Sparkle & Shine Kids Thank You Note

My grandmother taught me to write thank you notes. She had oodles of nieces and nephews and would send them each $10 for their birthdays. She recognized that it wasn't a huge amount, but it did show them that they were thought of by her on their special day. Well, she really thought of you on your special day if you didn't write a thank you note...in that she wouldn't send you a check the next year. I remember her wondering if they received the gift or not or impressing upon me the importance of a simple thank you.

I'm teaching my sons that important lesson from my Grammy Kogle. I admit that sometimes it takes us a few weeks to get out our thank yous, but we always send them.  Here is the card I made for my boys to send:

Since they're only nine and seven, they still need lines to write their notes. This flip open card is perfect because I was able to adhere two index cards to the inside, one from each boy. I'm so sad I forgot to get a photo with their actual notes (Dear Ant Melissa...precious!).

Thanks to my wonderful CTMH Director, Fancy Melissa, for the inspiration for this card. She gave me this sweet tag on a Christmas gift:

To make this card, I used my CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge and my favorite CTMH supplies:

• The card base is Sparkle & Shine bulk, Auto Fill for the size, Card <b>
• The White shape is 2 3/4" Card <Halloween>
• The stamp is from Wintry Wishes, C1560
• I stamped the penguin in Archival Black Ink Pad, Z888
• To color in the stamp, I used CTMH's Exclusive Inks Markers in Slate (Light) Z2431, Ruby Z2429 and Juniper (Light) Z2403

Countdown to Christmas Blocks

"How many days until Christmas, Mom?" If you hear that a lot during the month of December, have I got a solution for you! Countdown to Christmas Blocks using the CTMH Sparkle & Shine paper, a little bling and the My Creations Block (retiring...get them while they last!) and your kids can answer the question themselves!

I simply distressed the edges with Slate ink, covered each side of the blocks with a piece of 3x3 Sparkle & Shine Paper and embellished using Washi Tape, Sparkles, Shimmer Trim and various stamping. It was really quite simple and adds such a nice homemade touch to my Christmas decor! 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holiday Guide Blog Hop

Welcome to the Holiday Guide Blog Hop! Here, you'll be taken on a holiday journey through Close To My Heart's Winter 2013 Holidays from the Heart Gift Guide.  If you get lost along the way, you'll find a full list of consultants participating in this blog hop on Melinda Everitt's blog, If You Bling It.

Thanks for coming from Maria Myers' Stamp Momma's blog.

I'm in the midst of planning and teaching several kids' classes right now. They are just loving washi tape (okay, so am I), so I decided to use the new Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape 3-Pack (Z1907) and simply cover ornaments cut out from my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge (Z1686) in various sizes. Then, I stamped images from the My Acrlyix Santa Clause Stamp Set (C1567) and popped them up with a bit of 3-D Foam Tape. This is an easy project that my youngest crafters can do as there's no right or wrong way to add washi tape!

Since my Christmas tree isn't up yet, I decided to showcase my ornaments on the Designed Decor Black Frame (Z1880) and attached them using the ruby mini painted clothes pins from the Mini-Medley Accents Ruby Collection (Z1861).

If you don't have your own copy of the Holiday Guide, contact your local consultant, request a FREE one from me here or visit my Close To My Heart website to view it online.

Now, it's time to head to Karen Fullam's Enriching Memories blog to see what amazing artwork she's created for you!