Sneak Peeks

Head over to Instagram and my Facebook page for some August sneak peeks!

(Look on the left sidebar for links.)

I'll be back here on August 1st to tell you all about a new paper packet, a new Cricut collection, my August workshops, and an August special that will help you stay organized!!

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Birthday Girl

I wanted to show you a little something about clean and simple today.

 

 

Its okay to leave some white space on your project.  I try to work this in periodically in my classes because I think sometimes people are uncomfortable with leaving all that white wide open.  I want to tell you that it's OKAY!  Sometimes it's nice to let the simple elements of a project do the talking.  I used Paper Fundamentals along with Art Philosophy and Artfully Sent to make this card.

 

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  I appreciate your visits!!



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Thanks

I love that Close To My Heart products make it so easy to pull together a card quickly.    I used Paper Fundamentals in Juniper and Flaxen to make this card.

The tree is from the Keep Your Chin Up set, and "thanks" is from the Artiste cartridge.

I hope that you've all had a wonderful weekend!!  Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!!

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Operation Smile T-Shirts

 

 

 

Don't you love these t-shirts?  Let me tell you some exciting news about them!

 

Close To My Heart will donate $10 of every shirt purchase to Operation Smile.  I love that these shirts help in such a big way!!  These shirts come in two colors for men and women, and they run in sizes Small to 4X.

 

Many of you know and love our Operation Smile stamp sets.  You know that when you purchase a set, $3 is donated to Operation Smile.  Here is our current set:

 

 

At our recent Close To My Heart convention, over $40,000 was raised for Operation Smile through special Base & Bling necklaces, a 5K run, and an artwork auction.  It takes $240 to do a surgery, so enough money was raised for 166 surgeries!!

 

You can help in a big way, too, by purchasing your cute Operation Smile t-shirt and the versatile Happy Everything stamp set.  Click on this link to take a look!

 

If you would like to learn more about Operation Smile, please visit their website at http://www.operationsmile.org/



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Card Kit - Limited Supply!

I have put a card kit together using the remaining cards that were leftover at my recent Card Buffet.

 

 



These cards are pre-cut, stamped, and packaged. 

There are 6 cards in the kit, and I only have 6 kits available. 

 If you'd like one, hurry before they are gone!  When you order, they will go in the mail right away!

 

The cost is $10 plus shipping, and you can click this link to order:

 

 

For other kits still available, click on the tab at the top of my blog that says "Kits for Sale."

 

Thank you for stopping by!! 

 



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Final Re-Cap of Convention Week

WOW!

 

General Session was amazing on both Thursday and Friday at Convention!  What a beautiful stage!

 

 

So many product reveals, so many laughs, and so much excitement!!  I CAN'T WAIT for you to see the new Annual Inspirations that goes live on September 1st!!

 

And if you follow me on my Facebook business page, you already know that there is a new Cricut Collection available August 1st. 

700 images, 3 stamp sets, and a full package of the new Enchantment cardstock!!

 

And so much more that I can't wait to shout it from the rooftops!!!

 

Thursday evening was the Director's Dinner.  Such wonderful food in the rose garden at the Disneyland Hotel.  Before the dinner, we got to hang with Minnie!

 

 

 

On Friday, we celebrated a little Christmas in July!

 

 

Why would we celebrate Christmas?  Because there is a brand new Holiday Expressions book unveiling on September 1st too!

 

When we sat down in the Director's chairs on Friday, there we big hearts waiting for us with our team name on one side and ours on the other.  I was SO EXCITED!  It's a thrill for me to have anything that celebrates my team!!

 

 

Friday evening was another night of

 

SPECTACULAR!!

 

It was the awards dinner, and it was incredible.  Here's my beautiful team all dressed up!

 

 

During the evening, we celebrated Karen's Team Sales award, and completely by surprise, I won an award for 9th place in Team Building.  As my team members....I was so surprised!!  Well, what could be better than but having my picture taken with Mickey!

 

 

Saturday was a whirlwind day as I was asked to teach one of the Extravaganza classes.  Extravaganza is 12 teachers teaching 12 times each and showing loads of new artwork!!  I had a blast, and I am so appreciative of this opportunity!! 

 

(Watch for my Extravaganza artwork in the coming months along with full instructions.)

 

 

There's so much more that I could tell you, but I don't want my post to be too long. 

 

What I do want to say is this..

 

Close To My Heart is so much more than paper and ink.  As we learn how to teach memory keeping, we make memories with friends near and far.  We truly do celebrate relationships!

 

Part of my personal mission is to help others grow in their artwork, teach them new things and to lead my team in the best journey for each of them.

 

Watch for news about a new consultant kit coming out on August 1st.  It's fun, its fresh, and it even comes all wrapped up in a beautiful box! 

 

Thanks for visiting during my Convention re-cap.  I appreciate your visits!!

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Cherish the Friendships and Convention Week Continues

 

One of the best things about Close To My Heart events is the opportunity to spend time with friends near and far.  For instance, my good friend and team member, Marg lives about 20 minutes from me.  We are always roommates at events because we just don't see each other enough!!  Roommate gifts abound at Convention, and it was no different in our room!  Marg gave me two of my favorite things - a Starbuck's card and a Disney card.  I made sure I had plenty of Frappuccinos while there, and I've been eying a CUTE Minnie Mouse shirt with ears full of roses.  That card helped me get it!

 

Of course, we had to have matching jammies, so I gave Marg Mickie Mouse pajamas that matched mine.  Now I only wish we had taken a photo!  You would think scrapbookers wouldn't forget such a thing.....LOL!!  I also made her this canvas knowing that Jackson is her favorite paper.

 



Now I can't leave without sharing some of the smiles of I had with my friends!

 

 

 



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Superstar Layout and Convention Week Continues

Yesterday I told you about the start of Convention week with my team, the Rose Blossoms.  But I have more to tell you!!

 

Five of my team members shared artwork in some way at Convention, and I really was so proud of them!  It was phenomenal as a leader to watch them share their passion.  I made them each a layout (based on one I received from Close To My Heart for an achievement).  So I want to share a photo of each of the gals and brag on them a bit.  Be sure to read to the end so that you can see my full team photo!

 

First of up is Lynn.  She was asked to present decorative scrapbooking up on stage during General Session.  WOW!  What an incredible experience for such a talented paper crafter!  So this is the Lynn's photo on the layout.

 

 

The other gals took advantage of such a fun opportunity!  Close To My Heart has a Consultant Creativity Showcase where you can share some artwork and talk with other consultants.  It's a great way to make sure your artwork gets seen!  In fact, that is the very reason that Lynn was asked to present...Close To My Heart liked what they saw at last year's Consultant Creativity Showcase! 

 

So here's some fun photos I took!

 

Cathy

 

Don't you love that wall décor?

 

 

Morgan

 

I loved watching Morgan talk with people!

 

 

Marg

 

What a fabulous patriotic layout!

 

 

Kim

 

Kim was in a mob of people all the time explaining her artwork!

 

 

Now for our team meeting photo with all of the girls.  I should mention that Cathy made all of our blinged out Rose Blossom t-shirts.  So fun and shiny!!

 

 

Come back tomorrow so I can tell you about the very first day of Convention!



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Paper Diva and a Week of Convention

It was absolutely so incredibly and marvelously fun at the Close To My Heart Convention!  I thought I'd spend the next week telling you all about my experience there.  

First, I had 10 wonderful Rose Blossoms attend with me.  I was given a meeting space this year, so I really wanted to show my team members how much I appreciated them for traveling to California with me!  This is the gift I made them.

I used the last of my Heartstrings paper to make decorate these burlap canvases.  These beautiful cricut collection cuts are so pretty with the burlap!

We had such a fun team meeting!  After sharing what could be expected for the week, my team exchanged handmade Picture My Life cards for their Crush books.  So much fun!

Come back tomorrow, and I will have some more artwork along with some Rose Blossom team photos!

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Rose Blossom Blog Hop

Welcome to the Rose Blossom blog hop!  We are so excited to share examples of the Hostess Rewards stamp sets.  This month is really special because when you purchase $25 in current stamp sets, you can buy any one of the Hostess Stamp Sets for just

$5!  

This hop is a big circle, and there are only 5 of us in this round.  You may have come here from the very talented Cathy's blog, and that means that you are already following the circle.  Should you get lost along the way, come on back here for the full list.

Today I created a card for you using the Well Wishes Hostess stamp set.

I love these colors together - canary and whisper.  They are very trendy and fresh!  I simply stamped the block set four times in two different colors to create a 4 x 4 card.  A couple of banners and a few embellishments, and the card is done!

Now it's time to move on to Lynn's blog.  I've only seen a sneak peek of her project, so I can't wait to go there myself.  In fact, I can't wait to hop through all of the blogs!!

Brenda - YOU ARE HERE!
Lynn - http://frommybungalow.blogspot.com/
Marg - http://ididnthavepotatoes.blogspot.com/
Kim Hill - http://violetsandsunshine.blogspot.com/
Cathy A - http://theseeagerhands.com/

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Studio J Flash Sale

Do you have an account full of Studio J® layouts waiting to be printed? How about a big photo order you keep meaning to make? Well, now is the time to log in to Studio J and order all your layouts and photos! From July 15, 2015, 9:00 am MDT to July 31, 2015, 5:00 pm MDT all layouts in Studio J are only $5.00!

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Heading to Convention!

I am leaving this morning to go to Disneyland!  I am going to spending four days of learning, creating, celebrating, and fellowshipping.  It's so exciting to see Close To My Heart friends from far away all gathered in one place.  It's quite a party!!  There are 10 Rose Blossoms going with me, and I can't wait to spend this time with them!  Keep watching my blog this week for updates.  In the meantime, I'd better get to the airport....Mickey's waiting!!

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Life is Wonderful

I really like the July stamp of the month, Life is Wonderful.  I think it's nice for scrapping those special photos like this one of my nephew and his son.  There's nothing quite like a fresh baby from heaven!  This great nephew of mine fits beautifully in daddy's arm.

Along with the stamp of the month, I've used the "splats" from Documenting Moments, Snapshot Memories, and the retired set Laughing Lola.  I created a circle by cutting a template circle from the cricut, and then I held it in place to make the dashes.  This layout took me less than an hour because I allowed it to be a creative mess.  During the whole time, all I could think of was my nephew when he was just that old.  Oh how time flies!

Shop my website to get the July stamp of the month FREE!!

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All Hostess Stamps $5!

Have you looked through the Idea Book and thought it might be nice to get the Hostess Rewards stamps, but for one reason or another couldn't have a Gathering?

THIS IS YOUR MONTH!

When you purchase $25 in current stamps, you can purchase any one of the Hostess Rewards stamps from the Annual Inspirations book or Seasonal Expressions 2 for just $5!

Once you add those stamps to your cart, this is what your shopping cart looks like on my website:

Do you see all those choices?  It would be hard to choose!  Note that at the top of the list, there is a FREE stamp.  That is the stamp of the month, and if you don't want one of the Hostess Rewards sets, you can get that one FREE!

No matter what, it's a great deal all the way around!!  I'd like to show you an example using Better with Friends.  Over the year, this has been one of customer's favorites.  She is just so sassy!

This special goes through the end of July.  Order your sets early, though, because you don't want to miss out on the set (or two) that you want!

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July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the Rose Blossom blog hop!  Today's the 1st of the month, so we are so excited to share this month's stamp of the month, Life is Wonderful.  This month is really special because when you purchase $25 in current stamp sets, you can receive the July Stamp of the Month 

FREE!  

This hop is a great big circle.  You may have come here from the talented Amy's blog, and that means that you are already following the circle.  Should you get lost along the way, come on back here for the full list.

Today I created a clean and simple card for you using the stamp of the month and Brushed paper.

I used Hollyhock and Pixie ink to stamp the sentiment on the bokeh print from the paper packet.  One thing I want to point out is the diagonal balance of the card.  Even the simplest of cards can flow easily when there is balance in the design and embellishment.

Now it's time to move on to Lynn's blog.  I've only seen a sneak peek of her project, so I can't wait to go there myself.  In fact, I can't wait to hop through all of these blogs!!

Brenda - YOU ARE HERE!

Lynn

Marg 

Barbara

Shelly

Morgan

Cathy A 

Mary Newman 

Amy

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