Today is the last day !!!!

Don't miss out on getting $400 of scrapbooking product which 
includes a Cricut cartridge collection of YOUR CHOICE for just $99.

Today is the last day for you to join a fun group of ladies who love messing around with paper and ink for such a low price for such a huge amount of product.
There is no pressure to be part of my team - if you want to take the kit and run - thats fine - you are able to do that.
If you want to be a hobbyist and get your own scrapbooking products at a discount - thats fine - you are able to do that
If you want to be a business builder and earn money for whatever you like plus get your own products at a discount - thats fine - you are able to do that.

The beauty of Close To My Heart is that every way is the right way :O)

Make sure you click on the link or contact me before midnight if you want to take advantage of this - you don't want to miss out. xxx
JOIN CTMH TODAY :O)

State Discovery Game

I absolutely love this fun 'State' game designed and made by my friend Mihoko Yoshihara.

She stamped a 'trail' of circles with images and fun words and then added larger pieces detailing  fun places visited in Florida.

She is so very creative - from the game pieces to the flowers and the Cricut cut shapes - all of the details about the different towns - I absolutely love everything about this game.

I hope you like it as much as I do and a big "Thanks" to Mihoko for sharing it.

Love Sara xxx

My Creations 6x6 Memory Showcase Album

Here is another piece of artwork by the talented Kiyo Kuroyanagi - an adorable 6x6 My Creations Memory Showcase album.

Kiyo has used lots of tags to add extra photo space and tucked them into the pocket on the 3rd section.

Overlapping the photos was another way to add photos and give it a fun look.

I love the combination of stamps that she used.

Hope you like it too and thanks to Kiyo for sharing  :O)  

Love Sara xxx

My Creations Bracket Frame

I am very excited that over the next few days I am going to share some Guest Artist artwork 

made by my friends and customers.

I love teaching my card and scrapbook classes and often people will show me what they have 

made with the products they have bought.

This amazing CTMH My Creations Bracket frame was made by the very talented Kiyo Kuroyanagi - and I asked her permission to share it with you all.

I love the combination of the Typeset paper with the fun tags spelling the School Name and the way she has threaded them on the Bakers Twine.

I also love the combination of photos as this frame is big enough for either one or more photos.

Thanks to Kiyo for sharing with us and if you have artwork you would like me to feature - let me know :O)

Love Sara xxx

A Mother's Love Card

This is such a pretty card - just perfect for Mother's Day next month.

I used Gypsy cardstock for the base and added a 3x4 piece of SweetLeaf cardstock.

I cut a piece of white cardstock at 2.75 x 3.75" and random stamped the overlay Hydrangea

image in 2nd generation Gypsy ink to give it a patterned background.

I added 3 pieces of Purple Shimmer Trim and then added 3 small flower images to cover the ends.

I stamped the leaves in Sweetleaf ink and the flowers in 1st & 2nd generation Gypsy ink and the last flower in 2nd Generation Cotton Candy ink and overlaid it with a 2nd generation image in Gypsy ink.

Pink Glitter Gems finish it off.

Hope you like it :O)   Love Sara xxx

Costa Rica Travel Mugs

These decorated travel mugs from Starbucks turned out so well. They are so stinking cute :O)

I love the fact that you can decorate them anyway you want to - the only word of warning - don't make the inserts too think of they won't fit in between the 2 layers of plastic - so - no brads or sparkles so I go way overboard with the Prisma Glitter instead :O)

 I made one for me and one for Victoria and we discovered that a bottle of Champagne 

(or wine) will fit perfectly in the 2 travel mugs :O)

 I used the C1575 True To Life stamp set along with the Costa Rica trip set.

I still have the Bingo Alphabet - one of my favorites - so I used it to personalize mine.

 I used Crystal Blue and Pacifica inks for the butterflies and Pear, Juniper and Sorbet for the 

cutest frog on the planet :O)

The lizard was stamped in Chocolate ink and I used Desert Sand for the 'Beach" stamp which I colored using the Watercolor Pencils.

Hope this inspires you to create one of your own - Love Sara xxx

Basics Paper Fundamentals Card.

I was so geeked when this card turn out the way that I had imagined

 (it doesn't alway work out like that you know !!)

I was inspired by the layout on page of the Spring/Summer Idea book.

I loved the way that the colors really popped against the embossed black cardstock.

I added lots of sparkle with the Purple Shimmer Trim, Pink Glitter Paper, Green Glitter Paper and Teal Shimmer Trim.

More shine and sparkle with Purple glitter Gems, Flamingo Dots, Ivy Lane Compliments resin Flower, Green Epoxy Bubbles, and Aqua Dots and Durable Triangle Studs in Gold.

Then even more embellishment with the Gold Dot Washi Tape and Lagoon Washi Tape.

The images are from the Ivy Lane Scrapbooking Workshop on the Go Kit.

I absolutely love the finished result and hope you do too - Love Sara xxx

Ariana Love card - Balloon Talk

I am having so much fun with this Stamp of the Month set - Balloon Talk.

It is so versatile - I have used it with so many different papers and it works with all.

Here I used the Ariana Workshop on the Go - the base is the Hollyhock cardstock

and I stamped in Hollyhock ink to give a Tone on Tone effect.

I used the same stamp ( from the Workshop on the Go) in Buttercup ink on the

squares so that they didn't look so plain.

I stamped the same image on the white Cricut heart shape.

I added Desert Sand cardstock which I scallop punched and then added holes made with

the piercing tool.

I then added a small strip of the Zipstrip along it.

I attached Bronze Shimmer trim either side of the patterned paper and 

3 Brown sparkles finished it off

Hope you like it - Love Sara xxx

Jubilee Thank You Card - Balloon Talk

This card uses my favorite set EVER - as you know - D1482 Live Life Love - I think

that everyone on this planet needs this set - I love the swirls :O)

I used the Kraft cardstock in the Workshop on the Go and stamped the sentiments

and the swirls in Cocoa.

I used the Topiary cardstock and the Bandana printed paper. It has some Indian Corn Blue

ink colors in it so I used that color cardstock behind the sentiment.

I added a thin strip of burlap ribbon and then made a fake bow with more Burlap.

I tucked Silver Shimmer Trim behind the burlap and some silver sparkles and

there you go :O)  Love it!

Hope you love it too - Love Sara xxx

Birthday Card - Scholastic paper pack

A 17th Birthday card for my boy xxx 

It is only a year late in posting - but what the heck - it has taken me this long to find the photo of it LOL :O)

I used one of the 3 1/2 x 8 inch cards from CTMH as the base. 

Originally it had a  flap to it and it was too 'girly' for this card so I trimmed it down so that 

it had a nice straight edge.

I used some of the now retired Scholastic paper and added Outdoor Denim cardstock to the flap.

A smaller piece of paper was tucked under the cocoa ribbon and I took 3 Dinemsional Element Stars and inked them in Olive ink - then added a thin layer of pearl paint to the 2 smaller stars and added

Prisma Glitter to the large star.

I did the same with the Dimensional Element numbers.

I stamped the swirls in Cocoal and the sentiment in 2nd Generation Cocoa ink.

He loved his card - hope you do too :O)

Love Sara xxx 

Nautical wall hanging

Here is a wall hanging which I made back in the summer using the Tommy paper pack which I really like. The Base is cut from Chipboard which made it really sturdy and we used the 

CTMH frame as a pattern as is has such a nice shape.

The Burlap Ribbon ribbon goes really well with this paper pack and I used 

Desert Sand Ink to distress everything.

I also added the now retired Milepost Shapes which I inked with Outdoor Denim ink and 

Cranberry inks which are 2 of the colors in this paper pack.

Durable Studs squares were a perfect way to add decoration without it losing the Nautical feel

and the sentiments were from the Zip Strip.

Finally a cute picture of my beautiful baby girl and her friends from their 

cruise vacation in the Caribbean :O)

Laughing Lola Love Wall Hanging - Extravaganza 2013

I seriously love this piece of artwork which I made for Extravaganza last year. 

The photos were taken by the seriously talented Jennifer Cashin from JLCashin Photography 

I think this is the last piece that I haven't shown you and I apologize it if is somewhere else on here.

I used the Dimensional Element Mini Album pages which are Cricut Artise Cartridge compatible.

Here I added photos directly to 3 pieces using Liquid Glass then carefully cut around them and sanded the edges till they were smooth again.

I decorated the top and bottom pieces with the Laughing Lola Paper and matching 

Dinemsional Elements.

I made flowers using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge and added sparkles to the centers of them.

I colored our Color Ready ribbon with Gypsy ink to get a soft Lavender color and added the 

wooden swirls from the Mini Medley collection.

The words were stamped using the new E1027 Framework Alphabet and then cut out - yes it took a little time but so worth it.

These I layered on Black Glitter Cardstock which was in turn layered onto another larger Dimensional Element.

Lots of Prisma Glitter finished it off and I LOVE IT :O)

Hope you love it too - Love Sara xxx

Pillow Box chocolate Gift box

I know this is a little difficult to see but this is the best I can do - it doesn't matter what the background it - the box is clear and hard to photograph :O)

I used the Frosted Paper pack and the Stamp of the month from December - Special Care.

I covered most of the stamped image just leaving "Hugs and Kisses required" and then filled the clear CTMH Pillow Box with Herseys Kisses.

The red and silver wrappers for the chocolates were perfect with the Silver Shimmer Trim and the 

Ruby Mini Medley Flower.

A cute Stocking Stuffer for Christmas :O)

Hope you like it - Love Sara xxx

Ballon Talk Stamp of the month Explosion Card

I have made lots of these explosion cards over the years so I will just show you the cover of this one.

I used the outline of the speech bubbles in Outdoor Denim and Sorbet inks to create a random geometric pattern - I know - WWWAAAYYYY out of my comfort zone hahaha. 

Not a swirl in sight !!!

I attached it to a slightly larger square of Sorbet cardstock.

A 1" piece of Outdoor Denim cardstock and a narrow piece of the Ariana paper and a scrap of the Ariana Green cardstock added more ribbon shapes and a piece of Bronze Shimmer Trim added sparkle and shine to it.

The sentiment was stamped in Outdoor Denim ink and popped up on 3D foam tape.

It didn't take me long to make this. 

the hardest thing for me was the geometric bit :O)

Hope you like it - Love Sara xxx

Embossed Skylark inspirational card

Oh how I love this card.

I know it looks involved but it took me less than 10 minutes to complete.!!

It featured embedded embossing which is a technique where you attach layers of paper or cardstock

together and then run them through an embossing machine.

I used the new CTMH Damask Embossing Folder which I absolutely love - very much my style

as you know :O)

Here is a tip - if you are going to distress the edges of your cardstock then do it before

you emboss it. If you have a very complicated design like the one above it puts quite

a lot of tension on the edges of the cardstock and it can rip along the pattern if you try to 

distress after it has been embossed.

So I attached a piece of Whisper cardstock to the Juniper piece and embossed them and then

added a small piece of the Skylark Zipstrip.

The bird and words and white daisy are all Skylark Dimension Elements and the

Green resin flower is from the Skylark assortment.

I used the small heart image from the WOTG stamp set and used Desert Sand ink (I also distressed all of the pieces in Desert Sand ink too)

I added liquid glass to the heart for some shine.

The sentiment and the heart are both popped up using 3D foam tape.

Hope you like it as much as I do - Love Sara xxx

Sarita Scrapbook Layout

Its is nice to have a layout with lots of embellishments and decoration - but they do take a little longer to make and sometimes you just need a quick and easy layout to get photos on.

I really do like this layout design - it is from the Make It From Your Heart Volume 2 - Design 14.

I added Blush and lagoon cardstock to the decorative paper and used the Outdoor Denim design for the longer ribbon shaped pieces.

I added a piece of the Goldrush colored Zipstrip to the title piece and raided my stash of large paper flowers (unfortunately now discontinued) and stamped them in Blush ink.

I added a 1 1/4" circle of Outdoor Denim cardstock under the ribbon and I added a small piece of the Colonial White colored ready ribbon to the center of the button.

I think its cute - plus it was quick and easy :O)

Hope you like it too - Love Sara xxx

Balloon Talk Stamp of the month Card

This was a card which evolved as I went - you know sometimes it just works like that !!

It started off where I was going to cover the front of a card completely with the Ariana Paper 

but I caught the corner of the paper under my VersaMat and bent it over.

So I decided to just keep rolling the paper. 

Our beautiful B&T papers are lovely and thick so they keep their shape when you 

do a technique like this.

I did put a thin line of liquid glass to keep it in place.

I then attached it to the white card base along the left and bottom edges forming a pocket.

I used B1443 Hello wonderful from page 26 of the Spring/Summer 14 Idea Book 

on the pull out tag. I stamped the image in Sorbet using the 2nd Generation inking technique 

and then stamped it a 2nd time on a smaller piece of cardstock and cut out just the 

center of the image. I popped it up with some 3D foam tape.

I added a narrow piece of Outdoor Denim cardstock with a narrower piece of Skylark Paper. 

(Good grief I hear you say - Sara mixed the patterns from more than one paper pack ??????)

I know - crazy hey !! It doesn't happen very often lol.

I stamped the word Welcome in Crystal Blue and inked the edges in Outdoor Denim 

and then added a couple of sparkles.

Finally I made the flower from 3 x 1 1/4" circles which I stamped using the same image 

and then curled with the Quilling Tool.

Hope you like it - Love Sara xxx

Ariana Workshop on the Go Scrapbook Layout

I have to say that I absolutely love this layout - It is based on the layout in the 

Spring/Summer 2014 Idea book which only shows a single page - but it is so pretty.

My dear friend Victoria worked on this one too and this is my version of what we came up with.

I love the Dimensional Elements which match the paper and in the WOTG

 you get the cool Black and Grey Epoxy Bubbles as well as the pretty ribbon bows.

On the Dimensional Element Camera piece I used l the silvery grey one Epoxy bubbles to 

fill the center of the printed image and then liquid glassed them in place to make it look 

like a camera lens. This photo does not do it justice.

I did put 2 photo mats side by side on the left hand page which allows 2 photos of 4x6 

or you could put one photo 8 x 6 in that area.

Again just like the card which I posted on April 2nd, I have layered the paper pieces 

and it is such a pretty technique.

Hope you like it too - Love Sara xxx

Laughing Lola - Balloon Talk Boy's Card.

I make so many girl or feminine cards featuring flowers and pretty embellishments 

I wanted to make a card which was suitable more for boys or men.

I used the CTMH Stripe Embossing Folder for the background.

These are so easy to use - I have the Sizzix Big Shot machine as I like the extended base for longer pieces of cardstock.

I love the plaid design of the Laughing Lola paper and I think it has a more masculine feel 

and it pairs perfectly with the gold paper with the stripe design.

I added Lagoon and Black ink for the sentiments.

I put Durable Artisan Studs between the flags as again, they have a masculine feel to them

Hope you like it  - Love Sara xxx

Get a Free Close To My Heart Cricut Cartridge Collection this month :O)

I am so very excited to announce that anyone who joins my team in April will receive a 

Close To My Heart Cricut Collection of their choice - Absolutely FREE :O)

We have 3 different collections -  Art Philosophy - with brackets, flowers, frames, font and more....

Artiste - featuring themed projects, interactive cards, mini albums, 3D items and more .......

and Artbooking - our newest addition with 15 different Scrapbook layout themes and 10 themed Mini albums for any occasion plus so much more....

Each collection includes the cartridge with its exclusive 700 images, 3 sets of co-ordinating Acrylic Stamps and 3 sets of co-ordinating chipboard Dimensional Elements. 

Each collection has a retail value of almost $125 - and can be purchased for $99 

BUT when you join my team - you will receive it FREE :O)

When you join my team you will receive the New Consultants Kit .....

which is valued at over $300 and contains beautiful papers, inks, stamps, How-To Books and so much more.

Then choose which Close To My Heart Cricut Collection you would like for free 

bringing the value of products to over $400.

All for just $99 - it doesn't get any better than that!!!!

Click on the link below to join my team - either as a Hobbyist or as a Team Builder and come and be a part of our Close To My Heart Family as a member of the Legacies of Love Team.
I have been a consultant for nearly 11 years and love my job :O)

CLICK HERE.

Ariana Card.

Oh I was so very happy with this card - I based it on the scrapbook layout shown on 

page 30 of the Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book. 

I loved the layered paper technique on the layout so decided to do the same thing on the card.

I cut the scalloped the circle and the smaller circles using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.

The words are from the Perfect Fit - Thanksgiving stamp set. 

I know it is hard to see but I have used the decorative tail of the turkey image to stamp 

along the bottom edge of the card in Buttercup ink - and again underneath the 

words on the small circle. 

(I hope you can zoom in and see it if the image is larger)

As the paper is so decorative and the scalloped edge of the Outdoor Denim piece and 

Scallop circle give even more design I have kept the embellishments to a minimum 

and just added 3 sparkles for a little shine.

Hope you like it - Love Sara xxx

Ballon Talk - Stamp of the Month

This is the fun Stamp of the Month card which we will be making at this months class.

The White Daisy cardstock is embossed using the new CTMH Dot Embossing Folder.

It also features the Washi Tape which we will add to white cardstock to 

make the colors really vibrant.

I have cut the flowers at 3 different sizes - 3/4", 1", and 1 1/4".

I have joined them together with a White brad. 

A piece of Burlap ribbon is attached underneath the flower.

We will direct-to-cardstock ink distress the Lagoon cardstock in the matching ink.

Hope you like it - Love Sara xxx