National Scrapbooking Month is almost here! If you’ve been with us for a while, you know that we do a lot to celebrate our love for preserving memories, and this coming May is no exception! In fact, May is so full of creative opportunities that we are spilling over into June with our fabulous virtual May Album Retreat!
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. At May’s Album Retreat, we will be creating a “Core Memories” themed album, where each layout is intended to frame and preserve major moments from our lives that help shape who we are.
Get an up-close look at the pages of the album with our Creative Arts Manager, Karen Pederson:
We love Album Retreat for many reasons. For starters, the albums we make are full of techniques and free instruction! From shading with alcohol markers to distressing embossed paper details, every page in May’s album features a technique that we will teach live, during the event. We pride ourselves in being the “Let Me Show You How” company, and this is a wonderful opportunity to do just that.
Album Retreat also provides an opportunity to share new and exclusive products. In the product bundle for this May’s retreat you will find two exclusive stamp sets, including a reusable versatile alphabet stamp set, exclusive acrylic shapes and die-cuts, a coordinating embossing folder, Thin Cuts die, and stencil set, and a sneak of patterned papers that will not be available for months!
The main reason we enjoy our Album Retreats so much, however, is because we get to spend time creating with all of you! We host the retreat live on Facebook and read every one of your comments and questions. Oftentimes, we’ll read and answer questions on camera for the benefit of everyone participating.
To join us this May, simply purchase the May 2023 Album Retreat Bundle. There is no separate registration fee! As we get closer to the event date, 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 May 31–June 2, from 2:00 pm to approximately 8:30 pm (MT) each day. (That’s 1–3 June, 6:00 am–12:30 pm (AEST) for our friends in Australia and New Zealand.) The last day to order your bundle is May 9, and that’s only if we don’t run out of them before then, so mark your calendars if you haven’t ordered yours already!
Hosting a retreat like this virtually has its perks. Not only do we get to have as many of you attend as would like to, because there is no limited seating, but once the feed is no longer live, Facebook saves the videos so you can return to watch them repeatedly at your own convenience!
And, just like last time, we want everyone to have a chance to join us, so we are giving away a FREE Album Retreat product bundle, here on the blog! That means that one lucky reader will not only get a bundle of select and exclusive products, but they will also have access to the private virtual retreat we are hosting on Facebook in May!!
For an entry into this contest, there are two requirements: First, you must be subscribed to this blog. (It’s an easy step that often gets overlooked, so make sure that you are actually subscribed because we do check!) Second, share this blog post on Facebook with the hashtag #ctmhcorememories. That’s it! You have from now until 3 pm (MT) on April 24 (7 am (AEST) on 25 April). The winner will be notified via email later next week! [This contest is now closed.]
Get a quick glimpse at some of the interactive elements from May’s gorgeous album, below!
We sure love our CEO and founder, Jeanette Lynton! As a pioneer in the stamping and papercrafting industry, she has put so much time and heart into helping others discover their creativity and preserve their memories. She truly is one-of-a-kind.
As many of you know, Jeanette’s birthday is in March. This year, we’d like your help in giving her a birthday surprise to remember! Handmade cards are a thoughtful way to show someone just how much they mean to you, so let’s show Jeanette some love with beautiful uniquely crafted cards! Here’s what to do:
1. Create a birthday card for Jeanette and snap a photo of it
2. Post it to Facebook and Instagram using the hashtags #closetomyheart and #happybirthdayjeanette
3. Tag us on Facebook (@closetomyheart) and on Instagram (@ctmhoffical). Please feel free to leave a message for Jeanette with the picture, if you’d like!
We will randomly select five people who have posted a card and give them a Let’s Eat Cake Stamp + Thin Cuts (shown below), as a prize for helping us out and celebrating with us! (Winners will be notified directly in the first week of April.)
At the end of the month, we’ll show Jeanette all the cards you’ve made by searching these tags and hashtags on social media. Beautiful artwork made by people she cares about so dearly will be sure to touch her heart!
We’ve gathered a few cards made with some of our current favorite stamps and dies for inspiration!
Then there’s these two sweet characters with their birthday celebration from the Let’s Eat Cake Stamp + Thin Cuts. (How cute are the bear and llama!) What’s especially fun about this stamp set is that the cake comes in separate pieces, so you can decide just how tall to make it! The full height of the cake is just the right size for a slimline card, while shorter cakes fit perfectly on a standard card.
Make sure to post your handmade cards by March 31, as outlined above! Thank you in advance for helping us celebrate the extraordinary life of one of the best people we know!
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.
Some of life’s sweetest moments take place in our very own kitchens. It is where we gather with friends and family to share stories and make memories, often while enjoying something appetizing that has been carefully plated by the host. Today, we invite you to be our guest as we combine two of our favorites—food + crafting!
Even though in scrapbooking we often find a lot of squares and straight edges, have you noticed how prevalent circles are in a kitchen? From an array of dishes to cakes and cookies, circles are everywhere!
We took that familiar basic shape and used it to make a scrapbook page with our Freshly Baked paper collection, easily creating a space for preserving a moment where friends gathered to spend quality time together and make a delicious treat.
The smaller, patterned paper circles making up the larger circle shape on the page were cut from the Freshly Baked paper packet using the Circles Thin Cuts. The additional page elements, including the title and the smaller accents scattered across the page, are either stickers from this collection or stamped images from the Freshly Baked—Scrapbooking stamp set.
This second scrapbook page also carries the circle theme, this time through the designs on the patterned papers rather than the way the papers were cut. With just a few strips of paper, and some additional straight cuts, this delectable page also comes together quickly!
One of our favorite things on this page (besides the super cute couple pictured! ❤️) is the cookie cooling rack with the cookies on top of it! The cookie shapes were easily cut with the Freshly Baked—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts and then colored in to create accents to accompany the photo. For easier attachment, and to avoid having the space behind it appear too busy through its spaces, we mounted the die-cut cooling rack on White Daisy cardstock. The white space surrounding the cookies provides our eyes with a place to rest as we visually take this delicious page in.
As you can see from these two examples, the Freshly Baked collection has all the ingredients you need to preserve memories of food, recipes, traditions, and other kitchen fun in amazing scrapbooking layouts. Next time you’re preparing a meal–whether it’s an old family favorite, something new, or a meal for a special occasion–take pictures of the process and the result (so millennial of us, but why not?!), and then add these, along with pictures of the chefs and a copy of the recipes, to your scrapbooks!
Not sure where to start? Give one of our workshop kits a taste! The Freshly Baked scrapbooking workshop is designed to create three coordinating 12″ x 12″ two-page layouts that would make a great home for any of your kitchen exploits.
Include the recipes as part of the journaling and turn your scrapbooks into an even more valuable keepsake!For even more crafting assistance with the recipe side of your cooking adventures, the Freshly Baked—Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts are designed to make actual recipe cards.
This stamp and die set can be used to make cards to add to your scrapbook pages, or to make cards that you keep in your kitchen, or even to create a combination of both ideas—just imagine the beautiful functionality of a scrapbook dedicated to recipes with pictures and stories that you keep in your kitchen! (To see how and why Karen Pedersen, our Creative Arts Manager, preserves her recipes using this yummy collection of products, check out the video at the end of this post!)
Because we love food and memory keeping, we thought it would be fun to host another recipe swap, right here on the blog! We’ve done this a few times before and with huge success. It’s so exciting to see what everyone is cooking up in their kitchens, to get to know each other through our stories, and to pick up new recipes and ideas along the way! We’ve started you off with two actual recipes in the photos above–now it’s your turn!
If you’d like to participate (and we hope you will), share a special recipe and a memory that goes along with it in the comments below. If you’re not quite sure whether or not you want to share those delicious recipes running through your mind right now, we’re sweetening the deal by adding a giveaway. Share more than one recipe, even, and increase your chances to win one of THREE Freshly Baked—Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts!
For your recipe to be counted as an entry in the drawing, you must also be subscribed to this blog. (If you are not yet a subscriber, all you have to do is push the big blue button on the sidebar that says, “Subscribe to list.”) You will have until 3 p.m. Friday, October 21 (MST) to enter. Even if you miss the deadline, share a recipe anyway! We want to hear from you! (While you’re at it, be sure to check out this video to see how Karen uses the Freshly Baked product collection to document and organize her own recipes!)
Now tell us…what kind of yummy memories are you baking up in your kitchen? 😋
It’s time to celebrate, because National Stamping Month is officially underway! Around here, September is all about stamping! The art of stamping is one that is extremely close to our hearts. (Yes, pun INTENDED!) When Founder & CEO Jeanette Lynton first started this business under the name D.O.T.S. (Dozens of Terrific Stamps), the entire business was based on this wonderful art form. A lot has changed over the years; we’ve expanded our stamp offering, pioneered the use of transparent stamps and clear, interchangeable stamping blocks, and diversified our interests to include materials for memory keeping, cardmaking, and papercrafting projects. While we have become known as one of the premier providers of top-quality papers, cardstock, and embellishments, stamps will always be at the center of what we do. To this day, we continue to innovate and push the boundaries of stamping, whether it be in memory keeping, cardmaking, or papercrafting projects, while also building a strong presence within the worldwide crafting community.
With this in mind, it’s no wonder that National Stamping Month is one our favorite months and reasons to celebrate over the course of each year. To help us get into the stamping festivities, we have designed a brand-new selection of stamps and stamping-related projects, allowing everyone from our long-time crafting buddies to our newest friends the option to celebrate this amazing artistic medium and create along with us! You are going to love what we have to show you today, as we take you on a journey through this year’s National Stamping Month exclusive offer, Card Creativity. Let’s dive straight in!
Card Creativity is all about expressing your artistic vision through the cardmaking medium, which allows you to more readily share your creations with friends and family! With this central purpose at the heart of Card Creativity, we’ve created three stamp sets with coordinating Thin Cuts metal dies and stencils, and one set made up entirely of sentiments for the interior of your cards.
Each stamp set has its own unique feel and can be incorporated into countless designs for maximum creative output, and with so many interior sentiments to choose from, your cards are always sure to be a delight, not only for the recipients, but for you as you make them, as well!
Today, we’ll be focusing on the ins and outs of six particular designs, pictured below; all of these cards can be created by following the instructions in the Card Creativity Cardmaking Workshop Kit. (To download these instructions, click here! For our friends in Australia and New Zealand, click here!)
A hallmark of the Card Creativity cardmaking experience is the inclusion of coordinating background stencils, a method which can be seen in all six of the cards we’ll look at today. As crafters familiar with Close To My Heart will know, many of our stamp sets come with coordinating Thin Cuts metal dies, designed to cut die-cuts from plain paper that can then accommodate a stamped image from its coordinating set. Incorporating Thin Cuts into your stamp-based crafts can be a great way to bring additional dimension into your project. For Card Creativity, we’ve created three coordinating stamps and Thin Cuts, but we’ve also designed special stencils to layer in with the stamps and Thin Cuts. As you will see later on, these stencils can be used to create background patterns or to add color to accent elements more at the forefront.
Another standout feature of this cardmaking extravaganza is the inclusion of the Cloud, Stitched Swirl, and Circle Lattice Background Thin Cuts metal dies. These metal dies are each designed to fit a standard 4¼” x 5½” card, and they are a great way to create engaging backgrounds, card bases, or decorative overlays. These die-cuts are designed specifically to coordinate with our Card Creativity stamps, Thin Cuts, and stencils—to achieve some pretty impressive effects!—but they can be used as standalone Thin Cuts in a variety of other projects. The only limit is your imagination! Each one of these metal dies has been used to create the cards we’ll be looking at today, and we can’t wait to show them off!
The first two cards we’ll examine today are an adorable and light-hearted pair of birthday and greeting cards. Both cards were made using the Floating By Stamp + Thin Cuts + Stencil set (CC9225) and are a delightful blend of whimsy and good old-fashioned animal cuteness. (After all, what’s cuter than animals and colorful balloons? 🥰)
In our sweet little mouse birthday card, you can see the Cloud Background Thin Cuts (CC9228) used to great effect; not only has the main component of the metal die been used to create a simple, yet beautiful base, but the interior shapes from the initial cut have been incorporated as well. This inclusion gives the card an additional level of dimension befitting an expansive, cloudy sky for our mouse to float in. The mouse and its balloons top everything off, along with a hand-trimmed pennant for our sentiment, and a few Clear Sparkles!
For our “Floating By to Say Hi” greeting card, we begin to see how the stencils and Thin Cuts can work together for seamless coordination and application. Rather than using the Cloud Background Thin Cuts die as a base, we used the cloud stencil, Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide™ ink, and a sponge to apply light blue clouds to a plain white cardstock base. Over that, we layered a few of the interior cloud cut-outs, some strategically ripped cardstock, and of course, our animal friend and balloon! (For a fun twist, we stamped our sentiment on the balloon die-cut itself!) We’ve also added a few Clear Sparkles for a fun bit of shine, and with that, our “Floating By to Say Hi” greeting card is complete!
The “Hello Fabulous” motivational card showcases the use of not one pass with the stencil, but two! To create our multi-colored base, we sponged one color of ink with the stencil on one side, then flipped the stencil around and sponged a different color of ink onto the card base, perpendicular to the first round of color! This technique allows you to enjoy the dual-color effect while also enjoying the convenience of only needing one tool! (Just make sure to wipe the stencil off before going in for your second round of color to avoid smudging your card!)
After applying our stenciled colors to the card base, we cut an overlay piece using the Circle Lattice Background Thin Cuts metal die, and then sponged it with coordinating colors to match the stencil work we did on the card base. Once our colors were applied, we finished this card off with our stamped, die-cut sentiment, a few pieces of black and white cardstock to accent it, and a handful of our trusty clear sparkles for some subtle shine. When it all comes together, this vibrant card is a beautiful way to not only express and exercise your creativity, but is a great way to show someone special that you care!
Our other Hello Fabulous card doesn’t incorporate our background stencil, but does sport some pretty snazzy colors with blended Distress Oxide™ ink on the Circle Lattice Background die-cut piece. We love adding all sorts of bright coloring with Distress Oxide, and it’s always a treat to see what can be done with it!
For this card in particular, we used a Mini Ink Blending Tool to blend our selected ink colors into an awesome ombre effect. (For more inspiration on how to incorporate Distress Oxide inks into your own creations, check out our “Distress Oxide™ Ink Techniques and Ideas” blog post!)
With our “Thank You” card, we’ve gone for a more minimalistic approach when it comes to the base design, selecting a clean White Daisy base. To give it some extra pop, we’ve taken the Stitched Swirl Background Thin Cuts and used it to cut the distinctive stitched swirl patterns into our base. Once the base is in place, we added a 3¼” x 4″ piece of black cardstock, topped with an additional 3″ x 3¾” White Daisy piece, which has also been treated with the Stitched Swirl Background Thin Cuts die. This die is a great tool for adding subtle pattern and texture that contributes visual interest to your background without becoming too distracting. Once the base has been created, we get to the more involved, colorful parts of this creation process!
To add hues to our stamped die-cut flower patch, we went in with Blue Turquoise and Alpine Green TriBlend™ Markers and used the trio of shades in each to add some delicate color. However, it’s in our dragonfly’s wings where we really get into some coloring fun! For this elegant insect, we used our coordinating Dragonfly Wishes stencil to add color to the wings sections. This delicate blend of colors not only makes the dragonfly stand out but brings a more realistic touch to the overall aesthetic of the card. With the addition of our sentiment and a neat row of sparkles, this gorgeous dragonfly “Thank You” card is complete!
Our last piece we have to show you today is a fun dragonfly birthday card, complete with another stitched swirl background and a fun twist on the blended Distress Oxide™ ink blending techniques we’ve showcased in a few of our previous cards. Our “Wishing You a Wonderful Birthday” card starts off by running our base piece through our Die-cutting & Embossing Machine with the Stitched Swirl Background Thin Cuts. Next, we applied a pink and blue ink blend, adding a few water splatters for a watercolor effect.
Once the ink colors have been applied to our card base, we layered a small stamped image of cattails, matted with black cardstock, over the colored section and also popped our sentiment onto the card base, trimmed to a pennant shape for some additional flair. We’ve topped everything off with a pair of beautiful, iridescent dragonflies with delicately colored wings. Once again, we’ve used Distress Oxide™ ink pads and the Dragonfly Wishes stencil to achieve this appearance, and added a few Clear Sparkles to finish the look. (It’s amazing to see what a difference even a small embellishment can make!)
With so much crafting potential packed in, Card Creativity is the ultimate cardmaking experience and a great way to express your own love for stamping! We’ve loved showing you these incredible cards to give you an idea of the artwork that can be made with this amazing collection of products, and we’re looking forward to seeing all the awesome things you create with it, both for Card Creativity and beyond!
During this joyful time of year, I would like to share with you three of the things that bring the most joy into my life: My Savior, my family, and Close To My Heart.
My Savior, Jesus Christ, has been a driving and sustaining force to me throughout my life. The joy I feel in celebrating His birth at Christmastime is amplified by a lifetime of striving to know Him through prayer, reflection, and following His teachings. He has been a great source of strength to me in every endeavor, including in building and leading Close To My Heart.
My family’s love and support means the world to me! From my caring and thoughtful husband, David, to my children, who have grown into such remarkable adults, and my grandchildren, who are so delightful to watch as they grow and develop. My family is my greatest blessing, and I love the time we are able to spend together—especially during the holidays.
My company, Close To My Heart, has also been a source of great joy to me, as I know it has been for thousands upon thousands of others who have been part of our community over the years. This company could not exist without the support of my family, my Savior, and the wonderful community of crafters that has embraced it and made it part of their lives. It brings me joy to see the beauty that Close To My Heart has added to the world and the ways it has changed lives for the better.
During this Christmas season, as you reflect on what brings you joy, I am honored to know that Close To My Heart is among those things. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
There’s a lot to love about getting VIP treatment, and it’s no different at Close To My Heart! Today, we’re going to give you an inside look at one of our new, exclusive products—just for VIP Customers—the VIP Flower Shop card kit!
The VIP Flower Shop card kit is the ultimate easy cardmaking solution, and is so simple, you can even make your cards on the go! Each card box contains 15 pre-printed card bases, three exclusive banner die-cut sheets, a mini stamp block and ink pad, and the My Acrylix® Flower Shop stamp set, which is only available with the VIP Flower Shop card kit.
This kit comes not only with everything you need to make beautiful cards in minutes but is itself an eye-catching storage solution for cards you’ve already made! Along with the card components, the VIP Flower Shop card kit includes tabbed dividers, making it easy to keep track of cards for all occasions.
The VIP Flower Shop card kit is only available to Close To My Heart VIP Customers and will only be around through the end of October, so if you’re not already a member of our VIP Customer Program, consider signing up today! Signing up is quick and easy, and with a small annual fee of $35 USD*, new VIPs get an immediate sign-up bonus of $15 in VIP Credit! If you’re already a VIP Customer, you’ll be delighted to know that you’ll also be receiving a renewal bonus of $15 USD* in VIP Credits when you continue your membership for a second year!
As a member of the VIP Customer Program, you can earn 15% of the retail amount of your order back in VIP Credit. This benefit rewards you each time you place an order with your Close To My Heart Maker! You can also gain access to exclusive products—like the VIP Flower Shop card kit—and virtual events throughout the year, just for VIP customers!
VIP Customer Program members also have the opportunity to earn the Stamp of the MonthFREE when they place an order of $50 USD* or more. These stamp sets are typically available for $18.95 USD* retail price, so it’s an amazing perk for our VIP customers to be able to get these sets for free!
We can’t wait for you to discover all the amazing perks available to you as a VIP! Sign up today to be a part of this amazing crafting community and start earning your own VIP perks, including the exclusive VIP Flower Shop Card Kit!
*All monetary values are reflected in USD. If you live outside the United States, please contact your Close To My Heart Maker for prices specific to your market.
How is it the middle of August already? Bells will ring, announcing the start of a new school year, and students and teachers, alike, will be back in the thick of it all before we know it!
Our teachers give so much of themselves, year after year. As our children prepare to return to fill their classrooms, let’s add to their supply lists a small gift of appreciation and encouragement!
We’ve got three simple projects for you and your kiddos to work on and bring to your teachers on that momentous first day.
First, we have a fun twist on the traditional school apple.
Did you know that, back in the 1700s, some families would give teachers a basket full of apples as payment for their child’s education? Now-a-days, the gifting of apples (or an apple) shifted from attempted compensation to a kind gesture of appreciation.
We’ve got a delicious variation of this popular gift with these gorgeous paper apples.
You will need three different color/pattern papers for the body of the apples, another paper for the leaf, and another for the tag (if you choose to add a tag). You will also need a pencil (cut down to 6″), adhesive, and twine.
We used a combination of shapes from our Art Philosophy Cricut® collection and free shapes available through Cricut Design Space™ to cut the pieces you see here. (School Apple Cricut Design Space™ file.) If you don’t have a cutting machine, we kept the shapes fairly simple so they could be recreated by hand. We recommend making the apple shape first, on a scratch piece of paper, and then using this as a template to trace and hand trim the six apples needed for the 3-D apple shape.
Once you have all of your shapes cut, fold the apple pieces along the score lines and attach them to each other, as shown above. (For those of you who cut these shapes by hand, there should be two score lines in the middle of each, approx. ⅜” apart.) Before attaching the last two wedges together, closing the circle, glue the pencil inside the “core.”
Embellish the apple with a leaf and a tag and then it’s ready for school!
Dressed up sticky notes is another fun way to show your teachers a little love. You know they will use sticky notes throughout the school year, so why not add a little flair and present them as gift?
To make one of these, you will need a 3″ x 3″ sticky note pad, one sheet of cardstock for the base of the holder, hook and loop dots (aka velcro dots), adhesive, and any type of embellishment you wish to add to the inside or outside of the base.
Use this Design Space file to cut the long, scalloped and scored rectangle cardstock piece you see here. (If you are cutting it by hand, the rectangle is 3¼” x 8½” and has score lines at 2⅛”, 2⅝”, 5⅞”, 6⅜” from the bottom.) Once you’ve cut and scored the cardstock, this project is pretty intuitive. First, attach the note pad to the center of the cardstock. Next, fold the pieces up and around the note pad. Then, embellish the top of the holder however you’d like, and finish by adding a hook and loop pair for the closing.
The last diy gift of appreciation we’re showing you today is actually a gift box for you to make and then fill with small goodies.
To make one of these boxes you will need two sheets of cardstock or pattern paper (that’s if you’d like for the box insert and sleeve to be different colors or designs), adhesive, and embellishments of your choice.
Use this Design Space file to cut the necessary shapes. (If you don’t have a cutting machine and would like to make a gift box, use this link to learn how to make one similar to the one shown here.)
Fold the cut paper along the score lines and attach them with adhesive to create the sleeve and box insert. Decorate the top of the box with additional papers, the teacher’s name, and other embellishments, and then fill it with goodies you know your teacher would like (tissues, lotion, hand sanitizer, a gift card, candies, etc.). That’s it!
Now, let’s show our teachers some love and encouragement this upcoming school year by letting them know, even in small ways, that we see and recognize their hard work and dedication.
In the comments below, we’d love to hear what you’re doing to show your teachers how much you appreciate them. ❤️
One of our favorite things about our Close To My Heart family is connecting with crafters from all over the world. There’s something magical about joining together with friends to create beautiful things. This year, the magic is happening at the Close To My Heart 2021 Virtual Convention, July 27–29! Want to get your Convention registration fees waived? Learn how, below!
Over the course of our time in the crafting industry, we’ve had the chance to host some fabulous events, and we’ve put our whole heart into each and every one. While we will miss being able to meet together in person, this year’s virtual Convention is sure to be one for the record books!
Through all the experiences of the past year, we’ve all realized just how important it is to stay connected to family, friends, and of course, fellow crafters. This year’s Virtual Convention will include opportunities for crafting, education, creation, connection, and celebration with Makers from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan! The online-only format of this Convention will allow for many more Makers to join us. We’re so thrilled to have the chance to connect more fully with so many friends, whether you’ve just joined the Close To My Heart family or we’ve known you for years and years!
Convention attendees will be able to participate in business training classes, artwork workshops, giveaways, contests, and more! In addition, Close To My Heart President, Monica Wihongi, and other members of the Home Office staff will give Convention attendees an in-depth first look at TWOnew catalogs: the 2021–2022 Core Products Catalog and the 2021 September–October catalog! These beautiful catalogs are full of brand-new products and eye-popping artwork, from cover to cover!
As a Convention participant, you’ll not only get the chance to see these catalogs, you’ll have the opportunity to craft with some of the new products showcased in them! This will be the only opportunity to get an early preview of these highly anticipated catalogs, and it’s worth tuning in just for that!
This event will also provide us a special opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our US Makers over the last year. We love recognizing our Makers’ exceptional efforts and accomplishments and look forward to celebrating the achievements and successes of this great community with all of you!
2021 Virtual Convention is sounding better all the time, isn’t it? And we haven’t even gotten to the part about how you can qualify for free event registration yet!
Virtual Convention will be an exciting, 3-day event for Close To My Heart Makers only. If you’re not a Maker yet, now is the perfect time to join the ranks!
That’s where this month’s Sign Up & Celebrate special comes in! Through this special offer, any new Makers who sign up during June will have their Convention registration fee waived! For our existing Makers, anyone who signs up five or more new Makers during the month of June will also have their registration fees reimbursed! This amazing offer will only be available through June 30, so be sure to take advantage of this chance to join us with no registration fees!
What are you most excited for with the 2021 Virtual Convention? Leave a comment below to let us know what you’re looking forward to! We’d also love to hear from you if you’ve already registered for Convention! Comment below to let us know you’re coming!