little houses.......

I have been thinking of ways to "wrap" gathering booking incentive gifts. After much thought, I remembered the cute little houses on the Winter Wonderland Cricut cartridge. I knew they would be perfect! A "house" for a home gathering. I have 2 done so far. I love them!!!! So cute! They are going to have special gifts in them for the wonderful hostesses who invite me and a few friends over for a CTMH gathering.

Emily and I are going to make a Christmas village for our dining room table. We are really looking forward to starting the project. I love that Emily likes to work on paper crafting projects with me. This is really great bonding time for the two of us.

I used the Around The block stamp set for the bricks and window boxes. The windows on the brown house are also stamped with a window stamp that is in the set.



When I went to the Scrapbook Nook in Ludington on Saturday, Vanessa had a new paper line for me to work with. I love the colors for boys and winter! This is the page I did of Tyler, still need to do a winter one this weekend. Going to spend the day scrapping Saturday in her store, so that is on the to do list.

Tyler is always making me laugh with his facial expressions and goofy things he does. I love it when I come home from work feeling cranky, and he turns my frown upside down.

I wanted to share a little organization this week. This is something I had done a couple months ago. I stapled a swatch of CTMH cardstock for each ink color to sponge wedges. This forms a little handle. I then put a little piece of Velcro on the back of each handle, and put some strips of Velcro on the empty side of the ink pad tower. This is the perfect place to stick all the ink sponges. I now have a sponge for each of the 60 colors, easy to reach and find. Never have to worry about having the correct sponge for the correct ink and will not have to rummage through a basket of sponges to find the right one. When a sponge wears out, just make a new one and stick it on. LOVE it!

Holiday Trinkets....................

A lot going on in my scrapbooking world right now. I have been working on goal setting. I have been setting goals for years with my scrapbooks. For example.... By the end of the month I want to have 30 pages completed. Often I fail these attempts because the goals I put upon myself far exceed the hours in the day. As I have been working on setting "obtainable" goals, a friend happened to tell me "work smarter, not harder". Suddenly, it all made sense. Do I really need to put all the planning into every page? Do all the pictures need to be scrapped? With this theory in mind. I went through a stack of pictures and picked out the ones that I knew I wanted to scrap. The ones that had a story that I want my kids to remember. I went back to the basics of why I started scrapbooking........to document the memories we create.

Now, I have a stack a small stack of pictures that are on the top of my to do list because they hold a special memory for me. Something I want Tyler and Emily to remember. This small stack seems much more "obtainable" than the 4000 pictures in photo boxes and the countless pictures on my computer. I know there is no way I will ever catch up and that is fine with me. Every page I create is one more memory in the albums that was not there yesterday.

Within my small stack of pictures were 2 pictures of Tyler with his PS3 that he bought the day after Christmas last year. The pictures are not the best, because Emily took them in the backseat of the car with the new camera she bought that day as well. I wanted to scrapbook these pictures because it was a crazy night for us. Tyler had saved his money for a month leading up to Christmas in hopes that he would get enough cash and gift cards for Christmas to purchase a PS3. He told everyone who asked that was all he wanted. He made it, all $371 dollars of it. He was so proud carrying his wallet full of money into Wal-Mart the day after Christmas, only to find out they were sold out. We had to go to 4 different stores to finally find one. I kept trying to reassure him we would find one, even if we had to wait for a few days. Luckily, we did find one. He was even prouder as he payed for it and carried it out of the store. This was his first "big" purchase.

Emily bought a camera with the money she had gotten for Christmas. The entire car ride home, she tried to figure out her camera, while he read his PS3 box. Tyler was her test subject. These were her pictures from the night.

I received the CTMH Mistletoe paper in the mail a few days ago, and knew these pictures from my little stack of pictures would be the next "memory" in the album.



I used the CTMH stamp set Holiday Trinkets (D1366) to stamp the ornaments and the pattern is the Column Composition layout in the Cherish idea book.



Along my journey as a scrapbooker, I have learned a lot of tricks to make things easier. One of my all time favorite things to do is outline. You can see above how I outlined the squares with a CTMH black legacy writer. This little step adds just a little dimension and helps to separate the layers of pattern paper. It is quick and simple. I also outlined the letters in the title for a little added pop. I outline something in nearly every page I do.

I also messed up on the journaling, which as Zane would tell you, I do this on nearly every page as well. Something is usually spelled wrong, or I forgot a word. I use to fret over it, now I just put a strip of white out, rewrite what I wanted to say and call it good. It really does not have to be perfect. I am not perfect, so pages don't have to be either.......

I have started a monthly CTMH newsletter, if you are interested in being added to my email list send me your email at angiehighland@myctmh.com

As always, my website to purchase CTMH products : www.angiehighland.myctmh.com

update.......

We have been so busy this summer that of course I have neglected the blog again. I have been creating quite a bit. I have decided I am not good at updating my blog, so am going to aim for weekly updates. Maybe I can handle this one.

Some recent creations.....
This one is the new Sassafrass line I worked with for The Scrapbook Nook DT work.... Love how this one turned out! The sweet little munchkins in the pictures is my great niece in Hawaii. We really wish they lived closer, but for now will have to watch her grow through pictures!


Trying to use up my stash, although that does not seem to be working. This one is some old papers from a scraproom kit. I think they are by Pink Paisley. I feel like this one needs something more. I will think on it a bit. Love these Pudgy baby rolls Elliana has going on!


This one I pulled out some old pictures from 2005! Woo Hoo! That is always a good feeling, making a dent in the stash pictures! Used Close To My Heart Products on this one.
Caboodle papers (X712B)
Treetop stamp set (C1368)
Confidential stamp set (D1347)
Boutique Borders stamp set (D1332)
Flipflaps for the photo flip. Love these! Great way to add extra photos to the page.
Clear buttons
Topiary, Sweet Leaf, and Crystal Blue ink.



This page is more stash using a kit from The Scraproom. Tyler is being silly of course!


This Layout is more scraproom stash! Sweet Ivy and Emily playing outside. She is so sweet. We just love her!


Two months ago, I signed up for a Close To My Heart Website. I really love being a CTMH consultant and sharing the joy of scrapbooking with others. I am working on adding artwork and such to the website. It is a fine line balancing my scrapbooking, CTMH, family, working, and household chores. But, I wouldn't change a thing! Love my life!

CTMH website if you would like to check it out or need anything.... angiehighland.myctmh.com
email if any questions.... angiehighland@myctmh.com

November CTMH SOTM

I finally broke out this months Stamp of The Month Set..... Around the Block. I will definitely be using this set allot. There are still a few more days left to get this set. You can get it at a discounted or even for Free!



My Creations from today using Jingle Level 2 paper packet and the SOTM


I am going to make 1 more taller candle and 1 more shorter candle, get a little tray from the dollar store and put them all in a cute basket for a Christmas gift. Your own little candle village. I just love how everything turned out!

Close up of the Card.... I colored things in with Crayola Colored Pencils, this was a first for me. I hope Tyler and Emily don't notice their pencils are missing :)


Close up of Candle.....
These are super fun and easy to make.
1. Trim white tissue paper the height of your white candle (bought mine at the dollar store).
2. Cut tissue paper long enough to wrap around your candle with about 1/2 " overhang.
3. Stamp your images on tissue paper, then color in with colored pencils however you choose.
4. Wrap tissue paper around candle. Needs to be smooth around candle.
5. Wrap wax paper around candle, grasping the ends with your hand by bunching it up in your fist.
6. Heat one side of candle with heat tool. You will be able to see the tissue paper melting into the candle.
7. Remove wax paper and continue to re wrap and heating until you have completed all around the candle.
Don't worry if you don't get every spot, you can touch up any areas without the wax paper if you have any areas that didn't melt good.



Close up of Writing Tablet.... (You can buy these in packs of 3 at the dollar store).


Inside of writing tablet..... Notice the cute little pocket.


My final project today was this adorable snowflake ornament. I used the new Cricut Cartridge I bought yesterday called When It's Cold Outside. You can't tell by the picture, but the silver is actually stickles. I can't wait to make some of the other patterns, especially the 3 D ones.


When I uploaded my pictures I remembered I had taken a couple pictures of Baby Ruby Over the weekend. Such a little chunky monkey :)





Back to work tomorrow..... Have a great day!

visit to Brenda's

The kids and I stayed the night with my sister Brenda and Connie last night. Of course we had a great time. Brenda's house is always so casual and comfortable. Ivy and Ruby are getting so big. Ivy is becoming quite the character, she has discovered the word NO and uses it proudly. If you ask her to sing or do something, she says NO in the cutest voice then waits for a response. She is saying allot of words now and putting them together in short sentences. She can sing the entire Alphabet, which is amazing for being 21 months old. Ruby is the sweetest little chunk, she is now smiling and cooing. She is now 3 months old. Before we know it, she'll be on the run as well. Then look out! 2 little munchkins running around.

My little sister Connie is leaving for Asia tomorrow. She will be gone 3 months this time. This is her second trip over there. Love that she has the opportunity to experience these adventures. She is so excited! It will take 25 hours to get there. I just cannot imagine sitting on a plane for that many hours..... BORING!

On a scrappy note..... While visiting Vanessa at The Scrapbook Nook in Ludington yesterday, I picked up the Cricut Snowflake Cartridge. I had some store credit for design work and only had to pay $8! I was so excited! I will be playing with it tomorrow while the kids are at school. I am a little worried that the paper will tear on some of the more intricate designs. I don't think you will be able to cut them real small. I am thinking 2-3 inches minimum.

While at my sisters, I did get a gathering booked for this Sunday up in Cadillac. So we will be heading there again this weekend. I am really enjoying sharing and helping others get started in scrapbooking and cardmaking! The girl Alisha that is hosting the gathering is really excited about getting into scrapbooking, she is an awesome person with 2 little ones. Now is the perfect time for her to get started!

No scrappy goodies to show today..... I should have some time tomorrow to create something!

vintage fun....

So Heather came over last night to play with her new CTMH products. I find her so inspiring, her style is totally different then mine. Love it! We were not very productive because we couldn't stop talking...... She totally surprised me with this awesome bag of goodies


I love how she alters things into something fantastic. Inside the bag was some items she has made. I can't wait to play with the tea stained fabric she gave me. She did some stamping on some last night and it is so vintage. Very fun!


We did work on these adorable little bags Heather had made. She had folded and stitched the little paper card bags to form a envelope. I didn't make much progress on mine, so I finished it up some more today.



Used allot of different products on here. I think it ended up a little busy, but that's me.... just keep going and going until there is no more space left to cover :) The presents / quote are from the CTMH October stamp of the month, the Santa is from the Happy Christmas set. The borders are from the Boutique Borders set. I used lots of stickles, chalk, and bling to color everything in. I forgot how much fun it is using chalk on stamped images.

The kids and I are heading to Cadillac today to visit the family. My little sister Connie is going to Asia for 3 months, so she is having a little going away party. Going to play some Texas Hold Em' Maybe I will win some cash, so I can buy some new scrappy goodies.

On our way, we need to look for a dress for Emily. The father daughter dance is coming up soon. I am so sad this is the last year she can go... It is such a special time for Zane and Emily to hang out together. I think Emily and her friends do all the dancing though, while Zane and the Dads hang out at the food table. LOL!

Yesterday was a great day for Emily at school. She received 2 awards..... 1 for High Honor Roll which means all A's and 1 for Top Student in the class. I am so proud of her and she is so proud of herself, which is awesome!

Well off for our eventful day!

Using up some scraps....

I was looking through my stash and found some new inspiration.... Normally I always use cardstock for my page base. Over the weekend I decided to use patterned paper. When I pulled out this piece I knew it was perfect for Emilys Jazz class recital picture. The stars are chipboard with the pixie stix glitter on them. To adhere the glitter I used CTMH liquid glass. This was my first time using the liguid glass but can already tell it will be a new staple in my tool box. Love it! The glitter is staying on perfectly!



The next page I did over the weekend was from Tylers first Christmas band concert. The border at the top is one of the Bazzill basics borders. I used CTMH Hemp to "hang" the ornaments from the border. The ornaments were stamped with the CTMH Holiday Trinkets stamp set using the second generation stamping technique, I then covered them spiced them up a bit with some stickles.



My last page from the weekend was from basketball 2007. The patterned paper is from American crafts Junior line. This line is great for sport pictures, especially since our colors are Red / White. The photo corners are from the CTMH stamp set Delightful things, letters CTMH Posterboard. Very versatile letters, the stitching is actually stamped with another stamp. You can do so many things with these letters.



I have been really trying to catch up on Tyler and Emily's sport / school albums. Normally I jump from one thing to another, whatever mood I am in. Since Tyler will be starting high school next year I am trying to put more effort into these albums so I am not frantically throwing them together their senior year.

Tomorrow night my friend Heather is coming over for a "play date".... I am super excited. She is new to CTMH products, and has a very unique style. I really think we will learn alot from one another. She has a very vintage / shabby chic style. I can't wait to learn some new techniques together. I should have some more scrappy goodness to share soon!

If you see any CTMH products you would like more information on, let me know! Novemeber is almost over, but there is still time to catch the Stampaganza special. Buy 2 stamp sets, get 1 free up to $22.95. Awesome deal and boy does my checkbook reflect it. lol!