September Cards

I realize I've been posting a lot the past couple of weeks (relatively), but I just finished the cards for the September group. It will be on the 17th, at my house, daytime only. I'm encouraging all to go to the softball game between the 3rd and 11th wards that evening at 6:30. Maybe some good photo opportunities?? Let me know if you are coming, and I will have cards cut for you. I've been on a roll creatively, and Snapfish is having a free shipping week, so hopefully I can do some overdue layouts!

Frustrations

I managed to fix one frustration last week, and of course have a new one today. For my (few) faithful followers, if you remember the Back Country layout, you may remember I couldn't find a cd with some pictures. Found! I bet I spent a couple of hours last week just looking through old pictures and enjoying. Thanks Nate and Jamie for needing pictures! I'm not sure if I would have found it anytime soon if I wasn't looking for you guys.

On to today, I got my anticipated order, only to realize I must not have "added to order" my free item. I'm kind of mad at myself about it, too. I made sure my order qualified, and checked the box, but none of the receipts have it on there, which can only mean I didn't add it on after I checked the box. Grrr. Hopefully I have another qualifying order this month, so I can get it. It's the Constant Campaign for the month, a cute card set called Everyday Celebrations. It has paper, stamp set, small ink pads, and accessories. A great value, you can earn it for free (ask me how) or buy it outright for $39.95. At least I have enrichment to look forward to tonight.

Happy Anniversary!

I can't believe that at the end of this month is my 1 year anniversary for Close To My Heart. The past year has gone by really fast, but has been really good, too. Thanks to everyone who has come to open houses or groups, or placed an order of any kind. May the next year be even better!

I've got copies of the new Winter 2009 catalog and can't wait to have an open house. I've got displays ready and waiting! I'm especially excited about the new option for the Workshops on the Go packs, and am trying to find the best way to incorporate those to my business. Please let me know if there's anything more you would like to see, or the things you really like already.

Summertime!

OK, so I know the weather may not be screaming summertime, but it's already June! Here's the cute layout we did this morning, works great for camping and fishing. I'm a little mad because I can't find my fishing pictures from 2007 that would work great on here. Others did some cute things with hemp for fishing line and adding boats and other fish. If I can't find the pictures I'll just have to give in and put my camping pics on there. Camping and family outings are some of the things I love about summer!

Excited for outside!

This layout reminds me of bright colored playgrounds and green grass. Scott loves to wear bright colors, so I added the diecuts to this layout. They really match great, and the sunglasses can be for boys or girls. I should have the title and pictures on there for our scrapbook group on April 8. Thanks for being patient with me while I finished this one up :-) Feel free to bring a friend.

Ta Da!

It was a little slow at first, but here are the cards for card group this month. I hope you like them, because I'm pretty excited about them. If they're too plain for you, just know that I'll have extra accessories and ink you can jazz them up with, similar to the scrapbook pages.

Catching Up!

I've had some time lately and decided to do some of my own scrapbooking. Here's a little look at my work this afternoon. It was a lot of fun to do. I may need to invest in a new scrapbook for the family stuff :-) Thanks, Kim, for the Halloween paper and stickers.

March Scrapbooking

For March's Scrapbooking group, we'll be using Unforgettable paper and Sorbet. I think this will go great for dance recitals, outside stuff (I used fall pictures), or some vacation (my Hawaii pictures match good). I'm attaching the before and after pictures so you can see. It's fun to put pictures on, I need to remember to do that. The long sorbet strip on the left page is for a title . . . still working on that part :-). Sorry the pictures aren't the best!

February Cards

I really don't think of myself as a professional, or even very much of an artist, but I sure know how it feels to have an artist's block! Sometimes the paper and stamps just click, and when they do I can whip something up no problem. Other times I sit for hours and can't come up with anything worthwhile. After some playing around, here are the cards for this month, wahoo! Now to clean up the discards from my workspace . . .

February Scrapbooking

I'm kind of doing something really wierd this time . . . you still leave with two pages, but one is a layout, and the other is a photo storage page. I'll show you how to jazz up the photo storage page, which is super easy. I did mine start to finish in less than 1/2 hour.

Faster, Simpler, Easier

It's been a while since I last posted, sorry! For those who are not aware, Close to My Heart's philosophy is "Faster, Simpler, Easier." I want to promise you all that I will do the same. Scrapbooking and cardmaking is and should be fun, any one can do it!

Watch for more art soon, I've got a new shipment coming in this next week! Happy 2009 everyone!