A Day of Discovery

So I had a pleasantly creative day today and I created this great card. The pattern is an original design by Jeannette Lynton... she posted the directions on her blog. So how cute is this 6 x 3 card! I used Discovery paper (it's not super current but I just love it!). I'm wondering who I should send this card too... who will be the lucky one... oh and what will the insert say?



Mischievous Flamingo ~ Cathy ;)

October Training and Events

October is upon us oh how quickly the summer went! Florida weather is absolutely beautiful. After a summer of watching the Doppler for upcoming storms... this is just such a wonderful reprieve. The sky is a deep blue and generally there is not a cloud in the sky.

I have been working diligently at the October schedule and I finally have my workshop schedule and ideas all worked out. I though I would share some pictures this morning of my upcoming workshops. It's going to be an absolutely fabulous month! You can check out my event schedule on my website to get some full details.

Flamingo Smiles ~ Cathy

Happy Hour

Last night was my "Happy Hour Flamingo Style". Happy Hour was designed to make scrapbooking and paper crafting accessible to the busy "on the go" woman. I had 8 at my table to make our little tag book. Ity bity pieces to create this fabulous Tag Book. I'm so excited... they all turned out Great!

Flamingo Cheers ~ Cathy

Pleasantly Creative With September Stamp of the Month...

I was feeling quite creative today and I still hadn't created anything with the September Stamp of the Month.... oh I could hear it calling my name! It looked just way to clean, so I had to pull out some stamp pads and start creating. I had a favorite card nearby... it was from my son Justin on Mothers' day. It's the one on the left. If anyone has an 18 year old son knows how special this card is... they are not always very thoughtful. This card was beautiful and he spent $4.00 for this card! I should teach that boy to stamp!

Well I created this look-a-like for just pennies today with a free September stamp of the month (Treasure Life). Just ask me how to do that and I can show you how the get the stamp set for free!

Frugal Flamingo ~ Cathy

Moving those all important French Fry Bags....

I do have a funny story to share this morning. A few months ago we moved back to Florida from Michigan. Now, if any of you have ever moved before, what an ordeal that is! By the time you're done packing you're just about ready to throw everything away! You're exhausted, crabby and you just want to get the heck out of there.

Well, as my honey was loading the truck, there was a small box ready to go on the truck and it was labelled french fry bags... needless to say my honey said "what on earth is this!" I don't think he posed it quite that nicely but you get the drift. I told him it was my box of french fry bags that I use for my Close To My Heart business. For those of you that don't know... they are plain white and I usually random stamp the bag. They are ready to use as little bags for candy or in today's case I stamped them with Cottage Floral and my guests can eat some popcorn out of them... so how cool is that!

So the moral of the story is "The next time you're packing and getting ready for a move... don't forget to pack the french fry bags 'cuz you never know when you'll need 'em!"

Flamingo laughter~ Cathy

Open House!

Well it's the morning after my open house and how great is Close To My Heart! Our Fall/Winter Idea Book/Catalog rocks and how fun it is to meet new people. This was my first event since I moved back to Florida and it's always a little nerve wrecking no matter how long you've been doing this. But I met some new people and got re-acquainted with some former friends. I have girls coming to my workshops and the excitement is on! Woohoo! I'll have Citrus County Scrappin' Flamingo Style in no time!

I do have to say... no matter where you go.... no matter where you are in this world... the Close To My Heart Mission Statement rings true:

"We show you how to celebrate relationships through the art of scrapbooking and stamping. Faster. Simpler. Easier."

Doin' the Flamingo Happy Dance ~ Cathy

Art and Soul is here!

I am just so excited! A brand new Scrapbooking show that you can view on my Close To My Heart Website!

On Tuesday September 16th, a show called Art and Soul aired and you can watch Jeanette Lynton and her craft team demonstrate a great project. A new project airs every other Tuesday. The episode takes about 15 minutes to view. You can watch this episode anytime and it is filled with great tips, techniques and ideas. They also have step by step instruction on how to make this project! Oh and I saved the best for last.... you can buy all the items to make the project at a 20% discount.... oh I'm doing a Flamingo Dance!

In this first fun episode, you’ll learn to make this fabulous keepsake Memory Keeper, that holds your favorite 3-D treasures. Plus, get the inside scoop on unique mini books made from cards, fun ideas for capturing sound, and much, much more!

Just click here now to view this Fabulous First Episode!

Flamingo Smiles ~ Cathy

PS Let me know what you think after you view it by posting a comment.

Slide Show of Navarre Crop

Navarre Crop By The Sea

Oh what a wonderful weekend I had. I spent the weekend with my dear friend Tina. We laughed, we talked, and we cropped. Tina had a wonderful Close To My Heart Crop scheduled for Saturday, September 13th. It was held at the Navarre Conference Center. 50 ladies attended and they cropped till they dropped from 9am - 11pm. I compleded 6 perfect day scrapbook pages, one mickey album, and 10 Just Because cards... woohoo what a productive and fun day! You can view my slideshow above.


~Flamingo smiles ~ Cathy

Woohoo! Look what I accomplished....

Just thought I would share one of my most recent successes.

It's the Bachelor's of Close To My Heart Business. I'm so thrilled to have it all completed.

Well it's now on to my Masters!

One Studious Flamingo ~ Cathy

Discovey Tag Book

Well I had a very creative day... I made the Tag Book, seen below, for my next "Happy Hour Flamingo Style". "What is Happy Hour?", you ask. Well, Happy Hour was designed to make scrapbooking and paper crafting accessible to the busy "on the go" woman. If you have an hour to spare you can come and create this fabulous little project. If you need to just swing by to grab and go, this kit comes with step by step instructions that will be easy to follow anywhere you may be.

Come and make this quick tag book all in under an hour on Tuesday, September 23 at 7pm at my house, the Flamingo Hut.
Cost is $5.00

Flamingo Smiles ~ Cathy

Discovery Tag Book

Close To My Heart "Happies"

Good Sunday Morning to one and all!

Well I am just so excited... I made these "happies" for my customers. I will share them at my open house. They are bookmarks!

What is a "Happy" you ask? It's a little something that you get that makes you smile and makes you happy. It's given with heart and made by Close To My Heart. That's it in a nutshell. They turned out so cute and they are only 6 cents a piece! So go and get out your stamp sets girls and make some "Happies" to share.

Happy Flamingo ~ Cathy