A Chocolate Affair

....is the name of this month's "Stamp of the Month" from Close To My Heart. Today I have had the sweetest time creating all sorts of goodies with it....I feel like I have had a real chocolate affair LOL!! It is the perfect stamp set for gift making because..... who doesn't like receiving chocolate gifts - right?!!

A jar full of chocolate treats looks very yummy and creating a simple tag to tie around the top really dresses it up and makes it the ideal gift giving solution for any occasion - Birthdays, Mother/ Father's Day or just a gesture of friendship. A great idea for School and Church fetes too!

Bag toppers are also fun and simple to make - the scallop tag on this little goody bag was made using the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection and I added a single white chocolate raspberry into the cellophane bag of fruit and nut mix... just to add a little more fun & humour to the project.

My playtime continued with this little gift card that I made for a friend who is going through a tough time at the moment. My plan is to attach it to a box of her favourite chocolates in the hope that it adds a smile to her day.

...and lastly before I had to leave my craft room for the day, I "whipped" up this card. I used one of my new favourite tools the Scallop Border Punch to trim the strip of images and added a little piece of bunting underneath using the banner/flag stamps from the Chantilly Cardmaking Workshop set - C1554

When you place an order of $75 or more during August, you will receive the Close To My Heart - Stamp of the Month set -"A Chocolate Affair " - S1308A for FREE!
This stamp set has... a retail value of $24 - it includes 16 images and sentiments that will add a "yummy" look to scrapbook layouts, cards and more - visit my online store before August 31st and give yourself a treat....OR join my team in the next 7 days and I will be sure to add this delightful set to your new Consultant Kit....contact me for all the details....Enjoy!

P.S. - I just noticed on my product listing that I incorrectly added the name of the stamp set as "My Chocolate Affair" instead of "A Chocolate Affair" - but in truth any chocolate in this house belongs to ME!! :)

The DownUnder Virtual Crop

The inaugural CTMH Down Under Virtual Crop event commenced this evening. I'm a huge fan of the Virtual Crop concept - you can create at any time of the day and in any place - just you and your computer. However, you are not alone as you will be playing along with and being inspired by a group of like minded papercraft enthusiasts - and in this group we have over 2000 participants -  great FUN!

 

I have shared 2 challenges in this virtual crop event and if you would like to join in too be sure to check us out here. My scrapbook layout was inspired by the first 2 foundational patterns ( Title Topper & Bottom Border ) in  Jeanette Lynton’s Reflections Scrapbook Program. This is a “How-To Publication” available from Close To My Heart it does come in the  New Consultant Kit but can also be purchased from my online shop (Order No.9037). I combined these foundational ideas along with my own favourite sketch.

...and created this Heritage layout - loved distressing the edges of the decorative paper with a little Desert Sand Ink it gave the layout a real vintage look...

 

 

...and for those of you who love making home-made gifts, you can’t go past Close To My Heart’s   My Creations Kraft Container – (Order No. Z1833) – this chipboard cylinder can be decorated with a variety of goodies – it is even stampable... a touch of random stamping over the surface is the perfect technique to use or you might want to embellish it with papers, ribbon, bakers twine and more. This month with the purchase of $75 or more of Close To My Heart products you can receive the Stamp of the Month "A Chocolate Affair" for free and it is the ideal stamp set to use with this Kraft Container – use the images and sentiments to decorate your container – fill with chocolates, or hot chocolate sachets and you have your own unique one of a kind gift for any occasion. If you are attending any of the upcoming Create with Chris idea events over the next few months I will be demonstrating all the techniques used to create the stamped embellishment on this container and we will be making a cute little gift card that co-ordinates with this design - would love to see you there :)

Creative Kickoff Creations

Oh WOW!! WOW WOW! - I have just arrived home from the most amazing weekend of fun, friendship and paper craft play that you will ever find in one place -  Close To My Heart's Australasian Creative Kickoff event. There were 550 Consultants in the Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in Melbourne learning all about the yummy goodness this wonderful company has released for their friends DownUnder... and even more special was the fact that I got to play a small part in this fabulous event. With a little over one weeks notice I was very honoured to be asked to share my tips and tricks on some basic stamping techniques along with some inspiring ideas using products from the Product Launch Guide. I thought I would share some of these projects here for you, with the hope that they may inspire you to give this product range a whirl and see for yourself how wonderful these gorgeous products actually are.

This card was so much fun to create I used the little flower motif image from the Family Love set and produced a variegated look by first inking up the image with Buttercup Ink and then "rock & rolling" it into my  Cotton Candy Ink Pad it then created the wonderful tie-dye effect.

 

The card above uses the same "rock and roll" technique but this time I only rolled the Cotton Candy Ink on the outer tip of the stamp image...love the pink edges...... and LOL! Here I am on stage - I love sharing but I'm not sure of the whole centre of attention thing you get when standing in front of an audience - so humbled by the reaction and the standing ovation from my peers - they certainly showed their appreciation and made me feel very special - there are not too many "jobs" that can boast that! - the joys of being a Close To My Heart Consultant.

This was another fun card to make, again the "rock & rolling" of the little floral stamp randomly stamped over some White Daisy Cardstock - but the real magic happened when I turned my larger flower image over and stamped the base of it in Lagoon Ink on Lagoon Cardstock - it produced a lovely deeper Lagoon colour with a slightly distressed look....I then turned the image back to the front and stamped again with the Black Ink and cut around the shape to produce the flowers....this technique is called "base & shade".....and here I am feeling the love from Close To My Heart's Vice Presidents - Kristine Widtfeldt and Monica Wihongi. These two ladies are extraordinary and enthusiastic ambassadors for the company - they ooze so much love and passion for what they do.

 

This is another little card using the "base & shade" technique and of course it is Pink! and for the card directly below it, I created my own unique, one of a kind paper by stamping part of the Bird/Flourish image from the "Fabulous You" set onto some White Daisy Cardstock with Cotton Candy Ink - it has light and dark shades of the image because I used the 2nd Generation technique...first I inked up my image and stamped onto the paper and then to produce the lighter colour I stamped the image again without re-inking....2nd generation ink!! - looks cool doesn't it?? - it is almost a 2 for 1 offer :)

 



This little gift card also uses the 2nd Generation stamping technique in the border trim and I used a little ink to distress the edges of my paper flowers too! One of my most favourite things to create at the moment, is paper flowers on my cricut machine. They are the perfect embellishment for so many projects - if you want make your own paper flowers check out the Art Philosophy cartridge in my online store. - you won't regret it!! and the 3 little gift boxes below were all created using the Artiste Cricut Collection - which happens to be my absolute favourite... and I really believe it is a "must have"  item for any crafter....imagine your friend's delight when you present your gifts to them in these sweet little boxes... that you have made and decorated all by yourself - truly one of a kind masterpieces!

 

The pink spotted trim on the little box/purse above was created using the punctuation/full stop from the Urban Alphabet set - Hollyhock Ink on Hollyhock Cardstock ...it creates a fantastic 2 tone effect....

I hope you have enjoyed this extensive "show and tell" blog post - I certainly have lots more I could show you, but this is a small selection of some of my favourite pieces from my presentation. However, please contact me if you would like to know more or would like to purchase some of the goodies shown. Don't forget you can send me a message here or at facebook or even shop at any time of the day or night at my Online Shop ...Cheers!

Papercraft Playtime

I am now one month into my new Close To My Heart business and already it has been an exciting journey - meeting new crafting friends and having lots of fun and innovative products to play with. Already a firm favourite of my playtime is making lovely paper craft gift boxes with the exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Collections - there are 3 in total - Art Philosophy, Artiste and the newly released Artbooking. They feature hundreds and hundreds of very versatile shapes and fonts you'll use every day, in your scrapbooking and other projects - many of which coordinate with dozens of the My Acrylix® stamps, these collections truly are a must-have item for every crafter! - check them out here!

Along with the products listed along side the photos, I also used the new Scallop Border Punch - Z1851 and Baker's Twine Paradise Assortment - Z1702 - in these projects. I've been giving these 2 products a real workout in my card creations too - stay tuned for an upcoming blog post featuring the said cards!

These little creations I have given you a peek of today were made using the contents of my Consultant Kit - what amazing value this kit is... and perfect for anyone who wants to start a home based business like mine or even as a way of financing their own hobby - head on over to my website if you would like more information about becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant - I'd love to have you in my team - the more the merrier :) and for those joining my team in August I have some exclusive My Acrylix® stamps & ink sets to give away as an extra special treat...