Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Crazy Cat Card Kit

Okay you crazy cat lovers! August is almost over, that means you can only get the Stamp of the Month for just $5 if you order right now! I have an idea for this stamp set that will make you think of other occasions, not just for Halloween. I've created a Crazy Cat Card Kit using a variety of papers, colors and various images from the stamp set, pre-stamped and cut out. It's fun in a box, ready to be assembled any way the recipient wishes.


I used a Birchbox to contain all the fun! I simply decorated the top with one of the cat images, a title frame and some fun accessories that scream party!


Just look at all those cats purring for attention! All of the stamped and cut images are on the top of the decorated card bases.


Here is just a sample of how the cards can be decorated. You will see that there are some Halloween themed cards, but there is also other fun occasions too.



The Purr-fect Halloween Stamp of the Month goes away tomorrow night. Place your order online here.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Happy at Home

With the launch of the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book this summer I was excited to order new products and play with them all! One of the first projects I wanted to create was a single page layout that immediately caught my eye on page 29. In the midst of these fantastic new items arriving and waiting to be opened up, my husband and I were diving into a big flooring makeover in our home. While waiting for mortar to set for a day, I took that opportunity to play with some of the new Rustic Home papers and the "happy" thin cuts. I figured that once our home renovation was complete this would be a great page to record the memories of our labor intensive, yet rewarding work. Here is what I came up with.


You can see that the inspiration from the Idea Book was simply a jumping off point, not an exact copy. I flipped the page to create horizontal photo wells instead of vertical. I kept most of the embellishments and the paper of course. I changed up the ribbon a bit and kept a more neutral palette rather than using the new Sea Glass as it would not blend with the colors of the photographs to come.

I am entering this page in the "Copy That" challenge on Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, August 18, 2016

Showing Sympathy with Flower Market

The newest Cricut Cartridge, Flower Market, has been very useful lately. I've had to make a few sympathy cards in the last couple of weeks and the detailed flowers and sentiments on this cartridge have worked beautifully. Take a look at two of the designs I've created.



I've used a similar color scheme on both as well as the same sentiment cut. However with some different patterned/embossed papers and two very different layered flowers they are uniquely not identical!

The Flower Market Cricut cartridge is available to order now in the traditional physical cartridge or a digital version. Get more details on my website here.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Hello with Whimsy and Rustic Home

My card today showcases some of the new beautiful prints in the Whimsy Fundamentals paper and some earthy Rustic Home kraft paper. The finishing touches to this card are definitely the Hello Thin Cut, Rustic twine looking ribbon and those itty bitty staples in the center of the heart.


Not visible in the photo is a piece of vellum over the top of the diagonal striped flaxen paper. It just lightly mutes the color and gives the entire card some softness. I originally made this card as a congrats/welcome card to my nephew and his wife who just had their third baby, but you could use this style card for many more occasions.

All of these new products are available now in the 2016-17 Annual Inspiration Idea Book. Find all of these goodies online here and don't forget that you can get that Rustic Home paper free this month with a qualifying order.

Friday, August 5, 2016

Flowers in a Boot

Hello! I have a sweet card to share with you today! I held an Open House this morning to celebrate the new 2016-17 Annual Inspirations Idea Book. We looked at some fabulous new products and flipped through the pages of inspiration. Then we really had some fun by playing with a few of the new items. My card design was inspired by the Freshly Made Sketches this week, however the flowers and colors were inspired by some Sea Glass iced cupcakes and Ikea napkins! {what?}


Here is one of the cupcakes on a napkin, do you see my inspiration?


Here is the sketch on FMS~


Curious about the new products we got to work with? We had fun trying out some flower cuts from the newest Cricut cartridge Flower Market. They looked adorable in that Sea Glass rain boot also from the Flower Market cartridge. We used some older, almost retired Calypso paper and some new Rustic Home Fundamentals paper. For our sentiment we quickly and easily added a Thin Cuts thanks and simple stamped sentiment from one of the stamps included in the Cricut Flower Market collection.








Remember that you can get the Rustic Home collection for free with the Basically the Best promotion going on this month only. More details can be found in the Current Specials tab at the top.


Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, August 4, 2016

I Love You to the Moon

Have you ever overlooked a stamp set in the Idea Book thinking that you don't need it? On a second look I realized that I had to have a stamp set and I was lucky that it was a set that will continue in the new Idea Book! It's called Charming Cascades and its a fun and versatile stamp set. Take a look at the card I made using it.





This stamp set has cascading stars, hearts and dots. On this card the stars are simply floating down through the sky with the "I love you to the moon and back" sentiment. You will see later how I used this same stamp set on a 12x12 layout, making it perfect for cards and scrapbooking. I'll share that page soon!

Be sure not to overlook some of the stamps and products in the Idea Book, especially when they have the potential to retire!
 


Monday, August 1, 2016

New Annual Inspirations Book

Its that time of year when Close To My Heart introduces you to the brand new Idea Book. This year you will find a fresh new take on products being offered that are beyond basic!


The Annual Inspirations offers fundamental paper collections for all of your crafting needs, beautifully designed stamps, a new Cricut collection filled with hundreds of images, fresh new colors including a color of the year and so much more. Look at the cover of the Idea Book~ {so pretty!}





You can browse through the pages of the new book by clicking on the book cover in the right hand column of this Blog. You can also begin placing orders today online here. Be sure to check out this months promotions and of course the stamp of the month being offered for August.



You can get all the details by clicking on the Current Specials tab at the top.

Be sure to check back here all month long for reveals of new products and project inspiration.