Change your Font Colors to Close To My Heart colors!

One of my customers asked me about changing the font colors on her computer to match the Close To My Heart colors.  YES!  You can change the color of your type in Word or other similar programs.  The color values and directions on how to change them are below:

I can only tell you about the steps to take for Word for Windows, but I assume other programs are similar.  

1. Highlight the text you want to change the color of.

2. With the text still highlighted, look on the toolbar at the top of your screen, on the right hand side.  There should be a letter "A" with a little down arrow next to it.

3. Click on the arrow.

4. Click on "More Colors"

5. Click on "Custom" Tab

6. Enter in the values shown (below) for the R (Red), G (Green), B (Blue) codes

7. Click "OK"

If you don't see the "A" on your toolbar, you can also use the pull-down menu:  Under Format, Click on Font.  See the Font Color pull-down box?  Click on More Colors, then click on the Custom Tab. Enter in the values (below).

You should be able to click on the document (below) and print and/or save it (as a .pdf). (Some of the numbers might be cut off on the blog post, but if you click on the document, they should all be there.)

Have fun creating!

I AM capable of making a labor intensive card! (but only if it has sparkles)

I saw a similar card to this one somewhere...I think it was at JenniferMcGuireInkcom   

(I tried to find the post, but wasn't able to.)

Jennifer's card was a clear one with a snowman on the front, and she had run the front of the card through an embossing folder and her Cuttlebug.  Very pretty!  But I wanted to make one with Close To My Heart stuff, of course!  AND I wanted to show you the shaving cream technique with reinkers.  A bit messy, but very fun.

Plus, I LOVE the stamp set All Decked Out.  The snowman pieces are great, and you can change his hat, scarf and body parts.

So this is a clear plastic card (which you can't tell from the picture).  The snowman is on the front of the card, the blue swirlies are on the inside front of the card, and the dark blue (Moonstruck) is on the back of the card.

DON'T FORGET:  Peel the plastic protective sheets off BOTH sides of the plastic card before you start.

I made the swirlies with a plate full of shaving cream (any kind - use the cheap kind from the dollar store) and some Crystal Blue and Moonstruck Reinkers.

Put some shaving cream and drops of reinker on your plate

Now swirl it around, trying NOT to mix it too much

Lay a sheet of paper on the shaving cream, making sure you press the card into the shaving cream.
Wipe it off with a paper towel.  Let dry. Repeat with other blank sheets of paper (for extras).

You will get different patterns as your shaving cream gets moved around.
You can even spread it on your sheet with a knife.

I rounded the edges, stamped a few snowflakes and attached the swirly paper to the INSIDE of the card.

Then I mounted the Moonstruck card stock on the BACK of the card, to cover up the adhesive from the swirly sheet.  Be sure to keep the adhesive away from the edges of the Moonstruck paper, so they will not show through the front of the card.  (Sorry, the adhesive on the back of the snowman does show.)

TIP:  The adhesive I used on this card was Tombow or Liquid Glass.  You can also use double stick tape.  You do not want to used glue stick.  It will get dry and un-stick.  With the Liquid Glass, I held the paper down for a few minutes, to make sure it was good and stuck.  Also, be careful, it squishes out, if you put too much on.

I debated between Crystal Blue, Sky and Lilac Mist for the swirls.  I decided on Sky and Lilac Mist. 

Then I added Bitty Sparkles, Liquid Glass and Prisma Glitter.  LOVE that bling!

I also added Liquid Applique to his hat, between sections of Lilac Mist. 
Fun Flock would also be a nice addition.

I stamped the arms in Brown Staz-On on the front of the plastic card.  BE CAREFUL, it is slippery.  Try not to let the stamp slide around when pressing down.

This was a fun card to make - worth all the time it took.  :)  I hope you liked it, too.


Supplies Used:
Shaving Cream
Reinker, Moonstruck
Reinker, Crystal Blue
Clear Cards 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Assortment (Z1323, 8  for $8.95)
All Decked Out (D1308)
Moonstruck Stamp Pad
Moonstruck Card Stock
White Daisy Card Stock
Spring Iris Marker
Sky Marker
Sunflower Marke
Baby Pink Marker
Liquid Glass
Prisma Glitter
Bitty Sparkles
Liquid Applique
Staz-On Brown (for the arms)
Corner Rounder

Another way to save your precious paper

I've had lots of positive feedback on my post about how to be efficient with your 12"x12" paper.  Here's another tip on how to get the most from your paper (especially the pretty patterned paper, which is always a limited resource.)  I have friends/customers (myself included) that just want to look at the nice, complete, brand new paper pack, but don't want to cut the papers...because if you cut into them, you can't look at them in their "mint condition"!  (sigh, it's a balance, loving paper...)  You may think I'm weird...or you may have felt this way, too, but thought you were the only one.  Don't worry, you are not alone. 

Anyway, on to the Saving-Of-The-Paper.

On my other post, I suggested making your card bases 4" x 5 1/2" (finished) instead of the standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2".  If you buy cards that are already cut into the "normal" finished size of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", or use 8 1/2" x 11" paper to cut your own card bases, smaller cards isn't really a convenient option.  I still have paper-saving ideas for you.  

IDEA:  Cut your "pretty" paper a little smaller, so that you have a 1/8" border around your card.

Pictures are better - this is what I'm talking about:

Card inspired by Antoinette Herrin

This card has the New England Ivy card stock border around it.  Even if your card is 4 1/4" wide, you can still use a 4" piece of patterned paper, like I did here.  You get more pieces from your 12x12 sheet.  6 pieces of the patterned paper that are 4" x 5 1/4".

This is in contrast to going all the way to the edge with your patterned paper, like this:

Designed by Linda Caler

I kind of like the border on the edge anyway, I think it makes a nice frame.

TIP:  If you didn't want to throw more paper on your card (I mean the solid frame), you can always INK your border color on the edge, using a sponge dauber or something.  The color will still set off the smaller patterned paper.

Items used:

Mistletoe Paper Pack (X7130B)

Mistletoe Creative Basics Collection (X5811)

Snow Days (C1420)

Colonial White Collection Designer Ribbon Rounds (Z1126)

Two-Tone Stamping

I LOVE the November Stamp of the Month.  I like that it has a thankfulness theme. 

This month, we're using it on a circle card.  But that's not what I wanted to show you!

See how the THANKS is yellow and green?  First I inked the stamp in Goldrush, and then I applied a sponge dauber inked in Topiary to the already-inked stamp.  It adds the second color and makes the image more interesting!  . 

You could also just use the second color around the edges of the stamp, to give it some shading.  This technique is really pretty on leaf stamps.

TIPS:  It really works best on stamps that have a more solid image.  (Like you could use this same technique with the bird stamp, shown above.)  Also, you want to use colors that blend together well on top of each other.  What I mean is, green is made up of yellow and blue, so it works when you put green on top of yellow.

If you put green on top of red, you would get brown.  It might be interesting, but it also might not look like you intended.  (I don't think you could get red and green together on the same stamp using this technique.)

Supplies Used:

4 1/2" Circle Cards (Z1353, $5.95 for 12 cards AND square envelopes)

Splendor Paper Pack (X7124B)

November Stamp of the Month, A Little Thanks (D1444)

Leave Your Mark (D1405)

A Tweet (A1104)

Chocolate Ribbon Rounds (Z1127)

Mocha Opaques (Z1333)

Pearl Opaques (Z1336)

Topiary Stamp Pad (Z2155)

Goldrush Stamp Pad (Z2123)

Chocolate Stamp Pad (Z2111)

Sponge Daubers (Z726)

Decorative Recipe/Photo Box

This past weekend was our church's Alternative Gifts (Christmas) Fair.  I decorated the My Creations Recipe/Photo Box (Z1322) with Close To My Heart papers I had from previous promotions.  It was fun to make them, and went pretty fast.  My problem was I got started at 8:00pm the night before the event...so I didn't get many made.  Still, we raised over $100 for Northwest Harvest, one of our local food banks.

I love the My Creations Recipe/Photo Boxes. They will hold 4x6 photos or recipe cards and have a magnetic clasp on the front flap.

I also made 4x6 inserts for each box with coordinating paper, and little tabs made with my Cuttlebug and a round punch.

I used the Irrisistibles Dimensional Elements for the flower.  The colors are Spring Iris, Pink Carnation (retired), Key Lime and Sunny Yellow.  It may be Kiwi (retired) on the patterned paper, but since I don't have any more Kiwi paper, I used Key Lime for the flpa.  It looked fine.

My favorite decorated box was with the new Mistletoe paper.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of that style, before I sold them.  

I just made my own template for the rounded piece and the notched piece on the front.  I used a heavy piece of card stock to make my template, so it wouldn't get ruined while I was using it.

I sponged the edges of the boxes before sticking paper on them.

I glued together two 4x6 pieces of Card Stock to make the divider inserts.  One piece of Card Stock just didn't seem heavy enough.  For the scalloped pieces, I used my Cuttlebug with Nestabilities Dies.

Supplies Used:

My Creations Recipe/Photo Box (Z1322, $6.95)

Retired CTMH Papers

Round Sponge

Coordinating Ink Pad

Cuttlebug

Nestabilities Dies

Round punch (1 1/4")

Really strong glue.  I used 3M Poster Tape with the giant tape-gun-dispenser  You could use Bonding Memories Glue, but I would recommend applying it on both pieces of paper/the box and the decorative paper.  Tombow just isn't sticky enough for this project. 

Copy Catter

One of the things I try to do on my blog is to show you cards that aren't super elaborate and don't take a lot of time to create.  Sometimes I'm envious of the people who post those gorgeous, time consuming cards and projects, but I just know that I would never take the time to make them.  I'm just too busy!

So, when I see a good idea and want to copy it - I just do.  (I'm shameless, but what can I say?) 

Here's a freebie card we received from World Wildlife Fund.  As soon as I saw it, I said, "Hey, I like that.  I can do that.with my CTMH stamps!"  My daughter liked mine better, because it has glitter.  She also said I HAD to use Liquid Applique (the puffy stuff at the bottom).

I would not have thought of putting the swirly snowflakes vertically on my own.  I've always thought of doing them horizontally.  It's good to get out of the box!

Supplies used:

Nature's Gift (C1424)

Snow Flurries (D1384)

Crystal Blue Card Stock

Pacifica Stamp pad

Prisma Glitter (Z134)

Bonding Memories Glue (1512) (for the glitter)

Liquid Applique (Z308)

Bitty Sparkles (Z1263) $2.95

Thank You Gifts

I love my customers.  If I ever quit doing Close To My Heart, I would really miss them!  I wanted to do something special for them, since this is one of our last monthly card classes for the year.  (I also have an optional December 3 card class.)

I saw this project on Lisa Stenz' blog.  She's so talented!  I made a few adjustments, and voila!

It's a little bag made out of paper with hot chocolate fixin's inside!

Supplies Needed:

4 1/2" x 3" piece of card stock (any color, I used Colonial White)

5" x 12" piece of patterned paper (I used the striped paper from Mistletoe (X7130B)

1 1/4" Circle punched from Cranberry Card Stock

Scalloped circle punched from Cranberry Card Stock

Circle punched from Colonial White Card Stock (just make sure it's smaller than your scallop)

Card Chatter -Thank You stamp set (C1381)

Snow Flurries (D1384) - snowflakes on the tag

Cranberry Stamp Pad

Sweet leaf Stamp Pad

1/4" hole punch

White Grosgrain Ribbon

Tombow adhesive or Teriffically Tacky Tape (if you use Terrifically Tacky Tape, you don't need to double the adheisve.

Euro Personal Paper Trimmer (with Scoring Blade)

Score the small paper 1/2" on each edge. Fold up the edges up to make a "tray" shape.

Cut where the red lines are shown. Put adhesive all the way around the edges. Stick the "tray" together, with the adhesive facing OUT. (tabs are "in" holding it together.)

If you are using Tombow, put adhesive on the striped sheet, too, as shown.

Next, you will be sticking the tray and long side of the paper (the side with the adhesive) together, to make the bag. Using adhesive on both papers ensures a better bond.  Starting at the center of the long side of the tray, press the long side of the sticky, striped side of the paper onto the tray.  (HINT:  Remember the short side of the paper has some adhesive, too.  That short side with adhesive will be the LAST thing you attach to the tray.)  Try to stick the striped paper as close to the bottom on the "tray" as possible.  Work your way around the tray.  Now you have your bag!  (OK, I know these instructions sound complicated, but it really isn't.  It's just that writing them out makes the instructions look hard!  I'm making mental notes on how to have the pictures supplement the instructions.)

You can fill your bag with whatever you want.  It's fun if your goodies poke out of the top.  I used a circle punch to make a Cranberry Circle, and folded it in half to attach to the front.  Then I punched a 1/4" hole in it for ribbon.  Not only does it add a little interest at the top, it reinforces the hole.  You can also do this on the back side, but I chose to use see-through hole reinforcements, instead.  It's especially important to reinforce the hole somehow on the back, because it's just patterned paper, not card stock.  It might rip if there's any stress with the ribbon.

Have fun!

Free stamps to say THANK YOU in November!

I LOVE the November Special from Close To My Heart.  FREE stamps!  (You know, I love free!)

During November, Close To My Heart is expressing its gratitude to you by helping you earn two fabulous My Acrylix stamp sets for FREE!  When you place a minimum order of $100, you will not only receive the November Stamp of the Month set, A Little Thanks (...it's a good one!), for FREE, you will also receive one stamp set of your choosing from the 2010 Autumn/Winter Idea Book for FREE!

This means you can increase the value of your purchase by up to $45.90 — that’s almost 50 percent more in value! It’s just Close To My Heart's way of giving you A Little More Thanks for being a great customer.  (PS - Stamps and scrapbooking goodies make GREAT holiday gifts.)

To take advantage of this great special, you can shop online, call (425.255.3731) or email me.  Or, even better - come to a class this month!  (You can even gather a few friends' orders together that total $100, and we can get you some of that cool free stuff!)  Let me know, I'm here to help!


Five-Card Classes This Month:
Fridays, November 12 &19 at 6:30pm 
Thursday, November 18 at 10am


Let me know if you want to come and play with us!

Thanksgiving Card

Designed by Doris Forbes

For some reason, I LOVE the font on the "Happy Thanksgiving" that's in this stamp set.  The cutesy kids I'm not so crazy about, but I love the font.  I've seen a couple of cards made with this set, and I keep staring at the words.

One of the more interesting techniques about this card is the grass under the pumpkins.  Doris stamped the grass with Garden Green and then again with Honey.  The blending of the two colors is nice...and makes the grass much more interesting.

Another way to make the grass two-toned would be to ink the stamp in the lighter (Honey) color and then use a sponge dauber to put some Garden Green on the stamp.

Have fun experimenting!

Supplies Used:

Thanksgiving, C1426

Howdy, D1435

Olivia Paper Pack

Chocolate Card Stock

Colonial White Card Stock

Chocolate Stamp Pad

Garden Green Stamp Pad

Honey Stamp Pad

Staz-On Brown Stamp Pad

Chocolate Marker

Watercolor Pencils

Blending Pen

And Kitty Says:  

 

"I want to go on a trip - mail me now!  Oh, never mind, I just want to take a nap here."

Non-Traditional Christmas Card

I got this cute Christmas card in a swap at a Close To My Heart corporate event today.  It was SO fun to hang out with 100 very talented women who love scrapbooking, stamping and Close To My Heart!  

Designed by Diane Seitz

I would never have thought to use the Party Animal stamp set in a holiday card.  The boy (?) reminds me of one of the who's in Whoville (Dr. Seuss).  

The Honey colored paper is a different, but nice.  What looks like a piece of patterned paper on the left is actually randomly stamped images from the Christmas Melodies stamp set.  See!  You don't need to use patterned paper on your projects - you can make patterned paper with the stamps you already own!  Plus, you can make a whole sheet of it and just cut it up, like you would the patterned paper you bought.  (I'm all about saving time!)

Supplies Used:

Classmate Alphabet, D1303

Christmas Melodies, D1324

Party Animal, D1437

Chocolate Card Stock

Honey Card Stock

Colonial White Card Stock

Honey Stamp Pad

Chocolate Stamp Pad

Sweet Leaf Stamp Pad

Cranberry Stamp Pad

Staz-On Brown Stamp Pad

Dimensional Elements - Flurry

Sponge Distressing Tool

Water Brush

Cranberry Ribbon