Happy Mother's Day

Looking for a card idea to go with that mother's day present this weekend? Grab your Dotty for You paper and create this simple and easy Mother's day card (I got this card idea from a creative fellow consultant)! Or substitute paper you already have in your collection that is in your mom's favorite colors. That's the beauty of making our own cards...we can make them special by using our loved ones favorite colors and themes. Happy Mother's day to all women who nurture and love children anywhere.

Virtual Garage Sale!

It's spring cleaning time and I'm making room for new stamping and scrapbooking goodies by having a virtual garage sale! I literally have over 100 stamp sets (many of them never used) that have been retired and need a good home. :) Stamp sets range in price from only $3 to $9 so there are killer deals for you!! All of the stamps are listed on this site: www.stampnscrapads.com and just click on acrylic stamps. Happy saving!

Consider Yourself Hugged!

I found these little tins tucked away in a box of craft supplies I haven't looked at for awhile and was so excited! So many fun things that you can do with them! And with Valentine's Day next week, I thought I would make a treat for my three darling children. So I grabbed my February Stamp of the Month (told you I LOVE that set! Ha! Ha!) and the beautiful new Stella paper and this is what I came up. Guess what is in inside each box? Hershey's "Hugs" of course! :)

What are you whipping up for your valentine?

Heart Warming Winter Cards

It's January and a dear friend is having a birthday. Or a neighbor brought you over some homemade cookies and you want to give them a thank you card. Do you reach for your flower or summery stamps? No way! Use a winter theme for your cards since it's winter! Or fall themes if the occasion is in the fall...you get the idea. Not all birthday cards have to have balloons! Ha! Ha! I love to make "seasonal" cards for your every day thank yous, get wells, and birthdays. That's why I reached for my "winter" stamps and the beautiful Wonderland paper to create these special cards. Check out how the pin clips are used to create "steam" rising from the hot chocolate mug. So fun! So use the seasons the next time you are creating and break away from the standard "balloons are for birthdays" mold!

Happy creating!

Cut Your Stamps? Are you Crazy?

One question I get from my customers is, “I’ve heard you can cut acrylic stamps. Is it really okay to cut my stamps?”  The answer is YES!! I know it’s scary to do but it opens up a world of possibilities with your stamps!

First of all, why would you want to cut your stamps? Well perhaps you have a saying that is long and narrow but you want the words to be stacked on top of each other to fit a square space. Or perhaps you only want to use part of a stamp.

 

When I created this card the other day, I had a vine stamp and I wanted to stamp this cute flower onto the vine without the stem and leaves. Yet, the way the stamp was designed it was difficult to ink up just part of the stamp. The answer? Cut the bloom!

I just took the stamp off the carrier sheet and decided where to cut. When cutting a stamp, I like to make sure that there is enough blank space around the image to make it easy to cut the image without cutting any other parts of the design. As you get more confidence in cutting stamps you can get more daring. J When you have planned your cut, simply use your microtip scissors and cut your stamp.

Now you have your stamp in two pieces. It’s easy to put both pieces together on a block to stamp the whole thing as one image in the future. So you don’t have to worry about not being able to use the whole stamp together as one piece another time. You have the best of both worlds!

Now just stamp your image.

And voila! Your final card! See the cute blue blooms on the vine. I couldn’t have done it easily without cutting that stamp. 

See! It’s super easy to cut your stamps and have flexibility with your images. Enjoy!

Supplies:

·      Dreamin’ paper packet

·      D1482 Love Life stamp set

·      D1436 The Present stamp set

·      Art Philosophy Seasons stamp set

·      Chocolate, Goldrush and Pacifica ink pads

·      Bronze Glitz Gel

·      Basic button collection

Celebrate Our Anniversary with Free Stamps!!!

To kick off our 25th anniversary as a leader and innovator in the stamping business, Close To My Heart is giving all of our stamp purchasers a fabulous gift! When you spend $25 in stamps (Customized Name and Stamp of the Month excluded), you’ll receive a custom-designed B-size My Acrylix® Good Times stamp set (retail value $13.95), packed with fun and versatile party-inspired images, for FREE! Gotta love free stamps! To get your set free, go to my website at: tracy.myctmh.com or send me an email!

Happy stamping!
Tracy

Christmas Countdown Calendar

I am so excited about my upcoming holiday gift workshop! We will be making these adorable Christmas countdown Calendars...great gifts for family and friends! You can countdown the days until Christmas with songs to sing and activities to do together each day in December.

The workshop is Tuesday, December 2nd at 10 am or an evening session at 7pm. Everyone is welcome! Just let me know and we'll have fun creating Christmas gifts together!