Blog Hop: Share the Love

During this month, CTMH is Sharing the Love!  That is the love of a sweet smile!  Close To My Heart will also donate $7 USD of the proceeds from The Share the Love stamp set to Operation Smile™, an amazing organization that provides surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates for children all over the world!  And you are here to see the fine talents of many different consultants who have created with this special stamp set.

If you have arrived here from Haley's Blog then you are on the right track.  When you have finished here, you are welcome to hop on over to Priscilla's Blog to see her creative work.  

Isn't this set adorable?  Am I the only one who starts singing the Adele song when I see that cute little "hello" speech bubble?

So I created a really fun project, inspired by Tina Lovell.  These 10 cards, 2 each of 5 designs fit perfectly in the Designer Creations cupcake box, with 10 3x3 envelopes and the cards peek out the window with a sweet peek.

As you can see I added a bit of the Cranberry Fundamental assortment to give them a little sparkle. 

Remember, this month, you can "Share the Love" and help create a smile!  Order the stamp set from your CTMH consultant or visit my website here. 

Hop on over to Priscilla's Blog now and see what sweet thing she has created. 

Smiles,
Michele

You could give someone a SMILE and change their life!

This month, by purchasing the "Share the Love" stamp set, filled with adorable icons and lovable sentiments, you will be supporting the mission of the Operation Smile.  Not only are you getting a high-quality, swoon-worthy stamp set but Close To My Heart will be donating $7 of the proceeds from this set to Operation Smile.  (Learn more about Operation Smile here.)

Thank you to: Tatiana, Stacey, Jan, Barb, Cindy, Shawn, Shelley, Linda, Jen, Christina and Karen for joining me for Bingo on Feb 1st. I had a great time crafting and calling numbers! "R-13"? And the purpose was to kick off my goal of raising enough money for one "SMILE" surgery for Operation Smile.

• Q: What is the cost of one surgery?
  A: $240.
  Q: How much did we raise?
  A: $100

What a kick off!

Now you too can participate!  During this month, the Share the Love stamp set is available BUT you can also purchase the Animal Greetings stamp set (all year round) and CTMH will donate $7 of the proceeds of this set to Operation Smile as well.  

Or, you can also participate by rounding up your order total.  Your additional pennies will add up with others' pennies and together help bring a new smile to this world. 

To see artwork with the Share the Love stamp set, type #ctmhsharethelove into Instagram or Facebook.  If you create and post artwork, add this hashtag to your artwork to share with others. 

You can also donate directly to Operation Smile here.  

And you can shop for these stamp sets here. 

Finally, on February 7th, come right back here to see the Operation Smile Share the Love blog hop where consultants from all over will be posting their artwork and celebrating the work of Operation Smile. 

And here's a sneak peek for you! 

Thank you! 

Michele

Beautiful You!

Yes that's right!  You are beautiful!  I often have a hard time believing that about myself but every day I make an effort to celebrate who I am even if it is just for a moment. 

With this thought in mind, I was inspired by Beckie Lehman's use of the Picture My Life card set to create a display board that I can add photos to that celebrate me! 

I love the gold foil accents on the cards and adding Pomegranate Fundamental Assortment, Gold Shimmer Trim and Gold Foil tape to highlight them even more.  The new Pomegranate color is such a great color for the rolled roses cut from the Artiste Cricut cartridge and I added a little Cotton Candy as well. 

And then, what do you do with the leftover cards?   Why you use them to create more of course!

So I took the leftover cards and the La Vie En Rose paper packet and made three double page layouts.  Sticking with the same gold shimmer trim and pink enamel gems, I added some flowers cut from the Artistry Cricut cartridge to add whimsy to the design.  (This was inspired by Chris Lothian) Ahhh, love how it turned out. 

And guess what, I still had Picture My Life cards left so I started creating cards!  More La Vie En Rose, gold shimmer trim, pink enamel gems and a few card bases.  Easy to create greeting cards were made in a flash!  Here are just three of the cards out of the 12 I created.  I repeated the card design and will have more cards to share later!

Finally, yes, I had saved out some special cards.  They were so pretty and I tend to hoard the pretty ones.  But I decided to create a banner with them!  The projects seem endless and fun! 

Treat yourself to a celebration of YOU and create with these Beautiful You cards as well.  I am hosting a workshop in my home on Sunday January 9th.  You can choose the project or set of projects you would like to complete from just this one set of Picture My Life Cards.  Whether you order a kit to go or sign up for the class by Dec 30th, I will supply the Cricut cuts and ribbon for you to create the banner for FREE!  Contact me today! 

Scrapbooking Retreat Recap!

Several times a year I host a scrapbooking retreat for my customers and downline.  Sometimes, we just crop the weekend away, other times we add a little party atmosphere or theme.  Well this weekend was one of those fun crazy parties with a theme.

First of all, Cindy headed up a secret elf exchange.  Everyone who wanted to participate got to be a secret elf to someone.  It was so fun to have small gifts appear on my desk throughout the weekend.  Thanks Gail.  If was even more fun to sneak small gifts to the desk of my elf...Gail.  Yes, we were each others secret elf!

Second, we had a Grease themed party day on Saturday.  We had a costume contest and some great characters came out of the woodwork!  We had a photo booth set up so we could capture the hilarity of the fun time!

Our winners were the nerds...who not only dressed the part but acted it too!

Third was the layout contest.  Given two sheets of paper and a Cricut cut jukebox embellishment, they were charged with creating a layout.  Wow!  Talent was abound as these ladies created their best celebrating the Grease/50's theme.

Our winner was Traci with this wonderfully detailed layout.

Finally there was Skittles who brought out the laughter until we cried...and that is all I can say about that.

Looking forward to the next retreat in the spring.  If you are interested in scrapbooking day crops or retreats in the Pacific Northwest, contact me to see when the next one is scheduled.

Cropping away!

Michele