Friday, March 29, 2013

Start Your Own Close to my Heart Business!

Do you have a job YOU LOVE?  I DO!  And April is the month to join Close to my Heart and LOVE YOUR JOB!
CTMH is a job where you can make extra money, get a discount on your personal scrapbooking supplies, free products, get tax deductions and earn GREAT trips, just to name a few of the benefits.

 And with our new consultant kits, you can pick if you would like to join with our Essentials Kit that is ONLY $49 ($155 value), this kit is designed for those of you who wish to do this as a hobby, or our Masters Kit $99 ($335 value) for those of you who wish to make it more of a business.  I will be happy to talk to you about which better fits your needs.

AND in the month of April, if you sign up with EITHER of our kits, you will get these 4 stamps (April - July stamp of the months) FREE!  Contact me for more information on becoming a CTMH consultant!  I will be HAPPY to talk to you more about it...OR you can come to one of my Start Your Own Business Workshops.  They are scheduled for Monday, April 8th at 7:00 or Wednesday April 24th at 7:00.  These are ONLY 1 hour and you will make a quick project while you are here.  Stay longer if you have more questions.  It is up to you.

I love what I do and I can go to work in my slippers.  As you can see, I have a few slippers!  LOL  It started out with my frog slippers and then became an obsession!    

I would love to have you on my team and help you get your CTMH business going!  Contact me for more information.


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Easter Treat Basket

This is an OLD idea, but a CUTE ONE!  I was at a "big box store" the other day and they were making these boxes...I knew I could make it with Close to my Heart products so I came home and made one with our Chantilly paper.  To make the bunny, please see the previous post.  I have listed everything there to make them.


So basically this box is just a 6 x 6 piece of paper.  You score it at 2" & 4", then turn your paper and score it at 2" & 4" again.  You can make any size of these...I have made a 12 x 12 one before and it is cute!  But BIG!  lol  When you score your paper you just have to do 3 equal sections.  So it makes a tic tac toe board (so to speak).  Fold on your scores and invert the corners so they fold inward.  Punch a hole in the 4 corners and tie with a ribbon or I used our bakers twine.  That is it!  You are done!  FAST & EASY!  You still have time to make these for Easter.  They are quick to make and if you use 6 x 6 , you will get 4 from one piece of paper!  Gotta love that!
Have a great Easter!!!


Friday, March 22, 2013

Even MORE Easter ideas!

Can you tell...I am on an Easter ROLL!    Here is a QUICK and easy idea for your Easter treats.
I used our Close to my Heart Cricut Artiste cartridge to make the cake slice.  I just made it using our Sunset cardstock.  
 Before I assembled it I poked a hole in the end and inserted some Topiary cardstock.  I just cut them at 1/8th inch.  Taped them on the inside and assembled.
 The larger one is cut at 5" and the 2 smaller ones are cut at 3".  They truly take MINUTES to make.  
 Fill with your favorite Easter snack (or even a piece of cake) and give to your kids, co-workers, neighbors or friends.
If you don't have the CTMH Cricut Artiste cartridge, let me know and I will get it ordered for you!

UPDATE!  I just added this at 9:30 this morning (3/22)...I added a bunny to my carrots!  ISN"T HE STINKIN CUTE!
 Want to know how to make it?  I used both of our Cricut cartridges...First for the face I used the Close to my Heart Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge on page 57.  It is the scallop flower 3 (shift) and I cut that at 2"  Then for the years I used the Close to my Heart Artiste Cricut Cartridge page 32 Shift Accent 3 at 1 1/2".  It is really leaves!  LOL.  The cheeks are just circles...I used the Art Philosophy Cartridge they are just the circle on page 21 at 1/2" and the paws are 3/4" circles. 
Add some pink chalk to the ears and cheeks, add a pink sparkle for the nose, and 2 black opaques for the eyes.  Draw on some whiskers.  TADA!  LOVE IT.  On this carrot I bent the scallop (head) and attached the bottom part to the carrot!  SO CUTE!  
I think my carrot looks so much cuter with a bunny on top!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

More Easter Ideas

I am going Easter crazy!  It has been a lot of fun creating layouts, cards & treat bags.  Today I am going to show you a layout I created using our Chantilly paper pack.  I also used our Magic book and this layout is called Spellbound.  I love the colors and my little chick!  I can't wait to color Easter eggs and put my pictures on it!  


Here is an up close view of that cute chick!  I used our new alcohol markers to color her in.  They give a very VIBRANT look.  
If you would like to create layouts using our Chantilly paper pack, join me in March at my monthly groups.  And as a bonus...you will have enough extras to create this layout!  Get those layouts done before Easter arrives...then you will just need to put your pictures on and you are done!

Friday, March 15, 2013

New Paper Pouches

I just LOVE our new Paper Pouches, (I call them treat bags).  Here are a few more ideas you can create with them.  

The above pouch was Stamp Lifted from my friend Julie Nilsson.  She was in the creative mood and I wasn't...so I lifted it right off of her!  LOL  Then I added a cookie and I am ready to give a cute gift.  Oh I almost forgot...I used our new stamp set called For a Friend (D1542 $17.95).  There are 4 of these framed stamps along with 5 other stamps.  AND 2 of them are Cricut Art Philosophy images.  So you don't have to cut them out by hand YEA!


Then this adorable bag was created in our unit meeting.  My downline Ruth Roche created it.  I love it. The grass image is also off our Cricut Cartridge.  I just LOVE our Cricut cartridges!  If you don't have them, you need to get them!  Contact me and I will help you with that OR go to my website and get it mailed out right away!

Also get yourself some of these treat bags!!  You just never know when you will need a little gift for a special someone!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Stamps and a 1 1/4 Punch = Awesome Art!

I am IN LOVE with our little circle stamps that just so happen to fit PERFECT when you punch them with our 1 1/4 punch.  Yes you can also cut these on the Cricut with either the Art Philosophy or Artiste cartridge, but when you just need a few, I find it faster to just grab your punch and punch them out.  
 I wanted to share some samples I recently made.  The card above I stamp lifted from our current Close to my Heart catalog...see page 6.  I changed it up a little.  I also used our Perfect Fit - Birthday stamps (page 95 $9.95)  Love these!  I also used our Perfect Fit - Frames 2.  They give your cards a little extra pizzazz!
 I used the same stamps for the circle of the treat bags above.  And then I added the car from our Fast and Furious Stamp set on page 47 for $17.95.  The treat bags are also a new item we have in our catalog.  You get 20 treat bags for just $2.95 for the small ones (3 x 4) and $3.95 for the large one
 (5 x 6) size. And they are safe for food!  These would be perfect for co-worker gifts, birthday parties or just about anything you need to give a little treat.

Here is a closer look at the large bag

And a closer look at the smaller bag.  They stamp GREAT!  I stamped "happy birthday" on the bag to add to the decor!

 Now, here is another cute NEW product from Close to my Heart.  Our CLEAR pillow boxes!  HOW FUN ARE THESE!  You get 3 of these (6 x 3 1/2 x 1 1/2) for $2.95.  I used our Perfect Fit - Frames 2 and our Perfect Fit - Birthday to decorate this box.  AND, I almost forgot..the Perfect Fit  Frames 1 & 2 both have images that you can cut out using our Cricut Cartridges.  


Then the last thing I wanted to share with you is a layout I made again using our Perfect Fit Frames 2 and Perfect Fit Birthday.  Can you tell I LOVE THESE.  And here is a bonus.  If you are coming to my crop in March, you will be making this layout!



Here is a close up view of the left side of the layout.  I used our Later Sk8r paper pack and added some Sunset (orange) to is.  Gives it a pop of color.  I think I will be using this layout for MY birthday!  It's very fun.  I think this bright blue (Lagoon) & bright green (Pear) are my favorite color combinations right now.  
So get out there and start creating!!  I can't have all the fun!  LOL  

Friday, March 8, 2013

Carrot Bouquet

Easter is early this year...so it is time to get ready for it NOW!  I saw these cute carrots on Pinterest, and I knew I had to make some!  
We use to call these "sour cream" containers.  But if you make them out of orange paper, they are called carrots!  LOL  You can fill them with candy or leave them empty for a decoration.

Here is how to make them.  First you will need some orange pattern paper.  I used some from an old Close to my Heart Halloween kit...Hooligans.  This is a GREAT project for using your scraps!!!  Cut it to any size.  The key is it MUST be square.  Below is 6 x 6.  I also used 7 x 7 & 4 x 4 in my carrot bouquet.

You will need a REAL GOOD adhesive.  Put on 3 sizes like the picture below.
Then roll it and attach it by the adhesive. 

 Then you will squeeze one end.  

Then squeeze the other end the OPPOSITE way.  

The one thing you need to be careful with is when you are deciding which end will be your front.  See the picture below...you see the seam. Make sure that seam is NOT visible from the front.  This will give you a cleaner look.


Now it is time to cute some ribbon.  I found some discontinued green ribbon and folded it in half, putting a little adhesive on the end before you fold it. 




 Now put 3 of them together with a little adhesive.  
Now, with a good adhesive, attache the ribbon to the top of the carrot.



 Then I used some of our stamps to decorate the front.
Below is one of our monograms stamps.  I LOVE THESE!  They are easy to punch out using our 
1 1/4" punch!  We have LOTS of stamps that work this way!  But our monogram stamps come separate so you can order the letters you want!  AND, they only cost $2.95 each.  What a deal!




 I also used some of our Easter stamps.  They are quick and easy...it's time to make some of your own!
  


Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Using Your Artiste & Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridges

Oh my GOSH!  I LOVE this little strawberry basket...and the other items featured here on the most recent Close to my Heart videos.  Check out what Carly has to show us!
I know you are going to fall in love with those strawberries too!

I have to say, every time I open that Cricut booklet I find more things I have not seen before.  So make sure you get out your cartridge and create some amazing 3 dimensional items!!
And, if you don't have Artiste or Art Philosophy Cricut cartridges, just give me a call and I will get it ordered for you.  OR, go right to my website and order it from there!  You HAVE TO HAVE THEM!

Friday, March 1, 2013

March Monthly Group Layouts

Get ready for Spring with our NEW Chantilly paper pack!  This month my groups are going to make these pages.  I did them a little differently then CTMH did theirs...but what's new!  LOL  
I thought these will be PERFECT for Easter!  
 The above layout is from our Make it From My Heart layout #7
And this layout is from our Reflections Main Frame - Portrait (pg 61) and the right is Reflections Title Topper - cover (pg 23).  I am VERY happy to announce that you can now purchase our Reflections book again!  YEA!  They are now soft bound books and only $14.95!  Get your copy today!  We are have our card making book Originals too!  

If you would like to make these layouts...check out my Upcoming Events Tab to find a date that will work for you and then call or email me to see if I still have room!