New obsession - CHAMILIA Bracelet

Wedding Album is complete!

I had been working on my cousin's wedding album for quite a while... and it is complete, delivered and now I can move onto my next project (not sure what it'll be yet!). I'm so proud of how this gift turned out... it is the first time I made a scrapbook. I am a card crafter, I was never really into scrapbook layouts, but I am now! lol Anyways, enjoy browsing the pages :) To protect my family's privacy I have blurred any recognizable face in the photos.

November Christmas Card Workshop

I am holding my first annual Christmas Card Making Workshop!

These are the lovely cards we'll be making :

Workshops will be held Saturday November 10th and 24th @ 4pm. If you can't make it but would still like to order a kit (with instructions) that's fine too! :)

I have designed 3 project kits to accommodate your budget and skill level. So please read on to see what package interests you :)

Project Kit #1 - The Beginner
Makes: 10 Cards
Cost: $18 + tax + 10% shipping
Includes:
All precut supplies for 10 cards
10 Colonial White Cards & Envelopes

Note: this package does not include the Stamp Set (but you will be able to use mine)

Additional Supplies you'll need (supplied by me during the workshop):
- Cocoa, Cranberry and Olive Ink
- Adhesive
- 3 x 3 Acrylic Block

Project Kit #2 - The CTMH Card Workshop On The Go
Makes: 15 cards (plus have additional cardstock and embellishments to make up to 10 more (with additional card bases, not included).

Cost: $35.00+ tax + 10% shipping
Includes:
1 Pear & Partridge Cardmaking Workshop Stamp Set (photo below)
3 Pear & Partridge B&T Duos Papers
4 Cardstock Sheets (Cranberry, Colonial White and 2 Cocoa)
15 Colonial White Cards & Envelopes
108 Red Glitter gems
5 yards of Tan Twill Ribbon
1 Instructional Brochure

Additional Supplies you'll need (supplied by me during the workshop):
Cocoa, Cranberry and Olive Ink
3 x 3 Acrylic Block
Adhesive (add $3.00 to your order if you'd like to use mine)
Scissors

Stamp Set included with Project kit #1 & #2:

Project Kit #3 - Ultimate CTMH Workshop On The Go
Makes: 25 cards
Cost: $63 + tax + 10% shipping
Includes ALL the supplies you'll need:
Project Kit #2
Cocoa Ink
Cranberry or Olive ink of your choice (or, add an extra $4 to your order to get BOTH!)
3x3 Acrylic Block
1 Tombow Adhesive
1 Adhesive refill
... And by ordering this special package, I'll throw in the 10 additional card bases and envelopes at no additional cost!!!! ($4.00 value)

Please RSVP & Order your kits by October 25th (by leaving a comment below with your contact information, I will send you an invoice).

Specials!!!
- Door Prizes to be won (win anything from a stamp set, ink or paper)

Interesting In Ordering Other CTMH products?
- Browse the CTMH catalogue, spend $50 and receive a free ink pad of your choice!
- Browse the CTMH catalogue, spend $150 and receive $25 worth of product.
- If total group sales reach $150 (excluding an individual order), I'll give everyone $10 worth of product!


Interesting in just buying the premade/handmade cards?
I'm offering finished card sets of 8 cards in a gift box for $20. Contact me if you're interested :)

Looking forward to crafting with you!

Easel Card - Avonlea Calendar

Hi Peeps!

My apologies for being so late.... the Run For the Cure went well! I had a great time, the weather held up and I'm proud I contributed to a great cause. The winner of the card set is......... my grandma! :)

I've been really busy with life lately and I've been working on Christmas gifts and cards but I've kinda been put at a stand still because I've run out of adhesive!! The order I placed earlier this week finally got shipped today and I'll be back in business sometime next week :)

In the meantime I made something I've had in mind for the past little while and I think it'll make a great holiday gift for someone special:

It's a desk calendar! This is the first time I've ever made an easel card, and it turned out pretty well, I think :) I used the super gorgeous Avonlea paper pack from CTMH and Smokey Plum as an accent colour. The roses are cut out of Avonlea White paper with the Cricut Artiste cartridge... but they do not look white, do they?! I inked the edges with Petal ink and they look just like cool water roses (my favourite!!!)

The calendar I made in Excel, printed all the months, cut them to size and used Notepad adhesive to make a mini notepad. I purchased the notepad adhesive a year or 2 ago on Etsy and this was the first time I've used it (sad huh? lol I knew I would need it/want to use it someday!).

Anyways, that's all for now... Happy Thanksgiving :)

Tomorrow I'm baking Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting for thanksgiving dessert :) No crafting for me!

Please donate (and you could win a handmade "thank you" card set)

Hi Peeps!

I am participating in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure 5km on September 30th, 2012, along with my mother and sister :). We are all healthy but as women, this cause is extremely important to us. Whether you've experienced breast cancer first hand or have watched a family member, friend or coworker fight it, I'm sure we will all agree it is a horrible disease that needs to be cured. Please visit my personal page to sponsor me. Every donation counts!


As a thank you for donating what you can, I will be giving away this card set to one lucky contributor:

This is a set of 8 thank you cards handmade by me, valued at $30 (envelopes included).

For each $10 you donate, you'll earn an additional entry for this draw... for example, by donating $50, you'll receive 5 enteries.

I will draw a winner October 1st, 2012 and make the announcement that day on my blog!

Thanks in advance for your generosity and for making a difference with me :)

Merry Monday #29

Hi Peeps,

So, I took a mini hiatus and did not make Merry Monday #28... but I'm back with my entry for Merry Monday #29. (Please excuse the quality of the photo since I had to use my phone to take the picture... my boyfriend took the camera for the day to Fan Expo!)

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

 

 

I used the new Pear & Partridge CTMH papers for this one! I don't usually love the over-rated red & green Christmas papers but these I do! The sentiment is from the Pear & Partridge Cardmaking WOTG and I LOVE how cute it is! It is stamped with Desert Sand ink which I think made a pretty good match :)

 

Anyways, that's it for now. Since BF is at Fan Expo today I was thinking of making today a full-on crafting day (I've got a scrapbook to work on and dozens of cards....) but we'll see how much I actually get done.

 

Thanks for looking :) Have a great Sunday!

Merry Monday #28 as Guest Designer

Hi Everyone!

Today I have the pleasure of being Lesley's Guest Designer for the Merry Monday Challenge. Thanks so much Lesley for choosing my one of my July cards as a winner and giving me such a great opportunity!

Here's the sketch:

And here is my card:

Poinsettias! Lots and lots of poinsettias! I used the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out "snowflakes" and stamped them with a stamp from the Snowflakes stampset from CTMH. The background paper was just plain old white cardstock but it is stamped with some snowflakes in Cranberry ink to create a beautiful, fun pattern! Each poinsettia is embellished with some rhinestones and my greeting is from the now retired CTMH Holiday Commentary stampset (so glad I got my hands on one!!! LOVE it!)

Wanna play along? Visit this week's Merry Monday Challenge post.

Over 100 flowers, some glitter, and lots of Real Housewives of Orange County!

Now.... I'm exhausted!

I had a pretty productive weekend, to say the least. Not only did I make my first scrapbooking layouts, I assembled well over 100 flowers, made 2 "flower balls" for the centerpieces I'm working on, made some bridal party thank you cards, made a cute little flower pomander for the flower girl to carry, even made it all the way over to Michaels (in the rain and convinced the boyfriend to come with me!!), AND... caught up on my backlog of Real Housewives of OC episodes (while crafting of course). I am so anxious to see how busy I'll be when it is actually MY wedding I'm crafting for.

In total, I have created 8 flower balls and only have 2 more to make with about 6 weeks to go!!! AWESOME! What I mean by "flower balls" is the tops of these things:

... these are the centerpieces I'm working on. Only 2 balls to go (that's about 90 roses to cut and assemble), and I need to paint the vases... but the majority of the "work" is done!

A couple days ago I came up with the brilliant idea "hey, what if I misted the flowers with glimmer mist?!?!" I've never used glimmer mist or "Perfect Pearls" before so I wasn't sure if it'd actually work. I found Perfect Pearls mist at Michaels, tried it.... and there's such a beautiful, subtle sparkle to the roses now!

I also used the Perfect Pearls to douse the flower pomander I made for the flower girl. So much so you can see the shimmer in the picture :) I think it's the perfect little ball for her to walk down the aisle with.





Anyways, that's my update for now peeps! This is why I've been MIA most of the summer... I have more projects I want to work on once I'm done these (come to think of it... I still need to work on my recipe book from MONTHS ago!!)... as a little tease.... my next BIG project involves more of these paper roses.... and a foam wreath.

First Ever Scrapbooking layouts... minus the embellishments

So.... I have decided to make a scrapbook. Now, if each 2 pages takes me as long as it took me this morning, well, I'll be working on this book for the next 6 years! LOL I am new at scrapbooking. I am a card maker, and sometimes paper home decor designer but I've never made a scrapbook. Well, I have arranged photos in an album, added some stickers, etc. but I've never made scrapbook layouts, you know the nice fancy kind scrapbooker's make?

Here is my are my first attempts at a layout:

I have yet to embellish the pages, but I'm exhausted after this effort! lol

All products are CTMH, here are the details:

Background is Outdoor Denim, I used some of the blue Pemberley paper for the stripes at the bottom and 3x3 mats on the right side. Other photo mats are black, and I ran 2 Colonial White squares through the Birds & Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder. The large shape is cut out of Bamboo paper with an image from Art Philosophy.

I'm awaiting a large CTMH order, and once I get it, I'll embellished with my new goodies :)

Ok... just another 28 pages to go...

Bridal Shower Card with matching embellished envelope

I felt kinda creative tonight so I finished my set of bridal party thank you cards... and I figured while I was on the bridal creativity wagon, I'd make a bridal shower card.

I layered thick purple ribbon on the base, pop-dotted a wedding dress (cut from Cinderella's dress on the Disney Happily Ever After Cricut cartridge) that I ran through my Cuttlebug with the Birds & Swirls embossing folder and embellished the waistline with teeny tiny pearls. I also added some glam with 4 purple rhinestones on the bottom of the card.

I absolutely LOVE running my envelopes through the Cuttlebug, so I ran the top flap through with the Birds & Swirls folder then lined the envelope with purple paper. Lining envelopes just makes a card set so much more luxurious... and embossing the envelope adds a pretty special touch!


That's all for tonight peeps :)


This weekend I'm gonna try my hand at my very first scrapbooking layouts... so stay tuned!

New Idea Book available to browse today!

Hi Everyone,

So... today is the day! Today is the first day you can purchase the fabulous new products in the Fall/Winter 2012 Idea Book!!!

Click here to browse the book online.

Click here to buy new products online. (or contact me for hostess reward opportunities!!! Who does not LOVE free stuff??)

Here are some of the new products, I love!

In addition to the Workshop On the Go Kits, Close to My Heart has designed Card Making kits!!! The first picture is the card designs in the Avonlea kit, and below are the Christmas card designs. Please contact me if you're interested in a workshop... I will be holding one in the fall to make Holiday cards!

Oh... and another product that I am super excited about:

A new Cricut catridge! This one is called Artiste.... and honestly, with these images, anyone can be a fabulous artist! There are over 700 images, including a font and very, very cool 3D projects. If you want one, you can buy one here.

Anyways, that's it for today peeps! Enjoy the new idea book (and making a wishlist!!)

Merry Monday - July Entry #4

Since I can't link more than 1 post on the Merry Monday linky:

Merry Monday - July Entry #3

Apparently I can't link more than 1 photo per post on linky. Here's my 3rd card for the Merry Monday challenge:

UPDATE! Lesley has chosen this card as one of the July winners!!!!! This means I will be an upcomming guest designer on the Merry Monday Challenge over at Always Playing With Paper... I cannot wait!!

Merry Monday - July Entries!!

I think that when Lesley from Always Playing with Paper called a break... I took a break from blogging too! lol And honestly, I didn't know if I'd ever get my July Merry Monday cards done... but I'm proud to say I am posting them today!!

So, instead of a weekly challenge, we were able to select 4 previous Merry Monday sketches and submit them anytime in July.

As a bonus twist, for myself, I decided to make all the cards with my CTMH Wonderland paper pack and I used 2 Stampin' Up holiday stamps.

Here are my entries:

I will try to post better pictures later... I'm exhausted now. Just got back from an 8km walk!!! Pretty much ready to call it a day, even though it's not even 7pm :( lol

Nursery Name Art - Balloons

Hi Everyone,

We finally got to meet our super cute niece Jazmine this past week! This is what I made for her nursery:

It was actually my boyfriend's idea to have a blue elephant in the art since that's apparently her favourite toy! And... she does a pretty ridiculously cute monkey face, so I had to make her a monkey!

Hang In There - Sympathy Card

Finding an idea for this card was extremely difficult, but eventually this idea came to me and I think it is absolutely perfect!

 Early this week, our nephew passed away. Even though he was extremely ill since birth, his death came as a complete shock. He was going on 3 years old despite doctors' timeline of a couple weeks (after birth), if that. His story is extremely devastating but that never affected how much his parents loved him, nor how hard they fought to keep him with us. To his family, he was a miracle, and a kick-ass warrior prince!

I didn't want to make just any sympathy card... so, this is what I created:

Dee & Shal, you two are the strongest, most loving, most amazing people I've ever met, and you gave your son a wonderful life full of love! Jediah will always be in our hearts.

I did not forget about you!

Hi everyone :)

I did not forget about you!! I just haven't been creating very much... my computer was also broken and I've been very busy. Actually, I have been creating... but not cards... lots of paper roses for my centerpiece topiaries!

I hope to be back soon, regularly posting new projects!

Merry Monday #26

Hi Peeps,

So I whipped up my Merry Monday #26 entry today. Here's the sketch:

And here's my entry:

Thanks for looking!

Thank You Dress Cards

I felt a little creative tonight so I decided to make a sample Bridesmaid thank you card. I'm tasked at making some for my cousin's wedding, so I figured I'd start designing :) I had originally seen this card on Etsy (seller: Cupcake555):



... and fell in love with it. Instead of cutting out a bunch of teeny, tiny flowers, I used a flower stamp to make the dress :)

First, I designed a dress in Cricut craft room and cut it out. Next, I used the negative, placed it on my card and stamped inside the dress shape. After removing the negative, I was left with a beautiful dress silhouette :) (This technique is similar to masking, though I`m not sure what it`s actually called). I embellished the dress with a bow, stamped thank you on the bottom and added some rhinestones. I think it turned out absolutely gorgeous! So gorgeous that I made more, but in different colours!

If you`re interested in purchasing these, I have them listed in my Etsy store :)

Merry Monday #25

As soon as I saw this week's Merry Monday sketch today.... I knew I had to create ASAP!

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card:

As soon as I saw the sketch, I thought "snow globe!!" ... which is what I made :) I used little mini pearls as snow, and the stamp set is CTMH "Captured moments". I'll try and take a better picture later but I was excited to post my design, and new kitty Henry is not being very cooperative today, so it's harder to get stuff done.

Anyways, thanks for looking!

Merry Monday #24

Hi Peeps,

It feels like I haven't blogged in forever... and it feels like I haven't crafted at all lately. It's because we got a kitty!!!!!!! LOL Honestly, this cat takes up so much of my time because he's so cute, so friendly and I love playing with him! His name is Henry and he's a Himilayan and just about 14 weeks old. Anyways, I made my Merry Monday card last night, and sure enough Henry found a way to get into my ribbon box. Hopefully I can craft more next week, I have a lot to get done, and a lot more ideas to create!

Anyways, Here's the Merry Monday challenge for this week:

And here's my card:

Anyways, I gotta run... I have homemade pitas to put in the oven. I'll be back tomorrow with my Father's Day Card :)


Oh.... also, can't forget.... special thanks to Wendy for choosing my card last week as her top pick for Merry Monday #23. Wendy's work is truly beautiful - be sure to check out her blog!

Rustic wedding thank you postcards

I finished my order of wedding thank you postcards. I made 60 in total and they turned out beautifully! Special thanks to Katie and Judy for trusting me with designing the perfect thank you card. Basically, all I was told was "rustic wedding", "purple" and "cobalt blue"... so I ran with it and this is what I came up with:

I used a flower from the Card Word Puzzle stamp set (CTMH) and stamped in Petal and Cocoa ink. The thank you is from Stampin' Up, stamped in Moonstruck. I added the couple's initials with the Urban Alphabet stamp set (CTMH). Finally, I distressed the edges with Cocoa ink.