CTMH Albums

A quick update on CTMH albums...

CTMH has been working on getting more D-ring albums in stock and post-bound albums that feature a canvas cover.  They are committed to providing the best and these albums haven't met their standards yet so they are still working to improve them, which makes these products unavailable. 

What is available is: 

The Outdoor Denium and Dark Chocolate faux leather post-bound albums that are in the current idea book are available.  These albums are very nice and have stood the test of time.  These albums are also in the 2014 Annual Inspirations idea book (launches in August).  This means these albums will be available all year.  In fact, CTMH says at least through July 2015 potentially longer. Spine expanders, extender posts and screws will also still be available. 

The current cost of these albums is $24.95.  This will increase upon the launch of the new Idea Book in August.  The cost of the albums will be going up to $29.95.  So, if you're thinking you'll need an album sooner rather than later July is your month to grab one or two for a bit cheaper!  You can email me an order or place an order on my CTMH shopping site. 

12x12 Dark Chocolate Faux Leather Album

12x12 Outdoor Denim Faux Leather Album

The new 2014 Annual Inspirations should be delivered to my door in the next couple of days!! Close to my Heart will have the 2014 Annual Inspirations book good through the whole year (Aug 2014 - July 2015).  They will then release Seasonal Expressions (one in December and one in April) with more new goodies throughout the year.  The Annual Inspiration idea book retails for $6.  

Upcoming Events: 

July 10th: Base & Bling Party

July 15th, 6pm-9pm: July Layout Make-and-Takes (still room, please RSVP by Tuesday, July 1st)

2014 Annual Inspiration Preview Party details to come, but plans are in the making for some preview fun on July 15th! 

Happy Crafting!

June Layout Workshop

I hope you are all enjoying some sunshine!! Ahhhhhh, summer........!!!!

Here are the layouts we created last Friday night!  T'was fun!!

The first layout was made using CTMH Timberline Paper pack and the Catch You Later stamp set.  I really love both the paper and the stamp set - very outdoorsy and fun!  The little tags on the left are stamped images from the stamp set. "Skeeter Bites free," how funny is that?! (If you click on any of the images on this blog it should open in another browser and much bigger.)  The right side of this layout was purposefully created in 4x6 blocks so it could easily be adapted and inserted into the Picture My Life pages or could be adhered to a 12x12 sheet and arranged on a traditional scrapbooking page as well.  Finally, you can see I've been having fun with my new Artbooking cartridge. The brown overlays are cut made from Artbooking! I found a new way to make confetti...after cutting out enough of the overlays for everyone's layouts I had a lot of little brown hexagons floating around. :)

CTMH: Timberline Paper Pack, Catch You Later Stamp Set, Cricut Artbooking

CTMH: Timberline Paper Pack, Cricut Artbooking, Woodgrain Washi Tape

Introducing the Sarita paper pack to the blog...

Have I mentioned before how much I love "zip strips"?  What's a zip strip?  You know when you buy 12x12 paper and there is usually the 1/2 strip where the company name is, the bar code and maybe something else, but usually it's just wasted space? CTMH uses that space!  The zip strip.  One side has all the info: company name, name of the paper and it give you a list of coordinating colors to use with that particular pattern paper.  The other side is my favorite part a uniquely patterned coordinating zip strip!  It's on every piece of pattern paper you purchase from CTMH.  So for this particular piece the zip strip (2 were used in this layout) is what I used for the ribbon going across the page.  Slick!

CTMH Supplies: Sarita Paper Pack, Babycakes Stamp Set 

The 4th of July is really just around the corner.  June's stamp of the month is the Kaboom stamp set which really was perfect for this holiday layout.  

CTMH Supplies: Sarita Paper, CricutArtbooking, Kaboom Stamp Set
Red Chevron (The Paper Source)

CTMH Supplies: Sarita Paper, CricutArtbooking, Kaboom Stamp Set
Red Chevron (The Paper Source)

CTMH Supplies: Sarita Paper, CricutArtbooking, Kaboom Stamp Set
Red Chevron (The Paper Source)

Happy Crafting!

Cute Cards!

Tuesday a group of us got together created some cute cards and some cute necklaces, too! In hindsight, I should have taken pictures of their Base & Bling creations... bummer!  But, I do have images of the cards to share!

All of these cards were fun to create and come up with!  I am loving the Close to My Heart Cricut Cartridges.  I have Art Philosophy and Artbooking and am enjoying them both equally!

CTMH Supplies: Cricut Artbooking Frame Cuts, Stamps: Feathers & Catch You Later,
Cardstock: Colonial White & Kraft, Inks: Lagoon & Goldrush

CTMH Supplies: Stamps: Catch You Later & Balloon Talk, Cardstock: White,
Lagoon & Sweet Leaf

CTMH Supplies: Balloon Talk Stamp Set, Lollydoodle Paper, Shimmer Trim, Flamingo Dots,
Cardstock: White & Lagoon, Inks: Pear, Lagoon, Sunset & Gypsy
This card was inspired from the April Stamp of the Month flier from Close to my Heart. 

CTMH Supplies: Cricut Artbooking Sun Overlay Cut, Jubilee Paper,
Cardstock: Goldrush & Colonial White

CTMH Supplies: Believe in Yourself Stamps, Skylark Paper,
Colonial White Cardstock, Durable Studs, Ink: Lagoon & Desert Sand

Ok, this next card was my favorite to create!! I MADE the paper flowers! YOU can make the paper flowers!

I was perusing through my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge and decided I wanted to try out the flowers that it features.  This cartridge can cut 6 different flowers (there are 2 kinds pictured below).  Creating these flowers was SO fun!  The cut is like a big swirl and it looks rather confusing at first!  I tried rolling the flowers with just my fingers but found much more success in using a sharpened pencil.  I used the wooden part just about the sharpened lead - it's the perfect angle for rolling, a great fit and a tool we all have! You roll the flower up (from the outside of the swirl-cut in) until you get to the base, which kind of looks lilypadish.  You apply glue to the base so all the paper is adhered.  As you do this you need to decide how tight or loose you'd like the flower before it sets in glue.  To loosen up the flower let go of the roll and let it unwind.  If it looks lopsided or isn't opening as much as you'd like you can help to unwind it a bit.  I used my finger to unwind it kind of like I did back-in-the-day with an old cassette when you had to wind the tape!  The final step is to spread the petals as much as you'd like.  Glue in position on your project. Wha-la! B.E.A.UTIFUL. and FUN!

I'll post more about flowers later on because I am totally digging them. They are so cute. Fun. AND there are so many things you could do with them.... I stamped [the green] one before I rolled it for a neat textured look, I added Stickles to the center of some on a different card, you could ink the edges of the petals, you can use a flourish stamp like I did for accent or you can cut out leaves, you can cut them out in paper like I have done or you could use fabric!  Think of all the ways you could use them in all your home decor projects: monograms, wreaths, frames, shadow boxes, on and on...!  I'm totally into monograms; this is on my list of things to-do!

CTMH Supplies: Stamps: Cricut Art Philosophy Tags & Believe in Yourself,
Art Philosophy Flower Cuts,
Cardstock: Sweet Leaf, Smoothie, Goldrush & Slate 

Happy Crafting!

Hello, June!!

June is here! Summer!!

In this house that means the end of the school year.  The end of the school year = busy! I'm busy wrapping up lessons and learning in the classroom while trying to contain and help 12 year olds focus who, by the way, are more than excited as they anticipate summer break.  But bigger than that, our little dude is almost done with kindergarten, whoa! HOLY SMOKES! Seriously. Seriously... 4 more days. He sure has grown a lot and in so many ways this year!  I'm a pretty proud mamma!

June for Close to my Heart = deals and more deals!
The June Stamp of the Month is "Kaboom".  Super fun, super cute, definitely fitting for summer pages and it also includes phrases and elements that can be used year round!  When you place an order totaling $50 during the month of June, this stamp set can be yours for just $5!

This month marks the 30th anniversary for Close to my Heart in the stamping and scrapbooking industry. 

In honor of this anniversary, when you place an order totally $50 during the month of June, you can add your choice of one of six great gift collection to your order for just $30!  Each collection holds a retail value between $50 - $65.  Take a look below at the six options available to you.  They feature a variety of things: gift bags, ribbons, washi tape, paper, embellishments, home decor and more! It may be CTMH's anniversary but you get the gift!  Snag your collection while you can for just $30!

Remember the 5 product collections are still available as well!

One more thing! June's FREE download is a popsicle invitation... cute for a summer party! 

There we go! That's it for now...

Remember to RSVP for the upcoming events, listed here.

Tuesday, June 10th, 6-8pm: Creating Cards!  (Cost: $10.  Please RSVP by June 2nd)

Friday, June 13th, 6:30-9:30pm: Layout Make-n-Takes (Cost: $15. Please RSVP by June 2nd)

Hope to be crafting with you next week!!

First Home Gathering!

Who wants to host a home gathering? Perhaps I should ask, "Who wants free CTMH product?" 

I held my first home gathering last Wednesday.  I loved preparing for this!  I even made myself a Base & Bling necklace the night before in a flash!  I hadn't had the opportunity to make a necklace yet but I had all my gathering supplies packed and loaded up and was picking out my clothes for the next day and I knew I should just run down and give it a try.  I found the perfect background to match my shirt and the necklace came together quickly, seriously like 5 minutes! If you didn't catch it on my Facebook feed or Instagram (@inspirecreatecultivate) here she is!

CTMH Supplies: Base & Bling

This necklace was just the bling I needed to set my crafting excitement into overdrive! Geeked. Out.

Jill was a great host!  (She always is!!)  It was fun to hang out with her family and friends, make a cute card and share Close to my Heart product with everyone!

Here's a snapshot of the card everyone made:

CTMH Supplies: Skylark Paper, Believe in Yourself Stamps,
Exclusive Inks: Lagoon and Desert Sand.

We used sponge daubers to ink the edges! Have you used daubers? I hadn't until I was introduced to Close to my Heart.  They are so slick.  You place them on your finger, ink the top (dabbing it on an ink pad) and then quickly and easily apply to your project.  They are reusable (I keep one dauber for each color).  They were a hit and I think everyone grabbed a pack!

Sponge Daubers

Hostess Rewards work like this... you get FREE stuff!

Just for hosting a gathering you get:

- FREE Idea Book & Catalog

- FREE Goodie Bag

- FREE make-and-take for you & your guests

- TWO stamps on your "Constantly Crafting" card with me

- Booking Bonus: If someone at your party books and hosts a gathering you can pick out a FREE stamp set of your choice from the current Idea Book. 

- You can earn FREE products based on sales (page 4 of the current Idea Book)!

There's more! I've got a deal for your friends and family members that come to your gathering too!  If they bring along a friend or someone new and they that new person makes a purchase your guest will receive a 10% off coupon...that's a deal you can both benefit from!

So, I'm serious when I ask, "Who wants to host a Home Gathering?"  As a host you can receive a lot of FREE product! Jill did!!! You can too! :) Email me at ellielundstrom@gmail.com to get your party date on the calendar!

Happy Crafting!

PS: There is a lot of interest in Base & Bling necklaces! I love it! I ordered a bunch of pieces and am planning to set up a "Base & Bling Buffet".  Because they can be made relatively quickly I'm hoping to have an "add on" piece to card making or a make-and-take event depending on when my supplies arrive.  I'll keep you posted!