A Big Day!

Yesterday was a big day for our family.  Our youngest son, Peyton graduated from high school.  It was one of those bittersweet moments--we are so proud of him, yet I'm not sure we are ready for him to leave the nest.  His older brother is finished with school (for now anyway) and is working.  He lives at home, but we don't see much of him.  Peyton is working two jobs this summer so we won't see much of him either.  How did they grow up so fast? 
In the meantime I am busy planning his graduation party for this Saturday and I'm busy making favors using Close to My Heart products of course!  I'll post pictures of those soon.  Maybe it will spark your creativity for upcoming parties or showers. 

This Is It!

Ever have one of those moments, when you know in your heart that you are incredibly proud of your child?  Well this is it.  I know the picture is dark and hard to see, but number 10 in the black jersey and pants standing on the edge of the crowd is my youngest son, Peyton.  In this football game he caught a pass and was running upfield when he was tackled head-on by a HUGE player from the other team.  There was a sickening crunch--you know one of those crunches when you know that one of the players won't be walking off the field?  I watched as the pile of players around the play stood up just knowing that my son would be lying there on the ground.  I dreaded what I would see.  To my amazement, he jumped up straight in the air and jogged off the field. His coach was screaming at him asking if he was okay and telling him to take his helmet off so he could check his eyes for signs of a concussion.  My son was fine.  The other poor player had to be carried off the field.  At the end of the game, Peyton went over to check on the player before they hauled him off in the squad.  He apologized and wished him a speedy recovery.  I took this picture with tears in my eyes, knowing what a special kid I have.  He was the leading scorer not long ago on his basketball team and one of the fans asked me if I was proud of him.  I smiled, but inside I thought, no not really.  Scoring the most points in a game doesn't matter.  Checking to make sure an opposing player is going to be okay, that's what matters.  Yep, he's my son, and I'm proud all right.

Muslin Bags Are Here!

Interested in how to use the new muslin gift bags from Close to My Heart?  Watch this video to see how EASY it is to make these beautiful creations!  Contact me for more information or to place an order!

New Catalog!

That's right!  The new Close to My Heart Spring and Summer catalog is now available!  Contact me for your copy!  You can also access the catalog at www.closetomyheart.com  You can call me with orders anytime!  If you call and place an order by February 16 and guess my favorite new paper pack from this catalog, I will give you 10% off your order!  Happy hunting! 

Happy New Year!

Happy 2013!  To celebrate the new year, I have been working on a new technique that I learned this summer in Amish country.  I went to a little craft store in Sugarcreek, Ohio and saw some fabulous snowy cards made with...can you believe it....used DRYER sheets!  Yes those left-over dryer sheets that you usually throw away.  Now they have to be white and they have to be USED.  New ones won't work.  I can't use dryer sheets due to my son's allergies so I asked my dear friends Lori and Jill to save theirs for me.  Yes, they thought I was CRAZY!  So here are the directions and following the card sample is a product list.  Of course everything I used is available from Close to My Heart!

Directions for dryer sheet card:

1.  On plain white cardstock stamp your snow scene image.  You can use solid stamps as I did or use line stamps and color them in.  Just make sure you use darker colors and if you are coloring use markers with a heavy hand rather than chalks or pencils. 

2. Spray the panel with spray adhesive.  You can find this at any craft or hardware store or in those departments of stores like Wal-Mart.  You could probably also use a Xyron machine to apply adhesive to just the front of the panel.  I don't know if a wet glue would work--it might smear the ink, but you could give it a try.

3. Adhere your used, white dryer sheet and smooth it out.

4.  Trim any excess dryer sheet.

5.  Now sprinkle prisma glitter over the dryer sheet.  It will stick!  Shake off any excess glitter.

6.  Attach your panel to your card front.  Notice I added a second colored cardstock panel and then attached mine to a white card base.  I like white card bases so I can write a message inside my card easier.

That's it!  Quick and very easy and oh so elegant!  I plan to start making these for my Christmas cards next year!  Keep saving those dryer sheets girls! 

Products used:

D1283 Say It In Style (for New Year's greeting)
C1289 Warm Memories stamp set (retired, but any similar set will work fine)
Z134 Prisma Glitter
Z1240 Outdoor Denim ink (I used this to sponge the sky behind my trees)
Z1245 Ponderosa Pine ink (for trees and saying)
Z2147 Smokey Plum ink (I used this to sponge the sky behind my trees)
Sponge
Used, white dryer sheet
1276 Ponderosa Pine cardstock
1385 White Daisy cardstock

Clearly the Best: Random Stamping (S01E17)

Dotty For You!

Check out this new video presenting the latest promotion from Close to My Heart.  Email or call me anytime to get this fabulous new paper pack.  It is a MUST HAVE!

Happy Spring!

Wow! Time flies when you are busy!  I haven't updated in a while and I can't believe how long it's been.  Here is a recent photo of my kitties Seamus (on the right) and Diesel (on the left).  Don't forget that today is the last day to sign up to be a Close to My Heart consultant and get the Art of Philosophy Cricut cartridge ($99 value) absolutely FREE!  The consultant kit is only $99 so this is a HUGE value.  You can sign up online at www.closetomyheart.com or give me a call.  I will be glad to help you get started.  My next club gathering is April 13 at 7pm.  Call to reserve a spot and see all the new products for SPRING! 

My Photo Pick

By now I have literally hundreds of photos of my niece, Ellie.  After clicking through them numerous times, I finally selected this one to grace my hallway wall of photos of the kids.  Something about the green really looks good on her.  Of course it's hard to mess up a photo of her, but I am pretty proud of this one.  It was taken at a state park near my house and the background was perfect.  Hope you like it!

A Queen in the Family!

Last night was our school Homecoming and my beautiful niece, Ellie was crowned the Homecoming Queen!  We were so excited for her.  She is just as beautiful inside too.  The second photo is my son, Peyton escorting his friend, Chesney who was the Junior class attendant.