Wander - 16 cards

One of my New Year's Resolution will be to do my kits while they are still in the catalog.  Another of my New Year's Resolutions is to not to put kits away that I want to do "sometime".  Sometime is now for me.  

I love these cards and one of the kits that is coming up (I still have 2 card workshops with me that are not done).  I still really like them but when I looked at the guidelines, the small large number of thin cuts meant that I wasn't going to do it for my card classes.  In the throws of life and getting the card classes together, these great kits were left behind.  I do multiple cards for classes.  I have some great cards but when it takes too much time to do thin cuts, I will do other patterns that are easier to cut and make.

I do cards for classes and I do cards for presents.  This workshop and one to come I will use for my families presents and other gifts that I give.  I really love how these turned out and will make them for scrapbooking as well as cards.

Happiness Lives Here - Launch

 As I mentioned before, if you become a Maker, you have the opportunity to sign up for the launch of the next 2 month catalog and you get that catalog and special workshops with paper and stamps to play with along with the corporate office doing Facebook Live workshops. There are also special Facebook groups for Makers and Launches so that you can share and see what other people are doing.  There are very creative people in the Close To My Heart family that share their ideas.

Starting tomorrow - January 1 through January 31 - there is a Hello2022 special.  There is a reduced enrollment fee of $20 and you get $22 CTMH cash. After you sign up, you can get the Business Basics Bundle for $15 - free shipping when you purchase at least 1 item at full price and pay shipping and handling costs. Ask me about how wonderful it is to be a Maker for CTMH!! Join me.

This particular workshop was a launch workshop featuring Happiness Lives Here.  Today is the last day of Boxing Week and low and behold it is on sale today - December 31 - only!!   It is also the last day of the November December catalog.  If you want the guidelines for the pictured workshop,  you can purchased it from my website, I will email them to you.  Remember if you are looking for my website, the CTMH now has to be spelled out: Barbarapagekell.clsoetomyheart.com   Check out the great deals today.

The Launch events workshops are really a great deal.  For this exact workshop of 3 2-page layouts and 10 cards,  you will need the full workshop plus cardstock - 3 pieces each  of Paprika , Peach , Blue Belle, Sage and Daisy White cardstock.  The launch also did 10 cards using the Happiness Lives Here - cardmaking stamp and thin cut and 10 envelopes and card blanks. As with all workshops there are other thing that you need.  You will need Blue Belle, Peach, Sage and Intense Black ink pads.  3 d foam, glue dots, adhesive, paper trimmer etc.  

I love CTMH workshops and I really love the Launch event workshops and Facebook live. I watch them even if I can't do the exact project along with them, because there is so much to learn.   These are all great values and even after you do the workshop, the guidelines are great for future projects. Even if I have been stamping since 1979, I learn something new - a tip - a technique - that I can pass onto to others with each workshop and all the great Facebook lives events that Close To My Heart does.   

Remember sometime this year when Covid isn't so high, those who are vaccinated will be invited to come to a Crop.  You can bring your workshop, partial workshop, or just paper.  If you tell me what you want to do and what materials you have, I can have some instructions for you.  The Crop will have a small fee so that you can use my stamps, thin cuts, inks and machines.  I will have some small "take aways" with techniques that may or may not be new but these small things can be used with your scrapbooks or cards. 

Just to let you know, 

Join in and create with CTMH during their Facebook Live crafting events! These events are a great way to find creative inspiration and helps keep all of us excited about our own creative journeys! Here is the schedule of upcoming events:

 

• Tuesday, January 11, 2:00 pm (MST): Wonderland Cardmaking Workshop (G1242)
• Tuesday, January 25, 2:00 pm (MST): Wonderland Scrapbooking Workshop (G1241)
• Tuesday, February 8, 2:00 pm (MST): Sweet as Honey Cardmaking Workshop (G1246)
• Tuesday, February 15, 2:00 pm (MST): True Story Album Kit (CC12215)
• Tuesday, February 22, 2:00 pm (MST): Sweet as Honey Scrapbooking Workshop (G1245)

To fully participate in these exciting events, make sure to order the bundles listed above. CTMH will also be doing some awesome giveaways during these events for those in attendance. Be sure to visit the Close To My Heart (Official) Facebook page, click on the Events tab, and mark yourself as “Going”! 

It is a wonderful experience to be do the Facebook live events.  It is like being in a group and sharing in the fun of crafting - safely.  Let me know if you are going to an event and we can share in what we accomplish during the time together.  

What I have learned from Daisy Meadows Launch

 There is a program with Close To My Heart that is called VIP.  If you buy a lot, them this is the program for you.  If you want to step it up, you can become a Maker. There is a minimum you need to have for a quarter in sales.  When I started in 2006 there was not a VIP program.  My upline said, "You would make the minimum all by yourself so go for it1".  I have been with CTMH for 15 years now.  

When you are a Maker or higher, you can sign up for the launch of the next 2 month catalog.  You get some of  the new paper and a stamp and the new catalog.  You get to join a video and see all the products - they show you the original works up close and person.  

This packet came from such a launch.  The paper packet is called Daisy Meadows.  

Sometimes the learning curve can be steep.  Here is what I learned through this workshop.

1. Don't put all the workshops away in a box on the shelf without a label.  

    All of a sudden when I was sorting through papers that I had put in the white 12x12 CTMH boxes (most of which I had labeled), I found all the workshops that I am doing here.  I really need to do them when the papers are available if anyone wants to use the same papers.

 I realized that I wasn't going to do the workshops for a while so I took out the stamp set and used it eith other projects.  I just grabbed the workshops when I came to my sisters this week and happened to notice that the stamp sets were not in there.  I did find all of them but 1 set.  If I do that in the future, I will write a note as to which stamp sets are to be used.  When I am home that isn't so much an issue but I just couldn't find one stamp set that I know that I have but didn't find before I left.  It was for this workshop, so I brought other stamps that I could use instead and it worked out fine.

2. If you take something out of a packet, again, put a note in it.  If I was home there wouldn't be a problem but I had taken the cards and envelopes out of this packet and my sister also is out of blanks. 

3. They says "Necessity is the mother of invention".

   Because I didn't have the right stamp set, I was able to really make different cards. I am enjoying trying out new things and have gotten some ideas that I am going to try later. 

4. I love my VersaMat

CTMH has 2 wonderful mats.  The one side of the VersaMat is self-healing and you can use your utility knife right on it.  The other side is spongy for stamping on.  The top side has inches marked so that you can make sure your paper is straight from one side to another and  it has diagonals as well.  The All Purpose mat is also wonderful because it is heat resistant for the heat gun, it will easily wipe off glue and glitter and it rolls up nicely.

I never liked to go to Crops because I had everything at home,  By the time you pack up and go, there is always something that you have left behind that you need.  I have a check list and used it in coming up to my sisters.  I am going to add a few things when I go home.  It helps to always keep on learning.

Ps. I printed the directions off in black and white as my colors were out. Usually i have the directions on the computer to go to to check out details. Again not being at home made it strange. 

 

Bring back my pack - Blossom

 Close To My Heart brings back paper packets that were popular with an up grade to current papers and a new stamp set. The workshops are top notch and fun to do. In this season on getting caught up, it has been a while since this was available. I like the design and have some ideas for projects coming up.  This project had 4 single cards which I plan to copy for upcoming card classes. 

Lessons I learned making the Party Girl pages

 I am making up some of the kits that were put aside during the Christmas Card Buffet classes. The pages are beautiful.

There were 3 2-page layouts and a single pag        e.  There are pieces left over and I am going to make some Picture My Life cards to go with this set.  I have decided I am going to try and use up the scraps at the same time as I work a project but I need to finish some of the card kits for Christmas (our family is meeting late January so I am busy on making albums and cards and calendars as gifts)

What I learned and relearned:

1. Go Back to the Basics - Always!

I work very fast.  Always have.  I usually expect myself to do things quickly which means even though I get done quicker than others, I am expecting a faster speed.  Sometimes that means I don't read the directions as carefully as I should.

    - Read the directions.  They are helpful so get things in the right order

    - The rule is that no open fluid can be on the table.  I had a covered water the day before that rested on the floor.  Today I had it on the table as I was looking at what kits to do.  I picked it up and as the cover came off 16 oz of water went on the table.  Mostly everything was in plastic except the pages and cards I did yesterday.  Several pages were water logged but the card envelopes were most damaged.

    - LOOK at your block before you print the stamp.  I had several lines and extra ink that were unnecessary if I had just taken the time to wipe it off - I didn't look and then had to try and fix the problem.

2.  I really love Close to my Heart.  It gets reinforced over and over

They make their border stamps so you can do continuous stamping.  On the Party Girl set, the glass in her had doesn't have lines so you can stamp it and it looks like it belongs.  Also the circle has an opening that fits the words.  They think ahead when they create and do a marvelous job of putting things together.  The attention to detail matters.

3. These stamps didn't have thin cuts.  Fussy Cutting got its name for a reason

I am falling in love more and more with thin cuts.  I really like it when I have to prepare for multiples in a class setting.  This stamp set is ok because it will be used on pages which I really don't mind the fussy cutting.  I enjoy my small sharp scissors and my utility knife to get the job done.

4. I have had water color pencils for a long time.  I am now getting the CTMH ones.

I don't buy things that I already have.  I have a great number of water color pencils that I have had for some time.  This project made me see that I don't have shades of a color.  I have blended alcohol markers and water colors but now I see that to get the right shade, I need to have the right tools in pencils as well. It is the next thing on my list to get.

5. I learn so much and need to keep it in my head or start a technique tips for my own

I really like to do new pages and get ideas for pages using other paper.  I have several projects going and will find a way to use the guidelines in those settings.  Also I learned new techniques for the stamp set.  It is learning about how to take these little stamps and use them together for borders or images.  This set sill be good just for the little stamps and what you can do with them as they go with other images.

If you have had "ah ha" experiences lately, make a comment.  It is a good reinforcement to share with others what you have learned.  

VIP HIp Hop Horray bundle

 You have until Dec 31 to get your workshop! Check out my website for information.

Check out what it looks like.

Really cute slimline cards.

3 double page layouts. 

Check out this deal and get yours before they are gone.  

Specials now and to come

 

Boxing Week Sale - December 26 - December 31

Boxing week began in the United Kingdom and is celebrated there and in countries formerly part of the British empire.  At Close To My Heart there will be a sale on retired and current and exclusive stamp bundles.  New posts will come each day from 12:00am (mst) to 11:59 pm (mst).  All discounted items ordered as part of the sale will count towards VIP creit and Stamp of the month.  

Go to my Maker's Website (barbarapagekell.closetomyheart.com) each day and see what wonderful things are there to help you in creating throughout the new year.

True Story

National Paper Crafting Month - January brings this wonderful 6x8 album for you called "True Story" it is very interactive and a wonderful way to start the new year.  It is available now through February 28.

Smitten

Smitten is available now through February 28.  It is a wonderful head start on Valentine's Day.  There is a worship that is 1 single page, 1 layout, 12 slimline cards (2 each of 6 designs) and 12 treat containers.

Check on the other specials that are only available until the end of December.

There will be no January card classes because of the steep hills getting to my house and the possibility of lots of snow and ice.  Check here for the cards and pages that I will be playing with during January.  You will get a sneak peek of the projects coming up.  See you later alligator.

 The Black Friday sale starts at 3:00 pm (MST) on November 26 and will end at 11:59 pm (MST) the next day. The Cyber Monday sale will begin at 3:00 pm (MST) on November 29 and will end at 11:59 pm (MST) the next day.

Enjoy savings on select products with our Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales! These sales will feature current and retired products and will include incredible discounts on a variety of current and past items. Quantities will be limited, so be sure to shop early!

Christmas Card Buffet

Time is here for the Christmas card buffet again.  Here are some of the first cards.

You can choose to stamp a saying on the inside of the cards as well.

I you are interested in making Christmas cards, please let me know the dates and times.  

Pumpkin Spice Plus

 There is a neat packet of paper called "Pumpkin Spice".  Here are the 3 double page layouts.

After every set of pages there are always left over pieces.  What does one do?  I used to keep it with the pages and then when I used them in an album, if I needed more pages, I would have the paper and make them.  Then I started taking the done pages and putting them together with other done pages with the pieces in labeled in bags but.... when I needed more pages I couldn't find the bags with the scraps.  

How I am trying something else.  Because we have pocket pages, I am making 4x6 , 6x4 and 3x4, 4x3 pml cards and putting them with the done pages.  Here is what I have done so far.

I found the matching stamp set and I still have a few more cards to make and I am going to use the stamp set to finish off more cards.

Leave a message about what you do with your scraps.  I know some people make cards with them, but the card I make are samples for my classes and I need more than scraps to work with.  

Make unique calendar gifts for Christmas that give a wonderful touch all year long

 Each year, Close To My Heart has done a calendar special that is easy to put together.  It is like the Cut Above in that you don't stamp anything.  You have preprinted base pages, you add stickers and punch outs and then you put your photos on.  

I sometimes will put 3x3 photos by the month if there are more images I want to do that month.  Some people make the calendar and put on photos from the year rather than just photos from years before.  You can also just get the 13 pages (12 months and a front cover) and make an album.  These are great pages.  Check out the video to see what they look like.  You have until December 31 to order or as long as supplies last.  

I customize the calendars with the birthdays and anniversaries that each family has.  Each time there is a  unique stamp set to help you stamp, if you wish, on the calendar part.  There is plenty of room to write on the squares as it is up on the wall.  

Let me know if you are interested in doing a crop with me for the calendars.  I make 5 calendars a year and would like the company.  It takes about 3 - 4 hours to complete so it can be done in one setting or several. 

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Christmas Card Buffet

 It is almost time for the Christmas Card buffet.  This is coming to my home and making whatever number of cards you would want.  Please let me know if you want to come and how many cards you think you would make.  There will be cards that are easier to make and some that time more time.  They will be marked.  There are two groups meeting but if those times don't fit your schedule, let me know.  

Here are some cards.  I haven't decided yet which cards will be part of that workshop.  Some of these may show up but I wanted to show you how you can change the saying to fit your needs.  Most people can make about 8 cards in a 3 hour time slot.  It is $15 for the first 4 and $3 for every card after that.  There will be a limit to how many of one type you can make so there will be a variety left for others.

More will be posted later. 

What do you do with scraps and leftovers?

 When I did all the shaker cards, I was left with glitter rectangles. I also have left over pieces from many projects. CTMH now sells white cards only but I have some of the Colonial White (ecru) left over. I also have made many thin cuts for people to choose from with their shaker cards.  I decided to try and use them up as well - as best as I could. I decided to play with ideas that I want to use for my Christmas Card buffet.  Here is the result of the play time:

What is left after the smallest rectangle shaker size is a small solid piece which fits on the bottom of the tag and shows through the heart as a glitter heart.  

I still have scraps left but it is fun to see what you can make.

Share what you can do with your left overs and scraps.  

Halloween Cards

 I love the 4 girls and 4 boys stamps and thin cuts that are Halloween!  I was playing with the Distress Dioxide inks for backgrounds and got carried away.  It was fun to just play and make 18 cards in combinations of all the stamps/thin cuts.  If anyone is interested in making these cards, let me know and we can Zoom or get in person.

I am having great fun with the Distress Dioxide inks.  They are fun to blend and get wonderful backgrounds for all sorts of cards.

Card groups for September, October and November

 Card groups are starting up again.  There will be Zoom and in person.  If you are vaccinated we can use my house or yours for a small group.  You can sign up for the group you have time for.  We will make 4 cards per month and in late November early December we will have a Christmas Card buffet where you can make your Christmas cards. 

If you choose to sign up for just 1 month,  is $15 if you are new or $13 if you have done cards before.  If you sign up and pay or 3 months it is $36.  If you bring a paying friend each of you will get $1 off  per month so $1 for 1 paying month or $3 for paying for 3 months.  

The cards on Zoom classes will not be exactly as the cards in person.  You can see Septembers ideas and some of October.  There has been a delay in getting materials and my times have been full.  

These are the Zoom classes.  The Gnomes are birthday cards. The flower cards can be any sentiment. You can ask for the stamped sentiment you need: thank you, thinking of you, sympathy etc. 

The cards for the in person classes will be shaker cards. You will have choices what to put in the shaker cards and the sentiments you stamp.

The fourth card has other sentiments to stamp in the middle if you are in person.  I also have different color stickles that you can use.  For those who will be on Zoom and stay on Zoom, I suggest you go to my website: barbarapagekell.ctmh.com and choose a stickle gold or silver color.  I have found that the embellishments can make you pay extra for a card to be sent in the mail.  Stickles are not that bumpy but make a card look elegant.  I have used water colors for this months cards.  You can use markers or colored pencils as well.

The Zoom October cards will be a choice of one of these 2, two other slimline cards that are for the September special.  I will also be making some Halloween cards you can choose to make.  There will also be a "waterfall" birthday card option.

The in person classes will be using Distressing Dioxide inks.  You can choose what color you wish to make things.

Call me 608-370-0156 and lets get you signed up for classes.