H2H Challenge - Sketch

This week’s Heart 2 Heart Challenge is a sketch challenge. I used the new Sweetheart paper packet for my card along with a new stamp set called Card Chatter - Love. This set has some really cute sayings in it like the one I used, “You are my...happily ever after.”

A few different circle punches were used to add a couple of windows and frames on my card. (See supply list below for punch sizes.)

I also used some 3-D Foam Squares to add dimension to the center circle. Do you think I might ever be able to make something without using 3-D Foam Squares somewhere on my project? Nope. I don’t think so either. LOL!


Head on over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog and see the what the other Design Team Members created. (They are all pretty fantastic!) Then be sure to link your submission for a chance to win some great prizes thanks to February’s sponsors, Shirley Ross and Sandra Strickler.

All supplies used are from CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Card Chatter - Love (available February 1st)
Paper: Sweetheart
Inks: Black, Hollyhock
Other: 1' and 1-1/4" Circle Punches, 1' scallop circle punch, 3-D Foam Tape

Are Close to my Heart’s acrylic stamps really that good?

This is a video that Close to my Heart came out with when My Acrylix stamps were first introduced about 7 years ago. You may have seen it before, but I thought I’d share it again because it is pretty funny and it shows that Close to my Heart acrylic stamps really are THAT good! LOL!

Click here to get your own CTMH acrylic stamps!

Spring/Summer 2011 New Idea Book Blog Hop

Welcome to the Close to my Heart New Product Sneak Peek Blog Hop! Many Close to my Heart Consultants are celebrating the upcoming release of the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book by giving you a sneak peek of some of the great products available in the new Idea Book starting February 1st! (Visit my blog on February 1st to check out the new Idea Book online!)

I am highlighting a new Paper Packet called Sophia. I fell in love with this paper from the moment I first saw it. I had some photos of my daughter that I have been saving to scrapbook until I found the perfect paper and embellishments. Well, I am happy to say that 4 years after these photos were taken, I finally found the perfect paper and embellishments to scrap them! LOL!

The template for this layout came from the awesome Magic How-To Book. It even has a CD in the back with the cute flower template so you can print it on the back of your paper and cut it out!
Check out those ADORABLE buttons? Aren’t they cute? The new buttons will come in a variety pack by color and yes, each pack comes with a ton of these cute flower buttons!
How ‘bout them letters? Oh, boy, are these fun! They are our new Eclectic Alphabet Irresistibles. Each chipboard letter has a different pattern on it. When you ink them, the pattern magically appears. They are so cool! You can ink them in any color you like to match your particular project. (Sorry the color in the photo is kind of funky.)
I couldn’t wait to share this new rose ribbon with you. Is it not the most beautiful ribbon you have ever seen? The best part is that you can even trim the roses off and use them separately. This ribbon girl is in love! LOL!
Check out the other fantastic projects below. Consultants will continue to link their projects to this blog hop, so be sure to check back often. (Feel free to link your project using new CTMH products as well. I'd love to see your creation!)



All supplies used are from CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Sophia WOTG, Fill in the Blank (both will be available February 1st)
Paper: Sophia
Inks: Cocoa, Pear, Hollyhock, Chocolate
Other: Pink Ribbon Collection, Pink Button Assortment, sewing machine & pink thread, 3-D Foam Tape, Sponge Dauber, Crimper

H2H Challenge - Bird Card

This week’s Heart 2 Heart Challenge is to create a project incorporating an animal or a bird. I chose to use one of my favorite, and most affordable, stamp sets called A Tweet. Did you know that Close to my Heart has a number of adorable stamp sets for only $7.95? This is one of them.

The background is a piece of patterned paper from the Veranda paper packet. I LOVE this paper and am sad that it will be retiring. (Make sure you order some before the end of the month if you like it too.) I used my Labels One Nestabilities to die cut the fun shape in the middle and then stamped a sentiment from the new February Stamp of the Month called Friendship. This set will be available on February 1st! I used some Foam Tape to raise the border and give the card some dimension.

The bird was inked with Créme Brulee and then I rolled the edges in Garden Green before I stamped the little guy on Colonial White cardstock. I cut him out, sponged some Chocolate ink on the edges, and added a tiny black brad for his eye. The flower is made using a piece of Chocolate CTMH ribbon. To make it, I punched a circle out of Chocolate cardstock and used it as my base. I twisted and then rolled the ribbon around the circle using a hot glue gun as I went along. Then I used some Garden Green Grosgrain ribbon for the leaves.
I’d love to see what you create using an animal or bird. Once your project is finished, head on over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog and post your creation. (You may even win a prize at the end of the month!)

All supplies used are from CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: A Tweet, Friendship (available February 1st)
Paper: Veranda
Cardstock: Colonial White, Chocolate
Inks: Cocoa, Garden Green, Créme Brulee, Chocolate
Other: Chocolate and Garden Green Ribbon Rounds, 3-D Tape, Label One Nestabilities

Accordion Paper Flower Tutorial - My First Video

Well gang...I bit the bullet and finally made my first video tutorial! (Mind you, because it is my very first one, it is a little rough around the edges, but I thought I’d share it anyway.)

We are making these fun banners at my Creative Club this month and part of the project is making accordion flowers to go on the pennants. I thought it would be fun idea to share the instructions with all of you. They are really easy to make (and very addicting!)

Without further ado, “how to make accordion flowers”...

My Craft Studio - H2H "Challenge"

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week isn’t actually a challenge at all. This week they want to see our craft rooms and hear how we organize our supplies. I will do my best to try to explain many of the little nooks and crannies in my studio. The photo above is a shot of one side of my room. I moved the chair out so you could see better, but I actually spend quite a bit of time parked in my computer chair in the corner.
Here’s another quick shot of that side of the room. My hubby has a small spot in the left corner where he has his computer and his own desk. He was nice enough to let me have the rest of the room. (I figured that since he lets me park my car in “his” garage, the least I could do was to let him have a small part of my studio. LOL!)
Between our desks I have two Making Memories shelves on the wall that hold my most used ribbon, paper flowers, buttons, and embellishments. I also store my most used punches on top.
If you don’t have one of these, you MUST get one. This is CTMH’s Exclusive Inks Organizer and is one of the best organizational tools I own! It stores all 60 of CTMH’s exclusive ink pads, more than all of the markers, and has a tray on top to store re-inkers or other tools. I love it!
The photo below shows my book cases from Ikea that hold many of my albums, stamp sets, cardstock, and a few other odds and ends. Most of the drawers have my CTMH business paperwork and tax stuff filed in them. The cupboards on top have binders, photo paper, computer manuals, etc. On the very top, I have a few more ribbon holders. (I have so much ribbon that it is stored all over the room.)
Here’s a close up of one bookcase. I have most of my stamps stored in CTMH’s great My Acrylix Organizers. They are two levels deep so I have 16 boxes filled to the brim. I also have some of my most used sets in one of the drawers for easy access.
I have my cardstock separated by season in some Cropper Hopper organizers. I cut up one of the Exclusive Color Palette pages from an old Idea Book and used them to label the side of the cardstock holders. The rest of the holders house some older paper packets and kits.
On the other side of the room, I have three sets of shelves from the bathroom section at Target (bought a few years ago) that hold all of my envelopes, extra ribbon, some boxed stationery sets, and a few other random things. I store my Cricut and mailing scale on top.
A friend of mine gave me this awesome wire rack that I use to store the latest paper packets and layouts that I am working on. Since it is in the center of my studio, I have quick access to papers and projects that I am currently using.
Dare I let you peek into my closet??? Oh my! This thing is jam packed and really needs to be cleaned out.
I have everything stored in here from older papers and kits to my larger tools (Cuttlebug, Sewing Machine, Bind-it-All, etc.) I also have my rubber stamps stored in the drawers along with adhesive and non-CTMH products. On the top shelf I stacked some white boxes from Walmart that house my photos, alterables, old cards, and anything else that I couldn’t find a home for. Check out all those tins piled up. I love tins but really need to stop buying them. LOL!
On the inside of my closet door, I hung an inexpensive shoe holder from Target that holds many of my punches.
And last but not least, I hung some little white shelves on the inside of my closet to hold my re-inkers, small ink pads and older embellishments.It may not be the largest, cleanest, most beautiful craft room in the world, but I love having a space (almost) all to myself where I can go to create. One day when we move to the midwest, like my hubby really wants to do, I will get a large basement where I can spread out and get as crafty as I like. But until then, I am happy with my humble little west coast studio. *Ü*

I would LOVE to see your craft space and how you organize all of your goodies. So go snap a few pics and head on over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog to share them.

Lots of Conference Goodies

Wow! The Conference is over and my head is still spinning! We received an amazing amount of great information. I really need some time to process it all. *Ü*

As promised, here are a few pictures of just some of the massive amounts of free goodies we received...

This is the fabulous rolling tote that we received...

...which was packed to the brim with free products.
This is what was inside the zipper pouch on the outside of the tote.

Here's Amy after she opened the tote. It was exploding with goodies.
This photo doesn't show nearly the amount of stuff that was inside the bag.
(Doesn’t Amy look cute swimming in all that yummy goodness?)
We also all received an adorable pair of gloves with a handmade clip made exclusively from CTMH products! Each of the clips were different, but they were all beautiful!

We also received a stamp set from the new Idea Book that goes live February 1st! AND we also received a beautiful leather journal with a pack of journaling pens. (Sorry I didn't get a photo of the stamp or journal.)

I am so thankful that I was able to attend this special Conference! Thank you to the Corporate Team for all of the hard work that you put into this amazing event! I am so proud to be part of this wonderful company! *Ü*

Team Builders Conference

Hello Everyone! I am posting this from my hotel room in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah! I am here attending the Close to my Heart Team Builder’s Conference and having loads of fun. What a thrill to be able to attend one of the many events that this wonderful company sponsors. We had a great mix and mingle event last night, heard about some exciting upcoming changes this morning, were treated to a yummy lunch, participated in a fun make and take project this afternoon, and were treated to an amazing dinner this evening. Oh and did I mention that we all got over $1500 in FREE products today in a rolling tote??? I will take a picture tomorrow of the awesome loot we got! I am still in shock! (And wondering how in the world I am going to get it all home! LOL!)

Here are a couple pictures of one of my roomies, Amy McGrew and me. We are having a ball!
If this sounds like fun to you, I would love to give you more information on how you can sign up and join us at the next CTMH event.
Click here to email me for more info.
Click here for more info on becoming a Consultant.
Or if you are ready to sign up now, click here.

H2H Color Challenge

Welcome to the first H2H Challenge of the year...a color challenge! This week we are working with Sky, Pear, Colonial White, and a touch of Sorbet if you wish. I love the colors in this challenge. Aren’t they soothing?


I came up with a fun little boxed card set using these colors. My idea came from this great tutorial. The cards are 4"x4" and the box is 5"x5". I was excited to use the butterfly in the January Stamp of the month on the cards. Since there is no small butterfly in the set, I used the one from the Little Princess set on the box. (I know the style is different, but I couldn’t resist using the cute little guy.)

This is the inside of the box. Each pocket has 2 cards and 2 envelopes.
I made the envelopes by using one of the envelope templates on the CD that comes with the Wishes How-To Book. Did you know that each of the How-To Books come with a CD with template files?

I stamp rolled the butterfly on the cards with Sky, Pear, and Sorbet ink. The envelopes were made using Colonial White cardstock and lined with a patterned paper from the Olivia Collection. For a quick tutorial on how to line your envelopes, click here.

I stamped the butterflies twice for each card. I cut out one of them and bent the wings a bit before adhering the body onto the card. I love the dimension this technique gives. It almost looks as if the butterfly is flying off the card.

Here is the whole ensemble. (Sorry about the lighting in the photo.)

Now it’s your turn to create a fabulous project using this week’s colors and then visit the H2H Challenge blog and share your creation for your chance to win some great prizes! A big thank you goes out to our January sponsors: Haley Dyer and Susan Winter. Check out their blogs and you’ll be sure to get inspired. Be sure to check out our Guest Designer, Vicki Wizniuk’s amazing creations as well.

You can also see the other design team member’s incredible artwork! The links to each of their sites can be found on the sidebar of my blog.

All supplies used are from CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Find Your Style (January SOTM), Little Princess
Paper: Olivia (pear), Magnifique (sky)
Cardstock: Colonial White, Sky, Pear, Sorbet
Inks: Cocoa, Sky, Pear, Sorbet
Other: Sorbet Ribbon Rounds, 3-D Tape

The Sweetest Gift - Baby Card

Ya’ll know I love clean and simple cards, but this one beats them all. You just can’t get anymore clean and simple than this. LOL! I pulled out my brand new CTMH Baby Love stamp set to make a card for a friend who just had a baby girl. I loved the stamp so much that I didn’t want to clutter up the card with anything else. (I even had a cute pink gingham bow on the card and ended up pulling it off.) I used a Labels 1 Nestability to die cut the shape from White Daisy cardstock and before I took it out of the die, I sponged some Baby Pink ink on the inside. Then I stamped the cute little kids in Cocoa. After I stamped the sentiment, I adhered the image on the card base with some 3-D Foam Tape and was done in less than 5 minutes. Gotta love that!

I finally got a chance tonight to use the new photo light box that I got. The lights that it came with are not quite bright enough so I need to search for some new ones, but at least I was able to take these photos at night instead of waiting for natural daylight like I usually do. (I do need to fix the coloring a bit on photos.)

By the way, this is the gift I got for my friend’s new baby. My mother-in-law got one of these blankets for my daughter a few years ago and we LOVE it! I have been searching everywhere to try to find them for baby gifts. I finally found them here. They are high quality and make great gifts!

So what do you think of the patterned papers in the background? Just a little sneak peek of some new papers from the 2011 Spring/Summer Idea Book that goes live on February 1st. Stay tuned for more...

All supplies used are from CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Baby Love (available February 1st, 2011)
Paper: White Daisy
Inks: Baby Pink, Cocoa
Other: Labels 1 Nestabilities, 3-D Foam Tape, Sponge

Sweet Blog Award

Look at this sweet blog award that my friend Lorrinda (from Isn’t that Sweet?) gave me. Thanks Lorrinda. Be sure to check out Lorrinda’s blog. She is one talented lady!

On receiving this award we are to do the following:

* Thank the person who gave you the award on your blog.
* Share 8 things about yourself.
* Pass this award onto 8 other bloggers that inspire you.

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you may know some of these things already, but I will try to fill you in on some interesting (and not so interesting) little tidbits about myself...

Eight (very random) things about me:

1. I am a TRUE Valley Girl. I grew up in the San Fernando Valley and was in high school during the Valley Girl days. Fer sure. Fer sure! (I actually realized that I still have my VG accent when I heard my 4 year old daughter tell me yesterday that she “TOTALLY” loves me. Wonder where she got that expression? LOL!)
2. I love sleeping in and taking naps. (Haven’t had much of either since my kiddos came along.)
3. I like watching game shows.
4. My toe nails are always painted. (I feel sort of naked if they aren’t.)
5. My favorite sound is my kids laughing.
6. I am almost always cold. (It could be 75 degrees and I will still need a sweater! Good thing I live in Southern CA.)
7. I manage to burn anything I try to cook. I REALLY need some cooking lessons. (TraceyJean thanks for the tip on the silicone baking sheets. I still need to go out and pick one up!)
8. I love the Lord and am always striving to be a better “Proverbs 31” woman.

Now the hard part...I'm supposed to pick 8 other bloggers that inspire me, and pass on this award. I have so many favorites that it is hard to choose.

Below are 8 of the many blogs that I visit often. Stop by each of them and you'll be sure to get inspired yourself!
Aaron Booth
Christine Davis
Christine Adams
Tiffany Cheney
Denise Anderson-Turley
Cindy Baker
Jacklyn Jessa
Susan Raihala

If you're on this list, please feel free to participate and pass this award on, but don’t feel obligated. I just wanted everyone to know how much I enjoy your blogs and your wonderful artwork!

New Spray Pen Tutorial

Check out this great tutorial on how to use Close to my Heart’s new Spray Pen. (By the way, I have one of these bad boys, and it is AWESOME!)



Click here to order your own products and try the fun techniques in the video.

Wings Card

I know this is not my own design, but I just LOVED this card in the Inspirations Brochure and had to recreate it. I did make a few minor changes to my card, but overall, it’s pretty much a complete lift. LOL! It is a 5" x 7" card and was so quick and easy to make.


Get your own supplies to make this fun card today. The Wings Paper Packet, Black Mini Medley Assortment, and January Stamp of the Month can all be ordered here. Plus, remember if you order in January, you can get them all at a discount! See my previous post for more details on how to get your discount.

All supplies used are from CTMH unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Simple Stitches, Find Your Style (January SOTM)
Paper: Wings
Inks: Black, Juniper, Chocolate (inked on edges of flowers)
Other: Black Mini-Medley Accents, Colonial White Waxy Flax

Close to my Heart January Specials

Sneak a peek at great Spring/Summer 2011 Idea Book products—including amazing deals on new stamp sets and the January Stamp of the Month when you buy the new Wings Workshops on the Go Kit! All of our Workshops on the Go kits come with paper, accessories, and an exclusive stamp set designed specifically for the workshop projects. A new workshop kit is available each month at a discount off of the full retail value.

During the month of January, when you purchase a Wings Workshops on the Go Kit, you can get:

• The stamp sets featured in the Inspirations Brochure at a deep discount!
• The January Stamp of the Month set at a substantial discount or even FREE!

Get your hands on an Inspiration brochure to find out all the details about these spectacular savings by contacting me today or you can download a pdf version by clicking here!


PLUS, Celebrate National Papercrafting Month in January with this My Creations® banner project. The instructions are included with the Wings Workshops on the Go Kit in January only!

PLUS, you can learn how to make another fun banner project by attending my Creative Club or ordering a Club kit this month. See this post for more information.

This month you can earn the stamp of the month at a discount or free in many different ways! Buy the Wings Workshop on the Go Kit and mix and match the new products found throughout the pages of the Inspirations to earn the Find Your Style Stamp of the Month at a discount or even free!

Purchase the Wings Workshop On The Go Kit plus:
any 1 item in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp at 25% off
any 2 items in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp at 50% off
any 3 items in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp at 75% off
any 4 items in the Inspirations Brochure - get the stamp for FREE!

OR

You can also purchase products from the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book and earn the January Stamp of the Month at a discount or free!

Spend $25 - get the stamp at 25% off ($17.21)
Spend $50 - get the stamp at 50% off ($11.48)
Spend $75 - get the stamp at 75% off ($5.74)
Spend $100 - get the stamp for FREE!

Order all of these exciting new products from my website today! Or contact me to set up a workshop, home gathering, or catalog party where you can earn even more free goodies!