So much NEW Close to My Heart!

Hi guys!  There was SO much new happening with Close to My Heart this month I could hardly digest all the information myself, let alone pass it along to you! Now that I have had a chance to sort it all out, take a minute to see what is NEW!  In order to celebrate all the NEWness, I opened up a MYSTERY HOSTESS party on my website for you to order through.  One lucky customer will win $25 or more of FREE CTMH products!!!  You will receive one entry for every $25 in product you order!  Good luck!

First off there are NEW papers! Hawthorn and Every Little Thing are available for two months before we feature other seasonal papers.

Next, some NEW penmanship products for learning lettering from Melissa Esplin!  See a video to explain this new product HERE!

Want a NEW Halloween layout option?  We have that too with the Spooktacular products! Be sure to go download the FREE layout directions here too!

Ready for the NEW Stamp of the Month?  Random Acts of Cardness is waiting for my carmaker friends in September!!!

Also NEW is the relationship Close to My Heart has with Cricut.  You can now find CTMH Cricut products on the Cricut website by using my affiliate link here OR by clicking on the little Cricut symbol on my Consultant Website. Please don't hesitate to ask me if you have any questions about the new digital Cricut process.

There is a brand new collections of CTMH Cricut cuts waiting for you!  Introducing, Complete Creativity!  Click on my affiliate link above to grab it!

One more NEW thing to share before I hop off today...NEW Album colors, sizes, and digital art for album covers!!!!  WOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Seaside for Summer

I will start by saying that I consider blogging two months in a row a success! :) 

It's a successful start anyway.

This month Close to My Heart has brought back another one of my favorite paper packs of all time...Seaside.  They have GOT to be reading my mind at this point because the last pack they brought back was Zoe, and ALSO one of my favorites EVAH!

Also for July only, you can grab the new Stamp of the Month, Bear Hug!  It is available for full price all month, or also for just $5 with a $50 purchase on my website.  That's a savings of over 75%!

I am NOT quite finished though, because there is one more special going on...Share the Joy!

I LOVE that there is a little bit of something for everyone this month! 

The 100 Day Project Meets Scrapbooking

Hi there!!!

I know that I tend to disappear from time to time, but I am here.  I am surviving.  I am also going to be scrapbooking!  Isn't that a crazy idea, lol?

It isn't MY idea...my friends dragged encouraged me into it.  You can find more information about the 100 Day Project HERE.  You can even join in!  Yes, YOU!

Here is my plan:  I repeatedly find myself saying that I don’t do enough scrapbooking! I say that I just don’t have time. Recently though, I had to begin a daily stretching and strengthening routine which I managed to maintain because of necessity to my health. I thought I didn’t have enough time. Turns out I did! Well, my creativity and memories I enjoy through scrapbooking should be a necessity to my health as well! For the next 100 days I will do SOME form of working on my scrapbooks. Whether that be actually cutting paper or simply gathering the supplies in one place, I WILL do this every day. I might even use this time to create some digital pages in my Project Life App. If it works toward creating pages of memories, then it counts!

Day one is today...although you may be reading this tomorrow, lol.  I created the title page for a gorgeous little mini-album that Close to My Heart has designed for us called The Important Thing.  You can see all the supplies needed and grab the download over on my website HERE.  I will make a list of the supplies at the end of this post.

That's the only pic I have so far since my One Drive is acting up and I have no idea how to make it upload my pics again.  You can follow me over on Instagram HERE to see more though!  

Here's that list of supplies you need to create your own album:
The Important Things Bundle
Everyday Life Album in Blush
Documented--Scrapbooking
Typography
Chelsea Gardens Complements
Picture My Life Overlays--White Frames
Picture My Life Cards--Be-YOU-tiful 
Grey Gems 
Charcoal, Juniper, and Smoothie Ink Pads 
various size acrylic blocks
journaling pen

Of course, you don't HAVE to use everything here--you can substitute with some things you already have!  Check out the directions HERE where it says "Download Guide" first and see what you can make do!

Now I have to go start that stretching!!!  ;)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mom is quite the avid gardener...unfortunately, I did not inherit that green thumb of hers!

I did, however receive some of her genetics linked to artistic flair, so I was able to use the January Stamp of the Month from Close to My Heart to create a beautiful garden themed card for her!  ;)

I adore this sweet seed packet themed set, Bloom and Grow!  It's only here for the month of January.  I also used the Chelsea Gardens paper and CS, Light Grey Ribbon, Bashful Glitter Paper, and some retired gold foil dot paper.

My sentiment is actually from the small Happy Birthday M size stamp, and it fits PERFECTLY!

After I took pics, I realized I wanted to add some of my new Nuvo drops!  This is the duck egg blue color...

Oh, these are going to be SO much fun to add to my Chelsea Gardens creations!  :)

Viva la Chelsea Gardens

I haven't participated in a creative challenge in what seems like forever...until this past weekend!  I'm actually shocked that I am really blogging it now too, lol!  ;)

I made this A2 card for the January Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge.  This birthday sentiment from Verve is one of my favorites!

There are SO many things that I LOVE about this one.  That double bow tied with Verve ribbon is amazing.  I just cannot get enough of these new marble colored gems from Close to My Heart either!

I used the negative cut from a Mixed Mats Die Cut from PTI to frame out the card along with some matting in CTMH CS colors Mink and Pebble.  Those gorgeous pattern papers and the leafy sprig are found in the brand new Chelsea Gardens Paper Suite and Complements.

LOVED getting creative and adding this beauty to my card stash!  Thanks for the great sketch, Julee!  :)

Close to My Heart Love Letters

I'm baaaaaaa-aaaack! 

Soooooooo I have to show you guys the gorgeous papercrafting project that Close to My Heart has available for you this month...because it is National Papercrafting Month!  Well, I started working on mine, and it's really easy and beautiful!

They call them Love Letters...and they are available in all 26 letters of the alphabet during the month of January HERE on my website.  Here's the start of my CTMH for my craft room...

And I still have ALL these supplies left over from the kit!  Flowers and succulents and stickers to use on other projects!  :)

If you follow me over on Instagram, you will probably see lots of sneaky peeks of future blog posts...or even things that don't make it onto the blog right now, lol.  I posted this one yesterday...

I hope to post some of the craftiness I have been up to over the break from school, so stay tuned!  :)

Gratefulness and Joy

Hey friends!  I hope and pray that this season brings you gratefulness and joy.  I have found lately that those two things can really get you through when things are hard...because seriously, life gets hard, it really does!  But WE CAN do hard things by practicing gratefulness and choosing joy!

I'm doing it my way, of course...soooooo I made this card to show someone how grateful I am...

This is the second version of this type of twisted gatefold card that I have made now.  I'll show you the other one soon...I just realized that I haven't even blogged it yet!  I found the directions for these amazing little cards on You Tube like any good cardmaker, lol.  Here's the link.  It even fits in a regular size A2 envelope!  :)

I used the Beary Christmas and Silver and Gold Paper lines from Close to My Heart for this one.

Bronze sequins?  Yes, please!

The Falling For You leaf and the Thin Cuts Leaf in vellum and gold foil were perfect for creating a more masculine leaning theme.  I added pops of color to the leaf with my ShinHan Alcohol Ink Markers in...

Here you can see the inside underneath the "twist" where I added another part of the sentiment...

Maybe I can help you out a little bit with some joy right now...today for Cyber Monday (I still can't believe this is a real thing, lol) Close to My Heart has organizational tools on sale up to 40% off on my website!  Here is the link to see what's available.  I know organizing brings me some much needed joy!  ;)

We Love You, Dawn! Official Blog Hop

I put everything else on hold today (well, yesterday too) and got my fingers inky for a VERY special reason...Dawn McVey.

Dawn is a sparkling light in the crafting community.  She designs for Papertrey Ink, which led me to her blog and eventually Instagram.  I have been admiring her gorgeous handiwork for years while also following and praying for her health struggles.  No matter what direction her struggle has taken, Dawn has been perpetually positive and has let nothing dull her amazing, sparkling smile.  She is an inspiration to everyone who has crossed her path, myself included.  It would be Dawn's fault completely that I am trying my hand at growing succulents, lol. She just makes it look so EASY!  ;)

Well, Dawn just received a new small intestine in one of the riskiest transplant surgeries available...and so far, thank the Lord, her body is accepting it!  It is an absolute miracle for her and her family, and the crafty community that loves her is coming together to brighten her room and keep her spirits high with as many cards as we can in the official We Love You, Dawn Blog Hop!  Here's mine!

I immediately knew which sentiment I was going to use on her card...because Dawn IS sparkle!  I wanted to use her Raspberry Suite Floral Sketches which are designed to add your own color...

I was able to successfully watercolor the flowers, and also added some more blooms from a separate sheet.  After it was all attached, I used my white gel pen and shimmer pen to add some flair.

I hope these watercolor blooms brighten her day as much as her constant positivity has brightened mine!  Here's the link to the rest of the hop!

Products I used...

-Papertrey Ink: Raspberry Suite Floral Sketches, Shakers and Sprinkles Make It Market Kit, Sparkle and Shine Stamps

-Lawn Fawn:  How You Been? Stamp set and coordinating Die

-Close to My Heart:  Sparkles, Silver Shimmer Trim, Charcoal and Black Exclusive Dye Ink, Watercolors, Watercolor Brushes

-Copic Toner Grey 0

Oooooooh My October and A Halloween BFF Layout

Oh. My. October.

Cubs. Baseball. NLDS. WINNING! More Cubs. NLCS. There's always LAST year! Frozen shoulder. Physical Therapy. At home PT. Crafty Souls All Day Craft-A-Thon! Rain, rain, rain. Water. In my craft cave. Cry, cry, cry. HELP!!!

Sooooo, yeah.  I've been a bit MIA from my blogging lately again.  While I am totally okie dokie with that fact, I DO want to be sharing (and actually CRAFTING with my toys!)  I actually have a few projects to share that I made before the madness began, thank goodness. You may have seen some sneaky peeks of this one over on my Instagram account.

I created this layout directly from the Holiday Expressions Idea book, page 18.  I adored it when I first laid eyes on it, and decided to give my hostess club members a treat with their Bats and Cats Workshop Your Way!

The Best Friends Forever My Acrylix stamp set was used to create the random (or not so random) stamped paper strip on the right of the layout.  I stamped two full sheets to use on our layouts!  SO worth the effort!

Have you ever re-created a layout from the Close to My Heart Idea Books?  :)

Just a few more days to grab this one!  :)

Sorry for the lack of links today--my Close to My Heart website is down for maintenance!  I'll get them up ASAP...which means after Parent Teacher Conferences tonight, lol!  ;)

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

It's that time of year again!  Every time World Cardmaking Day rolls around, I like to think that I will drop everything and make cards all day, but alas, we need clean clothes and groceries again, lol.  I'm sure I will get something made even if it's during the Cubs game tonight...ok, so maybe tomorrow!  ;)

I made this beautiful card using the same easy easel card as the turkey Thanksgiving place cards I shared on an earlier post.  I just adore this easy design!

I used the Basic Fundamentals, Espresso and Heather CS and inks, and Falling for You Paper Suite along with a retired gold foil dot paper, Gold Foil Paper, the Thin Cuts Leaf, and the Falling for You Cardmaking stamp and die set from Close to My Heart.

Love those Gold Gems!

 Here is the card when unfolded...

Finally, here are the super easy directions to create this card using a standard size A2 or 5.5 x 4.25 card base!

Share a Smile with Close to My Heart and Operation Smile!

Have you heard about Operation Smile?

Close to My Heart has partnered with Operation Smile over the years to provide free, life-changing operations to children around the globe.  Each year, they have offered several special products for consultants and customers to purchase and raise funds for this amazing organization from special stamp sets to T-shirts.

I am excited to share with you that in October, Close to My Heart has added a special Share a Smile Card Kit with exclusive Thin Cuts to match the current Operation Smile Stamp set, Punny Pals!

The kit is an unbelievable savings! It is just $39.95 (with a retail value of $48.69!)

Share A Smile Card Kit (stamp sold separately)

The stamp set is still available separately...

 As well as the thin cuts...

 And extra card bases and envelopes!

You can purchase the kit, or individual pieces all month to support Operation Smile while supplies last!

But that's not all!  Every time you place an order, you can round your order up to the nearest dollar, giving the extra as a donation to Operation Smile™. During October, your round-up donation will go even further, because Close To My Heart will be matching all round-up donations, up to $10,000 USD!

Guess what???  There's MORE!!!  When you participate in our Share a Smile promotion by purchasing any of these special items or rounding up your order in support of Operation Smile™ you will automatically qualify for a chance to win a not-yet-released stamp set from our upcoming 2018 Seasonal Expressions 1 idea book! We’ll be choosing winners throughout the month of October, so any time you place an order, you can be a winner!

I am so excited to get mine and post some projects for you to see, so come on back later this month!

Turkey Place-cards for Thanksgiving Planning

Hi again!  I had a fantastic little idea come together pretty sweetly recently, so I wanted to share it in case anyone is already planning ahead for hosting Thanksgiving this year.  I know, I know, here in the Midwest, with weather in the 90's it's pretty hard to even THINK about the seasonal holidays coming up, lol!  BEFORE the heat wave kicked in, I used some of the great new Thin Cuts from Close to My Heart to create this little Turkey Place-card out of an Easy Easel Card...

Isn't he the cutest little thing?  Guess what?  He is made entirely out of different leaf dies!  :)  I used the Falling for You Cardmaking Stamp and Thin Cut set and the Leaf Thin Cuts dies.  I chose Kraft CS, Fern, Goldrush, Saffron, Peacock, and Canary CS along with the Falling for You pattern paper.

That little leaf is popped up with a foam dot so it will catch the easel part of the card.

First I used glue dots to layer his body with those first three leaf shapes in the picture above to give it a bit of dimension.  The two leaf stems hang down to form his drumsticks!  :)  I used my Carmine and Marigold ShinHan Touch Twin Markers along with a black fine-tip pen and white gel pen to add some character to his facial features and legs.

Here is a picture of the easel card when it is closed...

I know what you want to know!  How did I make that easy-peasy easel card!  My amazing and creative friend, Shelly, showed me how to make this version over the summer...you just use a pre-made size A2 card base!  Here's a quick picture guide...

Gotta love the new features on PicMonkey!  :)

You might want to pick up this wonderful Stamp of the Month to go with your Thanksgiving crafting, too!

THANK YOU for stopping by today!  :)