My Acrylix® Spritz & Scrubber

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My Acrylix® Spritz & Scrubber

We have 25 new tools! I'll post a video each day! This is on the scrubber!

I've been using markers for 31 years. I was taught to use the flat or broad tip for rendering interior design projects. This morning I found a website where I could order colors to fill in for the colors that came with the Close To My Heart Shinhan markers. I also ordered a custom made holder for the ShinHan markers. So I spent quite a bit this morning. I'm looking forward to getting them and start coloring in all my stamping projects. So instead of cutting colored paper I'll be suing white and coloring the white in with the markers.

Corporate made great selections in marker colors and the marker brand. I gave away all my rendering markers to a friend who is still in the business and still renders by hand. The markers I use to use were more expensive and I had over 100 markers. Trust me we don't need 100 markers for our purposes. :-)

Today I'm headed over to Lisa's house for a team meeting and a take and make. I'll post what I've done later. I'm taking all my cards that I have finished and not mailed out yet to the lucky recipients.

Yesterday I used my Cricut Explore to make flowers. You'll see in a couple of days what I'll be making.

CTMH Skylark 35 Photo Layout featuring Flip Flaps

Scrapbook page from the past.

I haven't shown any scrapbook pages since I started this blog. When I lived in Santa Ana I was scrapbooking like mad. The I joined Stampin' Up and they didn't encourage scrapbooking whereas Close To My Heart does. My favorite scrapbook (and my most creative) page is with fine sand mixed with gold. Different layers of paper and stamps make me feel as if I were back on Maui with my parents. Nostalgic I know but isn't that what a scrapbook page should do to the viewer?

The sea is made of blue green glitter The shells were collected in Maui although you can buy little and big shells at Michaels or JoAnns when in season. Stamps and alphabets are by Stampin' Up. BTW, That picture was taken during the early 70's. Before 1974 when I cut my hair short.

Now I'm starting to scrapbook again. I'll bring my style up-to-date.I learned a lot of styles at Close to My Heart's 2014 Convention. In the weeks to come you'll see many different ideas that I have from our Convention.

Quick and Easy Christmas card!

When is a good time to start your Christmas/Holiday cards? Any time! I love Christmas cards. So I decided today was the day to start making them. Now I don't always make the same card over and over. That's because we send about 100 cards. I have begged my husband to cut back on his list or go buy cards. That's why I need to start so early. The card I'm showing today is made with last year's Christmas paper from the Workshops On The Go cards. The washi tape is from CTMH and the stamp with Winter Wishes is from the Yuletide Greetings set from last year. It's in the new catalog too! The embellishment of the tree is from last year's catalog and not in the next catalog. So go to my website to order it! It'll be available until July 31.

Once again I used the golden rule of thirds. I played with the sentiment and decided to put it there instead down on the very lower left of the card. This is a quick and easy card to make. I plan on making several until my card stock runs out and then use the new Close To My Heart paper. Who said you had to make each one the same? I'll be posting new design as I make different cards. Think about the embellishments you already have that could go in place of the tree! Enjoy!

I finished this last night and learned (the very hard way) to make a watermark for my cards. Now. only if I can remember!

I thought about picking my roses and placing them on a card. However, I believe they would brown and dry before they got anywhere. So instead I made a 'Thinking of you' card.

The card "Thinking of You" is made with the new paper from CTMH and the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. The paper is from the new Paper Fundamentals. The petals are from the new stamp set Pretty Petals that coordinate with the Art Philosophy cartridge. I used Daisy white for the petals. After using the Explore to cut 3 sets of large petals and 2 sets of the smaller petals, I stamped both sides with the coordinating stamps in Canary. The center stamp is the color saddle. For the smaller stamp I cut the center smaller.

The stems and leaves are stamped with Pear ink. I like Pear ink for most of my green stamping. I curdle each set of petals. I used glue dots to adhere the petal cutouts together. i placed pop-up dots on the back of the petal sets. Placed the petals sets where I wanted them. Next after gluing the rest of the flowers in place I used Liquid Glass to make the centers with a 3D.

Hope you enjoy the flowers!

Be sure to contact me for your free catalog that I will mail to you on August 1.

I bought the Whimsy Assortment in the Basic Paper Fundamentals which is in the new CTMH catalog. Both sides are a glossy print with one side being a monotone  color and the other side a print. I made the background using the same cardstock. I used the golden rule of 1/3 to 2/3. The stamp set is called budding buddies. To make the flower 3D I stamped 2 of the outline stamp and colored the flower in using CTMH Pixie, a new color, and Pear for the leaves and stem. The head of the flower is little dots of yellow and browns from my ink pens. The flower heads were glued at the head and placed on 3D dots to raise the flower off the background paper. The diamond sparkles are from the clear assortment.

Starting August first you may go to my website and purchase the paper. There are many color assortments and I love to combine the colors. I will be posting more on the new items to give you and idea of some of the new fabulous selections I offer.

I've been experimenting with my Cricut Explore. I bought sparkly vinyl and I want to put it on a t-shirt. Using a font other than a cricut font makes it difficult. So my next step will be to put the "Close To My Heart" in a Cricut font, move the letters together close enough so they are touching and flip the saying. Then I'll try to replace the Cricut font with and script font. If I still can't do it, I'll use a Cricut font. So wish me luck and also in taking more shots of my CTMH work. I should receive my first order from CTMH today. I can't wait!

Something new is coming to Close To My Heart next month! I'm so thrilled that CTMH is having a new cartridge from Cricut! It has the best images, 700 images, and best of all it's still only $99.00! I saw it at convention last month and I can't wait to get my hands on it and start making more cards and scrapbook pages.

Plus there are stamps and words/sentiments for cards! A truly unique alphabet and border stamps will delight any stamper.

Release date is some time in August. Cricut is keeping the date close to their hearts! So stay tune to my blog to find out when Artfully Sent is released. Then click on the upper right hand corner of the blog page to shop with me! Tomorrow I'll post some photos of projects made using the Artfully Sent cartridge.

Feathers galore!

My feather card. White cardstock for the card. Used 4 different colors with four different feathers; note the smaller feather. All from Feathers, Seasons & Nature. Bronzed round accents.

Follow Me on Pinterest!

Follow me on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/jansteffen/ I have loads of cards and scrapbooking ideas.

Artbooking Made Easy: Togetherness

What Fun! Learn new techniques and brush up on old.

Fundamental Crafts Contest

July's Stamp of the month is here. The Circus Alphabet is fun and look at the items you can make! It's $5.00 ($17.95 value) for the month of July. You must make a $50.00 purchase (not including sales and shipping.)

 The alphabet has both upper and lower case letters, and numbers! What fun!!! You can get the SOTM at my website www.jansteffen.ctmh.com.

Cards made with CTMH Artbooking Cartridge

Radiate Beauty

Stamp of the month is fantastic! An alphabet that does more than have words or titles!

Picture My Life™ scrapbooking programs

Just couldn't wait to show you Picture My Life! Had too much fun with it at Convention 2014!

Workshops on the Go™

This is a great! I love the workshops. They save time and money. Just listen!

Once again I've been creating cards. And I have tried several new to me techniques that I'll explain.

The embossed section of the card is two tone green. The lighter color is the color of the card. I took a darker, greyer green ink pad and applied it to the emboss folder on the upper inside. Then using cuttlebug I embossed the green card and you can see the results.

This is a birthday card for my oldest nephew. Time is running out until his birthday! I would like to have had the clocks embossing folder rather than the gears. He'll get the message!

These two cards are from the Cricut Explore Design Studio. Both are the same card but one was a floral and the other a solid color. I mixed the 2 up and voila! Added some bling. I hope you liked this post.

Celebrate 30!

Cards made with CTMH Artbooking Cartridge

Just had to share some more cards that I have been making that use Cricut and CTMH papers, stamps and inks.

First was a swap card. The embossing is a CTMH emboss folder. Second is a graduation card for a niece Cricut Design Center and Subscription helped me in designing the card. Third is the 16th Anniversary card, Cricut and CTMH papers. And lastly are the Christmas cards, all CTMH paper, stamps and ink. All are fun to do!

Artbooking Made Easy: Togetherness

Celebrate 30!

Carefree Crafting Contest

Quick Crafting with Class

Happy Birthday card made using my Cricut Explore and CTMH papers. Anna Griffin card cut in the Cricut Design Room Subscription.

I bought the Cricut Explore from HSN. I received Anna Griffin Designs that I love. The cards I created are from Anna Griffin and are for my sister Dee Dee (birthday) and my MIL and Birth Mother.

I added bling on the tips of the wings, heads and the lacy parts.

Monthly (no-commitment) Creative Club

Monthly (no-commitment) Creative Club

Do you like to make fun projects at a great price or for FREE? Do you like to learn new techniques? Do you like to earn free products? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, my Creative Club is for you!

My Creative Club will meet the 3rd Tuesday and Thursday of the month at 7pm at my house, however, you do not need to be local to be part of the club. My long distance members get their kits mailed to them and any orders they place get drop shipped to them directly from the Close to my Heart office. (Sometimes they even get their orders before the local gals!)

Here is more information on the Club:
You may join the club at any time and there is no commitment to stay in the club for any length of time or to place an order. There will be a small fee (depending on the project) for the supplies used for the projects we make which will range from cards to small gift items, to scrapbook pages, and more. Each person who signs up for this club will have their name added to the bottom of the hostess list. The person whose name is on the top of the list will get the hostess rewards that month. In order for your name to keep its “place” on the list, you must place a $25 minimum order whether you attend the class that month or not. If you do not place a $25+ order that month, then your name goes down to the bottom of the list. If you do place a $25+ order, then your name continues to move up the list AND you will get $5 off your kit for that class. (For example, if the class is $10 that month, your kit will only be $5 or if the class is $5 that month, your kit will be FREE!) Long distance members pay an additional $5 to have their project kits mailed to them.

Club members will also receive:

• A free current Idea Book/Catalog!
• Free Hostess Rewards during your hosting month!
• Optional monthly classes with project kits!
• Opportunity to hold a home workshop, gathering, or catalog party to boost your hostess benefits!
• $5 discounts on all of my other workshops and classes while you are a member!
• Other freebies and surprises...

 email me for upcoming Club projects.

Score Big with Embossing

Project Inspiration: Scribble Sensational

Embossing is Boss!

February 2014 Constant Campaign

During the month of February, you and your customers can qualify to receive a free embossing folder for every 2 packs of bulk single color or combo cardstock you purchase. Pick from our 5 new embossing folder designs—dot, chevron, quatrefoil, damask, or stripe—with your qualifying order. Every 2 packs of cardstock you purchase qualify you for an additional embossing folder. Make sure you act fast—designs are available only while supplies last!

Dates: Offer valid February 1–28, 2014.