Scrap-a-Palooza II

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to make sure I posted this because it is for a really good cause, and it will be really great fun! Hope you can join us!

This is the last call, ladies!
The Uxbridge Elementary PTO is sponsoring the second Scrap-a-Palooza and it is THIS SATURDAY! We had so much fun at the last one – please come and join our party! You must have reservations in order to attend and the final deadline is WEDNESDAY for certain. Details are included below, and if you wish to register, please do so by calling Julie (508-278-9994) right away!!!

Scrap-a-palooza II

Saturday, October 29^th from 9am to 9pm in the Taft Café

The $45 admission benefits the PTO and includes:

­   Lunch, dinner, and snacks

­   Prizes and, of course, chocolate!

­   Porter service to and from your car

­   Demonstrations and products from Close To My Heart, Creative Memories, Memory Works, and Stampin’ Up!

­   Lots of tools to use including 2 Cricut Expressions and 45 cartridges.

­   10-minute chair massages will be available for an additional $10.

Invite your friends! Reservations are required. RSVP to Julie Bleyhl at 508-278-9994 or bleyhl@charter.net.

Checks may be made payable in advance to “UEPTO” and mailed to Julie at 18 Trask Ln. Uxbridge , MA 01569 . Only your check guarantees your spot, so don’t miss out!

Open House Artwork - Part 5

Seriously - where does the time go?!? My apologies for not having posted in so long. Time has a way of getting away from me! But, you're here to see artwork! So this time around I have a set of cards that use the "Typeset" paper pack and the Kraft Die-Cut Cards. These cards are actually the featured bonus project for the "Sonoma" Workshop On The Go - however, I don't have the "Sonoma" WOTG, so I improvised (again)! OK, first card:

These cards were so much fun to do! In addition to the "Typeset" paper, I used the "Love Life" (swirl & flower corners) and "Hooray Bouquet" ("hip hip hooray!") stamp sets, Clear Assortment Buttons, Bitty Sparkles, and white grosgrain ribbon. Quick & easy!

Again, this card uses "Typeset" paper, "Love Life" (swirl), "Hooray Bouquet" (flower & sentiment), Sparkles, Clear Buttons, & white grosgrain ribbon. The flower was cut with the "Art Philosophy" Cricut Cartridge.

Same materials again (aren't these fun?!). I love adding the little bit of bling with the Sparkles and Bitty Sparkles to give things just a little bit of pop!

These hearts were stamped from the "Love Life" stamp set, and the "You & Me" sentiment is actually cut from the "zip-strip" border that is found at the top of every patterned paper duo from Close To My Heart. I also used Mocha and Licorice Opaques.

Again, the flowers were cut using the "Art Philosophy" Cricut Cartridge - available exclusively from Close To My Heart - and stamped with "Hooray Bouquet". The die-cut cards, if you hadn't been able to figure it out, are tri-fold - on this card, the right-hand side with the scalloped edge is a flap that opens up, then the inside opens just as a regular card would. These cards measure 6" x 6".

I hope you enjoyed viewing these cards as much as I enjoyed making them! The instructions for these cards can be found online by clicking HERE. Have fun & enjoy!

Open House Artwork - Part 4

I am so excited to share these cards with you (I LOVE circle cards)! I worked on three different bonus Workshop on the Go projects...and I didn't even have the kits! I just fell in love with the projects, so I completed them with the supplies that I had. For the set that I will be showing you today, I had the paper, but not the exclusive stamp set that comes with the Workshop on the Go - nor the Chocolate-striped ribbon...so I improvised! I think they came out pretty darn good, but I'll let you be the judge!

Each of these cards uses the White Daisy Circle Cards and the "Dreamin'" Paper Pack. The leaves are from the "Harvest Happiness" stamp set, and "Just For You" is from the "December 25th" stamp set. I simulated the Chocolate-striped ribbon with lines drawn with Chocolate marker on cardstock.

This card uses the "Blue Ribbon" stamp set ("Happy Day"), along with Mocha Opaques and the Cocoa Designer Ribbon Collection.

Again, the striped ribbon has been replaced by striped cardstock on this card. "Harvest Happiness" was the stamp set used, only this time, I cut out a couple of acorns and adhered them with 3-D foam tape. In addition, I went back with Glitz Glitter Gel (Stardust) to accent the stamped images.

This one is fun! I just love circles! They make everything seem so playful. The "100% Awesome" is from the "Blue Ribbon" stamp set. The blue strip is one of the zip-strip borders now found on all of CTMH's patterned paper. Again, I made my own "ribbon", only this time I inked it up, because the white lines were just too bright for me on this card.

Lastly, this card uses the "Love Life" stamp set ("simple pleasures") along with "Harvest Happiness". There are also Mocha Opaques in the lower-right corner. This card also utilizes one of the zip-strip borders now found on CTMH's patterned paper.

It was such fun creating these cards - especially trying to find ways to make them look like the originals featured in the bonus project, without having the materials that were originally used. Don't feel like you can't create a project if you don't have exactly what is called for - find ways to use what you have! Not only will you stir those creative juices, but you might just use some of those unused products as well! More "adjusted" Workshop on the Go Bonus Projects next time!

Open House Artwork - Part 3

Oooo, these cards just keep getting better and better! I had so much fun making them, too! Well, let's not waste any time, and just get to it!

Oh, how cute is this?! It's a 3" x 3" card - perfect for putting in the kids' lunches for a mid-morning ego boost! And so easy to make thanks to the new Close To My Heart Cricut "Art Philosophy" Collection! Stamps included in the Collection, as well as many other stamp sets throughout the Autumn-Winter 2011 Idea Book, are designed to perfectly coordinate with cuts made from the Cricut cartdridge! No more tedious cuts with the scissors! This card also uses the new "Blue Ribbon" stamp set and the new "Typeset" paper pack (my favorite new paper pack).

Here's another card using the "Typeset" paper and "Blue Ribbon" stamp set. This card also uses the new White Daisy Die-Cut Cards, which have the bracket edge already cut for you! Love that! You will see an entire set of cards using the Die-Cut bases in a later post (there are some cool Kraft Die-Cut Cards, too!).

Ah, yes, "Typeset" paper again (I told you it was my favorite!), along with a cut/stamped image from the "Art Philosophy" Collection.

Mmmmm, I could really go for a cupcake right now! This cupcake was cut from the "Art Philosophy" Collection twice - once in pink, and once in tan. Then the coordinating cupcake stamp was stamped with pink ink on the pink cut and tan ink on the tan cut. I cut the top off of the tan piece and layered it on top of the pink piece for a yummy-looking cupcake (I also gave it some sparkle with a few dots of Glitter Glitz).

This is an adorable treat/mini gift bag! All the cuts (including the bag!) were done with "Art Philosophy". Don't you just love the 3-D flower accent?! The cartridge is so versatile!

And lastly, the snowflake card. The entire snowflake background is one cut from the "Art Philosophy" cartridge. Amazing, isn't it? There are several doilies and backgrounds you can cut with the cartridge. After getting all the little paper pieces out of the design (whew!), I painted it, first with white, then with CTMH's Create-a-Shade Pearl Paint. It really gives it a nice shimmer! I then "blinged it up" with Clear Sparkles and a simple sentiment. Beautiful!

Well, I hope this has been another inspirational installment of artwork to get your creative juices flowing! There's still a LOT more to see, so keep coming back to check it out!



                     

Open House Artwork - Part 2

Yea! It's time for more artwork inspiration! the three cards I am going to post today were done with this month's National Stamping Month Special - the "Pair-A-Phrase" Double Stamp Set! Have you seen this set yet? It is absolutely adorable! Here, take a look for yourself:

Tell me these aren't the cutest stamp sets! And the best part about them is that they are FREE with a $75 Close To My Heart order! That's a savings of $35.90! PLUS, you will also qualify to purchase the September Stamp of the Month for just $5!! That's an additional savings of $12.95!! WOW! September is a great month for stamping!

There are three cards pictured on the "Pair-A-Phrase" flyer - I decided to do these for my Open House so as not to reinvent the wheel. However, if you're dying to see more artwork done with the "Pair-A-Phrase" sets, head on over to CTMH's Facebook page! They've been posting cards done with these sets all month long, so check them out at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150272520471123.334145.101779776122&type=1. These are fantastic cards! In addition, here's mine!

This is a cute one! It uses the "Wonderland" paper pack. Brrr...frosty!

I absolutely love the bike in this set! It's so darn cute! The patterned paper is from the "Typeset" paper pack.

OK, these images just keep getting cuter and cuter! And I just LOVE circle cards - they make me happy!

I hope you grab the opportunity to get these great stamp sets for free this month! And I hope you have as much fun as I did creating fun artwork with them! More Open House artwork coming your way next time!

Open House Artwork - Part 1

Well hello everyone!

Thank you for being so patient with me while I spent the last few weeks preparing for my annual Close To My Heart Open House. It was a lot of fun, and I just loved using all the new products from CTMH to create incredible artwork (if I do say so myself)! Close To My Heart really does make it so easy to look good!

At the wonderful suggestion of my husband, I created a video of my Open House setup so that those of you who could not attend could get a feel for it...however, the video is too large to post here. So, you'll just have to be content with viewing the artwork piece by piece (you get to see it better this way, anyway!). There is a TON of it, though, so I will have to bring it to you in multiple posts (more to look forward to!). I think I'll start with the Halloween pieces that I did, since that holiday is coming up first. Many of the pieces you will see on the cards and scrapbook layout were cut from the new "Art Philosophy" Cricut Cartridge from CTMH. I had such a great time exploring this new cartridge! Here are the pieces:

This card uses the "Captured Moments" stamp set and the "Mischief" Level 2 Paper Pack. Love it!

This card uses the same as above, along with the new White Daisy Die-Cut Cards & Envelopes.

This is my absolute favorite card! I love the creepy background paper (from the "Mischief" pack), the pleated paper "ribbon" below the candelabra, the 3-D flowers created with the Cricut "Art Philosophy" Cartridge, and that absolutely stunning black candelabra "Felt Shape" (brand new!). Love it, love it, love it!

This is the left-hand page of a two-page spread, created from the "Mischief Workshop on the Go". The WOTG includes the new Felt Shapes and an Exclusive C-size stamp set, along with the "Mischief" paper pack.

Here is the right-hand page. The word "NIGHT" was cut using the font on the "Art Philosophy" cartridge. And here's what the spread looks like together:

Very cool! I can't wait for Halloween so I can have some pictures to put on this!!

Well, that's all I have for Halloween artwork! Come back real soon to view more Open House art - you're gonna love it!

Annual Close To My Heart Stamping & Scrapbooking Open House!

Each year, when the new Close To My Heart Autumn-Winter Idea Book comes out, I hold an Open House so that everyone can get a first-hand look at new products and the new Idea Book.You're not going to want to miss this!

Date:  Sunday, September 11th, 2011
Time:  1 - 4 pm
Place:  3 Willard Drive, Uxbridge, MA 01569
PLEASE RSVP TO:  (508) 278-9392 or aafaa@charter.net

Idea Books, new products, free gifts...oh my! Yes, it's Open House time once again! You'll be able to get your hands on the Brand New Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, as well as see plenty of the New Products! There will be artwork to inspire you - including albums created with Studio J! Come and create your own artwork to take home with a Make & Take! Hear about all of the new changes for Close To My Heart! Earn tickets for a chance to win a $20 Gift Certificate! Take home gorgeous artwork and help Operation Smile at the same time with the Artwork Raffle! Best of all, get a few moments (hours!) to chillax, socialize with friends, enjoy light refreshments, and have fun! I can't wait to see you there!