Balmy February Goodies!

February is looking suspiciously warm for YYC... maybe a bit too warm. I'm used to donning my snow gear and thinking about ski runs now and again. But, on one hand I keep wondering when Mother Nature's going to deal us a pretty cold hand at some point (hello -30 C?) or our summer is going to be craptacular again. Well, I'll enjoy it while I still can.

I know I haven't been creating a lot of cards lately but I am also behind on getting a few together. I finally sorted out my craft room as it was getting out of hand, and I have a lot of stuff!! Maybe it's time to do a moving sale... we'll see what shakes out.

Without further ado, February specials! The first one I want to talk about is Share The Love!

Of course February 14th, Valentine's Day has already come and gone, but why confine your acts of love and devotion to just Valentines' Day? Show the special people in your life that you love them with this beautiful stamp set to decorate cards and layouts because after all - it is Love that keeps us going when times are tough, it cheers us on to achieve great things in life, and it keeps us warm at night. Share The Love D-sized set is only available until the end of February so don't wait - pick up this adorable set and donate 7$ USD to Operation Smile. 

And of course the super adorable Stamp of the Month - Balloon Animals! 

I've seen a lot of SOTM over the many years I've been a consultant and I have to say this one is the cutest yet for party invites or kid birthday cards. Heck, never mind kids, I would be all over getting a card with these animals on it. Who doesn't love balloon animals? Just put in a qualifying 50$ CAD order and this set can be yours for 6$ CAD!

Hope you're enjoying balmy February as much as me!

January Goodies & Happy New Year!!

A new year is already upon us and I hope it has treated you well so far. There are some exciting things to tell you about!

First of all to celebrate National Papercrafting Month - Live Your Day Pocket Scrapbooking cards!

If you picked up the planner sometime in the last while since it came out, you know how beautiful and versatile it is. I'm currently using mine as a meal planner and workout tracker along with a few birthdays and whatnot. Now, if you want to extend that planner into a bit of a journal or add some scrapbooking pages for a few memorable days each month you can! This collection will coordinate with the planner or if you just bought the folio without the planner pages, you can have your very own smaller scrapbook! 

This collection is only available January 1 - 31st, so get them while you can for 10.50 CAD. 

Secondly the new Seasonal Expressions is out! There are so many upcoming cute SOTM in the catalog along with new products!

Along with the new products is a new tool! I know you are all familiar with the embossing folders by now that was featured recently in some Christmas card workshops, but did you know the Cuttlebug can do a little bit more? They are debuting ThinCuts in this catalog which are to be paired with Cuttlebug to be able to cut out shapes. 

I am still working out whether or not you need a C plate (which doesn't come with your Cuttlebug package) or if you can easily just pick up a second B plate so that it doesn't crack the plates when you push the whole sandwich through. The default CB package comes with a machine, one B plate, and two A plates. 

Saving the best for last - the January SOTM: Beloved Bouquet! 

Of course this looks very Valentine's Day-ish for those of us who have a million VD sets already. But, this set not only looks like it's versatile past that with the flowers, but also that it has the correct shading every time with the coordinating background solid stamps. With a qualifying 50$ CAD order this set can be yours for 6$ more! 

Happy New Year! I'll let you know about what I discover with the ThinCuts!

Christmas is only in a few weeks!

Wow this year went by fast. I am sad to say that I didn't get in as much card making this year as I would have liked to, but I predict there will be more card making in my future! Regardless, I have always enjoyed designing for workshops, and there seems to be a phase where you go big and have a million layers, then as time goes on you're looking for more CAS - casual and simple - designs that are easier to complete in workshops and still have that presence that your previous cards had.

Without further ado, the December constant campaign! Planners Gonna Plan!

Are you one of those people who prefer paper planners over iPhones and modern day technology? CTMH has an exciting bundle and new product to share with you this month - a planner! Doesn't it look downright gorgeous in the picture? The bundle offered during December for 2016 includes planner pages, the coordinating roller stamp and the Every Day Life album all for $35.95CAD. That's a savings of over 15% off! Track your shopping lists, menus, appointments, and anything else that needs tracking. Heck, this is even more appealing than the phone I use to keep track of my appointments. I love my iPhone calendar, but we won't get into how complicated it is for shopping lists, meal planning and even tracking spending. And yes there's probably four different apps to do it but what good is an app when you're on a plane with no wifi?

I don't know about you but I'm off to get myself one!

And of course last but not least, December's SOTM -  Candlelight Garden.

What a beautiful stamp to show your friends that you are grateful for their presence in your life! There's lots of opportunities to color with the Shin Han Touch markers too or you can keep it clean and simple and just use the outline. With a qualifying $50 order this stamp can be yours for $6 more.

Finally, I'd like to thank all my wonderful clients for their continued business this year. Without you I wouldn't be here so thank you - for your support and motivating me to design for all of you for our bi-annual workshops. I wish you the Happiest of Holidays and a Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2016!!

OMG already Day 3 of Cyber Week!!

Because that's just how I roll... anyway. 

Ready? There is a select set of product list below that is available for 25% off! And best news yet - the Artfully Sent Cricut Bundle is one of them! This bundle is amazing - gives you everything you need to make whatever card you want, White Daisy Cardstock, and coordinating stamp sets! Alongside some awesome bling for your projects and the odd stamp set.

The list is below - if any of these strike your fancy don't hesitate!

Base & Bling

• Base & Bling Snowflake Charm - faux gold
• Base & Bling Jingle Bell - faux gold
• Base & Bling Snowflake Charm - faux silver
• Base & Bling Jingle Bell - faux silver
• Base & Bling Red Bead Charm -faux gold
• Base & Bling Red Bead Charm - faux silver

PML

• Picture My Life Going Places Scrapbooking Program

Card Kits and Other Things

• Cut Above Dapper Giraffe Card Kit
• Designer Creations Short Stack Album,
• Designer Creations Slate Paper Bags
• Designer Creations Lagoon Paper Bags
• Designer Creations Ruby Paper Bags
• Designer Creations Honey Paper Bags
• Designer Creations Cupcake Box
• Designer Creations Takeout Box
• Designer Creations Buttoned Bag

Display and Containers

• 5" x 7" Hinged Display Tray
• Designed Decor Display Tray
• Designed Decor Red Magnetic Chalkboard
• Designed Decor Black Shadow Box
• Designed Decor Colonial White Shadow Box
• My Creations Kraft Container
• My Creations Journalling Cards Box

Albums 

• My Creations Kraft 3-Ring Album
• My Creations Hip Pics Album
• My Creations Black Mini Book
• My Creations Kraft Mini Book

Cricut

• Artfully Sent Cricut Collection

Envelopes

• 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" White Daisy Envelopes
• 5" x 7" White Daisy Envelopes
• 6" x 6" White Daisy Envelopes
• 3" x 3" Colonial White Envelopes
• 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Colonial White Envelopes
• 5" x 7" Colonial White Envelopes
• 6" x 6" Colonial White Envelopes

September Goodies!!!

Holy smokes where did the summer go? It's feeling a bit like fall these days. A few exciting things to tell you about in the month of September.

First of all is the New Catalog Release Party!! Are you excited? I am - there's a lot of new products out including new toys to play with like watercolors and watercolor paper! That's gotta make an appearance in the Christmas workshop that I need to start planning.

Date: Sept 20th
Time: Open House format, anytime between 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Address: Contact me! 

I'll be raffling off some CTMH stuff to whoever walks in the door and there's wine, chocolate and cookies if you needed a further incentive to stop by! Look forward to seeing you all there!

This month is my favorite month because it's National Stamping Month! Exclusive to this month only three C-size stamp sets have been released for traditional scrapbooking, cardmaking, and pocket scrapbooking.

I'm really enjoying the beautiful handwritten-like sentiments; I can never have enough sentiments to choose from and all the accompanying images. They can be purchased for $16.50 each or all three for $41.50 which is a savings of $8.00!

Last, but never least is the gorgeous September SOTM : Paper Garden. These flowers are perfect for adorning all types of cards.

I really like how the script on them is very elegant, and some of these flowers as you can see with the red line around them have a corresponding Cricut shape in the Artiste cartridge. 

Hope you are enjoying the last bits of summer!

Happy New Year!! 2015 is here!!

Ok, so I'm a little late, but better late than never!! I have lots of exciting news to tell you about!

First of all I will start thinking about the Spring 2015 workshop - birthdays, babies, thank you type cards. I'm considering either late May or late June, depending on how things go. I will keep you posted.

Secondly - how exciting is this!! With a qualifying hostess purchase, you could wind up with even more hostess rewards!

During the month of January, all Gatherings that reach $350 USD/CAD or higher, will be eligible to receive up to 50% more Hostess Rewards! This means an additional $30 USD/CAD, giving you the opportunity to earn up to $230 or more USD/CAD in select free products. You could pick up the newest storage tote for 50% off that stores the existing hard cases.

Contact me to book a Gathering today!

Thirdly - it's National Papercrafting Month! We are celebrating with the Noted Kit, available in two flavors and available to those who order 50$ or more in product.

Flavor A: Noted Paper Kit! Includes a C-size stamp set, stickers, cardstocks, and B&T Duos™ papers - all for 5$.
Flavor B: Noted Paper Kit Plus Album! Includes everything in Flavor A plus a  My Creations™ kraft mini book to put it all in and close shut for a neat little time capsule.

Fourthly, but never last: the SOTM is This Moment, 5$ with a minimum order of 50$.

Super cute for either scrapbooking or for cardmaking! I'll be getting my hands on this adorable little set for sure. This would also compliment the Noted Paper Kit so beautifully especially the "Remember this moment" sentiment. 

Contact me if you're interested or have any questions! Happy 2015! 

Happy New Year!!

Wow I can't believe it has been a month since I updated my blog, but for a lot of good reasons which include family, Christmas, sunshine and wine. I was at the family summer home in Hermanus, South Africa for most of Dec. And boy, was it hard to leave but all good things come to an end.

This is overlooking the ocean from Hermanus - in the right season you can see Southern Right Whales which this town is known for. The blue umbrellas is from Bientang's Cove, a resturaunt that I have yet to try.

Happy 2014!! I'm hoping to post more pictures of cards and be more frequent with the blogging but that is goal #4 of 4 I have for this year. Also hoping for a quieter year with many successes.

The first thing I want to tell you about is that it is National Papercrafting Month!!

With an order of $35CAD or more, you can get this fantastic kit for only 15$. It includes everything you need to make 10 cute cards for all sorts of occasions.

And last but not least the stamp of the month: Cross Stitch Wishes.

As always, get this beautiful stamp with an order of $50 or more for only 5$! This would be neat to dress up Valentine's cards and scrapbook layouts.

Do you have any New Year's resolutions?

Holidays From The Heart Gift Guide and Christmas Workshop

Two neat things to tell you about today.

First of all, Holidays From the Heart Gift Guide!

For each $100 that you order, you can choose a free "star" item from the Holidays From the Heart gift guide. There are some gorgeous products in there that cannot be found in the standard CTMH Idea books so make sure you look through the gift guide.

Secondly here are this year's designs for the Christmas Card workshop.

Card #1: This was inspired by a Pinterest Pin from Handmade Holiday

Card #2: This was inspired by Andrea Ewen's take on Case Study #158

Card #3:This was inspired by a Pinterest Pin from SplitcoastStampers

Card #4: This was inspired by Iwona Palamountain's take on Case Study #108

Card #5: This was inspired by Anya Schrier's take on Case Study #135

Card #6: This was inspired by Iwona Palamountain's card from her personal blog

This year, I trimmed down to six cards as I found it hard to maintain 8 designs, and from last year's experience kept most of the cards to more simplistic rather than difficult designs. After all, sometimes the simplest cards are the most elegant. 

If you'd like to buy a set of cards to put together as a pre-stamped kit or purchase pre-cut cardstock along with the associated stamp sets, please let me know.

It's getting cold - we got our first snows last weekend!

Scandinavian Wishes SOTM!

Happy October everyone!!

Wow time just flies. This SOTM has a special spot in my heart because I married someone who is from one of the Scandinavian countries - Denmark. It is always a good time to visit with the inlaws because they are always sweet, kind hearted and they know how to have a good time.

Get this beautiful set for 5$ more when you order 50$ or more.

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving,

And we hail the beginning of Fall...

... I am always sad to see Summer go, but travelling usually makes up for the 10+ months of winter we normally have here. Onto cheerier things, a few things to tell you about in the month of September!!

First up is the September Constant Campaign - it's National Scrapbooking Month!

This means that with a qualifying purchase of $50, you can pick up this awesome trio of stamp sets for only $10 more:

 

You get one alphabet set, a bunch of super cute images (did I mention I was a sucker for butterflies?) and a bunch of useful sayings for scrapbooking and cards alike.

And of course the best for last two powerful stamps that can be used in many different ways - September's SOTM: Poster Tidings.

 It could be tags, it's just asking for the masking technique and there's a cool Subway Print video on the many different ways you could use it.



Happy Fall,

July Specials!!

One day I will learn to post these items at the beginning of the month instead of in the middle, but that requires a bit more expert juggling of my personal and work life.

Anyway, onwards - July has a beautiful SOTM called Sweet Life that is just begging to be colored and could top any type of card from Birthday to Mother's Day.

Speaking of peaches, I have a peach bellini experiment that still needs to be tried out. You can get this pretty set for only 5$ with a 50$ purchase.

Workshops and Canvases are such a cool idea, and you can jazz up your walls for 50% off!

It's canvas instead of paper and you can put it all together and customize with your personal photos and colors to match your home decor. Bet you can't buy that piece at your local Bed Bath and Beyond.

If you have any questions or would like to order, don't hesitate to contact me!

There are a few more cards coming down the line but until then, Happy Summer!

Promotional Item Replacement...

... looks like this past weekend everyone had "mini-banner" on their minds.

If you were hoping to get one of these they are now all sold out :( but as this promotion is running the length of June, they are offering the milk cartons instead for the same deal.

You get two milk cartons and clips to decorate however you like - it's time to start getting crafty! What will you be making this week?

Hope you all have a great week!

June 2013 SOTM is here...

... with a few exciting things from CTMH! My plants are back, the snow is *finally* gone and the cat is clamoring to be let out.

First up is the Stamp of the Month: A Flowering Bunch.

 This set is just begging to be colored whether or not it's used as part of a scrappy layout, DIY embellishments, or additions to cards. You can grab this set for 5$ with a minimum 50$ purchase.

Secondly, as you know Mother Nature has turned on Oklahoma. Close To My Heart has pledged 100% of all sales from the stamp set "A True Thank You" from the Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Book to help tornado victims.

For a limited time, you can support the troops and be patriotic with this limited edition stamp set, Courage (Canadian) and Home of the Brave (US).

3$ from each sale of the B-sized Courage set and 5$ from each sale of Home of the Brave set will be donated to the Canadian Hero Fund from June 1 - June 31. The Canadian Hero Fund supports spouses and children of fallen Canadian military troops by providing post-secondary education in Canada.

And finally, the best for last (I wasn't kidding about all the awesome stuff going on this month) - a free mini-banner if you purchase $25 worth of products that includes a stamp set.

Jazz up parties, office spaces, and even areas in the home by making your own banner to suit the space. This includes 10 chipboard pennants in different shapes and jump rings to connect it all together.

I've just got wind of another couple expecting so I'm off to make another baby card... it is June after all, right?