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.

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!

Artbooking Made Easy: Fab Frames

)

Ok, this video is another perfect example of why I love Close To My Heart.  CTMH knocked it out of the park again.  The pennant frame Jenna is showcasing is new in our current catalog.  But the Cricut Artbooking Cartridge is not.

CTMH in their infinite wisdom is all about helping us maximize usage of our tools.  The pennant frame can be easily cut out with the Cricut Artbooking using Real Dial Size 9.  No fussy cutting.  (My fingers always have indentations after I'm finished fussy cutting.)  No white edges to cover or ink.  (Unless, like me, you like the effect that the inking technique brings to your paper crafts.

Not only that, but Jenna shows three darling examples of the finished product to get our creative mojo flowing.

I can't say enough great things about this company.

To create one of these adorable projects, click here to order yours today.

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!

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!!

First signs of Summer

I love pinwheels.  They remind me of hot, lazy summer days laying among dandelions in the grass.  No breeze blew, so the only way I could get my pinwheel to turn was by blowing on it.  My little cheeks would be so puffed out because I never wanted that pinwheel to stop turning!

This month's Stamp of the Month brings back all those memories.

How sweet are all those pinwheels??

My oldest son never got into pinwheels - he only cares about cold-blooded creepy things.  But my baby is curious.  He loves the world around him and never seems like he can get enough of it.  I can't wait to see his reaction to spinning pinwheels.  I hope he'll be as fascinated by them as I was.

This adorable stamp is yours for just $5!  That's right.  When you place a $50 qualifying order here, you can order this stamp for $5. 

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.

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!

Home, Sweet Home!

It's the February Stamp of the Month!! It's a beautiful sentiments stamp set.  I love sentiments, because I love making cards.  But you can see from the picture above, the amazingly talented designers at CTMH used it to embellish the new treat bags and scrap booking layouts!

My stamp is on order and I'm (impatiently) waiting for it to arrive so I can get those cards out of my head!! 

This stamp retails for $17.95, but you can get it for only $5 with a qualifying order of $50!  Go to paperprincess.ctmh.com to get yours today!

~Theresa

Free, free, free!!

Do you still use a 35mm camera to capture all your family's memorable events or did you switch to a digital camera?  If you did, then you need to digitize your scrapbooking, too!!

During the month of October when you purchase 9 two page Studio J layouts, Close To My Heart will give you the tenth two page layout free! 

Studio J is how Close To My Heart does digital scrapbooking.  There's no software to download and no upfront fees.  In fact, you don't pay a cent until you're satisfied with your pages and ready to see them in an album on your coffee table. You just log onto the website here and start scrappin'! 

I used Studio J for the first time last week and I couldn't believe how easy the whole process was!  I just uploaded my pictures, chose my paper pack and layout from the dozens offered and embellished to my heart's content.  Because it was so easy, I'm working on a birthday album for my mom and I'm going to have the pages delivered right to her!  

Wanna try it for yourself?  Just log in and start your own pages.

Theresa
Collect. Create. Contribute.

Adorable Name Frame

This is as close to scrap booking as I get!  This was an ADORABLE name frame we did a few years ago.  I didn't really name my son 'Chunk'.  I've always called him that because he was such a fat baby!  Now he's all elbows and knees and he'll be 11 on Halloween!  They really do grow up fast!!

But I had to share this with you all because it's such a cute piece of wall art!

Enjoy!!