New Rolling Tote and Shoulder Tote Paper Crafting Organizers from CTMH!

Is Santa in a quandary about what to get you for Christmas?  Close To My Heart has the perfect solution!  Just announced today...brand new storage and crop organizers!  A beautiful rolling tote that will both store your paper crafting supplies at home and easily transport to any crop or event, plus a gorgeous shoulder bag perfect for 12x12 projects on the go!

Watch the video below to see just how much you can fit into these amazing organizers!

Order your SHOULDER TOTE or ROLLING TOTE right away!  These links will take you directly to my website to order.

To arrange your rolling tote just like on the video, take a look at the optional ORGANIZERS!

If you want these for Christmas, order right away as per this message from our corporate office:

"We have received our first batch of rolling totes and shoulder totes and have now made them available to order! We have more on the way, but it is possible that this first batch of totes could run out before more arrive. If that happens, we will not be back-ordering any of the totes, but will instead make them unavailable to order until we receive more in stock."

Don't forget to let me know ahead of time if your personal order will be over $150 as I can set you up as your own "gathering" so you receive a minimum of $25.00 in Hostess Rewards (free product).  You can email me ahead of time at createwithcare@att.net.

Happy Holidays,

Karen

Close To My Heart CYBER MONDAY Deal!!!

I'm so excited!!  This has never happened before!!  CTMH has a Cyber Monday promotion!!  Whoo Hoo!

Are you ready....???

20% off any CTMH Cricut Collection!!!!!

Check it out....

Cyber Monday Only: 20% Off All Cricut®Collections! For the first time ever, Close To My Heart is offering a Cyber Monday Sale on Monday, December 1, 2014. There has never been a better time to buy Close To My Heart’s exclusive Cricut® Collections for 20% off the retail price. Whether you love scrapbooking, cardmaking, or creating 3-D projects, our four exclusive Cricut® collections make the perfect addition to any craft room! Sale starts at midnight (MST) on December 1 and ends at 11:59 pm Monday night. Make sure you share the news about this sale with all your customers, friends, and family memebers, too! Orders must be submitted between 12:00 am and 11:59 pm (MST) on Monday, December 1 in order to get the discount on your selected Cricut® collections. Enjoy extra savings on Close To My Heart's exclusive Cricut® collections this Cyber Monday! What are you waiting for???  Get this deal now!!!! Click HERE to choose your CTMH Cricut Collection!

Close To My Heart's Deal of the Decade December Promo - $10.00 Stamp Sets!!!

STOCK UP ON STAMPS NOW!

When Close To My Heart celebrates, they give you the presents!  This year marks the 10-year Anniversary of Close To My Heart's revolutionary My Acrylix clear polymer stamps and we want you to celebrate right along with us!  With a qualifying purchase of $50.00 during the month of December 2014, you will be eligible to purchase any C- or D-size stamps from the Annual Inspirations 2014-2015 Idea Book for only $10.00!!  That's up to a $7.95 USD of savings on a single stamp set!  Plus once you achieve the qualifying order total, there is no limit to the number of eligible stamp sets that you can purchase at this discounted price.  

That's right, I said NO LIMIT!!!

Remember, a purchase of $50.00 will also qualify you to receive the December Stamp of the Month for only $5.00.  So if you purchase both the discounted stamp of the Month and additional stamps at this special campaign pricing your additional stamps at this special campaign pricing your savings will compound! It is truly the deal of the decade!!

Make your qualifying $50 purchase from either the Seasonal Expressions or Annual Inspirations Idea Books and purchase  an unlimited amount of C- or D-size stamps for $10.00 each from the Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  To know if your stamp set is a C- or D-size, look for the item number of the set.  Any item number that starts with a C or D (i.e. C1613 or D1627) will qualify!  

Shop NOW!

CTMH Seasonal Expressions 1 (Dec 2014-Mar 2015) SNEAK PEEK!!!

I love Close To My heart because they know that paper crafters just can't get enough paper!!  

In addition to the Annual Inspirations Idea Book (valid Aug 2014-Jul 2015), CTMH will have 2 supplemental catalogs called Seasonal Expressions.  The first one will be valid from 01Dec2014 - 31Mar2015 and I'm here to give you a little preview of the 2 new gorgeous paper packs called HEARTSTRINGS and HOPSCOTCH!!

Heartstrings is going to be perfect for anything love!  An anniversary, Valentine's Day, an engagement, a wedding or the telling of a love story; this is the paper you want to have.  The featured shades are Cranberry, Whisper, Hollyhock, and Lagoon.  Whether you are making scrapbook layouts or cards, this paper collections many possibilities will inspire your creativity!

CTMH Heartstrings Scrapbook Layout

CTMH Heartstrings Cards

Hopscotch is going to be a fabulous all occasion paper pack that you could use all throughout a scrapbook.  It is bright, cheery and happy!  It's not too girly and can be easily used for layouts with boy themes.  Show off your family photos to the beach, fair, forest, park, soccer game, theme park…wherever!  They all "go" with this paper!  The gorgeous colors of Flaxen, Glacier, Smoothie, and Sunset take center stage on these papers.

CTMH Hopscotch Scrapbook Layout

CTMH Hopscotch Scrapbook Layout

These papers will most certainly be featured as both Create & Takes at upcoming crops as well as workshops to create beautiful cards and layouts. Check out my upcoming calendar of events HERE!  Let me show you how to make your paper crafting projects faster, simpler, and easier!

CTMH Pathfinding Gift Boxes using Artiste Cricut Cartridge

Pathfinding Gift Boxes

Due to my love of Autumn, I naturally gravitated towards the Pathfinding paper pack from Close To My Heart!  The warmth of the Olive, Autumn Terracotta, and Chocolate tones used in this paper collection really spoke to me.  I think of crackling fires, hot chocolate with lots of whipped cream and a big bowl of soup while snuggling under a blanket on a comfy sofa!  So cozy!!

Instead of a scrapbook page or card, I wanted to literally gift this paper to friends.  Using the CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge, I made these super easy boxes out of this gorgeous paper.  Wouldn't this be a special touch to your Thanksgiving table?  Put one of these at each guests plate with a small favor or bag of candy tucked inside!  An easy to make takeaway shows that you pay attention to all the details!

Here's what you need:

• Pathfinding Paper Pack
• For A Friend stamp set
• CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge
• CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge (or an 2" oval punch)
• Chocolate and/or Olive Ink
• Sparkles Brown and Tan Assortment

The box can be found on page 44 of the Artiste booklet.  It is a 3D object that I cut at 4".  I used the Art Philosophy just for the Scalloped Oval (pg 52, Oval 4, 2 1/4") and Oval (pg 42, Oval 3, 2").  The stamp "A Little Something For You" coordinates with the 2" Oval.  Top off with a piece of ribbon from your stash!  I used two retired ribbons that coordinated well.

Pathfinding Artiste Box with Olive Ink

Pathfinding Artiste Box with Chocolate Ink

Triple Layer Stamping Technique with "Fall Harvest" and "Your Own Kind of Wonderful" CTMH Stamp Sets

Autumn is my favorite season!  My husband calls it "pumpkin-palooza" because by now I'll have purchased an uncountable number of PSL's at Starbucks, stocked our pantry with Pumpkin Pop Tarts, Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal, and the ingredients for pumpkin loaves.  Of course, the refrigerator will also be stocked with bottles of pumpkin coffee creamer!  

To share my love of fall with the ladies of Scrapbook, Stamp and Socialize, I taught the group how to make this really cute card that looks complicated and gorgeous, but is very easy to put together.

Fabulous Fall card using a triple layer stamping technique

As the card bases with matching envelopes from Close To My Heart are 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" I started with this size for my base and worked my way up.  The measurements are as follows:

Colored Cardstock

Cut 3 pieces, 1 each of the following measurements:

5 1/2" x 4 1/4"

4 1/2" x 3 1/4"

3 1/2" x 2 1/4"

Colonial White or White Daisy Cardstock

Cut 3 pieces, 1 each of the following measurements:

5 1/4" x 4"

4 1/4" x 3"

3 1/4" x 2"

Using a small amount of adhesive, stack and adhere your white pieces together.  Stamp your sentiment first.  Then, randomly stamp your leaves, butterflies or flowers in coordinating colors on the white cardstock.  Stamp in both first and second generation ink.

Gently separate the layers and adhere them to the slightly bigger pieces of colored cardstock.  Adhere all layers together.  If using bakers twine as an accent, use pop dots or squares to adhere your final layer.  Fussy cut a coordinating stamped shape and adhere to the front with a small pop dot or square for a dimensional element.

To show how versatile this technique is, I've also made a card with a more Spring/Summer look using more pastel colors.  

Dream Big card using triple layer stamping technique

Here's my supply list…

Fabulous Fall Card

• 1 sheet of Chocolate Cardstock
• 1 sheet of Colonial White Cardstock
• Fall Harvest Stamp Set
• Goldrush Ink
• Ruby Ink
• Olive Ink
• Chocolate Ink (sentiment)
• Neutral Metallic Bakers Twine

Dream Big Card

• 1 sheet of Lagoon Cardstock
• 1 sheet of White Daisy Cardstock
• Your Own Kind of Wonderful Stamp Set
• Lagoon Ink (sentiment)
• Glacier Ink
• Blush Ink (retired)
• Creme Brûlée Ink (retired)
• Smoothie Bakers Twine (retired)

Now go and impress your friends and loved ones with this fabulous stamping technique!

BONUS SCAREDY CAT PROJECT: 2 Cards!

BONUS PROJECT - 2 Cards!!

If you've seen my previous blog post using the "hauntingly" fun Scaredy Cat paper collection, you know that even after doing TWO 2 page layouts from just the paper pack and the matching Complements, you still have leftover paper.  With my extras, I decided to make these two "boo-tiful" cards!  

Check out the photos and instructions for the layouts by clicking the following link:

Scaredy Cat Scrapbook Layouts

In addition to the scraps from the paper pack, I used these 3  items for the cards:

• 1 sheet of Colonial White Cardstock to make 2 card bases
• A piece of Thistle Diagonal Striped Ribbon
• Sentiments from the Frightfully Fun stamp set

Happy Owl-oween!

·      Colonial White Cardstock

Cut 1 at 8 1/2 " x 5 ½”

Fold in half to make card base

·      Paper #3 (purple background with black quatrefoils)

Cut 1 at 4 ¼” x 5 ½”

·      Thistle Cardstock

Cut 1 at 3” x 5”

·      Paper #1 (off white background with multi-colored squares and black circles)

Cut 1 at 2 ¾” x 4 ¾”

·      Cut black and white “zip strip” to 5 ½”

·      Tie a piece of Thistle Striped Ribbon around smaller rectangle

·      Stamp “Happy Halloween”, “trick or treat”, and “BOO!” on ½” strips of Colonial White Cardstock, then trim and dovetail

·    Adhere in fan pattern on right side of card Anchor with owl sticker from leftover Complements

Who's a Scaredy Cat?

·      Colonial White Cardstock

Cut 1 at 8 1/2” x 5 ½”

Fold in half to make card base

·      Black Cardstock

Cut 1 at 4 ¼” x 5 ½”

·      Paper #2 (off white background with Halloween images)

Cut 1 at 4” x 5 ¼”

·      Cut Orange Bat “zip strip” to 4 ¼”

·      Colonial White Cardstock

·      Cut 1 at 3 ½” x 3 ½”

·      Paper #1 (Reverse side with Orange rectangles)

·      Cut 1 at 3” x 3”

·      Adhere 4 pennant shaped Complements, lining up towards bottom of card

·     Adhere “Scaredy Cat” Complement and olive stars

Happy Halloween!

September is National Stamping Month

Celebrate Stamping!!

Did you know that Close To My Heart has been in business for 30 years?!  It's true!  To celebrate this amazing achievement as well as National Stamping Month, you get the present!!  When you spend $30 on any current retail priced stamps during the month of September you qualify to receive the exclusive C-sized stamp set for FREE!  The exclusive stamp set features 30 mini images and sentiments perfectly suited for 30 days of happy stamping!

Plus, make sure you check out Close To My Heart's Facebook page and Instagram during September to follow all the ways we're celebrating #30yearsofhappy for a full 30 days!

Please shop on my webpage to get your free stamp set!

Happy stamping!!

CTMH Chalk It Up and Your Own Kind of Wonderful

Never be afraid to think outside the paper pack and "be your own kind of wonderful"!  

I initially thought that the new Chalk It Up paper pack from Close To My Heart wouldn't be for me as I have no back to school occasions in my life at this moment.  However, once I got it open and saw the trendy arrows in my favorite colors of Sorbet and Lagoon, I just knew what I wanted to do!  

Chalk It Up and Your Own Kind of Wonderful

Chalk It Up from CTMH

Your Own Kind of Wonderful stamp set from CTMH

The stamp set that I picked for my card is not found in the same section of the Annual Inspirations Idea Book as the Chalk It Up paper.  As a matter of fact, it is found further back on page 107, featured with the Brushed paper pack.  My message here is "Just because it is not featured together doesn't mean that it doesn't go together"!

I picked 3 of the same butterfly shapes from the new stamp set Your Own Kind of Wonderful to use as an echoing theme on my card.  The smallest solid one was used to "watermark" my paper to draw attention to the sentiment.  The large solid one as a shadow effect and finally the third of the same shaped butterfly was colored in with our new ShinHan alcohol markers and adhered only in the center, so it's wings would always be in flight.  Finally, I accented with Aqua Dots to add a bit more dimension.

I challenge you to think outside of the paper pack on your next project!

CTMH Scaredy Cat - 2 Scrapbook Layouts!!

BOO!  Are you a Scaredy Cat??  I know I am!!

I was so inspired by the new Scaredy Cat paper collection from Close To My Heart, I got right to work on these "spooktacular" scrapbook layouts!  With just the Scaredy Cat Paper Pack, Scaredy Cat Adhesive Complements, Black Ink, Slate Bakers Twine, 2 extra sheets of Colonial White card stock and my CTMH Cricut Artbooking cartridge, I created these in no time!

CTMH Scaredy Cat Haunted House

CTMH Scaredy Cat Web of Eek

·      Set aside two (2) 12x12 sheets of Slate and two (2) of   Colonial White.  These will be your bases for both layouts.

·      Using the Close To My Heart Cricut Artbooking Cartridge, cut out the following:

Black Cardstock Haunted House:  Pg. 71, 9”, Shift, Border, V key

Black Cardstock Fence:  Pg. 71, 10”, Border, V key

Sunset Cardstock Moon:  4” circle cut from Art Philosophy

Black Cardstock Spider Web:  Pg. 54, 6”, Overlay, u key

Thistle Cardstock Spider: Pg, 54, 2”, Shift, Overlay, U key

·      Paper #1 (off white background with multi-colored squares and black circles)

Cut 2 at 9” x 9”

·      Thistle Cardstock

Cut 1 at 4 ¼” x 6 ¼”

Cut 3 at 3 ¼” x 3 ¼“

Cut 1 at 3 ¼” x 3 ¾”

·      

       Black Cardstock

Cut 2 at 12” x 4”

·       

       Paper #2 (off white background with Halloween images)

Cut 2 at 11” x 7 ½”

·      

       Paper #3 (purple background with black quatrefoils)

Cut 3 at 3” x 11”

·      

       Sunset Cardstock

Cut 5 at 3 ¾” x 5 ¼”

·       

       Ink all cut pieces with Black Ink

·      

     Assemble by using yellow highlighted pieces for Haunted House Layout and green highlighted pieces for Web of Eek Layout

·      

     Use Scaredy Cat adhesive Complements to embellish as shown in photos

BONUS PROJECT:  2 SCAREDY CAT CARDS!!