Summer Open House 2014

The brand new 2014-15 Annual Inspirations Idea Book will be released this week, Friday, August 1st. It is full of gorgeous new papers,  fun stamps, innovative tools and delicious embellishments!

I held my Open House to showcase just some of the fabulous new items. I called it a "Summer" Open House, because I will hold additional Open Houses later this year to truly show all the new items this book has to offer!

The new book will be available to view online this Friday and you may begin making purchases from the book then too!

{Welcome to my Open House}

 

One of the first "favorite" items is this red framed magnetic chalkboard. I love that Close To My Heart has introduced so many new home decor items. Several of these items have filled many walls and shelves throughout my home. This frame sits on a shelf in my dining room which already had red details in it so it was a perfect fit! It welcomed those ladies attending my Open House. I put some little bottle cap magnets on it just to show that it was not only a chalkboard. I'm excited to write messages on it or favorite quotes!

This is the my main table I had set up filled with lots of new goodies!

I wanted to show the new book, the 5 brand new colors {inks & paper}, a beautiful Seaside Workshop on the Go kit {it just happens to feature my own family pictures in it, woo~hoo!}, Picture My Life program and one of my absolute favorite items...the fundamental papers in the Whimsy color palette.

I showed a preview to a scrapbooking workshop using a gorgeous new paper called Brushed. This layout showcases a beautiful new stamp set and the cutest heart Washi tape in Lagoon! I also showed a level 3 layout using papers and embellishments from the Chalk It Up collection.
 

Finally I set up a display of the newest Base & Bling collections as well as a "try it" marker display. Yes, that's right, new markers and they are awesome!

I will have more detailed pictures of all these projects soon!

I also offered some handmade projects for sale. They included a mini album, 12x12 layouts and boxed card sets. I will have these posted in a "for sale" section on my Blog soon.

Be sure to stop back here at the end of the week! See the new book and be inspired by all the new products and the outstanding artwork. Want a new book in your hands? Just contact me and I'll help you with that. You can place your order for new products online here. Be sure to click on the JOIN button under my Inspiration 2014 gathering.

Sarita Card Workshop

One of my "go to" Close To My Heart products are the instructional how-to books. We have some for just scrapbooking, some for cards and the most recent books combines both of these. I opened the Wishes book the other day for some card ideas. {This is a book for just card making.} Browsing the pages I re-discovered some of the card workshops contained within the book. These are fantastic, because it gives you directions in cutting a few pieces of cardstock and only one design paper to create several cards! In this case 16 of them!

I chose to use the Sarita papers. It is such a lovely paper with cool patterns on both sides and vibrant colors. With this workshop you create 16 cards, however it is only 8 designs. As you can see I flipped my papers and chose all sorts of different sentiments and stamped images to make each and everyone unique! How many stamp sets did I use all together? Your guess is as good as mine! I was just having fun creating and in the end I had a pile of stamps on the floor next to my chair!! {ha ha}

Do you send several cards for Christmas? This workshop would be perfect for making a lot of cards in a minimal amount of time using just a little bit of supply!

Yellow Makes Me Smile :)

 The color  yellow just makes me happy! One of my favorite and often used colors was Creme Brulee. As some of you may know this color has been retired and replaced with another yellow called Canary. As sad as I was to see Creme Brulee leave, I assure you that the new Canary color is lovely and may get just as much love!

I decided to use up some of the cardstock I had, along with some other papers that I have been hoarding. This layout was inspired by one featured in the Dream Pop promotion awhile ago.

Circus Alphabet Summer Titles

At my recent Open House event we made a quick 12x12 layout focusing on this month's Stamp of the Month, Circus Alphabet. With a qualifying purchase you can get this stamp set for only $5. That's 2 alphabet fonts for only $5!! The ladies had fun creating their pages and coloring their page titles.

 Here is the page I did for an example. It features the Lollydoodle papers and some Flamingo Dots.

The title was made with both the fonts on this set. The larger set is an open stamp which allows you to color in with colored pencils, markers or the ink pad and waterbrush. The smaller font was used on the months. It is just a simple alphabet with some cute curly lettering.

 

The ladies got creative on their layouts. They couldn't resist selecting some new papers to be released in the Annual Inspirations Idea Book. {tell you about that later!} I like the variation here as one chose to use the waterbrush pen and ink pad to color in the letters, while the other played with some new markers! {unfortunately I didn't think fast enough to take a photo of all the pages made before they left, if they send me a pic, I'll post it here!}

 

You have until July 31st to order this fantastic stamp set. You can place an order with me or online here.

Summer Themed {3x3} Mini's

I always spoil my customer's with goodies! Sometimes it's good eats, yummy treats or simply sharing crafty tips. Whenever they place an order with me they get some handcrafted love in return. I have been creating these mini 3x3 sets of cards for them for awhile now. Any order, no matter the amount, they will get to choose a handmade set of cards. Recently I created a few with summer time themes, using a "beachy" stamp set and the lovely Skylark papers!

Check out the cute "HI" card on the right! That one was created using this month's Stamp of the Month, Circus Alphabet. This is the cutest little alphabet stamp set and is at a great price this month only! You can purchase the stamp set through me or order online here.

Hello Camper Friend!

Today I bring you a friendly card for Freshly Made Sketches! I'm still showing love for these Crazy Campers! I kept it clean and simple for you and I may have used some new products too! ;)

Happiness in a Muslin Bag

Earlier I posted a "Cherish" Base & Bling necklace in antiqued gold. A beautiful piece of jewelry and a lovely gift. I wanted to package this special bling in a nice way. The drawstring muslin bags make a perfect tote for these little lovelies! They can be stamped on and personalized any way you want!

I used the Country Born stamp set for the front of this bag. I rolled the barn stamp in three colors before stamping; Indian Corn Blue, Barn Red and New England Ivy. The sentiment was stamped in Cocoa. I find that darker, richer colors work best. You will also find it helpful to insert a piece of cardstock inside the bag before stamping. This makes it stiffer and will stop the ink from bleeding to the back of the bag. A simple stamped tag and twine are added at the top.

{Z1822 (3) 4"-6" drawstring bags $3.95}

Circus Alphabet ~ July Stamp of the Month

Look at how cute the Stamp of the Month is in July! Getting 2 alphabets for only $5 is fantastic!! Watch this video for some inspiring ideas, then check out the sneak peek of my Open House project below!

 I will be hosting my Summer Open House, Wednesday, July 16th. I will have the new Annual Inspiration Idea Book available along with new products and artwork on display. You can make this 12x12 summer inspired layout {using the July Stamp of the Month} for only $10. You may get to play with a few other new items too!! ;) Once you get to play with this alphabet, you'll want one of your own! Please contact me if your interested in attending the Open House event and creating the project.

 Not able to attend this time?....No worries, because the Idea Book is sooooo large, I will also be hosting a Fall Open House {September/October} and Holiday workshops!

***sneak peek***

The Circus Alphabet is only $5 after qualifying purchase of $50. You can order through me directly or online here.

My Acrylix® Spritz & Scrubber

This is a must~have product! Check out this video:

Simple Base & Bling Necklace

I was playing with some of the Base & Bling accessories earlier this week and made a few creations. I suppose I was inspired by all the new Base & Bling options coming in the next Idea Book! So I thought it was best to use some of the pieces I already own.

This necklace has a subtle old-fashioned appeal to it. I love the faux antiqued gold finish to this pendant and chain. It blends beautifully with the sorbet color of the Dreamer Style Sheet sticker. That darling little bow is the finishing touch don't you think?