BIG Changes to Studio J!

OK, last time I posted (admittedly, quite some time ago), I mentioned my Studio J homework for Convention. Well, I attended Convention in Dallas earlier this month and received my printed layouts - they are gorgeous!! I love Studio J so much. And now, you can, too! Close To My Heart has announced that they are doing away with Studio J memberships, so now EVERYONE can enjoy ALL of the kits and patterns available (no more "members only" tags!), AND get member PRICING on all printed layouts! That's right! You can use Studio J at NO COST at all, but if you choose to have your layouts printed, they're only $6.95 each - that's only $3.48 per page! Fantastic!

Here are some other fantastic changes:

- The price of a Studio J 5-Pack (includes 5 two-page layouts plus shipping & handling) has been reduced from $55 to $39.95! That's a huge reduction!

- You can now choose to purchase your layouts as JPEG files (instead of the printed layouts) for just $2.95 each.

- Express Collections! As if Studio J wasn't already fast & easy enough, Express Collections include 10 unique 2-page layouts - plus a front and back page - all designed with embellishments, My Stickease clusters, and custom color combinations. Just drop your photos in, add your journaling, and you've completed a custom album in minutes. There are six different themed collections: "All About Me", "Little Man", "Little Miss", "School Days", "Travels", and "Year in Review". Head over to Studio J and check them out! Here's one of the layouts from the "Little Miss" Collection:

- You can now add your Studio J order to any open gathering listed on your Consultant's website! Your order will count toward that gathering's sales and help the Hostess with her Hostess Rewards! In addition, Studio J layouts can now be a part of your Hostess Rewards!

- If you are ordering printed layouts from Studio J, there is a minimum order of 4 layouts required - BUT the maximum number of layouts that you can order for the low, low shipping price of just $5.95 has increased from 20 to 50 layouts! Unbelievable!

As you can see, there have been a lot of great changes and improvements to Studio J. I encourage you to create a FREE account and start playing. Once you do, you'll find that even if you are a "traditional" paper scrapbooker, you'll find a place for Studio J - you might even get a little caught up! Have fun!

Studio J Homework?!

In two short weeks, I will be on my way to Dallas, Texas for Close To My Heart's annual Convention. I can't wait!! I'm going to have SO many things to show & tell - it's always such a blast! This year, however, Convention-goers received an email with a Studio J 5-pack code in it, in order to complete five layouts before heading to Dallas. I must admit - this was the most fun I've ever had doing homework! The instructions for each layout included tips & techniques that wouldn't be found in Studio J's regular "help" menu. Things like dragging a new text box onto your layout, then filling it with a color or patterned paper in order to cover up a pattern or paper that is already there...I never would have thought of that! I learned so many cool tricks while doing this assignment - thank you, Close To My Heart! Here are the layouts I completed for my homework:

 (You would not believe how those "cupcakes" above were created! How fun!)

I was so excited to get these photos scrapbooked - and all in one afternoon! Fantastic! I can't wait to get my hands on the final printed copies - we have to wait until Convention to get those.

You can try Studio J out for free any time you'd like! Just go to StudioJ from my website and start playing (you will have to create a free account first)! I have fallen in love with this program, and I'm sure you will, too! Give it a try & learn something new!

Have Your Heard?

I don't know if you realize it or not, but this month is a "Stampaganza" with Close To My Heart! This is a fantastic opportunity to stock up on your favorite stamp sets! Here's the deal - for every two My Acrylix stamp sets (sizes A-E) you purchase at full retail price, you'll receive a third stamp set - of your choice - FREE (of equal or lesser value)! That's a savings of up to $29.95 per set!! CTMH My Acrylix stamps are the best on the market - clearly! (See what I did there with the "clear" reference...)

To get you as excited about this fabulous promotion as I am, here are a few of my favorite stamp sets from the current Idea Book. First up - "Card Word Puzzle":

This is a great stamp set because it not only has gorgeous floral & butterfly images, but also just about any word a crafter will ever need in order to make cards. Here is a beautiful card I made for my mother's birthday with this set:

So pretty. Next, "Eclectic Edges":

I just created a fun card with this gorgeous border set that I will be swapping at Convention in Dallas next month...here it is:

And so easy! Here's a set that I just love for masculine cards - it's called "Blue Ribbon":

Six of the images in this set coordinate with cuts from the "Art Philosophy" Cricut cartridge. Here is one of the cards I created with this set:

Ooo - love it! And lastly, but certainly not least, is "Hooray Bouquet". I love this set because all of the flowers in it coordinate with cuts from the "Art Philosophy" Cricut cartridge, which makes the stamps so quick & easy to use and layer - no scissors involved! Check out how fun & fresh this stamp set makes this scrapbook layout:

Yea! I hope you take advantage of this month's Stampaganza to get your own favorite stamp sets! This special is only good through June, so don't miss out! You can order online anytime on my website at funforyou.ctmh.com. Happy Stamping!

Fun Father's Day Card

Wow - it's June already. Soon the kids will be out of school and the summer will be in full-swing. I thought in honor of Father's Day, also this month, I would show you a cool technique that you can use to create depth and texture on your paper-crafting projects. It's embossing with your paper trimmer! Actually, you really don't even need the paper trimmer for this to work, but it does make it a bit easier. Let me show you how to make a really nice Father's Day card using this technique.

Step 1: Cut your paper pieces. I used Desert Sand, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim, and Colonial White cardstock (CS), along with patterned paper from the Pemberley paper pack.

Step 2: Emboss Indian Corn Blue CS strip. To do this, place the CS on your paper trimmer so that the right edge extends 1/4" beyond the blade track (as if you were going to trim 1/4" off of the end of your paper).

Lower the paper guide. Using a dry-embossing stylus, run the stylus along the blade track, going over the CS several times to make sure you leave a good impression (we always want to make a good impression, don't we?!).

Now, move the strip to the right another 1/4" and repeat embossing with the stylus. Continue in this fashion until the entire strip of CS has been embossed with a line every 1/4".

Step 3: Turn CS strip over and lightly sand the surface to reveal the pattern. The sandpaper will expose the white core of the CS when you sand over the raised lines of the embossed pattern - how cool is that?! Now you have a fun, textured piece to add to your card.

Step 4: Stamp your focal image. I used the "Blue Ribbon" stamp set, which I stamped in Bamboo ink on Colonial White CS. I cut the "ribbons" off of the badge because I am going to replace them with real ribbon.

Step 5: Cut your ribbon. I used Outdoor Denim ink to stamp the "No.1" onto the badge. Then I trimmed two pieces of striped grosgrain ribbon from the Designer Ribbon Blue Collection, notched the ends, and adhered them to the back of the stamped badge with Glue Dots.

Step 6: Assemble your card. To add finishing touches to my card, I inked the edges of the award badge with Desert Sand ink, as well as the edges of the Colonial White pieces. I stamped "DAD" in Outdoor Denim ink using the "Pennant Alphabet" and sanded the outside edge of my assembled card. I also cut a 1 1/4" circle from Bamboo CS to place behind the "DAD" sentiment. I stamped the "I'm So Proud of You" stamp on it so that the thin double-line border would show, but the words would get covered by the "DAD" strip. And, lastly, I added two Antiqued Gold Square Durables - one on either side of "DAD" - to add some "manly" bling! I just love how this card came out!

I hope you have fun creating this project! Until next time - Happy Stamping!

Creating with the Cricut!

Welcome again to an exciting new post from Cooking With Crafts! Today your host (me!) will inspire you to break out that Cricut die-cutting machine and get creating with Close To My Heart's "Art Philosophy Collection"! The card-making workshop that I held this past Sunday focused on four cards that could be made using only the Art Philosophy Collection (along with papers, inks, and a few embellishments). The one exception I made was in the last "card", when we used a border stamp set, which I will note in the description. The patterned paper we used was all from this month's National Scrapbooking Month special from Close To My Heart - the "Dotty For You" paper pack. This super-popular paper pack is available While Supplies Last, and is down to it's last 20% of inventory as of this morning. So, if you haven't picked yours up yet - don't wait any longer, or you might miss out! (See my blog posts from April 20 and May 5 for more details on the "Dotty For You" Special!) Now, on to the artwork:

Given all of the time I spent trying to get this card "just right", I think it came out really nice! The one problem with the "Dotty For You" paper pack is that there are SO many patterns to choose from, it's hard to narrow it down! The best part about the paper pack is that there are six different colors of polka dot patterns on the reverse sides, making it really fun to mix & match! The focal piece was cut from the Cricut and stamped with one of the two coordinating stamps that comes in the collection. We then mounted the piece with some 3-D Foam Tape. I thought since it is coming up on the end of the school year, I would make this card for a teacher. I used 3 "Bitty Sparkles" in the upper right, as well as one to mark "Teacher" on the checklist. Much cooler than just checking the box, don't you think? :-)

Oooo, this one is my favorite. The butterfly paper is so colorful, and the Lagoon dots...well, Lagoon is my favorite as well! This time, not only was the focal piece cut from the Cricut, but the butterfly paper as well as the card itself were cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge. For the focal piece, we first stamped the image onto the die-cut in Cocoa ink. We then stamped the image again with Smoothie ink onto a piece of Colonial White cardstock and punched out just the center circle, which we then adhered to the center of the die-cut. The whole piece was then mounted to the card using 3-D Foam Tape. How fun!

Ah, this one is a tasty selection! The chevron patterned paper really gives this card some energy! Perfect for this upbeat birthday card! The two circles, as well as the cupcake were cut from the Cricut. For the cupcake, the shape was cut from Smoothie and Bamboo cardstocks. Then we stamped the cupcake image on both, using Hollyhock & Desert Sand inks respectively. Next, we trimmed off the top of the Bamboo piece, leaving just the "cup", which we then adhered to the bottom of the Smoothie piece. Lastly, the cupcake was adhered to the card using 3-D Foam Tape and embellished using Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel. Yummmm....

Our last "card" wasn't really a card at all - it was a gift box! This adorable box was also cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge, along with the two flowers and the tiny tag on the front. This is the item for which we "broke the rules" and used a stamp set outside of the Art Philosophy Collection. The border stamp used on the front came from the "Eclectic Edges" stamp set, which includes six gorgeous borders. And do you see that adorable button brad in the center of the blue flower? That came from the Honey Mini-Medley Accents Collection - which also included the stitched ribbon with which we tied up the box. Oh, good times, good times.

This workshop was so much fun - and so easy, since most of the cutting is done for you by the Cricut! If anyone is interested in the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection, the "Dotty For You" paper pack, or any Close To My Heart products, please contact me or go directly to my website at http://funforyou.ctmh.com! Enjoy!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day!

It's offical! It's National Scrapbooking Day! And if you've been following, you know that Close To My Heart is celebrating with the "Dotty For You" Paper pack for just $5 with a $35 purchase! I've posted some cards and a layout I did with the paper pack - now I've got more to share! These designs are courtesy of Kristine Ponte (www.kponte.blogspot.com). I loved them so much that I had to "scraplift". First, here's a card that I made that uses both the patterns and the dots of the paper:

I love how you could use any of the patterns on this card, and it would still look cool. The black really makes the colors pop. The next two pieces I have are layouts:

I saw this layout and loved it! I love the Sunset & Lagoon colors together, the cool use of the patterned papers (especially the Cricut "Art Philosophy" star cut from the yellow dots for the sun), and the clouds cut out of yet another one of the patterned papers in the pack. Beautiful!

OK, how cute is this?! As soon as I saw the paper with the colored circles on it, I knew they'd be perfect for cutting out and using as embellishments - and that's exactly what this page does. How fun!

I hope you have taken advantage of the "Dotty For You" special this month! If not, there's still time! The special runs through the end of May - BUT it's WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, so don't wait! It's only $0.21 a sheet - for double-sided, cardstock-weight paper! You'll love it! Happy National Scrapbook Day, Everyone! Happy Scrapping!

I'm Just "Dotty For You"!

National Scrapbooking Month has come early at Close To My Heart! And in true form, they are offering a FANTASTIC special for a limited time only, and while supplies last! It's the "Dotty For You" Paper Pack, and you can get yours starting right now! This gorgeous package of 24 double-sided, cardstock-weight papers has 12 different patterns (2 sheets of each) on the front, and a fantastic polka-dot pattern on the backs - in six different colors! There is no limit to the things you can do with this diverse array of paper. How can you get a hold of it? There are THREE ways:

First, place an order of just $35 in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book, and you can add the Dotty For You Paper Packet (valued at $19.95) for just $5.00!
Second, as a Hostess, you will receive the Dotty For You Paper Packet for FREE when your Gathering sales total $400 or more (excluding tax, S&H, and Operation Smile donations).
Third, anyone signing up as a new Consultant between April 1 and May 31 will receive a Dotty Paper Packet for FREE with their new Consultant Kit.

I have had a lot of fun creating with this paper - and I'm not done! But here is what I have done so far:

I really liked the layout that is pictured on the idea sheet that is included in the paper pack...so I copied it using my own title, photos, and embellishments. It's a great way to use up any scraps you have left over from all the other projects you're going to make with this kit!

This card was also featured on the idea sheet that comes with the paper packet. I thought it was really cool how the cloud with the heart was cut out of the patterned paper and used as the focal point on the card - very cute! The "Love Life" stamp set was also used on this card.

Yet one more card from the idea sheet (I loved their ideas!). I didn't have the same supplies as they did, so I improvised and created my own embellishment using the "Enjoy!" stamp set. I just love that butterfly paper!

Those of you who attended my "Flowers" workshop will recognize the ribbon-twisted flower that is the focal point on this card. I love the yellow & grey striped paper paired with the Sweet Leaf green cardstock.

Lastly, a bright & fun card using yet another flower technique from my "Flowers" workshop. This time I used a strip of one of the patterned papers to create the accordian-fold flower. Aren't these patterns fun?!

I hope these artwork samples give you a head-start and a creative boost in creating your own pieces of art with this paper packet. Remember that you can order online ANYTIME from my website at http://funforyou.ctmh.com. Enjoy!