Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Color Dare Challenge # 152

It Is Color Dare Time


This week (#152) the colors that the talented folks at Color Dare choose are vibrant and fun to work with.  

I pulled out my all time favorite stamp that gets used mostly for sympathy cards but today it adds a fun flare with tone on tone Slate.
Treasure Life (D1306) is long retired but you will never find this stamp in my "sell bin". 

 I love it that much. 

Cranberry

Canary
Slate
White Daisy

I used a pattern from the Originals How To Book page 12 and my card is 3x3 finished.


Using the CTMH How To books as your pattern makes creating a card for loved ones super simple and fun. 

White Daisy

Monday, July 27, 2015

So much stuff.....

So you were wondering what I am doing with myself during our summer break.  Let me show you why I am not teaching or having crop during the month of August.



This is my daughter trying to move out to go to UNT in the fall.  She has taken over the crop room as a staging area for packing. 

 It is rather funny because see all of her belongings already in bins.... well her room does not look like anything is missing!  

What are in the pink crates?

Everything on the middle table will be up for sale in September.  There will be information coming to your email soon with all of the details.  The rest of this stuff is all Kaela!  

Mike is keeping a low profile while Kaela and I get all of her stuff sorted and ready for move in day.  

I think I am going to take a break for the rest of today, order Chinese food and watch Netflix.  

August Stamp Of The Month - Framed

It is me or is this summer just flying by?

Kaela just left for her UNT Freshman Orientation so I had some time to sit down and create some cards using the August Stamp of the Month - Framed.



I used the Blossom paper pack and the August Stamp of the Month along with a card design from the Originals How To Book (page 102 "Overview").  

You say you want this stamp for your very own?  
Well there are two ways for you to get it. 

Spend $50.00 or more and the stamp set is only $5.00

Only want the stamp? 
You can purchase it for full price $17.95 with no other purchase items required. 

  **plus S&H** 

This stamp and only be purchased during the month of August 




Remember That Crop?

A few months ago I drove out to Denton to go to a crop that a friend of mine was having. Since I normally do not travel for crops I had to put some thought into what I was taking.

The album that I wanted to work on is the "Family 2010" album.  Kaela will be taking all of her high school albums with her when she moves out after college so I have another set of albums that are "family" with some of the same photos so she as some of our family fun in her school albums and we have some of her school events in our family albums.  I took a full year of page kits - photos matched with the paper along with a copy of the layout I wanted to use from my CTMH How To Books.  I made a copy so that I would not have to lug the books with me.  Since the pages are for personal use no copy write laws were broken and the copy was a great place to make notes about the layout design. 

I only packed my RETIRED papers because I was on a mission to use as much of my stash as possible.  The plan was to get the photos on the paper then I could come home and do the "pretty" work.  It is the embellishments that take up all of the room when we travel so I did not take very many at all.

It is taking a little longer than I thought to get the embellishments added to the pages but I am moving along.  It has been a super busy summer so far - but I would not change a minute of the craziness.









It seems funny working with photos from when Kaela was in 7th grade. She seems so little and not ready for the world yet. Time really does fly. 

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I think that I am going to switch over and start working on some cards for a bit next.  I have a craft fair in October and my card supply is getting lower than I like. 

Be on the lookout and I will post each card for you.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Urgent Message - Retired Colors 2015

These colors will not stay in stock long. 


Also do not forget that in this set are:

Stamp Pads 
Re-inkers
Cardstock

For all above listed colors.

If you are even thinking that you might need one of them for a future project do not wait to order.

I marked my personal catalog with the items that will be retiring by August 31 and it is most of the catalog - here is a link to the online list if you have an item on your wish list - please check to make sure it is not about to go away.


There is also another list of do dad's on the website of items that are almost gone.


It is mostly stickers, tools, and embellishments but it is a good list to see if an item you have been looking for is on sale.

Please do not be like me and put off an order then kick yourself in the bum because an item you want is now gone.  

When I was a brand new consultant there was a stamp set that I wanted but did not order.  I sat on the fence for a long time - then it was gone.  Last year I paid a whole lot of money for that stamp set on Ebay.  Lesson learned for me.

Do not wait - now is the cheapest you will find it again.

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

3rd Place!!!! I am a happy girl!

Ok, ok, 

Just before I left for convention I posted that I worked on a card for the Color Dare Challenge using a Mojo Monday design.  

Post link here:  Color Dare 149

Well I just checked the site and I won 3rd place for my card!!!!

(Our Sapphire Award Winner is Jenny Perry with her classy birthday card:)


So now I get to post my first ever blog badge. 
 Is it silly that it makes me so happy?

Pardon me while I do a happy dance.

Reminder: Jump on it July

Jump into action for a super sweet steal!



During the month of July, when you purchase $25 in current, retail priced stamps, you qualify to receive either the July Stamp of the Month, My Acrylix® Life Is Wonderful, FREE or any one of the Hostess Rewards stamp sets featured in Annual Inspirations 2014–2015 or Seasonal Expressions 2 for only $5! 

That is a savings of up to $17.95! The July Stamp of the Month is a lovely, versatile stamp set that is a great match for your cards and layouts that celebrate all the wonderful things—big and small—that life has to offer. 

Additionally, the Hostess Rewards stamp sets have previously only been available as part of the Hostess Rewards program, which means now is the perfect opportunity to get those special stamp sets you’ve had your eye on! To get your FREE stamp set or your $5 Hostess Rewards stamp set, simply place an order for $25  of any current, retail priced stamps. This offer is available only during the month of July and applies only to the July Stamp of the Month and current Hostess rewards stamp sets, so spring into action and jump on this deal before it’s gone! 


*Offer valid July 1, 2015 (9:00 am MDT)–July 31, 2015 (11:59 pm MDT). No tax will be charged on the free item(s). Shipping/handling is calculated based on the full retail price of the free or discounted item(s).
Receive this month’s Stamp of the Month FREE or any Hostess Rewards set for only $5! 

Monday, July 13, 2015

Day Workshops Are Posted

That is right ... 
I am now offering workshops during the day! 

 I know that many of you just can not attend workshops in the evenings due to  homework, sports or just being plain pooped.  You have wished for years that I  would like a daytime option for you. 

Here it is:
All Day Workshops are from 10am to 12pm 

September 22, 2015  Zoe 

October 13, 2015 Nevermore (from the Holiday Expressions mini catalog)

November 17, 2015 Sangria

December 15, 2015 White Pines (from the Holiday Expressions mini catalog)

January19, 2016  TBD from the Seasonal Expressions 1 mini catalog -
 not yet released 

February 23, 2016 La Vie En Rose 

March 22, 2016 TBD from the Seasonal Expressions 1 mini catalog - 
not yet released 

April 19, 2016 Urban

May 24, 2016 TBD from the Seasonal Expressions 2 mini catalog - 
not yet released

June - Convention Month

July 26, 2016  Georgie 

If you notice there are some months with "TBD" listed for the paper pack.  I have no idea what we will be working on for that month because those catalogs have not been released yet.  As soon as I see them I will choose a paper pack for us to play with and let you know in plenty of time to place your online orders. 

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Evening Workshop Dates Are Posted

I am sitting in the airport and this is the first time since I left for convention that I have had a change to sit down and plan our workshops for the 2015-2016 CTMH year.  I am super excited about the paper packs / workshops we will be playing with this year.

As usual I will post artwork and workshop info at the first of the month.  Just place your order on my website and bring your supplies on the night of the workshop to play.  Your order will be your RSVP - and it really is that simple.  

The CTMH 2015- 2016 Idea Book goes live to customers on September 1, 2015

September 24, 2015 - Zoe

October 22, 2015 - Nevermore (from the Holiday Expressions mini catalog)

November 19, 2015 - Sangria

December 17, 2015 - White Pines (from the Holiday Expressions mini catalog)

January 21, 2016 - TBD - from the Seasonal Expressions 1 mini catalog (not released yet)

February 25, 2016 - La Vie En Rose

March 24, 2016 - TBD - from the Seasonal Expressions 1 mini catalog (not released yet)

April 21, 2016 - Urban

May 26, 2016 - TBD - from the Seasonal Expressions 2 mini catalog (not released yet)

June - Convention Month

July 28, 2016 - Georgie 

If you notice there are some months with "TBD" listed for the paper pack.  I have no idea what we will be working on for that month because those catalogs have not been released yet.  As soon I see them I will choose a paper pack for us to play with and let you know in plenty of time to be able to place your online orders. 

I can not wait to teach these workshops and to spend time with you.
See you soon!

Even More Convention Fun


I have been having a blast during the Annual CTMH Convention.  These are some of my Creative Hearts Sisters - My Inkin' Cute Unit photos are not up yet but as soon as I get those I will post them.  I am a part of two teams.  Inkin' Cute Unit is my local CTMH team that is lead by my upline Janene and The Creative Hearts team is more of the national team for us based out of Boise, ID and is lead by Michelle.  I have all of the ladies on both teams as a resource for information and both leaders to guide me.  


 Here are a few more photos from the Creative Hearts during our first creative session.  The creative session is our first chance to play with new product and learn new techniques for the upcoming year.  I was working like a mad woman on mine and forgot to take photos of my project so I will borrow Michelle's. 

This is a photo of a couple of my buddies (left) Emily (right) Anna.

I love the look of this room - look at all of these consultants learning how to use new products so we can bring them home and teach our friends / customers.

After the creative session it was on to business classes.  I love to to the business classes because I always learn something new or have a refresher of something I have forgotten.  The trick is to remember it once I get back home.  Our brains go on overload when we are here and there is so much work to do during the first couple of weeks after convention that it is possible to forget a few details.  

I have a great photo of my roomie (Theresa) as we were sitting by the pool during a break before the Awards dinner.  But it is on Instagram and Instagram will not let me have it. (boo)

Here are a couple of cute photos that I was able to find that were taken during the General Sessions.  The theme of the convention this year was the Disney Movie "UP".  And as you can see the home office had a ton of fun thinking up ideas about how to incorporate the movie into convention.

Monica and Brian

Monica and Janette

The "Up" Team


The Awards dinner is always a magical experience during convention. Not only do we get treated to a fabulous meal and see our friends all dressed up and fancy but we get to celebrate all of our accomplishments for the past year.



I think my hair wanted to be back at the pool...


This year I was able to see my name in lights too:

I am in the middle row on the bottom.  They asked us to stand next to our chairs which was great for me because I tend to fall of stages.  Then we had a very happy surprise. Michelle was awarded the "Sprit of Close To My Heart Award'


Michelle has been with CTMH for 22 years and is one of my favorite people in the company.  I am so happy for her.  No one - knows who the winner is before the dinner so she was shocked.  

Yesterday was one of my favorite General sessions.  We get to hear from Janette Lynton herself.


She never fails to inspire us for the next year and is such a joy to hear speak.  She is one of the people I would love to meet in person - maybe one day....

Last night was the closing crop and dancing.  I have photos from the event but I have no idea where they saved on my computer so I have to find them.  As soon as I do I will update this blog post.  It was a late night so I may have saved them to the wrong folder.  

I will be flying back home today and while it was a blast being with my CTMH sisters and playing with all kinds of new product, I am missing my family and it is time to go home.

*************************************************************************
Keep an eye out here on the blog for news about crops, workshops, and other great ideas. 
 My brain is on overflow and trying to get the planning worked out.  

The good news is - I finished 80% of my artwork at convention this year so when you come to the September crop night you will not only see great artwork but you will be able to pick up a FREE copy of this new catalog. 

See you soon.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

2015 CTMH Colors to Retire

Shop Today BEFORE They Are Gone!!!!!

I am between sessions and wanted to send out a quick note.  The corporate office had big news for us that no one was expecting.  We have SIX colors retiring this year!  They just had a color revamp last year so we (consultants) were all chill and relaxed because we only have a color change every two years.  Little did we know.....

Here are the colors that are going away and are marked         WHILE SUPPLIES LAST 
-so once they are gone they are gone.

Smokey Plum

1291  $14.50

Outdoor Denim

1275  $14.50

Indian Corn Blue

1284  $14.50

Ponderosa Pine

1276  $14.50

Autumn Terracotta

1270  $14.50

Barn Red

X5637  $14.50

I have to go back downstairs but I will be flying home tomorrow.  I have my phone so you can text for Facebook me if you have any questions.

Keep checking the blog for updates... I have big plans for this upcoming year.  I am so excited!!!!

 




Friday, July 10, 2015

Convention 2015 Day 1


A year of excitement all boils down to the next 3 days!

 I am not sure if you can tell but I love the CTMH convention but it did not always start out this way. I was a consultant for 3 years before I ever went to my first event.  I loved being a consultant but did not feel like I was up to snuff with all of the talented ladies in this company.  I felt more like a hobbyist because I was still working full time and was not "working my business".   But during this one event I meet ladies just like me and learned so much from the classes that I came home so excited and ready to go.

Do I still have something to learn since this is now my 5th convention?  Oh yes!



I always learn a new technique during the creative sessions and yesterday during the business classes I had a refresher on the Home Gathering.  I have not done a home gathering in YEARS because I thought that I was not very good at it but after seeing the refresher course yesterday I have a few ideas running around in my head.....

(General Session)

I do have the new catalog in my hands and we have been asked not to post any artwork or info about the catalog on our blogs just yet but I am getting the Workshop schedule worked out.  This year will be a bit different but you will understand when you see it.  

Theresa and I walked Downtown Disney last night before dinner and then went over to Steakhouse 55 for one heck of a steak dinner.  We were lucky to be able to get a reservation and this was our one spurge fancy dinner but it was so worth it.  I know I normally take photos of the fancy food but I was so hungry I forgot (sorry).

We were going to try and get in the hot tub after dinner but it was FULL of kids so we came back to the room and dreamed about all of the new products that are coming up.

I woke up at 5:00 am so I am sitting here in the dark trying to be quite and drinking a cup of coffee.  We do not have to get moving until 7:00 so I am trying to let Theresa sleep.  We both crashed last night but the with the time difference my body thought it was 7:00 am already.

Convention 2015 Travel Day



Try as I might I could not sleep the night before I was supposed to leave for convention.  We went to bed at 9:00pm because we needed to wake up at 4:30am.  I slept for an hour…. ONE hour then woke up and could not get back to sleep.  I was just too darn excited.  Since I was up before the chickens I was also dressed way before time to leave for the airport so I told Mike I would take him out for breakfast.
First stop - IHOP
IHOP is 24 hours - or so we thought.  They were have technical difficulties and were closed until 7am.
Second stop - Denny's
Denny’s is also open 24 hours but the only problem with this location is that during the wee hours they only staff the kitchen and have one server.  It is known for being slow and they have only been opened for less than a year.  As we were seated we told the server that we were on the way to the airport and God bless him we were in and out in less than 45 minutes.
We get back in the car and Mike promptly gets on the wrong freeway.  I love my husband but he can get lost in a brown paper bag!  He has no trouble driving across country but can not seem to find the grocery store in the town we live in.  So instead of making a u-turn he decides to drive what I would consider way out of the way to get onto the correct freeway.  I have no idea how he managed it but we were at the airport 30 minutes before we earlier than we planned. Once my bag was checked he left me at security.
Searched again….
Yep this time I think it was the coil in my planner.  I normally do not take my planner when I travel but this convention will be informatoin packed and I will need to get it down correctly the first time.  It was not a huge deal, I just thought it was funny.
So now I am on the plane about an hour from my final destination and find myself with a row all to myself.  The teens that started out beside me spilled a smoothie all over the floor so they were moved to a different location and I get a row to myself.  We put a blanket in the floor and I can not even tell that something tropical is sitting there.  I am super happy that we splurged and scheduled a town car for me. I will not be driving around town so the service will just get me to the hotel and back to the airport.  Easy Peasy.
Ok I have to talk about a personal issue for a moment….
I have been sitting on this plane for 3 hours and I was at the gate for 2 hours before that - take a guess what I needed.
I did not want to have to go into the loo!  It is stinky in there!  and GROSS!
But I could not hold it anymore so I put my big girl panies on and walked to the back of the plane.  I took a big breath and went in - forgot I did not want to breathe and sniffed - something is not right in here…. where is the stinky?
Y’all there was a filter pack bag of coffee sitting on the counter in the loo and it smelled like fresh coffee in there!
SOMEONE WAS A GENIUS!!!!
I have got to try this trick on the RV for when we are riding down the road.
The things you learn on a plane…..

Made it to the hotel just fine.  JAG transportation was a little late but he made up for it by handling the luggage for me.  Theresa and I will be in the fantasy tower (where the convention is) and I am soon happy about this.  Our room is not clean yet but I am willing to wait for a room in the convention tower. 

Monday, July 6, 2015

Lost & Found

Have you ever put something away - then forgot where you put it? 

Well it seems that I put away a 

workshop way back in 2011, lost it, forgot about it, and re-found it tonight. 

Folks here is the Believe Christmas Workshop from 2011. It is a complete paper pack, 

embellishments and stamp set BRAND NEW! 

Now I have to play with it before I loose it again. 




Oh and if you are wondering where it was... 


in with all of my Christmas paper that I apparently hoard. 

It really is like Christmas morning around here right now.



smile emotic

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Color Dare 149

It has been a couple of weeks since I have posted a Color Dare challenge submission.  
This week the color choices are:


I am not going to lie and say it was easy peasy because these colors had me stumped.  Then I decided to go over Mojo Monday and see what they had for inspiration.


I liked this one.  It is from last week and fit my mood.  No frills is what I was after design wise and I think with these colors and this pattern - I achieved the no frills I was after. 


The entire card came together in less than 20 minutes.
Using the colors above... what designs can you come up with?

Let me know in the comments. 

Saturday, July 4, 2015

I Should Be Sleeping

I should be sleeping, I am going to hate life tomorrow - unless I stay in bed but that just starts the cycle of the night owl all over again.  

Maybe once I get this out of my brain I can rest.


I have been working on some layouts tonight and will try to get the blog photos taken tomorrow or Sunday so that I can post them for you.

I have packed for convention - yes I know I have 4 days until I leave.....

I have updated my iPod for the trip

I took all of the Idea Books out of the closet just to look at my past...


This year marks my 10 anniversary with CTMH! 

 I am so proud to be a consultant for this company. 

This is what my brain does at 4:30 in the morning... 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July. 




Friday, July 3, 2015

One Design = Multiple Cards

What have I been up to lately?  

Besides getting ready for convention and the trip to Norway? 

 Cardmaking!

I was having a girls day with some of my CTMH sisters and one of them showed me a set of cards made by another CTMH sister (Susan Garner Williams).  She came up with a fantastic design that works great with all papers and it is a neat way of using retired papers and embellishments.  

Here is what I came up with.


Sorry about the glare.  I had them in their little plastic display envelopes already and if I take them out it is like pulling teeth to get them back in.  

Supplies Used:

Any paper pack you like
Shimmer trim to match
Embellishments to match
Stamps Used:  D1646 Finding the Words


On this card I used washi tape in place of the shimmer trim but it still has that finished look.  I made 10 card each of the 4 designs so now I am all stocked up on Thank You, Birthday, and Everyday cards for just a little bit. 

I put this design in my "Patterns to keep" file.  Yes I liked it that much.

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I am leaving Wednesday for Disneyland.  Hopefully I will be able to post updates of all of the new products that will be in the new 2016 CTMH Catalog. I have so many ideas running around in my head that I am having trouble staying focused on one item lately.

I will post the new workshop dates and crop dates once I get back from California.  Thank you so much for your patience this summer - I can not wait to start the CTMH year off with a bang, new workshops and plenty of crops.

See you soon!