July 16, 2019Celebrate, Community, Create, Memory Keeping

A FREE Scrapbook Pattern for Your Convention Memories

Close To My Heartconvention, free, how-to, Make It From Your Heart, north america, pattern book, Scrapbook Pattern, Share the Joy 4 Comments

We just wrapped up our 2019 North American Convention in Provo, Utah, a few days ago and IT. WAS. A. BLAST! A BIG THANK YOU to all of you who participated and traveled from not just all across the U.S. but from all over the world (Canada, Australia, JAPAN!) to come and see us. What an invigorating opportunity it is for us to get together and feed off of each other’s energy! All of us at the Home Office were so happy to visit with you and get to know so many of you personally, too. We spent days crafting, business planning, building and strengthening relationships, and searching high and low for our sticky friends, Sticky Boy and Sticky Girl. (If you’re not familiar with the Sticky’s and their story, visit them on their Facebook page to join in on the fun!)

To get you going on scrapping all of your new stories and photos from this energizing event, we are sharing a fun, and FREE, downloadable scrapbook pattern, complete with cutting diagrams and all!

Some of you may remember this pattern from its original debut with our Aspen paper packet many years ago. As you can see, our patterns truly are timeless and can be used at any time and for any occasion with the right combination of papers, Complements, and a little ingenuity!

You’ll notice in our example artwork that we replaced pattern pieces B and C with a circle, the large photo on the right page with patterned papers and stamping, and that we included trimmed down die-cuts made using our Multi Circle Windows die (from the Share the Joy Thin Cuts Bundle that is currently on sale). Use the pattern exactly as shown or make a few minor alterations to make it more your own. Either way, you’re sure to have great results.

Now download the pattern below, and enjoy a little scrappin’ time! ❤

Download Pattern

For even more scrapbook patterns, check out our Make It from Your Heart™ collection. If you love the free scrapbook patterns we share on our blog, you’re sure to be blown away by all the patterns in our how-to books!

Recipe:

12″ x 12″ Convention 2014 Layout
C1725 My Acrylix^® Simply Said Stamp Set, D1842 My Acrylix^® Into the Wild—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, CC7192 Seaside Paper Packet, X7247B Into the Wild Paper Packet, X5988 Peach Cardstock, X6015 Pewter Cardstock, X6023 Sweet Leaf Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3637 Vellum Paper, X7247E Picture My Life™ Cards—Into the Wild, Z4189 Intense Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2853 Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, CC61912 Share the Joy Thin Cuts Bundle, X7247C Into the Wild—Complements, Z4059 Loose Sequins—Crafty, Z4088 White Alphabet Foam Stickers, Z4242 Watercolor Pencils, Z2446 ShinHan™ Touch Twin™ Black Marker, Z1979 Marvy^® Uchida LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Die-cutting Machine

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July 9, 2019Celebrate, Create

Creating Memories by the Seaside

Close To My HeartBring Back My Pack, cardmaking, scrapbooking, Seaside, workshop 66 Comments

Just in time for all of those sun-bleached memories you’re creating, our beloved Seaside collection is back now and through the end of August! With updated colors—including brand new French Vanilla—, a new 12″ x 12″ coordinating sticker sheet, and a new workshop, our timeless Seaside patterns have just the right amount of beachy bliss to capture the feeling of cool ocean breezes and all that this radiant season has to offer!

1. My Acrylix^® Seaside Greetings

This stunning stamp set, with its realistic line designs and versatile sentiments, is not just beautiful but also very easy to use in both scrapbooking and cardmaking. (We’ll show you how we’ve paired it together with the rest of the Seaside collection to make scrapbook pages and cards in the available workshop, below.)

2. Seaside Paper Packet

Here it is! Featuring our exclusive colors, French Vanilla (new!!), Glacier, Lagoon, Raspberry, Smoothie, Sweet Leaf, and Toffee, this dreamy paper packet comes with 6 refreshed patterned paper sheets, 2 each of 3 double-sided designs, and 1 new coordinating sticker sheet! The zip strips are also new (and super cute)! Click on the individual thumbnail images to take a closer look!

(You can get a FREE Seaside paper packet by becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant or hosting a qualifying party in July!)

3. Seaside Coordinating Cardstock

These cardstock colors coordinate perfectly with those in the Seaside paper packet. Each coordinating cardstock pack comes with 12 sheets, three each of French Vanilla, Lagoon, Smoothie, and Toffee; all 12″ x 12″.

4. Seaside Workshop Kit

Paired with this downloadable workshop guide, the materials in this kit come together to create the gorgeous scrapbook layout, pages, and cards you see here:

12″ x 12″ layout:

12″ x 12″ pages:

4¼” x 5½” cards:

Making Memories by the Seaside #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhseaside #bringbackmypack #scrapbooking #cardmaking #patterns #workshopguide #beach #vacation #holiday #summer

3″ x 3″ cards:

We love this collection so much that we want everyone to have one of these kits to create this artwork. To help with that effort, we’re giving three of the dreamy Seaside Workshop kits away to three lucky winners! To qualify for an entry to win, first make sure you are subscribed to this blog. Then, leave us a comment below telling us what you love so much about this collection or, if you’ve been with us for a while, let us know what other retired collection you love that you would like to see make its way back. You have until 3 p.m. (MST) tomorrow (Wednesday, July 10) to get your entries in. All winners will be notified via email shortly after that—so keep an eye out, it really can be you who wins!

AND REMEMBER…Seaside is only available for a limited time and only while supplies last! Act fast and get your favorites from this collection before they run out and it goes away for good! GOOD LUCK!

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July 2, 2019Celebrate, Community

50 Things to Do This Summer

Close To My Heartactivities, Bring Back My Pack, bucket, fun, list, Seaside, summer 18 Comments

The excitement of summer is in the air and we want you to enjoy every bit of it! To get started, if you haven’t already, check out this fun list of 50 Things to Do This Summer we’ve compiled with no one else but you in mind. (Take this list on the go by downloading the printer friendly version, here.)

Do you have any more fun ideas to add to our list? Tell us how you’re planning on spending your summer in the comments below!

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June 11, 2019Celebrate, Create, Learn

Easy DIY Patriotic Wreath

Close To My Heart4th, Decor, decoration, fourth of July, July, Memorial Day, papercraft, Papercrafting, patriotic, summer, summertime, wall art, wall hanging, wreath 4 Comments

What better way is there to kick off the summer months than with a beautiful patriotic wreath? Display it on your porch or mantel, hang it on a wall, or place it on a shelf to be admired. It will become that conversation piece in your space that you can proudly say, “Yep, I made that!”

Materials you will need:

6 Sapphire cardstock sheets (12″ x 12″)
2 Candy Apple cardstock sheets (12″ x 12″)
3 White Daisy cardstock sheets (12″ x 12″)
4 cardstock sheets (12″ x 12″) of any color (these will be used to form the base)
1 gold foil paper sheet (optional)
Gold sequins (optional)
Glue Dots^® (optional)
Liquid Glass or hot glue gun
Paper trimmer or scissors
1 standard paper baking cup
Pencil (optional)
Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection
Cricut^® Artbooking Digital Collection (optional)

Once you’ve gathered all of your materials, follow these easy steps and begin assembling your wreath.

Step 1—Cut your paper into the following shapes and sizes:

46 – 4″ x 4″ Sapphire cardstock squares
16 – 3½” x 3½” Candy Apple cardstock squares
12 – 3″ x 3″ White Daisy cardstock squares
3 – 9½” cardstock circles, any color*
1 – 2¼”, 2½”, 2¾”, 3″, 4¼”, 4½”, 4¾”, 5″ White Daisy sunburst*
1 – 5¾” cardstock circle, any color (optional template)*
8 –1¼” gold foil stars (optional embellishment)**
2 – 1½” and 2″ gold foil stars (optional embellishment)**
4 – 1¾” gold foil stars (optional embellishment)**

*These shapes can be cut using this Cricut Design Space™ file. If you own a Cricut^® machine but do not have access to Design Space, see the recipe at the end of this post for additional cutting information.

**These shapes can be cut using the Cricut^® Flower Market collection, Shift + Background <p> or #MD431D.

Step 2—Build your base.

Stack and attach all three 9½” cardstock circles on top of one another to create your base. Use the optional smaller 5¾” cardstock circle and, with a pencil, trace a guideline onto your base. If you did not cut this piece, draw a guideline by hand approximately 2″ from the edge.

Step 3—Form your petals.

Once your paper is all cut, roll each square piece like a cone, leaving it open on the top and closed at the bottom; seal the seam with Liquid Glass or hot glue. Roll up each petal keeping the same color intensity of our two-toned cardstock on the outside of each.

Step 4—Assemble the Outer Wreath.

Using the penciled circle as your guide, start building your wreath starting with the outside layer. Attach your largest petals onto the base, seam down, leaving about a finger width between each. (Tip: pinch the bottom tip of the cone flat when adding adhesive).

When building your second row, place the petals in the spaces created in the first layer, and so on.

Use the large Sapphire petals for the first two layers, then create one layer using the medium-sized Candy Apple petals, and complete the final third layer using the small White Daisy petals.

(Depending on how tightly you roll your petals and how close you attach them, you may end up using a different number than you originally cut.)

Step 5—Build the Center Wreath. Gather your remaining pieces.

First, gently bend the “rays” of each sunburst paper piece up with your fingers. Stack and attach all of these pieces together from largest to smallest, with the largest piece on the bottom. Next, glue the paper baking cup, open end down, to the center of the wreath. The baking cup will act as a stand for the sunburst flower you just created so it won’t get buried in the middle of all the wreath’s petals. Glue the bottom of the sunburst flower to the baking cup.

Finally, embellish the center of your wreath with the optional gold foil stars and sequins. For our center, we sandwiched two stars of the same size around a toothpick and then attached the toothpick to the white center by wrapping the bottom of it with a glue dot.

Step 6—Display your completed wreath with pride!

What are some ways you’re using papercrafts to decorate your space this next season? Share with us in the comments below. We love hearing from you!

Recipe:

15½” Patriotic Wreath
X5992 Candy Apple Cardstock, X6021 Sapphire Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3365 Gold Foil Paper, Z4235 Loose Sequins—Gold, 1772 Glue Dots™ Ultra-thin Dots, Z679 Liquid Glass, Z3503 Cricut^® Artbooking Digital Collection, Z3501 Cricut^® Flower Market Digital Collection, standard paper baking cup, pencil

Cricut^® Shapes:
Artbooking
5¾”, 9½” Shift + Border <TeamWork> (p. 83, #M46F6E)
1¼”, 1½”, 1¾”, 2″ Icon <m> (p. 74, #M3E9BD)

Flower Market
2¼”, 2½”, 2¾”, 3″, 4¼”, 4½”, 4¾”, 5″ Shift + Background <P> (p. 20, #MD4313D)

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May 21, 2019Celebrate, Create, Learn, Memory Keeping

How To Make a Shaker Window Page!

Close To My Heartnational scrapbooking month, nsm, scrapbooking, shaker window, The World Is Yours, window 5 Comments

We are loving National Scrapbooking Month so far, and we hope you are, too! To continue the celebration, we’re going to really shake things up today and show you how to make a shaker window the size of a scrapbook page!

STEP 1. The very first thing you’re going to do is determine the size of window you’d like on your project. For it to fit a traditional 12″ x 12″ scrapbook page, you’ll need to keep your window no bigger than 11½” x 11½”. Next, decide if you’d like the base of the window (the paper that shows through under the sequins) to be the same as your base page or if you’d rather have a different pattern or color show through. If you’re keeping it the same as the base page, skip the rest of this step and move on to number 2. If you’d like the base to be something different, cut a circle* from the patterned paper or cardstock you’d prefer instead. The size and shape you cut here will determine the size and shape of your window. The window on our page is a 10″ circle, so our base is also 10″

*One of the great things about this big window idea is that you’re not limited to a circle shape. Make a square, a rectangle, a heart, a star—your window can be any shape you can cut out from a 12″ x 12″ Memory Protector™. (See step 2.)

STEP 2. Carefully trim the edges from a 12″ x 12″ Memory Protector™; this should leave you with two clear plastic sheets. Take one of these pieces and cut another circle (or the shape you chose for your window) from it. Make sure this second shape is the same size as your base piece, if you have one.

STEP 3. The last thing you will need to cut to create your large window is an overlay. When you cut your overlay, make sure that it is the same size as your other two pieces so they will all match up later when you stack them to assemble your window. On our page, we created an overlay that frames our shape and also has a world map in the center (making our complete project look like a globe). Your overlay doesn’t have to be this complicated. Decide how much of the inside window you really need or want to see. Also take into consideration where you will be putting other elements of your scrapbook page, like photos and journaling.

STEP 4. When you’ve got all your pieces cut, gently rub the base and the clear plastic window in circular motions with an anti-static pouch. This will help reduce static cling and allow the sequins move freely when you shake or turn the completed page.

STEP 5. Carefully place small pieces of 3-D foam tape around the perimeter of your base piece. Keeping your base flat, add a handful of loose sequins inside the frame you just created.

STEP 6. Lay the clear plastic shape on top of the 3-D foam tape and press firmly around the edges.

If you don’t have a separate base piece and are using your base page as the back of your window, add the 3-D foam tape to the perimeter of the plastic shape instead. Then, fill the center of your framed plastic shape with sequins and lay the base page on top of it to attach. Flip the page over to see your window.

STEP 7. The last step in assembling this large window is to hide the foam frame by layering the overlay on top of it. (An adhesive runner should do the trick!)

Now that your window is complete, all that is left to do is to attach it to your project along with all of those extra elements that make a scrapbook page truly yours.

The page we used as our example today comes from The World Is Yours Scrapbooking Workshop Kit. If you’d like to recreate it, be sure to check out the instructions, HERE.

What projects have you added windows to? Do you have any fun ideas, tips or tricks to share? Let us know in the comments below, and happy crafting!

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May 7, 2019Celebrate, Community, Create, Memory Keeping

Get a Free Cut Above® Layout Kit for National Scrapbooking Month!

Close To My Heartcut above, free, giveaway, national scrapbooking month, nsm, The World Is Yours 274 Comments

Happy May everyone, and happy National Scrapbooking Month!! We just love, love, love, this time of year where we get to join with the rest of the crafting community to celebrate the meaningful art of scrapbooking—and in true Close To My Heart fashion, we are celebrating all month long with beautiful new products created just for the occasion! If you didn’t get a chance to see some of our dearest friends talk about the exclusive The World Is Yours collection on National Scrapbooking Day this last Saturday, revisit the video HERE.

One of our favorite products from The World Is Yours collection is the Cut Above® layout kit. A primary excuse people give for not scrapbooking is that they just don’t have the time to do it. Cut Above® layout kits are our answer to that genuine concern without jeopardizing artwork quality. Each one of our Cut Above® layout kits come with pre-printed base pages, pre-cut paper pieces and die-cuts, as well as stickers to quickly and easily assemble two 12″ x 12″ scrapbook layouts. We basically take all of the cutting out of the scrapbooking equation, allowing you to jump right into enjoying the artistic and creative side of memory keeping.

The World Is Yours Cut Above® layout kit is additionally unique because it is one of the only Cut Above® layout kits that can be purchase out right outside of our Craft with Heart™ subscription program. Craft with Heart™ offers Cut Above® layout kits at monthly, 4-month, and 12-month intervals. Once subscribed, you receive exclusive kits delivered straight to your doorstep. If you are not yet a subscriber, The World Is Yours kit is a great place to try one of these kits out without any further obligations.

We truly love our Cut Above® layout kits so much and are confident that you will, too, which is why we are giving away five of these kits to five lucky readers! We keep it simple. For a chance to win, all you have to do is make sure you are subscribed to this blog and then leave us a comment below, letting us know your thoughts on the Cut Above® program. You have until 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 9 (MDT), to enter. All winners will be notified by e-mail.

For a closer look at all of our other beautiful products and projects offered through The World Is Yours special, visit our website, HERE. Remember, this collection is only available during May, while supplies last, so get yours today and make the world yours!

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April 9, 2019Celebrate, Create, Learn

Easter Treat Bags

Close To My Heartcandy, easter, Egg-stra special, how-to, spring, springtime, treat, treat bags, tutorial 7 Comments

With Easter just around the corner, we came up with a couple of really cute treat bags for you to make and share with all of those people you love to celebrate with!

Take a look at how easy this egg-stra special treat comes together:

STEP 1. CUTTING YOUR PAPER

This project uses a simple base shape that folds up into the treat bag shown above. To help you easily replicate this shape, we created a Cricut Design Space™ file, https://design.cricut.com/#/design/139208505. If you do not have access to Design Space, these little eggs are still doable with a little bit of ingenuity and scissors! 😉 The oval shapes forming the eggs are 3½” tall and 3¼” wide and are connected by a 1″ x 1¼” rectangle. We also recommend cutting out a few small strips of paper to add sentiments and decoration to your finished treat. The strips we cut are ¾” x 3¾” and ¾” x 3½”.

STEP 2. SCORING AND STAMPING

Egg-stra Special Treats #ctmh #closetomyheart #eggstraspecial #treatbag #Easter #Eastertreat #diyEaster #Eastercandy

With a Bone Folder, score the short sides of the connecting rectangle to create the base for your egg to stand on. Then, flip the cardstock over and stamp on the top oval. Using a tone-on-tone stamping technique will create a subtle and delicate pattern.

STEP 3. PUTTING IT TOGETHER

Attach a treat to the inside of the wrapper. Fold your egg and attach the top of the two ovals where they meet with adhesive. Lastly, embellish the front as much or as little as you wish. We added the two small strips of paper that we had you cut in step 1, after stamping one with a sentiment, and attached a small ribbon bow with a glue dot.

Pretty simple, quick, and adorable!

Want to try your hands on one that’s got a little more technique to it? Show some BUNNY just how much you love them with one of these:

STEP 1. PAPER PIECES
For this second treat bag, you will start out with a 3″ x 10½” piece of paper for your base. (We made each one of our bases a little differently, some with patterned papers and some with cardstock.) You will also need a White Daisy 2½” x 3¾” rectangle, a 2½” x ¾” strip cut from patterned paper, and a 2″ light colored cardstock circle. (If you’d like that extra bit of detail that you see around the edges of our White Daisy rectangle piece, cut your shape with a Stitched Rectangle Frames die.)

STEP 2. CUTTING THE BASE.
In order to achieve that fancy top that you see at the top of our bags, we used one of our Fancy Tags Thin Cuts and partially cut into our paper.

You do not want to cut out the entire shape of the tag. (Otherwise all you’ll have is a tag.) Line up your die as close to the top of the base paper, parallel to the edges. Place the top plate of your die-cutting machine only over the portion of the die that you wish to cut. In this case, place the plate over as much of the tag as you like, without including the bottom. Once you run it through your machine, you should have a cut piece of paper like the one you see here.

Egg-stra Special Treats #ctmh #closetomyheart #eggstraspecial #treatbag #Easter #Eastertreat #diyEaster #Eastercandy #fancytags #cuttlebug

Use a paper trimmer (or scissors) to continue the side cuts all the way down to the bottom of the base paper.

STEP 3. SCORING THE BASE

Egg-stra Special Treats #ctmh #closetomyheart #eggstraspecial #treatbag #Easter #Eastertreat #diyEaster #Eastercandy #bonefolder

Using the pattern above as a guide, score the three dashed lines.

STEP 4. STAMPING

On your White Daisy cardstock piece, start by stamping the grass along the bottom. Once your grass is set, move on to stamping the Easter eggs.

STEP 5. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Attach all of the pieces to the base, as shown, and embellish with a ribbon bow. Lastly, add a treat to the inside and then fold the base around it at the score lines. Close it off with adhesive where the top of the front and back meet, and you’re done!

Happy Easter!

Recipes

Egg-stra Special Treat Bags
D1828 My Acrylix^® Egg-stra Special Stamp Set, X7242B I Heart Us Paper Packet, X7240B Something Fierce Paper Packet, X9003 Mix-in Paper Packet, X5991 Lilac Cardstock, X5988 Peach Cardstock, X6016 Pixie Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6506 Lilac Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2844 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4194 White & Gold Skinny Ribbon, Z2027 Mini Stapler, 2½” x 2½” Cellophane Bags, Candy

Some Bunny Loves You Treat Bags
D1828 My Acrylix^® Egg-stra Special Stamp Set, X7242B I Heart Us Paper Packet, X7240B Something Fierce Paper Packet, X9003 Mix-in Paper Packet, X5991 Lilac Cardstock, X5988 Peach Cardstock, X6016 Pixie Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2808 Lemon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6503 Mint Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2844 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2853 Sweet Leaf Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4196 White Ribbon, Z4305 Thin Cuts—Fancy Tags, Z4260 Thin Cuts—Stitched Rectangle Frames, Z3318 Thin Cuts—Basic Circles, Z2027 Mini Stapler, Die-cutting Machine, 2½” x 2½” Cellophane Bags, Candy

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February 21, 2019Celebrate, Create, Inspiration, Memory Keeping

Feeling Heart Happy After Valentine’s Day with a Free Mini Album How-to Guide

Close To My Heartalbum, campaign, everyday, Everyday Life, foodie, Heart Happy, love of food, Memory Keeping, mini album, my heart, photos, promo, promotion, sale, storytelling Leave a comment

It’s been a week since Valentine’s Day. Some of us celebrated with chocolates, flowers, dinners out, or even a sweet new color wheel ( 😉 ). Now what? There’s still some February leftover. Well, just because it’s no longer Valentine’s Day doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate what everyday life has to offer—that is why we are sharing instructions as a free download to create an Everyday Life™ sized album that does just that!

Download your free Heart Happy Everyday Life™ album instructions, here.

Pretty much all of us are equipped to take photos wherever we go, of whatever we want, and whenever we feel like it. As a result, so many of life’s special moments end up stored in a “cloud” somewhere, rarely visited or seen again. Raise your hand if you’ve taken an indefinite number of photos of your cute children, grandchildren, fur babies, or even your food. What do you do with all of these photos? Are they still sitting in your phone? As one of our Consultants so eloquently put it, “don’t let your kids grow up as JPEGs!”

Our message to you today is simple: review the photos that you’ve taken and print them off! Don’t have a place to put them? Use the layouts in this Everyday Life™ album to get started and store your photos along with any stories that go with them.

Heart Happy After Valentine's Day #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhhearthappy #everydaylife #minialbum #diyalbum #albuminstructions #free #freeguide #valentinesday #love #howto #scrapbooking #scrapbook #storytelling #everyday

Photos evoke emotions, capture moods, and remind us of things we long to hold on to. By putting our photos in an album, not only do you get to revisit these feelings, but then we get to share them with others and even allow them to have their own emotional responses. What does that mean? Simply put, it’s important to create albums for your family members and friends to look through. People love seeing pictures of themselves! (You know it’s true!) Children, especially. Create a place for the people you love to look at photos that you love, of whatever you love, through beautiful album pages that share your everyday journey.

Our Heart Happy Everyday Life™ album workshop is a great place to get started, and it will truly make your heart happy. If you’d like to make your very own Heart Happy album, we have a few different bundles of product offered at a reduced price to help you get going. Click on the links below to see which best fits your needs:

My Acrylix® A Piece of My Heart Stamp Set
Heart Happy Sticker Sheet
Heart Happy Paper Packet
Heart Happy Coordinating Cardstock
Heart Happy Everyday Life™ Workshop Kit
Heart Happy Everyday Life™ Workshop Kit without Stamp Set

One of the great things about the contents of this kit are the versatile words, icons, and shapes found throughout its stamp set, patterned papers, and stickers. Last month, we showed you these very same products used to create some really fun Valentine’s Day cards (click here to download those card instructions). Above, we showed you an album to showcase the everyday moments. Now, we want to show you even more!

Take a look at this 12″ x 12″ layout we came up with using the same stamp set and Heart Happy paper packet combined with a few other products:

(Love never looked so tasty! 🙂 )

We hope today’s post inspires you to do something with all of those memories that you are storing up. Print your photos, write your stories, and create something with them to celebrate the way life looks today. Take the time to make your heart happy!

Recipe:

12″ x 12″ Yum Yum Layout
CC2191 My Acrylix® A Piece of My Heart Stamp Set, CC2193 Heart Happy Paper Packet, X7242B I Heart Us Paper Packet, X9003 Mix-in Paper Packet, X6005 Goldrush Cardstock, X6007 Lagoon Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3271 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2823 Goldrush Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2895 Lagoon Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z6503 Mint Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2851 Saffron Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7242C I Heart Us Complements, X7241C So Much Happy Complements, Z4270 I Heart Us Sequins, X7242E Picture My Life™ Cards—I Heart Us, X7241E Picture My Life™ Cards—So Much Happy, Z4181 Thin Cuts—Stitched Circles, Z3386 Thin Cuts—Block Alphabet, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3225 Waterbrush—Medium Round, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Sewing Machine

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February 14, 2019Celebrate, Create, Learn

For the Love of Color: A New Color Wheel!

Close To My Heartcolor, color combination, color theory, colour, colour theory, DIY, how-to, Love of Color, theory, Valentine's Day 7 Comments

It is officially love day, and we couldn’t be more excited! Valentine’s Day is a time designated to focus on and celebrate the relationships that matter most, and, in case you didn’t know, you are at the top of our significant others list as part of our beloved crafting community! We simply couldn’t let this special relationship go unnoticed, so we made you a one-of-a-kind Valentine that we hope you’ll enjoy!

Download your new CTMH color wheel, here! ❤

We updated the color wheel we shared with you last year to include this year’s new colors from our exclusive color palette!

Since we’re celebrating relationships today, we thought it would be fun (and practical) to talk about relationships between colors and what makes certain pairings work. We’ve summarized color theory principles from previous blog posts and compiled them, below, to have them conveniently available for review all in one place.

Once you’ve chosen basic colors using any one of these combination options, jump on the Close To My Heart color wheel and take your pick from the exclusive colors that fall into each category. If you’d like to learn more about any of the individual principles or would like to see more artwork examples, click on the provided links at the end of each section. Lastly, if you don’t have the time or would simply rather not read through color theory (we get it 😉 ), skip to the end of this post to see how we make using a full spectrum of color even easier!

Monochromatic and Analogous Colors:

Monochromatic color designs make use of a single color that varies in lightness and saturation. Sometimes, a piece of artwork that we may think is monochromatic is actually following an analogous scheme, which is just a fancy way of saying that the featured colors are next to each other on the color wheel. One color is typically dominant while neighboring colors are used to enhance the design. (Monochromatic and Analogous Colors)

Complementary Colors:

Complementary colors are two colors opposite each other on the color wheel, such as Candy Apple and Clover (red and green), and Goldrush and Bluebird (orange and blue). If you notice, one side of the color wheel is made up of warm colors while the other is made up of cool colors. Complementary colors, since they are across from one another, will have one of each. They create a vibrant contrast, making each other pop without being jarring to the eye. (Complementary Colors and How to Use Them)

Split-Complementary Colors:

Split-complementary colors are pretty much what the name implies. When you are using two complementary colors, split one of them into its two adjacent colors on the wheel to end up with three colors that will visually work. Take red-orange and blue-green, for example. They are opposite each other on the color wheel and therefore complementary. Add a third color using the split-complementary scheme by splitting red-orange into two and use red and orange with the blue-green instead. (Using Split-complementary Colors)

Triadic Colors:

A triadic color scheme is a lot easier to understand than it may sound. Just like some of the other theories, triadic color combinations make use of three colors. This time, instead of being next to or opposite each other, triadic colors are three colors that are equally spaced around the color wheel, and when connected by lines create an equal sided triangle.

There are only four triadic color combinations on your basic color wheel:

Red, Yellow, Blue
Red-orange, Yellow-green, Blue-violet
Orange, Green, Violet
Yellow-orange, Blue-green, Red-violet.

(Triadic Color Combinations)

Double Complementary Colors:

Tetradic Colors #ctmh #closetomyheart #colortheory #colourtheory #color #colour #theory #tetradic #double #complementary #doublecomplementary #rectanglecolors #rectangularcolors #colorwheel #colourwheel #wheel #redorange #redviolet #bluegreen #yellowgreen #sweetleaf #thistle #pansy #crystalblue

In a double complementary scheme, we use a combination of four colors that, as the name implies, is made up of two complementary color pairs. (Remember, two colors are complementary if they are opposite each other on the color wheel.) To make it even easier, this kind of color combination is also known as rectangular colors because, when the four colors are connected on the color wheel, they form a rectangle. (Double Complementary Color Schemes)

After reading, reviewing, and applying these color principles it’s easy to see that making harmonious color combinations isn’t so hard. Keep that trusty color wheel close by and pick your colors with confidence!

We also know that color theory isn’t for everyone. If you fall into this category or would like to see pages and pages of artwork examples that we’ve come up with using these principles, then Love of Color is for you.

Love of Color

Love of Color is our latest how-to book, and through its pages the exclusive Close To My Heart color palette comes to life! In it, breathtaking artwork illustrates how to create beautiful and perfectly balanced color combinations without any guesswork. Each spread in this book starts out with one exclusive color that is then combined with two, three, and four other exclusive colors, shown in beautifully crafted inspirational artwork.

This layout was created using one of the three Smoothie color combination options offered in Love of Color. In this example, Smoothie was paired with Ballerina, Eggplant, New England Ivy, and Heather. Smoothie is the dominant color and the others were used to create accents throughout.

For the Love of Color #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhloveofcolor #loveofcolor #ctmhexclusivecolorpalette #colorwheel #ctmhcolorwheel #colortheory #colorcombinations #diy #color #colour #papercrafting #scrapbooking #cardmaking

Thank you for being our Valentine today and joining us through this celebration of color! We hope that you are always living your life in full color and that you are moved to do something creative today!

Recipe:

12″ x 12″ Sunshine Layout
D1817 My Acrylix® So Much Happy—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, X7240B Something Fierce Paper Packet, X5994 Ballerina Cardstock, X6000 Eggplant Cardstock, X6006 Heather Cardstock, X6011 New England Ivy Cardstock, X6022 Smoothie Cardstock, X6027 White Daisy Cardstock, Z4244 Stencil Sheets, Z6501 Ballerina Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2847 Eggplant Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2826 Heather Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2896 Smoothie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z4270 I Heart Us Sequins, Z4245 Opaque Matte Texture Paste, Z4247 Palette Knives, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z3503 Cricut® Artbooking Digital Collection, Z3501 Cricut® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut Shapes:
Artbooking
6″ Overlay <g> (p. 62, #M3F0A2)

Flower Market
1¾” Shift + Title <&> (p.7, #MD38CC3)
3½” <Hibiscus> (p. 30, #MFAD3B7)
3½” Shift <Hibiscus> (p. 30, #MFAD3B7)
¾”, 1″, 1¼”, Shift <Rose> (p. 42, #MFAD8CB)

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1. My Acrylix® Seaside Greetings

2. Seaside Paper Packet

3. Seaside Coordinating Cardstock

4. Seaside Workshop Kit

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Monochromatic and Analogous Colors:

Complementary Colors:

Split-Complementary Colors:

Triadic Colors:

Double Complementary Colors:

Love of Color

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1. My Acrylix^® Seaside Greetings