One last Travel Picture to share

Speaking of traveling around the world... we spend the last two nights of our castle tour in a small town close to Lake Constanz.

Upon arrival at the hotel my husband saw these flags flying outside the hotel. Beside the German, Austrian and Swiss flag he notice this blue one... but neee this couldn't be. Or was it?

When the owner of the hotel came out to greet us we had to ask: "Is this the Michigan flag?" ... Yes indeed it is, how do you know she asked us back.

Well, we are from Michigan.....and guess what! He son is living in Royal Oak and was supposed to come home the week after we went there. The lady told us, she just put the flag up two days earlier and her brother in law made fun of her..."Yeah, as ever someone from Michigan will stay at your hotel!"

Well....never say never! So far we met some Michigander on every trip we took in Germany :-) Small world isn't it?   

Butterfly Pop-Up Card

Isn't this a cute birthday card? I love how flat if folds to fit in a regular envelope. 

So what do you need for this beautiful butterfly dream? I used Close to My Heart cardstock in Creme Brulee (apricot), Sunset (deep orange) and Colonial White (cream white). The inks are Creme Brulee, Sunset and Chocolate.

Cardstock measurements:

4" x 11" Creme Brulee 
2 1/2" x 3 1/4" Creme Brulee

3 3/4" x 5 1/4" Sunset (you need 2 of these)
2 3/4" x 5 1/2" Sunset
1 1/2" x 3 3/4" Sunset

3 1/2"x 5" Colonial White (you need 2 of these)
2 1/4" x 3" Colonial White

You need one scrap piece of Colonial White cardstock to stamp two big and two small butterflies on it. 

Stamping:

One of the two big Colonial White pieces is randomly stamped with big and small butterflies in colors Creme Brulee and Sunset. The second piece is stamped in Chocolate with the phrase "Hugs, Kisses ..." and decorated with a few small butterfly stamps.
The small piece is stamped with the "Happy Birthday" phrase in Chocolate ink.



Scoring and folding:

The 4"x11" Creme Brulee piece is scored at 1/2", 2", 4"and 5 1/2".
Lay down the paper strip with the 4" side and the 1/2" fold facing you. Start folding the 1/2" up, then follow with the other three folds and built a small box shape. 

The 2 3/4" x 5 1/2" Sunset piece is scored at 1/2" and 2". Fold 1/2" fold and 2" fold up like an upside down L.

Lets glue everything together:

Fist adhere the big Colonial white pieces (3 1/2"x5") in the center of the Sunset pieces (3 3/4"x5 1/4").

Place the scored Creme Brulee piece in front of you like during the folding process. Take the previous glued set with the stamped butterflies in the center of the big rectangular (the top one) in front of you. 
Now place red sticky tape on the 1/2" flap and fold the remaining pieces up to built a box. Adhere sticky flap to stamped butterfly design. Your card should stand up with a box on the bottom. Sometimes you have to work the creases a bit.
Take the Sunset piece (1 1/2"x3 3/4") and adhere in the center of the box at the front of the card. Now take the up-side-down L and adhere the long part of the strip to the center of the front card box, flush with the bottom (Only place glue to half of this strip!) Fold the top to create a "second" box on top of the first one. Place sticky tape on the 1/2" flap and adhere to base.


You created "two" boxes on the front of your card.

Adhere the Creme Brulee piece (2 1/2"x3 1/4") to the center of the Sunset box upfront. Glue the "Happy Birthday" cardstock piece with foam dots in the center of the one you just adhered.

Cut out your four butterflies and decorate them with a little bit of glitter or a rhinestone. Fold wings up and place them with glue dots to the front of your card.


Fold box flat and flip card around. Now adhere the second stamped set with phrase to the back of card. Make sure the box is on the back bottom side and the phrase is readable. 

I hope you could follow this direction, but if you have questions or like to make this card in one of my classes, please feel free to contact me.

All cards, boxes and pages seen on my blog are available for purchase while supplies last. 

Stay tuned for more...

Scrapbook Garage Sale - Friday 26th & Saturday 27th

 Well, it is this time of the year again....Summer clean up in my craft room to make room for the new products coming in September.

This means a lot of items will be looking for a new home. If you always wanted to try out our Close to My Heart products, now is the best time to do so.


What will be for sale?

- CTMH stamp sets (many need a new home ;-) ). These are either retired sets or used once

- My crush books and embellishments

- Glitter papers 6"x6" and 6"x12"

- Picture My Life cards (singles 3"x4" and 4"x6")

- Many embellishments

- Page kits including 
instructions. All pre-cut and with everything included to create a pre-designed double page layout

- single double sided paper sheets... and so much more...

Like all of you know, we crafters have more items than we can use and I am no exception ;-)

- Multiple Anna Griffin dies are up for sale 
- Tons of Anna Griffin Embossing folders including matching border embossing folders in 4"x6" and 5"x7"
- Punch boards for WeR Memorie Keepers
- Brand new Watercolor Spectrum Aqua Video Tutorial CD-Rom (not opened, had two of them)
- .....and more

This Garage Scrapbook sale is part of our annual Heritage Pond Association Garage sale! So while you are up here to browse through my crafting items, you might want to look around and see if you find some other treasures to take home ;-)

I would love to welcome you at 

511 Mill Pond Dr. in Fenton, MI 

in June on Friday 26th or 

Saturday 27th from 9am-4pm.

Hope to see you!

More Travel Pictures - Part 2

The last part of our trip lead us around Lake Constanz. A beautiful lake belonging to three different countries. Yes, you can visit Germany, Austria and Switzerland in one day. 

The tower seen here and the little streets with many interesting shops is in Lindau, a town right on the lake. 

 From the German and Swiss side you can catch a look onto the "Rheinfall". This fall is most impressive in the summer time when thousands of lights illuminate the falls at night. It is called "Rhein in Flammen" ( Rhein in flames)and worth see it.

 Here a picture of a cute little town in Switzerland called "Stein am Rhein". A most impressive market place with pained houses and many cafes and restaurants along the way.

 This is an example of a typical house painting in the city..

And believe it or not, this was the eight castle we saw on this trip. Up on the hill and impressive to look at... "Schloss Hohenzollern"....

Wonderful trip and may more picture on my laptop. Guess what I will do during class summer break? 

Check out the next page designs with castles and other unique trip adventures ....

Friends are like seashells

"Friends are like seashells, You pick them up along the way"... This is a wonderful phrase and one I had to use for a card.

Close to My Heart offers this set called "Treasured Friendship" (C1594) in the current Idea Book and it includes all shells and the phrase we used on this card.

This card stared out as a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" colonial white card base.

I used the two smaller shells and our Champagne ink to stamp on the card base in a random pattern. A piece of chocolate cardstock and a piece from the "Seaside Paper Pack" (X7192B) were distress along the edges and adhered like shown in the picture. One corner of the blue paper was curled up. 

I stamped the phrase in chocolate ink onto the blue design paper before it was adhered to the card.

Three of the shells were stamped on a separate piece of colonial white cardstock (ink chocolate and cashmere).

I then cut the shells out and placed them with foam dots on the card.

A piece of twine tied around the front of the card and finished with a bow creates a nice accent.

Last but not least, let's not forget the inside of the card. One more shell was stamped on the inside and your card for a special friend is done.

Do you like to know more about our card classes, how to make the card or if you simply like to purchase this card, please contact me. I would love to hear from you.

The Flower Island on Lake Constanz

The Island Mainau is to this day in private hands of the family Bernadotte. For generations they grow and develop this island to the botanical attraction it is today.

Beside palm trees, sequoias and many other species from around the world you find local and seasonal flowers blooming all year long.

 We visited the island mid April and we were blown away how may flowers we could enjoy, beside the ones in the palm house.

Daffodils, tulips as wide as you can see.... 

 Beautiful arranged flower ornaments and displays all over the island...

 Beside your family, bring your picnic basket, yes...you can bring your own food and picnic in the parks or use one of the many picnic areas throughout the island. Dogs are welcome too....

 Many water displays and monuments can be found every step of the way.

A huge and I mean huge playground for kids can be found at the entrance and smaller versions of it within the park. Wood structures, climbing trees, slights and so much more...

 The tulips are in full bloom and any color of tulip you can think of....

The island won many awards over the years for their environmental friendly approach to built, maintain and run this island. 

The best part I notice was, entrance fee are very low, parking only 4 Euro's for the whole day, food prices in the islands restaurants very cheap and you can bring your own food ...

... and you will receive a lot in return. A fun day for the whole family and believe me, this was not the last time we visited "Insel Mainau".

Make sure to use one of the ferries that brings you to or from Constanz to the mainland. 
An awesome boat ride with the big alps and snow in the background...

How to you like this trip?

Orchid Flower Anniversary

This time we created a special anniversary card in our Card Class Workshop.

Our cards are usually regular sizes 4 1/4" x 5 1/2", but once in a while we make a nice big one. This card is made from a 5" x 7" card base.

I found this card base from DCWV in our local scrapbook store and thought it would be ideal for this project. It came already embossed with a beautiful satin-silver Moroccan design on white cardstock.

When I was looking through my Close to My Heart Cricut cartridges I found many beautiful roses, sunflowers and other botanical treasures, but all were more of a 3-D kind of flower.

I needed something more elegant and a little flatter, so what better than an orchid design I once bought from Cricut's image gallery. 

The beauty of a Cricut machine is that you can cut any size you want from any image you have. The Orchid is a three part set with two white pieces for the flower and one apricot piece for the stem. Before I adhered them together I used my bigger styluses to shape the pedals just a bit. The green leave are from our Cricut cartridges. 

The beautiful apricot lace place-mat was cut with a dies called "Claudette Oval Frame" from "Poppystamps.com". And again, my Cricut helped me to cut the perfect oval for the placement. The place-mat was adhered with foam dots and the orchid is assembled and adhered with glue dots.

 The phrase on the outside is from a Close to My Heart stamp set called "Happy To Be Friends" (C1605)...love this once because it is so versatile.

When I cut the lace place-mat I was left with a beautiful negative image that I couldn't just through away. So I thought I could use the piece as a frame for a beautiful anniversary phrase that I had... and this is how the inside of the card was decorated.

So, what do you think? Do you like the card design? I do and I love the Orchid, I think I have to make a few more projects with this wonderful flower....speaking of, I took some wonderful photos of an orchid exhibition in Germany. I think I should share a few with you....Contact me if you have questions or would like to purchase this card....

June ... Stamp of the Month

Ice Cream....who can resist this cool sweet treat? And how cute is this months "Stamp of the Month" set from Close to My Heart?

Ice Cream Dream (S1506) is the stamp of the month in June and it could be yours for only $5.00.

You can purchase this set at the regular price of $17.95 or you place an order of $50.00 from me or my website and you pay only $5.00 for the set. 

The stamps are great for making cards, but as you can see on the example on the right, it is also great for scrapbook pages. How about sweet treat bags for a birthday party or a fun summer barbecue? 

I am sure you will find many more ways to use these stamps.

...oh and don't forget to stamp and cut them out for decoration....

Do you need more ideas or do you like to know more about our awesome Close to My Heart products and how to get them for free....please contact me. I would love to hear from you...

Travel pictures you will enjoy - Part 1

Have you any idea what this monument is? Well, while we were visiting my family in Germany we took a little trip south and visited some of the beautiful castles.

What the Americans call "Cinderella Castle" is really the castle of "Neuschwanstein" near the town Fuessen. "Neuschwanstein" was built by "crazy" Ludwig, the Bavarian King, but never finished.

 Yes, you heard right, it is not finished. Although the outside is finished, the inside only offers 6 rooms completed. It was never lived in and to this day remains unfinished. On the right you see a shot form our bedroom in the hotel. Well... the satellite dish is not a great embellishment, but you can't have it all :-)

Not many people know that "crazy" Ludwig built two more castles and like this one, "Herrenchiemgau" was never finished either. We didn't visited this one, but right across from the famous "Schloss Neuschwanstein" you can see Ludwig's birth home, "Hohenschwangau" castle. A beautiful Moroccan- Maurisch inspired style. A wonderful "small" castle with a beautiful garden and even more impressive inside. A must see while you are there...

Last but not least we visited King Ludwigs only finished castle, "Schloss Linderhof". Tuck away behind hills and trees you can't even see the castle form the parking lot or entrance. A little walkway guides you around a hillside and there it is. Sadly we didn't had much sun that day and since it was April, not many of the flowers and trees were in bloom, but it was still impressive to visit. The King lived here about 6 months of the year and although it is the smallest of his creations, it is the best. 

Whenever you might visit the region, don't just stop at the "Cinderella" one, make sure to see the many other castles in the region...  

RV There Yet? Or another Birthday

Close to My Heart has this funny stamp set called "Camper Crazy" (C1578) and when I found my dies with the trees and golf flag, I thought I make a Birthday Card with it.

I used a regular card base 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" in daisy white. The dies with trees and flag was used on a piece of "New England Ivy" cardstock which is cut in 5 1/2" length. This dies is called "Golf Club Landscape" and is from "memoryboxco.com".

 I used two of the camper stamps from the set. One was stamped on a separate piece of white cardstock, colored in and cut out. To position the bigger one right into the valley I placed my dies cut on the card base first and marked the opening with a pencil. Then I stamped the camper and erased the marks. Now all that was left was to color it in.

I cut the little flower sun with a punch and added a little smile with a black marker.

 The sun was added with a glue dot to give it a little 3-D effect. Curl the edges upward with your fingers.

The clouds were stamped in blue across the sky and a few on the inside of the card. The phrase on the outside and the Happy Birthday on the inside were stamped in black ink.

I also added the green tree dies with foam dots to the card and added the little camper with another foam dot.

Last but not least, the inside was decorated with the little clouds and some black journaling pen lines.

If you like to purchase this card or any other seen on my blog, please contact me.

I also offer card making classes for you if you like to create these cards on your own. All things pre-cut for you, so give it a try. Contact me for class dates... and stay tuned for more

Constant Campaign in June - Summer Crush

During the month of June you will be able to check out Close to My Hearts great "My Crush" books.

If you haven't seen them by now, don't miss out on them. They are perfect for cropping pictures from a trip you took, some special family memories and so much more.
The book come with partial decorated (printed) pages ready for you to journaling on. 

Each book has a theme and comes with little embellishment packages made specifically for the theme in the book. If you like to have a look on one or two, let me know, since I have a few I can show you.

So here is the special for this month:

When you purchase any "My Crush" book and its accompanying assortment pictured in the annual Inspiration 2014-2015 book, you will receive the coordinating stamp set for FEE! Choose from five lovely "MY Crush" books. Every book features a hard cover with wire binding and cardstock-weight pages that are printed in eye-catching designs. Additionally, each "My Crush" book also features unique details - from glossy print, to vellum pages, to gold foil, in ink -resistant patterns. This offer is only available while supplies last and once they are gone, these books are gone for good. So don't miss out on them!

Click HERE to see he list of books and coordinating stamp sets you will get for FREE!