Lived-in memories

One challenge I've had with my passion for scrapbooking is that I would sometimes pass up on living life, and creating new memories, just so that I could catch up on my scrapbooking. I've since decided that as much as I love preserving memories, I've got to enjoy creating the memories before I preserve them. Coming to that conclusion makes me so excited--it means I will probably never catch up on my scrapbooking! And that's ok! I will have fun creating the memories, and then have fun preserving them later.

So why am I making this confession? Well, because I've been busy living in the new memories I'm making and have not had a chance to create and post this last week. As I mentioned before, my niece, Alyssa, is spending the summer in Orlando. Last weekend, her parents decided to hop in a car and drive down to spend Fourth of July with us. It was last minute, but such great fun! Tomorrow is my other sister-in-law's birthday, so I will be driving up to Jacksonville to spend the day with her and the kids. I feel truly blessed to have so many pictures to scrap!

But I finally did sit down to start catching up with my projects today. I need to finish my friend's guestbook album. So I worked on that. This is what I came up with for the cover page. Hope you enjoy!

Scrapbooking with a mission

I love scrapbooking and paper crafting! For the past few years, I've had a tugging on my heart to use this passion to reach out to others. I started a scrapbooking group at my church. But as much as I love this fellowship, I have not felt that my need to reach out to others has been filled. So I've decided to start dedicating handmade cards to the church, to use as the leaders see fit. I invite you to join me in this new endeavor. The workshop is free. I will provide you with a list of supplies to bring and I will provide you with cutting guides and talk you through putting everything together. You can make as many cards as you like. I just ask that you donate 4 of the cards made each night to the church with me. The church crop is the 2nd Thursday of the month and I would love for you to join us! These free card workshops will begin starting in August. See the photo for a sampe of the card we will be making in August. Please RSVP so that I could let you know what supplies to bring and email you the cutting guide.


I look forward to seeing you all then!

Happy Father's Day!

I want to wish a very happy father's day to all men--not just the ones with children. I believe that you could be a dad a heart--God bless those, too!

I helped my niece, Alyssa, make a card for her father for father's day this year. I was so proud! She knew exactly what she wanted to do! Check it out!


Alyssa lives in Maryland but is in Orlando for a month during her summer break. I get to play with her on weekends :). How can you come to Orlando and not visit Mickey Mouse and the princesses? I was not prepared when she came last year. So this year, I made sure she had an autograph book to take to the parks with her. What do you think?



I would love to see what kind of artwork you are coming up with this summer! Please email me a picture of your projects for a chance to win a handmade gift from me :). I'm sorry I did not post last week. Please keep me honest--email me if you haven't seen an update in over a week!

Wedding card and chocolate eggs

My cousin got married a few weeks ago. I'm a little late with my gift! Their colors were Clover Meadow green, Bamboo, and Colonial White. I was having a hard time coming up with a card, but I added Taffy and I think I finally like it :). It was a beach wedding so I thought the Taffy would go well. I used the June Stamp of the Month (which I love!). So my challenge to you this week is to come up with a project using the following colors: Clover Meadow, Dessert Sand, Taffy, and Colonial White. I had fun, I hope you do to! Email me your projects for a chance to win a hand made gift!


I spent the last weekend in Miami. I hadn't seen my parents since their accident, so I was looking forward to spending some time with them. My grandparents were also in town from Brasil, so it was nice to see them. My grandmother brought me one of the most original craft ideas I've seen in a long time! It was a chocolate egg. That does not sound original, but I thought it was! What my cousin does is carefully break only a tip off a real egg. She disinfects the shell,
decorates it, then fills it with chocolate. The only downside is that you have to break the beautiful decoration to get to the chocolate :(. But check out these works of art!

June Close to My Heart June special

There will be a new special EVERY DAY, exculsively through my website at www.donni.myctmh.com.

More altered items

One of my dearest friends just recently got married. My wedding gift to her is a photo guest book. I created sign-in cards, and the bride got a friend to take pictures of families as they signed in. I'm now putting it all together.

I love Close to My Heart albums. The page protectors are thicker, and fit the pages I make (I don't have to trim them to fit the pages.) I also love the fact that the pages lay flat and don't curve over. Finally, I love the variety of colors available in the linen albums, and the fact that they are a blank canvas for me to customize :). So I customized this 9x9 album Cocoa album for my friend. Stay tuned for for some beautiful wedding pictures!

So what have you been creating? Email me your projects to enter for a handmade gift!

Speaking of projects, I also just finished new tin can album for a workshop coming up in a few weeks. If you are interested in putting one of these together, email me for details and instructions.

Wide, wide world of blogging

I am technologically challenged. I was late at starting to email and surf the web, and I still don't use texting technologies. And here I am venturing into the world of blogging! So please bear with me as I get warmed up to it.

I hope this blog becomes a source of inspiration for everyone--myself included! That means you must participate :). I would love to see what this site inspires you to create, and will be choosing a participant each month to win a special handmade gift from me.

The first challenge will be to share what kind of items you have altered to fit your purpose or style. For example, a few weeks ago I was involved in a bridal show (I custom design wedding stationary). I needed a big box to store door prize sign-in sheets. But it couldn't be just any box. I wanted it to showcase Close to My Heart and my creativity. So I purchased a nautical themed box and adapted it accordingly. First, I covered the Starfish on the cover, then I created a quilt-type of cover for the seashells lining the inside of the box. And voila! I had EXACTLY what I needed! I look forward to
receiving emails with your creations.













As I mention in my personal information below, papercrafting helps me celebrate good times and work through bad times. This board will also be an extension of that. My parents were in a car accident last weekend and I am so glad to announce that although their car was totally demolished, they are alive and well. PRAISE GOD for his protection!