Friday, December 28, 2012

Monogram It!

If you have not seen them yet, we have these AMAZING monogram stamps!  I LOVE them!  And here's the best part...they are sold individually and are only $2.95 each!  So you can get the ones you want and not have to have all of them!  BUT, as you will see in this video...there are so many things you can do with these that you might just HAVE to have all of them!



These make GREAT gifts too!

If you are interested in purchasing these monograms, you can go to my website or call/email me and I will be happy to get them for you!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas!

I pray that you have a VERY Merry CHRISTMAS!  Enjoy your time with your family...and remember to not only TAKE pictures, get YOURSELF IN the pictures!  LOL


Love the Santa Mustache?  lol
And if you know me...you know I go to "work" in my slippers and what would Christmas be without Rudolph slippers!  

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!



Friday, December 21, 2012

2013 HERE WE COME!

Let's get ready for 2013 by getting our scrapbooks ready!  I have gotten my 2013 album ready for all those pages I will be making!!  And I am here to help you get ready too!

I know I know, you may be saying...but I have so many YEARS to do before I even THINK about 2013...BUT, I am here to tell you...you need to STAY caught up to GET caught up!

Current events are always the easiest to remember, so why not get your CURRENT photos PRINTED...YES I SAID PRINTED!  You MUST print them in order to scrapbook them.  They do you no good to just keep them on your computer or memory stick!  So let's get PRINTING!  lol  Then you can get the scrapbooked!

I thought I would show you how to load our albums.  They are post bound, so you do NOT need to scrapbook in order!!  YIPPEE!  I am a "mood" scrapbooker.  I scrapbook what I am in the MOOD to scrapbook and that doesn't mean IN ORDER!



 So first you unscrew the screws and I recommend adding our 1" extender posts.  This will give you LOTS of room for all those pages. 

You take these cardboard pieces out.  They are just there for shipping.  So take them out and recycle them!
 Now I put page protectors in it ALONG with our photo storage pages.  This way once you have printed the pictures you can slide them in our photo storage pages (1 page holds 12 photos) and they will keep your photos in order and free from bends and mishandling!  They come both vertical & horizontal.  I normally use horizontal.  BUT, you can also use these to permanently store your photos in here too.  Instead of putting a photo in one, add cardstock and journal about your photos!  DONE!

Then once you are ready to scrapbook them, you simply go to the pages in the album, pull them out and put them on your finished page!
 The picture above is the album before I put the binder on (binder on the right)
 Above is the binder tucked in the bottom.  You tuck it in the bottom, then roll it to fit in the top part.  Very easy!
 Above is the album with the binding in.
 Here are your page protectors just WAITING for those precious scrapbook pages!
 And here are the photo storage pages...I put them AFTER the page protectors.  Not the best picture of it, but you get the idea.

 Then the last thing to add to your album is our label holders.  These are so great.  They just clip on the top of the binding and you can customize them however you want.  Here I took the November 2012 stamp of the month (no longer available) to stamp the year.

Here is a close up view of the label holders.  Anyone that purchases label holders from me will get a FREE label to slide right in!  
So let's get organized and READY to go for 2013 pictures!  You will be so excited and AMAZED how good it feels to get your album ready.  I always feel "caught up" on scrapbooking when I do this!  
Then, once you create your 2013 album, work backwards and create 2012, then 2011...you get the idea.  Next thing you know...you WILL be caught up!

AND, now you can make your first page for your scrapbook!  OR, come to my open house Sunday, January 27th from 1:00 - 5:00 to make your FREE first page using Close to my Heart products!  

Each year my husband & I go out on January 1st and get our picture taken and that is the picture we use for our first page of our 2013.  It is a fun little tradition that we do AND, it starts the year off right!  

So make sure you get out there and get your picture taken for your 2013 cover page!  

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Close to my Heart SPECIAL

Do you LOVE a GREAT special?  Well Close to my Heart has a GREAT one for you!  Starting RIGHT NOW, through January 31, 2013 when you spend $35 you get our Whooo's Your Valentine special for just $10!  You will get 12 of our NEW treat tubes (new product coming out in our Spring/Summer 2013 catalog (get your new catalog at my open house on Sunday January 27th from 1:00 - 5:00) along with a special stamp set..YEA!  It has 2 cute owls in it!!  LOL  12 precut AND scored boxes to fit the treat tubes, and 3 sheets of cardstock along with 1 sheet of our new glitter paper (another new sneak peek into our Spring/Summer catalog).  You get ALL THIS...a $40 value for just $10 when you spend $35.

This is not only a GREAT stamp set for Valentines, but I have also used it for NON Valentines items!  Watch for upcoming blog posts!



So check out this video and get yours soon!  Do it before January 31st...because once February starts, this special is gone.

You can order from my website or by calling or email me!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Get Ready for Valentines Day!

YES!  You read that right.  It's time to start thinking and creating for Valentines Day.  Ok...maybe not creating yet, but at least you can get your supplies ready!  And Close to my Heart has just the thing!

It's our Whooo's Your Valentines Kit.  And they spilled the beans and they are showing us some new products from our Spring/Summer Catalog!  Here's what you get starting today and running through January 31, 2013...
12 Die-Cut Boxes (3 each of 4 colors...blush, hollyhock, ruby & white)
3 - 12 x 12 cardstock sheets (blush, hollyhock, white)
1 sheet silver glitter paper **new spring summer product
12 treat tubes with lids **new spring summer product
1 Whooo's Your Valentine Stamp Set (D size)

This is a $40 value, but you can get it all for just $10 with a purchase of $35 from our Autumn/Winter catalog.
Check out my website to see the ADORABLE stamp set.  I just LOVE this set!
You can make these for your kids, coworkers or someone special.  Don't wait...get it now and when the holidays are over you will be ready to start your Valentines!

Contact me to order yours!  Watch the upcoming posts for things I have created with this stamp set!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Quilling Tool, Rub on Tool & Chalkboard marker & paper

Close to my Heart has so many cool tools and this video is perfect for what I have been using and teaching this last month.  Check out this video!  It shows you how to use our quilling tool to make flowers, our rub on tool to use with rub ons and our chalkboard maker, chalkboard shapes & chalkboard paper.




It is so easy to paper craft when you use the correct tools and more importantly...how to use those tools!

Friday, December 7, 2012

December Stamp of the Month

I just LOVE our December stamp of the month!  Look to the left to see a picture of the stamp set and to get an ever better view, check out the stamp of the month tab.  But here are some samples of it in use.
 This is a gift card holder.  The above picture is it closed, and below is it open.  This is cut out with our Artiste Cricut Cartridge.  It cuts the shape out and even the score lines and the slot for the gift cards.  How cool is that!


 Here is a cute card...makes  me want summer again!  
 And in case you didn't have enough pie over thanksgiving...you can create your own pie with no calories!  LOL  The "topping" on the pie is liquid appliqué (Z308 $3.95).  You put it on, wait for it to dry and then heat it up and it puffs up.  That is also great for Santa's beard, marshmallows and even snow.  Very fun!
 Then here is a layout I made.  It turned out VERY CUTE!  Here is what I love about this layout.  I pulled my Medium Organizer box (Z4139 $16.95) out.  I have all my supplies organized in it by color and I went into the white & silver area...and took out those colors.  I am now using soooo many of my supplies just by having them organized in one spot!  
 Above is our Silver Shimmer Trim (Z1799 $4.95).  It is a roll of 5 yards and is self adhesive.  The best part is it is sparkly!  Then I also found some of my licorice opaques (Z1335 $2.95) they are the little blue pearls around the snowflake.  They are actually grey, but next to blue they look blue.  
 Then in the middle of the big snowflake is our Shimmer Brads (Z1349 $4.95).  I have had these forever and they were not my favorite product, but now that I know they look amazing in the middle of snowflakes...I LOVE THEM!  And I used all but 2 of them.  Using what I have...YEA!
 Here is the cutest snowman ever!  He is from the Flakey Friends stamp set (C1506 $13.95) which I think is the BEST STAMP set in the catalog!  lol  Again I used our licorice opaques for his buttons and you can see a better view of our Silver Shimmer Trim.  I also used the liquid appliqué for the snow under the snowman...and a little silver glitter glitz gel.
And then here is a little better view of the second page.  Now I just need it to snow so I can get some pictures on here!  LOL
If you would like to get this stamp set, you need to do so before the end of December.  It is $17.95 or if you order $50, it is just $5.  Don't delay!  

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Best Cat Friend

Have you ever had a pet that is more then a pet.  They are like a best friend?  I had one of those.  My cat Pablo.   Well...technically he was a cat, but he thought he was a dog!  Just in a cat costume. 
This Thanksgiving weekend he got real sick and we had to put him to sleep.  It was such an unexpected and hard thing to do.  He was 15, and as sad as I am to not have him here,  I have to remember all the joy he brought me for 15 years.    
 Our cats are like kids.  They rule the house...and Stacey & I just get to make the house payment...but it is THEIR house!  lol  If there was a blanket I was making...there were on it!  Above is Pablo on a blanket I finished a couple years ago.
Here he is sleeping (kind of) on the couch in my office.  If I was home, I was easy to find...just look for Pablo.  He was just a few steps away from me.  He would wait for me in the morning when I was in the shower...sometimes I couldn't get out...he blocked the door!  LOL  And every time I passed one of them during the day, they would get petted.

Here's the chair we bought for Pablo...he LOVED to sit next to me.  And that is Corley on the other side.  They were actually brother & sister.  She got sick almost 2 years ago...so we have been missing her for a while too.

This is the lamb skin we brought back from New Zealand for them.  Corley mostly slept on it, but Pablo loved it too.

We had a heating pad in my office just next to my desk that Pablo would always lay on in the cooler months.  I miss turning my chair and seeing him there.  Since I work from home, he was like a 
co-worker.  

Then his big thing was dragging my slippers around the house.  Here he is using my tigger slippers for a pillow!  Crazy cat!

Just about every day at 10:30 & 2:30 he would come and MEOW loudly in my office.  That meant he needed a hug and some lovin.  I knew since he was getting older, that I needed to take time to cuddle with him.  So every time he came in, I stopped what I was doing and took time for him.  So glad I did this now!
This picture was taken recently...Halloween night by our fire pit.  He hated it when I was outside and he wasn't, so I brought him out to sit with me for a little bit.

This is the thing I love about scrapbooking and digital photos.  You can take a bunch and you know right away if the photo is good or not.  I am so thankful for my Pablo.  I will miss him terribly, but I know I have lots of pictures that help me remember all those memories.  
So remember, whether it is a pet, friend or family member...photos are precious!  
Pablo Froemming 5/1/97 - 11/23/12