July 8, 2020Celebrate, Create, Inspiration, Memory Keeping

The Happiest Place Collection!

Close To My Heartamusement, castle, cut above, event, foil design, happiest place, happy, Holiday, magic, mouse, park, rollercoaster, theme, trip, vacation, virtual 6 Comments

Hold on to your hats, because we’re going on a VIP tour of our newest and most magical collection, yet—the Happiest Place!

Summertime is the perfect time to make memories, and the Happiest Place collection is the perfect way to preserve them. With vibrant colors, delightfully whimsical patterns, and a wide selection of fun products to go with them, the Happiest Place will bring a smile to any face!

1. Happiest Place Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet

Let’s start everything off by taking a look at the Happiest Place Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet. This packet comes with twice as many patterned papers than the packets in most of our other collections, with 12 sheets—2 each of 6 double-sided designs!

Along with this awesome paper count, we’ve also got a beautiful sticker sheet, complete with silver glitter foil accents! This eye-catching assortment of stickers is the ideal complement to the fun designs of the papers, and you’ll love accenting your artwork with them!

2. Happiest Place Coordinating Cardstock

The Happiest Place Coordinating Cardstock adds yet another element of wonder to this magical collection. Like the sticker sheet, this cardstock pack includes a selection with silver glitter foil designs. With these shiny patterns, it’s easier than ever to add a little sparkle to your cards and scrapbook pages!

3. Happiest Place Acrylic Shapes

Looking to add even more dimension to your project? The Happiest Place Acrylic Shapes coordinate perfectly with the patterns in this collection and make a great addition to any card or layout!

4. Happiest Place Stamp + Thin Cuts

Preserve your happiest memories and create truly magical artwork with the Happiest Place stamp set and Thin Cuts dies!

In addition to the Happiest Place stamp set and Thin Cuts, the new Magical Alphabet stamp set from our July–August catalog fits right in with the Happiest Place collection. Expand your creative magic even further and create personalized, coordinated titles!

5. SVGs (Digital Art)

Along with the playful images in these stamp sets and Thin Cuts, the Happiest Place also includes a variety of digital art options. With two collections of SVG files—Happiest Place Digital Art Titles and Happiest Place Digital Art Designs—you’ll be all set to use and cut these too-cute shapes for yourself using your favorite digital design program and personal digital cutting machine! These shapes can be used to cut paper for your cards or layouts, or they can be used to cut vinyl images for a one-of-a-kind album cover, like this one!

6. Happiest Place Cut Above^® Kit

Use the materials in this kit to create the pages of an 8½” × 11″ album. No fussy-cutting required!

The Happiest Place Cut Above Layout Kit includes pre-printed base pages, exclusive die-cuts, pre-cut pieces, and instructions to guide you through every step of the way! No cutting or stamping necessary. Just pair this kit with your memories along with a journaling pen, photos, and adhesive!

7. FREE Virtual Event!

Join us as we host another fun and free 3-day virtual crafting event, beginning August 26! For more information, visit the Events tab on the Close To My Heart Facebook page, here. We’ll be doing some exciting giveaways in conjunction with this event, so be sure to mark yourself as “Going” when you visit our Facebook page to be registered for the giveaway opportunities!

We’re so excited about the Happiest Place collection, and just can’t wait for you to get your hands on it! Make sure to talk to your Consultant for even more information about any of these items and additional special offers available. (If you do not have a Consultant, find one in your area, here.)

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January 3, 2019Celebrate, Create

What Makes Your Heart Happy?

Close To My Heartcardmaking, Galentine, Galentine's Day, gift tags, happy, heart, love, scrapbooking, tags, Valentine's Day, Valentines 4 Comments

Heart Happy Workshop #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhhearthappy #valentine #valentine'sday #love #heart #mommyandme #scrapbooking #scrapbook

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
We love papercrafting
How about you?

Alright, we already know that you do, which is why our tireless product designers and artists have been hard at work to stay ahead of your crafting needs. We know that at this time of year, our hearts and minds turn toward the most special relationships in our lives, and we start thinking of ways that we can meaningfully show love for those closest to us. Anticipating the desire to create cards and scrapbook pages to celebrate this love, we have created a new exclusive collection we’re calling Heart Happy!

Heart Happy Workshop #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhhearthappy #valentine #valentine'sday #love #galentine'sday #galentine #cardmaking #cards

The Heart Happy collection features a paper packet, stamp set, and sticker sheet all designed specifically to help you express your feelings for those people who mean the most to you—whether that’s a significant other, children, family members, or even your girlfriends!

This collection is also available packaged together in a convenient workshop bundle with materials and instructions to help you create 1 two-page scrapbook layout, 2 single-page scrapbook pages, 10 unique cards, and 5 tags suitable to attach to sweet, thoughtful gifts for your loved ones.

Heart Happy Workshop #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhhearthappy #valentine #valentine'sday #love #galentine'sday #diytags #tags #gifttag

If you’re anything like us, then your heart is definitely feeling happy right now just thinking about playing with this vibrant collection of coordinating items. Now is the perfect time to start getting ready to make Valentine’s Day special, and ordering the Heart Happy collection is a wonderful place to start—visit closetomyheart.com to see the whole collection!

PS – If Valentine’s Day isn’t your thing but you’re still crushing on this paper collection, then you’ll love the alternative Everyday Life™ album that we’ve designed using these same papers. Check that out here.

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November 1, 2016Celebrate, Create, Memory Keeping

Make It a Happy, Happy Christmas!

Close To My Heartalbum, bundle, christmas, happy, Holiday, november, scrapbook, workshop 3 Comments

It’s already November? Oh how time flies!

With the holiday season quickly approaching, we’re offering a one-of-a-kind workshop to help you get ahead on your Christmas scrapbooking, gift making, and decorating. It’s called the Happy, Happy Christmas workshop.

How does it work? Simply purchase the Happy, Happy Christmas album bundle, which comes with a red My Legacy™ scrapbooking album of your choice (post-bound or D-ring), Memory Protectors, and supplies to make five 2-page layouts—all of which you get at over a 10% discount! Then download the instructions online to complete your five layouts. It’s all right at your fingertips!

Now here’s what makes this workshop extra special. The instructions for these layouts also include instructions for four additional Christmas projects. Purchase one or more of the products linked below, and then follow the workshop instructions to use your leftover paper and embellishments to make these Christmas crafts!

Red Chalkboard—Purchase this deeply discounted chalkboard, and then use your leftover paper and embellishments to make this adorable work of art!12″ x 12″ Display Tray—Just like the chalkboard, this display tray is deeply discounted. Adding leftover pocket scrapbooking cards and 3-D foam tape makes this wall accent really pop!

5″ x 7″ Hinged Display Tray—This hinged frame, which is perfect for a side table, mantle, or shelf, is also available at a great discount. Multiple layers with 3-D foam tape bring this artwork to life!

Everyday Life™ Sea Glass Album Bundle—This convenient bundle makes it easy to get everything you need to create a mini Christmas album with one click. It includes the Everyday Life™ Sea Glass album, as well as 6″ × 8″, 4″ × 6″, and 3″ × 4″ Memory Protectors™. Use your leftover My Crush® pages and Picture My Life™ pocket scrapbooking cards to make a no-hassle mini Christmas album!

All of these additional projects would make beautiful additions to your home—or the homes of loved ones. This unique workshop is a great way to really get your bang for your buck. It’s only available for the month of November, so make sure to talk to your Consultant to learn more about this workshop before it’s gone!

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May 26, 2016Learn, Memory Keeping

The 10/30/60 Rule

Close To My Heart10, 30, 60, happy, rule, scrapbooking, Times, tips, tricks 11 Comments

During National Scrapbooking Month, we’ve shared tips with you for mixing patterned papers and balancing the colors on your pages. Today we’re going to build on these tips, as well as share a few more—because you can never have too many ideas when it comes to scrapbooking!

First, let’s review what we’ve learned so far:

When you want to highlight a specific color, start with a neutral background, limit your chosen color so it really pops, and add a complementing color for contrast.
Choose one pattern to be the hero. Choose one bold pattern, one or two medium patterns that support the bold pattern, and then choose papers with very subtle patterns or solid cardstock to round off your page. And don’t worry about being too matchy matchy—contrast is good!

Today we’re sharing another way to remember these two principles—the 10/30/60 rule! For optimal pattern and color balance, make sure your pages have the follow percentages:

10% of your pop of color, 30% of a connector color (goes with the pop, but is a different color family) and 60% of a neutral color
10% hero pattern, 30% mellow patterns, and 60% paper with subtle patterns or solid cardstock

Let’s dive into some artwork examples so we can see this rule in action!

Forget the 10/30/60 rule—this page is more like 100/100/100! It’s a wee bit noisy. 🙂 The individual elements are beautiful, but they’re just not working in harmony together like they could.

The predominant color here is pink, but with such a dynamic background and pink elements all over the page, it doesn’t really take the spotlight. It’s definitely showing up in more than 10% of the page.

We also have several papers fighting to be the hero. The eye doesn’t know where to look! It’s like when several of your kids are all fighting for your attention at the same time. 🙂

This page is getting warmer. As far as patterns go, we are much more on track, but colorwise, our base page is a bit too bold for the 60% neutral we’re looking for. It would work better as a connector color, which should be kept closer to 30%. Let’s look at another page that follows our rule more closely:

Ah, can you feel that 10/30/60 balance? It’s scrapbook nirvana. 🙂 We’ve reduced our hero paper slightly so it’s closer to 10% of the page. Also, do you notice how placing it horizontally lends more balance to the page? To tie in the pink colors of our hero paper, we have a pink paper working nicely as a connector behind the photo, along with a few other hints of pink here and there, giving us roughly 30% of the page. The base polka-dot paper has enough white in it to give us the 60% neutral foundation that we are looking for.

As you can see, following the 10/30/60 rule can really help in creating beautiful pages without taking away from your creativity. Here are a few additional tips from our Art Studio to keep in mind as you create:

Keep the focus on your photos!
Use your embellishments strategically to direct the eye to focal points
Make sure your title and journaling are legible
Don’t place journaling or stamping on your hero paper—they will get lost!

We’ve loved sharing tips about how you can enhance your scrapbook pages on the blog this month—and we want to keep sharing ideas like this with you!

Tell us in the comments below what scrapbooking tips you’d like to hear!

Also, remember that our Scrap Happy contest is going on right now. Create a scrapbook page using Close To My Heart products that explains why you love scrapbooking. We will randomly select three winners to get a ton of scrapbooking products for free. Learn more here!

Now go balance those pages like the scrapbook master you are!

Recipe

12″ x 12″ Endless Summer Page (most balanced)
CC1064 My Acrylix® Happy Times, CC1063 Happy Times Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z2123 Goldrush Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2650 Fern Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2193 Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2644 Pixie Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3089 Grey Enamel Gems, Z3115 Instalife™ Roller Stamp Day-to-Day, Z3169 Cricut® Artbooking Collection

Cricut® Shape:
Artbooking
1 ½” Title <Family> (p. 67)

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May 12, 2016Learn, Memory Keeping

Tips for Mixing Patterned Paper

Close To My Hearthappy, mixing, page, paper, pattern, scrapbook, scrapbooking, Times 7 Comments

In honor of National Scrapbooking Month, we’re sharing some exclusive scrapbooking tips from our Art Studio right here on the blog! Last week we shared tips for balancing the colors on your scrapbook pages.

Today we’re going to share some tips with you for mixing patterned papers together using, of course, our Happy Times paper packet, which is available for this month only.

Here are the two pages we’ll be comparing—a sort of before and after, if you will:

First, let’s start with the page on the left that looks a bit like an overrun garden:

In the spirit of this floral fiasco, here are some whoopsie daisies (get it, daisies? 😀 ) that make this page a little bit chaotic:

Whoopsie Daisy #1: Using all of your favorite patterns at once.

Yes, these papers are beautiful, but when you use them all together on one page, your eyes don’t know where to look! You want to set a beautiful backdrop for your photos, but in this example, the photo gets lost amid a bunch of theatrics.

Whoopsie Daisy #2: Choosing only patterned papers that perfectly match.

Don’t be afraid to mix it up a little! Remember, your color scheme doesn’t have to perfectly coordinate—the individual components just have to go together.

Okay, now let’s step away from the floral fiasco and look at a more calm, harmonious, page:

You can really see and feel the difference, huh? Isn’t it amazing how we respond to patterns? This page has definitely transformed into something more sophisticated and balanced, so let’s talk about how it’s blossomed:

Blossom #1: Choosing one pattern to be the hero.

On this page, the floral pattern is the hero. Every other paper supports this one pattern. Here’s a good rule of thumb: Choose one bold pattern, one or two medium patterns that support the bold pattern (pretty mellow patterns), and then choose papers with very subtle patterns or solid cardstock to round off your page. Here, the wooden pattern is our medium pattern and the mint paper is our very subtle pattern.

Blossom #2: Choosing patterns that aren’t too matchy matchy.

Remember, your papers don’t have to match perfectly, they just have to go! The mint color is perfect because it still goes with the hero paper, but it’s not the main color in the hero paper so it adds variety.

We hope you found these tips to be helpful. Stay tuned for more scrapbooking tips this month on the blog!

Recipes

12″ x 12″ Happy Times Page (good example)
Reflections: Quartet—Border Cutout™
CC1064 My Acrylix® Happy Times, CC1063 Happy Times Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, 44751 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2193 Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2650 Fern Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2012 Sequins Gold Assortment, Z3105 Fundamental Assortment Gold, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z1852 Stitch Guide, Thread, Pen

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May 2, 2016Learn, Memory Keeping

Happy Times All Month Long!

Close To My Hearthappy, Month, National, scrapbooking, Times, tips, tricks 21 Comments

It’s May, and that means it’s one of our very favorite times of the year—National Scrapbooking Month! To celebrate, we’ve created a very special paper packet and coordinating stamp set called Happy Times. We’ve got all sorts of beautiful artwork lined up for you featuring these wonderful papers, so be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube all month long!

In honor of this very special month, we’ll be sharing tips and tricks from our Art Studio about how to create amazing scrapbook pages. Today we’ll start with how to achieve good color balance.

This first page shows an example of color overload:

This can happen so easily when we want to focus on a given color—pink in this instance. With a pink page base, pink flowers galore, pink gold foil floral paper, a pink title, pink photo mats, and pink stamping, we have officially ended up with too much of a good thing! 🙂 Besides that, by going with so many patterned papers, the page also looks super busy, so that the details of the page get lost.

Take a look at what happens on a more balanced page:

Your initial impression might be that there is no pink at all, but then a handful of pink features pop right out at you, don’t they? This is because the color pink is now in contrast with the background of the page, which is a super neutral woodgrain and a duo of minty papers, all from the Happy Times paper packet. Thanks to this contrast, you can even see the beautiful pink flowers the little girl is holding in the photo, which were almost completely lost in the previous example. You can also see the stamped flowers much better. Here are the two pages side by side so you can really see the difference:

The page on the right really lets the photos take the spotlight, which is what this scrapbook page is really all about.

So here’s today’s tip in a nutshell: When you want to highlight a specific color, start with a neutral background, limit your favorite color so it really pops, and add a complementing color for contrast. As the artwork above shows, the Happy Times paper packet includes a wide variety of colors and patterns so you have everything you need to create balanced scrapbook pages right at your fingertips.

Tell us your favorite color in the comments below, and then stay tuned for more inspirational artwork as well as more scrapbooking tips and tricks throughout the month!

Recipe

12″ x 12″ Hello World Page (more balanced)
Make It from Your Heart™ Vol. 2: Pattern 14
CC1064 My Acrylix® Happy Times, CC1063 Happy Times Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5760 Cotton Candy Cardstock, Z2193 Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2128 Hollyhock Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2650 Fern Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2012 Sequins Gold Assortment, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3169 Cricut® Artbooking Collection

Cricut® Shape:
Artbooking
2 ½” <HeloWrld> (p. 84)

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March 7, 2016Create

Banner In a Jar

Close To My Heartbanner, Decor, gift, happy, home, jar, kit, spring, springtime 20 Comments

We’ve got a riddle for you: How is spring like papercrafting?

Give up?

Both make the world a brighter and more colorful place! And today’s project idea is a fun way to spread the joy of papercrafting. It’s an adorable “banner in a jar” kit:

It all starts with a simple jar. Naturally we topped it off with a colorful piece of paper from the Penelope paper packet and a length of white & gold ribbon, but the real charm comes from what’s inside!

Just take a look at that! Here’s what we’ve included:

Bright and cheery Penelope papers cut into pennant shapes using the Cricut® Artbooking cartridge
Letters spelling “Happy Spring,” which were cut from Pixie cardstock using the Cricut® Artistry cartridge
Penelope Complements
Playful Puffies
Bitty Sparkles
Thistle extra thick twine

Pre-cutting the pennant shapes and the letters means that the recipient of this gift just has to attach the letters to the pennant pieces, thread them onto the twine, and embellish! In just a few minutes they will end up with a fun banner like this one:

Not pictured: the bright smile on the proud crafter’s face!

Who do you know that could use a little ray of sunshine in the form of an easy-to-assemble papercrafting project? Start stuffing those jars—just be sure to leave a little room for a note of encouragement, love, or appreciation to go along with it!

Recipe

Happy Spring Banner
X7207B Penelope Paper Packet, X5773 Pixie Cardstock, X7207C Penelope Complements, Z3205 Playful Puffies, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z3040 Thistle Extra Thick Twine, Z3169 Cricut® Artbooking Collection, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection

Cricut® Shapes:
Artbooking
4″ Shift + Photo Mat 1 <Y>(p. 53, cut 11)

Artistry
2 ¾” <Font> “HAPPY SPRING”

The ribbon used on the jar is Z3189 White & Gold Ribbon.

All these products are available through one of our Independent Consultants. To find a Consultant near you, visit closetomyheart.com and click on “Find a Consultant” in the top right corner of the page.

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May 10, 2015Community

Happy Mother’s Day!

Close To My Heartday, happy, Holiday, mom, mother, mother's, mum 2 Comments

“A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take.”
—Cardinal Mermillod

To mothers all over the world, we send our deep and heartfelt gratitude. Thank you, dear mothers, for raising the firefighters, ballerinas, and scientists of tomorrow. Today is your day to take a step back and recognize all the goodness that has come from your sacrifices. May you enjoy the view!

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Make It from Your Heart

Tag Archives: happy

The Happiest Place Collection!

1. Happiest Place Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet

2. Happiest Place Coordinating Cardstock

3. Happiest Place Acrylic Shapes

4. Happiest Place Stamp + Thin Cuts

5. SVGs (Digital Art)

6. Happiest Place Cut Above^® Kit

7. FREE Virtual Event!

What Makes Your Heart Happy?

Make It a Happy, Happy Christmas!

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The 10/30/60 Rule

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Tips for Mixing Patterned Paper

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Happy Times All Month Long!

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Banner In a Jar

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Happy Mother’s Day!

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1. Happiest Place Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet

2. Happiest Place Coordinating Cardstock

3. Happiest Place Acrylic Shapes

4. Happiest Place Stamp + Thin Cuts

5. SVGs (Digital Art)

6. Happiest Place Cut Above® Kit

7. FREE Virtual Event!

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6. Happiest Place Cut Above^® Kit