Picture My Life

I am lucky enough to be a part of an AMAZING group of scrapbookers.  They are a crafty, supportive and collaborative group of women that it has been my absolute pleasure to get to know.  Getting together with them is my one release from the demands of my home life and I cling to it like a shipwrecked victim to a life raft.  We get together 6 times a year and put on the BEST crop in the Memphis area.  Seriously.  If you live here, ever visit the area, or just want to come in and join in the fun, click here to check us out and sign up.  

We use the gymnasium of one of our local churches and we are always blessed when a representative of the church wants to share with us before we start our day-long event.  (Not being overly religious, I usually use this time to commune quietly with my own higher power.)  But at the last crop, we had an elder of the church grace us with his wise words.  He credited us with being the "Memory Keepers" of our prospective families.  (As his wife is a member of our scrapbooking family, he feeds her addiction and happily understands the release for her and the benefits of her passion to their family.)  That one phrase - memory keepers - struck home for me.  That's what scrapbooking is all about.  Keeping the loving memories of my sons' childhoods alive.  And I am an avid picture taker.  Especially now that my camera is so conveniently attached to my phone - and I carry my phone with me everywhere.  My boys see that phone come out and they assume their respective positions, lol.  My now-teenager hides his face or runs and my toddler smiles his biggest smile.  My teenager used to smile big for the camera, so I know one day my toddler will also be hiding his face.  Right now the baby is either sleeping or screaming.  But he'll learn.

Picture My Life is the PERFECT scrapbooking tool for beginning memory keepers, and it fits that it's the current Constant Campaign!

The Picture My Life programs are PERFECT for the beginning Memory Keeper.  The "programs" come with pre-designed cardstock cards that you just slide into the page protectors next to your photos and Voila! In ten seconds, you have fully designed scrapbooking pages that were as easy to assemble, as the pictures you took to put in them!

Picture My Life has 13 different programs to choose from - both current AND retired paper packs.  Each program comes with 122 cards, a cover sheet and 10 page protectors.  Then on top of that, you can get another 10 pack of page protectors for only $3!!  And the cards are ADORABLE!  And fully designed.  And double sided.  And they already have sentiments on them.  Or they have journaling spots where you can write your own sentiments.  And they make beginning scrapbooking a breeze.

And I've come to learn how important scrapbooking is.  It's not just something I do to decompress (although, that IS one of the reasons I do it - in addition to my joy of crafting, the loving fellowship of like-minded women, and the love I get to spread to my friends and family through my hand-crafted cards and paper gifts).  It's also keeping the loving memories of my children's lives alive.  And the memories are very loving.  It's the greatest gift I can give them.

National Scrapbooking Month

My creative time is exceptionally precious these days.  I have two months to go in my final pregnancy (which makes me a little sad to admit) and I have a very active two-year-old who wants to "help" me when I sit down to create.

Today is a gorgeous day outside.  It's sunny and cool with a slight breeze - the perfect day for an 8 month pregnant lady to spend outside without getting too over-heated.  So I decided to spend the morning running his little tail ragged outside so he would take a good nap and I could get some creative time in.  Well I did such a good job, I got to make this card in under 30 minutes - while he was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I am SO proud of this card!!!  I love how bright and cheerful it is, I love how quickly it came together and I LOVE how it makes me smile just looking at it. 

I can't get enough of the National Scrapbooking Promo - Free To Be Me.  The B&T papers are so happy and I love that all the cardstock pieces are embossed on one side!  I love the dimension embossed papers make to the finished product.

The pattern is from Make it from the Heart #1, our new Durables Triangle Studs, and the sentiment is stamped from our Give a Lift stamp set.

See how bright these papers are???  Make sure you get yours by May 31st by placing your qualifying order of at least $50.

This is NOT an April Fool's Joke!

Do you LOVE CTMH product?  (I do!)

Do you LOVE getting FREE CTMH product?  (The only thing better than CTMH product is FREE CTMH product!)

Are you a Cricut fanatic?  (Like me and most of the scrappers I know are.)

Close To My Heart is GIVING AWAY a FREE Cricut Collection to EVERY NEW CONSULTANT who signs up during the month of April!!!

You don't have to blink.  Or rub your eyes.  You read that right!  F.  R.  E.  E..  FREE!!

These collections retail for $99 each with a total value of $125.  So automatically you're saving over $100.

If you've never seen our collections, these are the three you can choose from:

First up, we have our Art Philosophy.  This is the Grande Dame that started it all.

Next up we have the Artiste Collection.

And finally, the baby sister..  The Artbooking.

As you can see, there are similarities between each collection.  They each come with three dimensional elements sheets that coordinate with both the stamps and images cut from the Cricut cartridge.  The three stamps that are included in each collection are exclusive to that collection.  Meaning they cannot be purchased outside of the collection they come with.  And each collection has a cartridge and image book containing over 700 images each!

But that's where the similarities end.  Each cartridge serves a different purpose.  The images on the Art Philosophy are geared for tags and layered embellishments.  The Artiste contains 3-D embellishments and projects (to give as gifts or display as home decor for yourself).  And the Artbooking is more for the scrapbooker who wants to take their layouts to unimaginable heights.

And then there's all the product that comes in the New Consultant kit.  

Oh, my goodness.  Look at all that!  Doesn't all that make you drool?  I know, me too.  When I see that, my mind races with all the creative projects I can do.

The kit is valued at $309.  But it retails at $99!!

So, for the month of April, every new consultant who signs up gets ALL the product above PLUS a FREE Cricut Collection of your choice. 

A combined value of $434. 

For $99!!

That's A LOT of free product. 

If you're interested, contact me here today for all the details.

You get a Free Cricut Cartridge! She gets a Free Cricut Cartridge! We all get a Free Cricut Cartridge!!

Ok, so I'm usually late to the party with my posts.  I usually log on somewhere around the middle of the month to post the current promotions and Stamp of the Month.

I don't do it on purpose.  I've got a hubby and two boys that always need something.  (And I have one on the way.  Another boy, not another hubby.)  I get busy and distracted.  My days are long and by the time I get to put my exhausted bones in bed, my lists of the next day's chores are dancing through my head instead of the much more pleasant visions of stamps and paper packs.

But when Close To My Heart announced on Saturday what the April promotion was going to be, it was TOO good to wait a month to tell everyone about it.

During the Month of April, EVERYONE who signs up as a Consultant will get the Cricut Cartridge of their choice - FOR FREE!!  (My chin really did hit the floor in shock when I read this!)

So, not only do you get ALL this AMAZING product for only $99 (valued at $309!)

 You also get your choice of one of our three Cricut Collections!  That's an ADDITIONAL $99 for FREE!  (The Cricut Collections are valued at $125 each.)  See them pictured below.

 We have the Artbooking Collection.

The Artiste Collection.

And the Art Philosophy Collection.

Each collection comes with a cartridge EXCLUSIVELY through Close To My Heart, three stamp sets that cannot be purchased outside of the collection and three dimensional elements sheets that correspond with the cartridge and stamp sets.

$434 in product for $99!!!  It's such an amazing deal, I can't believe they're doing this!

If you love paper crafting and you've been thinking about becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant, this is the promotion for you!

Click here to contact me for more information about joining my team, or click here to go ahead and order your new consultant kit today!

Unleash your creativity

Ok, so I know I've said it before.  I'm positive I'll say it again. 

I love Close To My Heart.  LOVE IT!!!!

I'd shout it from the roof of my house if I didn't think my hubby would have me committed.

But seriously.  I love that their kits are perfect for all crafters.  From the brand new beginner to the old hat scrapping pro.  If you can follow simple directions, you can complete one of the kits - no prior experience necessary.

So I've been working on the January promo for the last eh, hem...  week-ish.  I know, I'm slow.  But I've got good reasons.  Three of them actually.  One I married and the other two I created.  I'm the CEO of the house.  They don't do anything without my permission or knowledge.  That kind of responsibility means putting me on the back burner to take care of them most of the time.  Yes, it gets frustrating.  (Sometimes I scream in my head, " Just 5 minutes!  Is that too much to ask?!?"  Then I glance at their faces and realize I just said that out loud.)  But I have six more years until my oldest is out of the house.  And at the rate my kids grow, the other one won't really be too far behind him.  Then I'll have all my crafting projects to keep me busy in my old age.  And the cat.  That cantankerous animal will outlive us all.  But I digress...

Any way, so I finally got the first two cards done today.  I cut out all the paper I would need first (to make it easier), punched out and stamped all the die-cut pieces and organized them by card style (the kit makes two cards each of five designs).

You can see my attempt at organization here:

See how nice and neat the piles look?

I say attempt because that's as far as I got for about four days.  I tried to be as organized as possible, because I took over the dining table to get my creativity on.  And once I pulled all my stuff out of the closet, I wasn't putting it away until I got it all done.  The boys have been happy with this arrangement so far because we've been hunkering down in the living room to eat our meals. 

What I decided to do was make one card following their instructions completely - no derivations.  And then make the other card using various techniques I've picked up along the way.  So for this first card, I didn't want to go crazy.  I wanted to stay pretty simple.  (And in the interest of actually getting these puppies made.)  You might be able to see in the side by side shots the subtle differences.

 

As you can see from the mess in the background, my organization didn't last long at all.  My baby is learning that if he gets up on his tippy-toes and reaches really far with his finger tips, he can get at almost anything.  Everything got smooshed to the very inside of the table.

The card on the left is made according to the instruction sheet in the kit.  But for the card on the right, I inked the edges of all the papers (including the die cut and the card) in Lagoon ink.  I wanted to tie the teal shimmer tape into the card more than just some random strip of glitter running down the card.  (I'm one of those weirdos who likes everything in my card to compliment each other.)  I also popped up the "Thanks" die cut with pop dots.  (Love those little things!)

 

See, here you can see up close what the original card is supposed to look like.  I know there's a wonky line going down the middle of that one line of gold circles.  The washi tape is only so wide and to make this card work, you have to use it twice by butting it up against each other.

 

You can see in this card, I reversed the washi tape and used that wonky line in a different way.  You can also see the Lagoon inking around the edges of all the papers.  I didn't want to get too much ink on the edges, I didn't want to detract from the card itself.  I have a hard time making simple cards, so I wanted to try and keep this as close to the original as possible.  I know you can't really see the shadow showing I popped up the "Thanks", but it's there.  I wouldn't kid you.

I hope it doesn't take me a week to get the next set of cards done.  But if it does, I hope you'll come back and check them out.  And if you like this kit, please order it here.  You only have until January 31st to place your qualifying order to get this adorable kit.

Celebrate July 4th by giving to those who give so much!!

I've mentioned before that I spent most of my life as a "military service member support staff" - both as a child and a spouse.  That's fancy-speak for "military dependent".  Just like any indentured civil servant, these brave men and women do not do this for money or fame.  They don't do it because of any reason other than a bone-deep calling to do what's right.  To defend our freedoms and those in countries who have none.  To be there on the front line, taking the hit.  To run into harms' way so that others don't have to.  To leave this world a little better than they found it. 

I am awed and honored by the sacrifices made by these brave individuals around the world.  I don't take my freedom lightly and I am thrilled that Close To My Heart has found such a wonderful way to give back.

From June 1st to July 31st, $3 from each Courage Stamp set (B-sized, retails for $9.95) and $5 from each
Home of the Brave Stamp Set (D-sized, retails for $17.95) will be donated to the USO!  The USO is an incredible organization that supports our service members.  These brave men and women sacrifice so much and they deserve to know that we don't take their sacrifices for granted!

These stamp sets can be ordered here, but ONLY until July 31st! 

July Stamp of the Month

We go to farmer's markets.  While there's a wider array of veggies at the local grocery store, hubby and I prefer to give our bucks to hard-working local farmers.  The produce is fresher, grown more organically and local!  It's not covered in pesticides or preservatives to make sure it gets thousands of miles without spoiling.  Food tastes better fresh out of the dirt or off the tree.  (Baby loves peaches and learned first hand  about the differences between the canned kind and the fresh kind.  He thought it was great fun to let the warm, sticky juice dribble down his chin and arms!  He was a mess cleaning up, but he was so cute - we didn't mind at all!!)

So when I saw July's Stamp of the Month, all I could think about was our local farmer's markets! That fruit is just waiting to be colored and adorn scrapbooking pages of blond-headed babies covered in sticky peach juice. 

To add this to your own pages and projects, click here!

Home of the Free ...

... because of the Brave! 

As a former military brat, I really appreciate how much support our country has for its service members!  The challenges we faced were much different from our friends.  When my sister and I were in high school, my dad got new orders.  At the time we were stationed at Great Lakes, and his new orders were to Washington (state, not D.C.).  My sister was going into her senior year, and my folks made the really hard decision for my dad to go out there solo and leave us all behind.  As kids, we made some serious sacrifices because of their decision and it was far from easy.  But we came out stronger on the other end, and it only ended up being for a few years.  

So I was PSYCHED to find out Close To My Heart was giving back to a cause that's close to MY heart - the military!  They came up with some wonderful patriotic stamp sets to salute those brave men and women who make it possible for us all to enjoy all the exceptional freedoms we have.

From June 1st to July 31st, $3 from each Courage Stamp set (B-sized, retails for $9.95) and $5 from each
Home of the Brave Stamp Set (D-sized, retails for $17.95) will be donated to the USO!  The USO is an incredible organization that supports our service members.  These brave men and women sacrifice so much and they deserve to know that we don't take their sacrifices for granted! 

Click here to place your order today!  Hurry supplies are limited!!

It's a Banner Day!

I love the monthly campaigns that Close To My Heart comes out with!  I love getting product for free and seeing exclusively designed promotions.

Isn't this ADORABLE? 

Wanna get it for FREE??  (Who among us doesn't LOVE free product?)

Place an order in the month of June that's a minimum of $25, make sure that you have at least ONE qualifying stamp set, and you get this Mini-Banner for FREE!

The banner has 10 chipboard pennants in 4 different shapes and includes 9 jump rings for hanging.  This is a value of $5.95

Click here to place your order today!

Theresa

So Dreamy!

I cannot get over how versatile this paper pack is!.  All the gorgeous papers are so inspirational.  Of course, I'm talking about our May National Scrapbooking promotion, Dream Pop. 

These papers were created exclusively for this promotion which is ONLY available during the month of May.  Quantities are really limited.  You have to act fast and order yours today!  Click here to place your qualifying order of $35 and you can get yours for just $10. 

May's National Scrapbooking Promotion

Dream Pop!

It's our National Scrapbooking Promotion for May.  The colors are bright and cheerful.  The colors and the patterned papers were exclusively created just for this promotion.  Even the cardstock is double-sided.  One side is the high quality CTMH cardstock that you know and love.  The reverse side has a delicious embossed pattern to add depth to your paper crafting projects.

Click here to order yours today.  Quantities are limited and you do not want to miss out on this exceptional promotion!

Super Cute Dream Pop card

This is the super-simple, super-girly Mom's Day card I made with our National Scrapbooking Month Promotion, Dream Pop!  I'm pretty laid-back and low-key.  And I love how bold and colorful these papers are.  But I felt like I needed a solid neutral to ground all those happy colors, which the black did perfectly. 

Look at all these bright papers!

The cardstock is double sided.  That pattern you see in the pictures is actually embossed!  It adds great dimension to your finished project.  The reverse is plain cardstock, so you can stamp images and sentiments to your heart's content!

And look at all these colorful patterns!  The reverse have completely different patterns and designs to add more dimension and color to your projects.

This is a fantastic promotion to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month.  You get 24 sheets - 2 each of all six double-sided patterned papers AND 2 each of all six double-sided cardstock papers.  If you love paper-crafting as much as I do, you really need to get your hands on this promotion.  It's only good through the last day of May.  The papers are so high quality and it was so much fun to work with pre-embossed cardstock!

All you need to do is place a $35 qualifying order here and you can get this fantastic promotion for only $10!!

National ScrapBooking Month!

When I saw how bright and cheerful the patterns and colors for our National ScrapBooking Month promotion were, I was completely inspired to create this Milk Carton Flower Pot for Mother's Day.  I love how happy this little project turned out to be. 

Both the patterned papers and cardstock are from the Dream Pop Promotion.  The colors are so joyful, it just screamed "Celebrate Something" to me.  And since Mom's Day is right around the corner, what better to celebrate?

I used our Juniper Ink to color our Color Ready Seam Binding (if you've never done this before, it takes about a day to completely dry before you can play with it).  After I cut all the individual papers out, I edged them with the Juniper Ink, too.  I love inking edges, I think it adds dimension without the additional weight of more paper.  It's one of those techniques that allows you the versatility to determine how light or how dark you want the edges to be.  I usually start out pretty light-handed and wait for it to dry before deciding whether I want to add more.  I used Slate Ink to stamp the leaves and flowers with the Heartfelt Treasures stamp (they're on both sides of the milk carton).  Then I pulled out the bling!  I think it added just the right amount of pop and shine without being too over the top.  I used our Bitty Sparkles, our Blue/Green Sparkles Assortment and our Red/Pink/Purple Sparkles Assortment. 

I'm having so much fun playing with this paper pack!  The colors are so vivacious.

All you need to do to get this fantastic promotion is place a qualifying order of $35 here and you can order this for an additional $10!!  But place your order quickly.  Although this promotion is for the Month of May only, there are limited quantities.

Do your Dreams Pop?

May's Constant Campaign is absolutely DREAMY! 

12 double-sided Background and Textured papers.

12 double-sided cardstock sheets in colors created exclusively for this promo (regular cardstock on one side, embossed patterns on the reverse). 

The colors are AMAZING - so bright and cheerful!  Just what a lot of us need after the yucky weather we've been having.  They really inspire creative pages and projects.

Get this set for only $10 with a qualifying order of $35!

This is while supplies last so place your order here today to guarantee that you get yours before they run out.

April Giveaways!

Do you love Close To My Heart products?  Do you want to get some fantastic products for free? 

If you sign up to be a Consultant in the Month of April (NO Commitment, NO Obligations!!), you'll get over $220 in exceptional Close To My Heart product for only $49!!

You'll get all you see here:

Plus all four remaining Stamps of The Month - Free!

 This is a FANTASTIC deal that's too good to pass up!!  There is absolutely NO obligation to purchase anything further to get all this great product for free!  It's virtually unheard of to get so much stuff for free!  But we're doing it.  Remember, you have to sign up before the end of April to get all your free products. 

Click here to get started today!

Winning in April!

Do you love preserving your precious family memories by scrapbooking?  Do you love sharing your love of paper crafting by making cards and giving them to your family and friends for special occasions?  Isn't it a wonderful feeling to create useable home decor projects to display in your own home or give away as a gift?  Maybe you just want to get a great discount on all your favorite Close To My Heart products and supplies (I know, I did.  That's what hooked me into becoming a Consultant in the first place.).

Do you want to make some money sharing that love?  From April 1-31, if you sign up as a CTMH Consultant, you will get ALL FOUR REMAINING STAMPS OF THE MONTH - FREE!!!!  These are D-sized stamp sets retailing for $17.95 each.  That's a savings of $71.80!  Look at how adorable these stamp sets are...

These exclusive stamp sets can ONLY be purchased during the month they are offered.  Once that month passes, the opportunity to add them to your stash passes.  This is a unique chance to get your hands on these stamp sets before anyone else does.  If I wasn't already a Consultant, this awesome promotion would be all the enticement I needed!

You can get these stamps FREE by one of the following two ways.

#1. Sign up as a Consultant by purchasing the Essentials Kit shown below:

For $49, you get $155 worth of product and supplies to get your business up and running.

#2. Sign up as a Consultant by purchasing the Master Kit shown below:

For $99, you get $335 in product and supplies!  PLUS, you get the above four Stamps Of The Month - FREE!  That's an amazing value!!

As a Close To My Heart Consultant, you'll have the amazing opportunity to meet new people, make new friends and earn exclusive trips and experiences!  You'll also be a part of an unbelievable group of creative individuals like yourself who encourage and support each other.

Click here to get started today!