Stamp Your Art Out

It's Someone's Birthday!

2011-02-12T09:30:00.008-06:00

It's my bestest sistah friend Stacy's birthday today (click here to give her some love by commenting on her CUTE card!) I created this little circle card just for her and I can't wait to give it to her. I also have some other fun goodies for her, but I won't post because she sometimes checks my blog and I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise!

Shopping list:

Z1352 Colonial White circle cards (12 cards and 12 envelopes)

D1470 Dreams Come True

C1257 Happy Birthday

X5812 Wings Creative Basics

Z1333 Mocha Opaques Adhesive Gems

Z134 Prisma Glitter

Z1151 Foam Tape

Z2111 Chocolate Ink Pad

Z2165 Junper Ink Pad

Sheer Ribbon

Oh and just for fun, here's a shot of my work table after making this card. It's really what it looks like everytime I make a card. I'm a good stamper though. I always clean up my mess for the next card. Nothing frustrates me more than digging to find stuff. LOL

Soooo, want to make this card? Sign up for my workshop this month (in the left margin) and come have fun with us girls!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

BFF Stamping Day

2011-02-07T22:31:00.002-06:00

Today was the perfect day for a BFF stamping day. Stacy and I started out by having lunch at the local diner and then ended up back at my house for an afternoon of some serious crafting. My 9 1/2' table was engulfed entirely with our stuff. What do we have to show for it? Well, she made a really cute Valentine card shown {here} and I made this card which in my opinion is just so-so but there's always tomorrow, right? No wonder my husband questions the cost effectiveness of this hobby LOL.

Supplies used:

X5812 Creative Basics Wings Collection

Z1081 Colonial White Waxy Flax

Z1358 Basic Assortment Buttons

Z1383 Wide Sweet Leaf Ribbon

D1470 Dreams Come True

D1476 Card Chatter Sympathy

X5643 Chocolate Cardstock

1388 Colonial White Cardstock

You Are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Can I Re-Join the Blogger World?

2011-02-03T20:10:00.006-06:00

Hello? Anyone out there? I know it's been forever since I've posted. I really have no excuse...well, ok maybe a couple...

1. I have started to work full time...although I had quit before that...

2. I didn't have any mojo for a loooonnngggg time. Not sure if I do yet, but I'm going to at least try.

3. My kids always have the computer.

4. Ok, I have no excuse...

So here's something I made not too long ago. I used the new Miracle papers in the current Spring/Summer Idea book. This paper pack will be the focus of my February workshops. I'm anxiously awaiting the sound of the UPS tires tomorrow (weather permitting since I live in the land of dumped upon amounts of snow). If you are in the area and haven't signed up for the next workshop, you can do so by clicking on the icon to the left and prepaying for the workshop. If you need directions, contact me and I'll get you here.

One thing you will want to note is that I'm cleaning out my stamp room and I will be having a HUGE SALE on February 26th @ 2:00. It's your chance to pick up some good deals on gently used stamps and supplies. There is just so much in the new catalog that I want to show you so this will help me purchase current stuff. I hope to see you there.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. Sorry the lighting is so bad on my photos. I'll do better next time.

Gearing Up for Fall

2010-07-31T15:19:00.008-05:00

Hello everyone,

I am still around and still stamping, just not having very good luck in posting pictures. I still want to give it a try though. I am getting organized for fall and as you can see, in the left margin I've posted all the workshop dates and prices through the end of the year.

My regular ladies will notice that the price has gone up a bit. I really agonized over this decision, but when I put pencil to paper it just comes down to the fact that I'm not breaking even for the time and supplies put into getting a workshop ready. It was either stay at the same price and eliminate the fancy embellishments or raise the price and continue to offer the same quality of cards. Since I like making the cards a bit more fancy I opted for the latter.

I have the new fall catalog in my possession and let me tell you, you are going to love it! I can't wait to make workshop projects for you. Some new features of the catalog: Eight NEW COLORS, beautiful new papers (I want them all) and new stamp sets that put me in the creating mood!

Well, I just had to pop in to update you...back to the world of housekeeping and laundry :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. I posted an older project just so this wasn't all dialogue LOL.

Another Art Share

2010-04-18T18:53:00.005-05:00

Here's another card I made yesterday with more of the Splendor paper. The stamp set is called Springtime. I had so much fun with these vibrant colors. They are Moonstruck, Gold Rush, Topiary and Heavenly Blue....I love them but that might be because blue is my favorite color! I can't wait for my workshop :0)

I got my inspiration from the Crazy For Challenges blog. If you're ever stumped for ideas you should definitely try challenges. Thanks for stopping by!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

It's Spring!

2010-04-17T20:44:00.004-05:00

After a long hiatus, I'm back. I've been through a rather busy time with my job as a mom and my daytime job. It's not quite settled down yet, but since I worked on cards today I thought I'd share. This paper pack is called Splendor and the bear is from a set called "Beary Busy"--which is what I've been--HA! You won't actually see them until the new catalog coming out May 1st. So, consider this a sneak peek :0)

The image was done with chalks, water color pencils and a blending pen. I'm still working on my shading and coloring skills. I just love this little set. Stay tuned. I'll be sharing more.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

More Pretty Veranda Paper

2010-01-18T16:38:00.005-06:00

I just love this paper! I love it so much that my whole workshop will be centered around it. Here's another peek at what we'll be making. I was inspired by this card by Mercy Kerin. I saw it way back before Christmas and kept the idea. It came in handy for this card. The stamp set I used was called True Friends and is the Close to My Heart stamp set of the month. The paper and ribbon all come from the Creative Basic Veranda Collection which is only $7.95 for the ribbon and the paper...6 sheets of two designs...both shown on this card. The paper under the frame is actually the back side of the paper with the ribbon so really you have four pattern choices. It's an amazing deal! Throw in a little chocolate paper and some pearl adhesives and you've got a pretty card. The paper makes it so easy to create adorable cards.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Yummy Paper

2010-01-08T15:47:00.004-06:00

Ok, I couldn't stand it. I moved all of Joel's stuff aside so I could play with some new stuff I got before Christmas. Close to My Heart has a new catalog out and I'm loving all the new paper. This card was made with the Veranda Creative Basics Collection. I also added some paper from the original Veranda paper pack as well. The stamp set I used is called Endless Friendship. It's a set I've had a while and decided to get it out to play. Everything on this card is Close to My Heart except the lace edge punch. Stacy and I were shopping a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't resist the Martha Stewart lace edge punch. Let me know what you think :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Just a Quick Post

2010-01-01T23:28:00.007-06:00

Here's a quick post to tell you why I've not been blogging. I have two college kids home and one of them lives in my office at the moment. You can see why no crafting is getting done here. Seriously though, I'm enjoying the break and enjoying all of my kids over Christmas break. I'll be back soon, I promise.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Mug Shot

2009-11-17T21:27:00.008-06:00

Ok, I'm just going to put this out there even though it's not my favorite. This pattern has been around for a long time and I got mine here. I'm not exactly sure what I had in mind for this to look like, but it is what it is. You might be starting to notice a theme here. I've been working on gift card holders. I've also been using the stamp set called C1371 Holiday Jingle p. 11. The paper pack is called Creative Basics Jingle Collection (p. 30). The mug is cut from white daisy cardstock and sponged with Blush. The other stamp pad color is Juniper. This pattern can also be used to stick in a packet of hot chocolate. I taped it shut in a way that the gift card wouldn't go all the way down. I hope you like it.

I received a blog award from my sistah Stacy a while back and I just haven't answered the questionnaire. Here it is.

Along with the award, there’s a little questionnaire. The rules are as follows:
1. You can only use one word to answer the questions.
2. Pass this along to your five favorite bloggers.
3. Notify them that you have given them the award.
4. Have fun.

One word… This is going to be a challenge.

1. Where is your cell phone? coat

2. Your hair? straight

3. Your mother? inspiration

4. Your father? ornery

5. Your favorite food? steak

6. Your dream last night? none

7. Your favorite drink? Coke

8. Your dream/goal? heaven

9. What room are you in? office

10. Your hobby? stamping
11. Your fear? alone

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

13. Where were you last night? home

14. Something that you aren't? outgoing

15. Muffins? pumpkin

16. Wish list item? none
17. Where did you grow up? various

18. Last thing you did? crafted

19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? off
21. Your Pets? Lucky

22. Friends? loved

23. Your life? blessed

24. Your mood? pensive

25. Missing Someone? yes
26. vehicle? van
27. Something your not wearing? shoes

28. Your favorite store? CJBanks

29. Your favorite color? blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? tonight
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

32. Your best friend? Stacy
33. One place that I go to over and over? work

34. Facebook? daily

35. Favorite place to eat? moms

I'm supposed to pass this along to 5 more bloggers, but I am doing good to get the quiz finished :0) I have one more card to make before the workshop this weekend. Let's hope I get it done.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Quick Post/Simple Card

2009-11-16T19:33:00.009-06:00

The kids are needing my attention so this will be a quick post. I didn't get the light right on the outside of the card. I apologize. The actual paper can be seen better here on page 29. The paper is from the Aspen pack. I mixed three different stamp sets for this card.

C1371 Holiday Jingle p. 11
D1243 Peace on Earth p. 71
D1171 New Fallen Snow p. 43

Other items: White Daisy Organdy ribbon, Prisma Glitter and Outdoor Denim stamp pad.
The card design is a pop-up card so I thought it would be cute to use that space to put a gift card. If you have questions you can use the comment section. Thanks so much for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

p.s. Edited to add a side view.

Holiday Jingle

2009-11-14T15:57:00.010-06:00

I can't believe that it's almost time for another card workshop! Before we know it Christmas will be here. This card was inspired by ChicnScratch.com. I've posted her video at the end of this blog entry. Please be easy on me :0) This is my sloppy copy and I was too tired to make it again. All products used for this card are from Close to My Heart with the exception of a glitter gel pen. The paper is called Jingle; the stamp set is Holiday Jingle and did you notice the cool brad? It's from a set of brads called Twinkle Brads. Well, enjoy. It's time for me to go figure out what's for supper. Any fast, easy ideas?

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Make It Count

2009-10-12T19:12:00.007-05:00

A very good friend of mine lost her mother this last month. She had been sick for quite a while. It's still never easy. This is her stamp set (Make It Count) and she asked me to create something with it. She made the comment that this set sort of reminds her of her mom. This is what I came up with.

The stamp pad colors are black and desert sand. On the tag and the message part I stamped the background in second generation to make it lighter. The paper pack I used is one of my favorites called silhouette. Even though you can see very little of the paper, it's still there. This card sort of evolved and I ended up covering up a lot of it. Do you ever do that?

The embellishments are some brads and paper flowers from Close to My Heart and ribbon from Wal-Mart. You can see the stamp set here on page 80.

That's all for now. It's a quick post. Gotta' get kids out of the tub :0)

You are Close to my heart,
Yvonne

Nature's Vein Leaf Set

2009-10-11T19:50:00.005-05:00

Years ago a downline of mine sent me a Christmas card using this basic layout. I loved the different look of it so much that I saved it all these years and it was my inspiration for this card.

The base of the card is measured at 4 1/4" X 7" and it's scored at 5" to make the folded over part. The middle part of the card measures 10 1/2" X 3 3/4". The stripe strip part is 4" X 1 1/4". The plaid part is a 3 1/2" square.

The leaves were done by stamp rolling them in different colored ink pads. To do stamp rolling you just stamp your solid image in the lightest color first (in this case the color was honey). Then you roll just the edges in a darker color. I used goldrush or autumn terracotta for the different leaves. I lastly barely tapped the entire image on a barn red pad. The veins were stamped in barn red. To get the realistic look I crumpled them up after cutting them out.

Stamp sets used were D1232 Natures Vein (p. 40) and C1381 Card Chatter--Thank You (p. 72)which has a lot of different messages that to with "thank you". The fun paper pack is called Back Country (p. 25). You can see the full sets by clicking here and then turning to the pages listed. If you'd like to order any of the items you can visit my website. Your fun products will be delivered right to your doorstep...no party required. (Page numbers refer to the Autumn/Winter 2009 Close to My Heart Idea Book.

That's all for now. I'm back to the work table to make more fun stuff. Stay tuned!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. Tina if you see this...thank you for the idea :0)

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

2009-10-09T16:18:00.008-05:00

I know it's not even Halloween yet (which I'm not big on, by the way), but I've been making Christmas cards. I have a workshop coming up on the 17th and then my big Christmas Card making Extravaganza on the 24th so I've been busy. Here's a simple little card that we'll be making at my workshop next week. While I love all the cute holiday stuff, for me this is what it's all about. If Jesus hadn't come to earth my life would be without hope.

This card uses some craft cardstock as a base. I added pattern paper from the(X7085B) Everlasting paper packet. I like mixing and matching stamp sets. This one has (A1097) No Greater Love, (D1243 Peace on Earth) and (D1227) Legendary Moments, all from Close to My Heart. I was at Wal-Mart today and so I grabbed some ivory ribbon which went perfectly with this card. The little button with floss just finishes it off. Stamp pads used were Desert Sand and Ponderosa Pine.

Ok, I'm back to the work table for another one. I have lots to make this weekend to stay ahead of the game. If you need any of these supplies, you can order them here.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Jingle All the Way

2009-10-06T19:21:00.007-05:00

I just love the new papers that are in the Fall/Winter Close to My Heart Catalog. This card uses some appropriately called Jingle Collection. In this pack of paper there are two designs (12 each) and a roll or ribbon (all shown on card). To see it all you can go here and see page 10. The Level 2 Jingle packet is one that comes with 6 different patterns and matching cardstock. You can see it on page 10.

I stamped the background just once along each side with a stamp from Jingle Borders (p. 47) and the message is from Festive Thoughts which is discontinued. There are several sets in the current catalog and you can see them on pages 69-71.

The fun part of the card is the big chipboard snowflake. I sponged Juniper ink all over it and then covered it in glitter. It's especially eye catching in person.

The oval is the only thing not from Close to My Heart. I used Close to My Heart White Daisy and ran it through my Cricut to create the tag.

Don't forget the Card Making Extravaganza. (See more details here). If you live in my area and would like to come it's on October 24th. The cost is $45 and money is due on October 10th. If you don't live in my area or if you aren't able to come I can cut a packet for you for the same price.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Card Making Extravaganza!

2009-10-03T16:05:00.004-05:00

If you are still checking back with me I'm so grateful! As you may have noticed, I've been going through a dry spell in blogging. It just seems like there's always stuff to do that takes up my time. Today it's been fun just sitting and playing with all the features. As you can see, I've decided to give my blog a face lift. I loved my other banner, but I've had it for several years so as a sign that I'm getting back into blogging I've changed a lot of things!

October is going to be a great month to get started on Christmas projects. I'm hosting a card creating workshop where you'll get to make 50 cards for $45. Deadline to sign up for this workshop is October 10th. The workshop will take place on October 24th from 9:30-5:00. If you live in my area please e-mail me to let me know you'd like to come. Payment is due by October 10th in order for me to purchase supplies. The cards will include envelopes and there will be five different designs making 10 of each. All pieces will be cut so that you get to stamp and assemble. A light lunch will be served too!

If you don't live in my area, but would like to purchase a packet please let me know. For the same price I will send you a package of card bases with envelopes and pieces to complete your cards. You can choose to have me pre-stamp the items for you or work with you in deciding which of your stamp sets would work. Just let me know.

That's all for now. I'd better get back to creating!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Color Throwdown

2009-07-09T14:39:00.005-05:00

It's about time for another card workshop so I've been working on cards for that this week. Sometimes it's hard to get started so I turn to challenges for inspiration. This week I visited the Color Throwdown blog to see what the color challenge is. While I don't have the exact colors of the challenge I think I've gotten them pretty close. The colors I used were Ocean, Cranberry and Sweet Leaf. I stamped the background colors with tone on tone with some background stamps from Intrinsic Backgrounds. The message comes from a set that I've been using all week. It's appropriately named Thank You. The butterfly is from a set called Celebrate Life. I know those are not normal butterfly colors, but I think they still look cute on this card, especially since they are covered in Prisma Glitter! All products used on this card are from Close to My Heart. Don't forget to check out my website for any of these great products.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Oh Baby!

2009-06-12T12:25:00.003-05:00

Since it's Father's Day month I have challenged myself to make guy cards for my workshop (coming up this weekend). An easy "guy" card is a baby boy card. This one uses the paper pack called "Notebook" which I've used and used. The flip side to the blue polka dot paper is pink polka dot so you could totally make this a little girl color by just flipping the paper. The card base is Colonial White and the brown is textured chocolate paper which comes in a neutral combo pack. I love it because the flipside of the card is a light color making it easy to use with cards. I did stamp some polka dots on it using the Argyle Backgrounds stamp set to go with the whole polka dot theme. The onesie and frame are from a set called Baby Steps which has a lot of cute little stamps (most of which would have fit in the frame.) Rather than coloring in the onsie I decided to stamp it on the Notebook paper to match the blue strip. I then stamped it one more time on the brown to get the little heart. The ribbon just finished it off and I think it's from Walmart. Finally I used rub-ons from the Chocolate Love Letter Collection. On the inside of the card I used the alphabet rub-ons and spelled out my new nephew's name. I can't wait to send it along to my sister.

All supplies for this card except for the ribbon can be found on my Close To My Heart website. Don't forget to look for the deal of the day if you're visiting in June 2009! Thanks for stopping by!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Father's Day

2009-06-09T16:25:00.006-05:00

Guy cards are soooo hard to create. After many attempts I finally have one here that my man approves. I have learned some things about making guy cards in the process. The stamper/crafter in me whats to keep adding stuff to them, but it's a less is more deal on guy cards. Of course flowers are out, but I've learned that hearts are really out too even though you love the guy you're giving them to. According to my husband that makes them more feminine looking. Ribbon is pretty much out too.

For this card I added some chipboard from a set called Fresh Shapes from Close to My Heart. It started out white, but I sponged chocolate on it to begin with and then kept adding layers of chocolate ink until I was satisfied.

Color is another important factor in making guy cards. Dark muted colors are the best or when in doubt go in black, brown or dark blue. Don't even try and throw a hint of pink in there! This paper is called Simple Pleasures and has been my favorite for a long time. I stamped the coffee ring on there as well as the water splotches that are really light. The stamp set is called Coffee Stain. The set has a heart and star in it as well, which I had to refrain from using for this card. I'm glad my husband pushes my creativity!

You can find everything used to make this card on my website and while you're there, check out the deal of the day. Every day in June there's a new special! Thanks for stopping by!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Posting Two Days in a Row!

2009-05-05T20:51:00.008-05:00

Hello again. I have another card share from my workshop this week. This is a simple little card in honor of Mother's Day. I LOVE the Emporium paper and this time I paired it with the Notebook paper pack. Not much to explain on this one. My workshop girls will be making this on Saturday. Here are the specifics:

Papers: Notebook and Emporium

Stamp Sets: Code it and Boutique Borders

Stamped Colors: Cocoa

Other: Twill ribbon and a flower from my stash :0), 1" circle punch for middle of flower.

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

A Workshop Card

2009-05-04T21:12:00.008-05:00

Hello everyone. If you're still visiting my blog let me just say thank you for your patience with me. School is almost out and I will have a lot more time for stamping and posting. I have started back up doing card workshops and this is one of the cards for this month. I have photographed the others so be watching. If I can steal a couple of minutes away, I'll post them.

The base of the card is sweet leaf and I used a stamp from the Intrinsic Backgrounds stamp set using a sweet leaf stamp pad to make it subtle. The cute paper is from the Emporium Level 2 paper pack. I love the colors in this set. They are Buttercup, Cocoa, Crystal Blue and Sweet Leaf. The other stamp used on this card is from the Gracious Greetings set. I love the script writing. Wish I could write like that!

The embellishments were fun to add. The white flower is from the Big Pinks paper flowers set. The corduroy brad is from the Mini-Medley winter cozy collection...sooo fun! The clear flower is from promotional item that Close To My Heart did during the last Idea Book. I couldn't resist adding it with one of our buttons. You may or may not be able to tell, but I used Staz-On white ink with another of the Intrinsic Backgrounds stamps. I put that one on a foam square to add dimension. The only thing not Close To My Heart on this card is the little flower punch and the center. I love punches so I pick them up all the time. I think that the little pearl center was from the dollar spot at Target :0)

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

P.S. Check out my website!

I {Heart} This Stamp Set!

2009-04-13T20:29:00.015-05:00

I recently did a card workshop and I have yet to put it all away. It's all been sitting on my desk just calling my name to come and play. I've been so busy with work that I've had little time but tonight I sat down to make a thank you card for a family that had us over for Easter dinner.

This card was so easy to make and I didn't even have any of what I call "sloppy copies". The first one I made was the one I liked...no paper waste! How did I do it? I grabbed my Originals Card Confidence book and just opened up to a spot. Seriously, all the card patterns in this book are so cute and yet so easy to follow. This pattern is called Diamond Duo.

The stamp set is called Aspirations and really has become one of my favorites. You'll be seeing more of it in upcoming posts. The paper is from a pack called "Perfect Day". I love the colors! They are Cocoa, Juniper and Sorbet. Everything is from Close to My heart except for the ribbon which is from Wal-Mart. The little pearls in the center of the flowers are from the Target Dollar Spot. Thank you for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Hey There Cupcake!

2009-04-05T19:45:00.005-05:00

Well, after a long hiatus I am back to stamping. I had so many things going on right at the holidays that I just had to take a break. Then after that I was gone for three weeks to the Philippines. Then, it took me another month to catch up. Boy, jet lag is a killer! Anyway, I finally got a workshop on the calendar and it happened this last weekend. I'll have four posts for sure coming up :0)

Here's the first one. It uses the appropriately named set called Cupcake Sprinkles. I used Spring Iris, Hollyhock, Blush, Creme Brule' and Sweet Leaf. The adorable paper is from a pack called Daydream. I took this card straight from the Card Confidence program which made getting ready for this workshop so easy! I added some stickles to the cupcake to give it a little pop. I'm not exactly sure where the brads came from, but I do know it was on one of the shopping trips that my sistah Stacy and I went on. Aren't they the cutest? Check out my Close to My Heart website for these fun supplies. Thanks for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Still Playing Catch Up

2009-03-11T21:37:00.009-05:00

Well if you're still visiting my blog I want to thank you for your patience. It's been a long couple of months with a lot going on. I returned from the Philippines at the end of February and I've spent the last couple of weeks getting my days and nights squared around. My body also decided to get the crud that's going around here too, but I think I'm on the upswing of it all. I still have a couple of big projects to complete (like my taxes....am I the only one still not done with that?).

I haven't stamped in quite a while and I'm a little nervous that I have lost my creativity! ACK! I really wanted to post something so that you know I'm still here. I was going through my blog favorites and I noticed that Kristina Werner had a color challenge up. I already had a card done in those colors so I'm sort of fudging a little and posting that one. Is that ok Kristina? I hope so :0)

This is one of my favorite stamps ever from the set In the Wild by Close to My Heart. Isn't he so cute? I apologize for the not so great picture. I scanned it in the days before I had a digital camera. Thanks for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Universal Sign Language

2008-12-16T14:09:00.007-06:00

I will be travelling to the Philippines in February on a short term missions trip so I have been working on the lessons that I will be teaching. It's a bit of an overwhelming task because I feel like the ladies I will be speaking to could teach me so much more than I could ever teach them. At any rate, I was working and ended up taking a brain break to check to see what Kristina Werner is up to over at her blog. She's doing another color challenge so I scooted my paperwork aside and went to work on a card.

The paper I used if from the Close to My Heart Caprice paper pack. It had all the colors in the challenge in it. The big floral print in the pack is not my most favorite, but I think it worked for this card. I only used a couple of stamp sets. The words come from the September Word Puzzle and the polka dots on the crystal blue paper were made with a stamp from the Spot On Backgrounds set...one of my favorites.

To embellish the card I used a paper flower from our Big Pinks collection and added a strip of ribbon (from JoAnn's I think) and a Creme Brule' big brad. It's a pretty simple card and one that could easily be duplicated.

I may not know the Filipino language, but I know that I will be able to communicate with a smile! Ok....I need to get back to work.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Where Did All the Time Go?

2008-12-09T16:55:00.005-06:00

I'm so sorry that I've been missing in action. It's been a totally crazy, busy month and I don't even know where the time went. I promise to start posting again. I'm so excited that Close To My Heart is giving us a little more on the boundaries that we have to adhere with blogging. I'll be able to let you know about upcoming events and specials. So to start off with, I'm totally excited about the new catalog that's coming out. Here's a sneak peek of the cover. If you'd like to have one you can e-mail me and I'll get with you on the details on how you can get one. Pretty soon I'll be able to put a link in the sidebar that you can use to flip through the catalog online. It's almost as good as having one in your hands, but not quite.

I will have some artwork to post as soon as we get a nice day here to photograph. It's cold and rainy right now. I'm really hoping for a little video camera for Christmas so I can post some videos so if any of you know my honey can you pass the word along?

Ok, this is a quick post because I have a unit meeting tonight and I still need to do a bit to get ready.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Perfect Day for a Color Challenge

2008-10-30T19:44:00.007-05:00

I was just under the wire for the KWerner color challenge this week! When I saw the colors I knew it would be perfect to use Close to My Heart's Perfect Day paper pack. The colors are called Sorbet, Juniper, and Tulip. They're so yummy! The butterfly is from a set called Life's Delights and it just seemed to go with this paper. I popped it up on some dimensionals to give it a 3-D effect. The message is from a set called Because of You. I just had to use a flourish from the Playful Flourishes set for the butterfly's trail. The butterfly and the flourish are glittered (so is my face hee hee). I added a bit of chocolate sponging around the edges of the card to kind of frame it in. Thanks for stopping by!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

P.S. Check out my sistah Stacy's blog. She just missed the deadline for the color challenge. Oh, and she has blog candy up for grabs!!

Another Christmas Card

2008-10-16T17:14:00.014-05:00

I know, I know...it's not even that cold out where I live, but I like to start early on Christmas cards. It seems that holiday just sneaks up on me every year. I made this one a while back and as far as I know I haven't shared it with you. It uses a stamp set called "Gift of Love". It has poinsettias, tags and corner stamps. As you can see from the photos, I just used the poinsettias. I love to layer them to give them depth.

The base of the card is New England Ivy. The pattern paper actually comes from the Route 66 paper pack. I love plaids! The two stamp pad colors are New England Ivy and Cranberry. I stamped the solid images in second generation and then the outline full strength. I love that I can see through the blocks to stamp it directly where it goes without having to use any tools.

Anyway, there you go...another Christmas card idea. Thanks for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Snowflake Peace

2008-10-11T14:42:00.005-05:00

As I type this the weather is a gorgeous fall day...nothing even close to snowflake weather. Around September I start thinking about Christmas cards so that I have plenty of time to get them done for the holidays. I also make up Christmas cards for a group of ladies that meet at my house once a month for a card workshop. We have the most fun.

Anyway, on with the card. The base of the card is outdoor denim and the pattern paper is from the new Aspen paper pack. I am a big fan of blue paper so this one really caught my eye. I stamped a little snowflake (from the New Fallen Snow set) in outdoor denim onto the pattern paper. There's a little strip of bamboo cardstock that I ran through my sistah Stacy's cuttlebug. If you click to enlarge the picture you'll see that it's embossed snowflakes...so cool! The main image is from a stamp set called Christmas Melodies. All of the stamps in the set are titles to songs...so cute. I love it. I used a punch to make the twilight edge around the main image. To add some bling I took some little clear sparkle gems and added them to the snowflakes. Add a bow and it's done.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

With Love

2008-09-16T16:57:00.005-05:00

I had just a little time this afternoon and it's been forever since I got to play in Kristina Werner's color challenge so I'm taking a shot at it. The base of the card is Vineyard Berry and I stamped the background with Garnet to make it show up a bit more. I just love the Vintage Travel paper pack and I tend to horde it but since the stamps background has all the colors I needed, I decided it was ok to use it :0) The "With Love" label is actually one of the My Stickease that coordinates with that paper pack, so I only did a little stamping for this project. I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Snowflake Joy

2008-09-13T21:47:00.004-05:00

Here's another workshop card for you. I stamped some snowflakes on a piece of pattern paper from the Simple Pleasures paper pack. I first stamped the large snowflake in Twilight ink. The medium snowflakes are in Desert Sand ink and the small snowflakes are in White Daisy.

I stamped Joy in Cocoa ink on another piece of pattern paper from the same paper pack. You can't really tell from the picture, but the snowflake that's the main image is outlined with a glitter gel pen. Of course the snowflake needed a little bling with a little jewel.

I used the stamp set Festive Thoughts for the inside message. Pretty straightforward card and very easy to make. Thanks for stopping by :0)

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Grateful

2008-09-06T23:18:00.002-05:00

I was so excited to realize that my calendar was blank for the whole day which meant I could stamp! I pulled out the stamp of the month for Close to My Heart called Treasure Life and made this card. I got the sponging idea from Dawn at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. First I punched a circle and adhered it to the upper left of my focal point. Then I sponged the entire piece with sunflower ink. I then sponged almost all of the piece with honey ink. I tried to leave the top part lighter around the circle. Then I sponged autumn terracotta more toward the bottom of the piece. Last I took a little bit of cocoa and went around the edges.

The next step is to pull off the circle and it magically looks like the sun. How fun is that? I then finished up the focal piece by stamping two of the floral stamps in cocoa making sure to overlap the sun just a bit. You could finish this off with any message. I used one from the Treasure Life set. The other stamps used on this card are from Legendary Moments (the corner stamp is my absolute favorite) and also a stamp from Spot on Backgrounds.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

I Think I'm Back

2008-09-05T14:12:00.006-05:00

Oh my goodness! How did so much time get away from me? I did have several things hit me all at once. School started back up which means I'm back to work and we did a garage sale on top of that. Son #1 moved out to college leaving an empty room. My office used to be in a room until we adopted two kids so I moved to our bedroom closet. So then it was time for the big shuffle. We moved kids to Son #1's room and office stuff back to where it goes all about the time I started back to work. My office still isn't quite organized, but I'm close and I hope to be in full swing stamping again very shortly.

In the meantime, here's a very simple layout I did for a party. The only stamp set I used was the July Word Puzzle. I created a background stamp by loading several words onto one block. Then after stamping the background in Cranberry I went back with Moonstruck and did the little star. The stripe paper is from the Blue Ribbon paper pack. Because this was for a party and I don't charge for the layout I had to keep the cost down. This is all paper with no bling. I would probably have added some dimensionals to the stars and maybe some ribbon, but I like it this way too. Be sure to click on the picture if you want to get a better look.

Anyway, there you have it. Hopefully I'll be posting more often, now that things are getting organized again.

I think somewhere along the line I received some blog awards that I need to pass on to others so I'll be working on that.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Just for Fun

2008-08-13T10:25:00.003-05:00

I've taken a break from stamping and I promise the break is almost over. I have to get through a garage sale this weekend AND today we get to go get our seventeen year old daughter who has been in Taiwan for 7 weeks. We've all missed her incredibly. We decided to welcome her home with balloons...lots of them! Here's some footage of us filling her room with them.

Back to our regularly scheduled stamping soon!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Crayon Resist

2008-08-07T15:44:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm taking a break from garage sale cleaning to get ready for a workshop AND do Vacation Bible School. I'm always on the lookout for Kristina Werener's color challenges. In today's case it provided the last card I need for workshop this weekend :0)

This card uses a technique called Crayon Resist. It's really easy. You stamp your images in your base color, most likely black, and then take a white crayon and color everywhere that you don't want color. Then you sponge over your design with pouncing motions. Here I've added orange, watermelon and sunny yellow. They are not the "exact" colors for the challenge, but they're close. Once you have your color added you take a tissue and wipe off the color where it won't stick on the white crayon. Watch it pop! So cool! My downline Amber taught this at our last unit meeting. Check out her crayon resist card by clicking on her name.

The flower stamp is from Simple Blossoms and the message stamp is from Celebrate Life. If you have questions, let me know.

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

Check This Out!

2008-08-04T07:46:00.003-05:00

Ok, it's going to be another garage sale cleaning day, but first I wanted to share this video I found on a friend's blog. I promise I'll stamp something soon ;0) Oh, I should warn you...get out your Kleenex. It's a good one.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I'm Sorry

2008-08-02T23:35:00.002-05:00

I've been neglecting my blog lately. I don't mean to. I'm getting ready for a garage sale and if you've ever done one of those you know how much work there is involved. For those in my area it will be on Saturday August 16th. I've been doing a lot of weeding in my stamp closet so you won't want to miss it I'm sure. I know my sistah Stacy has been going through her stuff too so mark your calendars. There's a new catalog coming out and I need to make room for the new stuff :0)

Back to weeding and pricing...

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Confession Time

2008-07-29T09:18:00.009-05:00

I am much more of a card maker than a scrapbooker ****gasp****. Don't get me wrong, I love to scrapbook, but for a few reasons, I'm not good at keeping up. Maybe you can relate.

1. My kids were half grown when scrapbooking became so popular so it's hard to get motivated to go back.

2. My pictures are just in boxes of all sizes, and stirred up so it makes it very difficult to know the order.

3. I have a digital camera and forget to print. (Am I the only one like this?)

So anyway, I recently started doing once a month crops for my customers that love that sort of thing and I've decided that I need to get busy. Quite a while back I did get some plastic shoe boxes and label one for each kid and sorted my photos by kids. The other night at the crop I took Kayla's box (since she's going to graduate this next year I thought I'd better get started). I pretty much spent the night with my box of pictures reminiscing about when she was so little. I did try and put them in some order, but my stacks kept getting confused. The night ended and I hadn't gotten much done on it.

Last night Jim wanted to listen to the last Dave Ramsey class on CD that he missed and I didn't mind hearing it again so I got out my box to sort (I hate just sitting, don't you?) It was then that I had a light bulb go off in my head. Why not use our Close to My Heart stamp storage boxes to organize my photos? I got some envelopes and wha-lah! Organization finally! My only trouble was that Jim kept grabbing my stacks to go through the pictures, but I can't fault him for that. That's why we take pictures!

Now, if I could just figure out a way to get my digital ones printed! (Yes, I know how to get them printed...it's just getting it done that's getting me)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Color Challenge and Some Blog Candy

2008-07-23T19:03:00.019-05:00

Edited to add that Andrea at Playing with Paper...Again won the blog candy thanks to Random.org. Thank you to everyone that played and especially for your nice comments.

Today I gave my unit a challenge. I told them to get out a stamp set that they've purchased that has yet to be inked. We all have them right? For a chance to win some blog candy please post a comment as to how many unused stamp sets you own. (I promise I won't tell your husband!) I will choose a winner using random.org and the prize is this very little used set :0) I love it, but I've decided I want to share it. I will choose a winner on Saturday noon (central time). So let's here it...confession time :0)

So here's my card for Kristina Werner's color inspiration challenge.

It's soooo simple, but sometimes that's what a card needs. The colors I used are similar to Stampin' Up!'s colors. I used Hollyhock, Blush and Seafoam (which is discontinued). The stamp sets are Best of Times and Gracious Greetings. The only things I did to dress it up was to add some glitter and a pink organdy ribbon. I hope you like it.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Blog Candy!

Color Challenge

2008-07-18T22:47:00.009-05:00

Well, here's my attempt at KWerner's color challenge. I stamped with my sistah tonight so I used her SU stamp set called Best Kind of Friend. The baby shoes are so cute, but when I actually put the colors together it was a challenge to make them work together. Not my best work, but that's ok. My sistah and I had fun. Oh, and the best part to our stamping session...carmel cone ice cream :0) YUM-O!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Celebration Bouquet

2008-07-10T22:42:00.015-05:00

EDITED TO ADD: Tried to get better pictures because they were so dark. Colors aren't quite true, but you get the idea.

I really try and get away from stamping flowers all the time, but it's just in my nature. I just love them. This card is for Kristina Werner's color inspiration challenge. I wasn't for sure if I'd have time to make something this time, but I got some new stamps today and couldn't resist playing with them. The flower set is the Celebration Bouquet and I also pulled out my Simple Stitches set to go along with it. The stitching on the pillows was my inspiration :0) It's a bonus for me to have this card done because it finishes off the cards for card workshop this month :0) This card uses a couple of techniques that I like...stamp kissing and paper distressing. I hope you like it. Thanks for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Birthday Card

2008-07-08T14:16:00.005-05:00

Here's a simple birthday card using scraps of card stock. The colors are chocolate, taffy, sweet leaf and breeze. They are not colors I'd normally put together especially since I'm not crazy about the taffy color. I do like it in this color combo. I found this combo by using the Close to My Heart Color Combinations link on the left (or you can just click here to check it out.) The stamps are mostly from Birthday Bash but I had to throw in my favorite set, Spot on Backgrounds. It might not be very noticeable in the photo, but the present is very glittered which makes it so pretty in real life. Thanks for stopping by.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Quick Post

2008-07-03T14:58:00.005-05:00

Kristina Werner has posted another challenge. It seems like that's about the only time right now that I blog, but summer is kind of crazy and a challenge always makes me get moving. The message from this stamp set is called Card Sentiments and all stamps in the set are sarcastic like this one. It makes for great birthday cards to those you love to kid around with. The stamp in the background is from Legendary Moments. I love paper flowers and couldn't resist putting one on this card. It's from the Big Pinks collection. Let me know if you have questions. Gotta' run...a foster baby is on her way over :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Rustic Flowers

2008-06-26T11:14:00.007-05:00

It's time for the weekly color challenge over at Kristina Werner's blog. I really like to play along because it gets me into creating. Summertime for me can be kind of lazy so I push myself on this challenge. When I saw the bedspread picture I thought it was kind of busy so my card started out that way. I made a background with stamps from the Rustic Flower set, but then after I got it done I thought it was a bit much. So I went for a large sentiment to kind of tone it down. This one comes from the For Every Occasion set which I find myself reaching for a lot. It was a stamp of the month and I'm hoping it makes a catalog soon! My sistah found some felt flowers and shared with me so I used those and added a paper flower as well. I hope you like it!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. Stacy was right on the quote. "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy" is from the movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played". She's going to have to wait until after the next workshop to get the card though :0)

Happy Everything!

2008-06-20T10:46:00.005-05:00

I have to blog and run :0) At any minute my sistah is going to be calling me to say she's ready to go to lunch! Here is my submission for the kwerner color challenge. For the bottom of the card I used our white daisy stamp pad for the spot on background stamp and then embossed it with white. I am using those stamps to death! Love them!

The flowers and sentiment are from the With Love set which is the June stamp of the month. I embossed them with white on white cardstock and then sponged in the color with sponge daubers. Add brads for the centers and they were ready to go..."Easy peasy lemon squeezy!" Do you know that quote? The first person to tell me what movie that it's from will receive this card in the mail!

My sistah Stacy is always giving me such a hard time about me saving every scrap of paper. This card just goes to show her that no piece is too small! I pulled them from my scrap drawer. To make it look like stitching I pierced holes and then connected the dots with a white gel pen...every stamper needs one!

Well, I still have to get ready to go so I'm signing off. Don't forget to post guesses for the quote!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Just Hanging Out Today

2008-06-13T14:03:00.006-05:00

Today it's raining (again) so I'm stamping and finishing up a workshop project for tomorrow and Monday. This card also uses colors from KWerner's color challenge so I'm getting two things done at once. Hop on over and check out the rest of the creations. The monkeys are from the In the Wild set...love those cute little guys...or girls as this case is. Their skirts are from a scallop punch that I cut into quarters. I then took the point off to make a waistband. I stamped the monkeys in chocolate and then just the leaves part in Olive and did some paper piecing to put green leaves on the branches. It also gives it a bit of depth. The monkeys are matted with Hollyhock paper and then raised on dimensionals.

The big thing right now is lots of white space which is very difficult for me. This card is my attempt at leaving it alone. I stamped the line of flowers from the June Word Puzzle along the side in Hollyhock, Olive and Honey. The ribbon is some I found at JoAnn's, but I thought it matched pretty well. (Now I'm wishing I had picked up some more.)

Well, I'm off to go clean up the mess that exploded in my office in making this card LOL :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Downsize and Organize

2008-06-06T17:03:00.004-05:00

That's what I've been up to lately. I've been organizing my office and weeding out discontinued products and it will be all to your advantage someday soon :0) I came across the main image for this card and so I decided to grab some scraps and finish it up. The main images are from the Friendship Word Puzzle and the background stamps are from the Spot On Backgrounds. The colors are Citrus Leaf, Watermelon, Sunflower and Black. You probably can't tell from the picture, but the main image is raised on dimensionals...which is all the rage right now. I added some bling to the centers of the flowers using some of our clear sparkles. Hmmm...we might have to make this for the next workshop.

If you live around here you might want to stay tuned for when I announce our family garage sale because if you're a stamper you're going to find goodies galore :0) As a consultant I'm not allowed to actually sell products from my blog so just watch for that little announcement. It will be worth your while to stop by because Stacy is cleaning out her stuff too.

Gotta run make supper...

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Inspiration Times Two

2008-06-01T18:17:00.008-05:00

I love a challenge. There's something about pushing myself that I like. My friend Stacy says it's because I hate to lose LOL. So here I am trying the color challenge for fun LOL. I was blog surfing last night and came across a fellow consultant's video to do this type of card. You'll have to check out Nona's blog here. It's very inspirational!

Sometimes I dream about making cards and what would look good. Do you do that? Today I had a great nap and when I woke up I had the idea to try the kwerner color challenge with Nona's card. Here's the result. I used a set of flowers called Simple Blossoms. I hope you like it.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Anniversary Gift

2008-05-27T22:28:00.008-05:00

This is the anniversary gift that I made for Jim's parents. It's a layout that we did at a workshop a while back. I uploaded pictures to Wal-Mart.com and had them printed in wallet sizes. This layout uses the Silhouette paper (love that paper!). The frames are from Hobby Lobby and are especially made for layouts. You should be able to click on the individual photos to better see the detail. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. The sun was really bright and made shadows. They are true 12 x 12 layouts. I was pretty pleased at how they turned out.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Happy Golden Anniversary!

2008-05-22T09:12:00.004-05:00

In a couple of days we'll be helping Jim's parents celebrate 50 years of marriage. We're so happy for them. Being married for fifty years is a rare thing. Here is the card I made for them so mom Wickenkamp, if you're reading this...stop :0) The colors are bamboo and chocolate with gold embossing. I'm at work typing this so I don't know the exact stamp sets. The pattern paper behind the hearts if from the silhouette paper pack. When I get a chance I'll post their gift that I made, but we leave for Colorado in 4 hours and I haven't packed for me or the little ones. Besides, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise in case mom Wickenkamp is reading LOL.

I keep waiting for Kristina's color challenge to come out, but I'm going to have to miss it this time since I'd be even more crazy to try it with all I have going on.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I'm Soooo Crazy!

2008-05-15T16:03:00.004-05:00

Ok, this is a super quick post. Our oldest graduates from High School tonight and I really didn't have the time to mess with this, but I couldn't help it! It's another color challenge. This was a harder challenge for that reason, but also because I just didn't see the colors working together as well. That being said, here's the result of Kristina's color challenge #9. I wish I had time to post the details, but I don't. I hope you like it.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Old Meets New--A Real Post This Time

2008-05-13T16:51:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone. Hopefully you won't get four or five notifications from this post. For this card I've combined new stamps and old paper. The stamps are from a set called Summer Sweetness. It was one of the first sets I bought when the new catalog came out. A long time ago Close to My Heart had a watermelon stamp that I absolutely loved. I was sad to see it go. This set has all kinds of variations and possibilities.

The sweet leaf paper comes from a combo paper pack that we no longer carry and the hollyhock paper comes from the Stylin' paper pack--another oldie, but goodie. I was going to use paper from Boom-Di-Ada and it would be perfect, but I need those papers for another workshop card so I substituted. The message is from a set that was a stamp of the month set a few months back called "All Occasions". I love that one and still use it a lot. And the sweet little flower is one of my new favorites. It's from the Cottage Flowers set. I stamped it in black and colored it in with a white gel pen. I had a pink glitter pen that I used for the centers which you probably won't be able to see.

What else?... Oh, the black ribbon is Close To My Heart and the polka dot is good 'ole Wal-Mart. I used a scallop punch to take a "bite" out of the watermelon and I used liquid glass on the seeds which again, might be hard to see. The watermelon was stamped in black and then I created a reverse mask to sponge the color into the area for the rind. It's on a dimensional. That's about it. Let me know what you think.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Not sure why...

2008-05-13T12:04:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure why, but I think Blogger sent out a duplicate post saying that my blog has been updated. I will post some more pictures soon I promise :0) This week our oldest son graduates from High School and family is coming in so it's going to be a bit busy, but I do have some cards made that I just need to take pictures of and post. I'm working on a workshop for next week. Stay tuned...

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

More Color Challenges

2008-05-08T18:52:00.006-05:00

Are you tired of them yet? I know this about myself. I work best under a deadline or a challenge. So, here is the next color challenge offering from Kristina Werner's blog. She usually posts every Wednesday night. You should play along!

This card uses some pattern paper from the Free Spirit paper pack. I stamped the message from Love Quotes directly on the paper in Moonstruck. I also stamped a couple of flourishes on the paper from the flourishes set...once in Moonstruck and once in White Daisy. I outlined the Moonstruck flourish with a silver gel pen. I'm not sure if you can tell from the picture.

The colors included a light blue so I chose a close match with our Lilac Mist. I stamped some small white dots on it in white with a stamp from our Spot On Backgrounds. I lightly sponged around this piece with some Moonstruck.

The star is from a set called Star Struck and is in Moonstruck as well. It's on a dimensional to pop it up.

This was a more difficult challenge for me, but I like how it turned out. We may or may not be able to do this one for workshop. It all depends on if I get some more Free Spirit paper in my stash.

There you go. I hope you enjoy. Hop on over to Kristina's blog and check out all of the submissions. They're fabulous!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Sliding in Under the Wire

2008-05-01T18:58:00.006-05:00

Here's another color challenge from Kristina Werner's blog. I'm sliding in under the wire to get it in on time so I will post details later.
You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Message to My Workshop Girls

2008-04-28T22:40:00.007-05:00

You know those cards we make at workshops that you say you never want to give away? Give them away! Send them to someone who needs them or this could be you. The poor lady has taken over her kitchen with her stamping. She makes some beautiful stuff though.

Oh, I thought I'd throw in a photo of my stamp room. It's my closet. If you look closely you can see the cool cupboard I found a couple of weeks ago. It's perfect for holding my stamp sets :0) Yeah, I know, I don't have much room to talk when it comes to messy. I still think this woman has me beaten by a long shot!

Congratulations to all our winners tonight at the catalog sneak peek party! Lynn Walters won the stamp set with free workshop pass and Kathy Moss won the hostess gifts! I had a ton of fun because you girls make it so fun.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Busy Week

2008-04-26T12:05:00.005-05:00

This week I've been busy making 50th wedding anniversary invitations. Jim's parents are reaching that milestone next month so we're going to celebrate! I think that's huge in the world today. Here's a couple of shots of them before the went out the door this morning. Now I call that a whole lotta' love!

I was able to finish them up at our first crop last night! We had a great time...small in number, but I'm sure we'll grow as time goes on. We're meeting on the last Friday of every month. If you want information please e-mail me. Here's some shots from the night. There's plenty of room to work, great prizes, chocolate and girl time! I think Marie is saying, "It's an A-OK great time!"

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Inspiration

2008-04-23T22:35:00.004-05:00

I've totally gotten into color challenges! It makes it so much easier to come up with a card. Kristina at kwernerdesign has issued another color challenge. She finds different pictures from real life. Here is the one for this time. While they are not colors I would grab for right off, they were fun to work with.

My card uses a very favorite set of mine called Rustic Flowers. The sentiment comes from a set called Treasures of the heart. My personal shopper "sistah" friend Stacy found some cool brads at the Target Dollar Spot and one of them was perfect for the center of the flower.

My colors are Bamboo, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf and Autumn Terracotta, which are close matches to the colors in the challenge. Thanks for checking out my blog :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Color Challenge

2008-04-15T22:44:00.005-05:00

I frequently visit kwernerdesignblog because when I grow up I want to be like her! She does such cool stuff with videos. My computer geek son tells me that I have to have "much better equipment" in order to attain that goal, but if I ever did buy such equipment, he would be happy to be my film editor --HA. So I'm content to visit her and dream :0) Every now and then she does a color inspiration challenge to get your creative juices going. I just so happen to already have a card with the colors in question (minus the chocolate so it might not count) so I'm sending it her way to see if it works :0)

Here's my card. This is a workshop card for this month so we must have been thinking alike on color combinations. This is Close to My Heart sweet leaf, dutch blue (stamped second generation) and buttercup. I combined a couple of stamp sets to get just the flowers and leaves that I wanted. Being that I'm a flower loving person and can't have enough flower sets it wasn't hard to find what I wanted in my stash. The leaf is from the Simple Blossoms set and the flowers are from the April Word Puzzle and Girly Girl. I know that's a lot of sets, but it was fun to mix and match them. The message is from the Because of You set.

To embellish it I added little stick on pearls that my "personal shopper" Stacy found at Target's Dollar Spot. They are so cute, but tricky to get on since they are soooo tiny! Love them though. Of course it had to have a bow and the top part is popped up with foam squares. The message says, "We are never alone...if friends fill our lives." Hope you like it and I hope it works for the color challenge :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. Don't forget you can click on it to make it larger. It sort of ended up small this time.

We Interrupt The Stamping for this Post

2008-04-05T15:02:00.004-05:00

Our older two girls are in color guard and winter guard. Noelle's guard does a routine to the song "What Kind of World Do You Want?". For a Jr. High guard I think they did fabulous. Their routine has been video taped and put on the Five for Fighting website. Every time someone views it a donation is made to the Fisher House which helps military families who need to be near their loved ones in time of crisis. I tried to embed it in this post, but I can't get it to work so please follow the link below and have a look. Noelle is the first one that moves in the video. She's pretty easy to follow since she has the longest hair of the group. In the picture she's the one on the far left. You can watch it at the very bottom of this blog. Just scroll down.

I really wish I had a video of Kayla's routine as well because it's super cute to the song "Walking In Memphis." Kayla is center in the picture below.

Ok, I'm back to stamping now :0)

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Miss You!

2008-04-03T20:57:00.005-05:00

Feeling kind of bummed tonight because a friend I've gotten to know and really enjoy at work is moving on to another job. Tomorrow is her last day. I was dinking around in the office and came up with a card to give her.

This card is made with flowers from the Finding Beauty set. The sentiment is from a stamp of the month a while back. The colors are spring iris, lilac mist, sweet leaf and topiary. After I stamped them I went around all the lines with a silver gel pen to set it off. You can click on the picture to see the detail.

Pretty simple and simply said. I'll miss you Christa!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Masculine Version of Spring Layout

2008-03-25T08:25:00.008-05:00

I pretty much copied the layout placement from the spring layout (shown in the post below) for this layout. The papers are from the Free Spirit pack and most of the stamps are from the Legendary Moments stamp set. One other set I used was a typewriter alphabet set that worked perfectly with a 3/4" punch. They are not available at this time, but I'm hoping that Close to My Heart brings them back. They are too fun!

I loved how the flourish worked as well in this layout to make the shooting star in the spot where the butterfly was on the previous page. The colors are Indian Corn Blue (lighter blue), Outdoor Denim, Honey and Chocolate. I also broke into my stash of dimensional elements called "Fresh Shapes". I colored the bracket with an Outdoor Denim marker and then attached it by peeling the adhesive on the back. It couldn't have been easier!

My husband thought that this layout would work great with our San Antonio spring break pictures and I think he's right! I blogged some of those pictures on my family blog if you'd like to see them.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. Don't forget that you can click on the image to see the detail closer.

Spring Layout

2008-03-22T21:52:00.005-05:00

I'm not sure if Blogger is going to cooperate on showing this layout, but I'm giving it a try anyway. This layout uses the Paper Garden paper pack. The stamps are from Playful Flourishes (one of my favorites), April Word Puzzle and Friendship's Flight. I also received my order of Big Pinks paper flowers and some springtime buttons and they went so well with this layout. The wings of the butterfly are 3-D by using vellum paper. Of course they had to have glitter and I used my glitter gel pen on the flourish that makes the butterfly's flight path. This is going to be this month's scrapbook workshop. For those with all boys in the family, have no fear! I'm working on a masculine version :0)

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Wishing For Spring

2008-03-10T22:15:00.004-05:00

Our weather has been so crazy here! One minute it's close to 70 degrees and the next we have snow. I'm wishing for spring. This little card gets me in the mood for warmer temps. It has a buttercup base and I used paper from the Paper Garden pack. The little butterfly is from Friendship's Flight. I used a Coluzzle to cut a hole to see the message on the inside. Then I took the part that was cut out and punched a smaller circle from it. The three layers came apart and made the rings for the butterfly's flight path. It was totally by accident that it worked that way, but I like it. I took a glitter gel pen and doodled on the flowers, rings and butterfly. The final touch was the bow. I hope you like it :0)

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

Copy Card

2008-02-19T18:43:00.003-06:00

I made this card by looking at a similar one in the current Close to My Heart catalog. I have a different message on mine though. This message is actually on one stamp out of the "Thoughts of You" stamp set (flowers from the same set). All of the lines were really tight together so to do the pick and omit technique was a bit tricky. I was browsing blogs and I found a really great tip! (I only wish I could remember which blog I saw it on. If it's yours please come forward!)

To stamp the message I cut my cardstock into half inch strips. Then before stamping onto my ink pad I put scotch tape over the sections I didn't want to stamp. I inked it up, removed the tape and I was able to stamp without worrying about getting any lines from any of the other letters. It was really slick!

The colors for this card are chocolate, sweet leaf, buttercup and baby pink with some blush marker as well. The stems were stamped on sweetleaf with the chocloate pad and then colored in with a sweet leaf marker to make them a bit darker. This card is a lot of cutting, but the look of it was worth the effort.

I'm off to a class tonight for foster care so I'd better get moving....

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Another Silhouette Creation

2008-02-07T16:14:00.001-06:00

I'm just jumping on here quickly to show another example with my favorite paper. I used the Friendship Word Puzzle with it this time. Stacy gave me a fun punch for Christmas and I thought it looked cool on this card. I think this card would classify as a black and white with a pop of color type card. I love the way the little red sparkle jewels look inside the flowers. The flower band across the middle is actually a ribbon from the Close To My Heart Black Collection of Ribbon Rounds.

Ok, off to get ready for tonight's workshop.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Love, Love, Love This Paper!

2008-02-06T08:29:00.001-06:00

This paper has got to be tops on my list of favorite papers. It's called "Silhouette" made by Close to My Heart. I used some stamps from the Soul Mates Word Puzzle set also made by Close to My Heart. This is a my February scrapbook workshop layout. With a change of sentiments it can be made into a friendship layout as well which is another option for my workshop attendees. Last night was the first of two workshop nights and the layouts were all beautiful with special touches by each of my guests. You can see the examples better by clicking on them to enlarge them. I tell you, this paper is a must have!

Stay tuned tomorrow! I'll be posting more artwork!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

p.s. Clicking on the first one doesn't seem to work, but the other two are working.

Memory Book

2008-02-05T15:45:00.000-06:00

The Dollar Spot at Target is a great place to find good stuff to stamp on (pink one shown under mine). Stacy found some little photo albums so between us we cleaned them out. Last Saturday was the Memory Book workshop and it was lots of fun. We took the books apart and recovered the front and back. Then we stamped the pages and added background paper to match. Everyone's books turned out really cute!

There were a variety of ways these books could be used. I have a very hard time getting personal layouts done. This is partly due to having 5 kids and partly because my "office" is in my bedroom closet. It's a little bit difficult to spread out and really scrapbook the right way. Anyway, I made this little book as a recap of 2007. I chose pictures from my digital camera and printed everything in wallet size. Then I divided them up into topics like vacations, foster kids, birthdays, etc. I received a cool punch for Christmas so I used it to make the tabs. My book was made using the Good Times paper pack with some coordinating stamps. One element that I repeated was the checklist stamp. It gave me an easy journaling place. Since the book is small I had to have a way that would keep it short and sweet.

Stay tuned...more artwork posted soon!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Photos Coming Soon

2008-02-04T08:22:00.000-06:00

I have a love/hate relationship with computers! We have a desktop that is on its way out and a almost brand new laptop. I've only had it since last fall. The new laptop kept giving me the blue screen of death so we backed everything up and took it to the Geek Squad. I was without the laptop for about a week and had high hopes that all would be well when they gave it back to me. Not so. They had to put a new hard drive in it which took it back to square one which should not be a problem since I have the back-up disks. It won't read the first disk! So it looks like we're in for another trip to the Geek Squad. (Our son who is a Mac lover is just rubbing this in.)

Anyway, I have pictures of projects to post, but it's a big hassle on the desktop computer. It almost goes into shock if I do anything more than e-mail or surf with one window open. I could work with it and get pictures posted, but I'm under a time crunch for other projects. It's so quick and easy to post pictures on the laptop! So with that said, stay tuned. I will get it up as soon as I get a working computer. Also, if you have e-mailed me and I've not responded it's probably because your e-mail is/was on my new computer. If I have not responded, please try me again (e-mail link here).

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Blog Candy...Candy

2008-01-17T16:08:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: We do have a winner! Where did the time go? I did do Random.org last week and it came up with Ann Anderson as the winner! I've been busy on a HUGE project which I hope to post by tomorrow. Ann, I'll take you up on that coffee visit :0)

Have I mentioned that I love chocolate? I've been getting ready for workshop and I have to tell you it's a bad thing. Workshop involves chocolate in couple of ways so my office is well stocked...well at least for the time being. I keep snitching! This is a Cadbury milk chocolate candy bar. It's been pretty hard for me not to cut a piece of foam or cardboard to replace the chocolate in this example!

It's so easy to dress up chocolate bars. I simply took the wrapper off and used it to measure a piece of background and texture paper. This one is Floral Tapestry. I added another wrapping of vellum with a message from the "One and Only" set. A little ribbon and a little bling and it's done!

Now...who wants it? I'm looking for posts that tell me the most loving thing someone has done for you. I will choose one by using Random.org next week on Friday the 25th so that gives you lots of time to post! And just think...it'll arrive on your doorstep in plenty of time for you to give it to a special someone OR to savor for yourself.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I Love Pink and Brown!

2008-01-08T21:39:00.000-06:00

Stacy made the most adorable card for me for card workshop! She used the All My Love stamp set. She has some really fun punches to make the center piece and she embellished with a white gel pen (I think I need to get one of those...too fun!). Say a prayer for Stacy. She's sick right now.

My workshop was smaller than expected tonight so I have 5 layouts ready to go. If you're interested in attending a rescheduled workshop night, please let me know. If there's enough interest, I'll put one on the calendar.

Well, time to go clean up my mess and then put my feet up.

You are Close to My Heart, <-----Especially you, Stacy

Yvonne

Christmas Revisited

2008-01-06T23:52:00.000-06:00

For workshop this week I thought maybe the girls would like some help finishing up their Chrismtas scrapbooking. This layout uses two stamp sets...Gift of Love and Legendary Moments. It's really hard to tell in the picture, but the poisettias are raised on foam squares. I also outlined them with a gold glitter pen. I also did some stitching on it (my old cross stitch days paid off!). Anyway, I've been busy again! Tomorrow I'll have to show you the cutest card that Stacy made! For now, I need to go clean up the creative mess I made.
You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne
p.s. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. I just couldn't get the right light this time.

Perpetual Calendar Workshop

2008-01-03T21:59:00.000-06:00

Hello! It feels so good to be stamping again. I took a much needed creativity break over Christmas. I just didn't have it in me with all the other stuff I had going on. I sort of put the pressure on myself now because I need to get busy on a scrapbook workshop I have on the books for next week. Why do I do this to myself? I guess I work under pretty good under pressure.
After much work the event calendar workshop is almost ready. The creative part is complete and now I need to cut paper for about half of the months. If you are signed up for this workshop and are not able to attend, please let me know as soon as possible. This class filled up fast so if you're interested in a repeat class please e-mail me. I may repeat it depending on the interest.

I didn't take time to type out about each month so if you have questions about colors or stamp sets, I'd be happy to answer them. I realize that a couple of sets are discontinued, but they worked so well for what we're doing. Don't forget that you can click on individual pictures to see more detail. I'm off to cut paper and put the finishing touches on this workshop. Thanks for sticking with me through that dry spell!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I'm Still Here!

2008-01-02T11:12:00.000-06:00

I haven't forgotten about you! I was just busy with Christmas (and potty training--ongoing project). Now I'm working like crazy to crank out some projects for upcoming workshops. Stay tuned and I promise to post a bunch of stuff soon! In the meantime, here's a picture of my work area. I have such a small area to work in that when I get going it kind of looks like an explosion went off. Well, it's time for me to get busy...first to clean it up and then to start the mess all over again!

E-mail me if you want the workshop dates. I haven't had a chance to update my CTMH website for a long time so you won't find them there. It is on the "to do" list though.

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

It's Snowing!

2007-12-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

And it's beautiful! I really do love snow....with electricity and heat in my house. So here's the rest of our survival story. By Tuesday we were pretty frustrated with the whole situation. We were blessed to have friends to go be with for showers and warm soup and to have a minute to blog.

About a month ago my honey booked a Branson getaway for just the two of us. It is something we do about every other December just to see each other, do some Christmas shopping and sleep in (something that hasn't happened often since adopting the two little early risers that we did).

So by Tuesday we made the decision to call Branson and book an extra day and an extra room and just make it a family time. We also decided to leave Joel with a friend that had heat so he could come home and let the dog in and out. We packed by flashlight in the freezing house on Wednesday morning. We said our goodbyes to Joel and we headed out. We had one stop to make for medicine before leaving town. We were in the drive through at Wal-Greens when Joel called to tell us that our power was back on.

A little side note here...The getaway Jim planned involved listening to a time-share spiel aka the "three hour tour". So as soon as Joel called to tell us we had electricity we called to cancel the extra bookings that we had made. They knew our plight and I have to say they still charged us an extra $75! Ask me if they sold us anything. It's all a big racket anyway.

I used to think it would be fun to live in the Victorian times or even in a log cabin on the prairie but I must say now that I'm very thankful for all the modern conveniences of today. As I write this I am drinking hot coffee warmed in the microwave and I have homemade cinnamon rolls rising on the counter. I made the dough in my bread machine. So...the snow is absolutely beautiful and so is life.

Being without heat or electricity for the 3 1/2 days sure made me appreciate even more all that I have been blessed with and it gave me a bit of an understanding of what some people go through in the world on a daily basis. Thank you to all of you for praying for us and sending help our direction. I know thast there are still people in this area that are without power.

Here are some photos that we shot.

This was actually taken during the day. It was so dark and dreary.

Keeping warm!

Camping out in the living room.

Angie keeps busy by painting by candlelight.

Joel charged up his electronic game at a coffee house so he kept Ryan warm while entertaining him.

My poor butterfly bush that I hadn't gotten trimmed.

Not the "hot seat" for sure!

Joel took this cool photo from underneath the patio table.

Hopefully I'll get some stamping time this next week so I can start posting artwork again! To all my area friends...I pray that your power is back on and that you're warm and toasty again!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Ice Storm Update

2007-12-11T15:34:00.000-06:00

We are currently at a friend's house for showers and warmth. I have been so touched by your postings especially my downline that is sending her honey to help out! I am so tired of it all that I can't help but cry...thank you. There are trees down everywhere here and they say on the radio that wires are snapping as fast as they get them back up. I am so thankful for the linemen that are on the job because it is extremely yucky out there. It's raining again which only means more ice. It was fun for a little bit, but now I just want heat :0) Keep praying for us. We can feel it.

When we get through this I'll post some pictures. It's incredible.

Warm hugs,

Yvonne

Ice, Ice, Baby

2007-12-10T13:52:00.000-06:00

I am currently sitting in our car in the McDonald's parking lot checking e-mail. An ice storm has hit our area and we've been without power for over 24 hours. My honey and I have our computers so he's paying bills and checking football scores and I'm checking e-mail and blogging. How sad are we? We have ventured out to buy food that doesn't need to be cooked necessarily and to buy more candles. We actually had some "scrumptious" fishsticks cooked on our grill in aluminum foil for lunch. It was good to have hot food.

I remembered today that it wasn't too long ago that we were without air conditioning. Hmmm which would I rather? Believe it or not, this. You can always add more layers, but there comes a point when you can't take any more off or you'll scare the kids.

Stamping is kind of out of the question a. because I'm snuggled under a blanket most of the time and b. I can't really see in my stamp supplies to bring stuff to the table. We also have limited daylight with this no power thing. Hey, I'm getting good sleep though because once it's dark there's really not much else to do than to go to bed.

Well, honey is done paying bills so I'll sign off here. Time to go get supplies. They say this could last all week. Crazy, huh?

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Peek-a Boo Card Tutorial

2007-12-05T20:20:00.000-06:00

Well, it's time for another tutorial. It's one I've been meaning to do and just needed to find some time to get it done. This tutorial is to make the inside of this snowman card in my previous post and also the heart card in this this post. For those that attended my workshop this past week I actually simplified this card.

Blogger and I don't always get along so once again you'll need to click on the pictures individually to see the typed out directions. I'd love to see your renditions of it so send me a picture when you get one done. With your permission I'll post it!

Life is never dull around our house. This week has left me very little stamping time. I have a sick kiddo and an extra kiddo (makes 6 all together). Oh and I also have a new CTMH catalog to thumb through. Between those three things, I'm not getting much done!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Blog Candy Winner!

2007-12-04T08:59:00.000-06:00

Good Morning! I have to tell you that I enjoyed reading every post regarding your most treasured Christmas presents. I showed them to my husband and a couple of you got him choked up as well. If you haven't read them go to the post below and click on "comments".

I really love Christmas and I really love finding just the right gift for someone but I have to tell you that I've actually received a gift far more precious than my bracelet that I mentioned. God sent His son Jesus to the world to save me from myself! I walk in freedom and sister, that is sooo precious. He gave that gift to everyone that will receive it and I know many of my readers have received that gift. If you want to know more about that free gift and how to get it please contact me!

So now to announce the winner of the blog candy...........JO you are the winner. I put all of your names into random.org and your name came out on the top of the list. Please contact me and let me know where to send your new stamp set!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

p.s. Guess what arrived on my doorstep yesterday? I'll give you a hint...there's 200 of them and they're not all for me.

I'm Surfacing!

2007-11-28T21:30:00.000-06:00

Please, please pardon the lack of posting. I don't know what it was. I just didn't feel creative and I was even having a hard time getting into my office to stamp. What's up with that? I think it was the massive cleaning spree I went on that kind of took it out of me. My office is still in need of some weeding and organization, but I need to get on the ball for workshops this coming Saturday (in only a couple of days ). I am going to make it though, thanks to Stacy who is helping me create this month. If you're coming to card workshops then you're in for a treat. I have some other cards that Stacy has made that I'll share with you later :0)

For now, here's a sneak peek at a couple of projects. The snowmen are from a set called "Snow Friends" which is the stamp of the month. I pretty much took the design from the example in the book for the front. I used a blending pen and the stamp pads (vineyard berry and ocean) to color the snowmen. I also used grey wool with a blending pen to create the shadow look. You probably can't see it in the photo, but there's fun flock there for snow. The inside is kind of fun with a peek-a-boo window. One of these days I'll blog it for a tutorial.

The second one is made from elements from that day that Stacy and I stamped with not much success (see this post). I had actually made the base of the card that day too, but forgot to photograph it. While talking on the phone (to Stacy of course) I absent-mindedly laid her tag on my card. It was perfect! I added the words on the tag tonight with an inside message ("Joy to the World Jesus is the reason for the season") and it was done just like that. UGH! I hate it when cards take so long! This one took almost three weeks! It's made with the Everlasting paper pack and the words come from two different sets..."No Greater Love" and Christmas Scripts". The flourish is from a set called "Legendary Moments" which has nothing to do with Christmas. I love being able to use my stamps for lots of things.

So now for BLOG CANDY since you all have been so faithful and have hit this blog over 5000 times! I have a brand new "Magical Season" valued at $22.95 that I will give away to a random poster. I'll try and get a picture of it tomorrow. If you want to see some of the images from the set check out this post. To win this set you need to post the most treasured Christmas present you ever received. I received one last year from my husband. He had a bracelet made with the birthstones of our kids...all five of them. The reason it was so special was because we were in the middle of adopting the two youngest ones. It got me. I cried. My family is so precious to me!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. I will draw for a winner on Monday December 3rd. I want to get it out as quick as possible so the recipient can use it for Christmas! Consultants, you are welcome to post your most treasured gift ever received but I ask that someone who is not a consultant wins this :0) Thank you for understanding.

Creativity Has Returned--At Least for Stacy!

2007-11-13T17:01:00.000-06:00

I knew Stacy would go home the other day and keep working until she got some cards cranked out and boy are they cute! She's been a stamping queen! I on the other hand, have still done diddly. I just need to get going again. Stacy was sure an inspiration. Take a look! Wow!

I have been crazy, busy and will post a blog candy soon. You all are so awesome to come and visit. Stay tuned.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

One of Those Days

2007-11-10T20:31:00.001-06:00

Well, in case you're one of those that thinks I'm always soooo creative, here's proof that I'm not. Stacy and I stamped for close to three hours and we didn't have diddly squat to show for it. My table is 9 1/2 feet long so you can see what a mess we made. Seriously, we each worked on one card apiece. Neither card was working. At one point we even traded to see if the other could get it. No luck there. They ended up in the trash. Here's ALL that we have to show for our afternoon. It was just one of those days, but you know what? It was fun anyway. It was fun being with my sistah and fun laughing at each other. It was definitely worth the time. Tomorrow is another day and I'll bet the creative juices will be flowing again. We will not be discouraged!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I Got Mail!

2007-11-09T16:45:00.000-06:00

I received the prettiest card in the mail yesterday from Christi Milliken. She was sending me a thank you card for the cutting tool she won for my give away last time. This card is just beautiful especially in person! Thank you Christi! I'm sure that I will be using it as a pattern for more cards in the future.

I've added a new link on the left side if you're interested in the Wickenkamp grand adventures. We sure have a lot of fun around here. Stop on by and I'm sure that in no time you'll feel like you know us so well! If you tried the link earlier I fixed it so now it works.

It's almost blog candy time again. When the hit counter at the bottom says 5,000 I will post another chance for you to win some goodies! I so much appreciate all those that take the time to stop by. Don't forget to tell Christi what an awesome card this is!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

p.s. Sorry for the repeated notifications (if you subscribe). I was trying to get the Wickenkamp Grand Adventures link to work!

A Quick Card Tonight

2007-11-04T18:24:00.000-06:00

I snuck into my office this evening to try this card that I had seen on the Palmtrees and Pogosticks blog. I would have never thought to put snowflakes in red and green, but it's cute in a whimsical sort of way. These snowflakes are from "New-fallen Snow" and the message is from "Christmas Scripts". I added a bit of cranberry ribbon and it was done. There weren't many layers and there was absolutely no sponging which was a bit of a change for me.

Remember how I said I had snuck into my office? It wasn't long before Angie was at my left elbow wanting to make a card too. When I took my picture, she wanted hers photographed as well. She's definitely a stamp lady wannabe. It's fun that we have stamping and making cards as one of our common interests. Oh, by the way, I WAS going to try glittering this card, but in light of my stamping helper I decided to forgo it. Wonder why?

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I Got to Play Today!

2007-11-03T16:45:00.000-05:00

My office/closet has been a pit since I "picked up" from my last workshop. I wasn't ready to put everything away since I had some unused packets and they were all Christmas cards. What better way to get a little start on the season! Stacy came over and we made up the rest of the cards. We're pretty much covered in glitter from a snowflake card (I didn't show it because it's similar to the ornament a few posts back.)

The card on the left I'm pretty sure I saw someplace and I did a little bit to make it my own. If it's yours, let me know so I can give proper credit. The card on the right says, "is your friendship" on the inside. Both are made using the October Stamp of the Month. The small plaid paper is from the Everlasting paper pack and I pulled the big plaid from Route 66. The colors are Cranberry and Ponderosa Pine. I hope you're getting a good start on the holiday!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Now, That's a LOT of Stamps

2007-11-01T21:46:00.000-05:00

Ok, no artwork tonight. Circle around. It's story time. I am a lunch clerk at our high school. I am in charge of taking money and making the deposits. It's a job I really love. I was sitting there doing my thing and a co-worker to my boss ichats me to tell me that I need to call Kim the finance lady. That would have anyone wondering for sure, so I finish up with first lunch and give her a quick call on my cell. She's very distraught. She had received a notice from the IRS to garnish my wages because of back taxes owed from 2004. But, here's the kicker. The Social Security number is mine, but the name is definitely not. Ok, would you be worried? Yeah, me too. All she would say is that the IRS wants a LOT of money.

I found out just how much money they wanted when I went over after work. The IRS wants (are you ready for this? Sitting down?) $76,216.72. No, that's not a typo. I had started getting a good headache at work just thinking about how my social security number got out there and how in the world this would get fixed. That number gave me a migraine.

She gave me all the paperwork and so for the rest of the afternoon Jim and I chased around trying to get things straightened out. First stop was to the Social Security office where you sit for quite some time. Plus (and I'm not trying to put people down) there were some rather "interesting" characters there. I am afraid I'm scarred for life. I happen to glance in one direction as a large man was getting out of his chair. The word "plumber" comes to mind. AUGH!

Ok, there they check and the only record of jobs on that social number...MY social number...are of jobs that I've held which is a good sign. From there we split up. I had another errand to run so Jim ran to the IRS office where he's not met with the most friendliness. He had my driver's license and SS card in hand so the lady just assumed that he was just trying to get out of paying that astronomical figure. When she figured it out she lightened up a lot. It turns out that someone else is going to have a VERY bad day soon. Whoever had typed my number in for this person had transposed two numbers. We have a letter to turn in to central office and all is well that ends well. Can you EVEN imagine owing that much money? Now that's a LOT of stamps!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

Pretty Simple Card

2007-10-25T21:56:00.000-05:00

Quick blog tonight...I'm just working on Christmas cards tonight. This set is called "No Greater Love" and I love how the Mary and Baby Jesus stamps. It's almost like from a newspaper or something. It's hard to describe, but it's neat. The paper is from the "Everlasting" paper pack. I'm working on cards for the upcoming card workshop and thought I'd take a minute to let you see one thing we'll be doing. That's it for tonight...

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

Yes, I Know I Have Glitter on My Face!

2007-10-21T18:30:00.000-05:00

You probably can't tell from the photos, but this snowflake ornament is covered in glitter (and so am I!). I took four stamps (in large to small size) from the New Fallen Snow set and stamped each twice. I cut each of them out really close to the lines. Divide them into two piles and work with one pile at a time. Each pile will have one of each size. Starting with the largest snowflake, I glittered the outside. Then I added a foam square to the back of the next size snowflake (but I didn't take off the protective paper on the double side yet) and added glue around the outside edge. Now, using the foam square as a "handle" I was able to dip it into the glitter and then add it to the biggest snowflake. I continued on until I had half an ornament. Then on the backside of the half I attached ribbon to make a hanger for it. Then starting on the other side I repeated the steps above until it was a 3-D ornament. I'm not sure we'll be making these for workshop because of the time factor and all the glitter--I'd be finding glitter until Valentines Day if 10 people made these! I just thought you might want to try one for yourself at home so I went ahead and posted it.

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

The Only Kind of Mask I Like

2007-10-19T00:26:00.000-05:00

I was getting ready to put away all the stuff from the first scrapbook workshop tonight and I decided to make a tutorial on masking. It has nothing to do with Halloween because like I've stated before...I'm not much of a Halloween girl :0) When you need one object to appear in front of another you would do masking. I can never get the pictures to cooperate with me as far as appearing beside the correct text so I've typed right on each picture. You'll need to click on each one to get a better view. Now hopefully they'll all upload :0)

You Are Close To My Heart,
Yvonne

UPDATE: If you have questions please don't hesitate to ask in the post section and I will answer them there as well. If you want you can also e-mail me at jwick@cableone.net .

Better Photos? Trying Again

2007-10-17T13:55:00.000-05:00

Ok, I wasn't happy with the way the colors turned out on my fall layout last night so I took it outside today and tried to get some in natural light. Well, as it turned out I'm lucky to get these two pictures because the wind kept blowing them off the table! URGH! With natural light comes other natural elements. Oh well, trying again anyway. Don't forget you can click on then to enlarge them.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Fall layout

2007-10-16T23:47:00.000-05:00

For those of you that know me, you'll know that Halloween is my least favorite time of year so coming up with a Halloween themed layout for workshop was a stretch for me. Don't worry...if you're signed up and don't like Halloween either we can make some very easy changes.

The primary set used for this layout is called "Autumn's Gifts" with a couple other stamps thrown in. The paper set is called "Expedition". We're going to be doing a really fun technique using water color pencils. I feel like such an artist when I use them (but I'm really not!). Another technique we'll be doing is masking (see pumpkins in front of the fence). That would make an easy tutorial which I'll think about putting on here...in my spare time LOL! Really, I'll work on that. Anyone know how I made the checked paper?

For this layout I used a pattern out of the new Imagine book called "In the Groove". It's a pattern that allows you to make a quick and simple layout or you can take it up a notch which is what I've tried to do here. Thanks to Stacy and her suggestions for what I had done earlier today I now like this layout!

Ok, if you're coming to this workshop it would be a great idea to bring a chocolate pad and while you're at it, you can throw in an Autumn Terracotta pad as well. I got all through with this one and realized that it mostly uses chocolate which will make for a wait to get stamp pads if we only have mine. If mine is all we have then we'll play nice and share :0)

It's late and tomorrow is another long day so goodnight and...

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

And We Have a Winner!

2007-10-13T20:21:00.000-05:00

Is it really already Saturday? I did select a winner on Wednesday but I'm just getting around to posting tonight. How sad is that? Thank you to all of you and your wonderful suggestions. My honey had the best one though I have to say... "How about I get the air fixed?" He had the fix-it guy come over and we're all cooled down again which is very helpful for my mental well being :0) So now we'll be good to go on the next workshop night (thank you Ann for offering...I would have taken you up on it!)

So, our winner is Amber Korn! Random.org picked #3 and so Amber, I can either mail your cards to you, you can stop by and pick them up or I can give them to you at the unit meeting in a couple of weeks. What works for you? E-mail me to let me know.

Speaking of unit meetings, I showed you lots of fun stuff from the last one but I didn't have a picture of Gwen's Halloween project until now as she so graciously e-mailed a picture to me. My camera was dying (note to self: don't forget the batteries!). So here is her cute little card using some plastic spiders. It's Bootiful! Thanks Gwen!

Now that it's cooler in the house I'm getting into the creating mood again so be on the lookout. Besides that I'd better get in gear because there's a scrapbook workshop coming up on Thursday!

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

I'm Going to a Beauty Pagent!

2007-10-08T14:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, well I won't be participating as a contestant. I'm heading to a college in Miami, OK where the contestants are having a pampering night and I'm providing one of the stations for them to visit. (Is that right Tammy H.?)

Stacy braved the heat at my house and came over this weekend to do the prep work for it. We made up enough packets to see 35 girls in a period of 2 1/2 hours so we'll see how we do! We might be doing stamping aerobics to get them all done.

For those of you keeping up and commenting on my heat situation I want to thank you for your encouragement. It rained today so the house is very bearable! Thank you Jesus! Don't forget you can still post your reason for me to be thankful for the heat until the 10th and then I'll be drawing for someone to receive 10 stamped cards :)

UPDATE: This was a girls night out for the homecoming queen candidates at NEO college in Miami, OK. There were 32 candidates each representing a different club at the school. So that means that between Stacy and I we helped them make 32 layouts! The girls were great and each layout was unique and beautiful. Good luck to all you girls this next weekend!

You are Close to My Heart,
Yvonne

I really want to stamp BUT...

2007-10-05T18:11:00.000-05:00

Our air conditioner needs recharging. It has a slow leak in it so my honey doesn't want to charge it up until next spring. So, in the meantime our house is very hot and humid probably close to 80 degrees. I want so badly to stamp, but it's too hot to even move! My stamp closet doesn't even have air that moves at all. The bad thing is that it makes me very crabby. We need a break in the weather soon or well, I don't know what. I'm even thinking that if the weather doesn't get cooler by the time workshops come around that I might have to cancel them or move them to someplace else. Anyone want to volunteer their house for an extra two punches on your card? What in the world did we do before air conditioning? I'm trying to think on the positive side so here's my Top 10 reasons to do without air conditioning.

Angie's curly hair is really cute!
I don't have to shave my legs as often as I do when I'm cold. Maybe I'm the only one, but cold air just negates a good shave for me.
I think I have a new weight loss program. We'll see when the weather cools off. I'm too hot to eat and I think I'm sweating it off.
I'm drinking more water than I have in a very long time.
It does cool down to liveable after about 9:00.
"Sorry honey, it's just too hot to run the oven. It's PBJ's again :0)"
I'm really considering that cute little younger looking haircut.
It's actually cooler outside so the kids actually will go out and play.
The house doesn't get as messed up because we're all just laying by the fans to get cool.
Going to Wal-Mart doesn't sound all that bad. At least they have air conditioning!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

p.s. Please post more reasons for me to look on the bright side. I will pick a random number with random.org and send the winner a stack of 10 stamped cards! Let's see, today is Friday so let's go through next Wednesday the 10th. Post away!

And the Winner is....(drumroll please)

2007-10-02T14:33:00.000-05:00

Stampmonkey! I had a list of everyone that commented, subscribed or submitted artwork (in order of appearance) and my honey picked a number between one and 160. He chose number 17. Here's Stampmonkey's comment: "I love the card -- I love fall, so this card is taking me there a few weeks early!And I think Joel is adorable with his hair the way it is. ;) I have a 21-YO son who used to look something like that several years back (he's got quite a receding hairline now so is shaving his head - boo hoo), and with the exception of the Japanese, they have the same interests! ;)"

So stampmonkey if you will contact me I will be sending out your new paper trimmer! Congratulations!

Gotta blog and run today. I wanted to even blog early because the evening promises to be pretty busy with soccer.

You are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne

Did You Miss Me?

2007-10-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

Well, it just didn't work out for me to post while I was away, mostly because my honey was worried about not being on a secure wireless connection and putting in my password which is what I'd have to do to post. Then at my friend's house we were so busy visiting with old friends that we didn't have time.

The wedding was beautiful and I was soooo excited to find out that the bride's colors were black, red and white since I had made her card in those colors. It was a blast hanging out with family and I especially loved it when both my boys (ages 3 and 18) went up to grandma and wanted to dance with her. It made for very warm memories. BUT, guess who left her camera in the motel room! Me! I'm hoping that others will share pictures with me :0)

So, here are the last three entries in celebration of National Scrapbook month (last month). The first is by Megan Sabo and it uses the Caprice papers. She used a flower from the Dimensional Elements to make the crumpled flower.

The middle picture is by Sheri Evans and she used a background stamp from the adorable backgrounds stamped in blush. She then embossed the letter from the Baroque Alphabet set. It's very elegant!

Third we have a layout by Amber Korn. She used the Expedition papers to create the cutest pumpkin patch layout. The background paper is embossed and sponged and looks like paneling. I love the creative clip over the picture. Amber will be teaching this layout for a class in the Joplin area.

Well, that's a wrap on our celebration for National Stamping Month. Of course I'll still be here posting (not quite as often!) so stay tuned.

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

This Took Some Serious Work!

2007-09-27T22:50:00.000-05:00

My friend Tammy Higgins brought over the following photos of a project that she and Amber Downs worked on for a co-worker that was getting married. What a beautiful gift! Check it out! Who wouldn't want to receive this! These are pages out of a completed book (top middle photo) that the couple can add their own photos to. The back page is the longest, and they stack with each page just a bit shorter. You'll want to click on each one to see the detail. These aren't even all of the pages! If I remember right Tammy said it took a couple of weeks to complete. I'm so thankful that she shared with us and I had yet another night off.

This last week I've had something big going on every single night so those that are sharing are truly blessing me! We are leaving town tomorrow morning to go to Jim's cousin's wedding and I'm hoping that I'll have internet access on the nights I'm away from home. I'm taking the laptop for sure! If you don't find me posting this weekend, you'll know what happened.

I do plan on doing the suggestions given to me a few posts back. Time has been a small constraint so look for them in the future. Also, I just wanted to remind you that we're nearing the end of the month and I'll be doing the drawing for the new paper trimmer. All you have to do is post a comment at this point! You can also e-mail an art share to me and it'll count for getting your name in the drawing even if I don't post it until next month. You've all been so kind in your encouragement to me throughout the month. I couldn't have done it without knowing that you were out there checking in with me.

You are Close To My Heart,
Yvonne

Another Beautiful Layout

2007-09-26T21:16:00.000-05:00

Tonight's layout is one done by Megan Sabo. She used the Caprice papers, hemp and a favorite alphabet set of mine called Precious. One of my favorite techniques is called distressing and she's got a great example of it on her photo mats You can click on the picture to enlarge it. Just between you and me...when I do that technique and show it to my honey (my best critic) he doesn't get it. To him it looks like I've used a ratty old piece of paper and he tries to "fix" it for me. It's perfect here on Megan's layout! Check out the gorgeous scenery of New Zealand! Megan said that it was very hard to come home. I can see why! Thanks for sharing with us and giving me another night off during this busy week!

You are Close to My Heart,

Yvonne

Simply Beautiful

2007-09-25T21:50:00.000-05:00

Tonight was a unit meeting. It's always refreshing to get together with fellow consultants who have great ideas. It's also great for me because they brought artwork and were so willing to share with me for my blog. You'll see some of it over the next couple of days. This is going to help me out because this week might be kinda' crazy as we're getting ready to be out of town this weekend.

So, I give you first off...Amber Korn's beautiful layout where she journaled through some defining moments in her life. She printed it off on vellum paper and very quickly added clear embossing powder to it. It's a great effect. Also, that's real stitching on her layout..something I've yet to get brave enough to try. The paper pack is called Life's Delights and it's sooo pretty and just really sets off this layout. The large letters are actually in 3-d and are a great touch. So, let's hear it for Amber! Thanks girl!

You Are Close To My Heart,

Yvonne