Mom, I Need a Gift Tomorrow!

How many times have you heard this, or  like I did, heard it 2 hours before going to bed?  How many times have you done that to yourself where you totally forgot about an event until the last minute?  I hate to admit it but it seems this regularly happens at my house.  I'm starting to think it is because they know I will help them out but what if I didn't?  Would they get better about remembering earlier?  Who knows but I hate to not have a gift when one is needed and/or deserved.

ANYWAY,  so this conversation happened just the other night, just 2 hours before bed and our event was first thing in the morning.  This is where I love having lots of supplies in my craft room.  :)  A few months ago I showed you the lipstick holder key chains that I made for my roommates at convention and how I added our Base and Bling to decorate them up. I had a few supplies left and was able to make this cute key chain in about 5 minutes - love that!

The recipient loves to take pictures so I thought the little camera charm would be a great addition.

Being last minute, I, of course, didn't have a small enough gift bag so grabbed my Artiste Cricut Cartridge and some extra Laughing Lola paper (love that paper) and made this gift box and card.  The box itself took longer to cut on the Cricut then it did to assemble!  My daughter was very amazed at how quickly it all came together.  Again, I'm not so sure that is a good thing :).
  

 Have you tried the Base & Bling collection yet?  It really is awesome and can be used for so much more then just jewelry and key chains.  Add it as an embellishment to your layout.  The sticker sheets come with several different stickers to choose from - add several to your layout.  Show off your Base & Bling art by posting it here and/or on our facebook page.  I would love to see it!

Christmas Isn't The Only Time for Gift Giving

Christmas is definitely the #1 time to give gifts but May and June are right up there too!  Between teacher gifts, graduations and weddings it seems like we are always trying to come up with some quick gift ideas.  Over the next couple days I hope to show you some of the quick gift items I have put together for some various events.

Here are some quick teacher gifts for my children's homeschool co-op teachers.

6 Women and 

1 Man :)

All the containers were made with the Artiste Cricut  Cartridge.  The lady's baskets were made with the Laughing Lola papers and the Art Philosophy Stamp Sets.  This last gift box for the one gentleman teacher was made with the Scholastic papers and the April Stamp of the Month Balloon Talk.   These baskets were quick to put together and relayed the message of thanks to all who poured themselves into my children's lives.

Gifts, Clearance and another Great Retreat

It's hard to believe we have been back from our retreat for a couple weeks already.  I feel like I am living life in the fast lane - the Indy 500 fast lane and am ready for a pit stop.  Praise the Lord for our pit stop at Grand Oaks - it was wonderful.  I'm ready for another.  :)  Speaking of another, we have been invited to return May 1st - 4th for another fabulous scrapbook and craft filled weekend.  The cost is $300 and includes logging, all meals, a workshop each day and crafting galore!  If you are interested in joining me, please let me know asap.  I am offering those who did not attend in November first dibs to give everyone a change but will open it up to everyone January 1st so if you want to go, you need to let me know.

In my last post I showed you our weekend commemorative layout we created.  As you could see, our theme paper was the Laughing Lola papers. To continue to the with our theme, we created these beautiful canvas albums.  They were a little different then what we normally create during our weekend but were a big hit.  I just love it!  They make a great Christmas gift too!

 Supplies used were:  Canvas album (retired), Laughing Lola paper pack (X7170B), black shimmer trim (Z1809), black tulle (retired), Cricut Artbooking cartridge (Z1906)for the cut paper, Sparkle and Shine Washy tape (Z1907), Sparkle Flourishes (Z1745) Love Life Acrylix Stamp Set (D1482), Crystal Blue ink (Z2117) and Black Pigment ink (44751).  Orders your supplies here.

While your there, check out our recently clearance and retired products.  Don't wait - they are going fast.

Retreating with Laughing Lola

Having such a great time scrapbooking this weekend with a bunch of fabulous ladies.   Each year I try to use a paper pack to be the theme of the weekend.  This year it was Laughing Lola.  I absolutely love this paper. The purples, the blues, the swirls- Augh, how could you not love this paper.!!!!

So using Laughing Lola as my main paper pack, I created this layout to teach here at the retreat and to commemorate the weekend.   

I also used paper from the Scholastic paper pack and used or new Artbooking Cricut cartridge.  I love being able to use multiple paper packs in a layout and to use multiple Cricut catridges in a layout too!

Watch this video here that Close to My Heart created to help you learn to create amazing art work by using all of our amazing Cricut cartriges. 

To get your any of the Cricut Catridges shown or the beautiful Laughing Lola paper pack go to my website now!

Lots of New Video's coming soon! The best first...

Close to My Heart just made a series of videos ranging from learning about their products to using fun techniques to create beautiful layouts, cards and home decor. 

I was excited to see one yesterday that had pictures of my sweet Tinker Bell as the subject of the layout.  The papers used were my favorite new papers too - Laughing Lola. 

Watch the video below to see my sweet girl and to get a quick explanation of our My Reflections papers and embellishments.

Convention is Rockin’!!!

WOW!!! What an amazing day in Florida and at the Close to My Heart Convention!!!  Today was the big reveal  for the new Fall and Winter catalog and products and all I can say is WOW!!! 
We started our day with some fun friends and a comical play on Downtown Abbey (CTMH version being Downtown Shabby), Slate Grey’s Anatomy and our own Project Runway.

The reveal was amazing and I will be sure to share all the information – in bite size pieces of course or your head might spin (just like mine ).
Here is the fun bag that was given to us with our wonderful catalog inside.

And for a sneak peak at the cover of our new catalog:

The new catalog introduces gorgeous new papers, including a fun baby paper that can be used for either a boy or girl (but trust me it is not boring or bland), new Crush Books, Designer Décor Frames for amazing home decorating, brand new Base and Bling jewelry kits and even more organizational items.
Here is a peak at the Follow Your Heart Mini Album we created today – so fun!

This album was created with our BRAND NEW CRICUT CARTRIDGE – ARTBOOKING!!!
You are going to love this cartridge.  It is packed and I mean packed with images like nothing you have seen before.  15 different themes, 10 themed mini books, a new alphabet and LOTS, LOTS more.
SO – start planning, and get ready for an amazing new book.  Now this book doesn’t go active until August first but that gives you plenty of time to get your friends together and plan a party or workshop helping you get lots of new products – FREE!!!  E-mail me now to schedule your own event.