Create Your Easter Layout

Here's a cute Easter layout using our Caboodle kit. This is the layout that my crop attendees made. But you can make it too. I used our Imagine Book layout Open Forum.

The left side long area in Sorbet is designed for 3 pictures that are 4 x 3 each. You can fit 7 photos on these layouts. So make sure you take some GREAT Easter pictures. Now you will have the perfect layout for them. Oh, and make sure you match your clothes to that layout! LOL!

The stamps I used were Holiday Jubilee (D1128). It isn't pictured in the Spring Catalog, but you can view it on my website. Just to go online shopping and put in that number. It will show you all 36 stamps that are in that set! I also used my favorite alphabet stamp set, Cocktail, to stamp the word Easter.

Have a Happy Easter!

Small Easter Basket

Need a cute Easter basket idea that is quick and easy? Here it is. You can make this little Easter basket in no time!

First you will need cardstock for the bottom 4 3/4 x 7 3/4 - score 1 1/2 on all 4 sides. Put adhesive on the outside tabs. Then fold into the box to form the base.

cardstock - handle 1 x 11

b&t (patterned paper)- handle 3/4 x 11

Adhere the b&t to the handle

b&t - 1 1/4 x 8 3/4 and 1 1/4 x 4 3/4

Take the larger piece and wrap around the box making sure the edges start and finish in the back. Then the smaller piece will cover over the space in the back to make it look complete. Make sure the larger piece starts and finishes in the back.

14 inches of ribbon - take the ribbon and wrap around box. Embellish as you like.

Attach the handle on the inside with adhesive and then add brads for extra strength. Then add some Easter grass, jelly beans and of course a chocolate bunny.

I think these baskets will make great May Day baskets, picnic baskets (that would be a cute placeholder for the picnic), Halloween or any other time you would need a little basket. Great for teachers and co-workers.

Enjoy making these baskets!

Quick Dinner, More time to Scrapbook!

I know it isn't Thanksgiving, but I wanted to share a quick turkey dinner that doesn't require you to make the FULL Thanksgiving spread. It's a turkey crock pot recipe I found in my Goose Berry Patch cookbook. YES, I said CROCK POT! I love easy meals!

And turkey dinner reminds me of this layout I made of our Thanksgiving Day. It is made from Cherish, layout Clear Dimensions. I used Cocoa, goldrush, and honey cardstock and the Holiday Jubilee (D1128). Quick meal, quick layout equals preserving my memories and reliving the good times! And YES, I made all of us match the layout! It's a disease!

Turkey & Dressing

8 oz pack of herb flavored stuffing mix (dry)

1/2 cup hot water

2 T butter, melted

1/2 c onion, chopped

1/2 c celery, chopped (ick, I don't put this in there)

1/4 c dried cranberries

3 pound boneless turkey breast

1/4 t dried basil

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t pepper

1 t garlic

Combine stuffing mix, water, butter, onion, celery, cranberry and garlic in crock pot. Mix well. Sprinkle turkey breast with basil, salt and pepper; place on top of stuffing mixture. Cover and cook on low for 6 - 7 hours. Remove turkey, slice and set aside. Gently stir stuffing mixture; let stand for 5 minutes. Serve.

I know this sounds like it is going to be dry when you only use 1/2 cup of water, but it isn't. The stuffing is nice and moist. This is a great way to have turkey more then just at Thanksgiving. And it is fast and easy so you have more time to scrapbook!

Chocolate & Scrapbooking Supplies

Do you love Chocolate? Do you have scrapbooking supplies? Need a great inexpensive gift idea? This is it! I took Hershey candy bars and wrapped our background & texture paper around it, put some ribbon on it, stamped an image and there you go! EASY! I used our Veranda kit and our new A size stamp set called A Paisley. The cool thing about this stamp set is it's only $7.95! We have several of these sets (on page 81 of our Spring 2010 Catalog) that are inexpensive, but really delivers!

I made these candy bars for those who attended my 12th Anniversary Crop last week. You are now wishing you attended that crop don't you? Catch the next one in May. Oh, and create some of these cute candy bar wrappers for co-worker, teachers, your kids...for just about anything!

Lucky!

Have you ever sat back and reflected on just how lucky you really are? I did this a week ago when my Mac buddy Karen posted 2 awesome "lucky" cards to her blog.

I have always seen the 4 leaf clover as St. Patrick's Day and I am not one for that strange holiday. So I never used these stamps.

HOWEVER because of Karen's cards, it made me think...how am I "lucky"? I found these pictures of my Grandpa and it made me realize how truly I am. He was an awesome Grandpa and I needed to make sure I kept his legacy alive!

So I got out my Veranda kit and started creating this layout. I also used my In the Month of March Stamps. They had the clover and the word "lucky". This layout is from our Cherish Book page 66 & 67. "Gramps" is stamped using our Cocktail Alphabet (my favorite).

It was a bitter sweet layout. My Grandpa is now residing in Heaven (yeah for him), and I feel truly blessed to have had him for the time I did. Now I can create this layout and relive the memories all over again! After all, isn't that what scrapbooking is all about! That and a good excuse to use your stamps! LOL

So get out your Cherish book and recreate this layout...you can use any kit you want!

Happy Close to my Heart Anniversary

Today is my 12th Anniversary with Close to my Heart. YEAH! It has been the BEST JOB EVER! I love helping people preserve their memories and I couldn't ask for a better job.

So, on Saturday I had my 12 hour crop to celebrate. I had this BEAUTIFUL cake made by the Cake Gallery, of course in the colors of our Veranda kit (layouts coming soon) and my customers came to help me celebrate.

These beautiful roses are from my husband. He's the BEST! He even told me how proud he was of me. Ahhhhh...he's a keeper! lol

There's a picture of everyone at my crop getting LOTS done! Not only did they get that amazing cake as an extra, but I made them a cute candy bar, again to match Veranda and they made a quick and easy basket out of cardstock and patterned paper. Stay tuned, I will have those on my blog soon. They even got an Easter layout made with our Caboodle kit so now they are ready for those Easter pictures!

And then there was Pablo my cat who seemed to think Tara's bag was his bed! Scrapbooking wears him out!

Thanks to everyone who made 12 years possible but mostly to Jeanette Lynton (the owner of CTMH) for a GREAT company! Here's to another 12 years!

More Photos, Less Scrapbook Pages

Do you have a lot of photos from one event and you really don't want to make TONS of layouts just for one event? AND, more importantly, you don't want to bore those who are looking at your scrapbook as they look at 17 layouts of the same pictures.

Well, Close to my Heart's Flip Flaps are the answer! These are 4 x 6 pockets that you can slide your photos in. They have an adhesive side and you can layer as many on top of each other as you want.

On this layout I stuck 3 of them together, put my photos together and then adhered the flip flaps to my page protector...on the outside. Now I can "flip" through the pictures on these layouts without having to create additional layouts! I LOVE these! They come in a package of 15 for just $3.95. I find I use a lot of these on those vacation pictures. Give them a try!

A Fling with Spring

A new episode of Art & Soul titled A Fling with Spring is now on my website. It's all about Chalk Popping. To view it go to my website and click on the CTMH TV link. It is only 11 minutes and 54 seconds.

There are lots of cool ideas out there. Watch my blog soon to see the newest layout created from this show!

Four Layouts One Pattern

Here are 4 layouts that I recently made using the same Close to my Heart Pattern, but different papers and pictures. It is cool how the same pattern can look so different! So grab that How to Book, some papers and recreate it a couple times! It fast and easy!

This layout is made using our Imagine Book. Monologue layout on page 52 & 53. I used our Perfect Day kit for the Florence Italy pictures, You Rock for New Zealand layout, Back Country for the Seattle Layouts and Moon Doggie for Grand Cayman Layout.

I challenge you to find your favorite layout, paper packs and create multiple layouts. You will be amazed at how fast you can create these pages!

Fast Meal

Do you need a fast meal so you can get back to all that scrapbooking and stamping? LOL Heres' a good one.

Now it isn't the most beautiful to photograph, but it is easy and makes a lot. It is my Pasta Taco Salad. My neighbor made this for us when we moved in and now I make it for those who move too! Like my friend Becky that moved out of the neighborhood a couple weeks ago. UGH! lol So I decided to make her a batch and kept some for us too (it makes a lot) Here's how to make it.

Brown 1 pound of hamburger. Add taco seasoning according to package directions. Then let cool. While that is simmering, boil some pasta (as much as you like) I like the curly pasta so the seasonings hang on to it. Then you just take everything you put in a taco. There isn't specific measurements (I hate it when I don't have exact, but if I can do it, anyone can) Just add some sour cream, can of sliced olives, beans (if you want, I think beans are yucky so they don't go in mine...lol), shredded cheddar cheese and I also add Mango Peach Salsa from Costco (YUM) That has the tomatoes, onions etc in it along with a sweet taste.

You just add and stir. When you are ready to serve take some Doritos and smash them and put on top.

You serve it cold, so that is another GREAT reason it is perfect for people moving. You don't have to worry about warming it up. So whip up a batch for your family, a new neighbor (or old one) and then get back to scrapbooking! LOL

Crafts

Do you have other crafts that you do in addition to stamping and scrapbooking? I do. I enjoy a lot of crafts, but in my quest to "use what I have" I decided it was time to finish this afghan that I started before we moved. So I took it out, finished it (well almost, just need to pull the ends in). But I realized that not only did I have a bunch of left over yarn, but my cats seemed to think this afghan was made for them. So I took my left over yarn and made a small afghan just for them. Ok...so they have yet to lay on "their" afghan, but they are getting a lot of use out of mine! Maybe they are waiting for my to add their fringe.

Another good use of that left over yarn you may have is making 7 x 9 squares and donate them to Warm Up America where they stitch them together to make afghans for various organizations like Red Cross, Childrens Hospitals, Women's Shelters and Homeless Shelters just to name a few. So if you have left over yarn, make some 7 x 9 squares (using what you have) and donate them to a great organization. AND, some Michaels Craft Stores even have boxes where you can drop them off. Check your local store and use what you have an make a difference to those in need.

March Special

Our March Special is a GREAT one! If you have EVER thought about being a Close to my Heart consultant, then you will want to pay special attention to this!

If you sign up to be a consultant in March, it's just $99 (which is the normal price) to sign up and you get over $300 in products and supplies, BUT you also will get all of our stamps of the month from our NEW Summer Catalog FREE!!! This is amazing! This catalog isn't even out yet!!!

So that means May, June July and August stamps of the month for FREE! This is a $91.40 value for FREE! I can't believe this deal!

If you would like more information, call or email me. If you would like to learn more about CTMH, I welcome you to attend my Pizza & Possibilities on Monday, March 29th from 6:00 - 7:00. This is an informational night for just 1 hour (you are welcome to stay longer if you like, but I will keep my part to just one hour) and I will have pizza and salad for you (gotta have dinner) while I tell you a little about CTMH.

Or, you can just go to my website and sign up! Once you sign up, I can then show you how you can earn $150 in free products, earn great trips, get your PhD in Scrapbooking and stamping just to name a few!!

Would you like to know if CTMH is for you? Give me a call and I can help you find out! But to get this great deal, make sure you do it before March 31st!

My First Award

WOW! I just got my first award from my favorite Mac Buddy Karen. She is so sweet. And she puts up with me with questions about how to run this blog! lol But the rules of the award are the following...

• Say thanks to the one who sent it to you.
• Tell us 7 things about you.

THANKS Karen! I am honored to accept this award from you!

Hmmm...seven things about me...let's see

1. I am very organized...almost annoyingly organized

2. I love to travel and I take way too many pictures when I do.

3. I LOVE my job! I have been with CTMH for 12 years and LOVE IT!

4. My favorite CTMH color (right now) is Sweet Leaf...this is important because my husband missed this question on our New Zealand trip. We were in a CTMH game show. He said Outdoor Denim...which was correct a long time ago! But he only knew 2 colors...Outdoor Denim and Moonstruck! LOL Now he knows more! AND, he knows what color Sweet Leaf is!

5. Clutter Stresses me out

6. I can't wait for SPRING

7. I can't wait to paint another room in my house!

I am also suppose to send this award to my favorite blogs...but I have to say, I don't go to many blogs. So hopefully I will not have my award taken away from me for not doing the last part! LOL Once I get a little more time, I will venture out in the blogging world more.

Thanks again Karen!!!!

March Stamp of the Month

Ready for this great stamp of the month? It's here. March Stamp of the Month. This set is filled with words from Thanks, Celebrate, Mother's Day, Christmas, Halloween and birthday just to name a few.

Here are some samples that I made using this set. The font is the same as my new favorite alphabet stamp set...Cocktail. They will be a great compliment to each other. And that Love Birds stamp set again! LOVE IT! lol

If you would like to get this stamp set or see all the stamps in this set you can go to my website and check it out!