As soon as I saw this post about Mason Jar Pin Cushions from my talented Auntie Karen earlier this year I knew I wanted to try them out! I am not a very confident sewer, but I thought this was something I could handle :). I found the cutest fabric from our local quilting store, Sugar Town Quilt Company, and knew just the special person I wanted to make this project for!
I couldn't resist getting a bit extra of this fabric, so I decided to make up some little cocktail napkins as well. Inside of the jars I had lots of fun picking out some funky buttons for one, and then some thread, sewing machine themed kleenex, and clips for the other - so many fun options!

Do you have special things that you get or are given and you save them to use for just that right special occasion; however, you're so busy measuring whether the occasion truly is special enough to bring out the special thing that you never end up using it? Well, that is me with huckleberries. This unique, rare berry is my absolute favourite! I savour them so much I often leave them in my freezer when I can finally get them because I can't bear the thought of "wasting" them. This summer I'm on a mission to change that. This year I got the berries fresh and am determined to use them up BEFORE I even have the chance to put them in the freezer - it's hard to part with them (even though I'm the one eating a lot of them :) ).

One way to do this was to make jam. I decided to put the jam in small jars this year so that I also wouldn't get in the habit of opening a larger one and thinking ok well I shouldn't eat the jam again today because I want it to last and then months go by and it is still sitting there unused. I also cringe at the amounts of sugar we need to dump into jam that is already sweetened naturally by fruit, so I used a berry jam recipe that I tried last year that uses honey.

Here is a card I made for our nephew's birthday using the Jack paper collection (his name happens to be Jack, too!) from Close To My Heart. I also included another little new product sneak peak in there as well (available August 1)! I used the sketch over at Fusion and incorporated some gold script. I added as much stitching as my dies could handle to play along with the "in stitches" challenge over at Heart2Heart. Finally, I used some star dies to cut out some cute plaid stars to add to my card to link up with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge of "seeing stars".
I decided to make a little bag to go along with the card out of the same paper collection.

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary :). The word 'bliss' has become a special sign to me throughout the past few months as it combines two very special names dear to my heart and I took it as a sign to get this stamp set when it popped up at Simon Says Stamp.

I look forward to this next year of ours and hope that our storms have finally passed.

I've been meaning to make this congratulations card for awhile to send out to someone I worked with online through my Masters program to congratulate her on finishing the program last semester. I decided to take out the June kit from Simon Says Stamp and play around with the beautiful distress oxide ink pad I got in it. The oxide ink definitely gives a unique effect - especially on kraft paper! There is also a little Close To My Heart new product sneak peak on this card...be sure to watch for our new catalogue going live on August 1!

I chose to use a My Favorite Things die on this image and added some bling with glitter paper and a gem to play along with the "seeing stars" challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge. I decided to use the fun Freshly Made Sketches layout for my design, too.

I am super excited to FINALLY bust into my distress inks! I was blown away by the colour and didn't get into too much blending this time, but I am so stoked to play around with them this summer. I really liked the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and knew I just had to play along with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge to use plaid! I decided to incorporate a stitched die into my design and am linking up with the "in stitches" challenge over at Heart2Heart.

I was at one of my favourite all time spots on the weekend - Kootenay Lake! While out in the boat with my aunt and uncle we came across this cute little lighthouse:

Photo Credit: Diane Matlock

I decided to create my own watercolour scene with these Art Impressions products. I am linking up with the "Oh the Places You'll Go" challenge over at Heart2Heart. I wasn't sure that the sketch over at Fusion would work for me so I was just going with the beach inspiration, but once I paired the right papers I found the sketch came together for me as well. The sky doesn't really come through in this picture but I did keep it a light blue (a shade lighter than the water) so that it looked like a sunny summer sky to link up with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge.

It is the second day of my summer holidays and I felt like creating some Christmas cards to start off my stash! I love this snowy door from Art Impressions! I created my own subtle background (so that I did not take away from the image) by stamping in VersaMark ink and then embossing in clear powder to link up with the current Art Impressions challenge. I used the layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and am linking up with the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge of "anything goes" which is also featuring Art Impressions products this week.