My biggest excitement upon arriving at the Brisbane Papercraft Show was to find that my most favourite company of all time has finally arrived in Australia and is ready to launch their Australian website next month!! The company I am referring to is called Close To My Heart and if you have never seen their products, then you will be in for a treat once it is up and running.
I first discovered Close To My Heart (CTMH) when it was originally called D.O.T.S. (Dozens of Terrific Stamps). They had the cutest stamps ever and were one of the first companies to have beautifully colour co-ordinated inks and papers. This was around 20 years ago mind you, back before scrapbooking had really emerged as a craft here in Australia and stamping was only in it's early days as far as being able to source stamp supplies here too. Their products were so much nicer than what was available at the time anywhere else.
On one of my trips to the USA I purchased heaps of D.O.T.S. supplies to bring back home with me to use. I still have all my original wood mounted stamps aznd won't part with them because I still love the designs. I must admit I do prefer to use the clear acrylic type of stamps everyone has these days and I'm so glad CTMH has these too. I remember being so excited to be able to colour co-ordinate all the papers and inks. How far we have come - now we can co-ordinate everything and can't even imagine not being able to do so. Those of you who are long time crafters will know what I mean though.
Close To My Heart had a nice big stall set up at the Papercraft Show and had tables with supplies where customers could make up a little card to try out their products for free. This little card below is the one which I made. They also had a limited supply of items for sale, just a sampling from their great range. I loved the style of the new ink pads and the unique way they swivel to open, the inks are stored upside down. Of course I loved the colours too - they have over 60 of them!!!
Keep a watch out for CTMH online in July. Their prices are good and the shipping costs are going to be very low.
In the afternoon we booked in to do a class with Close To My Heart. Their classes were the most reasonably priced of all, which I totally loved - especially considering I was paying for 3 of us to do it! At only $5 each, it was amazing value for money - to the point where I know the materials we used definitely cost more than we paid. Here is what we made.
This cute little wooden banner was so simple to do and such an enjoyable project to work on. Everything came in a kit form, so we really only assembled it and added distressing etc.
We also made a very cute card which had a centre piece which popped out, perfect to hold M&M's as a filling (or whatever else you chose to put in). The inside is really pretty and co-ordinates with the front. The flower design on the front is a board design and inside is a more detailed sticker design. These are specifically designed to fit this type of card perfectly. The cards are just made on plain brown card - if I was doing it at home I probably would have added a bit more colour as they look a little plain for my tastes. Still, I think they are such a great card - a wonderful idea for birthday cards.
This birdcage card is one which my daughter made up during a Kaszazz workshop at the show. It is so pretty, done on a glossy card. She had fun learning some new techniques and enjoyed the opportunity to use some beautiful stamps.
So all up it was a very fun day, we did quite a number of workshops and enjoyed a little shopping too. A perfect winter day!!!
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