Sympathy Card

Sympathy cards - I've needed too many of these in the past year...  They are never easy to make.  I have finally found a "formula" that I like, and it's very simplistic.

I don't like to use a lot of color on sympathy cards, and I tend to stay away from black - too depressing.  I will change out the color of the mat and stamp, but tend to stay with a white or cream and one color.

This is one of those projects that I can't find my notes on.  I know that the stamps on the front are all from Close To My Heart.  I don't recall whether the inside sentiment is also from Close To My Heart or whether it's a stamp I picked up somewhere (probably from Hobby Lobby).  If I find the sentiment, I will update you.

Senior Scrapbook pages 12 & 13

I'm back with more of my son's senior scrapbook today.  Here are the next two pages covering one of his pre-season wrestling tournaments.

These pages were created using Studio J, Close to My Heart's online digital scrapbooking program.  It is absolutely free to play around with and try out.  Check it out on my website or contact me with any questions.

Thanks for stopping by again today!  Hope to see you back again soon.

64 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is the anniversary of my wonderful grandparents.  They have been together for 64 years.  I threw this card together for them late last night.  There are things I would have done differently if I weren't working on a deadline to complete the card.

The inspiration for this card came from a card that Jeri from Bug 'N Me Creations made.  You can see her original card HERE.  I did not make my card a shaped card, but I did like how the "happy" was the main focal point of the card.

Here is my version:

Here is the inside:

I have to apologize for the photos.  In my haste, I didn't have time to wait on the "good light" of the day to take my pictures.

The card is an A2 size.  The paper came from Close to My Heart - the paper is now retired, but I have a few pieces leftover from an earlier project.

Here are the items for this card:

• Cricut
• Gypsy
• Xyron
• Adhesive
• Sweet Pea paper (retired) from Close to My Heart
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Stand and Salute Cricut cartridge
• Varsity Letter Cricut cartridge
• Black Exclusive Inks from Close to My Heart
• Say It in Style stamp set from Close to My Heart
• Amore stamp set (retired) from Close to My Heart
• My Acrylix Blocks from Close to My Heart
• Ribbon from my stash
• Black fine tip pen

I am linking this up to the "Get Your Brag On" linky party and the TGIF Linky Party.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to be back soon with a birthday card for a sweet little girl soon to be one.  Have a great night!

Dotty for You Promotion

Close to My Heart is celebrating National Scrapbooking Month with the fabulous Dotty for You paper packet.

This fabulous promotion is available from April 17 through May 31 or until supplies last.  How can you get this great paper pack, you ask? 

• Place an order of $35 or more, and it can be yours for $5.
• Host a gathering with a sales total of at least $400 in qualifying sales, and it will be yours for free.
• Join CTMH as a new consultant between April 1 & May 31, and it will be yours for free.

April Stamp of the Month

April is here, and that means a new Close to My Heart stamp of the month.  This month's stamp set is so versatile!

There are so many possibilities for this stamp set!  You can purchase the set for $17.95, or with a $50 purchase, the set it yours for $5.  You can check out the details on my website. 

You can see directions and supplies needed for making all the items (scrapbook page, 2 cards and the travel album) seen in the above photo HERE.

Cupcake Birthday Card

I'm back today with another birthday card for a dear friend of mine, Tracy.  Hopefully you get the card in the mail before you see it here. :-)

This was another card that was inspired by Pinterest.  See the original HERE from Kassidy at the Inking it Up Crazy blog.

This is an A2 (5-1/2"x4-1/4") card.  It was made with scraps from my stash.  The inside is simply stamped with Happy Birthday.  Here are the rest of the details:

• Cricut Expression
• Gypsy
• Cuttlebug
• Xyron
• Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Stamps from the Close to My Heart Cricut Art Philosophy collection
• Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Craf-T Chalks Kit #2
• Magenta Stickles
• Ribbon (from my stash)
• Foam tape
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad by Close to My Heart
• Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz by Tsukineko

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope to see you back again this week for some more new projects.

Senior Scrapbook pages 8-11

Welcome back!  Thanks for taking time out of your weekend to stop by.  I'm continuing on sharing my son's senior scrapbook today.

Here are the next two double-page layouts of my son's senior scrapbook:

The first layout was created with the Game On kit in Studio J.  The second layout was created using the Sophisticated kit.

Wishing you a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by to check out my work. If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE. I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there. See you soon with more layouts!

Sports Theme Birthday Card

Yea!!  It's Friday and the start of spring break here.  No major plans for us ~ a couple of college visits this week as we try to narrow down the decision, and my daughter still has her activities to keep her (and us) busy.  I know I promised some more scrapbook layouts today, but it's a special day!

Today is my nephew Jack's birthday.  Happy birthday!!  We wish we were closer to celebrate with you, but we'll see you soon.  Jack, like many 11-year old boys, loves to play sports.  That love of sports was the inspiration for his birthday card.

This card is 4-1/4"x5-1/2".  I used the Gypsy when creating this card.  It really helped me visualize what sizes I needed to make the bat and balls. 

The supplies I used for this card were:

• Paper from my scrap stash
• Tombow adhesive
• Xyron Creative Station
• Cricut Expression
• Sports Mania Cricut cartridge
• Designer's Calendar Cricut cartridge
• Gypsy
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• Dutch Blue Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• ColorBox French Blue Chalk Ink
• 3x3 My Acrylix Block from Close to my Heart
• Stamps from the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection from Close to my Heart
• Say It In Style My Acrylix stamp set from Close to my Heart

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hopefully you are looking forward to a weekend full of crafting.  See you soon a new project.

18th Birthday Card

I wanted to share something different today.  Today I'm going to share the birthday card I made for my son's 18th birthday.  I can't take credit for the design ~ it's something I found on Pinterest.  If you want to see the original idea, you can see it HERE; it came from JulieH on the Cricut message board.

The card is a 6x6 square with the fold at the top.  The yellow mat is cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge exclusively from Close to my Heart at 5.87" wide.  The "happy birthday" mat is cut using the same cartridge but at 5.75" wide.

The "18" is cut from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge and cut again using the shadow feature at 5.5" tall.  "Jonathan" was cut from the font on the Wild Card Cricut cartridge and welded using my Gypsy.  I played with the size until I was happy with the way it lay over the 18; I would make it a different size if using a different length name.  As JulieH explained in her original directions, I cut Jonathan three times, ran them through my Xyron, and attached them together to make it thicker.

On the inside, I cut a mat from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge at 5.75" wide.  The sentiment is cut at 5.5" wide from the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge.

Here are the supplies I used:
Cricut Expression
Xyron Creative Station
Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Close to my Heart
Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge
Wild Card Cricut cartridge
Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
Black cardstock (from my stash)
Yellow cardstock from Hobby Lobby
Multi Colored Bday Words from The Paper Studio
Solid Glitter - Silver from The Paper Studio
Solid Glitter - Turquoise from The Paper Studio
Clouds from Colorbok

Hope to see you back at my blog soon!  Stop back tomorrow as I'll have some more of my scrapbooking layouts. 

Senior Year Scrapbook pages 6 & 7

I'm back again....this might be a new record for me for the number of posts in a row.  Today I'm going to share the next two pages of my son's senior year scrapbook with you.  This layout was created using Studio J and the Stardust kit.

Yes, those are "duct-tape pants" he's wearing.  He spent many hours covering a pair of jeans and an old hat in neon duct tape for this football game.  Once again, the bonfire pictures are pictures I downloaded from friends' facebook pages.

It's the middle of the week!!! Thanks for stopping by again today. If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE. I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there. See you soon with more layouts!

Senior Year Scrapbook pages 3 - 5

I'm back with some more of my son's senior scrapbook.  First up is "the other half" of yesterday's layout.  This ended up paired up with a page with his school picture instead of the page from yesterday's post.

This layout was completed in Studio J, Close to my Heart's online digital scrapbooking program.  The kit used was Class Act.  These were pictures from the first football game of the season - every game had a different "theme" for the student body.

Here is the next two page layout.  They were made using the Magnifique kit.  I was "super-pleased" with the way the class of 2012 pictures came out.  It was a photo I downloaded from one of my son's friends facebook pages.  I wasn't sure it would be high-quality enough to print, but it turned out pretty good.

Wow - posts two days in a row!!  Thanks for stopping by again to check out my work. If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE. I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there. See you soon with more layouts!

Senior Year Scrapbook

As I said in my recent post, I just don't know where all my time is going this year.  My son is a senior, and I'm really trying not only to play "catch up" on his scrapbooks, but to keep current on this year's book. 

The easiest way I've found to stay current is digital scrapbooking.  Now, don't get me wrong, I still love playing with paper AND my Cricut, but digital scrapbooking really is so much faster and convenient in this day of digital photos.  I have been using Close to my Heart's digital scrapbooking program, Studio J.  I really resisted when it was first introduced, but, after playing with it, I can honestly say I LOVE it! 

I don't have a photo printer at home, so traditionally when I scrapbooked, I would have to plan ahead to get my pictures printed or print pictures and hope they were sized right when I sat down to create.  Nothing kills my creativity faster than working on a page and not having the photo I want!  With Studio J, I upload my photos, choose the papers and layout I want to use, and create away.  No more printing pictures.  No more cropping photos; I can enlarge or crop the photos as I am using them in the program.

Best of all, the papers in the current Idea Book are all represented in Studio J as well as some of the retired lines!  I can add traditional pages to my digital pages or add elements from the same paper pack to create dimension.  The possibilities are endless!

I thought I would start today with the opening page of his scrapbook.  I've known for YEARS what I wanted on this page.

Everything about this page is digital.  I did not add any traditional elements to this at all.  I used the Class Act paper kit.  Once you have created  your pages (everything is created in two-page layouts) in Studio J, you have the option to have them printed (and sent to you with page protectors) or you can purchase the images and have them printed yourself. 

Because you create in two-page layouts, the "other half" of this layout is used later in the book.  I knew there were some pages that I would have that I would need to create myself - school picture, newspaper articles, team pictures, etc. - and just planned to use the other half opposite one of those pages.

Hope you are having a great start to week!  Thanks for stopping by to check out my work.  If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE.  I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there.  See you soon with more layouts!

Shape-a-Day using Cricut Art Philosophy

Jeanette Lynton, the founder and CEO of Close to My Heart, is sharing a new art project using the new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge every day in October.

Today is Day 4 and she is sharing a gorgeous card using the dragonfly cut from the cartridge.

Check out her blog here:

October Close To My Heart Promotion

Have you ever thought about becoming a Close to My Heart consultant?  If you have, October is a great month to join CTMH!  During the month of October, all new consultants will receive a FREE add-on collection. 

You can choose between the Roxie add-on, the Elemental Add-on or the Studio J add-on.

If you want more information, check out THIS LINK or e-mail me with any questions.

All You Need Is Love

I'm back with another card today.  I'm not yet sure what occasion this card will be for, but I'm thinking maybe an upcoming anniversary.  I didn't put a "true" sentiment on the inside yet just in case I change my mind about who's receiving this card.

This card is cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Close to My Heart.  While the butterflies look like they are on the card in the picture, they are actually cut-outs and the green is coming through from the inside of the card.

I just cut a rectangular mat and then rounded the corners.  The tag the sentiment is on was cut with the Art Philosophy cartridge as well.  In this photo, you can tell that the butterflies are cut-outs.  The sentiment is from the Pair-a-Phrase stamp set from Close to My Heart.

Finally, on the inside, I just added a mat with rounded corners and recycled the cut-outs from the front of the card.  I "blinged them up" a bit with some stickles.  I will eventually add a stamped sentiment on the inside as well.

Okay, the details for this card:
- Cocoa cardstock from Close to My Heart
- Veranda Level 2 paper from Close to My Heart (retired)
- Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge from Close to My Heart p. 55
          Card cut at 5-1/2"
          Rctngl7 cut at 2"
          Layer cut at 2"
          Shift Decorative Layer cut at 2"
- Pair-a-Phrase stamp set from Close to My Heart (details below)
- Garden Green inkpad from Close to My Heart
- Cocoa inkpad from Close to My Heart
- Versamark inkpad
- Clear Detail Embossing Powder from Close to My Heart
- Corner Rounder
- Organza Ribbon - The Ribbon Boutique from Hobby Lobby
- Star Dust Stickles (on inside of card)
- Scattered Straw Distress Stickles (on front of card)

Thanks for checking out my card today!  I hope you stop back soon to see what else I've been up to.  I am linking this card up to:




The September promotions from Close to My Heart are:

With a $75 dollar purchase, you can receive the Pair-a-Phrase double stamp set for FREE.

You can receive the September stamp of the month for $5 with a $50 purchase.

If you haven't yet purchased your copy of the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, you can take advantage of both of these great offers.  For $99, you receive the Art Philosophy cartridge, three stamp sets, and three Dimensional Element chipboard sets.  Total retail value of the collection is $128.69; what a great deal!

You can check out these great deals HERE:

Cricut Expression Giveaway

Close To My Heart is giving away a Cricut Expression on their Facebook page!!  Check out the details HERE.

Good luck everyone!

Birthday Card

My mother-in-law's birthday is this week, so I whipped up a "little something" for her.  With fall right around the corner, I was feeling like fall colors.

This is an A2-sized card.  I used my Cricut and Art Philosophy cartridge for the cupcake.  I cut the cupcake twice and then cut the liner apart from the cupcake so that my liner was a different color.  The cupcake was cut at 2-1/2".  I kept the inside very simple; it is a stamp that came in the Art Philosophy Collection.

I used foam tape to make the cupcake "pop" from the page.

The supplies I used for this card were:
- Smoothie cardstock from Close to My Heart
- Olivia B&T Duos paper from Close to My Heart (retired)
- Off-White cardstock from DCWV
- Art Philosophy Collection Cricut cartridge and stamps from Close to My Heart
- Organza Ribbon from The Ribbon Boutique found at Hobby Lobby
- Shimmer Designer Brads from Close to My Heart
- Smoothie Exclusive Inkpad from Close to My Heart
- Black Exclusive Inkpad from Close to My Heart
- Jet Black StazOn Inkpad
- Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel from Close to My Heart

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope you have a great week.

I am linking this card up to:

Pet Sympathy Card

Hello everyone.  Today I have a sympathy card for my son's girlfriend who lost her cat this morning to share with you.  I struggled with what was appropriate and then took to the internet to see what I could find for inspiration.  I saw a card with some really cute paw prints where the main pad was made with a heart. 

I decided that I must have stamps or Cricut carts to help me recreate this.  No Cricut cart with paw prints.  I did have several different heart stamps to create the large pad, but was still struggling with the toes.  An oval - is that too much to ask?  Hmmm...kinda like an Easter egg; that I did have.  Then the question became how to stamp it so that it didn't look like an Easter egg; somehow that didn't sound very sympathetic to me.  I used my black marker to ink only the outside edge of the egg; perfect!  Of course I had to practice a few times.

I decided the easiest way to make several of these so that I had paw prints walking down my card would be to make a stencil so they were all identical.  I used a scrap of vellum and traced my favorite paw, cut it out, and then I had a stencil to use.

In trying to save as much of my scrap as possible, I put the paw print as close to the edges of the vellum as possible.  Seemed like a good idea until I stamped the first paw on the card and inked off the edge of my stencil.  Whoops!  Then you need creative sentiments.  You wouldn't even know I had red ink on the top of my card from the finished project. :-)

The sentiments were typed and printed using my computer and word processing program.  I found the sentiment on an internet site for sentiments.

Items I used on this card were:
- Juniper Cardstock from Close To My Heart
- Veranda Paper Pack from Close To My Heart (retired)
- Juniper Inkpad from Close To My Heart
- Hollyhock Inkpad from Close To My Heart
- Sorbet Inkpad from Close To My Heart
- Creme Brulee Inkpad from Close To My Heart
- Black Exclusive Inks Marker from Close To My Heart
- Mini-Medley Accents Antiqued Copper Collection from Close To My Heart
- Sensational Season stamp set from Close To My Heart (retired)
- Follow Your Heart stamp set from Close To My Heart (retired)

I'm linking this card to the following challenges:

Wedding Card

I finally have a crafting project to share with you today!  I completed this card for my cousin's wedding this weekend.  It is a 5-1/4" square card.  While the front is somewhat plain, I really love the intricate cut on the inside.  Her colors are black and lime green with just a hint of hot pink (which I left out of the card).

I was so excited to get to play with my new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Close To My Heart.  Everything, including the card base, was cut from the cartridge with the exception of the scalloped circle which I used my scalloped circle punch for.  I used the card and images from page 67 of the handbook.  The stamped sentiment is from one of the stamp sets included with the Art Philosophy cartridge. 

The items I used for this card were:
- Fun In The Sun cardstock stack by DCWV
- Cricut Art Philosophy Collection by Close To My Heart
- Pear inkpad by Close To My Heart (retired color)
- Jet Black StazOn inkpad
- White Daisy inkpad by Close To My Heart
- Brads Basic Assortment by Close To My Heart
- 2" Scallop Circle Punch by Close To My Heart
- VersaMark stamp pad
- Clear Detail Embossing Powder by Close To My Heart

I'm linking this project to: