Squeaky's Studio

Every day is cause for celebration! September marks the official end of the golden days of summer and the beginning of autumn, with little golden treasures of its own.  Whether it’s enjoying the turning of the leaves or the crisp fall breezes, autumn seems to bring with it countless opportunities for relishing the everyday moments that make life wonderful. This year, the National Stamping Month stamp set gives you the images you need to do just that. The aptly named It’s Your Day stamp set is a  double  set of D-size stamp sets—two sets in one envelope—that helps you commemorate those simple, everyday moments. It includes 48 images, consisting of phrases, borders, and more. You’ll also be delighted to know that many of the images coordinate perfectly with our new Cricut ®  Artiste cartridge for even easier stamping, cutting, and layering! At the start of a season that marks the beginning of school, holiday celebrations, and family time, the It’s Your Day stamp set is

Are you ready for some BIG fun?!? It's  Day 1  of the  Big Idea Festival ! We invite you to  login  and view today's challenge, along with some BIG news! Click here to see her response! www.bigpictureclasses.com Copyright 2012 Big Picture Classes. All Rights Reserved.

CTMH New Home Decor Workshop on the Go Kits Check out some of Close to my Heart’s new Home Decor Workshop on the Go Kits that will be available August 1st. 

Tresa Black is such a talented artist. She always amazes me.  Check out her blog post about amazing new products  just introduced at Convention in Dallas. Click Here for the full Blog post.

Retiring Colors… Get ‘em before they’re gone! "Colors are like friends. There are ones that we always turn to when we’re happy, and ones that are best for quiet times. Some stick around for years and years, we can’t imagine life without them. Others come into our lives for a brief time and then exit when when our interests change. It’s time to say goodbye to some old friends, and make way for some new ones." Tresa Black Close to My Heart is updating our exclusive color palette, and you'll  love  the new line up of 40 unique hues, plus 2 shades of white. The new color palette will be released on Aug. 1, 2012. Don’t Miss Out!  If you’re not ready to say bye-bye to the 24 retiring colors, you’ll need to act quickly to stock up on cardstock, stamp pads and re-inkers. These colors may disappear very, very fast. Don’t wait, shop now!  Click here  to go directly to my shopping website.                                

CTMH New Product Highlights! Of course the most exciting new product is our  Artiste Cricut Collection ! Just like the Art Philosophy, the  Artiste collection  ALSO comes with 3 exclusive D-size stamps and 3 sets of Dimensional Elements (Awards, Quotes and Album Pages).  The Artiste cartridge has over 700 images and features themed projects.   Cutting and assembling the numerous 3-D items is a snap using the project reference chart and separate, step-by-step assembly booklet!  I got the privilege to use this cartridge as I was preparing for teaching at Extravaganza and I will tell you..... It is a MUST have for everyone that loves to use their cricut!! We have  62 NEW stamps sets !  15 of these coordinate with the Artiste collection, and we have 10 new stamps for the Art Philosophy cartridge!   We also have  6 new colors !  Five of our Neutral colors have been updated with the trends and we've added a beautiful RUBY color!  We replaced our old markers with some F

I had almost as much fun making this Studio J layout as I did on the adventure...well, almost.

Sketch 6-27-12 The Journaling My Layout Here is the sketch for this week from Let's Scrap and my layout. When I use paper that has a "busy"pattern and bright colors I like to balance the elements with white.

 I posted this sketch on June 5 saying,  Let's see if I scan get this done by midnight.    Well, I didn't and this is where it sat for a bit.  I did complete it, but I struggled with the embellishments and journaling for a while. The color combination comes from the hanging balloons in the photos which are the signature colors of the nursery where the photos were taken.

During July, get a free paper packet and coordinating accessory with a qualifying online purchase.   Place an order of $75 or more on my   website   in July and we’ll send you a popular paper packet and coordinating accessory—a Perfect Pair—for free! Different Perfect Pairs are available on different dates throughout the month so you’ll want to place more than one qualifying order to snatch several Perfect pairs. Plus, with your Perfect Pair order, you will also qualify to get the July Stamp of the Month for only $5! Order Dates Perfect Pair Retail Value July 1–5 Mischief Paper Packet (X7144B) and Midnight Felt Shapes (Z1462) $15.90 July 6–10 Dreamin’ Paper Packet (X7142B) and Harvest Charms (Z1633) $14.90 July 11–15 Fanfare Paper Packet (X7138B) and Fanfare Level 2 Assortment (Z1400) $17.90 July 16–20 Lucky Paper Packet (X7137B) and Lucky My Stickease ® Assortment (X7137C) $17.90 July 21–25 Mayberry Paper Packet (X7136B) and Mayberry My Stickease ®  Assortment (X7136C) $

This will be the front and back pages of her book. Using the same kit for all layouts adds unity to the book. I used the Stella kit for all of the layouts. It's amazing how many different effects you can get from one kit!

Let's Scrap Challenge . Let's see if I can do this before the Midnight deadline if I start now!

Click here to see Artwork ideas for Life Is Tweet Stamp of the Month

Free Stamps All Month Long! I am so excited to announce that Close to my Heart  is repeating their most popular promotion ever — Stampaganza!  During the month of June you can get a FREE* stamp set for every two that you purchase.  Stamp sets that count toward the qualifying purchase and available for free include full-priced A, B, C, D, and E-sized stamp sets only. The following do not count as a qualifying purchase and are not available as a free set: customizable (K-size), Workshops on the Go, Cricut collection, and Stamp of the Month (full-priced or discounted). So... If you purchase 2 stamp sets, you can get a 3rd for FREE! Purchase 4 stamps sets and get TWO additional sets for FREE! Purchase 6 sets and get THREE additional sets for FREE! And so on, and so on... *Ü*

Starting Tomorrow It is STAMPAGANZA time!   June 1st through June 30th each time you buy 2 CTMH stamp sets you'll get 1 FREE!   Any size stamp set A - E qualify!!!   No limit to the amount of FREE stamp sets you can receive! (Just remember that the least expensive stamp set on your order is the one you'll get for free!) And don't forget about the adorable June Stamp Of the Month! It can be yours for just $5 with a $50 order or you can purchase it for just $17.95!   This is Close To My Heart's best deal of the year and it only lasts for 30 days!!      

Another Let's Scrap sketch weekly challenge finished. I posted about this event on Squeak Peek   shortly after it happened. I knew it deserved a place in my scrapbook and when I saw  Elizna Parsons's layout  these were the photos I wanted to use with this week's sketch. I'm really enjoying these challenges. The layouts come together slowly for me, usually evolving over several days and finishing just in time for the deadline.   Can't wait for the next sketch!

So inspired by the Shepherd's Harvest Festival this weekend. Such color, and talent and animals.  Enjoyed chatting with Karen Lohn, author of Peace Fibres.  Discovered that I had left my wallet at home when I wanted to buy her book. I guess that kept me out of trouble. I was struck by how deeply art touches people's lives. Here are a few images to enjoy.

This week's sketch at Let's Scrap.  Why don't you play along? Visit Let's Scrap to learn how.  Don't forget to share.

Today I felt like . . .Yellow! To see my other choices visit Squeak Peek

These are the final steps in creating my layout:   Stamp the title then cut it out (I love the cutting part)   Move the dog again   Lay everything out I inked the edges of the papers. I decided to ink the edges of the photos because there was not a lot of contrast between the photos and the background. Laid everything out again and decided to change the left part of the title because  I just didn't like it and I changed the color of one of the pinwheels for better balance. You can see I cut some clouds out from my patterned paper and used foam tape to pop them up. This is an easy and inexpensive way to make your own embellishments that coordinate with your project.  A few more details and now it is complete.  Happy National Scrapbook Day!

Watching Stacy Julian live at Doodlebug for Big Picture Classes NSD event.  She just introduced a CTMH Consultant and talked about how she got started in this business through Close To My Heart! Stacy Rocks!

Here's the journaling for my layout - did you guess the theme? Laughing Gulls This scenario reminded me of   a marriage. The partner returning home, Talking over the days events, and obviously …             Having a laugh! In the movie” The Matchmaker”,  Dermot (one of the Matchmakers) talks about what it takes to make a good match.  He uses his “Relationship Pie” visual to explain.     As you can see, the largest piece of the pie and therefore the most important part of a successful match is   ...  Having a laugh!

Troy - not really helping Pinwheels

Yes! I am in my Studio Scrapping. It's National Scrapbooking Day! This is what I am working on right now... Can you guess the topic of this layout? Check back later.  I'll bet you'll be Surprised. 

National Scrapbooking Day !! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! It's National Scrapbooking Day  Let's celebrate!!    Take advantage of Close To My Heart's © Special offers Today (May 5th) and Tomorrow (May 6th) join my    National Scrapbooking Day Sale party   Let's celebrate our families, friends, and special memories not only by scrapbooking them with traditional and digital layouts but also . . .  get some Special products as well!!    Place an on-line order of $50 and look what you can get...   Dotty For You paper pack And the  May Stamp of the Month !   So with a $50 purchase you can get  a 24 piece exclusive paper pack for only $5 (valued at $19.95)  plus the Stamp of the Month for only $5 (valued at $17.95)!  Don't know where to start...Call me 360-480-0119 I'm in my Studio today participating in  Big Picture Scrapbooking's On-line Crop   What are you doing to celebrate this fabulous day?   Click here t

This layout was created using my Stella Workshop on The Go Kit .  I love the Bohemian Assortment that come with the kit. Everything I needed except the  Antiqued Copper Designer Brads , the Field Trip Alphabet stamp set, the Pals sentiment (which you can create with any small alphabet),Scalloped punch, inks and adhesive came from the kit. The Sketch for this layout is from Let's Scrap .