Not too late for January's Stamp of the Month

It's still January, so you can still purchase the January Stamp of the Month.  If you weren't convinced before, see if this example doesn't put you over the top...

I used the baby's breath within the stamp set (at least that's what I see it as) and "love you!"with this simple card.

January Stamp of the Month set

Let me walk you through how I made this...

First of all, the card was inspired from a pinterest post, which in turn came from another pinterest post (no website listed).

I cut a 2" x 4.25" piece of White Daisy cardstock.  Using VersaMark ink(Z891), stamp the baby's breath twice (I went with different heights), pour White Embossing Powder (Z2068) on the images (tap off excess), and heat (Craft Heater Z555) the powder.

Next, I started with Cranberry Ink(Z2116)(the darker red color) and Sponge Daubers(Z726)*.  Moving in a circular pattern, rub on the Cranberry ink around the sprigs and in the corner - wherever you want it, really.  Definitely don't go straight from your ink to the project, though.  You'll end up with some very dark spots.  Repeat with Pomegranate ink(Z2653) (purplish hue) and then Poppy ink (Z2652) (bright spots) (I used this one sparingly).  Note that there are sections that don't have any ink.  *When I do this again, I'll use our Sponge (Z697)instead of the Daubers.  The Sponge is much stronger for this type of job (applying in a circular motion).  The tops of my used Daubers crumbled off.

The last step before assembling, is to stamp the breath.  I stamped first generation with Cranberry ink.  I cleaned the stamp, and added second generation (stamp off on scratch paper first) breath in Pomegranate ink.  You can see I stamped at different heights to give it more depth (that's what the second generation stamping does too).

Adhere the strip to the card front, and stamp a saying below (Cranberry ink for this card), and whalaa, your card is done!

I'm thinking this will be my Valentine's card to my husband.  It says "I love you" without being too lovey dovey.  Although, he's seen this card, so I might have to come up with another one.  Too bad!

Right... I got carried away with telling you how to make this card that I almost forgot to remind you that you have until Sunday at 11pm Pacific Time to order this set.  This set would allow you to make a great Anniversary card too!

Valentine's Mailbox

Look at how adorable this mailbox is that Monica made!  Check out the video on how it was done too!


Mailbox from Artiste Collection (page 51), cut at 11".  Use the relative size selection for the mailbox's flag.  Ruby cardstock for the mailbox itself.
The Hearts are from the Art Philosophy Collection (page 6).  She points to the outline image, but it was the full image that was used (<Heart1>).  1.5" and 1.25".  La Vie En Rose paper packet for the flag, front cover, and hearts.

Looks like a quick and easy weekend project!!

Thoughtful Thursday 1/28/2016

It's Girl Scout Cookie time, therefore I thought this caption was appropriate.  : )

I was looking for some recipes to use the cookies in.  You might think it blasphemy for not eating the cookies in virgin form - well, I'm a rebel!!  And I wanted to show they can be more than just delicious snacks.  They can enhance other foods too.

Serious stuff now... there were several blog posts saying that the cookie prices are ridiculously high. That made me sad. Unfortunately, I think people forget the fact that these cookies are a fundraiser.  Let me show you where the money goes.

So you see, when you buy a box of cookies, you are giving as well as getting.


Keep this in mind too.  In 2015, in San Diego County, a box of cookies went from $4 to $5.  That was the first price increase in 10 years!  Besides Costco's hot dog dinner deal, what goes up in price that slowly?!  Pretty much nothing!

Okay, I'm getting off my soapbox now...

If you don't want the cookies, and you're asked to buy, there are lots of military personnel who would love a box.  You can always support them by buying them a box too!  By the way, supermarket booth sales start February 5th and go through March 6th.

Happy Girl Scout Cookie Season!!

Decisions?!

I hate my job, sometimes!  Let me tell you why... And I should start with the fact that it's not a horrible problem to have.  Well it is when a decision needs to be made!

So, I'd been working on my birthday goodie cards and got to the Bandwidth card.  The plan was to emboss the base of the card and assemble.  First problem was deciding which side to have face up - the center of the design or the outline of the design (top left vs bottom right).  Next was the decision of the focal point.  Do I leave a little bit of border or more (top two vs bottom two).  After I couldn't decide which was better, I then thought of backing the base with Black cardstock to mimic the focal (top right and bottom left vs the other two).

So I made four of them and laid them all out.  Technically I should have made 12 more - one for each of the decisions, but I didn't have the time.

Do you see my PROBLEM?!  Having to make these types of decisions is just exhausting sometimes!  I didn't even have family members around to help with the decision.  And the WORST PART is I STILL CAN'T DECIDE!!

I did make a decision, but you'll have to make one too, if you receive this card as your goodie card.  You'll have to decide which embossed part goes upward.  All I have to say is, "Good Luck!"  : )

January 2016's Stamp of the Month

I don't think I've shown you this month's Stamp of the Month yet!  Shame on me!  And two samples from corporate.  This stamp set is available until January 31,2016.  Why not add it to my birthday party gathering.  It can help you get a stamp set and card kit!

My Birthday Party Goodie Cards

My birthday is just around the corner, and I'd like you to come to my "party".  I opened a Gathering on my website called "My Birthday - Goodies for You".  When you make a $35 purchase (subtotal), I will send you one card kit (from the six shown below) as well as the flower stamp set (not available for purchase).  For every $15 after that, I will send you another card kit.  So, if you spend $45 (subtotal), you will receive the stamp set and two card kits.

For you with $35 purchase to thank you for coming to my "party"!

Here are the cards... : )

Each card measures 3" x 3" and will come with the papers cut and stamped with the saying (hostess rewards stamp set - Say it All C1632).

Close to my Heart has a couple of campaigns you might be interested in.  The first is from now until January 31, 2016 and is National Papercrafting Month - Live the Day


Celebrate National Papercrafting Month with the exclusive Picture My Life™ Live Your Day scrapbooking program—available for one month only! This collection was designed to coordinate perfectly with the sensational Everyday Life™ 2016 Planner Pages and My Crush^® Everyday Life Pages, so you can seamlessly integrate pocket scrapbooking into your 2016 planner. Whether in the planner or on their own, these cards make it easy to preserve your everyday moments all year long. Get yours today for only $8.95 USD before this offer is gone!

The second campaign starts February 1, 2016 (and runs through the month).

Share the love this February by purchasing the exclusive My Acrylix^® Share the Love D-size stamp set (CC1060). Filled with adorable icons and loveable sentiments, this stamp set will be a beautiful addition to your collection—but there is more to this stamp set than meets the eye! Not only will you be getting a high-quality, swoon-worthy stamp set by taking part in this promotion, but Close To My Heart will also donate $7 of the proceeds from this stamp set to Operation Smile™, an amazing organization that provides surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates for children all over the world!* Check out our social media channels all month long to see this stamp set in action, and remember to post your own artwork using the hashtag #ctmhsharethelove to help bring attention to a wonderful and worthy cause.
*Product purchases in US states Alabama and Massachusetts excluded from donation

So, you can see, you can make a purchase now or wait until February.  Or you can do both!  Whatever you choose, make a purchase at my party and you'll get a goodie bag for coming.  But you have to make your purchase before February 19th because my gathering will close at 7pm (Pacific Time).


Items to think about purchasing for these cards:
Z2164  Sorbet Ink
Z2172  Whisper Ink
Z2174  Champagne Ink
Z2015  Black Ink (just in case you don't have this color)
X5751  Sorbet Cardstock
X5929  Whisper Cardstock
Z726     Sponge Daubers
Y1000  1" x 1" Acrylix Block

Want to recreate these at home?  You'll need these items:

X7205B Charlotte Paper Packet

Z1926    Quatrefoil Embossing Folder

Z1924    Dot Embossing Folder

Z1809   Black Simmer Trim

1386      Black Cardstock

1385      White Daisy Cardstock

Z1475    3" x 3" White Daisy Envelopes

Y1002   1" x 3" Acrylix Block

9036     Originals Card Confidence Program

Want to earn your own stamps?!  Or paper, markers, or blocks?  Host a gathering online or in your home.  Heck, I can host it at my home, if you'd like.  Gather some friends and neighbors and make a couple hours of it.  You'll be amazed at how easy it can be!

February Workshop

It's been too long since I saw my friends!  My next workshop is Monday February 8th and Tuesday February 9th, both from 7 to 9 pm.  You will be making three of each of these two cards:

These cards use the Charlotte paper, Black and Gold Ribbon, Treasured Puffies, Springtime Wishes stamp set, and utilize our newest line - Thin Cuts.  Thin Cuts are designed with specific stamp sets and use an embossing machine (such as Cuttlebug).  No more cutting by hand!

Thoughtful Thursday 1/21/2016

A quickly today, but still important...

It's important to be who you are. :)

There is only ONE you - even an identical twin is unique!

Artiste Cricut Collection - Rectangular Box + Art Philosophy Flowers

I'm so sorry I didn't share this with you when I made it (that was quite some time ago when I wasn't posting as consistently).  Anyway, you'll use the technique with different paper (if you don't have Brushed paper left).

The box came from the Artiste Collection, as did the saying.  The flowers are stamps from the Pretty Petals (C1599) set.  The flowers were stamped in Canary and Cranberry, but cut from the Art Philosophy Collection.  The saying was also stamped in Cranberry.  The leaves are cut from Juniper cardstock (from Art Philosophy).

The paper and Topiary Chevron ribbon are both retired.  The flowers are finished off with Green Enamels (also retired).

I think this would look just as good in Sangria colors.  I'm going to have try that!

Thoughtful Thursday 1/14/2016

As the new year continues to gain momentum, I think this picture is important.

It would be nice if success was really like the illustration on the left.  Well, maybe not.  If success was a straight line, there wouldn't be any learning, or failing.  Both of those are what make success so much sweeter.

Of course the reality of success is the illustration on the right.  At least for me it is.  And I believe it's true for everything in life.  There should be a third illustration with the arrow going inside the bundle, or even to the beginning.  It's easy to give up on a jumble of mess especially when it would be nice to have success in a straight line.

So keep going on your goals for the new year.  Our road will not be a straight one.  We'll hopefully end up in the same place though!

Dog Treat Tag

After losing my second pup (Ray) on December 13, 2015 I contemplated time (I lost Belle on July 3, 2015).  I had been wanting to make dog treats to give out for years, but kept putting it off.  This was the year that I wasn't going to put it off again.  The most unfortunate part of the process is I no longer had any taste testers!  But I wanted to honor Belle and Ray with moving forward and celebrating them with the treats.

I wrote a blurb up about time being my enemy because I had procrastinated so long and glued it onto the back of this tag:

The dogs came from the Artistry Cricut Collection (see page 9) as did the paws.  I once again went to Design Space to create the tag.  With the Explore machine, I was able to write the paw prints onto the tag.  I took the paw layer and hid the outside line contour.  That left me just the paw print.  Then I clicked and changed the cut to a drawn image.  I copied and pasted it to put on top of the tag.  Once I had the prints positioned on the tag where I wanted them, I grouped the three images and then attached the paw prints to the tag.  Their orientation and drawing was then fixed.

The black dog is Belle who had a heart of gold.  For Ray, I trimmed the long cut tail to a stubby tail to match him.  Baking and passing out the treats was somewhat therapeutic for me.  Belle and Ray's friends got a tasty treat and I was able to share some joy during a rough time.

Here are my babies!!














Surprisingly, and an added bonus, some of my dog friends used the tag as a tree ornament

Cricut Cupcake Pullout Cards

I had some fun with these cards I made for my some of my nieces and nephews.

These came together relatively quickly, and looked in person how I envisioned them (always an added bonus).  : )

The cupcake is from the Artiste Cricut Collection.  In Design Space, the three parts (cupcake wrapper, icing, and back) come as one image.  Before I ungrouped them, I sized the image to be 5.25" in height (I may have unlocked it the height and width and made the width 4.25").  I wanted it to take the entire A2-sized envelope.  You can change the size to whatever your needs are.

After ungrouping the three images, I copied and pasted the back.  Then I shrank the copied back a little (I eyeballed this) so that it would fit nicely inside the cupcake wrapper.

I cut the images out - the back in Bamboo, and wrapper with Zoe paper collection, and the icing in Canary.  Done with the Cricut machine.

Next I went to my Cuttlebug.  I used the Chevron embossing folder on the wrappers.  Oh, if you look closely at the picture, you'll see the cupcakes are mirror images of each other.  The wrappers are both sides of the same paper, so I reversed the icing and the backs.  This is important for the sprinkles on the icing.  When you run your icing through the Cuttlebug, you want them in the correct orientation so the sprinkles are going outward instead of inward.  With the correct orientation of the icing, I used the Confetti with the Circle Diffuser (so I'd have a flat space for the saying).  I chose the Confetti embossing folder over the Dot folder because I wanted the sprinkles to be more random.  Done with the Cuttlebug.

Next, I sanded the embossed bumps of the icing with the Sanding Kit.  You can see I left some of them white while I colored the rest.  I colored sprinkles with Leaf Green, Tender Pink, Golden Yellow, Turquoise Blue, and Lavender.  I stamped various "Happy Birthday"s from the Joyful Birthday set (B1419) in either Sorbet or Glacier, whichever corresponded with the wrapper color.

Assmbly: I added scor-tape (1/8") along the outside of the larger back.  I adhered the wrapper to that strip to create a pocket.  Then I slid the smaller back into the pocket, after adding some scor-tape to where the icing will go.  I aligned the Canary icing to the card and then adhered it to the smaller back.

Last thing to do is to write something on the pull out and there you go!  You could add a gift card or cash to the backside of the pull out if you'd like for an extra treat.

Thoughtful Thursday 1/7/2016

What do you think about this?! I'd like to chase some of my dreams this year...

I'm even going to go out on a limb and call them resolutions. I would like to send birthday cards to those whom I know (and who's address I have). Want one too, but I may not have your address? Email me (dskdots (at) san (dot) rr (dot) com and I'll add you.  I've told myself about this goal for a year, but I'm not sure I put it out there. I've read that by sharing, you are more likely to follow through.

For other months, I'd like to send out thinking of you cards.  Connecting with happy mail hopefully will put a smile on the recipients face.

I would like to be more technologically savvy and present.  I'm taking a four week class on that starting next week.

I would like to interact with my customers more - share more one on one.  And I would like to have more customers.  Therefore I need to leave my comfort zone and tout what I do to more people. : )

What about you? What dream do you want to catch this year?!

Seasonal Expressions January - April 2016 Now LIVE!

Nothing like starting the new year with health issues... I'm better now and am ready to show you the newest offerings from Close to my Heart!  Seasonal Expressions is now available for your viewing pleasure!

What's new, you may ask?

• First, there are three new paper packets that have been repackaged.  With our current Inspirations paper packets, you'll be receiving some cardstock along with the background and texture paper.  Starting with Charlotte, Penelope, and Regatta, the cardstock is replaced with two more background and texture papers - including one page of Picture My Life cards.  Here's a look at the Charlotte paper packet and you can see what I mean...
  

• Second, we now have Thin Cuts which are metal dies the coordinate with some stamp sets to eliminate cutting.  You'll use your favorite die cutting machine to cut shapes.  The neat thing is they come in a 6" x 6" pouch (just like the stamp sets) and stay on a magnetic sheet.  Right now there are 4 Thin Cuts available, but I suspect more will be coming in the next Seasonal Expression (but don't hold me to it!)
• Of course there are new stamp sets and accessories!
• Close to my Heart has listened to you in regards to the Workshops on the Go.  They have been renamed to Workshops Your Way and do NOT include a stamp set.  Instead they include the coordinating complements and extras (still so worth the price which has come down a little!).  From that, you'll be able to create 3 layouts plus a Picture My Life pocket scrapbooking layout.  With a few other suggested items, you can create cards with the extra paper and accessories.
• Three new Picture My Life program cards, including an overlay in white
• The Everyday Life collection - includes an album, coordinating Memory Protectors, planner/calendar, My Crush pages, Wahsi tape, and a roller stamp
• Another Instalife album and cards for those "little" moments (the album fits our 4" x 4" Memory Protectors)
• Finally, our Stamp of the Months for January through April are shown in the back

You just need to check things out for yourself... there is WAY to much fabulous for me to show you here.  Plus you'll get to see the inspiring artwork found within the Seasonal Expressions.

Are you ready to have some of the new items, but are still recovering from the holidays?  Think about hosting your own gathering.  We can do an online gathering where you'd invite your friends to shop your gathering.  We can do a Facebook gathering - all done online.  Or I can come to your home and show your friends and neighbors some of the awesomeness of Close to my Heart products.