Washi tape Wonderland

Hello fellow crafters

I hope that your Christmas celebrations were wonderful and Santa left you lots of lovely presents!

Does anyone else feel that the washi tapes you purchase seem to be multiplying? I am sure there are some secret fairies who bring me washi tape in the night, my collection is growing more than I think I actually purchased :-)

The video below shows some ideas for what you can do with Washi tape, so enjoy. I have a couple of projects on the go at the moment with Washi tape, so I will be sharing those with you shortly.

Don't forget, with the new Idea Book due to launch 1 February, there are some retiring items you can still get while stocks last, you can find them here.

Best wishes for a great new year

yours in craft,
Monika


Party Washi tape pack

Merry and Bright Washi tape pack

Lagoon Houndstooth Washi tape

Slate polkadot Washi tape

CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - December - Special Care

Hello and welcome aboard our Australasian Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Blog Hop for December. If you have arrived here from Jo Armstrong's Blog, then you are in the right place. If you landed here first, the blog hop is a big circle, so please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

The SOTM for December is called Special Care and is a set of 6 stamps with a "washing instructions" theme. My first thought when I saw these stamps was for baby or children-inspired cards or scrapbook pages.

I have been a bit remiss with scrapbooking pages for Isobelle, as all her photos are digital and I don't often print them out any more. These pictures were taken by an amateur photographer friend of mine when Isobelle was just 3 weeks old, on 27 November 2009.

I wanted to keep the focus on the photos, so used colonial white card for the base pages and photo mats and embellishments in Cotton Candy. I also stamped in Cotton Candy and Slate, and added a touch of bling with the silver washi tape out of the Sparkle & Shine pack. The shapes come from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, and the title is from Artbooking, both exclusive to Close to My Heart.

I used one roll from each of the special Washi tape packs we currently have, the Party and the Sparkle and Shine packs. Each roll in this pack is 15 yards (13.7 metres) so the pack is great value.

This exclusive  stamp of the month is only available during December. It can be yours for just $5 with a qualifying order of $75 or for $24 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order in my online store here.

The Washi tape and many other Christmas themed items are from the Holidays with Heart Gift Guide, available now through December 31 from your CTMH consultant whilst stocks last. Some items are in short supply so order early to avoid disappointment.

Orders totalling over $130 between now and 31 December 2013 can choose one starred item from The Holidays with Heart gift Guide for free so it is an ideal time to get your hands on one of our Cricut Collections or some Workshops on the Go (WOTG) kits for yourself, or as gifts, and be able to claim some lovely Christmas products, and your purchases will count towards 2 promotions!

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Marianne Lamont's Blog.

Products used:
1388 Colonial White cardstock pack
X5760 Cotton Candy cardstock pack
S1312 Special Care
Z2173 Exclusive ink - Slate
Z2193 Exclusive ink - Cotton Candy
Z1908 Party Washi Tape - 3 pack
Z1907 Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape - 3 pack
Z1701 Baker's Twine - Neutral Assortment


Yours in craft,
Monika

CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - November - Illuminate

Hello and welcome aboard our Australasian Close to My Heart Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Blog Hop for November. If you have arrived here from Patricia’s Blog,  Patricia Manhire, then you are in the right place. If you landed here first, the blog hop is a big circle, so please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

The SOTM for November is called Illuminate and is a beautiful collection of lamps, lights and related phrases.

I designed this card in the Cricut Craft Room (CCR) which allowed me to get all the layers to match and the little windows to line up. The inspiration for this card actually came from my DH who suggested the window and light shining through it.

I used the Sparkle and Shine paper packet for the front layer, and colonial white card for the base.
The images come from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, exclusive to Close to My Heart.

I have saved the ccr file, so if you would like a copy of it, please leave a comment and I can email it to you as a little gift from me for visiting my blog!

I love that even though this is a "Christmas" themed paper packet, it can suit many other themes as well, and the damask print on this paper is subtle but beautiful.

The Sparkle and Shine paper and many other Christmas themed items are from the Holidays with Heart Gift Guide and are available now through December 31 from your CTMH consultant whilst stocks last. Some items are in short supply so order early to avoid disappointment.

This exclusive  stamp of the month is only available during November. It can be yours for just $5 with a qualifying order of $75 or for $24 if ordered separately from your CTMH consultant. If you do not have a consultant please contact me or place an order in my online store here.

Orders totalling over $130 between now and 31 December 2013 can choose one starred item from The Holidays with Heart gift Guide for free so it is an ideal time to get your hands on one of our Cricut Collections or some Workshops on the Go (WOTG) kits for yourself, or as gifts, and be able to claim some lovely Christmas products, and your purchases will count towards 2 promotions!

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Noni’s blog, Live, Crop, Share.

Products used:
X7176B Sparkle and Shine paper packet
1388 Colonial White cardstock pack
S1311 Illuminate
Z2173 Exclusive ink - Slate
Z2110 Exclusive ink - Buttercup

Yours in craft,
Monika

CTMH Holidays with Heart Australasian Blog Hop

Hello and welcome aboard our first Australasian Close to My Heart Blog Hop. If you have arrived here from Patricia’s Blog,  Patricia Manhire, then you are in the right place. If you landed here first, the blog hop is a big circle, so please join in by following the link at the end of this post.

Today I would like to share with you this Christmas card and matching envelope which features some of the gorgeous products from the Holidays with Heart Gift Guide,  live now through December 31st.

I used the Sparkle and Shine paper packet for the background, and the white daisy card and envelope pack for the base. The cards and envelopes are great value at only $19.50 for a pack of 50 (25 each).

The ornament is cut from the Artiste Cricut cartridge. The stamp set is the new Santa Claus set, and the Merry Christmas shape is cut from the Art Philosophy cartridge. This is a quick card to make, and can be made in bulk with the cricut cuts and a little stamping.

All the products in The Holidays with Heart Gift Guide are available now through December 31 from your CTMH consultant whilst stocks last. Some items are in short supply so order early to avoid disappointment.

Orders totalling over $130 during the promotion can choose one starred item form The holidays with Heart gift Guide for free so it is an ideal time to get your hands on one of our Cricut Collections or some Workshops on the Go (WOTG) kits for yourself, or as gifts, and be able to claim some lovely Christmas products.

Don't forget we still have the Stamp of the Month program, where a $75 purchase will also qualify you to buy an exclusive stamp set for only $5! So your purchases will count towards 2 promotions!

I'd love you to leave a comment before heading off to the next stop, Noni’s blog, Live, Crop, Share.

Products used:
X7176B Sparkle and Shine paper packet
X254 White Daisy cards and envelopes
C1567 Santa Claus
Z2170 Exclusive ink - Ruby
Z1799 Shimmer Trim - Silver
Z1752 Sparkles - Clear Assortment

Yours in craft,
Monika

Explore the Artiste cartridge - part 1 - numbers 1 to 5

Hi All

over the coming weeks I will be exploring the Cricut Artiste cartridge, exclusive to Close to My Heart (CTMH), making a project from each key. This post is for the numbers 1 to 5 keys.

This is such a versatile cartridge, with over 700 images on it , as well as coordinating stamps and chipboard elements from CTMH.

1.
I used the 3D object key to cut this little bag, and the Accent 1 to cut  the green doily decoration. The handle is just a strip of 12" cardstock cut to the width of the top of the bag. You could use Velcro or a magnetic closure to seal the bag.

2.
This is going to be a sign on my eldest daughters door - can you guess what colours she likes?
I used the Accent 2 and the Accent 2 <shift> to cut this out, I cut the plaque first at fit to page then measured the inside dimensions and sized the frame to match, in Cricut Craft room (CCR).

3.
I used Accent 3 to cut this plaque for the main focus on this card, and cut at 4" to make sure it would fit on the front of a standard card, then stamped and sponged with Lagoon exclusive ink and mounted it onto a piece of Sarita B&T papers. You could also cut this larger and use for a title block on a scrapbook page.

4.
I used 3D object to cut this cute pyramid topped little box, and Accent 2 and the Accent 2 <shift> for the keyhole embellishment on it. Afterwards I thought that if I had done this in CCR and hidden the contours on the dark blue backing, it would have been easier :-)
the 4 holes in the top are tied together with ribbon, but I have left the bottom flap unsealed so you can open it that way.

5.
I used the Card and the Card <shift> key for this gate fold card and matching envelope, and cut from one sheet of B&T paper. This is a great way to feature those double sided papers. The circle on the front to highlight the flower was punched, but you could also use the CCR to match a circle size to the flowers, as I did in the Laughing Lola sample.

 

That's it for today's explore session, come back soon for the other keys.

If you would like to purchase the Cricut Artiste cartridge, you can do so on my website here.

If you would like to attend my Cricut Club and use this and other cartridges in a friendly crop environment, contact me.

Yours in craft,
Monika

Harmonious Hues

One of the things I love most about Close to my Heart products is the fact that they all co-ordinate together. There is no thinking and guessing about will my ink match my paper, etc, as they are all available in 42 exclusive colours, in 4 colour groups.

Below is a video from Monica at corporate explaining the colour range available:

Having these colours and tools coordinated makes my crafting so much easier and faster, and isn't that what we all want?

My favourite collection at the moment is Adventure, which goes beautifully with my paper pack-of-the-moment, Chantilly.

So have a look at our colour ranges here, and let me know which is your favourite!

yours in craft,
Monika

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge

This is my first entry for an online challenge, so go easy on me :-)

Being STAMPtember, I wanted to be able to create something on as many days as possible this month. I can't promise every day, but often.

To get my mojo flowing, I checked out a CTMH sister's blog for sketch challenges. This week is sketch #19.


http://atlanticheartschallenge.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/sketch-19.html

And here is my entry:

made with the You are my Happy stamp set, for National Stamping Month. You can buy this set of 3 carrier sheets for only $15 when you spend $75 from 1 to 30 September via my CTMH website.

I used the pretty flowers on the icons sheet, Cotton Candy and Slate ink, and white daisy cardstock. I used the Australian standard A6 card folded in half, dimensions are 14.85 x 21 cm.

Hope you like it :-)

Have you entered a sketch challenge before?
Please share links in the comments for other challenges, I would love to see what you create

Yours in craft,
Monika

Cricut Cartridges from Close to My Heart

Did you know that Close to My Heart has 3 exclusive Cricut cartridges in the product range?

They have all been designed to coordinate with many of our stamp sets, and also with the chipboard shapes. In fact, when you purchase a cartridge, you will receive 3 stamp sets and 3 sheets of coordinating chipboard sheets in the bundle, for only $130.

The three cartridges are Art Philosophy, Artiste and the newest one, Artbooking. All 3 come with 700 images each, and can be combined in an unlimited number of ways.

The Artbooking cartridge was just released in June this year, and the company is presenting a series of videos over the coming months on what you can do with this cartridge. The link to the first one is below:

I will be running workshops each month to coincide with these videos, so you can create these pages, or similar, with your own photos. To make sure I meet your needs, please contact me to confirm you are interested, and your preferred day and time for these workshops. All dates will be advertised on my Facebook page as soon as they are confirmed.

I have also started a Cricut Crop, on the last Friday night of the month, from 7pm to 10 pm, where you can come along and do a normal crop using all my tools, or bring card stock and papers to cut shapes with my Cricut machine and cartridges. Cost is just $5 to cover wear and tear on my cricut. I will be presenting a quick project from a Cricut cut, and of course there will be supper provided. Please RSVP a week before each event so I can be prepared for projects and catering.

Do you have your own Cricut? you can get your hands on these cartridges by ordering on my website, just follow the Shop with me link.

Or, you can host your own gathering with a minimum sales of $300, and in addition to $50 product credit to spend on stamps or papers, you can order a Cricut cartridge (or any other item from the catalogue) for half price. That means the cartridge would only cost you $65!

Below are the 3 cartridges available, with the bundles you receive.

Artiste

Artbooking

Art Philosophy

So what are you waiting for? Like my Facebook page for workshop updates, and reserve your preferred Artbooking workshop date today!
http://www.facebook.com/Madcrafter72


Yours in craft,
Monika

September SOTM and National Stamping Month

Hi All!

Hope you are enjoying the spring weather we are experiencing here in the Southern hemisphere :-) This weekend is promising to be high 20's or even low 30 degrees Celsius temperatures here in Brisbane!

Yes, I know tomorrow is Fathers day down here, but as my hubby reads my blog I don't want to reveal his card just yet. Instead I want to tell you about 2 great promotions that CTMH is running for the month of September.

First is the Stamp of the Month (SOTM) set, which is called Pinwheel. It has great springtime images of pin wheels, stars and happy sentiments. This set is only $5 with a purchase of $75 and available 1 to 30 September 2013 only. Below are some great examples of projects made with this set.

September is also National Stamping Month, and in honour CTMH has released a very special stamp set, on 3 carrier sheets - a total of  over 80 images! This trio can be yours for just $15 with a qualifying purchase of $75, for the month of September only.

And yes, when you spend $75 you can get both the SOTM and the trio - for a total cost of only $95. The $15 also counts towards your order for the stamp set, so you only need to spend another $60 to be able to purchase a second lot, for gifts, perhaps?

Throughout the month of September I will be sharing projects made with this set to whet your appetite, but remember, it is only available 1 to 30 September, so get in quick!

Yours in craft,
Monika

Open House Business Launch and first market

whew, glad that is over :-)

I have been very busy behind the scenes preparing for my open house  Business Launch for Close to My Heart. Below are a sample of the cards and scrapbook pages that I made.

 

the Thursday before, I also received my Cricut Expression 2 machine, and that was quite a distraction from preparing for the open house.

One of the first cuts I made was for a sign for my new business, that I can use for markets, etc.

Its attached to a 12 x 36" canvas with Liquid Glass, and I have another 24 x 24"canvas that I will decorate with papers and embellishments.

My first market is going to be at the Grand Avenue State School Fete, on Sunday 15th September 8am to 3pm. There will also be lots of rides, food and other stalls, so come on down if you are in the area :-)

Grand Avenue State School
152 Woogaroo Street
Forest Lake QLD 4078, Australia
+61 7 3372 0555

I am now eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Cricut CTMH Artiste cartridge, and will post some new projects with that.

Yours in craft,
Monika

My Acrylix stamps from CTMH

Hi All!

This video shows you exactly why I LOVE the stamps from CTMH
they are clear, so you can see exactly where you position them, and they are also flexible, so you can shape them to suit your stamping - endless possibilities!!

You can browse the entire collection of My Acrylix stamps on my website:
monikaenglish.ctmh.com.au

If you would like to try before you buy, contact me to attend, or book your own Gathering - and earn free products as well!!

Yours in craft,
Monika

Stamp of the Month (SOTM) - August 2013

Hello again :-)

Close to my Heart has a fabulous monthly promotion called Stamp of the Month (SOTM). Every month, they feature a special stamp set that is only available for that month. When you purchase $75 worth of product from the catalogue, you can add the SOTM for only $5!

You can also purchase the set, with no minimum, for the normal price of $24, but only during that month. The product catalogue shows you each month's SOTM coming up, so you can plan ahead!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

For the month of August 2013, the SOTM with a qualifying $75 order is FREE!!
that's right, ZERO dollars! What a great start to Close to my Heart Australia

And what a gorgeous stamp set it is - A Chocolate Affair S1308

It is a collection of 16 stamps - the images and words are all separate, so you can use them in any combination you like. Aren't they good enough to eat?

When ordering online, you can add the stamp set to a normal order, and when your total reaches $75, you will automatically get a reminder to add the stamp set to your cart, so you can't forget to get your freebie!

I am impatiently waiting to receive mine so I can play with it, but in the meantime, our US and Canadian sisters have organised a blog hop with projects created with this set, to inspire you!

You can start at Lucy Kelleher's blog, and follow the circle around:
http://www.love2createitall.com/2013/07/a-chocolate-affair.html
{disclaimer: the qualifying order and pricing you see on these sites is for the US version of CMTH}

So what are you waiting for? Place your order online or contact me if you would like local delivery. You can see the "Shop with me" button on the right of my page.

Yours in craft,
Monika

Studio J Digital Scrapbooking

Hi All!

I must admit, I never got into the digital scrapbooking "thing" as it seems a bit weird to me - wasn't paper crafting all about playing with paper? actual, in your hand, touch and feel and rip, paper?

Close to My Heart has a digital scrapbooking offering, called Studio J. There is no cost to get an account, and no software to download. All you need to do is upload your photos, select a layout and you are done!

There are a number of ways of getting to the layout. You can use one of the Express Collections, where the pages are already made up for you, and you just slot your photos in. This is what I did with my first effort, below. This layout is from the Getaway collection, and all I had to do was drag my photos onto the relevant photo mats, click on them and select black and white - the photo colours didn't suit this colour scheme - then change the heading to Coffs Harbour. The whole thing took me about 10 minutes, most of which was waiting on the internet connection :-)

For more experienced digital scrappers, or if you want to have full creative control, you can choose to start with a blueprint, or even a blank page. The papers and embellishments are all exclusive to Close to My Heart, and match the traditional papers available in the catalogue - so your digital pages can match traditional pages in your album, and should you choose to embellish the Studio J pages once you print them, they all coordinate perfectly!

You can create your own account through my website on the Studio J tab. You can even have a play with the software without an account, but you won't be able to save any of your layouts or photos that way.

When you have finished with your project, which can include multiple layouts, you can choose to purchase either a processed 12x12 layout to be posted to you, or a jpg image you can save to your computer and maybe print elsewhere. I have included pricing below:

So I invite you to go and have a play with this great tool, and let me know how you go. I also would love to hear your feedback on how Studio J compares with other digital scrapbooking programs you may have used.

Yours in craft,
Monika

I have arrived!

Well, the day has finally come!

I am now a Close to My Heart Consultant in Australia!!

I am so excited to begin this new adventure, and get back to my first passion of paper crafting, and sharing it with others!!

You can check it all out at:
www.monikaenglish.ctmh.com.au

I will be posting ideas and tutorials and new products here at least monthly, so if you like what you see, please follow me via RSS or any of the readers available - I use Feedly for mine.

Yours in craft,
Monika

Under construction......

Check back soon!