Cyber-Sale Week!!

Close to My Heart is having a Huge after Thanksgiving Sale. The following items are 25% off beginning November 30 through Noon (MDT) on December 4^th.  Look for the special Cyberweek Shopping menu on my OBA, and stock up. (psssst... there's a Cricut Collection).

Z3111 Base & Bling snowflake charm- faux gold
Z3112 Base & Bling jingle bell charm- faux gold
Z3135 Base & Bling snowflake charm- faux silver
Z3136 Base & Bling jingle bell charm- faux silver
Z3138 Base & Bling red bead charm- faux gold
Z3139 Base & bling red bead charm- faux silver
z3180 Picture my life- Going places scrapbooking program
Z3147 Cut above Dapper Giraffe Card kit
Z2028 Designer creations Short Stack Album
Z2036 Designer creations Slate paper bags
Z2037 Designer creations-Lagoon paper bags
Z2038 Desinger creations- Ruby paper bags
Z2039 Desinger creations- Honey paper bags
Z2049 Designer creations- Cupcake box
Z2050 Designer creations- Takeout box
Z2053 Designer creations- Buttoned bag
Z1838 5x7 Hinged Display Tray
Z1750 Designed Decor Display Tray
Z2006 Designed Decor Red Magnetic Chalkboard
Z2015 Designed Decor Black Shadow Box
Z2016 Designed Decor Colonial White Shadow Box
Z1833 My Creations Kraft Container
Z1871 My Creations Kraft 3 Ring album
Z1953 My Creations Journaling Cards box
Z1956 My Creations Hip Pics album
Z3043 My Creations Black mini book 
Z3044 My Creations Kraft mini book
Z3069 My Creations Mini Mix album
Z3137 My Creations Pint sized container
Z3168 Cricut Artfully Sent Collection
Z1476 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 white daisy envelopes
Z1477 5x7 White Daisy envelopes
Z1478 6x6 White Daisy envelopes
Z1756 3x3 Colonial White envelopes
Z1757 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 Colonial White envelopes
Z1758 5x7 Colonial White envelopes
Z1759 6x6 Colonial White envelopes
Z1851 Scallop Border punch
Z1997 Triangle Border punch

Creative Live Broadcast

I have a really quick share today - Close to My Heart is doing a HUGE broadcast on CreativeLive. It was live on Nov 20-21, but they are re-broadcasting it, and it's free to watch, just sign up.

If you haven't heard about CreativeLIve (I hadn't before this), it's an online learning platform that broadcasts live classes (and also rebroadcasts them). Everything from how to set up a blog, to how to sew a dress, step by step, to many other things. I won't go into it all now, because this post is about Close to My Heart, not CreativeLive, lol.

So here's the link to CreativeLive, create an account, then look for this broadcast: Scrapbooking Paper Crafts Stamping and More. I promise you, you will learn SO much about Close to My Heart, more than I have been able to share with you in the short time I have been blogging, but that I have wished I could. This is the excitement I have about the products, the process.

Enjoy! Then contact me and let me know your thoughts!

Get Ready, It's Coming!

Before you know it, the new year will be here! The November Stamp of the Month, Cheers - 2016! is all about celebrating the incoming New Year. It's great for scrapbook pages, as well as for making cards for those who don't (or didn't get around to) sending out December Holiday cards. My sister has been sending New Year cards for years now. I keep saying I am going to adopt the idea, but I just love Christmas stamps... anyway... Cheers!

Some images from the Close to My Heart website:

This stamp set just screams for using some glitter paper or shimmer trim, lots of sparkle and sequins.

What a great way to send off some holiday photos to family and friends, or remember the New Year's Day Dreams you plan with your family.

Speaking of PLANNING... Stay tuned... in the next week or two, definitely before the end of the month... Close to My Heart is introducing a Planner! I'm really excited about this. I'm a little late spreading the news (it was on the CTMH Blog on November 2, 2015), but I will surely not be when it's available! It was previewed at the AustralAsia convention to rave reviews, and has been the buzz of the CTMH Facebook groups ever since. There will be a package deal to start with, so definitely mark it in your current planner to be ready to jump on this opportunity!

This month there is a fabulous special going on for scrapbookers! The Simply Fundamental Scrapbooking Bundles are available only the month of November, and will give you a great jump start on your holiday and 2016 scrapbooking. Here's all you get in a bundle ($71.80 USD):

• Album of your choice (D-ring or Post-bound)
• Paper Fundamentals Enchantment (1 pack)
• Fundamental Stickers Enchantment Pack (1 pack)
• Fundamental Assortment Peacock (1 pack)
• White Daisy Cardstock (3 sheets)
• Memory Protectors™ Value Pack (1 pack Side Load or 1 pack Top Load) 

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Today I finally opened my White Pines paper pack and made some Christmas cards. 

I recently got the "Believe in Christmas" My Acrylix Stamp Set, available in the Holiday Expressions catalog. I love all the sayings. After much staring at the paper pack, and Pinterest, I finally came up with this - which was inspired by... nothing I saw, lol. 

I laid all 3 sentiments on one block and stamped them at an angle in Chocolate ink on one edge of Colonial White cardstock, then again down the other side, offsetting them so they were next to a different saying. I used a small pine branch from another set in Fern ink to add a little color to that piece of cardstock, then I layered it onto a piece of Cranberry cardstock. 

I stamped the banner in gold pigment ink on a cut out banner and heat embossed it with antique gold embossing powder (it looks chocolate in this photo). 

I used the "Seasons" stamp set that comes with the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection to stamp the tree. I topped off one tree with a small wooden partridge (or maybe it's a dove?), and the other with a star, just for variation. And I gave one of the trees and the banner some dimension with foam tape. The banner and trees were cut out of Colonial White cardstock using my Cricut Expression and Art Philosophy and Artistry cartridges.

Finally, I doodled around the edge in black (I wish I had used brown), and added some gold sequins for ornaments on the tree.

There are other really pretty papers in this pack, and I plan to create some scrapbook pages soon. The complements that are available are so cute! White Pines set.

October Already?

Oh my, where did September go? I had so many plans of things to make and share... and then I got hit with a cold. The cough from that cold lingered for most of the month, and if you've ever tried to stamp or craft when you are having random coughing fits, you know it's nearly impossible. So the month just slid by and here it is October! I am SO not ready for Halloween! And it is pretty much my favorite holilday!

But, I will share a couple of quick updates from Close to My Heart; the Stamp of the Month (called Twinkle) this month is Christmas themed (because if you make your own cards, or are thinking about scrap book pages, NOW is the time to work on them.. December will be too late!).

And if you've been considering signing up with Close to My Heart, this is a Great month to do so! This month, in addition to the new consultant kit that just started going out, CTMH is giving all newly signed consultants the bag that consultants got when they attended convention!! I am jealous! I couldn't attend convention, and that is one cute bag! If you'd like more information, drop me an email at marion.strauser@gmail.com and I will be happy to tell you more about the opportunity. I'd love to have you on our team!

I've been crafting some recently, mostly for a craft show I participated in last weekend. It was the first time I put my cards up for sale en masse. Let's just say,  it was either too early in the season, or that venue wasn't the right audience. I had a few last minute hiccups with my printer that meant I couldn't promote Close to My Heart the way I planned. But I learned a LOT, and will be much better prepared for the next one, whenever that may be. :)

I saved my new papers though, and all that manic card-making did fuel my imaginative juices, so be prepared to see some fun stuff in the weeks ahead. I need a week to recover, and then I am sure my brain will start to see Cricut cuts and card patterns again. :)

Until next time, I hope you are paper-crafting too!

It's Here, It's here!

The new catalog is finally here!

I’m so excited! I wish I could show you every single page right here in the blog! The papers are so pretty, the new inks are so vibrant, the new stamps… it’s all just so…

But what I can do is give you the link to a downloadable pdf of the new idea books. The 2015-2016 Annual Inspirations and HolidayExpressions catalogs. You can copy them to your desktop (or somewhere on your computer) and browse them at your leisure. Or, you can have a gathering with me, and I will send you your very own real copy.

Check out a sampling of the wonderful new Hostess stamp sets that Close to My Heart is offering.

 

And September is National Stamping Month! Close to My Heart is celebrating with three special sets of stamps. One each for traditional scrapbookers, card makers, and pocket scrappers. Of course, all three sets can be used in any way that we paper crafters can think of. They are available for $13.95 (USD) each, or all three sets for $34.95 (USD) (save $6.90). You can find out more here.

Don’t miss our lovely Stamp of the Month, Paper Garden. I just love this set. It’s available for $17.95 (USD), or you can get it for only $5.00 (USD) with any purchase of $50.00 (USD) or more in Close to My Heart products. (see the red lines around some of the images? That means they coordinate with images from one of CTMH's exclusive Cricut cartridges. In this case, our newest one, Artistry.)

I’ll be posting some projects made with these sets within the next week.

Contact your Close to My Heart consultant to see or purchase any of these or other CTMH products. If you don’t have a consultant, I’d love to be yours. If you’d like to become a consultant, I’d love to have you on my team, please contact me to find out more about the opportunity.