Technique Thursday #1

I am so thankful that Close To My Heart has provided some wonderful videos to share with you techniques for using our products.

I know a lot of you are seasoned stampers like me but I find that sometimes it is good to have a refresher of some basic techniques for using and caring for your stamps. Today I want to share with you this video from Close To My Heart on Tips for Use & Care of our My Acrylix stamp sets.

I hope you enjoyed the video and found it informative. Here are some links to the products shown in the video.

1778 - My Acrylix Spritz Cleaner

Z1782 - My Acrylix Stamp Scrubber

Y1501 - My Acrylix Block Starter Set 

Thank you for stopping by!

Cherishing Her

I am in love with the Stamp of the Month for the month of February from Close To My Heart - Cherishing Her. This stamp set with 23 images is perfect to celebrate the women we love in our lives, be they mothers, aunts, daughters, sisters or friends.

I was inspired to create this card by a sketch challenge from Freshly Made Sketches. You can see the challenge here.

I used paper from the Celebrate Today collection for the background and circle. I colored the flower bouquet in with Triblend Markers and gave it some bling with a Clear Shimmer Brush, some Soft Pink Shimmer Trim and Clear Sparkles.

This stamp set will be available through February 29th. You can purchase this set for $18.95 or for $5.00 with a $50 purchase from my website. Click here to see this stamp set.

I hope you liked the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

S2002 - Cherishing Her SOTM stamp set

X7252S - Celebrate Today Paper pack

X7252C - Celebrate Today Coordinating Cardstock

Z3608 - Soft Pink Shimmer Trim

Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad

Z2496 - Pale Pink Triblend Marker

Z2491 - True Blue Triblend Marker

Z2485 - Light Green Triblend Marker

Z2483 - Light Yellow Triblend Marker

Z3293 - Clear Shimmer Brush

Z3274 - Clear Sparkles

Celebrate Today

Hi all! I am back! Slowly getting back into crafting as I am healing from my shoulder surgery. Been working a little bit each day on catching up. I am happy to share with you one of my recent creations using the Featured Paper for the month of February from Close To My Heart - Celebrate Today. This fun collection of vibrant colors and images is perfect for celebrating birthdays and everyday occasions.

For this layout I used a sketch from the Make It From Your Heart Volume 3 book along with the Celebrate Today Paper Pack, Coordinating Cardstock and Scrapbooking Stamp set. I used a combination of stickers and stamped stars for embellishments, using 3-D Foam Tape with some to add dimension. I also used the grid stamp behind the title block and journal block.

Click here to see all the products that are part of the Celebrate Today collection.

I hope you enjoy the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

X7252S - Celebrate Today Paper Pack + Sticker Sheet

X7252C - Celebrate Today Coordinating Cardstock

D1903 - Celebrate Today Scrapbooking Stamp Set

9043 - Make It From Your Heart Volume 3

Z3608 - Soft Pink Shimmer Trim

Z2895 - Lagoon Exclusive Ink Pad

Z2844 - Pixie Exclusive Ink Pad

Z2812 - Raspberry Exclusive Ink Pad

Z2805 - Black Exclusive Ink Pad

Z2060 - Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Celebrate Today Collection

Oh My Heart

Getting a little more crafting time in each day as I heal and go to physical therapy. Been working on some Valentine's day projects using the Oh My Heart Collection. This collection of Valentine's themed papers, stickers and stamps is perfect for showing some love this holiday.

I made the mailbox treat box for the care packages I am sending both of my girls in college. I used a template from the Artiste Cricut Collection by Close To My Heart to create the box and the Stitched Hearts Thin Cuts to decorate it. I was inspired by one done by another Close To My Heart Consultant, Angela Steinhoff.

For the layout and cards I used the directions for the Oh My Heart Workshop to create these. The Workshop creates has everything you need (except ink) to create one two-page layout, one single-page layout and 40 3" x 4" cards.

This collection is available through February 29th. If you purchase the Workshop Kit you can get everything you need at a discount of 25% off. Click here to see the whole collection.

I hope you enjoyed these. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies Used:
CC12010 - Oh My Heart Paper Pack with Sticker Sheet
CC12012 - Oh My Heart Coordinating Card-stock
CC12013 - Oh My Heart Stamp Set
Close To My Heart Artiste Cricut Collection
Z4182 - Stitched Hearts Thin Cuts
Z3562 - Silver Stickles Glitter Gel
Z2805 - Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z6509 - Candy Apple Red Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z2812 - Raspberry Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z2844 - Pixie Exclusive Inks stamp pad

All Around Creativity

Welcome to January and National Papercrafting Month. In honor of this month Close To My Heart has put together a special that features a gorgeous home decor wooden wreath. The All Around Creativity special has four kits to choose from - Be Kind, Create, Grateful and Stay Awhile. You can easily tailor the to reflect the design of any room in which you choose to place it. I had so much fun customizing my own version of this special.

Each kit comes with a sixteen inch wooden wreath kit complete with die-cut flowers leaves and an elegant paper bow for easy embellishment. Each kit also comes with 2 pieces of double-sided backing paper to help you personalize the wreath even more. The pieces are all die-cut shapes that are simple to punch out and assemble.

I customized my wreath by coloring it with our Charcoal Exclusive ink for some added color. Once the ink dried I used our Liquid Glass adhesive to attach the backing, leaves and ribbon to the wreath.

This special is so much fun to put together and there are so many options for customizing it to your decor.

The kits cost $34.95 each and will be available through February 29th but during the month of January if you purchase 4 or more in any combination the price is discounted to $24.95.

Click here to see the wreaths in this special.

Spruced Up

Welcome to 2020 everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season and is ready for a new year with lots of crafting! I am so excited to show you what is new with Close To My Heart for the new year. Our newest catalog - the January/February 2020 Idea Book - is now live and contains so many wonderful new papers, stamps and embellishments. The items in this catalog will be available until February 29, 2020. Click here to view this new catalog and all the goodness in it.

The first collection I want to share with you is the featured paper for the month of January - Spruced Up. I had an opportunity to complete a workshop with this collection so that I can show you how beautiful the papers and embellishments are. The colors and patterns in this collection are perfect for the cold-wintry days we have been having as well as many other occasions. 

Supplies Used:

X7253S - Spruced Up Paper Pack + Sticker Sheet

X7253C - Spruced Up Coordinating Cardstock

X7253F - Spruced Up Wood Shapes

X3633 - Spruced Up Cardmaking Stamp Set + Thin Cuts

X254 - White Cards & Envelopes Bulk Pack

Z2829 - Espresso Exclusive Inks

Z2835 - New England Ivy Exclusive Inks

Z2825 - Mink Exclusive Inks

Z3517 - Black Journaling Pen (.05)

Z2060 - Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Z341 - Glue Dots Mini-Dots

Click here to shop this collection today!

Hope you like the layouts and cards. Thanks for stopping by!

Fun holiday treats and a tutorial

Hi everyone! Hope you have been having some fun getting ready for the upcoming holidays! It's been busy around here! I just had both girls home for the Thanksgiving break and hated to send them back to school, but they will both be home soon for their winter break from college. As I get ready for the holiday here I have been working on some treats for my friends and my coworkers. I really enjoyed creating these test tube hot cocoa treat holders for everyone and wanted to share the process with you. You will find a PDF file with the instructions at the end of this post.

I started with a piece of 12" x 12" cardstock and cut it into 2 6" x 12" pieces. Each treat holder uses 2 pieces. You could easily just do 1/2 of the holder with 2 test tubes for a variation.

I scored each piece lengthwise and widthwise according to the directions. I then cut away the extra cardstock and cut along some of the score lines to make the tabs. I used double-sided tape to adhere the tabs to make the box as well as to adhere the two boxes together to make the holder. I punched two 1" circles for the test tubes and then punched a handle at the top for carrying the holder.

I wrapped some strips of cardstock around the box then added some stamped images as well as ribbon for decoration. To add a little bling I used a Shimmer Brush on the cup cap, cup band, and the holly berries.

I filled the test tubes with hot cocoa mix, crushed peppermint candies, mini-chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows. 

Download the PDF with the instructions here

I hope you like the treat holders and would love to hear if you made some! Thanks for stopping by!

Close To My Heart Supplies Used:

Z7250S - Holly Jolly Paper Pack

Z7250D - Holly Jolly Coordinating Cardstock

Z7251S - Cedar and Pine Paper Pack

Z7251D - Cedar and Pine Coordinating Cardstock

Z3537 - Perk Up Stamp Set + Thin Cuts

Z4230 - Candy Apple Striped Ribbon

Z3293 - Clear Shimmer Brush

Z4223 - Red Shimmer Brush

Additional Supplies Used:

Scoring Board

Double-sided Sticky Tape

1" circle punch

Punch for handle

The test tubes I purchased through Amazon. You can probably get them anywhere but make sure you get ones with a screw on cap.

Reindeer Crossing

I have enjoyed crafting with the December Stamp of the Month from Close To My Heart - Reindeer Crossing. This set of 10 stamps is so perfect for card making and scrapbooking this wonderful time of the year.

I used a sketch from the Make It From Your Heart Volume 4 How-to Book as a starting point. The papers from the Cedar & Pine Collection are perfect with the stamp set. I stamped the reindeer with Toffee ink. The pine cones and sentiment were stamped in Intense Black ink. The pine cones and branch were colored in with TriBlend markers. I finished the card off with some ribbon to add a little sparkle to the card.

I hope you like the card. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

S1912 - Reindeer Crossing Stamp set

9044 - Make It From Your Heart Volume 4

X7251S - Cedar & Pine Paper Pack

1385 - White Daisy Cardstock

Z2828 - Toffee Exclusive Ink

Z4189 - Intense Black Exclusive Ink

Z2478 - Earth Brown TriBlend marker

Z2485 - Light Green TriBlend marker

Z4194 - White & Gold Skinny Ribbon

Cedar & Pine

I cannot believe that Christmas is almost here! I have been getting busy finishing up some crafting for the season as well as getting ready for both Meghan and Nicole to be home for their winter breaks from college. I am excited to have both of them home!

I took a little break from the craziness to do some scrapbooking with this month's featured paper pack - Cedar & Pine. I love the traditional colors and festive designs in this collection.

I was inspired to create this layout from a recent post on the Close To My Heart blog all about using your scraps. You can see the whole blog post here. The Cedar & Pine papers were perfect for these pictures from an evening out in Boston with our girls.

I added a little bit of splatter to the French Vanilla panels using our watercolor paints and brush before I adhered the strips and photo mats. The title was cut using our Block Alphabet Thin Cuts and I added some Gold Glitter Gems for a little sparkle.

Supplies Used:

X7251S - Cedar & Pine Paper Pack

X7251D - Cedar & Pine Coordinating Cardstock

Z3132 - Watercolor paints

Z3225 - Medium Round Water brush

Z3386 - Block Alphabet Thin Cuts

Z3312 - Gold Glitter Gems

Click here to see the whole Cedar & Pine Collection.

Hope you liked the layout. Thanks for stopping by.

Hanukkah card and a sketch challenge

I am participating in Freshly Made Sketches challenge #412 this week and was inspired to create this Hanukkah card.

You can find the sketch along with variations by other card makers on the Freshly Made Sketches Blog. I used the Close To My Heart Lights of Hanukkah stamp set along with Carolina and Silver Glitter papers. I cut the frame using the Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts and then added some sparkle to the lights using the Silver Stickles Glitter Gel along with some Silver Glitter gems.

I hope you like the card. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies Used:
B1684 - Lights of Hanukkah stamp set
X6039 - Carolina cardstock
Z3239 - Silver glitter paper
Z6508 - Bluebird Exclusive inks
Z6505 - Carolina Exclusive Inks
Z4260 - Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts set
Z3562 - Silver Stickles Glitter Gel
Z4191 - Silver Glitter gems

Thanksgiving at our house!

I've been busy with work recently but was able to carve out some time to decorate the house as we are hosting Thanksgiving here. I also wanted to do up some crafty items for our Thanksgiving table as well as a gift for each person coming to the house. I am happy to share the results with you. I was inspired by the Build-a-Plaid stamp set and ideas shared by some wonderful Close To My Heart consultants.

Here are the final results. I will share the process and the products used below.

Thanksgiving table setting

Buffet food labels

I had fun using the Build-a-Plaid stamp set to create the design for the pumpkin gifts, napkin holders and food signs.

I stamped the design on a piece of French Vanilla 12x12 cardstock. To achieve the plaid pattern I aligned the paper on my mat and chose the distance for the repeat (1 1/4"). I then stamped across in the Pewter ink with the largest plaid image, rotated the paper 90 degrees and then stamped across again with the largest image. I then repeated the process with the next plaid image this time using Pebble ink aligned about 1/4" away from the first plaid. I finished this with a thin line stamped in Charcoal ink on the opposite side of the Pebble image.

Step 1 - Pewter plaid image

Step 2 - 90 degree rotation

Step 3 - Pebble plaid image

Step 4 - Charcoal line

I then cut this into 1 1/4" strips for the pumpkin and a 3/4" strip for the napkin holder. I used 4 strips for each pumpkin which I adhered the bottom together using Liquid Glass then put a treat bag in the center before adhering the top together. I made the stem and vine from chenille pieces. 

For the food signs I simply used the larger plaid with Pewter ink and the line with Charcoal ink along one corner of the rectangle. The frame is cut from Kraft paper using the Stitched Rectangle Thin-Cut set. The pumpkin, napkin rings and food signs are embellished with stamped images from the Family Time November Stamp of the Month set and leaves cut with the Layered Leaves Thin-Cut set (retired).

I hope you like the table setting. Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies Used:

D1886 - Build-a-Plaid stamp set

S1911 - Family Time Stamp of the Month set

X6046 - French Vanilla cardstock

Z1375 - Kraft paper

X6034 - Sangria cardstock

Z2832 - Pewter Exclusive Ink

Z2833 - Pebble Exclusive Ink

Z2831 - Charcoal Exclusive Ink

Z4260 - Stitched Rectangle Frames Thin-Cuts

Best Friends Furever

Our furry friends play a huge role in our lives, and we love to document our favorite memories of our pets. To help you do this, Close To My Heart has created a brand new, one-of-a-kind Cut Above Kit! This 6" x 8" layout kit is the first of its kind and features reversible die cuts, so you can choose dog or cat-focused titles and accents for this quick and easy project.

Close To My Heart has also designed a matching paper packet, sticker sheet, and two new stamp sets, to use in a wide variety of crafting projects. There is also a workshop kit which combines the coordinating items in a kit that you can use to create four pages and four cards.

Best Friends Furever Cut Above Kit

Best Friends Furever Paper Pack

Best Friends Furever Coordinating Cardstock

Eat Play Love Stamp Set

Kitty Cuddles Stamp Set

Best Friends Furever Workshop Kit with Stamp Sets

Best Friends Furever Workshop Kit

As part of this special, you can purchase each exclusive item individually at full price, but Close To My Heart is also offering the Best Friends Furever Workshop Kit with Stamp Sets at a 20% discount. Click here to shop the items that are part of this special.