Let's Make A Christmas Card

It is almost mid November.... time to get thinking about making some Christmas Cards. I typically mail out around seventy five cards each year. My Mom always had her cards written out, addressed, stamped, and  ready to be mailed the day after Thanksgiving. I have desired to do this my whole adult life, but I think I only pulled it off once in my forty-five years of marriage, but I keep dreaming and trying. Never giving up. 

I knew the first minute I first saw this stamp set that I wanted to make it appear that the Angel was placing a beautiful star on top of a Christmas Tree. My card went together quickly....until I got to coloring the Angel. I think I colored the Angel four to five times in several different shades, but nothing clicked. When my daughter came over I asked her opinion on it and she suggested a gold gown. Initially I thought the gold was too much with the two gold glittery stars and a piece of gold foil used on the strip of designer papers, but in the end I went with it. I stamped the image on card stock and then paper pieced the Angel over a white base layer using the coordinating die. 

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is a link to my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy Scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Deck The Palms

I am REALLY excited over this Christmas collection "Deck The Palms". We normally annually celebrate our wedding anniversary over Thanksgiving at Orange Beach in Alabama, but my husband was not able to get off work in November, so we are going for a few days after Christmas instead. Winter in Alabama is January and February, so I am sure it will be pretty chilly, but hoping to still roll up our pants and have a walk or two along the beach. Plus the restaurants, condos, and the beach go all out decorating for Christmas. We are not sun worshippers. We actually enjoy going for the fresh seafood. We have our delicious stand-by restaurants that we love going to, but with each visit we will try one or two new venues. This past July we were stuck in the tourist traffic.... it was awful, so we stopped and went into a Mexican restaurant that was in the parking lot. It was totally wonderful and amazing and reminded us both of our favorite restaurant that was located in Hueytown many years ago when we lived in Birmingham. We normally only eat seafood while at the beach, but we actually went twice here that week. It was delicious! Sorry for the lane swerve! 

This collection special is available from November 1st to December 31 2021. You can purchase individual beach and/or beach Christmas themed pieces within the collection. There is also an option to buy the full kit that includes both themes and all of the pieces offered in the collection. The colors are bright and beautiful. I am really enjoying our two recent paper collections using our new "color of the year" Wild Berry. I am not a pink gal, but I totally LOVE this color and even after it retires this fall, it is a keeper. This collection will be perfect for our vacation. I cannot wait to create using it. I placed my order yesterday and will be stalking my mailman for it's delivery. Listed below are TWO newly released YouTube videos showcasing this new Christmas collection and my pictures of the collection.

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. My website is cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6KHgcGzqwo

https://www.facebook.com/CloseToMyHeartOfficial/videos/892559458299017/

Day 16 Of My "31 Days of Halloween"

Today is the last day of my treat boxes for the two Littles school. As I have mentioned, they only attend school days Monday through Thursday, so I only needed sixteen days of treats. I have never done a large project like this before and I have learned a lot along the way. I think my two biggest lessons were to start making them much sooner than two weeks prior to the start date and to buy the treats/snacks first and then create a treat box accordingly to the size of your treat. I have a large bag of leftover candy that was not used . Looks like I already have my sweets for Halloween night. I had thoughts of doing a "25 Days of Christmas" also, but will have to wait and see how long it takes me to clean up the mess I made making these. 

For today's treat box I made a cute rectangle box. Inside was a granola breakfast bar. My Grands love eating these. My daughter keeps extras on hand in their car so if they have activities that delay dinner, they have something good for them to tide them over until dinner. I bought a pack of twenty-four plastic toy fangs. My plans were to take them to the donut shop and ask that they put one in the center of each glazed donut we would buy, but the school mentioned someone had already signed up to bring donuts, so instead I tied one with a bow on the outside of each box. I thought they turned out cute. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is a link for my website. Thank you! cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

 

Day 15 Of My “31 Days of Halloween “

Sadly just one more day! Day fifteen for the two Littles school treats. I am sort of glad things are winding down. My desk and floor needs a major clean up. One day I will learn how to make things easier on me.

For today’s project  I made a mini match box treat holder. Inside is a small box of raisins. It has been a challenge to find a variety of snacks that don’t have nuts in them. I have never read so many labels in order to make sure it is a safe snack. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Here is a link to my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day 14 Of My "31 Days of Halloween"

Today is day fourteen of my "31 Days of Halloween" Only two treats left to do. My craft room will be excited for me to take the time and clean things up..... my husband will too. I have multiple stamp sets, dies, papers, and projects scattered everywhere. Putting things back after I am finished with it is not my forte. 

For today's project I made a treat holder that holds a SpongeBob Krabby Pattie. All four of my Grands love these candies. Jameson likes them the best and a close second is Madison. I have never had one and I am totally okay with that. The two Littles are having a school party tomorrow and again on Thursday. I have a variety of leftover candy from my treat boxes. I think I will take it to the school and let them have it. I sure don't need to be tempted. 

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is a link for my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day 13 of my "31 Days of Halloween"

Lucky #13. This is the last four days of my Halloween treats for the two Littles at school. They do not attend school on Friday's so I only needed treats for the 16 days that they will be attending in October. Almost done for the month. I have had a lot of fun making these. I have to admit, it is much easier to make one project than it is 20, but the kids have enjoyed it. There was just one day when Jameson said he did not like one of the treats. It was the orange snowball hostess cake that had coconut on top. He said he did not like coconut, but he ate it. Lesson learned. No more treats for him with coconut. 

This little bag was quick and easy to make. I picked up a cute bag of individually wrapped coloring books with two small crayons included from Target. I love their dollar spot at the front of the store. I can always find something there. My saved measurements were not quite wide enough for this treat, but it was easy to keep the same original design, but to make modifications to fit. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is a link to my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrapbooking and card making!

Cheryl

Day 12 of my "31 Days of Halloween"

Wow.... only five days left of my "31 Days of Halloween". We have tomorrow and then Monday through Thursday of next week. October has flown by. There is now somewhat of a welcoming cooler temperature in the mornings, I have had to use my heat in the car once already in the early morning, but in the house our AC is still going 24/7.  Admittingly, it is not running as it did during our hot summer, but it is still too soon to turn it off and have a warm house. The two Littles have their Halloween costumes and cannot wait to finally be able to wear them. Jameson I think has two or three of them because he has changed his mind on what character he wanted to dress as. I think Ella was happy with whatever Disney costume that was bought for her. 

For today's treat I thought I would change things up and go with a school themed box. The box was made using my Cricut. Inside was a candy bracelet, an inked stamp, and a miniature candy bar. I went over to see the kids tonight and I noticed Ella had stamped all over both of her arms using the stamp this afternoon after school. Maybe I will stay away from inked stamps in the future.

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me. Here is a link to my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day Eleven Of My "31 Days of Halloween"

Today is my day eleven of my "31 Days of Halloween". We went to the State Fair all day on Friday and got home around 9pm. It was a great day with my girls and three of my Grands, but I was slap worn out when I got home. We had a garage sale yesterday and afterwards we watched a couple football games. The weather was perfect for a yard sale. Not too hot or chilly. It started off a little windy, but as it warmed up the wind died down. Today is day two of our garage sale, but only until 10:30 am. Then we have to get ready for Jameson's basketball game at noon. Getting up two mornings at 5:30 am in order to get an early start with the yard sale is no fun, but people get out early so we have to be ready. It is turning out to be a busy weekend!

For my project today, I am doing an apple juice treat box. My Grands all love apple juice. I wanted to do something different other than snacks. They would have been happy with bottled water, but I was not so sure their friends at school would be. I think this is the first treat that I used my Cricut to make one of my treat boxes. It was super fast for this handy machine to do all of my scoring and cutting. I also used a Sizzix die I was gifted to cut out the pumpkins. I thought the boxes turned out cute. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please contact me . Here is my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com. Have a blessed Sunday! 

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day Ten Of My "31 Days of Halloween"

Today is day ten of my "31 Days of Halloween". I originally had another treat box planned, but my friend Andrea posted a quick, easy, and cute treat that she made and I wanted to make it also. I thought it was adorable and the kids would love it. I used my ScanNCut to cut the bats. My daughter glued each one to the bottom of the brownies and then the googley eyes on the top. Cute..cute! We attended my Grands volleyball game tonight and the two Littles were there. I forgot to ask them how they liked today's treat. 

I am a Close To My Heart Consultant. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is the link to my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com  Enjoy!

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day Nine of my "31 Days of Halloween"

Close To My Heart really knocked our current September/October mini catalog out of the park with all of the numerous adorable Halloween stamps along with our Pumpkin Spice paper packet. There also are several really cute Christmas stamp sets to go along with the Christmas "Holly & Ivy" paper collection that we will be using in class this month. 

Day nine of my "31 Days of Halloween". This was the most time involved treat I have made so far. Not because the boxes were cut and assembled by hand, it was because all of the images were stamped and colored by hand. I thought they turned out really cute and worth the time it took to make them. Of course the kids will just rip the boxes open to see what is inside, but that is okay too. Jameson, my five year old Grandson loves sitting with me at the table making cards for his Mom's and friends. So if just one other child discovers they would love to do the same, it is so worth the effort. Inside each treat box is a yummy orange Hostess Snow-ball.... one of my most favorite cakes. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please contact me to let me know. Here is a link for my website.

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

 

Day Eight of my "31 Days of Halloween"

Here is my completed project for day eight of my "31 Days of Halloween". The kids only go to school Monday to Thursday each week, so for the month I will actually only need to do a total of sixteen treat boxes, so I am halfway there. I don't know how much the students and their teachers have enjoyed receiving these, but I have had lot's of fun making each project. I really thought I would make a nice dent in my collection of themed paper, but other than my solid card stock for most of the bases, I have not used as much of my patterned paper as I had anticipated. Oh well, eight more projects yet to go.

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. Here is a link for my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin & card making!

Cheryl

So many choices....

When completed, this cute little box will be my day eight in my Halloween treat series, but I am undecided on how to decorate them. I know I will be adding a small pack of Oreo's to the inside. Am I the only one that is not a fan of eating Oreo’s? My husband loves them. I have tons of Halloween stamps and dies in my stash. I am leaving shortly for Madison's volleyball game, so no time to sort thru my stamps. It will have to wait until I get home tonight. I think I will mix in a few school themed treats over the next week also..... just in case there is a family that does not celebrate Halloween. These will be finished tonight and posted in the morning. See you then! 

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please me and let me know. Here is my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day Seven of my "31 Days of Halloween"

Today is day seven of my "31 Days of Halloween". For my day six I bought some cute Halloween snack bags from the Dollar Tree and filled them each with a packet of hand sanitizer, chips, and a toy. I totally forgot to take a pic of the bag. I will have to ask the girls at the end of the week what the kids at school are thinking about these treats. I remember being tickled in second grade receiving one stick of gum in my final report card from my teacher. It was a huge deal for me. Hoping the kids enjoy receiving them. Honestly I will probably have more fun making them and excitement thinking about them receiving them than the kids actually will. 

For my treat today I made a cute Monster treat box from a video I found on YouTube. I ordered the Rice Krispies "Trick or Treat" mini squares from my local Walmart online. They were around $9.00 for a box of sixty. Three fit in each box. The cost per child was around $.45 each. Sadly, I am sure the belly bands will get torn off by the kids. Wishing I had used velcro clasps on them instead. Oh well.... I will remember this when I make other treat boxes. I used our Close To My Heart retired Jeepers Creepers collection of papers, stamps, and coordinating dies. I am trying to use as much of my retired paper collections as I can. I am loving these projects to help me with this. Enjoy! 

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you please contact me. Here is a link for my website. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy Scrappin!

Cheryl

We Love You Fall

It was 59 degrees this morning here in Fort Worth. When I left the house on an errand, I almost turned around to get a sweater. Fall is my most favorite time of the year. I love fall decorating with scarecrows and pumpkins, watching college football, and wearing long sleeves. 

When I saw several of the new fall stamp sets in our current September/October mini catalog, I could not wait to get creative and make a few cards. For my card today, I used our September "Grateful For This Life" Stamp of the Month, our "We Love Fall" stamp set, and the "Pumpkin Spice Scrapbooking Stamp & Thin Cuts". I layered these stamps and dies on a nectarine plaid paper found in our "Boo Crew" paper packet. Wednesday was the first day of Fall and I thought this card was perfect for this week. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me. 

cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy Scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

A 2013 Card Challenge

I made this cute card to participate in someone's card challenge back in 2013. The only way I can remember it was a card challenge was because it came up in my Facebook Memories online today. This is an old, retired Close To My Heart stamp. It is another one that if you are fortunate to have in your stash, it is a keeper. I had made a note at the time back then on why I made the card. This shows how important journaling is. I am a huge journalist. I believe journaling sometimes is more important than a picture. I do not remember who's challenge it was. Maybe it was a local challenge here in Fort Worth since I was living here back then or if it was an online challenge. Either way, this was my first attempt at sponging a background image and I totally loved and enjoyed doing it. I have made a few cards using this inking method  over the years. I need to do more. It is very relaxing and fun to do. Sponging a background has a big impact on a card. Someone may think it is difficult or too much trouble, but it is a very simple and easy technique that has a huge "wow" impact on a card. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker/Consultant. If I can be of service to you or if you would like to attend my local monthly card classes in Fort Worth, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy scrappin and card making!

Cheryl

Day Five of my "31 Days Of Halloween"

Today is day five for my treats I am making for my two Grands.  Each day in October they will both take a small treat to pass out among their classmates at school. I have been wanting to attempt something like this since May when the two Littles got out of school. There are so many wonderful crafty ideas found online, it makes my job easy. I am almost certain I will do this again in December for Christmas. I have had lot's of fun making these. It's a good thing I have lot's of stamps to play with. Crafting for almost twenty five years I have one or two in my collection! 

When I shopped at Sam's for a variety of snacks for my treat boxes a few weeks ago, the shelves were full. I went back last week and there was only a small selection to choose from. I know they will restock, but I sure wanted to make sure I had what I needed for class. 

Today's treat holds the cutest little bag of Mini Cheese Balls. The large box has a mixture of thirty-two little purple and orange Halloween bags of chips. Perfect for what I was needing for today's project. I forgot to save the receipt, but I believe the cost was around $8.00, so my cost was around $.25 per bag. Not bad at all. Enjoy!

I am a Close To My Heart Maker. If I can be of service to you, please don't hesitate to contact me.          cherylarbo.closetomyheart.com

Happy Scrappin!

Cheryl

Cats and Bats Card

I was looking at my Facebook Memories tonight and this cute card I created back in 2017 came up. I loved using our Cats and Bats collection of papers, stamps, and dies. 

Happy Scrappin! 

Cheryl