Monday, February 28, 2011

March's Stamp of the Month set: Sensational Season

March's stamp of the month set, Sensational Season, is an adorable set of Easter images with sentiments.



I kept this card to a clean and simple design, limiting the colors to only light browns and pinks. The card base is our new Kraft cardstock, the patterned paper is from the Miracle Reflections set, and I stamped with Desert Sand ink. I chose the cute little bunny and decided to have him hold a heart. I found a small little heart in our T.L.C. stamp set. After stamping and cutting it out, I cut a small slit underneath his hands with our cutting knife. This enabled me to slide the heart just underneath his hands so it appeared he was "holding" the heart.

Using our piercing tool, I poked holes to create a frame and stitched with our Baby Pink embroidery floss. Then I simply added a few of our new Pink Buttons to finish the card off. How cute is that?

Dani


Sunday, February 20, 2011

More New Art to Share and the Open House Grand Prize Winner!

It was great seeing everyone at the Open House; although, I think the snowy weather kept a few of you away. To those of you who were brave enough to withstand the elements, it was very nice to visit with you again. Our 2011 Spring/Summer Idea Book is jam packed with wonderful new products, so there was a lot of great art, projects and ideas to share. For those unable to attend, I'll share some of the art on our blog!

First, I'll start with one of the beautiful make-n-takes that everyone was able to create. I used the beautiful February Stamp of the Month, Friendship, with this card as well as the gorgeous new Wings Reflections paper.



I simply love this stamp set. The damask images also make beautiful background patterns. I also used some cute new little button brads in the new Mini-Medley Accents Black Collection.

Next I'll share our beautiful new My Reflections paper packets from this Idea Book. I'll start with the gorgeous new Wings My Reflections kit papers, since we used those with a make-n-take.



This set is filled with the deep, rich colors of Vineyard Berry, Black, Juniper and Sweet Leaf. Simply stunning! This was a card I had on display using these papers and a flower made out of the brand new coordinating pleated ribbon, Wings Level 2 Assortment. I was also using one of my favorite new sets from this book for the sentiments, Fill in the Blank. I used that set a lot, you'll see. :-)



Next, I'll go to the Sophia My Reflections papers, which were featured on the cover of this Idea book. This set features Blush, Goldrush, Hollyhock and Pear -- so yummy!



I made a fun little "We've Moved" card with these papers and the new set, Bless This Nest. And I'm using my favorite new set, Fill in the Blank, to create the arrow.



Moving on to the elegant new Bliss My Reflections papers. These set features Bamboo, Chocolate, Grey Flannel and Vanilla Cream -- you need to see these colors in person to believe how gorgeous they are!



I made a cute "I love you sew much" card with the new set Tailor-Made. Using the dress form, I folded a shirt to fit as well as made a pleated skirt. The Pearl Opaques Adhesive Gems, made perfect accents from a necklace to a skirt accent.



You may remember this new Reflections set, Miracle. This set was part of a special we had a while back, and it is just as delightful. While the colors in this set are very versatile (Bamboo, Crystal Blue, Heavenly Blue and Sweet Leaf), it does tend to really remind me of little baby boy colors -- so I made a baby boy card. :-)



I used the new Paper Lantern set with the Just for Boys set -- soft, sweet and simple.



I'm only halfway through the new paper packs! Can you believe it? Next, we have the Sweetheart Reflection papers, with colors Baby Pink, Black, Cotton Candy and Tulip.



I made a "You did it!" card with once again, the new set Fill in the Blank. I used the flower and sentiments from the set. I also added the color Sunny Yellow for a pop of color and the perfect accent for the flowers.



Come join us at Mayberry, an enchanting My Reflections kit with Cocoa, Honey, Olive and Smoothie.

Using another new stamp set, Bee Happy (which I HAD to get, as my son's school mascot is a bee), I created a "you're sweet as honey" card with once again, the Fill in the Blank stamp set (the butterflies and framed accent for the bumblebee).



Sometimes it can be a struggle to find papers for older boys, but no longer with these Lucky Reflection papers. The colors are just perfect with Desert Sand, Olive, Outdoor Denim and Sunset.

I created a "Together is the best place to be" card using the stamp set included in the Bliss Workshop Kit as well as once again, the Fill in the Blank stamp set (birds). That set is soooo versatile! The chipboard accents are from the new Villa chipboard sheet of die-cuts, with a resist pattern that shows when color is added. I used a sponge and Desert Sand to color mine.



And last, but definitely not least, are the Fanfare Reflections papers. These bright and colorful papers include the colors Cranberry, Pacifica, Sky and Sunny Yellow.


Which stamp set did I use in this card? Well if you paying attention, a safe bet to guess would be Fill in the Blank. And you would be correct! I used it for both the "you did it!" sentiment as well as the sewn star. I stamped the star and used it as my template to sew with our Cranberry embroidery floss.

This is just a sampling of all the art shared at the Open House! Hopefully you can make it next time, and if you still need your 2011 Spring/Summer Idea Book -- make sure to get in touch with me. This is a must-have Idea Book! :-)

And finally, it's that time again to unveil the grand prize winner of the 2011 Spring/Summer Open House:



(* drum roll *) And the winner is... Anne S! Congratulations, Anne! I think you are THE top winner of the Grand Prizes -- how many have you won now? Even though we've had some winners who only had one ticket in the drawing. Overall, it must help to have the maximum number of tickets in the drawing... having flashbacks to Trigonometry and Probability. YIKES! Anne, enjoy all your grand prize goodies, and everyone who won a door prize AFTER you left... your prize is in with your order!

Dani

Saturday, February 5, 2011

New Batch of Retired Products Available Online!

Close To My Heart has a discounted section on our websites, "While Supplies Last" -- and right now there are a lot of really nice products on there! They are ranging from a little bit off to over 70% off, definitely some great deals are available.

Here are a few that are available as of today:










There are currently MANY other items available: several other rub-ons, a lot of other ribbon, many other embellishments, with a variety of other items.

In order to take advantage of these specials, you need to shop online at my website -- under the "While Supplies Last" section.

Hurry before they are gone! :-)

Dani