Last Chance for April Specials!

Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and like so many of you, we're eager to help. And helping has never been easier!

During April, purchase the exclusive "Hope for Japan" A-size stamp set for the special price of only $5 (retail value $7.95) and Close To My Heart will donate 100% of the profits to the American Red Cross efforts in Japan. This beautifully designed stamp set reminds us of how our hearts are hopeful for those who are in need.

Click here to order your set online.

Offer valid March 24 - April 30, 2011. Tax and shipping/handling charges apply. Profits will be donated by Close To My Heart to the American Red Cross Japan relief efforts.

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Add delightful details to your beautiful Studio J layouts. Self-adhesive Clear Sparkles and Opaques Pearl adhesive gems make it east to get your shine on, and now you can get these adorable accessories FREE!

Throughout April, Studio J members get one free package each of clear Sparkles and Opaques Pearl gems, a retail value of $5.90, for every 10 custom-printed layouts purchased in a single order. It's another way we make scrapbooking faster, simpler, easier - and more sparkly! Click here today to start creating with Studio J! For membership details, click here.

 Offer valid April 1-30, 2011. Close To My Heart reserves the right to substitute another accessory of equal or greater value. No tax or shipping/handling is charged on the free accessories. Qualifying layouts must be purchase in a single order.

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My Reflections Level 1 Scrapbooking Kits are great for beginners to seasoned pros. The preprinted pages make preserving your fondest memories a breeze. Get a FREE Level 1 kit of your choice when you order $100 or more on my website April 1-30, 2011 (limit of one free kit per qualifying order). Now's the time to let everyone know you're Lovin' Level 1!

 Shipping/handling apply. Offer valid April 1-30, 2011.

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Click here to order your Stamp of the Month.

Cricut Expression 2 Giveaway at Everyday Cricut

Everyday Cricut is giving away a Cricut Expression 2 tonight! Click here to find out how you can enter to win!

Easter Blessings

His Name is Jesus by Max Lucado

HIS BIRTH
Jesus...
He could hold the universe in His palm
but gave it up to float
in the womb of a maiden.
Christ became one of us.
and He did so to redeem all of us.

HIS MISSION
Jesus...
The man...
who spoke with such thunderous authority
and loved with such childlike humility.
The life of Jesus Christ
is a message of hope,
a message of mercy,
a message of life in a dark world.

HIS DEATH
Jesus...
The palm that held the universe
took the nail of a soldier.
On the eve of the cross,
Jesus made His decision.
He would rather
go to hell for you
than go to heaven without you.

HIS RESURRECTION
Jesus...
the moment He removed the stone,
He removed all reason for doubt.
Christ's resurrection
is an exploding flare
announcing to all sincere seekers
that it is safe to believe.

-Max Lucado

We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. I John 2:1


EASTER BLESSINGS! Share this message from bestselling author Max Lucado as a FREE E-Card & Devotional Download, courtesy of Thomas Nelson and DaySpring.  DaySpring E-Cards

Cricut Expression 2 Giveaway at MyPinkStamper

My Pink Stamper is having an awesome giveaway. She is giving away a Cricut Expression 2!!! Check out her post here.

Magnifique Paper Purse

This was another item that I submitted with my Extravaganza application. I created this purse design using a desk pad sheet for a grid, the coluzzle for the scallops, paper trimmer and scissors for the straight edges. I have since designed it to be cut on the Cricut using the George Basic Shapes cartridge and Design Studio, this particular purse was hand cut.

The beads in the handle are also made from paper. I started each bead with a 1” x 12” strip of paper. I cut it diagonally from ½” on one side to 0” on the other side to create 2 triangles, one that tapers from 1” to ½”, the other tapers from ½” to 0”. Beginning with the 1” end of the larger triangle I started to quill (roll) it with CTMH's fabulous new tweezers, and continued with the second triangle when the first triangle was entirely quilled. I used liquid glass to adhere the final inch to close the bead. When the beads were finished, I used chocolate embroidery floss and a needle to sew from the underside of the top of the purse, through the beads, back through the top of the purse and tied it off in the middle on the underside. I also used liquid glass to strengthen the top and bottom of the holes in the top of the purse made from the sewing needle. Then, I tied pieces of ribbon between each of the beads to tighten the handle so that it stands up. The ribbon is CTMH chocolate polka-dot organdy (retired) colored with the Brown Stazon Ink Pad.

The rosette was created using a whole yard of lagoon stitched ribbon from the Mini Medley. I removed the stitching from the center, and used a gathering stitch on one edge of the ribbon using chocolate embroidery floss. After gathering the ribbon, I stitched it together in a coil shape. I attached it to a 2" scallop punched circle using glue dots. I used the same gathering stitch on the polka dot ribbon, gathered it and attached it to the underside of the scallop punched circle using mini glue dots. Then I used liquid glass to put a drop of shine on each scallop of the circle.

Recipe:
X7127B Magnifique Level 2 Paper Packet
BULK Chocolate Polka Dot Organdy Ribbon (retired)
Z1331 Foundry Flourishes (retired)
Z1340 Mini-Medley Accents Lagoon Collection
Z1096 Embroidery Floss Neutral Assortment
Z679 Liquid Glass
1514 Tombow Adhesive
Z341 Memory Book Mini Glue Dots
1772 Memory Book Glue Dots
Z1114 Piercing Tools
Z1382 Tweezers
Z1392 2” Scallop Circle Punch
Z2111 Chocolate Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
Z1142 Brown Stazon Ink Pad
Z697 Round Sponge
Coluzzle Small and Large Circles (retired)
Z338 Euro Personal Paper Trimmer

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Making Robots Waterfall Page Layout

This is another project that I created for my CTMH 2011 Convention Extravaganza application. It is a waterfall page layout. Pull the tab on the right to open additional pages for more journaling and pictures.

I love creating this type of interactive layout. You can use the waterfall technique with any of Jeanette Lynton's patterns in the CTMH How To Books: Imagine, Cherish, Reflections, and Magic. The robots were created using paper piecing. I colored the Kraft Borders, using the direct to paper technique and sponging, to add extra dimension.

The Cub Scouts had so much fun at this Tiger Den meeting. We created robots using recycled items to be the centerpieces at the Blue & Gold Banquet. The Lucky paper pack has the perfect colors to scrap Tiger Cub events. It's also great for every day, very versatile.

Recipe:

Reflections Patterns: Front & Center - Focal (5d) & Space (5b)

X7137B Lucky Level 2 Paper Packet

E1014 Posterboard Alphabet

C1354 Robot Power

D1303 Classmate Alphabet

Colors: Outdoor Denim, Olive, Desert Sand, and Sunset

Z280 Natural Hemp

Z1377 Kraft Color-Ready Borders

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

1772 Memory Book Glue Dots

Z341 Memory Book Mini Glue Dots

Z1311 1¼” Circle Punch

Z679 Liquid Glass

Z534 Micro-Tip Scissors

Z1204 Bone Folder

Z338 Euro Personal Paper Trimmer

Z1252 Cutting Knife

Happy Scrapping!

Jen Lee

Heart 2 Heart Challenges Easter/Spring Bunny Blog Hop

http://heart2heartchallenges.blogspot.com/

The Heart 2 Heart Challenge this week is to create a project with an Easter (or Spring) theme, post it to your blog, then go here Monday, April 18th from 8 am EST to 8 pm EST and add your link. YOU CAN ONLY LINK TO YOUR PROJECT ON MONDAY! After that, the link list will close. So hop over there, leave your link, then bunny hop around to all the links on the list for a fun Easter showcase of artwork!


Easter Blessings Tri-Shutter Mini Album

(Click on the image for a larger view)


I had created this album as part of my application to teach at Extravaganza at the CTMH Convention in July. Unfortunately I wasn't selected to teach. But hey, that leaves more time for fun and creativity while I'm there!

Recipe:
My Acrylix Stamp Sets: C1452 Delight, B1378 Miracle, C1422 Unity, D1195 The Works Alphabet, D1303 Classmate Alphabet
Colors: Crystal Blue, Heavenly Blue, Bamboo, Sweet Leaf, Cocoa
X7133B Miracle Level 2 Paper Packet
Z1311 1 ¼” Circle Punch
Z1392 2” Scallop Circle Punch
Z679 Liquid Glass
1772 Memory Book Glue Dots
Z341 Memory Book Mini Glue Dots
Z1377 Kraft Color-Ready Borders
Z1294 Sanding Kit
Z1204 Bone Folder
Z338 Euro Personal Paper Trimmer

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Simply Scallops

Seriously?

One day you have beautiful daffodils in your garden, popping up and shining their beautiful petals toward the sun. The next morning you wake up and see a blanket of white covering the landscape. Life in Minnesota, I LOVE it!

Krafty, Kool & Kolorful!

National Scrapbooking Month Promotion

Designer Ribbon Pink Collection

Quilled Fringed Flower

This is a wonderful quilling video from My Quilling Nest. She shows you how to create a fringed quilled flower with and without a center. Please note that she is using 24" quilling paper cut 3/8" wide, but you can certainly modify that and use 12" papers cut to all different widths, depending on the size you want  your completed flower to be.



Quilling tools are available at all major craft stores. I use CTMH's new tweezers for quilling, since I pretty much only quill flowers.

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Perfect Paper Pinwheels

Springin' Up Flowers

Paper Flower - Spiral Roses

Continuing with my 2-week theme of sharing paper flower techniques, here's one of my very favorite's from Tracey Mason. Tracey is ultra fabulous and I highly recommend following her blog, I do!


Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Fabulous Giveaway

Check out Roberts Crafts Freebie Friday - Cricut Cartridges!!
http://blog.robertscrafts.com/2011/04/freebie-friday-cricut-cartridges.html

Paper Flower Tutorial - Dahlia

This video is from Robyn over at injoystampin.com. You can create this flower with any size circles. The finished paper flower will be about two times the size of the circles you use. For instance, if you use 1 1/4" circles, the finished flower will be about 2 1/2". Such a great flower for any scrappy project.

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

Paper Flowers - Rosette

Paper rosettes are hugely popular right now. The ultra amazing Tim Holtz designed a die for his Alterations line with Sizzix. He made a fabulous video tutorial on YouTube, you can find it here.

You can make these rosettes without the die by using simple scoring techniques in a multitude of sizes. If you want a rosette 3" or smaller, start with a strip of paper 12" long and 1/2 the width you want the rosette to end up. To make a larger rosette, combine multiple 12" strips of paper. For instance, if you wanted a 6" rosette, combine three 12" strips of 3" wide paper. Score the strips at 1/4" intervals, you can vary the scoring interval depending on the depth you want your rosette to have. Accordion fold back and forth along the entire length. You may need to trim off one section on the end so that one end has a mountain fold "^" and the other has a valley "v" fold; that way when you glue the ends together one will fit over the other.

Here is a layout I created using the rosette flower technique:

And these are some Christmas Ornaments that I had made with paper rosettes:

Happy Scrapping!

Jen Lee

Handmade Paper Flowers - Carnations

Paper flowers are all the rage. This technique is one of my recent favorites. Start with eight 2" scallop circles punched out of cardstock. Watch this fab video from CTMH Consultant Mandy Leahy to find out more:

Origami Columbine Paper Flower Tutorial

Over the next couple of weeks I will be sharing tutorials that other fabulous crafters have created. This tutorial can be found at www.jeanettelynton.com. Jeanette is amazing, and her blog is too. I highly recommend checking it out.

This paper flower technique looks like a columbine to me. You can also cut off the points so that it will lay flat on a card or other project.  I have created a couple of Christmas ornaments using this technique. Make a dozen flowers and glue them together into a sphere shape. These ornaments were time consuming, but turned out very cool.

The following is Jeanette's tutorial to make these lovely flowers. You can find her complete post here.

First, start with a single 3" square of patterned paper.

1. Fold the square into a triangle, with the "wrong" side (or back side) of the B&T folded to the inside.

2. Fold both bottom points up to meet at the top point.

3. Fold the flaps in half downward ("on themselves"), lining up the straight edges.

4. Open the fold, which will make a pocket on the backside. The flatten the paper, creating a "kite" shape.

5. Fold the points on the flaps down making a triangle. You will now be able to see a small triangle featuring the back side design of your B&T paper.

6. Fold flaps on themselves on the pre-existing crease.

7. Roll the petal together so that the two flat edges touch. Adhere the flat edges securely, which will form a tight "bud."

8. Repeat steps 1-7 again with additional squares of B&T paper to create a total of five "buds." Glue together the five buds to make a flower. You can trim down the petals to make the flower sit flat, and you may also choose to add embellishments, such as Pretty Pins pearls or Sparkles in the center of the flower to make it feel finished. Create as many flowers as you need for your specific project.

Studio J®: Step-by-Step Basics

A Day To Celebrate

40 years ago today, my parents were married. What an inspiration! Today's post is a trip down memory lane for them.

High School Prom

My Parents and Grandparents on their wedding day

My Parents with their wedding party, my Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.

25th Anniversary party

Thank you for being such an inspiration to all of us. Congratulations on 40+ years of life and love!

FREE Scrapbooking Kits in April

My Reflections® Level 1 Scrapbooking Kits are great for beginners to seasoned pros. The preprinted pages make preserving your fondest memories a breeze. Get a FREE* Level 1 kit of your choice when you order $100 or more on my MyCTMH® website April 1–30, 2011 (limit of one free kit per qualifying order). Now’s the time to let everyone know you’re Lovin’ Level 1!

*Shipping/handling apply. Offer valid April 1–30, 2011. 

Happy Scrapping!
Jen Lee

We Are So Blessed

Close To My Heart's

April Stamp of the Month

This is such a beautiful stamp set. When I first took the set out to create, I thought of Spring Irises and created this card:

Recipe:
Originals Pattern: Vertical Three
D1455 Blessed April Stamp of the Month
1296 Spring Iris Cardstock
1295 Lilac Mist Cardstock
1388 Colonial White Cardstock
Z2148 Spring Iris Exclusive Inks Pad
Z2133 Lilac Mist Exclusive Inks Pad
Z1336 Pearl Opaques Adhesive Gems
Z1151 3-D Foam Tape
Thread & Sewing Machine

Would you like to play with this stamp set? You can get it for a discount, or even for FREE! Contact me for more information.

Happy Scrapping!

Jen Lee