YOU can get the NEW CTMH Spring/Summer products early!

Just 14 sleeps until Close To My Heart consultants can order products from the NEW Spring/Summer Idea Book!!

If you're in Canada and would like to join my team, for as little as $49, receive between $155 to $335 in products and have the opportunity to earn a generous discount on your scrapbooking supplies....then you should hop on over to my website & sign up now.

http://brandy.ctmh.com/ctmh/what-we-do/be-a-consultant.aspx

Contents of the New Consultant Essentials Kit include:  $49 plus shipping & tax.

Everything to meet your crafting and career needs. Approximately $155 in retail value!

• Read Me First Letter
• Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Books (qty. 3)
• Hostess Order Forms (qty. 5)
• Customer Order Forms (qty. 5)
• Close To My Heart Color Swatches (W471)
• Autumn/Winter 2013 B&T Duos^® Sampler (W1125)
• Petite Perks™ A Touch of Fall Incentive Stamp Set (W2026)
• Laughing Lola Complements Dimensional Elements (X7170C)
• Workshops on the Go^® Laughing Lola Scrapbooking Kit (G1065)
• Reflections^® Scrapbook Program (9037)
• Originals Card Confidence Program^® (9036)
• Black Exclusive Inks^® Pad (Z2105)
• Gypsy Exclusive Inks^® Pad (Z2190)
• My Acrylix^® Paisley Perfect Stamp Set (C1556)
• My Acrylix^® Cityscape Stamp Set (C1563)
• My Acrylix^® Swirls Around Stamp Set (D1551)
• 3" × 3" My Acrylix^® Block (Y1006)

(Some items may not be shown. Contents are subject to change without notice.)

New Consultant Master Kit:  $99 plus shipping & tax.

Includes everything in the Essentials Kit plus more supplies and 5 Studio J^® layouts. Approximately $335 in retail value!

• Read Me First Letter
• Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Books (qty. 10)
• 5 Studio J^® Layouts (redeem within 3 months)
• Hostess Order Forms (qty. 25)
• Customer Order Forms (qty. 25)
• Autumn/Winter 2013 Gathering Postcard (W1124)
• Close To My Heart Color Swatches (W471)
• Autumn/Winter 2013 B&T Duos^® Sampler (W1125)
• Petite Perks™ A Touch of Fall Incentive Stamp Set (qty. 5) (W2026)
• Laughing Lola Complements Dimensional Elements (X7170C)
• Workshops on the Go^® Laughing Lola Scrapbooking Kit (G1065)
• My Crush™ Modville Book (Z1855)
• My Crush™ Besties Assortment (Z1886)
• My Crush™ Best Day Ever Assortment (Z1887)
• Memory Protectors^® Flip Flaps™ Small Assortment (Z1747)
• Reflections^® Scrapbook Program (9037)
• Originals Card Confidence Program^® (9036)
• Cello Bags (qty. 25) (W1152)
• My Acrylix^® Stamp Scrubber (Z1782)
• My Acrylix^® Spritz Cleaner (1778)
• Bonding Memories^® Glue (1512)
• Sponge (Z697)
• Liquid Glass (Z679)
• Non-Stick Micro-Tip Scissors (Z1836)
• Black Exclusive Inks^® Pad (Z2105)
• Gypsy Exclusive Inks^® Pad (Z2190)
• My Acrylix^® Paisley Perfect Stamp Set (C1556)
• My Acrylix^® Cityscape Stamp Set (C1563)
• My Acrylix^® Swirls Around Stamp Set (D1551)
• My Acrylix^® Reel Life Stamp Set (B1431)
• 2" × 6 1⁄2" My Acrylix^® Block (Y1010)
• 3" × 3" My Acrylix^® Block (Y1006)

(Some items may not be shown. Contents are subject to change without notice.)

I offer excellent training all based on your personal goals as well as a personal rewards program.

Contact me to hear all about the perks of being part of the Close To My Heart family.

Gift Giving for the Holidays

Welcome to our December Blog Hop featuring creations  that we plan to give as gifts this Christmas.   To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at My Creations with Michelle. If you came from Cheryl's Blog then you're in the right place. 


Here is the Hip Pic Album Kit
This kit is available While Supplies Last ONLY in our Holiday Gift Guide, until December 31st, 2013.

Kit includes:
1 – My Acrylix® Hip Pics Album Stamp Set (B-size)
1 – 6½" × 5½" Hip Pics Album (with 16 white pocket photo pages for 16 – 4" × 6" photos, 3¾" square window)
5 – 6" × 6" Colored Sheets of Die-Cut Shapes (1 Creme Brulee, 1 Lagoon, 1 Outdoor Denim, 1 Smoothie, 1 kraft)

All for just $12.95 plus shipping & tax.

My 11 year old daughter, Dallas made this album as a gift for our family.  She used the photos we took this fall and created a beautiful album. 

It was easy to create this adorable with the kit.  Dallas simply placed sixteen 6 x 4 pictures in the pre-cut pages and then added die cut chipboard pieces that she stamped.

In addition to the Kit contents, Dallas used a 2x2 & 1 x 3 1/2 acrylic blocks.  The inks she used were Creme Brulee, Lagoon, Outdoor Denim & Smoothie. 

One of the great things about this kit is that you can buy the My Creations Hip Pic Album for just $8.95 as a stand alone product.  A great way to make many gifts for your friends & family!

If you would like to order some for yourself or as a gift for someone else, make sure to hop on over to my website to shop at http://brandy.ctmh.com/.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Jan's Work Of Heart.

If you get lost along the way, you can head to My Creations with Michelle.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in the New Year when we will be featuring some of the products that will be retiring, so if you see anything you would like to create, this could be your last opportunity to purchase them.  We hope you will join us again on January 15th, 2014.

Holidays From The Heart

Welcome to our November Blog Hop featuring creations made with products from the Mini- Holidays From The Heart Gift Guide.   To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at My Creations With Michelle. If you came from Cheryl's Blog of Scrapbooking With Cheryl then you are in the right place!

Here are the supplies I began with to create the Season's Tweetings Gift Bag Kit.

The kit comes with 3 Topiary chevron bags & 3 Ruby polka-dot bags, 9 die cut tags & a C Size stamp set.

I made 5 of the tags using the blending pen & ink pads for colouring but then I wanted to add a bit from the Sparkle & Shine Compliments Dimensional Elements so I used one of the chipboard tags from that set.  I inked the black using Archival Black so the colours wouldn't run together when I added them with the blending pen.  Any time I use dye, solvent inks, I always use Staz-On Cleaner so my stamps don't stain. To create the Season's Tweetings sentiment on the one tag, I used some tape to mask off from the stamp set the areas the I didn't want to get inky.  Then I took of the tape & stamped what I wanted to show.

The size of the items that fit comfortably in the bags is 2 3/4" in diameter & up to 4 1/2" tall.

I can't wait to give these pretty gift bags away for Christmas!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Terry Ann Diack's of It's My Garage-- I Can Craft In It!
 
If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, My Creations With Michelle, as she has the complete blog list.  

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in December when we will be featuring projects that would make great gifts.  We hope you will join us again on December 15th.

Picture Your Life at Close To My Heart.

Would you like to be one of the first to receive FREE Spring/Summer 2014 product??

What's the new product?

It's the gorgeous new Picture My Life™ scrapbooking program.

There are 8 fresh and stunning design themes to choose from, each one featuring 122 double-sided, designed cards in a mix of 3" x 4" and 4" x 6", plus a 12"x12" cover page to bring your album together beautifully. You also get 10 Memory Protectors™ with new formats designed just for this program and lots of your photos.

It's a retail value of $24.95 but it’s FREE to qualifying new Consultants!

Join my team today~ http://brandy.ctmh.com/ctmh/what-we-do/be-a-consultant.aspx

Choose from the New Consultant Kit Essentials for just $49

Or...add all these products to the above kit to the items pictured below to combine them creating the New Consultant Master Kit for just $99

To be eligible for the free product, the new Consultant must remit $300 in commissionable personal sales by March 31, 2014.

Sparkle & Shine Christmas Cards

Christmas is just around the corner.  With our 2nd snow of the season here in beautiful Manitoba, Canada, I just had to start making my Christmas cards.

This is a standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 size card.  I used the Sparkle & Shine Paper Packet, Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon, Polar Bear Holiday Stamp Set, Sparkle Flourishes-Small and coloured it in with markers in slate, ruby & juniper.  The brads are retired but oh so perfect to add to this card.

For this next card I used the Sparkle & Shine Paper Pack, Red Shimmer Trim, Liquid Applique & our HOSTESS ONLY stamp set called, Wintery Wishes.  Just a little bit of paper piecing makes the cute penguin simply adorable.

Happy Holidays!

Family Pictures

I took today as a much needed, fun play day in my scraproom.  As usual, I created my layout BEFORE knowing what pictures I would use for it.  I find it takes the pressure off of having to be so matchy-matchy.  

I am loving the new Laughing Lola papers from Close To My Heart and decided to play with that today.  My poor Cricut was feeling a little left out so I shared the love & incorporated some fun overlays into my layout.  Do you ever wish you could get LOTS of pictures on just 1 layout?  That's when I reach for the Flip Flap Page Protectors. 

I was able to get SIX 4x6 pictures as well as THREE 3x3's to this page without it being overwhelming.  I also like how they become interactive.  

Once my layout was complete, I went to my photos and found these that went perfectly!  Hope you're inspired & ready to create.

Here's a recipe list so you too can create this layout page.  

Laughing Lola Paper Pack, Cricut Artbooking, Cricut Artiste, A typeface stamp set, Keyboard Uppercase stamp set, Flip Flaps, Lagoon Houndstooth Washi Tape, Black Shimmer Trim, Sparkles Clear Flourishes-Small and additional cardstock in Gypsy & Lagoon.

You can shop for these & other fabulous products at http://brandy.ctmh.com/

Base & Bling Blog Hop

Welcome to our October Blog Hop featuring the NEW Base and Bling line. You will see creations from our participants that will include necklaces, rings, bracelets, headbands and so much more.  To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at My Creations with Michelle. If you came from Scrapbooking with Cheryl then you are in the right place!

Here is the Base & Bling Necklace Kit that we made at the Close To My Heart Convention.  I just love the colours as it goes with so much!

My daughters just love wearing the Base & Bling Hair Clips.  They either wear them as they are or clip them onto a headband as an added accessory.

For the clip on the top, I used the For Always Textiles fabric and Base & Bling Floral Accents.

For the clip on the bottom I used the Slate Satin Polka-Dot Ribbon with the Base & Bling Teal Jewels.

To adhere the fabric to the base piece of the jewelry, simply use the Base & Bling Adhesive Dots



Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Jan's Work of Heart.  If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, My Creations with Michelle, as she has the complete blog list. 

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in November when we will be featuring the projects from the new Mini Holiday Gift Guide.  We hope you will join us again on Novmeber 15th.

Sarita has me inspired...

I made a few cards this weekend at a crop using the Sarita Paper Packet left overs after having made the Workshop On The Go Sarita Kit.  All cards are 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".

This card uses the Card Chatter- Sympathy set, Outdoor Denim Ink, Just Blooms Paper Shapes, and the Slate Satin Polka Dot Ribbon.

This next card features the August Stamp Of The Month, A Chocolate Affair!!  I paper pieced the sweet cupcake and added 3D Foam Tape for dimension.  The ribbon is Dark Chocolate Striped Grosgrain  and the centre shape used is from page 43 in the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection.

My 3rd card uses the Stamp Set that comes with the awesome, Laughing Lola Workshop On The Go Kit and inked it in Gypsy & Lagoon Inks, trimmed & layered.  I Scallop Border punched  the Lagoon Cardstock.  I used the Words of Comfort Stamp Set, Gypsy Ink sponged onto the Colour Ready Seam Binding Ribbon.  I love how you can make the ribbon any colour you want it!!

On the final card, I decided to give some love to a couple of retired stamp sets that were just too cute not to use.  Pun Fun was used to make the turtle & sentiment while I made the balloons with Happy Forever.  I did use the new Slate Striped Twist Ties as an embellishment.  Isn't he cute?!

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you're inspired to get out & play with your inks too.

Jeanette's Archived Stamps

Welcome to our September Blog Hop featuring Jeanette's Archived Stamps. You will see creations from our participants that will include 1 of 5 stamp sets that Close To My Heart has taken out of Jeanette's Archieved collection.  To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order. We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.ca/   

If you came from Scrapbooking with Cheryl then you are in the right place!

For my card, I featured Jeanette's Archived Stamp Set called Flowering Thanks.

The card is the standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 base.  The sketch is from the Make it From Your Heart Volume 2, pattern 24.  I used the Laughing Lola Paper Pack and added some topiary cardstock for the paper pieced leaves.  All of my stamping was done using the Black StazOn Ink Pad. 

The flowers were paper pieced & raised with 3 dimensional foam tape. The Mini-Medley Accents Black Collection made embellishing this card a breeze!  I added some of the Grey Wool Bakers Twine from the Neutral Assortment simply by separating the grey strands from the white and threading my buttons with it.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Terry Ann of It's My Garage--I Can Craft In It!
 If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, My Creations with Michelle as she has the complete blog list. 

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in October when we will be featuring the Base and Bling line.  We hope you will join us again on November 15th.

Let's Get Krafty!

Welcome to our August Blog Hop featuring Close To My Heart Kraft products. You will see creations from our participants that will include our New Kraft 3 Ring binder, the Kraft Container as well as our Kraft paper and cards.  To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.
We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle's Blog. If you came from Crafty Carol's Blog then you are in the right place!

I made this keepsake box using the Kraft Ring Box.

It all came together using the Frosted Paper Pack, Silver, Shimmer Trim, Small, Clear Sparkle Flourishes, Base & Bling Teal Jewels, Cricut Artbooking Collection, Quilling Tool & Stardust Glitz Glitter Gel.

 I cut out the flower with the Cricut Artbooking Cartridge & rolled it using the Quilling tool.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Terry Ann's Blog.
If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.ca, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in September when we will be featuring Jeanette's Archived Stamps. Jeanette has re-released 5 stamps from her archieves.  We hope you will join us again on September 15th.

July CTMH Cross Canada Hop

Welcome to our July Blog Hop featuring retiring items that you will want to have too.  You will see creations from our participants that will include many retiring items, from stamps, papers, and My Creations products, there is bound to be something that you will need to grab before it's gone.  Last day to order these products before they are going going gone is July 31st.  See your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle S. at  http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.com. If you came from Crafty Carol's Blog then you are in the right place!

I'm featuring the beautiful Avonlea Paper!  I used it on this bracket frame which we created at our CTMH Regionals in Edmonton, Alberta.  The rosettes or yo-yo's as some call them are cut using the Artiste Cricut Cartridge.  I simply had to score & fan fold them to create get these lovely 3D embellishments.  I also used the Avonlea, My Stickease, Slate Mini-Medley Accents & Natural Baker's Twine.

If you would like to make this frame, be sure to order your Avonlea paper & My Stickease by July 31st.  They are available while supplies last so don't miss out.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Terry Ann's Blog .  If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's Blog, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, paper and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in August when we will be featuring our Kraft products.  We hope you will join us again on August 15th.

Canvas Display Project Blog Hop

Welcome to our May Blog Hop featuring our Canvas Display project.  We have 2 sizes available to purchase, the larger one comes in a WOTG Kit and measures 12x12.   The kit is $39.95(G1062), it comes with directions, an exclusive stamp set and Embellishments to decorate your canvas, you can find this on page 23.  The second size available measures 6x6, it can be found on page 126, and is $4.95(Z1818).

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop!

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join My Creations with Michelle. If you came from Cheryl Simpson's then you are in the right place!

I used the 6x6 Canvas for my project.

It's so easy to create a 6x6 project from your favourite 12 x 12 scrapbooking layout.  Simply multiply the measurements by .25 to reduce it appropriately. I used a sketch for the Close To My Heart How to book, Reflections on my 6 x 6 Canvas Display.

The Workshops On The Go® Later Sk8r Scrapbooking Kit is what I used to create this canvas.  I love the stamp set that is available exclusively with this kit!

I started by stamping on the canvas in Outdoor Denim Ink with the checker board stamp. I then used Liquid Glass as the adhesive for all my papers & embellishments.  It adheres so well & dries quickly.

The embellishments used are Slate Polka-Dot Washi Tape, Natural Hemp and 10mm Square, Pewter Studs.

The photo size is 2 1/2 x 3.  I finished with some journaling using a retired, Outdoor Denim Marker.

Here is another canvas I received as a gift from Tina Sutton  I love how she used the Tommy Paper Pack, Tommy Assortment, Durables Studs, Tiny Type Epoxy Alphabet and Sail Away stamp set.  Thanks Tina!!   I love it.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Country Crafting Mama.

If you get lost along the way, you can head to My Creations with Michelle, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to create your own Canvas projects using some of the designs, paper and techniques seen along the way. Join us again in June when we will be featuring party themed projects.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Today I'm choosing to blog about FOOD!!  MMMMmmmm

I'm a Hispanic originally from California, living here in Southern Manitoba, Canada.  Sometimes I really miss Mexican food!

So today I give my family the gift of home made treats that are not available to buy anywhere around here.

Here's a photo of me, my brother Mike, My sister Michelle, my dad Mike, my sister Sarah & my brother Daniel.

I'm making my dad, Mike's recipe for home made Chorrizo sausage. Here are pictures of the process with the recipe for you all to try to make at home too.

 Ingredients that you'll need~

 In a 10" skillet, over low to medium heat, cook 500g or 1lb of pork sausage till crumbly.  Do not drain grease.

 Add in 4 Tbsp of Chorrizo seasoning, 1 tps of New Mexico Chile Powder & 1 can of El Pato Mexican Style Hot Tomato Sauce and stir.

Continue to simmer of low to medium heat for about 25 minutes or until the liquid has reduced, stirring occasionally.

 Here's your finished product!

Now, this makes quite a bit as Chorrizo is very rich.  You only need a couple of table spoons to add to a huge pot of fried potatoes or to top some eggs.

Buen Provecho!  ~ Enjoy!