Saturday, June 30, 2012

Who's Your Princess?

I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Rylee. She is a regular attendee at my biweekly Layout Workshops and honestly one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet. She is a college student, specializing in helping children with special needs. When Rylee recently finished her second quarter in a row earning a 4.0 GPA, I thought she deserved to be recognized! So for the evening, she donned my"diamond"-studded tiara and royal sash. What fun. She was my Princess for the evening.

Is there someone you know who has just done something a little special? Accomplished something that is important to them? I suggest we look for those things and celebrate them! It doesn't have to be anything expensive, and it doesn't have to involve a "diamond" tiara. :-)

One wonderful way we can celebrate a Princess in our lives is to simply give them a handmade card. Does it have to be fancy? No. Does it have to take you an hour to create? No. It just needs to come from your heart.

Who's your Princess today?



Tuesday, June 26, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #8

Art by Jessica Ballas

The color combos here reminds us of a great technique - using neutrals with a single accent color. You can do this by starting with any type of darker neutral shade such as Black, Grey Wool or Kraft. Then bring contrast with a lighter neutral, such as Daisy, Colonial White or Vanilla Cream. For the accent color, choose a soft color like Blush, as used here . . . or experiment with a bright color like Lagoon! Especially if you're feeling color combo challenged on a given day, this technique is guaranteed to produce a winning card.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #7

Art by Tina Dupin

Borders turn into backgrounds just like that! The border image in this stamp set is generously long enough so that you can stamp it across the entire card, without having to make a seam in your stamping. Easy peasy!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #6

Art by Shannon Law

Alternating strips of "Sonoma" papers and coordinating solid cardstocks makes a pretty background for this little 3 x 6 card. This little flower bunch makes a sweet picture for anniversary, birthday, friendship . . . just about any kind of greeting!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #5

Art by Debi Gardner

How many creative techniques are used on this card? Well . . . . stamping tone-on-tone onto a square makes a darling flower pot! Using a border stamp to accent leaves adds a great touch! Layering the sentiment circle as the flower center tops the whole thing off!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #4

Art by Sandy Towell

Are you lucky enough to still have some of our retired "Dreamin'" papers in your stash? Here's a great use for it! Making a little card with the Art Philosophy cartridge makes these little bird cut-outs just the perfect vehicle for showing off this double-sided paper. Aren't the birds gorgeous with this shaded golden brown coloring? Tie it off with some of our Baker's Twine, add a little pearl and it's a done deal!

Friday, June 8, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #3

Art by Darlys Recker

A bold color like Lagoon is so striking when presented against our bright Daisy white cardstock. Our Art Philosophy cut shapes provide framing for this 3-tiered card front.

An elegant, yet simple, border finishes it off by embossing a border with a stylus. No color to compete - just texture to compliment!

Julie's Soul Sessions

Pyramid Card

This is a free-standing pyramid that makes a delightful surprise for someone special. All materials provided to make 3 different styles. Complete handout provided so you can make more at home.

Saturday, June 16 – 10am

Cost: FREE if you place a $30 product order, or simply a $10 class fee.

Register by June 12: juliespapercrafts@yahoo.com

Julie's Soul Sessions


Double Pocket Gifty

Learn to make this fun little gift item!

All materials provided to make 3 different styles. Complete handout provided so you can make more at home.

Tuesday, June 12 – 10am OR 6pm

Cost: FREE if you place a $30 product order, or simply a $10 class fee.

Register by June 10: juliespapercrafts@yahoo.com



It's VITAL for Your Health!

Female Relationships

They Teach It at Stanford

In an evening class at Stanford, the last lecture was on the mind-body connection - the relationship between stress and disease. The speaker (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said, among other things, that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends. At first everyone laughed, but he was serious. Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences.

Physically this quality “girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin - a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being. Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going. Jobs? Yes. Sports? Yes. Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf? Yes. But their feelings? Rarely.
Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters/mothers, and evidently that is very good for our health. He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged—not true. In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!

So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health! We are indeed very, very lucky. Sooooo… let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it’s very good for our health.

Want to make the most of your health?
Sign up for one of my classes today - or even the Fall Retreat!
These times spent creating with other women
TRULY nurture the soul.

Monday, June 4, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #2

Art by Cathy Stai

It's so easy to cut out this curly circle image, when you use our Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge! No more tedious hand-trimming images like this.

Cathy adds some texture to the Sonoma print paper by doing some creative pleat folding.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

My Close To My Heart Business is Now Legal Age!

Here's an email I just received . . .

Julie,

Congratulations on celebrating Year 21 as a Close To My Heart Consultant! We're happy you're part of our papercrafting family and we wish you all the best in the years to come. Happy anniversary!

Sincerely,

Close To My Heart

Friday, June 1, 2012

June Stamp of the Month Art #1


Art by Julie Reynolds

This set just makes you smile! It's full of whimsical images that offer all kinds of opportunities for happy cards.

I made this card using our Elemental Papers, along with Cranberry and Colonial White cardstocks. The inks are Cranberry and Creme Brulee. A big button from our Red Assortment and a simple little knotted Color-Ready Seam Binding bit give the card a little "punch." The eye of the bird is accented by a tiny Opaque Pearl.