CTMH New Product Sneak Peak - Blog Hop

Welcome to our Close To My Heart New Product Sneak Peak Blog Hop! 29 fabulous CTMH Consultants are celebrating the upcoming release of the Autumn/Winter 2009 Idea Book by giving you a 'Sneak Peek' of some of the great products available in the new Idea Book starting September 1st.

If you have come here from Helen's 'Hooked on Stamping' Blog, you are on the right path! It is simple to 'blog hop' - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one.

One of my favorite new stamp sets is Welcome Home which includes images you can use to create a 'comfy' scene. There is a couch, fireplace, lamp, coatrack, and other items as well as some picture frames and sentiments.

This was a really fun card to create, and uses papers from the new Sweet Home paper packet. Ink colors used are Garnet, Indian Corn Blue, Chocolate, Honey, and Buttercup. Finishing touches include Bitty Brads for the end of the pull-string on the lamp, the drawer pull, and the center of the flower in the vase.

Now "Hop" on over to Haley's 'The Inky Scrapper' Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great ideas for using the new products available from Close To My Heart!

If you get lost on the hop or find links that aren't working, there is a complete list of participating blogs on Erin's 'Tazzygirl2000' blog.

Silly & Serious & Any Occasion Card Workshop (September)

The new Autumn/Winter Idea Book from Close To My Heart will be released on September 1, and there are some really fun new stamp sets and papers available. At the September card workshop, you can create a silly card, a serious card, and a card for any occasion.

First, the silly card - this cute little guy is from the Merry Monsters stamp set. It is actually a Halloween set, but I used it for a fun birthday card.

And, the serious card - this uses the Treasures stamp-of-the-month (SOTM) which will be featured in the SOTM Blog Hop. The SOTM Blog Hop is a group of CTMH consultants who are all sharing artwork created using the Treasures stamp set. Look for the launch early on September 1 - viewing the different blogs along the Blog Hop is a fun way to get some great ideas for using the SOTM stamp set. The papers are from the new Grace paper packet and the main image is embossed using Cocoa embossing powder. I think this card has an elegant look, making it a nice sympathy card. Of course, it can also be used for birthday, thank you, or any occasion you need a card.

Finally, the card for any occasion uses the Everyday Celebration stamp set that is available in the special card kit for National Stamping Month. The incredible "Delight in the Everyday" card kit has papers, stamps, inks, embellishments, and instructions for you to create 16 cards. Retail value is $39.95, and you can earn it FREE with the purchase of $60 in stamp sets. At the workshop, you will use the new Twitterpated papers to create one of the designs featured in the card kit. A unique feature of this card is that you can place the brad next to the specific occasion you would like to celebrate.
At the workshop, you will create a total of 12 cards - 4 each of the 3 different designs - for only $15. Creating multiples of each card means you go home with enough cards to send out to friends and family, as well as keep a sample for yourself. Start off your Labor Day weekend in a creative way - available workshop times:

• Friday, Sept 4 @ 7 pm
• Saturday, Sept 5 @ 1 pm

If you would like to attend either workshop, please let me know as soon as you can so that your space is reserved.

Matchbook Gift Card Holder

This is a fun and simple way to give a gift card to someone. The card is designed like an 'old fashioned' book of matches - the front piece slips behind a flap at the bottom to hold it closed.

Inside are two small manilla envelopes, these can be found at office supply stores and are called coin envelopes. The great thing is that they are the perfect size to hold a store gift card. Just cut the top flap off and then use a circle punch to create a small notch so that it is easy to remove items from the pockets.


Two envelopes are used so that one can hold a gift card, and the other a small card for you to write a message.


The cute little tree was made using the Treetops stamp set and decorated with Bitty Brads and mini Sparkles. And the paper is actually a surfboard print from the Moon Doggie paper packet.

Everyday Celebration - card kit

These cards were made using the fabulous Everyday Celebration card kit being offered by Close To My Heart and it can be yours FREE!

To celebrate NATIONAL STAMPING MONTH in September, Close To My Heart is giving you 3 ways to get a FREE Everyday Celebration card kit for making 16 beautiful cards! The instructional brochure has detailed, step-by-step instructions for you to create 2 each of 8 different card designs.

Get your card kit FREE in one of three ways:

• Purchase a minimum of $60 in stamp sets (includes A, B, C, D, and E-size) between August 18–September 30
• Host a Home Gathering with minimum sales of $400 between September 1–30
• Sign up as a new Consultant between September 1–30

You can also buy as many card kits as you’d like for $39.95 per kit. As an added bonus, place any order between September 1–30 and you’ll be automatically entered in a daily drawing for a FREE card kit! Winners will be announced on MyCTMH website and on closetomyheart.com.

This is an incredible deal - just look at everything you will receive! I love that the card bases have a large scalloped edge, and that argyle print paper is so fun.

Everyday Celebration card kit contents:

• 1 – My Acrylix® Everyday Celebration Stamp Set (D-size) (Only available with this kit!)
• 16 – 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Colonial White Card Bases
• 16 – 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Colonial White Envelopes
• 1 – 12" x 12" Dutch Blue Cardstock
• 1 – 12" x 12" Colonial White Cardstock
• 4 – 12" x 12" B&T Duos® Paper
• 1 – Chocolate Distressing Ink
• 1 – Dutch Blue Distressing Ink
• 1 – Mini-Medley Accents Shades of Chocolate Collection
• 5' – Chocolate Ribbon with Colonial White Stitch
• 50 – 3-D Foam Squares
• Sponge
• 1 – Full Color Step-by-Step Instructional Brochure

Featured Colors: Chocolate, Colonial White, Dutch Blue, Sweet Leaf

The card kits are available only while supplies last.

Cute Cupcake Box

This cute little box holds just one cupcake - and who doesn't like cupcakes?

I just love the window in the top so that you can see the cupcake inside, and there is a piece of cardstock with a circular opening inside to form a stand which holds the cupcake in the center of the box. It is difficult to see in the photo, but there is a clear piece of acetate in the top of the box, so it is not just a big open hole.

The colorful little bird is stamped using the Bird Basics set, and the papers are from the Animal Cookies packet.

Now, I really need to bake some cupcakes! Why is it that cupcakes taste so much better than a regular cake?

Don't Throw That Away!

A pile of these cute little plastic boxes were going to be thrown away at our office, so I rescued them. They are approximately 4" square, and are the perfect size for holding some little goodies. My 'roomies' last month for the Close To My Heart Leadership Conference each received one filled with Riesen chocolates. These candies are just the perfect thing for a chocolate craving!

Papers are from the Moon Doggie paper packet, and the flower is stamped using the Cottage Floral set. Even though this is not a card, a 4 1/2"x4 1/2" template from the Wishes Card Confidence Program was used to decorate the top of the box.

Tomato Plant or Squirrel Feeder?

Back in May, we planted a tomato plant in one of the Upside-Down Hanging planters. I was so excited about this idea and was really looking forward to enjoying some delicious home-grown tomatoes this summer. After a month, the plant was growing well and had some blossoms. Every day, we have watered the plant and watched it grow. After all the effort, I was a bit disappointed that there were only three tomatoes - but at least they were growing.

Look what we found on the deck this week ...

One of the many squirrels that frequent our deck had picked the tomato off the plant and placed it on the deck railing for his personal little buffet! Evidently, he picked the tomato, ate some of it, and then left it on the railing so he could come back later to enjoy some more. After a couple of days, the first tomato was completely eaten - and so Mr. Squirrel picked the other big tomato and placed it on his personal buffet. It was a definitely a squirrel because one day I saw one jump from the railing and cling to the tomato plant.

Just today, we noticed a couple more small tomatoes on the plant, but I am so discouraged that I'm not sure that I will continue to water the plant. What a disappointment!

Flowers & Trees Card Workshop (August)

Sorry for the late posting of this month's card workshop samples, but attending the CTMH Leadership Conference put me a bit behind. This month's workshop features flowers and trees and will be offered on Friday, August 14 at 7:00 pm; and also on Saturday, August 15 at either 9:00 am or 1:00 pm. Hope you will be able to make it to one of the classes. We always have a lot of fun - and where else can you go to enjoy a "girl's night out" for only $15 and go home with 12 cards to use.

The Tree Tops stamp set can be used for so many cute cards. This 'any occasion' card folds at the top and uses the colors Crystal Blue, Sweet Leaf, and Chocolate with patterned paper from the Bella kit. At the workshop, you can choose from eyelets, buttons, or brads to decorate your tree. Other sentiments can also be used in place of "Life is good." Since a portion of the tree is raised off the card, the scanned image appears a bit distorted. But "in real life" the raised tree gives the card some nice dimension.

If you've been following my blog, then you've seen this card in my Dainty Thoughts post. It's a simple card, but the brackets around the sentiment are delightful and make me smile. So, I decided to use it for this month's workshop. Colors used are Tulip, Garden Green, and White Daisy with flowers from the Dainty Thoughts stamp set and a sentiment from the Thank You set.

Something I've wanted to try to quite some time is a "clear" card. Unfortunately, the dimension created by using the clear card base is not real apparent in the scanned image. If you can imagine, the square piece with the 'thanks' sentiment is actually INSIDE the card. This card has a real "wow" factor when you see it. Stamps were used from the Aspiration set along with papers from the Bella kit. The brown spotted paper is the same as is used for the Tree Tops card, notice how different ink colors are featured which gives a very different look to the two cards. And obviously I really like that "thanks" sentiment since I used it on two of the cards this month. There will be other sentiments available for you to use to personalize your cards.

Let me know if you would like to create a dozen cards for yourself. At the workshop, you get to create four cards of each of the three designs - so you can keep a sample for yourself and still have several cards to send to friends and family.

Three Takes on One Pattern

Just spent five wonderful days in Long Beach, California for the Close To My Heart Leadership Conference, and had a fabulous time with my roommates and other fellow CTMH consultants. For the event, CTMH held a "Three Takes on One Pattern" contest. The idea for the contest was to show the versatility of the card patterns in the Wishes Card Confidence Program by creating three different and unique cards using the 'Top Band' pattern.

Even though my card entries were not selected for the top five, I had fun choosing the stamps and papers to use while maintaining the integrity of the card pattern. This first card uses the Thank You and Dainty Thoughts stamp sets with the fun Daydream papers. The crocheted flower is from the Mini-Medleys Accents Collection.

All of the animals in the Life's A Jungle stamp set are so cute. Stamping them on patterned paper gives them so much character. The papers used for this card are from the Animal Cookies kit. The card pattern was turned 'upside down' to create this card. Hopefully you can see the similarity with the first card.

The third card has a landscape orientation, and a much softer look using That's Amore papers with the Aspiration stamp set. Each of the flower centers has a Clear Sparkle, which really adds a nice finishing touch.

One pattern - three cards!