When did my life become so hectic??? I just realized my last post was well over a month ago so thought I should do a little update, yes?!  I am working outside the home again (quite unexpectedly, but it's been a lot of fun!) at a real estate office - no, I'm not selling real estate, just doing admin work.  And I am still doing my French course two nights a week, as well as my CTMH classes.  I spent a week in Ontario visiting my son, grandson with a quick visit with my step son as well.  I miss them all so much and while I was getting groceries yesterday, I heard a "eewww!" just the way my grandson says it, brought a little tear to my eye.  Now the focus is Convention the end of June....can't wait to go to Orlando and see all my CTMH sistahs!!  I need to get busy on my swap cards.....!!!

In the meantime, here are a few of the cards we did last month at my card class, plus another one I am posting for Ann Marie D. - thought I had already posted it.  Here we go:

For Always paper, Tulle ribbon, smokey plum and slate cardstock & ink, glitter button, twine, and B1419 Joyful Birthday stamp set.

For Always paper pack, B1418 Love Doily stamp set, glimmermist, tulle ribbon, pearl opaque, white daisy embossing powder, twilight ink.

 

D1398 Just for You stamp set, Avonlea paper pack, Antiqued Copper Designer Brads, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.

That's 18 cards so far.....need to work on some layouts.  Ciao for now!

April Brae-er's Blog Hop

Welcome to our Blog Hop featuring CTMH consultants who belong to the Brae-er's team ..... We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you get lost you can find your way by going to Brae's blog at http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com for a full list of participants. If you came from Lisa Elliot's Blog then you are in the right place!

This month, we are focusing on techniques and I have chosen to do the "Chalkboard" technique. I don't know about you, but I've been seeing this everywhere on the web lately and I love the look. Here's the card that I made using this technique:

 

This technique is really quite easy, you start by stamping with Versamark on black cardstock, then heat emboss with white daisy embossing powder.  Then, ink up your stamp again, this time with White Daisy pigment ink, and stamp over your embossed image, offsetting it slightly to create a shadow. 

 

I also inked the edges of my cardstock with the White Daisy ink to complete the look.  Papers used are from the "For Always" paper pack, added a little Blush cardstock, a couple of Licorice Opaques, and the pink ball ribbon is retired CTMH. 

 

Your next stop on the hop is Heather Steeves' blog.  Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own projects using some of the designs and paper seen along the way. Join us again in next month when we will be featuring a "Pinterest inspired" hop!

 

OPERATION SMILE SILENT AUCTION!!!

Happy Sunday everyone,

Just a quick post to let you know about an event happening right now over at Michelle Stewart's blog.  She is a CTMH consultant and is hosting a silent auction with the proceeds going to Operation Smile.  Please support her in this effort, her blog has all the information about the items available and what Operation Smile is all about.  It's a charity that is very dear to all of us at Close To My Heart!

Here's the link:  Michelle's OPERATION SMILE AUCTION

Thanks for having a look!

Cross-Canada Blog Hop - April featuring home decor

Welcome to our April Blog Hop featuring a Home Decor projects.  

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-blog-hop-home-decor.html. If you came from Darla of http://stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com/2013/04/cross-canada-home-decor-hop.html then you are in the right place!

While I was doing some Spring cleaning, I realized that I didn't have room for all my jewellery in my jewellery box, so I decided to make myself a little extra space to store some of the excess. I wanted something "classic" so I used the beautiful "For Always" paper pack, along with black and desert sand cardstock to cover the My Creations chipboard card box.  A little embellishing and voila!

Supplies Used: 
Z1647 My Creations Card Box  $4.95  pg. 126
X7165B For Always Paper Packet  $9.95  pg. 32
Z1812 Sparkle Clear Flourishes Small $4.95  pg. 120
Z1798 Black Tulle Ribbon $5.95  pg. 122
Z1269 Filigree Charms $3.95  pg. 119
Z1790 Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge  pg. 15
Z553 Glue Pen $4.50  pg. 132
Z1296 Distressing Inks $3.95  pg. 130
Flowers from my stash

You can order these items by clicking the link in my side bar, or contact me directly.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Nicola of  http://timelesscottagenb.blogspot.com/2013/04/cross-canada-blog-hop-home-decor.html.
If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-blog-hop-home-decor.html , as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own projects using some of the designs and paper seen along the way. Join us again in May when we will be featuring some Canvas projects.

Card 8 - 14 2013 Challenge

Today I am posting cards that I forgot to post in January!  I was scrolling through my pictures and came across these, checked back in my posts, and yep...I missed them.  They are a little out of season now, but still wanted to share them.  These were some of the cards I did at my Christmas Card Play day - what a great day we had - and at my monthly card class!  There were a couple of kits left over, so I put them together in January:

 



All stamped images and papers are Close To My Heart...some are retired sets that I still love and use every year! Till next time.....

Come Hop with us!

Welcome to our brand new Blog Hop featuring CTMH consultants who belong to the Brae-er's team ..... We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you get lost you can find your way by going to Brae's blog at http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com for a full list of participants. If you came from Alyson 's blog  Create with Alyson then you are in the right place!

This month, we are focusing on new products from our CTMH Idea Book.  I had already created this project for my recent open house and it uses two of my favourite new products....the My Creations Kraft Container (Z1833) and Hollyhock Zipper Lace (Z1826).  I wanted my project to be bright and colourful, so I chose the Chantilly Paper Pack (X7163B).

 Cutting the slot in the top of the Kraft container to make this a piggy bank was fairly easy.....the lid can be gently eased apart so that you can work on a flat surface, then I punched two small holes with my cropadile where I wanted the slot to start and finish, then used an exacto knife to join them up.  I then added my paper and embellishments and then glued it back in place with a bead of liquid glass around the edge.

 

Additional supplies used: Z679 Liquid glass, Z1807 Pink Glitter Gems, white daisy crocheted flower from  Z1786 Mini-Medley Accents Antiqued Gold collection, flowers and butterfly from Z1266 Spring Blossoms (retired), Hollyhock ink.

Your next stop on the Hop is Heather at Heather's Scrapping .
Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own projects using some of the designs and paper seen along the way. Join us again in next month when we will be featuring a "technique" hop!

Card #7 2013 Challenge

The last couple of weeks have been hectic and I am trying to get a little caught up!  I'm also trying to get packed up today to head to Moncton for Crop & Create tomorrow - WOOOT!  Can't wait to get there, but thought I would post quickly before packing up.  This card was CASed from a fellow CTMH consultant, Amie Kiger with only minor changes. 

The front of this card is completely stamped with C1537 Honeycomb using the following colours:  Black, Autumn Terracotta, Creme Brule, Honey.  Each piece is hand cut and placed on cocoa cardstock.  It's a little time consuming, but the effect is stunning, don't you think.  The girls at my gatherings last week all made this card and loved it!

OK, off to pack but I want to let you know that I am taking part in a brand new blog hop that starts on Monday....stop back in and check it out!