Christmas Special Delivery

Hello friends! Welcome to my first week as a Design Team member at The Merry Christmas Challenge Blog! I am very excited to have joined the team and I am really looking forward to our year around Christmas project posts. The blog posts weekly, but has two separate teams that post ever other week. That may sound complicated, but I think it is a fun idea.  I will be posting every other Wednesday, starting today!

For my first project with the Merry Christmas Challenge blog I created a 3-D mailbox with Christmas tag stuffers.  I confess that I saw a photo of a thin die on Pinterest that was being used to make a similar mailbox.  Being me, I did not buy the thin die, but instead opened Cricut Design Space and used basic Cricut Shapes and Anna Griffin's Elegant Embellishment cartridge to design my own version of the mailbox, even creating my own candy cane trim.

My mailbox is embellished with pretty cuts from two of Anna Griffin's other cartridges, Winter Wonderland and Christmas Kitsch. I added ribbons to the Christmas tags, and finished the box with gold stars popping out of the mail slot.

I hope you will join us at the Merry Christmas Challenge blog where every week is all about Christmas!!

National Stamping Month 

It is National Stamping Month and CTMH could not let National Stamping Month pass without a stamping special!  

The exclusive From the Heart card kit gives you all the materials you need for creating 12 interactive cards, including an E-size stamp set with heartfelt sentiments and stamps you can layer together for exquisitely artistic cards. Available only during September, this card kit is a must have that will help you create elevated artwork from the heart.

The From the Heart card kit can be yours for FREE when you become a Consultant in September or when you host a qualifying party.

Stamp of the Month - Feel So Blessed

The September Stamp of the Month is called Feel So Blessed!  This is a super fun and super versatile stamp set, perfect for fall cards, layouts, and projects!

SHOP NOW 

Bobbing for Apples

Hello friends! Welcome to this week's Bitten By the Bug 2 Cricut Challenge. My dear Design Team sister, Emily, is hosting this week's challenge. In a seasonally appropriate challenge, Emily has asked us to use APPLES in this our projects this week.  

I loved going to the apple orchards as a child, eating fresh picked apples and drinking fresh cider with donuts!  Michigan's orchards were a star on the list of must do fall activities when I was growing up.  And every fall festival had a bobbing for apples station!  

My layout for this week, Bobbing For Apples, is all about those fun apple picking and fall festival photos.  I only used two Cricut cartridges on this layout, Art Philosophy for the the scalloped border, and basic shapes for the designer paper cuts and the photo mat layers.  I used an SVG file for the tile, apples, and apple bobbing mice.  I must say that the little mouse on the lower right corner looks like he may have eaten too many apples.  His expression tells me he may have a tummy ache!

My Design Team sisters have created some fabulous Apple projects to inspire your fall crafting.  We would really like for you to join in our challenges at Bitten By the Bug 2.  Just click on Bitten By the Bug 2 and you can see all of the team projects, as well as follow the link and add your own new apple project!

National Stamping Month 

It is National Stamping Month and CTMH could not let National Stamping Month pass without a stamping special!  

The exclusive From the Heart card kit gives you all the materials you need for creating 12 interactive cards, including an E-size stamp set with heartfelt sentiments and stamps you can layer together for exquisitely artistic cards. Available only during September, this card kit is a must have that will help you create elevated artwork from the heart.

The From the Heart card kit can be yours for FREE when you become a Consultant in September or when you host a qualifying party.

Stamp of the Month - Feel So Blessed

The September Stamp of the Month is called Feel So Blessed!  This is a super fun and super versatile stamp set, perfect for fall cards, layouts, and projects!

SHOP NOW 

Thankful 4 Friends

Hello friends!  Welcome to this week's Bitten By the Bug 2 challenge. My super sweet Design Team sister, Caroline, selected this week's challenge theme - Autumn Leaves.  

I have to admit, I have enjoyed the cooler temperatures of the previous days as our weather continues to adjusts to the edge of hurricane Irma. We caught a major break - sorry Florida and Georgia - as Irma's path changed over the last few days. Our situation became much less dire, just more of an annoyance.  Today is rainy and windy, but nothing like the 60-70 mph winds and 10 inches of rain we were expecting. But as I was saying, the cool weather has been delightful (think coffee outside in the mornings wearing a warm robe). In fact, I find myself anticipating true fall, or rather, reminiscent of fall weather of my youth. South Carolina does not offer the same type of fall as Michigan. 

In addition to the Irma induced weather change, I am sure my fall mood has been effected by fall paper crafting. My project for today, Thankful 4 Friends, is all about fall. The card features the scarecrow cut from Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridge. And those fabulous leaves? They are from Close To My Heart's new YOU ARE HERE cartridge. They are cut in mixed colors and highlighted with ink. The Thankful Friends, to which I added a 4, is from the Autumn Celebrations cartridge.  I find I use this cartridge an awful lot during the fall.

I finished by card with SVG pumpkins, Cricut cut pennants, dots, doodles, and natural colored twine.

Have you been by the Bitten By the Bug 2 Autumn Leaves Challenge? You must see my DT sisters' projects.  They are so talented. Also, I invite YOU to join our challenge this week.  Create your new Cricut cut project featuring fall leaves, then link to the original post at Bitten By the Bug 2.  

National Stamping Month 

It is National Stamping Month and CTMH could not let National Stamping Month pass without a stamping special!  

The exclusive From the Heart card kit gives you all the materials you need for creating 12 interactive cards, including an E-size stamp set with heartfelt sentiments and stamps you can layer together for exquisitely artistic cards. Available only during September, this card kit is a must have that will help you create elevated artwork from the heart.

The From the Heart card kit can be yours for FREE when you become a Consultant in September or when you host a qualifying party.

Stamp of the Month - Feel So Blessed

The September Stamp of the Month is called Feel So Blessed!  This is a super fun and super versatile stamp set, perfect for fall cards, layouts, and projects!

SHOP NOW 

Holiday Expressions!

Hello friends!  September is one of my favorite months at Close To My Heart, the release of the Holiday Expressions catalog!  This catalog features all of my favorite paper crafting seasons: Halloween, Fall and Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  Sigh... Paper Crafting Heaven!!

I am going to give you an overview of the Holiday Expressions book, then you can take a more thorough look on line.

Halloween: 

 Fall - Falling For You:

Christmas - Beary Christmas

Christmas - Silver and Gold

Stamps - Holiday Stamps

National Stamping Month 

And we have even MORE going on this month - It is National Stamping Month!  CTMH could not let National Stamping Month pass without a stamping special!  

The exclusive From the Heart card kit gives you all the materials you need for creating 12 interactive cards, including an E-size stamp set with heartfelt sentiments and stamps you can layer together for exquisitely artistic cards. Available only during September, this card kit is a must have that will help you create elevated artwork from the heart.

The From the Heart card kit can be yours for FREE when you become a Consultant in September or when you host a qualifying party.

Stamp of the Month - Feel So Blessed

Finally we have the September Stamp of the Month, Feel So Blessed!  This is a super fun and super versatile stamp set, perfect for fall cards, layouts, and projects!

SHOP NOW 

Spartan Tailgating

Hello friends!  Happy Labor Day and welcome to this week's Bitten by the Bug 2 Cricut challenge.  This week's challenge is hosted by my wonderful design team sister, Amy.  And appropriately our challenge for the first unofficial week of fall is FOOTBALL!  

Anyone who knows me KNOWS that I am a Michigan State Spartan! When it comes to football, my first choice is always MSU Spartans. And combine MSU football with tailgating and you have a recipe for an afternoon of fun!

I created this tailgate invitation using two Cricut cartridges in Design Space:  You Are Here and Autumn Celebrations. Remember how I keep telling you that YOU ARE HERE is more than just travel???  The stadium and football were cut using You Are Here.  Of course I added the S for State and the MSU.  The "Let's Tailgate" cut is from Autumn Celebrations. I love how the Let's Tailgate cut works wonderfully with the stadium.

My design team sisters have created really cute Football projects this week. I hope that you go by the Bitten By The Bug 2 blog and check out their projects, then leave some love on their blogs.  We would love for you to join our challenge this week.  Show us your Cricut Football projects!! 

NATIONAL STAMPING MONTH — FROM THE HEART

The exclusive From the Heart card kit gives you all the materials you need for creating 12 interactive cards, including an E-size stamp set with heartfelt sentiments and stamps you can layer together for exquisitely artistic cards. Available only during September, this card kit is a must have that will help you create elevated artwork from the heart.

The From the Heart card kit can be yours for FREE when you become a Consultant in September or when you host a qualifying party.

The September Stamp of the Month, FEEL SO BLESSED, is a super-fun and super-versatile stamp set.  You can see samples projects created featuring FEEL SO BLESSED in the two photos below.

On September 1st our Holiday Expressions Catalog went live on my online store. I am very excited about new products in this catalog.  I ADORE the new fall paper (used in the two project photos above), as well as our Halloween and Christmas products.  You can view the catalog HERE.