Cardmaking & Scrapbooking with Here’s to You

Close To My Heartanniversary, August, birthday, campaign, cardmaking, cards, Celebrate, constant campaign, friendship, graduation, Here's to You, July, page, relationships, sale, scrapbooking, wedding 4 Comments

We are celebrating life’s special occasions with the Here’s to You special! Featuring four exclusive stamp sets and a workshop designed for making elegant cards and layouts, this special is the perfect way to get prepared for the happy events coming up on your calendar!

Exclusive Stamp Sets:

Not only are the sentiments on these stamp sets a must-have for celebrating relationships, but each set also coordinates with a shape from the Cricut^® Artistry collection, giving you an easy way to add dimension and extra detail to your projects!

Workshop kit options:

Here's to You #ctmh #closetomyheart #ctmhhere'stoyou #constantcampaign #monthlyspecial #sale #workshopkit #scrapbookingworkshop #cardmakingworkshop #cardmaking #scrapbooking

CC7190

CC7191

We have two workshop kits available—one with a rose embossing folder and one without. Both kits include the four exclusive stamp sets and additional materials at a discounted price to create one 12″ x 12″ scrapbook page and seven standard size cards that can be used to celebrate friendships, anniversaries, weddings, and many other occasions.

Completed projects:

The designed workshop projects feature shapes cut with the Cricut® Artistry Collection. To keep things easy, we’ve compiled the necessary Cricut^® shapes to complete the workshop as a project file in Cricut Design Space™, Here’s to You Workshop (https://design.cricut.com/#/design/95920516). (If you don’t have a digital machine, specific Cricut^® cut information is also provided in the included instructions.)

Celebrate life’s special occasions with us and don’t miss out on this special offer! Only available through the end of August, while supplies last, get your cardmaking and scrapbooking in motion to commemorate the moments that matter most.

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August 22, 2017Create, Memory Keeping

Basic Cricut® Shapes for Backgrounds

Close To My Heartbackground, basic, circle, cricut, design, heart, page, scrapbook, scrapbooking, shape, space 12 Comments

Looking for a way to spice up your scrapbook pages? We’ve got just the thing! All you need is a Cricut® machine and a little imagination for this technique.

First, find a basic Cricut® shape that you like: square, heart, diamond, etc. Next, cut out the shape over and over again on a piece of solid cardstock (we recommend using Cricut Design Space™ so you can more easily control where the shapes cut). Remove the shapes from the piece of cardstock, and then back the empty spaces with different pieces of patterned paper. As you can see from the example above, we repeated paper patterns across the shapes to add a sense of continuity to the page.

If you don’t have Cricut Design Space™, you can still get this effect by cutting multiple versions of the same image, but you could also cut the shapes out of patterned paper and attach them to a piece of cardstock. There are lots of different spins on this technique!

For example…

…try backing the shapes with photos! It’s a lot easier than trying to cut your photos on a Cricut® machine because you can slide them around behind the cardstock until they are framed just the way you like.

Another spin on this technique is to change up the size of your shapes. Smaller shapes give you a lot more little shape windows to work with. This page also shows how much you can play around with dimension as well.

First, we backed some of the empty spaces with patterned paper and left others empty. Next, we used 3-D foam tape to attach the White Daisy cardstock piece with all of our heart shapes cut out of it. The Bashful background shows through the empty hearts and creates a bit of a shadow. To finish off the look, we took some of the hearts that were cut out and embossed them with gold powder. We then used them to “fill in” a few of the heart-shaped windows with more 3-D foam tape to make them really pop. See how many possibilities there are when you start playing around with your Cricut® shapes?

We used circles and hearts for our artwork, but what Cricut® shapes would you try with this technique? Tell us in the comments below! 🙂

Recipes

12″ x 12″ Sweet Moments Page
B1539 My Acrylix® Pen Pal Alphabet, Z3353 Basics Fundamental Paper Packet, Z3350 Whimsy Fundamental Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5953 Charcoal Cardstock, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, Z2825 Mink Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z3355 Happy Moments Complements, Z3369 Bashful Pearls, Z3381 Gold Heart Clips, Z3342 3-D Foam Dots, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3290 Cricut® Flower Market Digital Collection

Cricut® Shapes:
Flower Market
2 ½” Background <C> (cut 7, p. 33, #MD70813)

12″ x 12″ This Is the Life Page
Z3351 Adventure Fundamental Paper Packet, Z3350 Whimsy Fundamental Paper Packet, Z3352 Enchantment Fundamental Paper Packet, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5968 Lagoon Cardstock, Z3355 Happy Moments Complements, Z3371 Gold Pearls, Z3387 Cricut® You Are Here Digital Collection, Sewing Machine, Pen

Cricut® Shapes:
You Are Here
3½” Title (cut 8, p. 18, #M282C87A)
3½” Title <Seas> (p. 40, #M27F84BF)
3 ½” Shift+Title <Seas> (p. 40,#M27F84BF)

12″ x 12″ Together Page
Z3353 Basics Fundamental Paper Packet, X5941 Bashful Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5953 Charcoal Cardstock, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z3364 Basics Ribbon Pack, Z555 Craft Heater, Z2066 Ranger™ Princess Gold Embossing Powder, Z4034 Thin Cuts—Together, Z3342 3-D Foam Dots, Z3290 Cricut® Flower Market Digital Collection, Die-cutting Machine

Cricut® Shapes:
Flower Market
2 ½” Background <C> (cut 90, p. 33, #MD70813)*
*Grouped onto a 11″ x 11″ square and welded in Cricut Design Space™

Numbers starting with #M specify the image number in Cricut Design Space™

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June 13, 2017Learn, Memory Keeping

3 Ideas for Scrapbook Cover Pages

Close To My Heartcover, engagement, Family, graduation, idea, keeping, memory, page, scrapbook, scrapbooking, vacation, wedding 9 Comments

Every scrapbook album needs a front cover page and a back cover page…but sometimes it’s hard to know how to summarize your album! After all, you only have two pages, one at the front and one at the back, to explain what the entire album holds!

If cover pages have you stumped, don’t worry—we’ve got you covered! 😉 Here are three fail-proof ideas for creating amazing cover pages!

In Great Shape

Attach a large shape to the center of your base page. Then position your title and photos over this shape. Even if you have multiple photos (we have five here!), your page will still feel like a cover page because the large shape in the background creates a central focus. Pretty neat trick, right? 🙂

Easy As 1-2-3!

Simply attach three photos horizontally across the center of your page. Then add your title directly above or below these photos. Three is the key here! It’s a balanced number that draws the eye in.

Keep It Simple, Silly!

When all else fails, find a photo that sums up your album, and center it on your page along with a prominent title.

One fun spin on this approach is to center your photo but then place the title on the left side of your page, either vertically or horizontally!

Overall, the secret to creating a strong cover page is to draw the eye in to a central point with your pictures and title. If you keep that in mind, then you’re off to a great start!

And while you’re working on your cover pages, be sure to grab some albums because they’re on a great sale! For the month of June, you can buy one album and then get a second one at half price!

What album are you currently working on? Tell us in the comments below! 🙂

Recipes

12″ x 12″ The Woods Page
B1484 My Acrylix® Jennifer’s Hand Stamp Set, D1702 My Acrylix® Capture This Stamp Set, X7221B Prickly Pear Paper Packet, Z3254 Enchantment Fundamentals Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock, X5788 Raspberry Cardstock, Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7221C Prickly Pear Complements, Z3324 Prickly Pear Sequins, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection, Sewing Machine, Thread

Cricut® Shapes:
Artistry
1 1/4″ “Woods”

12″ x 12″ Let’s Go Back Page
B1484 My Acrylix® Jennifer’s Hand Stamp Set, X7221B Prickly Pear Paper Packet, Z3254 Enchantment Fundamentals Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5789 Sea Glass Cardstock, X7221C Prickly Pear Complements, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection

Cricut® Shapes:
Artistry
1″ “Let’s Back”

12″ x 12″ Dallin & Sarah Page
X7221 Prickly Pear Paper Packet, Z3254 Enchantment Fundamentals Paper Packet, X7219B Little Dreamer Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5788 Raspberry Cardstock, X7221C Prickly Pear Complements, Z3314 Black & White Dots, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection, Sewing Machine, Thread

Cricut® Shapes:
Artistry
1 1/4″ “Dallin & Sarah 2017”

12″ x 12″ Hello World Page
B1484 My Acrylix® Jennifer’s Hand Stamp Set, X7221B Prickly Pear Paper Packet, X7219B Little Dreamer Paper Packet, Z3263 Uptown Fundamentals Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, X5788 Raspberry Cardstock, X5763 Smoothie Cardstock, X7221C Prickly Pear Complements, Z3257 Thin Cuts—Love, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection, Sewing Machine, Thread

Cricut® Shapes:
Artistry
1/2″, 3/4″, 1″, 1 1/4″, 1 1/2″, and 1 3/4″ Icon-1 <k> (cut 5 of each, p. 28)
1 1/2″ “Class of 2017”

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June 28, 2016Celebrate, Memory Keeping

Fourth of July

Close To My Heartbox, firework, Fourth, Holiday, July, layout, magical, of, page, scrapbook, shadow 1 Comment

Here at the Home Office, we love the Fourth of July. It’s a holiday dedicated to spending time with family, creating lasting memories, and most of all, remembering the men and women who have served this country.

Since this holiday is only a week away, we wanted to share with you a beautiful Fourth of July shadow box you can create for your home. We hope that as you make this page, you take a moment to feel gratitude for all those who have fought for our freedoms.

For this page, we took inspiration from none other than Old Glory herself. Strips of fringed paper form the stripes, and some 3-D stars in the top left corner allude to the 50 states.

Quick tip—To create each star, simply cut four identical star shapes. Then fold them in half and attached the halves together to create a sort of accordion.

In addition to this shadow box, we want to share with you some classic Fourth of July layouts.

Creating a faded watercolor title, which looks distressed, is perfect for a holiday all about tradition and history. We also made sure some fireworks found their way onto the page, compliments of the My Acrylix® Fireworks Fun stamp set—again, it’s all about the tradition!

If there was ever a perfect paper packet for the Fourth of July, it’s the Magical paper packet. The colors, the star and stripe designs—they’re just the thing for evoking feelings of July and preserving these warm summer memories.

Any of these layout pages would look wonderful in one of our shadow boxes too, and now is the perfect time to get your hands on some shadow boxes because you can purchase a 2-pack and save through our Flash Sale. The sale has been extended through June 30, so make sure to get in on the action before it’s over!

We want to hear about your Fourth of July traditions. Share your plans with us in the comments below!

Recipes

12″ × 12″ Celebrate Shadow Box
X7209B Magical Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, 1272 Cranberry Cardstock,Z1829 Black & Grey Glitter Paper, Z1799 Silver Shimmer Trim, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection

Cricut® Shapes*:
Artistry
1 ¼”, 1 ¾”, ¾” <NewYears> (p. 50)
1 ½” Title <k> (p. 65)

12″ × 12″ Liberty Layout
D1689 My Acrylix® Firework Fun, X7209B Magical Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, 1272 Cranberry Cardstock, 44751 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z2013 Sequins Silver Assortment, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3169 Cricut® Artbooking Collection, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection

Cricut® Shapes*:
Artbooking
2 ½” Title <j> (p. 64)
2″, 2 ¼” Shift+Border <J> (p. 64)

Artistry
1″ “July 4”

12″ × 12″ Liberty Layout
Make It from Your Heart™ Vol. 2: Pattern 3 (with alterations)
X7209B Magical Paper Packet, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z1829 Black & Grey Glitter Paper, Z3075 Red Glitter Paper, X7209C Magical Complements, Z3214 Magical Sequins, Z3169 Cricut® Artbooking Collection

Cricut® Shapes*:
Artbooking
1 ¼” Happy th of July”
1 ½” “4”

*Real Dial Size

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 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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February 11, 2015Learn, Memory Keeping

Making Impressions: Upgrade Your Albums with Title Pages

Close To My Heartalbum, campaign, cover page, february, layout, page, scrapbook, title page, traditional Leave a comment

The only thing more alluring than a new Close To My Heart canvas-coated album is a BOGO deal. Put them together, and what do you have? A recipe for amazing that just so happens to be available to you during the month of February!

To help you fill up these gorgeous albums, we’ll be sharing ideas throughout the month for the kinds of album-worthy artwork we swoon over.

Today we’ve got an idea to take your albums up a notch: album title pages! It’s a great way to turn what would otherwise be a scattered compilation of layouts into a finished and cohesive album.

What can a title page do for you? Your album’s title page is like the opening scene for the slideshow of your life, so you want to make sure it sends the right message.

Keep the following three things in mind and you’ll be able to create a title page that’s sure to leave an impression:

1) A clear focal point. One good photo surrounded by plenty of negative space will do the trick.

2) A defined title. Your title is a succinct description at the beginning of your album to make it easy for your audience to recognize what the album is about.

3) Connection. A title page can jive with the layouts of an album while still making a statement of its own. Aim for coordination, not a perfect match. You might choose to make your title page first and then borrow a few elements to develop other layouts in the album. Or, you might do the opposite and make your title page last, pulling elements from some of your layouts. Regardless of the method you choose, be sure to make it your own!

On this, our first two-page spread of the album, you see border stitching that is a variant of the hand-drawn stitching on our title page. What a great way to pull the two pieces together.

We love title pages! What creative techniques have you used to create yours?

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December 2, 2014Memory Keeping

Artwork for All Seasons

Close To My Heart2, artwork, border, complements, heartstrings, hopscotch, layout, level, no, page, stamping, title, washi tape 6 Comments

The release of another great idea book means we have an excuse to share even more artwork! When it comes to memory keeping, we know that each person takes a unique approach. We love to see beautiful, high-level artwork, but we know that it isn’t always realistic to add all the bells and whistles to every layout. After all, soccer practice, piano recitals, family meals, and all those other demands are important, too! Today’s artwork celebrates a style of memory keeping that is less elaborate, but no less lovely.

The beauties below are all done with just a few ingredients: B&T Duos™ papers and selected embellishments—no stamping required!

12″ x 12″ You Had Me at Hello Layout
Magic: Card Trick™, X7193B Heartstrings Paper Packet, X7193C Heartstrings Complements, Z3015 Heartstrings Assortment, Z3024 White Shimmer Trim

The charming papers of the Heartstrings paper packet make beautiful layouts devoted to those you love.

Did you notice that the journaling spot on this layout is really a Heartstrings Complement in disguise?

12″ x 12″ Love These Moments Layout
Make It from Your Heart™ Vol. 2: Pattern 2, X7193B Heartstrings Paper Packet, X7193C Heartstrings Complements, Z3015 Heartstrings Assortment, Z3024 White Shimmer Trim

This layout is made of White Daisy bases accented by pieces of B&T from the Heartstrings paper packet.

Aren’t these strips of washi tape fitting? Surprise! These aren’t washi tape strips at all—they’re stickers from the Heartstrings Complements. Their coordinating colors make them the perfect fit for this layout.

12″ x 12″ Love This Layout
Make It from Your Heart™ Vol. 1: Pattern 6, X7194B Hopscotch Paper Packet, X7194C Hopscotch Complements, Z3016 Hopscotch Assortment, Z1752 Sparkles Clear Assortment

This layout is a fun combination of the Hopscotch paper packet and the coordinating Complements.

This Hopscotch hexagon sticker is a nice design element that is ready-to-add. It makes a beautiful page border as it is, but can also be trimmed to fit differently-shaped spaces on your layouts.

12″ x 12″ Fun Day Layout
Make It from Your Heart™ Vol. 2: Pattern 10, X7194B Hopscotch Paper Packet, X7194C Hopscotch Complements, Z3016 Hopscotch Assortment, Z1752 Sparkles Clear Assortment

You don’t have to add a lot to a layout to make it complete! The clean and classy look of this layout is very attractive.

The size of a title isn’t the only feature that can make it stand out. This sentiment from the Hopscotch Complements captures the right tone of the layout and draws the eye right away. It achieves the same look as a stamped image without getting your fingers inky!

Thanks to our coordinating papers and accessories, you’ve got lots of tools at your disposal for creating quality layouts. Get started with these adorable new products from Seasonal Expressions 1!

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Exclusive Stamp Sets:

Workshop kit options:

Completed projects:

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In Great Shape

Easy As 1-2-3!

Keep It Simple, Silly!

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