Blog Giveaway over at Sunny Skye Creations Blog by Nicole Eccles

New Year's Eve is the deadline for the giveaway.  Check out Nicole's post here for your chance to win!

Christmas Gift for my Sister

This year my sister and I decided to have a hand-made Christmas for each other. When we were younger, and had too much disposable income, I used to buy my sister a designer Bob Mackie Barbie each year for Christmas. So my thought was to design my own "fancy" Barbie, using paper of course, for her hand-made gift. She eventually became a Barbie Angel Tree Top.

Her skirt was created using paper from CTMH's Mistletoe Collection. I scored the top half of the width of several 12" strips of paper every 1/4". Then created a pleated fold, over and over, adding length until each ring was wide enough. The top tier is 2", then 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", and finally 4". I sewed each ring of pleates onto a piece of cardstock, which was cut into a circle and adhered into a cone shape.

Barbie's bodice was created by wrapping CTMH Colonial White Lace Ribbon around her body.

The belt is a piece of CTMH Cranberry Grosgrain Ribbon topped off with a found button placed in the center of a paper rose (CTMH Cranberry Cardstock). The paper rose was created by cutting a 2" circle into a spiral (click here for Tracey Mason's fabulous tutorial on this paper rose technique), distressing 1 edge, and rolling it around the button.

Barbie's halo was created using another piece of lace ribbon. Then I created a baker's dozen spiral roses, each from a 1" circle and adhered them to the ribbon using Liquid Glass.

Her wings were cut from 8 pieces of CTMH Colonial White Cardstock using the Cricut Expression and the Accent Essentials cartridge. I used 4 different styles of the same image, cut twice (one flipped), at 11". Then layered them together on each side. And used 2 fleur de lis, cut at 5", adhered together to create a backbone to adhere the wings together. To attach the wings to Barbie, I placed a dozen eyelets down the center "bone" of the wings. Then I wrapped them onto the Barbie using the same lace ribbon, like a corset. After the wings were attached, I took the smaller inside pieces from the wings and positioned them over the eyelets to cover them up. Once everything was done, I went over the front of the wings with Liquid Glass to adhere cranberry colored mini glass beads (seed beads) to decorate the wings.

The back of the Barbie:

Have a very Merry Christmas!
Jen Lee

What a Strange Way to Save the World

Mary Did You Know?

Ladies Day Out Crop to Benefit Operation Smile - Feb 19

Date: Saturday, February 19
Time: 10:00 am to 10:00 pm
Place: The Ponds, 2881 229th Ave NW, Saint Francis, MN
Cost: $25 includes lunch, dinner, coffee & soda, make & take, hourly prizes, and more!
RSVP: e-mail jenlee@myctmh.com

You are invited to come share in the fun! Bring your projects to work on, adhesives, and basic tools. My How To Books, computer/printer, Cricut, Big Shot, stamps, and other tools will be available for your use. It will be an open crop format to benefit Operation Smile. A FREE make and take will be available for you to create as well. Please RSVP to reserve space for you and a friend today. Hope to see you there!

Oh The Weather Outside is ... Delightful!

Sam and Lucy each had a friend for an overnight last night. Today we woke up to tons of snow outside, and it hasn't stopped falling. Darrin used the snowblower to start building a pile in the yard, tomorrow we'll begin the dig-out for the snow-fort. The kids are so excited! Today they ran around in the beautiful light fluffy snow, made snow angels and had snowball fights. It was a blast!

Let's get outside and play! It has been years since we have had so much snow. This is what I remember of December from when I was a kid. Snow Much Fun!

Watch next week for my layout of these snowy photos. My next waterfall layout class at Memories and More will use Bo Bunny's Midnight Frost collection and will be offered January 12.

Happy SNOW!!!

Jen

1st Operation Smile Fundraiser and Ladies Day Out Crop at The Ponds in Saint Francis, MN

Saturday, Dec 4, was my 1st Operation Smile Fundraiser and Ladies Day Out Crop at The Ponds in Saint Francis.  We had 15 in attendance and it was a great time!

 We cropped from 10 to 10, some came and went, but others stayed until the bitter end.

There was wonderful food catered by The Ponds.  We had chicken sandwiches and pasta salad for lunch and a taco bar for dinner - complete with taco salad shells.  Then a brownie to top it all off later in the evening!

I had my little "store" set up so croppers could purchase adhesive and cardstock at will.  As well as wonderful Close To My Heart papers, stamps and other goodies.

Everyone received a 2-page layout make and take.  Each kit was made of a little different papers, but they were all cut to make the same layout.  Here are some of the results:

We had a wonderful time.  Many smiles, laughs, and giggles were heard throughout the day.

There were prize drawings every hour.

 Some of the prizes were hand made by me.

Other prizes were donated by Leeann, pictured below on the right, who is a Pampered Chef consultant.  She was very generous and also donated 10% of her Pampered Chef sales to Operation Smile.  Thank you Leann!

A great time was had by all, and to top it all off, we raised $100 for Operation Smile!  Thank you for your generosity Ladies!

We had such a great time, we will do it again on February 19.  Hope you can join us.  Please email me for more information.

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Ladies Day Out Crop to Benefit Operation Smile

Date: Saturday, December 4
Time: 10:00 am to 10:00 pm
Place: The Ponds, 2881 229th Ave NW, Saint Francis, MN
Cost:  $25 includes lunch, dinner, coffee & soda, make & take, hourly prizes, and more!

RSVP: call 763-355-8430 or e-mail jenlee@myctmh.com

You are invited to come share in the fun! Bring your projects to work on, adhesives, and basic tools. My How To Books, computer/printer, Cricut, Big Shot, stamps, and other tools will be available for your use. It will be an open crop format to benefit Operation Smile. A FREE make and take will be available for you to create as well. Please RSVP to reserve space for you and a friend today. Hope to see you there!

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Wall Flower

This weekend I started playing with a couple of ideas that inspired me in July at the Close To My Heart convention in Washington DC.

The first idea was a door decoration that they had on the stage:

The second idea was the fabulous paper roses that Tracey Mason showed us at Extravaganza:

Using a Cherry-O Level 2 Paper Packet, I started rolling paper squares to see what size to make them.  The outer ring of my flower is 6x6 squares, the inner ring is 5x5 squares.  Turn the square so it is a diamond shape.  Keeping the top and bottom points lined up, roll the paper into a cone shape.  I added 2 glue dots to each square, one to the right corner, the other half-way between the right and bottom corner, prior to rolling to keep each cone together.  Once I had the outer ring laid out, I used mini glue dots to adhere the sides of each cone together.  Then I laid out the inner ring cones right on top of the outer ring.  Once I was happy with the layout, I used liquid glass to adhere it all together.  Once the rings were glued together, I used liquid glass to adhere a 12x12 piece of chipboard to the back to give it more stability.  

The paper rose in the center is cut out of a 12x12 piece of paper (see Tracey Mason's instructional video).  The paper rose wasn't quite big enough for the center of my flower, so I added 5 circles in graduating sizes.  I rolled the outer edges of them to match the paper rose.  Then I used liquid glass to hold it all together.

The finished result is about 20" in diameter, and here it is:

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Fall in love with online scrapbooking!

Close To My Heart's online design software, Studio J, helps you create two-page layouts faster, simpler, and easier - saving you time and money!

You'll love your Studio J layouts, perfect for your cherished album.

Here's why:

• Every layout is custom printed using the highest quality photo processing paper and technology. Your layouts will last a lifetime!
• Choose from dozens of themed kits to suit any event or occasion, with coordinating embellishments, stickers, and fonts to customize your look.
• Select just the right pattern, accommodating from two to 15 photos per layout - great versatility.
• The software is free! Create an account to start designing complete layouts in just minutes.

Try Studio J today and fall in love! Visit my website to get started.

Altered File Folder Album Class - Memories and More Dec 8 & 13, 2010 6 pm

We will create an 8x10 mini album perfect for holiday gifting using My Mind's Eye Lush Blue papers.  The "Blue Finch" paper on the cover is flocked. Showcase your favorite photos from each month of the year, fill it up with your bucket list or other favorite things.

Tool & Supply List: bone folder, scissors, and a tape runner.  Cost $20. Contact Memories and More to register for the class at 651-464-3424.

If you are unable to make the class on either of the scheduled dates, I will put the book together for you and you can pick it up any time after the class.  You must sign up and pay for the class in advance for this option.

My 1st Memories and More Class Offering!

You guessed it, my 1st class will be a waterfall page layout!  It will be offered December 1st at 6 pm at Memories and More in Forest Lake, MN for $25.  We'll use Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses papers to create this fantastic layout inspired by Jeanette Lynton's brand new how to book Magic mixed with a waterfall mini album:

 Pull the tab at right and the pages flip open while a fun hidden picture is revealed.

This layout is versatile; you can change the title and use it for an event other than Christmas. Papers will be pre-cut.

Please bring your basic class kit with 12" paper trimmer with groove and a bone folder or a 12” scoring tool, scissors, liquid adhesive, and a tape runner. Please also bring your page protectors and a craft knife if you would like assistance altering them to allow for the waterfall to open.  If you would like to bring your photos, suggested sizes are:  (2) 7x9 horizontal and (11) 6x4 vertical.  Yes, it really holds 13 photos!

Unable to make the class on the scheduled date? I will put the layout together for you and you can pick it up any time after the class.  You must sign up and pay for the class in advance.

There are a limited number of spaces for this class, and it is expected to fill quickly, please call or stop by to reserve your class space today!  Contact Memories and More to register at 651-464-3424.

On a personal note:  These photos were taken Christmas 2009 at my parent's home.  The kids were all spoiled beyond repair and then we come back home to crash for the night.  We have so much to be thankful for!  My Mom made a beautiful quilt for my darling daughter Lucy.  The two big pictures are just after Lucy opened the wonderful gift.  My Mom is AMAZING!  This was her first attempt at creating a quilt, and it is a queen size, created in under 2 month's, along with shams, a bed skirt, a warm window, and painting Lucy's room to match.  Thanks Mom!