One of the best ways to make a lasting connection with friends and family is through sharing your favorite stories. Being able to share your best-loved memories with your best-loved people is such a treat—especially when the story is accompanied by the perfect photos!
As memory keepers, we’re passionate about creating showcase pieces for our most treasured pictures and stories. Our new True Story album makes it easier than ever to preserve and retell your own priceless stories. With beautiful pre-cut pages and fold-out sections throughout, this mini album carries more of your favorite photos and stories than you might expect based on its size!
The True Story project is designed to accommodate over 40 photos in individual Memory Protectors™ and Flip Flaps™ while still leaving plenty of room for journaling to tell the stories depicted in the photos. This unique album is designed to fit in one of our Everyday Life™ 6″ x 8″ albums and comes with many of the pieces pre-cut and even pre-printed! It also includes a few clear acrylic pages and specialty die-cuts for an even more unique finish.
With so many exciting elements like no other, True Story is a joy to create and will be a treasured keepsake for years to come. To help you get the full picture of this project’s potential, including all the opportunities for journaling and photo display in the finished product, we’ve put together this short video, which shows off each page of this one-of-a-kind album. Enjoy!
We can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things our fellow crafters do with the True Story album! As a special treat, we’ll be giving away five True Story Album Kits to five lucky readers! To be eligible for this giveaway, subscribe to the Make It from Your Heart blog and leave a comment below and let us know about your plans for True Story! All entries must be submitted by 4 p.m. tomorrow, January 6 (MST). Winners will be notified via e-mail we use the email address you are subscribed with so make sure it is up to date to not miss out!).
Happy 2021 and National Papercrafting Month! At the start of this new year, many of us find ourselves with a burst of creative energy and are looking for ways to make some positive changes in our lives and homes. For an easy way to fulfill this need, celebrate all month long with us and our Home Sweet Home special!
Our Home Sweet Home special features a frame kit that comes with everything you need to make a gorgeous 13¾” x 13¾” framed “HOME” with a wide variety of interchangeable accents for year-round celebration!
The seasonal accents fit perfectly over the “O” in “HOME” and are made using the punch-out die-cuts included in the frame kit. Many of the accents have multiple layers for a beautiful, three-dimensional look, and each one features bright, vibrant colors to really make them stand out.
Altogether, this kit includes 27 different accent options! The Home Sweet Home frame kit comes with 14 wood circles, but each component of the kit is also available individually, including additional circles and magnets if you’d like to make all 27!
As you can see, there are accent options for every season to keep your frame updated throughout the year!
There are also options for many different holidays, incorporating a touch of festive décor for every occasion!
Is there an athlete in your life? Celebrate game day with a personalized accent just for them!
If you want to add a little more personalization to your Home Sweet Home frame, design your own accents using the wood circles and parts of the provided die-cuts. Whether you want to create an accent for a special holiday, family tradition, or any other accent with personal meaning, it’s easy to do with the various components in the Home Sweet Home frame kit!
Along with the easy punch-out die-cuts for the interchangeable accents, each kit comes with beautiful overlays and backgrounds for the frame itself. These can be easily applied to the wood frame to create a polished, classic look. If you favor the natural wood, however, you can easily add color to the wood itself using a TriBlend™ marker, an Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad or re-inker, or even embossing powder!
There’s so much to love about the Home Sweet Home special, and for five lucky readers this week, there will be even more to love! We are ringing in the new year today by giving away FIVE Home Sweet Home frame kits!
For a chance to win one of these beautiful kits, you must be subscribed to this blog AND leave a comment below letting us know what your creative aspirations are for 2021. All entries must be submitted by 3 p.m. tomorrow, January 6 (MST) (that’s 8 a.m. January 7 AEST for our Aussies). The five lucky winners will be notified via e-mail later this week. (We use the e-mail address you are subscribed with, so make sure it is up to date in order to not miss out!)
We have so many exciting things lined up for 2021! Keep up with all of our projects, designs, products, ideas, and more by continuing to follow us here, as well as on Facebook and Instagram (@cmthofficial).
Now it’s your turn: what creative things are you up to this year? Tell us below!
We’re at it again! Last week we shared a fun way to dress up a girl’s room using beautiful large paper flowers, and, as promised, today we’ve got some inspiration on how to use papercrafting to decorate a more boyish space. (It can be done!)
The Urban paper collection is one of our absolute all-time favorites. We love it so much, in fact, that we brought it back for a second time around! Whether you missed it when it made its debut, or you love the designs just as much as we do, now is your chance to stock up!
We paired these classic Urban patterns with a few of our other go-to products and came up with some really fun, trendy, and even purposeful, décor pieces. Take a closer look.
Our chipboard frames and monograms are a great way to showcase personality in any given space. The patterns found in the Urban papers and stickers provide just the right amount of warmth, edge, and attitude to do just that!
We backed this third frame with some cork board to effortlessly add or move photos, notes, and other mementos around. With a little bit of personal thought and inspiration, you could easily turn one of these framed pieces into a vision board!
For those of you who, like us, also love all things scrapbooking and cardmaking. We put together a workshop that uses these designs to create this stunning artwork:
We love National Papercrafting Month, and we absolutely love with our Urban collection. Don’t forget, you only have until January 31st, while supplies last, to get your hands on this go-to classic!
If you haven’t gotten down and crafty yet this year, now is the perfect time to start. For our second week celebrating National Papercrafting Month, we created this beautiful, large scale, floral wall décor and are giving you our Cricut Design Space™ file, FREE, to recreate this very same project at home!
(Click on the individual images for a closer look!)
In order to keep things simple, we manipulated shapes from just one of our Cricut® collections, Flower Market, while designing our arrangement. If you don’t own the Cricut® Flower Market Collection, contact your Close To My Heart Consultant (or find one near you, here) to get started.
To give you an idea of the physical size of this project, the center French Vanilla flower is 20″ in diameter, both Peach flowers are 17″, the Lilac flowers are 14″, and the smaller Mint flowers are 13½” each.
When you open the file in Design Space, you will find some hexagon shapes among the petal shapes. These are your bases for each of the flowers. Attach the petals of each flower, layering them from largest to smallest, to these bases. You will also notice that the eyelashes are quite large. They are so large, in fact, that when you attempt to “make it” the program will tell you that you need a 12″ x 24″ mat. We did not use a longer mat to cut these, so there is a way around it! When the prompt comes up, all you need to do is select the image and rotate it to make it fit diagonally in the 12″ x 12″ square.
We’re jumping right into the new year and celebrating National Papercrafting Month with the All Around Creativity special, featuring four gorgeous wreath kits that are only available from Close To My Heart through the end of the month. There are so many different ways to embellish these beautiful wreaths, so we figured we’d have some fun and share with you four simple ways that we’ve added color to the plywood bases.
Adding color to wood doesn’t need to be super messy or take a huge amount of time. It can be quick, easy, and clean. To start off, we’ll take a peek at one of the easiest wood-coloration techniques. This method uses an Exclusive Inks™ stamp pad and will only take you a few minutes from application until it’s completely dry!
Simply select the ink color you’d like to use and gently swipe the stamp pad over the surface of the wood with quick, dabbing motions, going with the grain. Going with the grain helps you to emphasize the natural beauty of the wood, while also protecting your stamp pad from getting scratched up or caught on the wood. As you’ll see in the video below, we left some of the wood grain visible for a more stained look, but you can make it as light or as dark as you’d like.
To achieve a softer, mottled look, try sponging the ink onto the wood.
Cut a Round Sponge into quarters. While gripping the point of one quarter with your fingers, gently load your sponge with ink by pouncing it on your stamp pad. Because the sponge absorbs the ink, it may not look like you have a lot on there, but you’ll have more ink than you think!
Once you’ve got your sponge inked and ready to go, use the same pouncing motion you used on the stamp pad to apply the color to the plywood. The ink will dry lighter than it looks while you apply it. For a darker, richer tone, you will have to apply additional layers of ink.
This next technique uses TriBlend™ markers. When using an alcohol-based marker to color wood, you’ll want to go in the direction of the grain and use a steady hand to achieve even color throughout.
Because you have greater control over color distribution when you use this method, you also have more control over the appearance of the colored wood. For instance, if you want a softer, lighter look, use a light hand and don’t go over the same spot too many times. For darker and richer tones, add more color layers to really get the pigment into the wood.
If you’re going for a darker color, don’t jam the marker tip into the wood, as this may damage your marker. Instead, go over the same area of the wood multiple times for color layering and try using a lighter shade of your TriBlend™ marker.
The last technique we’re showcasing today adds a bit of sparkle to your art. Heat embossing! (We went there, and it’s beautiful!)
First, place your wreath over a piece of scratch paper so you can catch any excess embossing powder. Then, begin by rubbing the surface of the wreath with an anti-static pouch. Apply VersaMark™ ink to the wreath, a few sections at a time, using the same pouncing motion you saw in our first technique. While the ink is still wet, sprinkle embossing powder over it, shake off any excess powder onto your scratch paper, and heat set with a heat tool. (Use your scratch paper to easily funnel your excess embossing powder back into its container for future use.)
We absolutely love these wreaths and National Papercrafting Month, because it really gets us thinking outside the box! We can’t wait to see all the different ways you choose to add color to your wreaths.
Remember, you can only get these gorgeous wreath kits until January 31, and if you buy four or more you even get a discount! Make sure to take full advantage of the All Around Creativity special while you still can. For a few of you who may be on the fence, we are giving away four of these kits to four lucky readers! For a chance to win, you must do two things. First, make sure you are subscribed to this blog. If you are not, find the blue button on the sidebar that says “Subscribe to list” and follow the prompts once you’ve clicked it. Second, leave us a comment below telling us what types of crafts you like to work out, outside of scrapbooking and cardmaking. You have until 12 p.m. (MST) Thursday, January 9, to submit your entries. All winners will be notified by email. Good luck and happy crafting!
Happy National Papercrafting Month, everyone! It’s that time of year where we have the perfect excuse to celebrate all things paper and we absolutely loooove what we’ve got for you and your friends to celebrate right along with us. Crafters of all kinds can join in and start the new year full of creative possibilities with our Frame It Up special!
This special features the beautiful Magnolia Frame Kit, designed to create customizable décor for your home, office, or any other space you’d like to brighten up.
Each kit comes with a 16″ x 16″ chipboard frame and backing, one double sided frame overlay that lets you choose what kind of finish you want for your frame, two decorative words, die-cut flowers, leaves, and rose gold foil accents. Use the included step-by-step instructions to get the basic frame and flowers assembled, and then let your creativity guide you through designing the rest!
There are so many different ways to use this versatile frame that you are sure to want more than one, which is precisely why you get 15% off each kit when you buy two, or 30% off when you buy three or more!
And, because it’s a new year and we think everyone should have at least one of these gorgeous frames, we are giving away FIVE Magnolia Frame Kits right here, on our blog! You have 24 hours, that’s until 4 pm (MST) tomorrow (January 9), to leave us a comment below telling us how or where you would use this frame and become a subscriber, if you aren’t already.
National Papercrafting Day is coming up, fast. Celebrated on the fourth Saturday of every January, this year it falls on January 26. Get together with your friends and celebrate by crafting your new Magnolia Frame!
Last week, we introduced the rose gold monogram Love Letter kits and shared some useful tips and tricks to assemble these like a crafting pro. One of the great things about these kits is that they come with more die-cut florals and stickers than you are likely to use on a single letter, which means that once your letter is complete and on display, you’ll have extra pieces to use on other projects—music to every crafter’s ears, right?! Today, we have some ideas on how you can use those leftover pieces on a few other paper crafting creations.
For starters, each kit comes with a 6″ x 6″ sheet of rose gold foil letter stickers. Once you’ve completed your Love Letter, you will surely have a good amount of stickers left over. Whatever you do, don’t throw them away! This gorgeous rose gold sticker alphabet works wonders in creating card sentiments and scrapbook titles!
As for the leftover floral pieces and banners, consider these as yet another tool in your crafting arsenal to use as embellishments and accents for any project.
Check out what we came up with below.
In what other ways are you using your Love Letters leftovers? Share with us in the comments below!
As we welcome a new year, we are also celebrating National Papercrafting Month! And, to help you celebrate with us, we created a beautiful letter kit for you to assemble, customize, and display using your own personal flair. What’s more, WE ARE GIVING AWAY THREE OF THESE LOVE LETTERS KITS in the next 72 hours!
All you have to do to enter into the drawing is subscribe to our blog, if you aren’t already, and leave a comment below letting us know how you would display your Love Letter(s). It’s that easy! Three lucky winners will be chosen by 11:00 a.m. (MST) Friday, January 5th, and will be notified by email to choose their letter.
Now, let us tell you a little more about these Love Letters!
Each kit comes with one sturdy chipboard letter base, one paper and rose gold overlay piece, die-cut banners and floral embellishments, and rose gold foil alphabet stickers to create the word or name of your choice.
As you assemble these letters, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
1. The first thing is that you don’t have to use all of the pieces included in the letter kit. Depending on how you plan to use the letter, you might opt out of the banner or some of the flowers and succulents. The number of die-cuts you want to use will depend on the shape of your letter and the length of the word you’ve chosen. Remember, sometimes less is more.
2. If you are using the banner for a word or a name, add the alphabet stickers to the banner before attaching it to the letter. It’s also easier if you begin your word in the middle and work your way out. This way, you can make sure your word is centered and you have enough room for all of your letters prior to attaching any additional embellishments.
3. As you assemble the flowers, consider using your finger, a pencil, or any soft round edge to help shape some of the petals. (Not all of your flowers have to have curved petals). Also, when arranging them on your letter, do so before attaching them. Try arranging your flowers in triangles of color. If you’re not quite sure how to do that, look at the instructions insert including in your kit. There, you will find a completed example for each letter and the ampersand. (It’s okay to copy. We won’t tell!)
4. For those of you who want to take this project up a notch, there’s always some wiggle room. Look how we used a handful of additional products (not included in the kit) to quickly and easily embellish the flowers. The petals edges were given a pop of color with a sponge and some ink. We added sparkles and pearls to the flowers’ centers, and used the brand-new Bashful shimmer brush for a touch of extra shine on the green succulent petals.
These Love Letters are so versatile. Put them in frame, a wreath, or hang them on their own. Create words, names, or initials. They work in your living room, a bedroom, a nursery—really anywhere!
We hope you are as excited about National Papercrafting Month as we are. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a comment below telling us how you would use your Love Letter for a chance to win one letter of your choice FREE!!
For even MORE CHANCES TO WIN, visit us on Instagram and Facebook where we are giving even more of these away! (What?!) Make sure to follow us for details on how to enter these separate drawings!!
With the end of the old year and the dawn of the new year, I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of “Year in Review” posts floating through your Facebook newsfeeds. Some people argue that things such as this have replaced scrapbooking layouts and albums. This is the new scrapbooking, they say. We no longer turn pages; we scroll them. So why then do some of us continue to use paper to preserve our memories? Is scrapbooking with paper still important? Well, let me tell you what I think.
The things that pop up in our newsfeeds often become irrelevant within mere hours of being born. Their permanence is as fleeting as dust in the wind. People will click through maybe once or twice, but after that, few will even remember they were there. When we upload pictures to Facebook, it fails to leave us with the same sense of satisfaction that comes from the whiz of a paper cutter or the stickiness of fingers spotted with adhesives. And when we type out our words, we lose the intimacy of handwriting and the beautiful way a personality dances its way through the shapes of the letters.
This is why I love National Papercrafting Month. It’s a wonderful reminder at the beginning of the year of why I fell in love with scrapbooking in the first place. It reminds me why we still spend time preserving memories with paper in a world that is slowly turning into pixels.
Working with paper will ground you in reality and in the beautiful subtleties of our physical world, which is why I think the Year >> Noted kit is so nicely suited to this month. In the rush of a new year and the memory of an old year, it not only keeps me grounded, but also gives me a place to tether my dreams, making my big goals seem so much more in reach!
Life is a continual cycling of beginnings and endings—don’t get lost in the whirlpool. Take the time to write down those things within your heart that will one day become the whispers of your past. Ground yourself in paper. Because when you hold a real, finished project in your hands, the rush and the hurry fades away and the only thing you feel is contentment.
And trust me, when this new year becomes old and the time comes to reflect, you’ll be happy you have something real to hold and to remember. Let this kit become a time capsule filled with little pieces of who you are in this moment. I promise you that when you take the time to remember, your heart will fill with gratitude for not only who you are, but also for who you are becoming.
