Retired Colors Inspire a Card

At the suggestion of Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge I am using some of my favorite colors that have recently been retired by Close To My Heart. The colors I chose are Pacifica, Juniper, Bashful and Poppy. To create the card I went to the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge.

   

Here is my supply list:

1. Stitched heart thin cut  
2. Documented Cardmaking stamp set and thin cuts
3. Black Ink Stamp Pad Pigment  

Here's a critique on our new Black pigment ink pad. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

I heard good things about it but had no idea just how great it was. It stamps crisp and clean and BLACK and it cleans up better than our water based stamp pad. This will be my go to black from now on.

Thanks!

XOXO

Dots

How I Organized My New Close To My Heart Colors

Close To My Heart totally reorganized the way they organize their color chart. Previously, for years, the colors were presented in four different color families, Whimsey, Adventure, Enchantment and Basics. These groups had all the colors but were in pastel, bright, and darker shades, that could mix together and trust we could that it would look great. Then CTMH started mixing families and the combos still looked great. Now they are organizing according to like colors. I organized my cardstock and inks according to the CTMH families. Since they are no longer using the original color family's names, it made no sense for me to continue that method. On top of that CTMH retired 11 colors and brought in 11 new colors and a New Intense Black.

So I spent a couple of days making a mess in hopes of more organization, and really, isn't that what we all want?!

The most useful thing I did was enlarge the color list 250% on my printer. I love the large letters because of my eyesight. You may not need that much of an enlargement. I used that size for the cardstock organization in my Stamp n Storage 12 x 12 paper holder.

This is my reorganized stamp pad carousel: 

1. Workspace Wonder Carousel Base and Top
2. Workspace Wonder Stamp Pad Stack

I have file folder hanging racks that I purchased from Stamp n Storage that I use in my Club Room. I reorganized these to go with stamp pads. I put several 

sheets of each color of cardstock in each folder so if any of my ladies need a sheet they can grab it easily.

Daisy is my helper.

Here's my cardstock in my Stamp n Storage boxes:

Stamp n Storage description of their holders.

Keep your collections of your favorite card-stock and paper organized in a Stamp-n-Storage Paper Holder. Instead of feeling like you're drowning in a sea of paper, you'll be able to store yours horizontally or vertically in the 12 slots(1" tall) per Holder. They're sturdy enough to be stacked into a colorful tower of creativity, or you can put one right on your desk. Each slot can be removed, except for the center one, to make room for larger stacks of paper. There's even an arc cut in the slots to make it easier for you to remove the sheets you'll need next. 

We’ve also designed a Paper Holder that will perfectly fit inside of the square IKEA® shelving openings like a hand in a glove.

As you can see, I continued to use the 250% enlargement of the color list. I can see the color dot easily and the name size is big enough for me to read. 

I did make a video that is a little noisy because it is handheld and I'm walking around, so please forgive the fluctuation in my voice and the weird noises.

I hope you find this informative and helpful in your own organization!

Thanks,

XOXO
Dots

Close To My Heart Subscription

Close To My Heart has a new way of scrapbooking available now.

A Subscription with Heart!

Creativity is more than something you do — it’s who you are. Keep your creativity flowing with Close To My Heart’s Craft with Heart™ club, where you receive regular deliveries of project kits that will keep you connected with your passion. Here’s how it works:

1.  Decide how often you’d like to receive your Craft with Heart™ deliveries; you can choose to receive monthly deliveries or once every 4 months.

2. We’ll deliver your creative projects to your doorstep on the schedule that you decide.

3.  Completing the Cut Above® layout kits that come in your delivery is a snap — you’ll be done in no time!

Click here to read all the details:  

Close To My Heart subscription

This is a video of the September layouts:

This is a great way to start a tradition for your family that is easy to do, takes about 30 minutes a month to put together and at the end of a year you have 24 2 page layouts for an album. The layouts will represent the time of year and all you do is add the adhesive and the pictures!

If you sign up for a year, the shipping is FREE!!!

Thanks for looking!

XOXO

Dots

Close To My Heart New Holiday Expressions Catalog is Live!

Our new Holiday Expressions catalog went live September 1. There are so many new items and of course beautiful kits for the fall and winter seasons. We have some new concepts for our workshops that brings another layer of beauty to our pages. You now have a choice of a Deluxe version of the Workshops Your Way that adds depth and intricacy to your pages. For those of you that like the easier and quicker Workshop Your Way, that is still in place. For those of you that enjoy venturing into the world of new techniques and challenges, we hear you and finding ways to meet those requests. 

Here is a layout using the Workshop Your Way Boutique kit:

Here is a layout with the Workshop Your Way Boutique kit Deluxe version:

The deluxe version was created using a stencil sheet cut with our Artbooking Cricut cartridge and texture paste that was smeared over the stencil adding texture and depth to the layout. This is clearly a more complicated layout.

Both are beautiful and are wonderful backgrounds for your pictures. It is a personal choice that can be used as you choose.

It's exciting and fun to bring you these new ideas from Close To My Heart. The texture paste, which, I admit, I've never used, will be fun to experiment with using re-inkers to tint it. 

There's lots more to tell you about. 

Feel free to "page" through the Holiday Expressions digital catalog in the right navigation bar and see all there is to see. I'll get a video out about it as soon as I get back from a scrap retreat.

Thanks!

XOXO
Dots

Documented Card Challenge

Today I created a card using some of the documented colors with the help of the Atlantic Hearts Card Challenge #279 and Color My Heart Color Challenge #306.





This is the starting point and here is where I ended up:

The brick pattern and background of the sentiment are background and texture papers from the Workshops Your Way Documented kit. The Think Happy Be Happy paper is one of the Picture My Life 3 x 4 cards cut down and stamped with New England Ivy ink using one of the stamps from the August Stamp of the Month stamps. Lastly, the gem embellishments in the upper right corner are Grey Gems.

 

Supply List:

1. August Stamp of the Month
2. Workshop Your Way Documented kit
3. New England Ivy Stamp Pad
4. Documented Paper Pack
5. Grey Gems

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO
Dots

New! Close To My Heart Subscription

Close To My Heart has a NEW exciting product called:

Craft With Heart

Creativity is more than something you do — it’s who you are. Keep your creativity flowing with Close To My Heart’s Craft with Heart™ club, where you receive regular deliveries of project kits that will keep you connected with your passion. 

1. Decide how often you’d like to receive your Craft with Heart™ deliveries; you can choose to receive monthly deliveries or once every 4 months. See details below.
2. We’ll deliver your creative projects to your doorstep on the schedule that you decide.
3. Completing the Cut Above® layout kits that come in your delivery is a snap — you’ll be done in no time!

Video of me opening my Craft with Heart:

Here's a peek at the projects:

September

October

November

December

During the month of August get a 12-month subscription and save 20%!

You have three Craft with Heart™ subscription options depending on how often you want to receive your Craft with Heart™ deliveries.

• Monthly subscription: $17.95, plus $4.95 shipping, delivered monthly
• 4-month subscription: $64.60 after 10% discount, plus $4.95 shipping, delivered three times a year
• 12-month subscription: $172.32 after 20% discount, FREE shipping, delivered three times a year! That's only $14.36/kit!! Order now before August 31 and receive a free order of 30 prints from Persnickety Prints!!!

You can order your subscription here:

Craft With Heart

XOXO

Dots

Cleaning My Cricut Cutting Mats

It's laundry day at the Smith's, even for my Cricut cutting mats!

Cricut mats aren't particularly cheap. So when they get full of paper lint, glitter or anything else that makes them less sticky, it's good to remedy the situation. The last thing you want is for paper slippage to occur while you are cutting. (Been there done that) I've washed my mats with soap and warm water with a small degree of success. My upline put a note out on her consultant Facebook page that she heard the Dollar Tree's cleaner "Totally Awesome" brand does a good job of removing the unwanted debris. So I decided to try it.

Mat and Totally Awesome Cleaner

Mat with lots of glitter

I sprayed the orange cleaner and scrubbed the mats with a wet Handi Wipe (lintfree) and a very abrasive pot scrubber, Scotch Brite. I used the pot scrubber on my oldest mat in case I did any damage. It worked very well and I was pretty aggressive. I let the mats air dry on all sides by standing them up. 

Laundry Day!!

I am very pleased with the results and all my mats are back to being sticky so my papers won't slip in the Cricut. 

If your mats are in need of a stickier surface after they've been cleaned, you can use the Bonding Memories Glue stick to extend the life of your mat.

• Bonding Memories Broad Tip Glue Pen

I'm happy. If you need any more Cricut cutting mats, you can order them on my website here:

• Cricut 12x12 cutting mats

We offer a variety of Cricut tools also.

Now you are set! Have a laundry day on your Cricut mats!!

XOXO

Dots