May stamp of the month blog hop - Celebrate with cake

Welcome to the 

Close To My Heart

May Stamp of the Month

Blog Hop

If you are coming from Sheila's blog, you are on the right path.  To join in the fun, start here.  At the  end of my blog entry, as with other blogs, you will find a link to the next blog the end of the posting. If you get lost along the way, you can find the complete list participating consultants here.


This month we are featuring a versatile 17 piece celebration set, just perfect for lots of different occasions.  The stamp of the month set is only available until May 31, for $17.95, or just $5 with a minimum order of $50.

I paired up this month's stamp set with the Cut Above card kits from the new Seasonal Expressions 2 catalog.  The mint cards are from the Fiesta Card Kit and the hot pink cards are from the Jubilee Card Kit. These card kits with the silver and gold foil make up into fancy cards very easily.

 Here's a closer look at each card along with the supplies used.  
Click on links below to see the products in our catalog.

Supplies used:
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Leaf Green, Sap Green, Golden Yellow, Marigold, Mahogany, and Clay 
Cut Above Card Kit - Fiesta
Bitty Sparkles 
Cardstock: Black, White Daisy
Liquid Glass on the frosting
Silver Wink of Stella (nonCTMH) was used on the cake plate

Supplies used:
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Leaf Green, Sap Green, Tender Pink, Cherry Pink
Cut Above Card Kit - Jubilee
Bitty Sparkles 
Cardstock: Black
Gold Shimmer Trim

Supplies used:
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Leaf Green, Sap Green, Tender Pink, Cherry Pink, Barely Beige, and Clay
Cut Above Card Kit - Fiesta
Bitty Sparkles 
Cardstock: Black, White Daisy
Liquid Glass on cake plate and frosting
Silver Foil tape

Supplies used:
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Leaf Green, Sap Green, Tender Pink and Cherry Pink
Cut Above Card Kit - Jubilee 
Bitty Sparkles

Leaf die cut is from the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Supplies used:
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Leaf Green, Sap Green, Tender Pink and Cherry Pink
Cut Above Card Kit - Fiesta
Bitty Sparkles


So are you ready to see more creative ideas from other consultants?  Grab your beverage of choice and head over to Krista's blog to see what she has in store for us.  

April Scrapbook Workshop - Regatta

Regatta Six Page Workshop

Thursday, April 21

Doors open 5:30

The pages for this workshop were inspired by some layouts created by Julie Carriere which I found on Pinterest.  These pages still need some embellishments and titles, but we can talk about that when you come for the workshop.  Many of the embellishments Julie used were from the Regatta complements pack.  The Regatta paper pack needs to be pre-ordered for this workshop.

There is some stamping on two of the layouts using the Ink Blot Stamp Set .

New Consultant Special

Have you ever thought about becoming 

a Close To My Heart Consultant?

Well, if you have, this is the time to do it!

Signing up as a new Consultant with Close To My Heart during April is more rewarding than ever. When you sign up as a New Consultant you will get:

• New Consultant Kit with essential supplies for only $75
• $50 in Select Product Credit to spend on additional supplies
• The chance to earn fantastic Straight To The Top start-up rewards

And only during April, you can also earn your choice of a FREE Cricut® collection or an additional $100 in Select Product Credit when you submit $350 in personal sales within your first 30 days!
 

Offer valid April 1, 2016 (9:00 am MDT) – April 30, 2016 (11:59 pm MDT). Cricut® collections available while supplies last. No tax will be charged on the free item. Shipping/handling will be charged based on the retail value of the free Cricut® collection.

At Close To My Heart, there is a place for everyone!

• Are you a hobbyist who would like a great discount (22%) on your crafting supplies?
• Are you a paper crafter who wants to make a little bit of extra money to help pay for your paper and crafting obsession (like me), or just to have a little extra spending money?
• Are you interested in building a business that takes you all the way to the top?
• Whatever you are looking for -- it's here for you!

The New Consultant Kit for $75 

                                                            Here is what is in your new base kit:

Medium Organizer (Z4139, qty 1),

My Acrylix® Block 2" x 6½" (Y1010, qty 1),

My Acrylix® Block 1" x 3½" (Y1002, qty 1),

My Acrylix® Block 2" x 2" (Y1003, qty 1),

Non-stick Micro-tip Scissors (Z1836, qty 1),

My Acrylix® Stamp Scrubber (Z1782, qty 1),

My Acrylix® Spritz Cleaner (1778, qty 1),

Bonding Memories™ Glue (1512, qty 1),

3-D Foam Tape (Z1151, qty 1),

Sponge (Z697, qty 1),

Customer Order Forms (W101,  qty 1 pack of 25),

Annual Inspirations Idea Books (WC1161, qty 5),

Seasonal Expressions 2 Idea Books (WCS1163, qty 5), 

Cardstock Sampler (W1136, qty 1),

Paper Fundamentals Sampler (W1137, qty 1),

Annual Inspirations B&T Duos™ Sampler (W1138, qty 1), 

Seasonal Expressions 2 B&T Duos™ Sampler (W1144, qty 1), 

Artful Textiles-Petite Perks Stamp Set (W2034, qty 3),

Gathering Invitations (W1129,  qty 1 pack of 25),

Desk Pad (W1140, qty 1 pack of 50),

$50 Select Product Credit for your choice of supplies to start out on the path (scrapbooking or card making) that you would like.

And only during April, you can also earn your choice of a FREE Cricut® collection or an additional $100 in Select Product Credit when you submit $350 in personal sales within your first 30 days. 

Want to know more about becoming a 

Close To My Heart consultant?

Contact me or join in on one of these webinars

As an added resource from Close To My Heart during April’s Recruiting Campaign, CTMH will be hosting four live webinars throughout the month that will explaining the perks and benefits of becoming a consultant. During the webinar, Kristina Livingstone will walk through the contents of the New Consultant Kit, talk about the Consultant discount, explain how new Consultants can earn free products, and answer the most frequently asked questions. Those who join the webinar will come away understanding what an incredible opportunity it is to join Close To My Heart. Here are the dates and times that you can find out more: Tuesday, April 5, 7:00 pm MDT  - 8 pm CDT Thursday, April 14, 7:00 pm MDT - 8pm CDT Saturday, April 23, 9:00 am MDT - 10 am CDT Wednesday, April 27, 7:00 pm MDT - 8 pm CDT Join the Opportunity calls via phone by calling 1-201-479-4595. To join online, go to http://fuze.me/32464058 a few minutes before the scheduled webinar time. You can also simply go to www.fuze.com or open the Fuze app and enter the meeting ID: 32464058. If you wish to participate online, we encourage you to download the Fuze application beforehand so you can be all set up to enjoy the webinar when it’s time to join.

Interested??

I'd love to have you as a part of my team.

April SOTM blog hop

Close To My Heart 

April 2016 Stamp of the Month 

Blog Hop

This month we are featuring a fun stamp set with camera images through the decades.  Just looking at the different vintage cameras brought back so many memories for me.  I remember having and using many of these cameras in my lifetime.  Wow, have times changed!  

 

 

Join me in this blog hop exploring the creative ideas that approximately 30 different CTMH consultants have shared.  If you are coming from Tamytha's blog, you are on the right path.  To continue on the hop, just look for the link at the end of my post and on the following posts.  If you get disconnected along the way, you can find the complete stamp of the month blog hop list here . 

I created a few different projects using this stamp of the month.  Since there are vintage cameras, I tried to use a vintage theme on two cards.  Not sure that these are my favorite creations, however, I always try to challenge myself to use new techniques or different materials than I normally use when preparing something for a blog hop.  I used pages from an old dictionary to stamp on for the two cards below.

CTMH Materials used:
Card stock - Black, Colonial White, Pomegranate
Inks  - Cashmere (for distressing) and Black
Accessories - Flowers cut using CTMH Cricut cartridges and Treasured Puffies
Non CTMH accessories - paper doily, dictionary page

CTMH Materials used:
Card stock - Kraft, Black, Colonial White 
Inks  - Cashmere (for distressing) and Black
Additional Stamp Set - D1660 Ink Blot
Accessories - Treasured Puffies, Black and Gold Ribbon, and the flowers were cut using CTMH Cricut cartridges Art Philosophy and Artisty 
Non CTMH accessories -  dictionary page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------

My second project is a scrapbook layout.  I really like the way these vintage cameras look stamped with Colonial White on black.  I think I might use this layout with some black and white photos from when I was growing up or with some pictures of my parents.

Here is a close up detail of the stamped images.

CTMH Materials used:
Card stock - White Daisy, Black, Poppy, Patterned paper is from Fundamentals
Inks  - Colonial White

Accessories - Treasured Puffies, Black and Gold Ribbon, the poppy decorative trim was cut using  the CTMH Artbooking Cartridge

Life in Pictures  is only available from April 1 - 30 for $17.95, however, with a $50 order, you can get it for only $5.  To order this fun stamp set or any of the items here, contact your CTMH consultant, or visit my website .

Thanks for stopping by. To continue on this blog hop, your next stop is Sheila Bennett's blog. 

Watercolor Blog Hop

It's time to play and and have fun using watercolor. 

A blog hop is one big circle of creative inspiration.   About 30 Close To My Heart consultants have joined in this blog hop to showcase various ways to use watercolor.  

Close To My Heart has both watercolor paints and watercolor pencils.  The beauty of the paints is that you can just let the colors run together, or water them down or build up more color to achieve just the look you want.  The pencils are great when you would like to have a little more control over your color, but you would like the look of watercolor.  You just color using the pencils and then use a wet paint brush over it to produce the look you desire.

If you are coming from Tracey's blog, you are on the right path.  At the end of my post, you will find a link to the next blog in this hop.  If you get lost along the way, you can find a complete lis of participants here.

In preparing for this blog hop, I played around with my watercolor paints and some techniques that I hadn't tried before.  Plastic wrap was used in the one I liked best.  So most of my samples involve that technique.  I have also been trying to find some time to do some art journaling and prayer journaling.  For the past few months I have found time to do prayer journaling several times a week, but haven't had time to start the art journal.  So for this post, I decided to use some of the watercolor samples to combine my prayer work with my art work, and put them into protectors that will fit into my new CTMH planner.

First, I will show you some of the samples using the plastic wrap.  Here's a link to find out more about the technique.  I wet my watercolor paper using my CTMH spray pen, then added several colors, and then applied the plastic wrap and left it on the paper until it dried.

Now here are the pieces I used for my prayer journal cards.

The lettering is obviously hand lettered (and I need a lot of practice there) using a black sharpie pen.  I stamped the butterflies, but decided to trace them with my sharpie so they would be as bold as the writing.

Here's another sample.  I didn't use the plastic wrap on this.  I just applied color to a very wet paper and then held the paper up to let the color run.  I then added a second and third color and let them run together.   I really do like the effects with that technique as well.

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart products except for the black Sharpie marker and the plastic wrap. You can click on each to see (and/or order) the product on my website. 

Watercolor paper

Watercolor paints

Paintbrush set

Spray pen

Memory protectors 4x6

Stamp set - Your Beautiful Self

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you have some time to play, relax, and have fun with watercolors like I did.  Enjoy lots more creativity as you visit all the participants in the hop and see many more ideas for using your CTMH watercoloring supplies.   Next stop on the hop will be  Marie's blog

Monthly Specials

It's Stampaganza Time! 

Buy any two My Acrylix® stamp sets (M-, A-, B-, C-, D-, or E-size) at full retail price and get a third stamp set of equal or lesser value FREE!
 
That is a savings of up to $29.95! 

This offer is only available during March, so start submitting your stamp orders as soon as possible, and let the Stampaganza begin!

Click this link (my website)  to start shopping now! 

Contact me if you'd rather not shop online.

March SOTM blog hop Sunshine Birdies

Welcome to the March 

Close To My Heart 

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

This month we are featuring this cute stamp set, Sunshine Birdies.

Remember, the stamp of the month is only available until March 31.

$17.95 or only $5 with a qualifying purchase of $50.

If you are coming from Marie's blog, you are on the right path.  To join in the fun, start here.  At the  end of my blog entry, as with other blogs, you will find a link to the next blog the end of the posting. If you get lost along the way, you can find the complete list participating consultants here.

For my project this month, I made a pocket letter that I will send to my out of town teen-age granddaughter for Easter.   I paired the Sunshine Birdies with the CTMH Penelope paper pack which has a lot of fun colors for Easter and springtime. I also used several Cricut images from our the CTMH Cricut cartridges listed below.

I started making pocket letters,which were a hit, for my older grandkids this past Valentine's Day.  Each little pocket will have some little flat treasure hidden behind the card like money, a gift card, coupon good for .... with Grammy, gum, etc.  I still need to find a few more flat goodies to send.  

These pocket pages are  page protectors for trading cards which you can find 

at office supply stores.  Each pocket is 2 1/2 x 3 1/2.

The protector can then be folded into thirds and will fit in a business size envelope to be mailed.  (obviously, the treasures haven't been tucked in yet.)

Supplies used are all Close To My Heart products (with the exception of the page protector, one goggly eye, the lace doily, and the business size envelope) which can be purchased on my website or from your independent CTMH consultant.


Paper: Penelope Paper Packet, White Daisy, Canary, and Cocoa Cardstock
Washi Tape: Limeade Washi Pack
Shimmer Trim: Green
Embellishments: Purple Heart Enamel and Glitter Duos, Treasured Puffies, 
Extra Thick Twine: Pixie, Thistle
ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Leaf Green, Golden Yellow, Clay, Tender Pink, Cerulean Blue Lt.
Cricut Cartridges:  Artistry - for flowers and Happy Easter, and Artfully Sent for the rabbit.
 

Be sure to visit all the blogs to see the fun and creative ideas everyone has to share.  

Your next stop along the way is Wendy's blog .

Operation Smile

Share the Love 

Make the difference in the life of a child

What if you, or a child you love, was ashamed to show his or her face due to a cleft lip or palate - a deformity that could be repaired, but you have no money to repair it?

That's what Operation Smile is all about.  Close To My Heart has supported Operation Smile for years.  

• What is Operation Smile?  It is a group of volunteer medical professionals who travel around the world to treat children suffering from facial deformities.  Their efforts mean new smiles for thousands of children throughout the world. See a video clip about what Operation Smile does here.  
• But you know what the best part is?  A smile can be repaired in under an hour for only $240.   

My goal this month is to raise enough money to repair at least one smile!

Just $240 -- Would you please help?

 Here is a CTMH special offer for the month of February that benefits Operation Smile.

• Share the love this February by purchasing the exclusive My Acrylix^® Share the Love D-size stamp set (CC1060). 
• This set is full of adorable icons and loveable sentiments, yet there is more to this stamp set than meets the eye! 
• Not only will you be getting a high-quality stamp set by taking part in this promotion, but Close To My Heart will also donate $7 USD 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!

Here's a better look at the stamp set.

• As many of you already know, I host monthly crops to raise money for Operation Smile.  
• So far this year my friends and I have donated $68.92.  We're 1/4 of the way to our $240.
• If you're interested in just making a donation without a purchase, please let me know. You will receive some free greeting cards (made by me) for your donation.

Other ways you could help with an Operation Smile Donation.

click on the red links for more info

These T-shirts  ($25) net another $10 donation to Operation Smile for each shirt sold.

 

Here is another cute stamp set that is available with $7 donation to 

Operation Smile made by CTMH for each set purchased.

Animal Greetings

Item Number: D1679

Set of 30 stamps - animals and sayings are each separate stamps.

$17.95

February sotm blog hop balloon animals

Welcome to the Close to My Heart

February Stamp of the Month 

Blog Hop

  If you are coming from Jean's blog, you are on the right path.  To join in the fun, start here.  At the end of my blog entry you will find a link to the next blog.  If you get lost along the way, you can find the complete list of consultants participating in this blog hop here.

This month we are featuring this adorable set of balloon animals ----

--- so much fun for creating cute cards or playful scrapbook layouts.

This month I used this set to create a scrapbook layout for my 

granddaughter's birthday pictures.  I'm also looking forward to creating 

a bunch of fun cards using this set.

Still debating on whether or not to add strings to some of the balloons.  

Here's a close-up of the balloons coated with Liquid Glass to give a glossy look.  

It doesn't show up that well here, though.   They are also popped with foam tape 

to give the appearance of floating through the air.

Supplies used: click on any of the links below to see these products.

• Paper Pack: Penelope
• Additional Cardstock: Pacifica
• Inks: Thistle, Honey, Pear, Pacifica, Crystal Blue, Pixie
• Other: Liquid Glass

You can get this stamp set of or any of the supplies listed here from your Close to My Heart consultant or shop my website.  Remember, the stamp of the month is only available through the month of February.  You can purchase alone for $17.95, or with an order of $50, you can get it for just $5.

So on you go to the next fun idea using this stamp set at Jen's blog. Have your pinning finger ready, as I'm sure you're bound to find many ideas that you'll want to try when you get your own stamp set.