Made from clear Acrylic, this Designer Decor Flip Stand Album Clear acrylic stand with rings for displaying photos up to 6½” × 5¾”. Stand has slot for inserting background image; instant photograph frames from the Cricut® Artbooking cartridge work great!  This stand would be helpful in so many ways, You can use it as a calendar with a page for each month, or perhaps a recipe card book, just flip to your favorite recipe and start cooking!  I have put these projects on my list, so watch for them in a future post. To order this Design Decor Flip Stand Album (Z1896) just click here.

If you have a comment or question or idea on a great way to use the Designer Decor Flip Stand Album, please leave a comment below.  If I need to chat about it, please give me a call at 801-597-4896.

I was first introduced to scrapbooking at a woman’s meeting at church, my daughter Karen was going and asked me to accompany her. If I knew then that I would be so involved with scrapbooking twelve years later would I still have gone? You bet!
Scrapbooking isn’t just creating pages with pretty papers, buttons and ribbon, scrapbooking is a social event too. After that first night, Karen and I found a local scrapbook store and joined in on their scrapbook night. It was $5 per person unless we spent a minimum of five dollars in the store, then it was free. This became a weekly event and my scrapbook stash began to grow. There were so many cute papers and little things called “embellishments” to put on pages it was easy to think, “oh I can use that for…”
I rarely go into a scrapbook store these days. Close to my Heart has made it so much easier to buy things that coordinate, and in much smaller portions. It used to be you bought an entire 100 count package of brads in the color you wanted to match your page, only to have the remainder sit in the drawer unused. That isn’t the case with the current selections Close to my Heart offers. This paper pack comes with the solid cardstock as well as the patterned paper to create a coordinated layout. There is also an offering of matching embellishments both flat and raised depending on your style.
Why am I sharing all this with you, that is easy, and if you have been scrapbooking a long time, you too might have this desire… USE UP THE OLD STUFF! So I am introducing a new meaning to “Throwback Thursdays” it now means create something from the older stash. This may mean re-learning how to do a technique or to use a particular product. You may also decide to start a box like I did for a local senior center or charity that helps battered women etc. Just don’t wait too long before delivering the cast offs to that place or you may find yourself second guessing your decisions.
Do you have a stash of older scrapbook supplies you want to use? Leave a comment below and tell me what kinds of things are in that stash and we can come up with ways to create something beautiful with them!

As I was looking to see what was happening on April 7th in years past. here is the first thing I see : April 7 is the 97th day of the year (98th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 268 days remaining until the end of the year.

I don’t know about you, but that was NOT information I really wanted to know. It means to me that I am 97 days past keeping New Year’s resolutions, and 261 days away from Christmas! Time is a funny thing. We all get the same amount, but some people seem to get so much more done with it than others. What do you do with your time? Have you thought about it, really thought about it? We do so much for others, from our significant other to our children, to bosses and friends. But how much do we take time to do something we truly enjoy? I love to craft, and once I get going, I am dynamite it is just the get going part I have trouble with.

Take today for instance. My plan was to get a week of twitter journaling posts done and scheduled, write a few blog posts, and do some crafting done. While I am not on track with the posts and tweets, I do have a craft project in mind. Come back later and see if I was able to accomplish this. In the meantime, sign up to follow me on Twitter so you can start digging a bit deeper into some journaling topics.

I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Easter. Whether your day is filled with eggs and candy, or religious observants, or both as we do in our home, I wanted to share good wishes to all of you. I will spend it with family, and since we finally live in a home big enough, I am cooking! What will you do today? Leave a comment below and let us know!

Creatively,
Carol

Spring is here and soon your kids (or grand kids in my case) will be gearing up for some fun baseball and softball games and you won’t want to miss any of it.  Prepare now by starting their sports scrapbook now with this layout from Close to my Heart’s Studio J Collection.

The left side is a great opening page for a sports album. You can put your child’s picture and team photo right here to show what this album is all about. I wish I had started when my boys were young, and while I have a few, not nearly enough. I did start a football album his freshman year at Crater High School in Central Point, Oregon – he hemmed and hawed about my not needing to do it, but it wasn’t long after when he his teammates would come by that he would grab the scrapbook to share or look up a score. Don’t wait until they are grown…and they grow so fast.

If you would rather do your album in digital form, Studio J by Close to my Heart is free to play with! You only pay if you are going to purchase the pictures of the layout and then put them in the album when you receive them.  Here is a link to the Studio J program. If you haven’t been there before, you will be asked to register. This is so if you only get part way through your album before you run out of time your layout is there waiting for you.

If you would like any additional information regarding Studio J Digital Scrapbooking or today’s layout, please leave me a comment below.

Whether you are a math whiz and love Pi or love the all-american apple pie (my personal favorite is Key Lime pie or anything with lemon) in celebration of Pi day, I am offering a 3.14% off any order placed today. I know 3.14% isn’t a big discount, I will also be including a free stamp set with each order placed. The size of the stamp set will depend on the size of your order. 🙂

My daughter-in-law baked this pie for a contest at work and won this apron!

Leave me a message below and tell me if you will be enjoying pie today and if so, what kind?

We have had some tutorials on Embossing, but I wanted to share with you a new twist on the standard embossing I thought you would enjoy.

Step 1 – Apply the Versamark ink liberally to the entire surface you wish to emboss, pressing it in and making sure the paper is saturated,

Step 2  – Pour on Clear Embossing Powder on to the paper, then shake off the excess.

Step 3 – Using your Craft Heater, begin heating the surface sections, removing the heat as soon as the powder begins to bubble up. For the best results move from corner to corner, allowing each section to cool as much as possible before going back and heating the adjacent section. If you overheat then you will get a standard emboss effect rather than the bubble emboss. Patience and focus helps make this effect a winner!

Have fun with this technique and if you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments box.  

As I was telling you yesterday, we hired a professional to paint the house and I couldn’t be more pleased with them! Five Star Painting out of Spanish Fork, Utah did an awesome job and even better, the company is nationwide so you can get a great paint job too!   Picking colors for our interior was fun. Gary and I started out picking up paint chip samples at Walmart so I could figure out some idea of what I wanted. Ok, truth be told, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted after watching so many episodes of “Property Brothers”.  The only problem with watching these types of shows, they make it look sooo easy!

Here are a few pictures to show you which way I went.  I determined where I wanted to go, then gave Gary a choice between a couple of colors. This way I got the color I wanted, and he could choose the actual color between the 2-3 I showed him. Now he can’t complain, he picked out the color!  I was determined to go with a soft grey inside. I KNEW I was done with Navajo White and all shades even close. Sorry if this is non politically correct but growing up in the 60-70’s that is what was used. Think of a beige with a brown undertone… at least that is how I remember it.

I wanted an accent wall in our bedroom for a pop of color and chose this one. I chose one with a bit more blue in it, but Gary really liked this one and it looks fabulous.

This is the Bold, outside my comfort zone bathroom. I LOVE IT!  This bathroom is the main floor bathroom and situated right next to the craft room, so I thought it deserved some dramatic color.  I can’t wait to incorporate some of the ideas I have see into this space.

So your turn, leave me a comment below and tell me what you think of my new color choices.

If you have been with me for any matter of time since I started this business 10 years ago, then you know how much I dread moving. I have rolled with the moves to this point, after all, Gary can’t help his PTSD, but I have told him I plan to live out our days in this house. No more after this.. We have found the perfect house. First and foremost in my mind is the basement where I will hold scrapbooking, and other papercrafting events. I am even thinking about setting up the rooms downstairs to be suitable for overnight guests in case we want an all night crop!

Along with all this new space, I will have a dedicated craft room upstairs and while this is a happy thought, the re-organization of a new craft room is a daunting task. So once again, we will take on this challenge or organization, and a place for everything, and {gasp} everything in it’s place!

We have decided that instead of my painting everything I would spend the money to have the house professionally painted.  Tomorrow  I will share with you that experience.  For now, I will journal this journey here. You on the other hand want to be signed up to follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/CreativelyCarol. Make it easy, just click on the link. Look for my journaling tweets for questions for your own journal.

Have a wonderful day!

 This is one of those holidays that you either love or hate, can take it or leave it, you get the idea. Did you know that in 2014 people spent 37  BILLION on Valentine’s Day!  That my friend is a lot of  chocolate!.  As much as I love to see all the jewelry ads, and  ooh and awww, I have also seen a trend of “I Hate Valentine’s Day” items.  Depending on where you are in your life, and how comfortable you feel there, would you embrace this turn on Valentine’s Day?  I know the arguments “no one is going to tell me when to express love” or “It is a made-up holiday created by the card companies” no matter the negative reason, I couldn’t so so far as to wear “I Hate Valentine’s Day”  across my chest.  I would look like a bitter old woman who didn’t have love when in fact I am very happily married and am spoiled rotten!  Ask him, he will tell you.

On the other hand, I love how creative people can be on Valentine’s Day. Take a look at the card on the left. I love how the creator (not me) used paper flowers tipped with Ruby Ink, or the spray effect caused by using the Spray Pen. And who doesn’t like some bling on Valentine’s Day?   I will be posting a series of Valentine Day Cards today on Facebook. While I would love to take credit for them, I didn’t make them, only compiled them for your enjoyment. If you have not yet “Liked” my Facebook page – PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DO IT NOW.

Wishing you a warm and cuddly Valentine Day, 

Hosting a Close to my Heart Scrapbook, Card or Papercrafting party is easy and lots of fun!  As we are heading into spring.. there will be baby showers to plan, weddings to prepare for and birthday parties for sure. Why not do something different this time and throw a scrapbook party!  Just imagine how much fun it would be to all be making a special scrapbook page for her baby book. She would be thrilled with a scrapbook that has a bunch of pages where all she has to do is add pictures of her new arrival!

Instead of bringing gifts or in addition to smaller gifts, every participant purchases something so the new mother can continue to scrapbook her child’s life.  Or they could purchase for themselves and give the hostess gifts to the new mother. there are lots of ways to do this, but it is lots of fun!

Here is a view of what you can earn as a hostess of a Close to my Heart Party:

When sales of your party reach:$1,050 or more $200 or more** in free products AND select up to 4 items in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$950–$1,049 $180 in free product AND select up to 4 items in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$850–$949 $160 in free product AND select up to 4 items in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$750–$849 $140 in free product AND select up to 3 items in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$650–$749 $120 in free product AND select up to 3 items in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$550–$649 $100 in free product AND select up to 2 items in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$450–$549 $80 in free product AND select any 2 item in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$350–$449 $60 in free product AND select any 1 item in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$250–$349 $40 in free product AND select any 1 item in the current Idea Book at 50% off
$150–$249 $25 in free product

So you can see how this can quickly add up to a wonderful party.

What do you think of this idea? Leave a comment below and share our thoughts with us.

If you have read my blog much, you will notice over the years I change things up a bit. What do you think of this new format?  I discovered something when I was figuring out all the settings, have you heard of Google Typography?  I had never even heard the word “typeography”  only the word “fonts” to explain a lettering style. Here is what Wikipedia has to say explaining typography”

Typography (from the Greek words τύπος typos “form” and γράφειν graphein “to write”) is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language readable and beautiful. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point size, line length, line-spacing (leading), letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space within letters pairs (kerning). Type design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers. In modern times, typography has been put in film, television and online broadcasts to add emotion to communication.

Here are a couple examples I found this morning,

Just think of changing the fonts on the journaling of your scrapbook pages and the interest different fonts can offer. In the coming months, I hope to show you more examples in my own work as I work on some long overdue personal scrapbooking.

Do you use different fonts in your scrapbooking? What do you think of these? Please share your thoughts below.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil say his shadow this morning so as the story goes… 6 more weeks of winter.

With overcast skies he sees his shadow… I guess we will have to see how this plays out. Here in Utah, if the snow has any bearing on the subject, we might doubt that winter has even shown up this year. Ok, the bitter cold in the middle of the night might indicate in some way that winter is here, or maybe the calendar but with so little snow fall on the valley floor, I, for one, feel cheated! Are you sure Phil?

Last year he also saw his shadow.. and it was the most brutally long winter in the United States! Winter dragged into March..wait… isn’t winter SUPPOSE to drag into March? Spring starts Monday, March 20th.

Here you can read how Phil almost got the death penalty for “misrepresentation of early spring” until a Pennsylvania law firm claimed that the attorney in Ohio was out of his jurisdiction… I am just wondering how they train the groundhog to look for his shadow in the first place.. who explained to him what a shadow was?  That might have been one interesting conversation!

I will however watch the movie from 1993 called “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray and directed by Harold Ramis.  It will make you laugh enough to keep warm today!