And the winner is ...

My first ever "Mystery Hostess" contest is now over and the winner is ... Gloria Hile! She is right now looking through the Idea Book and making her selections which is always exciting!  Thank you to all who participated and I will contact you soon about your delivery dates.  Good night!

~Debbie

Down to Day 3 ... and a little easy gift project

We are approaching the end of our March game and I hope you are enjoying the tips and ideas I've been posting!  While the weekend may be filled with chores and "honey-do" lists, I thought I'd give you another project - a fun, crafty one that can be used as a practical yet thoughtful gift! 

We all are always writing notes and if it's not the pen we've misplaced it's something to write on, right? (pun intended!)  Why not make a pretty holder for our ever-useful post-it notes?  Here's my creation that I made as a thank you for someone who likes frogs:

Isn't that cute?  The frog and mushroom come from a stamp set called "Happy Endings" and the paper is called "Daydream" AND they were designed to go together which is another one of the details that I like about Close To My Heart's products!  This little "easel" is one of those $1 acrylic frames for a 4x6 that have a kind of "L" shape to them.  Look at this picture of other similar ones by another consultant to see the side details:

All you need to do is cut a piece of your patterned paper to fit inside the frame (approx. 4x6), choose a location for your 3x3 post-it note cube and adhere it to the frame.  I'd use some strong adhesive or double sided tape.  Then embellish the front with flowers, stamped images, etc., and you're done!  In mine I placed a small "thank You" sentiment stamped image on a piece of black cardstock and attached it my patterned paper before sliding it into the frame.  The frog and mushroom are adhered to the frame on the outside with foam tape (love that stuff) to make it "pop" out 3-D style.  Fast and easy and sure to please!

Well, don't forget our game! Remember that the only rule is that you place any size order by Sunday evening, March 28th.  Maybe you will be crowned "Mystery Hostess" and win $25 in your choice of Close To My Heart products!! Leave a comment her or send me an email.  Good night and God bless!

Making memories with you,
~Debbie

Countdown to Crown Mystery Hostess (5 Days) & Tip of the day

We're coming down the home stretch with only 5 days to go in our fun Mystery Hostess game.  Now, I haven't had many to play with me but that simply increases your chances to win!  Again, the prize for our Mystery Hostess is $25 to spend on her choice of CTMH products - who wouldn't want that freebie?  Remember to get your order, of any size, in to me by Sunday, March 28th, to be entered in the drawing and it could be you who gets crowned as the March Mystery Hostess!!

You know, especially on busy days, we say, "Oh, I'd really like to make a card for so--n-so but I just don't have time."  Then we rush out, spend and hour between driving, shopping and purchase a flat card that's nice but doesn't have that little extra we would like it to.  You know, a handmade item doesn't have to be elaborate!  It can be beautiful in its simplicity and also much more cost and time effective than buying a card.  Here are a couple of cards showcasing that idea from a fellow CTMH consultant, Lisa Stenz:

Thefirst one is a favorite of mine because of the flowers.  They can nest one into the other and give a 3-D look so easily! They are actually made out of paper so you can take a little sponge and color them whatever you like to match your project.  The next one is also easy because you can take one flower image, stamp it at different heights and voilá you have a bouquet!  Well, I hope you enjoy this tip.  If I can ever be of assistance just let me know!

Making memories with you,

~Debbie~

March Madness continues... Random Stamping tip

Okay, ladies!   I have one order in the pool (who will receive the "Bee Mine" Petite Perks stamp set) but we need a few more so that we can crown a winner of the March Mystery Hostess contest and $25 in CTMH products of her choice!  Don't forget to get your order in by Sunday, March 28th, in order to qualify for the special stamp set and extra chances for the grand prize (see the previous post for details).

I'd like to share another tip with you that I really enjoy - random stamping!  You can create your very own, one-of-a-kind paper with your stamps and inks!  Because the CTMH stamps are clear and stamp so well, you can place a variety of images on your blank paper and create a beautifully patterned paper yourself.  Here's a sample of one of my first attempts, only using 3 stamp images and one color of ink on white cardstock:

While I have gotten better at it, it was pretty simple and fast to make it.  Select your biggest stamp image and use a "triangle pattern" to stamp the image around your paper: stamp once and then go up or down to the left and then to the right.  It is easier to show than to explain but I hope you can deduce it from the picture.  Remember to stamp off your paper to give it that look of a printed pattern.  Then follow with the other images in descending size order.  Here's a picture of how I used a piece of that paper in a layout:

Here's a picture (from another consultant) showing a layout with multi-color random stamping - gorgeous and I love that stamp set for a beach layout!

I really enjoy that technique and I hope you do, too.  If you need more info on random stamping, call or email me and we'll talk.  That's all for now - good night and God bless you!

Making memories with you,

~Debbie

March Madness - a CTMH version

I decided that I wanted to enjoy a little March Madness game time like my husband enjoys with his college basketball TV viewing, but do it the Close To My Heart way! I invite all of you to join me in this contest, where you can earn FREE product if you are chosen as the March Madness Mystery Hostess plus a bonus prize for your purchase. Email me and I will send you the complete details!

For the next couple of weeks, I will posting some ideas for crafting that I hope you will enjoy so stay tuned!  To get us started I thought I'd post a card I made as a "thank you" for my daughter's physical therapist.  It's a design called an "easel card" because the open flap of the card sits like an easel on the back side of the card.  Here's a link to a wonderful step-by-step tutorial on how to make it and a picture of my card:

Making memories with you,

My Acrylix Stamps funny videos

You know when I found out about CLose To My Heart about 3 years ago, I was totally impressed by the clear stamps: how easy they were to use, how beautifully they delivered the image and how easy it would be to store them.  I wondered about their long-range ability to stay sticky on a block and overall durability - I thought only time could tell.  Well, CTMH had already intensely tested this product - it is a patented process and STILL made in the USA! And they put together a cute video of the prototype stamp, "Sticky Boy," to show its true "toughness."  See it here in thisYouTube clip:



Now, I hope you don't subject your stamps to quite all those conditions but you can be assured that your CTMH My Acrylix stamps are up to almost anything that comes their way!
We just had a contest among CTMH Consultants to see who could produce the best video about the My Acrylix stamps.Tresa Black, who has a blog I like to follow called "Fabulously Artsy" and who is simply a "fabulous" crafter, won the category for both the best video and the most views on YouTube.  She really showed the great qualities of our stamps in really funny parody of the "Sham Wow" commercial.  Here it is and I hope you enjoy!



~Debbie