch" along with "Color Me Monday" and make a card with the sketch and color combo and then turn around and make a layout. Well I guess I only made the left side of the layout. Once I get the right-sided page done I will post that as well.

Photo Tip: I think this is my favorite photo I have taken this summer. So I want to share a photo tip with you. Remember to always fill the frame. I love close ups, but just when you think you are close enough remember to get closer. You can't really see it here on the computer, but if you had the layout in your hands you could see this fun effect. Because I was so close when you look in my sons eyes you can see a reflection of me taking the photo in his eyes. I should have titled the layout "Through your Mothers Eyes" OHHH well, next time maybe. Anyway it looks really cool and his eyes almost look like glass.

Distressing: I love to distress. I think I used almost every distressing technique I could think of on these two project. I pulled out my distressing kit and went to town.

On the card-I used the distressing tool to tatter the B&T paper and then inked the edges with the distressing inks. I also dragged the distressing ink across the B&T to give it the distressed look. On the main image I sponged Desert Sand ink to soften the look.

On the layout- I used the distressing tool to tatter the B&T and inked the edges just as I did with the card. The Desert Sand cardstock strip I scored every 1/2" vertical and horizontal. Then lightly sand the scored lines. Because CTMH paper has a white core you can get this very effect. With the Indian Corn Blue cardstock I sprayed it with water, wad the cardstock into a ball and then gently unroll the wad of cardstock. I then ironed the wrinkles into the cardstock. For and additional effect take the Indian Corn Blue ink and rub it over the cardstock. The raised parts of the wrinkled paper will pick up the ink. Around the photo I used the distressing tool to curl the cardstock around the photo.

Rolling in Leaves

I am not anywhere ready for fall. I feel like summer just got here. However I LOVE this new paper pack and stamp set that will be available in the Autumn/Winter 2009 Idea book

I love acorns. They are so fun. I also love doing the "rolling" technique with leaves. So if you have never tried that technique then let me show you how. Well, actually I am just going to tell you how.

Rolling is a great way to add those special effects to your solid stamps.

1) You will need two inks for this technique. Stamp your image in the lightest color first. In my sample I used sweet leaf ink on the leaf.
2) Before you stamp the images, roll the edges of the stamp in a darker color. In my sample I rolled sorbet ink on the leaf.
3) Stamp the image and you should have a two-toned effect.

Congratulations!!!! You now know how to roll.

Below is a list of items I used to create this fun card.

Background and Textured paper: X7118B Twitterpated (available Sep 1st)
Inks: Sorbet, Sweet Leaf, Chocolate
Stamps: D1371 Many Thanks (available Sep 1st)
Accessories: Chocolate Ribbon Rounds, Buttons, Liquid Glass
Sketch Challenges: mojo101,

I've died and gone to heaven

OHH my gosh I was just in heaven yesterday. It was my birthday (shhhh, lets just keep that our little secret) and my family surprised me with the most amazing cake. OHHHHH yea as you can see it's a "Cheesecake Factory" cake. Carmel and Macadamia nut. Nothing is better than cheesecake. I told my husband that we should get married all over again just so I can have a cheesecake wedding cake. Heeeheheh.

I will for sure have to go on a major diet after this cake but every inch of that cake will be worth it.

August Kit of the Month- "Tinkerin'"

Click on images to enlarge

Tinkerin" kit is full of fun. I love the bright colors in the kit. It is very fun for your summer layouts. My favorite tip on these layouts is making "paper thread" for the buttons.

Layout one is Brandon right before he left for a "High Adventure Scout trip". Layout two is Rachael and her roommates. Layout three is Rachael when she came home from college for the summer.

Therefore you can see that this kit is very versatile and can be used for just about any fun thing you have in mind. Have fun completing your layouts.

Friendship

My daughter Rachael has a friend who is leaving for college in a few days. So she needed a card to give her. So I made this one for her using "Color Me Monday" and "Mojomonday"

I think it will be the perfect card for her since she loves anything pink. Below is a list of items I used to create the card. The items can be ordered off my website by clicking on the link. If I can help you in anyway let me know.

Thanks for being my "friends to the end"

Stamps: D1354 Endless Friendship
Inks: Olive, Indian Corn Blue, Tulip, Creme Brulee, Cocoa
Background and Texture Paper: Amore, Aspen
Accessories: Ribbon, Brads