Universal Sign Language

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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