Picture Your Life with Close to My Heart

Do you love Papercrafting! What to get paid to do it? Then now is the time to join  the Close To My Heart family. Between November 1 to December 15 and submit qualifying personal sales*, you’ll receive a stunning new product, the Picture My Life™ scrapbooking program— FREE (retail value $24.95)! Select from eight darling themes, from vacation to friendship to childhood— each featuring 122 double-sided cards plus 10 unique Memory Protectors™ to capture it all.  Picture it—then capture it

Consultants must submit minimum qualifying personal sales of $300 by March 31, 2014. If you reach the qualifying sales for this campaign before January 1, you will receive their free Picture My Life product after January 1.

For more information on becoming a consultant, please check my OBA http://stephaniehouck.ctmh.com/ctmh/what-we-do/be-a-consultant.aspx

Welcome Baby Card Made With a Little Bit of Everything

So tonight I set out to make a baby card. I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to look like, but I knew I wanted a Monkey on it. So using card stock, patterned paper, ribbon, a circuit cartridge and a little imagination here is the end result. Nothing fancy but I like it and I hope you do too. Below is a supply list and sizing for the pieces.




Measurements and brief instructions:

Monkey and Vine: Cut at 3" There are three
layers to the monkey. The base is black card stock, next layer is kraft paper and the top layer is brown cardstock. The edges of the top layer are inked brown.

Card: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4' when folded

Ribbon: 8" with a knot tied at the end and then edges cut off
Patterned Paper: 5 1/2" x 3"


Supplies (with link to where they can be purchased):

Colonial White Card Stock
BoBunny Hello Sunshine Collection
Create a Critter: Cricut Cartridge
Twilight Ribbon from CTMH: (no longer available)
Brown, Kraft, Black and Olive Cardstock
CTMH My Acrylix Stamp Set: Glamour Lower Case Alphabets D1522
CTMH Exclusive Ink Pads- Sunset, Olive, Crème Brulee and Twilight
My Acrylix Clear Block 1x 3 1/2"
 

Happy Paper Crafting!

Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide

Hello and welcome back to Adventures in Paper Crafting blog. I'm so glad you stopped by today! I wanted to share the awesome gift guide that CTMH has available from October 15-December 31st 2013.  The 2013 Holiday Gift guide is perfect for helping you add those special details and some extra flair to gift-giving, as well as preserving memories.

If you haven't gotten your hands on one of these yet, please let me know and I will be happy to send you one.
Happy Paper Crafting!

Autumn Poster Tiding Layout

It's October and officially Fall, my most favorite time of year. Whose with me? The September SOTM from CTMH, had a great stamp set that summed up all the things about Fall, that I love. So tonight I sat down to use it and below is the results of my effort. I hope you like it!

Supplies:

Hunting Paper Packet
Art Philsophy Cricut Cartidge and accompanying stamp set
Poster Tidings September SOTM from CTMH
CTMH Exclusive Inks Stamp Pads: Olive, Smokey Plum, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush, New England Ivy, Chocolate, Crème Brulee, Ruby and Barn Red
Durable Artisan Studs
Make It From the Heart Vol 1

Fall Wishing You Congrats Card

I was playing around with the new Huntington Paper packet from CTMH (Which is my fav!) and looking at the instructions for the Frosted Card WOTG form CTMH. and with a few changes here is what the results were! Leave a comment and let me know what you think?

 

Beginning with a 12z12 sheet of Slate Cardstock. Cut the cardstock to measure a 4 1/4x 5 1/2 card when folded. Open the card so it lays flat and using a scoring blade score the front side of the card every 1/2 inch till you reach the middle of the card. Flip the card over so that the scored marks are raised on the front. Then using a distressing sponge (such a Tim Holtz's) and slate ink in a swirling motion gently go over the front of the card. The ink will cover the raised areas making them look darker and like a gray wooden fence.  Also ink around the entire edge of card to give it a finished look.

Step 2. Using two pieces of B&T Duo papers from the Huntington Paper packet. Cut the piece of the left 3/4 x 5 1/4. Then cut the piece of the right 1/14 x 4 1/4. Using a pair of scissor cut the bottom to look like banners. Then using the distress sponge again ink the edges of the paper with Barn Red.

Step 3. Cut a 3x2 piece of Bard Red Card stock from the Hunting paper packet and a 2 3/4 x 1 3/4 lighter piece from the packet as well. Ink both pieces with Barn Red.

Step 4. Cut two leaves from the Art Philosphy Stamp set that comes with the Art Philosphy Cricut Cartidge. Then stamp your sentiment on the piece of Colonial White paper using Barn Red Ink. ( choose the Congrats stamp from the 4 My Friend Stamp set). Then adhere the banners to the base of the card. Do not over lap them. Then adhere the colonial white paper to barn red paper. Then adhere Artistian Studs to the colonial white paper as shown above. Next, using pop dots (or foam tape) on the back of barn red card stock adhere it to the front of the card. Then adhere the leaves with part of them underneath the sentiment.

 

Now you have a card that is perfect for a fall wedding or any other occasion you may be celebrating this fall!

Happy Paper crafting!  

 

 

Supplies: Those that are CTMH products I have linked to my OBA.

 

Slate Cardstock

Huntington Paper Packet

Barn Red Ink

Slate Ink

Art Philosphy w/ Stamp set

4 My Friend My Acrylix Stamp Set

Pattern from Frosted WOTG Card Kit

Durable Artisian Studs Z1816

Scoring Blade

Straight Edge Cutter

Scissor

Adhesive

Pop Dots or Foam Tape.

2x 3 1/2 Inch Acrylic Block



Sweeten the Deal

It's officially here! The new Autumn/Winter 2013 CTMH Idea book starts today and to kick of the new products is this awesome deal. Between August 1-31st, 2013 if you spend $50.00's in CTMH products (durning 1 transcation) you will receive the August SOTM for FREE!

To place an order or to check out the new products please visit my webpage stephaniehouck.ctmh.com

Happy Paper Crafting!

Surf's Up

So Friday night I got to attend the monthly Moonlight Scrapbooking night. It had been awhile since I was able to attend, but I always enjoy going for lots of fun, food and sometimes I actually get some scrapbooking done! So I thought I would share what I did this week and share the instructions with you all if you want to try it. :)

Always the most difficult of the process when scrapbooking is choosing the right pictures and paper. I had photographs of my son from a  recent vacation we took to the ocean. He was convinced he was surfing because he would stand sideways with his arms out as the waves came crashing in and washed over his feet. So with that in mind I decided on using the Surf's Up Paper Packet from CTMH and a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of Kraft Card Stock


Phase One...


I used the Teal and Blue paper from the packet and cut the zip strip off the top of the 12x12 sheet of paper. Reserving it for another project later. I then used a Lagoon Ink Pad and a Sponge and inked the edges of my paper with the ink. Next, using a small pair of straight edged scissors (which you can see in the picture)  I cut the Kraft Cardstock along the 8 1/2 inch side making a wave pattern as I went. I cut a total of 3 pieces and layered them making sure that the bottom was completed covered.
 (2 pieces are shown here). I then inked the edges of the Kraft Cardstock with Desert Sand Ink. I also destressed the Kraft Cardstock with the Desert Sand Ink and  a Destressed background stamp set that resembled mesh like you would seen on a screen door. That gave the sand a wet look to it.


 Phase 2...

So after working on the sand, taking a break to get a snack and talk some more..., I went on to the next phase. I knew that I wanted the sand on the bottom and the background paper to look like water, but I wasn't sure how I wanted the pics to look...So while talking with a friend we looked through the CTMH Make it from the Heart Vol 2. Book and found a layout using three pics on the side and you journal in the middle. BINGO! There was my layout. But instead of journaling I used a pictures in the middle.  The middle pictures is 3 1/2 by 5 and I made 1/2 inch boarder around it with the thatch looking piece of paper from the Surf's Up Paper packet. I then attached a 1 inch strip of sun swirl paper to each edge of the thatch paper and made small straight cuts and then bent some up with my hands to make it look like a beach towel.  I used the same sun swirl piece of paper and cut a 5 x4 rectangle which I  placed behind the middle picture on the right hand side. The three pics on the right are approx. 3 1/2 inch squares except for the middle one it's a little bit taller. The small strip that runs through the middle of the page is one of the zip strips that I cut off the top of the paper.  I then glued everything down on the page and called it a night. But I wasn't done yet...

Phase 3...(this will be posted later, because I am waiting on a stamp set that has surf boards and other tropical things to add to the layout)


However, before I end this blog post for tonight I wanted to share another fun thing you can do with your layouts. This is the same layout framed as a keepsake for a wedding gift. Happy Paper-Crafting!

 

Supply List for both Layout and Framed Layout


Surf's Up Paper Packet ($9.95) CTMH
Kraft Card Stock
White Cardstock
Lagoon Stamp Pad ($5.25) CTMH
Desert Sand Stamp Pad ($5.25) CTMH
Destressed Background Stamp Set ($17.95) CTMH
Sponge
Pink Flowers
12x12 White Photo Frame
Adhesive

Try It Tuesday 6/24/13

This week's Try it Tuesday feature is the Just a Number Stamp set. This set is great for creating Birthday Cards because the set has both the inside and the outside greeting for the cards! If you order it today you'll receive a free THANK YOU stamp just for ordering. Happy Paper Crafting!

Try it Tuesday 6/4/13

It's June and what does that mean? It's time for weddings! and CTMH has this awesome stamp set that you can use year round for Happy Couples! So I am featuring it today for Try it Tuesdays! Order this stamp set by 9pm tonight (6/4/13) and receive a special savings of  22% off the retail price. Making it $14.00's. Must contact me to receive the sale price. Happy Paper Crafting!

New Stamp Sets Are Here!

Celebrate military service and promote patriotism with our new patriotic stamp sets—available only from June 1 to July 31, 2013. Three dollars from each B-size My Acrylix® Courage stamp set and $5 from each D-size My Acrylix® Home of the Brave stamp set will be donated to the USO, the leading, most recognized military-support and services organization in the country. Show your support with your own patriotic stamp set!

 

To order these stamps sets visit

http://stephaniehouck.ctmh.com/Retail/Products.aspx?CatalogID=1834

Pinwheels

Greetings! I wanted to share this fun springy layout that I made following the example for the May Stamp of the Month (Pinwheel) from CTMH.  I am planning on getting a 12x12 frame from our local craft store and hanging in my living room. If you are interested in making this layout below are the supplies that I used to create it. Happy Paper Crafting!

Supplies: All supplies are from Close To My Heart unless otherwise stated.

Pinwheel (May Stamp of the Month) $17.95 or $5.00 with a $50.00 purchase
Chantilly Paper Packet  $9.95
Artiste Cricut Cartridge  $99.00
Exclusive Stamp Pads (Black, Desert Sand, Blush, Pear, Lagoon and Crème Brule) ($5.25 each)
Make it from the Heart Vol. 1 ($7.95) Pattern 18
Pink Glitter Gems ($3.95)
WORLD (was created using a pre-loaded cartridge on the Cricut Expression2

Try it Tuesday

It's Tuesday! Which means it's time for the weekly Try It Tuesday. Since May and June are big months for graduations I am featuring the CTMH's Graduation Stamp. I recently helped a friend create graduation announcements for a fraction of the cost using this stamp. It's also great for graduation cards, gift tags or layouts and the best thing about it is you can use it year after year  You can purchase it through by contacting me or through my website and it's only $6.95!

 

 

 

 

Pajama Party Online Workshop

Big Pictures Classes is offering a FREE workshop online this month and one of the projects they will be making uses CTMH Products! The workshop will take place on May 30th and you can do it from the comfort of your home in your PJ's! To sign up for the workshop simply follow the link and registe. The supply list can also be found there.  If you need to order supplies for the workshop I have set up an EZ Invite on my webpage.  The workshop is titled Pajama Party Online Workshop.   Anyone who places an order of $50.00 or more will recieve a free stamp pad of their choice! http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/pajamaparty/project.php.

 

Supply List:

Supplies can be order at stephaniehouck.ctmh.com

My Acrylix® Frame Flair (D1546)

My Acrylix® Happy Thoughts (C1536)

2" x 3 1/2" My Acrylix® block (Y1009)

4" x 5" My Acrylix® block (Y1012)

My Acrylix® spritz cleaner (1778)

My Acrylix® stamp scrubber (Z1782)

Cricut® Art Philosophy collection (Z1686)

Whisper Exclusive Inks® pad (Z2172)

Lagoon Exclusive Inks® pad (Z2195)

micro-tip scissors (Z534)

corner rounder (Z578)

paper trimmer

My Creations® kraft container (Z1833)

one sheet of 12" x 12" Crème Brulee cardstock (comes with 24 sheets, X5754)

one sheet of 12" x 12" Lagoon cardstock (comes with 24 sheets, X5762)

one sheet of 12" x 12" White Daisy cardstock (comes with 24 sheets, 1385)

one sheet of 12" x 12" Whisper cardstock (comes with 24 sheets, X5929)

one sheet Pink B&T Duos® paper from Chantilly paper packet (comes with 6 sheets, X7163B)

two yards Grey Wool baker's twine from neutral assortment (comes with ten yards, Z1701)

three butterflies from Color-Ready Trinkets wooden shapes (comes with 57 shapes, Z1844)

three grey Sparkles from Sparkles black & grey assortment (comes with 108, Z1754)

3-D foam tape

Quick Card made from Scraps

What do you do with your scrap pieces of paper? You know those pieces that are to big to throw away, but to small to put on your scrapbook page? I took my scraps from a the Chantilly Paper pack that I had and made this card. Below you'll find the supplies that I used to create it. Happy Paper-crafting!

Supplies: All supplies used are Close To My Heart Products each items is linked to where you can purchase the items if you are interested.

Chantilly Paper Pack  (Card Base and Banners)
For Always Card Workshop on the Go Stamp Set (Small Heart Stamped with Ruby Ink on White Card Stock)
Girls Rock (Love Stamped with Ruby Ink on Butter Cream Card stock)
Ruby Excluvsive Ink Stamp Pad
Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge (Decorative 1 inch Square)

Weekend of Crafting Fun!

This past weekend lots of paper crafting took place with a  fellow CTMH consultant. From 1pm-midnight we worked on three different projects, Workshop on the Go, Props for a photo shoot and Invitation that can be used for a crop. What a great weekend. below is what was the results... (Links to the products used have been added if you are interested in purchasing them)

For Always Workshop on the Go: CTMH (G1060)

One of the Props made for a Photographer

Supplies:

Black Card Stock, Bamboo Skewer. For Ever Young Cricut Cartridge. Cut two of the same shape and then adhere with scoring tape around the skewer. Add Bling.




Crop Invites:

Supplies and Instructions:

Claire Paper Pack 
Chantilly Paper Pack
Scissors Stamp
Ribbon
Adhesive
Hole Punch

Take 12x12 cardstock from paper packs and cut it down to 8 1/2 x 11 then turn the paper horizontal and cut at 5 1/2.  Turning the paper verticle score from the right side at 2 1/4 and from the left side at 2 1/4. Either stamp your information for the gathering on the inside of the card or print it from your printing (which is what we did). Then fold the flaps together and adhere pattern paper to the front. Stamp your scissor shape ot whatever color paper you would like and then cut out. Hole punch both sides of the flap and then pull ribbon through. Tie a bow and with a pop dot attach your scissors so they look like they are cutting the ribbon.


Have a great paper crafting week!

Scrapping Stamper April Sketch Challenge

This layout is for an April Sketch Challenge on the Scrapping Stamper's blog. Below the picture are the supplies I used to create the layout. Click the link above if you would like to participate in the challenge this month.

Supplies:
Moonlight Paper Pack-CTMH (Retired)
Happy Haunting Cricut Cartridge
So Greatful Stamp Set -CTMH ($9.95)
Chocolate Exclusive Ink Stamp Pad- CTMH ($5.25)
Enchantment Card Stock Packet-CTMH ($14.50)
Neon Green sheet of 8 1/2x 11 paper- Hallo's Paper Store Brunswick, Ohio
Adhesive

Try it Tuesday

Each week I focus on a product from CTMH to try and I post it on my Facebook page. I am going to try to do that here as well. This week I am focusing on the April Stamp of the Month. For those who may not be familiar with this item. Each month CTMH has one stamp set that is available only during that month. This month it is a set of 8 My Acrylix Stamps called "My Sunshine" It's a great stamp of getting you in the mood for warmer weather. with it's suns, flowers and hot air balloon. You can purchase this stamp set through my website for $17.95 or if you spend $50.00's in other products you can purchase the set for only $5.00's. Happy Paper crafting
!

Sign up in April!

Just a quick blog post for tonight. During the month of April CTMH is offering an amazing special if you sign up to be a consultant. If you love to scrapbook and/or make cards and want to get paid for it then  now is the time to sign up and join my team! If you sign up during the month of April you will recieve 4 stamps sets! Contact me or visit my website for more information... Stephanie Houck CTM OBA

Bonus Projects

So...I have been doing this CTMH thing for about 6 months now and I really do LOVE it. They have some great products. I know last week I blogged about the WOTG (Workshops on the Go), and how nice it is to have everything ready to just cut and put together. This week I want to add to that. After I had cut all kits, I had enough paper left over from the kit to do more! So not only did I get 15 cards from the kit, but I was able to make the 12x12 scrapbook page that you see pictured here and I still have a few pieces of paper left over that I could make some extra cards if I wanted. What a great deal it really was!

Supply list to create the 12x12 Scrapbook page

Chantilly Workshop on the Go (G1061)
Blush Exclusive Ink Pad (Z2106)
Pear Exclusive Inks Pad (Z2191)
Happy Thoughts My Acrylic Stamp Set (C1536)
Turquoise Self Adhesive Pearls
CTMH Clear Blocks 1x 3 1/2 (Y1002) 2x2 (Y1003) 3x3 (Y1006) and 2x 61/2 (Y1010)

Items can be purchased through my OBA at the following address http://stephaniehouck.ctmh.com
Also...this month if join the  Jump for Joy Hostess Rewards online gathering listed on the business page you could win to be the hostess for the month and receive free products!

*Hostess reward will only be granted if the total gathering reaches the $150.00 level.

I Love WOTG from CTMH!

As I am preparing for a Card Workshop this coming Friday, I realized just how much I love the Workshops on the Go (WOTG) from Close To My Heart (CTMH). They make scrapbooking and cardmaking so much fun and so easy. Whether you are heading out to a crop for the night, a beginner or an advanced papercrafter. These kits have it all! (I know it's starting to sound someone like a sales pitch, but I really do like them). Each kit comes with a guide that you can follow if you are new to paper crafting or if you are more advanced you can alter it as you. All the paper, ribbon and embellishments are right there just waiting for your to cut and create! (and here's a little secret...there is usually enough items left over in the kit to do other projects as well.) WHAT A GREAT BANG FOR THE BUCK! .

Creating an Altered Notebook

So....this was my first attempted at creating an altered notebook. I really shouldn't be that big of a deal, but I really wasn't sure why I would want to cover the front and back of a notebook with scrapbook paper? But, when the challenge arose to create a project for the girls in our church's Youth Group a fellow scrapper suggested the Altered Notebook. So, we gathered some paper and some embellishments to make examples and away we went. The youth girls had a ball! We took LOTS of different kinds of scrapbooking paper, embellishments, the circut and cardstock. We put everything in the middle of the table and handed them a composition notebook and showed our examples and they dug right it! Unlike me, they weren't shy about what to do and or where to start. It was a great time. Each of their notebooks were a reflection of themselves. Above is my notebook that I created using the design in the current CTMH catalog and their stamps.

Supplies
1 Composition Note book ( found at the dollar store)
CTMH Exclusive Inks: Twilight, Blush, Pear and Chocolate
CTMH Chantilly Paper Pack
CTMH Happy Thoughts Stamp set

It's Almost Valentine's Day!

Only 3 more days left to make/buy those valentine's, chocolate and flowers for our loved ones. This was the first year that I actually made a Valentine's Card instead of buying one...I had made cards for every other holiday, birthday, anniversary, but never for Valentine's day and I really have no reason why or why not. Soooo...this year i decided to make one. I had the January Stamp of the month from CTMH and an idea book and this is what I came up with...

Supply List:
Make It from Your Heart Vol 1 (9035)
Daisey White Cardstock(1385)
Hollyhock Cardstock (1246)
Smokey Plum Cardstock (1291)
Blush Exclusive Inks Marker Set ( z2106)
Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks Marker Set (z2253)
Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (z2111)
Happy Valentines January 2013 Stamp of the Month (S1301)

Valentine's Party

This past weekend we hosted a Valentine's Day Party for the kids on our family. They had lunch together, exchanged Valentine's, and made a craft together. We used the CTMH Whoo's Your Valentine Kit for their craft. It was super easy to put together and they got to fill their treat tube with M&M's what's not to love?

In this picture is the place setting that everyone had. The name in their cup was made with CTMH Perfect Fit Stamp set. D1527  and it as cut out with the CTMH Art Philosphy Cartridge. Although the Whoo's Your Valetnine Kit is no longer available, however  the treat tubes can be purchased and to create your one craft or take home gift from a party.  Happy Adventures in Paper-Crafting!

Paper-crafting Is More Than Just Scrapbooking

. Often times when we think of paper crafting we first think of scrap booking, but there is sooooo much more to paper-crafting. Pictured above are a set of butterflies that I created using the CTMH Art Philosophy cartridge. These butterflies are party decorations. The large butterflies are 7 inches in size, the medium ones are 3.75ines and the confetti are 1 inch and 3/4 inch in size. The large butterflies are made out of cardstock and the confetti is made out of purple and pink glitter paper.  So... next time you are wondering what to make. Why not trying making some party decorations for your next gathering. Wishing you all a Happy New Year and Happy Paper-Crafting!