Stamp Camp was a Great Success!!

Today we had our team stamp camp with some of our favourite customers!! We cropped the day away, introduced new product, taught mini creative classes and participated in contests!! Best of all we connected with friends and got to spend some time doing what we love– playing with paper!!

These are just two picks of some of the fabulous people in attendance- in all we had 28 people come out and since our stamp camp also acts as a fundraiser for Operation Smile, we were really pleased when we raised over $500!!! That is enough for almost two smiles!! If you are unaware of Operation Smile please check out their website at http://www.operationsmile.org they are a fabulous charity and Close to my Heart is proud to do there part in raising money for their important work- not only do consultants help out with fundraisers and by rounding up customer orders but a portion of every stamp set purchased through Close to my Heart gets donated to Operation Smile!!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


New Product Blog Hop!!

Welcome to our Close to my Heart New Product Sneak Peak Blog Hop! 29 Fabulous Close to my Heart Consultants are celebrating the upcoming release of the Autumn/Winter 2009 Idea Book by giving you a Sneak Peak of some of the great products available in the new Idea Book starting September 1st! If you have come here from (insert name Here)’s blog, you are on the right path! If this is your first stop, you may want to go back to Erin’s blog http://www.tazzygirl2000.blogspot.com and start from the beginning!
If you are a visitor of my blog you may be wondering where the Stamp of the month hop is- not to worry it begins on September 1st- right now I bring you the new product hop!!
This is a fabulous chance to see new product and all the different ways that consultants have used it!
My project is featuring the following new product: Grace Paper Packet, September Stamp of the Month Treasures, and the Pewter Mini-Medleys!!

To create my card I used the Wishes pattern “Simply Said”.

I used two of the Mini-Medley accents in my card- the brads (I placed them along my paper ribbon border in the flower centers) and the hinge (which holds the sentiment in place). If you are wondering what is up with my paper ribbon- I scrunched it up in certain spots to give it a different feel- very fun!!

Now hop on over to Wendy Kessler’s blog at www.myscrapbookingblog.com to see what other great stuff there is and remember to check back her on the 1st for the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop AND check out my Blog Candy below!!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Practical Scrappers: Using up my vellum!!


I just love this fuzzy photo of my son- even though my camera abilities when I took this left much to be desired the photo still caught such a sweet grin on his face. This weeks challenge was to use up our vellum scraps- I had very little vellum in my scrap basket but was able to use it for the title and journaling on my Austin the Pirate layout. I used eyelets to hold the vellum in place (be sure to read my blog every day in September as I unveil some of our new product- some that does revolutionize eyelet use in my world- and TWO blog hops!)

The pattern for this layout came out the the Close to my Heart book Cherish- all cardstock and accessories is CTMH, paper is from local big box store.

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Sneak Peek at September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop


This fall I will continue to be part of a Stamp of the Month Blog Hop with other Close to my Heart Consultants- the group continues to grow and the artwork I have seen is amazing!!!

This is one of the pieces I have created with the upcoming stamp of the month- and no, I am not going to tell you anymore about it OR the paper I used!! Watch for the upcoming blog hop AND if you are local to me come on out to my Catalogue Launch on September 3rd at 7:00- there will be TONS of prizes and TONS of fun!!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


It’s Almost time for an Everyday Celebration!!

Only a few more days until our new campaign for customers- Everyday Celebration which helps to celebrate National Stamping Month in September. I have already received and completed my kit and I cannot wait to show you all the I did- the cards are just gorgeous!! Read on to see some of the cards and for details on what comes in your kit- it you are interested in ordering one please go to my website http://braemontgomery.myctmh.com/ and you may order there OR contact me to order!! August 18th is the first day to order and last year our card kit sold out FAST- so act quickly or you just may miss out!
The picture above is everything that comes in the kit- all your card bases and envelopes, the instruction booklet, accessories, mini stamp pad, stamp set and exclusive paper!! Below are just some of the cards that you will create (there are 16 in all)!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Summertime Card

This card seems fitting for today since our summer seems to have truly arrived- less rain and more sunshine!!

This card was created using the Top Band Pattern from our Wishes book. The paper used was Moon Doggie. To give my background more of a weathered board look I used my stylus and ran it along the parts of the paper that were to look like the edges of the board- then I sanded the raised portions.
The flowers were created by cutting various sizes of circles, edge distressing the edges and then sanding them- I also added rubons to at least one of them. The stems were created with some of our ribbon. I think it turned out pretty cute!!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Using Photo Storage Papers as an extra page in your layout!!

From time to time I find that I have events where there are too many photos to fit onto one layout and yet it is not a big enough event to be spread over many pages. When this happens I like to get creative and use a variety of CTMH product to solve the problem!!
Above is a center page to a two page layout I did for my son’s 5th birthday. The two page layout is below is and the middle piece above is a photo storage page (for 4 photos). I used matching paper and converted the photos pockets into mini scrapbook pages- adding accessories and journaling on BOTH sides. For other layouts I have even stamped OR used rub ons to decorate the photo storage page! Let your imagination soar!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Practical Scrappers: Sticker Challenge

I loved this challenge!! I have so many unused stickers it is ridiculous!! For my layout I decided to incorporate some of my stickers into a tree (these are so hot in scrapbooking and cardmaking right now!)- I used different sizes of circle punches and punched out circles from an old Boom-di-Ada stickease sheet from Close to my Heart. To create my tree base I drew it free hand and cut it out of cardstock- then I used my scoring tool and created lines which I then sanded- these lines became the bark on the tree.
This layout worked very nicely with the two photos I took of my son one day when he was bird watching! The paper I used to frame my photos is from our new fall/winter line (so stay tuned for product unveiling in September)- as is the big circle dimensional element!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Gear Up Moving Gear Card

This is one of the cards I created for the contests at Leadership- I loved it but after seeing some of the amazing work there I can see why it did not win. To create this card I used Stardust paper and All out Adventure Rub-ons. The large blue gear actually turns- this was done using chipboard, a brad and some foam squares. If I figure out the exact way I did it I will post the directions here!!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er