April SOTM Blog Hop

It is April already!!  Seriously??? There is a saying that I remember from my childhood..... "April Showers Bring May Flowers"  BUT it has been raining like crazy here in Florida the entire month of March!  So I am looking forward to some pleasant spring weather!

Welcome to the April SOTM Blog Hop.  This month we are featuring, S1404 Balloon Talk.  If you have been hopping with everyone else, then you have arrived from Pam J's blog here. We have 54 consultants participating in this month's blog hop!  If you get lost, the hop is one big circle and you can find the entire list on Melinda's site here.

This stamp set is chock full of conversation bits and pieces .....

Here is the artwork that corp has for us as inspiration!

I had my mini-book workshop last week and I always try to use the next month's stamp set as inspiration.  It is always the last Friday of the month and so it is a perfect segue into the next SOTM set!

This mini-book was inspired by Monica's baby book video but I mixed it up alittle bit and did not add all of the baby embellishments.  I used White Daisy cardstock as the base and then embellished it with cardstock and B & T paper to coordinate with the colors I used.

Cover of the book...

Second and third pages.....

Fourth page.....

Just a few glimpses of the book for now...  Time to add photos, more phrases and some ribbon for the binder rings!

Supplies:

X7183 Lollydoodle paper pack

S1404 Balloon Art

B1450 Owls

C1584 Feathers

WOTG Lollydoodle stamp set

Z1934 Flamingo Dots

Z1906 CTMH Artbooking cartridge - pg. 50 and 51

Colors- Slate, Whisper, Blush, Cotton Candy, Pear, Sorbet and Lagoon

Now it is off to Melinda's blog here  to check out terrific card!

"Emboss It" Blog Hop

Welcome!  Over 25 consultants who participate in the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop are also participating in the "Emboss It" Blog Hop.  If you get lost along the way, just click on Melinda's link here.

If you have been hopping with us, then you have hopped from Michelle's blog here and you have been inspired to try her technique.

If you are confused in how to use our NEW Embossing folders, then watch this video below!  Jill does an amazing job in explaining the grain of our paper  ( who knew?) and how to emboss with our folders.

         

Here is my sample of the "grain" of paper ( I knew there was grain in fabric but I had no idea there was a grain to paper!)

Did you notice that my paper sample actually tore apart?...

Here is a picture of the folders that we are currently offering!

I decided since it IS the first day of Spring ( sorry some of you still haven't experienced that yet...), that I am celebrating this event!  For me, the indoor house projects are completed ( well.....almost) and it is time to move outdoors!

I rescued these flowers from the local K-Mart...perfect flowers for a Florida spring! As I was browsing the store, all of the Easter decorations reminded me of spring as well....so here is my embossed Easter card front!

I stamped the images first and then embossed the layer.  Here are a few hints to help you out...

Here is the inside of the card

Supplies:
Z1924 Dots Embossing folder
C1561 One-Way Borders
B1446 Some Bonny Hostess Rewards stamp set
Sweetleaf, Buttercup and White Daisy cardstock
Blush, Sky, Sweet Leaf and Buttercup Inks
Z1732 Color-Ready Seam Binding- retired
Assorted Copic markers

The CCR file for this design is here... 
Please email me if you have any problems...

Here is another card using scraps from a Chantilly workshop from last year!  I glued them onto a card base and then embossed the design.  I added the dimensional images after the embossing...DO NOT throw away your scraps!   ..............yeah....I know....

Now it is time to hop on over to the "Bling" Queen a.k.a. as Melinda's blog here.http://www.ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/2014/03/join-me-in-close-to-my-heart-emboss-it.html and she what she has to offer!

Heart 2 Heart Scrapbooking Challenge

The challenge this month is to use your Cricut machine...  well this challenge was designed just for me, I think!  I recently participated in Scraporium's crop  and can I tell you, it was FAB-u-lous!

The theme was a 1950's diner and I knew I had the perfect skirt for this event.

Ginny and I love to play 'dress up"! ...... so we were all dressed up for this event. I always look forward to what Monica and Frances are wearing and my great friend Laurie joined our group!

I designed this layout using the Cricut Craft Room and the 3 cartridges by Close to My Heart....Art Philosophy, Artiste and Artbooking.  There are a few neat features to this layout including creating paper strips with washi tape.

Here are the details to this layout:
Make It from the Heart, Volume 2...pattern #5
Lagoon, Black, White Daisy cardstock
B&T Lollydoodle
D1559 Geometric Backgrounds and black ink
Silver Glitter paper
Pink Polka Dot Washi Tape- retired
White Gel pen

If you would like to download the CCR file, you can find it here..  There are a few other goodies included for your 50s pictures!.

Enjoy!

10 Tips for Better Blog Photos

I ran across this blog post while hopping through some blogs and I thought what a great post this would make!



Just click on the link here  to check it out.  The suggestions are for sewing projects but you can certainly apply the information to any type of pictures that you would like to post.

Sometimes my pictures turn out fabulous and sometimes - not so much...  I do most of my editing in Photoshop Elements 12 but PicMonkey is a free site that is very user friendly!



Check it out here...  Of course there are many other ideas and sites to help you out but I thought I would get you started with this post.

Enjoy!