Ring in the New Year

Happy New Year

I hope your 2018 was a smashing success, with goals achieved and wishes granted. If not, then I hope 2019 sets you on your way to meeting those dreams.

The last quarter of 2018 had me a bit under. I had a surgery that kept me away from my craft room and my main computer. I had pre-cut some cards and scrapbook pages, but it's a lot harder to craft in a recliner than I expected. haha. And blogging from a tablet, for-get that.

Thank you to those who stuck with me, and visited and showed me their crafted goodies. It was so nice to share your creativeness, even while my muse went on vacation.

News from the Close to My Heart scene - January brings a new catalog, new special goodies, and of course, new stamps. It's the beginning of the company's 35th year -wow. And my 5th (also wow).

January is National Papercrafting Month - and CTMH has put together a gorgeous Magnolia Frame Kit - it's designed to make a word frame, but you can add photos, art, whatever you want to frame-it-up.

In preparation for Valentine's Day - Happy Hearts abound.. a special heart and love themed scrapbook workshop kit - Heart Happy

And the Heart Happy Everyday Life Album kit

And don't forget the January Stamp of the Month - everyone should have this one:

Card Captions - with something for every card. 

Place a $50 order and you can add this on for just $5.

Getting my ducks in a row...

Briefly, my husband has some health issues, we are waiting for word from the doctor (and waiting, and waiting). It occupies a lot of our thoughts and I forget to do stuff, like update my blog. This morning, I decided that until my brain could manage to think creatively on it's own, I was going to take a short blog break. I will still update the Stamp of the Month link, and the Monthly focus - but they may not be at the start of the month.

Thank you so much in advance for your patience and understanding. I appreciate your support much more than mere words can ever express.

August will bring a new Idea Book, if you would like one, please contact me, or go to my online business address and browse it, or order one.

May... National Scrapbooking Month, Dads, Vacations, Here Comes Summer!

We all pretty much see May as the herald of Summer. For many of us the weather has already turned warm, though here in the northeast, it feels more like spring. I'm a little behind in presenting the offerings from Close to My Heart, and I apologize. Family stuff.

But speaking of family, and upcoming vacations, get ready to show off those photos in the most flattering light! CTMH has got a set up for you! Just for National Scrapbooking Month; Postcard Perfect! And it IS perfectly summery. The Postcard Perfect Bundle includes a paper pack, stamp set, complements, coordinating paper, vellum, and 12" x 12" memory protectors. 

Just look at those tropical patterns, the colors, the flowers. I am so looking forward to working with this set!

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For those special scrapbook pages and cards to honor your dad, granddad, or father to be, there is the "Dad is Rad" workshop. The workshop kit contains a special stamp set, cardstock, embellishments and instructions to create three scrapbook pages and four cards.

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And as always, don't forget our Stamp of the Month! May's SotM is called Classic Summer Bash  and features all the refreshment that a jar of citrus punch or lemonade can offer. Ink up your next BBQ invites with this tasty set. Click the link above for all the details.

If you are interested in any of these sets, please click a link to order, or click here to visit my website to contact me for more information about becoming a consultant or hosting a gathering (not to order, I cannot accept direct orders). Thank you for visiting, you are a blessing to me.

April snow squalls... bring... Fab Sales?

What a crazy winter we've had here in the northeast! It's the first week in April and we just had snow (with a little more expected next week!) I think the seasons are shifting on us.

Meanwhile, March roared in like a lion and passed so fast that I completely missed it. Maybe that's why it's still snowing.

Back to April, I hope everyone had a Happy Easter, filled with Family, Friends, bunnies, eggs, and most of all. memory making. I hope you took lots of photos, and I hope you will get them printed sooner than later! If you do not create your own scrapbooks, get them created via one of the online options (Persnickety Prints, Shutterfly, etc). As I read recently, no one is going to pass down a CD of photos. So get those albums made!

For those of you who enjoy creating your own scrapbooks, Close to My Heart is having a Friday sale every week in April. Called Fab Faves; select items will be offered at 25% off each week for 24 hours.

So mark this link, Fab Faves! and check back each week! 

Another Fab deal in April - if you have been considering joining the Close to My Heart team as a consultant... this is a Fab time to do it! The Fab Four  - in addition to the great consultant kit and the $50 in CTMH Cash that you get to purchase the supplies that work best for your business - if you sign up during April you will receive the next four Stamp of the Month sets FREE (a $71.80 retail value). Check out this link for more information.

Aren't the Stamp of the Month sets cute!! Gotta grab 'em all, and what an easy way? Join my team!

The New Seasonal Expressions catalog is here! Happy New Year!

The new Seasonal Expressions catalog is here, and with it come fresh papers, stamps, coordinating die-cuts, embellishments, complements, new organizational tools and a welcome breath of spring! (Something we could all use right now on these cold days) Check out this gorgeous cover art!

With every new catalog comes new papers: Let me make the introductions,

Chelsea Gardens - a pretty floral in soft greens and blues, perfect for those spring projects.

Making Waves - bright purple and teal with a mermaid theme

Stargazer - another bright theme, this time in blue and red.

Gimme Some Sugar - A fun theme in pinks and mints. 

All of these papers are available in paper packs, and Workshops for both scrapbooking and cardmaking. There are coordinating complements and ribbons as well as sequins or cork shapes or acrylic dots (depending on the kit). See the "Kits" section for more information.

In addition to the new kits and paper packs, Close to My Heart has re-designed it's traveling organizational system. Called Designer Travel, the system is modular, which means that the set-up is easier to lift than the previous one, and because it's modular, you can purchase the pieces as you need them, or only the ones you need. Though to be honest, if you attend crops, you will want them all.

There are inserts to hold paper, inks, markers, stamp sets, stamp blocks, and tools. You can use hostess rewards towards a special bundle of the set.

Speaking of hostess rewards, hostess only stamp sets are back! Hostess rewards start when your party reaches $150, and they just go up from there.

January's Stamp of the month - Bloom and Grow - is so pretty - it pairs beautifully with the Chelsa Gardens paper:

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5. When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.

You can order any of the items listed above by clicking on the links listed, or by visiting my website here. Thank you for dropping by, I hope you will visit again. 

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...

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.

Happy 4th!

I hope you all are having a fabulous 4th of July (long) weekend!! If it's anything like around here, there are already fireworks (legal or not) going off all around your neighborhood. Stay safe!

My life in June was crazy, and I missed out on 2 specials at Close to My Heart. The Album special and the Cardstock special. I think that was the universe's way of telling me to use what I have before filling my shelves with more... pffft on the universe, what does it know about crafters? lol I did manage to get emails out to all my regulars, so that was something at least...

Now it's July... and there are things you Close to My Heart fans need to know, or be reminded of if you don't already know. July is the last month for the Annual Inspirations 2016-17 Idea book, and there is a Stampaganza going on.

So here's the skinny... a whole lot of the Idea Book is retiring at the end of the month (you can find out what's retiring by visiting this section of my OBA), after July, bye bye.

BUT.. on the flip side of that is... if there are any stamp sets that you wanted, this is the month to get them! For the entire month, buy any two 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! Add stamp sets to your cart and qualifying sets will automatically be free!

In addition - an exclusive stamp set of 22 stamps just for Stampaganza - the January Word Puzzle set, is available for $17.95. While it's hot and humid outside, you can be stamping with thoughts of cool January.

Don't miss this opportunity to nab those stamp sets you've had your eye on. Just like the fireworks on the 4th, July will be fleeting and so will this Stampaganza! 

Contact your CTMH Consultant if you have any questions. (or click here if you need a consultant)

It's a Flash Sale - starting at 5pm EDT

Close to My Heart is having a One Day Flash Sale! 

This sale will feature a 30% discount on selected products and product bundles from Annual Inspirations and Seasonal Expressions 1.

It Starts at 3pm MDT (2:00 pm PDT; 4:00 pm CDT; 5:00 pm EDT) and ending at that same time on Saturday, April 8.

You can visit my OBA to see the items on sale. Place your order before the deadline to get the special pricing or bundles. 

Dreamin' of Spring

Here in the Northeast, it feels like winter has been arriving a little bit later the last few years. As in, really kicking around mid-January. This winter has been no exception, we got some major snow-fall at the end of January and in the beginning of February.

I love the snow, especially sitting and watching it quietly snow and snow, on days when I can stay home from work, snug and warm. However, getting so many storms, so close together, tends to wear out its welcome very fast, and start many of us thinking about the spring thaw all too soon. (Which we won't see until late March)

With that in mind, I started playing with one of the paper packs from the latest Close to My Heart Seasonal Expressions mini-catalog. It's called "Dreamin' Big" and it's really cute. I'm not done with the whole layout yet, so I'm only going to give you a little peek. The rest will come later this week.

Close to My Heart is offering different deals every day all week long. Every day, between 3:00pm (MST) and 2:59pm (MST) the next day, a number of items will be 50% off. It's a mix of retired and current items, some bundles. All great deals.

What's the catch, you ask? No catch, only one caveat - you must submit your order before 2:59 (MST) the day of the deal or the discount will no longer apply.

Check back every day to see what new deals await!

Also available this month:
  New 2017 Planner pages, with special bundles.
  Mini Album Bundles - two sizes for so many memory keeping options.
  And don't forget the Stamp of the Month - Thoughtful Flowers

Last but not least - Saturday, December 31st, is the last day to order from the Holiday Expressions mini catalog.  Don't miss these wonderful papers and holiday stamp sets.

Don't you love surprises?

Well, we all love good surprises. And Close to My Heart has got a Great Surprise in store for us all!

Mystery boxes!

On Black Friday, for one day, and ONE day only, you'll have the opportunity to to get amazing crafting supplies at an amazing price.

Featuring themed mystery boxes filled with retired Close to My Heart products, all at a major discount!

These mystery boxes will have five different price points, ranging from $35 USD to $150 USD - some of those mystery boxes will be 50% off the retail value!

This starts at 12:am Mountain Standard Time Nov 25, 2016 for 24 hours ONLY, while supplies last. That means that once the boxes at any one price point sell out, they are gone. Gone, gone gone. 

So click here (after midnight MST) and grab a box for your stash fast!

Pumpkin Spice Everything...

'Tis the season for Pumpkin Spice... in and on everything. After so many years, it's sort of annoying.
but I digress. I just wanted to use it as a title. lol

Pardon my late posting, I was in Florida at the beginning of the month, visiting family on the east coast. They are all safe, as are their neighbors. I was delayed getting home to my northern climes by a couple days, but it gave me the chance to help put the house shutters up before Matthew came to visit. Being an area watching all the hurricane prep was an interesting experience, and I continue to keep all of you who live in the hurricane belt in my thoughts.

Meanwhile, the month moved on and I neglected getting things updated here. eep. October has brought a new Stamp of the Month, Yuletide Joy (see the SoTM page and pic to the side), and a thrilling option for hostesses interested in signing on as a consultant.

For October - you can apply your Hostess Rewards to your consultant kit! See all the details here!  And I would love to have you on my team.

A sampling from the consultant kit.

Of course, being a hostess has always been a fabulous way to earn free products from Close to my Heart. Look at all the rewards you can get.... FREE! Being a hostess is easy, you can even have a gathering online, rather than in-home. Leave me a comment below

Big news! ALL - yes ALL the ink colors are now available in the New ink pad design! If you have been holding off buying ink-pads waiting for that great new magnetic inkpad... wait no more! At least pick up the Black. You will love it, I promise!

AND... I almost forgot this... The Happy Happy Christmas Album Bundle (say that five times fast, I dare you!). As if an album, protectors, cardstock, complements, Picture My Life cards, and My Crush pages... plus instructions on how to create five 2-page layouts for the album weren't enough. On top of that, there are instructions on how to create extra projects using the leftover materials. There are two album kits, one for post bound, and one for D-ring. links below, as well as the list of items for the extra projects.

Happy, Happy Christmas Album Bundle (Post Bound) - CC1180 - $69.95

Happy, Happy Christmas Album Bundle (D-Ring) - CC1179 - $69.95

Purchase one or more of the products below, and then follow the instructions to use your leftover supplies from the layouts to create even more Christmas crafts! 

• Designed Décor Red Magnetic Chalkboard (Z2006) • Display Tray (Z1750)• 5" × 7" Hinged Display Tray (Z1838)• Everyday Life™ Sea Glass Album Bundle (CC1181)

That's it for now, still trying to dig out of luggage (I hate unpacking as much as I hate packing), I always overpack! I'll create something to post this weekend....

Just Crazy Blessed Team Blog Hop - Cricut Flower Market & Thin Cuts Dies

Welcome to the Just Crazy Blessed Team Blog Hop!!! Thanks for joining us today! All of August and September, we are showing products from the new Close to My Heart Annual Inspirations catalog. I hope you enjoy this little peek at our new goodies.

This blog hop is a circle so you can start wherever you want and continue through to see the wonderful artwork incorporating the week's theme, by clicking the next or previous buttons at the end of this post. If you are coming from My Flights of Fancy, you are on the right track!

This week, we are highlighting the new Flower Market Cricut cartridge and the Thin Cuts dies.

The Flower Market Cricut cartridge has 700 images, shapes, layers, borders, banners, a font and more! The Collection comes with 3 stamp sets, the cartridge, and the Adventure cardstock combo pack to get you on your way cutting beautiful flowers and more. The Flower Market Collection joins our Artbooking and Artistry Collections.

The new additions to the Thin Cuts dies include words, hearts, and stars, along with some seasonal ones like monsters, snowmen, and snowflakes that are only available for a limited time in the Seasonal Expressions.

I made a cute card using the Hearts die set to share with you today. I chose this set for its versatility. There are 3 multi-sized, non-symetrical dies in the set, and it cuts out the solid heart in the middle, as well as a thin open heart ring. You can also nest the smallest heart inside the largest heart when you are cutting and get a heart with a hole in it. With a multi-cut, the same can be done using the medium heart or the medium-small hearts. (the dies don’t nest well on one pass through the die cut machine).

I used some Uptown Fundamentals and All About the Gold Fundamentals for this card (highlighted in this post). I love the polka dots, and really wanted to do something with the overlays. I lifted the clear gold polka dotted overlay away from the card using pieces of the Thin 3D Foam tape, hiding it behind the gold dots. Clever, huh? I placed the small heart die pieces behind the overlay, and two thin medium heart outlines on the top. This picture just does not do it justice to how great the layering looks. If I can get a better picture, I will replace it. 

On the inside of the card, I am going to use the medium heart, and a sentiment from the "Finding the Words" Stamp set. I just haven't decided whether to use this card as an Anniversary card, or an I love you card.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! If you would like to know more about the products I used in my creations above, please continue to scroll down. If you would like to continue on, please use the buttons below to continue on the Just Crazy Blessed Blog Hop. I hope you enjoy what Janna has to share next!

All in links above Heart Thin Cuts - Z3260 - $14.95 Uptown Fundamentals - Z3263 - $14.95 All About the Gold Fundamentals - Z3246 - $10.95 Thin 3D Foam Tape - Z2060 - $5.95 White Daisy Card Base Value Pack - X254 - $14.95 'Finding the Words' MyAcrylix Stamp set - D1646 - $17.95 Also Shown, but not used: Exclusive Close to My Heart Cricut Flower Market Cartridge Collection - Z3285 - $99.00