So Long 2016!

Wow - here it is - the last evening of 2016. It has been a CRAZY year. The holidays went by way too fast, and here we are, about to embark on a whole new year. I wanted to do one last "Christmasy" card before saying goodbye to this year:

I used a flower from this month's Stamp of the Month, "Thoughtful Flowers", as my focal point. The flower from the set may or may not be a poinsettia, but I thought it looked like one, so I colored it as such with my ShinHan Markers. I actually used brown in order to make the red darker - I love these markers! Here's the rest of the set:

I love this set because there are so many different flowers, you can color them, and there are sentiments besides. And, of course, I used my new favorite paper pack, "City Sidewalks", for the patterned paper:

I'm sad to see the holidays go, but even more sad to see these products go!! The December Stamp of the Month and the "City Sidewalks" paper pack are only available for a FEW MORE HOURS! If you want to pick them up, dash over to my website at http://funforyou.ctmh.com and order now! Seasonal Expressions and everything contained within will be gone with 2016, so don't miss out on these fantastic products!

Have a safe, healthy, and Happy New Year!

Black Friday - SURPRISE STASH SALE!!

Oh, this is GOOD. Love getting a great deal on crafting supplies to add to your stash? For Black Friday this year, you’ll have the opportunity to get amazing crafting supplies at an amazing price with Close To My Heart! For 24 hours only, we’ll feature themed mystery boxes filled with retired Close To My Heart products, all at a major discount! These mystery boxes will have five different price points ranging from $35 to $150, with some mystery boxes being offered at 50% off the retail value! All mystery boxes will be available beginning November 25, 2016 at 12:00 am (MST) WHILE SUPPLIES LAST—so grab a box for your stash before they’re gone!

Need more details? Well, here's more: What's in the mystery boxes?? It’s a big surprise, but we will tell you that the mystery boxes will be filled with retired products grouped together purposefully for certain types of crafters. The scrapbooking bundles will contain products like retired My Legacy™ albums, papers, Complements, Instalife™ mini albums and cards, Picture My Life™ pocket scrapbooking cards, and assorted embellishments like mini-medley accents, washi tape, and stickers! The cardmaking bundles will contain things like retired Cut Above™ card kits, envelopes in assorted sizes, papers, and assorted embellishments. Finally, we will also be offering scrapbooking & cardmaking bundles with a combination of products for those who love it all! Again, these bundles will be inside mystery boxes, so you won’t know which exact products you’ll be getting, but this gives you an idea of what we’ve cooked up.

I am LOVING this!! Keep in mind these THREE THINGS - 1) These surprise boxes are only available for 24 hours - and WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!  2) These will sell out FAST!!  3) You can only take advantage of this Black Friday Deal on my website at http://funforyou.ctmh.com!!

Here are the five different price tiers (and the approx. retail value of what you'll receive!!):
• $35 mystery boxes (on average, a retail value of $70!)
• $50 mystery boxes (on average a retail value of $90!)
• $75 mystery boxes (on average, a retail value of $140!)
• $115 mystery boxes (on average, a retail value of $235!)
• $150 mystery boxes (on average, a retail value of $335!)

AND, you can order as many Mystery Boxes as you like! AND, your total purchase counts toward the Stamp of the Month - spend $50 and purchase the November SOTM for JUST $5!

Be sure to shop EARLY! I can't wait to see what I get! Don't you just LOVE surprises?! :-)

My Favorite Things - Part 3

OK - we're BACK! And I just got a brand new shipment of goodies from Close To My Heart. I am so excited! Now I have a new list of favorite things! And since the holiday season begins THIS WEEK (yikes!), I thought I would share my new favorite paper pack and stamp set - "City Sidewalks" and "Joy to You and Me":

The paper pack is the perfect mix of bold and subtle patterns, several of which can be used for any number of occasions (those patterns that are not "themed"). And I just adore the stamp sets that allow you to create your own scenes. Can you see the tiny presents and tree that you can stamp onto the top of the car? And the little street lamp and dog? Not to mention the adorable houses. Oh, I knew I would have fun with this set! And the icing on the cake? The top three images with the red lines around them are cuts on the Cricut Artiste® Cartridge! Yes! Let's get to the artwork!

This first card is straight out of Holiday Expressions 2016 - I just used different papers because I didn't have exactly what they used in the catalog (I like mine better!). The different colors on the houses were achieved by stamping the house in one color, then stamping it on a separate piece of scrap cardstock in a different color, then cutting out the parts from the second color that you'd like to use on the first. It's a fun little technique that can really add some visual interest to your project.

This is a card design found in the Wishes® Card Program. According to the design, though, there should be a large square focal point in the upper-left corner. I originally made one, but I didn't like the way it covered up a big chunk of my adorable houses, so I nixed it and put in the "Very Merry" banner instead. It is "hanging" from the street lamp image stamped twice upside down. :-) The line of glitter below the houses was done using the new "Shimmer Brush", and the line of green & silver above the houses is washi tape from the City Sidewalks Washi coloection.

This last card is also a pattern from "Wishes". Remember that square focal point I mentioned above? I built this card around that. I just LOVE the background paper!! How fun!

If you would like to create your own fun cards, scrapbook pages, or other paper projects, you can order your supplies right from my website at http://funforyou.ctmh.com.

Stay tuned for an EXTRA SPECIAL BLACK FRIDAY EVENT Announcement!

Happy Stamping!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my birthday, but YOU get the gifts!! Order from my website at http://funforyou.closetomyheart.com/ TODAY ONLY and I will not only send you a check refunding your shipping costs, but will also send you a FREE GIFT! There are SO MANY incredible new products - why not check them out - and have them shipped to you FOR FREE?!

Jeepers Creepers!

I am really getting into the Halloween spirit now that it's mid-October. Halloween is my favorite holiday! Therefore, I really wanted to post something "Halloweeny", so I decided to make this a combination "My Favorite Things - Part 3" post and a Halloween-themed post. I am also going to combine two of my new favorite things - the "Jeepers Creepers" paper pack, and the "This & That" stamp set.

The "Jeepers Creepers" paper pack is my favorite for two reasons - it is Halloween-themed, and at the same time, so versatile! I will show you what I mean. I started by creating a Halloween card:

Being that I don't own any of the new Halloween stamp sets, I used one of the Picture My Life "cards" that comes in the "Jeepers Creepers" paper pack as my image. I absolutely love the little monsters patterned paper - and the fun colors! And just to show you how versatile this paper pack can be, I created another card using different patterns from this pack and the "This & That" stamp set:

See how simple and not Halloween-themed this is? Check out the "This & That" stamp set:

This is more geared toward scrapbooking, but works just as well for cards!

Perhaps next time I will explore some Halloween keys on the Cricut....Bwaahaahaa! Stay tuned!

My Favorite Things - Part 2

Hello! I am having fun will all of my new product from Close To My Heart's new Annual Inspirations and Holiday Expressions catalogs! Last week I showed you one of my favorite new stamp sets - "Emojis". This week, I have just a couple of cards to show you that I made using the "Woodland Critters" stamp set from the Holiday Expressions 2016 catalog. Here is the stamp set:

I am in LOVE with foxes, so I HAD to have this stamp set! :-) See those thin, red lines around the speech bubbles? That means that those shapes can be cut with one of our exclusive Cricut cartridges! These in particular can be cut with the "Artistry" Cartridge. So without further ado, here is the first card I made using this set:

In addition to "Woodland Critters", I had fun using the "Little Leaves" M-sized stamp set for the background, then coloring in random single leaves with my Vivid Green ShinHan marker. I also used the dots embossing folder on the Saffron cardstock to add even more texture. The speech bubble allowed me to add a pop of Peacock blue to my earthy color palate.

I love how this card came out. I focused on a neutral background with a pop of Lagoon blue to perfectly compliment and offset the deep Goldrush orange of the fox. The wood-grain paper comes from the "Rustic Home Fundamentals" paper pack, and the other two grey patterns are from the "Jeepers Creepers" paper pack. The fun leafy pattern that I stamped on the strip in the background is from one of the eight background stamps that comes with the "Flower Market" Cricut Collection.

I hope you enjoyed this small sampling of "Woodland Critters". I'm not exactly sure what my next "favorite thing" will be - I have a lot to choose from! See you next time!

My Favorite Things - Part 1

With the release of Close To My Heart's new Annual Inspirations 2016-2017 and Holiday Expressions 2016, there are so many gorgeous new things to see! I thought it would be fun to focus a series of posts on some of my favorite things from the newest catalogs. They'll just be quick samples of products and what I created with them.

Today's focus is on the new stamp set, "Emojis":

How cute is this?!? There are 49 images total - perfect for sending that quick, little note that's sure to make someone's day. Speaking of cute and little, that's exactly what I created with this stamp set - little 3" x 3" cards using all seven of the newest colors also found in the new Annual Inspirations catalog (plus Pacifica). I am in LOVE with these new colors in the Adventure color palate (Raspberry, Blossom, Tangerine, Lemon, Willow, Emerald, and Pansy). Here is the entire set:

Don't they just make you want to smile?! I love the bright colors! Here they are up close:

These adorable cards are perfect for slipping into someone's lunch bag, onto their computer, tucked into the bathroom mirror...anywhere you'd like to brighten someone's day.

Next time - "Woodland Critters" takes the stage - a fun stamp set from Holiday Expressions! Stay tuned for "My Favorite Things - Part 2"!

National Stamping Month: Create Kindness!

Celebrate National Stamping Month this month with hand-stamped cards designed to help create a little more kindness in the world. The "Create Kindness" Card Kit contains all of the supplies needed to create 24 beautiful 3" x 3" handmade cards (including the mini stamp organizer!) that you can use to brighten someone’s day. This entire kit can be yours for only $46.95—a 15% savings off the retail value!

Thanks to the pre-printed card bases, these cards come together in no time, leaving you more time to do something thoughtful for someone. Watch Close To My Heart’s blog, Instagram account, and Facebook page throughout the month of September to see what they’ve created with this card kit as well as the acts of kindness it has inspired! This exclusive kit will only be available in the month of September while supplies last, so make sure to get your order in early.

As a special bonus, the exclusive stamp sets and pre-printed card bases with envelopes are also available for separate purchase, but only in the month of September while supplies last!

I loved these stamps and cards so much, that I decided to make more of my own. The new Cricut "Flower Market" Collection just happens to come with eight fun background stamps that would be perfect for the patterns on the cards:

AND, it comes with the Adventure cardstock pack, which includes all seven NEW colors (which I used for my cards). Now I'll show you my versions of the "Create Kindness" cards. First, I gathered my materials:

Of the eight stamp sets that come in the kit, four of them are meant for the 2" white circles on the front of the cards, and four of them are sentiments for the insides of the cards. What I did differently from the kit is that I cut 2 1/4" circles from coordinating cardstock colors to back the 2" white circles with. I liked this much better, because the white circles were further offset from the backgrounds by doing this (you'll see). Next, I stamped all of the backgrounds onto the front of the cards (you can do the backs, too, if you like) using all of the seven new colors (Raspberry, Blossom, Tangerine, Lemon, Willow, Emerald, and Pansy) plus Pacifica, and stamped the four smaller images in black onto the 2" white circles (two times each for a total of eight):

Stamping the images in archival ink is better because it won't bleed or smudge when you color them with your alcohol-based ShinHan markers. However, if you color with colored pencils or are very careful with your ShinHan markers, you can stamp with your regular black dye-based ink. So, after coloring your images any way you'd like, simply adhere the white circles to the colored circles and then adhere to the front of the coordinating card. I kept like colors together, but don't be afraid to mix & match!

Adorable! And SO easy! The last step is to stamp the insides with your sentiments:

These cards are perfect for stashing in a child's lunch box/bag, in a co-worker's desk, on your spouse's computer...the list goes on and on. What a perfectly simple way to brighten someone's day! Create a little kindness and make the world a better place.

Visit my website today! http://funforyou.ctmh.com