Thursday, August 29, 2013

Chocolate is good for you!

I was suppose to be doing some family scrapbooking yesterday, but that didn't happen. The Stamp of the Month was still sitting there on my desk and was begging to be inked up some more. So I couldn't resist creating a sweet set of cards using a variety of images and sentiments. Plus, they looked so darling combined with some Chantilly paper and textiles.


{Mmmm. liquid applique and some glitter make a scrumptious frosting}
 

 



{A real mini cupcake foil liner works perfectly on this card.}
 
 
 
Please keep in mind that this stamp set will only be available until August 31st. It's a great deal, so don't miss out on the opportunity to create your own sweet cards!
 

Also, in case you were wondering, all of the designs for my cards came from the new Make It from Your Heart Volume 2 How-to book. This little book is filled with so many creative ideas and will inspire you to tackle your layout projects or cards. You can order the stamp of the month or how-to books online here.

 
Now on to some family scrapbooking... although these cards could use a darling little box now to store them in?!
 


Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Milk & Cookies

I put this month's Stamp of the Month to good use yesterday as a surprise for my children when they arrived home from their first day of school!



Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies were waiting for them in the kitchen. You bet that they dropped their backpacks, poured some milk and let the stress of the day roll off! Hey, it's tough to get back into the routine!

How cute is this stamped image? It's not too late to get your own and get it for free! Check out the Current Specials page to see all the details. Orders can be placed here before August 31st.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Perfect Wonderful You

My card was designed today specifically for Freshly Made Sketches. It is their 100th sketch challenge and it's a fun design.



I have used some unexpected items to decorate my card. Do the images look like a new paper packet or stamp set? If you said no then your right! They are actually pieces found in the assortment collections for the new My Crush spiral bound memory book. Similar to a Smash Book these new albums are perfect for recording your day to day memories. You can add small photo's, write little journaling notes or adhere keepsakes like tickets to the movies. However, the assortment pieces don't have to be used in the My Crush book. As you can see they work perfectly on a card or on a scrapbook page.

 
I chose the Bluebird assortment pieces for my card. There is a Memories assortment and a Favorites Assortment. Each come with 16 journal spots, 4 My Stickease sheets, 2 alphabet sticker sheets and 4 mini envelopes. I used one of the little envelopes to hide a sweet message! 
 
 

 
There are two different My Crush books. Bluebird, like I have used and Modville. They can be found in the new Idea Book on pages 63-67. There are also coordinating stamp set that you can use with them. You can order your own book here and start collecting your memories at home or even on the go!


Saturday, August 24, 2013

Little Thank You's

I have always included a little thank you card in all my customer's orders. It was my way of showing gratitude for their loyalty and helping support my humble crafting business. I realized lately that I have a core of customers that have been loyal to me for a number of years now and I felt they deserved more than just a single note card of thanks. So I decided to include a set of thank you cards in their order. I create them with the latest products and lots of love!





I may not have a lot of customer's, but I have the BEST customer's!

 

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Music {with} Humor

This week on Heart 2 Heart Challenges, we are challenged to create a project that is "musical". I was creating cards with my daughter and she had some ideas using up some older paper and a new title found on the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. She drew a picture a couple years ago with some iPod ear buds as if they were "buddies". After all you can hear the music better if you have a pair!


Lots of fun treats on this card including some other shapes cut from the Artiste cartridge and some polka dot washi tape. These were all papers found in my scrap bag and they came together so well using a template found in the new Make it From Your Heart Volume 2 how-to book.



Be sure to stop by the Heart 2 Heart Blog and see or {hear} the musical creations from the fabulous designers.

Friday, August 16, 2013

Love Mini Album

I have another mini album to share with you today. It was all created with the new Cricut Artbooking cartridge. It's amazing how simple it is to cut your album pages and all the embellishments with just one key! Set your size per the booklet instructions and start cutting! I can't wait to add my favorite photo's in this adorable mini album!






Get your Artbooking cartridge here and experience the fun!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Family Adventure

Am I Artbooking or Scrapbooking? Both really!
 
These pages were so simple to put together. In fact I was able to create them while at a crop. The template for my layout came from the new Make it From Your Heart Volume 2 how-to book. I cut some overlay pieces from the Artbooking cartridge where some background texture papers would normally go. I also cut out a few title pieces I wanted to use. I brought along a few stamps and embellishments to add details. It all came together easily and the finished page is a great way to showcase some family vacation pictures.
 



I love this stamp set with the little spinner! It contains some great sentiments and adds lots of interest. The new red shimmer tape is so cool and so easy to add to your projects. That cute little bicycle paper clip was found while standing in line at Cost Plus World Market of all places!


Monday, August 12, 2013

Family Frame

Scrapbooking has moved beyond the book! Close To My Heart has created ways to showcase our most beloved family photo's in our home décor! Flipping through the pages of the new Idea Book you will see several options of frames to place those photographs on display for all to see. Let me share my favorite frames with you.

Designed Décor Colonial White Frame~


The new honeycomb, chicken wire frame can be hung vertically or horizontally. You can display banners and individual pictures on it as I have done here or as shown in the Idea Book {page 73} when you purchase the Kit. Another great use is to display a 12x12 scrapbook layout on it. You can purchase the frame alone for $26.95 {Z1865} or purchase the kit which includes the frame, a B-size stamp set, kraft die cut shapes, mini wooden clothespins and baker's twine hemp. The kit is $35.95 a savings of $7.90. {Z1911}


Another new frame is the Designed Décor Black Frame {Z1880}. This frame has 5 clothesline wires perfect for hanging photo's, tags or artwork. This would be great for a Halloween or Christmas countdown similar to the one I did here. No more painting and building it myself though, this frame is ready to go. Found on page 71 it costs $26.95. You can also purchase metal Hook Clips separately set of 6 for $3.95. Here it is showcasing artwork using the adorable A Chocolate Affair Stamp of the Month. {don't forget you can get this stamp set for free this month, ask me how!}


Let's not forget some older display frames still available. The Display Tray {Z1750} is still one of my favorites. I decorated this one with some For Always papers and various older stamp sets. It's a great way to display my family pictures from special events, doing what we love and even a space to include our beloved beagle who is no doubt also a member of the family! If you dare, create a 12x12 layout and cut it to fit each space. It's a dynamic look and will add tremendous interest to your home décor. A $19.95 price point is a bargain to have a unique piece of art for your home!

 
 
Hopefully you found some inspiration today and will want to explore the new Idea Book for ideas to decorate your own home. These frames also make excellent gifts for loved ones whether it's an anniversary gift or a present on Christmas Day! Shop for your favorite frame here.

Friday, August 9, 2013

Rediscover Notebooks

My daughter and I had some crafting time yesterday. Earlier in the week I created a notebook with the free Rediscover Close To My Heart download. This is the second download released this month and there will be more to come. Be sure to check it out here.

I was inspired to use the download for a notebook from a couple posts I saw from fellow consultants. My first inspiration came from Aaron. She always has great ideas and her artwork is flawless! Jody was also inspired by Aaron who put her own spin on the project which in turn got me headed to my scrapbooking room immediately!

Here is the notebook I created~


Then my daughter saw my notebook sitting on a shelf after completion. That inspired her to make one for herself and her best friends! A chain reaction of creative inspiration! I love it!!




 
She individualized each notebook to reflect her interests as well as her friends interests. Images were all found in the Artbooking guide. Inside each cover is a 5x8 pad of lined paper. It closes up neatly with a Velcro label stamped with an image from a stamp set in the Artbooking collection.
 


Rediscover your happy with these downloads and be inspired to create something today!
 

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Beach Bound

This week on Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog is a promise of adventure! The challenge is to create a project that reflects a "journey". Whether it's a start of a new job or traveling to a destination. I chose a beach bound mini album! The new Artbooking collection made this a fast and simple project.






Printing and adhering my photo's in this mini will be a piece of cake! What ever did we do before the Artbooking cartridge came along?!?! Don't have it yet? Get it here!

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

You're a Star {FMS}

Playing along with Freshly Made Sketches today and playing with a new stamp set! I have been dying to try this cute little notebook paper stamp included in the Artbooking Cricut collection. I added it to my card as a little note of inspiration for the kiddo's heading back to school soon!

 
I used some older Rockin' papers and added some embellishments like the canvas "remember" sentiment from the Typeset collection and some Heidi Swapp color shine stars. Both the notebook pages and the border at the bottom were cut on the Cricut with the Artbooking cartridge. 



You can order the new Artbooking collection here. I will have several more projects using this cartridge throughout the month, check back soon!

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Bearizona

My favorite experience so far this summer was going to a place called Bearizona. Have you ever been there? It's just outside Williams, Arizona. It's a fairly new attraction to the area and well worth the visit.

You drive through the first section of the park in your own vehicle where you can view various animals in an open environment. My kids related it to Jurrasic Park! We saw big horn sheep, American buffalo, burro, white bison, arctic fox, and my favorite black bears! After the driving portion you can walk around the enclosed park to view some smaller animals like porcupine, beavers, badgers, red fox, lynx, and the baby and teenage bears. There was a petting zoo area with your farm animals and we saw a few birds of prey.

I wanted to focus my scrapbook page on just the bears though and I knew the Artbooking cartridge would provide the perfect background papers. Wood grain, so cool!  The Make if from Your Heart Volume 2 book provided me inspiration for the sketch.



The sketch in the how-to book just had papers in various sizes layered behind the photo, but I decided to create a pocket behind the photo for tucking in the brochure with the map. It will be a great memorabilia to keep, plus my son loves looking at maps!


I saved the negative cardstock from the "adventure" word I used on another project. I just backed it with some cocoa paper to make the word pop!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Open House Update

This past Saturday I held my semi-annual Open House. With a brand new Idea Book filled with 500 new products, I had a lot of work to do! I showed many new products including card kits, scrapbooking projects, base & bling jewelry pieces, home décor and lots of items using the new Cricut Artbooking cartridge!

Half of my display table was filled with an array of Artbooking projects from cards to layouts and let's not forget those adorable mini albums!



I will post more photo's here of these projects individually and up close, but first I would like to share the make & take project we made. A cute little gift box cut on the Artiste cartridge. Ladies got to use one of new M sized stamp sets called dotted love. It fits perfectly on the face of the box and what a deal for these little stamps....only $2.95! They also got to use the day of the week stamps found in the Artbooking collection. These are so much fun with different fonts on each and will come in handy for journaling on scrapbook pages or My Crush books! Some glitter gems and Lagoon houndstooth washi tape are the perfect embellishments to finish the box!

 
 
These little boxes can be decorated for many different occasions. I just have to share what my daughter wanted to do with them. She decided she wanted to make some for friends after she saw mine. Hers are for back to school gifts. She plans to fill them with some book marks she made and some candy! The ruler border and apples were all cut on the new Artbooking cartridge. The book mark topping was also a stamp found in the Artbooking collection.
 


Stay tuned for more projects and inspiration!