Four Fabulous Years!!!!

Today is my 4th Anniversary as a Close to My Heart Independent Consultant!!!! 

I have no idea how the time has flown since I picked up my first My Acrylix Stamp set and Exclusive Ink Pad. 

This was my first Idea Book back in the Spring of 2012...

Remember?  Stella was my FAVORITE paper packet!  Which was yours?  Pemberley?  Typeset?  How about Footloose?

Just for giggles, here is that first post I made on my blog about it--the big announcement, lol.

Can you believe they had not even invented Shimmer Trim yet back in the day?  The horror!  ;)

If you are still with me on my little stroll down memory keeping lane, thank you for humoring me.  My customers and blog followers have been amazing along my journey.  I quite frankly could not have come this far without you guys.  And I would be talking to MYSELF for goodness sake!

To my friends near and far who have supported and buoyed me as I navigated the sea of planning crafty classes, THANK YOU for filling my sparkle bucket day after day...I reflect your kindness, your optimism, and your encouragement that you so selflessly have given.  I love you all more than glitter.  And that's a LOT!

Now!  DON'T forget to take advantage of the fantastic sale going on right now on my Close to My Heart Website...

 
And this sunny Stamp of the Month is only here for March, too!

Card Chatter--Sympathy

Time to clean house!  I have a few projects that haven't made it to my blog yet, and it is time to fix that!  Here is a wonderfully simple sympathy card I made using the Card Chatter--Sympathy and Love Blooms My Acrylix from Close to My Heart.

See how old these pics are!  I used my old watermark since I did this photo shoot many months ago.  You can still find both of these versatile My Acrylix sets on my website though.  :)  I embossed the Chocolate CS in the background with a folder that will remain nameless...because I cannot find the name!  Sorry!  I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Ink to match.

The squares are a retired B&T from the Stella Paper Packet which is one of my old faves.   The edges are distressed with Olive Ink.  I stamped the flower in Creme Brulee and Goldrush.  After I hand-cut the flower, I spritzed it with my Ink Cleaner, crumpled it up,  uncrumpled it and left it to dry.  Isn't it a great effect?  The leaf is just hand-trimmed out of Olive CS and then detailed with more Olive Ink.

Thanks for popping in! 

LOVE this Layout!

Hello fellow paper junkies!  Well, a couple of treats for you today.  First, I was able to get my hands on the BRAND NEW how-to-publication from Close to My Heart!  This is the series that replaces our former Hardcover books like Reflections and Originals.  It is a catalog-style book called Make It from Your Heart Volume 1 and features 16 two-page layout patterns, two single-page patterns, and 12 different card patterns inspired by Jeanette Lynton's Let Me Show You How philosophy.  I was sooooo excited to see this, and let me tell you, I am very pleased!  The framed page on the front of the cover even inspired me to make one just like it!  I spent the better part of the night working on it.  This is the cover photo:

And this is my version!  :)

I used my Art Philosophy Cartridge and Cricut Expression 2 to cut out an entire sheet of 1" circles on Colonial White and Smoothie Cardstock.  I chose Tulip as the base of the page and centered the sheet of cut Smoothie over it after trimming.  Finally, I added the 1" circles strategically between the two.  I used a temporary adhesive to tack the Smoothie sheet onto the retiring Tulip (sniff) until I had all the circles down tight.  I LOVE the effect!!!  The matting on the right side of the page was also cut on my cricut in Colonial White and Chocolate.

 These beautiful flowers are from the new Just Blooms Floret Paper Flowers.  I also used the Tulip ribbon from the soon retired Designer Ribbon Red Collection.  A brad and an Opaque Gem made perfect additions to the centers. 

 New My Acrylix Stamp Set Alert!!!  I used Frame It Up (available Aug 1st!) to stamp the outside of this Bible verse from the He Is Risen set.  Both are in Cocoa Ink...the Chocolate just wasn't dark enough for me, so I mixed the papers and inks.  Also seen above are the new Sparkles Assortment Brown and Tan!  LOVE!  The green swooshes are from the Stella Compliments which will still be in the new Idea Book--yay!

I decided to journal all the when, where, and who on these flags.  The bottom sentiment is from another new My Acrylix--Love Blooms.  To balance the corner with the flowers, I added this lovely cross which I stamped in Cocoa from the He is Risen My Acrylix set.

Are you brave enough to give this background a try?  ;)

OK, so I said at the beginning that I had two treats for you, so here is the second:  During the month of August, you can join my CTMH team for only....are you ready for it......$49!!!!  YEP!  You can start your own business for only $49!  But wait, there's MORE!  There were some absolutely adorable bags that they gave the consultants at convention this year...and you will receive one when you sign up absolutely free until they run out!!!  Do not wait to jump on this offer.  Here is what you will receive in your Essentials kit for $49:

The FREE Bag!

 

 Approximately $130 retail value!

Only $49!
Includes a Read Me First Letter, Current Idea Books (qty. 3), Hostess Order Forms (qty. 5), Customer Order Forms (qty. 5), Close To My Heart Color Swatches (W471), Autumn/Winter 2012 B&T Duos® Sampler (W1115), Petite Perks™ Nature’s Delight Incentive Stamp Set (W2023), Avonlea Complements Canvas Shapes (X7155C), Workshops on the Go™ Avonlea Scrapbooking Kit (G1045), My Creations® Recipe/Photo Box (Z1322), Color-Ready Canvas Alphabet (Z1777), Chocolate Exclusive Inks® Pad (Z2111), Slate Exclusive Inks® Pad (Z2173), My Acrylix® Glamour Lowercase Stamp Set (D1522), My Acrylix® Perfect Fit—Frames Stamp Set (D1527), 3" × 3" My Acrylix® Block (Y1006), and a 2" μ 3½" My Acrylix® Block (Y1009).

(Some items may not be shown. Contents subject to change.)

Now, If you want even MORE business supplies to start out with, you can get the $99 Master kit with the following added:

Includes everything in the Essentials kit
plus more supplies and 5 Studio J® layouts. Approximately $280 retail value!

Only $99!

Current Idea Books (qty. 7 more), You Are Welcome Here
Recruiting Brochures (W1151) (qty. 25), The Rewards Come Now
Hostess Brochures (W1150) (qty. 25), 5 Studio J® Layouts (redeem within 3 months, not shown), Studio J® Brochures (W111/W111C) (qty. 5), Hostess Order Forms (W122/W122C) (qty. 20 more), Customer Order Forms (W101 / W101C) (qty. 20 more), Petite Perks™ Nature’s Delight Incentive Stamp Set (W2023) (qty. 4 more), Cello Bags (W1152) (qty. 25), My Acrylix® Stamp Scrubber (Z1782), My Acrylix® Spritz Cleaner (1778), Bonding Memories® Glue (1512), Sponge (Z697), Liquid Glass (Z679), Chocolate Exclusive Inks® Marker Set (Z2434), and Micro-Tip Scissors (Z534). (Some items may not be shown. Contents subject to change.)

Who's in on August 1st?!  :)  Contact me or click HERE for more info!

Special Project

Happy Friday!  I have a special project that I have been working on for weeks now that will finally be put to use this weekend.  I cannot wait to share it with you!

For now, I came across a pillow box that I never did post on here and I love it, so will share it now!

 I made this for a customer who ordered a teacher gift card holder for the end of the school year.  I used the Stella Paper, Lagoon, Colonial White and Sunset cardstock, Cocoa Ribbon and Ink, and the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge Collection.  Pillow boxes are so much fun to decorate!  I thought it would be fun to thread the ribbon through the two layers of the "thanks" embellishment for a different look. 

My next post will be Sunday night or Monday (depending on how I recover!) for the reveal of my big project!  Stay tuned!  Thanks for looking!

REMEMBER!!!!  Pre-order the Cricut Artiste Collection for $99 through me by July 31st in order to receive a fabulous deal:  a free monogram stamp that is brand new for Autumn/Winter 2012!  I will also send you one of our new Idea Books as a gift from me with this offer!  But only for a limited time!  Don't wait for Artiste any longer than you have to--the orders will go in first thing on August 1st. 

Includes:

~Cricut Artiste Cartridge (only available from CTMH)

~THREE sheets of coordinating chipboard shapes 

~THREE Exclusive My Acrylix Stamp Sets (only available in this set)

ALL this for only $99 (nearly $125 value!)

Contact me to reserve yours today!

Stella Card Box

I recently needed a way to wrap up some cards as a gift for a friend.  I had seen a tutorial on splitcoaststampers.com about how to make a pizza box, so decided to change up the measurements to fit by size A2 cards and envelopes.  You can find the tutorial HERE.  I am going to share with you how I created mine in the size I needed in the following picture by picture "how-to" guide.

1.  First, I figured out my starting paper size using their equation in the tutorial.  I determined that in order to end up with a 4.5 x 6.5 box, I would need to begin with an 8.5 x 12 inch sheet of double-sided cardstock.  You can see what the finished box will look like in the background.  I used a sheet of B&T Duo from the Stella Paper pack to coordinate with my Stella Card Trio.

2.  Place the paper on your scoring board with the 8.5 inch side along the top.  Be sure the pattern that you want to be on the OUTSIDE of the finished box is DOWN.  Make your first score at 1".

3.  Without moving the paper, make your second score at 7.5".

4. Now turn the paper so that the 12 inch side is now along the top of the scoring board.

5.  Make your four scores on this side at 1", 5.5", 6.5", and 11".

6. Now you need to make some cuts.  Pay close attention to your score lines while cutting.  I found it was easier to see my scores on the dark side of the paper.  Cut each score line on the LONG side of the paper in one inch, stopping at the perpendicular score line.

It will look like this when you are finished.

7.  Now it is time to make your folds.  Make sure you have the  proper side on the outside of the folds.

8.  Time to put it together with some adhesive.  I use my ATG for assembling 3D objects.  It is a strong adhesive that is quick and easy to apply.  Place your paper with your outside box pattern up and put the adhesive on each one-inch tab as shown by the arrows.

9.  Flip your paper back over and bend the tabs to the inside to adhere the longer flaps.

You may need to trim up your corners to make everything line up.

There you go!  

10.  Now for the fun part!  Decorate to your little heart's content!  I tied a Cocoa ribbon around my box, stamped a sentiment on a tag, and added a folded up strip of paper to the front along with an Opaque.

How will you decorate yours?  :)

Card Workshop Night!

It is finally here!  My first "official" card workshop is tonight, and let me tell you--I AM STOKED!!!  Is that a word anymore?  Well, now it is the word of the day!  When I first started my blog I would post a "Word of the Day," and it has somehow been drowned out by crafts, go figure.  ;)  Well, it is back, and the Word of the Day is STOKED! 

We will be making the Stella Trio tonight with one of my favorite paper packs.  You can see this adorable card set in this post from a while back. 

Now, here is a sneak peak at my next blog post:

I wonder what I can do with these awesome prints made from my Cricut Imagine?  Tune in next time to find out! 

Stella Gets Roses :)

Hi everyone!  Now that the hopping is over, I have a project to share that I made for my Kick-Off.  I wanted to use the My Creations Milk Carton as a vase somehow, just was not sure how until it all came together.  I experimented with different ways to make the roses too with our Art Philosophy Cartridge.  Here is the finished project all decked out with Stella papers:

 I added a Bling Button with this natural hemp to add some sparkle.

 FYI--I tried to stamp a heart on the metal tag, but it didn't work with my Ink.  Not sure if the Stayz On would have worked, but I might try that another time.  I used the Stella Compliments on this side.  Have I ever mentioned that this is my FAVORITE paper pack right now?  ;)

 It was not difficult to measure this up to paper the sides at all--very easy measurements.

 I had to use my favorite stamp set right now in this project too--Just For You.  The Pewter Badge Button adds exactly the right touch.

 These leaves were so much fun to make.  I used my stylus to make the veins and then inked them up really well around the edges and some in between dabbing.  I was not careful to keep the paper flat so that it would look more "handled."  The stems of the roses are sucker sticks from the local craft store that I rolled on my Olive Ink pad.

 Experimenting with the roses was super-fun.  For this one, I rolled two cuts at the same time.  You can see that it opened a bit more than I would have liked at the center.  Wish I had a larger Opaque to pop in there than this one.  This is the biggest there is, however.  I will just have to work the paper a bit more next time I try this technique.

 This might be my fave.  Colonial white tipped with hmmmmm...yep not sure!  My best guess is Hollyhock Ink.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I can almost smell it.  ;)

 This rose is cut out of Sunset cardstock and tipped with the same color ink.  Subtle, but I like that the white core is hidden.  Can you see the base of some of the roses?  I inked up one of the small pointed flowers from the Just Blooms Paper Shapes to thread them on the stem.  I really like the leaffy effect it gives and it also makes a nicer transition from the flower to the stem.

 This one is in Colonial White and just so elegant.

 My personal favorite side is this one...the bracket is from the Irresistibles Miracle Chipboard Die Cuts.

Which side or flower is your favorite?  :)

June Stampaganza!!!

June first is here, and with it comes STAMPAGANZA!  This month, for every two My Acrylix Stamp Sets you buy, you get a third FOR FREE!  Yep, you read that correctly!  You do NOT need an eye exam--unless you need bifocals, like I do and are putting it off, lol!  ;)

Speaking of My Acrylix, one of my favorite of these stamp sets right now is called Just for You.  I used it to design a set of cards that I like to call the Stella Trio:

This is my favorite of the three cards:

These cards use the current Stella papers, Colonial White Cardstock base, Sunset, Olive, Lagoon, Tulip, and Cocoa Inks, Cricut Art Philosophy Collection, Sunset Mini-Medley buttons, Colonial White Waxy Flax, and Cocoa Opaque Gems to create three 4 x 4 all occasion cards.  Isn't it amazing the variety you have with just a few products?  These are also the cards we will make at my very first Card Workshop!  More details to come!