Welcome September!

I love the month of September! Perhaps because it is my wedding anniversary month, my birthday month, cooler weather....or maybe because it is time for all NEW Idea Books, products and time to celebrate National Stamping Month!

Close to My Heart is offering a ton of great new products and programs. Please check out the right side bar for links to the new books, subscription programs, specials and new Cricut link.

I will be back soon to show off some of the new goodies and classes I'm working on including the upcoming Share the Seasons Christmas card class I'm hosting at the end of this week.

Here is a sneak peek of some of the items and artwork~

Come back and visit soon for more inspiration!

Chairs to You!

Today I'm sharing a card I designed for Freshly Made Sketches this week. It is a very clean and simple sketch that allows lots of space in the main frame. During my recent scrap room renovation and reorganization, I discovered several products that have not seen the light of day for some time. I told myself that I need to use it or let it go! So prepare yourself for an oldie!!

Chairs to You was one of those stamps that I loved, because of the humorous play on images and sentiments. It also contains a few heartfelt sentiments and the chair images can also have a warm home feeling. I brought in more recent stamps and current trends with the chevron ombre pattern. Now an old stamp feels brand new again!

Typed Note Surprise

Time is running out to get the fabulous Typed Note Stamp of the Month! I had so much fun playing with this stamp all month long. One final project I made is a creative card for my son's Birthday. This was an idea that I talked about at the Crate Card Club, but had not tried it yet. I wanted to take the paper in the typewriter and make it a functional message that would be revealed when pulled out of the typewriter. It was super easy to create.

I used paper left over from my Crate Cards. The card was left basically with the same template, I just added some extra stamping, distressing and embellishments. Then I altered the typewriter to accommodate the pull-up message.

To achieve this effect I bubble cut the typewriter making sure to cut off the paper at the top. Then I cut a smaller strip of white cardstock {1x 2.75} to stamp the messages. I made certain that this piece would slide between some 3D foam tape that was mounted underneath the typewriter. The puffy star makes it easier to pull out the paper.

With just a few tweaks this card goes from flat, to fun and interactive!! Be sure to get this stamp set before it's no longer available!

Just a few more days to grab your Deal of the Day too! Order online here.

April Crate Card Club

This past weekend I held my April Crate Card Club. There were 5 of us total participating this month. As always we had a nice mix of cards with different themes and ideas! Let me share what we created.

First up is my card. I knew that I would showcase this month's Stamp of the Month, Typed Note. I also knew that I wanted a taller card for something that we haven't done yet and I figured the larger typewriter image would work great on tall, skinny base card.

Here are the other cards. You will see a great mix of papers, sentiments and styles. The ladies do great work and we enjoy each others ideas. If you like their creations, please leave a comment and let them know!

Kraft, Twine and a Sketch

Today's card is clean, simple and Merry! I decided to play along with two challenges for this card. A simple sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and a sing-along musical twist at Heart 2 Heart Challenges!

At Heart 2 Heart Challenges they asked us to interpret the ever popular song "Brown paper packages, tied up with string....", you know the one! So I chose Kraft cardstock and some sparkly twine from the Frosted Workshop on the Go card kit.

I noticed that one of the card designs in the Frosted kit was very similar to the Freshly Made Sketch this week. Just a bit of adjusting and a pop of Twilight blue (inspired by Vicki Wizniuk) I was able to get the exact card I wanted!

 

 

Be sure to visit these challenge blogs and play along! If your curious how you can put a twist on the Frosted Card Kit place an order with me or online here.



Annual Christmas Card Exchange

This past weekend I held my annual Christmas Card Exchange. I believe this is my sixth year hosting the exchange. There are girls participating that have been with me from the beginning and some new ones too! Every year I am always so excited to see what they will create!

My exchange rules are pretty simple. I ask that they create identical Christmas cards using as much Close To My Heart product as possible and that they include envelopes. This year all eight of us had something in common! You would almost think that I made a rule that they could only use "traditional" colors?!!

How funny is that! All the cards were red's, green's and neutrals. Some other common trends were dry embossing, using or stamping on kraft cardstock, bits of bling and the popular Pear and Partridge papers!

First up is my card~ I used some older background papers and the lovely wreath stamp set. The little bird is from a the more recent Perfect Fit Holiday stamp. The shaped piece in colonial white was dry embossed using a wood pattern folder.

Next is Nanette~ She also used some older background paper and an older stamp set. I told her that the sentiment and holly berry was so cute! She reminded me that it was an older stamp set that I had sold her!! I replied that maybe I want to borrow it then! Ha, Ha! I love that her card is clean and simple!

Janet's card is so fancy~ She incorporated various papers from the Pear & Partridge paper kit. She must have about 6 layers on her card including some dry embossing and glitter! Way to use that zip strip too Janet!

Christmas tree by Julie~ One of my favorite trends this year is stamping white or colonial white ink on kraft cardstock. It has such a stunning look! Julie's green tree with red bling really stands out against it. What a clever ribbon tree stump too!

Joyful embossing from Tommie~ A beautiful script embossing on red cardstock is the base for this card. Which is perfect for the red and green hanging JOY banner. Tommie was having fun with her Cricut shapes, but not so much fun with those bitty pearls!! But, they are worth it, they're the perfect touch to your letters!

Peggy's little stocking~Ahhh! So darling! She really knows her way around the Cricut craft room as this little stocking is welded to reveal a message inside. The glitter, ribbons and holly on the cuff is the perfect finishing touch!

Let It Snow by Aysa~ Her card reminds me of refreshing peppermint! She has dry embossing on the background as well as the center snowflake, really making it the star of the card!

Last is Pat~ She has created a quilted masterpiece! This also has been a recent trend in paper crafting, giving cards such a dynamic look! She used some of the Pear & Partridge papers and also embossed some kraft cardstock. Pat says all of the paper piecing was time consuming. I'm glad she is patient, because her card is gorgeous!

We also had a Mystery Mini Gift exchange, made a banner and had other treats to share. Come back soon to see these items!

I am always grateful to these ladies for their participation. They inspire me and I hope they have inspired you today.

Peek - a - "BOO"

My Card Club meets this month. In celebration of October and Halloween we are creating Peek-a-"BOO" cards. These aren't scary though! The entire card base is cut on the cricut using the new Art Philosophy cartridge. Even the center cut out is done for you.

Inside~

Inside~

Inside~

Wedding on H2H

It's wedding week on Heart 2 Heart challenges. I loved the samples of inspiration from the design team this week. Here is what I came up with.

I am drawn to the Kraft cardstock lately, especially the fact that I can emboss in a lighter color on it. I first did a tone on tone stamping in colonial white, which unfortunately does not show well in the pictures. I embossed the congratulations in white daisy then using a spellbinders die, punched a label in the center. I second generation stamped the flowers on the front and stamped the butterfly. I also stamped the butterfly again on another piece of cardstock and cut out only the wing, popping it for added dimension. Finally, I finished the card with some opaque pearls.