I have another passion besides scrapbooking and stamping and that is books! I have always loved books and need to give proper credit to my parents for sharing their love of reading, most especially to my dad. He came to this country not knowing english, and fell in love with the language. I always saw him reading something, whether it be a newspaper, magazine, or a book. During the summer, he would take my sister and I to the local library and we were allowed to wander freely, while he did... Read Full Story

  If you're a fan of stamps, now is the time to  grab some My Acrylix® decorative stamp sets! From November  3–30, 2009, when you purchase any two stamp sets (sizes A, B,  C, D, and/or E only) at full retail price you will receive a third  stamp set of your choice FREE (of equal or lesser value)—a  savings of up to $22.95 US /$28.50 CAN! Choose from any stamp  set offered in any 2009 Idea Book or the current Product Review.    &... Read Full Story

All this week I have been on and off the computer world and working on several projects that are coming up for November/December. I really should be working on the month of December, but I'm so behind. So, if you are wondering what happened to my newsletter, hang in there. I have the November news coming to your email box soon. I also have been working around boxes and boxes of stuff I need to get rid of. I'm sort of living in studio clutter right now, and reorganizing everything. The... Read Full Story

 Quick Disclaimer: Please do not "scraplift" my work, submit it to publication and call it your own. If you feel inspired by my artwork and would like to share it with your friends, please let them know about me and where you found my artwork. Thank you so much for your courtesy and I hope you enjoy! I just created this business card holder using Close To My Heart's Grace Level 2 paper packet. I love the rich color combination, especially fitting with the Fall... Read Full Story

I am very sad to hear that my local zoo in Gulf Breeze, Florida is in need of funding. Funding that will help run the zoo and take care of the animals. The city denied assistance of $125,000 which would have been matched by another city. These are times when I wish I was Oprah and had unlimited and ultimate money power to stop something like this from happening. Even if it were a theatre unit or museum, I know I would be lending my support in some way. I truly feel that cultural understanding... Read Full Story

I love to learn new things and one of my current favorite is learning new words. It's kind of ironic that I would pick up on this type of interest. When I was in high school, we had our weekly wordly wise vocabulary lists that we had to learn from. They were mostly words featured in your standard SAT and ACT exams. I dreaded them! We had to make flashcards, write complete sentences using the words, as well as take our weekly exams. Now, fast forward to 2009, and I actually have Mer... Read Full Story

My October Class is coming up real soon and I'm excited that we will be creating this Christmas Box! I use mine to hold treasured handmade cards and other treasures that my friends have given to me. But there are many other uses for this. I absolutely love anything handmade, don't you? It means that someone has taken time out of their busy schedule to create something for you! That means a lot, especially in today's society. It's still not too late to sign up for... Read Full Story

Here's a neat idea. Use Close To My Heart 's Liquid Glass on your stamped image and layer with glitter. I used the Holiday Trinkets stamp set for my ornaments and the new Jingle paper packet. The original CTMH artwork on page 8 of the current Fall catalog inspired me to create an altered Christmas memory box. The ornament strings were hand drawn and all embellishments are from Close To My Heart. The glitter stack is discontinued, but I hope Close To My Heart will bring something... Read Full Story

Having some form of goals in our life helps us to better ourselves. Goals that help us to accomplish even daily tasks, monthly, or even yearly. All goals can be efficient. Right now I am going through and refining some of them. I have so many. I used to have a goal bucket where I would write down on slips of paper some of the goals I wanted to accomplish. Then, I would place it into the bucket and each month I would pull a slip of paper out. Of course my bucket was decorated, but did I ever ... Read Full Story

Sharing: Close To My Heart has a special cardmaking kit that they are offering this month only. I know several of you may be interested in knowing what is actually in the cardmaking kit, so I thought I would make a quick video on the kit contents. This special ends September 30, 2009.  You can get your kit free by making a minimum purchase of $60 in Close To My Heart stamps, by hosting a Close To My Heart home gathering, or by signing up as a Close To My Heart consultant.  Visit... Read Full Story