Join Me!

Happy Close To My Heart Anniversary to me!  20 years ago I made one of the best decisions of my life, I made the leap to become a CTMH Consultant!  In those early days, I was a D.O.T.S. (Dozens of Terrific Stamps) Demonstrator. 

I was introduced to D.O.T.S. by a friend.  I loved looking through the catalog, which is much smaller than our current Annual Inspirations idea book, and ordered two things; a scallop edge scissor and a little wooden stamp called Whitney's Message (pictured below).  I decided I had to keep Whitney as a reminder of my introduction to the wonderful world of stamping, demos (now called Gatherings), leading a team, conventions, incentive trips, and life long friendships!  I truly love my job!  www.margi.ctmh.com

March is a great month to join CTMH with the chance to receive two beautiful tote bags!  

The Shoulder Tote ($26.95 value) comes as a bonus with the Consultant Kit.  The $149.95 Rolling Tote is FREE by simply placing $300 in orders in the first 40 days of being a consultant!  That's $176 in totes added to the amazing kit value of over $350!

Only 15 days left of the offer!  I would love to help you start your CTMH adventure like I did 20 years ago!  You will be so happy you did!

Visit my website here for more details.  

Sign up special ends March 31st.  

Shoulder Totes while supplies last.

Fusion....Almost!

Oops!  I missed the deadline for this Fusion Card Challenge, but decided to share it anyway.  It was fun combining the pretty color palette and the sketch!

I've been wanting to use a darling little CTMH stamp set called Puppy Party for awhile and thought this would be a good time to give it a go!  The funny pup seems to scream (or bark) HAPPY and makes me smile!  

I used Close To My Heart Seaside and Scaredy Cat B&T (background and texture) papers along with some Kraft cardstock.  Ink pad colors are Black, Lagoon, and Sunset.

I added some bling with few Bitty Sparkles, Junebug Puffies and a strip of Teal Glitter Paper.  

There you have it! I hope this little guy makes you smile as well!   

February Simply Inspired Blog Hop

I'm super excited to take part in another Simply Inspired Blog Hop this month!  If you've arrived from viewing Dana's amazing art, you are on the right track.

We're all using Hostess Rewards Stamp Sets for today's Hop.  These exclusive sets are free for hostesses and are a BIG value as well!  The Hostess stamp sets from the Seasonal Expressions will retire March 31, so act quickly as a hostess to get them free!

I've used the darling Cuddly Salutations Hostess set from the Annual Inspirations for my scrapbook page.  I stamped a strip of Flaxen card stock with 3 of the designs and then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Heart Embossing Folder for a little added texture.  The adorable animals stamps would be perfect for mini cards, borders, backgrounds and more!  They're fun to color in with markers or colored pencils or leave them without color for a doodle look.

My photos are FaceTime screen shots of my sweet granddaughter Olivia.  Since we live a few hours from each other, we FaceTime nearly every day.  It's not the same as kissing those sweet cheeks in person, but it sure helps this lonesome grandma! 

Products used:

Cuddly Salutations page 10 Annual Inspirations

Hopscotch Paper Pack and Assortment accents

Title & Flower - CTMH Exclusive Cricut Cartridge - Art Philosophy

Heart Embossing Folder

Black card stock , Journaling Pen

Black stamp pad for stamping, Slate stamp pad for edging

Flaxen Extra Thick Twine  

Now hop over to Delightful Denise's blog to see what fabulous art my talented friend has created for us!  

Love Is In The Air!

 I remember how much I loved everything Valentine as a child!  From making cards to decorating a Valentine mailbox each year for school, I created them all!  I'd jazz up an old shoe box or cereal box with "elementary style art" using pink and red construction paper, white paper doilies, glitter, ribbon, and more!  With much anticipation, I'd wait for our school party date to come to give and receive all those special classmate cards!  It's funny how the things that made me happy as a child, still make me happy today.  I haven't created a mailbox for years, but I do make Valentine cards each year!  

Here's a card I made today at our February Close To My Heart team meeting.  This beautiful card was taught by Lynette Robbin.  I love the perfect combo of pretty Heartstrings Papers, Complements, accents, soft ribbon and sparkly glitter paper we used to create this card!  Hope you like it too!

I enjoy Valentine cards old and new!  This is one of my favorites from my vintage Valentine collection which I would guess dates back to about the 1930s or perhaps earlier.  This little cutie is a spinning card.  The little girl's facial expression changes three times as you move a wheel around on the back.  The back also has a tiny little easel stand to help display the card. 

Her third expression is the one that really makes me laugh.  Such a sour face!   I giggle each year when I take this card out to decorate for Valentine's Day!  Which is your favorite of her funny faces?

Last but not least is MY Valentine!  This guy has been putting the happy in my Valentine's Day for over 35 years!  Here's to many more years of hugs and kisses with my guy!

I hope you enjoyed your special day too!

Simply Pretty!

Sometimes a simple card can just be simply pretty!  We made this little card at one of my workshops this past week.  A few colors of stamp pads, a few stamp sets, a few accents and ta da.....simply done!  I hope you like!

Supplies used:

Stamp sets - Brushstrokes, Pretty Petals, A Blossom
Colonial White Cardstock 

Stamp Pads - Glacier, Champagne, Chocolate

Accents - Pathfinding Assortment

Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

Retired Products - White Daisy Sequins, Mocha Bitty Pearls

Simply Inspired "Year Noted" Blog Hop

Thanks for visiting our first Blog Hop of the year!  

If you've arrived here from the super talented Katy Taylor's blog, you are right on track. 

It's National Paper Crafting Month!  Each January Close To My Heart features a fantastic exclusive special and this one is amazing in both content and value!  

For only $5 on a $50 purchase, you'll receive Year>>Noted, a beautiful kit containing exclusively designed papers, stamp set, and foil stickers!  For just $5 more, you can add the My Creations Mini Book to the kit.  This sweet little book contains 10 page protectors will make up a darling little photo album highlighting events of your year.

I chose to show how versatile the supplies are and made a springtime card which could be used for a 

Birthday or Easter card.

How cute is this little lamb in a hot air balloon?  The design is part of a new stamp set called "Hopping By" found in the 

Seasonal Expressions supplement.  

The entire set is filled with adorable images!

The card is held together with Baker's Twine and tags cut with the CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge.

Additional CTMH supplies used:

Hopping By & Holiday Tags Stamp Sets

Desert Sand & White Daisy cardstock.

Archival Black, Sorbet, and Desert Sand stamp pads

 ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: Barely Beige, Light Orange, Turquoise Blue, Clay, Warm Grey

Baker's Twine Neutral Metallic Asst 

Journaling Pen, Scallop Border Punch

CTMH Exclusive Cricut Cartridge: Artiste, page 33, Accent 4.

Dot Embossing Folder

Now hop over to my friend Bren Yule's blog to see what amazing creations she has to share with us!    

If you get lost along the way, find the complete list of participants here at Dana's blog. 

Gifts From My Heart

Christmas always brings back special memories of family and my childhood.  My dad was a wonderful photographer who loved taking Christmas card photos to send each year.  I made a little canvas art gift for my sisters this year using one of my favorites of our annual photos.  This photo shows us in our little cherub choir robes singing in the glow of candles with real flames!  Apparently dad had a lot of faith in us to hold on tight to those candles! 

(I'm in the lower corner and should've held my candle straight.  Yikes!)

This little 6x6 canvas looks adorable resting on a small easel and hopefully with bring my sisters lots of happy memories each Christmas when they display it.  Gifts made from the heart are always the best to give!

Here are the steps to create a canvas art piece like mine:

1. Ink distress the edges of the canvas with a Chocolate stamp pad.

2. Cut and sponge Chocolate ink on the edges of B&T paper.

3.  Apply a very generous coat of Mod Podge to the canvas.  I used a foam brush.

4.  Apply the B&T paper to the wet canvas and smooth is down with your fingers.

5.  Immediately apply a generous coat of Mod Podge over the paper.  Don't worry if bubbles appear, they will smooth out when dry.  

6.  I added strips of paper to the edges of the canvas as well using the same technique as the front.

7. Decorate as desired.  I did not put Mod Podge under or over the photo.

CTMH Supplies:

My Creations 6x6 Canvas Display, Chocolate Stamp Pad, Gold Glitter paper, Yuletide Carol paper (zip-strip for message), Green Enamel Accents

Retired Products: Mistletoe Paper Pack and Assorted (flower) Accents, Green Sparkles, Word Rub-Ons (Joy, Love, Family)

Non-CTMH supplies: Ornament Accents, Mod Podge