Product Spotlight: SPARKLES and PEARLS Blog hop

Welcome to my blog and to the Product Spotlight: "Sparkles and Pearls" blog hop.  You should be joining me from: Corina's blog.

I am featuring SPARKLES!!  I used the Mistletoe Creative Basics kit, too.

This is a Christmas Wreath and is it REALLY fun to make!! It's Origami.  Even my husband will make them!!! In fact we had a group of teenage boys from church at our home a few weeks ago and I taught them how to make the wreaths - they all finished their wreaths and even through all their teenage coolness, seemed to like it!  Tell everyone to check it out! 

You can print instructions: HERE or watch a video HERE.  Thanks Activity TV for your GREAT instructions!!

If you have had your fill you can head over to Debbie's blog and see what great idea she has to share today!

THANKS FOR VISITING!!  Do come again - and if you like what you see, sign up to follow my blog.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

A Call for all CARDMAKERS, SCRAPBOOKERS and STAMPING FANS

Cardmakers, scrapbookers, and stamping fans!!  You  will love this opportunity to grab a free stamp set and then let your imagination fly when you discover the versatile images you have to work with!

When you shop my MyCTMH website ilovepaper.myctmh.com and spend $20 or more on wonderful Close To My Heart products, you'll receive a free D-size stamp set valued at $22.95/$26.95—that more than doubles your value!

Plenty for Twenty

A picture is worth a thousand words. . .so I'm not going to say much more about it.
Except that you can SHOP HERE! 

Just a little more info HERE.

Heart to Heart Sketch

This week I am going to participate in the H2H sketch challenge.

This is the sketch:

Check back later in the week to see what I come up with.  I hope you will participate, too!  It is a lot of fun.  Check it out here: Heart2Heart

Have a WONDERFUL December!!

A Little MORE Thanks!! Great Deals in NOVEMBER

I LOVE the Holidays!  I LOVE how I always feel more grateful this time of year, I always have a strong desire in November to be grateful and to send out thank you cards to tell everyone THANKS! 


That's why if you are like me then you will like Close To My Heart's November campaign.  It's a "Little MORE Thanks"


Why will you like it?  Because when you place a minimum order of $100/$117.50, you'll receive the November Stamp of the Month set for free, PLUS you can choose one more stamp set from our Autumn/Winter Idea Book for free! 

This campaign gives you the versatile Stamp of the Month set, A Little Thanks, that you'll use year-round for thank-you cards and notes, PLUS your choice of another stamp set, size A through D*. Select a birthday set, a Christmas set, a friendship set, a baby set—whatever your heart desires! 


I chose this set: Made with Love and it was FREE!!!!


We've really tailored the campaign to suit your own style and needs, whether you're a scrapbooker, cardmaker, or papercrafter. It's our way of imparting A Little MORE Thanks to you this giving season!

Close To My Heart Product Spotlight Blog Hop - Christmas Stamps

Welcome to Paper Crafting Princess and to the Close To My Heart Product Spotlight blog hop.  

If you came here from Luisa's blog then you are in the right place.

The blog hop is featuring Christmas Stamps and I have two samples below for your viewing pleasure.  Please leave a comment!  I LOVE to hear from visitors. 

Have a WONDERFUL day!

I used the CHRISTMAS STORY stamp set for this card.  This is a GREAT set (I LOVE IT!!!)  and it's PERFECT for Christmastime!

For this card I embossed the tree from HOLIDAY WARMTH with sparkley green embossing powder and added "ornaments" with Cranberry bitty brads.

The envelope is a CD/DVD paper envelope.  I placed a Christmas DVD inside of the card and slipped the card and DVD into the envelope and VOILA a gift AND card all-in-one!

I hope you will find some wonderful inspiration for your Christmas crafting on the blog hop.

Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas - if I don't see you again before that.

ADELINE is next.

Chocolate - but I can't choose just one

Let's pretend we're playing Jeopardy and that the title of this post is the "answer" and now here's the "question":

What is my FAVORITE Close To Me Heart product?

(do you remember my answer?  look up there at my title.)

Yep Chocolate. . . .do you want some clarification?

Alright, I will indulge you, Chocolate INK and the large Chocolate Alphabet stamps.  BUT DON'T USE THEM TOGETHER!!!  You might get a chocolate overdose!  What am I saying?  Everyone knows its impossible to overdose on chocolate.  ;-)

Want some chocolate of your own?  Shop here.

I need your help - A Little MORE Thanks

I've been thumbing through my own Idea Book trying to make up my mind!!  I can't decide which EXTRA stamp set to get for free when I place an order this month.

ANY SUGGESTIONS!?!  Do you have a favorite stamp set?

This month if you place an order of $100 or more not only will you receive the Stamp of the Month for FREE - you can ALSO CHOOSE ANY free stamp set of you choice!  (some exceptions)

It's a promotion called "A Little MORE Thanks"

Basically, spend $100 and receive $150 worth of product.

It's a great way to try Close to my Heart.

If you are going to order and you're new to Close to my Heart, here are a few of my favorites:

BOOKS:
REFLECTIONS: It's a book of 100 patterns for scrapbook page layouts.

If you like card making you may want to try:

ORIGINALS a book of BEAUTIFUL card patterns.

STAMPS AND INK:
CHOCOLATE ALPHABET STAMP - I love to use this stamp set for large titles or monograms - my FAVORITE alphabet stamp!!

CHOCOLATE INK - very versatile!  Dark enough for your stamping to show up and a GREAT color for distressing.  If you are going to have only one ink pad , I suggest this one.

2" x 3 1/2 " CLEAR BLOCK - this size is very versatile AND it's first block I bought!  It's just big enough to hold ALMOST any size of stamps.

PAPER:

OLIVIA - Level 1 Kit - if you are new to scrapbooking I would start with a Level 1 kit.  The pages are PRE-PRINTED so all you have to do is add your pictures and journalling and embellishments and VOILA you are done!  I LOVE Level 1 kits.  OLIVIA is new this season and PERFECT for Fall.

Want a Christmas look?  Try  MISTLETOE papers kits.

I hope you find something you like.  Please contact me if I can help you with anything:
traci at tracilaw dot com

And the CardSwaps Winner is . . . .. ?

Thanks to EVERYONE who visited and left a comment!  What a Fun blog hop.  I hope I get to participate in the future.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading every single comment. . . and read all of them at least twice.  :-)

So. .. I used random.org to find a winner. .I entered in the number of comments (54) and random.org randomly choose number 4 Mrs. Jones from the Circus . . . So number 4 you are the winner!!!  You can email me at
"traci at traci law dot com"  I hope my email address makes sense.

Have a GREAT DAY to EVERYONE!!  I hope to see you again REAL soon!

Card Swaps: Sugar Crash Blog Hop and online Crop

Welcome to my blog! 

For those of you who don't know me yet, my name is Traci.  I am an Independent Close To My Heart Consultant and I am THRILLED to be a Guest Card Maker for the CardSwaps Sugar Crash Blog Hop.

I am so happy that you are visiting today.  Are you ready for some fun?  I sure hope so.

My Christmas Memories

I LOVE this time of year!  It always reminds of special times of my life.  Some memories are magical - like Christmas Caroling in Sun Valley Idaho, some are bittersweet - like going to my grandma's funeral just a few days before Christmas.  But the message of Christmas always fills my heart with joy!  I think back to when I was about 8 years old and there was a new family that moved into our neighborhood.  They really didn't have much and my family wasn't rich, but we never went without.  I remember my mom washed and ironed some of our Sunday dresses that didn't fit anymore and carefully put them in a box.  It was our plan to to secretly leave them on this family's doorstep - and since they were new in the area they wouldn't know who the dresses had belonged to.  We drove to their home and I don't remember who put the box on their doorstep, I just remember how fast we got out of there!!  And I do remember how warm my heart felt every time I saw one of those little girls wearing one of the Sunday dresses we had given to them.  It's funny how when you give a gift you receive the most!

Sugar Crash "Peace on Earth" Christmas Card

And this is my card:

The tree is from the stamp set: D1376 Holiday Warmth 
The papers are from the Jingle Paper Packet
and the ribbon is Cranberry Grosgrain ribbon.

I embossed the tree and text with a green glittery embossing powder.  The sparkley "ornaments" are Twinkle brads.

All products are from Close To My Heart and you can buy them HERE.

Blog Hop

ALRIGHT!!  Are you ready for more hopping?  If you came here from Jane's Blog   then you are on the right path.  If you haven't done so already you will want to visit my good friend Lora's Blog  so you don't miss any of the fun (You should START AT LORA'S so you don't miss anything).  When you are done on my blog you can go to Angelina's Blog. HAVE FUN!

There are 17 stops (see list below) on today's blog hop and you really should visit ALL OF THEM!!  WHY?!?  Well you wouldn't want to miss out on a chance to win a prize would  you?  Or you wouldn't want to miss FREEBIES!  There are some sketches and digital images FOR FREE!  So don't miss out!

All you have to do is leave a comment on each blog and you will be eligible to win the prize on that blog!


We like to hear your nice thoughts, too. (Who doesn't LOVE comments? not me!) We LOVE IT! Please say hi! I don't bite.

GIVE AWAY

I am giving away a mini-stamp set called Memories, so versatile, you can use it ALL YEAR ROUND!

The set includes two leaves, one acorn, and the word "Memories"

REMEMBER TO LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR MY GIVEAWAY!!  One winner will be chosen.

If you like what you see, then feel free to FOLLOW MY BLOG.

You are invited to participate in the Sugar Crash Crop at CardSwaps, too. There are 10 challenges to be posted over the next 3 days (November 4-6, 2010) and EVERY challenge will have a winner. What’s the prize, you ask? A paper crafts books from CardMaker Magazine!! PLUS, one lucky crop participant will win a card making kit that makes 50 cards!!!! It’s very cool… you MUST play along.

ONE MORE NOTE ABOUT THE RULES:  

You have until 11:59PM CST, November 6, 2010, to post your comment on the blogs on the hop (that includes mine, please! Everyone that comments on my blog will be entered in to the drawing for a prize from me. In addition, if you want to participate in the challenges for the Sugar Crash Crop go check it out after the blog hop and upload your completed projects by 11:59PM CST, November 8, 2010. There are prizes to win there, too!

LIST OF BLOGS:

Lora - http://craftsaremything.blogspot.com/

Carolyn King (Guest Designer) - http://myblogbycammie.blogspot.com/

Meredith - http://whatsnextma.blogspot.com/

Ashley - http://handstampedbyashley.blogspot.com/

Christy Croll (Tiddly Inks - Guest Designer) - http://tiddlyinks.blogspot.com/

Susie - http://lilbitofme-susan.blogspot.com/

Diana - http://b4ustamp.blogspot.com/

Jane - http://jane-notsuchaplainjane.blogspot.com/

YOU ARE HERE: Traci (Guest Cardmaker) - http://papercraftingprincess.com/

Angelina - http://angel-artdesign.blogspot.com/

Tami Mayberry (Guest Designer) - http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/

Irina - http://sami-creativityworld.blogspot.com/

Ana - http://anaggarciam.blogspot.com/

Margaret - http://mmora-lilyana-365.blogspot.com/

Natalie (Chi Chi Memories - Guest Designer) - http://chichimemories.blogspot.com/

Laura - http://ljjonescircus.blogspot.com/

Heart to Heart Challenge - Halloween

One of my favorite cards is this one:  "Hey there boo-tiful"

But I couldn't help but t hink it would make an AMAZING wall hanging so 

TA DA!!!

Here's my "hey there boo-tiful" wall hanging.

This wall hanging is my entry for H2H this week:

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE ONE?

You will need:

Large Chocolate Alphabet Stamp 

and "Hey there" from Cup Cake Sprinkles.

The very pretty little jack-o-lanterns are from Spooky Smiles

Cocoa Ink

Olive Ink

Smokey Plum Ink

3D foam tape to get the pumpkins to POP off the page

Happy Halloween!!

Create!

Heart to Heart Challenge - Embossing - Green Christmas Tree, Little Baby

The Heart2Heart Challenge for this week is embossing.

I made a green, embossed, Christmas tree card.  Click on the pictures to see more detail.

I used Cranberry brads and cranberry grosgrain ribbon to embellish my trees.  I used the Holiday Warmth stamp set for the tree and Say it in Style for the text: "Peace on Earth."

(BTW - I think Say it in Style is one of the most versatile stamp sets!!  You can use it for ANYTHING!)

I used these cards as Christmas gifts last year.  I included a DVD with a Christmas song I had written and stuck the whole thing in a DVD envelope.

The song is called "Little Baby" and after I wrote it, I was asked if it could be used in a magazine for my church.  (The Church of Jesus Christ of  latter-day Saints)  Of course I said "Yes!"  They used my song in the magazine for youth (called the New Era) in December 2008 and for a Christmas video.  You can watch it below.

And if you would like a copy, you can print the sheet music here.

I hope you like it.

Heart to Heart "Leaves and Trees" Challenge

This challenge was so apropos this week since this was the week our trees got a haircut.  See all the leaves and the tree?    My husband and some friends spent 8 or 9 hours Saturday trimming our trees.  This tree they are working on came all the way down!

  And this is me. I did absolutely nothing except rescue this lawn ornament from the chainsaw and take care of our kids of course.

Do you see the trailer behind me?  By the end of the day, they had removed 7 huge loads of debris from our yard!   It was a big. . I mean HUGE job!

But enough about my leaves and trees, here is my first Heart 2 Heart entry for this week.

A wall hanging that says "fall" - which is my favorite season by the way.

And my second entry is a layout called "Smile"  I used a flip flap for the very first time.  You can watch my video to see me demonstrate the flip flap portion of the layout.

Enjoy!

Close To My Heart Product Spotlight BLOGHOP: Christmas Projects

Welcome to my blog!

You should have come here from JILL'S blog.

I really hope you like my Christmas gift idea.  Its an Event Calendar.  The idea is you write in birthdays, anniversaries, etc so that you can see at a glance the important events in your life - year after year - the calendar is re-usable.

Pair this calendar with a dozen or so cards and voila!  You gift gets even better because now not only will your recipient be able to see the special events, they will also be prepared to send cards.  You could make the cards and calender from coordinating paper if you really want everything to go together.

***Supplies:

INK:

Twilight

Creme Brulee

Cranberry 

Olive

Hollyhock

Cocoa

Smokey Plum

Indian Corn Blue

Autumn Terracotta

White Daisy Cardstock

Magic Moments  Level 2 Paper Pack (2 pages)

White Daisy grosgrain ribbon

Cranberry eyelet or brad

colonial white ricrac


Stamp sets:
Holiday Trinkets
Holiday Jubilee
Priceless Love Word Puzzle
Say it in Style
Cottage floral
Delight in Everything
Free spirit
Summer Sweetness
Treasures
Spooky Smiles

CLICK HERE for the FREE PDF with the complete instructions.

*** my supplies are meant to be a suggestion.  I have a LOT of supplies listed, so I encourage you to do what I would do and see what you already have on hand and then purchase 2 or 3 new things instead of the ENTIRE list I have above.  GOOD LUCK!!

I hope you get some good ideas from my calendar.  If you make one I would LOVE to hear about it.

Next on the blog hop is:  KRISTIE

Happy Holidays!

Traci

Card Patterns Sketch 85

All Products are from Close To My Heart:

Paper Garden Paper
Blush Cardstock
Stamp from Triple Play mini album
Sparkles
Colonial White grosgrain ribbon

MOJO Monday

We have some SERIOUS card makers here!  If you like to see how many different ways one pattern can be used, you should visit: http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

They have a new pattern each Monday - but the first Monday of every month is PRIZE MONDAY!  So you could be a lucky winner if you participate that week.

And here's the sketch that inspired my card.

That circle in the upper corner just made me think "star" which led to Christmas -which I love!  I've already seen a few Christmas trees at Dillard's so I think its OK if I put a Christmas card on my blog.

H2H Birthday challenge "It's Party Time" - a pop-up card

I have to thank Lora at Crafts Are My Thing for this card.  She brought a pop-up card to a fall card group we had and I was immediately hooked! I had to know how to do it.  And as of September 21, 2010 I had never made a pop-up card before.  Now everything has changed.  I HAVE made a pop-up card.  I've made three now and I am just getting started. 

I will post the other two soon so check back (There's a nativity one and a PIANO ONE!)

 I forgot how much I love the whole paper folding aspect of paper.  I originally fell in love with paper when I was growing up and my family hosted a Japanese exchange student and she taught me how to do origami.  I LOVED the paper folding and I REALLY LOVED the beautiful rice paper she gave to me as a present.  I don't remember which I liked more.  Too hard to choose between the two.

 I am submitting this pop-up birthday card to the Heart to Heart Challenge.

I think I will give it to my older sister who just had a birthday.  Hopefully when she opens it up and sees how amazing it is, she won't care that it is late.

SUPPLIES: 
Blush Ink
Garden Green Ink
Creme Brulee Ink
Blush Cardstock
Paper Garden Level One Paper
White Daisy Cardstock
White Daisy grosgrain ribbon
It's your Day stamp set

Pattern: Cupcake Cake pop-up card   ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!  You may not once to leave this site once you see the amazing pop-up cards.  WARNING: make sure you know where you exact o knife is BEFORE you go to this site, you WILL need it - and you will want it - otherwise you may not be able to make some of these cards.

BELATED World Card Making Day - Sketch Challenge

I was busy all day Saturday and Sunday, but I didn't want to miss out on the fun of World Card Making day, so I found the PDF with all of the Challenges so I could try them.

Tonight I did the "Sketch" pattern.  I have often LOOKED at sketches, but this is actually the first time I put pen or rather ink to paper and made a card from a sketch.  Very fun!

BY THE WAY -  - I think that making cards/scrapbooking/paper crafting is so therapeutic.  It calms my mind and as I am creating something brand new, I feel renewed, refreshed. I like that.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my card.

What do you think?

THANKS LORA for telling me about World Card Making day!!

Be sure to check back to see how I do on the other challenges.

So happy BELATED WORLD CARD DAY everyone!

"Heart 2 Heart" ABC Challenge

This is the first time I've participated in the "Heart 2 Heart" Challenge.  Here is their link if you want to learn more: http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/

They have a new challenge every Monday and you have all week to work on your project.  Its fun to have some inspiration.

The challenge this time is ABC.

Here is what I had to include in my project:
A= Alphabet. Use alphabet stamps, stickers, etc.... in some way on your project
B= Boy. Your project must be for a boy.
C= Chocolate. You must include the color Chocolate (or other dark brown) somewhere on your artwork.


Here is my project:

Its a sign that says, "Ribbit"


I made it to match a baby quilt I have for my little boy.  You can see the quilt in the picture above.  I have a dream of hanging the quilt on the wall along side of the "Ribbit" sign.

I used lots of textured cardstock:
key lime
taffy
crystal blue


I used cocoa  and cranberry ink  and dark brown stayzon for my frogs so I could "paint" them with my waterbrush.  


Chocolate ribbon ties the whole thing together.


I hope you like it!