Holiday Expressions Catalog is here!

So excited to announce that the Close To My Heart Holiday Expressions catalog is now live! With the release of the new catalog Close To My Heart is introducing new paper collections, exclusive ink colors, stamps, tools and more.

Boutique Paper Pack

Hello Pumpkin Paper Pack

Grateful Heart Paper Pack

Oh What Fun Paper Pack

'Tis The Seasons Paper Pack

Along with these beautiful paper packs, Close To My Heart has introduced 10 new Exclusive ink colors into their color palette - Ballerina, Bluebird, Candy Apple, Carolina, Clover, Lilac, Mint, Nectarine, Peach and Sage.

In addition to the 10 new colors Close To My Heart has introduced a new Color Of The Year, Sugarplum.

So much more to show you from the new catalog as well as the specials for the month of September. Stay tuned for more!

Head on over to my website at anytime to shop the new catalog. Check out the clearance items while you are there - there are some great items available there at fantastic discounts!

Craft With Heart

I am so excited to announce that Close To My Heart is introducing a monthly subscription service featuring Cut Above layout kits called Craft with Heart. This is a beautiful way to preserve your memories with a layout kit for every month of the year.

Each layout kit comes ready to assemble with enough to create 2 2-page layouts. You will receive: pre-printed base pages, pre-cut paper pieces, die-cuts, stickers, 3 Memory Protectors and instructions. 

The subscription is offered at monthly, 4-month, and 12-month intervals. You just need to decide how often you would like to receive Craft with Heart deliveries, sign up online, and receive exclusive Cut Above layout kits delivered straight to your doorstep. All subscriptions renew automatically. You can cancel anytime.

To get started with Craft with Heart, click here to go to the subscription page on my website. From there you will choose the subscription option that works best for you and sign up online. Once subscribed, you will begin receiving deliveries of exclusive layout kits, one for each month. You'll receive deliveries either monthly or every four months depending on your subscription choice. (The 12-month option is the only one right now the monthly and 4-month options will be available as of September 1st). 

I am so excited to create the pages from these kits. Here is a quick peek of the September layouts:

Hop on over to my website to subscribe or for more information on this subscription service!

Going, Going, Gone!

It's hard to believe but we are nearing the end of the month of August which also brings the end of the Annual Inspirations Catalog for 2017-2018 and the Seasonal Expressions 2 Catalog for 2018 for Close To My Heart. I am sad to see items from these catalogs retiring but also excited for the change in the seasons and the release of the new Holiday Expressions 2018 Catalog on September 1st.

Annual Inspirations Catalog 2017-2018

Seasonal Expressions 2 Catalog

If you loved the paper collections from the Seasonal Expressions catalog as much as I did, now is the time to hop on over to my online store to shop before they are gone. Some of the collections are already at low quantities available.

Central Park Collection

Beautiful Friendship Collection

Fresh Air Collection

Documented Collection

In addition to the products from the Seasonal Expressions Catalog there are other items from the Annual Inspirations Catalog that are retiring including some of the Exclusive Ink colors. Close To My Heart is retiring 10 of the colors from the core product line along with Bashful, the color of the year from 2017-2018. If you enjoy using these colors as much as I do it's a great time to stock up on the cardstock, ink pads and re-inkers before they are gone.

Hop on over to the Going Soon section of my website to see the full list of products that will be discontinued as of August 31st. While you are there checkout the Clearance section as well for even more products available at a discount.

For the Love of Crafting

I am absolutely in love with the August Stamp of the Month from Close To My Heart! For the Love of Crafting is such a versatile set and perfect for expressing our passions!

I had fun working with this set along with the featured paper collection of the month - Documented. The paper pack, stamps and embellishments were perfect to create some cards to celebrate my love of crafts. 

August Stamp of the Month - For the Love of Crafting

 I added a little bit of something extra to the flowers using the Clear Shimmer Brush.

I am really liking the colors in the Documented paper collection. The Eggplant, New England Ivy and Bashful colors really work well together.

Using some more of the papers I cut following the One-Sheet-Wonder technique I did some variations using the Documented Card Making Stamp Set. 

Documented Card Making Stamp Set

Documented Paper Pack

You can purchase the August Stamp of the Month at any time during this month for $17.95 or you can get it for $5.00 with a $50 purchase. Hop on over to my website to see the full range of Documented products!

You've Got Class

I've got so much more to share with you this month as Close To My Heart has even more promotions going on. The next special I want to share with you is the You've Got Class special. This special features a school theme and an exclusive paper packet, coordinating cardstock, and stamp set.

You've Got Class Special

The You've Got Class Workshop Kit includes the patterned paper, coordinating cardstock, True Fit Folios, stamp sets, and embellishments needed to create fourteen 12" x 12" single pages, one title page and a page for each grade from Kindergarten through 12th grade. What a great way to preserve the highlights from each school year in one scrapbook! This workshop kit gives you all of this at a 25% savings plus downloadable instructions for completing the album!

You've Got Class Workshop Kit

 Close To My Heart is bringing back True Fit Folios just for this special workshop. These 12" x 12" White Daisy file folders allow you to store all your school-related memorabilia and they fit inside your Memory Protectors in your album.

True Fit Folios

If you have lots of school memories to cherish you can purchase additional You've Got Class Paper  and Coordinating Paper Packs to expand your album to include more school-themed layouts.

You've Got Class Paper Pack

You've Got Class Coordinating Cardstock

Click here to see all of the You've Got Class special products and to shop my consultant website.

Bring Back My Pack

I am so thrilled to announce that Close To My Heart has brought back the much-loved Magical paper packet, refreshed with new colors for a limited time! These playful papers feature stars, stripes, hearts, and polka dots. The More Magical paper packet and coordinating products are perfect for use in any crafting featuring amusement parks, adventure, and parties! You can’t go wrong with More Magical!

The More Magical paper packet has been refreshed with colors from the new upcoming paper palette, and includes coordinating card stock, and stamp set. This special gives you a sneak peak at some of the new colors being introduced when the new Holiday Expressions catalog goes live on September 1st.

More Magical Workshop Kit

The More Magical Workshop Kit includes the patterned paper, card stock, embellishments, and Dreams Stamp Set needed to create four 12" x 12" layouts and eight cards. Close To My Heart has even provided a simple, easy to use workshop guide for you to download and use with these exclusive products.

Dreams Stamp Set

If you are anything like me and are planning an entire album devoted to a Magical vacation. You can purchase additional More Magical Paper Packs and Coordinating Cardstock Packs at any time to extend the layouts you can create with this wonderful paper pack!

More Magical Paper Pack

More Magical Coordinating Cardstock Pack

Another exciting special is that you can earn the paper pack for FREE if you host a party during the month of August! The Workshop Kit, Paper Pack, Stamp Set and Coordinating Cardstock packs are available from August 1st through September 30th but the Hostess Special is only available during the month of August. Contact me soon if you want to host a party - can be online or at a date of your choosing!

More Magical Hostess Special

Click here to see all the More Magical product offerings and to shop on my consultant website.

Here's To You Special

Close To My Heart has just released the Here's To You Special. This special features a workshop kit inspired by one of life’s special occasions, a wedding. To celebrate these moments, the Here’s to You workshop kits features four exclusive stamp sets designed for making elegant cards and layouts. The products in this workshop include four stamp sets and other items to create one 12" x 12" page and seven cards that can be used for weddings and many other occasions! 

The Here's To You Special is going on now through August 31st. There are two workshop kits available - one kit has a rose embossing folder and the other one does not. Both kits include the four exclusive stamp sets along with the materials to create the layouts and cards from the kit. The cards are great for celebrating friendships, anniversaries, weddings and many other occasions. 

Click here to see all of the Here's To You Product Offerings.

Motivation Monday #1 - Getting more of you in your albums

I know I am guilty of this. I look back through the albums I have created and more often than not I have done more in documenting about my family and friends than I have about me. I am challenging myself to tell more of my story in my scrapbook pages. I've come up with a list of layout idea prompts that I want to share with you.

I will be sharing some of these layouts in the coming weeks. I want to challenge you to try to add more of you to your scrapbook layouts and share them! You can use the list I have here or come up with your own prompts. I will have a little gift for everyone that shares a layout and tags me by the end of August. Looking forward to seeing your layouts!

Tips and Tricks Tuesday #2: Sunburst Technique

Sorry to have been a little MIA lately. It's crazy how fast time goes by when everyone is out of school for the summer. Catching a little time here and there to scrapbook has proved tough. I have been working on figuring out the schedule for additional monthly day crops and working on creating some fun card making workshops. Check out the Events link on my Facebook page to keep up with the upcoming events.

Now on to the main reason for my post today. I have wanted to do another Tips and Tricks Tuesday video post and while working on a layout today I realized I had a great technique I have used in the past that I wanted to share with you, I call it the Sunburst Technique. Here it the layout I used it in.

Here is a close up of one of the sunburst embellishments I created for the layout. The technique is fairly simple in that you just need a scallop punch and a sticky note to do this. Scroll down for the video. 

Hope you enjoyed the video and have fun trying out this technique! I hope you share with me what you create!

Weekend Fun!

Just got to say I am thankful to my family and friends for supporting what I do! Crazy, busy weekend last weekend but had so much fun! I got to spend the day Saturday scrapbooking with some wonderful ladies as I kicked off what will hopefully be monthly day crops at my house. Make sure you follow me on Facebook or are subscribed to my newsletter so you can get updates on upcoming day crops and workshops.

On Sunday the girls and I got to celebrate Mike! So thankful for such a wonderful husband and fantastic father to our girls. We followed our family tradition of breakfast in bed and then the girls helped me make him dinner of his choice in the evening - his choice being filet and scalloped potatoes. Yum! After dinner we all went to enjoy some ice cream at one of our local places. So much fun!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and got the opportunity to celebrate Father's Day with their loved ones!

Motivation Monday

Sharing a bit of what gets me motivated when I feel in a scrapbooking or card making funk. I follow quite a few sketch blogs and I find that seeing the sketches and what others have created with that sketch helps get my creativity going.

Today I wanted to work on cards for Father's Day so I hoped on over to Freshly Made Sketches to check out the latest sketch and it was just the push that I needed. Here is my finished card and the sketch that inspired it.

Freshly Made Sketches - Sketch #340

For the card I used the Rad Dad Stamp set, White Daisy cardstock, Almond cardstock, Gold Shimmer Trim, Toffee Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad, Sapphire Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad and Archival Black Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad. The Rad Dad Stamp set is available through the end of June. 

Hope you enjoy the card. Comment with what helps you get motivated to craft.

Create The Rainbow June Special

During the month of June, add color to your cardmaking and scrapbooking with the Create The Rainbow Special!

The Create the Rainbow special features exclusive cardstock bundles at 25% off the retail price. Each bundle includes 12 sheets of cardstock in a specific color family. You can choose from bundles that include different shades of colors like green, yellow, pink, or even a rainbow option!

Purchase individual spools of Fundamentals ribbon at 25% off the retail price! Fundamentals ribbon is regularly only available in packages of four in the Adventure, Whimsy, Enchantment, and Basics color palettes. This is the perfect time to get specific colors of ribbon for your crafting at a discount! Select embellishments are also available at 25% off the retail price to add extra sparkle to any color scheme. 

As you create with a rainbow of special items in June, add an extra splash of color with the exclusive Be a Rainbow stamp set. This set of 23 stamps comes with sentiments and images that perfectly coordinate with June's rainbow theme. It includes longer, unique sentiments broken into several images. You can also use the individual letters to stamp each letter of “RAINBOW” in different colors.

When you host a party that reaches the third level of Hostess Rewards or higher during the month of June*, you can choose one Create the Rainbow cardstock bundle FREE. That's up to a $9.95 USD/$12.75 CAD value, totally free! * party orders must be submitted no later than July 5, 2018  Contact me to schedule an in-home gathering or setup an online party!

Click here or on the image below to shop the Create the Rainbow special today!