Women of Foundations Christmas Card Workshop

Here are all the videos for the card workshop held on November 10, 2016.  

Please leave me a comment if you have any questions.

Snowy Hill Card

A Child is Born Card

Three Wise Men Tri-Fold Card

Poinsettia Flip Card

Quilted Christmas Card

Swan Lake Blog Hop

Welcome to the Craftin' and Stampin' Crew 

SWAN LAKE

Blog Hop!

Myself and some of my Craftin' and Stampin' Crew members decided we wanted to share 

some of our creations on a monthly basis with the monthly featured paper collections. 

This hop will be featuring the October Featured paper from Close To My Heart called Swan Lake! 

My team has put together TONS of amazing inspiration to help you 

get crafty with this AMAZING paper packet and coordinating pieces!!

I chose to create the six scrapbook pages in the Workshops Your Way project sheets.  Even after making these cute pages I have loads of supplies left.  I'm estimating that by adding in card bases I will be able to easily create 15 greeting cards.  These kits are so awesome because you get everything you need to create (except your adhesive of course) all in one package.  They are great to throw in your bag when you are going to a crop or just to pull out at home when creativity is low.  Once you start digging in you will find all sorts of other ideas will pop into your head to use the leftovers.

Click here to purchase the Swan Lake Workshop Your Way Kit!!

Your next stop is Angela!

If you lose your way along this hop, please see the line up below:

Jessica 

Angela

Cheri

Jeepers Creepers Blog Hop - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Welcome to the Craftin' and Stampin' Crew 

JEEPERS CREEPERS 

Blog Hop!

Myself and some other Craftin' and Stampin' Crew members decided 

we wanted to share some of our creations on a monthly basis with the 

monthly featured paper collections. 

This hop will be featuring the September Featured paper from

Close To My Heart called Jeepers Creepers! 

Our team has put together TONS of amazing inspiration to help you 

get crafty with this AMAZING paper packet and coordinating pieces!!

I am finishing up our band of wonderful crafters but if you missed anyone, 

just click below to see their wonderful creations:

Jessica 

Cheri

Oma Gloria

Angela

Michelle

Jenny

NOW ON TO MY PROJECT...

We went on a fun trip earlier this year to celebrate my 50th birthday.  One of our destinations was Universal Studios Orlando.  I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I was not disappointed!  When our blog hop this month tasked us with using the Jeepers Creepers paper from Close To My Heart I knew instantly that the cute lightning bolt paper was screaming for me to use it to capture my memories from this awesome trip.  I also used some of the Jeepers Creepers Compliments, Jeepers Creepers Washi Tape, and some retired epoxy bubbles (to get a similar look you can take our Clear Sparkles and color them with a black Shin-Han (or another type of alcohol) marker - make sure you let it completely dry before touching it).

I surprised myself by not using any stamping or Cricut cuts on this layout.  However, I have some ideas for the rest of the paper packet and some Cricut cuts from our new cartridge Flower Market.  There is a sugar skull on it that is too adorable?!?  I've just got to use it!!

Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!!  If you'd like to be notified whenever I post something new, just click on the follow by email button on the right hand side.  I won't send you any other email other than notifications when I have a new blog post.  Feel free to also check out my Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/gabbysews/ or my Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/gabbysews/

Create Kindness Cardmaking Kit - National Stamping Month

September is National Stamping Month and Close To My Heart has a great kit available only until September 30th (or while supplies last). The Create Kindness card kit contains all of the supplies needed to create 24 beautiful handmade cards that you can use to brighten someone’s day! The kit can be yours for only $46.95—a 15% savings off the retail value! The kit comes with everything you need to create the cards including the stamp set, ink pad, stamping block, pre-cut circles, pre-printed card bases, and envelopes. You even get one of our small storage boxes! That comes out to less than $2 per card and you can use the stamp set, ink pad, stamping block, and storage box for more cards using your own card bases and paper. Can't get a deal like that at Hallmark!!

Click here to purchase a kit for yourself: http://reneprice.closetomyheart.com/ctmh/promotions/campaigns/1609-create-kindness.aspx

All good things must come to an end!

Good morning!  Well...it's about time for a new annual idea book to be released by Close To My Heart and that means lots of items retiring to make way for new fun crafty stuff!  To see a full list of what will be retiring as of July 31st check out my shop.  You will notice all our ink pads on the list but don't worry not all the colors are retiring.  We are getting a brand new ink pad design!  It is a little big larger and features a magnetic lid - woohoo no more struggling with our lids!!  Here are the colors that are retiring so if you want them, make sure you order soon since once they are gone, they are gone!  I've heard rumor that some are already sold out.  :-(

Gypsy
Cotton Candy
Topiary
Pear
Honey
Hollyhock
Sunset

Another special that expires on July 31st is our current recruiting campaign.  I joined several years ago during one of these campaigns so that I could get a 22% discount on what I bought and this campaign is much better than when I joined!!  For $75 you get so much!!  You get your kit:

And you get $50 special product credit to use on purchasing what you want - ink, paper, stamps, etc.  You can order from the new Idea Book that doesn't go live until August 1st and you will also get a 1-2 month preview on any future new catalogs - we have one big annual book with our fundamental items and then at least three seasonal catalogs with our fancy papers and coordinating stamps and embellishments.  And you get your choice of one of our complete Fundamentals sets:

There are also other incentives along the way - called Straight To The Top.  If you are interested, just let me know.  I will never ever push you to sell anything but if you are interested in getting a discount on the items you buy, this is a great way to do it.  To stay active all you need to do is spend $300 every quarter ($234 after your discount).  Or...if you are interested in making this a business, I can certainly link you in with my upline who is absolutely fabulous in that area.

I hope everyone is having a good summer.  I've spent a lot of it indoors trying to stay cool and working on paper crafting projects and lots of lovies for a project at my church.  I've been posting pics on my Instagram.  Follow me there for lots of visual fun!

Hippos and Giraffes!

I used Mojo Monday's sketch 454 for these cards.  The paper came from The Paper Studio's So-So Sweet Mat Stack.  The layers were cut using some layering basics dies from Spellbinders and an awesome cross-stitch circle die from Gina Marie Designs.  The stamp set is Safari Ballet (A1180) from Close To My Heart.  We have a new catalog coming out on August 1st and I'm not sure if this stamp set is being held over to the new catalog or not.  I colored the images using Prismacolor colored pencils and I also used the new Spectrum Noir Clear Sparkle Pen on their little tutus and bows.

New Catty and Awesome Promotions!!

 

Hi all!  Today a new Close To My Heart Catalog launches (here's a link: http://reneprice.ctmh.com/ctmh/products/online-idea-book.aspx) and we have three great promotions this month too!  It's National Scrapbooking Month and CTMH is celebrating!!

The first promotion is a limited paper pack called Happy Times that you can get for FREE with any qualifying purchase of $60 (or you can purchase it on it's own for $14.95).  It has 14 beautiful 2-sided papers which feature florals, stripes, gold foil details, and more!

The second promotion is a gorgeous D-size stamp set to coordinate with the Happy Times paper.  This stamp set features some buildable flowers, leaves, and some sweet sentiments that have so many uses for card making, scrapbooking, and creating pocket albums!  This set costs $17.95 and includes 18 pieces.

The third promotion is an exciting one for me because I think CTMH has the absolute best photo albums.  We carry both post bound and 3-ring binders.  This month they are on sale for 25% off while supplies last.  That makes each album only $26.21 each!  I know you can get cheaper albums at the big box stores and I've bought those myself.  However, what I've noticed about the CTMH albums is that I don't experience the cracking of the interior liners and I've opened and closed the 3-ring ones untold amounts of times and they still line up perfectly - don't you hate it when they go all cattywompus?!?!

And finally the fourth promotion is our Stamp of The Month for May, Celebrate with Cake.  You can get this stamp for $5 with any $50 qualifying purchase.  It's another buildable stamp specifically designed for birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries.  And...my 50th birthday is coming up this month so I like to think they created this stamp set just for me!! lol  It comes with 17 pieces including cake stands and layers, flowers, banners, and four sentiments.

As an added bonus if you place at least a $60 qualifying purchase, I will be emailing you instructions you can use with your free paper packet to create these six scrapbook pages or 12 cards!!

Organizing with Evernote

I love to use Evernote to organize all sorts of things!  I have all of my Close To My Heart stamps organized in this awesome free tool.  I've also started organizing my sewing patterns and I can't wait to finish that project - no more buying the same pattern two (or three) times!  I can also keep notes and pictures of projects I've made using each item.  

I put together a quick little tutorial covering the basics of Evernote and how I put my stamps in it.  I also give you a sneak peek of my sewing pattern organization that is just in the beginning stages.  I hope it helps you and if you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer.

How I Organize My Stamps

Hi!  I've had some questions about how I organize all my stamp sets.  I have a very small space for all my non-sewing crafting and I share the space with my husband so keeping things contained is a must.  The Close To My Heart stamps (which are the majority of my collection) come in a very sturdy plastic envelope that is closed with a snap on the back.  I discard the care card and stamping cushion that come in the envelope and then remove the snap.  I created a video to show you how I do that:

I then store all my stamps in a CTMH Large Organizer (well...I have quite the stamp addiction so I have two organizers) numerically.  I keep an Evernote database of all my stamps by keywords so all I have to do is search for a certain image and Evernote will tell me where to find it.  I've been keeping my stamps like this for over a year and it's working great!

If you have any questions about my process or supplies used, just leave me a comment.  You can purchase the large organizer on my website - link on the sidebar.

Want a Huge Discount on CTMH?

When I signed up as a consultant with Close To My Heart two years ago it was as a hobbyist.  I love CTMH products and between my personal crafting and making cards for various charities I knew I could easily spend the $300 ($234 after my consultant discount) every three months to keep my consultant status.  And...I was right!  I have no problem spending that amount on the staples I use all the time (cardstock, card bases, envelopes, ink, etc.).  In addition I earn awesome extra rewards called Select Product Credit (SPC) that I can use on anything that you can use hostess rewards to purchase.  Speaking of hostess rewards...I usually save up my quarterly purchases and create a "gathering" with myself as the hostess.  That usually nets me another $40 in free stuff and I can also purchase one item at 50% off.  All told I end up with $345 in product for $234 plus I get 50% off another item -  I usually use that on one of the big ticket items like the Cricut cartridges or a new album.  As a consultant I can also order items one month before they show up in the catalogs and I can purchase the Stamps of The Month at least a couple months in advance which is great because that means I don't have to place a $50 order every month to get those stamps and can instead place one big order so I get the hostess rewards and a larger SPC.

Why am I telling you all these secrets?!?  Well...CTMH has a new consultant kit that just came out yesterday with some really neat features.  This is a much better deal than when I signed up two years ago!  The kit costs $75 and you get all the items shown below plus $50 in SPC credit to spend!

• Medium Organizer (Z4139, qty 1)
• My Acrylix^® Block 2" × 6½" (Y1010, qty 1)
• My Acrylix^® Block 1” × 3½" (Y1002, qty 1)
• My Acrylix^® Block 2" × 2" (Y1003, qty 1)
• Non-Stick Microtip Scissors (Z1836, qty 1)
• My Acrylix^® Stamp Scrubber (Z1782, qty 1)
• My Acrylix^® Spritz Cleaner (1778, qty 1)
• Bonding Memories™ Glue (1512, qty 1)
• 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151, qty 1)
• Sponge (Z697, qty 1)
• Customer Order Forms (W101, qty 1 pack of 25)
• Annual Inspirations Idea Book (WC1161, qty 5)
• Seasonal Expressions 2 (WCS1163, qty 5)
• Cardstock Sampler (W1136, qty 1)
• Paper Fundamentals Sampler (W1137, qty 1)
• Annual Inspirations B&T Duos™ Sampler (W1138, qty 1)
• Seasonal Expressions 2 B&T Duos™ Sampler (W1144, qty 1)
• Artful Textiles—Petite Perks Incentive Stamp Set (W2034, qty 3)
• Gathering Invitations (W1129, qty 1 pack of 25)
• Desk Pad (W1140, qty 1 pack of 50)

I'm really loving the $50 SPC so you can buy what you want rather than getting paper or stamps in your kit that you don't want.  I have to admit that I am still trying to use the paper that came in my consultant kit because it just wasn't my favorite and I think there is one stamp set that came in my kit that I never used.  I would have much rather been able to pick and choose what I wanted.

Another great thing if you sign up in April is if you submit $350 in sales during your first 30 days* you get your choice of either a free Cricut cartridge or an additional $100 in SPC!!  *The 30-day period begins five days after the New Consultant Kit has been shipped. Offer valid April 1, 2016 (9:00 am MDT) – April 30, 2016 (11:59 pm MDT). 

Some other good things to know:

*At $250 in sales you earn 3 FREE exclusive stamp sets not available to order - this is available for new consultants that join any time of the year.

*Shipping is charged on free items, and shipping/tax is added to the kit cost. 

If this interests you, just contact me at the link on the sidebar and I'll give you more information.  I am a hobbyist so you will not get any pressure from me to sell anything.  If you just want to sign up to get the awesome kit and $50 in SPC and then never do anything further as a consultant, I am fine with that.  However, if you want to run this as a business, I can certainly get you networked with some awesome women who are doing awesome things!  You can earn all expense paid vacations for two (this year was a Caribbean cruise and last year they went to Hawaii!), exciting awards, and do it all while making good money and having fun!  

Great Workshop

We had the best time at my church last night making cards!  About 30 ladies joined in and made the cards that I featured last month.  I think it went really well and they whipped those five cards out so fast!  I think we are going to do a Christmas Card Workshop probably in November and I think this time I'll design six or seven cards since they finished these last ones so quickly!

I wanted to share some of the fun alterations the ladies made.  I love it when someone takes an idea and makes it their own.

However, the best part of the night for me was when one of the ladies came up to me to thank me for presenting the workshop and she told me, "I didn't think I'd be able to make these cards, but I did!"  For me showing someone what they CAN do is the greatest thrill!  That's why I love to teach paper crafting and sewing.  People can do so much more than they think they can.  I told the ladies last night that perfection is not allowed and there are no mistakes.  I hope they know how proud I am of them all that they stepped outside their comfort zones and created something that will bless the person they give it to.  I know I was blessed by them all!!

Women of Foundations Card Workshop - Fluttering By To Say Hi!

Here is the final card in the Women of Foundations Card Workshop for February 2016.  This card is really fun and I think it can be sent for all sorts of occasions.  This particular card will probably take the most time to put together but I think it's worth it!  

Here is the list of supplies and the cut measurements in case you want to make this card with your own paper:

White Daisy Card Base

Slate Cardstock by Close To My Heart - 5.25" x 4"

Georgie Paper by Close To My Heart - one piece 4 5/8" x 2 3/8" and another 3.5" square

White Daisy Cardstock - 3" square

A Tree Stamp Set by Close To My Heart A1124 (unfortunately this one is retired but here's a current stamp that is very similar and really cute!  Keep Your Chin Up A1167)

1/8" Silver ribbon from Affray

Sparkles

Slate Ink by Close To My Heart

Lagoon Ink by Close To My Heart

And here's a video showing you how to put it all together:

Women of Foundations Card Workshop - Thinking of You Card

Here is another card in the series of cards for the Women of Foundations workshop coming up in February.  This particular card uses the Sangria paper line from Close To My Heart as well as the January Stamp of the Month, Beloved Blooms.  I really like this stamp and there is so much you can do with it!  I stamped the rose in Sorbet and Eggplant ink and then stamped the sentiment in Versafine Black Onyx and heat embossed it with some Ranger Clear Embossing Powder.

Here are the specifics on supplies and cutting sizes:

Colonial White Card Base by Close To My Heart
Sangria by Close To My Heart base - 5.25" x 4"
Sentiment Mat - Eggplant Cardstock by Close To My Heart - 2.75" square
Beloved Blooms Stamp Set by Close To My Heart - S1601 - (available only through January 31st for $5 with a $50 purchase or you buy it on it's own for $17.95)
Eggplant Ink by Close To My Heart
Sorbet Ink by Close To My Heart
Versafine Black Onyx
Sentiment Panel - Colonial White Cardstock by Close To My Heart- 25." square
Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
Scrapbook Adhesives Foam Squares

And here is a video to show you how to put it together:

Women of Foundations Card Workshop - With Gratitude Card

This is another post in my series for the Women of Foundations card workshop.  This card is called With Gratitude.  You can never have enough thank you cards is my thought!  I really like this simple little card because you can make a whole bunch out of a very little amount of patterned paper.

Here's the supplies list with cutting measurements:

Skylark Pattern Paper (retired CTMH paper) - 2" x 5.25"
Mat - CTMH Cocoa Cardstock - 2.25" x 5.25"

Stamp Set:  CTMH Thanks D1361 (retired set)
Ink:  CTMH Cocoa Ink
Sentiment Panel and Mat: cut from Cricut Artiste Cartridge (pg 65, accent 3)

Here's the video that will walk you through putting this card together:

Women of Foundations Card Workshop - Balloon Monkey Birthday Card

This post is another in the series for the card workshop for the ladies at my church.  I think this is probably my favorite card.  This card uses our February Stamp of the Month and some really fun paper from our current catalog and a sketch from My Favorite Things (MFTWSC227) that I changed up just a little bit.  Here is the supplies and paper cutting information:

Kaleidoscope multi color paper - 1.75" x 4.5" (trim to a banner end)
CTMH White Cardstock - 2" X 4 5/8" (trim to a banner end)
Kaleidoscope green pattern paper - 3/4" x 3.5"
CTMH White Cardstock - 1" x 3 5/8"
CTMH White Cardstock - 2 5/8" circle for the sentiment (cut on Cameo)

Stamp Set:  February Stamp of The Month, Balloon Animals (S1602) - this stamp set is available for $5 with a $50 purchase for the month of February 2016 only
Ink:  CTMH Pixie and Momento Tuxedo Black

Dry Embossing Folder:  Darice Polka Dots

Here's the video that will walk you through putting this card together:

Women of Foundations Card Workshop - Confident Encouragement Card

I have a workshop coming up at my church in February and as a part of the workshop I am creating this blog post to assist in putting the kits together.  I am calling this card Confident Encouragement.  I think it would be a great card for a graduate or someone who has embarked on a new career.  I've created a video to show you how to put together the kits I created for this workshop.  If you were not at the workshop or want to create the card again using your own paper here is the cutting information and other supplies I used in putting the kit together.

Urban Blueprint Paper - 4" x 5.25"

Urban Diamond Plate Paper - 2" x 5.25"

Colonial White for the Sentiment - 3.25" square

Stamp Set:  Close To My Heart A Thing Well Done (D1606) retired hostess set

Ink:  Close To My Heart Chocolate

Card Base:  Close To My Heart Colonial White Card Base & Envelope

Here's the video that will walk you through putting this card together:

Christmas 2015 Projects Catch Up - Base & Bling!

I'm trying to catch up some Christmas projects on the blog.  This year I made some necklaces for some special girls in my life using some Close To My Heart Base & Bling items.  I love the Base & Bling jewelry!  You can create some very cute handmade gifts in a very short time.  I did have an issue using the oval pendants with the stickers I wanted since they were square stickers - note to self to make sure you ordered the same size pendants as the stickers you have your heart set on.  But they turned out really cute anyway - I LOVE this penguin!  I created some necklace holders using some white cardstock with a couple slits on the corners.  I stamped the sentiment using another retired CTMH set called Say It All (C1632).  I then created simple boxes from some retired CTMH paper called Skylark.  The tags were cut from my Cameo and stamped using the Christmas Post (D1610) stamp set from CTMH and heat embossed with some fun glitter embossing powder from Sparkle & Sprinkle that I got at my Scrapbook Expo last year.  Unfortunately the pictures did not do the sparkle justice.

MFT's Quilt Die Birthday Card

For Christmas my hubby bought me the My Favorite Things
Quilt Dies!  I've made a whole bunch of inlaid die cuts with the Quilt Square Cover Up.  These are my first MFT dies and they are awesome!  I will definitely be buying more of these!!  It was so easy to get the cuts out and they came out perfectly.  I backed the frame with scor-tape and it was really simple to place the inlaid pieces in.

Other Supplies:
Sentiment - Balloon Wishes (D1667) from Close to My Heart
Paper - Hip Hip Hooray 6X6 from American Crafts and black from CTMH
Inks - Momento Tuxedo Black and CTMH Lagoon Ink
Card Base - A2 base from CTMH

Regatta Line

There are three new paper lines in our new seasonal Idea book but I think Regatta is my favorite so far.  Here's a collage of several of my favorite items from that line and some examples of things you can create!

Products shown:
You're My Anchor Stamp Set
You're My Anchor Thin Cuts die
Regatta Compliment Stickers
Regatta Paper Pack

Check out the new Seasonal Idea Book here:  http://reneprice.ctmh.com/ctmh/products/online-idea-book.aspx