National Paper Crafting Month Blog Hop: Live Your Day

January is National Paper Crafting month and Close to My Heart is offering a wonderful special to celebrate.

Live Your Day is a collection of Picture My Life cards designed to coordinate perfectly with the sensational Everyday Life 2016 Planner Pages and My Crush Everyday Life Pages.   You can seamlessly integrate pocket scrapbooking into your 2016 planner or on their own, these cards make it easy to preserve your everyday moments all year long.

As you travel through this blog hop, you will see a variety of unique ideas on how you can use these cards to create fun artwork!  If you have arrived here from Jaquelin's Blog, you are hopping right along.  When you are ready to move along, you will be visiting Traci's Blog.

Now here is what I created with these cards.  I find the need to keep birthdays on a perpetual calendar to refer to each month and plan to create and send cards.  So, I used this set, the Artistry Cricut Cartridge, My Creations Mini Book and some fun white glitter paper to create My Birthday Book with birthday icons.

This set includes 20 4x6 cards and 20 4x3 cards. I used the 4x3 "month" cards and "birthday list and then decorated the 4x6 cards in between to make it fun! 

Each month of the year is represented like this January page.  

And in the final page, I made a pocket to keep stamps!

You can purchase the Live Your Day card set from your consultant or if you would like to create this book and are local, please see my Calendar of Events and sign up for the workshop.  If you are not local and do not have a consultant, contact me about getting a kit to go with instructions to create your own Birthday Book.   

Now remember to hop on over to Traci's Blog to see what she has created with the Live Your Day card set.  

Happy Creating,

Michele

January Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Beloved Bouquet

Happy New Year and welcome to the January stamp of the month blog hop!  I hope you will find the artwork you see inspirational and urge you to begin creating regularly in the new year. 

If you have arrived here from Lauren's Blog, then you are following right along.  When you have completed your visit here, you will hop on over to Michelle's Blog to see what she has created. Now to see the Beloved Bouquet stamp set!

The stamp set this month is a great set to try two step stamping technique.  The solid stamp is stamped with a lighter ink and placed first on your paper and then the lined stamp is inked in a darker color and then stamped over top the first stamp.  This is an especially great result for flowers. 

So here is the card I created using this technique.  You can see the two step stamping technique on the flower and leaves. 

To create this card, I used the La Vie En Rose paper and the Beautiful You Picture My Life cards.  This combination of products creates a great back drop for the designs in this stamp set. 

 This card is the same layout with just a switch of the focal point from the left to the right.  And the image I stamped using the "baby's breath" stamp was first, second and third generation stamped in the pomegranate color to provide more depth of the image. 

As a reminder, each month, CTMH offers a stamp of the month.  This stamp set can only be purchased during that month.  With a $50 order, the stamp set is only $5.  You can also purchase it for $17.95...but who doesn't like a good deal.  Contact your consultant to purchase yours or if you do not have a consultant, I am happy to help you. 

Remember to hop on over to Michelle's Blog and enjoy her creations! 

Happy New Year,
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! 

Stamping Techniques Blog Hop

This month our blog hop group wants to share some new and not so new but fun stamping techniques with you.  During our Creative Live event in November, we were reminded of how simple and easy some of these techniques can be and how much they add to our artwork!  It is fun to take favorite stamp set to a new level and try a new twist!

So, welcome to the technique blog hop.  If you have arrived from Brenda's blog, you are on the right track.  From here, you will move on to Darlys' Blog to see what she is sharing.

Since it is the holiday season, I added a little "mistletoe" to the mix and am sharing the kissing technique with you!  Yes, stamp kissing is a technique.  To do this, you take a solid stamp, like the tree base from this set, and you "kiss" a more line drawn stamp to it and you get a design on the solid stamp that will show when you stamp the solid image.

Here's exactly how I did it.
1.  I inked the solid stamp really well in the fern ink.
2.  I used the small swag stamp and kissed it to the solid stamp.  I used a VERY slight movement when they were kissed to assure an image transfer.
3.  I wiped the swag stamp on my dry stamp scrubber to remove any transferred ink and then "rekissed" in a new spot.
4.  I worked from bottom to top, moving the swag stamp up and altering the image side to side to avoid a repeating pattern.
5.  I cut out the tree and added it to my card.
6.  I added "bling" to the areas of the "kiss" that were "imperfect" or blank...a little bling covers a multitude of imperfect kisses.

Wah Lah!  You have perfectly kissed trees.

Now bring a little mistletoe kissing to your stamping and give it a try?

Michele

Urban, Grunge, Metal, Wood and texture galore!

The Urban paper packet is perfect for the styles of 2015-16.  The textures and colors are so fun to work with.

My downline Diana used the paper set in team swap and created these fun cards and layout. 

 Created with the Artistry Cricut Cartridge

 Created with the Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge (on sale Nov 30-Dec 4 for 25% off)

You can shop for this paper and Cricut cartridges on my website.  And remember, CTMH is hosting a Cyberweek Sale with 25% a selection of our great products.  Join the Cyber Sale Party and you could win the hostess rewards! 

Here's a video with some information and techniques using this paper. 



Enjoy,
Michele

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Candlelight Garden

Another month brings another new stamp set to the collection.  Thank you for joining us for the December Stamp of the Month blog hop. 

If you have arrived here from Brenda's Blog, welcome!  I hope you have enjoyed the artwork you have seen so far.  When you have finished visiting here, hop on over to Jeanie's Blog to see what she has created. 

Candlelight garden is such a fun stamp set!  All I could think about is "what can I put in that jar?" 

And because my craft table is cover with Christmas stamp sets and paper as I prep for upcoming workshops, I grabbed for what was closest. 

So Christmas wishes in a jar is what I created first.  I also had some other ideas of items to put in the jar...you will see those later this month. 

Now remember, this stamp set is available during the month of December.  Contact your consultant to purchase the set for $17.95 OR for $5 with a $50 order.  If you need a CTMH consultant, feel free to shop with me on my website. 

Now remember to hop on over to Jeanie's Blog to continue on and see more artwork. 

How will you fill your jar? 

Michele

Cyber Week Sale!

November 30 - December 4

For five days only, a selection of items from Close to My Heart's current product inventory can be yours for 25% off retail price.  Get supplies you need to make handcrafted gifts and cards for the holiday, including our Cricut Artfully Sent Collection.

Mystery Hostess

To make this an even sweeter deal, when you order from my website and join the Cyber Sale party, your name will be entered in a drawing to win $25 in hostess rewards.

Items included is this fantastic deal are listed below.
Z3111 Base & Bling Snowflake Charm Faux Gold
Z3112 Base & Bling Jingle Bell Faux Gold
Z3135 Base & Bling Snowflake Charm Faux Silver
Z3136 Base & Bling Jingle Bell Faux Silver
Z3138 Base & Bling Red Bead Charm Faux Gold
Z3139 Base & Bling Red Bead Charm Faux Silver
Z3180 Picture My Life™ Going Places Scrapbooking Program
Z3147 Cut Above™ Dapper Giraffe Card Kit
Z2028 Designer Creations Short Stack Album
Z2036 Designer Creations Slate Paper Bags
Z2037 Designer Creations Lagoon Paper Bags
Z2038 Designer Creations Ruby Paper Bags
Z2039 Designer Creations Honey Paper Bags
Z2049 Designer Creations Cupcake Box
Z2050 Designer Creations Takeout Box
Z2053 Designer Creations Buttoned Bag
Z1838 5" x 7" Hinged Display Tray
Z1750 Designed Décor Display Tray
Z2006 Designed Décor Red Magnetic Chalkboard
Z2015 Designed Décor Black Shadow Box
Z2016 Designed Décor Colonial White Shadow Box
Z1833 My Creations™ Kraft Container
Z1871My Creations™ Kraft 3-Ring Album
Z1953 My Creations™ Journaling Cards Box
Z1956 My Creations ™ Hip Pics Album
Z3043 My Creations™ Black Mini Book
Z3044 My Creations ™Kraft Mini Book
Z3069 My Creations ™ Mini Mix Album
Z3137 My Creations ™Pint-Sized Container
Z3168 Cricut ® Artfully Sent Collection
Z1476 4¼" x 5½" White Daisy Envelopes
Z1477 5"x7" White Daisy Envelopes
Z1478 6"x6" White Daisy Envelopes
Z1756 3"x3" Colonial White Envelopes
Z1757 4¼" x 5½” Colonial White Envelopes
Z1758 5"x7" Colonial White Envelopes
Z1759 6"x6" Colonial White Envelopes
Z1851 Scallop Border Punch
Z1997 Triangle Border Punch

Here's to the holiday crafting spirit!
Michele

Planners gonna plan

Have you heard?  Yes, Close to My Heart is selling a planner that is perfect for memory keeping as well a date keeping!  Are you a planner girl?  Do you know someone who is?  Do you need a Christmas gift for someone who loves pretty things, organization, and maybe a bit of memory keeping? 

During December, you can get your hands on the new, gorgeous Everyday Life™ album from Close To My Heart, the accompanying Everyday Life 2016 planner pages, and the coordinating Everyday Life Perfect Plan roller stamp in an exclusive product bundle for only $29.95.  That’s over 15% off the retail price!

What does the bundle include?

• First, Everyday Life album.  A beautiful, black three-ring album with gold foil design that measures 9 3/8” x 8 1⁄4”. This size makes the album multi- purpose, allowing you to decide what you put in it. 
• Second, Everyday Life 2016 planner pages.  154 planner pages, 12 monthly dividers with tabs, a pocket folder page, a designed page finder, and four sheets of stickers. With monthly and weekly spreads and printed dates, these pages have all the features you need to stay organized—and look good doing it! 
• Third,  Everyday Life Perfect Plan roller stamp.   This fun and functional roller stamp coordinates perfectly with the label stickers, enabling you to customize your planner even further.

With the new Everyday Life line, you’ll experience “memory keeping on the go” as you track your menus and shopping lists, stamp reminders, keep appointments, and tuck away precious memories—plus much more—all at once! This offer is only available while supplies last, so plan to place your order early in the month and start 2016 off right.

Beginning in January, additional products that coordinate with the planner will be available to purchase.  This includes

• My Crush® Everyday Life pages $7.95
  
  A set of 60 double-sided, gorgeous My Crush pages. These pages can be used on their own to create a beautiful My Crush book, or they can be combined with the planner pages to give you more room in your planner for preserving your memories while giving your planner even more flair.
  Memory Protectors $6.95  
• We’re introducing two new styles of pocket memory protectors sized to fit into the Everyday Life album. One will have two 4” x 6” pockets, the other four 4” x 3” pockets. Use these to add your favorite Picture My Life cards and photos into the mix!

• Everyday Life Washi Tape $3.95
  Because every My Crush book needs a good washi for attaching photos and other memorabilia to your pages.
  

Altogether, the Everyday Life line gives you ultimate flexibility in creating a planner/My Crush book/pocket album uniquely customized to you. Best of all, since we know that the time to buy planners is now so contact me today.  

Want to see more detail?  Watch this video which describes each item in detail.  

Happy Planning,

Michele

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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

Putting the "FUN" damentals back in scrapbooking

Experience the beautiful Simply Fundamental Scrapbooking workshop—available only during November! This workshop has been created using all the items featured in our campaign exclusive My Legacy™ album bundles, available during November!

Yes, the Fundamental Scrapbook supplies offer color, texture and style to simple scrapbook pages.

This month, when you purchase an album style and design of your choice, each bundle includes one Paper Fundamentals Enchantment pack, one Fundamental stickers Enchantment pack, one Peacock Fundamental assortment, and three sheets of White Daisy cardstock, you will get a value package of page protectors to complete your kit for FREE.  The total purchase will be $71.80 with a savings of $19.95. 

You can see all the details here on my website. 

You will then be set to turn these beautiful products into fabulous layouts using the new Simply Fundamental Scrapbooking workshop featuring five layouts you can make using all the supplies in your bundle. 

I will be offering a workshop in the new year to complete your pages.  If you are not local, I will send you the instructions to complete the pages at home.  Below are the pages in more detail. 

Happy Scrapping,
Michele