Two in One -- Blog Hop and Blog Candy

Welcome to the Close To My Heart Stamp of the Month Blog Hop for January!

All artwork on the hop will feature January's SOTM, "True Friends". If you have come here from Jena's blog you are on the right path! This is so simple to do - just click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move to the next one! If you visit all the blogs you will see over 60 examples of CTMH artwork.

This month I will also be randomly selecting one person to win all 3 of my blog hop cards! To be entered, just post a comment below. I will draw a winner on January 2, and post the winner on January 3rd.

On all 3 of my cards this month I used paper from the Felicity paper collection that is only available through the end of January (or while supplies last). I am so so so, in love with this collection.

Card 1 -- I cut the middle out of one of the SOTM images and popped it up with 3D foam. I also used bitty sparkles on the corners, to add a little bling to it. The two little flowers are from the Felicity collection stamp set.

Card 2 -- This is a 4x4 card, which is my favorite size to make. The flower is from the new Just Blooms Paper Flowers in the Spring Idea book.

Card 3 -- I used a Mojo Monday card template to create this 5x6 card. I layered two of the SOTM images together and popped them with 3D foam. The flourish is part of the Felicity collection stamp set. I couldn't pass up adding a couple bitty sparkles to it either. Did you know that you can now get 100 bitty sparkles in the new Spring Idea Book for just $2.95? I am in sparkle heaven!


I really fell in love with this month's SOTM after sitting down and using it. I found it very versatile. I hope you do too!

Don't forget to post a comment for a chance to win all 3 cards.

Now "hop" on over to Carla's Blog to see her work!

Felicity Artwork

I made these two layout this week using the Felicity Collection. Just loving this set of paper, die-cuts and stamps! Can't get enough of it. As always, click on the images to view them bigger and better.


For this top page I had two extra pictures I really wanted in the layout, but didn't want to do a whole other page for them. So I used a product called Flip-Flaps from Close To My Heart. This was my first time working with them, and I look forward to playing around with it more in the future. I really like the concept of it.

The empty space below the one on the left is waiting for a picture I need to get from Kenny's Mom. It's a picture of Kenny as a kid lined up like the above picture with all his cousins. I thought it would be nice to have two generations of cousins side by side.

Hey, Hey It's My Birthday Today!

Happy Birthday to Me! Man, what a birthday it has been. It is so true that time flies when you are having fun, because I can't believe that my birthday is almost over already.

It started off with a surprise sleep in. I thought Kenny had gotten up at the normal time to get himself ready for work. He normally gets Shane for a little while in the morning before he goes running, but this morning I rolled over and it was way past time for me to be up. Turns out Kenny wasn't getting ready for work because he took the day off. Surprise #1!

There were a couple yummy breakfast options for me. As well as directions to be ready to leave the house at 9:30. Surprise #2 and #3. We left and ended up in the Starbucks drive through, Surprise #4. Then did a confusing circle and ended back up at a friends/neighbors house where Shane was dropped off for some play time. Surprise #5 and a big thanks to the Hakamada's for taking in the little guy for a few hours.

I still had no idea what was in store, but I found myself at Bellevue Square Mall doing some kid free shopping. Surprise #6. Then lunch at one of my favorite places, McCormick and Schmick's. Surprise #7. After getting back home I was informed by my very tricky Husband that I had an appointment in 45 minutes, so I better not get to comfortable. Surprise #8 was a facial at InSpa.

Back at home I was able to complete a scrapbook layout and some quiet time just to myself. Surprise #9 arrived in the form of pizza for dinner. The evening was rounded off by surprise #10, yummy cupcakes and a happy birthday song, by my two favorite fellows. Shane has perfected saying "Happy Birthday".

There are still a few hours of my very special 33rd birthday left and I plan to enjoy every minute. Thanks to all my friends and family for sending and calling me with birthday wishes. A big warm hug to my great Husband for making today very special. I have definitely felt the love today!

UPDATE: Surprise #11 was a DVD (Benjamin Button) after Shane went to bed.

Wordless Wednesday

Celebrate National Papercrafting Month

CELEBRATE PAPERCRAFTING WITH THE STUNNING FELICITY COLLECTION!
The collection features decorative die-cut paper, three gorgeous color schemes, and a D-size stamp set that include flowers, flourishes, argyle patterns, birds, and an entire alphabet! Your papercrafting possibilities are endless!

There are three ways to get the Felicity collection:
• Purchase it at full retail price for $34.95
• Place an order of $60 or more in full-retail priced stamp
sets (A, B, C, D, and E-size) and receive one collection FREE!
• Place an order of $125 or more in full-retail priced Close To
My Heart products and receive one collection FREE!

The campaign also has enticing opportunities for hostesses and
new Consultants. Hostesses get the collection FREE with a Home
Gathering sales total of $400 or more, and new Consultants
who join Close To My Heart between January 1–31 will receive the
collection FREE in their New Consultant Kit.

This collection is only available through the end of January or while supplies last.

Christmas Weekend

We spent Christmas this year in Sequim with my family. I don't know if Shane got the concept of Christmas 100%, but he did become very fond of Santa, Rudolph and Frosty. He was super excited to go to Mema and Papa's house which was pretty much good enough for him, but on top of that he got to open up surprises. What more could a 2.5 year old ask for.

Outside with Daddy sprinkling Reindeer dust. A mixture of oatmeal, sugar and sprinkles. Shane was super excited to feed Rudolph. At one point though we were concerned he thought he was actually going to get to see the little guy in person. Luckily, we got that issue cleared up with out many tears.

Watching the train under the Christmas tree. A favorite past time.

Leaving cookies for Santa. The first thing Shane asked about when he woke up was if Santa ate his cookies. He was super concerned that Santa left a little bit of milk and some crumbs of the cookies behind.

Opening his present from Santa. It was a train, just like he asked Santa for.


Having a little rest in his new sleeping bag from Mema and Papa.

Sitting in his truck that he got from Mema and Papa. He calls it Tonka.

Wordless Wednesday

January's Card Making Class

Just 1 spot left!! Reserve it ASAP!

Start 2010 out right by getting those birthday cards all ready to go. And learn new crafting techniques at the same time.

Come join me on Monday, January 11th from 7pm-9pm.





Cost: 3 cards for $7 OR place a $20 order and get them for free.

Can't make it that night? No problem, just let me know and I'll send you a Birthday Card Making kit.

Wordless Wednesday

Cute Little Boxes

This past week I've made a couple little crafty gifts for various gift exchanges coming up. I needed something to put the little treasures in. I had a pattern sitting around for a cute little box/card holder and decided to give it a try. I borrowed the pattern from Vicki over at Wizard's Hangout. She always has great ideas and projects.

The first one holds 10 cards I made for Kenny's Secret Santa gift exchange at work. The box measures 4 1/4 x 5 1.2. I made this out of the Close To My Heart Sweet Home paper packet. I used background and texture paper for the box, which after wards I realized I should have used cardstock to give it a little bit more strength.




I made this box using CTMH Jingle paper packet. The base is Tulip cardstock.

It's Official....

....we are House Hunters! We have recently gotten all of our ducks in a row, per say, and when we find our "dream house", we are ready to buy. It's been a long time of waiting, watching and being patience, but I'm so excited to say the time has finally arrived. No more renting (yes, I know there are upsides to that). I can finally paint walls and not have to pack or unpack boxes for what I hope to be a really really long time.

I know the process that is ahead of us may be really challenging, long and daunting. When you've waited as long as we have to buy a house you tend to possibly be a bit more picky. At this point we are willing to wait for the right house, in the right location, and for the right price.

Do wish us luck and that sooner then later we find ourselves a house that fits the bill.

Happy Half Birthday, Shane.

Our little guy is officially 2 1/2 today. I wanted to get a few quick pictures of him this afternoon and during this process he went from looking at me, to not looking at me (he told me he was eating, duh Mom!), to giving me a cheesy eyes closed smile and finally he told me to stop (guess he had enough of the camera in his face). This pretty much sums up life with Shane. One minute life is happy and wonderful and the next his life is crumbling before our very eyes. I can say he is consistent though, he has been like this his whole 2 1/2 years of life. The other day after some huge dramatic incident (I call him my Drama King), Kenny and I told him that if he was going to go into acting as a career he just needed to make it big so he could pay us back for all the years of watching him "practice" his acting skills.

Wordless Wednesday

Mojo Monday

I finally got a chance today to participate in Mojo Monday. I made this card using the colors from Color Me Monday on Jeanette Lynton's blog.



Supplies are all from Close To My Heart: (featured colors are Sorbet, Twilight, Outdoor Denim and Cocoa)
--Aspen Paper Packet
--Outdoor Denim Ribbon
--Frosty Friends stamp set
--Prisma Glitter

Blog Giveaway

Jump on over to Fabule$$ly Frugal Mom and enter to win a Couponizer. Looks like a handy item to have if you are a coupon user or want to be one.

Signs of Christmas

There are signs of Christmas all over our house and I'm loving it.

{I read Shane Polar Express for the first time last night. It made me so happy when he asked to hear it again! We are planning our first Family Movie Night next weekend and we'll be watching Polar Express.

{Gifts are wrapped, cards are ready to be mailed, the tree is up, decorations are out and I'm pretty sure they can see our lit up house in outer space. It appears that Kenny and I may be having an allergic reaction to our Christmas tree this year. We are attempting to ignore this fact, because I will NEVER have a fake Christmas tree in my house!

{Christmas cards are arriving in the mail. I love the excitement of going to get the mail and seeing what cards have arrived from family and friends.

{I went to an ornament exchange party last night. Each person brought an ornament for someone else that showed what the holidays meant to them and their family. It was super fun to hear about other people and their family traditions. One girl had a tradition of passing down an ornament from her collection every year to another women. The one she gave this year was 30 years old and originally was her Mothers. The ornament had come from Germany as well.

{Various Christmas parties are on the calendar. I'm excited to celebrate with many friends and family in the next few weeks!

{Plans are in the making for some Christmas cookie baking. I'm doing a cookie exchange for the first time this year. Lots of yummy cookies to eat come Christmas.

{Shane calls all snowmen "Frosty". He loves looking at Christmas lights outside. I can't wait to take him to see some really cool lit up houses next weekend. He can't seem to keep his hands off the Christmas tree. He is just so excited about all the ornaments hanging on it. When I was wrapping presents this week, he voluntarily wrapped up his big Legos for Mema and Papa. He has put them under the Christmas tree and reminds us daily that they are "surprises" for Mema and Papa.

{My paper whites are planted and growing so quickly. Before I know it we'll have the wonderful smell of those delicate little flowers floating through the whole house.

{The advent calendar is full of "surprises" for Shane. He is having a hard time this year only opening one day at a time. He gets to open it after breakfast, but come late afternoon he is ready to open another one.

{At church this morning one of the Pastors reminded me how important it is to use the term Merry Christmas instead of Happy Hoildays or Season Greetings. I find my self often using those terms because I dodn't want to exclude any one and their beliefs during this time of year. But he reminded me that we wouldn't have this time of year if it hadn't been for the birth of Jesus Christ.

Merry CHRISTmas my friends!

Santa Visit

 

We made our way to see Santa today. We had been preparing Shane for this visit, knowing that there was a good chance he wasn't going to be so up for it. We were first in line and actually got to see Santa wait in line at Starbucks for his morning coffee. Us adults found that to be sorta funny. Shane got to sit in Santa's chair before he even arrived. But of course as soon as Santa was close up and personal Shane wanted nothing to do with him unless "Mommy" was there with him. After Santa trying really hard to get Shane to stand in front of him, he told me I could hold him on my lap and hide behind his back and not be in the picture. Well, as you can see my legs clearly made it into the picture, but Shane was having a blast now that Mommy was there and Santa was reading him a story. Shane even signed to him that he wanted a train for Christmas. He then didn't want to leave. Oh, life as a 2.5 year old can be so hard....for both Mommy and Shane!

Just as an FYI, this Santa is at the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, WA and is the best Santa I've ever seen. He is wonderful with the kids and looks great. Every day he has a different shirt on. This is our 3rd year seeing him.

CTMH Holiday Heyday Online Clearance Sale

It is a Holiday Heyday CTMH's Online Clearance Sale!
Get all your holiday shopping done in one spot this year with our online clearance sale! Many items are 50% off, with some discounted as much as 80% off regular retail. The selection is incredible, too! Shopping began today: Wednesday, December 2, and continues through Thursday, December 17 or while product supplies last! The prices are incredible, so don't wait to buy.

A few details:
* You will be restricted to FIVE per each item.

* Note that clearance items may not be combined with regular-priced items in a single shopping cart, and clearance purchases are not eligible for Stamp of the Month.

* Orders of $100+ = flat rate shipping of just $5 ($99.99 and under have weight-based shipping)

* A special clearance sale link will be available on MyCTMH shopping page during the campaign just for this purpose; only clearance items will appear in the clearance shopping area and only regular-priced items will appear in the usual MyCTMH shopping area.

Close To My Heart December Newsletter

Can you believe it is December already!?! This is my favorite time of year. There are so many things that I want to do that I run out of time. I can't wait to get decorating, along with some time to sit back and enjoy the spirit of the season.

National Papercrafting Month Constant Campaign
Felicity Collection
The exciting National Papercrafting Month Constant Campaign beginning December 15, 2009 and running through the end of January featuring the Felicity Collection which has decorative die-cut paper, three gorgeous color schemes, and a D-size stamp set that include flowers, flourishes, argyle, birds, and an entire alphabet! This collection has a retail value of $34.95. You can buy it outright, or get it free!

There are various ways to qualify for a FREE Felicity Collection:
* Purchase a minimum of $60 in full-retail priced stamp sets
* Place an order of $125 or more in full-retail priced Close To My Heart products.
* Hostesses get the package FREE with a Home Gathering sales total of $400 or more.
* New Consultants who join Close To My Heart between January 1–31 will receive the package FREE in their New Consultant Kit.

December Stamp of The Month
Notice the Details (set of 41)
This set is perfect for the coming new year and is only available until the end of December. It is great for calendars, cards, scrapbook pages and projects like a dry erase board. Visit my December Blog Hop post and take a tour of this months blog hop. You'll find fabulous ideas and ways to use this stamp set.

Christmas Orders
You need to have your orders place by Tuesday, December 15th in order to assure they will be at your house for Christmas morning.
January Workshops

Starting January each month I will be having a Card Workshop, Scrapbook Workshop and a Project Workshop. You can always visit MyCTMH website for up-to-date information on my workshops, as well as pictures of what we'll be making.

Card Workshop -- Monday, January 11th 7pm -- Make 3 Birthday cards for $7, or place a $20 order and get the cards for FREE.

Project Workshop -- Saturday, January 16th 6:30pm -- Make a Memory Keeper Box perfect to keep all those special 2010 memories. Cost TBA.

Scrapbook Workshop -- Friday, January 22nd, 7pm -- Stay tuned for the new Spring 2010 paper packet we'll be using to complete 2 12x12 pages. More details to come in early January.

Spring Idea Book
Released January 1, 2010
I had my first peek at the Spring Idea Book this morning. It is full of bright new paper packets and flowery stamp sets. Book a gathering for January and you'll get your very own Spring Idea Book for FREE.

Studio J
Close To My Heart has done it again, come up with something no one else has! It is digital scrapbooking like no other. No need for special computer projects or college classes, you will instantly fall in love with Studio J. Coming Spring 2010.

As always I'm here for all your crafting needs or questions. Please let me know how I can help you.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely,

Jessica