Tuesday, December 30, 2014

50th Anniversary Party for My Parents


On December 22, 2014 my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary! My niece and I collaborated on their party. We started a Pinterest board months ago and pulled inspiration from there.

For this event we wanted to give my mom the tiered wedding cake she never had! My niece's boyfriend's stepmom baked the cake. Then she and my niece decorated it. It was delicious!

For favors we decided to do a candy bar. Bags were at the table and guests were told to scoop up some golden treats. Each jar had a chalkboard labeled with the kind of candy that was in the jar.



We pinned a lot of ideas on centerpieces using mason jars, but due to time I ended up doing something simpler. I wrapped the jars in burlap ribbon then added a a smaller width of gold or white ribbon. I wrote a part of the Bible verses in I Corinthian 13 on each chalkboard shape and embellished with a paper flower and gem. On the opposite side is a wooden heart covered with a white, punched heart shape. Before I punched the paper I ran it through my printer. They have my parents' names and the dates 1964-2014. We chose real flowers over artificial so we purchased white roses, baby's breath, fern, and gold ting ting from a local florist.


The church hall had chandeliers and my niece made these pom pom shapes to hang on them.


On Pinterest I came across an idea to have the couple's wedding picture enlarged for an anniversary decoration. I improvised by getting my mom's wedding dress and my dad's Coast Guard uniform, that he wore for the ceremony. Then I cropped their faces and printed out an enlarged photo of that to add to their outfits. 



The photo display is from a pin I saw. I flipped through decades of photos looking for ones that had BOTH my mom and dad. Then I scanned them and converted them all to black and white. The banner was a last minute thing I was able to create. I purchased the burlap sheets for another project and ended up not needing them. Then I found out that you could use the sheets in your printer.


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Joyful Stars December Blog Hop



Welcome to the Joyful Stars December Blog Hop! If you've come from Joyce's blog you're on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, that's fine, just continue from here and when you get back to me, you know you've seen them all! 


My project is a Christmas card featuring the new Hopscotch paper packet, new white shimmer trim, and white enamel stars. The sentiment was created with the A Typeface stamp set. Lastly the amigo is my Sticky Boy! 

Sticky Boy is a much loved icon by Close To My Heart consultants. He first appeared to introduce our amazing My Acrylix® Stamp Sets 10 years ago! We are celebrating that anniversary and Sticky Boy's birthday with the Deal of the Decade special this month. Sticky Boy appears to consultants at Close To My Heart's annual convention. I was lucky to find one in Washington DC in 2010, but sadly he met with a cruel fate.


This was right before Convention 2012 in Dallas. I was hoping to get another one and lucky me I found a little baby Sticky Cowboy. Yeehaw!



Even better was the 2013 Convention in Disney World. Close To My Heart supports the charity Operation Smile and during the auction it was my privilege to bid on and win a full sheet of Sticky Boys. This stamp set has not been used until today! I wanted to make special cards for my amigas this Christmas. 




Your next stop is Krista's blog.

Just in case you get lost or experience a technical difficulty, you might want to keep Joyce's blog open in a separate tab as she has a full list of participants!

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Christmas Card Parade - Day 2




This year I am using up what's in my stash to make my cards. So I will be posting quite a few different ones this year.

Last year I purchased the Frosted Cardmaking Workshop on the Go kit and never put the cards together. I knew that I wanted to use different colors and papers. Frosted had grays and blues, and I wanted to go with traditional Christmas red and green. I used the current Yuletide Carol paper with the stamp set and embellishments that came with the kit.

I used these current supplies from Close To My Heart. Click image to shop!

Yuletide Carol Paper Packet

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Christmas Card Parade - Day 1




This year I am using up what's in my stash to make my cards. So I will be posting quite a few different ones this year. First is a trio of cards that uses the cutting guides in the retired Ivy Lane Workshop on the Go from Close To My Heart. I had enough of this paper from Basic Grey to make four of each design. 

I used these current supplies from Close To My Heart. Click image to shop!


Christmas Village Stamp Set
Silver Shimmer Trim

Merry, Merry Stamp Set

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Seasonal Expressions 1 Is Here!

Enjoy four months of fabulous product.
Seasonal Expressions idea book
It’s finally here, the idea book you’ve been waiting for! Full of unique ideas and bright, detailed photos, this themed seasonal book is sure to delight! From now through March, you can order some of the most charming Valentine’s- and spring-inspired papers, stamps, and embellishments you’ve ever seen. The vivid colors and patterns will give your layouts and cards a fresh look and plenty of pizazz. See the contents for yourself now in Seasonal Expressions 1!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Cyber Monday Deal from CTMH


Cyber Monday Only: 20% Off All Cricut® Collections!

For the first time ever, Close To My Heart is offering a Cyber Monday Sale on Monday, December 1, 2014. There has never been a better time to buy Close To My Heart’s exclusive Cricut® Collections for 20% off the retail price. Whether you love scrapbooking, cardmaking, or creating 3-D projects, our four exclusive Cricut® collections make the perfect addition to any craft room! Sale starts at midnight (MST) on December 1 and ends at 11:59 pm Monday night. Make sure you share the news about this sale with all your friends and family members, too! Visit my web site to order.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Snickers Bar Snowmen


Take a Snickers Candy Bar, wrap it with white paper stamped with "snowman" features, add yarn for a scarf, cut a finger from mitten and glue to the top, and finish with a pom pom. The viola! You have a Snickers Car Snowman!

Jake's Flea Market, Rt 100 Barto, PA, is having Holiday Craft Show (inside the New Treasure Barn) this Sunday, November 16th 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. My friend Jean and I will be there with paper crafts. I'll be selling these snowmen and several other projects I've been creating.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Joyful Stars November Blog Hop


Welcome to the Joyful Stars November Blog Hop! If you've come from Stephanie's blog you're on the right track. If you just happened upon my blog, that's fine, just continue from here and when you get back to me, you know you've seen them all! 

Fall is my favorite season and my dad's love of the Thanksgiving holiday has rubbed off on the entire family. So today I want to share two projects I've created to celebrate the season.  My first project features Close To My Heart's Base and Bling line.






 The key to a grateful heart is love. 

My next project is a wreath featuring the Pathfinding Paper Packet. I did use some retired items in my stash to embellish it. 



These two items and several more things I made this weekend are for an upcoming craft fair at Jake's Flea Market in Barto, PA on Sunday, November 16. If you are local stop by between 8:00 AM - 2:00 PM! Thanks for visiting my blog and hopping with all of us this month.

Your next stop is Nickie's blog

Just in case you get lost or experience a technical difficulty, you might want to keep Joyce's blog open in a separate tab as she has a full list of participants!

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Joyful Stars October Blog Hop


Welcome to the Joyful Stars October Blog Hop! Many of you are hopping form Stephanie's blog, and some of you may have started with this blog post. Either way this hop is a circle so just continue hopping along until you get back to my blog. That way you see all of the fabulous projects for this month. 


I love paper crafting, which makes sense since I'm a Close To My Heart Consultant! But I do this as a hobby. I have a full time teaching job and that always has me busy with other things at this time of the year. So I understand when someone tells me they'd like to do this hobby, but just don't have the time. In Close To My Heart's 2014 Annual Inspirations book a new line of items debuted called Cut Above™.  I love that these items are already precut and ready to assemble with some optional stamping. 



The Halloween Treat bag kit (retail $14.95) makes 10 bags. If you purchase circular candy you can adorn them with the stickers in the kit. The artwork from Annual Inspirations also uses the stamp set Sweet Salutations











I switched it up for my project. The circle stickers were used to close the bags instead of the stamped "Sweet Treats" sentiment. That way I used just what was included in the kit, a stapler, and of course the candy! Faster. Simpler. Easier. Anyone can put together these treat bags in minutes, and I'm sure you'll receive lots of compliments about them!

Your next stop is Nickie's blog

Just in case you get lost or experience a technical difficulty, you might want to keep Joyce's blog open in a separate tab as she has a full list of participants!

Saturday, September 27, 2014

FSS Scribble Rose in Purple


Another card with the digital stamp, Scribbled Rose, by Fred She Said Designs. There is a pre-colored purple one, my favorite color! The paper is a retired collection from Close To My Heart and I kicked it up with purple shimmer trim that is also from Close To My Heart. 

This card was so quick and easy to put together. If you're looking to add some digi stamps that you can color or are pre-colored check out the store at Fred She Said Designs now, because there is a sale that ends today!

FRED SHE SAID DESIGNS is having an END OF SUMMER SALE!  And there are new floral releases just in time :)  You can find more info at the FRED SHE SAID BLOG.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinH0C_QcnrrmqDhYxnXTNNk4DfiAnk3T9MGnOsVry9TAppqZadxBb6OmyumajV8uuxcYLZczC6e0FK799AV2MtDl-7ybO6ldSfyry7QMprGIqQJDnAzTLcKnI-ApMaelT1ASyCehfBlQU/s1600/FSS-End+of+Summer+SALE.jpg

Monday, September 22, 2014

Halloween Pop-Up Card


The newest Cricut cartridge from Close To My Heart is Artfully Sent. I just received my cartridge and had time this weekend to play! I made this card with the cool pop up scene in the center. I also used Scaredy Cat the new paper pack and compliments.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

FSS Scribbled Rose Step Card


There are new releases from Fred She Said! This digital stamp is the beautiful floral, Scribbled Rose. There is a a digi version for coloring fans and a pre-colored version for those who want to put together a quick card. I used the pre-colored version for this card. I matched it with paper and a sentiment sticker from My Mind's Eye Kate & Co. Cambridge Court collection. I also used a step card SVG file from Lettering Delights. I love traditional stamping but I appreciate how easy cardmaking is with Fred She Said Designs. Check out their designs and quickly, because there is a sale!


FRED SHE SAID DESIGNS is having an END OF SUMMER SALE!  And there are new floral releases just in time :)  You can find more info at the FRED SHE SAID BLOG.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinH0C_QcnrrmqDhYxnXTNNk4DfiAnk3T9MGnOsVry9TAppqZadxBb6OmyumajV8uuxcYLZczC6e0FK799AV2MtDl-7ybO6ldSfyry7QMprGIqQJDnAzTLcKnI-ApMaelT1ASyCehfBlQU/s1600/FSS-End+of+Summer+SALE.jpg

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Christmas Card Making Day 2014


Today was Christmas card making day! The card above is a card that I taught at the event. This is more an intermediate level project as the beginners found it a little tricky. The pieces are cut with this file in Cricut Design Space. The file is shareable and you can cut it as long as you have Close To My Heart's Artiste and Art Philosophy cartridges linked to your account.

Here is a look at the other cards that my consultant friends Joyce, Stacey, and Stacy designed and taught.









The polar bear card is a shutter card. Below is a video of how the sentiment is revealed!