Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book Sneak Peek

I'm not really a Halloween person.  For years, Neal and I ignored the holiday, turned off the porch light, and went to a movie to avoid having candy in the house.  Luckily, our house was never egged by disgruntled trick-or-treaters!  Even so, I find it amusing that, for the past two years, I've had a Halloween stamp for the new Autumn/Winter Idea Book swap.  In fact, I won 2nd place in a CTMH contest with last year's card!  Here is the card I submitted for the current swap and a little sneak peek at some of our awesome new colors!  The paper I used is called Hooligans (X7129B); I love this paper!  The colors are fantastic and will look great with a variety of photos, not just Halloween pictures.  The stamp set is called The Boo Crew (C1421) and comes with 6 darling pumpkins.

The new Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book launches September 1st, so contact me to reserve your copy!

Amy

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Family Photos

We had a fantastic family photo shoot in Moscow at the end of July, and the CD with all the photos arrived today! I've been having fun playing with Photoshop and then importing the photos into Studio J. My 12-month Studio J membership starts next month, and you can be sure that I'm going to take full advantage of all the member benefits...such as FREE shipping once a month! I can't wait! My goal is scrapbook at least one Studio J layout a week since they are so quick and easy...assuming I don't spend a ton of time in Photoshop first. These quick layouts will (1) allow me to capture memories I don't ever want to forget, (2) help me to scrapbook more frequently, and (3) motivate me to use my classic supplies since I'll be in a scrapbooking groove.

In case you don't know, Studio J is FREE! That's right...FREE! Log in through my website and try it for yourself. You can test your photos against different paper packets and sketches before scrapbooking with your classic supplies. You don't pay a thing unless you want to purchase the layouts you created. If you love it as much as I do, let me know and I'll share the membership options with you.

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I need more time!

My "To Do Before School Starts" list is absolutely overwhelming. I'm trying not to stress out because that only makes matters worse. Neal sent this comic to me today and it made me laugh. I think he is trying to tell me something. I did start a new cleanse today and am carving out time for exercise to help manage my stress level.

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CTMH Customer Appreciation Sale Starts Today!

$2, $4, $6 for 8...It’s You We Appreciate! Amazing deals at more than 50% off to show our thanks to you! We are shouting from the rooftops how much we love and appreciate you! It only makes sense to pass along our appreciation with amazing deals. So for 8 days, August 4 through August 11 (while supplies last), you can purchase select My Stickease® Assortments for only $2 US/CAN, My Reflections® Level 1 kits for only $4, and My Reflections® Level 2 paper packets for only $6 online. Click on the “$2, $4, $6 for 8 Sale” link to the left to shop these amazing deals for yourself. You’ll want to shout for joy, too!

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More Studio J Layouts

I completed another batch of Studio J layouts and they are waiting to be filed away into albums. I love how quick and easy each layout comes together. The quality of the photos I used on the "Love Story" layout were really bad--complete user error--but the layout still looks great. I did journal about the fact that the photos are blurry so that anyone looking at the layout will know that they were used intentionally. My favorite LO is "Enjoy" which is a CTMH scraplift!

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Zippidee-Doo-Da!

I finally had a chance to sit down and scrapbook some of my spring break photos this weekend! My sister and I took our mom to Disneyland in April, so I couldn't wait to use the new Zippidee Workshop on the Go!








I wanted to make this a more traditional Disney layout, so I covered the Indian Corn Blue stripes with strips of black cardstock!


I also had fun layering my journaling stamps using the masking technique.

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Help me enter a CTMH contest!

Close to my Heart recently announced that they will be giving away an all expense paid Scrapbook Spa Getaway to 8 lucky Consultants. The catch is that in order to be eligible I have to have a certain amount of sales this month and attend Convention in July. I am already registered for the Convention, now I just need to make sure I get enough sales this month to qualify for the drawing. As the month is ½ over and I’m less than ½ the way to my goal, I am shamelessly asking for help. I would be soooo grateful if you might be willing to help me qualify. Here's what you can do to help:

1. Place an order on my website for regular and discounted products.

My friend Kim is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure walk and is hosting a CTMH fundraiser on Thursday, May 27. I'm donating 20% of the retail sales to her fundraising efforts! If you would like your order to be included in this fundraiser, follow this link to place your order!

2. Place a Studio J order on my website.
3. Host a catalog party that closes before May 31st. (Contact me for more details.)
4. Host a Home Gathering that closes before May 31st. (Contact me for open dates and details.)
5. Call or email me with an individual order.
6. Pass this information on to everyone you know!

I am having a special drawing of my own at the end of the month for all of my customers. So, if you place an order this month, you will be helping me reach my goal and you will be entered into my special drawing as well. It's a win-win situation!

Thanks so much for your help and support!

Amy

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A couple more You Rock layouts!

Here are a couple of the layouts I worked on last night while scrapbooking with my friends. I have more details about the layouts on my Close To My Heart Art page.













This layout was created using the artwork on the back of the You Rock My Stickease...did you know there were pictures on the back of the Stickease?! Check it out, because this LO was fast, easy, and oh so cute!

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A Library of Memories Week 1

I'm feeling pretty good about the fact that I'm only a few days behind in my Library of Memories class; I finished week 1 yesterday! My assignment was to complete a personal page assessment and draw some conclusions based on my current pages. What I found most striking during this exercise is the fact that I really don't have that many albums/layouts considering (1) how long I've been scrapbooking and (2) how many supplies I have! I've always known that I'm a slow scrapbooker, but this is ridiculous! Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting pressure on myself to complete X amount of layouts each month or year, but I do realize that I need to step it up if I'm going to tell the stories that I want to tell before I forget them all!

During the Sticky Note Exercise, I also realized that 44% of my current layouts are travel related. I have entire albums devoted to trips to NYC, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Disneyland. I have theme albums that do contain a few layouts about the people I love, but the rest of the layouts focus on the places I've been. Now, this wouldn't be a problem if I had more layouts that are all about us. I'm counting the cats in my "All About Us" category, so 14% of the layouts are about us. If I take the cats out, then only 6% are about me and/or Neal. That is pathetic! I want to record our stories and the funny things that happen in our lives. It can't all be about the places we have been...especially since most of those trips didn't include Neal!

Finally, I discovered that I do a good job of journaling the "what" and "where" of my pages, and I usually name the "who" and "when". My area of weakness is the "why"! Why are these moments in time so important to me? Why am I taking the time to document this memory? What was I feeling and why does it matter? Wow! These exercises really got me thinking. So, our final assignment was to create a "Least Common Layout" and mine was an "Us--Why" page.



As I am incredibly far behind in my Design Your Life class, I decided to use an asymmetry sketch from week 2. It made me feel good to complete two assignments at once. I've already scrapbooked our hike, so my focus for this layout was why I'm so thankful that Neal joined me in becoming more fit and how days such as these strengthen our relationship. This layout is simple with a clean design, but it says a lot in a few short words. I will complete more layouts like this in the future!

As I finished the Personal Page Assessment, I created a few goals for myself: include journaling from the heart, always answer the "why," and showcase my relationship with Neal more often. On a product level, I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many stamps and embellishments, so I will include some type of embellishment on EVERY LO and will include stamping as often as possible. For this LO, I added a simple bookplate (Z1277) and stamped the sentiment from Soul Mates (D1254). I'm so excited about where this process is going to take me in developing my creativity!

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Finished Photo Freedom & Started LOM!

I finally finished Photo Freedom this morning and started the Library of Memories class tonight! My first step is to complete a personal assessment. The first question asks about my scrapbooking strengths. I honestly had a hard time with this because I'm such a scraplifter! I think my greatest strength is my photography and then finding a layout to scraplift that will fit my needs. I'm growing in my journaling skills as I become more confident in telling stories that matter instead of simply recording events. The next question had me focus on my weaknesses. Again, I bring up scraplifting because I rarely design my own pages, but I don't know if this is a bad thing. I may not be the most creative or publishing-worthy individual, but I'm able to take other people's great ideas and make them my own. I love my pages and the stories I tell; plus, I didn't spend hours coming up with original ideas, so it leaves me more time to scrapbook! I love the CTMH How-To books for this very reason; they save me time and make me look creative when I'm not! It makes me happy, so I guess that's all that matters. Perhaps I should put as a weakness that I'm the world's sloooooooowest scrapbooker...LOL!

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