Some Kinda Wonderful

Happy March! and welcome to my workshop projects this month! We are gearing up for them to be Some Kinda Wonderful... full of bold, bright and beautiful, not to mention all that makes you happy.

Today I am sharing a preview of some of the layouts my workshop attendees have already created with this fun range of Close To My Heart products. We have celebrated friendship and have prepared pages in readiness for our Easter photos and there is still more fun to be had!

Don't you just love the cute cat and fox stickers from the Some Kinda Wonderful Complements Pack - they just look super sweet together! I extended the papers from the Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Pack with the Whimsy Fundamental Paper Pack... the very best feature of the Close To My Heart paper range is the way they all compliment each other and this collection is no exception!

Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Pack - X7217B  and Complements Pack - X7217C

 

 I followed the same sketch format for this Easter Layout and for this layout I extended the embellishments from the Some Kinda Wonderful Complements Pack with assorted Cricut cut shapes, the Title can be found on the Flower Market Cartridge. I then combined them with lovely Butterfly images stamped and cut from the Dreamin’ Big Cardmaking Thin Cuts Bundle. I am a huge fan of Thin Cuts, they are another fast and easy way to cut all kinds of shapes to embellish your crafting projects and this month you will find a huge variety of them available to purchase for 25% off retail price in my Online Shop.

I love meeting new crafting friends and you are very welcome to attend my workshop events - the next one is Saturday 18th March and we will be having more Some Kinda Wonderful fun.... you will find all the registration details on my Facebook Page...simply click here.

Happy Crafting - see you soon!
Chris xx

 

February Stamp of the Month - Easter Bunny

Oh My Goodness - it is day 8 of February already!! This year has certainly got off to a flying start, the kids are back at school, Summer sports are winding down but the days are still very warm! If you are finding yourself with a little free time or need to escape the heat - retreat to your craft room and the air conditioning?... then I have the cutest stamp set for you to ink up.

Take a peek at this month's Stamp of the Month - a 12 piece set that will ensure you have some cute cards ready to send out at Easter time... and with a quick change of sentiment, a card for just about every occasion.

 

 

I used two of the sweet little bunny images to create this card. I coloured them with Watercolour Pencils and then paper pieced their clothing with papers from the Whimsy Fundamental and the Sugar Rush Paper Packs. The sentiment was stamped on a "word bubble" shape, cut from the Cricut Artbooking Collection. It is a little difficult to see in this photo but I stamped both the bunnies and sentiment in Cocoa Exclusive Ink™. I am finding this my "go to" colour when I want to soften the look of my cards rather than stamp in black ink.

 



I also created these 2 cards using this month's Stamp of the Month. I have developed a bit of an addiction to making "scenic cards" with my latest craze being "picket fences". Using the woodgrain print from the Rustic Home Fundamentals I cut small 1/2" strips, then roughly cut a picket shape into the top edge. Next I distressed the edges with a sponge & Cocoa Exclusive Ink™ and lined the pieces up across my base piece. The base was then trimmed with some grass shapes, again cut from the Cricut Artbooking Collection. The "There's Nobunny Like You" card came together really easily with lots of my scraps from my craft desk. Papers from the Sugar Rush and Some Kinda Wonderful Paper Packs along with stickers and die-cuts from the Hello Lovely and Springtime Complement Packs.

The "Sending Smiles" card came together in much the same way...but rather than have my bunny strolling in the grass, I decided to have her popping out to say "hello" from a flower pot...an idea that was inspired by an adorable card created by CTMH Consultant - Corinna Murphy. To further embellish the card I used a combination of flower, leaf and cloud shapes from the Close To My Heart Cricut Collections... cut in a variety of my favourite coloured cardstock - Raspberry, Lemon, Willow, SweetLeaf and Glacier.

 

February is also the perfect time for you to join the Close To My Heart family as a Consultant... especially if you love paper crafting, sharing your creativity with others and enjoy Fun, Friendship and Awesome Rewards.

 

New Consultants who join Close To My Heart in February will get the February (Easter Bunny), March, and April Stamp of the Month sets for FREE! That’s an additional $81 in retail value added to the already incredible value of the New Consultant Kit! and if you are a former Close To My Heart Consultant?? there is special offer just for you.... a lower-priced, no-kit enrolment option that will allow you to sign up and join my team for just $75! You will still receive $75 in Select Product Credit to spend on products of your choice, meaning...you basically get to sign up for free! PLUS you will receive the February, March, and April Stamp of the Month sets for FREE!

 

If you are interested in joining me and the other rewards Close To My Heart have to offer - simply click here to find out more.

 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my bunny cards and I look forward to sharing more of my Close To My Heart journey with you.

Chris xx

Sign Me Up!

If you love paper crafting and sharing your creativity with others - you may like to consider becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant - and enrich your crafting passion with lots of Fun, Friendship and Awesome Rewards... February is the perfect time for you to join the Close To My Heart family and receive some lovely bonus gifts.

New Consultants who join Close To My Heart in February will get the February, March, and April Stamp of the Month sets for FREE! That’s an additional $81 in retail value added to the already incredible value of the New Consultant Kit! 

   
If you are former Close To My Heart Consultant?? there is special offer just for you.... a lower-priced, no-kit enrolment option that will allow you to sign up and join my team for just $75! You will still receive $75 in Select Product Credit to spend on products of your choice, meaning...you basically get to sign up for free! PLUS you will receive the February, March, and April Stamp of the Month sets for FREE!
 

Whether you want to be a self-funded hobbyist, consumer consultant, club co-ordinator, or even a career builder - there is a place for you on my team of Crafty Chicks!

Benefits of Being a Consultant:

• 22% discount on all CTMH products.
• Potential to earn FREE products with every order
• You can even be your own hostess.
• Preview and order new products before they are released.
• Access to an exclusive consultant website - containing artwork, creative insider projects, tutorials, business ideas and more.
• The opportunity to earn fun and exclusive rewards in your first 3 months...including an additional $230 in FREE products
• Free on-line training programs with creative, personal and business classes.
• Opportunity to attend corporate sponsored events and earn an all expenses paid holiday (every year!)
• Free online shop/website - with NO credit card fees
• An opportunity to purchase a Cricut® Explore Machine at a discount price

Benefits of Joining My Team:

• Mentoring that includes product marketing, blog set-up etc
• Access to an exclusive facebook group for team members only.
• Card/Project Kits & Handouts – free & exclusive to my team members.
• Card Swaps, Awards & Incentives throughout the year designed for team members only.
• To be a part of “Chris's Crafty Chicks” an Australian wide team of creative and inspiring artists.
• Enjoy team workshops/events where you receive hands on training, fun creative projects and make life long friends

• …click on the video below to discover more about me!

It is very EASY to JOIN in the FUN!

Start by clicking here  - then Let's Get Started ... fill out the information - make sure your upline is listed as Chris Lothian.

That's it!! You should hear back within the day and your kit will be shipped to your doorstep.

Do you have questions?  E-mail me for more information - lotfam@iinet.net.au

I look forward to sharing the CTMH Journey with you.

Chris xx

 

Onwards and Upwards

We haven't reached the end of January just yet, so I think it's still ok to say "Welcome to 2017" ? I am looking forward to a much better year ahead than the last...it wasn't that I had an annus horribilis - there was some good, mixed with the bad but it certainly was a tough one. There were times I felt very overwhelmed and just couldn't keep up with everything I wanted... crafting was still my salvation but my blogging fell to the wayside and I missed it! I am hoping this year to get back on track and while I can't promise a new post every week, I can promise a lot more regularity!

I have spent most of my hot summer days in my happy room creating with all the gorgeous new papers, stamps and embellishments from Close To My Heart's new Seasonal Expressions Idea Book Catalogue.

It is jammed packed with lots of pretty and cute yumminess... and I have already created some fun cards for my workshop events and for those of you who love to work with pre-cut scrapbook kits I have a new range available now - simply click here to find out more.

Here is a little preview -

This layout features the super pretty Hello Lovely Paper Pack combined with the  Hello Lovely Complements and Sugar Rush Complements

 

 

 

All these products and more are available to order on my website/online shop

 

http://chrislothian.closetomyheart.com.au

I look forward to sharing lots of creative playtime and paper crafting fun with you this year, using the fabulous Close To My Heart product collection!

Happy Crafting!

Chris xx

 

Jeepers Creepers - I'm Back!

Yes! - I have been "missing in action" for 4 months and while it may seem that I have abandoned my crafting, that is certainly not the case!  Life can throw you some curve balls, when you least expect it and mine came via a phone call back in May from our local hospital, my Dad arriving there by ambulance. He had suffered a major stroke and despite having surgery to retrieve the blood clot from his brain and lots of fighting on his behalf, he didn't fully recover. It is so sad to see an active man that was mowing lawns and building children's toys in his shed one day, to not being able to speak, eat and walk the next. He has now been admitted to a Nursing Home and life for my family has certainly changed, we hold on tight to our memories and take one day at a time....and although I haven't spent as much time in my craft room as I would like, I have managed some time out... to simply play and enjoy all the new goodies that Close To My Heart has released over the past few months in their Annual Inspirations and Holiday Expressions catalogue/idea books.

I have also been busy designing new workshop kits for those of you who like to play along with me and scrapbook at home. The first of these I have to share uses the new Jeepers Creepers Paper Pack and Complement Pack which includes fun stickers and black glitter die-cut letters and shapes....see the preview/s below or click here to view the full layouts and to find the purchasing options available to you.

and while you may think the papers are very much Halloween based...they really are so much more....this project contains layouts and cards to celebrate all that is "sweet" in your life, create fun birthday messages or simply showcase your children's monstrous activities.

 

The layouts have been designed in a classic format with minimal resizing and cropping of photos needed, they include journalling boxes and also allow you the opportunity to further embellish and create your own style.

 

I had so much fun creating this project... and I hope you enjoy it just as much.

 

 

 

 

New Product Release Product Profile #1

The 1st of May saw the release of a brand new Seasonal Expressions Catalogue/Idea Book from Close To My Heart. It is jammed packed with so many exciting new products I thought it would be fun to share here, on my blog, a series of product profile feature articles!

Where to start is the tricky part! as there is so much crafty goodness to share! However, this past weekend I shared a Creative Session at the CTMH Team Builders Leaders Conference, that showcased alternative uses for Thin Cut dies and while some of this presentation was streamed live on Periscope the art work was a little difficult to see.

While Thin Cuts were primarily designed to co-ordinate with our lovely stamp sets, their uses are only limited by your imagination. I use them a lot as stand-alone die cuts ( that is without any stamping added at all ) - they make great decorative borders and embellishments for your scrapbook pages.

These are some of the new Ornate Blossom Thin Cuts...

... and these are some layouts that use partial elements of the shapes to create decorative borders. The first layout showcases all the exotic rose gold foil and kraft cardstock embellishments in the new Florence Complement Pack along with the Florence Papers. The Thin Cut shape can be seen peeking out under the Thailand Culture subtitle... in the form of an irregular shaped scallop edge.

This second layout uses the same Ornate Blossom Thin Cut set and features some of the other papers in the Florence Paper range and stickers from the Florence Complements Pack, combined with some Fundamental Stickers - and again some of the partial die-cut shape have been used to form a scallop border.

Another fun Thin Cut set is the Carnival Fun set and this is where the ice-cream shapes can reinvent themselves as something else! In these layouts the triangle shape of the ice-cream cone was used to create a banner embellishment and the actual circular shape of the ice-cream top became another scallop border pattern.

 This layout features both these ideas and papers from the new Florence range and the Magical Paper Pack - they compliment each other beautifully.

This layout features the new Calypso Papers and Calypso Complements combined with the very pretty Kaleidoscope Papers.  
However, this time the Carnival Fun Stamp Set and Thin Cuts were combined to created a banner, stamped in Cotton Candy Ink.

 I hope you enjoyed this little insight into what can be created with Thin Cuts? You can find the Thin Cut die sets in my Online store and if you would like to attend a workshop to discover more creative inspiration with these sets you are welcome to join me my registering through this this link - simply click here.



Stay tuned for new Product Profile #2 coming soon!

Sweet Sunshine Birdies

The March Stamp of the Month - Sunshine Birdies has been so much fun to create with! I have been churning out a huge array of different card styles this month.  After the 31st March, it will no longer be available to purchase, so I am very glad it has already been added it to my collection.

The little birdies are super sweet and I decided that they would be the perfect image to use to make Thank You cards. I love having a stash of pre-made thank you cards ready to go...it is always nice to let someone know how much you appreciated them.

The cards were created using a combination of papers from the Penelope and Kaleidoscope Paper Packs and embellished with Purple Enamel Hearts and silver glitter  Playful Puffies. The sentiment was stamped in black ink and comes from the Packages, Boxes and Tags Stamp Set. The little birdies ( and sun image ) were stamped in Black Memento Ink and coloured with Watercolour Pencils and shaded with a Blending Pen. In order to create a multiple of cards in one sitting I used a simple design - the sketch I have shared with you below.

Remember each month you can purchase a new release D-size stamp set (such as Sunshine Birdies) - it is available for one month only! and can be yours for $7.50 when you place an order of $75 or more in Close To My Heart products in my online shop - for more information simply click here