Cricut Artiste Cartridge

Have you seen our NEW Cricut cartridge collection? It is a terrific craft tool. You can make all kinds of 3D paper crafts with this cartridge. If you place an order with me on my website  for the Cricut Artiste Collection (retail value of nearly $125) for the great price of $99, you also qualify (while supply lasts) for the My Acrylix® It’s Your Day double stamp set Cricut® compatible (retail value $35.90) for an additional $5 and as always you can add the September Stamp of the Month (retail value $17.95) for another $5.That is nearly $200 worth of goodies. Wow you cannot miss these savings and this special is only good until the end of the month.

Each Cricut® collection includes one cartridge plus three coordinating D-size My Acrylix® stamp sets, available only in the collection, plus three sets of Dimensional Elements chipboard die-cut shapes designed to go with the cartridge images. Stamp on your Cricut® shapes; cover your Dimensional Elements with a Cricut® shape; or cut, stamp, and then cover!

It's Your Day

September Stamp of the Month

 

While supplies last!

Check out the great buys on my website.
Check it out soon as these items won't last long!

Another great video

Click HERE to watch the latest installment of My Craft Channel with Close to My Heart.

Check out the cute projects and get some great tips for thinking outside the box with our clear acrylic stamps.

If the link doesn't work - just copy and paste this into your browser:

http://www.mycraftchannel.com/shows/Clearly-the-Best-Stamping-with-Close-To-My-Heart/Spanning-the-Space-Clearly-the-Best-Stamping-with-Close-To-My-Heart-Episode/

Product Spotlight

My Creations Bracket Frame - Z1797 $8.95

Here is one of my latest creations - a cute summer bracket frame. I used a retired pack of paper - Footloose was just the best summer paper. I also used the matching Footloose chipboard compliments. I used a very old technique of covering a couple of photo frames with matching paper and popdotting them on the background page. It is just perfect for that cute 6 by 4 summer photo. Display it on a wall and think warm thoughts all year long.

Order one today and let me know what you created.

Check back often for more product highlights.

Happy crafting!

Cute Idea

Recipe Box

First of all, I need to give credit to a Facebook post from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I saw this and thought it was a great idea. I am such a "techie" and love ideas that make sense in today's modern world. Who uses those old cookbooks that are stashed away in a drawer? I have dozens and rarely get them out. Now don't get me wrong, I love some of those old recipes but I find that I want quick access to the information and it is way too easy to search the web instead of dragging out the print version. This would make such a cute gift.

Here is the idea:

Judi Kauffman sent a photo of the project she made as a bridal shower gift for her friend's daughter. Dana came to Judi's house on Saturday mornings to bake from the time she was 4, so kitchen memories are a big deal to the two of them. Instead of a thick notebook (Dana lives in a small apartment with limited kitchen space), Judi put over 400 recipes onto a thumb drive, decorated the thumb drive with embossed Shimmer Sheetz altered with alcohol inks, made a beaded adornment, and decorated a box to match. It was quite a hit at the shower. What a fun idea! Decorated thumb drives with photos, song lyrics, recipes, and a matching box that can be used later for jewelry or other things. Way to go, Judi, and thanks for sending the photo.

 

 

The Penthouse Retreat

Just got home from a wonderful weekend retreat at The Penthouse Retreat in LaPorte, IN. Linda is a wonderful hostess. She pampered us all weekend. The food was so good. No, it was incredible. We had lots of crafting time and even took a trip to Richard's in Toto, IN. If you live in Northern Indiana or are just passing by that way, a trip to Toto is very interesting. It is a little town dedicated to bargain shopping.

Soon I will be posting some of the crafty creations that I made this weekend. Come back often to check them out.

Product Highlight

Alcohol Markers

As promised, I will continue to highlight some of our new products. I was so excited to see the CTMH has come up with a new line of alcohol markers. These are such great markers and they really bring your artwork to life when you use them.

Here is a link to a great video about these new markers.

New Alcohol Markers Information and Tips: Now, on to our new alcohol based markers. They color BEAUTIFULLY. Here are a few things to know about them (thanks to Sarah Paige-Gruber and her wonderful downline for compiling this information):

1. They come in all 40 of our color shades

• Each marker comes dual tipped – one end is a brush marker, the other end is a bullet/fine tip
• Markers come in a 2 pack and retail for $5.95. One marker is the true color of the set name and the 2nd marker is a shade darker or lighter than the true color to use for shading and blending.

2. Always store your markers horizontally and shake well before using
3. Alcohol inks are waterproof and can be layered and blended on surfaces other than paper
4. There is bleed-through when using alcohol ink markers. Be sure to use clean scratch paper to protect your surfaces and clean fingers when coloring. Also, plan on layering your colored images on your project if working on paper.
5. To prevent a ‘streaky’ looking image, evenly soak the paper. You have successfully and evenly colored your image if you turn over your paper and it is not blotchy looking
6. Blending Pen with Alcohol markers: The blending pen picks up and moves colors, it is more like an eraser than a ‘blending’ pen. You can use it to create highlights, ‘fade to white’ and fix minor mistakes. The blending pen also ‘pushes’ color away from it.

 It is highly recommended that you use our new Pigment Ink pads and heat set your image prior to coloring. 

Here are a few usage tips:

Marker Blending on Paper     your basic ‘go to’ technique

 1.     Color evenly with your lightest color, smoothly soaking the paper and coloring in circles to avoid streaks.

2.     While base color is still wet, add darker color to one side, lift up at the end of the stroke, leaving more ink in the area you want shaded
3.     Go back over the darker color with your original shade to blend the two and create a smoother look
4.     Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you achieve the shading look that you wanted

Feather Blending – this technique works best with long narrow images such as petals.

1.     Layer first color in one direction, press more firmly at the beginning of your stroke and lift as you go – fill in approx. ¾ of your image with this technique. The ink may only soak through where you have pressed the marker at the darkest part of the image.
2.     Starting on the other side, use the same technique with the opposite color you have chosen.
3.     Repeat layers until you have smoothly transitioned and blended your colors in the middle of the stamped image.

Tips for this technique:

Use the side of the brush not the tip

                                    Lots of light layers work best for this technique
                                    OVERLAP your colors – don’t stop where the colors meet

 Fixing Minor mistakes with a Blending Pen

1. The blending pen ‘pushes’ ink away from it – if your ink bleeds outside of the stamped image, you can color with the blending pen to ‘push’ the ink back inside the line.

·        This works BEST with lighter colors and for small imperfections.

 

 

September Stamp of the Month

A hint of fall is in the air. It is time to start getting out the fall decorations. Don't you just love this time of year? The leaves start to turn glorious colors. Pumpkins are ready to harvest. Corn stalks are turning brown (OK, in the Midwest that happened way too early this year due to the draught).

What better time to make some cute fall cards. The September Stamp of the Month is the perfect stamp set to make your fall cards or scrap those wonderful fall pictures. The scarecrow image works perfectly with our new alcohol based markers.

The CTMH Stamp of the Month is available for $17.95 (full price) or for just $5.00 with any $50.00 purchase! Here is a link to a blog hop showing some really cute projects with this stamp set. After you finish your blog hop, head to my online store and purchase your stamp set today!

La Belle Vie

With LOVE Keepsake Box

Okay... I admit it. When I saw La Belle Vie in the new idea book. I wasn't thrilled. I am not a fan of pink. Now you see, my name is Mary Kay. I have had enough jokes about driving my pink Cadillac. No, I don't sell Mary Kay cosmetics.

BUT... I thought I would buy just a few sheets of La Belle Vie just to see if I could like it. OH MY!!! How pretty is this little box? I scraplifted this from a dear friend - Penny Kentosh. Thanks, Penny!

Outside view

                                                                        Inside view

The black is not showing well in this photo but the black and pink combo is so pretty. Check out page 41 in the idea book to see all the papers in this collection and the coordinating products. It is very elegant. The box is 6 3/8" by 2 1/8" by 4 3/8" and is made of sturdy chipboard with a magnetic closure.

I used the following supplies:

                                     Z1647 My Creations Card Box                    $4.95
                                     X7158B La Belle Vie Paper Packet             $9.95
                                     Z1781 Black Striped Grosgrain Ribbon     $6.95
                                     Z1800 Colonial White Rosette Ribbon        $7.95
                                     Z1798 Black Tulle Ribbon                           $5.95
                                     Z1708 Sparkle Flourishes                             $4.95
                                     Z1131 Love stamp                                        $6.95
                                     Z2105 Black stamp pad                                $5.25
                                     Y1006 3" by 3 " My Acrylic Block              $8.50

You will have lots of product left over to make many other wonderful projects and gifts. Want to make this cute little box? Just place an order today on my webstore and I will email you the directions. Don't forget that a $35 purchase makes you eligible for the double stamp promotion. A $50 purchase makes you eligible for the stamp of the month at a reduced price.

Please leave a comment and let me know how you like it.

Happy crafting!

Cricut Bundles

Close to My Heart has done it again.

We have a new Cricut cartridge that is better than our last one. If you loved Art Philosophy, you will love Artiste even more. This new cartridge has 700 images (698 new ones with the circle and square added). You can get your Cricut Artiste cartridge for $99.00. The Cricut Artiste bundle includes: - Cricut Artiste (suggested retail price of $ 59.99), Three Stamp Sets (retail value of $17.95 each), & Three Dimensional Element chipboard sets (retail value of $4.95 each). That is a total recommended retail price of $128.69 for the low price of just $99!

- Because you spent over $35, you can now purchase the It's Your Day stamp set for $5.00. This is a $35.90 value stamp set for only $5!

- Because you spent over $50, you can now purchase the September Stamp of the Month for $5.00 a value of $17.95!(coordinates with the Art Philosophy cartridge)

 

That is a total of 6 stamp sets, 1 cricut cartridge, and 3 sheets of chipboard for only $109.00 before tax and shipping!

YOU SAVE ==> $78.54

Just head on over to my online store and order your bundle today. www.maryk.ctmh.com

Have a great week and check back tomorrow for another product highlight. I will be telling you about our new alcohol markers.

Remember to leave a comment and you will be entered to win a September Stamp of the Month.

Happy Labor Day

BREAKING NEWS!!! 

We're excited to be working with My Craft Channel, an online craft TV network, to create a new video series called "Clearly the Best." Mark your calendars; it airs September 4! Check out the promo at http://bit.ly/NUA2Lm!

It's a sale!

Lots of items on sale on CTMH under - While supplies last. Be sure to grab some Mistletoe Level 2 assortment. Item # 1330Was $4.50 now only $2. They work well with our current Christmas paper. Item #1330
Lots of other great items available at great prices. Shop now by going to my website - www.maryk.ctmh.com
Then click on shop and go to While supplies last.