We are paying homage to all the princes and princesses, to the dragons and unicorns, and to anyone who truly loves a good fantastical adventure, with a FREE downloadable scrapbook pattern for a two-page 12″ x 12″ layout!
Some of you may remember this pattern from its original debut with our Sangria collection many years ago. In the downloadable file below, you will find that the instructions have been revamped so that they can be used with any papers and for any occasion! Our patterns are truly timeless, and paired with your choice of papers, embellishments, and a little creativity you can make your very own scrapbook layout fit for any of your once-upon-a-times or happily-ever-afters!
The Storybook collection is a great fit for this pattern—especially the coloring page type paper design. Using this paper for the bottom half of each page in this layout gave us ample opportunity to color our favorite elements of this fun and fantastical paper design. It makes an excellent base layer for these adorable photos telling the story of this little princess’s big day.
But we didn’t stop there! Today we’re taken upon ourselves what feels like a magical quest of sorts by offering you two completed layout examples using our Storybook paper collection.
Like all of our patterned papers, the Storybook papers are double sided, with a unique design on each side. What is particularly special about this set of patterned papers, is that one side is geared more toward fairytales that involve magic mirrors, glass slippers, and unicorns, while the opposite is for the adventures that entail swords, goblets, and dragons. In this second example, you can see that we’ve used the other side of the coloring page paper, which gave us different accents to color. This paper is such a fun way to customize the artwork to any occasion!
Like any good papercrafting adventure, this Storybook paper collection is helped along its journey with coordinating products, including stickers, black paperboard die-cuts, and two-toned cardstock—and we used them all in creating our two layouts!
If you find that your stories require different color choices than what we’ve provided in the papers or stickers—perhaps you’d rather have a purple dragon or a white castle—several of the designs from our papers and sticker sheet also appear in our stamps. You can stamp your own dragon or castle (and a few other icons) and color them as you see fit with the Storybook—Scrapbooking and Storybook—Cardmaking stamp sets! This collection allows for you to tell your story exactly how you want it!
The outlined shapes shown in these two stamp sets show you what you can cut with our metal dies if you purchase the stamp sets with their coordinating Thin Cuts. When working with Thin Cuts, you can layer stamped accents over other page elements effortlessly—no fussy cutting is required!
Click here to download the free scrapbooking pattern, complete with cutting diagrams, and create scrapbook pages to add to your very own storybook! (For our friends in Australia and New Zealand, click here to download the guide!)
With a wonderful array of patterns and a striking color palette, the enchanting Daisy, Daisy collection is a wonderful way to bring your creative dreams from the drawing board into reality. Sometimes all you need to find inspiration and kickstart that creativity is the right collection of products. We want to give you a brief look into all that awaits with the Daisy, Daisy collection, including the cards and scrapbook pages included in the Daisy, Daisy Workshop!
To get started, we want to give you a quick overview of what crafters can expect from Daisy, Daisy. The color palette for this collection is bold, featuring vibrant greens, punchy pinks, and crisp white tones. As the name implies, this collection prominently features a selection of floral elements, perfect for all types of springtime crafts!
Along with the patterned paper, Daisy, Daisy also includes a selection of stickers, stamps, and Thin Cuts*, all of which are designed to coordinate seamlessly with the paper packet, and with each other.
*Thin Cuts are temporarily out of stock, but don’t worry, there will be more available before this special is over!
Each of these elements help you to create cohesive, polished artwork with ease. Not only that, Daisy, Daisy also includes a workshop kit, which includes instructions for creating both scrapbook pages and cards!
To really get to know this collection, we want to highlight four techniques in this post, all of which are visible in the cards and scrapbook pages featured in the Daisy, Daisy workshop. Let’s take a look!
First off, we have an adorable daisy wreath on this 12” x 12” “Life is Beautiful” page. These lovely layered daisies were created using the Daisy, Daisy Thin Cuts set, making them incredibly easy to cut and assemble. This set offers two different styles of petals, which we have cut using a nice assortment of colors, resulting in a lush layered effect for each blossom. Each of these flowers was constructed using just two colors of cardstock. Making good use of our two-toned cardstock, we were able to end up with clear variation apparent in the petals and centers of the flowers.
Once the flowers were assembled, we attached them to the base page with 3-D foam tape for some additional pop. Each of these gorgeous blooms would make a beautiful addition to a scrapbook page or card just on its own, but combining several of them—eight, to be precise—in a wreath like this makes it a striking feature that sets this scrapbook page apart.
Our next technique is found on this 12” x 12” “Sweet Moments” layout. Both pages start with a white cardstock base, most of which we covered with a series of patterned pennant pieces that really show off these adorable paper designs.
What makes this effect unique is the variation in pennant width and length. Rather than cutting these pennants to be the same length, they are slightly varied to accentuate the layering effect, even though the actual overlap of these pennants is relatively minor. These pennants are also varied in their width, adding further to the layered effect. By including these pennants, you preserve continuity by reusing a familiar shape, but avoid monotony by switching up the dimensions and incorporating just the slightest bit of overlap.
These patterned dovetail pennants prove that, like our daisy wreath in the previous example, simple elements repeated throughout a page or layout really help to set these memory keeping pieces apart!
Another favorite element from the Daisy, Daisy workshop is the detailing on this “Lovely You” standard-size card. To complement the bright colors in the patterned paper on this card, we’ve gone in with a few TriBlend™ markers to add coloring and subtle color details to the stamped daisy petals and leaves.
To ensure you get an even finish on the base color, using a light hand with your marker is imperative. This light touch allows you to have greater control as you apply the color, preventing excess color saturation.
Once the base color was applied, our next step was to add small details along the leaf veins and petal creases, using another shade of TriBlend™ marker, deepening the dimensional effect. (If you’re not familiar with TriBlend™ markers, then you’re in for a treat! Each one includes three separate shades, making it a cinch to add various color details to your artwork, all while using the same marker!)
Oftentimes, a beautiful embellishment can be the perfect thing to set a piece apart, and in this 12” x 12” “Together Time” layout, the delicate black floral die-cuts provide an excellent series of focal points throughout the pages.
These embellishments, though small, are grouped together and scattered throughout the layout, helping to draw the eye throughout the pages. With some fun variety in available shapes, the floral theme is reinforced with their inclusion in this layout.
On the whole, the design for this layout is on the simpler side, but the pop and slight dimension generated by the inclusion of these black die-cut flowers allows for some subtle boost on this pair of pages.
As you can see, there’s a veritable garden of potential awaiting with Daisy, Daisy, and we’ve loved sharing just a taste of it with you today! What was your favorite feature from this Daisy, Daisy showcase? Let’s hear about it in the comments below!
When it comes to scrapbooking, one of the biggest deterrents for people is feeling overwhelmed by their copious amounts of unorganized photos. If you have years of memories piled up in your phone’s photo gallery, or spread between multiple devices even, it’s easy to feel discouraged and to put off preserving these moments in a much more user-friendly format. The longer you wait to sort and organize your photos, the more memories you’ll collect, and the more overwhelming the task will get—so let’s not delay and start now. Let us show you how!
Follow the step-by-step outline we’ve created, below, as we walk you through how to efficiently organize your digital photos and get them into a scrapbook! This process may take some commitment, but the journey is worth it—especially when your memories are all in order and in an album where they can be relived and shared!
Step One: Consolidate Your Digital Photos
Upload all of your digital photos to one location—your computer. We recommend using a photo managing system, like Google Photos, Amazon Photos, or iCloud, to easily transfer photos from your phone and other devices onto your computer. Amazon Photos is free* for Amazon Prime members and iCloud is best for those with multiple Apple devices (it is included on iPhones, iPads, and Macs), where it automatically updates between the Apple devices. (*As of the date of this article, this information is correct but is subject to change without our knowledge.)
Step Two: Eliminate Unwanted Photos
Once all of your photos are in one place, go through and eliminate any that aren’t worth keeping: repeats, photos with a blurry finger covering half the lens, photos of your to-do lists, etc.
A few tips: Avoid future photo hoarding by cleansing your digital photo libraries every few weeks. (Set a reminder on your schedule if you have to!) On the same note, while it’s a good idea to get in the habit of deleting subpar photos soon after you take them, don’t consider every photo that isn’t “Instagram worthy” subpar. Pause before you hit delete and allow a photo to sit for a while—especially photos of yourself (we can be so harsh on ourselves!). You might be surprised at how much joy a picture can recall regardless of how unprofessional it may appear or how much you might have hated looking at yourself when you first snapped the photo.
Step Three: Organize Your Digital Photos
In your photo managing system, create folders for each year of photos you have. Then place the corresponding photos in these folders. Once you’ve sorted your photos by year, go into each folder and create subfolders. You can label and further sort your photos by month, event, vacation, etc.
Step Four: Back Up Your Digital Photos
Back up all the photos in your photo managing system onto an external hard drive and/or a safe permanent online cloud service. You may be using a safe online cloud storage solution to sort your photos. Just make sure you also have a backup!
Step Five: Create To-Print Folders
Once you have organized your photos in your photo managing system, you’re ready to start thinking about scrapbooking them—woohoo! Even though all the photos you have left are photos you have deemed worth keeping, you may not want to scrapbook all of them. A great way to figure out which photos you want to scrapbook is to copy and paste a given folder onto your desktop. (Copy and paste, don’t just drag. We don’t want to permanently delete photos in this step.) Go through and delete any photos from this folder you don’t want to print and put in an album. This is also a good time to edit any of the photos you’re going to print, if you want to take that extra step.
Step Six: Upload & Print Photos
Once you’ve gone through all the photos on your desktop folder, you’re ready to print! We recommend creating a table, like the one below, to track each folder’s progress. When you have printed your photos, you can delete the desktop folder you created (remember, you’ve already saved these photos elsewhere!).
Tip: Choose one day every month to do a print run. Some months you may be able to afford printing more photos than other months. Whatever the circumstance, try and get in the habit of printing your photos on the same day each month.
Step Seven: Organize Printed Photos
Option 1: Use our photo organizer to sort and keep your printed photos.
You can organize your photos by date, person, event…whatever you want! Think about the album you want to create with the photos, and sort them into each case that way.
The photo organizer comes with 16 removable snap-close cases that can each hold up to 100 4″ x 6″ photos, while the sturdy large exterior case snaps close and comes with a convenient handle for transport. There is plenty of room to get yourself organized!
Option 2:Create a work-in-progress album.
Use one of our D-ring albums and divided Memory Protectors™ to separate out all the photos you’ll want for an album. You can group like photos together so you know how to plan your layouts.
(Going this route may even help you decide whether pocket scrapbooking is the way to go rather than traditional scrapbook layouts!)
And that’s it! The next step is to start scrapbooking away! If the idea of making the scrapbook pages themselves overwhelms you, a great place to start is with our scrapbooking workshop kits. You can also talk to your Close To My Heart Maker (or find one online!) for additional guidance.
We hope this post helps empower you to start organizing your photos for scrapbooking. We know that when you take that leap of faith, you’ll find so much joy and satisfaction in preserving your family’s memories and stories.
Do you have any additional tips for organizing and printing your photos for scrapbooking? Share them in the comments below!
At Close To My Heart, it’s no secret that we love LOVE! Love is one of the most amazing things on earth, and as we’re only about a month away from Valentine’s Day 2023, we want to take some time to share a few ideas about how you can celebrate the love in your life this year!
Whether you’re celebrating new love, old love, love for family members, friends, or any other relationship, there’s no better way to commemorate it than with handmade crafts from the heart. With that in mind, we want to introduce you to our love-themed collection, Now & Forever!
This collection is a callback to vintage floral patterns and is perfect for any design you can dream. The patterned paper is an adorable flurry of soft pinks and floral themes, with a dash of French-inspired flair, and a sticker sheet that kicks things up a notch with metallic gold accents.
Another stand-out feature of this collection is the accompanying assortment of embroidered floral and butterfly embellishments, which are a great way to dress up your cards and scrapbook pages!
Last but not least is the Now & Forever Stamp + Thin Cuts set, which includes an exclusive selection of stamps, floral and butterfly dies, and a very special heart doily die, complete with delicate lace edging! With so many spectacular products to work with, Now & Forever is an excellent collection for preserving cherished memories and celebrating relationships with people that you love!
To see the power of Now & Forever in action, we’re going to take a peek at the cards and scrapbook pages featured in the Now & Forever workshop kits!
Our first stop on our Now & Forever journey is to take a look at the pages included in the scrapbooking workshop kit. First on the list is this 12″ x 12″ “Cutie Pie” layout. This layout was designed with room for eight total photos, making it a wonderful way to tell a story!
With predominant themes of red, pink, and white, and splashes of Seabrook, this layout is a gorgeous backdrop for fond memories and journaling. One of our favorite parts of this layout is the selection of patterns and their flow across the page. The ledger pattern on the left page is balanced by the floral pattern on the right page, bridged by the red patterned paper that spans the center of the layout. Although not entirely symmetrical, these patterns flow nicely when grouped together this way—just another benefit of using coordinated papers in a Close To My Heart paper packet!
Our second piece on the hot seat today is this single “Timeless” page. Right away, our eyes are drawn through the page from the “Timeless” title in the upper left-hand corner down through the lower right-hand corner, which sports a delicate lace-edged heart doily.
This unique feature is created by using the die in the Now & Forever Stamp + Thin Cuts set.The rest of the accents and detailing in this page were created using stickers, zip strips, and the Now & Forever Embroidered Embellishments, and we love how it came together!
One of our favorite parts of the Now & Forever suite is the metallic gold detailing present on many of our stickers. These are on full display in this “Laugh Often…” layout. While this layout has a lot going on in terms of patterns, additional excitement is generated by the presence of multiple gold-accented stickers at various points around the pages.
This layout also includes another heart doily die-cut, this time repurposed as a journaling piece! Between the innovative journaling piece and the selection of sparkly stickers, this layout is a wonderful example of the impact a few well-placed embellishments can have!
Before we move on to our array of cards, we want to show off one last scrapbook layout, which brings together many of the stand-out elements discussed in the previous pages. The “Our Story” layout utilizes a beautiful blend of patterns from the paper pack, a couple of our embroidered embellishments, another heart doily journaling piece, and a large golden sticker serving as the title piece.
All of these elements taken together create a gorgeous backdrop for the photos and journaling shared in this layout, and we couldn’t have asked for a better way to showcase them! If any of these layouts caught your fancy, these designs are all available to create with the Now & Forever Scrapbooking Workshop Kit. Click here to check it out!
If cardmaking is more your forte, you can also find plenty of inspiration in the card selection available through the Now & Forever Cardmaking Workshop Kit! This workshop kit includes options to create eight standard size cards—two each of four designs—and three unique slimline cards, with downloadable instructions available on our website.
One of the major perks of crafting with the Now & Forever cardmaking kit is that while you have the materials to create two each of four standard size card designs, the coordination in the patterned papers makes it easy to switch out the colors and patterns used between cards. This means that even though you’re working with four standard size card designs, you can end up with eight unique cards!
As you can see in the photos above, each of the four card pairs were created using the same design, but the changes in paper colors and patterns, ink colors, and embellishment placement results in eight unique cards!
These cards each have their own individual flair and are a perfect way to implement some more out-of-the-box card creativity into your crafts!
We have loved walking you through the incredible projects available through the Now & Forever Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Workshop Kits, and we can’t wait to see how else you celebrate the love in your life with the products included in this amazing love-inspired collection!
What stories and relationships will you commemorate with Now & Forever? Tell us all about it in the comments below!
If you’re like us, the minute you see a gorgeous set of patterned papers, the creative wheels in your mind begin to turn. Before long, you’re designing scrapbook layouts and cards in your head, and you can hardly wait to get your hands on the paper so you can bring your ideas to life! We know this feeling well and for that reason, we can’t wait to share the very special products featured in our post today. This beautiful selection is sure to inspire, so without further ado, let’s take a look at our It’s the Little Things collection!
It’s the Little Things is a unique collection, in the fact that it features a 6″ x 6″ paper packet, as opposed to the typical 12″ x 12″ size offered in the majority of our paper collections. In spite of the size difference, these 6″ x 6″ papers can still be used to great effect in 12″ x 12″ scrapbook layouts in addition to being used to create mini album pages with ease! The variety of patterns and colors included in these papers makes them a great choice to pair with other paper collections as well as plain cardstock.
Along with these 6″ x 6″ mini mix-in style papers, the It’s the Little Things suite also includes three exclusive stamp sets—one each for scrapbooking, cardmaking, and mini albums!
Inspired by the patterns, icons, and sentiments in the papers and stamp sets, this collection also includes multiple sets of stickers, paperboard die-cuts, and assorted acrylic shapes. These embellishment options were designed in sets for scrapbooking, cardmaking, and mini album projects, but they can easily be interchanged, depending on your own preferences and crafting vision!
Rounding out the It’s the Little Things collection are the three workshop kits, which make crafting with this exquisite suite a piece of cake!
Today, we’ll be showing off some of the standout features of the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit.
This kit allows crafters to create three 2-page layouts and one single page layout, embracing a beautiful, minimalistic approach in its design. This minimalistic feel is due primarily to the prominent use of white base pages, with much of the background untouched and clearly visible beneath the patterned paper elements. Each kit comes complete with scrapbooking stickers and punch-out die-cut embellishments, along with the It’s the Little Things 6″ x 6″ papers, the scrapbooking stamp set, and a few sheets of black and white cardstock.
To start off our scrapbook adventure today, we’re going to take a look at our single “Remember When” page, which uses a selection of black and white 6″ x 6” floral paper from the It’s the Little Things paper pack at its foundation. The paper sheets have been cut into triangular sections and attached over the corners of the base page, creating a beautiful framing effect. Black and white mix-in details come further into play with dovetailed pennant pieces positioned behind our “Remember when” title at the top of the page, and behind the journaling at the bottom. Rounding out the monochrome theming in this page is a simple layering of black and white cardstock with a border drawn in metallic silver paint marker for an added sparkly touch. This emphasis on a grayscale palette at the foundation of this page sets up a dramatic effect when vibrant colors are added into the center of the page.
The page comes into full color with a rainbow selection of patterned mix-in papers cut into dovetailed pennants and spaced evenly across the width of the page. Each pennant has been given a “shadow effect” by distressing the edges with Black ink to help them stand out even more against the white background.
After putting a few fun photos on the page, the final touches were added using the scrapbooking embellishments, stickers, and stamps, plus black twine, and a couple of Black & White Dots, which were first colored silver with a metallic paint marker. We’ve even given a silver coating to the “LOVE” title stickers for some extra shine. This gorgeous combination of a black and white color scheme at the page’s foundation and the brightly colored pennants and silver sections as accent pieces give you a minimalist effect while still embracing a flurry of bright colors!
Our next layout, “Enjoy the Little Moments”, embraces a greater emphasis on color right from the start, as the base page has been sponged with soft swathes of orange ink as an initial step.
After applying the ink, we attached various pieces of patterned paper from our trusty mix-in pack. This is an excellent example of how the 6″ x 6″ papers can be used to great effect in full-size 12″ x 12″ scrapbooking. Because of their smaller size, the patterned papers used in this layout did not require cutting, making it quick and easy to add them to the page!
Once the patterned paper was attached, we cut ½” strips of black cardstock and attached them along the top and bottom edges of the patterned papers, creating a sharp cutoff and further accentuating the contrast between the patterned sections and the stark white base page. To finish off the foundation of this scrapbook layout, we stamped a black ink border on the base page alongside the black cardstock strips.
After adding photos—attached to patterned paper mats—and a journaling piece, it’s embellishment time! This page is festooned with scrapbooking punch-out die-cuts, stamped die-cuts, and stickers from the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit. And once again, we turned to our trusty silver paint marker to add a metallic finish to the enamel dots
While the previous pages we’ve looked at today have all featured a horizontal flow of pattern and color, this next layout takes that approach in a 90° turn with some fun vertical stripes! Similar to our previous layout, the colorful sections on this pair of pages were created by cutting the rainbow stripe 6″ x 6″ patterned paper in half and then attaching them at the top and bottom of the white base page in the center. Thanks to the proportions of these papers, it was then a cinch to attach a single piece of 6″ x 6″ black and white patterned paper in the middle, capping it off at both the top and bottom edges with ½” paper strips trimmed from another black and white patterned piece.
Along the edges of these striped sections, we used a silver paint marker to create a simple, hand-drawn border, running the length of the pages.
With these papers in place, we had a great foundation that we topped with a handful of matted photos, stickers, die-cuts, and a unique sticker title on the right page using the “perfect” letter stickers from the It’s the Little Things scrapbooking selection.
With the vertical orientation of the stripes, this layout stands apart, although the techniques used to create it are easy to replicate. This makes it a great example of how a little bit of out-of-the-box thinking can help you to expand your creative output!
Our last layout on display from the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit is this adorable “Shine Bright” layout. These beautiful pages are graced with a spectrum of vibrant rectangular patterned pieces, all edged with black ink for an additional “shadow effect” against the white base pages.
For an additional accent effect, small dotted circles have been stamped so they peek out from behind the rectangular pieces, and each dotted section has been sponged with yellow ink. Clustered around these sections, we’ve also included some small dots, applied with a silver paint marker.
Photos, stickers, stamped die-cuts, and black punch-out die-cuts serve to create focal points, embellished accents, and title sections, all layered on top of and around the aforementioned rectangular pieces.
To finish out this layout, we added a few simple lines of journaling at the bottom of each page, stamped our trusty border in black ink on ¼” pieces of white cardstock, edged them in black ink, attached them above the colorful rectangular pieces, and applied black bow die-cuts and white dots in the center of the stamped pieces. As a final touch, we’ve added a simple silver border with the paint marker, as well as a few distressed elements that take this technique to the next level.
As you can see in the close-up above, a few sections of our white cardstock base pages have been torn slightly, crumpled and worked to achieve a distressed look. These sections were then curled down, and sponged lightly with yellow ink. Behind these sections, we’ve placed a small piece of patterned paper, edged in black ink, to serve as a sort of patch. This effect, when taken all together, results in a unique aged look.
As you can see, there’s a TON of creative potential available through the It’s the Little Things Scrapbooking Workshop Kit, and we can’t wait to hear about all the amazing memories you’ll preserve in your own pages! Comment below and let us know what stories you can’t wait to tell with this scrapbook kit, and stay tuned for even more fun with It’s the Little Things!
As we step into the new year with renewed hope and conviction, we look forward to the places we’ll visit, the sites we’ll see, the things we’ll do, and the people we will share it all with.
The newest Close To My Heart catalog was just released on the first and, from cover to cover, it is full of exciting new products and ideas to preserve the memories you’ve made in the past year and are planning for in the year to come.
This gorgeous collection is inspired by all of those travel memories that we wandering humans can’t help but make! From big trips abroad or across state lines to smaller staycations or girls only weekends, most of us enjoy getting away from life’s repetitive beat from time to time.
The Are We There Yet? products are not only great tools to get those past travel memories preserved but also to inspire us to keep going. Exploring and wandering is about discovering different perspectives and seeing new things. If you plan things right, life will deliver new sights and unfold unseen horizons every step of the way. This collection asks the question, have we arrived? Even though we may arrive at specific travel destinations for a particular trip, with luck we’ll continue to go, to see, and to do, and never truly “arrive.”
We hope that this new year will bring many opportunities for travel and growth. Whatever adventures come our way, let’s not forget to document and preserve them! After all, sometimes to know where to go next, we need to remember where we’ve been. Scrapbooking is a beautiful way to journal these experiences, and it’s also a wonderful way to look back on them and share them with others.
For more inspiration on how to use the Are We There Yet? paper collection, take yourself on a journey through the new January–March 2023 catalog. Our Close To My Heart Makers are also sharing their ideas online, using the hashtag #ctmharewethereyet. Make sure to look up that hashtag from time to time to see what’s new and where this great collection is taking our fellow crafters!
One of our most popular events is coming up! We’re talking about none other than the February Album Retreat, of course! We love Album Retreat for so many reasons, but mainly because we get to spend time creating with all of you! Join us for three days of instructional fun with some of our favorite Home Office personalities and create a 12″ x 12″ album in the process!
Album Retreats are events unique to Close To My Heart where we get together to make the pages of a 12″ x 12″ album. We offer a bundle of materials you will need to create 11 beautiful 12″ x 12″ two-page layouts over the course of three days of instruction. For February’s Album Retreat we will be creating a travel themed album featuring a variety of interactive elements—flaps, sliders, pockets, and MORE!
To join this February, simply purchase the February 2023 Album Retreat Bundle, which includes the papers, stickers, an exclusive stamp set, and embellishments needed to create the album. There is no separate registration fee! As we get closer to the event, we will invite everyone who has purchased the bundle to join a private Facebook group where the retreat will be hosted virtually.
The retreat will be held February 1–3, from 2:00 pm to approximately 8:30 pm (MST) each day. (That’s’ 2–4 February, 6:00 am–12:30 pm AEDT for our friends in Australia and New Zealand.) The last day to order your bundle is January 10, so mark your calendars if you haven’t ordered yours already!
Hosting a retreat virtually has its perks. Not only do we get to have as many of you attend as would like to, because there is not limited seating, but once the feed is no longer live, Facebook saves the videos so you can return to watch them over and over again at your own convenience!
We want everyone to have a chance to join us, so we are doing something extra special today and giving away one FREE Album Retreat product bundle! That means that the lucky winner will not only get a bundle of select and exclusive products but will also have access to the private virtual retreat hosted on Facebook in February!!
For an entry into this contest, there are two requirements: First, you must be subscribed to this blog (Yes, we will check!). Second, share this post on Facebook with the hashtag #ctmhgoingplaces. That’s it! You have from now until 3 pm (MST) on December 30 (7 am (AEST) on 31 December). The winner will be notified via email on January 3.
If you’re reading this and have already purchased a bundle, try to win the retreat for a friend! These types of events are a great way to invite others to learn about and fall in love with the art of scrapbooking!
This Album Retreat is sure to captivate you with interactive elements on every single layout! Get a glimpse of each pull, tuck, turn, and more in this stunning travel album!
See you in February!!
UPDATE: Our lucky giveaway winner is Cathie McKenzie! Congratulations, Cathie!
I love this holiday season! It is such a special time of year, when people all over the world join together in celebrating Christmas. For me, the most joyful part of Christmas is celebrating my Savior’s birth. That is what fills my soul with rejoicing at this time of year. His is the spirit that fuels all of the good will, festivities, and cheer that abound as part of the tradition of Christmas. Whether your celebrations include goodies, presents, carols, greeting cards, lights, trees, elves, stockings, wreaths, parties, mistletoe, volunteering, sweaters, shopping, gingerbread, or any other of a long list of things that have come to be traditional parts of Christmas, it is having Jesus at the heart of the season that adds so much joy to all the rest of it.
And of course, the joy of the season is magnified when we can share it with people that we love. Time spent with family and friends is truly a special part of any holiday celebration. I feel richly blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with my cherished family members, and I am honored to be associated with you: the wonderful people that make up our Close To My Heart community. I am grateful to all of you and send you my sincerest wishes for a joyful Christmas this year.
No matter what time of year you dive into the creative process, there are always plenty of memories to be captured, friendships to be celebrated, and art to be crafted. Embracing your creative side year-round can be quick and easy when you’re working with seasonal papers and stickers. Today, we’re going to give you a peek into the crafting potential offered by our Workshop Wow: Four Seasons workshop kits and showing off just how easy it is to create stunning artwork on theme!
All the pages and cards on display today were designed using the Four Seasons paper collections in our 2022–2023 Core Products catalog. (To view these collections and all the other amazing products available in this catalog, click here!) Now, let’s get started!
First up is our springtime cardmaking workshop, bursting with floral features and bright colors. These cards favor a variety of sentiments, from birthday wishes, to greetings, to “just because” options. One standout feature of these cards is the use of White Acrylic Hearts across all of the card designs. While the cards also share a commonality in paper patterns and sticker usage, the inclusion of the White Acrylic Hearts as a common element across all our springtime cards serves as a simple but effective way to tie them all together, working to further preserve a cohesive theme.
For additional cohesion, these cards all pull their sentiments and stamped accents from the Seasonal Haul Stamp + Thin Cuts set and the My Acrylix® Spring Greetings stamp set. These elements, while allowing for differences from card to card, also serve to uphold the springy feel throughout the entire assortment!
This springtime theme continues with our Four Seasons—Spring scrapbooking workshop. This workshop kit includes a garden of floral patterns across the seven pages available through this kit design. Fun fact: All of our Four Seasons scrapbooking workshop kits follow a similar design pattern, making it easy to create each page from each seasonal theme! Even with the design similarities, though, the papers, stickers, and color palette used in each seasonal page set the individual pieces apart. One standout element of the spring pages is the use of Woodgrain Die-cut Flowers. Additional floral elements were added to these pages from the Smell the Flowers Stamp + Thin Cuts set.
These stamps and Thin Cuts dies are particularly prevalent in this 12” x 12” “Love You” single page. Flowers and leaves from this set were both stamped directly on the base page and stamped on die-cuts and attached to the base page with 3-D Foam Tape, leaving a gorgeous multi-dimensional effect!
Moving on through the year, we get to our sunny summer layouts and cards! The gorgeous pieces in our summer selection feature a more vibrant color palette, making the scrapbook pages stand out in any album, and giving the cards an unforgettable foundation!
Our 12” x 12” “Go with the Flow” layout offers a great example of how these dies can be used to create custom embellishment clusters, perfectly tailored to the Four Seasons—Summer paper patterns and stickers!
The trick to making these embellishment clusters blend in so seamlessly with the paper and sticker designs is stamping them in complementary ink colors.
As with the scrapbook pages, each seasonal set of cards is designed following a similar pattern. Similarities can be seen from season to season, but each set has its own unique flair. Our summer cards sport the same bright hues as the scrapbooking pages, and are embellished with a handful of White Acrylic Flowers.
One theme that is seen throughout all of our Four Seasons cards is the usage of the truck die-cut from the Seasonal Haul Stamp + Thin Cuts. To get twice the cardmaking power, the Four Seasons—Summer cardmaking workshop kit includes two design options, both featuring the truck die-cut.
The summer truck cards have a relatively simple design, but are the perfect addition to the set, with truck beds full of acrylic flowers and an uplifting sentiment sticker! No matter which version of this card you choose to make, it’s sure to be a delight for any friend or family member you give it to!
Another great two-for-one card design can be found in the “Live a Little” and “Go With the Flow” cards. This dual design principle can be seen in various forms throughout the Four Seasons cards, and is a great way to create multiple cards quickly.
Next up are our selection of Autumnal cards and scrapbook pages. These leafy layouts and crisp cards are perfect for all kinds of festive occasions and the preservation of all kinds of memories. One of our favorite layouts from this set is the 12” x 12” “Crisp Air, Warm Hearts” layout, which includes a fun, striped panel section along the bottom of the pages. This layout really puts the power of the Four Seasons—Autumn paper on display, along with a handful of stickers.
The paper patterns can also be seen in the array of dovetailed pennants and paper layers in the upper half of the left page. By relying on the usage of patterned paper for the majority of these pages’ decoration, it makes the creative process quicker and easier to follow! With that being said, though, this page also benefits from the inclusion of Autumn Air Stamp + Thin Cuts set, as its stamps and dies have come together throughout the page to create embellishment clusters around the title pieces and photos.
Another beautiful piece that stands out in this collection is the 12” x 12” “Autumn Leaves & Pumpkins Please” layout! This photo-packed layout includes many of the elements seen in the “Crisp Air, Warm Hearts” layout, but this example embraces a more simple, white background toward the center, giving it a classic design. By going this route, we are left with optimal focus on the photos while at the same time, elegantly preserving the autumnal theme!
Last but not least are our winter cards and scrapbook pages, and each piece is packed with frosty wintery goodness! One of our absolute favorites in this selection is the “Thinking of You This Season” card. This card makes beautiful use of the Four Seasons—Winter woodgrain paper option for a secondary base, and a total of six other patterns that have been cut into strips of varying width and arranged side by side to form a stunning background.
To finish it off, we trimmed two pieces of paper—Scarlet and Mink, respectively—dovetailed and layered them, and stamped our festive sentiment and a handful of snowflakes in Pine ink. This, along with the aforementioned patterned paper strips, and a small constellation of White Acrylic Stars, make this card a real holiday treasure!
The final piece we’ll be looking at today is our “Winter Wishes” card, which shows off a simple but effective fold-over technique. A great feature of Close To My Heart patterned paper packs is that each page is double-sided, giving you twice the crafting capability with a single page. In this card, the base has been built out with a piece of Espresso cardstock, a white woodgrain piece on top of that, and a wintery foliage piece for the top layer. However, instead of leaving the top layer piece as-is, the top right corner has been folded down to reveal the woodgrain piece beneath it. This also shows off the plaid pattern on the back of the foliage piece, allowing both the patterns on this double-sided paper to work together at once!
This beautiful card is perfect for friends, neighbors, and family members alike, and is a delight to receive, and to make!
We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s brief look at what’s in store with the Workshop Wow: Four Seasons special! We’ve only showed off a small portion of what’s available through these incredible seasonal workshop kits, and we can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things you’ll do with your Four Seasons artwork! What memories will you capture with the scrapbooking kits? Who’s on your card-giving list this year? Let us know in the comments below!
