New Catalogue!

So, have you seen it?
The new catalogue is live! There are a ton of great changes - lower prices on stamps, changes to level two paper packs which make them more user-friendly, new embellishments, and the list goes on! Be sure to check out the back pages - changes to the Stamp of the Month program make it more affordable to get your hands on these limited-time stamp sets!
I'd love to hear what your favourite new paper pack is. I am lovin' Wonderland and Dreamin'. What tops your list?
To have a look through the catalogue online, click here: http://www.closetomyheart.com/Home/Products/Online_Idea_Book.aspx

Happy scrappin'!

What's your scrapbook organizational style?

Well, my baby turned four recently. She had a fabulously fun day, and we had a small party with three other little girls that was super girlie. We painted toenails! The same weekend, I finally ordered the photos of her 3rd birthday that I wanted to scrapbook. But, I haven't yet scrapbooked her second birthday! Leaving the issue of me being hopelessly behind in my scrapbooking aside for now, it got me thinking about organizational styles. Normally, I am pretty darn anal about chronological order. I'm also anal about co-ordination, matching and nice even layouts. I'm super linear. So to scrapbook a third birthday before a second? Yikes! But in this case, I came across a paper pack (Sophia) that matched the theme and photos I knew I'd taken perfectly. I was inspired by the layout in the Sophia Workshop on The Go and all of a sudden just wanted to work on that fun layout!
I have printed a billion photos of Cassie's second birthday (we took her to the Birds of Prey Centre and everything she did was so cute I got a little camera-happy) and honestly, there are so many of them now I don't know what to do with them all! So for now, I'm skipping to her third!!
But what's your organizational style? Do you work chronologically? Seasonally? Do the fun photos or occasions first? Work on whatever you're inspired by at the moment? I'd love to hear what works for you!!

Newsprint Rub-Ons from Close To My Heart

What a Sweetheart!

Ok, so I couldn't wait! I had to dig my new Sweetheart Workshop On The Go kit out last night and do a layout. Buying this kit was a no-brainer for me because, as anyone who knows my daughter can attest to, she is all about pink and there are 3 different shades of pink in this kit! I knew I'd have a stack of photos that would co-ordinate. And maybe it's because I actually planned in advance for once in my life and knew which photos I was going to use, but using the kit was super easy!
I have to admit, I wasn't in love with the layout provided in the kit, plus it required a 6x6 photo and I was planning to use already printed 4x6 photos, so I did a different layout. However, the entire thing is still done with the papers, stamp set and embellishments that came in the kit. It had everything I needed to put together this two-page layout of Cassie's first experience jumping in puddles.
Best of all - it only used a fraction of the paper, so I still have a ton of options for further layouts! Stay tuned for more artwork featuring this kit!

Thinking of ordering the Miracle Workshop On The Go?

Well, let me inspire you! I used this super versatile paper pack to create this layout from our family trip to Fairmont in July 2009. My mom shot a bunch of pics of us in the pool, most of which were taken from a distance, making them perfect candidates to cut down. I found a layout incorporating a bunch of smaller square photos in the Imagine book and got to work. The greens, browns and blues of the paper pack go great with these pool shots, as they would with any outdoor summer fun-type photos! Enjoy!

Happy scrappin'!

February Challenge

Well, we have to give accolades to the ever-organized Daina Ully, who actually managed to scrapbook something from Christmas 2010 for January's challenge! Yaaaayyyyyy Daina! Here's a photo of her layout:

Now, on to February! Did you know that the two least used colours in scrapbooking are purple and grey? The talented Kari at Embellished Memories told me that. So, for February, let's use them! I'd like to see layouts, cards, whatever you feel like creating, in purple, grey or both!
Happy Scrappin'!

From the "Your Scrappin' Supplies are for More Than Just Your Scrapbooks" file!

Hey everyone!
I spent Sunday afternoon creating Valentines with the boys for their classes and I thought I'd share them with you! I was going for affordability, not creativity here, so I kept them really simple! I cut two sheets of cardstock into 24 2x3 inch cards, then dug out all my Valentine-ish stamps and let the boys choose what they wanted to put on theirs. They were super easy, and the boys had a great time choosing their ink colours and stamped images and even tried their hand at inking the edges! At about 46 cents a sheet, 48 Valentines cost me less than $2. Enjoy, and I hope this inspires you to dig your stuff out!
Happy Scrappin'!