The tornado in Oklahoma has had a devastating effect and Close To My Heart wants to help. To aid relief efforts, Close To My Heart is making a new Autumn/Winter 2013 stamp set, A True Thank You ($2.95 retail), available immediately and will donate 100% of the profits from sales of the set from May 23 through June 30 to the American Red Cross. Help us provide relief to those affected by the Oklahoma tornado by purchasing the A True Thank You stamp set (M1029).

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Supplies used: Echo Park papers, Echo Park stickers, Echo Park journaling card, Making Memories Metro Mini Shimmer Alpha stickers, and Memory Shoppe wire flowers.  I used a sketch from Scrapbooks Etc.

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Welcome back to the Use Your Stash Blog Hop.  This month we are focusing on Metal Embellishments.  I bet you have a lot of those sitting around just waiting to be used.  If you are just starting, you can just continue until you make your way back here.  If you have already started the hop, you should be coming from Rachel Ventura.

For both of these layouts I pulled out some OLD supplies!  The paper and My Stickease ares CTMH but I couldn’t tell you the name.  I used glitter brads on the first layout and silver metal brads on the second layout.  I really love using brads because they are so easy to incorporate.

Now hop on over to Joy McHargue to see what she has done with metal!

Here are a list of Participants:

• Joy McHargue
• Nikki Forte’ DeWitt
• Tabbi Fritz
• Janet McCormick
• Shirley Ross
• Judy Faye Garner
• Rachel Ventura
• Wendy Kessler

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Get your special paper pack today!

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Welcome to our May Art Philosophy/Artiste Blog Hop!   As you know, both the Artiste and the Art Philosophy cartridges are available exclusively through a Close to My Heart consultant.  If you don’t already have a Consultant that you are currently working with, please contact one the Consultants in our hop with any questions you have!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, please start at the beginning at Lucy’s blog – Love 2 Create.   If you came from Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts then you are in the right place!

Our challenge this month features not only one of these amazing cartridges but we also have a Wedding  theme.  There are so many weddings this time of year!  Do you have any weddings coming up?

Supplies used are all Close to My Heart: For Always Paper Packet, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Artiste Cricut cartridge, For Always My Stickease Assortment, Sparkles Clear Assortment, and Bitty Sparkles.

Your next stop on our “Happily Ever After” hop is Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy.

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create
2. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts
3. Wendy ~ My Scrapbooking Blog
4. Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy
5. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
6.  Michelle ~ My Creations with Michelle
7. Traci ~ Paper Crafting 101

Thanks for hopping along with us – we hope we were able to inspire you in creating your own wedding themed projects!

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Supplies used: Sophia Paper Packet (retired), Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge, Chantilly Textiles, Harvest Baker’s Twine, Felt Alphabet – Keepsake (retired), Sparkle Flourishes, and Bitty Sparkles.

I have to admit when Close to My Heart came out with these fabrics I really wasn’t sure what to do with them.  It’s great that they coordinate with different papers but I have a feeling they will last me a very long time.  For my layout I used the fabric to create the butterflies and flowers.  The butterflies are roughly 2″ squares of fabric cut with pinking shears on the sides.  To create the flowers I first cut a long strip (about 1/2″) of fabric.  Then I twisted it so the pattern was mostly on the outside and from there I twisted it further into a circle.  As I did the final twisting, I used 1″ glue dots to adhere it to my paper flower.  The inside of the small flower is a strip of fabric tied in a loose knot with the ends cut off.  At first, I planned to use knots with the ends but I didn’t like it so I used those (they look like little bows) in the upper corner of my layout.  I used this sketch from Scrappy Sketches.

And here are some closeup pics:

Your next stop is: Judy Faye !

Participants:
Debi
Tabbi
Stephanie Chumbley
Wendy K.
Judy Faye
Shirley
Joy

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The May Challenge at Scrap Our Stash is a Patterned Paper Party!  Create a layout using THREE or more patterned papers from DIFFERENT collections.

Here is my layout:

Supplies used: EK Success Overton House Designs paper, Heidi Grace Designs paper, unknown stack paper, Making Memories Simply Stated Heidi Large White Alphabet Rubons, Stickabilities Alphabet Stickers, Prima Flowers, Michael’s rhinestones, and ribbon.  Sketch from Imagine by Close to My Heart.

At first I thought it was going to be difficult to mix patterned papers because I have switched to buying packs because they are so much easier to coordinate.  But what do you know…I have some really old paper!  This challenge was a good thing because these papers would normally be my last resort.  So single sheets here I come and this is what I came up with.  The best way for me to mix pattern papers is to choose one multi-colored paper as a starting point, then find mono-toned or less busy papers to go with it.  You can see this from my layout.  I have the striped paper and polka dot papers (mostly covered) as my busy, multi-colored sheets.  Then I added the pink flowered sheet, brown flowered sheet, green polka dots, and pink/green flowered sheet.  I have a large supply of Making Memories alphabet rubons making those the first that came to mind.  Even though I have a large stash, I do use them often.  They are good quality and make a quick way to add a title, similar to alphabet stickers but with more letters to use.

Now I will share the funny part of doing this layout.  I was as far as the pictures on the paper, just had to add a title and embellishments, when I realized that these are Christmas pictures – not birthday.  I certainly wasn’t going to start over at that point.  I decided that I did use pink and green so that’s close enough to Christmas colors.  I was just focused on how well the paper matched her outfit and I guess that’s what happens when your child has a birthday so close to Christmas.

What will you create? Go to Scrap Our Stash to submit your own layout.  You have until May 29th.

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Other great items for handmade gifts:
My Creations Kraft Containers
Clear Pillow Boxes
My Creations Paper Pouch – Small
My Creations Paper Pouch – Large

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Supplies used: CTMH Hooligans Paper Packet, Recollections Glitter Tape, American Crafts Elements Clear Mini Jewel Brads, Prima Black Rhinestones Flourish, and Making Memories Simply Stated Hand-Lettered Rub-on Words (Expressions).  I used a sketch from Sketch Savvy.

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Get the exclusive paper packet for only $10 when you spend $35!

In honor of National Scrapbooking Month, you can get the yummy Dream Pop paper packet for only $10 when you spend $35 in May (valued at $19.95 retail)!  This exclusive paper packet includes 12 cardstock sheets as well as 12 B&T Duos^® papers that were specifically designed for this promotion only—you can’t get these sweet colors and patterns anywhere else!  Start National Scrapbooking Month off right with a unique paper packet at a bargain price and get your creative juices flowing!  Also, consider hosting this month: Hostesses receive one paper packet free with qualifying May Gathering sales totals of $400 or more.

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These projects were all created with this month’s Stamp of the Month set.  Tips for these projects will be available on my CTMH website for one year from the date the stamp set is available.
Supply list:
X7166B Claire Paper Packet $9.95
X5668 Honey Cardstock $14.50
Z2197 Pear Exclusive Inks Pad $5.25
Z2195 Lagoon Exclusive Inks Pad $5.25
Z1812 Sparkles Clear Flourishes – Small $4.95
Z1807 Pink Glitter Gems $3.95
Z1790 Cricut Artiste Collection $99.00

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Here’s my layout:

Supplies used: Close to My Heart Buzz & Bumble Paper Packet, Close to My Heart Color-Ready Cork Alphabet, Making Memories buttons and flowers, and other Close to My Heart misc. retired embellishments.

I had a little trouble with the circle on this one.  I used the outside of a bowl to place the buttons but next time I will draw a line with pencil and then place the buttons.  Because of the different sizes, they didn’t line up as nice as I wanted them to.  This is a very different layout for me because of the colors but they worked well with the photos and I’ve almost used up this paper packet now.

There is still time to submit your layout at Scrap Our Stash.  You have until April 29th.

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On June 7, we will be creating the Claire Scrapbooking Workshop on the Go Kit.  If you are in Club, this is the time to order.  You need to order by May 3 by contacting me or joining the correct gathering on my website to receive it by the scheduled workshop date.

The Claire Workshop Kit includes:
Claire Paper Packet ($9.95)
My Acrylix^® Claire Scrapbooking Workshop stamp set ($13.95)
Colonial White Cardstock (2 sheets) ($0.80)
Claire Assortment ($5.95)
Keyboard Kraft Alphabet ($4.95)
Instructional Guide ($1.00)

Additional Layout: (directions on my website)

*Note: On the back cover of the Claire Workshop on the Go guide, the incorrect pattern is given for the left page of the additional layout.  The correct pattern is Reflections: Main Frame – Offset.

Bonus Project: (directions on my website)

Add these items to your order to create the workshop bonus project:
Z1818 6″ × 6″ Canvas Display $4.95
Z1812 Sparkles Clear Flourishes – Small $4.95

Required Tools: (if you are attending, I will have these available for your use)
E1024 Keepsake Alphabet stamp set $29.95
Z2175 Cashmere Exclusive Inks Pad $5.25
Z2193 Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks Pad $5.25
Z2140 Outdoor Denim Exclusive Inks Pad $5.25
Z578 Corner Rounder $7.95
Z697 Sponge $1.25
Z679 Liquid Glass $6.95
Y1000 1″ × 1″ My Acrylix Block $3.95
Y1006 3″ × 3″ My Acrylix Block $8.50
Y1010 2″ × 6 1/2″ My Acrylix Block $9.95

Not provided:
Z1294 Sanding Kit $3.50
Z 1151 3-D Foam Tape $5.95

Coordinating products:
X7166C Claire Complements Canvas Shapes $5.95
C1538 Girls Rock stamp set $13.95
D1547 Paper Doll stamp set $17.95
Z1815 Mini Clothes Pins $3.95
Z1816 Durables Artison Studs $3.95
Z1813 Claire Assortment $5.95 (included in Kit)
Z1825 Keyboard Kraft Alphabet $4.95 (included in Kit)

Colors (for cardstock, inks, and markers):
Blush, Cashmere, Cranberry, Hollyhock, Outdoor Denim, Sunset

When you place an order of $50 or more, you get the Stamp of the Month set for only $5.
The Stamp of the Month is:
(April) My Sunshine
(May) Pinwheel
*The Stamp of the Month may vary depending on your purchase date.  If you order online, it will be the month in which you are purchasing.  If you order by contacting me, it will be Pinwheel.

The current Constant Campaign is:
(April) Sign up to become a Close to My Heart Consultant and receive the April, May, June, and July Stamp of the Month sets for free!
(May) Get the exclusive Dream Pop Paper Packet for only $10 when you spend $35.
*The Constant Campaign you qualify for may vary depending on your purchase date.  If you order online, it will be the month in which you are purchasing.  If you order by contacting me, it will be the May special.

Here are my layouts:

If you don’t like lumpy embellishments, then you will want to pass on the flowers.  They are thick but very pretty.  As you can see, I adjusted the right side of the page to fit multiple photos.  This can be done quite easily with 2 or 3 photos too.  If you don’t get the stamping perfect on the pink strip at the bottom, just ink the edges and it will camouflage the flaw.  For my white strip, I stamped using the border stamp instead of multiples of the small flower (too time-consuming).

I know there are some of you who like to hear about my mistakes so here’s one and how I made it work.  I had the pictures for both of these layouts together in my paper packet.  When I went to get started, I pulled out the pictures for the second layout and cut them for the first!  I had a feeling that it wasn’t right but did it anyway….  I was going to reprint the pictures, not the end of the world, but I decided to just switch things up and they will still work.  You can see these smaller (ooopsy cut) photos on the first page of this layout and how I matted them to replace the one large photo.  My original plan was to make a photo mat to fit two photos on this page and add flip flaps.
The words that come with the Keepsake Alphabet are so neat and they fit so well into this layout that I added them to the blue edges in Outdoor Denim ink.  I also had to add Opaque Pearls Adhesive Gems and Opaque Pearl Flourishes for more elegance.

One last comment: From the book, I didn’t care much for the Keyboard Kraft Alphabet but now that I’ve used it I really like it.  I like using small letters but they are a pain to stamp so this is a better option.  There are a lot of letters on the sheet so it’s a good value and they are very easy to work with (you can move them around a bit on your page).

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The Move
I haven’t had much to share lately and to make a long story short, it’s because I have moved my scrapbook room – quite the feat!  Before I started, I thought I was moving to a larger room but in the end it seems smaller.  Must be the shape, I actually haven’t figured this out yet.  This wasn’t a completely bad situation.  It made me go through my supplies and get rid of what is just taking up space.  I have learned a lot in the past couple years as I have tried to buy less and work at using up my stash.  As a consultant, I still make regular Close to My Heart purchases but I know that this is what I love and use the most.  Much of the rest of my stash sits because I don’t make it much farther than what I have recently purchased.  Okay, so I still need to work on this!  My only regret with moving so far is that it was done in a rush and I was unable to paint the room before I moved into it.  I will probably live in the blue with animals for a long time before I build up enough energy to move everything and paint a more enjoyable color.  I do LOVE the window!

My desk is about the same, other than I have cleared off more space and have bottles of flowers on my desk now (less shelf space now and I do use these a lot).  That basket on the right of my desk contains necessary, commonly used supplies (ATG gun, adhesive, photo cutter, markers, acrylic blocks/stamp cleaner).  Since I am not able to always scrapbook in my room, this basket is easy to grab and go when I go to a friend’s or scrapbook downstairs.

These are my favorite storage items along this wall.  The stamp storage is no longer available but I like that it fits in a small area.  The 12×12 cubes are from Michael’s and they are great.  They tend to bow apart as you build them taller so I made the top and bottom open cubes and attached the sides instead of the top/bottom.  This seems to hold them in place better.  That tall cabinet I love to store all my paper.  I cannot believe that it has survived moves and holds all of my heavy paper so well (purchase many years ago at Shopko).

Here’s the inside of my closet as best I could get pictures.  It is a large walk-in so it is shared right now with my daughter’s clothes.  They may move out but I will need to use it for some other storage.

Maybe better from another angle:

I took out the curtain rods as was able to fit in perfectly these cube organizers from Target.  I really like these too but they don’t hold 12×12.  I have ribbon, metal embellishments, acrylic embellishments, and misc stickers/other embellishments stored in the baskets by theme.  On the right I have misc. 3D projects in the top cube, then more baskets, and the one that looks messy has photos and to-finish projects or to-use-right-now items.  You can also see clipboards slid into any open spaces.  I have run out of notebooks to alter so if I have a birthday coming up I will most likely whip up a clipboard (would be much easier to have done ahead of time!).  Clipboards are great gifts for kids and I pick them up cheap at garage sales.  It doesn’t matter if they are written on because I will cover it up anyway!

The bottom part here holds baskets with words, alphabets, gems/rhinestones.   Also idea books, card supplies, punches, and sewing.  The cubes to the right have CTMH business supplies and a 12×12 drawer unit from Michael’s which holds embossing supplies, glitter, chalk, colored pencils, etc.

My Supplies
Now, on to more specifics. Before, I had my supplies sorted in product categories (chipboard, metal, acrylic, stickers, etc.).  This really isn’t how I scrap and I wasn’t using those supplies.  I still have some of those and generals but anything that can be categorized by theme I have moved (birthday, Christmas, flowers, butterflies, words, letters, etc.)  This IS how I scrapbook and how I search for supplies.  I am have already been using more of my older stash with this new organizing.  I have gone through every single thing (with the exception of paper….still working on that) in my scrapbook room and have thought about if I will use it or not and if it is worth keeping.  I have added MUCH of my stash to my rummage sale pile and I feel good about it.  I’m sure I won’t miss any of it.

Ribbon Storage
Another realization is that I have A LOT of ribbon!  Not sure why but I haven’t been using ribbon much lately so that’s something I need to work on.  Part of the problem with my ribbon was that I had many different methods of storage and it was all over the place….ribbon spools, floss boxes, baskets, even a ribbon purse.  I left what was in the floss boxes because it is well organized and I like this method of storage.  My Pebbles Inc Ribbon Iron comes in handy with this storage and I love this little tool!  However, I had many more spools of ribbon that didn’t have a home and I didn’t want to invest in more supplies.

Here is my solution and really the best storage method that I have personally found.  It is inexpensive and you can put them away but they are still easy to access and view.  I taped and wrapped the ribbon on large recipe cards – ones that didn’t fit well in my recipe box (why do I even have these??)  You could also use index cards, cardboard, or cardstock.  Then I “file” the wrapped cards of ribbon in photo boxes.  As I was putting them on the cards, I tried to sort by color or coordinating ribbons for easier matching later.

So, there you have it.  I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my cozy scrapbook space and how I’ve organized my supplies.

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Welcome to our April Art Philosophy/Artiste Blog Hop!   As you know, both the Artiste and the Art Philosophy cartridges are available exclusively through a Close to My Heart consultant.  If you don’t already have a Consultant that you are currently working with, please contact one the Consultants in our hop with any questions you have!

If you have just began hopping, please start at the beginning at Lucy’s blog – Love 2 Create.   If you came from Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts then you are in the right place!

Our hop this month features not only these amazing cartridges but we also have a Mother’s Day theme since Mother’s Day is less than a month away.  Have you started your Mother’s Day projects yet?  This was the push I needed to get my cards made!

Supplies used are all Close to My Heart: Avonlea Paper Packet, Art Philosophy Cricut Collection, Artiste Cricut Collection, Black & Grey Glitter Paper, Opaque Pearls, and Bitty Sparkles.

I thought I would challenge myself this time around to use only Cricut cuts and no stamping!  I used both Art Philosophy and the Artiste cartridges to cut the card, butterfly, sentiment, and flourish.  By designing the card in Cricut Craft Room I was able to re-size and align all the images so they fit perfectly.  Instead of using more of the glitter paper than necessary, I used scraps and finished with a piece of Slate Cardstock for neatness.  Honestly, I really don’t care for the card I made and I’m not sure why.  I am thinking the butterfly would look better on a solid color than on the patterned paper.  And I was stuck on wanting to use the Avonlea paper. (sigh)  My dd came in and loved it so I think it’s still acceptable to use.  I think she likes all the bling!  Happy Mother’s Day!

Your next stop on our “Mother’s Day” hop is Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy.

Here is the complete lineup in case you get lost along the way:

1. Lucy ~ Love 2 Create
2. Theodora ~ Celebrate Crafts
3. Wendy ~ My Scrapbooking Blog
4. Michelle ~ My Flights of Fancy
5. Jennifer ~ 4 Hearts Scrapbooking
6. Stephanie Feist-Quilted Scrapper

Thanks for hopping along with us – we hope we were able to inspire you in creating your own Mother’s Day projects!

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Learn how to add photos to canvas by using Close To My Heart’s My Creations™ canvas display, your favorite photos, tissue paper, and finishing glue.

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Supplies used are all Close to My Heart: Sophia Paper Packet (retired), Sophia My Stickease (retired), Clear Sparkle Flourishes, Sweet Leaf Ribbon (retired), Green Glitter Glitz, and Stardust Glitter Glitz.

The Sophia Paper Pack was one of my favorites.  I still had some left along with the coordinating Stickease so I decided to use them for this challenge.  These are both retired but I also added in some current product.  The most common things I do with My Stickease is add 3D Foam Tape to add dimension, and add more embellishing to them in some way.  You could use brads, ribbon, sparkles, or my recent favorite – Glitter Glitz.  On my layout, I used Sweet Leaf Ribbon (retired), Sparkle Flourishes, and Stardust Glitter Glitz.  I also used Green Glitter Glitz to add some color and sparkle to the scalloped paper at the top of the page.  One more secret was the placement of the Stickease “buttons”… the scallop was a scrap that I had with my papers and it was a tad bit shorter than what I need for the page.  I used these button stickers to fill the gap!

Here’s a closeup:

Your next stop is Shirley’s Blog!

List of Participants:

1. Stephanie Chumbley

2. Wendy K.

3. Shirley

4. Tabbi Fritz

5. Melinda Everitt

6. Judy Faye Garner

7. Joy McHargue 

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