Wednesday, July 18, 2012

*NEW* CTMH Cricut cartridge!

I am soooo excited to introduce the new Close To My Heart Cricut cartridge, Artiste, available August 1st!



The $99 Collection includes:
  • The Artiste cricut cartridge with over 700 images such as cards, fonts, shapes, themed projects, and 3D items
  • 3 My Acrylix D sized stamp sets
  • 3 12" x 9" sheets of coordinating chipboard shapes
  • 2 handbooks (one to show images and the other to use as a guide for putting 3D projects together)
If you do not already have a consultant and would like to place an order, you may do so here:
http://brandynewcomer.ctmh.com/CTMH/About.aspx
If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them or get the answer for you!

Have a great day!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

HELP!!!

Does anyone out there know how to fix a problem I am having with the line spacing on my blog?  After every picture I post it staggers the text beneath it...

I googled how to fix it, but I am unsure of where to go to do what they are recommending...I'm not too blog savvy! lol  Everything I have learned up to this point has been thanks to my CTMH upline, Bobby! 

This is what I have found:
If the text beside the images does not occupy the same amount of space that the image beside it does then the text wrapping will continue and the images and text that follow will have a staggered appearance. To prevent the staggered effect what you do is insert the following snippet of code into the HTML editor after each image/text pair:
<br style="clear:both;" />
Whatever that means...lol

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated because this is driving my OCD nuts!!! hahaha

Thanks,
Brandy

HAPPY Father's Day!


 
When I saw this card made by Mary from Cardz TV, I instantly fell in love with it!
I thought it was absolutely adorable and the sentiment was a perfect fit for a
card from my 8 month old to give to his daddy today!

The sentiment is from a stamp set called Father's Day which is made by Mary! I did not know this before I made the card, otherwise I would have definately ordered the set from her! I loved the saying so much that I did something out of the ordinary for me and printed it off of my computer to add to the card...I have never done this before because I prefer the look of a stamped image so much better...in my mind, stamping adds a more personal touch and it looks more "handmade" than computer fonts...but that's just my opinion of course! I don't think it looks too bad on this card, but it was either that or NOTHING! lol

I also really loved the papers she used because they went so well with the sentiment, but unfortunately I did not have anything similar, so I came as close as I could to Mary's by making my
own paper with the Imagine!  The Imagine is often my lifesaver! lol  For both the background paper and the blue "ruler" strip of paper I used the Black and White Pattern Cricut Imagine cartridge by Teresa Collins.  This cartridge is fantastic and makes great background papers!  What I love about it the most is the variety you get when you use colored paper instead of white as I did for the brown numbered background.

Before I go I just want to wish all you Father's out there a very Happy Father's Day!!! I was very blessed to have an amazing father for 24 years of my life until he was called home by God unexpectedly.  I miss him every day and look forward to the day when I will see him again. 

Enjoy your day!
Brandy


Friday, June 1, 2012

CTMH Stampaganza!!!

June Special:  Buy any two acrylic stamp sets* (sizes A, B, C, D, or E) and get one (of equal or lesser value) absolutely FREE-a savings of up to $29.95 per set!  There is no limit to the number you can buy! 


 


If you do not already have a consultant and would like to place an order, go to:

Offer valid through June1-30, 2012.

 *Stamp sets that count toward the qualifying purchase and available for FREE include full-priced A, B, C, D, and E sets only. Customizable (K-size) stamps, Workshops on the Go™, Cricut® collections, and Stamp of the Month sets do not count as qualifying purchases and are not available as free sets. Offer valid June 1–30, 2012. Tax and shipping/handling may apply. The lowest priced set(s) in the entire order will be the free set(s).

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Playin' with punches!


I love playing with PUNCHES!  There are so many out there that do so many cool things and they always give some life to cards and scrapbook layouts!  One of my favorite things to do with punches is paper piecing.  Here is a *super* cute card we made at card club incorporating both!  :)

Hope you all have a GREAT day!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

An oldie, but GOODY!!!

After searching high and low for something a little "different" to make, I found a cool easel/gift card in a magazine from the UK which I hope you will enjoy as much as I did! I recreated this card with a retired CTMH stamp set called 'Do Nothing' that I luv to use so much, especially as summer approaches!







To create: Paint four small matchboxes with white craft paint. Cut a square of cardstock to fit under the matchboxes. Attach so that a matchbox opens on each side. Stick another square of cardstock on the top of the matchboxes. Then attach an easel card on the base, stamp, color, and decorate as desired. Decorate sides of matchboxes with patterned paper and brads.

Matchboxes make great pockets for gift cards! Fill them with little treats, tiny seashells, or whatever else may coordinate with your card choice.

Have a great day!!!
Brandy

Saturday, May 5, 2012

CELEBRATE National Scrapbook Day!


Need some inspiration? Try following a sketch!

Here's my take on it, minus the journaling which still needs to be added below the title ;)
I am at a Creative Memories NSD crop and forgot to bring my journaling marker!  Only ME! Grrr...lol

I'm sorry about the glare on my photos, but I'm cropping in a church hall FULL of windows and believe it or not this is the best picture I could get!  Honestly it looks much better in person! :)

HAPPY SCRAPPING!


 


Thursday, May 3, 2012

CTMH Stamp of the Month for May

The May Stamp of the Month is Friendship Bouquet.


Friendship Bouquet (S1205) retails for $17.95.
Spend $50 and get this Stamp of the Month set for just $5!

Monday, April 30, 2012

CTMH DOTTY FOR YOU!

image

Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May by mixing and matching to your heart’s content with our new Dotty for You paper packet! The trendy patterns on the front of the papers coordinate perfectly with the dots on the reverse side, giving you lots of options for crafting colorful layouts, cards, and other projects. Dotty for You includes 24 specially designed, coordinating B&T Duos® sheets (2 each of 12 patterns) and an artwork idea insert to get your creative juices flowing.
There are three ways to get this exclusive Dotty for You paper packet, valued at $19.95:
  • Place an order of $35 or more in products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book between April 17 and May 31, and add the Dotty for You paper packet for just $5*.
  • Host a Gathering with a sales total of $400 or more (excluding tax, shipping/handling, and Operation Smile® donations) between April 17 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.
  • Join Close To My Heart as a new Consultant between April 1 and May 31 and receive a Dotty for You paper packet FREE.
Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month in May with the oh-so-cute Dotty for You paper packet.

SHOP WITH ME!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Happy Thoughts :)



Well the weather is finally starting to come around!  This week is supposed to be in the 70's and I am MORE than ready for that! :) Hope you all enjoy this beautiful day...happy crafting! 

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Think SPRING! :)


The weather has been so unpredictable here in PA!  I am soooo ready for SPRING!  We have had several nice days followed by about 6-8 inches of snow that started Sunday evening and kept coming into Monday!  Fortunately it didn't stay long and hopefully it doesn't come back!!! lol  Hope you all have a beautiful day wherever you are! :)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Kindness Matters!



Scalloped Oval Nestabilites
Paper Piercer
SU Very Vanilla and Eggplant cardstock/Eggplant Ink
SU Kindness Matters stamp set
Butterfly punches
Pop Dots
Embossing folder (I'm sorry I don't know the name of this one.)

Thursday, April 19, 2012

4 my friend birthday card

I wanted to share a very quick and easy birthday card with all of you that I made using the Art Philosophy cricut cartridge and coordinating stamp sets! I just love how easy CTMH has made it for us!

To create this card, I cut a 4" scalloped circle in chocolate and layered a 3.5" white circle on top which I sponged the edges of using hollyhock ink. I stamped the saying '4 my friend' on an 4" olive colored banner which I also sponged the edges of. The cupcake is cut at 2.5" inches and stamped on chocolate cardstock and then restamped on blush cardstock. I cut the icing off of the blush cardstock and used dimensionals to layer it on top of the chocolate! Finally I finished it off with glitter glue and added three pink brads to the scalloped strip to give it some personality :)


Inside:


CTMH stamp sets used: 4 My Friend and Celebration
cardstock colors: olive, white, chocolate, and blush
inks: hollyhock and chocolate

I know this card is very simple, but I wanted to share something that everyone can make fairly quickly because for those of you who are like me, time is of the essence! LOL I would like to apologize for the quality of my pictures however.  As I said before, I am fairly new to the world of blogging and posting pictures, but I promise you as time goes on I will get better! A special thanks to Bobby from Cricut Couple for getting me this far! ;)

Have a GREAT day!
Brandy

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Thinking outside of the box!


Oval and Oval Scalloped Edge Nestabilities
Small Dot Embossing Folder
Frames Embossing Folder
SU stocking punch and coordinating stamp set, medium oval, and scalloped edge punches
Welcome baby stamp

I also made this card, which was designed by Angie Phillips, at the SU Stamp Camp last evening.  Angie used a stamp of a Christmas stocking, embossed them in white, cut the top off and adhered them lower on the stockings, and tied little white bow strings to them to make them look like BOOTIES!  I was very impressed by this idea because lots of times I have stamps that I feel are no longer of use to me after I have used them in their "original" form, however, Angie showed me that there is often other options when you THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX! :)

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

GO confidently in the DIRECTION of your Dreams...





Word Play SU stamp set
Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing folder die

Unfortunately I can't take credit for this idea, however, I wanted to share this card with you because not only was it quick and simple to make, but it has a very classy look to it (although my picture doesn't do it justice)!  I think it would make a great graduation card, since as you all know, high school graduations are just around the corner!!! :) Boy does time FLY...

I made this card at "Stamp Camp" this evening which is held locally by Stampin' Up demonstrator Don Walkovich.  He and his friend Angie design five cards every month for attendees to make and the cards are ALWAYS outstanding!  Don and Angie are extremely talented stampers and I really enjoy going to their Stamp Camp whenever I can! ;)
If you do not have an SU demonstrator and are interested in placing an order, you can find him at:
http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/donnwalkovich/

Happy Stamping!
Brandy

Sunday, April 1, 2012

CTMH Stamp of the Month

April 2012: You Are… (S1204) 
Spend $50 and get this Stamp of the Month set for just $5!
Order now: http://brandy_newcomer.ctmh.com/


 
April’s Stamp of the Month set, You Are..., combines versatile patterns and icons with words that you’re sure to use again and again. You can count on this fun stamp set to add extra zest when you want to pay a sincere compliment to a friend, congratulate a loved one on a job well done, or brag about a recent vacation. Available only in April, you can buy it for just $17.95, or make it yours for only $5 when you place a $50 order—now that’s amazing! 
 
Need Inspiration?


 

Saturday, March 31, 2012

Hooray For You


This card was made for my neighbor's son who is graduating from high school in June (WOW does that make me OLD!).  I know it's only April, but since I have a 6 month old baby, you never know when you are going to have some "free" time to yourself to get your projects done! LOL (not that I am complaining!!!) 

Card Recipe:  The graduate image is made from the NEW Paper Dolls Teen Scene cricut cartridge and cut at 7".  This cartridge is SOOO nice because the images layer in such a way that seem to make the teens somewhat "dimensional".  They are also very "trendy" images and quite easy to put together!  (NO tiny cuts!)  For the base of the card I used a Close To My Heart Die-Cut card in Colonial White which comes in a pack of 10   pre-cut 3 1/2" x 8" cards.  These die-cut cards are very cool because they stand up like an easel, which you will be able to see in the side-view picture below...The sentiment is from a CTMH acrylic stamp set called "4 My Friend"...and last but not least I finished the card off by using a white gel pen to stitch around the outside of the textured green layer of paper which came from my "scraps".


If you are looking for a graduation card, this one goes together rather quickly and if need be there is also a sexy little female graduate available on this cartridge too! LOL :)


Monday, March 26, 2012

SO SUPER EXCITED!!!

Saturday night I ordered one of this month's Hello Thursday cricut cartridge releases called Paper Dolls Teen Scene from Terri at Stamps Alive and lo and behold when I got home from work today it was already in my mailbox!!!  The turnaround time for the delivery of this cartridge is unbelievable and I'm so excited to actually have it in my hands!!! This cartridge is going to be SOOO much fun...can't wait to use it! :)  Thanks Terri!!!





Sunday, March 25, 2012

Where've I been???

In the past few days, I am happy to say I have been VERY, VERY productive! :)  I have started my spring cleaning, earned my Master's Degree in CTMH and started working towards my CTMH Ph.D, and began making a scrapbook layout from the CTMH STELLA Workshop on the Go (which BTW I am absolutely loving)!!!  I am hoping to have it posted for you all to see this week, but as I said before I am a newbie to the World of Blogging so it may take me a minute (or so) to figure this out, but don't worry...I will! :)

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Officially IN BUSINESS!

I just got my CTMH consultant kit yesterday and I'm so excited about it!  I also got the Art Philosophy Collection FREE for signing up this month and I am absolutely in LOVE with it! :) 

For those of you who don't know, Close To My Heart is running a *FANTASTIC* promotion
for those who sign on as consultant in the month of March! 
And for those of you who are interested, read below:
Sign up to be a consultant with Close to my Heart and get,
not only the amazing start up kit, but your choice of either the
Cricut Art Philosophy Collection or $100.00 in FREE product
(if you already have the AP Collection) for just $99.00!!!
What is the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection? So glad you asked. ;)  It is pictured below. You get the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, which in my opinion, is the the most versatile cartridge that has ever come out.  In addition to the cartridge, you get 3 full sized coordinating stamp sets that include cut sizes on the stamps to get the perfect cut for you to use with you Close to my Heart Stamp Images. You also get 3 large sheets of amazing chip board shapes that match the cuts on the cartridge. They are ready to perfectly work with your stamps and inks. This is a $124.00 value.  CTMH's normal price is $99.99 for this collection alone. You get yours FREE!!!



So what do I get in my Kit?  Everything is pictured below. You get business supplies and tons of the best CTMH products to get started with! The collection included in this is gorgeous and so versatile! You get inks, tons of stamps, acrylic blocks, embellishments, the famous stamp double scrubber, cards, envelopes, paper samples, idea books, cleaners, adhesives, liquid glass, etc. etc. etc... That's a $288.00 value and it's all yours for only $99.00... plus you get the Art Philosophy Collection FREE!!! That's almost $400.00 worth of amazing stuff for $99.00!!! Oh and did I mention that not only does the Art Philosophy cartridge include shapes that were created exclusively to go with CTMH stamp sets, but there will be more stamp collections in the future that coordinate with it as well! Basically, this means you don't need any more cartridges, dies, or punches to go along with your favorite stamps!  You just cut the shapes with your Cricut and stamp away! AMAZING!


Is there more?  Below are some add ons available exclusively when you sign up as a consultant.  Each of these include a Workshop on the Go, extra inks, extra stamps, extra acrylic blocks, and extra embellishments... Both are worth $94-$95, but you can add them to your kit for only $40.00 each. These are completely optional, but both include amazing stamp sets that you are going to want because they coordinate with your new Art Philosophy Cartridge Too!!!  After you complete your order form, you will have the option to add either one or both of these to your starter kit.
If you add both, you are looking at over $600.00 worth of amazing stuff for $179.00! Wow!!!
Again, this is optional.



One last thing that is also available as an add on is a 3 month Studio J Membership. If you are into digital scrapbooking, this is a great package. It's a $63.00 value for only $40.00, exclusive to "New" consultants. Just wanted to make sure you are aware of all of the extra savings values.

So... What makes this offer so sweet? There is NO PRESSURE! You can sign up today, enjoy all of these goodies, and learn everything you would ever want to know about Close to my Heart. You will not only get these amazing values, but you will also have full online access to the behind the scenes information that Close to my Heart has to offer. There is an entire online training academy for every consultant. You get to learn everything you need to know about making this a successful business opportunity, how to use the products, techniques you have never seen before, technology you didn't know existed, and access to a full network of consultants who have all been doing this for years.
You also begin with a 22% discount on all of your purchases
and when you sell products, you will receive a 22% commission
on all of your sales. These percentages will increase as your sales increase.
How much am I going to have to pay if I don't do this as a business? Answer...NOTHING! There are no hidden fees, no hidden pains, and no hidden hardships. If you want to continue with it as a business and maintain your consultant status, you need to have at least $300.00 in sales per QUARTER. That's it!  Of course, you are encouraged to do more than that, but that's all it takes to keep continue your status you and receive your commission/discount.
What happens to me if I don't sell $300.00 per quarter?  Then you become a Jr. Consultant. The commission is smaller and you don't have as much access to everything online, however, you will not have to pay any fees or anything like that.  
How do I keep things going? Well, that's the easy part. Use up your beautiful and amazing products and show them off! Get together with the girls and make some things. You know everyone is gonna want what YOU are using and YOU can provide that for them!  As you get stronger with your crafting, you get stronger in your business. It's that simple.
How do I keep up to date and know what to try next?
Well, that's easy too! 
You will have my total support as well as the support of CTMH at every
 turn providing you the latest techniques, ideas, and products.  The
biggest thing is that as you just continue to create and as you develop
your skills, others are going to notice and ask you about it. 
You will be the one that everyone else wants to learn from. 
When you sign up, you will receive an email letting you know that your shipment is being processed. Once you receive that email, you will immediately be able to go online and get into the consultant website. While there, you can go in and set up your own MY CTMH website.   Simply click on My CTMH in the training page and set it up.  There is a $5.95 per month fee if you want your own website, but as soon as that is setup, you will have a link for others to take advantage of this amazing offer and sign up with you! It's really that easy!!! Besides that, you have the ENTIRE MONTH OF MARCH to advertise this to friends and family and get them started as well! How cool is that?
ANY QUESTIONS???
Just e-mail me at brandy_newcomer@comcast.net
I would be so glad to answer any and all questions you have.  
In the future, watch for lots and lots of fun projects using CTMH products that I am going to share with you!  Thanks so much for stopping by today! :)

Thursday, March 15, 2012

I am SO excited to announce that only four days after signing up to be a Close To My Heart consultant I earned my CTMH Bachelor's Degree!!! :)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

WELCOME to my NEW blog!

I have wanted to start my own blog for about the past two years and now it has finally happened...thanks to some help from a new friend! :) Please bare with me as I journey into the world of blogging! I am looking forward to sharing some of the things I love to do most...creating scrapbook layouts and making cards...and hopefully somewhere along the way I will even give you some inspiration! I'm so glad you've stopped by and hope you will check back in with me soon!