December Close To My Heart Blog Hop

I can't believe how time flyes! This is the beginning of our December Blog Hop....it seems like just yesterday when we had the fun of the November Hop. This month's Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month is a great stamp set for a scrapbooker. It includes several stamps that revolve around dates and the calendar. If you arrived here from Carla's Blog, you are on the right track. So now on with the show....

The set includes all kinds of stamps that revolve around the calendar. I have wanted to try one of these wipe off memo boards for ages and this set was perfect. I took a 12 x 12 sheets of paper from the Notebook collection. I used a scrapbook layout to make spaces to write memos and reminders.

The page is framed with the glass present. Using your wipe off pen, you can write in the sections right on the glass and then erase when the information is no longer needed!

The writing area is done in Colonial White and sponged with Desert Sand. Other card stock colors used include Crystal Blue, Hollyhock, Desert Sand. I used Chocolate Ribbon, Chip board, paper flowers, buttons, waxy flax and brads to embellish the page. "Notes" was stamped in Hollyhock using the Posterboard set. What a fun project.

It is now time to hop on over to Mary's Blog and check out her great project. For Now, Happy Crafting!

December Close To My Heart Blog Hop

How time flies! It feels like we just did this... :o) The December Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month is great for scrapbookers. The set includes all kinds of stamps that work great for a calendar. If you got here from Carla's Blog, you are on the right track. Now on with the show...

I have wanted to try a wipe off memo board for months and this set is perfect. I used Notebook for my Pattern Papers for the project. To make the memo board, I basically completed a scrapbook layout and framed it under glass. Using a dry erase pen, you can write your notes and wipe them away when they are no longer needed.






Other items and colors include: Crystal Blue, Hollyhock, Colonial White and Desert Sand cardstock. I also have chocolate ribbon, paper flowers. chip board, brads, buttons and waxy flax. "Notes" was stamped using letters from the Posterboard alpha set.

It's now time to hop on over to Mary's Blog to check out her great creation. For Now, Happy Crafting!

December Close To My Heart Blog Hop List of Participants

It's that time again....Blog Hop....Yippee....here is the list of participants. We will be "live" later this evening.


Jena DeVries
http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com
Helen Onulak
http://www.hookedonstamping.com
Nona Davenport
http://www.nonapearl.blogspot.com
Beth Naumann
http://www.bethscreativeblock.blogspot.com
Michelle Nist
http://Michellenist.blogspot.com
Cibele Glazer
http://www.flowerfoot.blogspot.com
Dawn Heuft
http://www.stamptildawn.blogspot.com
Karen Norman
http://www.gettinscrappywithit.blogspot.com
Brae Montgomery
http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com
Adeline E. Brill
http://adeline-brill.blogspot.com
Jen Patrick
http://www.roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com
Tammy Lea Pinchard
http://mycreativeclubhouse.blogspot.com
Melissa Laverty
http://www.fancymelissa.blogspot.com
Chris Shouse
http://www.houseostamps.wordpress.com
Misty Jackson
http://www.misstscraps.blogspot.com
Amy McVey
http://www.clearlystamping.blogspot.com
Linda Shewchuk
http://www.awesomememories.blogspot.com
Jessica Booth
http://jessicabooth.blogspot.com/
Sylvia Jacquot
http://stampinsylvia.blogspot.com/
Amy Edwards
http://PaisleysPlayhouse.blogspot.com
Deb Young
http://www.scrapbookczar.blogspot.com
Judy Burger
http://makingtimeformemories.blogspot.com/
Jamia Bankhead
http://www.papermadnessinc.blogspot.com
Paige Dolecki
http://www.paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com
Shannon Pelletier
http://www.mycolorfulworldinvt.blogspot.com
Pamela O'Connor
http://www.cherishyourmemories.blogspot.com
Kathleen Androlewicz
http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/
Debra Van Patten
http://memoriesoftheheartbydeb.blogspot.com/
Wendy Kessler
http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com
Dawn Ross
http://www.iamahappystamper.blogspot.com
Caren Goldsein
http://www.scrappycaren.blogspot.com
Lori Brown
http://www.savingmine.blogspot.com
Lori Miller
http://www.clearlyfromtheheart.blogspot.com
Sarita Schraeder
http://www.blessedscrapper.blogspot.com
Tanya David
http://www.scramperscorner.blogspot.com
Barbra Otten
http://barbraotten.blogspot.com/
Laurie Newton
http://scrapsfromthebeach.blogspot.com/
Kristie Herdener
http://www.goofyscrapper.blogspot.com
Maricar Harris
http://www.maricarharris.blogspot.com
Laurie Levnik
http://www.creationsbylaurie.blogspot.com
Carla Ironside
http://www.carlacreates.blogspot.com
Cindy Leek
http://www.paperspadsandpictures.blogspot.com
Mary Eisen
www.mestamp2.blogspot.com
Sheila Bennett
http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com
Lori Leng
http://www.pinkcloudscrappers.blogspot.com
Susan Brooks
http://www.stampingintheopen.blogspot.com
Jen Rubio
http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com
Traci Godbee
http://createwithtraci.blogspot.com
Krista Ritskes
http://kristaritskes-simplycreating.blogspot.com/
Haley Dyer
http://www.inkyscrapper.blogspot.com
Terrie Dodd
http://www.my-life-in-real-time.blogspot.com
Wanda Riley
http://www.creatingwithwanda.blogspot.com
Antoinette Herrin
http://www.GodblessyourART.blogspot.com
Laura Dame
http://www.thecroppersconnection.blogspot.com
Jill Lucas
http://scrapwench.blogspot.com
Katy Donaldson
http://www.scrappinkaty.blogspot.com
Jody Gustafson
http://www.cre8nmemories.blogspot.com
Kimberly Smith
http://verykimberry.blogspot.com/
Melissa Burch
http://melissaburch.blogspot.com
Tracy Oleksak
www.mamaolie.blogspot.com
Shirley Ross
http://www.momnmescrap.blogspot.com
Maricar Harris
http://www.maricarharris.blogspot.com

Twelve Days of Christmas According to Close To My Heart

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me....

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Six Prisma Glitters

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Seven mini albums

Six Prisma Glitters

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Eight embossing powders

Seven mini albums

Six Prisma Glitters

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the Ninth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Nine sponge daubers

Eight embossing powders

Seven mini albums

Six Prisma Glitters

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for of all my goodies

On the Tenth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Ten Level 2 Paper Packs

Nine sponge daubers

Eight embossing powders

Seven mini albums

Six Prisma Glitters

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

'leven Bottles Liquid Glass

Ten Level 2 Paper Packs

Nine sponge daubers

Eight embossing powders

Seven mini albums

Six Prisma Glitters

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Twelve Ink Stamp Pads

'leven Bottles Liquid Glass

Ten Level 2 Paper Packs

Nine sponge daubers

Eight embossing powders

Seven mini albums

Five Stamp Sets

Four Blending Pens

Three packs of Card Stock

Two Distressing Kits and

A rolling tote for all of my goodies

Leave an Idea Book laying around, put a note in the sock drawer, text a message...do whatever you can think of to remind your Santa about your Close To My Heart Holiday Wish List. Make sure your Santa contacts me and I will do the rest! I need to have the order no later than the 10th of December to make sure it is waiting under the tree Christmas morning. Think about it....wouldn't a stamp set be much more fun than yet another blender? :o)

Only one week left for Stampaganza ....if you purchase 2 stamp sets you get a third of equal of lesser value for free. That helps Santa too! For Now, Happy Crafting!

A New Twist on Altered Binder Clips

I made it through the Weekend of the Craft Fair. If you remember, I had a table at a craft fair on Friday Evening and another all day Sunday. BTW - I had to work on Saturday. I was up at 3:15am yesterday morning making items to replace what I sold on Friday Night. Both days, I exceeded expectations. Yesterday, I met a many wonderful people including Santa....I haven't shaken Santa's hand in many years! :o)

Each venue is different. As I gain more experience, the set up and break down becomes easier. If anyone can think of a way to display loose cards (other than the obvious wire rack....trying not to have to purchase one) please leave me a comment. People just don't seem to flip through the cards....Here is yesterday's set up....

Driving home after Friday Evening's event, I had an idea. I quickly altered a binder clip with Christmas pattern paper and added a candy cane. What a great place card or buffet marker for your Holiday table.

The visitors to Sunday's affair liked the idea....what do you think? I did this very quickly so think of all of the possibilities of how you could make a festive Holiday table!

For Now, Happy Crafting!

Craft Fair Weekend

I have a good news, bad new story. Because of my work schedule, I can't participate in a Saturday Craft Fair. (If I never mentioned it, I am the Classroom Coordinator and Teacher at a big box Craft Store and during the Holiday Season I do demos at the store every Saturday). This weekend, I have a table at two different affairs....Friday Night and an all day Sunday event. Well, the good news is I am home from the Friday event and sold piles of items. The bad news, I only have 36 hours to replace the sold items....remember I have to work on Saturday....AHHHHH...how long can I go without sleep???? :o)

I am tickled. The sticky note holders were a big hit. I recently posted a picture of them here. I also sold every Tree ornament I had made. I never even had a chance to post a picture of them....The crowd even grabbed every Christmas Card Set I had made. So, now I have to figure out how I am going to get cards, sticky note holders and ornaments made for Sunday...what a fun problem. Here are a few pictures including some Gift Card Holders I added to my inventory.

If I don't get another post done until Sunday Night or Monday, please forgive me. :o) For Now, Happy Crafting!

Craft Fair Sticky Notes

What a busy weekend. I spent some time checking out the inspiration on the Operation Write Home Blog Hop. If you haven't had a check to check the blogs, please take some time and check out a few. It is a wonderful cause and there are so many committed and talented individuals who participate.

The rest of the weekend was spent preparing for the two, count 'um, two craft fairs I am participating in this weekend. I have gotten myself into a pickle. I have no clue how much inventory I should make. If I sell out on Friday, I have no time to make replacement items for Sunday as I have to work on Saturday. Did I ever mention that I am the classroom instructor for a chain craft store? Those stories are for another post.... :o)

I made several of these Sticky Note Holders. They were fast and I am pleased with the way they came out. I have more made but 5 fit comfortably in the picture...


I covered 4x4 inch chipboard with pattern paper. The binder clip was altered to match the chipboard, the circles were stamped with a matching image and the sticky note stack was attached.

I also was made a few more of those chipboard picture frames that I showed here. They work up easily also, but take a bit more time because of the cutting and matting.

Oh, what else have I been doing? Friday evening we also had a card making party at the house. Lots more Christmas Cards got made! I even made some time to practice with my new camera.

I'll post more Craft Fair goodies as I get them done. For Now, Happy Crafting!

Operation Write Home Blog Hop Time!

Operation Write Home is celebrating Veterans Day this weekend with a Blog Hop. What is Operation Write Home you ask??? Crafters for all walks of life make cards and OWH sees that they reach the our deployed troops so that they have handmade cards to use to write home. What a great reason to make a card! The Blog Hop is set to kick off officially at 3:00pm EST so if you are here early make sure you check back to see all of the wonderful creations along the hopping trail.


If your arrived here from Laura's Blog you are on the right track. And, remember if you get lost along the way or just want to check out the wonderful things OWH is doing check out their page here. All information you need to get started making and sending cards for our troops is contained on those pages. An interesting thing I learned was no cards sent should include loose glitter. The glitter can flake off and put the troops at risk to be seen with night vision goggles.


Another interesting point is the time frame for sending completed cards. Right now, OWH is collection Valentine Cards. Remember, the cards must be collected, sorted, mailed overseas in time for the troops to mail them back home! Here is a Valentine Card that I will be forwarding for the cause.

The card is made on an A2 (5 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch) base. (BTW - that is the easiest size for OWH to ship) The large mat is Garnet and was embossed using a Cuttlebug folder. The pattern paper is from the That's Amore paper pack. The silhouette image was heat embossed on Colonial White using Cocoa powder and is from Childhood Portrait. "Be Mine" is from Thoughtful Seasons and stamped in Garnet on chipboard that was sponged in blush. All items used are Close To My Heart.

Here is another card I recently made. The card is a wallet fold style. It is handstitched, the little elf is heat embossed and watercolored and the closure is magnetic. Again, all items used are from Close To My Heart.

Oh well, I guess everybody is a critic..... :o) That's Bombay, my five month old kitten adjudicating my work.....

It's time to hop over to Cathy's blog and check out her contribution. She has some wonderful layouts and a great altered tin posted so I can't wait to see what she has done for the hop! Remember the Hop starts here.

Thank you for visiting. And, Thank You to all of the Troops who have and continue to serve our Country. God Bless America. For Now, Happy Crafting!

Operation Write Home

Operation Write Home....what a worthy cause. We make our cards for challenges. We make our cards for fun. If you are like me you wind up with piles of cards that need a purpose. Operation Write Home is an organization that collects hand made cards and forwards them to our deployed troops so that they have cards to send home to their loved ones. According to their website as of November 9th, they have sent 246,076 cards for our troops to use!

Tomorrow, November 14th, I'll be participating in a blog hop to help support their efforts. Check back later and hop along in support of our troops!

For Now, Happy Crafting!

Card Making and Experimenting With My New Camera

What a busy day! I took the day to do some cleaning and fixing up around the house and even put up my outside Christmas Lights (no I won't turn them on until the Friday after Thanksgiving). It was such a beautiful day in Philadelphia.

This morning, before I started my work, I completed this card for today's Splitcoast Stampers Clean and Simple Challenge. The challenge was to make a card using white and only one other color. Not as simple as it sounds....

The mat and ink colors are Lilac Mist. I was waiting for an opportunity to use this color. The images are from My Acrylix Stamp sets Picture Perfect and Thank You.

I did the cleaning while I was waiting for my new camera battery to charge. If you have noticed, my pictures have been appearing a tad peaked the last couple weeks. I don't know what happened but the sensor must have gone....oh well. When I bought my old camera (3 years ago) I said that my next camera would be a digital SLR. I researched and studied. I surfed the net to try and figure which one was best. I finally decided on a Canon Rebel XSi. Back in the day, before digital cameras became popular, I had a wonderful Canon SLR that I used for many years without a single problem. I am hoping that my lenses will fit my new toy. Does anyone know? I haven't tried yet.

Remember I said the weather was beautiful today? I was lucky enough to be able to take some pictures in my garden. I have a handful of straggler flowers blooming. Humor me and allow me to share one of my first pictures...BTW - for the photographers the settings were f/5.6, 1/25sec and 800 ISO. For those of you who aren't familiar with photography, don't worry, I was just playing with the buttons until I got a good picture. :o)

For Now, Happy Crafting!

Another Craft Fair Item

I have been so busy creating that I realized this morning that I have been ignoring my blog...Oh my, that is not good. I have been busy making pro-type items for my Craft Table. I will be participating in 3 more Craft Fairs this season and I am trying to make some Holiday Goodies.


I was given several pieces of 9 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch chipboard. Hum, what to do with it. By the way, have you ever looked at something, anything and wondered how you could alter it??? I am developing a serious problem with that thought. Anyway, back to the chipboard. The pieces sat in my craft stock pile for weeks. Finally, I decided that they must have a purpose. Here is what I came up with...

Here are the steps I took to make this altered picture frame:

1. Score the chipboard at the 4 1/2 and 5 inch marks.

2. Cover the chipboard with pattern paper.

3. Sand and sponge the edges. BTW - an emery board works great for sanding chipboard.

4. Cut mats and squares for photos using Nestabilities.

5. Drill holes in the spine. For example a Fiskars Craft Drill was used.

6. Thread ribbon through holes and tie bow.

7. Attach flowers or any embellishment making sure that space is left to slip the photo underneath.

Supplies used for this project include: Bella B/T Duo pattern paper, Smokey Plum and Vanilla Cream card stock, Colonial White Ribbon, paper flowers and adhesive backed pearls. Ink colors include smokey plum, hollyhock and blush. All supplies, except for the chipboard and Close To My Heart.

I think I'll make a few more of these for my craft fair. What do you think? For Now, Happy Crafting!

Come On Phillies!!!

Can you stand this picture!!! Go Phillies!!!

November Newsletter!

Just wanted to let everyone know that the November Newsletter is done. If you didn't get your copy or would like a copy please let me know!

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

I can't believe that another month has passed. This month Close To My Heart has a great stamp of the month called "Around The Block." The possibilities are endless for this set. The set contains a house frame, windows, doors, roofs and sentiments. I liked this set the minute I saw it in the Idea Book.

This month we have over 60 CTMH Consultants participating. If you arrived here from Carla's blog you are on the right track. I am anxious to see every one's project.


This month, I wanted to show the versatility of CTMH stamps. To complete the card, I combined 3 different sets. "Around The Block" is not a Christmas set, but using accents from other sets, it became a Holiday Card.


This card is done on a 5 X 7 White Daisy base that was sponged with Cranberry. There are three mats each cut 1/8 inch smaller than the preceding one and those colors are Cranberry, Vanilla Cream and Garden Green. The top color is Colonial White and was sponged with Heavenly Blue and Crystal Blue for the sky. The sidewalk was sponged with Cocoa and Gray Wool. The house and door was stamped on Vanilla cream, the windows on Colonial White and the roof on Cocoa. All pieces were heat embossed using cocoa powder. Each piece was cut out. I also cut out the "glass panes" of the windows. I hand drew the tree and candles on the house base before I attached the windows. I wanted to give the appearance that you were looking through the window at them. The curtains and accents on the door were colored using my Copics. The wreath was done with Vintage Christmas Flower Soft. A white gel pen and glitter was used to create the snow on the roof.

To finish off the card, the tree from "Neighborhood" was used to stamp the bushes. I masked off the trunk and rock and rolled the leaves in Garden Green and New England Ivy. The white pen and glitter were used again to add the snow accents. "Merry Christmas" was stamped in Cranberry and is from "Ornate Ornaments." Whew, that was a lot! :o)

Here is another card made from the "Around the Block" stamp set.

This card is done on a 6 x 6 inch base in Indian Corn Blue. The pattern paper is from Grace and it is accented with Garnet. The images were embossed in Cocoa and colored with my Copics.

It's time to hop on over to Laurie's blog to check out here creation using "Around The Block."

If you get lost on the hop, the full list of participants can be found in this post. For Now, Happy Crafting!

November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop Participants

In just a short while, the November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop will be up and running! Here is the list of participants this month.

Jena DeVries
http://www.livelovelaughscrapbook.blogspot.com
Helen Onulak
http://www.hookedonstamping.com
Carla Ironside
http://www.carlacreates.blogspot.com
Cindy Leek
http://www.paperspadsandpictures.blogspot.com
Laurie Levnik
http://www.creationsbylaurie.blogspot.com
Krista Ritskes
http://kristaritskes-simplycreating.blogspot.com/
Kathleen Androlewicz
http://bowlofstamps.blogspot.com/
Paige Dolecki
http://www.paigespaperparadise.blogspot.com
Shannon Pelletier
http://www.mycolorfulworldinvt.blogspot.com
Jody Gustafson
http://www.cre8nmemories.blogspot.com
Laura Dame
http://www.thecroppersconnection.blogspot.com
Terrie Dodd
http://www.my-life-in-real-time.blogspot.com
Lori Brown
http://www.savingmine.blogspot.com
Cibele Glazer
http://www.flowerfoot.blogspot.com
Caren Goldsein
http://www.scrappycaren.blogspot.com
Traci Godbee
http://createwithtraci.blogspot.com
Dawn Ross
http://www.iamahappystamper.blogspot.com
Maricar Harris
http://www.maricarharris.blogspot.com
Jamia Bankhead
http://www.papermadnessinc.blogspot.com
Laurie Newton
http://scrapsfromthebeach.blogspot.com/
Nona Davenport
http://www.nonapearl.blogspot.com
Tanya David
http://www.scramperscorner.blogspot.com
Sheila Bennett
http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com
Melissa Laverty
http://www.fancymelissa.blogspot.com
Amy Edwards
http://PaisleysPlayhouse.blogspot.com
Lori Leng
http://www.pinkcloudscrappers.blogspot.com
Kristie Herdener
http://www.goofyscrapper.blogspot.com
Jill Lucas
http://scrapwench.blogspot.com
Adeline E. Brill
http://adeline-brill.blogspot.com
Michelle Nist
http://Michellenist.blogspot.com
Dawn Heuft
http://www.stamptildawn.blogspot.com
Jessica Booth
http://jessicabooth.blogspot.com/
Susan Brooks
http://www.stampingintheopen.blogspot.com
Sarita Schraeder
http://www.blessedscrapper.blogspot.com
Katy Donaldson
http://www.scrappinkaty.blogspot.com
Mary Eisen
www.mestamp2.blogspot.com
Deb Young
http://www.scrapbookczar.blogspot.com
Haley Dyer
http://www.inkyscrapper.blogspot.com
Kimberly Smith
http://verykimberry.blogspot.com/
Barbra Otten
http://barbraotten.blogspot.com/
Tammy Lea Pinchard
http://mycreativeclubhouse.blogspot.com
Nancy Brown
http://www.creativelyartsygallery.blogspot.com
Karen Norman
http://www.gettinscrappywithit.blogspot.com
Judy Burger
http://makingtimeformemories.blogspot.com/
Sylvia Jacquot
http://stampinsylvia.blogspot.com/
Brae Montgomery
http://thebrae-er.blogspot.com
Pamela O'Connor
http://www.cherishyourmemories.blogspot.com
Antoinette Herrin
http://www.GodblessyourART.blogspot.com
Debra Van Patten
http://memoriesoftheheartbydeb.blogspot.com/
Jen Patrick
http://www.roxybonds-scrappin.blogspot.com
Wendy Kessler
http://www.myscrapbookingblog.com
Beth Naumann
http://www.bethscreativeblock.blogspot.com
Misty Jackson
http://www.misstscraps.blogspot.com
Brenda Harmless
http://keepsakeswithheart.blogspot.com
Amy McVey
http://www.clearlystamping.blogspot.com
Linda Shewchuk
http://www.awesomememories.blogspot.com
Chris Shouse
http://www.houseostamps.wordpress.com
Pam Klassen
http://eimmap.blogspot.com/
Michelle Bourlet
http://michellescreativeconnections.blogspot.com/
Jen Rubio
http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com
Wanda Riley
http://www.creatingwithwanda.blogspot.com
Lori Miller
http://www.clearlyfromtheheart.blogspot.com
Carol Taggio
http://craftycarol55.blogspot.com
Tracy Oleksak
http://www.mamaolie.blogspot.com

For Now, Happy Crafting!