Saturday, September 29, 2012

Christmas on H2H

Getting ready for Christmas in September? Not a bad idea, since the time always disappears so quickly! That's the challenge on Heart 2 Heart this week. This is just "Part One"!!

I decided to get a head start on my scrapbooking pages. I used some of the dimensional embellishments left over from my Pear & Partridge frame. It's a simple layout and the embellishments make it super easy to add the right amount of details.






Other easily added details were some journaling lines from the background and textures stamp, the zip strip from the Pear & Partridge cardstock and a chocolate felt branch from an older promotional item. All product used is Close To My Heart.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Fun Friday

Just for fun I wanted to share a couple pictures with you on this lovely Friday! Earlier this week a friend surprised me with a belated Birthday gift. She has been crafting with me for over a year now and slowly building her craft supplies. She took advantage of this month's double stamp promotion but did the same last year as well. She made this adorable gift card and wrapped up her package so sweetly in the most beautifully bright yellow paper and ribbon.



Bicycles and "heart" jewelry! You know me so well dear friend, thank you! {**grin**}

I also wanted to share a fun picture of our pooch! My mom was doing some Halloween costume shopping for her poodles and did not want to leave out our dog. She sent this in the mail for her and we immediately tried it on. She was trying to be patient as you can see!


Like Yoda, our beagle is wise to remain patient for photographs! May the force be with you!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Wicked Halloween Wreath

I have another Halloween wreath for you today, it's Wicked and awesome!


I was inspired by this wide, glittery ribbon I found at Walmart in the fabulous green & purple colors. To get started I used a foam wreath base and painted it black. {afterwards I discovered a cheaper way to make the foam wreath which I will share with you at the end of this post} Then I tied the ribbon around the ring by pulling the doubled up ribbon through a loop to the outside. Then I embellished it.

 
I used the fantastic black & white striped grosgrain ribbon to hang the wreath. I cut the "wicked" title on the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge then added some bling to the letters. The little bats were found at Michaels craft store (Recollections brand). I used some craft wire and attached it to the backs of the bat then using a straight pin secured the wire into the top of the foam wreath.
 





I will show you a super inexpensive way to make your own foam wreath. In your local hardware store you can find these foam tubes for insulating pipe. They come in various sizes and lengths. I chose a smaller width that was 6ft long. I cut it in half to measure 3ft which comes out perfect for a wreath. Shape it into a circle and duct tape the ends together. You can then spray paint it and cover it so that you no longer see the tape. In the craft stores these rings cost around $4.99 or higher. I paid .97 cents for the 6ft length and got 2 wreaths out of it! Now that's crafty and cost effective!!


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Spider Wreath

I began decorating for Halloween last weekend and creating some new decor for the house. I love all the ideas for Halloween wreaths on other blogs and of course Pinterest. I had this black wreath, webs and spiders in one of my storage containers. I pulled the purple ribbon from my craft room and came up with this wreath.



Friday, September 21, 2012

Cupcake Cushion

Today is my Birthday so I decided to make myself a cupcake! It has layers of icing and a cherry on top! The best part is that this cupcake has zero calories!!


I recently picked up some of these pearl straight pins for another project and decided I needed a clever way to store them. I have seen this idea out there for a pin cushion. I used the fabulous Close To My Heart products to create this. I started with a cupcake liner base cut on the Artiste Cricut Cartridge. I glued a foam styrofoam ball to the inside. I then hot glued some tulip pleated ribbon onto the styrofoam working from the bottom to almost the very top. A sheer white ribbon fills in the tippy top with a wooden bead and rolled cardstock stem for the cherry on top! So cute and useful!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Mojo 259 {Happy Halloween}

Another sketch for you today, brought to you by Mojo Monday! Are you decorating for Halloween yet? I am hoping to pull out my Halloween decor this weekend, it's sort of become tradition to decorate on my Birthday weekend! My house just warms up and becomes more fun with skeletons and pumpkins everywhere.

So using the sketch on Mojo Monday and a mix of CTMH papers I came up with this very traditional black & orange card.



Tuesday, September 18, 2012

H2H Sketch with a Swipe!

Today I am trying out the "swiping" technique shared in the CTMH Clearly the Best video posted previously. I am also using the sketch on the Heart 2 Heart Blog for this week. I pulled an assortment of older Close To My Heart papers on my turned sketch and incorporated images from this month's promotional stamp It's Your Day.


Original Sketch

Flipped Sketch

Time is running out to get this awesome National Stamping Month double stamp set. Offer expires September 30th. Order it here.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Go Big & Mojo Halloween Card

Today's card combines two challenges. First, I used the sketch over at Mojo Monday, with a slight twist! Second, Heart 2 Heart challenges blog asks us to Go Big! How funny! Last week we went small and I designed some cute 3x3 fall cards. This week our creations must be larger than the standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 card. So I went 5x7, which makes a great big space for design and I can still find an envelope to mail it in!


As you can see I just slightly turned the sketch for my card~

I'm super excited for Halloween...and yes we already have a bowl of candy corn in the house. Hope you'll play along with these challenges this week!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Fall Mini Cards

I love making mini cards and tags to drop into my customers bags as a thanks for their order. These are going to be perfect for the Fall. I am entering them in the Heart 2 Heart mini card challenge as well as the Inspired By blog that has a lovely inspiration photo this week!


The cards measure 3x3 and uses CTMH stamps Captured Moments (C1423) and Harvest Happiness (C1463) in Goldrush, Twilight and Chocolate inks. (orange gems are not CTMH)


Photo at Inspired By


My Life Pocket Pages (up close)

I was hoping to snap pictures of the pages my customers created yesterday at class, but we were too busy talking and I forgot! Here is a little closer look at my pages again for those gals working on pages at home ;)



For more inspiration on these pocket pages go to my posts here and here.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Clearly the Best: Bend It, Curve It, Stamp It



Just in time for National Stamping Month. This video will show you why Close To My Heart clear acrylix stamps are the best. Check it out!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

My Life Pocket Pages

I am holding a new class this coming Saturday that combines the latest scrapbook trends. It's a cross between "Smash Book" and "Project Life", but it's completely done the Close To My Heart way!



Guests will receive all the tools to create 12 {4x6} pocket pages. They will get to choose from a variety of shapes cut on the cricut that coordinate with several new stamp sets including this month's promotion It's Your Day double stamp set. They can add their own photo's as they create and completely personalize it to their own designs. I used a bright variety of colors from the Adventure color family, but guests can choose any colors they want.


 
My sample pages were done specifically for my daughter so she could record her school memories for this year. {hence the bright colors!} Once I completed each page I let her take over and organize them in the pocket protector page. Our Beagle assisted her, she has great design sense you know!


I will try to capture more photo's of the completed pages of my guests. It should be interesting to see how each guest creates their own pages! Stay tuned!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Perfect Fit Holiday Cards

I love when you find a group of items that all work really well together. The cards I'm sharing today is a "perfect" example of those products. The Perfect Fit Frames MyAcrylix stamp {D1527} works well with the Perfect Fit Halloween stamp {B1413} and the Perfect Fit Holidays stamp {B1412}. Plus, all the shapes contained on these stamps can be cut easily on the Close To My Heart Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges.

Halloween~


Holiday~

 
 
Perfect match wouldn't you say! Card designs were inspired by the new Make It from Your Heart How-to Book. These stamps, how-to books and cartridges can be ordered here.