Retiring How To Books...get them while you can!

All of the Close To My Heart "How To" design books will be retiring with this current Idea Book/Catalog. They will only be available WHILE SUPPLIES LAST and are selling out FAST! There will not be another printing on any of the books. Reflections and Originals are already sold out and no longer available. The remaining scrapbook layout books, Magic, Imagine and Cherish, along with the card layout book Wishes are still available, but they are literally flying off the shelf and are going quickly. GET YOUR COPY WHILE YOU CAN! These are wonderful hardbound books with step-by-step instructions, cutting diagrams, assembly instructions, tips & techniques, and accessory suggestions. There is also a thumbnail index, and photo suggestions to show you how to create beautiful scrapbook pages or make personalized cards, and select just the right color combinations for all your special projects. Some of the books even have interative page ideas with a CD so you can print out the patterns seen in the book.

You can buy your copy/copies immediately on my website www.clearlycreativepam.ctmh.com. (click on the web address for a direct link).

These are the available scrapbook How-To Books ($21.95 each):

 This is the remaining card How-To Book ($21.95):

Baby Banner

My Niece/Godchild Kyley is expecting a baby boy on March 29th. We celebrated his upcoming arrival with a shower for her this past Sunday. I was anxious to make her a banner for a shower decoration that she could also use to decorate his nursery. I used Close To My Hearts My Creation Chipboard Banner. The theme was a little challenging for me because I had to make it so that it wasn't too feminine. She has chosen crib bedding that is Black and White damask, with B&W polka dots too. She is complimenting it with some green as well. The baby will be sharing her room, so she picked crib bedding to match hers. She has also developed quite a liking for elephants in her pregnancy, so I wanted to incorporate that as well too. This project was a cinch to put together because I cut the triangle shape and scalloped background of the banner on my Cricut, using CTMH's Art Philosophy cartridge. I changed the sizing to decimals and cut it at 6.80 and it was a perfect fit, no sanding, no trimming, nothing! I cut the letters of his name using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I found the B&W paper at Michaels that matched the bedding pretty closely. Since it was so busy, I didn't want to add too many embellishments because they just wouldn't show and it would be too busy. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make some little green elephants to add here and there. The black spots on the tip of some of the triangles are some glass beads that didn't look to feminine. I used a variety of ribbons from Michaels to tie onto the rings that connects the banner. 

Here is my niece Kyley and I at the shower.

Here's a close up of the banner

The happy mom-to-be