Wild Berry Blast Hop!

Welcome Back Friends!

We've got 5 MORE DAYS to take advantage of our fun Wild Berry Blast Exclusive product offering with Close To My Heart!

So 8 of my fellow Close To My Heart Makers have got some artwork to share with you using our Wild Berry Blast goodies. If you've arrived from Show & Tell with Michelle, then you're on the right track!

I have been working on so many albums and lucky for me ? I have LOADS of photos to work with as I have LOADS of stories to still tell!!!

I started with a PageMaps sketch and then I ended up somewhere else entirely which is why I LOVE using sketches for inspiration!

Wild Berry blast indeed...so much PINK right?! Well if you're like me, I needed this collection toned down a smidge. That's where the stencilling and ink splatters come in....

I knew I wanted to work with white cardstock but I also have had so much fun stencilling and playing with ink lately, so I added this fun brick stencil with the Wild Berry and Black CTMH ink pads.

I also cut these fabulous cut-files from my longtime friend Jennifer Edwardson Creative Inc. and they worked beautifully with our Wild Berry Blast paper collection, don't they?!!! I added some of our awesome black acrylic arrows which helped bring more black onto this page too. 

The 12x12 sticker sheet is LOADED with images, icons, titles and words...and the chipboard sheet that is available with this collection I know I'll be able to use on many future projects. 

Check out my list of products I've used below and don't be afraid to be bold with colour and use it in a non-typical way as well. I could have easily decided that this was 'too girly' and if I did, well, then I wouldn't have this fun new layout to add to John and my Italy album!

Thanks so much for stopping in, I hope you've picked up some inspiration along the way as well. Now it's time to head on over to Wendy's Blog to see what she's got to share!

Products Used:

Wild Berry Blast Paper Packet & Sticker Sheet

Wild Berry Blast die-cuts

Black Acrylic Arrows

White Daisy Cardstock

Mix-ins Paper Packet

Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad

Wild Berry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

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September Cross Canada Hop!

Welcome to our September Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection called Every Little Thing!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Brenda's Blog

This was a fun card we created at my all day crop this past weekend...

lovin' our new Julep Colour of the Year! 

This month's Stamp of the Month is perfect for cardmaking and scrapbook pages...the sentiments are great and the font combo is fantastic too!

This page was created from the scraps left over from this month's Page Club class...plus I've added the Every Little Thing Complements...love the solid black chipboard pieces and how some of them have white embossed elements on them too.

I decided to add our new mix-ins paper pack to use with both paper collections, Every Little Thing and Hawthorn, which I'll be showcasing over the next two months! CTMH has hit it outta the park with these new and improved mix-in paper packs as they have been designed specifically to support our two paper collections in the Seasonal Expressions Idea Books...

In case you missed it, our new colour of the year Julep is available in all our products; cardstock, inks, shimmer pens, glitter paper, embellishments...you get the idea!

Check out these wood shapes! and Julep sequins! everything on this page makes me happy...paper, embellishments and of course photo! 

Take note of those typewriter stickers...we had them from a retired paper collection and because we have consistent colours...I can incorporate products from past collections into newer ones because we do even through changing Idea Books!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEWEST Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark October 10th on your calendars and hop along with us when we feature our Hawthorn collection!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

Every Little Thing paper pack with sticker sheet

Every Little Thing Complements

Julep Glitter Paper

Julep sequins

Arrow Wood Shapes

Sept. SOTM 'Random Act of Cardness'

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New Product Blog Hop featuring Julep!

If you're joining me from Michelle's Blog, welcome to our New Product Blog Hop!!! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around.

If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants on Melinda’s Blog

This month we have many Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using product just released from our newest Seasonal Expression Idea Book!

Welcome our newest colour JULEP to the Close To My Heart family!!! 

This quite possibly could become your new favourite colour, as it has mine!

I created this layout using some of our *new Mix-In papers, Julep cardstock and Julep Glitter paper.  (I will have a full list at the end of this post)

Time to get more trip photos scrapbooked and into albums! This was a selfie taken at the top of a tower in a heritage park in Thailand...it was a scorcher of a day, super humid AND all females had to cover their arms and legs to enter the park.

I've used a SVG cut for the stacked 'joy' title and backed the 'O's with scraps of the mix-in pack. I also cut out several leaves from Charcoal cardstock and used our *new Thin-Cuts layered Leaves, which has been added to my favourite things list as well!

We joined forces with renowned calligraphy and lettering expert Melissa Esplin...I've added the image 'today, I choose joy' from the *new Joy by Melissa Esplin exclusive stamp set! This was stamped in Charcoal ink and backed on White Daisy cardstock, cut from our Stitched Circle Thin Cut die. The Julep glitter paper matting this sentiment was cut from the inside of the Shaker Thin Cut die...I absolutely LOVE the fonts used in this set.

You may have also noticed the lovely butterfly above?...meet our Exclusive Stamp & Thin Cut included in the *new Every Little Thing Cardmaking Workshop kit! Ummmm...yes please!

Thanks so much for taking the time today to check out our Hop...I know you'll have found LOTS of new product you LOVE...most of the products you'll see are only available September 1st to October 31st...so don't delay if there's some items you must have! Contact your Consultant to place an order or head to the Consultant locator on closetomyheart.com to find one near you!

Now head on over to Lauren's Blog to continue on with the Hop!

Supplies Used:

X6029 Julep cardstock

X5953 Charcoal cardstock

1385 White Daisy cardstock

X9007 Mix-In Paper Packet 

Z3506 Julep Glitter Paper

Z3507 Julep Glitter Gems

Z3523 Thin-Cuts Layered Leaves (6 dies)

D1868 Joy by Melissa Esplin (8 stamps)

Z2831 Charcoal Ink Stamp Pad

Z2805 Black Ink Stamp Pad

Z3367 Vellum Paper

Z4181 Stitched Circles  (4 dies)

Z4309 Shaker Window & Confetti (4 dies)

Just Nick digital SVG 'joyful'

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August Cross Canada Hop!

Welcome to our August Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection called Craft On!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog

After returning for our 2019 Convention in Provo, Utah...I had the perfect colourful photos and theme for this collection!

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure about this paper suite...but once I got into it and started creating, I now know I do love it! LOL...sometimes a paper suite will 'speak to me' and sometimes it doesn't...but then sometimes it just takes me digging into it!

You'll notice that our black chipboard is now a solid black! No more inking the edges for this girl! woot woot Close To My Heart, thank you!

If you haven't tried our Flip Flaps, they are literally the best on the market...we have the highest quality page protectors and flip flaps out there...I needed another spot for two more photos so this 3x4 flip flap fit the bill.

During our tour of the Home Office, we came upon this hall recognizing all of our Company's Top Sellers...one wall for Canada, one wall for USA, one wall for New Zealand & one wall for Australia! They will now need to add one wall for JAPAN as we announced this Convention that they will be joining our Company! 
How exciting is that?!!!

 I spotted my photo up there, that was an awesome surprise!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEWEST Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark September 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

Craft On paper pack
Craft On Complements
3x4 Flip Flap
Craft On Rubber Shapes
sanding block
border punch
3D Foam Tape


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July Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our July Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection called Into The Wild!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog

This paper suite is so versatile and absolutely adorable...I dug into the past for photos of my son exploring in our backyard for bugs! 

I knew when I started creating this layout exactly what photos were in the shoebox in my closet and I loved scrapbooking older photos this month.

I added some watercolour paint splatters and random stamping with our Into The Wild Scrapbooking stamp set (D1842) and I really love the look of stamping on my layouts AND of course you know how I feel about wood veneer!

Combining the stickers from the coordinating Complements sheet and our NEW foam Alphabet Sticker...yes please!

The stamping was first, second and third generation using Sapphire Ink.

This collection has so many great products that coordinate from papers to stickers & chipboard to wood bits and burlap twine! 

LOVE LOVE it all !!!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEW Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark August 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:


Into The Wild Paper Pack
Into The Wild Complements
Wood Shapes
D1842 - Into The Wild - Scrapbooking Stamp Set
Watercolour Paints
Sapphire Ink





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June Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our June Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our new paper collection True Love!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

So this is another card I created while up at the Lake on our scrapbooking retreat...I've continued with paper piecing using the Ballerina and Mint cardstock and stamping the flowers on the patterned paper.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring 'Into The Wild' from our NEW Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark July 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

June SOTM - It's Your Day To Sparkle - S1906

True Love Paper Packet
Black Ink
Sparkles
Foam Tape

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May Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our May Cross Canada Blog Hop where we are featuring our newest paper collection Sweet Girl!!!! 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order or CLICK HERE.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog

I had so much fun playing with layers and our new thin cuts! The Doily thin cut is fantastic, cuts like butter...and of course the Stitched Rectangle Frames are becoming a favourite of mine!

I decided to add vellum over the floral patterned paper to mute it a bit as the peach patterned paper needed less busy behind it...'celebrate' is stamped in New England Ivy and 'it's your day' was stamped in Sapphire with the May Stamp of the Month - To My Bestie. 

I've stamped the leaves in New England Ivy ink using the Exclusive stamp set from The World Is Yours National Scrapbooking Month Special.

Colouring Tip: Using my multi-purpose mat, I smudged the ink pad directly to it, then with my water brush I dipped it into the ink on the mat to pick up a diluted amount to colour.  

The trick is to not add too much water or you end up with slight bleeding to the original stamped outline of the leaves. This technique is fantastic for duplicating the shade of the ink colour you're using...fast, easy and great colour match too!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring more artwork from our NEW Seasonal Expression Idea Book! 

So mark June 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

Sweet Girl paper pack
May SOTM
The World Is Yours stamp set
Doily Thin Cut
Stitched Rectangle Thin Cut
Rose Gold Sequins
mini stapler
New England Ivy ink
Sapphire ink



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April Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our April Cross Canada Blog Hop featuring artwork created using the Feels Like Home collection. 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog...

I have been hanging onto the Picture My Life (PML) cards and I do love the tags thin cuts we have...so this was a super fast and easy card...

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring artwork from our Seasonal Expression Idea Book! So mark May10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

Feels Like Home Picture My Life cards
Feels Like Home paper pack
Bitty Sparkles
Mink Twine
Mink cardstock
April SOTM



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March Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our March Cross Canada Blog Hop featuring artwork created using the So Much Happy collection. 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Valerie's Blog...

Here's a couple layouts I created for my Page Club peeps...it is always exciting when I actually get photos into the Page Club designs...sometimes they sit for a while without, so I'm glad I was able to dig into the stack of Chicago photos from my recent trip last October :)

So much to see in Chicago...visiting the 'bean' was really cool...there were so many people there but it was beautiful to see with the backdrop of the city.

I was so happy to see the coordinating So Much Happy Complements stickers and chipboard pieces with this paper suite...the small word phrases and alphabet tiny type is my favourite! 

I wanted to add a title with our alphabet thin cuts and found I needed to also create a shadow with some white cardstock to help the Candy Apple red stand out against the patterned paper. Isn't the wall art 'graffiti' amazing?!!

Super simple layout design and these fall photos complement this paper suite even though it isn't traditional 'fall' paper :)

Perfect summary of my life...getting to explore...and loving my life!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring artwork using the Feels Like Home collection. So mark April 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle's Blog...

Products Used:

So Much Happy Paper Pack
So Much Happy Cardstock
So Much Happy Complements
So Much Happy Puffy Stickers
Alphabet Thin Cuts


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January Cross Canada Hop

Happy 2019!

Welcome to our January Cross Canada Blog Hop featuring artwork created using the Something Fierce collection. 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see.

Thank you… now on to our hop!

You should have arrived from Kirsten's Blog...


This card was a quick put together and I thought it was super cheeky for some of my friends or family that are getting a little older!

I grabbed this sketch too...which was a life saver seeing as I was super busy this week and this sketch made me just cut my paper and GO!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way.

Join us again next month when we will be featuring artwork using the I Heart Us collection. So mark February 10th on your calendars and hop along with us!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Candra's Blog...

Products Used:

Something Fierce paper pack
Something Fierce Complements
White & Black Dots

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September Cross Canada Blog Hop

Welcome to our September Blog Hop featuring artwork created using the Boutique collection in our newest Holiday Expressions Idea Book!!!! To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. 

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join in at Michelle's Blog.

If you came from Janet's Blog then you are in the right place! 

The colours in this paper collection work well with so many events but in the end, I found this photo of my girl and I when we went to New Orleans for her 21st Birthday last year! 

I stamped the ink blots using the 'Bunches Of Love' Stamp set in Charcoal Ink but then I wanted more splatters so I grabbed the Black Shimmer Brush and gave it a tap to splatter it onto my page...I did that by accident a week ago and discovered it works quite well that way!

I've clustered some heavy sewing machine thread under the chipboard roses...and frayed the Mink Twine on the tags.

I created the tags using our new and FABULOUS 'Fancy Tags' Thin Cuts (LOVE LOVE LOVE them) on the PML cards in the paper pack. 

I could've just hand journaled but then I found our Alpha Stickers from the Story By Stacy Workshop kit...and then I was done!

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. 

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Michelle!

We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring artwork using the Grateful Heart collection. 

So mark October 10th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Products Used:

X7235B - Boutique Paper Packet
X7235C - Boutique Complements
Z4234 - Boutique Puffy Stickers
Z4221 - Mink Twine
Z4224 - Black Shimmer Brush
D1815 - Bunches of Love Stamp Set
Z4305 - Fancy Tags Thin Cuts
Z2831 - Charcoal Ink
Z4217 - Story By Stacy Short Story Workshop Kit (black and white alpha stickers only)
White Daisy and Charcoal Cardstock
Misc. Date Stamps (Staples)

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May Sketch at Let's Scrap

So many ways to play with this sketch from Let's Scrap!

Make sure you head on over to the Let's Scrap Blog to see some of the other creations from our Design Team and also inspiration from our Let's Scrap participants!

Remember, we have a prize draw every sketch for one lucky winner that plays along with us :)

This is the view from the village at the top of the hill, Cortona was a charming place to visit...we went several times to shop and eat!

I'm playing with left over bits from this month's page club kit at Cherry Lane...love the colours in this Echo Park Summer Fun collection!

Hope to see you playing along this month :)

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Christmas Traditions

Merry Christmas! and many blessing for your New Year ahead!

I am here, not very present this past month to say the least but here now...does that count? I really have missed the interaction I get on my Blog...the new year promises to be charged with exciting new things and a renewed commitment to my 'Kraft' and my blogging :) 

Early in the year I was asked to be a Contributing DT for one of the Let's Scrap challenges. Now if you have followed along on my site over the years you would know that I am a HUGE fan of everyone there, have served multiple DT terms and LOVE all their sketches, challenges and events! The Administration Team there is so hard working and packed with lovely ladies from all over the globe! I would love to re-join the ranks of talented ladies for a future DT term, but for now I'd like to share my layout for today's challenge over at Let's Scrap.

Ezme is hosting today's challenge and the criteria was to use any Let's Scrap sketch, incorporate a featured technique from the site, add some stitching and scrapbook something about your Heritage, an important event or tradition...this is what I did:

This layout is highlighting our family's love of games...during the holidays we spend many hours playing various games...one of our family favourites is Monopoly...we currently own 11 different versions of this game! I thought it was fitting to refer to this as the 12 days of games as we play one game or another almost daily :)

Pink Paislee has a great Christmas line out currently called Snow Village...I picked up a handful of sheets and an Ephemera pack...makes for some quick and easy scrapbooking!

My main tag was created using some of the Ranger Distress Stains...I am loving playing with this medium and anything Tim Holtz is magical!!! 

Tags are one of my newest loves {heart}

The Ephemera pack makes short work of embellishing...consider grabbing one for your next paper purchase...these bits will work nicely with my Project Life pages as well.

Thanks so much for stopping in today! I've missed this and you, so I need to get busy playing with my paper and glue so I can get back into my bloggin' routine once again!

 

another sketch from Scrapbook Challenges...

Hello and welcome to my scrappy space! I've got another sketch from Scrapbook Challenges here for you today. Remember that every Monday we release another great sketch and this week you are in for a treat as we've got a double-page sketch! 

I had some photos that were screaming my name yesterday...photos from a recent baseball tournament down in Tacoma Washington. 

My son is a true baseball fan and player and he loves to steal...whenever he can...but unfortunately for the other team he is FAST! So it's not very often that he gets caught out on a steal or on his lead-offs from the bag...

One of the things I LOVE about Close o My Heart's cardstock is that it's white core...so when I want to sand it or distress it I can see this awesome contrast!

Now if you've been with me for long you would know that I love all manufacturers of Scrappy stuff...I've been getting the Studio Calico Project Life kits for quite a few months now and in one of my recent kits I got these awesome cork adhesive asterisks! Aren't they fantastic?!!

You can also see in the photo above that I have sanded the edges of the photos, which makes them stand out against the black CS base nicely and adds a little roughness to them for this baseball layout ;)

Love mixing up my title with various alpha fonts and stickers...adds a great connection of colours to this page and it's a great way to add some interest too! My arrows are an assortment from CTMH, Studio Calico and Freckled Fawn...like I said, I love to mix it up!

Here's the sketch:

Thanks so much for stoppin' by today!