Glockenspiel

Today I have a Studio J layout for you!

These papers are Roxie, and probably an unlikely paper for these pictures.  But I love dabbling in Studio J to see what papers I can play with!  This was a good dining experience for us, so I wanted to add that little bit of extra "love" to the page.

Thank so much for stopping by to visit!

Snowflakes

I put together a quick and shiny winter card this afternoon:

I purposefully left the sentiment off so that this card could be used for any reason.  Items I've used for this card that can be found on my website are:

• Z1686 Art Philosophy Collection (card base, layer, and snowflakes)
• X7146B Wonderland Paper
• 1385 White Daisy cardstock
• Z1385 Blue Designer Ribbon
• Z1466 Bling Assortment
• Z1313 Stardust Glitter Gel

Thank You!!

I want to stop in and say a BIG thank you to my customers that ordered from my Black Friday special!  I thought so much about my customers on Thanksgiving and how grateful I am for them.  I never take lightly that you chose me to service you for your Close To My Heart needs.  I LOVE Close To My Heart, and I LOVE helping each and every one of you!  I absolutely LOVE (and am humbled) when I hear that you've visited my blog because it is just one more way for me to show you what you can do with your Close To My Heart products.

So without further ado, I want to announce the winner of the Mystery Hostess Rewards from the sale.  Congratulations goes to Barbara S!!  I will be in touch with you!!

Gift Card Holder

Have you been looking for ideas for gift card holders for Christmas?  I love this 3-D "french fry" box that you can cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge!

I've cut this box at 5-1/4", and it folds up to be approximately 2-1/2" wide by 3-1/4" high.  I used one of the sheets from the Elemental paper packet.  It just happens to be olive print on one side and cranberry print on the other, so this sheet is perfect for Christmas.  Now the cranberry star is from the Love Life stamp set.  Isn't it great that so many sets can be used for all occasions?  The other star is a Milepost Shape that is made of corrugated kraft.  I simply squished the top on a versamark pad (don't you love my technical terms?), and then dumped some embossing powder on it.  I mixed my own embossing powder to get a nice Christmas sparkle.  The three items I used are white daisy and silver embossing powders along with a little prisma glitter.

Do you make a lot of your own items for Christmas?  It makes things a little more hectic, but it sure is fun to give!

Miss Chanel

There is a layout in our current Idea Book that I have wanted to create since August when I first saw it.  Tonight I sat down and finally put it together.  I built it almost exactly like the Idea Book.  If you'd like to see it close up, just click on the photo.

Who could resist this beagle face?  These photos were all taken on the boat this summer.  She so loves to be on the boat!

It's so much fun to use the Idea Book for just that - great ideas!  Did you notice that when you look through the Idea Book you find the pattern name under each picture?  So it was easy to get the dimensions for this by grabbing my Magic book.  I love that about our how-to books!  I was able to build this layout in under 45 minutes.  (So you might ask, what took me so long to put it together - LOL!)

Very few items were used for this layout, and they can all be found on my website:
9034 Magic Scrapbooking Program
X7141B Elemental Level 2 Paper Packet
X7141C Elemental Complements Dimensional Elements
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z2167 Creme Brulee Ink (for sponging base and pieces)
Z1615 Red Collection Designer Ribbon (I used the Sorbet)
Z1327 Blue & Green Sparkles

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?  We went out shopping at 10:00 pm last night.  We didn't have anything to buy - just wanted an adventure.  And that it was!  It was warm here - about 60 degrees - and I think that brought out so many people!  We were home and tucked in about 3:00 am.  I don't think Jerry will want to do it again, but it was a fun experience to try once!

Black Friday Sale!!

I am so grateful to have all of my customers and blog readers in my life. Truly, each of you is a tremendous blessing to me! Because of that, I want to have a Customer Appreciation Black Friday and Mystery Hostess sale!

WHEN

· Friday, November 25^th from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm

SALE

· Place a $25 order and receive a FREE Ink Pad! (value $5.25)

· Place a $50 order and receive a FREE Cardstock Shade Pack (value $7.95)

· Place a $75 order and receive a FREE Level 2 Paper Packet (value $9.95)

· Place a $100 order and receive a FREE Stamp Set (value $13.95)

HOW TO PLACE AN ORDER

E-Mail me at girlygirlrose43@msn.com with your order anytime during the sale hours. There are a couple of things you need to include with your order. First of all, let me know what you would like for your FREE product. The second thing I will need to know is how you would like to pay for your order. It can be check, PayPal, or I can call you for your credit card number. Whatever is most convenient and easiest for you on such a busy shopping day!

You can access my website HERE!! This link will bring you right to the Shop Online tab where you can look through our amazing product!!

MYSTERY HOSTESS DRAWING
I will randomly draw a Mystery Hostess to win the Hostess Rewards from this sale day. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be the winner? There are so many good things in the Idea Book!!

MONTHLY SPECIALS

Holiday Wishes Stamp Set – Place an order of $25 in stamps and add Holiday Wishes to your order for just $5.00.

Stamp of the Month – Place a $50 order and purchase Cherish the Day for $5.00

I know many people have scrapping plans over the winter, so this is the perfect time to stock up on some of your needs and get a little bit extra. Do you need Christmas gifts? Let me give you some ideas that any paper crafter would love!

· Our scrapbooking how-to books – Cherish, Imagine, Reflections, and Magic

· Our card-making how-to books - Originals, and Wishes

· The Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge – An exclusive cartridge with 700 images, 3 full-sized stamp sets, and 3 sheets of Dimensional Elements would make any Cricut lover and paper crafter happy!

· Studio J Membership – Do you have a digital scrapbooker on your list? Oh my goodness, this would be a wonderful gift for that person!

Let me know if you have any questions at all about this sale! Black Friday can be a really fun day, and the shopping is even more fun when you earn a FREEBIE with your order!!

A Blessed Thanksgiving to All!

Thanksgiving Day Prayer

Lord, so often times, as any other day

When we sit down to our meal and pray

We hurry along and make fast the blessing

Thanks. Amen. Now please pass the dressing.

But Lord, I'd like to take a few minute more

To really give thanks for what I'm thankful for.

For my family, my health, a nice soft bed

My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head.

I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those

Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever possibly know.

Thankful, dear Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure

Thankful that within my heart lives life's greatest treasure.

Thank you, dear Jesus, as you reside in that place

And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace.

So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided

And bless each and every person that we have invited.

Amen! - by Scott Wesemann

Peace on Earth

I've finished the second layout for club, so I thought I'd share.  If you are a club member, you'll find both layouts for December under my classes tab.

I made my club members work so hard last month, so I decided we'd do a few things that are a little easier in December.  Lots of sponging on the two layouts along with loads of glitter gel.  Gotta love sparkle and the "snowy" look in December!

Items used on layout that can be found on my website:

• X7146B Wonderland Level 2 Paper
• 1385 White Daisy Cardstock
• D1480 Snowflakes Stamp Set
• D1384 Snow Flurries Stamp Set
• C1469 December 25th Stamp Set
• Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink
• Z2111 Chocolate Ink
• Z2160 Twilight Ink
• Z1686 Art Philosophy Collection
• Z1225 Flurry Dimensional Elements
• Z1313 Stardust Glitter Gel
• Z1617 Dark Chocolate Striped Ribbon
• Z1247 Crystal Blue Waxy Flax
• X1466 Bling Buttons
• Z1104 Clear Sparkles

Life is Good

I have had such a busy month, so I apologize for not commenting and posting as often as usual.  I am going to In the next month I've scheduled a little more creative time for me, so things will get back to normal in my blogging world!

I created this simple card in two different colors as simple thank you notes to go in my customer's orders. 

The Remarkable Wreath stamp set is just so beautiful!  There are so many different things that you can do with it, and for jsut $13.95, I think it's a steal.

Are cooking for Thanksgiving?  We will be staying home and putting a trukey breast on the grill.  We are supposed to have nice weather, so it will be a perfect day for a good meal, long walk, and a nap before shopping at midnight.  We don't really even have anything to shop for but thought it would be fun to go out in the crowds this year.

No matter what you are planning, I hope your day is blessed!

Believe Layout

I have been working on my clubs for the month of December and decided to show you the first layout that I finished. 

I've used White Daisy pigment ink around the edges of all the pieces to give this layout a "snowy" look.  The snow flourishes are embossed with white daisy embossing powder mixed with a little prisma glitter.  I think my club members are going to have a great time with this layout!

Items used that can be found on my website:

• X7145B Belive Level 2 Paper
• 1385 White Daisy Cardstock
• D1384 Snow Flurries Stamp Set
• C1469 December 25th Stamp Set
• Z2163 White Daisy Pigment Ink
• Z2153 Sweet Leaf Ink
• Z2127 Holiday Red Ink
• Z1225 Flurry Dimensional Elements
• Z1482 Silver Glitter Gel
• Z1313 Stardust Glitter Gel
• Z673 White Daisy Embossing Powder

Black Friday Sale

Can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?  I cannot believe how fast 2011 has gone by! 

I am so grateful to have all of my customers and blog readers in my life.  Truly, each of you is a tremendous blessing to me!  Because of that, I want to have a Customer Appreciation Black Friday and Mystery Hostess sale! 

WHEN

·         Friday, November 25^th from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm

SALE

      ·         Place a $25 order and receive a FREE Ink Pad!  (value $5.25)

·         Place a $50 order and receive a FREE Cardstock Shade Pack (value $7.95)

·         Place a $75 order and receive a FREE Level 2 Paper Packet (value $9.95)

·         Place a $100 order and receive a FREE Stamp Set (value $13.95)

HOW TO PLACE AN ORDER

·     E-Mail me at girlygirlrose43@msn.com with your order anytime during the sale hours. There are a couple of things you need to include with your order.  First of all, let me know what you would like for your FREE product.  The second thing I will need to know is how you would like to pay for your order.  It can be check, PayPal, or I can call you for your credit card number.  Whatever is most convenient and easiest for you on such a busy shopping day!

MYSTERY HOSTESS DRAWING

·     I will randomly draw a Mystery Hostess to win the Hostess Rewards from this sale day.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be the winner?  There are so many good things in the Idea Book!!

MONTHLY SPECIALS

·    Holiday Wishes Stamp Set – Place an order of $25 in stamps and add Holiday Wishes to your order for just $5.00.

·         Stamp of the Month – Place a $50 order and purchase Cherish the Day for $5.00

I know many people have scrapping plans over the winter, so this is the perfect time to stock up on some of your needs and get a little bit extra.  Do you need Christmas gifts?  Let me give you some ideas that any paper crafter would love!

·     Our scrapbooking how-to books – Cherish, Imagine, Reflections, and Magic

·     Our card-making how-to books - Originals, and Wishes

·     The Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge – An exclusive cartridge with 700 images, 3 full-sized stamp sets, and 3 sheets of Dimensional Elements would make any Cricut lover and paper crafter happy!

·     Studio J Membership – Do you have a digital scrapbooker on your list?  Oh my goodness, this would be a wonderful gift for that person! 

Let me know if you have any questions at all about this sale!  Black Friday can be a really fun day, and the shopping is even more fun when you earn a FREEBIE with your order!!

Holiday Wishes

Do you remember me telling you about the awesome Holiday Wishes special?  When you purchase $25 in stamps from CTMH this month, you can buy this stamp set for $5!

I created a very clean and simple card for you today. 

I rarely using white cardstock as the base and background, but it just highlights the tree so well!  If you were to see this up close, you would see that the tree is embossed with olive embossing powder.  The added sparkles allow good use of the matching sentiment from this set.

Please visit my website or contact me if you are interested in purchasing this set.  The special goes through November 30th.

What a Pretty Layout!

It's no secret how much I love these warm fall colors, so I fell in love with this month's Lovin' Your Layout video for Studio J!  Enjoy - I'm off to Studio J to make this layout!

State Fair

I am excited to show you this page!  I don't know that there is anything phenomenal about it other than I made it just because.  Last Saturday at my crop I could have worked on things I needed done for this week.  But I chose to sit back, relax, and just take my time.

This paper has been on my shelf for a very long time.  It is CTMH's discontinued Route 66, and the colors were just perfect for some of my fair pictures.  If you look closely you will see that I've done a lot of sanding.  I also popped up the center picture to add some more depth. 

These are the items that are available on my website:

• 1273 Desert Sand Cardstock
• X5923 Moonstruck Cardstock
• Z1450 Color Ready Cork Alphabet
• Z1615 Designer Ribbon Red Collection
• Z280 Natural Hemp
• Z1086 Cranberry Waxy Flax
• Z1366 Brads Metal Assortment
• Z1369 Buttons Red Assortment
• Z1371 Buttons Blue Assortment
• Z1294 Sanding Kit

Season's Greetings

Time for a new reveal at Cardabilities!  This is a great sketch and allows you to be very clean and simple. 

I chose to use some discontinued CTMH paper (Everlasting) that created more of a vintage feel.

This is my favorite Christmas paper of all time.  I know the trend is a little different now with all kinds of modern colors, but these will always be the warm, beautiful colors of Christmas to me.  I didn't do any stamping on this card.  Rather I used matching stickease, embellishments, and lots of ink distressing.

Head over to Cardabilities and see what the rest of the design team has done!

Thank You!

I want to take a moment to say a huge THANK YOU to all the wonderful people that attended my 12-hour crop yesterday!!  It was such a fabulous day of scrapping, card making, and gift making!  There was so much creativity flowing!  It was absolutely a pleasure to watch all the varied paper crafters!!

It was a wonderful day of teaching, talking, laughing, and eating.  I appreciate every single person that was able to take the time for themselves on this fun day!

Treat Bag

I thought I'd share the little treat bags that I made for my 12-Hour Crop on Saturday. 

There are about 3" wide and 4" tall, and you can use your Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge to make them.  I also cut the snowflake, snowflake layers, and ticket with the cartridge.  And yes, that is the November stamp of the month (Cherish the Day) stamped on the ticket.  Such a fun, fun stamp set - and you will be seeing a lot of it.  I simply used a marker to faux stitch around the handle and then filled it with some sweets.  So easy!

Holiday Wishes Meets Cherish the Day

I am so sorry that I haven't visited in awhile!  You know life has a way of take hold sometimes, and you just have to go with the flow.  I was putting together some thank you cards to go in orders today, and I decided to make them Christmas cards - because I know everyone is going to need them soon!  With just a little over 6 weeks until Christmas, it is coming fast!

I used the Cherish the Day stamp of the month (I LOVE this versatile year-round set!) and the November Special stamp set Holiday Wishes on these cards.

I loved combining these two sets, and isn't it fun that I've used the same sets but gotten completely different results?  That's why I love stamps and paper - they are just so much fun!  I used only the Holiday Wishes set on the last card:

All tht sparkle makes me so excited for Christmas lights!  I used a mixture of silver and white embossing powder on the die-cuts.  Of course I added prisma glitter, and that is the sparkle you see!

Cherish the Day can be purchased for just $5.00 during the month of November with a $50 purchase.  Holiday Wishes is also only available during November, and in order to qualify for that set you need to purchase $25 in My Acrylix stamps.  These are two sets that you will have so much fun with!  You can click on my monthly newsletter tab or scroll the left sidebar to see images of these two stamp sets.

Some of my time this week has been getting ready for my 12-hour crop on Saturday.  20 wonderful women are coming to this fun getaway!  I am so looking forward to spending time with some of my customers on Saturday!!

Turkey Table Runner

I was at my family's annual cookie bake today.  Oh, it was so much fun!  This year I only took my gingersnaps to bake, so that I wouldn't bring many cookies home.  But I loved making just the one kind as I had a lot of time to visit with people that I see all together too little of.  We had games, prizes, and of course, the grand prize. Our grand prize game was to guess the M&M's in the jar, and I guessed 631 - the exact amount!  Now how often does that happen?  I won this beautiful table runner that my sister Linda made:

Don't you wish that you had this on your table?  I always say that Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday, and I love that day so much.  So it's just lovely to have this decoration!!  If you are wondering about the candle ring, it is the one I made with five sheets of cardstock and the Art Philosophy cartridge.  You can read more about it here.

I love spending time with my family.  In attendance were my mother, two sisters, four nieces, and two beautiful young girls that are dating two of my nephews.  Around mid-morning, a Mary Kay consultant came to pamper us with facials.  It was just marvelous!!  Good company, good food, good cookies, and lots of love make for a great day!

To You and Yours

Today I worked on the final card for my Gathering this weekend.  I used the November Special Holiday Wishes to complete this card.

This a clean and simple card, but is perfect for bulk duplicating.  I embossed the tree with a mixture of white and silver embossing powders and prisma glitter.  I wish that I could get it to show up better, but it's really very sparkly!  Items used that can be found on my website are:

Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge (tree, card base, card layer)
1385 White Daisy Cardstock
1245 Olive Cardstock
X7145B Believe Level 2 Paper Packet
CC1015 Holiday Wishes Stamp Set
Z891 Versamark Ink Pad
Z2116 Cranberry Ink Pad
Z1466 Bling Assortment
Z673 White Daisy Embossing Powder
Z669 Silver Embossing Powder
Z134 Prisma Glitter

I am finishing things up here in my craft room.  Tomorrow we are heading to my sister's house for the annual cookie bake.  I am looking forward to seeing my mother, sisters, and some of my nieces.  I just know it's going to be a great day!!

Christmas Card Class

Do you remember the lovely stamp set I told you about the other day that is our November Special?  

You get this lovely stamp set for $5 with your qualifying $25 stamp purchase.  It is called Holiday Wishes, and it is gorgeous!  Let me give you some specifics about the size of these stamps.  The tree is 4", the ornament and stocking are 2-1/2", and the start is 2".  I had some ideas about what I wanted to do with this set before I saw them in person, and my whole course changed when I saw them!  They are such lovely stamps to simply just stamp.  The filigree pattern in them stamps so crisp and clear that these make beautiful elements on a card or page!

I went to work designing my Christmas Card class, and they only trouble I had was keep the cards flat enough to use only one stamp!  You know me - I love my bulky cards!!  But here is what I cam up with for my class.  Look beyond the photos and you will find details for the class.

Saturday, November 19th at 10:00 am

RSVP by Thursday, November 17th - class size is limited!

Supplies needed for class:  Adhesive Tape Runner, Scissors, Glue Dots, 3-D Foam Tape



We will be making 5 of each of these cards in class for a total of 20 cards.  Here are the class prices:

• $20.00 - All 20 cards as shown
• $16.25 - All 20 cards without Sparkles
• $15.00 - All 20 cards as shown with purchase of the November Special, Holiday Wishes.

If you would like to buy this kit to make at home, it is the class fee plus $4.75 shipping. 

Happy, Happy Birthday to You

Remember I told you the other day that I was making 3 cards for a Gathering?  Here is the second one that my hostess's guests will be creating on Sunday afternoon. 

I love this tent topper card and found really easy directions HERE.  So unique and still fits in a standard envelope.  I'll tell you a secret about a technique that I used on my gems.  I didn't have enough black licorice gems, so I made my own using clear sparkles, re-inker, and some liquid glass.  Simply put a little liquid glass on a paper plate (about nickel size is perfect).  Add ONE drop of your desired re-inker color.  The re-inker mixes itself into the liquid glass, and you can just use a toothpick to drop the colored liquid glass onto the clear sparkle.  Easy!  Just make sure that you use only ONE drop of re-inker.  If you use more, you will find that it never dries.  You can color pretty much anything using this method!

Items used that can be found on my website:
X7139B Typeset Level 2 Paper Packet
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z1686 Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge
D1475 Birthday Card Chatter Stamp Set
C1464 Blue Ribbon Stamp Set
Z679 Liquid Glass
Z2105 Black Stamp Pad
Z2205 Black Re-Inker
Z1104 Clear Sparkles
Z1464 Milepost Shapes

Cherish the Day - November Stamp of the Month

It's November 1st, and one of the best things about the 1st of the month is that Close To My Heart introduces a new stamp of the month!  Let me introduce this beautiful 44-piece stamp set, Cherish the Day.

This is a great set because it can be used every single month of the year!  I will show you several examples this month, but I wanted to start with this beautiful card created by my more-than-fabulous and more-than-wonderful upline, Karen.  (You won't be disappointed when you visit her blog!)  I met a goal in my business last month, and I received this beautiful card from her.  I love getting pretty handmade cards in the mail!!

Can you believe how lovely this card is?  I love all the stars, and the detail in this card is amazing!  Karen used her spray pen on this card not only to mist the background, but to color the star.  I also like the touch of liquid glass over the number.  Perfect!

If you are interested in this set, you can purchase it on my website.  During the month of November, you can get this set for $5 with your $50 purchase.  Such a great deal! 

Other product used on this card:

• X7140B Roxie Level 2 Paper Packet
• 1388 Colonial White Cardstock
• Z2105 Black Stamp Pad
• Z2205 Black Re-Inker
• Z2218 Desert Sand Re-Inker
• Z1464 Milepost Shapes
• Z1487 Pewter Mini Medleys
• Z1615 Sorbet Ribbon from Red Collection
• Z1335 Licorice Opaque Gems
• Z679 Liquid Glass
• Z1380 Spray Pen