Christmas is Just Around the Corner

Christmas will be here before you know it! I LOVE Christmas... I mean I really LOVE Christmas! I think I was a Who in a past life because I just live for the holidays. That being said, my birthday is at the end of November so I try really hard not to get excited about Christmas until after that - or else I would be listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Christmas albums in July... which has happened before... Anyways, last year I sent out a few home made Christmas cards to select people in my life, not because they are more special, but because I started making my cards so late that I didn't have time to make enough for everyone. So this year I have started early and you should too! Today's post focuses on the cards I created using Close to My Heart's Reason for the Season stamp set and the Yuletide Carol Paper Pack. The Yuletide Carol Paper Pack is filled with very traditional/classic Christmas themed papers. I absolutely loved working with it. My inspiration for these cards came from Jamie Llewellyn at Scrappin' in Harmony and Pamela O'Connor at Reflections of my Art and Soul - Thanks for the great inspiration ladies! I hope some of these cards can inspire you to get started on your own Holiday cards. Remember if you would like to purchase any of the products I used for these cards you can do so on my website. And don't forget to check out this month's promotional offers!! And here are some close ups of the cards:

This design was taken from the Annual Inspiration Book - I only changed the blue shimmer paper to silver and turned the wall hanging into a card. I love how it turned out. I used silver shimmer trim (Z1799)around the edge of the card, the Yuletide 
Carol Paper Pack (X7187B), glacier and kraft cardstock. 

Yuletide Carol paper

Yuletide Carol paper, gold shimmer trim

Yuletide Carol, gold shimmer trim

Thanks for stopping by!!- Kiera

Isn't Everything Wanderful!

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed World Card Making Day today, did you make some cards? I was going to but I ended up scrapbooking instead. When I get into the scraping groove its very hard for me to stop. I worked with Close to My Heart's Wanderful line today. I have mentioned in earlier posts how much I love the paper and embellishments from this kit and I can not stress to you how much I love them!! I used the Work Shop on the Go but I did not end up making the project set out in the guide book so I think I might buy another paper pack to keep working. I was scrapbooking my NYC pictures and I found they worked so wonderfully with the papers. I created 3 layouts using the WOTG, the Wanderful complements, the Artbooking Cartridge, plus black and gypsy inks. I took my inspiration from Dana Kessler, who comes up with just awesome layouts! (Check out her original designs here) And here are my versions, I apologize for the quality and glare of the photos - I really need to work on that!

If you are interested in purchasing any of these items please check them out on my website and I would be happy to explain how I made them. Thanks for stopping by!

- Kiera

October Promotions

Welcome to October! Fresh crisp air, county 

October SOTM - Home for the Holidays (S1410)

fairs, beautiful scenery and sweater weather! This is my very favourite season of the year. Since it is the beginning of the month, I want to share the exciting things that are happening with Close to My Heart in October. Of course we have our Stamp of the Month program - when you spend $50 on CTMH products you qualify for a special $5 stamp set that is only available for the month of October. The holidays are right around the corner and this month's stamp set is a wonderful holiday themed set that you can use to make Christmas cards and tags! Last year was the first year I decided to make my own cards to send out and I waited until late November and then scrambled to get some cards done. With this set being available in October for only $5 there is no excuse to procrastinate! One of the really cool things about this set is that it coordinates with the cutting files on our Art Philosophy cricut cartridge so it's very easy to make some quick holiday gift cards. Here are some projects created with this month's stamp set:

RIBBON REVELRY - Our second promotion for the month!
When you spend $55 on products you qualify for a free chevron ribbon (The colour is a surprise - kind of like Christmas!). The great thing about this promotion is that if you spend your $50 on products - you qualify for the stamp of the month ($5)- which then qualifies you to receive your a free ribbon!

Artfully Sent Cricut Cartridge Available! 
Our brand new cricut cartridge is packed full of cutting files designed to help you create amazing pop-up cards. If you are a card maker then this cartridge is geared towards you. I am not going to lie - this is one of the most expensive items available in our new catalog. I was very hesitant to buy a cartridge from Close to My Heart at first BUT I did buy one (Artbooking) and I fell in love! These cartridges have a lot more on them then the ones you buy at craft stores. They are specially designed for CTMH and coordinate with a number of our stamp sets. Plus the cartridge comes with 3 full size stamp sets to help you get started. I ended up buying another one (Art Philosophy) and love it as well. Check it out on my website!  Remember if this is something you would really like, consider being a hostess - You can receive a 50% off item with a qualifying party.

Halloween Products! 
Looking to get into the Halloween spirit?? Check out these great crafts and products!

 That's all for this month! Come back and see what crafts I come up with using this month's promotional products! Thanks for stopping by! 

- Kiera