Category Archives: CTMH

15 years of Close to my Heart goodness!

Man Card Monday ~ We’re Related?

Today’s card is super fun and a little spunky! Plus it’s super easy to do!

There are just a few pieces for this card, so it goes together SUPER fast! And when you use the cutting guide below, it makes it even faster!

Make sure to watch the video to see how fast it comes together!

The paper sizes are as follows:
Yellow Stripes: 4 x 5 1/4 & 1/2 x 5 1/4
Pewter: ~ 4 x 3
Canary: ~ 4 x 3

The items used for this card are:

Card Base & Envelope
Mix In Paper Pack
Pewter Cardstock
Canary Cardstock
Archival Black Ink
Liquid Glass
Shaker Window Foam & Acetate
Cricut Cartridge: You Are Here
Black & White Dots

You can find the cut file here. You will need the You Are Here Cricut cartridge to be able to cut it, so if you don’t have that, let me know, and I can hook you up!

Favorite Sketch Challenge

Howdy! It is another challenge day over at H2H! Today we are showing off our favorite sketches! I have a hard time choosing just one, so I narrowed it to two! LOL!

So, the first card that I chose was pattern 27 from the Make it from your Heart, Volume 1. It is a great, easy, but versatile pattern!

I used the April SOTM, and had fun with it! I stamped the butterfly in pewter on the white part, as well as the sentiment. I then stamped the butterfly in ballerina ink and cut it out. I also stamped the stripes on either side of the white ribbon. It just added a bit of texture and interest.

The second card uses pattern 23 from the Make it from your Heart volume two. These flowers from the SOTM are so beautiful! I stamped them in canary ink and cut them out. I stamped the cut out leaves in pewter ink, 2nd generation, and then under the flower and the thanks sentiment, I stamped the leaf image in 3rd generation pewter ink. It’s really hard to see in the photos, but adds just a bit of interest.

I popped up the top flower with foam tape, and tucked those leaves in here and there to help balance out the whole image. I love the little pop of color with the canary yellow!

Both of these cards use the Feels like Home paper pack, but they still look a bit different!

I hope you like my fun little cards! Come on over to H2H and play along and share YOUR favorite sketch!

Man Card Monday – Celebrate!

Welcome to another Man Card Monday! Today our card has NO STAMPING! What?! Yup, a card with no stamping! Check this out!

This card was fairly simple to use, but does have a fun technique!

We have a bit of shine on our card, and I think that it turned out beautifully!

Add a bit of embellishing thread, and it’s great to go!

Check out the video here:

As stated in the video, here is the Cricut Design Space File for you. You will need to have the Artistry cartridge to be able to cut this file as shown!

I hope that you enjoyed this card, and all of the cards in the series! I’ve listed below all of the supplies that I used to complete this card.

CTMH Supplies Used:

Mix In Paper Pack
Value Pack White Daisy Card Base & Envelope
Liquid Glass
Artistry Cartridge Bundle
White Daisy Cardstock
Silver Embossing Powder
Versamark Ink
Silver Embellishing Thread
Microtip Scissors
Micro Glue Dots
Large Glue Dots
Foam Tape
Piercing Tool
Heat Embossing Tool

Man Card Monday ~ Happy Wishes

Welcome to another Man Card Monday! Today’s card is a simple one, but can be used for so many different things! It would be super easy to swap out the papers for another card!

Here are the measurements for today’s card:

Black (2): 4 1/8 x 5 3/8
Heather: 4 x 5 1/4
White Daisy: 4 x 5 1/4
Striped paper: 3 1/8 x 3 7/8
Plaid paper: 2 x 3 7/8
Heather strip: 1/2 x 4
Black strip: 1/8 x 4 1/8
Scraps: White Daisy & Heather

This is a beautiful yet simple card that works for so many things!

Make sure to watch the video to see it come together!

Supplies used:

Seasons Mix In
Heather Cardstock
Black Cardstock
White Daisy Cardstock
Card Base
Flower Market Cricut Bundle
Stitched Ovals Thin Cuts
Fiskars Paper Trimmer
Micro Tip Non Stick scissors
Liquid Glass
Tombow Glue
Black Archival Ink

Man Card Monday ~ It’s Your Day!

Welcome back to another Man Card Monday! I don’t know about you, but I am loving this fun series! I do hope you are enjoying them too!

Today I have this fun card for you. I have used Ruby and Charcoal cardstock paired with a striped paper from the Feels Like Home paper pack.

Here are the dimensions for today’s card:
Ruby: 4 x 11 & 2 3/4 x 4 1/4
Charcoal: 5 3/8 x 3 7/8
Stripes: 2 5/8 x 4 1/8 & 1/2 x 4
White Daisy: 5 3/8 x 3 7/8 & 3 1/4 x 4 1/2

I got the idea from this card that I found on Pinterest. She doesn’t give her dimensions, and I hadn’t looked for them before I made the card, so I came up with some of my own.

Make sure to watch the video to find out all of the how to’s on making this card!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I look forward to seeing you again next week!

~ Michelle

If you like what you see in this post, why not;

  • Subscribe to my Youtube channel
  • Subscribe to my blog.
  • Ask me how to earn a free pre-cut kit each month, with a qualifying purchase
  • Join my CTMH Team!
  • Here is the supply list for the cards, today. They are linked directly to my shop, so if you feel the need to have some come live with you, by all means, click away!

    Feels Like Home Paper Pack
    White Daisy Cardstock
    Ruby Cardstock
    Charcoal Cardstock
    Whisper Thick Twine
    ShinHan Touch Twin Marker, Warm Grey 7
    Years of Sweetness Stamp Set
    Liquid Glass
    Tombow Tape Runner
    Black and White Dots
    Micro Tip Scissors
    Piercing Tool
    3-D Foam Tape
    Fiskars Paper Trimmer
    Needle Threader

    Thanks again for stopping by! Have a great day!

    Free Birthday Hugs!

    Hey everyone! It’s another week, which means it’s another challenge over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! This week is “By The Numbers”.

    Today I went very VERY subtle with the challenge. I saw this card on Pinterest, and thought that it would be super fun to make, of course, adding my own twist to it!

    So, I used the I Heart Us papers, because they are so fun! The striped ‘rainbow’ paper is one of my favorite in the pack! (Plus, with using it, this card will qualify to play along with The Paper Players Color Challenge PP432)

    Here you can see that I stamped the numbers as the background behind the sequins in the shaker window. I used the numbers from the March Stamp of the Month, This Happened. I lined them up on one block and stamped them with linen ink, so that it would be a super subtle background. Then I used the Simply Said alphabet to stamp the word BIRTHDAY in archival black ink, mostly centered, but not quite. (on accident, I wanted it centered, but I think it still looks ok! LOL) Then I used the “free hugs” sentiment from the Sticky Notes stamp set, to stamp above and below the BIRTHDAY in lagoon ink.

    I used the shaker window foam & acetate to create the shaker bits on this card. I know, it’s square, and you are wondering how the heck I did that, right? Well, I used the squares from the center of the foam circles to create the outline on the shaker bits, and then added the loose sequins. I attached a few of them with the micro glue dots, so that when it sits up, they don’t all fall to the bottom. I put the acetate on top, making sure that all of the corners were covered, and then just trimmed off the extra acetate, to make it be a square!

    The white ribbon adds just the right amount of texture to the card to finish it off!

    I hope that you enjoyed my card! I hope you go over and play along with the Heart 2 Heart challenge! There are some great examples over there, so it should give you a few ideas of things that you can do to add some numbers to your projects!

    Thanks for stopping by! I would love it if you leave a comment for me about my project!

    Until next time,

    Michelle

    If you like what you see in this post, why not;

  • Subscribe to my Youtube channel
  • Subscribe to my blog.
  • Ask me how to earn a free pre-cut kit each month, with a qualifying purchase
  • Join my CTMH Team!
  • Man Card Monday ~ Thanks for Sticking by me!

    Today marks the fist in a new series for me! This Man Card Monday is for those of us that love making cards, but have a hard time with the cards for the guys. Guys are hard! We want to put bling and pretty bits on the cards that we take the time to make, but the guys . . . well, they don’t generally wants the glitz and bling!

    So, each Monday, watch for a video from me that will walk you through making the cards, maybe with a little too much talking, sometimes . . . but that’s me! Some cards will be easier than others. Today’s card is a bit of a futzy one, but I LOVE how it turned out!

    Today’s card uses papers from both I Heart Us and So Much Happy. Using the Make it From Your Heart, Volume 4 book made it REALLY easy to do!

    The white dots from the Black and White Dots helps give it some ‘bling’, but still makes it ok for the guys!

    Adding the water coloring on the cacti is what took the most amount of time, well, maybe fussing cutting them took a bit more time? Anyway, those cacti took the most amount of time of the whole card, but I think they are totally worth it!


    (Don’t see this video? Click here to watch it on YouTube!)

    I hope you like the cards, and that you join me each week for Man Card Monday! I look forward to seeing you next week!

    ~Michelle

    If you like what you see in this post, why not;

  • Subscribe to my Youtube channel
  • Subscribe to my blog.
  • Ask me how to earn a free pre-cut kit each month, with a qualifying purchase
  • Join my CTMH Team!
  • Here is the supply list for the cards, today. They are linked directly to my shop, so if you feel the need to have some come live with you, by all means, click away!

    So Much Happy Paper
    I Heart Us Paper
    White Daisy Cardstock
    Pewter Cardstock
    Value Pack Card Base & Envelope
    C1751 Sticky Notes Stamp Set
    Archival Black Ink
    Black and White Dots
    Make it From Your Heart, Volume 4
    Water color Pencils
    Small Round Water Brush
    Micro Tip Scissors
    Piercing Tool
    3-D Foam Tape
    3-D Thin Foam Dots
    Fiskars Paper Trimmer

    Thanks again for stopping by! Have a great day!

    March SOTM Blog Hop – This Happened

    Welcome to the March Stamp of the month blog hop! This month’s stamp is called This Happened, and is a super fun set! It can be used for scrapbooking or even card making! This set is available for just $5 with a qualifying purchase. Today you should have arrived from Erin’s blog, but if not, that’s ok, it’s a circle, and you will come back around to her!


    This super fun card uses the I Heart Us paper bundle that is on special during March. It also uses some of the white gems from the Grey Gems that are available online, but are not in the Seasonal Expressions book.


    I added some fun doodles with the LePen Journaling pen. The sentiment was stamped with Intense Black Ink onto the canary cardstock.

    Want to get this card and 4 mini album pages free? Place an order that qualifies to get the SOTM for $5 (and get the SOTM), and I will send you a pre-cut kit that includes this card, for FREE!

    Thanks so much for stopping by! I would love it if you left a comment before you hop on over to Amy’s blog! I’m positive that she has some super cute somethings to show you with this set!

    Happy Crafting!

    ~ Michelle

    Case File: CTMH Seasonal Expressions 2019

    I’m sure that by now, you have seen the CTMH book, with all the fun products that we have, just teasing us with fun, spring papers! I know many of us are very much in the middle of winter weather, right now!

    Today, over at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge blog, we were challenged to CASE something from the book, but we were able to put our own twist onto the project. So, I thought I might have some fun with it!

    So, I decided to go with one of the cards from the I Heart Us Card workshop (which is actually called Workshops Your Way® Lucky Friendship Cardmaking Kit) I went with this for a couple of reasons. 1. I like the paper. 2. It was an easy card design 3. I wanted to show that you can use those card designs (which come with a cutting diagram!) with any other papers and/or stamps, as well!

    So, I started with the card design as shown, using the I Heart Us papers. It does call for black glitter paper, but I decided to stick with the sapphire cardstock that I used for the stripe down the middle.

    I then reached for the Sticky Notes stamp set. I stamped with some Archival Black Ink, and colored with the water color pencils and the small round water brush.

    I then decided to use the Feels Like Home paper pack (well, just two designs from the pack). Like with the first card, I decided to stick with the cardstock for the strip and the sentiment mat, in this case, Charcoal cardstock. Again, stamped with Archival Black Ink and colored with the watercolor pencils and small water brush.

    I have two secrets to put cards like this together. The first is to flip the papers over to the back side, and use bits of washi tape to hold all the pieces together. Then I will essentially be gluing just ‘one’ piece of cardstock to the front of the card base. The second is to use liquid glass to attach said ‘one piece’ to the card. This allows for some wiggle room, to make sure that it is lined up straight and has even borders all around. These two secrets help make this card design SUPER easy to put together!

    Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today! I hope that I have inspired you to case something out of the book! I would love to see what you create with this in mind!

    Remember to stop over at the H2H challenge blog to see some other fun examples, and to join in on the challenge!

    Lovely Layers – CTMH Technique Blog Hop

    Welcome to the CTMH Technique Blog Hop! This month we are all about Layers, layers, and more layers! Check out how many layers of hopping we have for you this month! Today you should have arrived from Marciava’s blog , but if not, that’s ok, it’s a big circle, and you will get back around to her!

    Isn’t this just the cutest layout? It is my favorite layout in the whole workshop that I have coming out on Monday! There are So Many Layers! But, it’s so easy to put together!

    This great title bit is combined from the cut apart page and the compliments for the Something Fierce paper pack. They are strung together with some fun Mink Twine. The banners that hang over the photo spots aren’t glued down, so that you can still get your photos in there! However, if you are putting this together with your photos already on it, you don’t have to worry about that part!

    This adorable pink dino is another part of the cut apart page. I popped him (her?) up on some foam tape to give it a bit more dimension. The sentiment is part of the compliments pack. Add a few sparkles and you are ready for all the happenings!

    This dino, like it’s dark pink companion, is part of the cut apart sheet, again, popped up on some foam tape. The little flag and hearts are all part of the compliments pack.

    This little spray of hearts and sparkles continue the line from the lower left corner, and are all part of the compliments pack. Below it you see some of the fun papers and even some of the compliment borders! Adding a few more sparkles to the whole spray of hearts finishes off this fun page!

    What do you think of this page? Like I said at the beginning, I am LOVING this page! It is just so fun and bright! Even if the dinos are pink, this page could easily be used for both boys and girls! I think the only thing that I might do differently, is maybe add some pewter sponging on the edges of all of the pieces. What do you think? Would you leave them as is, or add some ink on the edges?

    Leave me a comment below, and let me know what you think! Do you have photos that would be perfect for this layout? I would LOVE to see them! Share them with me over on my facebook page! After you leave a comment, hop on over to Haley’s blog to see what fun she has come up to!

    Thanks so much for stopping by! I really appreciate it!

    ~ Michelle