Love on the December Paper Trail Blog Hop

Ask me how excited I am to be the Guest Blogger on the Paper Trail Blog Hop!  This month the Close to My Heart Roxie Paper Pack is being featured.  If you found your way here from Betsy Gully's Stamp Scrap Fever, then you are in the right place!


I have been wanting to decorate my scrap book room with some artwork that I designed and the idea for this small wall hanging has been inhabiting my brain for awhile.  The Roxie Paper Pack was absolutely perfect for this project.



I started off with a small canvas that I picked up from Target and painted it black.  Then I cut out all of the shapes I used with the Close to My Heart exclusive Art Philosophy cartridge.  Isn’t it so versatile?  I even cut and rolled the flowers with some patterned paper from Roxie. 



The chip board letters spelling L-O-V-E are part of the package that comes with the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  I covered them with the zebra patterned paper and then poured Liquid Glass over them to give them a glossy look.


The stamped words are all words that express love to me and are all embossed with black ink and clear embossing powder so that they stand out.  They came from a variety of our stamp sets.  I used the pattern on the patterned paper as part of the design and I really think that it came out super cute! 


The little house was cut out with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I cheated and used my Gypsy to add the heart shaped windows, but you just have to have heart shaped windows when you are talking about LOVE.   I placed a row of our Sparkles (Z1104) along the roof because you just cannot have enough bling.  I also applied Liquid Glass to the windows and the doorway of my little house so that they would stand out a bit more.


Here is a close-up of the flowers on the bottom right corner. 



It is the latest rage to group embellishments together.  It takes some practice because it is easy to group too few or too many.  I used some different flowers and leaves (check out the Queen of Paper Flowers, Connie McFarlane) and then added some of Close to My Heart’s gorgeous Rhinestone Designer Brads (Z1360) and a couple of stickpins from our Bling Assortment (Z1466).  Inside each of the rolled flowers I put in either a Sparkle or an Opaque Adhesive Gem (Z1335) in the middle.


Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  Next month the Close to My Heart paper pack, Wonderland, will be featured.  Now it is time to mosey on down to the Wizard's Hangout, run by the talented Vicki Wizniuk.

Mad About the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

If you have found yourself here from Judy Burger's Blog, then you are in the right place. This month we have about 55 Close to My Heart Consultants for the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.


The December Stamp of the Month is entitled Mad about You (Set of 14). See some examples below showing what you can do with this stamp set.

And here are the stamps.



Since I became a Close to My Heart Consultant, the December Stamp of the Month has been a Valentine or “Love” stamp set.  Can I tell you how well that works for me because my Wedding Anniversary is on December 1st!  This year my husband, Dave, and I are marking 11 years.  Dave had a complete knee replacement surgery on November 15th, so we will be taking it easy this year.  He loves Cracker Barrell, so that will probably be our big excursion – on the way to his Physical Therapy session.  Here is my anniversary card for this year..

Can you believe that this is the first time that I used the Sonoma Paper Pack?  I am so ashamed.  LOL  Honestly, our paper packs are so gorgeous this catalog that I love all of them.  I “borrowed” this card pattern from here.  I think that I like the card I “copied” better but this card came out pretty well.  I will tell you that I cannot seem to get a good picture of this card and that it is prettier in person.


Here are the details on my card.  The main image, the heart, is embossed with clear embossing powder over Smokey Plum Ink.  The pretty little flower from our Heirloom Assortment was almost Smokey Plum, but not enough, so I painted it with Liquid Glass colored with Smokey Plum Reinker and let it dry overnight.  Then I put a Sparkle in the middle.


Thank you for visiting my blog. Now please go on to the next stop, Kami Welter's Blog and see what she has created for you!


This stamp set can be purchased or you can even get it for only $5 Between December 1 – December 31, 2011. If you do not have a Close to My Heart Consultant, you can purchase this stamp set on my website.


Supplies

• Inks: Cocoa (Z2114), Smokey Plum (Z2147), Olive (Z2137), and Smokey Plum Reinker (Z2247)
• Paper: Sonoma (X7143B)
• Stamp Sets: Mad about You (S1112)
• Tools: Craft Heater (Z555), Sponge Daubers Z726), Paper Piercing Kit (Z1114), and Sewing Machine
• Embellishments: Heirloom Assortment (Z1635), Clear Detail Embossing Powder (Z821), Clear Sparkles (Z1104), Mini Medley Pewter (Z1487), Bitty Sparkles (Z1263), and Olive Ribbon (retired)

My Black Friday Sale Starts Today!

This is my Biggest Sale Ever!!!  Everyone who places an order of $25 or more will get a free gift from me AND go into my drawing for a FREE Workshop on the GO Kit OR any of our Scrapbooking or Cardmaking Books found on page 10 in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book.

PLUS
each customer can earn drawing tickets with their purchase.  I will choose one lucky customer to receive their choice of ONE of the Hostess collections found on page 3 of the 2011 Autumn/Winter Idea Book.

You can participate in this sale even if you live outside the Memphis area.  Your order will be shipped directly to you!  In fact, save your gas.  All orders over $50 will be shipped directly to you.
Here is how it will work:


Call me at (901) 850-1836 or email me at mkgmt@aol.com between NOW and 10 pm Monday, November 29th.  You must e-mail or call me with your order.  Ordering directly from my website will not count towards this sale.


1.  Place an order of $25 to $49.99 and receive a free package of embellishments of your choice OR a Dye Ink Pad of your choice OR choose anything in the Idea Book up to a $5.25 value .


2.  Place an order of $50 to $74.99 and receive a free package of Craft Buttons of your choice OR an A size stamp set of your choice OR a package of Bulk Ribbon OR choose anything in the Idea Book up to a $7.95 value.

3.  Place an order of $75 to $99.99 and receive a free package of Rub-Ons OR a B size Stamp Set of your choice OR any current Level 2 Paper pack, OR choose anything in the Idea book up to a $9.95 value. 

4.  Place an order of $100 to $149.99 and receive a C size stamp set of your choice OR a My Acrylix Organizer OR an Accessories Case OR choose anything in the Idea Book up to $13.95 value.


5.  Place an order of $150 or more and you will receive $25 in free products of your choice, AND choose either a D size Stamp Set of your choice OR anything in the Idea Book up to $17.95 value. 

With a purchase of $25 in My Acrylix Stamp Sets, you will qualify to purchase our gorgeous Holiday Wishes Stamp Set for $5 (pictured below).  With a $50 purchase, you will qualify to purchase the Cherish the Day Stamp Set (pictured below). 

***Don't have an Idea Book to browse through? You can view the Idea Book online  here.


If you would like your own copy of the latest Idea Book, let me know and I will send one to you!

Now for the raffle!  You enter the raffle with tickets you earn.  One way you earn tickets is based on the amount you purchase.  But there are other ways as well:  


1.  First purchase ever from me - 1 ticket
2.  Order $25 to $49.99 in product - 1 ticket
3.  Order $50 to $74.99 in product - 2 tickets
4.  Order $75 - $99.99 in product - 3 tickets
5.  Order $100 - $149.99 in product - 4 tickets
6.  Order $150 - $174.99 in product - 5 tickets
7.  Order $175 - $199.99 in product - 6 tickets
8.  Order more than $200 in product - 7 tickets
9.  First customer to order - 1 ticket
10.  Book a gathering, virtual, “real” or catalog (Dec thru Feb) - 5 tickets
11.  Book a workshop at your house - 5 tickets
12.  Refer a friend who purchases during this sale - 3 tickets

****THE FINE PRINT:  The minimum dollar amount is calculated before tax and shipping.  You will pay tax for your free items when applicable.  This offer is good ONLY through Melinda Everitt, (901) 850-1836, mkgmt@aol.com. 


Drawing for raffle will be held at 9 am on Tuesday, November 29th.  If you are the winner of the Raffle, I will need to have your choice by 9 pm Tuesday evening. ___________________________________________________________

Holiday Wishes November Promotion

When you place a minimum order of $25 in My Acrylix Stamp Sets between NOW and November 30th, you can add a new D-size Holiday Wishes Stamp Set for only $5!  That's a great savings of $12.95.  You may buy one Holiday Wishes Stamp Set for every $25 in qualifying Stamp Sets you purchase.

As a creative bonus, did you know that all of the images with the red line around them can be cut out with our Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge.  Just think how faster and easier it is going to be to create your projects!
Available through November 30, 2011
_____________________________________________________________________________

November Stamp of the Month

Cherish the Day

(Set of 44)

Recommended Blocks: 1" × 1" (Y1000), 2" × 2" (Y1003),  and 2" x 3 1/2" (Y1009)


Available November 1 - November 30, 2011 only.

With a $50 purchase, you can purchase this Stamp of the Month for the discounted price of $5!  Or you can purchase it for at the regular price of $17.95. _____________________________________________________________________________

Join My Team!

I am looking for new members to join my team.  Please call me at (901) 850-1836 or e-mail me at mkgmt@aol.com for more information.


Close to My Heart has the lowest quarterly minimum of all the stamping and scrapbooking companies.  We also welcome people who do not want to sell but want to receive the 22% discount.  If this sounds enticing to you, please call.  I am welcoming new team members from outside the Memphis area as well.

My Party Animal Birthday Card

My youngest grandson’s birthday was on October 31st and he was 10 years old.  10 Years ago I was fortunate and blessed to be present at his birth.  4 years ago I was fortunate and blessed to be present when his mother received his diagnosis of Autism.  AJ was diagnosed as severely autistic.  He was non-verbal and “a runner”.  Keeping him safe required extreme vigilance and kept his mother busy.  She and my son had just gotten divorced and she had moved to Wisconsin, near her family.  A couple of weeks after AJ’s diagnosis, my husband and I asked my daughter-in-law and grandson to move in with us.  We were already “running an Autism friendly house” since my middle son had been diagnosed at age 16 with Asperger’s and we had plenty of room.  I have never been sorry about that decision.

The progress that AJ has made in the past 4 years has been amazing.  He is now in the 4th grade, at grade level and is as talkative as any other 4th grader.  Both he and my son are on the DAN (Defeat Autism Now) protocol and the gains both of them have made are wondrous. AJ has improved so much that he would now probably not easily be diagnosed as having Autism.   I love AJ’s extreme literal thinking and he brings so much delight into my life.  He said something the other day and I laughed.  He asked me if I was laughing at him and I told him no, that he brought so much joy into my life that I was laughing because of the happiness and love he gives to me.  Then he laughed too!

Here is the special birthday card that I made for my sweet Halloween grandchild.

Supplies are pretty easy here so I won’t list them.  I used our retired Hooligans Paper Pack and the Party Animal Stamp Set (D1437).

Hope you all had a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

If you have found yourself here from Lisa Sargent's Blog, then you are in the right place. This month we have about 55 Close to My Heart Consultants for the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.


The November Stamp of the Month is entitled Cherish the Day (Set of 44). See some examples below showing what you can do with this stamp set.

And here are the stamps. Just think of all of the things that you can make with this stamp set!

I decided to combine the SOTM Blog Hop with the Heart 2 Heart Challenges Color Challenge this week. Here are the colors for this challenge.



Autumn Terracotta, Juniper and Bamboo. I like the look of these colors together but I found that I was having a hard time putting it all together. Here is my card.

I used a patterned paper from the retired paper pack, Game’s On, along with the Juniper patterned paper from the new paper pack, Typeset. I also stamped on our retired Twill ribbon the sentiment, It’s Your Birthday. I added some of our Bronze Glitter Gel to one of our arrow Milepost Shapes. I added Bitty Sparkles around the date to showcase it.


Actually I have more embellishments than I have paper. LOL I would have liked to add more bling but this card is for a male friend who is a manly man and I am sure would have been uncomfortable with more sparkly bling. I had to hide it in the card. Check out the star from the Milepost Shapes. It is painted with our Create-A-Shape Pearl Paint and Bamboo Reinker with a little juniper button attached. I used our Stipple Brush from the Texture Tools set to apply Cocoa Ink to the edges of the card.


Thank you for visiting my blog. Now please go on to the next stop, Nicole Grigg's Blog and see what she has created for you!


This stamp set can be purchased or you can even get it for only $5 Between November 1 – November 30, 2011. If you do not have a Close to My Heart Consultant, you can purchase this stamp set on my website.


Supplies

• Inks: Cocoa (Z2114), Autumn Terracotta (Z2101), Cocoa Reinker (Z2214), and Bamboo Reinker (Z2203)
• Paper: Typeset (X7139B), Game On (X7097B), and Autumn Terracotta Cardstock
• Stamp Sets: Cherish the Day (S1111) and Card Chatter – Birthday (D1475)
• Tools: Stipple Brush (Z1298), Sponge Daubers Z726), Paper Piercing Kit (Z1114), and Blending Pen (3174)
• Embellishments: Create-A-Shade Pearl Paint (Z1039), Bronze Glitter Gel (Z1483), Hemp (Z280), Mini Medley Pewter (Z1487), Bitty Sparkles (Z1263), Milepost Shapes (Z1464), Buttons Green Assortment (Z1372), Twill Ribbon (retired), Foundry Ribbon Slides (Z1460), and Pewter Photo Hangers (Z1403)