Whooo's Your Valentine?

Here's a video about the really cute Valentine's Day promotion that's going on right now until the end of January!



Contact me to get this really cute kit for yourself!

Clearly the Best - Cluster Luster

Here's the latest video from Close To My Heart - Cluster Luster! This video features a stamping technique for clustering multiple images in a design.



I will try to post some earlier videos soon!
Thanks!

New Clearance Items!

Close To My Heart has added several new items to the "While Supplies Last" section of our consultant websites - lots of paper packs for cheap! Be sure to check them out and get your order in while they're still available. And during the month of December, every online order that reaches or exceeds $50 will include a Bonding Memories glue pen for free!

So get online and start shopping!
http://bethanyrielage.ctmh.com/Retail/Products.aspx?CatalogID=1702

Free Shipping and Hostess Rewards!!

In honor of small business Saturday (the Saturday after Thanksgiving), I having a special offer that will end Saturday, November 24th. For each order of $30 or more that you place between now and then, I will give you FREE SHIPPING and enter you into a drawing to win HOSTESS REWARDS on the final order total. Simply email me or call with your order anytime between now and Saturday, and you will get this special offer!

 

I will place all the orders on Sunday, November 25th so they will be here in plenty of time for Christmas. It's a great way to get your holiday shopping done without even leaving the house!!

 

And don't forget about the great deal that Close To My Heart is offering this month. When you make a qualifying order ($50 or more) and get the November stamp of the month for only $5, you get a stamp set of your choice for HALF PRICE!! Combine this with the offer I have this week, and it's a deal you can't pass up!

 

I'm looking forward to hearing from you this week!

 

 

 

Using the Cricut to Make Cards and Envelopes!

I absolutely love my Cricut cutting machine, and I find myself using Close To My Heart's cartridges - Art Philosophy and Artiste - all the time! Honestly, since I've purchased them, I have rarely used another cartridge (and I have several)!

One of the things I love about these cartridges is how easy it is to make cards, boxes, and little gift bags. Here's a video showcasing a few of the cards you can make with the Artiste cartridge.



I hope you enjoyed watching, and contact me to today to get your own Artiste cartridge! Or host a party and get it for 50% off!!

Studio J Love Your Layout - October

Here's another video featuring Close To My Heart's fabulous digital scrapbooking program, Studio J. This video features the Moonlight paper packet and has lots of great ideas for you to use in Studio J or on a traditional paper layout. Enjoy!

Studio J Express Collections

If you've never tried Studio J, Close To My Heart's online digital scrapbooking program, their new express collections are a great way to get started. But even for the seasoned digital scrapbooker, these collections are great and easy to use. Check out the video!

And don't forget that you get a FREE Studio J layout this month when you purchase 9!!

Tricks with Studio J!

Since Close To My Heart is offering a great Studio J special this month, I will be highlighting Studio J in several of my blog posts.

Even though Studio J^® is fast and easy to use, it is helpful to know some great tricks that can make customizing your layouts even more exciting. Here are some Studio J tricks straight from our professional Close To My Heart artists:

1. Customize your background and texture paper. You can change the color and intensity of the background and texture paper included in whichever kit you choose. Simply select the piece of background and texture paper, change the color in the color selection tool, and increase or decrease the intensity of the color in that same popup box.

2. Crop My Stickease^® quotes, titles, and tags. The cropping feature on the My Stickease images allows you to select a section of a quote, title, or tag to use as a border or other embellishment.

3. Create a customized My Stickease image. If you have a specific image in mind to use as an embellishment on your page, you can create a customized My Stickease to fit your theme perfectly. Simply add a text box, photo hanger, ribbon, ribbon slides, and Stickease to create the little suitcase! So easy! Be sure to crop or send elements behind other elements when necessary, and add several elements together for a unique look!

4. Select more than one element at a time. If you want to move several elements of your layout at once, simply click and drag your mouse around the elements you would like to select. Let’s take buttons, for example. After the buttons have been selected, you can click the icons in the popup box to choose to align the buttons vertically or horizontally if you desire.

5. Make faux washi tape with vellum text boxes. To create the look of a piece of clear washi tape, make a small rectangular text box, filled with vellum background (this is the default color for text boxes). You can make the tape strips as large or small as you want, or even layer them for more emphasis.

6. Stretch one photo across multiple photo wells. If you have fewer photos than photo wells, instead of deleting the excess wells, try scaling the picture to a larger size and then copying the picture to other photo wells and matching the photos up until they align with an almost seamless image. This trick works best with photo wells that are adjacent to each other.

7. Create ruffled ribbon. Select “Ribbons” in the drop-down menu under the Embellishments toolset. Choose ribbon tab and rotate the tab so that it is vertical on the page. Then layer several tabs on top of one another, sending every other one to the back to create a ruffled look.

8. Create a jagged border with text boxes. You can create a jagged border simply by rotating multiple text boxes about 45 degrees and making them the same color as the background. Put these boxes on top of a long, rectangular box of another color, and you’ve got a jagged border!

9. Change the background of your layout. Sometimes you may like the photo and journal arrangement in a layout, and yet want to change the background colors. Because photos sit on top of everything else, this is easy to do. Simply pull a journaling box over the space you want for a different background and fill it with a color from the color selection tool or a patterned paper from the Papers toolset. Then, send it backwards until the photo wells are on top of your new background.

Bonus Trick! Use keyboard keys to make embellishments. Did you know that some of the best tools for creating custom embellishments are the basic keys on your keyboard? It’s as simple as typing into a journaling box with no background color. Use periods to make a polka dot pattern, angle brackets to create a trendy Chevron look, overlapping pound signs to make burlap, question marks to make rope, and so much more!

October is the perfect month to give these tricks a try because for every 9 layouts you create, you’ll get a 10th layout for FREE!

Click here to learn more or email me with any questions!

rielage517@yahoo.com

Make It from Your Heart Blog Hop

Today we will show you how to “Make It from Your Heart”! Jeanette Lynton has created a brand NEW “how-to” program to not only guide you, but also inspire you to create beautiful artwork. This amazing publication has so many different pattern blueprints that you can interpret in ANY WAY you want!

Through our blog hop we hope to inspire you to use your own artistic instincts to interpret and create your own artwork. Each of our crafty consultants has chosen a different page of this book to create two projects for you – that’s right two projects with the SAME pattern! One project will follow the blueprint pattern as laid out. The second project will use the pattern “with a twist” to show you how versatile the patterns are.

We are having a giveaway – that’s right blog candy for you hoppers! Lucy of Love 2 Create will be giving away a copy of the Make It from Your Heart – Volume 1. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on each blog.

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should begin your hop at the beginning at Lucy’s blog.

If you came from Theodora’s blog, you’re in the right place!

Here are my projects! I used pattern 4 (pp. 12 and 13) from Make It from Your Heart, Volume 1 to create a scrapbooking layout and a card.

For both of my projects, I used the Dakota paper from Close To My Heart. I used some small black brads on my scrapbooking layout and the retired Rustic alphabet.

For my card I cut some buttons with the Artiste Cricut cartridge and arranged them similarly to the scrapbooking layout. You could use any shape with this pattern, and although it's originally a scrapbooking layout, it works for cards too! I used the stamp set Buttons, Bits, and Bobs for the sentiment, and I finished up the card with some black and brown floss and a little button from our Blue Buttons Assortment.

The next stop to "Making It from Your Heart" is

Stephanie at The Quilted Scrapper.

Here is the list of all the talented consultants who are participating in this month’s blog hop:

• Lucy: Love 2 Create
• Darla: Caution: Crafting Is Contagious
• Michelle: My Creations with Michelle
• Maria: Maria's Paper Craft Place
• Theodora: Celebrate Crafts
• Bethany: Stamping at Home
• Stephanie: The Quilted Scrapper
• Wendy: My Scrapbooking Blog

Thanks for hopping by!

Organize Your Supplies!

If you're looking for the Moonlight blog hop, click here.

Here's a video from Close To My Heart about their brand-new organizers. They're perfect for all your crafting supplies!



For more information or to orders yours today, email me at rielage517@yahoo.com or place an order online at http://bethanyrielage.ctmh.com.

"Take a Walk in the Moonlight" Blog Hop!

Thank you for joining us on our “Take a Walk in the Moonlight” Blog Hop. We have a fabulous path for you to follow as you take your walk in the moonlight with us as we feature Close To My Heart’s Moonlight paper pack.

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should begin your walk at the beginning at Lucy’s blog: http://www.love2createitall.com.

If you came from Deanne’s blog: http://deannestamps.blogspot.com, you’re in the right place!

My project is a two-page scrapbooking layout of my kids trick-or-treating last year.

In addition to the Moonlight paper pack, I also used the Moonlight Complements Dimensional Elements. These are an easy way to add design to your layout without stamping.

The next stop on your moonlight walk is Wendy at http://MyScrapbookingBlog.com

Here is the list of all the talented consultants who will lead you down the moonlight path:

• Lucy: http://www.love2createitall.com
• Darla: http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com
• Deanne: http://deannestamps.blogspot.com
• Bethany: http://stampingathome.blogspot.com
• Wendy: http://MyScrapbookingBlog.com
• Stephanie: http://www.quiltedscrapper.blogspot.com
• Erin: http://www.imcreaterin.blogspot.ca
• Maria: http://mariawoodworth.blogspot.com
• Carolyn: http://nuts4scrappin.blogspot.com
• Joanne: http://josiesjoy.blogspot.com
• Julia: http://youcancreatectmh.blogspot.com
• Theodora: http://www.celebratecrafts.com

Thanks for hopping by!

First Day of School with Scholastic

As soon as I saw the Scholastic paper packet in the new idea book, I knew I wanted to use it to scrapbook my son's first day of kindergarten pictures.

I changed the coloring of my pictures to sepia to better match the paper, and I used a great layout pattern from our new how-to book, Make It from Your Heart, Volume 1.

I think it turned out rather nice!

I used the Scholastic My Stickease assortment for most of the accents, but I did add a few Durables Round Studs for some texture. The alphabet stamp set I used, Typewriter Keys, is unfortunately retired, but I thought it matched perfectly! I also used our fantastic Artiste Cricut cartridge to cut out the large piece of Ruby paper behind my pictures.

As always, I just love how all the paper and colors go together so wonderfully. It really does make scrapbooking so much easier!

Swipe Hype!

Here's another video from Close To My Heart on why our stamps are "Clearly the Best!"

If you have any questions or would like to try out this technique with Close To My Heart's great acrylic stamps, please contact me!
rielage517@yahoo.com

Mojo Monday 257 - Flirty

This week's Mojo Monday card was a little more complicated and layered than I'm used to! But it was good for me to try something different from my normal simple cards. Of course, for many of you, this card will still seem pretty simple since I didn't use ribbon or buttons or anything 3-D, but it's a little more than I usually do!

I used Close To My Heart's Flirty paper packet and the Love Blooms stamp set. I also used the Zoology stamp set for the sentiment. Since the Flirty Raspberry color is only available in cardstock, I used Hollyhock as the pink on the flower stamp. I also used Goldrush and Ponderosa Pine inks.

Have fun creating your own cards this weekend!

Clearly the Best!

Close To My Heart has teamed up with My Craft Channel to offer some great videos about our My Acrylix clear stamps. Check out this first video to find out how to bend and curve your stamps!



I hope you enjoyed this video, and stayed tuned for more videos in the next several weeks!

National Stamping Month Blog Hop!

Welcome to our National Stamping Month Blog Hop! I'm so excited to participate in my first blog hop, and what makes it even better is that it's with several other wonderful CTMH consultants and we're celebrating a stamp set that I absolutely LOVE!

At Close To My Heart, we want to celebrate the everyday moments in our lives. Close To My Heart is doing that by offering an amazing exclusive double-stamp set called “It’s Your Day.” This is two D-size stamp sets in one!!

This amazing set has nearly 50 images designed to inspire you to capture your life one day at a time. There are trendy chevron backgrounds, classic images, as well as versatile phrases. You can get your own stamp set for only $5 with a qualifying order of $35. This stamp set has a value of $35.90!

We're so excited to be doing this hop, and we have a fabulous lineup with some very talented ladies. There will be lots of fun projects.

We are also happy to announce that one of our consultants, Maria Woodworth, of Maria's Paper Craft Place, is offering blog candy. To be eligible to win, please be sure to leave a comment on each blog post and become a follower of her blog. Thanks so much, Maria!

If you just happened to come to this blog, you should start at the beginning at Lucy's blog:
http://www.love2createitall.com

Here's the card that I made with this stamp set. It's a pretty simple card, which is how I like them!

This idea comes from the new Make It from Your Heart idea book - pattern 28 on page 46 - which has templates and cutting guides for both scrapbooking layouts and cards. I used Twilight, Sorbet, and Creme Brulee cardstock; Sorbet and Twilight ink; and some Colonial White cardstock for the chevron borders and the butterfly. I also sponged each piece with some Desert Sand ink. I attached the middle of the butterfly with Liquid Glass, and I added some Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems for a little finishing touch!

The next stop on your blog hop fun is Eva:

http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com

Here's the entire blog hop lineup in case you get lost along the way:

• Lucy Kelleher: http://www.love2createitall.com
• Darla Haverstock: http://www.stampingunderdoctorsorders.blogspot.com
• Lori Brown: http://savingmine.blogspot.com
• Amie Kiger: http://www.mimimyselfandibykigz.blogspot.com
• Deanne Jacobs: http://deannestamps.blogspot.com
• Jennifer Kramer: http://4heartsscrapbooking.blogspot.com
• Carolyn: http://www.nuts4scrappin.blogspot.com
• Bethany Rielage (you are here!): http://stampingathome.blogspot.com
• Eva Friesen: http://loveofcreating.blogspot.com
• Maria Woodworth: http://mariawoodworth.blogspot.com
• Julia Hammond: http://youcancreatectmh.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! We hope you have enjoyed all of our projects!

Word Balloon Cards with Artiste

I got the new Artiste Cricut cartridge last week, and I've been having lots of fun with it. I saw the idea for these cute, easy cards on another consultant's website (check it out here), and I knew I had to make them. With the Word Balloon stamp set that comes with the Artiste collection, these 3x3 cards are a snap to make!

I used some paper from the Stella paper pack, and the Tulip and Olive stamp pads. Contact me to get your hands on your own Artiste cartridge!

rielage517@yahoo.com

Cricut® Artiste Easy Instruction

Here's a great video from Close To My Heart that shows you a little more about the new Cricut Artiste cartridge.



Contact me today to order yours or to find out how to get it for half price!
rielage517@yahoo.com

Mojo Monday #254

I liked this week's sketch so much that I made 2 different cards with it yesterday! And since it's so easy, I might make some more later this week just to use up some old paper. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

For my first card I turned the sketch sideways and used some of CTMH's new paper, La Belle Vie. I also used the new stamp set, Bonjour. For the accents in the corner, I used our new Black and Grey Sparkles. This is one of my favorite paper packs from the new idea book!

For my second card I kept the sketch horizontal and used some retired paper from the Dreamin' paper pack. I used the stamp set 4 My Friend and some of our Mocha Opaques for the accents. I also added some Chocolate embroidery floss and stamped the greeting directly on the card. I think it turned out well, and it was so simple!

Get a free tote bag!

When you become a new Consultant in August, you will receive a free Damask Tote Bag (retail value $50), while supplies last. This handy, attractive tote with the Close To My Heart logo lets everyone know you are a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant — with class and style! Choose the $49 New Consultant Essentials Kit or the $99 Master Kit which includes more supplies and tools, and we will send you a tote bag free — only in August and only while supplies last!

Contact me today for more information on how to sign up!
rielage517@yahoo.com

Mojo Monday #251 - Magic Moments

I know I've missed the last several weeks of Mojo Monday, but I really like this week's sketch and wanted to get back in the groove!

I used some retired CTMH paper for this card, Magic Moments, and the July stamp of the month, Live Out Loud. If you spend $50 in July, you can get this stamp set for only $5!

Also, if you like this paper but don't have it from a few years ago, it's still available through Studio J, Close To My Heart's online scrapbooking program. And now that Studio J memberships are gone, everyone can get the low price of $6.95 for a two-page layout! Check it out here!

Thanks for looking!

Sneak peek!

Here's a sneak peek at one of the new paper packets from the Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book, which will be available August 1st!

This is the Moonlight paper packet, and I love it! It's cutesy enough for pictures of my kids trick-or-treating, but it's also not so cutesy that you couldn't use it for older Halloween celebrations. And you can even use this paper packet for non-Halloween layouts. I hope to share one of those layouts with you later this week. But in the meantime, enjoy your sneak peek!

And be sure to join me during my open house the first weekend in August to see this and all the other brand-new paper packets from Close To My Heart!

Retiring Items!

The following paper packets, stamp sets, colors (paper, stamp pads, and re-inkers), and accessories will not be available after July 31, so make sure you get your favorites while they're still available!


Paper Packets
Cruisin’
Elemental
Footloose
Lucy
Roxie
Sonoma
Superhero
Typeset

Stamps

A Flitter

A Game

A Holiday

A Sip

A Timber

A Twinkle

Adorn-able

All Decked Out

Always Remember

Angel Sent

Authentic

Baroque Alphabet

Bundled Buddies

Captured Moments

Childhood Portrait

Father Christmas

Fill In The Blank - Holiday

Friendship Alphabet Large

Friendship Alphabet Small

Fright Night

Giggle Caps

Giggle Lowercase

Gnome Garden

Happy Clusters

Harvest Home

Headline Alphabet Large

Holiday Cheer

Holiday Commentary

Holiday Commentary - French

Holiday Commentary - Spanish

I Believe

John 3:16

Joyful Jar

Live Inspired

Live Your Style

Made with Love

Month by Month

Nature's Gift

Party Animal

Party Pennants

Rustic Alphabet

Rustic Numbers

Save the Date

Save the Date - French

Save the Date – Spanish

Say It in Style

Snow Days

Snow Flurries

St. Nick

Tag the Occasion

Tannenbaum

Thanksgiving

The Present

Treasure Life

Unscripted

Winter Joy

Inks, Paper, Re-inkers

Amethyst

Baby Pink

Brown Bag

Dutch Blue

Garden Green

Garnet

Grey Flannel

Grey Wool

Heavenly Blue

Holiday Red

Key Lime

Lilac Mist

Moonstruck

Pansy Purple

Parchment

Petal

Spring Iris

Sunflower

Sunkiss Yellow

Sunny Yellow

Taffy

Tulip

Vanilla Cream

Vineyard Berry

Accessories/Embellishments

Bitty Brads Basic Assortment

Bitty Brads Metal Assortment

Bitty Buds Assortment

Bottle Caps

Canvas Badge Buttons

Clear Cards - 4 ½” Assortment

Clear Cards - 4 1/4" x 5 ½" Assortment

Clear Sparkles (being replaced with all round sparkles)

Comic Badge Buttons

Designer Ribbon - Pink Collection

Dimensional Elements Ornaments (updated to coordinate with Cricut Artiste)

Dotto Dots Dispenser

Dotto Dots Refill

Double Scrubber (being replaced with a new version.)

Euro Personal Trimmer (being replaced with Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Trimmer)

Euro Trimmer Replacement Blade/Scoring

Euro Trimmer Replacement Blades

Heirloom Assortment

Hinges

Microfiber Cloth

Mini-Medley Accents – Honey

Mini-Medley Accents – Pacifica

Mini-Medley Accents – Sunset

Mini-Medley Accents – Tulip

My Creations A-Door-Ables

My Creations All Sorts Mini Album

My Creations Cube

My Creations Mix & Mingle Mini Album

My Legacy Writers

Photo Hangers

Quick Pic 12x12 Album - Dark Chocolate

Quick Pic 12x12 Album - Dark Cranberry

Quick Pic 12x12 Album - Outdoor Denim

Seaside Wooden Shapes (SOLD OUT)

Snapease Album System

Sweet Leaf Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon

You can order online at http://bethanyrielage.ctmh.com or you can email me with your order at rielage517@yahoo.com. I will be placing an order this Thursday, July 19 if you would like to include your order and save on shipping!

Convention Announcements!

I wanted to share a few announcements that have been made at Close To My Heart's convention this week in Dallas!

First of all, we have a NEW CRICUT cartridge!! It looks amazing, and I can't wait to get it!

Just like our other Cricut cartridge, for the great price of $99, you get the cartridge, 3 D-size stamp sets, and 3 sheets of chipboard dimensionals. Contact me to order yours August 1st! Or better yet, host a party and you could get it for half-price!!


Secondly, we have two kits for new consultants, and the smaller one is only $49! Plus, if you sign up in August, you get this great tote for FREE! But it's only while supplies last, so contact me today!

The kit is only $49 with product valued at around $130! It's a great deal!

More announcements to come later...

Seaside Wooden Shapes

We just received an email from corp that the Seaside Wooden Shapes are almost out of stock. They will be discontinued with the current idea book, but they will probably sell out long before the end of the month. If you want them, get them today!

Perfect Pairs - Last day for Mischief!

Today's the last day to get the Mischief paper pack and Midnight Felt Shapes for FREE when you place a qualifying order. Your order must be placed online, so check out my website for more information and to place your order.
http://bethanyrielage.ctmh.com

Tomorrow through the 10th you'll be able to get the Dreamin' paper packet and Harvest Charms for free with a qualifying order!

Scrapbooking Chronologically?

One of the things that I love about scrapbooking is that you can do it any way you want, and everyone's scrapbooks are completely different! I know several people who love to scrapbook chronologically and hate to do things out of order. Not me! I have scrapbooked pictures the day I took them, and then I will work on a layout with pictures from several years ago. I have to scrapbook when and what I'm in the mood to do. Sometimes I go find the perfect paper for pictures that I want to scrapbook, and then sometimes I make a layout and then go find the pictures later. The latter is what I did today.

The pictures on this layout are from when my daughter was one week old, so they're almost 2.5 years old. I actually started working on this layout yesterday and had the paper cut before I had any idea what pictures I was going to use. I know that would drive some people crazy, but it works for me! I don't always scrapbook that way, but it's fun sometimes to build a layout without a set plan in place. Here's what I came up with:

The paper I used is retired Close To My Heart paper, Sweetheart, and the layout design comes from the how-to book Magic. When I bought this paper, I knew I would be doing a lot of layouts of my daughter with it! I used the Giggle Caps and Lowercase alphabets, and I also used the Affection stamp set. Even though this paper was retired before our baker's twine came out, I think they work beautifully together, and I really like how this layout turned out!

If you want to get some of those old (or new) pictures scrapbooked, you're invited to my house this Friday night (from 6:00 to ???) for a free scrapbooking night. Bring your supplies, I'll have my stamps available, and we'll get some work done and have fun!

Thanks!
rielage517@yahoo.com

Mojo Monday #246 - Sweetheart

I know it's Friday, but better late than never, right?! Here's my Mojo Monday card for this week. Since there were so many people in my family celebrating anniversaries this month, I thought I'd do a love card. I really like how it turned out!

Thanks for taking a look!

Scrappin' Saturday!

I've decided to have a day of scrapbooking and card making this Saturday, June 23rd. Come over anytime after 1:00 and stay as long as you like! You can bring your own supplies and projects, and I'll also have a few projects for us to work on. If you want to order pizza for dinner, we can do that too! So come on over and have some fun!

Please RSVP by Friday so I know how many people to expect. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Mojo Monday #245 - Dotty for You

Even though this paper is now gone, I still love using it! The colors are beautiful, and all the patterns work so well with each other.

This card was really simple to put together thanks to this great sketch from Julee Tilman. I hope you try it for yourself!

Playing with scraps

I love the retired Twitterpated paper pack, but now I'm trying to use up the scraps that I have leftover after making several scrapbooking layouts. The Mojo Monday sketch from this past Monday got me started, and then I just played around with the pieces I had until I found a few ideas that I liked.

My second card based off the Mojo Monday #244 sketch:

Here are some other cards I made with my scraps:

Maybe these cards will give you some inspiration to use up your scraps!