Headin' North

    Good morning, everyone! Today the hubby and I are heading to Duluth to spend the next week along Lake Superior! Ian loves planning trips (big or small), and this year he wanted to do something special for our 2 year anniversary! So we're going to Duluth, Gooseberry Falls, Two Harbors, and some other places all along the North Shore! He did all the planning and mapping, so I'm just along for the ride and the scenery!

    Before I go, though, I wanted to post a quick update and share with you my crazy creative week! Yesterday's Workshop Wednesday was a huge hit! Everyone loved all the cards that I had to choose from, and all the ladies were able to make quite a few cards to take home with them!

   I had 25 cards total with various papers, inks, stamps, and tools being used on each one! I also had some fun techniques to try, and some new products to show off (hello cute little #30yearsofhappy stamp set)! I think the ladies enjoyed it so much that I might have to offer this workshop again so that they can make some of the cards they didn't get to! If I do, I hope the rest of you can join us! It was a ton of fun! Check out some of the examples that I offered:

    To start my week, one of the directors on my team challenged us with a color challenge! It was really pretty and I felt inspired to participate in this one! Here is the color palette she gave us:

   The rules were that we had to create 3 projects using at least 3 of these colors on each one. You could choose whichever CTMH colors you felt correlated best with the palette, and you had 5 days to complete the challenge and post your pictures! Anyone that participated was then entered into a drawing for CTMH product!

   I had a blast playing with this color palette! I chose Whisper, Desert Sand, Smokey Plum, Juniper, Glacier, and Pacifica as my CTMH colors, and these were my 3 projects I came up with:

For this 3x3 card I used 2nd generation Pacifica, Smokey Plum, Whisper, and Juniper with a Desert Sand background. The stamped images are from the new #30yearsofhappy, Keyboard Uppercase Alphabet, and Typeface Alphabet stamp sets.

On this card I used Desert Sand, Smokey Plum, Whisper, Flaxen, New England Ivy, and Olive. The stamped images are from the WOTG Pathfinding Cardmaking kit, and Happy Autumn stamp sets.

For my last card I used Glacier, Smokey Plum, Whisper, Desert Sand, and Pacifica. The stamped images are from the WOTG Brushed Scrapbooking kit, and the #30yearsofhappy stamp sets!

   I was pretty pleased with how these turned out! I didn't win, but that's okay because it forced me to work on something different this week!

   The other projects I completed this week were a couple cards for the hubby and I to use in our Wedding Wine Box! For those of you that do not know, we did something different at our wedding ceremony. We had a wooden box that we put letters to each other and a bottle of wine in. We sealed it at our ceremony and vowed to only open it when we needed to reconnect (like after a big fight or rough patch) or on our Anniversary to celebrate and remember!

Our Wedding Wine Box

Our glasses from our Wedding, letters ready to read!

    We have been married 2 years this week, and we have never had to open the box before our Anniversary date! :) So we sat down the night of our Anniversary, opened the box and wine, read the letters to each other from our wedding day and our previous anniversary, and looked through the wedding ceremony transcript. We also have our wedding DVD in the box, too (all 12 hours of footage!!). It's really awesome to re-live our special day, and I love reading the letters Ian writes to me each year!

    So this year I made up a couple cards for us to use so we could write our letters to each other for next year's Anniversary! I had fun coming up with cards for each other because I had to make them fast, but still wanted them to be cute! Ian's card to me was one that was a pre-printed card that I added some extra details to. Here's what I came up with (Ian helped picked things out actually):

I added the "My Happy" stamp to the pre-printed center, and a thin strip of the silver washi tape around the center. On the envelope I stamped the "Love" stamp from the #30yearsofhappy stamp set, and added a strip of silver washi under the flap! I love how easy this was to make!

    For my card to Ian, I used a blue background card (very similar to Twilight), and added some fun details! Here's what I came up with:

I used Flaxen Fundamentals paper, the Happy Hexagons Hostess Rewards stamp set, and the January 2015 SOTM! I then added some Striped Ribbon, and a sorbet 3D heart! I love how this turned out! The hexagon I stamped 1st and 2nd generation. The 1st I used on the envelope and 2nd generation was used on the card! I am going to have to make a duplicate one of these to show off at my workshops because it's too cute to sit in a box for a whole year!

    I hope you enjoyed looking at my fun projects from this week! You can find all the supplies you need to make these projects and more on my online shop! Have a great weekend, everyone, and stay warm! Until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

Tuesday Tidbit: Stencil It

    I have another Tuesday Tidbit to share with you! Today I wanted to share one of my favorite techniques: stenciling! I have been stenciling for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, I had a book about making your own stencils, and I would sit in our family craft room cutting and designing stencils to use on my projects for 4H! It was so much fun!

    When CTMH came out with the Artbooking Cricut Collection I knew I would need to try stenciling and masking some of the overlay backgrounds from this amazing cartridge! I even played with cutting overlays from acrylic sheets to make a more permanent stencil background! Some of you might remember seeing my hearts stencil at the February Valentine's Day Card Workshop!

    It's hard to try and take a picture of an acrylic stencil, so I thought I would share a video that CTMH made! In this video, Jill makes a mini album using a couple keys from the Artbooking cartridge. However, I want you to pay close attention to the stenciling technique she used to sponge the circles onto her mini album (right around 2:30 in the video)! I think you're going to love this! Check it out:

 
    Isn't that super cute and easy? I love that she used the stencil piece on her project, too! No scraps left behind, people! Notice how she used pigment inks instead of our dye inks, too! This is so that the colors show up "true to shade" on the darker cardstock background! The possibilities are endless with this technique!

    Well I hope you enjoyed this quick Tuesday Tidbit! If you have any questions or would like to order the Artbooking Cricut Collection for yourself, please contact me! I would love to help you start stenciling your projects! Make sure you take some time this week to get creative, and until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

Sunday Funday

    Happy Sunday everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well and enjoying your weekend! Today I am trying to be productive and get some small projects done around my house! So I'm patching holes, touching up paint, hanging curtain rods, staining crates, and organizing my office/craft room!

    Yes I'm still working on the craft room! I am hoping to have it all done with everything in it's own place by the end of the month! The nice thing is I have been able to use my island already to create some projects for this month, but that doesn't help me keep things picked up and tidy (yet)! I promise I'll post pictures as soon as it doesn't look like a bomb of craft supplies went off in there!

    On Friday I posted about CTMH's 30 days of project posts. Did you get a chance to check them out? Are you following along on Facebook and/or Instagram? Here are the super cute projects they have posted this weekend using the new #30yearsofhappy stamp set:

Super cute pillow box made with the Artiste cartridge, Chalk It Up Assortment, Baker's Twine, and Glacier ink.

Super cute tag made with shimmer trim, slate diagonal ribbon, and Chalk It Up Assortments.

Another cute tag using stamping, topiary ribbon, and gold sequins! I love the color palette: Glacier, Flaxen, and Whisper!

    You still have time to get this super cute stamp set for yourself! It's FREE this month when you purchase $30 or more in My Arcylix stamps! It's a steal, friends! You can order your stamps and get your freebies on my online shop today! 

    Another quick reminder.....did you see my new Candid Cricut Club starting this month??? It's going to be a ton of fun, and it's totally FREE to join!!! Make sure and check out all the perks here and sign up soon!

 

    Have a great rest of your Sunday, everyone! Enjoy the football games, and make some time to get crafty! Until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

Freakin Weekend Kickoff

    Woohooo! It's Friday! I hope you all are having a great week so far! I having been busy pre-cutting all the cards for next week's Christmas Card Buffet! I still have room if you haven't had a chance to sign up yet! Please just let me know by Sunday, September 7th at the latest!

    This month is all about celebrations!! Have you been following along with CTMH Corporate's Facebook page and/or Instagram account (@ctmhcorp this week? Every day during the month of September CTMH is posting pictures of projects and artwork made using the brand new #30yearsofhappy stamp set! If you have missed it, check out this week's projects:

September 1st project

September 2nd project

September 3rd project

September 4th project

    I love all of these! I definitely am inspired to start playing with this super cute stamp set! Are you ready to get this stamp set for yourself? How about for FREE???

    It's super easy! Purchase $30 worth of retail priced My Acrylix stamps this month, and you automatically qualify for this 30 piece stamp set for FREE!

    Plus don't forget that you can piggyback this special with some of the other Anniversary specials I have going on this month! It's the perfect month to stock up on all those new CTMH goodies you have been scoping out! Start shopping now to take advantage of these amazing deals, and make sure and check out my Steals & Deals page to see all the awesome steals for the month!

    Have a great weekend, everyone, and make sure to get some crafty time in as well! Until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

Penny Prints

    I know....another blog post today! However, I wanted to make sure you all knew about the Labor Day print specials going on right now!

Snapfish

    It's back! Snapfish's Penny Prints ends September 4th! You can get 99 prints for only 99 cents, but the cool thing is you can use the coupon code up to 5 times these next couple days! That's 495 prints for only $4.95 (plus tax and S&H)! So print away, friends! Make sure and use the code PENNY14 at checkout to get the discounted price!

Order Details from the Snapfish website:

1. Must use code PENNY14 to receive up to 99 4" x 6" prints for one cent each. Additional prints will be charged at regular print and delivery prices. Offer excludes Premium prints, collage prints, Disney and Dr. Seuss themed products.
2. Offer expires at 11:59 p.m. PT on September 4, 2014, while supplies last.
3. Only one coupon, promotion, or account credit can be applied per item in your order. Existing credits are honored first.
4. Offer applies to mail-order purchases only and cannot be used for in-store pick up. All taxes and shipping fees apply.
5. Coupon may be used up to five times per customer. May not be used in conjunction with any other offer.
6. Offer valid for U.S. customers only.
7. Offer is subject to change or cancellation at any time.

Shutterfly

    Get 101 FREE prints from Shutterfly from now until September 3rd! Use the code LABORDAY101 at checkout to get your prints for free (taxes and S&H still apply)! I would suggest following Shutterfly on Facebook so you will be the first to know when they have the free print sales!


    I hope that helps for those of you (like me) that need to print your summer photos! Have a great night, and until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

Tuesday Tidbit: Dry Embossing

    Woohooo for back-to-school! Believe it or not....it's definitely that time of year already, but I don't think the kids should get all the fun new items to play with! So today's Tuesday Tidbit is about going back-to-basics with new CTMH tools and supplies for us....the adults!!!

    Introducing tool school! Today's tidbit is all about dry embossing techniques! So we're going to tool school with CTMH's brand new Scoreboard and embossing folders!

    

    First up is the awesome new Scoreboard! This handy tool is the perfect for all types of crafters! It's small enough to travel with, but allows you to still work with 12x12 pieces of paper by using the swing arm! This swing arm locks into place at a diagonal for storing and for doing fun embossed designs....which we'll explore in a minute.

    It even comes with it's own bone folder! The bone folder has it's own storage on the side of the Scoreboard so you'll never lose it! Plus it has a rounded end for scoring your paper! This means that it won't rip the paper, catch on the edges, or poke through your project! It really is very nice for all types of paper!

    Time for today's scoreboard lesson and show-and-tell! There are so many ways to add dimension and details to your projects with this fun new tool! Check out some examples from my team member, Heidi Witt:

The diagonal score lines are done with the swing arm locked in placed!

 
    Here are some cards Heidi made with these scoring techniques:

This card has a tri-fold on the side and scored lines along the flap.

This card has scored lines that have been sanded around the edge to form a frame on the front.

A tri-fold stand up card scored with the scoreboard.

    Here are a few cards that Barbra Otten did for our Consultant camp workshop using the Scoreboard:

We scored lines on the front of the card to add dimension and texture. You will get a chance to make this fall card at my upcoming September 10th workshop!

Here you can see a separate piece of cardstock was scored and added to the card when assembling. You will get a chance to make this fun card at my upcoming September 10th workshop!

     The next tool we are exploring today are CTMH's embossing folders! These awesome folders allow you to do the same dry embossing technique as the scoreboard, but with all types of patterns and designs!

    I love our embossing folders! They are a bigger size (5"x7") to allow for larger pieces of paper, and they have the slit in the top of the folder so you can slide a long piece through to produce continuous embossing designs! Here is a very helpful video full of tips that CTMH did about our embossing folders:

     I love how easy it is to add cute embossed designs to your projects! Here are a few projects that were made using the embossing folders:

Another Barbra Otten card using the vertical stripe embossing folder. You will get a chance to make a similar card at my upcoming September 10th workshop!

This technique is really popular right now. You piece your card together by gluing down the shapes or strips of paper (like on this card) before running it through your embossing machine. Then once you emboss it everything is embossed together! This is called embedded embossing, and is super cute! I'm sorry I don't know which one of my team members made this card from Consultant camp, but I love all the details that pop when the embedded embossing was used!

Another Barbra Otten card using the quatrefoil folder on a small piece of cardstock. You will get a chance to make this cute card at my upcoming September 10th workshop!

Remember my foxy card from February? I used the quatrefoil folder to add dimension to the front of my card, too!

This card we made at one of my card workshops as a bonus card! We used both the dot and chevron folders, sanded the pattern to expose the white core of the cardstock, and adhere them to make a card! This card was designed with inspiration from Dana Kessler!

    One last little tip I have for you when using a brand new embossing folder is this: the edges of the embossing folder design are going to be sharp until you use it for the first time. My little tip is to place a piece of wax paper or some scrap paper from your stash on the positive side of the folder (the side that sticks out) to help cushion some of the "bite" that you can get from a new folder. This will help prevent tearing and ripping those first couple of times you use it!

    I hope you all enjoyed attending tool school today! If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them! Oh...and don't forget your homework......take some time to play with dry embossing this week! Class dismissed! Until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

Annual Anniversary Celebration

    Happy Labor Day, everyone! I hope you all are having a great Monday and enjoying your extended weekend! I have a lot of awesome steals and deals to share with you today to kick off the first of the month!

September is National Stamping Month!!!

    Are you ready to celebrate National Stamping Month with Close To My Heart? This month when you spend $30 on any current retail-priced stamps, you will qualify to receive an exclusive C-sized stamp set, #30yearsofhappy, for FREE!

    This special offer is part of CTMH's celebration of National Stamping Month and in honor of our ongoing celebration of CTMH's founder and CEO Jeanette Lynton’s 30-year anniversary in the scrapbooking and stamping industry!

    This exclusive stamp set features 30 mini images and sentiments perfectly suited for 30 days of happy stamping! Plus, make sure you check out Close To My Heart’s Facebook page and Instagram during September to follow all the ways we’re celebrating #30yearsofhappy for a full 30 days!

 

Candid Captures' Annual Anniversary Celebration

    September marks my 1 year anniversary of teaching CTMH workshops and classes!I have had such an amazing year meeting all of you and getting a chance to share my passion for papercrafting! I feel so blessed to have found this company, and to be a part of something that highlights relationships, memories, and personal growth! I absolutely love my job, and cannot wait to share another year with all of you!

     September also marks my 2 year wedding anniversary (I know it goes fast)! So to celebrate this very important month I am offering my "Annual Anniversary Celebration Special" for anyone that places an order with me this month!

    This is the perfect month to take advantage of this special promotion, too, because there are so many other steals and deals that you can combine with my Anniversary special!

September Stamp-of-the-Month: Family Is Forever

    This month's SOTM is a super cute 7 piece set called "Family Is Forever"! I love this stamp set! It's so versatile, and can work with so many different projects! You can get this awesome stamp set for only $5 this month with any purchase of $50 or more! Check out the images below:

Here's a card I made using the September SOTM and Scaredy Cat paper. I stamped the images in Slate, Glacier, Lagoon, and Thistle inks! Then I distressed Thistle, Desert Sand, and Lagoon cardstock pieces to layer on the card as well. I was inspired by the Sept SOTM layout featured in the Idea Book for this card!

 

Pick Your Party Promo

    My "Pick Your Party" special promotion is still being offered during the months of September & October! Here are the details you need to know to take advantage of this amazing new special:

• Host a workshop sometime during the months of August-October
• Choose the style of workshop you would like to have: Online or In-home (can be at your house or mine!)
• Choose the type of workshop you would like to have: Scrapbooking/Memory Keeping, Cardmaking, or Home Decor

Here are the amazing benefits of being a host at one of my workshops:

• When you host a workshop during the months of August-October, you automatically qualify for a NEW paper collection of your choice with matching complements!
• The night of your workshop you get to choose a surprise grab bag containing new products!
• You will make a FREE project the night of your workshop!
• You will receive the new Annual Inspirations Idea Book for FREE!
• The chance to receive exclusive stamp sets only available to hosts
• The chance to receive FREE and DISCOUNTED Close to My Heart products of your choice with CTMH's exclusive hostess rewards program!
• AND so much more!!!

 
  So don't delay! My calendar will fill up fast for these next 2 months, but I want to make sure I see you on it! Get a hold of me to start scheduling your workshop today!

 

Artfully Sent Cricut Collection Update

    If you're anything like me, you are anxiously awaiting the release of CTMH's brand new Cricut collection called "Artfully Sent"! This amazing new cartridge features over 700 images, 400 different completed projects, and an abundance of creative elements to add to any of your crafting projects!

    My favorite thing about this new cartridge are all the different styles of cards that can be simply cut from my Cricut! I had a chance to play with some of these card cuts at Convention this past July! Check out a couple of the cards we made:

The front of a pop-up card we made!

Inside of the pop-up card featuring a cute hot air balloon! All of the banner pieces coordinate in relation to the size of the card. So finalizing the details on the card is super easy and cute! We also added a little Gold Shimmer trim, and some stamping from the "Happy Birds" stamp set!

Here's one of my favorite cards we made at Convention! It was so simple and fun to make, too! All you need is the "Happy Sunshine" Cricut card cut, Glacier CS, Canary CS, and Colonial White CS. Then we stamped some cute images and fussy cut those for the front. Added some Gold Shimmer Trim and Gold Sequins....and Ta-dah! Beautiful!

This was another super fast and easy card from the "Artfully Sent" Cricut cartridge. It's a tri-fold card with the wreath die-cut piece added to the circle center. Then we stamped the flower from the "Happy Birds" stamp set on the background, and the circle and 'thank you' from the "Have a Happy Day" stamp set. The cardstock and stamped image ink are both Flaxen, a brand new CTMH color!

Here are just a few examples of different cards made with the Artfully Sent Cricut Collection!

    I cannot wait to get my hands on this amazing new cartridge! As of this week, Provo Craft is expecting to release the cartridge to Close to My Heart in early to mid-September! I will keep you posted as I hear more these next couple weeks!

 

Upcoming Candid Cricut Club

Would you like to be one of the first to order this amazing new Cricut Collection from CTMH?

How would you like to be part of a special club that explores all the possibilities of all 4 of the CTMH Cricut Collections? 

    If this sounds like an awesome deal to you, then sign up for my Candid Cricut Club starting this month! Simply fill out the form with your name and email address. Then in the message please write "Sign me up for the Candid Cricut Club"! I will add you to the list, and send you more information about the club via email!

    I am so excited for this new club! It's completely FREE to join, and will have lots of tutorials, projects, and other fun things to participate in each month! Plus, there's a bonus giveaway! Sign up for my Candid Cricut Club anytime in September AND purchase the brand new Artfully Sent Cricut cartridge this month (once it's released) and you will receive 2 Cricut Compatible Stamp sets of your choice!!!

    What are you waiting for? Sign up for this amazing new club from Candid Captures today so you don't miss all out on any of the monthly projects, tips & tricks, and other fun tutorials featuring your Cricut!


    Isn't September exciting??!!??? There's so much going on, and so many deals to take advantage of this month! It definitely is a great month to be a Close to My Heart fan!

    If you have any questions, feel free to ask! I would love to help you out! Otherwise, have fun shoppin', dealin', and stealin' this month! Until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!