Summer Fun!

For some reason I decided to be all ambitious and plan activities for the kids all summer.  Perhaps I was a little high on Pintrest or maybe I thought that it would earn me mother of the year- either way I put together a little calendar for the kids to see what we have planned.  The hope is they will see what we are doing and not ask me a million times what we're doing that day and also that with this in mind I can do the fun activity and then they'll let me do my own thing.  And it'll work right?  <cough>  And it'll keep the 2 youngest from fighting all day right? <cough>.  We'll see.

This is the plan- 

• Mondays are Make It Monday and we'll do a craft.  I actually have the crafts arranged by theme because we'll do more than one since it takes the kids 1.2 minutes to do a craft.
• Tuesdays are Tasty Tuesday and we'll cook.  I thought it would be good to teach them proper cooking techniques and also go over volume and measurements with them at the same time.
• Wednesdays are Wisdom Wednesday where we'll learn something new.  I originally had themes but didn't like the ones I picked, so on the file I have a link to it doesn't have much for this one.  I'm thinking of doing more science related stuff.  You can go to my "mad scientists" board on pintrest for some ideas.
• Thursdays are Travel Thursdays and we'll go someplace outside the home- like a park or the woods or lake or train station.
• Fridays are Freaky Fridays which basically means anything goes.  We'll do things like outdoor games or ninja training camp.

 I printed the calendar at Staples because I am now obsessed with their engineering prints- they're like $1.80 for and 18x24 print and you can do pictures.  It's just black and white but everything is more fun supersized.

Most of these ideas are on my pintrest boards under "summer", "kids activities" and "kids chefs" if you'd like pictures.

Here's the calendar I made:

 And here is the "plan" file with what we'll be doing.
Summer Fun List 

I seriously must've been high when I made this to have a travel Thursday right after we got back from Minnesota and right before my son's birthday.  Oh well.  The boys are super excited and that's all that really matters :)

Link to my pintrest: Melissa's Pintrest



 

Patriotic Help

Close To My Heart has so many ways to help out the people in the world around us!  From Operation Smile, to the new "True Thanks" stamp set to help out Oklahoma tornado victims- I love being a part of a company that truly cares!!!

Well, now there is another way to help out- supporting the military stamp style!  

 

Show your support of troops and country with new patriotic stamp sets — available only from June 1 to July 31, 2013! As a show of our support, Close To My Heart will donate $3 from each B-size My Acrylix^® Courage stamp set and $5 from each D-size My Acrylix^® Home of the Brave stamp set to the USO, the leading, most recognized military-support and services organization in the United States. Show your support today—stamp style!

 

These stamp sets are also perfect if you are familiar with the company Operation Write Home.  They send homemade blank cards to soldiers to send home to their families.  I have sent cards to them and plan to continue to do so!  This is such a great company that does something little that makes such a big impact on those serving our country.  The new stamp sets from Close To My Heart would be perfect to make "Any Hero" cards to send to the soldiers expressing our appreciation for their service!

So if you're interested in purchasing these stamp sets, contact me or go shop online at my website (melissamay.ctmh.com), and if you are interested in participating in the Operation Write Home program go to the link above to find out more!!!

 

Relief for Oklahoma

Heard about the horrible weather in the midwest?  Oklahoma has had some serious damage and it is going to take some time for them to get back on their feet.  Want a creative way to help?

Close To My Heart has made a new stamp set, A True Thank You, available immediately and will donate 100% of the profits from sales of the set from May 23 through June 30 to the American Red Cross to aid the Oklahoma victims. Help us provide relief to those affected by the devastating Oklahoma tornado by purchasing A True Thank You stamp set for $2.95 (M1029) today!

Let me know if you are interested in ordering this stamp set- it would make a great gift stamp and also help out those in need! 

Tommy Cards

Here is my next workshop:  Tommy Cards!

We will be making these cards on Tuesday June 18th and you can pick- either come at 2pm or 6:30pm.  

The cost is $6 for all 3 cards.

RSVP by June 10th

Hope to see you here!

Dream Pop!

May is National Scrapbooking month and every year I look forward to what Close To My Heart has to offer that month.  It is always something amazing and this year is no different! 

This month's special is a ton of fun- when you spend $35 on current product you can get the Dream Pop paper pack for $10!  This paper pack is packed full of bright happy colors like strawberry, raspberry, and more.  There are 12 printed papers that are double sided and the patterns work perfectly so that if you want all you have to do is add your pictures!  Also included are 12 cardstock papers that are embossed with designs! 





As an added bonus, for all customers who purchase the Dream Pop paper pack from me there will be an exclusive workshop where we will make 2 gorgeous 2-page layouts!

So order you paper pack today and start dreaming in color!

All About Boys Workshop

Sometimes it seems papercrafts are pretty girly.  Flowers, sparkles, lace all scream girls.  I have a family of 3 boys so even though I love girly things they don't always work for my scrapbooking!  I love the new paper pack "Later Sk8ter" from Close to My Heart!  It screams "boyishness" and works perfectly for all those pictures I take of my men-in-training.

So, to celebrate all that testosterone that influences your life here is a workshop:

"Trucks" Layout

"Dad" Layout

For this workshop you have your options: there are 2 different 2-page layouts to pick from and a set of 4 cards.  Or do it all!  Your choice.  Each is $8 and if you do all 3 together you get a discount- $22.

So mark your calendar for Saturday, May 18th 9am-2pm and send me an RSVP by May 10th and we will get working on some masculine projects :)

And as always, if you'd rather come and bring your own project to work on you can!

Favorites

When I saw the stamp set "Sightseer" I fell instantly in love! 

 And it can be used for more than traveling...

 The first card is VERY easy.  The second one is pretty involved so be warned!

 

 Supplies:
Sightseer stamp set 
Whoo's Your Valentine stamp set (limited time special) or Affection stamp set
For Always paper pack
White Daisy cardstock
slate washi tape
Lagoon ink pad
Hollyhock ink pad
Adhesive
pop tape

The card is 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (I rarely do different sizes due to the envelope issue).  I cut a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of chevron paper and then trimmed two-  3/4" strips off of it, flipped the paper over and there you have the side pieces of paper.  Love this double sided paper goodness!  For the washi tape I folded it over on top of itself to make the pleat and then glued it to my stamped piece of paper.  The "love" I glued with pop tape to give dimension.

I have a couple weddings coming up so this will come in handy- if I can give it up!

 This card is my favorite- but I LOVE cards that have a lot of different processes to make.  Makes me feel crafty :)

Supplies:
Sightseer stamp set
Fast and Furious stamp set
Surf's Up Workshop on the Go
Saddle ink pad
Cashmere ink pad
Sky ink pad
Pear ink pad
Juniper ink pad
Twilight ink pad
Sorbet ink pad
Hollyhock ink pad
Honey ink pad
Sunset ink pad
Goldrush ink pad
Twlight re-inker
Honey re-inker
Shimmer paint
Spray pens
Bakers twine hemp
Clear sparkles
Honey marker
Hollyhock marker
Slate marker
Gypsy marker
White Daisy cardstock scrap
adhesive

Whew!  That's a lot of stuff!  Allright let's get started:

Stamp the wave image from the Surf's Up workshop on the go stamp set 2-3 times and cut out.  These will be your masks so that your stamping doesn't cover each image up.  On a small piece of white cardstock at least 4 1/4 long, stamp the wave image with sky ink then roll the edges of the image in the pear ink and stamp on the scrap.  Cover the image up with one of your masks and repeat the process to cover up the scrap, overlapping a little with the image you just stamped, using more masks when stamping will overlap multiple images.  Trim the top of the stamped scrap when you are done along the wave.

Now for the "v" lines.  Get the "v" image from the sightseer stamp set and starting near the base of the card stamp the darker color that you want to use and then repeat above that stamped image with lighter colors until you get the desired color progression on your line.  So I did an orange/yellow line, pink line, green/blue line, and brown line.  Sometimes I overlapped the colors to blend the transition better and to make it so the line wasn't as tall.

Fill 2 spray pens with water, a couple drops of re-inker, and a drop of the shimmer paint and spray the card.

Stamp the "it's all good" from the fast and furious stamp set with cashmere ink and cut out. 

Get the camera image from the sightseer stamp set and using the markers color in just the lens of the camera and stamp at the top of your "v" lines.  (You can also do this before you spray)

To put it all together- wrap the hemp around your waves and glue to the card using pop tape so the waves stand out.  Glue the sentiment to the card with pop tape and decorate with sparkles.

One of these days I'm going to get organized and actually do picture tutes but since I change what I'm doing while I'm making cards it's a little hard to do that.  I'm actually a really organized person, but when I craft I'm all over the place!  Go fig!

Good luck and have fun!