Happy 40th Chico!

Chico turns the big 4-0 today! Even though I'm still a year older than him, at least he can't give me a hard time anymore about me being in my 40's.

Rose had a party for Chico on Saturday at her new house and it was a pretty good turnout. He knew his mom was making dinner for him but didn't know we had invited a "few" extra people. :) This was Chico opening some of his cards. He looks a little embarrassed.


I know he enjoys being around his family & friends, so it was nice that we could have people there to celebrate with him.

The boys and I love you very much Chico and we hope you have a wonderful day today and that this is the beginning of a fantastic year for you!

The 2011 Autumn / Winter Idea Book is in the house, or rather it should be.

The New Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book has arrived! As always it's loaded with TONS of fabulous new products! It is larger, has more artwork, has the stamp sets shown at 100% (much easier to plan your projects).

For my local friends, let me know if you want your very own copy and I'll make it happen. ;) Anyone out of the area, I'd be happy to mail one to you, but I would ask that you pay for postage. Send me a note at kandig@comcast.net if you're interested.

If you just can't wait to get a copy in your hands you can view the Idea Book online here.

Last month I was able to attend my very first Close To My Heart Convention. It was located in Anaheim, CA (at the Disneyland Hotel) and it was a blast! I spent time with some wonderful people, actually got to go to Disneyland for the first time in 22 years (although without the hubby or kids, so felt a bit guilty) and got to see all of the new products in person. I can't wait to share all of the amazing new goodies with you.

As always, the new Idea Book includes fabulous new paper collections (with heavier weight decorative papers) and many, many new stamp sets (at lower prices - yay!), along with lots of wonderful new embellishments, but I think one of the most exciting new products has to be... wait for it... an EXCLUSIVE new Cricut Cartridge called "Art Philosophy"!! Yes you heard me correctly, we are now paired up with Cricut to add some wonderful new dimension to Cards and Scrapbook pages as well as creating some cute 3-D items.

This cartridge has boxes, bags, tags, tons of different card shapes, envelopes, banners, a font, flowers (flat and 3D), and TONS of images that coordinate with our stamp sets! Yes, you don't have to cut out those intricate shapes anymore with scissors! Just select the size of the shape that is shown on the stamp set carrier sheet and your Cricut will cut as may as you like. Then just stamp your image directly on the die cut image. Soooooo much faster, simpler, and easier!

After Convention I was able to order up a bunch of the new items and they're here in my house and I can't wait to start playing with all of it. I'm participating in a couple of artwork swaps using lots of the new products, so I'll be sharing what I come up with here soon. Currently in my free time I'm working on a project at my mother-in-law's new home, so once that's finished I'm going to get my hands inky. ;)

In the mean time, contact me or get on line so you can start your wish list!

Studio J newbie / Jaxon's first year of t-ball

This is my first attempt at digital scrapbooking. I've always wanted to scrapbook, but have had no desire to do it digitally... until now. I really like the real papers, textures and embellishments too much to not use them, but last month Close to My Heart had a special where you could get a free jpeg file when you tried out their digital scrapbooking program called Studio J.

I have to say that I could find it rather addicting. This layout is pretty simple because I did it on our laptop and I really don't have many photos on that computer, so I had to make due with what I had. When I do it next time I will go down to my craft room and use my regular computer where thousands of photos reside.

I chose to feature a few shots of Jaxon's first year of t-ball back in 2008. He looks so little. :) (click on the photos to see them larger)



Studio J is great because you can play with it for free with no obligation. It's all online, so you just log on and create layouts and it saves them for up to 90 days. If you like what you've created you can have them printed on 12x12 photo paper and sent to you and just slip them into your scrapbook or you can just purchase the jpeg file and do whatever you like with that.

For me it was much faster than traditional scrapbooking because I'm such a perfectionist and it takes me forever to decide which pictures, papers and accessories I'm going to use. Digitally I could just drag things on the page, change colors, crop photos, etc... I'm sure I'll be doing more of this in the future to supplement the "real" pages. Also, I figure I can do a kind of hybrid page and have the main part of the page printed and add my own real ribbon and buttons after my pages arrive in the mail. I like that idea as well.

If you have any questions about how Studio J works you can check out the Studio J link from my website or email me for more info at kandig@comcast.net. If you enjoy it, be sure to think about purchasing a membership to save 50% off retail, plus many other perks.

Now I'm off to get some sewing projects done that have been on my to-do list for quite some time. Enjoy your 4th and be safe!

May is National Scrapbooking Month! Check out the specials at CTMH...

OK, I'm not really a scrapbooker (although I aspire to be one someday), I still love me some cute paper and stamps. Whether you scrapbook or do other paper crafts, Close to My Heart's got a really fun Special for you during the month of May.
(Actually there are two great specials during the month of May, but I'll get to the other one in a bit.)

The first special is a fabulous Scrapbook kit called "You & Me". Check out all the fun stuff you get. You & Me Scrapbooking Kit Includes:

1 – My Acrylix® You & Me Stamp Set (D-size)
1 – 12" × 12" Colonial White Cardstock
6 – 12" × 12" B&T Duos® Papers
(New! Cardstock-weight)
1 – 6" × 9" You & Me Irresistibles™ Chipboard
Die-Cut Sheet
1 Yard – Chocolate Stripe Ribbon
1 Package – Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems
1 – Instruction Guide
Featured Colors: Chocolate, Crème Brulee,
Olive, Smoothie

These are the two 2-page layouts you can create using the included Instruction Guide:




You'll also have scraps of that beautiful paper left over to make some fun cards or create another scrapbook layout of your own design. Plus you get to re-use that fun stamp set over and over again.

So, if the You & Me kit catches your fancy, here's how you can get one for yourself:

WHEN YOU PLACE A MINIMUM ORDER OF $50 IN CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS* IN May, you can get the exclusive You & Me scrapbooking kit for the discount price of just $15—that’s more than half off the retail value! You’ll create two fully embellished two-page layouts using the new cardstock-weight B&T Duos® papers, D-size stamp set, accessories, and instructions. You can also purchase the kit at full retail for $34.95 with no minimum purchase required. Become a Close To My Heart Consultant during May and we’ll include a You & Me kit for free* as part of your New Consultant Kit.
~~~
May Special #2:

What was that about becoming a Close to My Heart Consultant? I'm glad you asked, lol. If you know me, you know I'm not a "sales person", but I do like to pass along good deals when I run across them. That being said, if you've ever thought of becoming a Consultant, the month of May is the time to sign up.

The "New Consultant Kit" is 1/2 off this month! This deal doesn't come around very often, in fact I believe the last time they offered this deal was 4 years ago when I signed up myself.

For the month of May the New Consultant Kit is $65, what a deal! And if you sign up in May the "You & Me" Scrapbook Kit described above will also be included in your kit for FREE.

So weather you're a hobbyist and just want to get a great discount for yourself and your friends or you want turn your hobby into a lucrative business, this is a great time to do so. I'd love to have you become part of my team.

You can check out all of the details here. Contact me if you have any questions at kandig@comcast.net.

Or if you're ready to sign up, click here.

Happy Mother's Day!

To my beautiful Mother, Janet

and my wonderful Mother-in-law, Rose

Thank you both for all that you do for our family and for teaching me to be a mother that my boys are proud of. All my love to you!

Today's Workshop - A Mother's Day Theme

Hi there. Just popping on for my once per month blog post, lol. I really do have the best of intentions, but I just seem to have a hard time getting on here lately. One of these days...

Anyway, I had a couple of friends ask about the CTMH workshop I hosted today, so I wanted to share a few photos. This month's workshop was based on two projects I learned at Creative University back in February (still haven't posted about that awesome experience & I have lots of fun photos). The workshop attendees each made an altered clipboard and a matching greeting card with removable corner bookmark.

When people rsvp'd I gave them the option to choose one of 4 paper packs to be used on their projects. They could choose "Sweetheart", "Mayberry", "Miracle" or "Wings". We had a variety of each today, "Sweetheart" being the #1 choice.

Here's the clipboard I made at Creative University (and the inspiration for the workshop). This is using "Sweetheart" paper.



Look at those fun paper flowers. They're a great thing to make while watching TV.


This clipboard was designed and taught to us by a wonderful lady named Denise Anderson-Turley. I just loved it and couldn't wait to share her great idea. I didn't get photos of all 8 of the clipboards from today, but I did get a few. I like how everyone's was a little different and I like all of the different paper packs as well.

Here's Marcy's in "Mayberry":


Kathy's using "Miracle":


Karen's using "Mayberry":


Shelley's using "Miracle":


And Bridget did hers in "Sweetheart" and she even came prepared with a photo. Gold Star for Bridget, lol.


I like how everyone did their own thing with flower and sentiment placement. These are really fun to make!

We also made a matching card with a removable corner bookmark. I also learned how to make this at Creative University. The card I made was designed by Jennifer Royal. I took Jenn's exact layout for the card and just changed the paper and stamped images. Each person's card matched their clipboard in case they wanted to combine them as a gift for someone.

Here's a shot of the cards in the 4 different papers:



And here they are individually with the corner bookmark removed. I really like how they all turned out. I think my favorite is probably the "Miracle" paper.

Miracle:


Wings:


Mayberry:


Sweetheart:


If you're not sure exactly what a corner bookmark is, here's one in action.

Pretty cool huh?

Well folks, that's all for today. I must go watch the Amazing Race. Toodles!

Happy 11th Birthday Mateo!

And a very Happy Birthday today to my first born!! Happy Birthday to my wonderful Eleven year old (wow). I can't believe you're that old already, although you've always had an "old soul". Have a great day Mateo, we love you!!

Happy 8th Birthday Jaxon!

Happy happy birthday to my baby today. I can't believe you're already 8! Thank you for being such a wonderful boy and oh so funny! We love you Jax!

Plush Pachyderms

This is what I've been up to the last couple of evenings after work.





Aren't these just adorable? Every time I make a new set I think "this one is my new favorite". These two were custom orders from a friend from high school and they'll soon be on their way to New York to meet their new families.

They're incredibly soft, made with Minky fabric.



And call me crazy but I just love their little behinds.



I've been making these for a couple years now, but I've made the most I've ever made here in the last few months. They aren't too difficult, but they do take some time and that's not always readily available around here.

My facebook friends saw photos and late night ramblings when I was pulling all nighters, trying to get ready for the craft bazaars I participated in back in November & December. I don't think I posted photos here. This one makes me laugh.



I think I posted something like "I feel like I'm being watched". It was probably 2 or 3 am at that point. :)

There ended up being a whole herd of them watching me.



My goal is to make a few more sets in the next couple of months and get them into my pitiful etsy shop. I've had the shop on "vacation" mode for over a year. (Oh, how I wish I could take a year long vacation, ha) I need to get to work, so feel free to bug me if you don't see my store link updated soon. Thanks for looking!

P.S. Here's my 'ol buddy Lucy. She likes to come find me in the craft room and either lay on my feet or just behind my chair, so I can't roll back without running her over.

Gone, gone, gone, she been gone so long....

* Extra credit if you can name the band in my post's title. ;)

Happy 2011! I can't believe I've been M.I.A. since the middle of November - geesh! I guess I've been busy doing everything but blogging. Oh well, c'est la vie! Life's been busy, holidays were great, three more craft bazaars under my belt and the boys are all rested up and back to school (wish I could say the same for myself on that "rested up" comment).

Since my next several posts are going to be all over the place, date wise, I guess I'll start with some photos of my latest card workshop. I hosted one on Sunday afternoon and then repeated it again Tuesday night. I had 8 people join me on Sunday and 4 on Tuesday night, both great groups of people (as always). Makes all of the prep time and late nights worth it. :)

I'm not going to be doing a February workshop (I'm going away for a crafty retreat - soo excited! It's my first time doing something like that.), so I tried to make most of the projects Valentine/love themed to give the attendees some fun ideas for the upcoming holiday.

The new Close to My Heart Spring/Summer Idea Book goes live on February 1st, so I decided to use all new papers and stamps to give everyone a sneak peek.
(*Make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the post to see links to more blogs featuring artwork made with the New CTMH papers and stamps.)

Card number one:








This style of card is called a Diagonal Double Pocket card. We used the new "Wings" paper pack (lots of butterflies) and we used the January Stamp of the Month called "Find Your Style". Added some ribbon and of course a couple little sparkles for some added bling.

Card number two:







This second card is a Cris-Cross card. We used the new paper called "Sophia", it's my favorite in the new catalog. The stamp set is called "Circle Together" and has some other cute, circular designs that work perfectly with our 1 1/4" punch. We also used our new 2" Scallop Circle punch to add some dimension to the front of the card. I'm copying this same design for a card swap that I'm participating in next month. If you're one of the fellow participants, sorry for the spoiler.

Card number three:





Isn't this a cutie? This card uses one of the papers from the new "Sweetheart" paper pack. We made a fun little paper pleat to go under the darling stamped image. I just love those little toddler silhouettes! That image comes from a set called "Baby Love". The sentiments are from a stamp set full of different little love sentiments. It's called "Card Chatter - Love". I did a variation of this card for another swap I participated in, but I'm not posting a photo of that card until the other participants receive theirs in the next few days.

Project number four:



We made 3 cards this workshop and created some treat holders as well. This was a simple little candy bar holder. We used the "Sweetheart" paper as well and also used the "Card Chatter - Love" stamp set again for the heart image. I thought this could be paired up with the last card for a cute little gift combo.



Project number five:



This is a "bag-a-lope" - a little bag made out of an envelope. I've done these in past workshops, but it's such a handy little technique I wanted to do it again. It's just a great inexpensive way to wrap up a little treat or gift card. This little bag started out as an envelope for a 5x7 card. Just do some cutting, scoring, folding, add a little decorating on the front and voila, easy peasy, a fun little bag.

We used the new "Spray Pen" to spritz a little color and shimmer on the card stock. Just add a drop or two of Pearl Paint, some re-inker and some rubbing alcohol, shake it up and spray. After a few minutes of drying time we used the stamp set called "A Game" to add the little tic-tac-toe images and the words Happy Valentine's Day came from the "A Little Everything" set (formerly a 2010 Stamp of the Month).

Project number six:





Lastly, I saw this idea on a fellow consultant's blog (Karen Pedersen). She used these little 1x8" clear bags (from clearbags.com) and filled with M&Ms. Everyone got to add their own M&Ms to their bag and I gave each person a little stamp set called a "Petite Perk". They used their new stamps to create their own tags with some scraps I put on the table. Each person's came out different and they were all great!

I always forget to take photos during my workshops, but Tuesday night I finally remembered. Here are the 4 ladies crafting away...





* I just discovered a blog hop hosted by another CTMH consultant Erin, so I joined. Check out the links below to see more CTMH consultant bloggers and their creations using some of the new products coming available on February 1st. Have fun hopping and let me know if you have any questions.