More Cricut

Here's a little sneak peek at our new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

CTMH is introducing this Cricut cartridge beginning August 1 (tomorrow) that you can now use with our exclusive Acrylix stamps! Cut any of the 700 shapes with the touch of a button. Numerous stamp images in the new Idea Book pair wonderfully with images on the Art Philosophy cartridge. Along with the cartridge you will receive 3 D-size stamp sets and 3 sheets of Dimensional Elements.

 I just got mine yesterday and I am sooooooo excited to open it all up and start playing!

 A very lovely fellow CTMH Consultant has put together this little YouTube showing us all a little bit more to do with our newest product, Art Philosophy, check it out:

Game Night with the Master!

I love to have my nephews over but between the two families, it isn't often possible...in the summertime though, our schedules are a little more flexible...the boys thought it would be fun to play some Monopoly... the family favorite game...unfortunately for the boys, when playing with Jaime (the Master) he has always played to win! no matter what age, no matter what game, no matter who he's playing...and this time was no different...these two boys were 'schooled' in Monopoly!

I've been wanting to play with these pictures for a couple weeks, so I hunted down a great sketch from the Let's Scrap site...this one is 1-26-11...

and here's the sketch if you were interested in seeing or playing with it!

Check out this video to see how easy it is to use our new Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge to amp-up any of your current layout or card projects...

I am still waiting for the Purolator Dude to deliver my order of new CTMH stash from our soon to be 'live' Autumn/Winter 2011 Catalog! stay tuned for some CTMH artwork coming soon!!!

Memory Makers Sketch and Colour challenge

Becky Higgins from PageMaps is supplying another fabulous sketch for this month's challenge at Memory Makers magazine site...scroll down to see my take and why not give it a try yourself!

Here's the site link to  COLOURlovers (highly addictive if you love color) 

Design Team News

"Congratulations!!!! You have been selected to be on the Let’s Scrap Design Team!!"

Just got the news last week...I've been invited to join the August-November term on the LET'S SCRAP Design Team! I am super excited to share my creations with you weekly and super excited to be a part of this fantastic site...everyone there is so friendly and all their challenges and inspirational groups are where it's at!

WOOOHOOO!!

This is the sketch for this last Wednesday in July...sketch# 7-27-11

thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful day :)

I'm back and revved up to go!

Good morning! I'm excited to be home from my 4 day fishing trip at the beautiful Queen Charlotte Lodge and super excited to start letting you know about all the exciting things happening in August!

First things first though...here I am catching the big one!

Let me mention, all the the fishys you see in these pictures are actually mine...my husband was very proud of me and my ability to catch fish...I was able to hit all my limits! I caught 4 Chinook salmon, 15, 16, 20 & 23 pounds...and all 4 of my Coho salmon limit...I caught at least 30 Coho salmon and released them as my limit was only 4...let me tell you it is hard work bringing these little babies in! 

Our freezer is packed! Luckily at the Queen Charlotte Lodge, they gut, clean and cut your fish how you'd like so we brought home some whole, some cut in one pound chunks and some in fillets...we even have a couple Coho's being smoked!

I wasn't as die hard as my hubby, fishing from 6:00AM to 7:00PM every night, but I did meet up with him at the 'lunch boat' around 1:00PM every day and was still able to catch everything I needed! Which I think might have been a tad irritating for him ;) The last day fishing I went to their Spa for a 90 minute massage...then went fishing...caught my 16 and 20 pound Spring Chinook and a couple Coho's...did I mention that my husband was only able to get 2 Chinook...?!!

Stay tuned for more news on the creative front as there is loads to tell!!! TFSB

Close To My Heart has shipped their Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book's and I wanted to give you a sneak peek at the first Workshop Projects that I will be featuring when our Workshops start up again in September! This paper collection is called 'Typeset' and I am loving the look of this first layout!

There are so many new things to tell you about with CTMH so I'll just start giving you bits and pieces...you'll notice the corrugated shapes for one...they are included in this Workshop On The Go kit.

The MAJOR change is the Level 2 paper packs...they have changed all their patterned paper or background & textures paper or B&T duos we call it at CTMH... to a heavier cardstock-weight! 

Which I am actually really thrilled about! The second major change to the Level 2 paper packs is that they are including 6 - 12"x12" B&T Duos (2 each of 3 doubled-sided designs) and 6 - 12"x12" Cardstock Sheets...for $10.95... so for those of you regular Level 2 purchasers, you'll have noticed that they have 6 instead of 12 sheets of B&T duos and 6 instead of 10 Cardstock sheets...you'll also notice that the price has gone from $14.95 down to 10.95...

I am actually happy with those changes as I know I will actually use up ALL my paper packs! Right now as I prepare for all the new products coming my way...I am trying to use up my CTMH stash...some paper packs I still have from 4-6 sheets of B&T duos papers left! Which isn't always a good thing when you are like me and want to play with something new!

Here's the second layout:

and these are the optional* projects that you can complete with this Workshop kit

Note: optional* projects will often require additional products, in this case you will need to add: 

1 – Dark Neutral Cardstock Shade Pack (X5912)

1 – Wooden Designer Buttons (Z1387)

Check out my Monthly Hostess Clubs HERE

There's some good news and there's some bad news...

OK...so there are so many changes in this Idea Book and I touched on some of the major additions the other day...today I want to let you know what IS NOT in the newest Idea Book! 


Now I can't tell you 'Officially' which items will be on the 'Retirement List'...but I can tell you that embellishments and paper collections that are not in the current book are while supplies last and in the instance with most of these items listed below, they will not be orderable after August 1st. So with that being said, here's the list:


Level 1 Paper Packs: ALL (Sophia, Sweetheart, Miracle, Bliss,Wings, Fanfare, Lucky, Mayberry, Olivia, Hooligans, Magnifique,Mistletoe)
Level 2 Paper Packs and coordinating MyStickease: Sweetheart,Miracle, Bliss, Wings, Hooligans, Olivia, Magnifique, Mistletoe
Workshops-on-the-Go: All from the Spring/Summer Idea Book.
Envelope Flaps: ALL
Various Accessories: Sophia Level 2 Journaling Spots, Kraft Color-Ready Borders
Mini-Medley Accents: Pear, Lagoon
Dimensionals: Borders, Booksmart, Framed Fun, Monograms (will be available in a different style), Miracle, Villa
Rubons: Across the Board, Primavera
Ribbon: Cranberry Collection, Sweet Leaf Collection, Buttercup Collection
Top Coats: Framed-In
My Creations: 3x3 Mini Album (sold out), 3-Ring Binder
Supplies/Tools: Red Eye Pen, Block Buddy Set, Pivot Point Stapler,Fun Flock, Purple Paper Trimmer (will be available in different style)
Embossing Powder: Baby Pink, Clear (Clear Detail still available),Heavenly Blue, Pansy Purple, Silver Pearl
Organizers: My Accents Organizer (No longer available), My Acrylix Block Organizer
Blocks: 1 x 1 1/2, 1 x 6 1/2, 2 x 11, 2 1/2 x 2 1/2, 4 x 4, 4 1/2 x 6 1/2
Cardstock: MOST 24 (single-color) Packs of coloured cardstock are not going to be available...they have  changed the Combo packs configurations  (2 of 12 colors, instead of the current 4 of 6 colors).
Inks: Marker Sets, Ink Pad Sets


Stamps: Slide show provided by CTMH Consultant Melinda Everitt. Thanks Melinda!

If you have your heart set on some of these items above...now's the time to grab them...now that I've gotten the farewells out of the way...let me tell you about all of the new stuff!  These items will not be available to customers until August 1st, so I can't link the items.  

So what's the new stuff?

Level 2 Paper Packs – Lower prices and new quantities make our paper packets easier to purchase and consume

• Paper packet prices have dropped!! They are now $10.95 and include 6 B&T patterned papers (2 each of 3 double-sided designs) and 6 cardstock sheets (2 each of 2 colors, 1 each of 2 neutrals). It’s now easier to consume all of your paper and not feel guilty about having leftovers.
• The B&T patterned papers are now cardstock weight. This new weight is great for accents, layering and base pages. There are full-colour designs on both sides with no show-through and no CTMH logo to cut around. Plus, there’s a half-inch “zip strip” with product info on one side and fun designs that you can use on your layouts or cards on the reverse.

Lower prices on My Acrylix stamp sets – Who does that?! CTMH does!

• A-size – $7.75 (was $8.75)
• B-size – $10.95 (was $15.50)
• C-size – $$15.50 (was $20.95)
• D-size – $19.95 ( was $25.50)
• E-size – $33.50 (was $38.95)
• More than 32 new individual stamp sets and all stamp images are shown at 100% in the idea book, so there's no guessing about the size.

New Embellishments

• Holiday Pockets (felt)
• Top Coats Icing Overlays (clear acrylic pieces)
• Complements (alternative to MyStickease, for some paper packs)
• Cork Color-Ready Alphabets
• Foundry Pin Clips
• Designer Brads (Rhinestone, Copper)
• Mini-Medley Collections (Pewter, Honey, Olive)
• New Glitz Glitter Gel colors (bronze, red, silver)
• Midnight Felt Shapes
• Harvest Charms
• Milepost Shapes (corrugated shapes)
• Heirloom Assortment (Resin flowers & dangle jewels)
• Bling Assortment (Bling buttons & pins)
• Decor Journaling Spots
• Just Blooms Paper Shapes – Butterflies
• Designer Ribbon – Red Collection
• Designer Ribbon – Green Collection
• Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain Ribbon
• Ribbon slides
• Irresistables Make-It-Count Numbers
• Dimensioanl Monogram Alphabets (new fonts)
• 10 Things Pocket
• …and so much more!

Other New Items

• New cardstock shade packs (three harmonious colors in one convenient package; 12 sheets, 4 of each color)
• Kraft Die-Cut Cards and Envelopes
• White Daisy Die-Cut Cards and Envelopes
• Quick Pic Albums (6×6)
• My Creations Memory Game (chipboard squares and box)
• My Creations Card Box (store cards, photos, etc)
• New 4" x 5" My Acrylix Block

Workshops on the Go Kits

• Make two 2-page layouts and then use your remaining supplies, along with a few additional items to make the bonus projects (cards or 3D items)
• Kits contain a paper packet, embellishments, instructional brochure and now a C-sixed stamp set (was a B-size set)
• Instructions for bonus projects will be available online.

Stamp of the Month

• Spend $55 and get the Stamp of the Month for $5.50 You can also purchase it outright for the retail price of $19.95.
• In the Idea Book, you'll notice that each Stamp of the Month has corresponding projects and a supply list. Simply visit the URL listed in the book for complete project instructions.

Hostess Credits 

• You don’t need to host a gathering or participate in my clubs to take advantage of hostess credits. If you place an order for at least $165, you can receive $30 in Hostess credits. The rewards increase the more you spend.
• Hostess credits have been expanded to include Workshops on the Go kits, Studio J memberships and Studio J 5-packs. 

And the news I'm most excited about? Art Philosophy Cricut® Collection!  Perfect for those of you who hate to cut out your stamped images!

• Close To My Heart introduces the exclusive Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. It comes with 700 shapes that are designed to be used with specific My Acrylix stamps. 
• When you purchase the cartridge, you’ll also receive three D-sized stamp sets that coordinate with the images on the cart and three sets of 9×12 Dimensional Elements chipboard shapes. You can stamp on your Cricut shapes; cover your Dimensional Elements with a Cricut shape; or cut, stamp, and then cover.
• As you look through the new Idea Book, you’ll see a Cricut icon or a stamp image surrounded by a red outline. That lets you know there’s a matching shape on your Cricut cartridge. Simply cut out the coordinating shape with your Cricut machine using the setting indicated on the stamp’s carrier sheet, then stamp your image on the base shape. Quick and easy!
• Here’s the video where you can see how it works

All of these products will be available on my website beginning August 1st.  

Mojo Monday again!

Good Morning! I always love to see the sketches coming out on Mondays from the Mojo Monday sketch Blog site...this Monday is their 200th sketch! and to celebrate, this is what they've said:

"And since it's such a special occasion, we've got PRIZES to give away this week!  We'll add a prize for every 50 entries (up to a max of 8) and each randomly chosen winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to Verve Stamps!  Hooray for prizes!"

Why don't you play along with them...here's today's sketch!

I hope to add my spin on this sketch later today...remember to link up to their site your creations!

Life Is Good...

Life is Good!

We went up to Shuswap Lake to stay with friends at their summer place last weekend...luckily we were able to enjoy some sunshine and watersports...the kids got to play with some fun toys too.

I used another Let's Scrap sketch cause they're so easy to use! and of course they are all awesome sketches! I am a member on the Let's Scrap site and have joined a Challenge Group called Scrap Your Stash, where members of the Design Team initiate challenges...while this layout isn't for one of their challenges it is the one of the general challenges #104 and this one is to incorporate stitching.

It was also perfect to highlight the fun they were having in  the freezing cold water...Matthew wasn't very impressed with the temperature...but he still enjoyed the kyacking :)

 (click on images for a closer look)

I thought it would be cute to hand cut out some fishies for my banner...I grabbed some super old stash with everything on this page...the paper is all Scenic Route, stickers are too, but I'm not sure about the rest cause it was all loose in a jar!

I hope you are all enjoying your summer wherever you hang your hat and that you are finding some inspiration in your travels! Thanks for stopping by :)

The new Fall/Winter New Consultant Kit is now available!! Join my team today and you get all new goodies from the upcoming Fall/Winter Idea Book!   The kit is fabulous value at just $99Cdn for a retail value of $320 in products.  As a bonus, there are optional "Add-On" kits you can add for just $40 each to get EXACTLY what YOU want in your kit!

You can check out the new kit contents on my WEBSITE.


Want answers to some FAQ's about being a consultant?  Check that out HERE.


The paper on the cover of the new book is called 'Typeset' and it is fabulous and I can't wait for you to be able to play with them...can't wait for the catalogs to arrive...sitting in Seatac right now...

CTMH partners with Cricut!!!!!

Oh my word! That's all I can say...so I need to be honest with all of you...I really thought that CTMH needed to get into punches or die-cuts or ??? the only way to stay a cut above (pun intended) from some of these other companies...especially SU! we needed to get in on this as we all love our die-cuts...


When I saw the release of the new catalog when I got home from the Harry Potter mid-night show this morning...I was stunned, shouldn't have been though because I know I joined the leading Scrapbook/Stamping company out there ;)


Thrilled is one word...there are 700 images; fonts, shapes, 3D items loaded into this new Cricut Art Philosophy Collection...they have literally paired two fabulous things...stamping and die-cutting...they have created stamp sets that you can use on their own if you choose to hand cut some of the images out or pair your Cricut and stamp on the images after you cut them!


Have a look at this new video featuring SOME of what's included in this new cartridge:




I've added it already to my cart! (cause I can pre-order product prior to August 1st...benefits of being a Consultant!) NOTE: I don't even have a Cricut! oops, guess I'll be knocking on my Bestie's door to borrow her machine ;) Have a great weekend and stay tuned for more news about what's coming next...

Busy little CHOPPING beaver

That's the title of my latest layout using another one of Let's Scrap sketches! This one looks nice and easy but it did take me some time :) You know how I labour over the placement of brads and buttons...well this one has hand gathered grosgrain ribbon (CTMH), felt machine stitched onto the LO and strategically placed embellies, do-dads and what-nots...tee hee

I can tell you one thing...it was super fun to use up this paper and chipboard bits from years ago! Scrappin' with old stash really gives you a sense of accomplishment...this stash was a MUST buy a couple years ago from Micheal's...luckily I split the stash with my friend so I only have one sheet of each PP from an extremely large Stack and some of the chipboard embellies.

Here's the Let's Scrap sketch for this week:

and here's my Cabin'ing LO...I call it Cabin'ing because we used to camp (the traditional version with tents) but luckily we all prefer Cabin'ing now ;) here my daughter is showing us that you can still look gorgeous while chopping wood and making a fire...she's a natural...look at that FAB fire :)

take some time to head on over to Let's Scrap for this week's sketch challenge, my fellow Close To My Heart consultant, Andrea Green, is supplying the prize! Stop by her Blog for some more inspiration...

CTMH BlogHop featuring the July SOTM

Welcome to the Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for July. In Canada, we are featuring the stamp set "Canadian Celebration".

I had a lot of fun working on this project for the first official Hop with our Yahoo CTMH bloghop Group started by Diana Soling. This is a group for everyone that loves inspiration! All CTMH consultants, customers and friends are welcome to join.

Now this month we have a variety of artwork featuring our CTMH stamp of the Month, both the Canadian & American versions of this stamp AND artwork highlighting a picnic or party theme...so you will have loads of summertime inspiration as you Hop Along!!!

If you've come here from Kathleen's Blog, you are on the right path. If this is your first stop on the hop, that will work too (just keep hopping till you get back here again). 

To continue along the hop, just follow the link at the end of each post to go to the next site. We hope that following the hop will give you lots of inspiration and ideas for using this month's stamp sets, along with inspiring you with your summertime creations. I hope you enjoy all the many fabulous CTMH products you'll see in each post! 

Every year here in Canada, we celebrate Canada Day with a parade and fun times at our local Rotary Stadium...and of course top it all off with some fireworks...for the past few years my daughter has danced in the parade and this year I got to enjoy sitting on the side lines to watch it...I thought it might be fun to play with this Canadian Celebration stamp set on my Canada Day layout...

I admit that at first glance this layout is a bit overwhelming...well for me anyways...but I love how it turned out...and of course I love all of these CTMH products...click on each image for a larger view if you'd like

my title is made from our Irresistibles Eclectic Chipboard Die-Cuts inked in Cranberry. This layout was created with our Fanfare paper collection featuring our Cranberry and Pacifica colours. The little stars are punched from the Cranberry cardstock.

of course with most parades, you take plenty of photos...I was no exception there so I decided to print out a couple photos I wasn't going to feature in this layout and instead use my star punch on them...this way I've got a little taste of the image and I've created an embellishment in the process...two birds with one stone I say :)

the Canadian Flag stamp worked perfect for this space and I really like the star explosion as well, even if it was a little more challenging trimming it out...

I couldn't resist having a little play on words here...I've been told that I say it ALOT...being Canadian, I guess that's ok...I used some of our Oxford Colour-Ready Alphabets and stamped some of the fireworks in Cranberry ink...notice my star punched from one of my photos too!? The layout design is courtesy of Let's Scrap, the inspirational sketch site...look for sketch tag 7-6-11

I hope you've enjoyed your visit here and that you find loads of inspiration as you hop along to Lela's Blog...remember that this 'Canadian Celebration' stamp set is available from your CTMH Consultant for the month of July only!

Heart 2 Heart - the Close To My Heart Challenge Blog

Ok...seeing as I love Close to my Heart...why not throw a CTMH Challenge out there with a fantastic challenge Blog. Heart 2 Heart is the place to come to see all things Close To My Heart...

What inspires you about the photo? The fact that there are three panels? The colors? The items? The shapes? The flowers? 

Take some inspiration from the photo and turn it into artwork that you create. Want to see how the photo inspired the DT at Heart 2 Heart? Click here to see their creations

Workshop space is finally tidy!!!

Well, I've been hard at it for the past three days, trying to put my Workshop back into some semblance of order...after months of Workshop Clubs (four of them a month!) and classes I have finally taken down my tables from the Great Room and organized my Workshop downstairs...my husband is happy that the main floor is 'craft-free' as he asks again, "Why did we put a room downstairs for you if you keep making a mess and scrapbooking upstairs?" 

While I will still have my Workshop Clubs in the Great Room come September...I do take the tables down for three weeks out of the four in a month...but I take the summer off! This is what it looks like when I have taken over the tables! It's much cleaner and tidier (meaning NOTHING on the tables) when I have my Workshops!

Now here's the Workshop downstairs...it's alright, you can say it...OMG...yes, you couldn't even walk into it without possibly hurting yourself! and of course, this is why I went upstairs over the past few weeks, cause who'd scrapbook in this mess!!! Here's what things looked like in my downstairs Workshop before the three days of cleaning...

This is what I am used to it looking like when I take the time to KEEP it tidy!...Doesn't actually take much to keep it tidy when I'm not super busy...so summer break and spring break is usually when I do a complete overhaul and thin out items that I don't use any longer...

this 'Inspire' sign I made WAS the inspiration for my colours...daisyd's paper collection in purple, teal, and green...all my favorite colours...

I love my magnet boards...these tins were picked up from Ikea and Canadian Tire

Each of these Iris plastic bins hold 12x12 papers and embellies like chipboard pieces, felt sheets, scraps in CS and PP...the bins on the right of this cupboard hold the photos I have printed...I usually only print out batches and then scrap them...this way I can have a plan of what size I'd like for what pictures and usually I have a sketch in mind...this way I don't end up with too many wasted photos...

The papers sorted vertically are some of the kit clubs I've belonged to in the past but now do not...maybe because I have a little stash right now...I've run out of room to store it so I thought I should use what I have first...which I'll never do...but couldn't justify subscribing to Kit Clubs (even though they all ROCK) when I have SO MUCH and the fact that I am a Close To My Heart Consultant and I also have to work with 16 diferent paper collections every year...which is ALOT of paper as it is!

I LOVE anything tiered...so I use these tiered plate stand for some of my do-dads and embellies...also my often used items like adhesives and scissors and glue erasers...I like to keep one tiered plate thingy clear to add things to work with on whatever current LO I'm working on...you can see in the photo down below that I have plans to work on a Canada Day LO...both for Let's Scrap and my CTMHbloghop

This is usually where I like to trim my papers and assemble the guts of my LO...

can you see the ONE sheet of Fancy Pants...trying to work on a LO for the Let's Scrap challenge...and my red and white challenge...and my Bloghop

this is where I like to stamp, distress, embellish and ink my LO's...it's next to my blending tools and inks and some of my embellies...

This is my favorite storage unit from Ikea...these shallow drawers are perfect for scrapbooking tools etc.

I house my puches easily and you can SEE what you've got!

This little nook worked great for the extra twin bed I had...also great when I need to kick my DD out of her room for guests...I usually throw stuff on it though...like the outdoor cushions I'm recovering currently...great catch all and bed! Last bit of mess in this room...won't look like a bed again until I'm finished with my sewing projects!!!

Thanks for visiting and checking out my MESSY LIFE! I am going to be heading to the Shuswap this weekend so I'll check in after that...Have a Great Weekend everyone! Gotta go pack now ttyl...