Oh, no! A scrapbook page!

I am going to let you all in on a little secret...  I am a really slow scrapbooker.  And by slow, I mean go-to-a-weekend-crop-and-maybe-get-three-or-four-layouts-done kind of slow.  You know what I'm talking about.  I mean, you have to pick the pictures.  Print the pictures.  Decide on paper.  Decide on a layout (although I will say, CTMH's "How-To" books make this step go way faster!).  Reprint pictures to fit the spaces on your layouts.  :-)  Decide on embellishments.  Cut the papers. Adhere the papers.  Adhere the pictures.  Add the embellishments.  Come up with cute title.  Journal.  Go back to the layout months (or even years!) later to complete the journaling.  Oy.  So many choices!  :-)  Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't enjoy scrapbooking, it just takes me a really long time to decide what I want to do on a page.  I mean, a REALLY long time.  I'm not good with decisions.  :-)  Lucky for me, it's the PROCESS that I enjoy.  The colors.  The textures.  The design principles.  Love it!  The end result of a completed scrapbook page is simply icing on the cake for me. 

So, when I found out that the challenge this week at H2H was a layout WITH JOURNALING, I must admit I panicked just a tiny bit.  I mean, we only have a limited time to get our projects done, and posted for you, after all.  What was I to do??  And then it hit me...STUDIO J (it's in all caps so you can hear me yelling this brilliant idea out loud).  Studio J is Close To My Heart's absolutely incredible online digital scrapbooking program.  It took me all of about 45 minutes to complete this layout.  Uploaded the pictures, decided on what paper I wanted to use, chose a layout design, and customized to my little heart's desire.  Placed in shopping cart, hit "submit", and Ta-Da!  Completed layout in less than and hour!!  So fast and so simple.  I love it!  Click on the picture to see the layout in more detail.

So why don't you give it a try? It doesn't cost a single penny to play around and try it out.  Simply create a free account, upload some pictures, and give it a whirl!  Click this link ----> here  to go directly to my website to start.  If you like what you see, let me know, and I'll fill you in on how you can purchase the layouts you create. 

Whether you create layout pages traditionally, or digitally ( or a combination of both!), be sure to link up at the H2H Challenges blog for your chance to win some great prizes this month!  And thanks for stopping by!

H2H Challenges...a sketch!

This week over at Heart2Heart Challenges, we were challenged to create a project based on this sketch:

This challenge was perfect timing....my fabulous upline, Traci Pasqualone, won the prestigious Rising Star Award with CTMH this year (YAY!!!!!!!), and I couldn't be prouder of her!  I wanted to make a card to congratulate her, so I decided to use this sketch as my starting point.  I followed the sketch pretty closely, and ended up with this:

Now, this may not look like a CTMH card, but it is....I made it with all -new product from the Fall/Winter Idea Book.  Our very generous company gave Convention attendees a ton of new product, and I couldn't wait to bust in to it and create something.  This was the perfect opportunity! The papers are from the Roxie collection.  And here are some close-ups of some new items:

You know how I love my bling!  CTMH has introduced a new Bling Assortment.  This includes two sizes of bling buttons, as well as some really cool stick pins (see next picture).  Awesome!

These stamped images are made with a new set called Blue Ribbon.  See the scalloped circle, and the star at the top....they coordinate with the new Art Philosophy Cricut caridge!  Woot woot!  And you can see the little stick pin from the Bling Assortment up at the top.....

One of the best announcements at Convention was the introduction of "Zip Strips".  These little strips of paper are on the edge of the 12x12 patterned paper, and are meant to be used as decoration.  One side identifies the paper pack, the other side is decorative.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am to get the little "CTMH" logo off the actual patterned paper!!  There are only so many creative ways you can cover that little guy up!  :-)  "You're My Inspiration" is from one of the papers in the new Roxie collection.  I simply cut off the words, and matted it to a piece of black cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what you create this week!  Make sure you link it up over at h2hchallenges.blogspot.com for a chance to win some awesome give-aways this month.  :-)