Stick It In a Pocket - Blog Hops with Heart

Welcome to the Blog Hops with Heart May Blog Hop. It's a pleasure to be able to join these talented and creative ladies. I can't wait to see what they've all made with a pocket theme. You may have just jumped in on this blog or you're coming from Becca Whitham's blog. In either case please click the link at the bottom of each blog until you complete the full circle.

Every month there's a theme that each blogger can interpret any way she wants to. You're bound to see a whole lot of interesting ideas here. I just love all of the creativity.

My contribution is a basic pocket card. You can use it for a pocket scrapbook layout or put it on a card front. Carry it in your purse and every time you're digging for something you'll pull it out. That sort of thing is bound to make you happy when you're feeling a wee bit frustrated.

Here's how I made the pocket card (times 20).

I cut THESE ...

AND THESE ...

... using my Cricut.

In order to keep it simple I painted AND stamped right on the Cricut mats before I removed the sentiment pieces. That worked REALLY well. I didn't have to figure out how to keep everything from touching every other everything. 20 individual pieces in my world is a guaranteed mess.

Once these were all dry it was just a matter of adhesive and a whole lot of glittery doodads. Once they were done ...

I wouldn't really be able to pick a favorite BUT just for the sake of a close up ...

Do you wonder why I made so many???

Because I belong to the most awesome Close To My Heart team (the Rose Blossoms) We had a pocket card swap at our last meeting. I received the most beautiful stack of creations. I wish I could show you every single one but this post would last FOREVER!! I'm sure you're ready to hop once you see a quick look at my collection all tucked away in pockets for now.

Now you get to see what Stephanie Davis made for you. Just click on her name to move right along.

Live Your Day - Rose Blossoms Blog Hop

Welcome to the mid-month blog hop with the Rose Blossoms. Maybe you came here from Marg's creative and lovely blog OR you're just getting started. Whatever the case make sure to keep moving forward by clicking the link at the end of this post.

Close To My Heart specials are always a must. WHY? Because most of the time these are things that you can only get during the month they're offered and then boom, they're no longer available.

This month there's a great set of PML (Picture My Life) cards that coordinate with the Every Day planner. The good news is that the planner isn't necessary at all to enjoy these. My plan was to scrapbook with these cards because, well I have goals people!! They're scrapbooking goals.

I knew I could make a layout fast with PML cards, but what I didn't know is how much I would love the result. I mean ... L.O.V.E.

Why do I love this? Because another awesome story in the life of our family is down on 12x12 scrapbook paper. That's what I'm aiming toward, meaningful finished layouts. The journalling on this layout isn't written yet because for some reason I don't like to post that for the world to see. BUT here's the story ...

We dropped off our baby at college this year. It was supposed to be so sad for me. At least that was what I prepared for. THEN during the first week photos started showing up on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and text messages that made me oh so happy. I could not shed a single tear as my little girl got involved in anything and everything offered during the freshman welcome week. It made me want to go to college again. (this was before they actually went to class). You have to know that my sweet Olivia is pretty quiet. I wasn't sure how the social side of college was going to go because she's very happy to be all by herself. I had encouraged her to try new things and get to know people but until the opportunity arises there's no way of knowing whether she was listening.

Check out the picture at the top of this page ... it's the happiest selfie I've ever seen.

Here's the whole thing together.

Yes I did water color on this layout. I'm not kidding when I say I'm obsessed with my new paint set. This time I tried my hand at mixing colors. There are an infinite number of colors you can come up with. AND you can rarely make the exact same shade twice so make enough for what you want to do.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my blog today. Now you get to see something extra special with Kim Hill at Violets and Sunshine. I don't know what she made but I know it will be awesome.

Artfully Sent Blog Hop

Thank You for stopping to see the Artfully Sent Blog Hop by the Rose Blossoms. This is a fun hop with a handful of bloggers that are sure to give you some creative inspiration. You have either started here or come from Tweetscraps with Morgan Vogt. Make sure you go around the whole circle!!

Our goal is to make something for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas using the latest CTMH Cricut cartridge. I made one card for each. AND in order to make sure that I wouldn't duplicate another one of the projects in this hop I steered away from the actual keys that are specifically for those things.

I used what I like to call the "Sock Monkey" key!! It's also known as "F". The main thing that this key is used for is baby cards BUT there are no rules when it comes to creativity.

 Here's a 10 minute Christmas card!! Really, it was that fast! I cut out the liner for the pop up card at 8.5 inches and real dial size. Then I folded it in half. There's a little cardstock attached behind the stockings. A Picture My Life card creates the sentiment and then it's just a piece of bakers twine, some bling and those adorable little enamel stars to finish it off. 

Now let's look at the Thanksgiving card ... NOT a ten minute card but worth every second.

This card is from the same key. It's the folded over version of the sleeve card. So ... in some of the circles I added gold bling gems and circles from the Pathfinding Assortment, in some I stamped and in some I added patterned papers. The whole thing is covered with patterned paper from behind. I personally love the result ... like I said, worth every second.

Now you get to hop on over to Lynn's blog. I can guarantee that you'll see something wonderful.

One More Week

For the month of August Close To My Heart has been offering a pack of any type of page protectors for $3 with every Picture My Life pack that you purchase. This is just a spectacular offer. Here are just a few cards to inspire you to take a look at this offer one more time. If you have any questions at all please contact me with an email or on my Facebook business page. Picture My Life is a pocket scrapbooking product with sooooooo much more to offer to every type of paper creator. I may have added quite a few new PML collections to my personal supply this month. It's just too good to pass up.