January 4, 2023Inspiration, Memory Keeping

Stepping into the New Year with Places to Go and Memories to Keep!

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As we step into the new year with renewed hope and conviction, we look forward to the places we’ll visit, the sites we’ll see, the things we’ll do, and the people we will share it all with.

The newest Close To My Heart catalog was just released on the first and, from cover to cover, it is full of exciting new products and ideas to preserve the memories you’ve made in the past year and are planning for in the year to come.

One of our newest paper collections, featured on the cover artwork of the January–March 2023 catalog, is called “Are We There Yet?”

Stepping into the New Year with Places to Go and Memories to Keep! #arewethereyet #travel #scrapbooking #patternedpaper #suitcase #roadtrip #catalog #wander #staycation #vacation #goingplaces #journey #trip #family #friends

This gorgeous collection is inspired by all of those travel memories that we wandering humans can’t help but make! From big trips abroad or across state lines to smaller staycations or girls only weekends, most of us enjoy getting away from life’s repetitive beat from time to time.

The Are We There Yet? products are not only great tools to get those past travel memories preserved but also to inspire us to keep going. Exploring and wandering is about discovering different perspectives and seeing new things. If you plan things right, life will deliver new sights and unfold unseen horizons every step of the way. This collection asks the question, have we arrived? Even though we may arrive at specific travel destinations for a particular trip, with luck we’ll continue to go, to see, and to do, and never truly “arrive.”

We hope that this new year will bring many opportunities for travel and growth. Whatever adventures come our way, let’s not forget to document and preserve them! After all, sometimes to know where to go next, we need to remember where we’ve been. Scrapbooking is a beautiful way to journal these experiences, and it’s also a wonderful way to look back on them and share them with others.

For more inspiration on how to use the Are We There Yet? paper collection, take yourself on a journey through the new January–March 2023 catalog. Our Close To My Heart Makers are also sharing their ideas online, using the hashtag #ctmharewethereyet. Make sure to look up that hashtag from time to time to see what’s new and where this great collection is taking our fellow crafters!

Happy New Year and happy wandering! ❤️

Recipes:

12″ x 12″ Having a Great Time Page
Z4677 Are We There Yet?—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, D2145 My Acrylix^® Lovin’ Right Now Stamp Set, X7288S Are We There Yet? Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X6063 Papaya Cardstock, X5950 Toffee Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6534 Papaya Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z4634 Black & White Dots, Z2515 Earth Brown Shades TriBlend^™ Marker, Z4575 Black LePen^™, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots^® Micro Dots, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine, White Twine, Stapler

12″ x 12″ Our Getaway Page
Z4677 Are We There Yet?—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, C1966 My Acrylix^® Are We There Yet—Borders Stamp Set, X7288S Are We There Yet? Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X6066 Honey Butter Cardstock, X6063 Papaya Cardstock, X6044 Peach Cardstock, X5957 Sapphire Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z6534 Papaya Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2828 Toffee Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, X7288E Are We There Yet? Rubber Shapes, Z3726 Tags & Tabs Thin Cuts, Z3224 Small Round Waterbrush, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots^® Mircro Dots, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine, Cricut^® Basic Shapes

Cricut^® Shape:
Basic Shapes
#M2AAB3EFD

4¼” x 5½” What a Trip Card (Vertical)
Z4680 Are We There Yet?—Borders Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7288S Are We There yet? Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X5978 Glacier Cardstock, X6063 Papaya Cardstock, X6044 Peach Cardstock, X5957 Sapphire Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2841 Glacier Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6534 Papaya Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6521 Sundance Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z1513 White Gel Pens, Z3943 Circles Thin Cuts, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine

12″ x 12″ Our Getaway Page
Z4677 Are We There Yet?—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts, X7288S Are We There Yet? Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, X7288C Are We There Yet? Coordinating Cardstock, Z2841 Glacier Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6536 Honey Butter Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2825 Mink Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6534 Papaya Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2828 Toffee Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2515 Earth Brown Sahdes TriBlend^™ Marker, Z1507 Navy LePen^™, X7288E Are We There Yet? Rubber Shapes, Z4634 Black & White Dots, Z3726 Tags & Tabs Thin Cuts, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2089 Glue Dots^® Micro Dots, Z5038 Die-cutting & Embossing Machine, White Twine

12″ x 12″ Are We There Yet? Scrapbooking Workshop Layouts
G1269 Are We There Yet? Scrapbooking Workshop Kit, Z6508 Bluebird Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z2841 Glacier Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6536 Honey Butter Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6534 Papaya Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z6504 Sage Exclusive Inks^™ Stamp Pad, Z697 Round Sponge, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape

Win a FREE Album Retreat Bundle!!

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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!

Mermaid Tails & Fish Scales, Oh My!

Close To My Heartbeach, fish scales, getaway, girl, girly, little girl, Make Waves, mermaid, mermaid tails, ocean, Sea, technique, vacation 5 Comments

Every girl wants to be a princess mermaid! Everywhere we look, we are inundated with a sea of little girls (and some not so little girls 🙂 ) donning some sort of tribute to the beautiful mythical creatures. Mermaids are so popular that they have incorporated themselves into everyday, useful items: from mermaid tail blankets to mermaid tail swimwear, dressing up as a mermaid is no longer just for costume. And at Close To My Heart we love them too! (Have you seen our Make Waves collection?!)

Because we’re sure you’ll have plenty of reasons to scrapbook memories surrounding this trend, including a trip to the beach or a tropical getaway, we want to share with you how to duplicate the fish scale pattern we created in this layout from our Seasonal Expressions catalog.

The technique is quite simple, but the end result will be stunning!

STEP 1—Consider the space you will be covering up with scales and decide what size circles you want to use.

Once you know the size of circles you will be using, a little basic math comes in handy in figuring out how many you will need to cut in order to fill your space. In our example layout we have a 12-inch piece of cardstock and 1¼-inch circles. So, 12 divided by 1.25 equals 9.6, which means we roughly needed 9½ circles per row. To cover the bottom four inches of our paper with this pattern, we needed 7 rows (of 9½) circles. That made 67 circles, which we cut with our trusty Cricut^®. (If you don’t have a Cricut^®, a hole punch will work, too!)

Of course, math isn’t for everyone so if you’d rather wing it, go for it! 😉