What color is your thumb?

Do you like the look of indoor plants?  I love how they freshen up the space, add color and texture to the decor, bring a bit of the outdoors indoors.  But....I do not have a green thumb.  Well it is not exactly that I don't have a green thumb, I just forget to take care of them...and they DIE!

The Flower Market Cricut Cartridge to the rescue!  Last year, succulents became popular and CTMH introduced paper succulents in our Welcome Wreath.  These fun little plants can brighten up any room.  So I took their idea and created these little succulent pots as gifts. 

To create these I went through my stash of B&T papers as well as some older textured cardstock and started cutting out the plants.  Now, Close to My Heart and two toned cardstock so it makes finding paper for these succulents fast, simple and easy!

I inked the edges to add depth and then used my bone folder to add a bit of curl to the "petals."  The purple hue on the edges is my favorite.  I attached each plant to a pipe cleaner or straw (again I went through my craft stash) and then stuck them in a small block of floral foam.  I added a bit of moss and a plant stake with a sentiment.  Oh and don't forget the gold gem in the middle and they are ready to gift. 

What color is your thumb?  It can be green when you create paper plants!
Michele

Blog Hop: Thin Cuts

Woo Hoo!  Close to My Heart has a great sale going on right now!  All  thin cuts or stamp set, thin cut combos are 25% off! 

You are at a stop on a big circle of blogs that will feature amazing artwork using the CTMH thin cut products!  Now if you have arrived here from Krista's blog, then you have seen some fabulous artwork and are on the right track.  Next you will be traveling on to Gina's Blog to see her wonderful creations.  But first...take a look!

The set I chose to create with was the Dreamin' Big card making stamps and coordinating thin cuts. 

Bringing a playful childhood past time to mind, I captured these sweet little butterflies in a Mason jar. 

When working with the thin cuts, you can pre- cut your images and then stamp on them because the stamps and blocks are clear and you can align them perfectly.   OR you can stamp on your cardstock, place your thin cut over the image, adhere gently with a piece of washi tape (another great use for the stash of washi tape you have), and then cut them.  Good bye fussy cutting!  Perfect outlines every time. 

Now this is not the only set that is on sale this month.  To see the other sets that qualify for the 25% discount, visit your consultant's website or if you don't have a consultant, stop by my website here.  And remember when you make a purchase of $50, you can get the cutest tea cup stamp set for $5.  This all only in March. 

Remember to move along to Gina's Blog to see what she has created!  Thanks for stopping in. 

Michele

Flower Market Cricut Cartridge Key 48

This video fits in perfectly with my December theme of Brown Paper to Beautiful!  Here's one project that they created using key 48 on the Flower Market Cricut Cartridge.  After cutting out some holly leaves, a spray of berries and pine sprig, the package was tied with baker's twine and decorated for the season. 

 To see more of what you can create with this key of the Flower Market Cartridge, key 48, take a look at this video.



If you own the Cricut Explore and Flower Market Cricut Cartridge, you can access these files and create the card and scrapbook page shown in this video. The link is here. 

Merry Crafting!
Michele

Flower Market Key 8: Nautical Theme

In this video, we walk you through all the shapes you can create with the “8” key on our Cricut® Flower Market cartridge, which is designed to help you create a perfectly coordinated scrapbook layout, card, or 3-D project. The artwork featured in this video is a nautical, boat-themed scrapbook page and a sympathy card.



Isn't is great that you can use a "winter" paper and create such beautiful nautical themed projects.  I love the diversity!

Happy Cricuting,
Michele

Flower Market Cricut Cartridge Key 15

In this video, we walk you through all the shapes you can create with the “15” key on our Cricut® Flower Market cartridge, which is designed to help you create a beautiful themed scrapbook layout, card, or 3-D project. The artwork featured in this video shows a masculine scrapbook page that’s perfect for a boy, father, husband, or grandfather.



Enjoy,

Michele

Flower Market Cricut Cartridge Key 6

Layering is key to creating beautiful flowers with this cartridge.  Learn how Close to My Heart has done the work for you!  The Lilac cluster is one flower featured on this key. 



Enjoy,

Michele

Flower Market Cricut Cartridge Key 24

Bring Autumn to your cards and scrapbook pages and even home decor with the beautiful icons on this key.  You will also see some ways to use the contour feature in Design Space to add more options and possibilities to your Cricut crafting. 



Enjoy,

Michele

Flower Market Key 10

Our newest Cricut Collection called Flower Market is filled with endless creative possibilities.  Each week, Close to My Heart is featuring a different key and showing artwork using that key. 

Here's this weeks feature video. 



Enjoy,

Michele

Holiday Expressions New Product Blog Hop

The new Holiday Expressions has arrived and what a delight!  Yes, two new idea books in two months.  So much fun. 

This blog hop will feature different products that you will find for our newest catalog supplement.  If you have arrived here from Jennifer's Blog, thank you for joining me.  After your visit here, you will travel on to Jean's Blog. 

There is so much goodness in this little book.  If I was a paper hoarder...oh wait, I am! 

My artwork features the new paper packet Jeepers Creepers.  Of course when you first look at it, you will probably think Halloween.  The challenge for me is, how can I use it differently.  I also get a lot of help with this challenge from inspirational artwork from our CTMH community.  So here is my Jeepers Creepers artwork and upcoming scrapbook workshop. 

I look forward to using this for a birthday celebration for one of my nephews.  What other "celebrations" might you feature? 

This page was create using the consultant workshop that was developed by one of our own!  I love the new Marker Alphabet E1034 and the colors of the "PARTY!" are the new colors of the adventure palette.

Finally, this page came out of our "Magic" how to book and is the layout called Hocus Pocus.  I, of course, altered it a bit.  My thoughts for this page were maybe Harry Potter World or even a Homecoming Dance, starry nights?  But really, it could feature a lot of different photo themes. 

To see additional non-Halloween artwork created with Jeepers Creepers, you can also visit our home office blog Make it From Your Heart. 

I will list all the items I used to create these pages below but remember to move on to Jean's Blog because the Holiday Expressions if full of more fun products and Jean will surely have something wonderfully creative to share.

Items used to create these pages:

• G1110 Jeepers Creepers Workshop Your Way
• E1034  Marker Alphabet
• Z3167 Artistry Cricut Cartridge
• Z3285 Flower Market Cricut Cartridge

 Thank you for stopping by.  Please reach out to your consultant for shopping information or if you do not have a consultant, visit my website or reach out to me for more information.

Michele


 

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Purr-fect Halloween

Welcome to the stamp of the month blog hop.  I missed you last month!  I hope you were able to enjoy the hop without me but I was just too busy with the CTMH convention and travel.

But I am back and I am so excited to share this fun, silly, and maybe scary, crazy cat with you.

If you have arrived here from Michelle Stewart's Blog,  then you are following right along.  After you have visited, you are welcome to hop on over to Haley Dyer's blog and see what she has done with her crazy cat.

This cat reminded of me a book I used to read to my girls called Puppy Hide and Seek.  The cute little kitty would hide from the puppy in fun, unexpected places.  So, I was inspired to hide this kitty in some cherry blossoms from the new Flower Market Cricut cartridge.

 The cat is stamped on one of the papers from the Rustic Home collection and the flower centers and blanket in the basket are cut from our new Raspberry color.

This card brings on the Halloween feel that I had when I first saw the stamp set.  The background is embossed with our new Happy Thoughts folder, the "hello" is cut with the new Thin Cuts and tangerine paper color.  The stamped images are colored with the Shin Han markers.  This kitty was a lot of fun to play with and he didn't even make me sneeze (yes, I am allergic to cats).  And the color scheme that is featured is a hint of what's to come in our "Halloween" paper pack!

Remember that this stamp set is only available during the month of August.  You can purchase it for $17.95 or $5 with a minimum order.  Shop with your consultant for this stamp set and new products or if you do not have a consultant, you can shop on my website here.

Now remember to move on to Haley's blog and see how her kitty comes to life in her artwork.

Enjoy.
Michele