Ahhhhh.....peace.

That's right. The boys headed back to school this morning, but not without alot of whining and complaining that they just couldn't believe they had to go to school today! Waa, waa, waa. My boys are old enough to know that this is the routine and that we would go to jail if we didn't send them off to school every year. But they seem to value their freedom more than they value ours, I guess:).....if we weren't the mean parents we are, we'd let them stay home and veg every day in front of the tv. Ahhhh, NO. Not only must they be educated, I need some peace and quiet in my life before I go batty!

The first day of school is not complete without a picture or two, so here are the boys in their new clothes. Aren't they handsome? As much as they complained, I know they really were excited to get back to school to see their friends. Youngest Son was so adamant he was NOT excited to go back, yet he laid his clothes out in a nice little pile last night before he went to bed. Mmmmm....mmm.They can't fool Mom.

Well, since it's back to school today, it's time for me to announce some new curriculum here at Heartfelt Greetings too! Enough lolly-gagging for me, it's time to get back to my weekly features! I know, I hear you all screaming outloud in the silence of your homes, now that you realize that means that Scrap Stash Saturdays are back!!!! Woo-hoo! For now, here's the weekly schedule....Mondays will be Makeover Mondays (thanks to Rebecca for that cool title), Tuesdays will be Two For One Tuesdays (which, by the way, starts TODAY!!!), and Saturdays will be Scrap Stash Saturdays. I'm still on the fence on Super Sunday Sketches, so that's on hold for a while.

So what does Two For One Tuesdays mean? It means I will be making TWO cards each Tuesday (double the eye candy for you) using the same stamps, same paper, and same embellishments, but each card will look completely different. Why? Ummmm, I don't know. Just because, I guess! It just sounded like a neat idea. And a fun challenge. If we decide we don't like this feature, we'll just get rid of it and find something new. This new curriculum is not set in stone. I'm just trying a few new things that other people aren't doing. Sketches are everywhere now, so the last thing you need is another sketch from me! Please be sure to leave a comment today letting me know if you like today's new feature, k?

Since I haven't used this fun Hero Arts flower stamp in such a long time, I thought it was time to drag it out and put it to good use with this fun American Craft designer paper. I love this green, white and black paper. It's so bold! Because the paper is so bold, I knew my layouts could be bold too!

This is the first card I made. I cut the curve in the paper using my CM Cutting System. I mounted some Whisper White cardstock behind the paper and used decorative scissors to cut a border in white. I was planning on using my Stem Sayings stamps along the curve, above the paper, but none of the sayings matched the curve of my paper, so I scrapped that idea. Next, I stamped my Hero Arts flower onto some Bohemia designer paper using black ink. While I was trying to position the flower on the curve, I suddenly saw that the white decorative border looked like a stem for the flower! So I cut a matching leaf and doodled on it with black ink, and then I glued it behind the "stem" so that my new flower stem now had a leaf! To help balance the heavy left side of the card, I drew white lines on the right side to square off the front of the card. I added dots to the lines to add some additional detail. The sentiment is from Hero Arts, and the decorative brad is from Making Memories. I love the bold look of this card!

For the second card, remember, I had to use all the same supplies as I did on the first card. So, I cut a piece of the American Craft paper and mounted it onto Whisper White cardstock, and then cut a decorative border around it using scissors. I used one of the scrap pieces from the decorative border as the stem for my flower. Again, I cut a leaf out and doodled on it, and then cut a decorative border of black around it so it wouldn't get lost in the green designer paper. The sentiment was stamped on Whisper White and then mounted on a black scalloped circle. It's attached to the front of the card using dimensional tape.

I hope you like today's cards! I do. Bold is a blast! I got about 20 cards made yesterday, and plan on stamping all day today too, in the peacefulness of my home! Yippee!

Hugs,
Amy