Papercrafting Fun

Looking for some last minute decorating tips for your New Years Eve party?? - then this cute Bunting may just do the trick!!...simply grab your Mini Stapler and
Designer Creation Paper Bags - easy peasy!!

I have created bunting for so many different occasions but this is the easiest and quickest I have ever produced it... and I have to confess that the bunting in this photo will not be adorning any party! Instead it will form a portion of the classroom decorations for my daughter's Grade 5/6 class of 2016. If you follow my "creativecapers" then you know I love crafting with my youngest daughter and she loves creating fun and inviting learning areas for her students ( if you click here you will see her jungle theme & classroom from this year ). Rather than follow a theme this time around, she has decided to design a brightly coloured pre-teen space with lots of bunting hanging from the ceiling. The fabulous chevron and trendy prints in the Designer Creations Paper Bags certainly complimented the look she wanted.

To create the bunting the paper bags were  laminated, just so they could uphold a whole year of "wear and tear" then a dovetail/wedge was cut into the end with the opening. Next, they were attached along a piece of ribbon with the Mini Stapler - being just a 1/4" in size they are very discrete...giving it a nice professional finish.  I am a huge fan of this stapler for just that reason! It is amongst my Top 10 most used tools, you can find it here in my online shop, along with packs 2000 refills.

Be sure to stay tuned for some more "sneak peeks" into my daughter's classroom we have some serious playtime happening in the craft room at the moment and I look forward to sharing our projects with you in the coming weeks.

Wishing you all the best as you celebrate the New Year - thank you for joining me here in my little world of creativity and supporting my Close To My Heart business....see you in 2016  - Chris xx

 

Become a Crafty Chick

If you love paper crafting and sharing your creativity with others - you may like to consider becoming a Crafty Chick and joining the Close To My Heart Consultant family - Close To My Heart has enriched my crafting passion with Fun, Friendship and Awesome Rewards and I know it will do the same for you!!

Today, I am excited!!! to introduce to you an updated and super trendy brand new Consultant Kit... you are going to LOVE it!!  The kit is delivered directly to your door and inside you will find a gorgeous lagoon coloured box that says "Open Me"!  It is jammed packed with crafty yumminess -  it can be purchased for $130 AUD and includes the business and creative supplies you need to start your journey and is valued over $435 AUD - click here for a full list of the contents.

Are you a former Consultant? When you re-sign to be a Close To My Heart Consultant during the month of August -  using the same email address from your previous Consultant account...  you can choose from either a “business building essentials” version of the New Consultant Kit for $55 AUD or the regular New Consultant Kit (as pictured above for $130 AUD )  - simply by logging into your Close To My Heart account (using that same email) to qualify -  you are also given the opportunity to choose a new upline/mentor if you wish to!

Whether you want to be a self-funded hobbyist, consumer consultant, card club co-ordinator, digital scrapbook consultant, 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 be your own hostess.
• Preview and order new products before they are released.
• Access to an exclusive consultant website - containing artwork, creative insider kits, tutorials, business ideas and so much more.
• The opportunity to earn your $130 kit purchase back in your first 3 months.
• Free on-line training program 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 and/or Cuttlebug 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.

It is very EASY to JOIN in the FUN!

Start by clicking here  - then Let's Get Started ... fill out the form making 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

You are welcome at Close To My Heart! - Enjoy Chris xx

Happy Easter

Hopping by today to wish you a very Happy Easter and to share one of the paper pieced cards I have been making to accompany my Easter gifts.

Paper piecing is a great technique for using up all your small paper scraps and the large Easter Egg image in the Hopping By stamp set is perfect for doing just that!

I used 3 different paper packs to piece together my multi-coloured egg - Brushed, Blossom and Hopscotch and they all worked so beautifully together. I loved the stitching featured in the image design and decided to continue this throughout the card by adding faux stitching around the white mats using the black Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen. The card was then finished off with some scallop edging, created with the Scallop Border Punch , a touch of glitter using paper from the Teal Glitter Paper Pack and some coloured sequins...a mix from both the "new" Oceanside and Coral Reef packs.

The little vase of tulips in the background of my photo was inspired by this art work image from the new Seasonal Expressions #2 idea book/catalogue ( released yesterday!!)

 

 

I love up-cycling old jars and bottles and using the Glacier Extra Thick Twine to do this is just so so clever!!! I knew the minute I saw this idea I would see lots of twine creations coming out of my craft room. If you want to try this yourself ?? - don't forget Close To My Heart now have 4 colours of extra thick twine to choose from - Flaxen, Thistle, Pixie and of course Glacier - they are all available from my Online Shop.

 

 

Creating these little home-décor masterpieces is very easy, all you need to do is apply a thin layer of Liquid Glass to the surface of the jar/bottle and carefully wind the twine all the way around the outside until it is covered - don't you love how simple that is??!

 

I hope you have a lovely weekend and the Easter Bunny brings you something "eggs-tra" special

 

Friday Friend Feature #15

Today's post isn't actually a "Friend Feature" it is more a "Family Feature"!!... and while it doesn't showcase cards or scrapbook layouts it is still full of papercraft fun.

I subscribe to the theory that the "family who plays together - stays together" and over the past few weeks we have been doing lots of playing!... helping my youngest daughter prepare her class room and play based learning centre.

My daughter is a Primary School teacher, teaching Grade 1/2 (6-8yr olds). This year she has gone with a jungle theme for her classroom and the play based learning centre features a travel agency role play area, where the children will discover all things travel related - exploring other countries, building their own famous landmarks etc etc. As a family we have had a lot of fun assisting her create fun and colourful learning environments for her students.

Many of the objects we have made are a combination of recycled materials and Close To My Heart products.... my consultant discount has come in very handy! The jungle theme came together with twisted brown paper vines... along with 3D flowers and butterflies all cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection and the fabulous array of CTMH Cardstock Colours.

Everything was adhered together with Bonding Memories Glue - an all-purpose glue stick with large foam applicator... it is perfect for safely bonding photographs, artwork, and so much more. It creates both permanent and temporary bonds and is acid free. Perfect for children to use too!

Another favourite Close To My Heart adhesive choice of mine is Liquid Glass - my husband used it when he made the cute little mail box and it was ideal for adhering the bottle tops and buttons to the cardboard cameras and for the straps on my paper suitcases. Close To My Heart is certainly a "one stop tool shop"...  everything we needed to create the classroom artefacts are included in the product range -  the Score Board, Deluxe Paper Trimmer, Corner Rounder, Mini Stapler and Micro-Tip Scissors - just to name a few!

My 80 year old Dad has also put his crafty skills to practise and re-purposed my daughter's childhood timber bed to create the lemonade stand that has become a Travel Agency - we certainly are a family who plays together and loves crafty playtime!

If you have family or school teacher friends who love crafty playtime then becoming a Close To My Heart consultant may be just what they need. There is nothing quite like having all your crafting materials/tools at your fingertips and at a discounted price!! I would like to offer readers of my blog the chance to go in the draw to win a $75 bundle of crafty goodness simply by referring a friend to join my consultant team. To find out more about becoming a Close To My Heart consultant click here or email me at lotfam@iinet.net.au

Have a great weekend - I hope it is full of crafty playtime!

Friday Friend Feature #2

Today is also the 2nd instalment of my Friday Friend Feature...each and every Friday I will be featuring art work created by my Crafty Friends using Close To My Heart products. This art work will be created by consultants in my team, paper craft designer friends and others from my circle of scrapping and card making buddies - all have amazing talents and a love for all that is crafty...I know they will inspire you to use these wonderful products in ways you never would have imagined.

Today's crafty goodness comes from another consultant in my team who also happens to be my youngest daughter Larissa - she just loves making pretty handmade things!! Larissa is currently doing some volunteer work at a small rural Primary School and assisting and helping prepare items for their school fete. The date of this year's fete happens to fall on Halloween and this is the theme they will focus on. Larissa has been busy working with her students creating goodies to sell at their stalls and she has found Close To My Heart's Cut Above Treat Bag Kits perfect for this.

The Kits contain:
10 – 5" × 3½" × 1³/₈" Printed Treat Bags (5 each of 2 designs)
5 – 4" × 6" Sheets of ¾" Stickers
12 – 1½" White Daisy Circles
12 – 3-D Foam Squares
10 – 5" × 3¼" Cellophane Bags
and being pre-cut, ready to assemble make them ideal for the classroom and children alike. They can then be customised with ink, co-ordinating stamp sets and your choice of embellishments. The Treat Bags Larissa's class have made, feature an apt and very cute stamp set called Trick and Treat Sweets, it includes 9 images  - 6 are little characters such as this witch and cat. These treat bags were embellished with Black Shimmer Trim and White Enamel Stars.

The little pencil gift packs have also been a hit with the children. They have enjoyed playing with ink & stamps but also taking a sense of pride in their handiwork. These packs make great party favours too, simply combine with the Perfect Fit - Birthday stamp set to complete the theme. The Annual Inspirations Idea Book/Catalogue has another cute pencil topper idea on page 41 - don't forget this Idea Book is jammed packed with inspiring ideas...you can view it here or if you prefer a hard copy? I am happy to send one out to you -  email me at lotfam@iinet.net.au

 

Here is video from Close To My Heart that gives you a preview of some other great Cut Above Kits...

Remember that September is also National Stamping Month, and when you spend $30 on any current retail-priced stamps during the month of September, you qualify to receive the exclusive C-sized stamp set #30 Years of Happy for FREE! Larissa has used some of the images to create more pencil pack gifts which she will use as Student Rewards - tokens of encouragement and merit awards.... if you too are a school teacher then this a set for you!

I hope you have enjoyed today's Friend Feature, the Cut Above Kits and Larissa's handiwork - I'd love you to leave a message for Larissa in the comments section below and don't forget to check back in next Friday I have some lovely cards to share with you that were made by one of my Paper Craft Designer Friends.

Have a great weekend of Crafty Play!
 

A Gift of Bling & Beauty

I have just returned from the inaugural Close To My Heart Leadership Conference here in Australia and felt very blessed and honoured to be asked to present some creative sessions. I LOVE being a part of this amazing company which truly has a caring heart...is nurturing, encouraging and appreciative of it's crafting community.

This is one of the projects I shared at the conference, a pocket card and insert created to showcase the awesome Base & Bling range of wearable craft. I am very addicted to making these "one of kind boutique style pieces of jewellery" and they make a perfect gift for family and friends.

This card was so much FUN to make and Close To My Heart has everything you could possibly want to make your "Projects Sparkle" - Shimmer Trim, Sequins, Trinkets & Charms, Sparkles & Gems and so much more...the magic of this project comes from all the added "bling and beauty" - and I am going to enjoy giving it to my Mum for Mother's Day - I know she is going to LOVE it!

The little girls in your life will also enjoy receiving this unique hand made gift or even making it for their friends - it is very cute when pieced together with the Lollydoodle Assortment.

It was a little difficult to photograph this 3D project to really show you how the jewellery insert fits inside the card. Therefore, I thought you might like to see the 2 pieces separated - the insert actually fits snuggly and sits right at the bottom edge of the card pocket - the only piece visible then is the top of the chain. I would love to share how to make this card with you - contact me to find out my class schedule and I am also happy to visit with your crafting group and share this great gift idea with them too.

 

Stay tuned over the coming days and weeks and I will showcase some more of the projects I created and shared at the Leadership Conference.