Win a FREE Album Retreat Bundle for May!

Close To My HeartAlbum Retreat, core memories, days like these, exclusive, free, giveaway, let us show you how, little moments big memories, May, memories were made here, one of a kind experience 185 Comments

May Album Retreat #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhcorememories #ctmhalbumretreat #scrapbookingtechniques #scrapbooktechniques #scrapbooking #littlemomentsbigmemories

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!

May Album Retreat #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhcorememories #ctmhalbumretreat #scrapbookingtechniques #scrapbooktechniques #scrapbooking #oneofakindexperience

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!

May Album Retreat #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhcorememories #ctmhalbumretreat #scrapbookingtechniques #scrapbooktechniques #scrapbooking #dayslikethese

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!!

May Album Retreat #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhcorememories #ctmhalbumretreat #scrapbookingtechniques #scrapbooktechniques #scrapbooking #memoriesweremadehere

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!

See you in May!

December 28, 2022Create, Inspiration, Memory Keeping

Win a FREE Album Retreat Bundle!!

Close To My Heartalbum, Album Retreat, destination, Family, February Album Retreat, free, friends, getaway, going places, journey, love, Memory Keeping, retreat, road trip, scrapbooking, staycation, ticket, tour, travel, vacation, virtual, win 92 Comments

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!

Leave a comment

October 19, 2022Community, Inspiration, Learn

Baking Memories with a Recipe Swap and Giveaway!

Close To My Heartbaking, baking memories, cake, cardmaking, christmas, cinnamon rolls, circles, cookies, cooking, crafting, Family, food, free, Freshly Baked, friends, fun, giveaway, Holiday, holiday treats, kitchen, lick the bowl, love, memories, Memory Keeping, potatoes, recipe cards, recipe swap, recipes, scrapbooking workshop, stamp, straight cut, sweet life, Thin Cuts, treats, yummy 58 Comments

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? 😋

Recipes:

12″ x 12″ Baking Memories Page
Z8047 Freshly Baked—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7285S Freshly Baked Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X6050 Flamingo Cardstock, X6046 French Vanilla Cardstock, X6066 Honey Butter Cardstock, X6068 Seabrook Cardstock, X5950 Toffee Cardstock, Z4189 Intense Black Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z3561 Black Diamond Stickles^™ Glitter Glue, Z3630 Watercolor Pencils, Z3224 Small Round Waterbrush, Z4575 Black LePen^™, X7285E Freshly Baked Dots, Z3943 Circles Thin Cuts, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

12″ x 12″ Lick the Bowl Page
Z8047 Freshly Baked—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7285S Freshly Baked Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X7285D Freshly Baked Picture My Life^™ Cards, X6046 French Vanilla Cardstock, X6066 Honey Butter Cardstock, X6049 Scarlet Cardstock, X6068 Seabrook Cardstock, X5950 Toffee Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6531 Mocha Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3555 Christmas Red Stickles^™Glitter Glue, Z3787 Platinum Stickles^™Glitter Glue, Z3559 Waterfall Stickles^™ Glitter Glue, Z3630 Watercolor Pencils, Z4575 Black LePen^™, X7285E Freshly Baked Dots, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

4″ x 6″ Creamy Cinnamon Rolls Recipe Card
Z8046 Freshly Baked—Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7285S Freshly Baked Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X6068 Seabrook Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6531 Mocha Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6526 Scarlet Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2805 Black Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z1509 Sepia LePen^™, X7285E Freshly Baked Dots, Z4607 4″ Masking Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

4″ x 6″ Sour Cream Cheese Potatoes Recipe Card
Z8046 Freshly Baked—Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7285S Freshly Baked Paper Packet + Stickers, X6066 Honey Butter Cardstock, X6049 Scarlet Cardstock, X6068 Seabrook Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3839 Scarlet Glitter Paper, Z4189 Intense Black Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z4575 Black LePen^™, Z1500 Red LePen^™, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

Leave a comment

October 5, 2022Create, Inspiration, Memory Keeping

Creating Multiple Windows on a Scrapbook Page + FREE Cricut Design Space™ File!

Close To My Heartback to school, bubbles, christmas, Christmas story, cricut, Cricut Design Space, Cricut Design Space™, Design Space, free, free design space file, Halloween costumes, Holiday, Memory Keeping, Merry Christmas, new year's eve photos, October–December catalog, peekaboo, scrapbooking, shaker, shaker window, tropcial holiday, underwater pictures, window 12 Comments

We are down to the final months of the year, and that means we have some major holidays just around the corner! There is so much to celebrate, and with all of the memories you are bound to make, you’re going to need somewhere to preserve them. Follow along to learn how to recreate this beautiful scrapbook page, featured on the cover of our new October–December catalog, so you can use it for your memory keeping this coming season!

Cricut Design Space™ File:

To kick things off, click here for the free Design Space^™ file that will cut the circle shapes out of a 12″ x 12″ sheet of patterned paper to create the top layer of the base of the page. Since circles are part of Cricut’s “basic shapes,” you do not need to own any Close To My Heart collections to use the free download!

Materials Needed:

Our main focus today will be on creating and filling the multiple circle window spaces. Here’s what you’ll need:

· a 12″ x 12″ patterned paper sheet (for the cutout layer)
· a 12″ x 12″ base page, one that will hold all of the window elements in place (we used a sheet of White Daisy cardstock)
· 3-D foam tape
· small circle shaker window foam + acetate
· coordinating shaker window fillers (we used gold star confetti)
· glitter paper
· coordinating cardstock
· additional, coordinating patterned papers

Tip: The glitter paper, cardstock, and patterned papers will be used for the background of the circles, so it’s a great way to use up some of your scraps!

· coordinating embellishments (die-cuts, acrylic shapes, stickers, etc.)

(If you’d like to duplicate our page, exactly, see the recipe at the end of this post for a complete list of products that you will need.)

Instructions:

1. Pair the Design Space file provided above with the 12″ x 12″ patterned paper and cut the top layer for the base.

2. Place the cutout layer on top of the 12″ x 12″ White Daisy cardstock, or whatever you’re using for the base page, and with a pencil lightly trace all of the circles onto it. Remove the cut layer and now, with the marked up base page, you’re ready to start building the individual windows!

3. We will start with the “hardest” windows (they’re really not that hard), and those are the shaker windows. We chose to incorporate two shakers on our page, one at the top of the page and one at the bottom. Both bases for these shakers are 2″ circles, one cut from patterned paper and the other from cardstock.

Using the technique we shared a couple of months ago in A New Approach to Shaker Cards, Step-by-Step, we assembled the shaker windows on the back side of the cutout layer (rather than on top of it). On the back side of the cutout patterned paper, you will attach the acetate, then attach the circle foam tape, then add the filling, and finish by attaching the base.

Tip: For more detailed instructions on how to assemble these shakers from the back, visit the post mentioned in the step.

4. On the solid base page, cover the penciled circles that will not be shaker windows with patterned paper, cardstock, or glitter paper. You can cover all of them or leave a few blank. What you cover or don’t cover is what will show through on your final page.

Tips: You do not have to stay inside the lines. In fact, we encourage you to go over a bit, just outside the lines, so the edges of the circles won’t be visible when the top layer is attached later. You are also not confined to using circles to create these background spaces. All that matters is that you cover the spaces that were drawn on the base page in their entirety. As you cut your paper pieces, refer to the image below to know the size of each circle, if necessary.

5. Add more dimension to the page by embellishing a few of these circle spaces even further using acrylic shapes, die-cuts, stickers, stamped images, etc. You’ll notice that two of the circles on our page are embellished with acrylic stars and heart die-cuts. Unlike the confetti in our shaker windows, these stars and hearts were attached to the prepared base page because there will not be acetate keeping them from falling off the page. Plus, we preferred a more organized look for these spaces 🙂.

6. Once all of your circles are prepared, it’s time to do some additional prep work to attach the two base pieces together! Here’s where you pull out the trusty 3-D foam tape! Depending on where you chose to place your shaker windows and other three-dimensional embellishments is where you will need to add 3-D foam tape to your base page. There are some of us out there that will want to add foam tape all around the perimeter of the page and each of the circles, and possibly a few additional places. If that is you, by all means, go for it! If you’re in the camp of being more frugal with your use of foam tape, then add it where you see that the page will not be supported up by the parts that have already been prepared, including the four corners of the page.

7. With your base page prepared with foam tape, line up the cutout layer with the base, focusing on the edges and corners, and attach!

Tip: Add some regular adhesive to the backs of those shaker windows for a firmer grip in those areas.

And there you have it! It may seem like a lot of steps, but the idea behind this page is simple enough that you will find it comes together easier than you might think!

Mat a photo and add it to the page, along with a few more embellishments and journaling, and you’ve got a gorgeous page worthy of any scrapbook!

Whether you’re backlogged on memories that need a home or are wanting to get a leg up on what you know is to come in these next few months, this type of scrapbook page is versatile enough that it can be used for a variety of themes, not just Christmas. The circles on this page could be used to make constellations and planets for beautiful pictures that come with a night sky, bubbles for those adorable bath time photos or for underwater pictures from a tropical holiday. This type of effect could form the background for flashier New Year’s Eve photos, Halloween costumes, back to school, or any other theme you can think of!

However you decide to use this page, we hope you enjoy this time of year to the fullest and preserve the beautiful moments you are creating!

Recipe:

12″ x 12″ Merry Christmas Page
Z8009 Admit One Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7286S Christmas Story Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X7287S Cherish Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X9044 Mix-in Paper Packet, X6047 Black Cardstock, X6060 Mocha Cardstock, X6045 Sage Cardstock, X6059 Shortbread Cardstock, X5950 Toffee Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z4611 Seabrook Glitter Paper, Z3239 Silver Glitter Paper, Z6523 Avocado Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6515 Paprika Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z4575 Black LePen^™, Z5010 White Gloss Spray, X7286E Christmas Story Embellishments, Z4626 Red Dots, Z3677 Gold Star Confetti, Z6047 White Acrylic Stars, Z6044 Woodgrain Die-cut Hearts, Z8052 Merry Christmas Layers Thin Cuts , Z4620 Small Circle Window Thin Cuts, Z4569 Small Circle Shaker Window Foam + Acetate, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots^® Micro Dots, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine, Cricut^® Basic Shapes

Cricut^® Shapes:
Basic Shapes
#M2AAB3EFD
#M5C38547
#M5C3851C

Leave a comment

November 17, 2021Create, Inspiration

A FREE Card Pattern, No Occasion Required!

Close To My Heartcandid moments, card, cardmaking, deck the palms, download, free, laughing lola, Mix-in, pattern, wonderland 4 Comments

A handmade, heartfelt card can brighten anyone’s day no matter the occasion (or lack thereof 😉) and we’ve got three for you today, all made from the same pattern!

Making its original debut in our Laughing Lola Workshops on the Go^® cardmaking guide years ago, we paired this timeless pattern with several different paper designs and stamp sets to create multiple unique cards, each with their own distinct look and flair!

The beautiful fall-themed card, above, was made using the Mix-in paper packet (from our November–December catalog) and the Months of the Year—November stamp set. Below, we took a more festive approach with our Deck the Palms patterned papers and Wonderland—Cardmaking stamp and Thin Cuts.

For our last card, we paired the flat pattern with the Candid Moments paper packet and Cardmaking stamp and Thin Cuts to create an “any occasion,” “any time,” card that will still dazzle its recipient. This card uses the same flat pattern as the previous two, we just changed it up a bit by rotated it 90 degrees!

With most card patterns, it’s possible to get an entirely different look simply by rotating them. When you throw different paper designs and color palettes in the mix, the possibilities for creativity increase exponentially!

Cards made from this Laughing Lola pattern are incredibly easy to put together, come together quickly, and still look great! Not only is this card pattern easy to put together and customize, but it’s also a great pattern to use if you’re looking to make a lot of cards in one sitting.

Download the pattern, here.

Free Card Pattern #closetomyheart #ctmh #ctmhdeckthepalms #ctmhcandidmoments #ctmhwonderland #freepattern #freecardmakingpattern #freecard #cardmaking #freedownload #deckthepalms #thinkingofyou #warmwishes #thankful

For even more timeless cardmaking patterns, check out our cardmaking how-to book, Make It from Your Heart™ volume 4. If you love the free patterns on the blog, you’re sure to be blown away by the beautiful, one-of-a-kind, patterns in this book!

Recipes:

Leave a comment

November 3, 2021Create

FREE Design Space File to Create Your Own Gratitude Tree!

Close To My Heartcraft, cricut, Design Space, download, file, free, grateful, gratitude, leaf, leaves, papercraft, thanksgiving, tree, trunk 9 Comments

Gratitude Paper Craft #closetomyheart #ctmh #cricut #gratitude #grateful #thanksgiving #gratitudetree #fallcraft #autumncraft #thanksgivingcraft #cricutdesignspace #free #freefile #freedownload #papercraft #papercrafting

The things we’re grateful for—relationships, homes, lifestyle comforts, financial success, etc.—may not grow on trees, but in today’s post they will! We’re going to walk you through the steps of creating your very own gratitude tree!

To get you started, we’re providing a FREE Cricut Design Space™ file for the shapes of the tree trunk and leaves! These tree shapes come from a variety of our Cricut^® collections, including Art Philosophy, Artbooking, Flower Shop, and more! Click here to download this file!

Once you’ve downloaded our free file, or have selected Cricut^® shapes or metal dies of your own, select a variety of colored cardstock to cut your leaves. For our tree, we chose to incorporate vibrant autumnal colors, but color choice is completely up to you! Just make sure to select shades that will allow your journaling to show. (As a reminder, all Close To My Heart colored cardstock is two-toned, so you can use a single color and still end up with two shades!)

After your leaves and trunk are cut, it’s time to create your base page and attach the trunk. We kept our base page simple with a denim patterned paper from our Textures Paper Packet, featured in the 2021–2022 Core Products Catalog. We also decided to add a little more dimension to our tree trunk by cutting two trunk layers and positioning them slightly off set from each other. For even more artistic fun, we chose to use a wood grain patterned paper from our Wood Grains Paper Packet for our top layer and a solid Mocha cardstock layer on the bottom. (Attaching your top layer with thin 3-D foam tape can be another great way to bring dimension to your tree!)

When your base is ready, put it in a 12″ x 12″ frame and set it in high traffic area of your home. Place the cut, leaves along with a few colorful pens and adhesive, in a handy bowl. Allow everyone who passes by to write something they are grateful for on a leaf and have them attach it to the tree! Another way to use this project is to bring it to your Thanksgiving Day table for a fun family activity! Pass the leaves around the table and invite your guests to write what they are grateful for. When everyone’s finished, collect all the leaves, and watch your gratitude tree spring to life as you share the thoughtful contributions of your loved ones!

For our tree, we used 3-D foam tape, thin 3-D foam tape, and a gl u e pen to attach the leaves to the base tree, resulting in a nice variation in dimension from leaf to leaf. Once you’ve attached all the gratitude leaves to the tree branches, you can use any extras to create a small leaf pile at the base of your tree trunk, helping to fill out your page and give it a little extra flair. One of the best parts about this project is that it’s sized to fit inside a standard size scrapbook album! Add a bit of journaling to bring some context to the project, dress it up with a few embellishments, and you’re ready to put it into your scrapbook to cherish for years to come!

Recollections of days, meals, and even gifts may fade over time, but creating a lasting memory of gratitude and family is a sure-fire way to make this year’s Thanksgiving holiday unforgettable! Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition? Tell us about it in the comments, below!

November Gratitude Projects: These 5 crafts will keep thankful thoughts top of mind

Recipe

12″ x 12″ Gratitude Tree Page
Cricut Design Space™ File, X6060 Mocha Cardstock, X6043 Nectarine Cardstock, X6033 Paprika Cardstock, X6051 Sundance Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X8031 Textures Paper Packet, X8028 Wood Grain Paper Packet, Z1500 Red LePen™, Z1509 Sepia LePen™, Z1513 White Gel Pens, Z4054 Gold Embellishing Thread, Z3312 Gold Glitter Gems, Z5317 Saddle Brown My Legacy™ D-ring Album, 4110 Top-load 12″ x 12″ Memory Protectors™, 12″ x 12″ Frame

Leave a comment

June 2, 2021Celebrate, Create

Cutting Diagrams and Patterns for a Father’s Day Mini Album!

Close To My Heartdad, download, father, father's day, free, guide, keepsake, mini album, no ordinary dad, pattern, stars & sparklers, workshop 4 Comments

Can you believe we’re already in June?! It’s that time of year where we shift our focus to the dads in our lives and remind them of just how much we appreciate them! To help us do exactly that, not only have we designed three sweet and fun No Ordinary Dad stamp sets for you to make your own meaningful creations, but we also designed a 4″ x 4″ mini album using these very stamp sets, highlighting what makes fathers so special!

No Ordinary Dad

Best Dad Ever

My Dad Rocks

Mini Album:

(click on the individual images to enlarge)

Handmade Father's Day Gifts #closetomyheart #ctmh #ctmhnoordinarydad #noordinarydad #scrapbooking #stamping #diyphotoalbum #minialbum #father'sday #bestdadever

To make this mini album, exactly as you see here, you will need the following materials:

My Acrylix® No Ordinary Dad Stamp Set
My Acrylix® Best Dad Ever Stamp Set
My Acrylix® My Dad Rocks Stamp Set
Blue Belle 4″ x 4″ Album
Stars & Sparklers Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet
Stars & Sparklers Coordinating Cardstock
(or 1 Bluebird, 1 Carolina, 1 Sapphire, 1 Scarlet, 1 Toffee, and 2 White Daisy sheets)
Blue Belle Cardstock (1 sheet)
Bluebird Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Sapphire Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Scarlet Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad
Silver Shimmer Trim
Black Journaling Pen (.01)

Download the free cutting diagrams and patterns, below, for additional guidance to make this super cute and meaningful little keepsake!

No Ordinary Dad Mini Album guide (US/CA)Download

No Ordinary Dad Mini Album guide (AU/NZ)

Make Father’s Day a little extra special this year with meaningful, personalized handmade gifts from the heart. ❤️

Leave a comment

May 12, 2021Celebrate, Create, Inspiration, Memory Keeping

FREE Scrapbook Pattern with You Are Enough

Close To My Heartaffirmations, butterflies, butterfly, free, gemstones, National, national scrapbooking month, nsm, pattern, scrapbook, scrapbooking, you are enough 7 Comments

Our National Scrapbooking Month celebrations are in full swing around these parts, and what better way to get everyone to join in the festivities than with a free downloadable scrapbook pattern, complete with cutting diagrams and all!

You Are Enough #closetomyheart #ctmh #ctmhyouarenenough #ctmhnsm #nsm #nationalscrapbookingmonth #youareenough #freepattern #scrapbooking

Making its original debut with the Daydream Workshops On the Go^®, we paired this timeless 12″ x 12″ pattern with our gorgeous You Are Enough collection!

The You Are Enough collection is a celebration of life and all of its perfect imperfections. “You are enough” does not mean that you are or have to be everything. You don’t have to be perfect, just be who you were designed and made to be. Our You Are Enough collection features beautiful stone designs with stunning rose gold accents and a gorgeous sticker sheet full of positive affirmations, enabling incredible artwork that celebrates everything that life has to offer!

Along with providing products that you will consume and not just collect, we also pride ourselves in being the “let me show you how^®” memory-keeping company, and in providing the most comprehensive scrapbooking and cardmaking patterns. When you download the Daydream scrapbooking pattern, you will find that it also comes with cutting diagrams, making it even easier to create these pages from any of your favorite papers and embellishments, not just what we are showing you here. All of our patterns lend themselves to any memories that are special enough to preserve.

Download this free scrapbook pattern below and let us show you just how easy scrapbooking can be!

Download free pattern and cutting guides, here.

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

Leave a comment

February 10, 2021Celebrate, Create

A FREE Card Pattern for Valentine’s Day and Beyond!

Close To My Heartcard, cardmaking, DIY, free, Love of Color, pattern, perfect match, valentine 12 Comments

We have an early Valentine for all our loyal readers—a free card pattern! Celebrate along with us and share the love this Valentine’s Day, and anytime, with a personalized handmade card!

Making its original debut in our Blossom Workshops on the Go^® cardmaking guide years ago, we paired this timeless pattern with our lovely Perfect Match collection to create four cards, two that are romantic themed and two that are not.

This classic pattern can be used for every celebration and occasion with the right combination of papers, embellishments, and sentiments. If you’re not sure how to mix and match these products, we’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation for you! For effortless coordination, simply choose any one of our creative collections and stick to just those products within the suite. Another option is to pick a color combination from either of our Love of Color volumes, and to strictly work with products within that color palette. (Making cards can be that easy! 🥳)

The flower card above was made using one of the Ballerina color combinations: Ballerina, Pewter, Carolina, and Sugarplum. If you look closely, you’ll notice that even though we picked this combination, we left Sugarplum (one of our retired colors) off and added White Daisy. It still works!

The Hello card on the right was made from one of the Candy Apple combination options: Candy Apple, White Daisy, Lagoon, Sapphire, and Black.

Download the free pattern below and share some love this Valentine’s Day, and beyond, with a handmade card from the heart. ❤️

Free Card Pattern Download

**The Perfect Match collection is available now and through the end of the month (February 28), while supplies last!

Leave a comment

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: