Join Me on Facebook!

I'm trying to give my non-scrapbooking friends and family a break by distinguishing my CTMH related posts from my personal posts on Facebook. To that end, I've created a business page on Facebook.

Like my Facebook page to keep abreast of current promotions and happenings. I'll also be posting artwork, how-to videos, tips and links of interest.

And of course, you're welcome to share! I'd love to see your artwork, using any product!

Happy Scrapping!

Capture the Date! Capture the Savings!

This month Close To My Heart has a special promotion for all of us who love stamping. When you place your $50 qualifying order and purchase the versatile November Stamp of the Month, you get an additional 50% off another stamp set!

Have you had your eye on a special alphabet stamp set but have been putting off purchasing it because of the price? With this promotion, you can get a big alphabet stamp set (regular price $29.95) for only $14.78! That's an E-size stamp set for less than the price of a D-size set. And the 50% savings applies to all regular priced stamp sets in the Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book and the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book. That's hundreds of stamps to choose from.

And if you're starting to think about the holidays, this is a great way to get some fabulous Close To My Heart products for yourself and a 50% discount on a stamp set to give as a gift.

Want to check out the November Stamp of the Month for yourself? Come visit me at the Admiral's Walk Clubhouse on Sunday, November 4th, from noon to 4PM. I will be there with a great selection of Close To My Heart products and a few projects made with "Capture the Date".

Happy Scrapping!

Meet me at the Clubhouse!

Get a jump start on your Christmas shopping!!

Meet me at the Admiral's Walk Clubhouse in the Port of Newcastle for a Crafty Christmas Bazaar. On Sunday, November 4th from noon to 4PM, I'll be at the Clubhouse with a bunch of great Close To My Heart products.

Come see what's in store for Christmas! From Christmas cards to decorations and ornaments to gifts, Close To My Heart everything you need to craft yourself some special, handmade Christmas magic.

I will be taking orders, booking Home Gatherings and will have gift cards available.

See you Sunday!

Avonlea Workshop on the Go Kit

I love the Avonlea papers. The mix of Avolean Teal, creams and browns is beautiful and calming. I love the shapes on the patterned papers and stamps too.

I knew I wanted to scrap something special with these beautiful papers and immediately thought of the photos I'd taken on Father's Day last year. The layout from the Avonlea Workshop on the Go Kit was perfect for these photos as well.

What I didn't realise until I began assembling the page, was I'd learn a new stamping technique!

Did you know you can use BOTH sides of an acrylic stamp? I never would have thought of it. If you have an image that's a symmetrical shape, you can stamp the reverse side of the stamp and get a "filled in" image of the shape. The Avonlea kit suggest stamping the reverse side of the doily stamp in second generation ink, then stamping the "regular" side of the stamp directly on top. The result is a perfectly shaped, tone-on-tone image.

I can't wait to try this technique with my other stamps!

Another feature I love about this kit is the velvet rub-ons. They're easy to use and add a great fuzzy texture to the page. Add a few gems and there's a lovely contrast of texture and sparkle.

Even though this kit provides enough product to complete the two double-page layouts, additional recipe box project plus some, I like these papers so much, I think I'm going to have to buy another pack!

Studio J! Try it Today!

October is a great time to try Studio J, Close To My Heart's online scrapbooking tool. This month's promotion offers a FREE Studio J double-pay layout for every 9 purchased. Buy 9 layouts, get the 10th free; buy 18 layouts, get 2 more free!

Best of all, you can try Studio J, anytime, for free. Just visit the Studio J area of my website, create an online account and start scrapping!

Studio J has streamlined the online scrapping process into 4 easy steps:

1. Start a New Project: This is the starting step. When you want to create a new page, or series of pages, click this button to begin.

2. Upload photos: Upload the photos you'd like to scrap directly to the Studio J website. The photos are stored in your project folder and are available for any projects you create in that folder. You could upload all your photos for a particular event and scrap multiple pages under the same project!

3. Select your layout: Studio J allows you to chose pre-made layout templates, give you the ability to alter them or start from scratch with your own design. It's easy to chose the perfect template with the drop down menu that sorts templates by number of photos.

4. Select your paper kit: Studio J has dozens of paper kits for you to chose from. Papers from the current Idea Book as well as papers from past Idea Books. Whatever your subject, there are multiple paper themes to chose from. And each paper kit comes with My Stickease digital stickers. The stickers include an alphabet, borders and different sized stickers. My Stickease may also include title, quotes, tags, frames and more. To make scrapping even easier and faster, Studio J will suggest paper arrangements for the template you've chose. Just select the one you like best!

Now get scrapping! You can change the papers, colours, embellishments , orientation and add text. You can add brads, ribbon, stitching and even distress the papers. Studio J makes altering your layouts easy by suggesting co-ordinating colours.

And you can do all this, make as many Studio J pages as you like, with no commitment. With no membership fees and no pre-paid access, you can use Studio J, as much as you like for free!

When you love your layouts and have decided to order, just check out, approve your layouts and place your order. Double-page layouts are only $6.95 each and come with free .jpeg files you can download within minutes of placing your order. For scrappers who only want .jpeg files, you can order those without ordering the printed pages, for only $2.95 per double-page layout.

I've said it before, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool paper crafter, but Studio J has transformed my hobby. My scrapbooks are almost up to date, I can easily share finished pages with family and friends via email or on Facebook, I'm saving time and money by working on Studio J. And there are no messy scraps to clean up afterwards!

Try it! You'll like it! I did!



Flirty & Fab

I don't often fall for papers with a lot of pink, but the beautiful Flirty papers grabbed my attention.

The Flirty paper pack has bold Raspberry and calm Desert Sand colours with a little bit of Goldrush thrown in. The co-ordinating chipboard elements include the lovely flower images from the papers as well as beautiful butterflies, leaves and even a tree.

The sentiments are autumn-themed and together, the paper packet and chipboard are perfect for photos set in a fall garden or outdoors.

But I couldn't wait for great fall photos. When I received my Flirty Workshop on the Go Kit (complete with the paper packet, chipboard, an exclusive C-size stamp set, gems and additional cardstock) I knew it would be perfect for summertime photos of a trip to Niagara.

My t-shirt goes great with these papers! As do the pinks and yellows of the flowers.

Dress up chipboard with bling!

I used the Botanical and Friendship Alphabet Large for the title, natural Hemp twine for the stitching and dressed up the chipboard with bling. The ink colours are New England Ivy and Goldrush.

As a bottom border, I stamped the leaf stamp repeatedly with New England Ivy ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

I made a second layout using the Flirty kit, also about a Niagara Parks garden. For this layout, I used Goldrush cardstock as a base, which makes the Flirty Raspberry patterned paper really pop! I also used Colonial White cardstock for the title and journaling spot. The photo mat is made from New England Ivy cardstock and the edges of all the papers have been inked with Chocolate distressing chalk ink.

The lovely scalloped border across the bottom of the page was created using the Gratitude sentiment stamp from the Workshop on the Go kit. I simply stamped a row in New England Ivy across the bottom of page and covered the top 2/3 of the stamp with patterned paper. I added a gem to each scallop.

To create the journaling spot, I simply die cut the shape and inked the edges with Goldrush ink. I used the twiggy stamp with Goldrush ink; stamping it once in full colour and stamping again, without re-inking, for a softer image. For a final touch I added a chipboard butterfuly and different sized gems to both the journaling spot and butterfly wings.

The title is stamped using my new favourite alphabet stamp set: Token Alphabet. This stamp set offers several backgrounds for the inner circle enabling you to create a variety of looks with a single stamp set. For this title, I stamped the mesh background in Goldrush ink first, them stamped the letters directly over in New England Ivy ink. The chipboard sentiment "Beauty in..." is dressed up with 3 mico-mini gems in place of the ellipses.

To finish off this page, I added a large chipboard flower and vines as well as a tied off ribbon from the Designer Ribbon Pink Collection.

These two double page layouts, made with the Flirty Workshop on the Go Kit, are a beautiful addition to my album. And with lots of papers, cardstock, chipboard and bling left over, as well as the stamp set, I still have enough for another scrapbook page, cards or another project. What a great value!

The Big Reveal!

Here it is Scrappers! The Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book! Just click the link and start browsing.

The new Idea Book is full of new products and ideas. Here's a short list (yes, this is actually a SHORT list) of my favourites:

* Exclusive Inks Mini Pigment Pad Sets (pg. 3/$19.95): These 10 pad sets in 4 new colour families make it easy to purchase all the colours you need for stamping and colouring.

* Workshop on the Go Card Kits (pp. 22 & 66/$29.95): Everything you need to make 15 cards per kit and lovely stamps sets you'll use over and over again.

* Pear & Partridge Paper Packet (pg. 62/$9/95): It's whimsical and traditional. A beautiful Christmas palette with a burst of Smoothie. The pear and partridge images are just too cute!

* Jardin Stamp Set (pg. 39/417.95): These romantic images are perfect for Valentines and pages celebrating the one you love.

* Magic Potions Stamp Set (pg. 57/$13/95): These spooky apothecary labels are great for embellishing a Halloween page, or take them off the page and use them to decorate Halloween treat bags. Best of all, the Circut Artiste cartridge cuts all the labels for you!

* Tea Time Stamp Set and Outta This World Stamp Set (pp. 104-105/$13.95 each): For a girl or boy, the cutest birthday invitations are just a stamp away.

* Trinity Alphabet Stamp Set (pg. 115/$29/95): This stamp set should be in every scrapbookers collection. It has 3 versatile alphabets in one set as well as 2 number sets. The largest set is easy to trim and the smallest set is perfect for journaling. If you only buy one stamp set, this is the one to get.

*My Legacy Faux Leather Albums (pg. 121/$24.95): A great price for a great product. I've tried many different albums over the years, including the high-end ones, and this one is the best I've encountered, hands down! These are the only albums I'm buying here on in. (Make sure to get the Label Holders (pg. 122/$4.95) to easily identify your albums.)

* Burlap Ribbon (pg. 124/$7.95): It's rustic. You can stamp it, distress it, cut it into shapes. A must have for autumn pages.

* Velvet Rub Ons (pg. 126/4.94): You may have a hard time choosing between these 4 different rub on sets, but at this price, why not get them all?

* Display Tray (pg. 129/$19.95): Trending with scrapbookers everywhere, the display tray allows you to show off special photos and memorabilia. See page 89 for a dressed up tray.

* My Creations Canvass Journal (pg. 132/$8.95): So versatile and useful, for personal journals, notebooks, gifts. I'm going to be stocking up on these!

* Studio J (pp. 12-13): No more membership fees! New Express Collections! New papers! Best pricing! Digital scrapbooking is easier than ever!!

There are so many more new and amazing products. Pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy flipping through and exploring each page. If you'd like your own hard copy of the catalogue, just email me.

When you've made up your wish list, contact me to book your own Home Gathering--the best way to start shopping!

Happy Shopping!