February Paper Trail blog hop

Welcome to the Paper Trail blog hop.  This month Close to My Heart releases our 2012 Spring/Summer Idea Book with eight new paper packs, Workshops on the Go, and a myriad of new stamps and embellishments.  Our Paper Trail team has taken advantage of this "transition" month to feature our own favorite papers, either new or old.  So take a peek at our blogs and get a preview of what's to come or say farewell to an old favorite.

Our Paper Trail blog hop is a loop so you may have arrived here from Pam's P-Inks blog or you may just be getting started.  Don't worry, if you follow our links from one blog to the next you won't miss anyone.  And be sure to let our artists know how much you appreciate their art and samples. 

My choice of new paper is called Florentine and is full of rich greens, blues and honey colors.  I got stuck behind the eight ball this afternoon and didn't finish all I have planned so I am posting just a glimpse of what's to come.

I chose to make cards with Florentine papers and the matching Stickease, using some of Close To My Heart's card packets providing variety of styles and forcing myself a little out of my comfort zone.  I love clear acrylic cards but always feel a little stumped at how to layer them to create a visually appealing card.  I think I've come to the conclusion that less is more.

And here is the inside.  What do you think?

Continue on the Paper Trail to Connie's blog, Scraps & Stories, to see what she has in store for you.  I'm sure you will like it!

January Paper Trail Blog Hop is Wonderland

Welcome to the January Paper Trail Blog hop. This month we are featuring our beautiful wintery Wonderland paper pack, full of beautiful blues and browns with a touch of purple.  Lovely snowflakes adorn three sides of these papers and polka-dots, plaid & stripes adorn the other three sides.  I love these colors & patterns!

Terri's My Frame of Mind may have brought you to my blog.  As usual, Terri has some fantastic art to share.  If you arrived here by other means, not to worry, the blog hop is circular and you'll come back to her blog.

I designed a luminary with Wonderland using the 6x6 Kraft Die Cut Cards as a base.  Using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge I cut snowflakes from the paper and created 3 panels to wrap around the base.  A jewel hangs in the center of the snowflake and six little diamonds are at the inner points. 

I used battery style tea lights to light the luminaries.  Here are three with lights and different papers for the main body.

With out the lights.  The color of the papers are more true in this photo.

My other offering today is a set of tags I made for an exchange.  Again cutting snowflakes from the paper, glittering and adhering to a tag.  I stamped snowflakes under the glitter snowflake cutout.  On the back, the "to" and "from" and a snow border from Winter Joy. 

I hope you've enjoyed what you've seen here.  Now hop on over to Lynne's blog, Field's Finery for some more wintery delights, and some Studio J magic.

December Paper Trail blog hop - Roxie!

I'm late! I'm late! I'm late for a very important date!

December Paper Trail blog hop has started and I am still working on my contribution!  I'm so sorry and I hope you'll stop by tomorrow to check it out as I PROMISE I will have it posted by then.  I'm finding that the project I decided to do is just a tiny bit trickier than I anticipated.  But I think you'll like what you see when you come back!

So if you've arrived from Linda's blog, The Paper Taylor, never fear, you are indeed on the right track.  

And to keep you on track, hop on over to If You Bling It by Melinda Everitt.  She is our guest blogger this month and she's got an awesome project for you.

And until tomorrow when I post my "real" project, here are some things I've done with Roxie already.  I may or may not have shared them before....

Gift card holder, inside

 

2nd gift card holder

Recipe/treasure box

Don't forget to come back tomorrow!

Ciao!

Let Me Make You an Offer (or 2) You Can't Refuse!

Have I ever mentioned just how much I love Love LOVE Close To My Heart?

Well, I do!

Here are two more awesome reasons why!

One for now:  Holiday Wishes!

When you place a minimum order of $25 in My Acrylix^® stamp sets in November, you can purchase a new D-size Holiday Wishes stamp set for only $5! That’s significant savings off the full retail value of $17.95. And here’s a bonus: many of the images in the set coordinate with our Cricut^® Art Philosophy cartridge for added cutting and stamping fun! Offer valid November 1- November 30, 2011.

And an offer for later:  Rock the Block (I can't wait for this one!):

My Holiday Wishes is on it's way and I can't wait to show you what I create with it.  As for the Rock the Bock....  tapping my fingertips on the table..... If you want these amazing offers yourself, order them at my Close To My Heart site, Paper Boutique or contact me at betsygully@gmail.com. 

Starting to Feel a Lot Like Christmas

I know, it's too early for Christmas, right?  But for crafters it's a holiday we think about and plan for all year long.  We may not have our homes decorated the day after Halloween, but our minds are busy with ideas and plans!

With that in mind I am going to share some photos of my class projects for A Very Cricut Christmas I: Bags & Tags.  These were all assembled by my very talented daughter and fellow consultant, Alyssa.  Some items are from our Idea Book and others are her own creations.  Enjoy!

Dreamin' of a Paper Trail Blog Hop

Hi, and thank for stopping by! If you arrived from Terri's My Frame of Mind blog you are on the right path. If you are just getting started, enjoy!
 
This is the November Paper Trail blog hop and this month we are featuring "Dreamin'."  It's one of my favorite Level 2 Paper packs by Close to my Heart.  I love Love LOVE the rich fall colors and warm textures.

I have so much I want to share this month but I may have to do it in smaller blog bites. Lets get started with this:

I love making these boxes that feature four more little "drawers" inside.  They are so easy to make despite how complicated they appear.  This one was made as an auction item for the Highpoint Crop benefiting Operation Smile.  It would be great if you could join us!

I have to tell you, though, I got a little excited at the Detroit Regionals last month and gave it away to be auctioned off there.  Oops!  I can happily tell you it raised $65 for Operation Smile.  The great thing is I can make another for Highpoint!

Next up is Mary's Road to Peace of Mind or Escape? blog.  Enjoy your travels, these ladies have some great stuff to show you!

Studio J Layouts

I'm preparing for the Close to my Heart Regional Celebration in Detroit. Part of the registration is a 5 pack Studio J gift to be completed & picked up at Regionals.  Oh what fun I had making the layouts according to their directions and then redoing them to suit my photos and my tastes.  In fact I had so much fun I decided to share. 

You can click on any of these layouts to enlarge it and see more detail.

If you haven't played with Studio J, you really should!  It's so much fun and so easy.  And it cost you nothing to play.  You only pay when you decide to order what you've designed.  How easy and risk free is that?