Friday Freebie!! (On Saturday! oops!!)

Oh Deer! card entry for the Heart 2 Heart Challenges

 This card was a joy to create!! From the moment I first saw this Oh Deer! paper pack, I knew it would be good for not only Christmas, but it's so perfect for hiking and our trip to Vail/Avon CO last Easter!  The beautiful Sea Glass color and the pine cones matched so many things, and it can even be used for Camping or just any form of nature photos/events! (Which can both be found in the Coordinating Oh Deer! Cardstock paper packet)

Here's a close up of the card I created, the pine cones are from the Cricut cartridge Artistry (available HERE)  and the deer and the Pine/Christmas Tree are from our newly released Thin Cuts, which you can get as a set together or separate but it's only available until the end of December or while supplies last!  So if you think you might have a need for a Deer and a Pine Tree, now is the time to get yours!! The snowflake diecut/Thin Cut is no longer available, but it just goes to show that when you see a newly released item and you THINK you might want it, definitely get it before it sells out!

So, for the Friday Freebie, I decided to kinda help you out and give you a complete Cricut Design Space cut file that you can use to enter the Heart 2 Heart Challenge!  You have until the end of December to get your card created and uploaded to their blog! Make sure you link back and put a link on your blog to their challenge so that others can join in on the fun as well!

Stay tuned if you're interested in a Scrapbook page, I'm currently working on another Freebie just for that and you can join in on the 2nd challenge with them and possibly win the goodies they have! (Trust me, it's totally well worth it to enter!)

Friday Freebie

All supplies used can be purchased on my online e-store at www.elise31.ctmh.com

I love reading your comments and totally look forward to seeing your projects should you decide to use the file!  You can enter the challenge without purchasing the Cricut cartridge, just remove the pine cones!  That was just an added feature if you already have the cartridge...  ENJOY!

(aka Sosa's Wife)

Planners Gonna Plan!

 The moment we've all been waiting for!  You've been asking and asking, and guess what?!? Our 2017 Close To My Heart planners are here!  Choose from 2 specially priced bundles and you're ready to plan like a BOSS in 2017!  Available for a limited time, so get it while you can!  

CTMH 2017 Planner Bundle (CC1177)

EveryDay Life Stripes Album & Planner Pages Bundle (CC1178)

Both Bundles include:

• Your choice of Everyday Life Album in Sea Glass or Stripes
• Monthly and Weekly Calendars
• Designs you can color
• Pages for Notes
• A Clear Pencil bag
• 3 Gold Paperclips

If you are on Instagram and you are a #PlannerAddict or #PlannerGirl, then you definitely don't wanna miss out on this great deal on our #Planners :)

BONUS Just for You!!

As an extra added bonus for my VIP crafters, and my blog followers, when you purchase either bundle above by Saturday, Oct 22nd for just $31.90, I will personally send you a BONUS pack just to show my appreciation!  I have created a special pocket folder for you, included a sample pack of page protectors and Picture My Life pocket cards, and the Plan On It stamp set (a retail value of $22.95) all for you for FREE just for being an active follower and valued customer!  Take a look!

Plan On It (D1701)

Don't forget when your my hostess this month, you can earn enough host rewards to start your own Close To My Heart Business for FREE!!  That's right, view the details below or visit my online store for more information!  I'd love to have you join our team and start enjoying many many perks!

I look forward to helping you with your crafty needs!  Enjoy, and don't forget to tell your friends about our generous October Monthly Specials!

~Many Blessings,

(aka Sosa's Wife)

City Sidewalk Cricut Card and Friday Freebie

I'm so excited to be able to share my latest creation with you!  As a Close To My Heart Consultant, I have the opportunity to be able to create projects before the new release date for customers and I love it!  

With our most recent Holiday Expressions Idea Book, from the moment I saw we had sentiments in different languages (Not just English, but now French and Spanish also!! YAY!), I KNEW I had to create a Christmas card! Especially after seeing the new City Sidewalks Paper Collection and the coordinating Digital Cricut Collection as well!  Take a look below:

Very Merry - D1694

Very Merry (French) - D1694F

Very Merry (Spanish) - D1694S

So of course you have to see the Cricut Collection as well!

City Sidewalks CTMH Cricut Collection

I've decided to go ahead and offer my card to you as this weeks' Friday Freebie especially since I've had the flu the past 2 weeks! I really had fun creating this for you!  I've designed it so that you can basically get 4 cards from the project using one sheet of paper each (most of them you only need a 12"x5" piece of B&T or Cardstock; with the exception of Lagoon... Lagoon is your card base/topper measured in 4"x5.25" but if you have Cricut Design Space, it'll cut all four from one sheet)

When you open the Cricut Design Space cut file, the grey (gray) pieces are to be cut from your patterned paper (or CTMH City Sidewalks B&T Paper of your choice) the only other thing that you'll need to create this card is the Shimmer Tape in the color of your choice... or you can cut it from Red Glitter Paper

Supplies Used:
City Sidewalks B&T Paper
City Sidewalks Coordinating Cardstock
Red Shimmer Trim
Cricut Digital Collection - City Sidewalks
White Cards and Envelopes Value Pack
Black Memento Ink
Peacock Inkpad
Shin Han Twin Touch Marker - Carmine
Shin Han Twin Touch Marker - Sap Green
Shin Han Twin Touch Marker - Peacock Green

A Hello from Florence

Well, not really Florence Italy, but the Close To My Heart Florence Paper Collection! LOL...

With 3 of our favorite collections retiring on the 31st of August, I thought I'd include another fun card project to feature our Florence collection!

As you can see here, I've designed this card with one of the pocket scrapbooking cards I had left over after creating the workshop and bonus scrapbook pages.  This card only took about 10 minutes to make, so if you're in a hurry and need one fast, this is a definite must!

Click to Purchase or see supply list at end of instructions

Florence Paper Collection

Here is the 4x6 PML card, I trimmed it down to 5 1/4" x 4" and adhered it to the 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" Ruby Cardstock and glued those both to the White card base.  Next, I layered the other pieces and glued those down and pop dotted the blue flower from the Florence Complements pack.

Measurements:

• Ruby Cardstock (5 3/8" x 4 1/8" AND 1 1/4" x 4 1/2")
• Pacifica Cardstock (3 1/2" x 2 1/8")
• PML (trim to 5 1/4" x 4")
• Flaxen B&T (1 1/8" x 4 3/8")
• Red Dot B&T (3 1/2" x 2")

I hope this project has inspired you or at least I was able to show you how you don't have to use the pocket scrapbook cards for pocket pages, you can still use them for cardmaking or even for traditional memory keeping ways!

Thank you for visiting, feel free to leave a comment or questions! I love my blog readers!  

Creatively Yours,

AKA Sosa's Wife

Supplies used (Click on photo to shop):

Florence Papers	Florence Complements	Florence Sequins	Florence Kit
Hello Thin Cuts	Pacifica Cardstock	Ruby Cardstock	White Cards & Envelopes

InLinkz.com

Basically the Best and Your Chance to Win!

What could be better than treating yourself to brand new scrapbooking paper? How about getting even MORE paper for free!

During the month of August, when you order our Whimsy, Adventure, and Enchantment Fundamentals papers, you can choose to get either the Rustic Home or Uptown Fundamentals for FREE! Both of these Basics packs feature foil designs and specialty materials for making your artwork unique. Yep, this deal is basically the best!
* With qualifying purchase. Offer valid August 1, 2016 (9:00 am MDT) – August 31, 2016 (11:59 pm MDT) while supplies last.

Simply find PROMOTIONS on my online store, decide which FREE collection you want, and click "Add to Cart!!"  It's that simple, no need to search and add 4 different items, one click adds everything you need including your freebie!

Both Rustic Home and Uptown Fundamentals include:
12 – 12" × 12" sheets (2 each of 6 designs), including some vellum paper and gold foil accents

My personal favorite is the Uptown Fundamentals collection just because I've been working on a lot of Formal projects like wedding and New Years pages and cards.  Shop my website (http://elise31.ctmh.com) , and leave me a comment on what your favorite collection is, and you could win the coordinating Ribbon and Complements! Winner will be announced on September 1st!  Good Luck! I can't wait to see what you choose!

Remember just 2 weeks remaining on this offer!

Playing Along w/ Heart 2 Heart Challenges...

Heart 2 Heart Challenges Blog

Copy That Challenge

How adorable is that title?  I nearly fell over when I stumbled upon this blog and I thought "hey! I can do that, and why hadn't anyone told me about this cool blog?"  It was like I had found some sort of RARE GEM hidden in the shadows of the internet... (well, no not actually, it was just that I'm still getting my Mojo back in the creative department that I must have been living under a rock for the past 18 months, because it seems like I'm the only one that didn't know about it!)  LOL....

Anyhow, If you haven't seen the new Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations Idea Book, I might have to say, come out from under that rock!!  Have you been online to check it out?

Doesn't matter, you've GOT to see this one in person!!  So many fresh ideas, so many trending colors and papers and techniques, etc.  I could go on forever about how you really should have a PHYSICAL copy of this Annual Inspirations Idea Book!!  (Why you ask?  Because it's not just a catalog/dream book/craft tool, it lives up to its name "INSPIRATIONS... IDEA BOOK" ... talk about chock full of ideas, and techniques and tips, I could go on and on and on...) Contact me for your copy or simply visit my website and you can purchase one there and it'll ship directly to you!

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge was to choose a piece of artwork from the current Idea Book and copy it... Simple enough, right?  So...

here's the original CTMH artwork I chose to "copy" shown from page 41 in the Idea Book...

And here's what I came up with...

I created the original version, and then I enjoyed it so much, I went ahead and created a baby girl version of the same layout just to show how versatile these papers are!  PLUS, if you don't like the "traditional" blue for boy and pink for girl, you can create the exact same layout in Green (Sweet Leaf) or Lavender (Thistle) (And if you make it to the end of my blog, I've got a FREE gift for you just for visiting today!)  Actually, you could create it in ANY color you choose and it totally works! 

Here's the sample papers from the Whimsy Fundamentals Collection:

And yes, I even broke out the Janome and stitched the banners to the layout!  It was a learning curve to creating this layout though, and I want to recommend that any time you're actually sewing on your layout or card that you sew the pieces prior to gluing them to your layout base or card base.  I got so excited I forgot to do that on the Glacier page, but remembered to do it on the Pixie page.  By doing it PRIOR to adhering it to your base, this will allow you to still use the flip side for another layout!  (I like to conserve on space in my scrapbooks, so when I create a layout using a sheet of B&T, I design it so that I can use the back side as well!) Just conserves on space and paper! 

Here's a close up of the entire layout and how I assembled it.

Recipe:

C1668 My Acrylix Baby Bundle

Z3255 Whimsy Fundamentals

1365 White Daisy Cardstock

X5770 Glacier Cardstock

X5929 Whisper Cardstock

X5773 Pixie Cardstock

Z3146 Watercolor Paper

Z2872 Whisper Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

Z2895 Lagoon Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

Z2812 Raspberry Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Avail soon)

Z891 VersaMark Ink Pad

Z2012 Sequins Gold Assortment

Z2066 Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder

Z3132 Watercolor Paints

Z3188 Paintbrush Set

Z555 Craft Heater

Z3285 Cricut Flower Market Collection

Thread

Friday Freebie

So, this is something I'm going to try to do at least twice a month if not EVERY Friday... For those that have a Cricut Explore or Cricut Explore Air, I have created a special Design Space file for you to use to recreate this layout just as I have!  The file includes everything you need to recreate the layout with the colors that match the original layout in the Annual Inspirations.  

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE CRICUT DESIGN SPACE FILE

For any special cuts/shapes, please get your copy of our newest Cricut cartridge "Flower Market" available only through your Close To My Heart Consultant!

Cricut Flower Market Cartridge

If you don't have access to Cricut Design Space, the files were cut:

1. Whisper Cardstock - 10" x 2" (and dove tailed)
2. Glacier Cardstock - 10.75" x 9.5"
3. White Daisy Cardstock - 5.5" square (for photo mat)
   CRICUT SHAPES:
   Flower Market  --  1.5" Shift + Title <Amarylis> (cut 4, pg 50)

Well, I appreciate you visiting today and I hope and pray that I've inspired you to create something beautiful every day.  

Cheers!
~Many Blessings,

(aka Sosa's Wife)

Wise Guy Birthday goes Uptown!

 So, if you follow me on Instagram (@ScarletteDesigns) or if you follow my business page on Facebook (EliseCTMH), then you probably remember seeing this photo and that I was working with the NEWEST Close To My Heart Annual Idea (AI) Book products recently released on August 1st.         Were you wondering what I was working on or how it was going to work out?  I guess by the dimensions on the background photo, you may have been able to see that they were small enough to be cards, or possibly pocket scrapbooking, either way, I know a lot of you were totally psyched about the beautiful colors and even with the stamp sets!


    So, here's the debut and how I created everything... (For the first card anyways! LOL)

Handmade Card designed and created by Elise Sosa

 As you can see here, I started with my Cricut shapes first, using the Exclusive CTMH Artistry cartridge, and then designed the rest of the card around these.  I only knew one color that I wanted to start with, and that was the new Close To My Heart Color of the Year, SEA GLASS, and I knew that I wanted my card to be universal/unisex, where the recipient could be male or female.  Then of course it was trial and error to figure out what color combo was perfect, because not only did I want it to look good, I also wanted the colors to be realistic and representative of a real layered birthday cake... so, I asked a random question to my Facebook audience, and they posted they liked cake flavors such as Strawberry, Chocolate, and of course Cheesecake! (I mean, who doesn't love Cheesecake??)  So, I used their suggestions (and included my favorite) and below is the result!!  What do ya think? I thought it looked incredibly YUMMY! :)  And to make it even look more realistic, I decided to use my Shimmer Brush and Liquid Glass, because who doesn't love a nice glossy frosting (or icing, depending on what part of the country your from! LOL)

So, 30 of these later...

     A little bit of heat embossing on Black Cardstock, an addition of that beautiful Sea Glass Glitter paper, and the Uptown Fundamentals Paper and Ribbon, and Voila!

 Supplies:

Cricut Artistry Collection

Pixie Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

Juniper Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad

Liquid Glass

Shimmer Brush

Adventure Ribbon Pack

Uptown Ribbon Pack

Uptown Fundamentals Paper

Wise Guy Birthday (C1662)

Sea Glass Glitter Paper

Well, I appreciate you stopping by and I hope that I've inspired you to create something beautiful! And don't forget I have monthly specials each month, so always check back!

AKA Sosa's Wife