We did it!

As of July 31st, I earned the Puetro Vallarta trip with Close to My Heart!  I couldn't have done it without YOU!  Everyone has played an important part in making this dream come true.   It has been a great 10 months of offering workshops, retreats, gatherings and sharing the wonderful products with you!  Thank you for your support and encouragement!  I look forward to another promising year of sharing my love of everything Close to My Heart with you!

And, there is more to come with the introduction of our new Annual Inspirations idea book August 1st. 

 Have you seen it yet?  You will love what you see! 

Blessings to you all,
Michele

Blog Hop: Fresh New Papercrafting Adventures Ahead

I love this time of year when Close to My Heart releases their new Annual Inspirations Idea book.  Along with the new product comes fun ideas, new tips and techniques and a refreshed color palette.

You are going to love the redressed fundamental paper packets.  They are on trend with designs and colors you will find in the market.  And oh, so much pretty gold.

Enough with the oohing and ahhing.  Lets get this blog hop started...or keep it going.  If you have arrived here from Kirsten's Blog welcome.  Enjoy what you see, leave a comment about what you are excited about, and then move on to Haley's Blog and see what new product she is featuring.

And now, here is what I have been playing with.  Actually, it was really difficult to decide what to share with you but I decided to start with the Adventure Fundamental Papers.  Updated with the colors lemon, raspberry, tangerine, willow, emerald, and pansy, these papers paired with their complements create a fun set of scrapbook pages. 

 Featuring Cranberry, Willow and Lemon

 Featuring Tangerine, Emerald and Lagoon with a little Pansy

 Featuring Pacifica, Willow, and Tangerine

 Featuring Lagoon, Tangerine and Pacifica

 Featuring Pacifica and Raspberry

 Featuring Cranberry and Lemon

This month, when you purchase all three set of the Fundamental papers, Adventure, Whimsy and Enchantment, you get to choose either the Rustic Home or Uptown Fundamentals for free.  Contact your consultant to take part in in this special or if you do not have a consultant, you can get this special from my website here.  When you purchase these paper packets, ask your consultant about how you can get the cutting guide to create scrapbook pages like those shown above. 

I hope this peek into the Adventure Fundamentals has inspired you to continue on in the blog hop and see what else is new!  Remember, you are heading to Haley's Blog next. 

Finally, supplies used created these layouts are shown below.  

Thanks for stopping by,
Michele

Magical Birthday!

A friend and instructor of spin classes at our YMCA had a special birthday this summer and I was commissioned to create a card for her that many people could sign.  I took my inspiration from the accordion Father's Day card shown in the video below. 

Of course I had to start with a bike stamp, Enjoy the Ride, the celebration wishes begin.

From there, I used the Magical Paper packet and other bike stamps to continue the special wishes. 

Oh and don't forget the stamp set Jennifer's Hand to add personal sentiment. 

I love how it turned out and I hope it carried with it wishes for more fabulous birthday's to come. 

And now here is the video that will help you to put together an accordion card for someone special.



Enjoy the ride,
Michele

Basically the Best!

Our new 2016-1017 Annual Inspirations idea book has arrived!  It is chocked full of new paper, stamps, embellishments and of course inspiration!  To introduce you to the new fundamental paper collections, Close to My Heart has a special for you!

During the month of August, when you order our Whimsy, Adventure, and Enchantment Fundamental papers, you can choose to get either the Rustic Home or Uptown Fundamentals for FREE! Both of these Basics packs feature foil designs and specialty materials for making your artwork unique. Yep, this deal is basically the best!

Let me introduce you to our Fundamental papers.

WHIMSY

 

Featured colors: Thistle, Crystal Blue, Glacier, Juniper, Sweet Leaf, Canary, Flaxen, Sorbet, Pixie, Smoothie 

ADVENTURE

Featured colors: Pansy, Pacifica, Lagoon, Emerald, Willow, Lemon, Tangerine, Blossom, Raspberry, Cranberry

ENCHANTMENT

Featured colors: Eggplant, Sapphire, Peacock, New England Ivy, Fern, Saffron, Goldrush, Poppy, Pomegranate, Ruby

When you purchase one of each of these sets of paper, you will get to choose one of the following Basic Fundamentals for free. 

UPTOWN 

 12 – 12" × 12" sheets (2 each of 6 designs), including some vellum paper and gold foil accents

RUSTIC HOME

12 – 12" × 12" sheets (2 each of 6 designs), including some kraft paper, vellum paper, and copper foil accents 

You can shop on my brand new website here!  Or if you have an order of $150 or more, contact me to place your order and receive $25 in free products.  

Enjoy,

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

Going soon!

Yes, we have some products that will be retiring soon.  The best way to see what is retiring and what is still available is to visit this link on my website.  When you do here are some important things to know

1.  The ink pads are being revised.  The new pads will be larger and have a magnetic closure.  Absolutely fabulous for all your stamping!  I can't wait.  Thus all ink pads in their current form are retiring.

2.  We are having a make-over in our Adventure color palette.  There are seven colors retiring.  Cotton Candy, Honey, Hollyhock, Pear, Topiary, Sunset (not pictured), and Gypsy.  Some of the reinkers for these colors are sold out but if you have a favorite color grab the reinker or a new ink pad in that color and coordinating cardstock.  Now is the time. 

3.  There are changes coming in the flip flaps and you are going to LOVE it.  But beware, we will no longer be selling the following 4 x 12 and 8 x 12, small assortment, and 6x6.  The other sizes will be back but with different configurations of packaging. 

4.  And finally, when can you get the new Annual Inspiration Idea Book?  August 1st!  Join me for Papercrafting Adventures 11a-2p or 6p-9p on August 1st.  Idea books are free to all club members, customers who place a $35 order and $3 for those who wish to purchase without ordering.  RSVP now so I have a catalog reserved for you!  If you are not local or can't make the August 1st Adventure, contact me to get your book. 

Looking forward to celebrating the old and the new with you. 

Michele

June SOTM Blog Hop: The Long Way Home

Thank you for visiting my blog!  We have a great tradition of sharing artwork each month through the consultant blog hop.  The variety of artwork and creativity of consultants is amazing.  If you have arrived here from Vickie's Blog welcome.  From here, you will travel on to Tamytha's Blog. 

Recently my husband and I traveled to the Daytona 500 in Florida.  This stamp set along with the Magical paper packet captured the color and fun we experienced.

I used the stamp set to create the detail embellishments for the layout.

How will you use this fun stamp set?  Father's Day?  Masculine birthday?  The only limit is your imagination.

Now just a reminder, you can purchase this stamp set from you CTMH consultant or if you do not have a consultant, you can purchase from my website.  With a minimum $50 purchase, this set is only $5.

Enjoy your summer travels and come home to this stamp set and document the memories and fun you had along the way.

Happy Summer,
Michele

Spring/Summer product intro

Do you ever get together with a group of friends and get so excited about the gathering that you forget to introduce people?  Yes, that is me...and I did it again.  I am so excited about the new Seasonal Expressions that launched May 1st that I didn't give it a proper introduction. 

So let me introduce

Calypso

Make your own sunshine with this colorful, summer paper set and oh so much fun stamp sets!

 

Florence

A genuinely warm and elegant set of papers with stamps and embellishments. 

Magical

Capture the excitement and memories from your magical family vacations and celebrations.

Happy Times 

(only available until May 31st)

Floral designs and gold foil details will make anyone happy. 

Do you have a favorite?  You can order today and participate in the mystery hostess drawing.  When you visit my website make sure to join Happy Times Mystery Hostess.  

I hope you have enjoyed meeting the characters from the Seasonal Expressions Spring/Summer idea book.  Let me know if you would like to receive your own paper copy.  

Michele

Hello Sunshine!

Even if the skies are gray, you can bring some sunshine that won't go away.  Close to My Heart featured this wreath in a YouTube video and I knew it would be fast, easy and simple to make.  And a beautiful bit of sunshine in my house. 

If you can follow directions, then you can make it too!  I will post the video below but of course, I can follow directions but sometimes I choose not to and make it my own.  Here's what I did differently.

• I didn't have a wreath base so I cut a ring out of cardboard and wrapped it in 2" batting strips to give it some dimension.  
• I used the Happy Times paper packet:  canary yellow diagonal stripe, yellow floral on white, gold foil paper and yellow from Georgie paper packet.  You would have plenty of yellow in one pack of Happy Times but I started with Georgie, didn't have enough so I switched.   
• If I did it again, I would cut the gold paper across the stripes for more pattern.  
• I cut all my paper strips at 1.5".  

Now, watch the video and create a wreath for yourself! 

 

 The Happy Times paper pack is available until May 31st.  You can get this pack for free with a $60 order on my website or purchase for $14.95.  Orders can be placed on my website. 

Here's to sunshine and happy times,
Michele

Happy Times in Green!

When I first saw this paper packet, I saw pink.  But not everyone is a "pink" fan so I challenged myself to work a different color angle.

I love the ombre colored paper in the packet.  There is one green to blue and one in orange to red.  So pretty!  So I started with the green ombre paper, added the green floral print, and then some glacier blue from the Calypso paper packet.  (You can click on the photo to see it larger.)

Because the photos are of my girls, I did add a bit of the floral paper and of course some bling using the white shimmer trim.  I added a fun watercolor element using the clear resist cards and watercolored the blue over top.  When it was almost dry, I stamped their names and they "ran" a bit to add to the effect.  (Honestly, I thought they were dry enough but they need to be completely dry, like maybe a full day if you have the patience.  Clearly, I do not.)

Have your ordered your Happy Times paper pack yet?  Remember, it is free with a $60 order or $14.95.  You can order on my website and join the Happy Times Mystery Hostess Party and June 1st I will draw for some lucky person to receive the hostess rewards! 

Happy scrapping,
Michele