Coaster Calendar

I found these great calendars here and had a lot of coasters from a bulk order I placed a year ago! So I decided to make these coaster calendars. I made several of these for a stamp of the month swap with other Close To My Heart consultants. I think the sentiment "celebrate the everyday" is wonderful for this project.

Close To My Heart products used: Grace Level 2 Paper Packet, Notice the Details (December 2009 Stamp of the Month), Hinges, Cocoa Ink

Other product: calendar, coaster

Money Envelopes

This year shopping has been the easiest thing ever! My parents have decided to put an in ground pool in the backyard (YAY!). So in lieu of Christmas presents we are all pitching in to the cost of the pool. I made these money envelopes for giving cash and checks as gifts. They were easy to make.


Step 1: Cut a piece of cardstock 7 ¼ x 10 ½
Step 2: Score the longer side at 3 ¼ and 6 7/8
Step 3: Cut a piece of patterned paper 3 3/8 x 7
Step 4: Add embellishments!

Close To My Heart products used: Jingle Level 2 Paper Packet, Jingle Level 2 Stickease, Twinkle Brads, Flurry Dimensional Elements, Waxy Flax, and Clear Sparkles


Other product: Stickles (glitter glue)

Nugget Tin

I bought these tins awhile ago. They are perfect for holding a dozen Hershey nuggets. I thought they would make a great gift for my coworkers this year. I used Jingle paper and a snowflake from the Flurry Dimensional Elements. With a ribbon and glitter it's a sweet and simple gift idea!

Handmade Christmas Gift

Today was my Christmas party with my fellow Close To My Heart consultants. Each of us needed to bring a handmade item for a gift exchange. A few months ago I bought Becky Roberts' tutorials. She has some great projects at her blog here. I decided to make the Totally Awesome Tote. It was a fun project and gave me a chance to use Close To My Heart product I haven't touched yet!

Supplies from Close To My Heart: Grace Level 2 Paper Packet, Childhood Potrait, Cocoa Ink, Grace Stickease, Vineyard Berry Ribbon (from Emporium Creative Basics)

Other Supplies: Scallop Punch (Martha Stewart), Punch (Stampin' Up), Magnet (Basic Grey), Silk Ribbon (May Arts), Eyelets (Stampin' Up), Pen, Post-It Notes

Nativity Christmas Card

If you're like me you have so many Christmas stamps you do not need to purchase anymore. Then Close To My Heart comes out with a new design and you change your mind. It was actually the November stamp special that changed my mind on this stamp set. This set is called Christmas Story. I love the sentiment included with this set. The paper is from a Jingle Level 2 Paper Packet. I colored the images with my Copic markers and used a gold metallic pen on the star. One other special touch is the fun flock on the sheep. It makes it fuzzy! I haven't used fun flock in awhile and I forgot how cool it is.

Christmas Card Tracker

This is a Christmas Card Tracker. Inside are pages to write names and addresses. Then for the next 4 years there are columns to mark when a Christmas card is sent and received. I'm not sure where I saw this idea, but someone else created the pdf of the inside pages. I downloaded last year and changed the dates for to 2009 - 2012. This is the first time I used Close To My Heart's 3 ring binder for a project. I love it. I can think of several other uses for it too! For example, if I delete the Christmas card columns it becomes an address book.

A few Christmas Cards

Yikes! The whole month of November went by and I haven't posted. This school year I am interning for my Montessori credentials and I've been extremely busy with that. The day after Thanksgiving I got together with my friend Randi. She scrapbooked wedding pictures (she's a newlywed) and I made these cards.

Both cards were made using the Crab and Company stamp set from Stampin’ Up. The paper is from a retired collection from Close To My Heart. I need to use it up before I buy more! I used Copic markers and a Gelly Roll pen for sparkle. I used the waterbrush for the sand in Desert Sand Ink and sponged Crystal Blue Ink. The finishing touches were liquid appliqué on the hat and liquid glass on the eyes.

Halloween Treat Bag

Every Monday I visit the blog of Jeanette Lynton, CEO and Founder of Close To My Heart. Color Me Monday is her challenge to use a certain color palette to create something from the heart. This color combination works perfectly for a project on my "To Do List."

Halloween is just days away and I have a dozen treat bags to make. I came across this card awhile ago and knew I wanted to make it. However, I don't usually make Halloween cards so I took this idea and made it into a bag. Here is how I did it.

Step 1: Gather supplies



- Sweet Leaf Cardstock, 9 inches high by 6 inches wide, width is scored at 1 inch and 5 inches, and scored 1 inch from bottom
- Smokey Plum Cardstock, 3 inches high by 4 inches wide, cut "spikes" in bottom, stamp saying in black ink in top left corner. The stamp in the picture is from the set Smarty Pants by Stampin' Up.
- 2 Black 1 inch circles, 2 Colonial White 1 3/8 inch circles, 2 Sweet Leaf 1 3/8 inch circles cut in half sponged in Sweet Leaf Ink (You will only use 3 of the halves.)
- Black marker, white gel pen, and ribbon

Step 2: Make the Frankie Face!


- Fold on all the score lines, you can see from the picture that I cut away the corner squares in one half of the box, and on the other I cut slits from the bottom to the score line to form flaps.
- Glue the hair and eyes to the box before assembling and add features with the black marker and gel pen.

Step 3: Assemble the Box

- Glue the two halves of the box together at the bottom and glue the flaps in to the bottom.
- Pull the box together and glue the sides.
- Attach the ribbon to the top with brads, staples, or paper punch and eyelets. I just paper punched a hole and then used a glue dot to the inside.
- Now add the treats!

A Nor'easter?

In the winter time the meteorologists scare us with the threat of a Nor'easter as a crippling snow storm! This is a first for me to hear it used in autumn for days of rain, but I guess that's what we've had over the past couple of days. It's been so cold too. I made this card awhile ago when the Magic Moments scrapbook kit was a monthly special. You can still purchase it here. Instead of making the layouts I used the materials to make cards and this. I love the poetic saying, but honestly right now I'm not feeling the rain so I guess I'll just get wet. I have a ladies' luncheon at church to attend so I'm heading out into the Nor'easter!

Halloween Matchbook Treat Holder

Yesterday we had a Close To My Heart Team Meeting at Joyce's house. We made this cute treat holder inspired by another consultant's blog. She gives credit to another person with this creative idea. I love hopping from one blog to the next to see how these ideas form and are used creatively. I am so thankful for the many crafters out there that share and inspire us!

The outside:

The inside:

Supplies: I'm not sure of all of the supplies! The pattern paper is from Twitterpatted (Close To My Heart). The stamp set is Beware (Close To My Heart). I'm guessing the cardstock colors are Autumn Terracotta, Sunflower, and Pansy Purple (Close To My Heart). The paper punch is from EK Success. 

October Stamp of the Month: Holiday Warmth

Here is a card I made for a swap using this month's Stamp of the Month. This stamp gave me some problems because of the star on top. I stamped the tree in archival black to color with colored pencils and the blending pen. However, that left the start on top in black. I didn't want to paper piece it because cutting little stars out would drive me crazy! What I wanted to do is add glitter. I knew Prisma glitter would show the black ink. Eventually the idea of using the glitter sheet from our new glitter rub ons came to me. To adhere the glitter I used the Bonding Memories glue pen then let the glue "dry" before I applied the glitter sheet. It worked perfectly. Now I remember why I like solid stamp images better then outlines! It is a cute and whimsical tree though.

Extravaganza Door Prizes

I just got home from a fantastic day of cardmaking! Here is a picture of the door prize I made. The cute milk cartons and carryall project was designed by a woman named Becky. She has a lot of wonderful tutorials for sale on her blog. Check them out by clicking here.

Stacy made two door prizes. I don't have a picture, but for those of you interested click here for a blog that gives the directions to make them.

I will be posting pictures of all the cards we made later this week. So check back soon!

Another Christmas Card for Saturday

This coming Saturday is the Christmas Card Extravaganza. I will be teaching two cards. This is the second one I prepared. I love the look of circle cards, and I've been seeing a lot of them lately. This design comes from book Wishes. I just got my copy of Wishes a few weeks ago! You can get your own copy by clicking on the picture and shopping at my web site.

For this card I used Jingle, the new Christmas paper. Since I had so many circles to cut out I used my Cricut today. I haven't used it in months! I used George and Basic shapes for the circles on the front. The base of the card was cut at 4 1/4 inches using Wild Cards. The first time I used that cartridge!

Supplies from Close To My Heart: Ornate Ornaments Stamp Set, Jingle B&T Paper, Juniper Cardstock, Twinkle Brads, Cranberry Ribbon Rounds, Staz On Ink, Juniper Marker, Tulip Marker, Crème Brulee Marker

Thinking About Christmas Cards!

You could join me and a few of my friends, who are Close To My Heart Consultants on Saturday September 26, 2009. We will be using new stamps, paper, and accessories from the Idea Book and Catalog to make Christmas cards. This is one of the cards I will be teaching. It's really a quick and easy card to make.

Supplies from Close To My Heart: Christmas Commentary Stamp Set, Sweet Home B&T, White Daisy Cardstock, Crystal Blue Cardstock, Indian Corn Blue Cardstock, Garnet Ink, Indian Corn Blue Ink, Dimensional Elements Flurry, Prisma Glitter, Pearls

September Stamp of the Month: Treasures

This is a card I made using the Stamp of the Month for September, Treasures. I haven't used my brayer in a long, long time. So it was fun to get it out and use it for the background after I embossed the image.


Supplies from Close To My Heart: Colonial White Cardstock, Twitterpated Background and Textured Paper, VersaMark Stamp Pad, White Embossing Powder, Sweet Leaf Ink, Sorbet Ink, Crystal Blue Ink, Chocolate Ink, Chocolate Polka Dot Ribbon, Club Connection Pearls

Other supplies: Glossy Cardstock

Rose Romance Card

It's been a while since I posted. Mostly because I've been attending summer classes for Montessori education this summer. Also, any free time I had was reading books on my Kindle, which was my birthday present to myslef in June. On September 1 Close To My Heart's new Idea Book and Catalog is released. To make room for new stuff I've been cleaning out the old. One thing I will never clean out though is a much loved wooden rubber stamp Rose Romance. Here is a card I made with this stamp years ago! Check back soon for artwork using new papers and stamps.

So Sketchy Challenge #8

After doing the color challenge I'm hooked on finding others. I found a sketch challenge on another Close To My Heart consultant's blog. You can find the details and other cards on Mary's challenge here. For my card I decided to use another stamp set that I haven't used yet. Since it's the right time of the year for bunnies I thought I'd better use it soon!

Supplies from Close To My Heart: Ocean Textured Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Textured Cardstock, Blush Textured Cardstock (using up the scraps!), Bunny Love Stamp Set, Organdy Ribbon (retired), Watercolor Pencils, Blending Pen, Piercing Tool Kit

Other supplies: Stickles (Ranger), Cuttlebug Machine and Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Provo Craft)

Color Chef Challenge #1

It's spring break and I am "free as a bird"! I've had this stamp for months and never used it. Does that ever happen to you? Then a fellow Close To My Heart Consultant created a color challenge and I was inspired! The rules were to use the colors Sweet Leaf, White Daisy, and Breeze or Ocean. You can see Kelly Jo's challenge here at her blog. I also used a new card design, Just Right, from the book Wishes, that will be available from Close To My Heart in June. I can't wait!



Supplies (All from Close To My Heart): Ocean Textured Cardstock, Sweet Leaf Textured Cardstock, White Daisy Cardstock, Bird Basics Stamp Set, Ocean Ink (first and second generation stamping), Sweet Leaf Ink, Sparkles, Chocolate Brad from Shade of Chocolate Mini-Medley

Tickled Pink

Close To My Heart is celebrating National Scrapbooking Month with a special collection, Tickled Pink. I enjoyed putting together these 2 two-page layouts together. The first one is "so happy", and I listed a few things that make me happy. The second layout is "i am...enjoying life". I'll be putting these in a Book of Me that I started a few years ago. The only layout I have is completed is my baby pictures. Now I need to do all the years in between!

Supplies (all Close To My Heart): Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit, Crystal Blue Ink, Hollyhock Ink, and Blush Ink

Then I loved using the stamp set and leftover paper to make several cards. Tickled Pink is available April 15 - May 31. You can buy the collection for $34.95 or earn it for free. Contact me if you'd like to know how!

Supplies (all Close To My Heart): Tickled Pink scrapbooking kit, Crystal Blue ink, Twilight ink, Hollyhock ink, Blush ink, Baby Pink ink, Sweet Leaf ink, White Daisy textured cardstock, White Daisy cardstock, Crystal Blue cardstock, Blush textured cardstock, Dainty Thoughts stamp set, Say It In Style stamp set, Classmate Alphabet stamp set, Sweet Leaf ribbon, Blush ribbon, Bamboo waxy flax, Winter craft buttons, Pretty Pins, Sparkles, and Winter Cozy Mini Medley

Love Is Book

I recently participated in a swap with other consultants. Each of us signed up for a part of the Bible verse from I Corinthians 13:4-8. We made 18 pages of our part of the verse and then swapped pages to have a complete book. The rules were to use That's Amore paper and two embellishments. I made the "love is kind." page. I had the pages before Valentine's Day and bound it with my Bind It All machine. I thought about giving it to my parents as a gift, but I bought them dinner instead. Now I can keep the book for myself!

Stationary Box

This is another project I worked on at my weekend retreat. I took the directions with me and was surprised when Michon, a fellow CTMH consultant had them too! When we started making our boxes a few others joined us. They all looked great. I'm still working on mine. My tags are not decorated, and I'm not sure what to do with my flaps. It's a little awkward when it closes. You can find the directions here.

Supplies (Close To My Heart, unless otherwise stated): Cardstock and Patterned Paper from Unforgettable, Aspiration Stamp Set, Kanji Phrases Stamp Set, Cocoa Ink, Blush Ink, Sorbet Ink, Cocoa Ribbon, Pewter Designer Brads, Sparkles, Love Letters Rub-Ons in Chocolate, Paper Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts), Die cut tags (Cricut machine)

Card Organizer

I spent last weekend on a Scrap n' Stamp retreat with other Close To My Heart Consultants. It was wonderful. I decided to use my time making projects that were on my to do list. This card organizer is something I saw on Splitcoast Stampers many months ago. You can find the directions here.

Supplies: Colonial White Cardstock (Close To My Heart), Magic Moments Background and Texture Paper (Close To My Heart), Magic Moment Scrapbook Kit - Only the Stickers (Close To My Heart), Color Ready Alphabet (Close To My Heart), and Bind It All