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Clearly The Best: Swirlin' Shapes

Simple Scallops

Color Dare #73 - Frosted Grey & Frosted Turqoise

This week's colors are totally frosty!  I desperately wanted to create a lovely snowflake card with these icy colors.  But I already did that for the Twilight/Crystal Blue challenge.  And since, for me, this group is about trying something new, I decided to go in a different direction.  These colors combined with the Reel Life stamp set makes a great masculine card.

• I used the hexagon background stamp and Whisper ink to create a repeating background on a Colonial White card.
• The chevron paper from the Frosted paper pack has both of our desired colors, Frosted Grey and Frosted Turquoise, plus the darker grey, Slate.
• I added a square of Frosted Grey cardstock and the View-master stamp in Whisper on a Colonial White circle.
• Epic and the triple arrows was stamped in Crystal Blue, which is as close as our ink palette gets to Frosted Turquoise.
• The Slate washi tape and metal accent add more of the darker grey into the mix. 

Get frosty with these colors!  Join the Color Dare:  http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Free Layout Special

Place a $25 order during the month of December and receive this Sparkle & Shine layout as my gift to you!  Place your order on my website and join the "Free Layout in December" event or contact me directly.

Winter Gift Boxes Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, December 10th

6:30 p.m.

Cost: $20

In this workshop, you'll make three beautiful winter-themed gift boxes - a large cylinder, a treat tube, and a pillow box.  Each container is a gift in itself, but perfect for adding a small treat or gift card.  Anyone on your gift-giving list would love to receive one!

December Stamp of the Month - Special Care

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5 — that’s over 70% off retail! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.
Shop Now!

Color Dare #71 - Ponderosa Pine & Cranberry

Now that your early morning Black Friday shopping is complete and your Christmas card are ready to be mailed (HA, HA, HA!!!), it's time to focus on wrapping all those wonderful gifts.  I know your superior organizational skills will leave you plenty of time to whip up some of these wonderful tags to add to your beautifully wrapped presents.  I hope I only have to give three gifts this year!  :)

Cardstock:  White Daisy and Cranberry
Stamp sets: A Holiday
Embellishments:
     Washi Tape - Slate Polka-Dot and Sparkle & Shine
     Sparkles

I hope you'll find some time this week to create your own challenge project.  Join us at: http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pineapple Paper Artists Team Blog Hop - Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome to our Pineapple Paper Artists team blog hop!  Whether you are just beginning your journey or you came here from Martha Porschet's blog, I hope you will continue on until you see everyone's artwork and find some inspiration for your holiday projects.

Every year, while wrapping my Christmas gifts, I wish I had found the time to make some gift tags.  So this year I decided to get an early start, before the rush begins.

• Cardstock:  Sparkle & Shine - Juniper, Ruby, and White Daisy
• Inks:  Juniper, Ruby, and Slate
• Stamp sets:
• Charming Chevrons (A1150)
• Magical Days (D1552)
• Embellishments:
• Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape
• Proplayer Assortment - Embossed Metal Badge Button
• Sparkles

I hope you are inspired to make some of you own gift tags to make your gifts even more special.  Next, hop on over to Harriet's Butterfly Kisses to see another beautiful creation!

Artbooking Made Easy: Christmas Layouts

Stamp Camp North Team Swap

My team members and a few other fabulous Consultants created these super cards for our team swap. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

 

 by Gretchen Stumme

by Barbara Brachfeld

by Chris Space

by Harriet Paul 

by Tami Curtis

by Amy Raimy

by Deb Killian

by Judy Judy

by Janice Alvord

by Joanne Lloyd

by Linda Taylor

by Karen Barber

by Sandra DeWitt

by Cheryl Lotz

Artbooking Made Easy: Festive Mini Albums

November Stamp of the Month - Illuminate

Each month you can purchase a new D-size stamp set, available for one month only, for just $5 — that’s over 70% off retail! When you place an order of $50 or more in Close To My Heart products, you qualify for this special Stamp of the Month pricing.  Shop now!

Why Switch to Close To My Heart?

Color Dare #69 - Smokey Plum, Goldrush, & Olive

Although a dusky representative of the classic secondary colors, I wasn't so sure about this week's challenge.  But that's why I joined this design team - to be challenged by new and exciting color combinations, different than the ones I automatically gravitate to.  It turns out Smokey Plum, Goldrush, and Olive make a lovely combination for fall!

• Cardstock:  Colonial White and Smokey Plum
• Stamp sets:
• Flower & Leaves from Happy Autumn (Goldrush & Olive inks)
• I stamped one flower on the card for spacing and stamped the leaves and berries around it.
• Then I stamped another flower on another piece of cardstock, cut it out, and layered it above the card to add dimension.
• Berry Spray from Merry & Bright (Smokey Plum ink)
• Thinking of You from Sincere Expressions (Smokey Plum ink)
• Embellishments:
• Washi Tape
• Paper Flower - originally Creme Brulee, I stippled it with Goldrush ink to deepen the color
• Butterfly cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge

Take us up on the challenge and use these colors on your own creation.  Join the Color Dare: http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Mini Album Covers Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, November 12th

6:30 pm

Cost: $18

We will finally be completing the mini-album workshop series with these beautiful covers!  The covers work great whether you completed all the different page classes, or just one.  Didn't take any at all?  No problem!  You can use these covers as a starting point to create your album.  Add blank pages or your own artwork.  Either way you learn some great ideas and tips for assembling books in this workshop!

Holidays From the Heart Card Workshop

Searching for some inspiration for Holiday cards?  Try these two layouts, designed by the Close To My Heart design team. Contact me to get a free cutting and layout guide to create beautiful cards!

Friday Crafting Crop

Friday Crafting Crop

November 8th

10 AM – 9 PM

Bring your scrapbooking and paper-crafting projects and join us for a day of fun!

Stay the day or just a few hours...

CALVARY ASSEMBLY

3429 CHILI AVENUE

CHILI, NY

Cost- $8

Contact me to reserve your space!

Picture Your Life at Close To My Heart

Choose a FREE Picture My Life™ scrapbooking program* when you join our team!

When you join the Close To My Heart family from November 1 to December 15 and submit qualifying personal sales*, you’ll receive a stunning new product, the Picture My Life™ scrapbooking program—FREE (retail value $24.95)! Select from eight darling themes, from vacation to friendship to childhood—each featuring 122 double-sided cards plus 10 unique Memory Protectors™ to capture it all.  Picture it—then capture it!

Contact me today to find out more!

*Consultants must submit minimum qualifying personal sales of $300 by March 31, 2014.
Close To My Heart reserves the right to make substitutions based on product availability.
Free item available after January 1, 2014.

Clearly the Best: Wacky Washi

Color Dare #67 - Black & White & Green

This weeks dare combines the classic with a unexpected pop. Black and white always makes a striking combination. Adding just one color kicks it up a notch. We were asked to use a green as our added color, but were given the choice on which green we wanted to use. I choose Pear, and used it minimally to make a big impact. 

• On a White Daisy panel, with Black ink, I stamped a swirl from the Swirls Around stamp set and the flower and sentiment from the Merry and Bright set.
• With Pear ink, I stamped the bird from the Merry and Bright set.
• I added a strip of Black Shimmer Trim towards the bottom of the panel.
• I created a dimensional flower from Black and Pear cardstock, then added a few doodles with a white gel pen.
• I layered the completed panel onto a black panel and then onto a White Daisy card.

Which shade of green will you choose? I can't wait to see!  Join the Color Dare: http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Holiday Gift Guide Team Blog Hop

Welcome to our Pineapple Paper Artists team blog hop!  Whether you are just beginning your journey or you came here from Judy Judy Jolly Stamper's blog, I hope you will continue on until you see everyone's artwork and find some inspiration for your holiday projects.

For this blog hop, we focused on products from CTMH's Holiday Gift Guide.  The guide's Sparkle & Shine paper pack (X7176B) and coordinating products feature the colors Ruby, Juniper, & Slate, a festive take on the classic red & green combo.

Perhaps you are wondering where in the guide you can find those beautiful border stamps.  Along with the snowflakes, they are actually part of the Magical Days stamp set (D1552).  Hint:  Check out the numbers 5, 7, & 20.  It's fun to look at stamps in different ways than they were originally intended.  You don't always have to use the full image!

 I hope you enjoyed my card.  Next, hop on over to Scrappy Sandra's Custom Creations to see another beautiful card!

Clearly the Best: Connect the Dots

FREE Holidays Gift Guide product of your choice when you place an order of $100 or more!

Choose one “star” item from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide FREE for every $100 of retail-priced products in your order from the Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide and/or the Autumn/Winter 2013 Idea Book.  Visit my website to place your order, or contact me directly.

Sparkle & Shine Card Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, October 29th

6:30 pm

Cost: $18

Make three sparkly & shiny cards, appropriate for Christmas or other holiday greetings!   One of the cards is a fun 'spring' card, which makes a beautiful display piece.  You'll find lots of uses for this type of card once you learn how to make it.

Double Waterfall Mini Album Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, November 5th

6:30 pm

Cost: $18

This compact mini album opens to reveal two individual waterfall pages.  The back page also contains a pocket that holds a tiny folder.

This is the fourth unit in a my series of mini-album workshops. Each mini-album can be used on its own or within a larger album.  Take all the classes, or just a few.  All the albums will coordinate so they can be used together, if you choose.  I will also be offering a class to make an album cover.

Color Dare #65 - Crystal Blue & Twilight

Between preparing for my workshops, creating samples for my customers, and planning my own cards, Christmas cards have been taking center stage these past few weeks. Snowflakes are a favorite of mine and this week's monochromatic color combination, Crystal Blue and Twilight, create the perfect palette for them!

• Using the lovely Frosted paper pack and the stamp set from the Frosted Cardmaking Workshop, I created an appealing 'snowstorm'.
• I added Cocoa, one of my favorite neutrals, to warm up the blues.
• Bronze Shimmer trim is just the right shade to use in combination with Cocoa.

I can't wait to see what you create with these colors.  Join the Color Dare:  http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Color Dare #63 - Outdoor Denim, Pacifica, & Ruby

Many times we look at a stamp set and see only one purpose.  But when we start playing, we find many more uses for them.  In this case, I'm using October's Stamp of the Month set, Scandinavian Wishes.  At first glance it appears to be a traditional Christmas themed set.  However, there are many images that can be used for other occasions, such as this heart which would make a lovely anniversary card.

• First off, I stamped the Flower & Leaf border stamp in Pacifica ink on a White Daisy card.

• I created three banners with Huntington paper, Red Shimmer Trim, and Sarita paper.

• I cut out a white heart from my Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge and stamped the heart in Ruby ink.  With foam tape, I mounted it on a slightly bigger Slate heart and used more foam tape to attach it to the card.

• "Love" is stamped in Pacifica ink, and, of course, I added a few Sparkles!

I'd love to see you join the Color Dare:  http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Christmas Cards Super Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Saturday, October 19th

11:00 - 3:00

Cost: $35

Are you ready to get started on your Christmas cards this year?  You'll want to attend this workshop.  You'll make FIFTEEN DIFFERENT (yes, that right, 15!!!) simple, yet beautiful cards!  The picture only shows six of the designs, but you will make 15 different designs in all.  From cute to elegant, traditional to contemporary, conventional colors to the unexpected, you will find a card in this collection to impress everyone on your mailing list.

BONUS:  If 15 cards are not enough for you, I am offering a bonus kit to all workshop participants for $20.  You'll get the supplies and cut-to-size papers, cardstock, and envelopes to make a second set of cards.  Stamp the second set of images during the workshop and assemble at home.  That will give you a total of 30 cards!  You must let me know BEFORE the workshop if you would like the additional kit.  

Color Dare #61 - Olive, Autumn Terracotta, & Goldrush

This week's challenge is perfect for the beginning of autumn, my favorite season!

• First off, I stamped a swirl stamp from the new Swirls Around stamp set multiple times in Autumn Terracotta onto a Goldrush panel.
• I used the new scallop border punch, which I LOVE!  They did a nice job designing this punch.  It's easy to determine where to position the previously punched section to continue the design.
• The grey panel came from the Huntington Paper Pack, and the zip strip from Sarita.  
• The flower stamp, inked in both Goldrush and Olive, is from the lovely Happy Autumn set, and the butterfly is from the Cricut Artbooking cartridge. 
• I didn't have any Autumn Terracotta cardstock, so I created my own square by inking a piece of Colonial White cardstock.  I looks like suede!
• I rarely find a card finished until it has some bling, so I added a button from the Rosewood Mini-Medley collection.  

I hope my card inspires to create your own Color Dare creation!  See more at:  http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

Sincere Expressions Cards

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, September 24th – 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $18

Change out the sentiments within the shaped panels on these cards to make them the perfect card for any occasion... sympathy, get well, birthday, thank you, or thinking of you!  

Halloween Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, October 1st – 6:30 p.m.

Cost: $18

In this workshop you will make several different types of greetings for all your favorite goblins.  You'll also learn some great techniques you can use in other projects.  Make an easy coin envelope without the use of a die cut machine, learn the very hot and trendy chalkboard technique, and decorate a fun treat tube!

Six Pocket Mini-Album Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, October 8th – 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $18

As the title of this mini-album promises, it has six pockets to fill with tags, photos and mementos.  Two "hidden" pockets within the front and back covers, as well as four layered pockets within the interior layout.

This is the third unit in a new series of mini-album workshops I will be conducting this fall. Each mini-album can be used on its own or within a larger album.  Take all the classes, or just a few.  All the albums will coordinate so they can be used together, if you choose.  I will also be offering a class to make an album cover.

Artbooking Made Easy (S01E01): Getting Started with Cricut Artbooking

The Never-Ending Card Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, September 10th - 6:30 p.m.
Cost:  $18

This deceptively easily built card twists and flips to give you four beautiful layouts.  Makes a beautiful display piece as well as a fun stress reliever! 

Color Dare #59 - Slate, Whisper, & ...

Twilight!

This week's challenge was to choose an accent color to combine with the neutrals Slate & Whisper.  I love this chevron print from the Frosted paper pack.  It pairs Twilight with the two greys, thus fitting my criteria perfectly!  

I used several different stamp sets to create this page for my Designed Décor Flip Stand Album.  The Viewmaster slide is from Reel Life, the hexagons from Honeycomb.  These images were all stamped with Slate ink.  The film strip, stamped in Black on the Twilight square, is from the Take Note Cricut set.  The smile, camera, and film strip cut outs are all from the Artbooking Cricut cartridge.  I added a piece of Slate Polka Dot ribbon and Color Ready Seam Binding ribbon to each of the rings.  And, of course, I had to add some bling with Stardust Glitter Gel and accents from the Rosewood collection.  As soon as I find some tiny pictures to fit in the frames, I will be good to go!  :)

Enter your own creation at http://colormyheartcolordare.blogspot.com/

You're invited to a 31 Party!

I'm hosting a 31 Party on Monday, September 16th at 7:00 p.m. Stop by or shop online: https://www.mythirtyone.com/lauralancaster. Just visit "My Parties" and click on "Shop Now" next to my name. If you have any questions, just let me know!

Great Special this month: Get a Super Organizing Tote or a Organizing Utility Tote for 50% off for every $35 you spend!

National Stamping Month: You Are My Happy

Get the exclusive You Are My Happy stamp set trio in celebration of National Stamping Month! During the month of September, when you make a purchase of $50 or more, you qualify for this whimsical stamp set trio for only $10. You’ll love using the playful alphabet, light-hearted sentiments, and fun images for a variety of occasions to give a cheerful touch to your projects, with a full retail value of $47.90.

Your trio includes:

• One alphabet (upper and lowercase)
• One sheet of nine encouraging, friendship sentiments
• One sheet of 15 cheerful images great for a variety of life’s occasions

*Offer valid September 1-30, 2013. One stamp set trio for every $50 spent. Tax and shipping/handling apply. The stamp set trio arrives on 3 D-size carrier sheets in 2 stamp envelopes: one carrier sheet in one envelope (like a D-size stamp) and two carrier sheets in one envelope (like an E-size stamp).

Quad Flip Mini-Album Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Tuesday, September 17th – 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $18

This slim album opens up, down, left, and right to create four different layouts and an interior pocket, as well as the front and back cover.  You'll enjoying filling all these pages with your favorite photos, images, or messages.

This is the second unit in a new series of mini-album workshops I will be conducting this fall.  Each mini-album can be used on its own or within a larger album.  Take all the classes, or just a few.  All the albums will coordinate so they can be used together, if you choose.  I will also be offering a class to make an album cover. 

Color Dare #57 - Pacifica & Sky

This very lovely Pacifica blue reminded me of a evening sky, so I set to work creating one!  I used the new Cityscapes stamp set to create my city.  All the buildings are stamped in black.  The back row was stamped across the Pacifica card, about an inch up from the bottom.  The front row was stamped on Sky cardstock, cut out, and then attached with foam tape.  Two of the buildings were cut out from Pewter glitter paper.  I stamped the buildings on the back of the paper for the shape!  The Hello, stamped in black on white cardstock, then layered on black, came from the Hello Blooms stamp set.  I drew the stars and swirls and colored in many of the windows with a Stardust Gelly Roll pen.  I added the Silver Shimmer trim border to a black cardstock panel and then mounted the blue card on top of the panel. Hope you enjoy!

  

Check out all the lovely creations this week at Color My Heart.

Diagonal Fold Mini-Album Workshop

Contact me if you'd like to attend this workshop!

Thursday, August 29th – 6:30 p.m.
Cost: $18

Can you believe that the base of this mini album is made from only one piece of 12x12 cardstock?  You'll want to create this album over and over again for all your favorite occasions and to impress your friends!

This is the first in a new series of mini-album workshops I will be conducting this fall.  Each mini-album can be used on its own or within a larger album.  Take all the classes, or just a few.  All the albums will coordinate so they can be used together, if you choose.  I will also be offering a class to make an album cover.