Sign Up and Celebrate in April!

I would love to have you join my team!  During the month of April, the deal is even sweeter!!  Along with your Consultant Kit (just $49!), you will receive 4 stamps of the month - April, May, June, and July - absolutely free!!  That increases the value of your kit to $225!!

To join my team CLICK HERE!!! 

May Card Kit

This month's kit is themed for graduation.  I hope that you enjoy the simplicity of the cards paired with the sentiments to wish the graduates in your life a successful future!

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24 Years Old

That is how old Shane is today.  24 years have passed, and I feel like it was the blink of an eye.   Shane was born into the world talking like crazy.  It was a very determined baby chatter, and I couldn't believe it!  The nurses told me that they had never seen a baby talk like that. He's still determined in everything he does, and he is working on recognizing his purpose.  He is coming to spend the day at home today, so I am sure I will have a lot of pictures to scrap.  This is the card that I made for his birthday.

Something I've always tried to impress upon Shane is that we have the choice to make every day the best day ever.  So this seemed a very fitting sentiment for his birthday.

I'll be working on Caesar salad, roasted asparagus, and beef stroganoff for Shane's birthday meal.  He requested funnel cakes instead of the traditional birthday cake, so that will be fun!  I've not made them before, and I am looking forward to it!

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you have a blessed weekend!

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Tommy Club Layout

I thought I'd share one of my club layouts for May.  We are going to be using Tommy, and I am so excited about this paper!  I love the blue, red, yellow, and white.  Really, the possibilities are endless for this paper packet!

This paper was PERFECT for these photos, don't you think?  I love the canvas shapes that complement this paper, and the Sail Away stamp set had wonderful sayings for this set.  You know, just do yourself a favor and really look at pages 56 - 61 in the Idea Book.  You will find so much inspiration with these papers there.  I love all of our papers and enjoy working with them, but I am SUPER EXCITED to teach this paper next month!  We spend so much time on the lake in the summer that I know you'll see a lot of layouts with this paper!

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

• X7169B  Tommy Paper Packet
• X7169C  Tommy Canvas Shapes
• C1530  Sail Away Stamp Set
• Z1751  Cranberry Baker's Twine

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He Has Made Everything Beautiful

Not too long ago, I found the Twist of Faith Challenge blog, and I love the whole idea of the blog!  It reminds me to pull out my Scripture stamps and create.  This week's challenge was a wide open sketch, and I thoroughly enjoyed taking a break in my day to make this card.

This is actually a pretty clean and simple card (well...for me it is!) using Avonlea paper and a matching brocade.  I've used color-ready seam binding and colored it with Slate ink to make the bow.  The Scripture is from Verve stamps, and I added grey sparkles for embellishment.

You are a blessing to me, and I appreciate that you stopped by today!

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Dream Pop Layout

I've had many customers ask me about the Dream Pop papers and when they will be able to get their hands on them.  It's a good set, isn't it?  So let me tell you about the special.

Starting May 1st, you will be able to purchase the Dream Pop paper packet for just $10 with a $35 purchase.  Wait till you see what is included in this 24-sheet paper packet!

The patterns are just lovely for spring/summer!  The cardstock is an emboss resist cardstock meaning that it has patterns that can be inked.  I love the versatility of these cardstocks.

Now let me tell you about the layout above.  Those are pictures of just a few of the shots I took in the South Caribbean.  As you can  see, this paper was just perfect!  

This layout will be offered in  a workshop for those that purchase the Dream Pop papers during the month of May.  The in-home workshop will be on June 3rd and 4th.  (Don't worry - you will be able to do this one long distance, too, because it comes with full instructions.)  The workshop will consist of a 2-page layout layout, 2 cards, and a gift item.  Watch for more details coming soon!!

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Sole Therapy

I have been working on a layout for a few days now.  I had the photo sitting out in my office for several days, and I just kept sitting back and thinking about the memories in this photo. After 23 years of scrapbooking, I've come to a place where I really want to think about the memory of the photo and scrapbook it accordingly.  I am in no way, shape, or form a power scrapbooker.  It's just so much more fulfilling for me to create the feeling along with the page.  I saw an awesome sketch at Sketchabilities that I wanted to work with, so I had the base of the page done with the photo on, but then I needed to think of a good title so that I could go about my embellishing.

The title was inspired by my husband.  I asked him what his feelings were when we were standing in the sand  on a Grenada beach, and his first word was therapeutic.  Perfect!  Don't ever be afraid to ask the other people involved in the photo what their feelings were because that's important to the story-telling, too.

Items used for this page that can be found on my website:

• X7168B  Surf's Up Paper Packet
• Z1841  Surf's Up Assortment
• Z1837  Wooden Mini Medley Accents
• Z1844  Wooden Trinket Shapes
• Z1753  Brown & Tan Sparkles
• Z1081  Colonial White Waxy Flax
• Z1701  Neutral Baker's Twine
• Z1686  Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (Banners, Scalloped Border, Scalloped Circle)
• Z1790  Artiste Cricut Cartridge (alphabet)

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April Stamp of the Month - My Sunshine

We are still in the land of winter here where I live.  There is still snow on the ground, and Spring has not yet arrived.  This is an unusual weather year for us, and that's why it's so lovely to work with the April Stamp of the Month, My Sunshine.

You have until April 30th to order this set.  Remember, a Stamp of the Month is only available for one month, and I am sure you are going to want this one for your collection!  Stamps of the Month are always just $5 with a $50 purchase.

I hope you're having a fabulously sunshine-y day!

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Kelly Green and White

Every month I pose a challenge to my team, and this month it is high school colors with one neutral.  My friend and downline Marg had been talking at a retreat and thought that this would be a fun one!

My high school colors were kelly green and white, and I graduated from Toivola-Meadowlands High School with 21 other people.  Yep, that's what I said...21.  The school is no longer in existence, but I've still got my letter jacket.  I thought that I'd use my chevrons and pins to make a layout, but in looking the jacket over, I realized it needed another cleaning before I could do that.  After 33 years, I guess it's only natural that it would dull a little!  So I thought about some other things that I experienced in high school, and one of my best memories is my high school English teacher.  Her name is Cathy, and she taught me from 7th through 11th grade.  It is because of her that I have a sense of grammar, can spell, and love to read and journal.  I do still keep in touch through Christmas cards, but I thought this card would be a nice one to send her now.

I used CTMH Topiary and White Daisy for this card.  Topiary is not a color I use very often, and I actually had to dig for this one last sheet.  Because I had been thinking chevrons and high school, I pulled out my chevron Cuttlebug folder.  Do you see that in the background?  I love yo-yo's or pinwheels or whatever you call them.  They are bulky, but still so much fun to add to a card.

I hope you are having an amazing day!  Thanks so much for stopping by to visit me!

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Chicago Regionals

I am sorry I haven't posted for a few days!  I am sitting in my hotel room in Chicago after spending two days in business and creative training at Close To My Heart's Regional Celebration.  What a wonderful time we've had!!  So much artwork and so many ideas!!  I thought I'd share some highlights with you:

Two of my downline - Marg and Lynn

Me in my "geek" glasses getting ready to talk about my favorite stamp set - Girls Rock!

Our Executive Team - Kristine, Monica, and Brian

(I am so grateful for them and the time they put into Corporate Events!  Along with their support team - Sheena, Tiffany, Jill, and Brian - they do a fabulous job of answering all of our questions!

I LOVED hanging out with two of my Rose Blossoms!!

There's nothing quite like a Corporate Event!  Only two months will we're heading off to Disney World for our annual Convention!  I can't wait!!

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Home

I've spent some time in the past couple of days putting a mini album together.  I still was thinking about more ways to use our textiles.

I loved making this bow that wrapped around the front cover.  Tulle and bling always add a little something extra, so it was an easy choice to add that in.  The "home" comes from the stamp set that goes with the Canvas Workshop on the Go.  That is a great stamp set, and you'll see it used throughout the pages.  When I made my canvas, I had many Dimensional Elements-In Color leftover from the kit, so I've used through the album, too.

The bulk of the pages are Dimensional Element Album Pages.  I love these because we have a matching Cricut Artiste key, so that makes it quick and easy to put the album together.  Oh!  I should tell you that this is For Always paper and there are some matching stickease throughout.

I added a chevron notebook page here.

At this point, you'll see an envelope for little memorabilia.

This is a file folder from the Artiste cartridge. 

These mini albums are great because you can add whatever you'd like using bits and pieces of this and that.  What a great gift!

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Grenada

I haven't had the opportunity to scrap many of our cruise photos yet.   So I set everything aside this afternoon and decided to get a start.  I found a sketch at Sketchabilities that I used as a jumping point.  It stretched me just a little, and it was truly a joy to spend that time just putzing over paper.

Grenada was our favorite port on the cruise, and this day will long hold in our memory.  This is BEAUTIFUL paper, and it's called Dream Pop.  I wish I could tell you where to order it, but it's Close To My Heart's National Scrapbooking Day special, and it will be available May 1st.  I was so excited to get it on Saturday!  The chevron paper is actually all grey, but the stripes are embossed.  All I did was ink it to add the juniper color.  WOW - do I love that!!  You're just seeing the tip of the iceberg here.  There are 12 sheets of printed paper and 12 exclusive cardstock colors.  All for $10 with a $35 purchase - I am excited about this one!!

Some of the other items I've used are Trinket Wooden Shapes, Slate Washi Tape, Bitty Sparkles, Grey Wool Twine, and the Classmate Alphabet stamps set.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I am off to pop this layout in an album!

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A Little Fabric and Tulle Later...

...and this is what I have to show you!

Close To My Heart introduced fabric to match two of our paper packets,  For this star, I used the For Always Textiles.  Yep...it's all fabric!  Let me tell you how I did this.

I started with the My Creations Star.  I traced the template for the star on the wrong side of the fabric and then cut them out.  Once I had all five arms cut out, I adhered them to the star with Liquid Glass.  Fine lines of Liquid Glass works great for fabric.  While it was drying for a bit, I sewed (yes, I hear the shocking gasps from all of you!) a fabric yo-yo   I didn't really know what I was doing, but I went to Pinterest and just followed a simple tutorial.  Really, it was so easy that I don't know why I don't do that more often!  Once I was done with that, I trimmed up the edges of star's arms so that there was no fabric overhang.  Now you know that fabric can fray, so I put an extremely thin line of Liquid Glass on the edges to stop the fray.  (What would we do without Liquid Glass?)  I attached the yoyo to the star (can you guess what I used - yep...Liquid Glass!)  I grabbed a slate glitter accent and thread a little tulle through the middle and added that to the middle of the yo-yo.  I finished it off with a tulle bow.

You could easily add color to this with a colored trinket pin.  I chose to add sparkle with flourishes on two of the arms.  If you click on the photo, you can open it up larger.  I LOVED working with the fabric.  I thought of a few other things I could do with it, so you may see those in the near future!  I do want to show you a video from Close To My Heart to give you some more ideas with what to do with fabric.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you have a great weekend!!

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A Gift of Seeds

Today I came home from some "icky" errands...dentist, store return, haircut (although she did a fine job!).  But what could be nicer than finding this in the mailbox from my wonderful friend and downline Lynn:

She used my favorite things - Buzz and Bumble, the color Creme Brulee, and loads of little detail.  She added that to her favorite - kraft paper - and WOWZA - look at the results!  Inside the white envelope are flower seeds (I LOVE that!), and the seed packet stamp is actually a note.  I have to tell you what the note says because it's so clever!  "Brenda, Seeds for the "planter of seeds"...idea seeds that is!  How cute is that?!!  I hope you'll take a moment to go over to Lynn's blog and share some love with her.  You will be inspired!

As I look around my office, there are pieces of my team members everywhere - cards galore, handmade gifts, a wonderful devotional book that I read every day, a warm shawl to cuddle in while I am mulling over an idea, an angel watching over me, and a lovely calendar.  All of these things remind me every single day that I am truly the blessed one to know and guide these women in their businesses.  

Close To My Heart is so much more than a business.  Not only is it a fabulous way to get a discount on Close To My Heart product, but it is a family of sister consultants that share their artwork, ideas, and their hearts.  Really, what could be better?

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spare me....

I am going to Chicago next week for Close To My Heart's Regional Celebration.  Have I told you how much I love Corporate Events?  I learn so much, and I am able to bring that back to you through my artwork and my business.  This one is extra special because I have TWO Rose Blossoms going with me!    What fun we will have!  One of the super nice things that CTMH gives us when we go to a Corporate event is a Studio J 5-pack.  I play in Studio J anyway but this is a nice time to let loose and try some new things.  Here's a layout I created using their pattern (loosely) as a guide.  I love the feeling of fun in this layout!  Thanks for stopping by today!

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April Stamp of the Month - My Sunshine

I wanted to show you the delightful April Stamp of the Month today.  With those hot air balloons and the brilliant sunshine, this stamp set is simply too much fun!  This is one of my April club layouts, and I love that it worked so perfectly with these pictures of us in St. Kitts.  I especially like that this paper was unexpected for the pictures.  Claire is a paper you may look at an think only girly.  But it's really so much more!!  This is really a very simple layout and that allows for the picture to pop off the page before the embellishments (something I think is very important).  But if you look closely, you'll see that I've used stamps for embellishments.  I want to teach my club members to use their stamps to create beautifully matched complements for a page.  Along with the stamp of the month, I used the Buttons, Bits, & Bobs stamp.  Aren't those stamped buttons fun?  The sentiment is from the Claire WOTG stamp set, and the letters are from Keyboard Kraft Alphabet.  Now, I used the Artiste cartridge to cut the balloon, sunshine, buttons, and "LIVE."  So as you can imagine, that made my crafting even simpler!!

Here's a scanned image of the April Stamp of the Month  It is just $5 with a $50 purchase!  But of course, remember that during the month of April, you can get it free with the New Consultant Kit!

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1st Rose Blossom Garden Challenge

I am so excited!!  It's time for the inaugural challenge at the Rose Blossom Challenge Blog!!  Here is my reveal using the Happy Birthday key (page 70) on the Artiste cartridge.

This is the pie-shaped gift box and is the 3-D item on the key.  Now, of course, you give your bestie a piece of pie in this box, but it would also be lovely filled with chocolate, coffee bean, jewelry, paper crafting embellishments - absolutely anything!  I've chosen these colors to look like a little bit of warm sunshine!

Other items I've used to complete the box are:

• Surf's Up paper
• Sparkle Flourishes
• Opaque Pearls
• Wooden Garden Shapes
• Mini Medley Wooden Shapes
• Burlap Ribbon
• Foundry Pin

I hope you'll head over there to see the fabulous artwork from the other design team members!!   There is are Top 3 winners, a Top Blossom, and a monthly prize.  I think you'll have so much fun!!

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