Wednesday, December 31, 2014

National Papercrafting Month - Year Noted Paper Kit

Getting Ready for 2015

Welcome Back!

Winter Break is almost over and the kids will be back in school, that means we will back to our normal schedules again.  In some ways that is great but it also means that the fun of the holidays are over.  

This is Kaela's last "Winter Break" so I have been taking some time to spend with her and the family - so less scrapbooking towards the end of December.  It has been a great time of decorating the house and cooking (oh the food) but now it is back to creative time and Curves for me.  I have been partially cleared by the orthopedic doctor to go back to Curves and it is none too soon because my britches are getting tight and I am feeling sluggish again.  

I am not sure if it is because Kaela is home for the lack of working out but I have my days and nights mixed up again, hence writing the blog at 4am....

Since I am awake I have been getting myself organized for the New Year.


The photo is not the best in the world because I was sneaking.  Kaela is having a sleep over and I was trying to get in - get the shot - and get out without waking up the girls. 

 But what you are looking at is a preview of the first 4 months of the 2015 Workshops we will be working on.

January 22, 2015 Yuletide Carol
Feb 19, 2015  Brushed
March 26, 2015  Wanderful
April 23, 2015  Seaside

May and June will be super busy in the Perry House with the end of the school year (GRADUATION) and the Kaela will be getting ready for a school trip in June.  

July- I have the CTMH Convention to attend and then I will be getting Kaela ready to go off to UNT in the fall.  We also have one last weekend girls road trip planned to Austin to see Idina Menzel in concert. 

August- We will start a whole new batch of Workshops with a new catalog full of beautiful papers to play with!  

Mark your calendars, pre-order your supplies and join me to get some serious scrapbooking done this year.  I can not wait to work on these layouts.

See you soon.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

2015 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge

I love to READ almost as much as I love to scrapbook so when I found this new reading challenge on facebook it intrigued me. 

It is not like most "book clubs" in the fact that it does not tell you what books to read what month but rather gives you a list of questions and you find your book based on those questions.

Found on popsugar.com

If you are interested in the facebook page here is the link: 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2015bookchallenge/

I love real books, Kindle books and my Audible books!!!!

When I am scrapbooking / Cardmaking I love to listen to books so I do not think I will have a problem finishing this list in the 2015 timeframe.

If you are a avid reader or just enjoy the occasional good book this might be a neat little list to ponder.  

The first book I am starting with is:


For some strange reason I love presidential reads

Stay safe this NYE! 

Monday, December 29, 2014

January 2015 Workshop: Yuletide Carol




January  22, 2015
7pm to 9pm
1504 High Country Lane
Allen, Texas 75002
RSVP:  Email: jperry@myscraproom.net


Products To Pre-Order:
Workshops on the Go: Yuletide Carol Scrapbooking Kit
G1084  $29.95

Other supplies that are needed:
Basic Kit (your personal supplies)
Paper Trimmer
Scissors
Adhesive 
3-D foam tape
My Acrylix Blocks (if you have them)
Piercing Tool

I will be pre-cutting cricut shapes for this layout



The holidays are over and your tree is put away.  Take a night to enjoy the memories and scrapbook your christmas photos on this beautiful layout.

New Studio J® Express Collection for Your Holiday Photos



New Studio J® Express Collection for Your Holiday Photos

On January 1, 2015 we will release a new Studio J® Express Collection designed by our studio artists with your holiday photos in mind. 


Like our other Express Collections, this limited edition collection will offer you 10 pre-designed layouts plus a first and last page, all featuring designs from the Yuletide Carol paper packet, which is perfect for preserving your memories from this festive time of year. 

With a grand total of 65 photo wells, this collection invites you to snap away to your heart’s content this holiday season! 

The collection will only be available January 1, 2015 - February 28, 2015 so be sure to make time in the first part of next year to add your photos and order your layouts to keep the memories fresh for years to come!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

What a day

What a day it has been.  

I was having trouble getting motivated to fix the blog problems and or work on a few Studio J pages so I moved locations over to a little coffee shop around the corner from my house.  I have been sitting here most of the day drinking coffee or smoothies and getting some serious work done.

I think I have the blog as fixed as I can get it.  Most of the photos that were used to create the past blog posts I deleted once I thought I did not need them anymore - I know that was a big mistake but it is what it is.

Then as you know I have been working on my Grand Canyon photos in Studio J.  Since Monday I have completed 38 pages.  I have more to work on but uploading photos to Studio J is taking a while because I have it set on high resolution.


As soon as the last batch of photos load I am going to have to go home to cook dinner for my family but I am excited about the progress I am making with this album.  I am not going to give up traditional scrapbooking but this is a fun way to get those vacation photos into an album before the sun tan fades.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Pulling My Hair Out!



I was checking the blog hours ago and found that most of my photos that are attached to blog posts starting in May (when I moved over to Blogger) are missing.  I handed my computer over to Mike (hubby that is also my personal IT person) to see if he could find what I did to mess the blog up so badly.  Well I did do something but Mike said it is also Bloggers fault.

I use Picasa and Blogger & both are Google products.  When I post a blog the post gets saved on Picasa Web Albums.  Ok that makes sense but I was looking at this album and thought hmmmm I need to clean this up a bit - and that folks was a huge mistake!  

Once I deleted photos from the web album I deleted them from the blog FOREVER - unless I go back in to each blog post.... all 154 of them and repost all of the photos!  

Sounds logical ... except I can not access photos from past catalogs from CTMH. 

So here is the grand plan... I am going to fix what I can but if you come across a blog post with what seems like missing photos you will know that it was once a pretty post then I had to go and muck it up.

So Sorry! Sometimes my OCD is not my best friend.....


Saturday, December 13, 2014

Doing The Digi Thing

I have a love / hate relationship with Studio - J.  I love that we have it and I would love to use it but it hates me.  From what I am being told by other people it is just a "Jenny thing" but today I am trying to get over my fear.

I have a monthly meeting with a group of consultants, you could say we have a consultants only crop and during these meetings we play and toss ideas around with each other.  I told Dorothy about my Studio - J phobia and she is helping me with the items that I am having blonde moments about.
*****************************************************************
Grand Canyon:

The original plan was to do Studio J layouts while on the road trip then to order the finished layouts once I was home.  The big kicker was that we did not have reliable WiFi on the road so I gave up.  Once I was home I start photo processing and uploading to CTMH to use Studio J and the program stopped me when I hit 250 images.  I picked out over 1000 images to use.  

Well before thinking the problem through I just had a big old hissy fit and sent all of the photos to Walgreens for printing!  Big mistake, because as soon as I was back to rational thinking a friend told me to break down the 1000 photos into separate "projects" of 250 photos each.  Now I feel stupid!  Am I really going to use all 1000 photos?  No but I like having options! 
*****************************************************************

After talking with Dorothy yesterday I decided to give it another go.  Tonight is like all of my past Studio J problems never happened - It is working like a dream!  I started working at 1 pm today and after a small learning curve I made 8 layouts in 4 hours and that is with the photo's uploading to CTMH after each page while my daughter is watching Hulu in her room (we are talking slow internet today).  




Yes these are two 12 x 12 photo enlargements.  Each page is $3.47, if you get an enlargement with Walgreens it is way more than $3.47 per photo.  Such a deal.







When the pages are printed they will not have the Studio J banner on the bottom, that is only for the jpegs.  While working on this blog post I have also finished 3 more layouts but will wait before getting those printed.

I think this Grand Canyon album is going to get finished really quick!

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Clearly the Best: A Burst of Creativity (S02E01)

Thanksgiving Camping

We have the best Thanksgiving tradition - We go CAMPING!  

My in-laws live down the road from a Texas State Park so we go over there to park our home away from home and that gives us easy access to visit with family but also have our own space.  This year the Grandparents Perry were in town from FLA.  We had a blast - in fact so much fun that I forgot to take any "Thanksgiving" Photos!  I know right?


We always cook the turkey over the fire but this year we did the turkey (large oven) and the sweet potatoes (small oven) then took them over to Perry's Place for dinner.  Barbara and the gang had the rest of the fixings all ready once the bird showed up.  Best part:  I only had a couple of cutlery items to wash and that was that!



Friday was a lazy around the fire kind of day but since it was so warm and pretty I decided to finish working on my Christmas Cards.


I found another use for clear blocks... holding down paper in windy weather.  I have never tried to do any sort of scrapping while camping but this approach worked out really well.  I used the Cut Above Christmas Card kits and just like that I am done with my cards.


Cut Above™ Christmas Card Kit

Item Number: Z2064   $11.95

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

10 – 7" × 5" Printed Card Bases
10 – Printed Banners
10 – Colonial White Deer
10 – Red Sparkles
12 – 3-D Foam Squares
10 – Glitter Paper Pieces
10 – Coordinating Envelopes
4 yards Red and White Baker's Twine

I just placed the kits (I bought 3) in a 12 x 12 box along with a basic scrapbooking crop bag and I was ready for some travel. Here is the what the finished card looks like.

On Saturday it was over to Perry Place to have a day relaxing with the parent and grandparents.  What a lovely way to spend the holidays.  No black Friday rush, no TV, no stress - just family friends and a campfire!  
Priceless.

Monday, December 1, 2014

Deal of the Decade!


This year marks the 10-year anniversary of Close To My Heart’s revolutionary My Acrylix®
clear polymer stamps—and we can’t wait for you to celebrate with us! 

With a qualifying purchase of $50 during the month of December, you will be eligible to purchase ANY C- or D-size stamps from the Annual Inspirations 2014–2015 idea book for only $10. 

That’s up to $7.95 USD of savings on a single stamp set! Plus, once you achieve the qualifying order total, there is no limit to the number of eligible stamp sets you can purchase at this 
discounted price. 

A purchase of $50 will also qualify you to receive the December Stamp 
of the Month for only $5, so if you purchase both the discounted Stamp of the Month and 
additional stamps at this special campaign pricing your savings will compound! 

It is truly the deal of the decade. 

*Offer valid December 1, 2014 (9:00 am MST)–December 31, 2014 (11:59 pm MST). 
Shipping/handling is calculated based on the full retail price of the discounted items 
C-size stamp set: $13.95 USD
D-size stamp set: $17.95 USD

December Stamp of the Month




Available only December 1–31, 2014


Cutie Pie SET OF 11
$17.95 USD

Purchase this D-size stamp set—available for one 
month only—for just $5 with your qualifying purchase. 

That’s over 70% off retail! Simply place an order of $50 
or more in Close To My Heart products to qualify for 
this special Stamp of the Month pricing.


Sunday, November 23, 2014

December Workshop: Snowhaven


December 11, 2014
7pm to 9pm
1504 High Country Lane
Allen, Texas 75002
RSVP:  Email: jperry@myscraproom.net


Products To Pre-Order:
Workshops on the Go: Snowhaven Cardmaking Kit
G1085  $24.95

Other supplies that are needed:
Basic Kit (your personal supplies)
Paper Trimmer
Scissors
Adhesive 
3-D foam tape
My Acrylix Blocks (if you have them)
Piercing Tool


15 cute and out of the ordinary Christmas cards to send to those you love.  Send the very best...
 a handmade card! 

 This set works out to be just $1.66 per card. 
 How cheap is that! 

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Cafe Brazil

It is Friday night.... 
What to do?

My favorite place to be when Mike and I want to hang out but get some work done at the same time is Cafe Brazil.  It is a small funky coffee shop chain here in the DFW area.  They are open 24 hours in the Richardson location which is perfect for our late night dates.


The first order of business was food!  
The dinner I made was not so yummy and frankly I was hungry again.  Mike and I split the Steak Quesadilla dinner then after we had our very first Brazilian Steamer.  I think I am addicted!  The Brazilian Steamer is just flavored steamed milk but OMG it is that good!

Cafe Brazil has always been a very stimulating place for me.  I started and finished my CTMH education here.  I started with the Bachelors, then worked on the Masters and finally my PhD in scrapbooking right here.  

 Tonight I find myself in blogging heaven.  

Friday, November 21, 2014

A Week At A Glance

Is it really Friday?  Where has the week gone?
I have not done much scrapbooking this week but I have been really busy.  Before we begin I need to up date everyone on the craft fair this past weekend.  I had a fabulous time!  I did not take photos of my booth this week because there were no major changes.  This was one busy little craft fair to only be two years old.

Kaela was able to spend the whole day with me (loved that!) and all of her friends stormed the booth to smoosh my child.  Just before lunch Kaela ran upstairs to grab an overview of half of the vendors and booths.   This is just a small part of the Allen High School cafeteria.   If you are in the area next year stop in - there was a huge amount of hand made items to be taken to their forever home.  

I had the fastest pack up in history after the event finished because it was also Crop Night and you know how serious I take Crop Night.  I miss seeing you guys each month so canceling was not an option.  My family was a HUGE help and I even had time for a much needed bubble bath before crop began,  

I was watching the morning news this week and they said there was only 35 days left before Christmas and I freaked. I am normally finished Christmas shopping before Halloween and this year I am way behind... like way way behind.   The local weatherman said it was going to be 70 degrees so I thought why the heck not.   

I gathered my list and hit the town.  By dinner my Christmas shopping was done!  Combine the local shopping with the two items I could only find on Amazon with the handmade gift items and it was time for the wrapping to begin.


Ok so hopefully some kiddos do not get on the blog for a while or my cover is blown but the pug was determined to be in my scraproom with me while wrapping gifts.  Every time I moved a box or a gift bag he changed places. The louder he snored the faster I wrapped.  Since the tree is not up yet all of the gifts are stacked upstairs.  We are not allowed to put the tree up before Thanksgiving so I will wait a bit before taking the haul downstairs.  

Now that I have the shopping and the gift wrapping out of my system maybe my creative brain will come back and let me play.   

I really need a play day!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Remember the Veteran's




I have two very special people I need to thank this year for their service to this country.  
My brother Tommy and his soon to be wife Erika. 

Let's start with Erika:

I do not know much about her service and I am not sure if I am allowed to say where she served but I know what it took for her to recover from injuries sustained while on duty.  She is an amazing woman in more ways than one.

PS:  I stole these photos from her Facebook page so I could do this post on the quite side....

I am not sure who this in the photo with her but let's thank him today too.



I love this next photo of her:



Erika has not only made huge strides in her recovery but is also she is getting her Master's degree this year.  She hopes to give back to her fellow servicemen.  
I am so thankful for her and so very proud to call her family!  

Than there is my little brother Tommy:


He went into the service while I was pregnant with Kaela and served overseas.  I sent many care-packages of food that I never even thought of eating but would carry well in backpacks.  The local Brookshires told me that if I let them know in advance what I needed for him they would order extra so I would not clean off the shelf.  I thought that was rather nice. 
 Tommy came back with no physical injuries to speak off but he still had a great deal healing to do.  Since the completion of his military service Tommy has found happiness driving a truck in the Texas oil fields.  He is back to his happy place! 

Both Tommy & Erika saw and heard what none of us ever want to.  They have to live with those memories the rest of their lives because they wanted to protect our freedom.  I am so happy that both were able to come home but many never do.  Say a prayer for those families today.



Today is the day to Thank the Veteran in your life.  Without them we would not be free.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Seasonal Expression Mini Catalog


What is a Seasonal Expression


It is a mini CTMH catalog that supplements the Annual Inspiration.
The Annual Inspiration is has 193 pages.  
The "Big Yearly" catalog live from August 2014 to July 2015.

Seasonal Expressions 1 (Mini Catalog)  has 37 pages is live  from December 1, 2013 to March 31, 2015 only. 
 It is not a replacement of the big catalog just a cute little supplement. 

SE-1 has:
2 new paper packs
2 new Picture My Life kits
2 new Cut Above kits
Too many Accessories to count
and... STAMPS!

I have 9 Seasonal Expression Mini Catalogs to give away during my November events.  Here are your two chances to get your copy of SE 1 a tad bit early and for free!
Crop Night - November 15, 2014
Workshop Night - November 20, 2015


You need to attend the events to receive your free mini catalog.

This Week: Allen FFA Craft Show

I wanted to send out a reminder that I will be at the Allen FFA Craft Show THIS Saturday.

Saturday November 15th 2014

Allen High School Cafeteria

8 am to 5 pm


Now for those of you thinking that it is in Cafeteria therefore must be small - Allen High School is HUGE and so is the Cafeteria.

There will be plenty of parking all around the school so no worries there.  Bring your SUV (to haul your stuff home) and come have a great time.

Do not forget about the:
 Door Prizes
Silent Auction
All of the Christmas Shopping you can get done in one spot!

Come by my booth and say Hello
I will be looking forward to seeing you.

Construction Finished

The job was easier than we thought it would be! 

I have been trying to get a couple of ceiling fans installed for YEARS and I am not kidding about the YEARS part.  In the past I have had electricians come out to bid the job only to tell me that it was going to be $1000 for one installation (bathroom) and they did not even want to touch the kitchen.

Then I met Tim.  Tim is the husband of my long time friend and cleaning guru, Michelle.  I love her to pieces but did not know that her husband is a contractor.  Well when I found out that little tid bit of information I asked if he would be interested in giving me a bid on getting these fans put in.  

Mind you we build this house when we were 29 and did not think of the "personal summers" to come so there are some rooms that did not have the electrical boxes installed for a ceiling fan.... that is the problem.  I am 43 now and I am DYING in the kitchen and the bathroom gets hot because it is over the garage and we live in Texas.  

Tim came over and brought an electrician with him. Together they formed a plan to put in the bathroom box from the attic and the kitchen box from my scraproom floor... right where my desk sits.  It was a great idea but I would need to move out of my scraproom for the day.  

NO PROBLEM!

Here is the one thing I forgot... Mike was going to be out of town for the entire week.  He would be able to unplug all of the computer, TV, printer, and Apple Air box but I would have no idea how to put it all back together by myself.  And before Amy tells me that I should know - you did not see that huge pile of unmarked spaghetti cords Mike left in the Crop Room.  

I had no idea what cord went with what machine.  So I was without my work space for the whole week Mike was out of town.  But the work was done - under budget and under the time frame given for completion.

  
So this is my scrap desk that Mike build for me about 10 years ago standing upright.  I forgot that Tim was going to be cutting a hole in the floor, so sawdust is everywhere but while the room was torn apart I did take time for some spring cleaning.  

I thought I took photos of the hole in the floor but I can not find them, in fact I know I took those photos - but what camera did I use?


The finished products: 

I have a fan in the kitchen but when I had the blog blow up I lost that photo.  So just know that it looks fantastic in the kitchen.

I am in LOVE! 
 This puppy can put out some air and it is heaven while putting away groceries or cooking dinner.  Worth every penny and a little dust upstairs.

The bathroom



This fan is a little smaller and it is white because I did not want it to scream "ceiling fan in the bathroom".  I forget it is even there except for the nice soft breeze while getting dressed in the mornings.  No light kit was needed because there are already a ton of lights in the bathroom. 

I am a happy girl!



Friday, November 7, 2014

November Crop: Delayed Start Time

Hi Ya'll

We are having CROP NIGHT on the 15th 

But I need to have a delayed start time of 1 hour..... so 7pm.

I will be working the Allen High School FFA Craft Show that same day and break down starts at 5pm.  My break down is about 20 minutes and I only live 2 miles away so I can be home by 7 pm.  I will just need to get the truck unloaded and our tables back upstairs and set up for us to play.

Now, for my long time crop ladies - I know that craft shows used to wipe me out and I could not function after completing one BUT now that I am not working 12-hour shifts at the hospital I am able to work a craft show and come home and play. 

As usual we will have some sort of dinner during crop (maybe Chinese delivery this time) so you can order with us or bring a brown bag and have dinner and crop.  Bring your drink of choice.  

Crop Night 

November 15th 2014

7pm to whenever 

My House


Monday, November 3, 2014

Construction Zone!

Pardon the mess, I am under construction...

I am having two ceiling fans installed in the house this week. It would not be such a big deal but we have to run the electric and install the boxes because there are no light fixtures where I want these fans.

Why does this concern you?  

Because to get to the kitchen location to place the box they will have to pull up the carpet and part of the floor under my scrap desk to work.


So the plan is to fold up all but one table in the crop area to make room, then I will have to remove EVERYTHING from on and under this desk for Tim to be able to work.  

This desk was built in this room and it is all one piece we will slide it away from the wall.  There is a table leg right where Tim needs to be.

I will not be able to work while the construction is going on.

The upside:

When we are done I will have two very desperately needed  fans (one in the kitchen and one in the master bathroom) and I am going to do a spring cleaning as I put the scraproom and crop area back together.

Send Happy Thoughts to Tim and his crew that they have a smooth install and plenty of chocolate and coffee to me so that I can deal with the mess.  I do not do messes well. 

If you need me please email or text. I will have my laptop and phone but not my office for a couple of day.  
Thank you for your understanding during this process.  

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Lucky 5!


Celebrate the five-year anniversary of Studio J® with 5 lucky ways to win!

November marks the five-year anniversary 
of Studio J®, and that means it’s your lucky 
month, with five amazing ways to win through 
Studio J and Close To My Heart social media!

1

First, throughout the month of November, 
all layouts purchased in Studio J are $5! 
That is a savings of over 25% off of retail! 

Your second chance to win big must 
come by sheer luck: every fifth order 
placed in Studio J during November 
receives a FREE surprise Close To My Heart 
accessory in its shipping box! The accessory 
has a retail value of $5 or more.

3

If luck doesn’t smile on you in that way, you might stumble upon 
it by finding a little extra something in your Studio J box. Five 
“golden tickets” will be sent out during the month of November 
with randomly selected Studio J print orders. This “golden ticket” is 
redeemable for one of Close To My Heart’s new D-ring albums* loaded 
with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors™. 

4

 For a fourth way to win, simply create new, gorgeous layouts in 
Studio J, select your favorites, and then post pictures of them 
on Close To My Heart’s Facebook page using the hashtag 
#ctmhlucky5. After November 30, five lucky winners will be selected 
from the entries based on their artistry and creativity and each of these 
winners will receive their own D-ring album loaded with 10 Top Load 
Memory Protectors!

5

 take your new Studio J artwork 
and post a picture of it on Instagram using the hashtag 
#ctmhlucky5. 

Just as it is with Facebook, after November 30, five lucky winners will be selected from the entries to receive their own D-ring album loaded with 10 Top Load Memory Protectors!

To make things even more exciting, starting November 1, five brand 
new kits from the Annual Inspirations idea book will be made available 
in Studio J, so you can create new artwork using the latest papers and 
embellishments from Close To My Heart. With so many ways to win, 
five may be new your new lucky number!

 Log in to Studio J and start 
creating today.

*Offer valid November 1–30, 2014. 
Pattern and color of new D-ring album to be given 
to winners will be at Close To My Heart’s discretion based upon availability.

 New kits 
available in Studio J® on November 1 include Confetti Wishes, Snowhaven, Seaside, 
Pathfinding, and Scaredy Cat. No tax or shipping will be charged on the free item(s). 
Studio J layouts ship in a protected box that can hold from 4 to 50 two-page layouts. 

For additional information about shipping/handling, please visit StudioJ.com, Products 
and Pricing & Shipping Options.



November Stamp of the Month

Available only November 1–30, 2014 


It’s the Little Things SET OF 15
$17.95 USD

Purchase this D-size stamp set—available for one 
month only—for just $5 with your qualifying purchase. 

That’s over 70% off retail! Simply place an order of $50 
or more in Close To My Heart products to qualify for 
this special Stamp of the Month pricing.

Friday, October 31, 2014

November Workshop: Pathfinding Cards


November 20, 2014
7pm to 9pm
1504 High Country Lane
Allen, Texas 75002
RSVP:  Email: jperry@myscraproom.net


Products To Pre-Order:
Workshops on the Go: Pathfinding Cardmaking Kit
G1083  $24.95

Other supplies that are needed:
Basic Kit (your personal supplies)
Paper Trimmer
Scissors
Adhesive 
3-D foam tape
My Acrylix Blocks (if you have them)
Piercing Tool

15 beautiful cards to have on hand for when you just need to say thank you.  
This kit works out to be just $1.66 per card... how cool is that!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

Cards For Winda

While at the FUMC Craft Fair this past weekend I met Winda, she was looking for pet sympathy cards and as luck would have it I was fresh out of pet sympathy cards.

I offered to make a set for her and took down her information.  She was open to color and design but wanted all of the cards to be pet sympathy.   I have never offered to make a set of cards at a craft fair before for a couple of reasons.

1. I have never been confident in my card making skills
2. I was afraid I would not be able to deliver on the promise in a timely fashion.

Well my card making skills have vastly improved and since I am no longer working full time I was confident I could not only make the cards but deliver them in a timely fashion.   I finished the cards today and hope to make contact with Winda tomorrow to get together for delivery.  

As you know that if I am going to make one card I feel it makes better sense to just go ahead and make 10 but I wanted Winda to have cards that were just for her.  Out of the 5 cards I made - I think there is one that I will reproduce to add to the card racks for sale.  The other 4 will be all hers.  

Here we go:





and this one is the one that I think I might mass produce for sale


I hope she loves them.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Allen High School FFA Craft Show

Here is my next Craft Show event:


Break Time...

I have had a very productive morning and now it is time for a break.  I am sitting here with the windows open (you know I love that) and good book on the Ipod and these addictive Trader Joe's Gingerbread Molasses cookies with a  cup of hot tea. 

I had a wonderful time at the First United Methodist Church craft fair this past Saturday. What a great turn out!  I set my booth up a little different this time.  I wanted my concentration to be on my Crop Nights / Workshops/ Catalogs / Handmade Cards. 





I brought my demo album, inside that is samples of all the new paper in the 2014 / 2015 Annual Inspirations Catalog, Traditional layouts from classes that I have taken along with workshops I have taught, and Studio-J layouts.

Kaela brought my laptop up because she had the idea of showing off my blog and Crop Area.  Since I am trying to get word out that I have a crop area for classes and well crops her idea was for people that might be interested to be able to see the room.  Unfortunately I had no idea that she was going to do this  and I did not charge the laptop so we had it going as long as the battery lasted.  I thought it was a great idea.

The cards were a huge hit!  It made me so happy to see people love a handmade card.  We get so lost in techno world that it is nice to remember to send a greeting card via snail mail once in a while.  

I keep meaning to have the tablecloth hemmed so it hangs correctly but I have been tucking the ends under the table for so many years now I guess it can wait until after craft fair season.  

I love the new CTMH table runners!  When Mike is available to help me set up I use my banner and goal posts but that set up is too big for one person to set up alone.  So when I am alone the CTMH table runners are PERFECT for letting the craft fair crowd know who I am.  

I need to give a shout out to Carole Smithwick and Ruth Swingle for making this one of the best craft fairs I ever work.  They work very hard all year long to make it run without a hitch and it shows!

If you have never been to this event mark your calendars when I announce the date for next year .

You will thank me

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Erin Condren Life Planners

So Amy has finally worn me down and talked me into getting an Erin Condren Life Planner. 

https://www.erincondren.com

(I am not getting paid for this post and I paid for my own planner)

 When she was ordering her planner I was on the phone and we were on the webpage together and while it looked really pretty and very functional I was not sold.  

Mike worked very hard to get me to move over to using the Google calendar and it has been working well for years but last week I had repair people crawling all over my house and I thought I was getting all of the information they were telling me in my computer or phone (google calendar). 

 WRONG!!!!

I knew I had city inspectors coming to the house but when I went to check what time - there was no time.  With the noise of the installers and the inspector trying to get off the phone I missed a step in google and did not put the time in my calendar and I had no way to call him to find out when he was coming out.  I was stuck at the house ALL DAY!

The other problem that I ran into is not having the info in front of me when needed.  My phone was being flaky and I could not talk to someone and access my calendar at the same time.  That left me running into the house to find the computer.  It was driving me crazy!

So I did some more research on this Erin Condren Life Planner stuff and this time with an open mind. 

 WOW!

I love that I could customize it and make it work for my life and my business.  It is bigger than most planners and that can be a good thing or a bad thing but I carry a large purse so it should not be an issue for me.  


I do not have a proof of "my" cover but this is what it will look like.  

There is a great blog out there and she does a fantastic job explaining what is so great about this planner.  

(http://www.domesticserenity.org/home-management-2014-erin-condren-life-planner/)

So while I am waiting for my planner to be shipped in am doing "research" on ways to make it work for both home and a direct sales business.  I am lost in Pinterest land and there are some fantabulous ideas out there.  I even found a solution to track my workouts and measurements - SCORE!  Now I just need to be cleared to go back to Curves....  I also love that I can have items made for my business to use with this planner.
  (ie: crop night reminders, workshop reminders, team meeting stickers and such)
We will still use the Google calendar for big items that the family needs to know about so our phones stay linked.  (Mikes business trips or vacations and such) but I am going back to paper for my personal day to day stuff!  I did not realize how many little notes I have around the house to do things until I made the decision to go back to a paper planner.

I do another blog post as soon as my planner is in my little hands.

I am so excited!