'Tis the Season for Homemade Mini's

I love making homemade keepsakes, especially for the Holidays. I like to look back each Christmas to see what old traditions we still celebrate or to see the new memories we created. Sometimes I don't keep my own handmade treasure, rather I pass them along as special gifts to someone I love. I shared this mini album with my customers using a combination of Artbooking album pages with the newest Cricut City Sidewalks collection.

Did you see all the fun shapes from the cartridge along with some of the City Sidewalks Complements? They all played together very well in this mini album!

Don't forget that these collection will retire at the end of the month!

Christmas Card Buffet

I recently hosted my first ever card buffet. I created a dozen different Christmas cards with a huge variety of themes from reindeer to gingerbread men and even a VW bug!? The ladies had 2 hours to create and the more they made the more savings the earned per card. It was hit overall and everyone really had fun!

Here is a picture of the cards, minus one that was left out of the photo.~

This picture illustrates how the cards were set in crates or boxes with kits to make the card along with the materials needed to complete it. Most required a stamp set and inks, but others needed thin cuts, markers, craft heaters, embossing folders and more.

Here are the ladies having fun, but mostly getting to work....serious business you know!

One of the aspects that the ladies enjoyed the most is that all the ideas were already thought of for them. The could simply look at the master card and recreate it. I try to come up with interesting ideas and wanted to explore all sorts of stamp images as well as use a variety of papers. Sometimes the ideas came from strange items. Like the Merry VW bug card. On a recent shopping trip to Michaels I came across these adorable magnetic closing boxes for 50% off. The image of the little cars decked out for the holidays was my inspiration for this card. I think the post office should seriously make this a stamp design. I would buy it! None of these card kits were left in the box...well not many cards were left at all at the end of the night!

Happy crafting!

City Sidewalks Cricut Christmas Cards

The City Sidewalks Cricut Collection has some really cute images on it. I already showed you the little neighborhood of houses in the 3D frame. I wanted to also showcase more of these images in some cards that I displayed at a recent class. Here is a close up of the cards featuring a decorated mailbox, a cute pup,  a charming Santa, and a festive wreath!

You can cut these images to any size you wish, so think outside the standard card and go big! All of these cards feature the City Sidewalks paper making everything blend perfectly.

Get this collection before its gone. Items available until the end of December!

City Sidewalks Christmas Frame

Recently I held a City Sidewalks Christmas inspired class. I focused on the entire City Sidewalks collection from the whimsical papers to the super fun Cricut collection! I showcased a range of projects using all of these products and our class project was a 3D frame with a snowy Christmas neighborhood scene.

Here is just one of the tables all set up for class~

No party is complete without some yummy treats to snack on while we create!

Here is the main table I had set up to show all of the projects I created. It's full of inspiring ideas; scrapbook layouts, picture my life layout, mini scrapbook, and cards using stamped images as well as Cricut cut images. All of the projects featured some embellishments to coordinate from ribbon to Washi tape to sparkly chipboard complements! I will give you a closer look at these projects in the coming days.

Here is a close-up of the frame we made. These are 5x7 shadow box frames that I found at Ikea. The snowflakes and car are popped up from the background giving the scene more dimension. The Winter Wonderland tag is from the City Sidewalks Cricut collection.

I am entering the frame in the Anything BUT a card challenge over on Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week. I think I must create a new home decor item every Christmas and this one will forever make me smile! {I just like to smile, smiling is my favorite! ~ Buddy the Elf}

Welcome to September

September is National Stamping Month. Close To My Heart is celebrating with a special Create Kindness Stamp Kit.

 Find more details on the Current Specials tab.

You can also find more details about the Stamp of the Month on the Current Specials tab. The Stamp of the Month is a beautiful set that will allow you to show gratitude as well. It's called Blessed Beyond Measure and features some autumn images and sweet sentiments.

Lastly, the newest Holiday Expressions Idea Book goes live today! In this book you will find all those familiar paper collections in various holiday themes. You can view the book online or contact me if you would like one for yourself. All products are available to order now!

Take a look at the four paper collections being offered in this new book.

 Jeepers Creepers

City Sidewalks

 Oh Deer!

Swan Lake 

I've heard the month of September referred to as "Stamptember"! That seems fitting for this month considering all of the new Holiday products and specials happening this month. Happy creating friends!