The March stamp of the Month Choose Happy is so adorable! Check out the layout and cute mini book made with the whimsical frames and borders (and if you are like me and love the look of doodling but feel you have no skill in this area, this stamp set is a nice way to fake it!)
You can purchase this set for only $5.00 during the month of March – visit my SHOP at braemontgomery.ctmh.com and place an order of $50 or more! A great way to take advantage of any Seasonal Expressions 1 product you want to purchase AND get this stamp!
Yes it is true, this is the last month for ordering many items from our Seasonal Expressions 1 mini book! This book holds such pretty papers and accessories…I will be sad to see it go! If you haven’t yet seen it be sure to check out the online version on my shop site here.
The beautiful Hopscotch paper has been some of my favourite and I plan to offer a whole workshop with it later this month (so yes I may have been acquiring a small stockpile of this paper). Here are some of the other cute items in the SE1… remember you only have till the end of March!
What is a trip without a little book to brag about it??
Secret Sister Gift #2- A Hawaii Mickey Mini book using our Black My Creations Mini Book, Heartstring Paper and Heartstring Picture my Life cards PLUS a bunch of accessories!
I decorated the front with some stamping and another doodled Mickey. Kept is fairly flat and simple though so that the recipient can take it places to show how great her job with CTMH is!
And here are just SOME of the pages in the books. I used PML cards but was not afraid to cut them up to add them as elements to my pages. Again things were kept pretty flat to keep this book portable.
As I prepare for an upcoming trip to the Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii (courtesy of Close to my Heart) I find myself creating fun layouts Mickey Mouse layouts for me and for my secret sister!
What is a secret sister? We secretly draw names from all the consultants attending the trip. While away we leave little gifts or do nice things for our sister… in secret of course. At the Farewell banquet at the end of the trip we give our final gift and reveal ourselves. It is always a highlight of the trip for me!
These three layouts were made as part of my gift for my secret sister… but I loved them so much I made an extra set for me!
The first layout is a simple “Make a Wish” layout. I used Hopscotch paper for a few reasons:
1. Close to my Heart used it in the album pages they pre-cut and pre-designed for us (I know! We are really spoiled and I will share all those pages in a later post).
2. The colours really ARE perfect for Hawaii!
I stamped some stars in across the page. Mickey was added using our Doodled Design stamp set. I added his ears by hand-drawing two more cirlces with our black journaling pen.
The Itinerary page is the perfect spot to quickly list the fun stuff we do each day- sunset cruises, Pearl Harbour, shopping, swimming, spa….. so MUCH to do! I used Hopscotch paper again and added accessories new and old.
How about a big hidden Mickey in this Smile layout! To me this layout is the perfect spot to add photos of the many family poses with Mickey or Minnie (in face I plan to have more than will fit on this page LOL). More Hopscotch paper but this time I added some glitter paper (for the sparkly Mickey’s) and some Hopscotch Picture my life cards (the title and camera came from those cards).
I cannot wait to share more Secret Sister projects with you!
Do you know someone having a baby? Maybe you are having one yourself?
If you are seeking a cute gift idea or a simple favour for a shower than I may have it!
The CTMH Cut Above Treat Bag kits have SOOOOOOO many uses! Pictured is our Valentines Day kit and our Birthday kit… but you don’t have to use them JUST for those events!
Each kit comes with the pre-printed packaging, candy sleeves, the die-cut circles and even stickers that can be added to decorate wrapped candy… now you can see candy did not make it into my bags…. instead it made it into my children!
These assemble in seconds- the coordinating stamp ‘My Fave’ allows you to really decide how you want to use these treat bags….
so simple and easy even a child could do it… but, of course, they would eat all the candy so don’t actually have a child do it…
WARNING!! What I am about to show you is HIGHLY addicting!!
I wanted to share with you a stamp we currently have that is LIMITED in how long we will be offering it AND goes to a great cause- Operation Smile! $3.00 from the sale of every ‘You’re the Bomb’ stamp set goes straight to Operation Smile- a charity that CTMH has supported for years! I encourage you to check out the charity here! They tell their story much better than I ever could.
Upon setting out to create with this cute set (to inspire you to support Operation Smile) I came across the idea that I warned you about.. it is highly addictive!!!
Remember I warned you!!!
You may have already seen the EOS holders that are hitting the internet. They are all the rage in one of the Cricut groups I belong too. They are fun, simple to make (or not) and are the coolest little gift! The BOMB stamp set became the inspiration for this play-on-words card- You are the BALM!
But of course I couldn’t stop there…
EOS cupcake… what a lovely cherry on top!
EOS Minnie (my Minnie loving girl was so excited about this one!)
and believe me when I tell you I WILL be making more!
(Now I am not a Cricut expert and JUST started using my explore and design space but I will tell you that the circle I placed in the EOS area was 1.5 inches wide. I did a lot of google searches and found some helpful videos showing you how to make these holders… youtube is so very helpful!)
Wondering about the February special from Close to my Heart? Well, wonder no more! I am delighted that February means a BOGO on our new and gorgeous albums! It doesn’t matter the colour or style- all our gorgeous books are buy one get one for half price!
What is so great about our albums? Read on…
albums protect and display your beautiful artwork
our albums come in three colours/patterns: Lagoon Chevron, Ruby floral and black
all colours and patterns are available in post-bound and D-ring (more on those in a minute)
fabric covers are coated to allow for durability and they can easily be wiped clean (a huge perk if you have little hands looking through your albums)
album structure has been reinforced for durability (we have NEVER had an album as strong as these)
fits our memory protectors perfectly (and others will fit in them as well)
can fit 25-50 pages in a book depending on how thick your layouts are
So do I go D-ring or Post-Bound?
There is no right or wrong to these styles, it is just a matter of preference. For years I was a loyal post-bound girl but since we introduced D-ring I find myself switching camps. I love the ease of adding or removing pages (and since I am in and out of my books a lot the D-ring works better for my style).
D-Ring: easily insert pages, 1 1/2inch ring is very strong and will hold pages in tightly, works great with memory protectors with a raised seam (like those that work with Picture my Life)
Post-Bound: combined with our signature memory protectors with lay-flat seams your pages will sit without a gap, pages are extremely secure once in, posts unscrew easily, magnet closure flap over the posts conceals the albums inner workings!
What kind of album are you?? Comment in the comments below and I will draw ONE lucky winner at the end of February to receive a free album of their choice!
You may not have heard but Jeanette Lynton (founder and CEO of Close to my Heart) has a new blog and challenges every week! They get announced on Monday and challenge you to use your creativity! You can find her blog here if you want to play along in these challenges (a new FUN one was just announced).
Last week she challenged everyone to create a page or layout showing their ONE WORD for 2015- the word that would be the driving force behind what they do. My one word is YOU- it represents my focus on others this year- my customers, my team and my family. I am not going to work super hard for a trip or for an award at convention (although maybe they are a happy offshoot of my new focus) instead I am going to focus on helping my customers create artwork that will cherish their memories and helping my team to achieve their goals and dreams. I am actually really excited about this new focus and already find it a little freeing and rewarding!
To remind me of my one word I created this layout with mini goals and my one word featured in the art- as well as a cute selfie pic of me and Monica Wihongi COO at Close to my Heart.
Do you have a goal or one word for 2015? I would love to cheer you on- share with me in the comments!
This year I want to participate in more blog challenges- with that in mind and a few hours the other day I set out to find some and came across the Sketch n Scrap page– they have a layout and card challenge! I liked what I saw so decided to play along!
Here is my page- the paper is from the Confetti Wishes paper pack. I added gold sequins and some purple glitter gems left over from an old workshop kit. My title comes from the CTMH cricut Artbooking (the title says endless summer and I just cut off the endless part). I love how it documents our year-end staff party (which is an Amazing Race theme and SO MUCH FUN!)
