Cyber Monday Close to My Heart Cricut Collection Sale Madness!!!

Did I get your attention???  I hope so!  This has never been done before, so it is reason to SALE-A-brate!  Buy one for you and one for your BFF!  Actually, if you want more than one, please, please contact me at mimimyselfandi@outlook.com so I can get you $25 in CTMH goodies for FREE in addition to the amazing sale prices.  Don't pinch yourself, it is true!  :)

BUT, THAT'S NOT ALL!!!

It's time for the DEAL OF THE DECADE!!!

"This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Close To My Heart’s revolutionary My Acrylix^® clear polymer stamps—and we can’t wait for you to celebrate with us! With a qualifying purchase of $50 during the month of December, you will be eligible to purchase ANY C- or D-size stamps from the Annual Inspirations 2014–2015 idea book for only $10. That’s up to $7.95 USD / $9.75 CAD of savings on a single stamp set! Plus, once you achieve the qualifying order total, there is no limit to the number of eligible stamp sets you can purchase at this discounted price. Remember, a purchase of $50 will also qualify you to receive the December Stamp of the Month for only $5, so if you purchase both the discounted Stamp of the Month and additional stamps at this special campaign pricing your savings will compound! It is truly the deal of the decade."

Here is that Stamp of the Month, Cutie Pie...

Close to My Heart December 2014 Stamp of the Month Cutie Pie

BUT, THAT'S NOT ALL!!!!

Did I ever mention that all the BRAND NEW products in Seasonal Expressions 1 are available now???  Including new colors of Shimmer Trim???  YEP!

BUT, THAT'S NOT ALL!!!

Every customer who takes advantage of the Deal of the Decade will receive a free Exclusive Ink Pad valued at $5.95 from me as a thank you!  :)  This item will come separate from your order, so don't add it, and I will contact you to find out what color you would like!

If you take advantage of all of these promos on Monday, December 1st, you will be getting over $140 worth of CTMH products for just over $94!!!  That is a 33% savings!  Shop my website CYBER MONDAY because the Cricut Collections will be on sale for just ONE DAY!  :)

Be Still and Know that I am God

I wanted to stop in and let you all know that our wonderful Grandma Florida (as dubbed by my girls many years ago) passed away late Friday night.  Our hearts are heavy as we will miss her terribly until we see her again.  I cannot say enough about this generous woman whose 91 year old body truly just plain wore out while living life to the fullest.  She is my grandma by marriage, but I realized that she was mine for longer than one of my own even.  Grandma was a fantastic Scrabble player, a beautiful soul, and a force to be reckoned with, all in one dainty little frame.  My children all bear some of her remarkable genetics down to her energizing blue eyes. 

I made her a little card to keep with her at the rehab center that I was going to give her when we were supposed to see her at Thanksgiving.  I used one of my favorite My Acrylix stamps, Be Still, a Verve cross stamp, Cocoa Exclusive Ink, and the Yuletide Carol Paper Packet.  I didn't have the chance to give it to her, so I wanted to share it with you...

It will be pretty silent on my Facebook Page and blog as we take care of each other for a while.  I will be back after our Thanksgiving celebrations are finished, though, and have lots to still share with you from paper creations to new shimmer trim colors coming soon.  Yep.  I certainly will have my sparkle back in a bit, so Be Still, have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I see you next month my friends! I am most thankful for you all!

Christmas Card Workshop Time!

I am so excited to host my annual Christmas Card Workshop!  I am even MORE excited to show you the first card we will be making!  It features my favorite new My Acrylix stamps set from Close to My Heart for Christmas...Sing Glory.  This is only offered as a Hostess Reward, so this is one of the few ways to be able to use it!

I combined two beautiful paper packets for this one:  Pear and Partridge (retired) and Yuletide Carol.  Does the card look familiar?  I used the example on page 7 of the Annual Inspirations Idea Book as my inspiration.  Close to My Heart Idea Books are intended to be just that--IDEA books!  Use the artwork inside for your own creations and take the agony out of designing.  :)

This angel stamp has so many details that I love!  Do you see the stars and snowflakes?

If it's a Christmas card, then it's gotta have some bling!  I chose the Sequins Gold Assortment to help us out with that...

A simple Merry Christmas sentiment can be stamped inside...

I am really happy with the way this one turned out.  We will be using the standard A2 side fold cards for these, not the top fold like in my pictures.  I designed it at an all day crop and cut my paper the wrong way for this one, lol!  ;)

November Stamp of the Month

Try Studio J and win prizes doing it! 

$5 Studio J Layouts in November!

So, I found out about the $5 layouts and had an INSTANT party in my brain, lol!  I KNEW in a flash that I would be creating my Christmas cards this year with the fantastic, free, photo scrapping software!

If you have never tried Studio J from Close to My Heart, you can set up your very own FREE account with no strings attached right HERE.

If you choose the NO LIMITS layout, you can create 4 - 4 x 8 inch photo cards on each page of the layout and still have room for two 4 inch square photos!  :)  Here is what I whipped up today with the Pear and Partridge Papers...

Wait a minute, I can hear what you are thinking...isn't Pear and Partridge RETIRED???  You bet it is...in paper form!  There are MANY of your favorite retired paper packets still available right there in Studio J for your scrapbooking pleasure!  This includes the Stickease and color coordinated embellishments like ribbon and buttons!  There are literally so many possibilities I lost count, lol!

I made my daughters graduation announcements in the spring with Studio J after learning about the photo card idea from my upline, Mandy Leahy.  There have been so many improvements to the system since they started it, so you really need to give it a try!

ALSO!  CHECK THIS OUT!

November marks the five-year anniversary of Studio J^®, and that means it’s your lucky month, with five amazing ways to win through Studio J and Close To My Heart social media!

First, throughout the month of November, all layouts purchased in Studio J are $5! That is a savings of over 25% off of retail—an unprecedented deal!

Your second chance to win big must come by sheer luck: every fifth order placed in Studio J during November receives a FREE surprise Close To My Heart accessory in its shipping box! The accessory has a retail value of $5 or more.

If luck doesn’t smile on you in that way, you might stumble upon it by finding a little extra something in your Studio J box. Five “golden tickets” will be sent out during the month of November with randomly selected Studio J print orders! This “golden ticket” is redeemable for one of Close To My Heart’s new D-ring albums* loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors™.

For a fourth way to win, simply create new, gorgeous layouts in Studio J, select your favorites, and then post pictures of them on Close To My Heart’s Facebook page using the hashtag #ctmhlucky5. After November 30, five lucky winners will be selected from the entries based on their artistry and creativity and each of these winners will receive their own D-ring album loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors!

And there is one last way to win: take your new Studio J artwork and post a picture of it on Instagram using the hashtag #ctmhlucky5. Just as it is with Facebook, after November 30, five lucky winners will be selected from the entries to receive their own D-ring album loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors!

How to Use the Cricut Explore to Print then Cut A Shape and Font Together

Hey everyone!  I had a great time at the Crafty Souls' All Day Craft Event this weekend.  I could have done without the snow, but we were safe and warm inside anyway, lol. 

I made a cute little gift for everyone at the event, so I wanted to share it with you, and explain finally how to use Print then Cut on the Cricut Explore to print a font inside a cut-out shape. 

I added a few Close to My Heart Sparkles to complete my encouraging sentiment.

To begin with, I started a new project with my Explore.  I browsed the different shaped images until I found one that I liked for my project and inserted it.  You do not need to worry about sizing at this point, so just make it big enough to work with while you are arranging your font inside the shape.  Click on "Add Text" to get started with the next step of adding the text...

This is the box that pops up where you will type the letters you want to print inside the shape...

You can then see how it looks in a variety of fonts on your computer AND Cricut cuts.  :)

Arrange the words inside your shape until they are just right.  Time to play with color!  

After you change all the layers to "print" you need to attach it all together.  Using the cursor, left click on the canvas outside all your layers and drag it to the opposite corner...

Let go of the button and the entire image should be surrounded by this box...this will also pop up the layers box where you can then click on "Attach."

If for some reason that box doesn't surround the ENTIRE image (maybe surrounding just the words), you need to go further out on the canvas before you click and drag the blue box around it.  My first experience with doing this really gave me fits and kept just surrounding the inside words, so I recommend working with your image in the middle of the canvas and away from the edges.  That way you can have plenty of room for this step.  :)

NOW you can size the image as a WHOLE in the Edit box without worrying about the letters moving around on you.  You can move the entire thing around on the mat at one time.  :)

When you click on "GO" it will ask you how many projects you want to make.  I chose 6 for this one as that is how many would fit on my printer paper...   After it prints out, just place it on your Cricut mat like so...load it again and press the cut button.  I cannot believe how easy it was!  No more printing out business cards and cutting them out with my trimmer!  This makes things SO much easier!!!  :)

What will you do for YOUR first Print then Cut project on YOUR Explore?  :)

November Stamp of the Month!

Try Studio J at only $5 a layout this month! 

Close to My Heart Pathfinding Workshop on the Go Tag

Happy Hump Day!  I wanted to pop in this week to give you a look at the second project that I am teaching at my All-Day Craft Event on Saturday.  This one is a great little tag to use on something for the hostess with the mostest on Thanksgiving...

I used two of the stamps from the Pathfinding Workshop on the Go Cardmaking Kit for this one.

The rest of the tag comes together very quickly with a few fantastically shiny Close to My Heart products...

The tag shape AND the sentiment shape are both found on the Cricut Artiste Cartridge.

I also used the following...
Bronze Shimmer Trim
Bling Gems Gold Assortment
Sequins Gold Assortment
Pathfinding Assortment
Kraft CS
Chocolate Exclusive Ink

November Stamp of the Month!

A Pillow Box Gift Card Holder with Art Philosophy and the CTMH November Stamp of the Month

It felt SOOO good to get some crafty time in yesterday.  I have lots to plan for, plus Christmas is just around the corner, so I need to get cutting!  ;)

We are making this Pillow Box (found on the Art Philosophy Cartridge) that is sized to hold a gift card at the class I am teaching on Saturday at Our Lady of Mercy's All Day Craft Event.  I can't wait!

The Pathfinding Paper Packet is a wonderful choice for fall crafting.  I paired it with the beautiful font and flowers in the November Stamp of the Month...It's the Little Things...

This Black Striped Twill Ribbon is so versatile!

Wait a minute!  I think I forgot to add my bling!  Better go dig out those Gold Sequins!  :)

November Stamp of the Month!

Liquid Glass: the Duct Tape of My Life

I am not kidding!  Some people use duct tape to solve all their "fix-it" issues at home...I use my Close to My Heart Liquid Glass!  I have shared many of these here on my blog from re-attaching stuffed animal eyes and cabinet knobs to fixing broken rings and Christmas ornaments.  Today I have a new one for you! 

Re-soling shoes!  Really!

This was my daughter's combat boot last week...yeah, awesome.

Still wearing my Captain America Jamberries from Halloween!  ;)

I had nothing to loose (except $50 on a new pair!) so I grabbed my Liquid Glass and gave it a shot!

I clipped it down to hold it while drying all day...

AND I kid you NOT, it held, and is still holding strong by the end of the week!!!  I am ecstatic and so is my daughter (who is essentially adult-sized!)  I think I just might call this stuff Liquid GOLD instead of glass!  ;)

You won't even find all these amazing abilities on the packaging (although I am going to suggest a better description for sure!)  Trust me, though, that I use it in so many ways besides adding heavy embellishments to my papercrafts and Base and Bling jewelry.  The amazing thing is that one bottle lasts an incredibly loooooong time.  It's kind of like Chinese food in that way...lol...seems to keep on multiplying no matter how much you consume! 

Check out some Liquid Glass on my website, and don't forget to check out the specials for November!  Have a GREAT weekend!

November Stamp of the Month!

Psssssst!  You should be sure and check out THIS amazing Studio J dealio this month too!  We have NEW ALBUMS here and more on the way!!!  Will YOU be one of the lucky customers who wins?

Check out Studio J for FREE today!

Cricut Explore Print then Cut Helpful Tips

I have a couple of tips for you today that come from my experiences so far in using the new (and AMAZING, I might add) Print then Cut feature on the Cricut Explore.  I didn't find this info anywhere when I tried, so I thought it would be helpful.

First of all...when you originally go in to set up your Print Calibration...if your screen looks like this, don't panic like I did:

There is supposed to be a  clicky to start the calibration where the red circle is...and it is there--I just needed to hit control and up or down to change the size of my screen, lol!!!  BIG thanks to the ladies over in the Cricut Lovers Guide to Design Space Facebook Group for the assist on that one!  :)

 Here is my very first Print then Cut on my Explore (ignore the messy workspace, lol.)

I played around with it a bit to get the right colors (did you know you can change the print colors!?!) and ended up with this...

SO incredibly versatile!  A friend of mine advised me to stock up on ink cartridges, and I think I better take her advice on that one!  I see a lot more printing in my future!  ;)

Also, I will be posting up a picture tutorial on how to print fonts inside a shape to cut!  See you soon!  :)

November Stamp of the Month!

A Yoda Punch Art Card for the Star Wars Lover in You

I cannot wait to share this latest card creation with you guys!  Are there any Star Wars fans out there? 

I made a couple cards for my friend's boys this weekend.  They were having a Star Wars themed party, so I definitely needed to make some Jedi-worthy cards.  After scrolling around Pinterest for a bit, I decided I was not finding any punch-shape characters, so I made my own!  ;)

Don't you love the dimension created by all the folds?  I popped that word bubble cut from Artiste up with foam tape...

I used my CTMH Olive, Colonial White, Black, and Bamboo CS, opaques, silver glitter paper, and red shimmer trim for this one.  The dimensions of the shapes I used to create Yoda are as follows:

3 -- 3/4 inch circles for the feet and hand
2 -- 1 inch circles for the ears
1 -- 1 1/4 inch circle for the head (in the clearance section on my website now!)
1 -- 2 x 2.25 inch rectangle for the robe
1 -- 1 x 1.75/2 inch rectangle for the under robe
1 -- 3/8 inch strip for the belt

It was really simple to fold them all to put Yoda together.  Then I used the retired Card Word Puzzle My Acrylix stamp to create the "Yoda Speak" sentiments on the front and the inside...

Now before all you die-hard Yoda fans set me straight, I KNOW, I KNOW already!!!!  My daughter took one look at my card and declared how ridiculous it was because everyone KNOWS Yoda has a GREEN light saber!  Grrrrrrrr....thank goodness for green glitter paper!  ;)

Now to figure out how to make Darth Vader so I can use the red!  ;)

Cricut Artfully Sent Baby Card

I FINALLY got to go see those babies!  Oh my goodness are they just bundles of love.  Now I can show you the card I created with the handy little Cricut Artfully Sent Collection!  :)

The clip at the top just holds the card closed for pics.  ;)

I wanted this card to fit in a standard A2 envelope, so I sized these to cut at 5.5 inches high.  This is incredibly easy to do on the Explore since it imports all of the cuts you need at once. 

 I was not sure what color combo I wanted to go with for each of the card "parts," so I cut them each out in both Glacier and Indian Corn Blue.  Now, I really wanted to highlight that onsie in the opposite color, so I just did this...

Now just cut the half of the onsie that you traced.

I attached the new onsie to the inside of the flap, and the front of that card panel to this one...

My friends had TWINS, remember?  So I just used the alphabet on the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge to make a "x2" to add to the sentiment.  I added a sweet little bow of Slate Diagonal Striped Ribbon too...

I traced the edges of the "x2" with my ShinHan Warm Grey Alcohol Marker.

Finally, I had some fiddling to do with these sentiments to get them just right for the twins.

I curved the top part of the sentiment, added the "s" at the end, and stamped the rest of it underneath.  This was actually really simple after I figured out what I wanted to do.

I am SO pleased with how this one turned out!  Can't wait to make more with my Explore!  :)

A new month means a NEW Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart!  Check out the wonderful builder set we have for you...

There is also a FANTASTIC little promo going on throughout the month of November in Studio J!  You can get two page layouts for just $5, AND there are several ways to win some little goodies!  Read all about it right HERE, and then start playing with your pics!  Will YOU win a golden ticket?  :)

LASTLY, but not least, of course, there are NEW ITEMS up in the While Supplies Last section of my website!  Head on over to check them out!  These are generally in very limited quantities, so grab 'em now if you want 'em!  ;)