Embossing is Back (Technique Blog Hop)

If you haven't embossed yet, you're in for a treat.

If you did it back in the day, 
get your stuff out and create some wonder.
Embossing is the boss!

This month's bloghop highlighting work from consultants with

Close to My Heart is focusing on embossing.

If you've hopped here from Darlys Recker's blog, 

you're on the right track.

 Do you recognize paper from our Hopscotch paper pack?

And there's April's Stamp of the Month, Typed Note,
with the antique typewriter with tons of sentiments.
(I think this might become my favorite set from this catalog.)

In order to give that silver embossed border,
I scraped the paper across the VersaMark pad and 
then poured embossing powder over the ink.

Now it's time to see what Michelle Loncar has to share with you.
Click here to visit her blog.
Happy hopping!

Hopscotch

This cute pack of paper is called Hopscotch and will 

be the project for this month's scrap night.

Hope to see you there.

Need more info?

Text me at

702.493.7507

March's Bloghop using our 6" x 6" Canvas

Welcome to March's Blog Hop highlighting all 
the wonderful ideas
and talent Close to My Heart's 
consultants can show.

If you've hopped here from Belinda's blog, 
you're in the right spot.

Our 6" x 6" canvas can be used in so many ways.
I wanted to make a little something for my daughter
so she can hang it in her room and remember
how important she is to me.

The message reads, "You're my everything."
24 / 7 / 365
I used some scraps from our 
Brushed paperpack and a ton of aqua dots.

How will you use yours?

To continue the hop, let's see how Darlys 
is using her 6 x6 canvas.

See you next month!

Music to the Eyes Bloghop

This month's bloghop focuses on techniques using Close to My Heart's journaling pen.
Each blog highlights the artwork of different consultants with CTMH.
If you've hopped here from Belinda McLane's blog, you are on the right track.
But first, get your pen out and stay a while...

Let's doodle.

Doodle your heart out.

Close to My Heart's journaling pens are perfect for it, 
whether you're a newbie or an old pro.

The best part: they only cost $3.25 ~ for the best pen ever!

Here are four examples of just messing around with our  
journaling pen and adding a little sumpin' to a card.

I used the pen for the entire front and then added some Flamingo Dots.

Our ShinHan marker in Tender Pink added the color.

(Uh, that's supposed to look like a heart monitor heartbeat.)

See what I mean? Let go, make mistakes and doodle with abandon. 

With this one above, I used our exclusive cricut cartridge, Artbooking,

for the branch and cut out a few teeny hearts.

And I went back to the Flamingo Dots because ... well, because they're perfect.

And easy.

And cute.

And easy.

For this long one, did you recognize the little flowers from the 
Snowhaven complements pack?

Yep, just glue those babies onto some paper.

(I used Heartstrings for all four of the cards.)

Glue on a bow.

Make a few swirly strings.

Glue on some hearts and outline them.

Finito.

Now go doodle a card so you

can share some love with someone.

The world needs some more love. 
While you're doodling, feel free to continue the hop by clicking on Haley Dyer's blog.

Doodle on, my sweet scrappin' friends!

Heartstring Paper Pack for February

So here's our February project using Heartstrings paper.

With just a few cuts and an embellishment using our exclusive cartridge for the cricut, you'll have a beautiful layout in no time.

Who knows? 

You might be so fast, you'll have time to make some cards with your scraps.

The ones below are all about doodling and using our journaling pens to add a little oomph.

So which night are you coming?

Friday, February 13 or

Friday, February 27?

I'm looking forward to seeing you!

Snowhaven Paperpack & Complements

Here is our January project for our 

monthly scrap night at my house.

Maybe you'll use it for your Christmas pictures.

Maybe you had some big adventures in the snow.

Maybe you'll plan to highlight how you snuggle 

during this cold weather.

Whatever you put in it, it'll look great.

I know; there are tons of spots for pictures.  

But who says every spot needs a picture?

Some spots can use journaling, 

anecdotes or just the date & place.

So don't let yourself get overwhelmed by 

14 - yes, fourteen - spots for pics.  

You can use them for all the great photos 

you took of the holiday season.  

(If you're one of those girls, 

I admire you but am not in your league.) 

... 

Or you can just write little snippets and 

admire your beautiful layout with 

just a couple photos you remembered to take.

(That's if you're like me and always forget to 

grab your camera during the festivities.)

scrapbooker, schmackbooker

shame, shame on me

                 

     Here's the paper pack with                                     The matching embellishments.

     12 pieces of paper for $9.95                                  They're thick & sturdy for $4.95

(6 cardstock and 6 background & texture)        

                                                                                        

You can shop right from this blog by clicking on the "SHOP" spot up above.  Type in Snowhaven in the search window. Or you can place an order with me, but try to do it with plenty of time for it to arrive in time for our gathering ~ a week normally is a good gauge. But two weeks is even better. 

Happy Holidays with attitude

Welcome along this latest hop with creations by  Close to My Heart consultants showcasing the wonderful things in our current catalog.

If you've landed here from Debbie Andrew's blog, you're hopping along in order.  

I can't get enough of our Base & Bling line.  So why not put it to use for Christmas?  For a festive necklace, I used the square pendant and put inside the face of a familiar fellow that I cut from our Yuletide sticker sheets.

In this one, Santa got a little more bling and was ready for the tree.

But it can get more personal than that.  

Why not make a tradition of creating a special ornament of each member of the family each year? The kids change so much in just one year that it would be a beautiful way to watch them grow up. (sigh)

Yes, Angela, you probably noticed R2D2 behind McCade.  Our families are cut from the same cloth, my friend.

Now, let's hop over to Melinda's blog where she's sure to impress. She always does.

November's Full of Gratitude & Beauty

November's Blog Hop for Close to My Heart Consultants

We're starting off the blog hop in the number one spot, but if you've started from the end and hopped over from Cat Nowak's blog,  you're still on the right track.

November's already here ~ can you believe it?  The air is starting to get crisp and people are getting their sweaters out of their hiding spot.  I'm ready for the change from the sweltering heat of Vegas.  We've already started a cozy fire in the fireplace. 

This is the wreath next to our front door.  I used paper from our Pathfinding pack to create the medallion and the "Give Thanks" comes from the matching complements, along with the cute squirrel and acorns.  Did you notice how I used our exclusive cartridge, Artbooking, to cut out some vinyl for our door?

Here's the layout we'll work on this month for my Scrapbook Club.       An inset showing more detail is below:

Would you like to see some more November beauty?  Keep hopping on this blog hop to see what Melissa Robinson has created.

Be a SCAREDY CAT ~ You'll love it.

Welcome back!
Owl introduce you to the latest bloghop featuring
artwork by Close to My Heart consultants.
September focuses on our Scaredy Cat line.
Click here if you'd like to go directly to that page 
and go shopping.

If you've arrived here from Melissa Robinson's blog, you've hopped to the right spot.  

My group of scrappers like it pretty simple. We use a paper pack and some embellishments and we try to get some spots on the page ready for some simple cuts without a lot of cropping.  So when we've printed out pics of the event, we just glue them in place, do some journaling and - ta daah! - we're caught up.

Now, hoppers, it's onto the Denise Elliott's blog next.  

I hope owl be seeing you later...

"Chalk It Up" with our red frame chalkboard

It's time for the monthly bloghop with consultants from Close to My Heart.  This month, while prepping to head back to school, we're creating with the paper pack, "CHALK IT UP".  If you've hopped to this site from Cat's blog , you're on the right track.

"Chalk it Up" is great for school themed photos.  What I love about it: it isn't for a specific age.  It goes with every grade, every style, every phase.  So I tried to show at least a little of every piece of paper in the packet.

Wanna know what else is cool that goes with "Chalk It Up"? How 'bout a CHALKBOARD.  That's right, Close to my Heart now offers a wonderful chalkboard framed in red that can be hung horizontally or vertically.  Want the kids to decide the vegetable for dinner? Let them vote on the chalkboard before going shopping.  Teachers can go old-school and use a chalkboard, too; students in the classroom can vote on which book for storytime.  

Chalkboards ~ giving each person a voice.  

Would you like to buy your own chalkboard and cool paper?  Visit chalk

Now, you little hopper, it's time to move onto the next Stamper with Attitude and see what 

Barbi Kelley

has in store for us.  Enjoy!

True Confessions: I'm Not a Glitter Girl

Welcome to July's CTMH Bloghop.  

You may have come from Becky McClain's blog.  

Thanks, Becky!  Our theme this month is to BLING IT.

It's true.  I'm not a blingy, glittery kind of gal.  (I'm crossing myself right now in protection of the sacrilege.)  But I do LOVE and admire a bunch of my Glitter Girlies.  (You know who you are.)  My wardrobe's not blingy, my hair style lets you know I haven't seen a salon in an embarrassing number of years and my figure says I pay more attention to cupcakes than Pilates. 

But I love me some Melinda Everitt and her monthly bloghops.  

I love being a part of the Close to My Heart community. 

So, ahem, I shall bling it on.

It's July so let's bling out the fireworks, right?

I used two stamp sets that you might not necessarily pair together.
The sayings and the explosion of fireworks are from "Kaboom" the stamp of the month from June '14. But the longer strands in blue ink are from "Have a Happy Day" D1616, as is the cute "just because" that's tucked under the circle of FUN.

There's quite a bunch of glitter trim; I used teal, red and gold.  (The gold will be available August 1 when the new idea book comes out.)  And I know I just wrote that I don't like glitter too much.  Well, while listening to the wonderful Dr. Phil at our convention, I learned the best thing about our Glitter Trim: it doesn't leave evidence.  You can touch it or swipe it and not look like you've been with the Tooth Fairy. 

Thanks, Dr. Phil ~ you may have changed my mind about working with glitter!  
As an additional shine and bling, I added two embellishments into the fireworks: sparkles and sequins.

Now, let's bling on the next consultant.  

Shine on, Barbi!
I hope your day sparkles!

How to use CTMH's Artbooking Cricut Cartridge for Door Art & Home Decor

 People love our Cricut cartridges for making tons of things.

Have you used vinyl before on your walls for decor?

Why not the front door, right?

This little diddy is from Close to My Heart's Artbooking cartridge

and I love how welcoming it makes our porch look.

(Yep, the little flowers in the wreath are cut from paper on the cricut, too.)

Okay, Lisa Canaff, I know what you're saying.

I change our door too often.

I change it with the seasons; I change it when there's a holiday.

Yeah, this one's only staying up a while.

Well, maybe all the way 'til Thanksgiving ~

I can make this look autumnal when the time comes, right?

                                                                               Never seen them before?
                                                       We have 3 exclusive ones and a new one about to be released!

Wanna buy some exclusive cartridges and make your own stuff?
Visit here.

Wanna ask questions?
Visit here.

How to Use Ruined Books on Furniture

Here's another Book-Turned-into-Furniture

from the librarian:

Books can have another "chapter" after they're finished.

My friend, Lori R, sent me her ruined Green Eggs and Ham. 

Now that it's summer, I can finally do something with a sad little stool.

Maybe she'll use it in her classroom.

Did you already see the table that I made when Hugo Cabret got ruined?

(Click on that "table" link but you have to scroll down a bit; it was in July, 2013.)

Join my team and make crafts ~ and some spending money, too!

That's me in the middle with Kim Moss on the left ~ she's my upline in Close to My Heart. On the right is Angela Garcia, scrapbooker extraordinairre.  That girl can figure out anything complicated and make it look easy.

We were at the Close to My Heart convention in Anaheim, California enjoying the spectacle the company puts on once a year.  It's such a great company to be affiliated with.  

Wanna join us? 

Become a consultant on my team!  

It's only $99 and you get a ton of stuff!

Depending on your style and how you craft, you'd pick from two kits:

#1 - Scrapbookers (seen below) or #2 - Card Makers (keep scrolling)

The Card Makers kit is also $99.  

You just have to decide how you spend most of your time crafting 

and what kind of products most of your customers would be interested in.

Call me if you have any questions.
Close to My Heart will quickly become a favorite part of your life!
702.493.7507

This is the "Best"

This is the "best" option.  

We've added a little more to the title using the Frameworks alphabet stamp.  We used the cricut to cut an @ to add to the title and, best of all, we've finished with photos and journaling.  

Come over Friday, July 11 and do it with us!

See you at 6:30.

This is "Better".

"Better" option ~
Why is your head tilted like that?  ;-}

This is after we've added a few embellishments.

Can you see the differences with the flowers, the bows and the brads?

The pic above shows the final "best" option with just a couple minutes more work.

This is Ivy Lane ~ 
the paper we'll be using for July's Project Night.  

Friday      July 11, 2014       6:30

(It's always the 2nd Friday of the month.)

Here's a close up of the title we'll stamp with the Framework Alphabet.

You don't have to buy that; that is why you come to my house ~ so we can share.

But what you DO need to buy is this:

X7178B Ivy Lane Paper Pack for $9.95

and

Z3001 Ivy Lane Assortment for $5.95

Some people are also adding the 

Z1934 Flamingo Dots for $3.95.

See where it says SHOP up above on the blog?

Just click on that and put in your item numbers. 

Voila!

Or you could call me (702) 493-7507 and place the order with me

but you've gotta do it before June 30 because that's the last day 

they'll be available.

See you July 11!

June's Blog Hop

Let's use the Jubilee paper pack

Welcome back!  You've probably arrived here from
Jamie's blog.

A few of us consultants with Close to My Heart like to share ideas
and we're glad you could visit to see all the creativity.  

The ladies in my group meet once a month and last night we used the Jubilee paper pack and coordinating accessories.  The dimensionals make it so easy to put the finishing touch on a layout.  Our layouts went together so quickly that we had time to play and create other projects, too.

Wanna see some other great ideas?  Next on the blog hop is
Catherine Nowak's.  Enjoy!

Just in case something goes awry, I like to include the entire list for hoppers.  There are so many creative people out there, I don't want a glitch to stop you from seeing everyone's stuff.

1. Denise Elliott ~ www.inspiredbyd.blogspot.com
2. Melinda Everitt ~ http://www.ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/
3. Fawn Carriker ~ http://photofunwithFawn.wordpress.com
4. Sheila Bennett ~ http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com
5. Hilary Reynolds ~ http://stampcraftyreader.blogspot.com/
6. Barbi Kelley ~ http://barbispapercreations.blogspot.com/
7. Jen Patrick~ http://roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com/
8. Jaime Llewellyn ~ http://jaimellewellyn.blogspot.com
9. 
   
10. Di Crawford ~ http://scrapwithdi.blogspot.com/
11. Catherine Nowak ~ http://catscrapbooking.com/
12. Melissa Robinson ~ http://mlisrobinson.blogspot.com

Like

"Free to Be Me" a $5 Promo Pack from Close to My Heart

I used the "Free to Be Me" papers to make a handful of cards and added just a touch of bling.

(The ladies in my swap group might recognize these.)

I cut the "Hello." from our exclusive cricut cartridge and added the accents

from our Base & Bling assortments and the necklace kit.

They're great cards for sending to people for no reason.

Enjoy!

Let's see what all the hoppers are showing us.
You have probably arrived here from Barbi Kelley's blog.
And, next you're in for a treat on Judy Faye Garner's blog.
If you get lost, I like to include the entire list of the consultants participating this month:

1. Catherine Nowak~ http://catscrapbooking.com/
2. Sheila Bennett ~ http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com
3. Debbie Andrews ~ debstampsfromtheheart.com
4. Melinda Everitt ~ http://www.ifyoublingit.blogspot.com/
5. Renee Tanner ~ http://www.craftymrst.com/national-scrap…be-me-blog-hop/
6. Barbi Kelley ~ http://barbispapercreations.blogspot.com
7. Di Crawford ~ http://www.scrapwithdi.blogspot.com/
8. Judy Faye Garner ~ http://judyfaye.blogspot.com
9. Jen Patrick ~ http://roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com
10. Becky McClain ~ http://www.beckysstudio-cards.blogspot.com/
11. Jaime Llewellyn ~ http://www.jaimellewellyn.blogspot.com

April's Blog Hop 
featuring Ariana 
paper pack

As you can tell, I love this corner of Close to My Heart's blog hopping world.  

My entry this month isn't a layout or a card, although I've done both with Ariana; this month I wanted to feature something else.

In St. George, Utah ~ my favorite shopping town ~ there's an adorable store called Dandelion Wishes and they have marvelous projects all the time.  Their fancy kit had all the wood pieces and blocks but was priced over $30.00.  But they did have scrap letters for two bucks a piece.  Hmmmmm.  So I bought a "b", an "l" and an "m" and saved the rest of my hard-earned cash for more shopping.  Once I found a couple pinwheels, I knew I was on my way.  

If the blog hop is operating correctly, you've jumped here from Pamela O'Connor's site.  And next, you get to visit Judy Faye Garner's blog.



If there's a hiccup, I've included the entire list for you below.

Sheila Bennett ~ http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com

Catherine Nowak~ http://catscrapbooking.com

Jen Patrick- http://roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com

Pamela O'Connor ~ http://reflectionsofmyartandsoul.com/blog

Di Crawford ~ http://scrapwithdi.blogspot.com

Judy Faye Garner ~ http://judyfaye.blogspot.com

Hilary Reynolds ~ http://stampcraftyreader.blogspot.com

Denise Elliott ~ www.inspiredbyd.blogspot.com

Melissa Robinson - http://mlisrobinson.blogspot.com

Debbie Andrews = http://debstampsfromtheheart.com/

Melinda Everitt ~ http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com