Happy New Year...Close To My Heart Style

What better way to celebrate the New Year than with a brand new Close To My Heart Idea Book!  I can not wait to share all the wonderful new products and ideas from the new Spring 2009 Idea Book. It goes live January 1st. Be sure to check out MyCTMH website to view it online.

If you'd like to get your hands on a hardcopy, you can stop by my 'Beat the Winter Blues' Crop & Idea Book Celebration on Saturday to pick yours up or send me an email at pamela@myctmh.com to request a copy today (shipping charges may apply).

Here's a little something to peak your interest until then...

Ask me how today!

Also, January is National Papercrafting Month! Check out all the fun HERE. Find out how you can get the Key to My Heart kit which includes twelve 12" × 12" B&T Duos™ paper and ten 12" × 12" coordinating cardstock in the new colors of Crème Brulee, Tulip, Sorbet, and Juniper as well as a coordinating E-size Key to My Heart stamp set at a discount or even FREE!

Be sure to subscribe to my blog for email updates. I'll be sharing some fabulous new artwork that a few of my Stampers from the Heart team members created for our team swap. You don't want to miss it.

Until then...Happy New Year and God Bless! Pamela

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

May your heart be lifted in praise this Christmas
for the wonderful gift of Jesus
and the joy He brings to our lives.
Have a wonderful Christmas
and a Blessed 2009!

The O'Connor Family

Candy Covered Pretzels Gift Bag

Edited: The candy covered pretzels were so easy to make. Just melt a few bars of almond bark in the microwave, stir until smooth, dip the tops of the pretzels into the almond bark, then sprinkle with your choice of sprinkles. Tip: I let as much of the almond bark drip off the pretzel as possible before covering them with sprinkles. I also poured the sprinkles in a bowl and sprinkled them onto the pretzels by hand. Set aside onto parchment paper to dry.

Last week, my dear friend Georgia dropped by the church with a little Christmas gift for me. Inside the package was a beautiful tin angel for my Christmas tree and a little bag of candy covered pretzels. They were so yummy that I decided I would make some up for our friends and family this year as well.

I'm not much of a baker, but these were soooo easy to make! I had already bought some almond bark so all I needed to get were the pretzels and sprinkles. I had also purchased some coffee bags last month from Uline in bulk, so I knew just what to package them in.

Here is my decorated coffee bag filled with candy covered pretzels...

I didn't finish making all my Christmas cards from the packet I created for myself from the Christmas card workshop I taught in November, so I used some materials from that to decorate my coffee bag. The paper is CTMH's Evensong Creative Basics kit and I used a Dimensional Element flower for the tag. I stamped the message using the December Word Puzzle. I added a tiny sparkle to dot the 'j' and sponged the edges of the flower with New England Ivy ink and glue dotted it onto the package. (All supplies are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted)

Here's a close up view...

I hope our friends and family that receive this yummy gift will enjoy them as much as Caitlyn & I enjoyed making them.

Oh, by the way, the chili and cornbread last night was wonderful! I'll definitely have to create a cute recipe card and share that one with you soon.

Make it a great day! God bless, Pamela

Mmmmmmmm...just in time for some chili

Last night, Mike & I went to his company Christmas party at the country club. Mike recently changed jobs so this was my chance to meet some his new co-workers and their wives. It was one of the nicest company parties we've been to. His co-workers were very welcoming and the food was fantastic. Only the managers and their wives were invited so it was a very intimate setting.

When we left for the evening we received this lovely gift set from the owner and his wife.

There is a very nice stock pot in the center and it is surrounded with chili bowls. The tray is filled with a variety of chili & soup mix, cornbread mix, cocoa mix, coffee mix, a chili cookbook, casserole cookbook & much more. It was so much fun opening it up and checking out the contents.

It was a hard to decide what to cook for dinner tonight, but I finally settled on a chicken chili recipe from the chili cookbook. It's cooking at this very moment and smells incredible. Looks good too...

I'll let you know how it turns out soon. It may be fun to make up some recipe cards for it and share later. That's something I haven't created before.

Well, I'm off to make some jalapeno Indian cornbread to eat with our chili...

Here's to a wondrous CHRISTmas week to you all! Pamela

Friends Forever Decorated Notebook

This a.m. was my oldest daughter's class Christmas party and she was to bring a gift for a girl to exchange with another girl in class. With that in mind, I knew just what I needed to create.

I always have on hand a few extra spiral notebooks for just these types of occasions. I buy them at Wal-Mart for just a few dollars each.

For this notebook,  I removed the spiral binding and decorated the cover with CTMH Notebook B&T Duos & My Stickease. I also used a fun new technique I learned at the CTMH Regional Celebration in San Antonio using CTMH Ready Alphabets and wax paper. I removed the letters from the contact sheet and put them onto the wax paper and sponged Desert Sand ink over them using a sponging tool from my distressing kit. I then stamped each letter using Black ink and the December Stamp of the Month.  I added a few extra accents using Dimensional Element Fresh Shapes and ribbon.

When I got up to the school to pick my daughter up, I was excited to hear that one of her best friends received her gift.

Now I need to get busy making a few extras for gifts for Christmas.

May you have a wonderful weekend. I plan to! God Bless, Pamela

CTMH Heart of Winter 'Key to My Heart' Exclusive Kit - Limited Time Only!

CLOSE TO MY HEART IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE NATIONAL PAPERCRAFTING MONTH—a January sensation that
celebrates all the amazing things you can create with paper and a little creativity. And to make it even more fun, we’re offering
a fantastic kit that will enhance every one of your projects.

The gorgeous new Key to My Heart Level 2 paper packet features all of our luscious new exclusive colors: Tulip, Juniper, Sorbet, and Crème Brulee. The packet is accompanied by the awesome new E-size My Acrylix® Key to My Heart stamp set brimming with elegant, charming designs. It’s a great combo with a retail value of $47.90—and from December 16 through January 31 it can be yours at substantial savings, or even FREE!

What’s more, hostesses can get the kit FREE with a Home Gathering sales total of $400 or more. And if you join Close To My Heart between January 1–31, you’ll receive the kit FREE in your New Consultant Kit.

Three Great Choices:
• When you spend $130, you’ll get the Key to My Heart kit FREE
• When you spend $75, you can purchase the kit for just $20
• Buy it outright for only $47.90

Click here to view the stamp set and the six beautiful pattern papers included in this kit.

National Papercrafting Month promises something for everyone!

*Offer valid December 16, 2008-January 31, 2009. Shipping/handling and tax apply.

Shop Online 24/7 ---> HERE!

JeanetteLynton.com Blog Candy!

Received this from Close To My Heart today...

Jeanette’s Blog

We hope you all enjoyed Jeanette’s “27 Days of Thanksgiving” blogs that were posted in November. Jeanette will continue to post on her blog and currently has a wonderful new random drawing for a FREE Level 2 paper packet plus a coordinating Level 2 My Stickease® sheet, both to be hand-picked by Jeanette from the new Spring 2009 Idea Book. See her blog for more details. She will continue to have drawings, contests, and challenges, so be sure to check her blog often at JeanetteLynton.com.

Close To My Heart

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

One of the best things about being a Close To My Heart independent consultant is getting the newest idea book a month earlier than it officially goes live. The next upcoming issue will be unveiled on January 1, 2009!

Sooo, guess what was delivered to my front door this week? I have in my hands the NEW 2009 Spring Idea Book!!!

Isn't it beautiful!?!

You are going to LOVE everything in it...I promise! The new paper packets are gorgeous and all the new My Acrylix® Stamps...oh my! Not to mention all the new accessories...hee hee.

You will receive your very own copy when you register for the 'Beat the Winter Blues' 2009 Close To My Heart Spring Idea Book Celebration/Crop which is scheduled for Saturday, January 3, 2009.

Just click on the picture above to open up the flyer, complete the registration form, and mail your payment to the address provided by the deadline, December 31, 2008.

Can't make it? Email me at pamela@myctmh.com to request your copy by mail for only $3 (covers the cost of shipping) and I'll be happy to ship one out to you on January 2, 2009.

Thanks for stopping by...I'm going to check out my new idea book. :O) Can't wait til my new product order arrives!

God bless, Pamela