"Tin" Foil Embossing

I finally had a day off, so I thought I would try something different before I began working on Craft Fair projects. I found an interesting technique on Splitcoast Stampers called Foil Embossing.

The card is done on a 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch base. I cut a piece of white daisy card stock 3 x 3 inches and wrapped it in tin foil. OK, I called it tin foil....that is what my Mom used to call it. I ran it through my Cuttlebug using the snowflake folder. It worked really well and the foil seems to "mesh" into the paper. Close To My Heart card stock is great for this technique because of the weight of the paper. I had no worry that the foil would rip. The rest of the card is completed using a pattern for the Jingles Creative Basics pack, Juniper and Tulip card stock. Yes, you've seen the tree before as I used it in my post about how to use a blender pen. A little bit of Prisma Glitter and some edge distressing and the card was done. I think I will do this technique again. What do you think?

For Now, Happy Crafting!

November Excitement!

Stampaganza is coming! What is Stampaganza you say? Close To My Heart has a very special promotion. Beginning November 3rd and lasting till November 30th, if you purchase 2 My Acrylix stamp sets, you earn a third FREE. Yes, Free! The My Acrylix stamp sets are the best. Being clear, you can tell exactly where you are placing them. No more ruining your projects because of a misplaced stamp. Save a tree, too. No clunky wood blocks that take up so much space. You only need a few acrylic blocks and you are set to use any stamp set you wish.


Visit my website to check out all the possibilities. Tell Santa or have Santa ask contact me so that your 3 stamp sets are waiting for you under the tree Christmas morning. November is going to be an exciting month! For Now, Happy Crafting.

Craft Fair

Whew, I'm toooo pooped to pop! I had a great time at the Craft Fair in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia yesterday. I met so many wonderful people and sold a few goodies too! Here are a few pictures of my table. Sorry the color is off in the pictures. The Fair was in a large gym and the light was streaming through the high windows.

Every week, my display gets a little larger and a little better. What do you think? All suggestions are welcome! For Now, Happy Crafting!

Craft Table Items

I got up this morning (again) at 3:30am to work on items for the Craft Fair I am participating in tomorrow. Sounds crazy, but I have always been a morning person. I put the '70's station on and I am ready to "boogie." :o)

Here is a card that got done this morning. It was made following the Splitcoast Stampers Inspiration challenge.

I heat embossed the Christmas Tree in white on a Ponderosa Pine background. The mat is done in Cranberry paper and dry embossed using a Cuttlebug mat. I added Cranberry brads and glitter for some bling. The Christmas Tree is from the Close To My Heart stamp of the month called "Holiday Warmth." It is a great stamp set with multiple images including snowflakes, sentiments and this great tree. It is only available for one more week so visit my website so you don't miss out.

I also got altered composition books finished. These were a great seller at last weeks Craft Fair so I pushed to get several done this week. Here are a few.

The books are completed using Twitterpated, Bella and Animal Cookies. All these paper packs are available in the current CTMH Idea Book. The word "Notes" on the lavender book were stamped using a stamp set called Posterboard Alphabet. I would have never bought it, but it was an set received for attending Regionals. I am so thrilled with it and happy to have it. Goes to prove that sometimes you have to see something used to appreciate it. The other letters were cut using my Cricut.

Well, it's off to work soon. For Now, Happy Crafting!

We're Off to the World Series!

Copics and Close To My Heart - Doesn't Get Any Better!

I finally ventured into the land of the Copic Marker. A few weeks ago, while at the Convention in Minneapolis, we girls took a trek to the Mall of America. As we were wandering, we spied a Scrapbook Store. I guess we hadn't had enough stamping and scrapbooking and went in. The store had a display of Copics. I have several markers and always said that I wasn't going get myself hooked on these things. First off, I never knew what to buy to get started. Well, the store had sets put together of just 4 matching markers. Hummmmm....the one set perfectly matched the CTMH Jingles paper pack so as a treat to myself I took the plunge. When I got home, I started playing. OK, yesterday on the way home from work, I stopped at the local Art Store and bought just a few more. Here is my first completed card.

I am here to tell you, don't be afraid to take the plunge. The ease with which the color applies is unlike any other marker I have ever used. The colors are based on family groups such as Yellow Green, Red Violet, Blue and on and on. Each marker is designated with a family group and then a number that further defines the intensity. I started with the very few markers and yesterday when I stopped at the store, I knew enough to purchase markers that were the same family group and a few numbers apart so that I was able to begin to practice my shading.

To complete this card, I first heat embossed the little elves in Cocoa. I used my "babies" errrr....ahhhh....Copics to color them. (R02, R27, R29, YG 95, YG99, Y38, YR 00, BG10, 0 Colorless Blender) I heat embossed the New England Ivy mat with silver snowflakes and sponged the edges of the papers with the corresponding ink colors which were Bamboo and Cranberry. The stripe paper is from CTMH Holiday Creative Basics. The chip board is stamped and sponged with Cranberry. The little elves are from Merry Pursuits and the sentiment is from Holiday Hoopla My Acrlyix Stamp Sets.

Copics are an expensive proposition, but with some prudent planning and purchasing, I think these markers are a frugal addition to the stash. For Now, Happy Crafting!

Craft Fairs, Crops and Cards

Where does the time go??? I just realized that I hadn't had an opportunity to tell you the full details about the Friday Night Crop and the Craft Fair. We had a great time at the Friday Night Happy Hour Holiday Card Crop. Several ladies got a head start on their Holiday card making. They also had goodies and libations, too! :o)

It was a lot of fun. As they finished their cards, I posted pictures on my Facebook page...Close To My Heart (CTMH) Stamping and Scrapbooking with Cindy...for all to see. Check out their wonderful artwork. You can get to my Facebook Page by using the link on my sidebar.

Saturday, I had to work a few hours and then put the final touches on my items for Sunday's Craft Fair. That event went well also and a big thank you to my good friend "Lady Doc" for helping me out.

Whew, we were both pooped. It is a great deal of work setting up but so well worth the opportunity to meet new people. I am off to do yet another one this weekend! :o)

Yesterday I crashed. I didn't even make it to the end of the Phillies game....Go Phillies....but I did manage to get a Clean and Simple Card made for the SplitCoast Challenge. The challenge was to complete a Sympathy Card.

The card is made on a 6 x 6 inch base of Bamboo Card Stock. I used a sheet of DP from Paper Garden and the matching My Acrylix Stamp Set Spring Equinox. Both the paper and the stamp set are retiring at the end of the year. This is a good time for me to remind you that several products will be retiring and I have a list of the papers on my sidebar. Please ask me for a list of the stamps because if there is something there you like, once it is out of stock, you'll won't be able to get it. :o(

I hope to post a few more thoughts about my success with the Craft Fair as I get time. For Now, Happy Crafting!

Virtural Holiday Card Crop on Friday Night and Craft Fair Today!

Sometimes I think I take on tooooooo much. Friday Night we had a great Crop at my house and this morning I am off to to Craft Fair. That is why I am up at 3:00am. Here is a quick picture from Friday Night. I will post more after the Craft Fair. At least today is inside as the Philadelphia are has been hit with 2 Nor'easters in the past 3 days.



For Now, Happy Crafting!

Virtural Holiday Card Crop Friday Night!

Tomorrow night is the big Holiday Card Crop at my house. But don't worry, if you can't make it to my house, you can still participate on my Facebook Page. If you upload a card on Close To My Heart (CTMH) Scrapbooking and Stamping with Cindy (find the link on my sidebar) you are entered in the drawing for a full size brand new CTMH stamp set! Yippee....


Here is another card I completed for tomorrow night. It is based on the sketches I posted as samples and uses the Close To My Heart October Stamp of the Month. I made it with non-traditional Holiday colors for fun. It doesn't show in the pictures, but all of the ornaments and star at the top of the tree are covered in glitter.




See you tomorrow night and For Now, Happy Crafting!

Fun Projects for My Next Craft Fair

I am busy getting ready for another Craft Fair. This one is on Sunday at the Town Hall of a small community just outside of Philadelphia. Getting ready for these affairs is a lot of work but I had so much fun at the last one that I had to do it again! :o)

Here is a door hanger that I hope catches someones eye....


Unfortunately, both CTMH stamp sets I used are retired. I have to admit that when I cut out the bees, I didn't want to be bothered cutting out the antennae. I just cut them off and added the glitter pipe cleaners. I think they work, what do you think?

I also made this altered cutting board hanger.

I covered the board with paper from the Jingles Creative Basic Paper Pack. I have found that the easiest way to cover an item is to measure and cut the paper around an inch larger than the project. I use a plain glue stick to adhere the paper. I line up the edges as best as I can to reduce the amount of trimming. I use a straight blade and carefully cut the excess. I sand all sizes with a emery board. One more tip, to give a finished look to an altered wood item, I always "stain" the areas not being covered with paper. I use a water based "stain" that I purchase at the LCS. It can be found with the little bottles of acrylic paint. I just squirt some on and wipe the item with a paper towel making sure to remove any excess. It dries in no time and gives the item a "finished" look.

To finish the cutting board, I got wooden letters. I mixed Juniper re-inker with pearl paint so that they perfectly matched the Jingles paper. The snowflakes were cut with a Sizzlet die and heat embossed with Silver Pearl Powder. The Tulip scallop circles were cut with a 2 inch punch. All the items were attached with glue dots. I added the jingle bell and beads in with the bow for interest.

Altered items are fun break from card making and we still get to play with paper. :o) For Now, Happy Crafting!

Studio J and a Few Last Tidbits from Regionals

While at Regionals, Jeanette Lynton, founder and CEO of Close To My Heart shared information about the digital scrapbooking program that will be released in the near future. Yes, CTMH is developing a digital scrapbooking program! From what I learned, it promises to be a quite a wonderful new way to scrapbook.


Did you know that on average only 55% of all photos taken are actually printed? Think about it. How many times to you go to a birthday party, wedding, picnic, take pictures and they never even get downloaded to the computer. How great it would be to have an opportunity to come home, complete a layout to share with everyone in just a few days! I took 82 pictures at Regionals and have not printed one. I have downloaded them and shared them here and on my Facebook page, but done nothing else with them. How I wish I had the ability to complete a wonderful layout to share with you rather than just the shots. In just a few short months I will have the chance!


Studio J is the answer! It is an Internet program that consists of the wonderful CTMH papers and embellishments. It is written to allow for editing and correcting to your hearts content. Think how great to have a yearly traditional scrapbook and be able to maintain continuity with Studio J pages for those special moments. CTMH is referring to paper scrapbooking as "Classic Scrapbooking" and computer scrapbooking as "Studio Scrapbooking." Digital scrapbooking will never replace the fun and feel of working with paper, but it sure will add dimension to our treasured hobby.


If 55% of all photos taken ever get printed, the amount that get scrapbooked is even less. Only 1/3 to 1/2 of those treasured memories are ever placed on the page. The rest wind up in a shoe box or on a lost computer disc. "Real Life, Real Scrapbooks, Real Time" is a phrase that was repeated over and over again at Regionals and it makes great sense. Having the opportunity to quickly work with photos that might never get scrapbooked is a wonderful thing. The cost makes sense too. There are no computer programs to buy. Just log on to the computer and go to work! When you are done, hit print and your artwork is delivered to your door in a few days. There will be special incentives for printing multiple pages also.


It is promised that the program will be released to Consultants shortly and then to Customers soon after that. I guarantee you that I will be playing as soon as I get the word....and will be sharing everything with you!


Just a few more tidbits from Regionals that I thought was interesting....The most popular paper pack this year has been Emporium. It is followed closely in popularity by Bella. You can check what this papers look like on my website. The most popular selling embellishment under $10 was our pewter brads. I bought them, did you? :o)


I haven't had the opportunity to share any of my recent artwork so I thought I would post a card I made on Monday.

I used two My Acrylix Stamp Sets we received at Regionals...Delightful Things and Thank You. The images were stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with Cocoa powder. The background was brayered using Sweet Leaf, Olive and New England Ivy inks. The mat is New England Ivy.

For Now, Happy Crafting!

More Goodies from the Close To My Heart Regionals

Slowly I am working to get more goodies and information posted about the wonderful weekend I spent in Minneapolis at the CTMH Regional Convention. Jeanette Lynton, the founder and CEO of Close To My Heart spoke both days. What a savvy, talented and inspirational woman.

When we entered the ballroom on Saturday morning, Jeanette was waiting at the podium. We each found a great package waiting for us at our seats.


This is a sneak peak at a new item in the Spring 2010 Idea Book. It is a wire bound journal. The great thing about it is it has a plastic cover to protect your completed artwork! The pages are blank it it will be great for all of your musings, sketches and daily thoughts. Jeanette gave the instructions as we completed the cover.

In my next post, more fun facts about CTMH and the latest word on Studio J. For Now, Happy Crafting!

More From the Close To My Heart Regionals

I got home from Minneapolis last evening and I have to admit that my head was swimming from all of the information. In the next few days, I will be posting some of the creative projects, pictures and information that was shared.

Did you know that Cocoa is the most popular CTMH color? I would have never guessed that but when you think about it, it makes sense. Cocoa is so versatile. It can be used for adding depth to the edges of projects and gives a softer look to stamped sentiments.

Cupcake Sprinkles has been the most popular My Acrylix Stamp Set in 2009.

These are some fun stats that we were shared. In the next posts, I will share the most popular papers and information about Studio J....CTMH's soon to be released Digital Scrapbooking Program.

Here is a layout using Twitterpated papers that I did while in Minneapolis. Bombay continues to be a hit! :o)

For Now, Happy Crafting!

Minneapolis Regional Convention

I am in Minneapolis! Yippee, it is the Close To My Heart Regional Convention. We are having a wonderful time with lots of goodies to share. Right now, it is 12:45am and I am getting a tad tired after a full day. There have been classes, creative sessions and a crop....all in ONE day....and tomorrow will be the same! I will share more later, but here is a picture of us working during one of the creative sessions.

For Now, Happy Crafting!