Flip Accordion Album

Are you getting ready for the holidays? Well here is one Amazing Holiday Album to create just in time for your Christmas pictures. Happy Creating!

Supplies:

• 9 x 9 Memory Showcase Album



• Level 2 Background and Texture Paper ( I used Aspen)



• Assorted Aspen My Stickease



• Bonding Memories Glue
  
  

Score two inside pages at 4 1/2 and fold like mountain peaks.

Cut: 2 pieces of cardstock 6 x 9 and glue to the left side of the mountain peak.
Cut two pieces of cardstock 3 x 9 and glue to the right side of the mountain peak.

Cut Background and Texture Paper:

• Cut 4 pieces 9 x 9 for the front, back and inside covers.



• Cut 2 pieces 6 x 9 for pages 1 and 3



• Cut 2 pieces 3 x 4 1/2 for pages 1 and 3



• Cut 4 pieces 6 x 4 1/2 for pages 2 and 4



• Cut 2 pieces 9 x 3 for pages 2 and 4
  

Glue Background and Texture paper to the pages and embellish with My Stickese and Pictures. ENJOY!

Festive Flamingo ~ Cathy

Thanksgiving at my house....

.... well this thanksgiving things don't really resemble the traditional family time. Keith is trucking across America to provide for the family. He may splurge and stop at a truck stop and have some turkey and fixins'. God bless you Keith... be safe!


Justin and Sam are working hard warming up the couch... Sarah is nowhere to be found and the cat is taking a suntan! Yup... just your traditional Thanksgiving.















Well in all seriousness I am truly thankful for all that I have. Justin decided to get off the couch and make an apple and pumpkin pie. Yum! Yum! Yum! Sarah is now out getting ingredients to make the all famous Green Bean casserole. The turkey and stuffing are in the oven thanks to me.





We may not be the Cleavers but we have a roof over our heads, food on the table and love in our hearts... what more can we ask for?

Happy Thanksgiving from the Flamingo Hut to yours!~ Cathy

Happy Thanksgiving.

This thanksgiving I was going to make a list of all things I am thankful for but the more I thought about it the list was endless. God knows how thankful I am for all the blessings in my life and for all the trials to keep me humble. There are, however, a few people in my life that bring stability and love that I just could not live without and I am so thankful for that.

My beloved Keith. I love him. He is my friend and my partner. He loves me in good times and bad. He is fair and level headed. A hard worker. A great father. He is a ferocious reader. He is intelligent and funny. What more can I say... I love him! Happy Birthday today darling!

My crazy son Justin. I love him. He is bright. Funny. Challenging. Even through all the trials and tribulations over the hears I cannot begin to express how much I love him and cheer for him. I can hardly wait to see his adult life blossom. My dearest Justin had to grow up so fast. It was just him and I for many years.... I am so hoping that God will bless him with a bright future.

My dearest brother Mike and my sister-in-law, Ella. I love them. They are my rocks. They are the people that listen to me laugh and cry. They are kind and fair. They have journeyed with me through many trials over the years and have never run from me. They worry about me, they rejoice with me, they love me. They are a part of me. I am so thankful that they are a part of my life.

One thankful Flamingo signing off ~ Cathy

We All Love Handbags...

If you're anything like me you love handbags! My budget just doesn't allow too many purchases, but how fun would it be to make these great handbag gift bags. Tuck some tissue paper into them and hide the perfect gift and you'll have one great Christmas gift for someone! Can you just hear the squeals of delight when you hand this to someone?

I can show you how to make these great handbags in December. Just join my mailing list and I will send you my December Workshop schedule so that you can join the fun at the Flamingo Hut.

One delighted Flamingo toting a handbag ~ Cathy

Creative Time in the midst of beauty...

The weekend is here and partially complete. It's early Sunday morning and I just love the early morning quiet time that I have when my family is asleep. I perk up some wonderful coffee... let the dog out and enjoy the beautiful serene morning. Like most of you know I have recently moved back to Florida and what a blessing that has been. I find myself renewed and rejuvenated.... I love Florida! The weather is amazing! In the fall the sky becomes this deep deep blue that we just rarely saw while living in the Midwest. I tried to capture the beauty this morning from my backyard. I think I didn't thoroughly appreciate things until they were taken away, now that it's restored, I am doing the Flamingo Happy Dance!





So during my quiet weekend time I love to create. I was looking at my boring Rolodex and thought of it as a blank canvas. This is what I came up with. Now when I reach to call someone this little creative thing will bring a smile to my face and remind me what a blessing my creative time is.

Thankful Flamingo ~ Cathy

Office Space...

So as I gear up for Monday morning and another work week ahead, I contemplated on how I was going to personalize my space. Since space is always limited in a cubicle, I decided I would work on a small scale. I made two tag frames with my favorite pictures... my animal children, Beau my kitty and Sam my dog and then I made another of my two favorite guys... Justin and my honey Keith. Both tags are 4"x9". I also made a fun little candy dish filled with yummy candy to sweeten up someones day.

Well, I believe my mission is accomplished by being able to share my creative side with those that will enter my little space in the working world.

Creative Flamingo ~ Cathy

Happy Halloween!

Let's Get Together!

Now that the holidays are drawing near I always get a little more sentimental. I think of old family traditions, the people that have come and gone from my life and all the fun times from years gone by. When families and friends get together it's almost always around food at the dinner table or around the buffet counter.

So what better way to document these great momories than with a recipe album. So when Aunt Mary comes to your door at Christmas with her famous Angel Pie... snap a picture of her and the pie and have her jot down her recipe in your Close To My Heart Recipe Book. It's a memory and a recipe that will be cherished forever!

Sentimental Flamingo ~ Cathy

Oh My Goodness!

So just a few short months ago my dear son Justin had some long locks of hair. He has had long hair for years and it became part of his identity. He was definitely easy to spot at Graduation!

Well he got up one morning this week and went to the local barber and look what he looks like now! Can you believe he cut his long curly locks! It's kind of fun to see him with short hair.

Well just had to share this life altering event with all of you.

One surprised Flamingo ~ Cathy

Frosty Friends....

Many of you have asked if I have a favorite Winter stamp set. I have put a lot of thought into that and the answer would be "Frosty Friends"! That question got me thinking about a new project for Christmas. I love our little 3 x 3 scrapbooks too so I just had to create something with both these items in mind.

Here you go! Frosty friends, on and in a 3 x 3 album... a little prisma glitter to bring those little snowmen buddies to life and voila! A fun little album to keep or to give to someone special. What a great little album for a teacher, a mom, a boss.... or just for yourself! Come to my "Workshop at the Hut" on November 4th and I can show you how to create this fun little album. I can also show you how to order more of these great albums because they make great Christmas gifts...so don't miss out!

Flamingo Smiles ~ Cathy

More Christmas Cards...

DONE! My Christmas Card Workshop is finished! 16 Cards! I love it and I hope everyone will love it too! We have rustic in Twilight Blue and elegant in Cranberry... Evergreen stamp set and Alfresco stamp set.... two extremes and I love them both! What do you think?

Festive and tired Flamingo ~ Cathy ;)

Christmas is Coming...

...well technically not yet!

If any of you are familiar with Close To My Heart workshops, November is Christmas Time! Woohoo! This week has been quite a busy week. You probably figured that since I've been quite quiet. I have been working diligently on Novembers' workshops. I am having such fun creating for the holidays with all the great holiday paper Close To My Heart has to offer. I have posted a little sneak peak at a few of the Christmas cards we'll be doing at our Christmas Card Workshop. I believe they turned out great! The colors are a little out of my element but I think that's what's caught my eye and got me thinking outside the box.

I have a lot of fun workshops coming up over the next couple of weeks and November is going to Rock! Ho! Ho! Ho! Check back often to see what I've been creating.

The Festive Flamingo ~ Cathy ;)

Not Your Ordinary Scrapbook Pages

Critters! Yikes! Let me start by saying I'm not crazy about critters. Actually I can't stand touching them. I do actually love to watch them from a distance... oh and maybe snap a picture or two.

Since arriving back to Florida... we have become reacquainted with all the local varmitts.... oh how I've missed them so! Yes I have! I missed the sun, the warmth and even the varmitts!


So I have put my family on a mission... you see a Florida critter you get the picture. They have done a fabulous job getting some remarkable shots. My favorite is the one of our "Gate Keeper" and his name is "Godfrey the Gopher Turtle". Oh did I forget to mention we've named them all as well.


Here are all their names:

• Godfrey the gopher turtle



• Ted the tree frog



• Lizi the lizard



• Fred the spider and door keeper (now Fred may be a girl... but how would one know? He keeps all the bees away from the front door)



• Buttercup the butterfly



• Daryl the Dragonfly (he generally brings his brothers... if you ever watched Bob Newhart many moons ago you will remember Larry and his brother Daryl and his other brother Daryl... that memory still makes me laugh!)



• Molly the moth.
  

So there you go... you have now met my Florida extended family.... critters and all!

Flamingo Laughter ~ Cathy

A Day of Discovery

So I had a pleasantly creative day today and I created this great card. The pattern is an original design by Jeannette Lynton... she posted the directions on her blog. So how cute is this 6 x 3 card! I used Discovery paper (it's not super current but I just love it!). I'm wondering who I should send this card too... who will be the lucky one... oh and what will the insert say?



Mischievous Flamingo ~ Cathy ;)

October Training and Events

October is upon us oh how quickly the summer went! Florida weather is absolutely beautiful. After a summer of watching the Doppler for upcoming storms... this is just such a wonderful reprieve. The sky is a deep blue and generally there is not a cloud in the sky.

I have been working diligently at the October schedule and I finally have my workshop schedule and ideas all worked out. I though I would share some pictures this morning of my upcoming workshops. It's going to be an absolutely fabulous month! You can check out my event schedule on my website to get some full details.

Flamingo Smiles ~ Cathy

Happy Hour

Last night was my "Happy Hour Flamingo Style". Happy Hour was designed to make scrapbooking and paper crafting accessible to the busy "on the go" woman. I had 8 at my table to make our little tag book. Ity bity pieces to create this fabulous Tag Book. I'm so excited... they all turned out Great!

Flamingo Cheers ~ Cathy

Pleasantly Creative With September Stamp of the Month...

I was feeling quite creative today and I still hadn't created anything with the September Stamp of the Month.... oh I could hear it calling my name! It looked just way to clean, so I had to pull out some stamp pads and start creating. I had a favorite card nearby... it was from my son Justin on Mothers' day. It's the one on the left. If anyone has an 18 year old son knows how special this card is... they are not always very thoughtful. This card was beautiful and he spent $4.00 for this card! I should teach that boy to stamp!

Well I created this look-a-like for just pennies today with a free September stamp of the month (Treasure Life). Just ask me how to do that and I can show you how the get the stamp set for free!

Frugal Flamingo ~ Cathy

Moving those all important French Fry Bags....

I do have a funny story to share this morning. A few months ago we moved back to Florida from Michigan. Now, if any of you have ever moved before, what an ordeal that is! By the time you're done packing you're just about ready to throw everything away! You're exhausted, crabby and you just want to get the heck out of there.

Well, as my honey was loading the truck, there was a small box ready to go on the truck and it was labelled french fry bags... needless to say my honey said "what on earth is this!" I don't think he posed it quite that nicely but you get the drift. I told him it was my box of french fry bags that I use for my Close To My Heart business. For those of you that don't know... they are plain white and I usually random stamp the bag. They are ready to use as little bags for candy or in today's case I stamped them with Cottage Floral and my guests can eat some popcorn out of them... so how cool is that!

So the moral of the story is "The next time you're packing and getting ready for a move... don't forget to pack the french fry bags 'cuz you never know when you'll need 'em!"

Flamingo laughter~ Cathy

Open House!

Well it's the morning after my open house and how great is Close To My Heart! Our Fall/Winter Idea Book/Catalog rocks and how fun it is to meet new people. This was my first event since I moved back to Florida and it's always a little nerve wrecking no matter how long you've been doing this. But I met some new people and got re-acquainted with some former friends. I have girls coming to my workshops and the excitement is on! Woohoo! I'll have Citrus County Scrappin' Flamingo Style in no time!

I do have to say... no matter where you go.... no matter where you are in this world... the Close To My Heart Mission Statement rings true:

"We show you how to celebrate relationships through the art of scrapbooking and stamping. Faster. Simpler. Easier."

Doin' the Flamingo Happy Dance ~ Cathy

Art and Soul is here!

I am just so excited! A brand new Scrapbooking show that you can view on my Close To My Heart Website!

On Tuesday September 16th, a show called Art and Soul aired and you can watch Jeanette Lynton and her craft team demonstrate a great project. A new project airs every other Tuesday. The episode takes about 15 minutes to view. You can watch this episode anytime and it is filled with great tips, techniques and ideas. They also have step by step instruction on how to make this project! Oh and I saved the best for last.... you can buy all the items to make the project at a 20% discount.... oh I'm doing a Flamingo Dance!

In this first fun episode, you’ll learn to make this fabulous keepsake Memory Keeper, that holds your favorite 3-D treasures. Plus, get the inside scoop on unique mini books made from cards, fun ideas for capturing sound, and much, much more!

Just click here now to view this Fabulous First Episode!

Flamingo Smiles ~ Cathy

PS Let me know what you think after you view it by posting a comment.

Slide Show of Navarre Crop

Navarre Crop By The Sea

Oh what a wonderful weekend I had. I spent the weekend with my dear friend Tina. We laughed, we talked, and we cropped. Tina had a wonderful Close To My Heart Crop scheduled for Saturday, September 13th. It was held at the Navarre Conference Center. 50 ladies attended and they cropped till they dropped from 9am - 11pm. I compleded 6 perfect day scrapbook pages, one mickey album, and 10 Just Because cards... woohoo what a productive and fun day! You can view my slideshow above.


~Flamingo smiles ~ Cathy

Woohoo! Look what I accomplished....

Just thought I would share one of my most recent successes.

It's the Bachelor's of Close To My Heart Business. I'm so thrilled to have it all completed.

Well it's now on to my Masters!

One Studious Flamingo ~ Cathy