IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After months of waiting (note I did not say patiently waiting), the Close To My Heart Spring/Summer 2013 Idea Book is ready for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  See it online now at heatherplotzke.ctmh.com NOW!

If you want a hard copy to study and hug and look through 1000 times for inspiration contact me right away at hrkinney@hotmail.com.  Local Oceanside Area Peeps, you will get your's in your hot little hands Tuesday night at Kick off Open house.  Remember as you place your orders online to be sure and pay it forward by joining an open gathering.  I only takes one click and you'll help someone earn hostess goodies.

Last chance for January special, stamp of the month, and retiring items

Alright all my procrastinators today is the absolute last chance for you to order your January stamp of the month, Whoo's your Valentine National Papercrafting Month special set, and hundreds of retiring items .

January Stamp of the Month

For a full list of retiring items click here or got to the direct tab at the top of the page

National Papercrafting Whoos your Valentine

January 2013 - Love Your Layout

January's Love your Layout tutorial is out!!!! Just in time to because trust me when I tell you that you are going to want to get your Studio J in gear because February is going to be a super busy month for you.   Studio J layouts February is sure to be a month of digital delights because you can purchase any Studio J^® layout for only $5—that’s a savings of $1.95 per layout! This is a great opportunity to try Studio J for the first time.

Avonlea card

Here is a little treat to tide you over while I'm in Manic-craft mode.  Emily Hunt from monthly papercrafting group made a series of cards from the left over pieces of Avonlea from our January workshop.

Emily is making cards to give in bundles as Christmas gifts!  How smart is that!!!!! Who wouldn't love getting homemade cards/stationary sets.  I love that Emily is starting now on this project.  Again, super smart -- so crafting fun all year through and  less holiday stress time.  Thanks for sharing with us Emily!

Send me your Close To My Heart art and maybe you'll find yourself featured too!!!!!!!!!  I love seeing and sharing great new samples and want to pay that forward to you all.

Too busy crafting to be posting...CTMH Spring products

Okay, okay...I know I'm supposed be blogging to you all photos about all the new goodies that are coming your way just THREE DAYS from now.  Sorry I've been TOO BUSY playing with all those great new products.  In all honesty I can't remember the last time I was so creatively charged and inspired as I am right now.  This three day weekend alone I've made TWO layout spreads, FIVE big Home Decor Items, and have TWO more pieced out and ready assemble. 

Thankfully my Mom fed my kids today.

I can't wait to share all the new products with you.  All my local peeps, I will have all these samples I've been making and more at my openhouse on Feb 5th.  For those of you that are in my blogging world alone, I promise to get some photos and post soon; Soon but not today...my Cricut is calling me.

Retirement Reminder

I wanted to remind everyone that tons of your favorite products are retiring at the end of this month.  I have the very long list posted on a special page tab at the top of the page.  Here is a direct link for you too.

Happy shopping, be sure to get your goodies before they are gone.

January's Workshop Layout

As I mentioned last week, I am totally rocking a scrap lifted layout this month for my January workshop. Why re-invent the wheel when so many have already decorated it adorably!

Using Avonlea, which to me screams heritage and romance where so many others see winter, I decided to take this layout on a Valentine's journey. 

To see what I Scraplifted and altered check out  Linda Taylor's Blog Hop post.

Okay now to the cutting information, including the Cricut cartridge/booklet key page #, in case you want to scraplift.  

• Slate Cardstock: Circle (Artiste p 48) was cut at 6 1/2. The lace Doilie was cut 3 1/2 (Artiste p 71).  I slowed the speed a little to keep the lace edges clean.
• Smokey Plum Cardstock: Lace Doilie was cut at 8.75 (save the hearts for decoration when using these kind of cuts).  "I Love You" was cut at 1 1/2" (Artiste p 71).  The Cameo's were each cut at 2" (Artiste p. 42).
• The 5 pcs of Background & Texture paper (B &T) on the right page for photos were 3 1/2" x 4 1/2"
• The Grey satin polka pcs are RIBBON and I cut them at 10 1/2"
• The other Bold patterned B & T papers (2) were cut at 3" x 11"

Lastly, I've already been "lifted" and rearranged into someone's own vision.  Take a look at Brenda Wando's layout from my class.

National Handwriting Day - Put your Pen into it!

Today is National Handwriting Day, so I thought we should chat about journaling.  Many of us, me included, don't like our own handwriting.  We all cherish those crooked, backwards lettered, misspelled notes our little ones write us and we immortalize them in our scrapbooks and save them in our treasure drawers.  But our own writing not as much.  I'm super guilty, I admit it! 

One reason I love Studio J so much is that I find that I journal about 100 times more on my layouts.  I'm not sure if its the fact that I can pick the font or if its the ease of being able to edit my thoughts....okay, so anyone that knows me knows that editing my thoughts before they come out of my mouth isn't my strong point so editing my journaling is a huge bonus for me lol.

I want to take a second though to say, it may not matter to us what our writing looks like but to our loved ones years from now it will matter a great deal.  I know that I cherish the few handwritten notes in my Dad's handwriting knowing I will never get another.  In my head now if I close my eyes I can distinctly see exactly how it looks.

At Christmas under the tree each year is a empty wrapped box addressed to ME from Grandma.  When I was little my Grandmother would elaborately wrap all these empty little boxes and put them under the tree.  She lived alone and was always worried about something breaking in for our gifts (well wouldn't those thieves been in for a shock).  I love that squished little box with its 70's paper and plastic poinsetta, and I cherish that tag "to Heather, Love Grandma".

All I'm saying is while we so safely preserve all of our loved ones lives, make sure we save a little bit of ourselves for them to hold on to as well!

To help us all in the task of hand journaling Close To My Heart has many products like these adorable dimensional elements:

Irresistibles™ Persnickety Journaling Spots

These Journaling Spots have resist patterns that show through when covered with ink, markers, or watercolors. 12" x 6" chipboard sheet with a variety of resist patterns and shapes perfect for journaling. 
 
Priced at only $4.95 at set.

Cricut heart tree from January Workshop

I love the fun and patchwork quilt feel this Valentine tree gives.  This is from my January workshop.

I originally saw this idea on pintrest (here is the link), and then thought WOW I can make that, and do it easier using my Cricut Artiste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You gotta love finding something cute and not only being able to make it your own, but making it faster and easier.

Instead of trying to hand create a cone from scratch or from buying a foam cone.  I used the CONE cut on my Artiste cartridge pg 42. I cut the cone for the larger cone to "fit to page".  For the class I cut them at 7".  I placed a couple staples (because they would be covered anyways) up the cone to be speedy and glued the rest of the way with Liquid Glass.  I recommend doing this ahead of time and placing aside so they are completely dry when you go add hearts.

I cut the the hearts using my Cricut Art Philosophy.  Now I could have stayed with the Artiste, but I liked the longer skinnier hearts on the Art Philosophy.  I really think they laid better than the original samples.  I cut the hearts at 2.25" and "filled the page"; doing that cuts 50 hearts/page.  It takes roughly 1 1/2 pages of hearts to cover the cone depending on how close you layer them (so around 75ish).

I wanted the colors to be random, but controlled random.  What I tried to do to control the spread of patterns, I tried to make sure that I never layered the same pattern over itself and having three patterns made that super easy.

When you start glueing, start at the bottom and work in a circle around the base, then go up a row.  I only placed glue on the tip heart which allowed for a natural flare and dimension at the bottom like real branches. I have seen versions were they curled the top of the heart for more flare, which I thought was cute for Christmas but I liked how the straighter hearts looked like hearts!

For placement it worked great to start the 1st row with a heart between each eyelet cutout.  One the next row, up I fill in

Finishing touch, was to add our Glitz Glitter Gel in coordinating pink Z1770 in dots again randomly on the right corner of hearts.  Okay so maybe that's not so random either (wow didn't realized how OCD I've become while crafting lately lol) I picked one pattern and those are the hearts that got the Glitz:)

Martin Luther King Day!

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Happy Inauguration Day!

As I got my 5 and 6 year old ready for bed tonight my son asked me if we still had no school on Monday.  I told him yes, but than asked him if he knew why.  Parker quickly told me that "its Martin Luther King Day", and he reminded me he had colored a picture of him hanging on our door.  I then asked do you know why we celebrate that day?  He and quickly answered "yeah, he was a man that got shot with a gun and died and its his birthday".

At this point as a Mom I was thinking OH NO he missed a big chunk....and decided that now we needed to sit down so he would understand what the day really meant. My next question (which I assumed I'd be answering), after reassuring him his answer was correct was "do you know why those people killed him?" Now my 1st grader is excitedly going "I know", but I waved off her answer wanting to hear from Parker.

What happened next, made me so proud. "Oh yeah!" says Parker, "they didn't like him because he thought that black and white people and everyone else should get to use the same rules AND they should, Night."  Now Sara Beth, who is now in the other room can't hold it in any longer and yells "he called it His Dream!"

So as we go about our day tomorrow, I will be thinking all day that I'm thankful that my kids have amazing teachers, because really an answer like that from a Kinder student is amazing!  I'm a proud Momma!  So hug your kids, and THANK a Teacher today!

School Rocks! B1396

Give a Hug Day -- Today!!!!!

January  21st - Give a Hug Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who doesn't want a hug?!?!?!

Anyone that knows me well, knows that I'm not the biggest Hugger lol.  Don't get me wrong I like to hug, but I to hug MY people you know.  Even writing this I have goose bumps just thinking about someone I just got introduced to hugging me ahhhhhh.  My kids on the other hand I must hug 100 times each a day.  My two littlest you have to brace for their hugs because when they want one, they charge at you so you need to be prepared. 

Now, with my husband deployed and my best friends scattered around the world I love being able to send some HUGS through the mail.  Our new Card Chatter - Love D1464 stamp set ($17.95 for 22 images) will be perfect for this.  Often people forget about sending an "I love you" card out except for Valentines Day or main holidays but for me, a JUST BECAUSE I LOVE YOU is the best kind.  My favorite stamps are "My favorite place..." "is inside your hug".  Love that!

So to all of you -- my peeps, here is my VIRTUAL HUG TO YOU!!!!!!!!!  (those kinds I'm okay with).

National Popcorn Day

Yummy, yummy Happy National Popcorn Day!!!!!!!!!!!  I like mine Salty, with Butter and Parmesan cheese; how about you?  How are you eating your popcorn today???

Now we all know nothing goes better with popcorn than a good movie right?!?!  So how about on your next movie and popcorn night you make themed popcorn set using the Cricut Artiste cartridge by Close To My Heart.  I keep thinking how perfect it would be for decorating for a sleepover.  Here is an image of the "Movie Night" Key p. 67.

January's Workshop - The Back Story

There were a few things that I wanted to showcase this month...

• Taking pre-conceived themed papers and colors and taking them a totally different direction

•  Scraplifting! There is NO reason to not take inspiration from all the avenues we have available today.  Take this blog for instance, I am thrilled and flattered when I hear people take what I make and a copy it into their own.  If we all didn't want that to happen we wouldn't show it off and give you directions.  Like the quote says "Imitation is the highest form of flattery".  
• Favorite blogs AND Pintrest.com are some of my favorite places to find inspiration.  
• If you Scraplift it, own it and be proud of it...so mention who and where you "lifted it from".  Think of it as pay it forward, let others find inspiration where you did.
• Inspiration can be duplication OR something totally altered.  That's the best and easiest part.  The layout you Lift is NEVER, EVER going to be set next to the one you make soooooooo NO need to worry about the exact dimension of that tag in the left corner or hmmmmmm you really don't need every exact embellishment; unless you really, really want it....then ask the original cre-artist in most cases they would love to share what they know. 
• Last, but not least don't let the search for inspiration drain you from all your sands of creative craft time.   

So what I want you to do is check back over the next several days and see where my inspiration took me and this month's workshop projects.

January's Paper Cupcakes Cricut Artiste Blog Hop

Welcome to the Paper cupcakes Cricut Artiste Blog Hop for January. This month's focus is on the  "BE MINE" key of the ARTISTE collection ( page 71 of the booklet).


If you have gotten here way of  Bren Yule's you are on the right trail.

While I was at Ikea doing a little after holiday clearance shopping I ran across these cute but plain heart ornaments that were just screaming to me to decorate for Valentine's.  And at $0.50  for a package of 4 they had to come home with me.

After adding my ruby cardstock cutout (hung with fishing line to make it appear floating), I quick and easy glittered the wide outer edge of the heart with our red glitz glitter gel. The red sparkle of the glitz really makes them pop at night!

For more projects from this key, be sure to follow me all month because I used this key to design my January workshop...photos to come starting later this week.

Now its time to Hop on over to Tasha Valdez's blog to see what heartfelt treat she made to share with us.

Permission to shop

I have an open order closing Wednesday this week, if you're local and want to save on your shipping give me a shout out...if you're longer distance shop online at heatherplotzke.ctmh.com and be sure to click on JOIN to the open gathering on the home page (and don't forget all the clearance deals that you can find at my online site). 

I saw this on Facebook and couldn't help share.  Since we've already got his permission JOIN me today!

Remember this month's special set "Whoos your Valentine" can be yours with a $35 order, for only $10 dollars!  Huge, huge value.

Revamp Purchased Card Kit

I purchased several of these card kits, with hard magnetic closing box with 16 cards (8 blank/8 thank you's) and envelopes the day after Christmas for a couple dollar each on clearance.  I loved the color blocking but wanted to revamp the cards to give a little more personality to the set. 

Using the Cricut Artiste and coordinating stamp set I quickly cut out the cupcakes and stamped them.  They were colored and blended with water color pencils and then adhered using pop up foam dots.  I also used CTMH's glitter gel to give the candy sprinkles some sparkle. 

On the thank you cards, I loved the clean look of the plain cards and decided to outline the outer edges of them with coordinating glitter gel as well.

Super quick, super inexpensive while looking expensive, and super easy gifts for friends, teachers, and co-workers.

Cookie sheet magnetic boards

What do you get when you take a cookie sheet (from the dollar tree), a La Belle Vie paper pack, some paper roses and magnetic disks....a decorative magnet wall hanging perfect for your favorite photos, notes, and shopping lists.  I had my husband drill two holes at top before decorating.

I used a Art Philosophies Cricut cut roses glued to magnet discs (from Walmart) for the magnets.  A lot of times I use glass pebbles that you get in the vase department to cover the magnets.  If they are clear you can put paper/stickers in between for personalized magnets.

I have made these for my kids rooms for artwork decorated with their favorite characters (we have Mickey, Star Wars, Barbie).  The possibilities are unlimited.  I posted several  versions here, including my USMC inspired ones.

Whooos' your Valentine Video

Heritage Layout Follow-up

So last summer I made a heritage layout about my sister and father.  I had even got the journalling in her own words with a few sneaky questions in emails. 

 I kept it hidden away with the exception of showing you on a blog http://heatherplotzke.blogspot.com/2012/07/heritage-layout-using-studio-j-and.html and I knew you all wouldn't tell.

 I wanted to follow up with you all because my sister just called me long distance (we live on opposite coasts) because she got her New Year's gift (even though I made her gift in July I still mailed it late ughhh) and opened it with me on the phone.  I had framed the layout in two sleek black 12x12 frames.  By the time she got the 14th "oh wow" and "oh my gosh" out she was crying pretty hard and had me in tears too.  She loved them and I was beyond thrilled.

I guess I wanted to share this as a reminder, we spend countless hours safely, artistically, and lovingly immortalizing our memories for our loved ones.  Don't just hid them away in your albums share them, glorify them in honor on your mantels and walls, give them to your "inspirations" as gifts.  Studio J is the perfect tool to scrapbook for gifts.  You always can order a second copy of your layout with the click of a button, so you'll be able to always keep a copy for yourself without having to redo the manual labor.

2012 Autumn/Winter Idea Book Retiring List (closes January 31, 2013)

2012 Autumn/Winter Idea Book Retiring List (closes January 31, 2013)
	While Supplies last so hurry to heatherplotzke.ctmh.com
Item #	Item Description	Page # Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book
Z1349	Shimmer Designer Brads	127
Z1360	Rhinestone Designer Brads	127
Z1361	Brads Red Assortment	127
Z1362	Brads Pink Assortment	127
Z1363	Brads Blue Assortment	127
Z1364	Brads Green Assortment	127
Z1365	Brads Basic Assortment	127
Z1387	Wooden Designer Buttons	125
Z1391	Buttons Clear Assortment	125
Z1395	Irresistibles™ Eclectic Chipboard Die-Cuts (the alphabet)	130
Z1465	Irresistibles™ Make-It-Count Numbers	130
Z1681	Dimensional Elements  Numbers	131
Z1761	Dimensional Elements Ornaments	131
Z1762	Dimensional Elements Snowflakes	131
Z1765	Color-Ready Arbor Wooden Shapes	130
X7147C	Stella Complements Canvas Shapes	68
X7148C	My Stickease® Pemberley Assortment	68
X7150C	My Stickease® Victory Assortment	69
X7153C	My Stickease® Florentine Assortment	69
X7158C	La Belle Vie My Stickease® Assortment	38
X7160C	Flirty Complements Dimensional Elements	50
X7161C	Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements	56
X7162C	Pear & Partridge Complements Glittery Rub-Ons	62
Z1464	Milepost Shapes	128
Z1466	Bling Assortment	128
Z1695	Urban Felt Alphabet	130
Z1696	Keepsake Felt Alphabet	130
Z1709	Just Blooms® Petals Paper Flowers	129
Z1460	Foundry® Ribbon Slides	126
Z1711	Foundry® Binder Clips	126
Z1712	Foundry® Number Plates	126
Z1461	Décor Journaling Spots	129
Z1687	Bohemian Assortment	128
Z1689	Timeless Charms	128
Z1692	Tough Tags	128
Z1694	Bouquet Assortment	128
Z1741	Haunted Assortment	128
Z1749	Autumn Lane Assortment	128
Z1763	Boutique Assortment	128
Z1772	Dimensional Elements In Color—Holiday	128
Z1393	Mini-Medley Accents Black Collection	126
Z1316	Designer Ribbon Cocoa Collection	124
Z1385	Designer Ribbon Blue Collection	124
Z1615	Designer Ribbon Red Collection	124
Z1616	Designer Ribbon Green Collection	124
Z1388	Newsprint Rub-Ons	130
Z1700	Dark Chocolate Tapestry Velvet Rub-Ons	126
Z1733	Black Tapestry Velvet Rub-Ons	126
Z1743	Festive Velvet Rub-Ons	126
Z1742	Parlor Velvet Rub-Ons	126
Z1407	6" x 6" Olive Quick Pic™ Album	122
Z1408	6" x 6" Pansy Purple Quick Pic™ Album	122

Retiring Stamps Jan 31, 2013 Part 3 of 3

Item #	Item Description	Page # Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book
A1104	A Tweet	90
A1111	A Tulip	68
A1116	A Melody	94
A1122	Bravo	92
A1128	Quick Cards—Shell	80
A1129	A Rainbow	85
B1365	Spring Up	71
B1369	Rosy Regards	67
B1374	Bee Happy	83
B1397	He Is Risen	74
B1402	My Peeps	72
C1439	Enjoy Life	95
C1440	Take a Picture	93
C1442	Tailor-Made	94
C1450	Eclectic Edges	99
C1452	Delight	71
C1455	Aspire	96
C1456	Heartfelt Treasures	68
C1457	Happy Camper	84
C1458	Paper Lantern	90
C1473	Remarkable Wreath	70
C1474	10 Things	105
C1485	Super Powers	47
C1498	Country Life	82
C1499	Perfect Day	80
D1195	The Works Alphabet	117
D1222	Tiny Typewriter Alphabet	117
D1296	Chocolate Alphabet Small	114
D1301	Hodge Podge Alphabet	114
D1303	Classmate Alphabet	114
D1462	Splendid Day	77
D1464	Card Chatter—Love	106
D1467	Trees & Things	76
D1472	Simple Memories	66
D1478	Bingo Alphabet	113
D1505	Roar!	89
D1508	Diverse Backgrounds	102
D1509	Magic Adventures	78
D1511	Kick Back	81
E1013	Field Trip Alphabet	114
Updated 12/4/12

Retiring Jan 31, 2013 Part 2 of 3

Z1054	My Creations® Display Album	132
Z1378	My Creations® Banner	132
Z1614	My Creations® Memory Game	132
Z188	Craft Jars	120
Z1352	4 1/2" Colonial White Circle Cards	123
Z1353	4 1/2" White Daisy Circle Cards	123
Z1731	My Originals® Sweet Surprises Card Kit	123
X7147B	My Reflections® Stella Paper Packet	68
X7148B	My Reflections® Pemberley Paper Packet	68
X7150B	My Reflections® Victory Paper Packet	69
X7153B	My Reflections® Florentine Paper Packet	69
X7158B	La Belle Vie Paper Packet	38
X7160B	Flirty Paper Packet	50
X7161B	Moonlight Paper Packet	56
X7162B	Pear & Partridge Paper Packet	62
Z1252	Cutting Knife	135
G1041	Workshops on the Go® Avonlea Cardmaking Kit	22
G1043	Workshops on the Go® Pear & Partridge Cardmaking Kit	66
G1040	Workshops on the Go® Spellbound Cricut® Kit	14
G1042	Workshops on the Go® Scroll Album Kit	23
G1044	Workshops on the Go® Advent Calendar Kit	67
G1045	Workshops on the Go® Avonlea Scrapbooking Kit	21
G1046	Workshops on the Go® Clementine Scrapbooking Kit	29
G1047	Workshops on the Go® Dakota Scrapbooking Kit	35
G1048	Workshops on the Go® La Belle Vie Scrapbooking Kit	41
G1049	Workshops on the Go® Scholastic Scrapbooking Kit	47
G1050	Workshops on the Go® Flirty Scrapbooking Kit	53
G1051	Workshops on the Go® Moonlight Scrapbooking Kit	59
G1052	Workshops on the Go® Pear & Partridge Scrapbooking Kit	65

Clearly the Best: Embossed Resist Stamping (S01E18)

Over half of the Special kits gone!!!!!!!!!!

Okay everyone, only 46% of the super super cute Valentine Kits I showcased  left!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Hurry you will NOT want to miss out!!!!!!!!!  This offer is good through January 31st only as long as supplies last.  So BUY YOURS NOW HERE

Whooo’s Your Valentine kit for only $10!

Spend $35 and get the exclusive Whooo’s Your Valentine kit for only $10!
let me show you how®

Celebrate National Papercrafting Month with an
incredible deal—our Whooo’s Your Valentine kit
(CC1022) for only $10! Combine your love of papercrafting
with the contents of this kit to create personalized
valentines—perfect for classrooms and other
group settings. This darling kit, which retails for $40,
can be yours for only $10 when you spend $35
or more in Close To My Heart products from the
Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book*.

You’ll receive:  12 die-cut boxes, 3 cardstock sheets, 1 sheet of silver
glitter paper, 12 treat tubes, and an exclusive D-size
stamp set created specifically for the kit. This kit
offers you a sneak peek at two new Spring/Summer
2013 products: the treat tubes and the silver glitter
paper!

Decorate the die-cut boxes with the stamp
images, cardstock, and glitter paper. Then attach the
clear tube and fill with treats for valentines in a cinch!

* Products purchased can include stamp sets from the Spring/
Summer 2012 Idea Book, or any products live on heatherplotzke.ctmh.com through January.
Shipping/handling may apply. Offer valid now through
January 31, 2013. Maximum of one Whooo’s Your Valentine kit per
qualifying order.