10/31/2012

Close to My Heart November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.  My blog is following Angel Sawyer's Blog.   We have 68 Close to My Heart Consultants participating in this month’s Stamp of the Month Blog Hop and I am so excited that you are visiting my blog.  If you like what you see, I would love it if you would hit the follow button on the right side of my blog!
                                                                                                                
The November Stamp of the Month is entitled Capture the Date (Set of 72). Here is a picture of this stamp set:






My wedding anniversary is on December 1st.  Sometimes I have a hard time making a masculine card, but I knew that this stamp set would make an awesome card for my dear hubby.



I used the Scholastic Paper Pack for my card.  Then I went to my go-to Cricut cartridge, the Cricut Artiste, to make the pinwheel medallion. I am loving our new Burlap Ribbon.  I took it and pleated it and then held the pleats together with pewter brads.  Then I topped the Burlap Ribbon off with a part of the zip strip.  My husband is a true romantic so I knew that he would just love the sentiment.

List of Supplies
Capture the Date (S1211)
Scholastic Paper Pack (X7159B)
Burlap Ribbon (Z1760)
Blue Sparkles (Z1769)
Cricut Artiste Collection (Z1790)
Cocoa Pigment Ink
Saddle Pigment Ink
Outdoor Denim Dye Ink (Z2140)
Brads Metal Assortment (Z1366)

 Before you go, have you ever considered becoming a Close to My Heart Consultant?   If you get a chance, check out my fantastic New Consultant Special!

The next stop on the blog hop is the Fabulous Katy Taylor's Blog.

The Capture the Date stamp set can be purchased for $17.95 or you can even get it for only $5 between November 1 – November 30, 2012. If you do not have a Close to My Heart Consultant, you can purchase this stamp set on my website.  

10/29/2012

Snowman Movie Clip Christmas Card

These have got to be the cutest Snowmen that ever existed! I am really happy with my Christmas card and  I absolutely love it when a card comes out even better then I imagined it was going to be!

I started out with the three Snowmen from the stamp set, Flakey Friends C1506.  I could not decide which one to use, or rather which two not to use.  Then I remembered the Movie Clip Die Cut from our CTMH Cricut Artiste (Z1790), pg 67, Accent 2, and realized that I could use all 3 of these adorable Snowmen.


The Movie Clip Die Cut was cut from Outdoor Denim cardstock at 5" height.  I stamped the Snowmen with our black pigment ink onto Daisy White panels that I cut with the assistance of my Gypsy.  I so love the Gypsy (and I do mean love) because with the Gypsy I can cut the Movie Clip but "hide" the Movie Clip part and not cut it out.  That leaves me with just the three panels, which is actually just what I wanted.

The snowflakes are cut with Sky cardstock (pg 79, Accent 1) and with White Daisy cardstock (pg 79, Accent 1 ).  One snowflake is cut at 2 inches and the other at 1.75 inches.  I applied Stardust Glitter Glitz Gel on each of the White Daisy snowflakes as well as on the White Daisy Overlay of the tag.  The tag was cut out of Sky cardstock (Art Philosophy (Z1686), pg 50, Tag 3) with the overlay cut with the Layer on the same page.  The sentiment is stamped with Outdoor Denim Ink and is found in the stamp set, Perfect Fit - Holidays (B1412).

I wanted some more glitz showing through so applied two rows of our self-adhesive Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799) 1/4" from the top and another two rows 1/4" from the bottom.

I used glitter buttons from the Bohemian Assortment (Z1687) for the center of my snowflakes topped with an Opaque Pearl (Z1336).

I wanted clear, vibrant color for my cute little snowmen so I was excited to break open our new Alcohol Markers.  I used Sky - Light (Z2402) topped with the Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel (Z1313) for the snow, Sorbet (Z2407) for the nose, and Autumn Terracotta (Z2427) for the arms.

Sky (Z2402) and Gypsy (Z2410) were used for the snowmen on the left and middle. For the snowman on the right I used Sky (Z2402) and Gypsy - Dark (Z2410).  I used Honey - Light (Z2415) for the bird's beak in the middle panel.

I am almost ready for my Christmas Card workshop.  I would like to design two more cards.

10/27/2012

20% Off on Close to My Heart Scrapbooking Supplies

Fun day today! Prepping for a Halloween Banner Birthday Party! I am now holding artful fun occasion parties at my house. Tonight we will be making my super spooky, but cute Halloween Banner.


Just a few more days and Halloween is over this year.  I know that you will be taking tons of cute pictures of your family as they celebrate this fun holiday, SO I am going to offer you a SPOOKASTIC sale!  Order all of your scrapbooking Fall and Halloween Supplies and you will receive 20% off on these items:

Paper Packs

X7161B  Moonlight Paper Packet (Retail - $9.95) -> NOW ONLY  $7.96

G1051  Workshops on the Go Moonlight Scrapbooking Kit (Retail - $29.95) -> NOW ONLY  $23.96

G1040  Workshops on the Go Spellbound Cricut Kit (Retail - $32.95) -> NOW ONLY $26.36

Embellishments


Z1741  Haunted Assortment (Retail - $4.95) -> NOW ONLY $3.96 
(pg 128 in Idea Book - Backordered until 10/29)

Stamp Sets


Doesn't 20% off sound awesome?  I can sweeten that deal even more.  Purchase $50 (Retail) and you will receive the October SOTM for only $5 more.

Email your selections to mkgmt@aol.com.  I will contact you with the total price and payment instructions.  This special is good through midnight November 2nd.

See an item that you feel should have been on my fall or Halloween list?  Persuade me why it belongs on my list and I will give it to you at 20% off as well!

This special is only being offered by Melinda Everitt, Close to My Heart Independent Consultant. All shipping and tax will be charged at the retail price of the items.  The items can be shipped directly to you.



10/24/2012

My First Christmas Card of the Season

I know it is a little early for Christmas cards, but my ladies are chomping at the bit to get started on their cards.  This month at Close to My Heart, our October Stamp of the Month is entitled Very Merry Christmas.


I just love the ornament in this set.  It is so elegant and looks fantastic when it is stamped.  I also love that it can be cut out with the CTMH exclusive Cricut Artiste cartridge (Z1790).  Here is my first Christmas card of the season:


I used the Pear & Partridge Paper Pack (X7162B), our self adhesive Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799), the sentiment from Merry & Bright (C1510), Clear Sparkles (Z1752), Paper Piercer (Z1114), Ruler (Z1471), New England Ivy (Z2135) and Cranberry (Z2116) Inks, and Silver Cording (not CTMH).

Here is another picture I took using my iPhone  I may just quit pulling my camera out because I really like the pictures taken with this phone. The colors are deeper.
See anything you like?  Everything used (other than the silver cording) can be purchased here.  Just a reminder that the stamp set (S1210 Very Merry Christmas) used for the gorgeous ornament in the center of this card is only available until October 31st and you can get it for FREE with a $50 order!

10/21/2012

Where in the World Have I Been?

Things are hopping in my house.  Hubby and I decided last weekend that we needed to move to a smaller house that had room for a studio for me.

Can you see the clouds parting and the sun peeking out with the angels singing Hallelujah?  Less housework and a studio to boot.  Sounds like Heaven to me.

So I started out on Monday looking for houses and found THE HOUSE on Wednesday.  Hubby and son accompanied on Thursday to see THE HOUSE and agreed that it was THE HOUSE, so we put an offer on it on Friday.  The offer was accepted on Saturday, so we have worked the past couple of days finding documents, scanning documents, and sending them to the bank.

As you can see, I have been busy.  I am also working on learning how to mount my iPad2 on a tripod so that I can make some video tutorials for y'all.  (Did you catch my Southern drawl?)  And I am trying to learn how to Tweet.  I am truly a Renaissance woman.

So let's get on to something crafty.  Close to My Heart has produced some very awesome videos showing how to use our new products.  I just finished watching the video featuring our alcohol markers.  I wanted to share that with you today.  If all goes well, I will have some tutorials up this week of my own as well as some new artwork.  I really need to get my craft on!


10/16/2012

Purchasing a Halloween Wall Hanging Kit

I have had some requests about purchasing my Halloween Wall Hanging Kit.  Here is a picture of the Halloween Wall Hanging.



You can purchase a kit by clicking on the PayPal Button and submitting payment.  There are two delivery options, one is for local pickup and the other is for USPS delivery.


Halloween Wall Hanging Kit with Delivery Options

10/15/2012

Another Studio J Express Collection Layout

I have been busy with Studio J and this is the month to do it since we have our Super Duper October Studio J Promotion.  Can you believe that this layout took about 10 minutes to put together?   I took some of my favorite pictures from a family vacation in 2008 and came up with a layout that I can be proud of.

All I did for this layout was to pick my pictures and drop them into the photo wells.  Then I journaled, put the year onto the tag on the left side and I was done.  Just loving the Studio J Express Collection!

During the month of October, when you purchase 9 2-page layouts, you will receive 1 2-pg layout FREE!  Each 2-pg layout costs $6.95.  This is a great price.  Shipping is only $4.95 for up to 50 2-pg layouts per order.

Order your layouts from me and if you are one of my first 5 Studio J customers taking advantage of the October Studio J promotion, I will give you a Studio J 5 pack totally free!  Now how cool is that?

Ready to get started?  Log in here to get started.

10/13/2012

La Belle Vie My Creations Star

My goodness was it hard to photograph this star.  I photographed it on my wall.  I photographed it at my crop.  Then I photographed it in my light box.  Beginning to feel like Dr. Seuss.  LOL  It still came out so dark.  One of my halogen lights went out to my light box and I ordered some new bulbs.  But I do like the detail I got in the photo of my burlap flower, so here we go.

First of all, remember that video I showed you a couple of days ago?  You can find it here.

And now I want to show you how I decorated my My Creations Star with the La Belle Vie paper pack (X7158B).


I used the My Creations Star template found here to cut the paper.  Before I adhered the paper to the star, I inked the edges and the center "creases" with our black pigment ink (Z2503).  The pigment ink pads are so easy to use for inking the edges of projects because the pad is so small.  I didn't even need a sponge dauber!

I then adhered the paper to the star with my ATG tape.  For the burlap flower I used Close to My Heart's Burlap Ribbon (Z1760) and my hot glue gun.  I will have a tutorial next week for this flower with lots of pictures so keep an eye out for it!

I embellished the burlap flower with a flower doily and a button from the Bohemian Assortment (Z1687).  I think it gives a vintage feel to my star and I am loving it!

If you do not have a Close to My Heart Consultant, I would love for you to visit my website for your scrapbooking needs.





10/12/2012

Moonlight Halloween Wall Hanging

Woo Hoo!  It is Friday and I am looking forward to spending the weekend with my grandson, AJ.  But first I wanted to share my Halloween wall hanging that I have made for a special Birthday gathering that my friend, Adria, is having. I used the Close to My Heart 6" x 6" My Creations Memory Showcase (Z1195) as the base for my wall hanging.

Imagine your favorite Halloween photos on each of the panels of this wall hanging.  I haven't chosen mine yet, but I will.  I love hanging pictures of my kids and grandkids in my scrapbooking room.  They make me happy.


I have the hardest time getting a good picture outside of my light box, especially on a dreary day.  Unfortunately  this project will not fit into my light box.  So let me share individual pictures of each part of my wall hanging.


I made this project using the Close to My Heart Moonlight paper pack (X7161B) and the Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements (X7161C).  The Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements are a great deal.  You get 2 sheets of "chipboard stickers" with sentiments, bats, ghosts, witches and all kinds of scary Halloween creatures for $4.95.

I designed this wall hanging to be an easy project that a beginner could put together.  There is no stamping or inking of edges. I just love how it came together.


On the second panel I used our new Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799) to add a little pizzaz to this page.  The Spooky was cut out using the CTMH Cricut Artiste Cartridge (Z1790).  Check out my sly little kitty.  Her eyes are highlighted by Black Sparkles from our Sparkles Black and Grey Collection (Z1754).  All of my Moonlight Dimensional Elements are popped up with 3-D Foam tape to give them some added dimension.  I  just hate flat chipboard.  Popping them up also gives you a little more wiggle room for your photos.


On panel number 3, I cut the banner shape out with the Circut Artiste.  You cannot see it well, but the orange patterned paper banner is matted with black cardstock.  Check out the super cute Skull brads at the top corners of the banner.  For added Spookiness I added red sparkles from the Sparkles Red, Pink and Purple Collection (Z1326) in the skulls' eyes. The skull brads are from the Haunted Assortment (Z1741).


On the last panel, I just had to use the witch flying across the top of the page on her broomstick.  I attached the bat to the sentiment with Liquid Glass (Z679).  Liquid Glass is my all time favorite adhesive.  It is so strong and once my embellishment is glued down with the Liquid Glass it is not coming up - good choice for a wall hanging.


And one of my favorite parts of my wall hanging is this cute little banner streamer.  I used the banners in the Moonlight Dimensional Elements and adhered them with Liquid Glass to our black Baker's twine (Z1701).  Then I adhered them to the base of the Memory Showcase before I glued down the paper on the fourth panel.  I think it makes this wall hanging.

Like what you see?  Purchase the items used for this wall hanging on my website and I will email  you the instructions.  Just click here to shoot me an email  and let me know that you have purchased the items needed and I will send you the instructions.  I will send you the instructions with a minimum purchase of $9.95 (retail)  on my website. 


10/10/2012

A Video on How to Decorate a My Creations Star

Kristine Widtfelt from Close to My Heart was on Studio 5 on October 1st.  She showed how to put together the My Creations Star (Z1803) to make a low cost seasonal decoration for your home.  I love these videos that actually show you how to put an entire project together!  If you want to make your own My Creations Star, the template for the star can be found here.  Go down to almost the bottom of the page and you will se the My Creations Star template.  In the next day or so I will post my star.

Let me link you to where you can purchase the supplies for this super cute project.  Click here.

Click here to see the video.

10/09/2012

Look At Me Studio J!

Are you behind in your  scrapbooking?  Do you have tons of pictures that you are going to scrapbook but are totally overwhelmed?  Do you love to take Digital photos of your friends, family ,and special events, but never get them developed?

Well Studio J might be your answer.  In July, Close to My Heart released the Studio J Express Collection.  You choose the pictures and in 10 minutes (I kid you not), you will have a two page layout that is knock your socks off gorgeous!

One of the ways that my family uses Studio J is when we go on vacation together we take lots of pictures.  Now each of us can make 2 page layouts and share them with each other.  We can do this by way of the free jpegs we receive of each 2 page layout.  I can email them to my family members and they can get them printed at Sams or Costco.  This way  we can have a collaborative Family Scrapbook.  How fun!  I love that everyone has a hand in the journaling and the memories.

My kids are grown and I have grandkids.  We went on a fantastic vacation to Lake Joe Wheeler in Alabama.  My family all lives in different places so getting together is a priority for us.  We rented 3 cottages at Lake Wheeler and spent 5 days together.  We had a ball and I wanted to remember all of the good times with a scrapbook.

The Studio J Express Collection was perfect  for these pictures.  Here is a layout where I am posing with 5 grandkids.  First we were sitting up straight with our best smiles.  On the following page we are hamming it up for the camera.  So much fun!


During the month of October, when you purchase 9 2-page layouts, you will receive 1 2-pg layout FREE!  Each 2-pg layout costs $6.95.  This is a great price.  Shipping is only $4.95 for up to 50 2-pg layouts per order.

Order your layouts from me and if you are one of my first 5 Studio J customers taking advantage of the October Studio J promotion, I will give you a Studio J 5 pack totally free!  Now how cool is that?

Ready to get started?  Log in here to get started.

10/08/2012

Close to My Heart My Creations Bracket Frame

Have you ever had a picture that you loved - just because?  It might not be anything special, but it is special to you.

Every time I go through my pictures I would run into this picture and it would just make my heart smile.  Even though it was taken years ago (1991, to be exact), I decided that I just had to have this picture on my wall.  So I pulled out one of Close to My Heart's beautiful My Creations Bracket  Frames (Z1797) and set about creating.  Here is what I came up with:



The picture I was talking about is a picture taken on our front lawn when we were stationed at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.  It is an adorable picture of my oldest child and my youngest child.  I have two daughters who are only 11 months apart in age.  They were teenagers when we were stationed at Columbus and had lots of friends (especially boys) who would hang out in our front yard.  My youngest son was only 4 years old, but he was positive that he belonged with the teenagers so he was always on the front lawn as well.  I just love this picture so I created a special frame to hold it and now I can smile every time I see it on my wall.

I used the Florentine Paper pack and My Stickease to decorate the frame (X7153B and C).  Then I made a gorgeous Burlap Ribbon (Z1760) using this fantastic video that Mandy Leahy made that you can see here.

And then I blinged it up. I don't think that you can ever have too much bling!


I used the Rhinestone Designer Brads (Z1360) in the center of my Burlap Flower.  I cut up the Sparkles Flourishes (Z1780) and positioned it around the picture and even used some of it as the butterfly antennas.

The sparkles I used came from the Bitty Sparkles (Z1263), Sparkles Blue and Green Assortment (Z1327), Sparkles Clear Assortment (Z1752), and a Sparkle Button from the Boutique Assortment (Z1763).


A close-up of the flower and the butterfly.  Didn't it come out well?

Would you like to make one of these frames?  I am offering this as a workshop at my home on November 10th.  I will be sending out details in my late October newsletter.  But you can make this even if you cannot attend my workshop.  The cost for this workshop is $25.  I can put it in the mail to you for an additional $5. It will come fully cut and ready to put together along with the instructions on how to put it together.  All you will need is the adhesive and your picture.

If you would like to purchase a kit, please pay with the PayPal button below.  In the drop down menu, there are two options.  One is for a local purchase where you will arrange pick up and the other is where I will mail it to you at an additional cost of $5 to cover the postage.



CTMH Bracket Frame Kit



If you would prefer to purchase the frame and design it yourself, you can purchase them on my website.

10/07/2012

Studio J Tricks to Add Flair to Your Layouts!


Studio J® Tricks to Add Flair to Your Layouts

Even though Studio J® is fast and easy to use, it is helpful to know some great tricks that can make customizing your layouts even more exciting. Here are some Studio J tricks straight from our professional Close To My Heart artists:

1. Customize your background and texture paper. You can change the color and intensity of the background and texture paper included in whichever kit you choose. Simply select the piece of background and texture paper, change the color in the color selection tool, and increase or decrease the intensity of the color in that same popup box.

2. Crop My Stickease® quotes, titles, and tags. The cropping feature on the My Stickease images allows you to select a section of a quote, title, or tag to use as a border or other embellishment.

3. Create a customized My Stickease image. If you have a specific image in mind to use as an embellishment on your page, you can create a customized My Stickease to fit your theme perfectly. Simply add a text box, photo hanger, ribbon, ribbon slides, and Stickease to create the little suitcase! So easy! Be sure to crop or send elements behind other elements when necessary, and add several elements together for a unique look!

4. Select more than one element at a time. If you want to move several elements of your layout at once, simply click and drag your mouse around the elements you would like to select. Let’s take buttons, for example. After the buttons have been selected, you can click the icons in the popup box to choose to align the buttons vertically or horizontally if you desire.

5. Make faux washi tape with vellum text boxes. To create the look of a piece of clear washi tape, make a small rectangular text box, filled with vellum background (this is the default color for text boxes). You can make the tape strips as large or small as you want, or even layer them for more emphasis.


6. Stretch one photo across multiple photo wells. If you have fewer photos than photo wells, instead of deleting the excess wells, try scaling the picture to a larger size and then copying the picture to other photo wells and matching the photos up until they align with an almost seamless image. This trick works best with photo wells that are adjacent to each other.

7. Create ruffled ribbon. Select “Ribbons” in the drop-down menu under the Embellishments toolset. Choose ribbon tab and rotate the tab so that it is vertical on the page. Then layer several tabs on top of one another, sending every other one to the back to create a ruffled look.


8. Create a jagged border with text boxes. You can create a jagged border simply by rotating multiple text boxes about 45 degrees and making them the same color as the background. Put these boxes on top of a long, rectangular box of another color, and you’ve got a jagged border!


9. Change the background of your layout. Sometimes you may like the photo and journal arrangement in a layout, and yet want to change the background colors. Because photos sit on top of everything else, this is easy to do. Simply pull a journaling box over the space you want for a different background and fill it with a color from the color selection tool or a patterned paper from the Papers toolset. Then, send it backwards until the photo wells are on top of your new background.

Bonus Trick! Use keyboard keys to make embellishments. Did you know that some of the best tools for creating custom embellishments are the basic keys on your keyboard? It’s as simple as typing into a journaling box with no background color. Use periods to make a polka dot pattern, angle brackets to create a trendy Chevron look, overlapping pound signs to make burlap, question marks to make rope, and so much more!


October is the perfect month to give these Studio J hints a go because for every 9 layouts you create, you’ll get a 10th layout for FREE!

And remember that I am holding a fantastic October Giveaway.  If you are one of my first 5 customers to take advantage of the Buy 9, Get 1 Free, I will send you a FREE Studio J 5 pack. (Retails at $39.95)

You can log on here to start creating with Studio J. 

10/03/2012

I Was Nominated for the Liebster Award!



Woo Hoo!  I have been nominated for the Liebster Award!  I am so grateful to have been noticed by other talented, crafty bloggers.  I was nominated for this award by Angela Doescher from Stryders List,  Laura Charko from KOLA designs, Pam Klassen from p-inks, and Gina Brandstetter from Gina's Little Corner of Stampin Heaven.


A little about the Liebster. This is how it works…
Liebster is a German word meaning “Beloved,” “Favorite,” or “Dearest.” This award is a peer to peer award in which fellow bloggers present the award to their favorite bloggers with less than 200 followers. The origins of this award is unclear, but is believed to have originated by a German blogger. This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion to share your dearest and most beloved blogs that have less than 200 followers.
RULES FOR ACCEPTANCE
Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog.  Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have less than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award!
One of the fun things about receiving this award is that it challenges you to view more blogs,
to search for fellow creative persons and brighten their day–just a bit–by acknowledging their talent. 
Here are the 5 blogs that I have chosen to pass this award along to (go check them out!):

10/02/2012

Have I told you recently how much I love Studio J Express?  And have I told you how excited I am that Close to My Heart is offering this super duper awesome special promotion for Studio J this month called Save with Studio J?

Here are the details: Get a free Studio J® layout in October! In this special promotion, you will receive a free custom-printed layout when you buy 9 custom-printed Studio J layouts. To receive the discount, just add 10 or more layouts to your cart. You’ll see a discount reflected in your order total. And you can totally take advantage of this promotion by ordering in multiples of 10. Buy 9, get 1 free. Buy 18, get 2 free. Buy 27, get 3 free. Up to 4 free layouts! It’s a great time to use any Member Bonus layouts you may have. If you haven’t tried Studio J yet, now is the time to start!

Dates: October 1–31, 2012

I am  going to show some of the beautiful and ever-so-easy artwork I have created with Studio J Express and show you how to set up your own account and create away for only $6.95 per two-page layout in the coming days.  You will just love it.  No software to load or to take room in your computer.  Click here to learn more about Studio J or to set up a free account.  It costs nothing to try!

Also, remember that I am offering an additional FREE Studio J 5-pack to the first 5 people who take advantage of this promotion!  Check out my Giveaways page.

10/01/2012

October Giveaway!


Ready for the Next Giveaway?

October is all about Studio J!

In concert with Close to My Heart's Save with Studio J Promotion:   Buy nine layouts, get one free,



I am offering a free Studio J 5-pack to the first 5 people to take advantage of this promotion!

A Studio J 5-pack retails for $39.95 and includes 5 two-page layouts and free shipping.  What a fantastic prize!

You do not have to comment or contact me.  Once your order  goes in, I will contact you with your Studio J 5-pack code.  This code never expires and you can use it to take advantage of another October Save with Studio J Promotion!

No software to purchase.  Click here to set up your account and start creating!

Any questions?  Call me at (901) 218-1847 or email me at mkgmt@aol.com.

* Only One free Studio J 5-pack per customer.  This giveaway is only offered through Melinda Everitt, CTMH Independent Consultant and only through October 31, 2012