Costa Rica Bound

Hi Everyone! I wanted to pop in to let you know that my blog may be a bit quiet this next week. I will be leaving early tomorrow morning for the Close to my Heart incentive trip to Costa Rica. I am so excited to see many of my CTMH Consultant friends and many of my CTMH Corporate Exec friends! (Let me know if you’d like to join my team and come with me to Hawaii next year on the next incentive trip!)

If I have access to wifi while I am there, I may post a few photos, but otherwise I will be taking a much needed break.

Pura Vida!

Balloon Ride Card

I have a fun card to share with you today. I created it with Close to my Heart’s new Balloon Ride paper and a coordinating stamp set called Give a Lift. I thought the balloon could use a little “lift” (pun intended LOL!) so I stamped it three times and popped it up with some 3-D Foam Tape. I colored in the stamped image with CTMH’s Watercolor Pencils and blended it with the Blending Pen. I forgot how much I love working with the Watercolor Pencils! They are so fun and easy to use and they are very forgiving. I added a Brown Sparkle in the middle of the balloon to finish it off.

The sentiments in the Give a Lift stamp set are wonderful.  I decided to use the “Friend—You give me a lift” sentiment on this card, but plan to make more using the other sentiments as well.

Studio Savings!

Have you tried Studio J yet? “What is Studio J?” you ask. It’s the most amazing, FREE online scrapbooking I have ever used. It is fun and easy to use and the finished results are wonderfully high quality prints! You can read more about Studio J here.

During the month of March, order your Studio J^™ layouts—including ones using our new Photo Express Collection—for only $5 each! Quickly create gorgeous, personalized studio layouts using our wide selection of papers, collections, patterns, and embellishments. And don’t forget to check out the templates in our new Photo Express Collection, which allow you to design layouts entirely comprised of photos in minutes.**

Watch this great video for more information...

Click here to start creating your Studio J layouts.

*Offer valid March 1–31, 2014. Studio J layouts ship in a protected box that can hold from 4 to 50 two-page layouts. Minimum order of 4 layouts. Free JPEG of every printed layout. For additional information about shipping and handling, please visit StudioJ.com & Products and Pricing & Shipping Options.**It is recommended that the matting feature not be used with the photo-only templates, the Photo Express Collection, as matting may cause photos to appear misaligned. Close To My Heart does not assume any liability for photos and Photo Express Collection layouts that have been created using the matting option and will give no reprints or refunds in such cases.

Goodie Boxes Up for Grabs!

Just like most devoted crafters, I have waaaaay too many crafting supplies! I decided to go through some of my stash of brand new products today, box them up, and offer them to you at a HUGE discount.

I have 7 medium sized Flat Rate boxes filled to the brim with all kinds of crafting “happiness.” Each box contains a minimum of $250 worth of new Close to my Heart products. They all have at least 6 stamp sets, a past promotional card kit, Dimensional Elements, kraft envelopes, Christmas themed Assortments, some ribbon, and a jar of Clear Embossing Powder. The boxes also include a variety of the following (each box contains different items from this list): Workshop on the Go Kit, Textile Fabric, Buttons, Journaling Spots, more stamp sets, Stickease, Assortments, another card kit, brads, eyelet, Cork Shapes, Window Charms, Base & Bling Bases, and tons more!

While each box contains different items, they all contain at least $250 worth of Close to my Heart goodies. I am selling the boxes for just $60 each which includes shipping! I only have 7 boxes and they will go to the first 7 people who email me and send paypal payment. Once they are gone, I will post here to let you know.

I am looking forward to all of these wonderful goodies finding a new home where they will be well loved! *Ü*

ETA: All boxes are now spoken for. Thanks for the great (and QUICK) response.

March Creative Club Project - Custom Pendant Necklace

March Creative Club will be held on Tuesday, March 25th at 7pm. (Note the date change.) This month will be making custom pendant necklaces that make GREAT gifts! (Be sure to order some for yourself as well.) Because they are such a great value, you can afford to order multiple kits! You can customize your necklace with a photo or image of your choice* or use an image from one of the Style Sheets. 

The basic project kit to make one necklace is $15 and includes the following:

• (1) Base & Bling Pendant (shape and color of your choice)
• (1) Base & Bling Glass cover (square or circle)
• (1) Base & Bling Chain (Faux Antiqued Silver or Gold)
• (1) Base & Bling Rhinestone Charm (Faux Antiqued Silver or Gold)
• (2) Base & Bling Charms (of your choice)
• (1) Sheet of Base & Bling Adhesive Dots
• (1) Style Sheet of your choice OR a 1" x 1" custom photo/artwork print*
• Step-by-step instructions

Additional products needed to complete this project:

Non-stick Micro-Tip Scissors

You have many choices to customize your necklace and make it unique! 

1. Choose a square or circle pendant.

2. Choose Faux Antiqued Silver or Faux Antiqued Gold. (Your chain, charms, and rhinestone will match your pendant color.)

3. Choose two different charms from the 12 versatile options.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

4. Choose 1 of 4 different Style Sheets OR you can send me a photo or image in jpg format* and I will reduce it for you and send you back a 1" x 1" print to use on your pendant. 

Samples of pendants made with Style Sheets.

Samples of pendants made with photos.

*If you choose the photo option instead of a style sheet, please email me a .jpg file that is at least 400x400 pixels. (Photos/images must be copyright free or you must own the rights.) You can email the photo to lisa@lisastenz.com. If the file is too small or cannot be cropped to fit in the pendant properly, I will let you know.

Contact me for more information or to sign up for this month’s class. Please contact me no later than March 7th if you would like to join us for the class. 

Kits ordered before 3/7 will be mailed by 3/25.

Kits ordered after 3/7 will be mailed within 2 weeks.

All kits/classes need to be paid for in advance.

Thank you for understanding.

To order a kit(s), you may either send me a check or pay securely online with a credit card or your PayPal account by using the PayPal “Add to Cart” buttons below. Be sure to use the drop down menu to choose your kit options. (If you would like your kit(s) shipped, please choose the shipped option. $5 will be added for shipping.)

Use the options below if you will be attending the class or picking up your kit(s).

$15 per Necklace Kit
(for those attending the class or picking up the kits)

1. Pendant Shape/Color (choose 1)

Silver Circle Gold Circle Silver Square Gold Square

2. Charms (choose 1)

bird feather double feather scissors camera bow

3. Charms (choose 1)

tower heart crown owl key rose

4. Style Sheet or Custom Photo (choose 1)

Free Thinker Style Sheet Dreamer Style Sheet Craft Queen Style Sheet Storyteller Style Sheet Custom Photo (email to lisa@lisastenz.com)

••••••••••••

Use the options below if you would like your kit(s) shipped to you.

$15 per Necklace Kit
($5 will be added for shipping)

1. Pendant Shape/Color (choose 1)

Silver Circle Gold Circle Silver Square Gold Square

2. Charms (choose 1)

bird feather double feather scissors camera bow

3. Charms (choose 1)

tower heart crown owl key rose

4. Style Sheet or Custom Photo (choose 1)

Free Thinker Style Sheet Dreamer Style Sheet Craft Queen Style Sheet Storyteller Style Sheet Custom Photo (email to lisa@lisastenz.com)

To find out more about my monthly “no-commitment” Creative Club, click here. You do not need to be local to participate.

Retiring Albums

I know that many of you, including myself, love Close to my Heart’s expandable Faux Leather Albums. I wanted to let you know that they will be retiring at the end of the current catalog cycle (July 2014) and are now only available while supplies last. The new albums that will be replacing these look wonderful, however they will not be expandable and they will not be available in the current faux leather finish. The new albums will be available in both post bound and D-Ring formats with a coated canvas finish. They will be available in different patterns and two solid colors.

I wanted to let you know now, so that you can stock up on both the albums and the accessories that go with them such as the extender posts & screws, spine expanders, etc. Since they are only available while supplies last at this point, I would hate for them to run out of your favorite color or the accessories to expand the current albums that you have.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or place your order by clicking here or the link below.

Balloon Ride Layout

I am blessed to live in a beautiful area of Southern California just north of San Diego. We live less than 5 minutes away from what the locals call “Wine Country.” While I am not a big drinker and can’t really appreciate the wine at many of the wineries that are just down the road, I do appreciate the BEAUTIFUL vineyards and scenery that the wineries boast. One of the things I love most, is seeing the many hot air balloons that fill the sky over the wineries early in the morning. When my husband was given a gift of a hot air balloon ride a few years ago from one of his vendors at work, he was excited to share it with me. As thrilled as I was, I was honestly petrified to go. We waited until the week before it expired to finally use the passes, and let me just say, “IT WAS AWESOME!” I won‘t lie. I did hold onto the ropes of the basket for dear life the entire time, but it really was an amazing adventure! When I saw Close to my Heart’s new Balloon Ride Collection, I knew I had to scrapbook our flight.

I used a few new products on my layout including the beautiful Balloon Ride Paper Packet, Dimensional Elements Compliments, and Resin Assortments. I also added some Small Clear Sparkle Flourishes.

Another cool new product I used is the Balloon Ride Picture My Life program. You get so many fun cards in the kit that are perfect for adding to other projects. I used two of them on my layout and slipped them under the photo so that I could add some hidden journaling. (I still need to do my journaling, but the great thing is that I can slip them in and out whenever I am ready.)