Summer 2010 New Product Blog Hop!

Welcome to our Close to my Heart New Product Blog Hop! Over 40 Fabulous Close to my Heart Consultants are celebrating the upcoming release of the Summer 2010 Idea Book by giving you a Sneak Peak of some of the great products available in the new Idea Book starting May 1st!

If you have come here from Priscilla's blog, you are on the right path!

This is simple do to, just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

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I had lots of fun with this new paper, Cherry-O, and I'm sure you will too!

The Envelope:





What's Inside:














Items used on this project:
~ CTMH Cherry-O Level 2 Paper Pack
~ CTMH Cranberry Velvet Ribbon
~ CTMH Chocolate, Sweet Leaf, and Tulip Ink Pads
~ CTMH Opaques Cherry-O Adhesive Gems
~ CTMH My Acrylix "Bowl of Cherries" Stamp Set
~ CTMH Tulip Mini-Medley Accents Collection (brads and buttons)
~ Just Because Cards Cricut Cartridge
~ CTMH Circle Punch

Tip: I used small adhesive backed magnets on the back of the envelope to keep it closed and I disguised them with the cherry embelishment.

Now "Hop" on over to Jean McNulty's Blog to see her work! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and see the great new Paper Packs and My Acrylix Stamp Sets! Enjoy!!

Remember, the Summer 2010 Idea Book goes LIVE on May 1st! Contact me to get yours!

**Link not working? Missed a "Hop"? Here is a list of all the participants in the New Product Sneak Peak Blog Hop!

~Summer 2010 Blog Hop List~
Erin Herring
Carla Ironside
Dawn Ross
Amy Edwards
Tresa Black
Dawn Heuft
Kimberly Smith
Jessica Moore
Leisa Hubley
Helen Onulak
Brae Montgomery
Wendy Kesslery
Adeline Brill
Sherrie Thornton
Sheila Bennet
Terrie Dodd
Lisa Stenz
Jody Gustafson
Kathleen Rensel
Lori Scott
Beth Nauman
Teri Baxter
Wendy Fording
Laurie Newton
Meredith Burgess
Clerissa Lewis
Jennifer Kojder
Georgia Hauglid
Antoniette Herrin
Haley Dyer
Tanya Mae
Priscilla
Cassandra-YOU ARE HERE!
Jean McNulty
Carrie Haines
Janelle Janish
Maranda Dickerson
Cheryl Even
Karen Johnson
Cindy Leek
Nancy Walters
LaJeania Hicks
Traci
Emma Hubert
Kristine Fowler
Amanda DesJardins
Tamra Meservey
Melinda


Until next time!

"About Me" Mini Book

I purchased a Zutter Bind-It-All V2.0 around Christmast time 2009 and I've been a bit intimidated to use it.

My solution: Take a BIA course at My Creative Classroom.
The result: I'm no longer scared of my Zutter BIA.

Here is the first project I made (after the initial cutting guide):

Products used:
~ Zutter Acrylic Covers
~ Zutter BIA V2.0 (the pink one)
~ Zutter Binding Rings
~ CTMH Veranda LV2 Paper Pack
~ CTMH Veranda Stickease
~ Misc. flowers

I'm not quite sure what I will do with it, but I'm excited to have started a friendship with my Zutter.

Until next time!

Provo Craft's New Angel Policy

Be sure to check this out before thinking of cutting and selling your cut images. This applies to both Cake and Paper Crafting cartridge images.

Official News Post:
"New Update about Provo Craft’s Angel Policy

April 23rd, 2010

We've gotten some great feedback on the Angel Policy revision we made last week as it pertains to Cake. It's such great feedback, in fact, that we’d like to do something similar for paper crafters and mixed media artists. Moving forward, we're going to combine cake and other mediums so there's just one Angel Policy for everyone. And at the same time, we’d like to provide a bit more clarity to that policy. This will be the official policy going forward, and while there could be additional adjustments or clarifications from time to time, we don’t anticipate any significant changes in the near future.

This new Angel Policy still does not authorize you to produce and sell individual, unassembled cuts using Cricut products (i.e., mass producing individually-cut letters or shapes to re-sell). It does, however, authorize you to sell up to 10,000 completed projects annually (i.e., cards, scrapbook pages, finished cakes), using cuts made with Cricut products. This revision offers the most flexibility possible to those who wish to create and sell projects made using any of the Provo Craft products, while also protecting the creative ideas and images of the independent artists with whom we work to produce art for our cartridges.

We’ve tried to make this new policy as simple and clear as possible. We hope you’ll be really happy with what it allows you to do. But if there’s any part of this policy that you’re still unclear or unhappy about, please call our customer service department at 1-800-937-7686 and we’ll answer your questions. We also recognize that limiting the sale of completed projects to 10,000 differs from what we shared last week specifically with respect to the use of Cricut Cake. So if you bought Cricut Cake this week and find this revision no longer meets your needs, you can contact Customer Service by April 30, 2010 for a refund."

*click to enlarge*


Stay up to date news related to your Cricut by Visiting: Cricut News

Until next time!

National Scrapbooking Month - CTMH Miracle Kit

May is National Scrapbooking Month and May 1st is National Scrapbooking Day!

In celebration, CTMH has come out with a very fun kit. This Miracle Kit includes all you need to create 2 fantastic two-page layouts.

What's Included:

5 options to get your Miracle Kit:
~ Purchase the kit outright for $19.95
~ Place a minimum order of $40 and purchase the kit for only $10
~ Place a minimum order of $60 and purchase the kit for only $5
~ Sign up as a new Consultant between May 1-31 and receive a kit FREE
~ Host a Home Gathering between April 15-May 31 with minimum sales of $300 and receive a kit FREE

This exclusive kit is only available from April 15th - May 31st so be sure to get yours today! Contact me to place your order!

P.S. Stay tuned for additional project ideas for the Miracle Kit.

Until next time!

Cricut Software Comparison

Debating on whether to purchase SCAL, MTC, Inkscape, Cricut Design Studio, or a Gypsy?

Check out Clever Someday for a complete comparison chart. This chart is updated frequently so it's a good link to save for future reference.

In addition, Create Your Heart Out has a 4 part series on "Which Do I Choose" that goes along with the same available products. Feel free to check those out by clicking the links below:

Which Do I Choose?
Which Do I Choose? Part 2: SCAL
Which do I choose? Part 3: Make the Cut
Which do I choose? Part 4: Gypsy plus Roundup
Personally, I LOVE my Gypsy. I haven't really used my Cricit Design Studio because I purchased my Gypsy right after purchasing the software and I stare at a computer all day for work so I'm not jumping for joy to do it some more when I get home. I love that I can play around with the Gypsy when I'm getting my hair or nails done and then finalize the project by cutting it out when I return home. However, I do wish the images were colored because I'm a visual person and my creative juices flow better when I'm "living in color!"

While we are on the topic, I'm sure many of you have already heard that Provo Craft has a lawsuit against Make The Cut (MTC). You can find more information about that lawsuit at Scrapbook Update.

Until next time!

My New Camera & Photo Printer

This weekend I finally went out and got a new camera. I picked up the Nikon D5000. I got a deal from Best Buy that included an extra VR Zoom Lens and a Camera Bag. So far I am loving my recent purchase.

Also on the way, a HP Photosmart A646 for my photo printing on the go. I figure this will be great to bring along to Crops or Retreats so I can quickly print what I need for a project.



Until next time!

Copic Airbrush System

I'm so excited that my Copic Airbrush system has arrived. I purchased the Windstorm AC-101 from Creative Play Stamps and I purchased the ABS-3 System from Stamping Scrapping. I played with my new toy a bit yesterday but I'm still learning how to use it so it actually ends up looking like a work of art instead of an airbrush scribble!

I might take one of the courses offered by My Creative Classroom...still pondering the idea.

Until next time!

CARD: Happy Birthday

First, I apologize for the aweful photos. I'm working on getting a new camera.

Anyway, I created this card as a challenge in a Card Swap. We had to incorporate the patterned paper into a birthday card. Here is my result:

For this card, I used:
~ Cardstock
~ The "Challenge" Patterned Paper
~ CTMH Piece of Cake Stamp of the Month (February) Stamp Set
~ SU R... Cardstock
~ SU R... Ink Pad
~ SU Old Olive Ink Pad
~ Creative Memories Tag Maker Punch
~ Hobby Lobby White Brads

UPDATE! I have a new camera now! Yay. Here is a better close up photo:

Wow, can you see the camera difference???

Until next time!

Acrylic Paint Storage

I honestly can say that I probably don't use my acrylic paints as much as I should but even so, I purchased this simple Cropper Hopper paint rack to store them in:

Nothing too fancy but it does the job!

How do you store your paints and do you use them often?

Until next time!

Scent My Cards Scent Storage

As I mentioned yesterday, I also have a bottle caddy from Scrapcessories to store my Scent My Cards scents. I love these things and they add that special touch to any card.

How do you store your Scent My Cards scents?

Until next time!

Stickles Storage

We can't forget about Stickles! For storing my stickles I picked up a bottle caddy made by Scrapcessories from Cindy at Stamping Scrapping. I actually have a total of three now (1 with a pink lid for my Cartridges, 1 with a green lid for my Stickles, and one with a white lid for my Scent My Cards scents).

As you can see there is a double in there (baby blue) so I decided I needed to track what Stickles I already own so I wouldn't double up anymore. For that, I created this spreadsheet that offers space to put a sample of the Stickles color. The idea of this I found while browsing other blogs, but it took some time to create my own version and enter all of the information.













For on the go, I downloaded an iPhone app called Home Inventory (they also have an Web version available to you when you purchase the application). Instead of taking inventory for furniture and appliances in my home, I changed all the categories to to items located in my scraproom. This allows me to keep track fo my collection of Stickles, Copics, Tools, Paper, Ink Pads, etc. After downloading this I found out that I have a ton of stuff and it is taking a lot of time to enter everything but at least I'll be ready to shop it up at CKC Mesa this weekend and I'll have a good idea of what I don't need to purchase!

How do you store your Stickles?

Until next time!

Copic Storage

I thought I would share my Copic Storage Solution for my Craftroom. These storage cubies were purchased from Kim @ Cutters Creek (I got them from her Yahoo Group) and I will say that they were the best purchase ever (I started with one then quickly ordered a 2nd before they were gone).

Anyway, I love how sleek they look and the little drawers are perfect for airbrush or re-filling supplies.

For my On-The-Go Copic Storage Solution, I used an extra Close to My Heart Stamp Storage Case (purchased from me, lol). They fit perfectly and the case has a lid and handle so you don't have to worry about the case tipping over and your markers going everywhere. I read on another Blog that someone had 160 in one case - I'm only at 90 so I can't confirm as to how many can fit.


My next goal is to purchase the airbrush compressor - save...save...save! UPDATE: Purchase Complete - now for it to arrive.....

Whether in your Craftroom or On-The-Go, how do you store your Copics?

Until next time!