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

Card Challenge with Central Park Papers

Here is another Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge as well as Atlantic Hearts Challenge. This time I am using the Central Park papers from Close To My Heart.

Here are the challenges:

The Central Park papers are fun, colorful, cheery and whimsical. Perfect for summer fun and festivities. 

The supplies I used are:

1. Workshops Your Way Central Park Scrapbooking kit 
2. Central Park Paper Packet
3. Pacifica Stamp Pad
4. Gold Fleck Gems
5. Silver Shimmer Trim

FULL DISCLOSURE 

I have made a lot of cards through the years and I do enjoy doing it. I'm not an artist or designer so I love these challenges to help me come up with these cards or pages. I'm also not great at sending cards so I have quite an accumulation. Lucky for me I do have scrapbook clubs with lots of very nice ladies. 

One of them came over this week and started telling me about a friend of hers who makes trips to nursing homes. She brings cards to the people in the home, especially the ones that don't get mail or many visitors. The old folks love these cards. One of the stories this lady shared with my friend hit me hard. A woman was left in the home by her son and daughter (lawyer and dentist). They never visit her and her robe was so tattered that this woman went out and bought her a new one. This made my heart hurt. I told my friend, Mary, that I want to give her friend a pile of my cards. Having these cards get used in such a beautiful way by such a beautiful woman gave meaning and purpose to them. 

As I make more cards, I will have this thought in mind. I will also try to send out more cards myself, because how nice would it be to receive something other than junk mail! I feel inspired by this woman I've only heard about.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Dots

A Short Story by Stacy

A new product coming September 1, 2018 is our 6 x 6 Story by Stacy. This is Stacy Julian walking us through how to tell an effective story without taking a long time to do it. She prompts us how to think about the important points of the story in order to help write a summary of it. There are instructions for color balance, embellishment balance, ordering the pages, and a great "how-to" that are useful in on our other scrapbooking layouts. 

I am very excited about this new product and the other Stacy Julian products we carry in a smaller format (4x4). They make great gifts for family and are a terrific learning tool for our younger story tellers.

My video is a diary of an unplanned trip to NYC in May 2018 when we flew to Long Island to attend my nieces's wedding reception. My son was tired of sitting around the dining room table and talking "family stuff". He wanted to see the city so we took the train into the city early Sunday morning. I gave him the book for his birthday in July.

Hope you enjoy it. The Story by Stacy kit will be available on my website September 1, 2018. 

https://dorothy.closetomyheart.com/

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Dots