Studio J: Catchin' Up

Do you scrapbook every photo?  Or just the "occasions"?

Sometimes it's those "everyday" pictures that capture the memories and would easily be forgotten!  I've found that with Studio J, I'm more willing to scrapbook pictures that I otherwise might have kept, but never scrapbooked!

When Mandy goes shopping, she likes to take pictures of herself with her outfits on, then scroll through the photos to narrow down her choices!  Being able to capture these memories, in a quick Studio J layout is priceless!

Catching up on some of my layouts that I've not gotten to yet, still many more to scrap...but so exciting to see the albums filling and my scrapbook "to-do" list getting smaller!  I'm taking more pictures, knowing that I'm not that far behind anymore!  Yeah-me!!

I wasn't sure what to think of Elemental, when I first saw it.  But I've rapidly fallen in love with it especially when I'm playing with my Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge...all the little boxes, bags, 3-D items and more look fabulous on our Elemental paper!!  

For this layout, I loved the basics of the geometric shapes, and being able to play with cardstock to emphasize the colors...I found I really liked how this layout looked when I finished it...and of course playing with the Stickease...what fun!

Roxie...loving it!  Taking these all black pics and splashing some pink on a layout...gives the Band Concert a little zip!  Roxie is so sassy!!

I mentioned pics you wouldn't necessarily scrapbook.  These 2 pics are so cute, but with only 1 each on different days...do you really make a layout?  I couldn't resist scrapbooking them, especially since Studio J made this layout inexpensive and quick...but still allowed me to capture some of those "everyday" moments in our lives!!  Loving it!!  (Kit:  Believe) 

The silliness, playfulness and sibling love...that's what this layout means to me.  As with all siblings, our kids have their moments of bickering and such...but then there are times like this where they can all play together, laugh and have a good time...these are the times to remember! (Kit: Lucky)

So there are definitely some moments we don't always capture...like pictures of me and Mandy sitting on the kitchen counter waiting for Dad to get home and kill a bug!  No pictures of those memories...as a scrapbooker, we get to document the "flattering" pictures and crop those that aren't.  Well, we had such a great time with our firepit and making smores, that I had to scrapbook these pictures, despite the fact that I was still on crutches and had not bothered getting out of my PJs...Oh well, guess it's okay...the memories still make me smile!

Studio J: Fabulous Freebies!

Interested in trying out our Studio J?  Have you played with it yet?  There's so much you can do, all for one low price...and as a member it's HALF-PRICE!!  That's right, as a Studio J member, you receive your 2-page layouts for only $6.50, plus you receive a free page protector and free hi- and lo-resolution JPGs to go with it, for sharing, printing and archiving; AND 1 free shipping per month!!

In October, you can choose a 1-year Studio J membership ($99 value) PLUS a 5-pack of Studio J layouts ($55 value) FREE!!  That's right, when you join Close to My Heart for ONLY $99, you can choose 1 of 3 Add-On Collections FREE!!  Roxie, Elemental or Studio J (all shown below)!

You get all of this in your NEW Consultant Kit:

PLUS, Choose one of these Add-On kits FREE when you join in October!!

Roxie:

Elemental:

Studio J:

Don't miss this fabulous opportunity to join Close to My Heart, receive the benefits of our online Training Academy, bulletin board of inspiration, and network of consultants.

Contact me, I'll share all the details...no obligation, just information!!  noreen@tscretreats.com

Studio J: Typeset Collection

Studio J: Typeset

I am really enjoying the versatility of our Typeset collection...the layout below probably looks familiar...I scraplifted it from our Autumn/Winter Idea Book, with a few minor alterations!

I really like the details and the simplicity of being able to layer the stickease, embellishments, paper, etc.  For the circles of brads, I used our new stitches options and created the circles...then placed the brad in the center of each stitch.  Once I was done, I deleted the stitches, leaving me a great "circle" of brads that were nicely lined up...yeah!!

WOW, we even get to add the "zip strip" to our layouts in Studio J!  I enjoy the flexibility of adding the  stickease, then resizing them to what works for me.  Adding buttons, with stickease for dimension is a nice touch!

Close to My Heart & Cricut: Art Philosphy

Have you seen our NEW Close to My Heart EXCLUSIVE Cricut Art Philosophy?

With over 700 images on the cartridge, plus more than 20 complementary, coordinating CTMH Stamp Sets...the possibilities are endless!

Check out this beautiful artwork created using the CTMH Art Philosphy Cricut Cartridge!!

The cartridge has a collection of beautiful 3-D items to include this adorable heart that can be added to cards, layouts and other projects...just pick your paper!  

The Art Philosophy bundle includes 3 exclusive stamp sets, PLUS 3 sheets of coordinating chipboard!  What does that mean?  When you look at the stamp sets (and chipboard shapes), CTMH has identified what size the cricut shape needs to be cut, so there's no guesswork!  And with our Acrylix stamps, you can see exactly where your stamping!!

With our chipboard (like the tags shown above), you can cut the shape and adhere it directly to the chipboard, no trimming, sanding or filing necessary...perfectly coordinated!!

 Ohhhh, the flowers.  With 5 different flower types and the ability to change the sizes, you can create bouquets till your hearts content!  Add a little texture by folding some of the petals down, sanding them, inking them, glitzing and more!

Imagine this...you're giving a "gift card" for a great occasion...do you spend $5 more to purchase a card or container?  NOPE...you've got the Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge and know that you can easily create a pillow box, handled bag, french-fry carton, take-out container or another of our 3-D items to present your gift!  How clever!

Check out all the fabulous images available on our Art Philosophy Cartridge!!

Visit my website to get your own Cricut Art Philosphy collection, exclusively available through Close to My Heart!

Special thanks to Close to My Heart and our talented Art Studio for these beautiful pieces of artwork and their generosity in raising money for Operation Smile!  I was able to get a huge collection of fabulous new artwork and help raise money for Operation Smile during our CTMH Convention and Operation Smile Silent Auction!!  Stay tuned, as I will be posting additional pieces of the beautiful artwork I won!! (of course I'll share some of the art I'm creating as well!)

Studio J: Fanfare

Playing with Studio J, I'm finding more ways to be creative with Text Boxes! Plus the ability to adjust paper colors, crop stickease, rotate patterns, resize pictures and so much more has definitely made it fun to create these layouts below...ALL using the Fanfare Paper Collection.

I love having the flexibility to add any color embellishment to the layouts, allowing this Fanfare layout to include a little pink to match up with the photos.

Here I used the text boxes, stacked and at an angle to create my "cards" as an embellishment for this layout. The "diamonds" were small, red text boxes to make the embellishments a little more realistic.

The ability to change paper colors allowed this Fanfare Layout to sport a "pink" theme to make my daughters layout more her own. I also added a pink text box behind my title to give it some extra pop and to cover the pattern piece of paper that kind of hung out behind it.

Notice the cool swirls above this snow cone? These swirls were used in the pink layout above and the "Movin On Up" layout below as embellishments on the layouts (minus the cone) by cropping, then copying and rotating to give a nice embellishment to the pages.

The yellow photo mats on this layout were created using Text Boxes that were filled in with Sunny Yellow paper, allowing me to mat groups of photos together, vs matting individually.

I used a white text box on the left page to space the colors a little more since I used so much blue in the layout. I also added a yellow text box behind the 2 pictures on the right, to give them a little pop without the photos being any smaller.

CTMH Fanfare Board Book Mini Album

I love creating mini-albums! They're such fun to play with, and being so small, they come together quickly! The My Creations Board Book (z1310) is 6"x6" with 10 pages plus front and back covers, all prebound and ready to decorate! The 6x6 size makes is super easy to create and with minimal supplies!

I also love how easy it is to just cut the 6x6 pages (4 pages from 1 piece of 12x12 paper!), then once you decide if the page will be left or right, use a corner rounder and it's literally that simple!
When creating these books, I create all the pages first, then organize them how I want them in the book, corner round the pages, then adhere in place! This ensures if I want to embellish with stitches, brads or anything else that would need to go through the paper, I have the page fully completed before I've glued it to the chipboard pages!
Our My Creations A-door-ables (z1321) are a great way to make these mini-albums interactive! One pack for only $3.95 includes 10 paperboard doors and windows that can be stamped, chalked, painted, papered and more! They range in size from 1 1/2" to 6".
I used buttons from both our Blue and Red Assortments (z1371/z1369), and used our embroidery floss to give the appearance of the buttons being sewn on the page. Not much of a seamstress, I actually used just one piece of thread and ran it through all the buttons, then used the "line" glue dot across the page to glue them all down.
Anytime I create a project (mini-albums, books, calendars) that will be exposed/handled, I prefer our Bonding Memories Glue (1512). It ensures I can get completely to the edges of the pages so no worries about the paper pealing up from the corners/edges.
To make this album super quick, I used our Fanfare Stickease (x7138c) to embellish throughout the book.
I love how the vibrant colors in the Fanfare collection work so perfectly with these photos of our park outing!
My boys love opening all the windows and doors, and of course their favorite is pointing out where they are in the book!
The Fanfare Stickease had a lovely quote/sentiment separated into multiple stickers that I was able to use as the "story/wording" for this fun day at the park.
The cover of the album was especially easy to decorate, using this fun Fanfare paper, a piece of ribbon and foam tape to pop up the Enjoy this Happy Day sticker, and wallah, it's done!

I also used a scrap to cover the spine, to give the book a completed feel.

CTMH Workshops on the Go: Fanfare

The Fanfare collection has versatility covered! This collection can be used for so many different themes: Independence Day, Summer Fun, Birthdays, Patriotic, Military, Pool Parties, Amusement Parks and more! The vibrant colors (Cranberry, Pacifica, Sky & Sunny Yellow), celebratory stars, dots, and stripes make this kit fun to play with and perfect for tons of projects!

The exclusive Fanfare Workshops on the Go stamp set includes an adorable ice cream cone, cupcake, balloon and other party themed stamps! The papers matched wonderfully with the vibrant colors in the boys 6th Birthday Party photos!
This Workshops on the Go Collection includes the NEW Blue Button Assortment (z1371), I love the combination of shades of blue plus different shapes and sizes! Plus, I had plenty of buttons to use on multiple projects!!

The cards from the workshop are great as party invitations, birthday cards, or summer celebrations! I can't decide which stamp is my favorite: the cone, cupcake or balloons?

CTMH My Creations Display Album Medley

I love our My Creations Display albums, very quick/easy to put together as gifts (bridal shower, baby shower, recipe books and more!) The Display Album is spiral bound and includes 12 clear drop-in pages, and with the 6x6 size, assembly and creation is a snap!

We created this mini-album at our Close to My Heart Team Builders event. It was designed using several different paper packs (Mayberry, Sophia, Miracle and Bliss), which always amazes me! I don't think much "outside the kit" when it comes to my creating, so seeing how different kits can complement each other always astounds me!