I cut the little purse bag at size "Fit to Page", then I assembled and cut out 3 little flowers (3 diff sizes) that were also on the Art Philosophy Cartridge. I stacked them on top of eachother and secured it with a CTMH Filigree Charm brad and adhered it with a glue dot to the corner of the bag. Super simple but yet they look pretty darn cute. I then filled it with the mini Bath & Body Works bottles (lotion, shower gel & body spray)... it made a great little goodie to give to some friends.

If you haven't ordered the Dotty for You paper pack yet... don't wait! It's only $5 with a $35 order on my CTMH site in May. It's too cute of a paper pack to pass up on so head on over to place your order, HERE!

ORDER THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION, CLICK HERE!
ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS ONLINE, CLICK HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director

To enter all you have to do is comment under the picture ON MY facebook page (not here on my blog). So first head over to my Facebook page, here and then "like" the page if you haven't already, leave a comment and for an EXTRA entry share the giveaway photo with your friends and family on your facebook page by just clicking the "Share" button under the photo. The winner will be announced this Friday, the 11th. Good luck everyone!

Don't forget also during the month of May you can get a "Gift w/ Purchase" on all orders placed with me. It's my birthday month so I wanted to share "Gifts" with you all too! =) Head over to my CTMH shopping site and place an order. Be sure to click on the "Gift w/ Purchase" gathering.

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant | Senior Director

The layout features a pregnancy photo of me (just shy of 6 months), an ultrasound pic of baby Londyn that just was taken on Monday and then a spot for a photo of her when she is 6 months. Cute idea, right? I thought so! =) It gets me ahead on my scrapbooking so I'm not having to do pregnancy layouts AND ultrasound ones AND baby stages.

{*Click photos to view larger}

As you can see I used my FAVORITE cricut cartridge ever ... the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge! If you're a regular blog follower you know that I use this cartridge from Close To My Heart for literally EVERY project I create. It is so versatile and can be used for layouts, cards, home decor and 3D items. I can't get enough of it. So anyways... I used it to create the fun banners cut in various sizes down the side in CTMH white daisy cardstock with hand drawn stitching using a CTMH smoothie marker, the hearts were cut in CTMH smoothie cardstock, the scalloped circle was cut using the Dotty for You paper pack like the rest of the layout and the pennant banner at the top was also cut with CTMH white daisy with more hand drawn stitching using CTMH smoothie marker.

I really like the fun look of the layout... I had no idea how I was going to do this layout when I started. I just grabbed the Dotty for You paper pack, started cutting the scalloped circle and the square base and the idea just kind of grew from there. =)

I used the CTMH Polka Dot Alphabet set to stamp the "6" and then CTMH Typeface to spell out "months". The gorgeous rosette ribbon is in the CTMH Designer Ribbon Pink Collection. Love it! Also used some CTMH Twine to tie some little CTMH Lagoon bows for in between the pennant banners. That is about it.. it was a fairly simple layout to create. I hope you like it. 

Be sure to visit my Facebook page this month. Each week of May I am doing a Stamp Set GIVEAWAY. All you have to do is comment below the stamp set photo on my page and you're entered. For extra entries you can "share" the photo with your friends and when your friends come to "like" my page please have them tell me you sent them so you get extra entries. This week is the adorable CTMH Look Who's... stamp set. It's very cute!!! You don't want to miss it. I'll announce the winner on Friday. To participate head on over to my FB page, here! 

Don't forget you can still get Dotty for You this month. It's only $5 with a $35 order on my CTMH site. The promo ends on May 31st. If you missed my May Special announcement that I am offering this month be sure to check it out HERE. It's a great one!

TO ORDER THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION, CLICK HERE!
TO ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCT, CLICK HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director

Today Close To My Heart released the March "Recognitions" and I wanted to take a moment to say how absolutely proud I am of my team. My Damask Divas team grew by 87 people overall in March. How awesome is that!! I personally welcomed 60 new ladies to the team, making me #1 in the company for March. Yes, you read that correct... SIXTY! Crazy, right?!? I'm still shocked and so thrilled that all these ladies chose me to be their upline and to support them on their Close To My Heart journey. The greatest part for me was so many seeing so many of my team members grow their teams.... even the newbies. They sure did pick an awesome company to be apart of... I can't say enough great things about Close To My Heart.

So are you interested in jumping on board with Close To My Heart as an Independent Consultant? I sure would love to have you on my Damask Divas team.

We recently had our quarterly "Virtual" Team Meeting which was great to connect with a large team all over the US via the web. We have a Facebook team group page that is super helpful for everyone to connect, ask questions, share stories/project photos, etc. Also I had a new website designed and developed for my team that was launched last month. I wanted a place where they could showcase all their gorgeous creations using Close To My Heart products. I realize not everyone has a blog or a way to share their projects and this gives them the ability to post up artwork on their own whenever they'd like. It's fabulous! If you haven't seen our blog be sure to visit the Damask Divas Blog, here!

A huge thanks to Close To My Heart for providing such a fabulous promotion in March and of course having the best scrapbooking & stamping products and cricut cartridge on the market.

OK... now are you ready to hear if you were the winner??? I won't keep you waiting any longer.

#40: Cheryl Kelly

Congrats Cheryl! Please contact me here with your address to claim your new Art Philosophy Cricut Collection ($99 value).

BIG thanks to everyone who entered. Check back on my blog this week to find out about my May Giveaway(s)! ;)

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant | Senior Director

SUBTOTAL of your order	Gift w/ Purchase | May Special Offer from Mandy Leahy Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director
$5 - $24.99	FREE CTMH Marker
$25 - $49.99	FREE CTMH Ink Pad
$50 - $74.99	FREE CTMH A or B-sized Stamp Set
$75 - $99.99	FREE CTMH Paper Pack
$100 - $149.99	FREE CTMH C or D-sized Stamp Set
$150+	PLEASE CONTACT ME TO PLACE ORDER OVER $150 By contacting me to place your order over $150 you will receive $25 in FREE Products, PLUS a C or D-sized Stamp Set & an Ink Pad

Remember when ordering you need to make sure to click on the "Gift w/ Purchase" Gathering. It will show on the home page of my Close To My Heart website and will also appear again at check out. Make sure to click JOIN. Once your order is placed I will get an email notification and will contact you to find out which FREE item you'd like (color, stamp, paper, etc).

The Dotty for You promotion is still going on. Place a $35 or more order and you can add it for just $5.

Check out how pretty the May Stamp of the Month is... Place a $50 or more order and you can add it for just $5.

Also I'm doing weekly GIVEAWAYS during the month of May. Check out my GIVEAWAYS page to enter to win some fabulous Close To My Heart products from ME!! =)

Are you ready to shop?!? Head over to my CTMH website, HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director

I wanted to share another "Dotty for You" project. I just can't get enough of the bright colors and fun assortment of patterns in the Dotty for You paper pack from Close To My Heart. It's only available for a limited time so make sure you get one... or more! You can get this paper pack for just $5 with a $35 order on my CTMH website, here.

For this gift box I used the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to cut the box (size: Fit to Page), then cut the fun pokey flower (Size: 4"), cut X and O, as well as the top note shape (Size: 2" & 1 3/4"). Once you have all the pieces cut out you'll want to score your box on the fold lines that are put there by the cricut machine. Next roll up your flower and secure it with some strong adhesive like Liquid Glass. If you need to know how to roll the flowers you can check out my video, here. When you attach the flower to the top of your box make sure you only adhere it to one part of the flap. That way it can still be opened. ;) For the front of the box I adhered the 2 top note shapes together and added the X and O. To make the letters pop a little more I inked up the edges with some CTMH Lagoon ink. Before you attached that piece to the box you'll want to cut a strip of CTMH Colonial White ribbon and wrap it around the box. The ends of your ribbon should meet in the front so you have clean lines around the box and your adhesive and ends don't show. Now adhere your XO piece on the front and your cute little gift box is complete and ready to fill with goodies.

For the frame I used a $1 frame from Michael's craft store. I turned over the frame and placed it on top of the Dotty for You paper I wanted to use. I traced the outside of the frame and the heart and then cut it out. To adhere it to the wood frame I used some Liquid Glass. You can see how I do that here in this video of me working on a different frame. I took the zig zag patterned paper and cut the zig zags that I wanted to go across the frame. I cut it to work with the heart on the left side. To get clean edges I used a block sanding file from the CTMH sanding kit and ran it across all edges to give it a smooth finish. I used CTMH Lagoon ink on all the edges and to stamp the banner using the April Stamp of the Month. The banner was cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection along with the stars. I made the accordion flower and then got to work adhering all the different pieces to the frame. For the FUN banner I used a CTMH Foundry Pin Clip (love those).

These frames are so fun to make and can't wait to put this one out in the kids playroom with a FUN picture of them. Thanks for checking out my project!

GIVEAWAY: Only 10 more days to enter my April Giveaway for a chance to win the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection or $99 in CTMH products. Click Here to ENTER.

Don't forget I am running a SPECIAL OFFER this month: If you spend $80 or more on my CTMH website you will get a FREE paper pack or B-sized stamp set (of your choice). Don't miss it... 10 days left to take advantage of that offer.

TO ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS, CLICK HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director

As a SPECIAL OFFER... any orders of $80 or more will get to choose a FREE PAPER PACK or FREE B SIZED STAMP SET (of your choice) from ME! Once your order is placed if it is $80 or more I will send you an email to find out which paper pack or stamp set you'd like. It will ship seperate from your order.

Check out my video below to see all the paper that comes in this trendy, fun Close To My Heart Dotty for You paper pack.

Here is a card I recently made using the Dotty for You paper pack..

{*Click photo to view larger}

This was my take on last weeks Mojo Monday card sketch. I used the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to create those adorable banners, along with the scalloped circle behind the pretty rose which was stamped using CTMH Card Word Puzzle. I stamped it with lagoon ink and colored it in with a copic marker. To see other Dotty projects I've made recently, click here!

TO ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS AND GET DOTTY, CLICK HERE!
DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY APRIL GIVEAWAY TO WIN $99 IN CTMH PRODUCTS OR THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION, CLICK HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director

{*Click photos to view larger}

I figured it would be a good idea to get ahead on my scrapbooking... so what better way then to scrap my pregnancy pics and have a place for the baby's photo in the same layout!?! I also created a layout of her 1st ultrasound pic and will add her 1st photo in once she arrives.. you can check it out here and I did the gender reveal layout to go at the beginning of her album to announce "It's a GIRL" and have a place for her photo, you can see that one here. I plan to do one every month from here on out with the pregnancy photo and place for baby photos now that I have a bump to take pics of. It would have been kinda silly taking pics of me at 1 month, 2 months and 3 months that is why I came up with those other 2 layouts. ;)

Back to the layout.... The Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge came to my rescue once again making scrapbooking so much easier. I was able to cut out the hearts, the letters and the top note shape in no time. All with just one fabulous cartridge. I then added some CTMH Opaques Licorice Adhesive Gems to each heart and along the bottom and top of my matting to jazz it up. What took the longest was coming up with the layout itself... once I knew what I wanted to do it came together fairly quickly.  

Seriously... how fabulous is this paper? This is only a couple sheets of it. There are so many fun colors and prints to mix and match in the Dotty for You paper pack. I'm so excited for this promotion to start on April 17th. Get your orders ready cause you will want it... you may even want 2 or 3 of them. ;) For every $35 you spend on my CTMH site you can add 1 for just $5 but of course if you spend $50 you also qualify to get the April Stamp of the Month for $5 too. Guess what?!? I even made a video for you to check out all the paper that you'll get. The prints and colors are awesome you have to check it out to see for yourself...

Told ya it was fabulous!!

Products Used:
Paper: Dotty for You (available April 17th), CTMH Colonial White Cardstock & CTMH Grey Wool Cardstock
Stamps: CTMH You Are... April Stamp of the Month
Ink: CTMH Grey Wool & CTMH Smoothie
Tools: CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge
Extras: CTMH Opaques Licorice Adhesive Gems

TO ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS, CLICK HERE!
TO ORDER THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION, CLICK HERE!
TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY TO WIN THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION OR $99 IN CTMH PRODUCTS, CLICK HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, Close To My Heart Independent Consultant/Senior Director

Check out my video tutorial to see how to make these paper scalloped baskets.

They are super quick & easy to make and you only need 1- 12" x 12" sheet of paper. I used the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartidge from Close To My Heart to cut 1- 9" scalloped square and then also you'll need just a 1" strip for the handle. Then just a few cuts, folds and adhering and it's done.   

Products Used:
Paper: CTMH Dotty for You (available 4/17)
Tools: CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge

TO ORDER THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION, CLICK HERE!
TO ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS, CLICK HERE!
TO ENTER MY APRIL GIVEAWAY TO WIN EITHER THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION OR $99 IN CTMH PRODUCTS FROM ME, CLICK HERE!

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy, CTMH Inependent Consultant/Senior Director

{*Click photos to view larger}

Isn't it cute? I used the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to create the fun banner which is stamped "Hope your day is Dino-Mite!". It's from the new Roar! Stamp Set from Close To My Heart, so is that fun little dinosaur that is attached to a CTMH Foundry Pin Clip. It's such a great stamp set for kids cards and scrapbook layouts because you can use it for both boys and girls cards just by switching up the colors.

The paper pack I used is called Dotty for You from CTMH. It will be available to order on my CTMH website starting April 17th. To get this set all you have to do is place an order of $35 or more and you can add the Dotty for You Paper Pack for just $5. How great is that?! It's a MUST HAVE paper pack for sure. It's so bright, springy and very trendy. Take a look here at all the papers....

Did you notice my APRIL GIVEAWAY has been posted up on my giveaways page? This month the lucky winner will get to choose either the Art Philosophy Cricut Collection OR $99 in CTMH Products (of your choice) from me! Head over to enter, HERE!

TO ORDER THE ART PHILOSOPHY CRICUT COLLECTION, CLICK HERE!
TO ORDER CLOSE TO MY HEART PRODUCTS, CLICK HERE!

Products Used:
Papers: CTMH Dotty for You (Available April 17th) & CTMH Grey Wool
Stamps: CTMH Roar!
Inks: CTMH Grey Wool
Tools: CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Collection
Extras: CTMH Foundry Pin Clips & CTMH Designer Shimmer Brads

© Copyright 2012, MyPassionForScrapbooking.com
Mandy Leahy CTMH Independent Consultant/Senior Director