Hopscotch! Bringing You the Best Day Ever!

Just in time for my March Classes I've designed new layouts using our beautiful new Hopscotch papers.  These papers are featured in our Season Expressions I and will only be available through the end of March. They are so pretty and so much fun to use with their bright springy colors.  The are perfect for chasing away the cold & gray of winter. 

While the temperatures outside are currently single digits, working with these bright colors warms me inside.  

If you would like information on my classes, please click on the date that suits you best.  Hope to see you soon! 

March 10, 2015

March 13, 2015

If you can't make a class but don't want to miss out on these beautiful papers, you can order directly from my website:

X7194B - Hopscotch Papers
X7194C - Hopscotch Complements
Z3016 - Hopscotch Assortment
G1091 - Hopscotch Workshop on the Go

Don't forget they retire on March 31st. 

A Yuletide Carol Update

I had not finished my second 2-page layout when I posted my classes for Yuletide Carol.  Just in case you own this paper pack and are looking for some inspiration, I'd like to share. 

I am completely in love with the beautiful and delicate features of this paper pack. 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Time Flies When You are Having Fun!

You may have noticed that I have not been around for a while.  I feel like I've missed a couple of months of my Close To My Heart life because "Real Life" got in the way.  But I'm back and I wanted to give you a quick peek of what is coming out of my workshop.  

My December classes got postponed to January and then again to February, so don't be surprised that I am offering you holiday themed pages.  But truly, now is the time we are getting our photos developed and ready to put on pages right?  It's all good!  

This is only part of the offering for this class.  If you are interested in joining the fun I have two nights available:  February 10th and February 13th.  

The Yuletide Christmas papers are very elegant and fun to work with.  The complements for these papers are charming with a Victorian feel.  Perfect not only for your layouts but for cards and tags as well.  It's never too early to get started, right?  

For the curious, just a little bit about my absence.  

In late October one of my daughters was offered a job on the west coast.  She'd only had skype interviews with this company and was already in love with it - when they offered her the job she was over the moon!  The next step was to get her moved out there from Kentucky, settled and ready to go to work by December 8th.  

The road trip was on!  She and I left home Saturday after Thanksgiving to arrive in her new, never before visited "home" town five days later. We had five more days before we could move her into her new apartment in which we found her a car, a bed and various assorted household furnishings.  It was a whirlwind of a week!  Did I mention Bad Cat made the move with her?
 

The drive out was spectacular but nothing like our trip into the mountains the day before I was to leave.  Simply gorgeous! 

After that excursion I left for my solo return trip traveling through Sacramento to visit friends and then on through Salt Lake City where I had a wonderful four hour lunch with another friend.  The remainder of the drive was long and uneventful, yet beautiful. All together, 10 days on the road and almost 5,700 miles on the car.

I returned home just in time to send my other daughter to the coast to spend Christmas with her sister, so my husband and I had a quiet holiday.  Since that time I've been adjusting to the new quietude of my home, not just the missing kids, but the lack of Bad Cat, too.  

Hope you have had a wonderful holiday and find joy and laughter in 2015.  

Pathfinding Layouts for my Long Distance Friends!

Tired of not being able to join my groups and make our beautiful Close To My Heart layouts? I'm changing that now with full detailed instructions and color photos!

Now you can make the same layouts my local friends and customers make at my workshops!  Just place a $25 order at my Close To My Heart website then email me at betsygully@gmail.com that you'd like the Pathfinding Layout Instructions and I'll email them to you straight away!

You can purchase everything you need to make the layouts exactly as you see here, or you can downsize and tweak your layouts to fit your budget.  You may already have some of the supplies or tools on hand.

What do you need to order to make these layouts? Pathfinding Paper Pack (X7186B), Pathfinding Complements (X7186C), Pathfinding Assortment (Z3012). These are the basics.

Add the Pathfinding Workshop On The Go (G1082) and leave off the Paper Pack & Assortment (they are included in the Workshop On The Go) to get the stamp set.  I used Chocolate (Z2111) and Autumn Terracotta (Z2101) Exclusive Inks in these layouts as well. 

I also used the CTMH Cricut Artbooking cartridge (Z1906), the Chevron Border Punch (Z1998), a Corner Rounder (Z1912), and Gold Shimmer Trim (Z1985). It's your choice to make the layouts exactly as shown or to tweak yours according to what you purchase or have on hand.  

Place your order and request your instructions today.  These layouts will beautifully display your photos and memories of Thanksgiving!

Sneak Peek at Christmas Cards!

There are so many things to love about Christmas and all the days and weeks leading up to it.  One of my favorite things is that it's such a "crafting" time of year.  Through my crafting is one of the ways I show my friends and family how much I care.  

Another wonderful thing is that it's one of the few times of year that we reach out and communicate through snail mail.  It saddens me how much of our personal histories we are losing just because we don't write it down any longer.  I love getting Christmas letters tucked inside my Christmas cards and I save them all! 

My Christmas cards are one way I embrace both crafting and snail mail.  Would you like to join me in making cards this year?  Here is what we will be doing. 

For more details about joining my class, click on this link.  Hope to see you here!

A Little Card Lovin'

My husband and I are looking at travel trailers and we have traveled a bit to check some out. These are the cards we are sending out to thank those people who have so generously shared a tour of their campers with us.

The papers are Close to my Heart Paper Fundamentals, Adventure Assortment. I love these bright colors and trendy patterns.  The cute little trailer is from the Camper Crazy stamp set, colored in with our ShinHan Touch Twin markers.  

And these cards were made for a swap using The Pathfinding paper pack. 

The cards feature lots of pretty contrast from the beautiful autumn colors of the papers.  Inside was stamped using Canary, Goldrush and Barn Red.  The stamp set used is Fall Harvest.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Autumn Colors Blooming in Pathfinding

Autumn is arriving and with it the beautiful colors of fall.  Perfect inspiration for my layouts using the beautiful Pathfinding papers.

Full Layout #1 (click on photos for larger view)

I used accents mats from the Close To My Heart Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  The actual image creates interlocking circles.  In Cricut Craft Room I elongated the image which created ovals. 

Left Page Layout #1

I trimmed part of the mat away for the border on the left side of the page, eliminating the frame and one strip of the ovals.

Right Page Layout #1

The mat on the right hand page was left intact.  Embellishments are from the Pathfinding Complements and the Pathfinding Assortment.

Full Layout #2

For my second layout I wanted to bring in some of the blue that accents the prints. To keep it from being overpowering I cut more mats with the Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  To keep the small scale of the cut I cut four smallish mats and paper pieced them together.

Left Page Layout #2

The round chip board pieces in the upper corner imitate the print of the paper next to them.  Isn't the little fox adorable?  

Right Page Layout #2

Foxes and owls are so trendy now and so cute for these pages.  The Shimmer Trim between the papers helps tie these two pages in with the first layout.  

Classes are available to create these four pages.  Click on the Workshop, Classes & Crops link above for more information.

Supplies used: 
*Pathfinding Paper Pack (X7186B) $9.95
*Pathfinding Assortment (Z3012) $6.95
Pathfinding Complements (X7186C) $4.95
Gold Shimmer Trim (Z1985) $4.95
Chevron Border Punch (Z1998) $17.95
Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2111) $5.95
Autumn Terracotta Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad (Z2101) $5.95
Artbooking Cricut Cartridge (Z1906) $99.00

*Included in the Pathfinding Workshop on the Go (G1082-$29.95), as well as the stamps used on the first layout.