Friday, December 22, 2017

Crafty Holidays and a Year to Remember!

Here's wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas and a Merry 2018!


A quick note - there's still time to grab the Close to My Heart special calendar bundle "Through the Year" with step by step layout instructions for a simply gorgeous photo calendar that you can create and then have 12 pages for an album at the end of the year. The bundle comes with everything you need; paper, complements, a stamp set. Just add ink and adhesive...




Friday, November 3, 2017

Wow, what a storm!

Just a quick update. Maine (and much of the North East) was hit by a major storm last Sunday night and most of Maine lost electricity for at least 3 days, some people are still without. CMP and linemen from out of state and Canada have been busy pulling tree limbs and trees off of downed power lines all week. Thank you to these brave men and women!

In many towns, Trick or Treating and other Halloween festivities was postponed until Friday Nov 3rd (tonight) due to unsafe conditions (the afore mentioned downed power lines and trees in the streets, plus darker streets than usual).

For us, it was an adventure indeed, we had out of town guests visiting during the storm, and though we were all inconvenienced mostly because our best-laid plans had to be set aside; we were safe and warm, and content to be together and keep company. We got power back about six hours after they left for home.

If you live here in Maine, I hope you have power and water, and your family is safe around you. If you do not have the first two, I hope you do have access to them, and have your family. Stay safe and God Bless.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Let the Monsters Come!

Halloween is almost here! Do you have your scrapbook pages ready for those precious shots of your family’s costumes? The front porch all decked out with jack-o-lanterns and scarecrows?


Close to My Heart’s Cats N Bats paper pack is the perfect blend of spooky fun and colorful pop. Just look at the ideas below. Scrapbook layouts, party invitations, cards, décor… I’m sure you can think of more.






Cats N Bats ScrapbookingWorkshop Your Way kit – G1136 - $27.95 - includes patterened paper pack, coordinating cardstock, Cats n Bats complements, Cats n Bats Dots, and Black Shimmer Trim.

Important News



ATTENTION! ALL CRICUT® LOVERS
ProvoCraft has announced that they will no longer make physical cartridges for the Cricut® machines.

That Means…
Close To My Heart is retiring all physical Cricut® Cartridges 

They are Available While Supplies Last Only!!

Let me reiterate:
ProvoCraft will no longer be making the Cricut® physical cartridges; not even special ones for CTMH. 

CTMH will continue the digital cartridges for Cricut® Artistry, Cricut® Flower Market, Cricut® Artbooking, and Cricut® You Are Here Cartridges.  But the digital cartridges will only work with Cricut® Explore and above in Design Space. (The older versions of Cricut® machines - like the Expressions -will not work with the digital cartridges.)

If you’ve been holding out getting that Cricut® cartridge (Physical cartridges) that you wanted, get it now, before they are sold out.  There are a few left of Artfully Sent; but you have to type in the product number-Z3168 ; or Click here for the link for Artfully Sent Cartridge.

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Feeling Grateful

In the spirit of feeling grateful, I am donating all commissions from orders on my website during September and October to the Red Cross for disaster relief (wherever it may be needed - hurricane or fire). Thank you in advance.

In addition, Close to My Heart is offering a special Stamp set called "Stronger Together" for $13.95 - Item # C1716, with ALL proceeds going to the Red Cross. We believe in the good that comes when we work together as a community. As the stamp set name states, we truly are stronger together. 



Falling for Fall

OK... yeah, I know, the title souns a bit cliche... but Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love the colors changing in the trees, the crispness in the air, changing over the wardrobe. I love the seasons of change in general. It feels like an opportunity to make changes. Clean out rooms, closets, drawers.

This year will be a little different, there won't be as many leaves in our backyard to watch change and fall... we had most of our "woods" cleared out behind our house this summer. It was always very mushy back there, and a few larger trees were uncomfortably close to the house. We felt this would give an opportunity for the ground to dry out and us to let a few of the smaller trees fill out, plus clear off the big ones that were hanging over the deck. Downside, not as much color this fall.

I'll have to make my own color with my lovely inks. On the upside, I won't have to rake all that up and burn, mulch, or bag it.

September also brings Back to School, kids starting new schools, plans for upcoming holidays and the new Close to My Heart Holiday Expressions mini catalog.


Inside you will find all beautiful papers and stamps and embellishments to help make your holiday crafting easy and amazing!


Falling for you
Cats and Bats

Beary Christm
Silver and Gold

It's also National Stamping Month and there's a very special Stamp and Card making kit you can buy just this month. The kit creates twelve foil framed, interactive cards, that are stamped with multi layered stamps. You can also buy the stamp set and the card bases separately, but if you buy the kit, you will save 20%, and you can buy more card bases to make more cards when you finish your first kit. Don't be fooled, there are a LOT of stamps in this set!



You can order this lovely kit, or any of the papers above, along with complementary stamps and embellishments, on my Personal Business Site. You can also use this site to contact me and leave me a message with any questions or comments you have.

Monday, August 7, 2017

New Papers, New Stamps, So much Newness



Wow, it’s August already! We’re seeing the Back to School ads everywhere, and I even heard a commercial for a certain spiced latte… ack!

But what August means to me is…. A New CATALOG!!! Yay! That’s right, the New Close to My Heart Annual Inspirations debuted last week.

There’s a lot (I mean A LOT) of new goodness in this catalog. All the paper families got a makeover, and the Basics line got a complete turnover in colors! Black moved out on it's own with White Daisy and Kraft. The solid color cardstock is now slightly lighter on one side, for more versatility. All the Fundamentals got new patterns, and they are gorgeous! There are a ton of great new stamps! I could go on and on…

The color of the year is... (drumroll) Bashful. But that sweet blush pink is not going to sit on the sidelines this year. Expect to see this beauty front and center in many a project. Look at everything you can get in this lovely color: (An easy way to see this, simply click the magnifying glass at the top of the screen of my OBA and type in "Bashful" and all things in that shade will pop onto the screen.)

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This month there will be warehouse deals every week, so check back and take advantage of some wonderful bundles to grab some essentials every crafter can use.
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Hostesses can really benefit this month with a special offer to "jump up" their hostess rewards. 

When you host a Gathering in August that reaches at least the third level of Hostess Rewards, your rewards will “jump up” to the next level—which means extra rewards and even extra 50%-off items!
If you haven’t booked your August Gathering yet, contact me today!

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Also, if you’ve been considering becoming a consultant, this is a fabulous month to join Close to My Heart. When you sign up as a Consultant in August and meet certain sales goals, you’ll be rewarded with your choice of one of these items FREE: 
  •     Any of our Cricut® Collections (and there's a Brand New One in the Idea Book!!)
  •     The Thin Cuts Block Alphabet + In the Background Stamp Set 
  •     An additional $99 SPC

To qualify for this reward, sign up today and submit $300 in commissionable sales by September 30.
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Well, that's certainly a whole lot of information to soak in. So grab that "particular spiced flavor" coffee, make it iced for these hot August days... sit back, and enjoy clicking through my Close to My Heart virtual catalog...