If you haven't tried on of CTMH's Workshops on the Go, this is a post you MUST read.  While I love to scrapbook, and I pride myself on my creativity, I love how the WOTG can make putting together a gorgeous layout so easy.  It helps me to cut my papers, learn new techniques and create the layout, while still leaving me room to modify, embellish, change and make the layout my own.  Here's how:

1)  Cutting and set-up
The WOTG come with a detailed 3-panel instruction booklet, that guides you through the cutting and prepping.

This is the gorgeous Avonlea WOTG

Cutting guide -- what could be easier?

Sketch and instructions to put it all together

2) Embellish
Each WOTG kit comes with embellishments and an exclusive stamp set that you cannot buy outside of the kit.  Some of the embellies are exclusive too!  You can stamp and bling-out your page to your hearts content.

See what comes with Avonlea.

3)  Make it your own
By using your own photos, titles and other embellishments you add, you can really personalize what some may consider an "assembly line" layout.  Plus, you can turn pages around, flip a photo from landscape to portrait and still have it look AMAZING.  The WOTG layouts are versatile and flexible so that in the end, no two are alike.

4)  Use it again and again.
I keep my WOTG instructions together and use them when planning other layouts.  Change the paper, make a few tweaks, and PRESTO, you've got more layouts complete, easily.


And Workshops on the Go are not just for scrapbooking.  This new Idea Book has THIRTEEN different kits to choose from:  8 scrapbook layouts (one for each new paper theme), 2 cardmaking kits and 3 fabulous home decor projects.  Each come with the supplies, instructions and extras you need to complete the project -- all you have to add is your own creativity!

Pear and Partridge Card WOTG

Advent Calendar - Home Decor

It's party time with Spellbound!

When CTMH introduced its second Cricut Cartridge, "Artiste", the cheer from Texas could be heard all the way across the country.  I LOVE my CTMH "Art Philosophy" cartridge, with its over 700 classic, versatile and amazing shapes!  And now I can't wait to get my hands on Artiste!  More shapes to fit just about any project.  PLUS, themed projects, 3D shapes like boxes and cupcake wrappers, interactive cards and more -- WOW!



Now, you might say "I can do that with my other Cricut cartridges.  What makes Artiste so special?"  Well, for one, there are again over 700 shapes in one cartridge -- so you can do all your cuts for one project with one cartridge.  And for another reason: the great CTMH stamps and chipboard that you get in the Artiste bundle!  For only $99, you get the cartridge PLUS 3 coordinating stamps PLUS 3 coordinating sheets of chipboard.  It helps you take your diecuts and your project to the next level!

And CTMH makes it SO easy to use coordinating stamps with Art Philosophy and Artiste.  First, in the Idea Book, you'll see a red shape around the stamps that have a coordinating Cricut shape.



Plus, on the stamp itself, you'll see the outline AND the measurement of the shape, so you know EXACTLY how to set your Cricut for the perfect cut to match your stamp.  IT'S SO EASY!



So come to one of my open crops and give Art Philosophy and Artiste a test drive.  I know you'll want one for your own collection!

This Fall, there were big changes in the CTMH colour palette.  I expected some changes -- they usually introduce new ones every two years and it was due.  And while some well-loved neutrals were put to bed, some other colours that many consultants and customers alike didn't know how to use were also retired.  I was excited to give the new colours a try ...


Introducing:  Slate, Whisper (light grey), Champagne, Cashmere, Saddle and Ruby.

New colours really invigorate and inspire my creativity.  But I also always wonder how they compare to retired colours and to other colours in the palette.  Here's what I discovered ...

Back at the beginning of July, I was visiting family and joining in the Stampede festivities in Calgary.  It was a FABULOUS vacation and each day brought a "new favourite thing" for my boys ...  and my hubby and I too.

Well, no matter where I go, I'm subconsciously on the lookout for inspiration and colour combinations that I can use in my scrapbooking and papercrafting.  When shopping in a store on the main street in Banff, I came across this shirt and just LOVED the colour combo!

Clementine might be a bit softer, but the colours are pretty close.  Am I psychic??  Did I "wish" this colour combo into existance?  Tee hee, I doubt it, but it sure got me excited to get my hands on it.

Stay tuned for more peeks at the new Idea Book as well as tips, tricks, and creativity!  I will be blogging every day in August to celebrate the launch of the New CTMH Idea Book and my upcoming workshop schedule!

Sometimes, when you lose someone you love, it's hard to scrapbook the memories you have.  I still only have 1 layout about my dad, who passed away 18 years ago (miss you Dad!), though I've done that layout 3 times -- just can't get it quite right.

But when our precious kitty cat, Briscoe, was put to sleep on April 12, I felt the need to scrapbook pictures of him right away.  I wanted to remember him and remember all the ways I loved him. 

So here it is:


This is using the new CTMH Dotty For You paper -- the colours felt right -- and the "Winning Layout" layout from Cherish (pg 114), one of our how-to books.  I added some paw print brads and stamps too.  And I turned one of the photos into a folder for hidden journaling -- a list of all the wonderful things I remember about my special furry friend.


Briscoe was part of our lives for 17 years.  He was our "first born", our friend, a big part of our family.  Liver cancer and old age made the decision to let him go to sleep an easy one. Living with that decision (and the empty house he leaves behind) is harder.  But remembering helps.

All 5 of my "Dotty For You" Creations

Inspired by a layout idea provided in the "Dotty For You" kit.

This card also showcases the April Stamp of the Month "You Are"

A wonderful birthday wish for a special girly girl.

Fun for boys too!

Turned sideways for something a little different.

All of these cards are made with 100% CTMH products, including:

• Dotty For You papers
• Colonial White, White Daisy and Sweet Leaf cardstock
• Inks:  Pacifica, Lagoon, Pear, Sunset, Smoothie, Chocolate, Grey Wool, Sky
• CTMH Watercolour pencils
• Stamp sets: (starting from the 1st card) Love Life, Say It In Style, You Are, Card Word Puzzle, Magic Adventures, Party Pennants, Paper Lanterns
• Liquid Glass and Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel

I am on a team that creates cards for seriously sick children at The Hospital for Sick Children here in Toronto.  Birthday cards can really make a sick child's day, especially after undergoing chemotherapy or brain surgery or other such treatment.  So these cards will all be donated for that cause.  The creative challenge for making Kards for Kids?  No embellishments -- they are a choking hazard.  I'm proud to say these creations are great, even without extra bling.

Here's a fun card that I sincerely hope will put a smile on a sick child's face.  So simple but I love how it turned out.


See Kards for Kids for some other fun inspirations to try ... and you could win a prize too!

The challenge this month over at Mad for Markers was monochromatic colouring.  It's something I've wanted to try for a while anyways, so this was great timing for this challenge.  I coloured Tilda with her umbrella in browns, and then little Edwin hanging from the hook in cool greys.  (I REALLY have to start a Copic journal and start keeping track of the colours I use, so I can use them again!)

Then I continued the creativity and turned them into stunning cards.  Both cards were inspired by designs I saw in issue No3 2010 of Magnolia ink.  I'm not going to be able to give them away. :)

Inspired by Camilla S on pg 51

Inspired by Kianel on pg 20

Another Magnolia card from me.  This card was inspired by The Official Magnolia Inspiration Challenge blog -- spring colours from the lastest issue of their magazine and magazine shape -- and a lovely card in one of their 2011 issues by Mindy (No. 2, page 48).  I'm usually a pretty clean and simple card maker, so this helped to push me a bit creatively and try something different.

I'm really happy with how this card turned out.  I'm always partial to bright colours, so this colour combo was right up my alley.  I originally created this for the Play Date Cafe challenge but I was a day late in getting it done so I couldn't enter.  Oh well.  It was still lots of fun to create.



All of the papers are CTMH, except the dotted paper on the umbrella.  Embellies are CTMH too, with Tilda as my heroine, coloured with Copics.  The layout was inspired by one I saw in The Big Book of Holiday Paper Crafts, by Papercrafts magazine.

I am a Canadian who hates winter.  I know, I know, it's something that I have to deal with, living in the Great White North.  But that doesn't mean I have to like it.  So when a gorgeous, sunny day like today comes along, bringing freshness to my life, I can't resist it.  I have the windows open in the house and simply cannot bring myself to go downstairs to my office and workshop studio in my basement.  That might mean I don't get as much done today as I would like.  But I'm okay with that.  I need my dose of springtime.  I need to pay my respects to Mother Nature.  Sorry, Creativity, but you'll have to take a back seat today.  I'm going for a walk in the sun.

I've been a little under the weather, physically and mentally.  So one thing I do when I need to lift my spirits is colour.  I'm still learning the best ways to use my Copic markers, and I got some new Magnolia stamps for Christmas which I still hadn't had much chance to play with.  So I stamped out a bunch of images and sat down to play.


I played with colour and practiced my skin tones with these three imgaes: Magnolia's Tilda with Bananas, Mo Mannings boy with skateboard, and Your Next Stamp's girl with cocoa.







And with this adorable Magnolia Tilda, I played around with doing a sepia treatment.  What do you think?



I really had fun tapping into my "inner artist".  And it did help to relax me.  Now, to make some cards with these fun little guys.

Thank you to the lovely ladies who were able to make it out to my CTMH Spring & Summer Idea Book Launch Party last week.  I had a wonderful time chatting with you and showing off some of the great new products CTMH has to offer this season.

If you couldn't make it out, here's what we did:

Checked out the workshops and upcoming events!


Completed a cute make 'n' take!

Got some gifts and won some prizes!  Congrats Gale and Elicia!



And had some yummies for our tummies!


Thanks to all who came out and made this party a success!  I look forward to creating with you in the months ahead.

Hooray! I'm proud to announce that I've just been made a member of the Kards for Kids Smiley Team.  We make cards throughout the year to send to The Hospital for Sick Children -- birthdays, Christmas, just because!  SickKids was one of my clients for 3 years, so I know how sick those children are, and how BRAVE they are, battling their illness from heart disease to cancer to brain tumors and more.  If I can bring just one smile to their sweet little faces, then that's a big deal.



So heads up:  I will be calling on you to help me make cards for these special children.  And a card-making day is in the works for April -- stay tuned for details.

Thanks again, The Official Magnolia Inspiration Challenge for helping me to use my adorable Magnolia stamps.  Here's another one for their 3-2-1 Challenge.


Sweet and simple.  The papers and ribbon are "Footloose" from CTMH.  The brads are Bo Bunny.  And Edwin with Lizard, is, of course, from Magnolia, and coloured with my Copics.

Hooray.  I finally found some time in my schedule to create.  And it really relaxed me after a long day.  Thanks to Inspired By and The Official Magnolia Challenge Inspiration blogs for giving me the starting points for this red umbrella card.




Inspired By inspired me with this fabulous photo:


And TOMIC challenged me with a 3 (patterned papers) - 2 (embellishments) - 1 (stamped image) pattern. 

I used patterned papers from Stampin' Up and 1 other that was unbranded, Tulip cardstock from Close to my Heart, Recollections paper flowers, CTMH Colonial White bitty brads and bitty pearls, and liquid glass.  The stamp is Magnolia's Tilda with umbrella and the sentiment is from Magnolia too.  All beautifully coloured (if I do say so myself) with Copic markers. I also used my CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to cut the shapes.

I have to say, I really love how this turned out.  It was so worth staying up past my bedtime to finish.