Merry Christmas 2012

It's time for Christmas!  Yesterday I finished my cards and thought I'd post just a few of them.  I wish you all a Blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year.  Enjoy all the special times and special projects.  (Yes...even the shopping!)  

Love this Silver Shimmer Trim.  It has an adhesive back and is super easy to put on cards or scrapbook layouts.  Also, the bow is using the Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon.....tops it off with bling.

This is actually  large bow made with the Cricut Artiste.  It measures  about 5" across .  I used plain white cardstock and then stamped in with Cranberry Ink Snowflakes.

This is my version of a Christmas Poinsettia. I'm using this tag on a gift  this weekend  for an early Christmas Party I'm attending

12" x 12" Christmas Layout, Page 1

12" x 12" Christmas Layout, Page 2 

Couldn't resist adding this picture.  This is Ladan, my youngest grandson who is adding  the star to my  family room tree.  Lots of responsibility!!  My son-in-law Matt is lifting him up, and my granddaughter Lexi is in the forefront enjoying it, too.

What's Happening???

I finally made the cards from the Avonlea Cardmaking Kit.  There are two of these kits in the Autumn/Winter Close to My Heart Catalog.  The other is a Christmas theme.  Each kit makes 15 beautiful cards, 5 each of 3 designs. It's really not difficult.  Complete instructions are included.  It took me around 2 hours to complete.  All embellishments are also included, so you can use the coordinating ribbon and bling.

The November Stamp of the Month is "Capture the Date".  When I looked at this set originally, I was not sure what I'd do with it, but once I started playing with it a bit, I came up with lots of ideas for it.  The other really neat thing about the November special set is that when spending $50, you not only get it for $5.00, but the company will be making a $1.00 donation to the Hurricane Sandy effort for each set sold!  Just another way to help those Americans along the East Coast who are in need.

It is so much fun to personalize a card for each special person on your birthday list.  

As I begin looking toward Christmas, I used the Cricut Artiste cartridge to create a Gift Card Holder.  It's quick and easy to make.  What a neat gift....who doesn't enjoy Gift Cards?!!

It's Autumn!

After a long, hot summer....it's Autumn.  What a beautiful time of the year.  With this comes a new Close-to-My-Heart catalog.  It's another new idea book filled with new stamps sets, new markers, new papers and MUCH more.  It amazes me that with each new book comes so much new and innovative product.  The company does a great job of keeping up with the national trends in the stamping and scrapping industry.  

Favorites....hmmm....it's so hard to say.  I LOVE the new Cricut Cartridge, Artiste.  A year ago CTMH came out with the first cartridge, "Art Philosophy" and with its 700 images, it quickly became an important part of my card-making and scrapbooking.  Now, with the new cartridge, yes it also has another 700 images, it promises to be another "must have" product.  This cartridge has lots of 3-D projects, each one more fun that the other.  As with "Art Philosophy", the "Artiste" cartridge also coordinates with many of the stamp sets in the new catalog.  All I can say is "Awesome"! 

Close-to-My-Heart really sells itself.  With the help of another CTMH customer, I have started a Scrapbooking Club.  I also still have my original Card-Making Club.  The scrappers will make layout (2 pages) and one card when they get together.  The Card-Makers make four cards or projects at each meeting.  If you are interested in either of these groups, let me know, there is room in each group for more people!  

2-Page Layout

Card made with Cricut Artiste Cartridge......Swing Card

Another Cricut Cut Card.....Closed and Open

Announcing Garage Craft Sale

Better late than not at all!!!  My craft sale starts this afternoon, 7/12/11.  Here's the schedule:  Today from 1:00 to 8:00, Friday from 9:00 to 8:00, and Saturday from 9:00 to 2:00.   My apologies for the late notice, but it slipped my mind.   Come see what I have......the garage is full of rubber stamps, papers, stencils, markers and MUCH more!   Hope to see you this weekend.

Cleaning The Craft Room

One of the first things I wanted to do once I retired was to clean out my craft room.  I worked for four days last week (yes....it took four days!).  I went through the entire space going through paper, embellishments, stamp sets and MUCH MORE.  I am preparing for a Craft Garage Sale next month.  Date TBA.  Here are some pictures I took AFTER I was done.  Look at these now, since it may not always look like this.  Enjoy the tour!

Desk #1 holds business papers and also is my Cricut Area.

   

Bookcase #1 with retired Acrylic Stamp Sets.  The beside is some workspace and also holds some paper packets that are organized into color groups.  

Bookcase #2 holds 12 x 12 paper

Closet - filled with current Stamp Sets, Scrapbooks, Envelopes and Supplies

Desk #2 is my work space.  Shadowbox shelves hold embellishments that I use often. 

Behind the door to the room I have my ribbon collection.

New Spring/Summer Catalog Released

The Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book was released on February 1st. It is full of card and scrapbook ideas using spring and summer colors. There are eight new paper packets that will help you make perfect spring/summer scrapbook layouts and/or beautiful seasonal greeting cards. Be sure to contact me to get your copy of this new catalog.

Along with the new stamps and products, there are still the staples of scrapbooks, page prrotectors, card-stock, ink, markers and more.

This is a card made with one of my favorite new paper packets, "Pemberly". Love the colors in this packet, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim, Desert Sand, Bamboo, Honey......these all blend beautifully to make your projects perfect.

This card was made using the Close to My Heart "Art Philosphy" Cricut Cartridge that was released last summer. The new catalog contains many new stamps that coordinate with that cartridge.

The butterfly is a paper butterfly that comes in white. I used my Indian Corn Blue Stamp Pad and a sponge to apply ink, thus coloring the plain white and making it blue. I added three small Opaque Adhesive Gems to the center to make an eye-catching embellishment.

This is a sampling of the "Pemberly" Paper packet......you'll love it!

This is one of my most favorite new things. It is "color-ready" ribbon that is white that you also color using your ink pads. It is really easy to do, and ties beautifully. You will notice that the cards posted above have ribbon of them that has been colored with my Indian Corn Blue Stamp Pad.

Call me with any questions you may have. Let me "show you how"!

Let's look forward to Spring,

Cathy