Another D

2 "D's" down and one to go. Here is Daci's Valentine card. I know I have kind of stuck with the black, colonial white, bamboo and cranberry theme with all of my Valentines this year, but I had to do the pink thing for a my little granddaughter's card. Feel free to click on any photo to see it larger.

I used the sketch this week at Mojo Monday (#125) and stuck with the black but instead of Colonial White, I went with White Daisy and then accented with pinks (Baby Pink and Blush...all colors Close To My Heart).

You may notice that the circle behind the 'd' is a gorgeous textured cardstock. I just used a piece of fine grit sandpaper (Sanding Kit - Z1294) to sand it so the texture came through even more. As you know, during the month of February, CTMH is running an amazing campaign to help the medical relief efforts in Haiti. If you buy one package of our 12" x 12" Textured Cardstock Combos (Basic: X5747, Spring: X5681, Summer: X5745, Autumn: X5669), you get one FREE...and $2 of your purchase goes to help Haiti. Cool, right? You can order your Textured Cardstock, as well as any other CTMH products you are dying to have on my website here (24/7!).

I also added a bit of 'bling' to the 'd' (hopefully you can see it in the photo) in the form of prisma glitter. I first coated the letter with liquid glass (a great clear liquid glaze) and then sprinkled with prisma glitter.

Close To My Heart products used: Connections Stamp Set (D1330), Silhouette Level 2 Paper Pack (X7090B), Basic Textured Cardstock Combo Pack (X5747), Daydream Level 2 Paper Pack (X7108B), Designer Ribbon Rounds Black Collection (Z1034), Spring Craft Buttons (Z1281), Blush Waxy Flax (Z1128), Dimensional Elements Simple Alphabet Lowercase (Z1048), Liquid Glass (Z679), Prisma Glitter (Z134), Corner Rounder (Z578), Black Stamp Pad (Z2105), Round Sponge (Z697), Sanding Kit (Z1294).

Non- CTMH products used: Marvy punches.

D

Dawson's Valentine card is finito. The sketch at 2Sketches4You got me going. It's a great sketch from Laura (#45). I had fun adding just a touch of cranberry to my neutral black, colonial white, and bamboo color scheme that has seemed to become my theme for this year's Valentine cards (see several of my posts over the past week or so). Now I just need to finish Dan's and Daci's and I'm ready to start my Valentine baking.

Close To My Heart products used: Silhouette Level 2 Paper Pack (X7090B), Silhouette Creative Basics Collection (retired), Dimensional Elements Mongrams D (Z1058), Heartfelt Stamp Set (B1297), Black Stamp Pad (Z2105), Designer Ribbon Rounds Black Collection (Z1034), Corner Rounder (Z578), 3D Foam Tape (Z1151), Round Sponge (Z697).

Click here to order from my website 24/7...especially when you're making a card for a special someone!

Also, while you're shopping, don't forget that during the month of February, when you order one of our packages of textured cardstock (Basic: X5747, Spring: X5681, Summer: X5745, Autumn: X5669, and/or Winter: X5670), you get one FREE...and even better: $2 of your the purchase price goes to help medical relief efforts in Haiti.

Super Bowl and a Recipe

We were invited to a family friend's house (Mike, Susan and their boys) for the Super Bowl. We have always done a family Super Bowl party here at our house so we were a little leary to accept and change our tradition. But, I'm glad we did. We had a "SUPER" time! You can see my post of a Super Bowl layout I did to chronicle our usual family Super Bowl traditions here.

Our three boys. It's so good to have them all back together again.
Dan and I chillin' on the couch at Mike and Susan's house
Kori and Rick enjoying the game
Easton (what a beautiful face), Dawson and little Daci
Daci having fun at the party

The house was divided between the Saints and the Colts but no matter who you were cheering for, you have to admit it was a good game. In fact, I might even venture to say that is was my favorite Super Bowl ever.

The company was great and the food was delicious: home made ribs, baked potatoes, garlic bread, corn and green salad, 7 layer Mexican dip, all kinds of munchies, chocolate dipped strawberries, homemade 'cake balls', and chocolate pies. I told you a little bit about Susan here. She has her own candy company and is a master cook and 'dipper', and one of the kindest and best hostesses around.

Here is the recipe for my 7 layer Mexican dip (it's great with tortilla chips, fritos, triscuits, wheat thins, etc.):

Karen's 7 Layer Mexican Dip:
1 can refried beans (I like the Taco Bell brand best. They are the moistest)
guacamole (see recipe below, or cheat and buy some at the store. But, it won't be as good! lol)
2 1/2 - 3 C. sour cream
2 envelopes taco seasoning mix
2-3 C. shredded cheddar cheese
2-3 roma tomatoes (I like to use romas because they are 'meatier')
1 can sliced black olives
green onions

1. Spread can of refried beans evenly on a platter or dish (I use a fun rectangle platter that I have that has kind of deep sides, but you could even use a 9" x 13" casserole dish if you want)
2. Make guacamole and spread this evenly over layout of baked beans.
3. Mix sour cream and taco seasoning together in separate bowl and then spread on top of guacamole layer (I like the sour cream/taco seasoning layer to be pretty thick. If you like it thinner, just do one envelope of seasoning and 1 1/2 c. sour cream)
4. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top
5. Chop roma tomatoes and put this on next
6. Then come the olives.
7. Last are the green onions

Refrigerate until serving. DELISH!

Karen's Guacamole* (I once had the GREATEST guacamole ever at a restaurant in San Antonio. They made it right at our table. I took good notes and this is the recipe I came up with based on that):
2 lg. ripe avacados
1 Tbs. finely chopped green onion
1/2 tea. salt
dash oregano
1 Tbs. orange juice
1 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. lime juice
few drops of red pepper sauce

*I usually double this recipe for the 7 layer dip.

Pink and Black and Babies

I LOVE pink and black together...especially for baby girls. My daughter's best friend's baby shower was yesterday. She is having a little girl. I'm so excited for you, Tricia!

My friend, Jenny makes the most darling car seat/carrier covers. She is one of my Play Groupies (see left side of my blog for Play Group information) and so we made a great trade last month: scrapbook supplies for car seat cover. I chose a pink and black one to give to Tricia and her soon-to-be-born baby girl. You can see photos of another car seat cover she made and how they work here on her blog. Too stinkin' cute! I'm not sure if she hires out, but I'll bet she does. If you are dying for a car seat cover of your own, just comment on her blog with your contact info. I'm sure she'll get back to you. Jenny, I hope it's okay if I just sent some business your way!

Now for the card...What is a girl to do? It must match, don't you think? Well, I was blog surfing Saturday morning and found a beautiful card design on my friend Laurel's blog. She was inspired by a sketch from this blog. Thanks, Laurel! So, to work I went.

The photo you see here shows the card sitting on top of the car seat cover. I love how the top of the cover is black and white and the underneath is pink. The edging is done in typical "Jenny-style"...it's a perfectly stitched line of hearts (even when scrapbooking, Jenny is all about the details around the edges). The handles sport the CUTEST pink daisies which are removable so you can wash the cover, and they even have little clips on them so you can add them to a headband and baby can wear a flower on her head (like Daci has in this photo). Scrumptious!

Close To My Heart products used on this card: Sweet Baby Stamp Set (C1359), Daydream Level 2 Paper Packet (X7108B), Black Stamp Pad (Z2105), Black Legacy Writers (4275), White Daisy Grosgrain Ribbon (Z270), Holiday Craft Buttons (Z1285), Blush Waxy Flax (Z1128), Baby Pink Safety Pin (retired), Baby Pink Cardstock (1299), Baby Pink Stamp Pad (Z2102), Basic Textured Cardstock Combo Pack (X5747...don't forget the buy one get one free special this month to benefit Haiti).

Click here to order from my website 24/7...especially if you are making a baby card for a special new mommy!

Thanksgiving Layout

Remember earlier this week, when I gave you a sneak peek at something I was working on? Well, here is the whole project. I am quite happy with how it turned out. I don't usually do a lot of hand stitching on projects, but for this one I decided to give it a whirl. Feel free to click on any image to see it larger.

The darling Close To My Heart felt pieces are sooo much fun to use, with or without stitching. They come with three 12" x 12" sheets of felt, each a different color and with different images and there are two different sets of these to choose from: Wonder (chocolate, olive and twilight) and Whimsy (buttercup, garden green and tulip). I used a few pieces from each set.

The stitching around the felt pieces is hand done with the great Embroidery Floss collections that CTMH carries. I used the Neutral Assortment here.

After stitching all of those leaves and flowers, I was DONE with hand stitching, but I really wanted the outside of my layout to have some cute stitching on it to tie it all together. So, I 'cheated'...with the versatile "Across the Board" rubons. LOVE those cross stitches that took a whole 30 seconds to apply all the way around.

Close To My Heart products used: 12" x 12" Basic Textured Cardstock Combo Pack (X5747...don't forget if you order a package of this in February, you get one FREE...and you help the medical relief efforts in Haiti at the same time!), Colonial White Cardstock (1385), Chocolate Cardstock (X5643), Jingle Level 2 Paper Pack (X7115B), Irresistibles Lots of Dots Letters (Z1261), Olive Marker (Z2337), Chocolate Stamp Pad (Z2111), Wonder HeartFelt Die Cuts (Z1210), Whimsy HeartFelt Die Cuts (Z1145), Across the Board Rubons (Z1231), Basic Craft Buttons (Z1206), Neutral Assortment Embroidery Floss (Z1096).

Click here to order from my website 24/7...especially if you are just getting around to scrapping Thanksgiving 2 1/2 months later, like me!

R and Party On!

I have finished Rick's Valentine. Now it's time to move on to the 3D's (Dan-the-Man, Dawson and Daci).

Rick's card was created using this week's Mojo Monday sketch (#124). They always have such fun sketches to inspire creativity.

Close To My Heart products used: Silhouette Level 2 Paper Pack (X7090B), Silhouette Creative Basics Paper Pack (retired), Cranberry Cardstock (1272), Black Stamp Pad (Z2105), Round Sponge (Z697), Corner Rounder (Z578), Dimensional Elements Hearts (Z1278), Dimensional Elements Simple Alphabet Lower Case (Z1048), Clear Sparkles (Z1104..colored with a red sharpie marker).

Non-CTMH products used: Marvy punches, ribbon (unknown)

Click here to order from my website 24/7..."R"-"R"-"R"eally!

Along with creating Valentines and attending ball games this week, we also did something else fun! National Letter of Intent Day (Signing Day) for next year's NCAA football scholarships was on Wednesday, February 3. Tannon chose to take the full-ride scholarship he was offered from Southern Utah University. Four boys on our school's football team signed letters of intent this week. Our school gave a big signing party for them. There was pizza for everyone and cakes decorated to represent each of the schools that the boys were signing at. It was tons of fun! Here are a few photos to prove it.

The decorations were fun. There was a large table set up with a chair for each boy. Behind them were signs celebrating them and the university they were signing with. There were matching balloons tied on their chairs.

Here is Tannon signing his Letter of Intent.

This is probably my favorite photo taken that day. It's so great to have Easton home from his mission. As many of you know, Easton also has a football scholarship at SUU. Tannon plans to go on his mission very soon after graduation so he won't be playing at SUU for 2 years, but after that the boys will both be there playing for a couple of years together. SO COOL! Easton was so proud of his little bro.
After the 4 boys signed their letters of intent, everyone crowded around to congratulate them and to get some cake!

Piece of Cake

Close To My Heart's February Stamp of the Month (Piece of Cake-D1407) is a yummy one! Along with the photos of cards made with this set that I have shown in this post, I have also included a photo of what the set looks like (actual size of the carrier sheet is 6" x 6").

There are several ways to get it:

• earn it FREE when you spend $100 or more (before shipping and tax)
• earn it for 75% off ($5.74) when you spend $75 or more (before shipping and tax)
• earn it for 50% off ($11.74) when you spend $50 or more (before shipping and tax)
• earn it for 25% off ($17.21) when you spend $25 or more (before shipping and tax)
• purchase it for full retail price ($22.95)

Don't forget the Hearts for Haiti campaign is also going right now. If you were to purchase 2 packages of our Textured Cardstock Combo Packs, you would get 2 free (that's a savings of $29.90) and would qualify for the Stamp of the Month at 25% off (another $5.74 saved) for a total of $82.75 in product value. You only pay $47.11 (before shipping and tax). WHAT A BARGAIN. On top of that, you will be helping the medical relief efforts in Haiti at the same time. EVEN BETTER. Click here to order from my website 24/7..it's a "Piece of Cake!"

T

I finished Tannon's Valentine today. 3 down (Easton, Kori and Tannon), 4 to go (Dawson, Rick, Daci and Dan-the-Man).

I used sketch #152 at CPS for my inspiration. I originally intended to stick with black, colonial white, cranberry and bamboo like I did for Kori and Easton's cards, but as I got going I just had to add a bit of moonstruck to the mix. Tannon has always marched to the beat of his own drummer, so why shouldn't his card do the same? I also finished it up with just a solid "T" and realized it was too plain for my flamboyant son...thus the polka dots.

Close To My Heart products used: Silhouette Level 2 Paper Pack (X7090B),Silhouette Creative Basics Paper Pack (retired), Stardust Level 2 Paper Pack (X7109B), Cranberry Cardstock (1272), Holiday Craft Buttons (Z1285), Bamboo Waxy Flax (Z906), Essential Brad Assortment (Z1219), "T" Dimensional Elements Mongrams (Z1074), Hearts Dimensional Elements (Z1278), 3D Foam Tape (Z1151), My Legacy Writers-Black (4275), Striped Ribbon (retired).

Non-CTMH products used: Marvy punches.

Click here to order from my website 24/7...and don't forget about Hearts for Haiti. This buy one get one free deal that ALSO helps the medical efforts in Haiti is just too good to pass up! When you buy a 12" x 12" Textured Combo Pack you'll get another one FREE...and we'll donate $2 to the medical relief efforts in Haiti in your behalf.

Hearts for Haiti

I know that YOU know that I LOVE CTMH! Close To My Heart is the BEST company and I am proud to say that I have been a consultant for over 17 years now. One of the reasons I love this wonderful company is that they give back. A portion of every stamp set that is purchased goes to Operation Smile. But that is not all. Oh no, that is not all (think Dr. Seuss)!

Right now we are running a FABULOUS campaign that benefits YOU and also the people of Haiti. Our hearts go out to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, and like so many of you, we’re eager to help. And helping has never been easier! Throughout February, purchase a 12" × 12" textured cardstock combo pack and you’ll get one free—and with every offer purchased, Close To My Heart will donate $2 US to Operation Smile’s Haiti relief efforts. That means for only $14.95 US, you get two packs of our high-quality textured cardstock and you help this urgent, important cause.

Operation Smile is always a fantastic charitable partner—offering free facial reconstruction surgeries to needy children throughout the world. They’ve currently marshaled their medical teams and resources to provide emergency relief in Haiti, and the donations given as part of Hearts for Haiti will be used exclusively for Operation Smile’s efforts in Haiti. For more information on their on-the-ground response, you can visit Operation Smile.

It's easy, peasy, lemon squeezy! Just click here to enter my website and order a pack (or TWO!). There are several to choose from (order numbers and package names to follow): Basic Collection (X5747), Spring Harmony (X5681), Summer Celebration (X5745), Autumn Harvest (X5669), Winter Cozy (X5670). Click on any of the links above to see the color combos in that particular pack, there is a drop down menu there where you can view each combo. Don't forget, for every pack purchased, you get one free...and $2 of that purchase goes to help Operation Smile's efforts in Haiti.

I'm actually working on a project right now that I chose to use our textured cardstock on. I'm not done yet so you just get a little sneak peak, but here are a few details of this 2 page layout. Feel free to click on any photo to see it larger.

Here you see the great textured cardstock we carry. The texture is deep and easy to see. You'll notice in this photo that the front side of each piece is the full strength of the color (this one is from the Basic Collection...Desert Sand) and the back side is a lighter shade of the same color. Cool! Don't mind my ink stained fingers and fingernails or the fact that I am terrible need of a manicure. lol.:
I think this project is going to be 'sew' cute!:
Gosh, I love these new Irresistibles Lots of Dots letters! As you can see here, I have chosen to color them with my exclusive inks olive marker. The dots resist the color while the rest of the letter just soaks it up beautifully. Stay tuned to see my finished project in the next day or so.

Take a Deep Breath

Have you ever wanted something really badly, but were a little bit afraid to go for it? I'm not sure the afraid portion was any part of Tannon's psyche last night, but it was mine! I took a deep breath and settled in to watch.

Last night was a biggie win! Lone Peak has only lost 3 basketball games this season (14-3), two of them in overtime, and all three against region foes. NOT GOOD! If it helps to put a little perspective on things, 5 of the 7 teams in our region are in the top 10 in the state. Our region is like the SEC of college football or the ACC of college basketball. Ugh!

But, last night we beat the #1 team in our region and the #2 team in the state; the Brighton High School Bengals. I was sooooooo excited! Tannon led all scorers with 22 points. These awesome photos of the T-Man were take by Mark Johnston of The Daily Herald. You can read the story here, and another one here.

So back to taking a deep breath. I can think of another thing I really wanted once but was a little bit afraid. I signed up with Close To My Heart just over 17 years ago. At the time I was 26 years old, just a babe (and yes, now you know how old I am getting). I REALLY wanted to enter the Mrs. Utah pageant. The entry fee was $600. We were young and our finances were not at a point that I could just take $600 (plus all of the other expenses I would have...gown, shoes, etc.) out of our family budget. I had recently attended a Close To My Heart party and thought to myself, "Self, you could do this!" I took a deep breath and signed up with the intent of earning my money for the Mrs. Utah pageant and then quitting. As you know, here I am 17 years later!

Well, I was a little afraid at those first few gatherings, but I muddled through and lo and behold, I earned $600 in my first month of teaching card making and scrapbooking!

I did go on to win the Mrs. Utah pageant and even placed 6th at Mrs. USA. That was a GREAT feeling. I enjoyed a year of promoting my platform (Community Involvement in Education), doing lots of speaking and appearances, and having the time of my life. The funny thing is that all of that is over and a fun memory in my past. Close To My Heart is the thing that endured from that adventure. I LOVE what I do! I was a little bit afraid, but I took a deep breath and did it. YOU CAN TOO!


Tomorrow (January 31) is the last day to take advantage of Close To My Heart's National Papercrafting Month (Felicity) sign up bonus. If you sign up to be a Close To My Heart Consultant before midnight (Mountain Time) on January 31, you will also get a FREE Felicity Stamp and Paper Pack as a bonus ($34.95 value...see photo).

The basic Consultant Kit is only $99 (before shipping and tax) and is full of over $350 in products. On top of all of that, you get ME! What I mean by that is that I will be your upline, I will train you and help you make a success of this Close To My Heart adventure. In addition to being able to contact me with questions any time, you will have the benefits of my weekly training emails, my quarterly team meetings, and various other activities that I offer my team throughout the year. To sign up, click here. Come on, you KNOW you want to. Just take a deep breath and take the plunge. You will not regret this awesome decision. I NEVER have!

There are two add-on kits that are available in addition to the $99 kit. I have shown all three here. (click on any photo to see it larger).

Consultant Kit ($99 plus shipping and tax..but worth over $350!):

Cardmaking Bonus Kit ($50 plus shipping and tax...but worth over $150):

Scrapbooking Bonus Kit ($60 plus shipping and tax.. but worth over $160!):