MY BEAUTIFUL HEXAGONS.

I just couldn't wait to show you my beautiful hexagon boxes that I just finished! I am going to post a tutorial on how to make them, but wanted to give you a sneak peek! They are made using Close to My Hearts most LOVELY ARIANA papers. 

I am just SWOONING over these papers. They remind me so much of Anna Griffin's gorgeous vintage French papers and fabrics. Of course I'm going to have to get more before they retire at the end of July, 2014!

 

I adore the blue pin stripe paper, and the vintage looking flowers. (sigh......)

I could not quit taking pictures of my little boxes. There is no detachable lid! It is built into the box and looks like a star when you close it. Oh so ingenious.

I will tell you where I found this darling idea and try to give a "simple" (what me?) tutorial. Here's what the top "lid" looks like:

Another photo (below) of the top part, which looks complicated but is NOT:

Here's a closeup look (below) at one of  the GORGEOUS Ariana papers. They are all double-sided so there are six different pretty designs, plus you get six sheets of coordinating cardstock in your Ariana paper pack. Here is the flowered design that I am just giddy over:

Stay tuned for my tutorial. And so you don't miss it, be sure to sign up at BLOGLOVIN' to follow me!  See you soon!

 

IT'S MY RESPONSIBILITY..............

It's my responsibility, as a CTMH consultant, to sadly tell you that a whole bunch of the darling stamp sets (and many other goodies) will be retired as of January 31, 2014! I hate to see them go! 

Here they are.... if you want any of the retiring stamp sets or other embellishments and papers, get them before the end of January, HERE ON MY WEBSITE.

I know these are small pictures... but it at least gives you an idea of what stamp sets are leaving us. (boo hoo).... Go to my website (link above) and click on any particular stamp set that you want to see close up.

 

The  CARD WORD PUZZLE set is especially neat. It can make up to at least 100 different phrases.

I LOVE the butterfly and flowers too. 

The Cozy Cat and Adore sets are two of my favorites! I used both stamps on the CTMH muslin gift bags.

Besides stamp sets retiring there are several of the Workshops on the Go retiring, as well as some paper packs (Huntington, Frosted, Tommy).

I LOVED the QUICK CARDS - BUTTERFLY stamp set as used the script part of it alot to do some background stamping on my cards and mini albums.

Sniff sniff, most of our colored glitter gels are going away!

I'm especially sad to see two of the fabric lines going away, but there WILL BE two new fabric sets in the new Idea Book, going online on February 1st! VERY HAPPY!

Here's a canvas wall hanging I made using the Chantilly fabric. Using the textiles (fabric) adds so much fun in creating!











And the Huntington paper packet is going away! That makes me really sad. I love that paper!

CTMH Kraft pocket album that I made using our Huntington papers. I'm going to stock up on Huntington papers!

We're losing our Dark Chocolate and Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbons.  That makes me very sad. STOCK UP NOW!

You can't find these ribbons in the stores.

Darling card using the brown grosgrain ribbon, by paperheartist.com.

Our SATIN SLATE POLKA DOT RIBBON is also retiring (whine whine). LOVE this ribbon as it is so unique!

Goodbye flowers, goodbye Chantilly buttons, goodbye pinwheels. SO SAD! You have only five more days to order any of these.

Goodbye pearls, studs, floral accents, Chantilly Dimensional Elements and Huntington Stickease. Will miss you.

Even though there are so many things retiring, CTMH is making room for all of the NEW AND WONDERFUL items (there are some awesome new products) being presented in the new Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book which will be available on February 1st!  

Here's my website link once again: MY CTMH WEBSITE.

SNEAK PEEKS COMING IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS... but please be sure to purchase any of the retiring items that you just can't live without, BEFORE January 31st!

 

SOME PRODUCTS RETIRING AT THE END OF JULY.

If you aren't a Close to My Heart Consultant, then you don't know that some of our products are retiring at the end of July, 2013, to make room for our NEW AUTUMN/WINTER 2013 IDEA BOOK products! 

It is sad (sigh.....) to see some of the products go, but it is also exciting to anticipate the new things that are coming! I will miss them. I wish we could get everything all of the time!

We CTMH consultants are so excited! The Close to My Heart Convention is going on right now in Florida, and many consultants are attending (not me). On June 27th, the new Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Book will be revealed to the consultants attending the convention. (And I am going to be following many blogs to get sneak peaks of the new things being introduced in the new Idea Book!)

Non-consultants will be able to view the new Idea Book online at my website on August 1st! I may show some sneak peaks before then. 

There are usually 7 to 8 new paper packs in the new Idea Book! How exciting! I can hardly wait!  

Four of this season's paper packs will be carried forward.  They are:

Tommy - seen HERE.
Chantilly - seen HERE.
Surf's Up - seen HERE.
For Always - seen HERE.  

Phew...... the Chantilly textiles and For Always textiles, and Drawstring muslin bags, three of my favorites, will be carried forward to the new Idea Book!  .........so glad.  Here is a canvas wall hanging project that I made using the textiles, and HERE is one of my stamped, cute muslin bags.


For a list of the CTMH retiring products, go HERE. If there is anything you have on your wish list that you just can't live without, be sure to get it before July 31st! All of these are WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, so once they're gone, they're gone. (Boo Hoo).  I'm always sad to see old favorites go.

But then the new products appear and I'm happy again! 

I'm hearing that Close to My Heart is introducing some brand new, ground-breaking designs!

 

SOME PATRIOTIC CARDS.

As you know, Close to My Heart has this great promotion going on during June and July, 2013. See my post Let's Get Patriotic here. CTMH will donate $3 to $5 for each stamp set purchased, to either the USO or a Canadian military support fund. 

I found some AWESOME and I mean GORGEOUS cards made by K. Aaron Brown over at Booth #32. She is so talented and I asked her if it was OK to share her cards. She said go for it! So here they are. She has given me such great ideas!

This card was "loosely" lifted from a card Aaron found on Pinterest, from Just Give Me Stamps.  I like how Aaron used alot of our Kraft Cardstock on her cards and did background stamping on it.  She may have used our Kraft Die Cut Cards and Envelopes on a couple of her cards. Unfortunately, they are RETIRING at the end of July!  Darn, I love those Kraft Cards. All the other Kraft envelopes are also retiring at the end of July.

My upcoming post on June 27th will talk about the retiring products.

Looks like this card was inspired by a card featured on Peppermint Patty's Papercrafts. It is pinned to Aaron Brown's Pinterest board. This card is using the CTMH Home of the Brave stamp set.

Aaron used our darling Honeycomb stamp set on this card. Love it!

I love how Aaron stamped on white cardstock and then cut out the image. And I love how she cut out the rays and embossed them, and then stamped over the embossing to give a distressed look.

There you go!  Just had to share these cards with you.  It gave me some great ideas and now I need to get busy. I haven't ordered the Patriotic stamp sets yet but I am definitely going to. I have alot of friends who have served in the military.

Plus, by purchasing one of these stamp sets, we are doing a little part to help our military by the donations CTMH is making. 

Happy creating!