Happy Birthday to the Princess in Your Life

Know someone who deserves a castle and a little magic for their birthday? I whipped together this super cute Princess Birthday card using scraps from my scrap box. I’ll freely admit that I am a scrap hoarder! I can’t bare to waste any of my fabulous paper, but I need to be better about using it rather then letting it pile up. So, I’ve challenged myself to use more of my of my scraps this month! Now, I’m challenging you! Create projects using mostly scraps and share them with us using the linky at the bottom of this post! I can’t wait to see what you have to share!

Need some more supplies? Head to my Shoppe and stock up! Don’t forget to Get Crafty!!

 

 

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

An Ocean Deep Birthday

Am I the only one who finds it hard to create masculine cards? Everything is geared towards the girly and cute-sy side it seems. So whenever Close To My Heart releases stamp sets that are masculine I get a bit giddy! I’ve been trying to build up my stock of pre-made cards and have made it my goal for October to have a pretty hefty sum to include a bunch of cards for men. I also decided that I needed to raid my scrap box, because its absolutely overflowing!

I feel like the card really pulled itself together when I picked the Charming Cascades stamp set (retired) and then rummaged through my scraps to find the perfect pieces of paper. I utilized this cute kind of Hawaiian paper for the background, then layered a 2″ x 5 1/2″ strip of Olive cardstock (retired) with a 1 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ strip of White Daisy cardstock.

I wanted to keep it simple, but tie all the colors together. So I distressed the edges of the white strip with a bit of Sapphire ink and used it to stamp the message on the outside & inside of the card. I stamped the super cute octopus in Ruby ink and added the anchor symbol with some Black ink. I also skimmed the edges of the olive paper with some sandpaper to bring out the white core of the cardstock.

Layering it together and adding a bit of 3-D pop using 3-D tape, I had myself the perfect birthday card. While I see this as the perfect card for that beach loving man, it could also be as fabulous for your girlfriend, who wishes she lived at the beach! It turned out so great and was quick & easy to create!

I hope this inspired you to get a little crafty this week and challenge you to create some masculine cards for your stash! Remember Friends, to Get Crafty!!!

Order your supplies today from my Shoppe!!

 

Supplies

 

    Black Ink

 

Sapphire Ink

Flaxen Ink

Sorbet Ink

Ruby Ink

 (retired)

(retired)

White Daisy 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ Cards & Envelopes

Getting Organized, One Spinning Shelf at a Time

Pinterest. I don’t know about you, but sometimes its my enemy sucking me in for hours pinning projects by the hundreds in hopes of ‘someday’ creating them. (I still hope to, I’m still young) Its also my best friend, BECAUSE it gives me hundreds of ideas to choose from. I can learn how to better organize my house, how to budget money better, give my business a boost, and any number of craft projects from papercrafting to sewing projects. So, who can’t help but have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest? Certainly not me!

When I came across this idea from my friends, the fabulous Midge & Madge of Midge & Madge Mingle (Some seriously creative ladies! ♥ them), I knew I had to do this one and soon. As most crafters, my crafting space is the whirlwind equivalent of my creative mind (aka I’m creatively messy). This would give me a super cute decoration for my desk and be very functional at the same time, helping to clear a chunk of the mess cluttering my desk.

The supply list was super simple and I was able to purchase all of it from two stores that happen to be in the same shopping complex. I was able to purchase the revolving storage from Harbor Freight, the spray paint and sealant from Hobby Lobby. The putting together my new stand took only a few hours from start to finish.

I made sure to give each piece two solid coats of Krylon Bahama Sea spray paint, making sure to give at least a half hour per coat and then gave it a sealing coat of Mod Podge sealant. I also made sure that sprayed outside my house on nice days, when their was no chance of rain. My sidewalk has a bit of a blue tinge because it happened to be a little windy, but it gave me a large enough area to work in. Then it was just a matter of screwing all the pieces together. That actually took the longest and boy were my fingers really sore when I got done. I think it turned out great and honestly I’m super proud of my work.

Now its your turn! I’d love to see how you decorate your revolving storage and how you use it! So please share! I hope this inspired you all to get a little crafty and do some organizing at the same time! Don’t forget to Get Crafty!!!

Supplies

12″ Revolving Storage (Harbor Freight)

Krylov Bahama Sea (Hobby Lobby)

Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer (Hobby Lobby)

 

 

 

Christmas in July

I know, I know. I’m incredibly late with this post, but with it being July I can always go with the ‘Christmas in July’ theme. I do feel that not only is it ok to be posting about Christmas cards now, but its important to post whatever projects I’m working on. Don’t be afraid of putting yourself out there with projects even if your project is a Halloween one and its Valentines Day. You just may inspire someone!

I created these Christmas cards on a day just before my kids started their Winter Break. I felt a bit of panic when I realized that time had crunched together and I’d put off creating cards, really for anybody, but especially for my kids’ teachers for Christmas. So I hit Pinterest, because honestly who doesn’t use that as some form of inspiration. Obviously I do.

I’d been really wanting to create a card using the triple stamping with the image of a tree. Doing my research, I looked at literally hundreds of photos and watched a couple of videos before I felt I was ready to take the plunge and start working on my own piece. I loved the idea of doing a Christmas tree and utilizing greens & reds for Christmas. So this is what I came up with.

I love, love, LOVE how this card turned out!

I was also drawn by the image of the string of lights. It was such a simple card with the lights and a message, but it was a very beautiful card. So I attempted two different versions, playing with the positioning of the lights. I still can’t decide which I prefer, lol. Iused the Daisy White ink, which if you’ve never used it before is a thicker consistency more like paint and it takes a lot longer to dry. It does have a nice affect, but you have to plan ahead for the longer drying time.

I have plans this year to start working on Christmas cards much sooner than I did last year. So I need to start really thinking about what I want to create and perhaps try some new methods. I hope that this inspires you to start working on your Christmas cards and not wait till its crunch time. Want to snag some crafting goodies? Head to my Shoppe today!

Products Used

Sparkle & Shine paper pack (Retired)

October 2015 Stamp of the Month (Retired)

 

New England Ivy Ink

Ruby Ink

White Daisy Ink

Black Ink

New England Ivy Cardstock

Ruby Cardstock

White Daisy Card bases & Envelopes

Believe in Christmas Stamp Set

Garden Party Elegance

In the LDS Church, there is an organization for women called the Relief Society and it plays a powerful part in the Church. The Church is broken up into groupings known as Wards and each ward has its own Relief Society, which teaches and cares for the women in their Ward. Many Relief Society’s hold monthly activities that range from learning new skills (i.e. canning, sewing, cooking, etc.) to service projects to fun nights where you take the time to get to know each other better.

You are perhaps wondering why any of this is important to today’s post. I wanted to give a bit of background, because I was recently asked to be apart of my Ward’s Relief Society Activities Committee. Being asked to do a job, otherwise known as a calling, is a big deal, as well as a huge blessing. For especially for me, because it gives a sense of belonging and being needed. With this calling, I get to help plan the activity each month and that is a ton of fun.

The first activity we worked on after I received my calling, was to plan a Garden Party in August. It’s probably not a very traditional garden party, but its a night with yummy food and games, giving everyone a chance to get to know each other better. Such a great idea, especially for someone like me whose only been in the Ward for such a short period of time. 

Everyone was given a job to do and I was given the task of creating three large posters and a small flyer that could be copied en mass to pass out around the neighborhood. I was more than happy to do it, but I think I was given that job because I’m so crafty. Putting together the small flyers was pretty easy once I sat down to do it, because they needed to be simple and simply have all the information about the activity. The large posters, however, needed to be cute and catchy. In my mind I needed to create something that would make the gals in the Ward interested and even excited about attending.

I did a bit of procrastination, it didn’t help that the week of my birthday I came down with strep and wasn’t really up to doing much more than sleep for a whole week. Last night I finally cracked down and set to work. I used the Happy Times paper pack that was Close To My Heart’s Constant Campaign for National Scrapbooking Month back in May. Such a gorgeous paper pack that was absolutely perfect for the Garden Party theme.

I chose to ink the edges of each layer of the base with ink in a corresponding color, it kind of softens the paper and ties in each layer to the next. Honestly its one of my favorite techniques and its so easy to do, all you need is ink in the color of your choice, a piece of sponge and your piece of paper. I also utilized gold gems and sequins all from CTMH’s embellishments. I used to never use embellishments, ever! I admit I was afraid of them because I had no idea what to do with them. I love that I’ve experimented with them and have come to love what they add to any project.

No stamping was used on this project, unfortunately. I couldn’t find an alphabet stamp set that conveyed the feel I wanted, so instead I opted to print the information and title on sheets of Daisy White CS. Then I layered the different sheets of paper and added flowers I cut out from a single sheet from the paper pack. I love how they turned out! They aren’t horribly fancy, but they convey a sense of simple elegance.

 

I hope this has inspired you and that you won’t be afraid to try new things!  Remember that the CTMH Annual Idea Book expires at the end of this month and a number of our products will be retiring. So you won’t want to miss out on some of these fun goodies before they are gone. Although I’m sad to see old product go, it always means there is fabulous new product to try out. Head to my Shoppe today and snag your crafting goodies today! Don’t forget to Get Crafty!

Want to see what’s retiring? Check Here to see exactly what’s going!

Products Used

Happy Times Paper Pack (Retired)

Oceanside Sequins (Retired)

Topiary Cardstock

 Pixie Cardstock

Pomegranate Cardstock

Topiary Ink

Pomegranate Cardstock

Hollyhock Ink

Gold Gems

Give a Lift Stamp Set

A Little Bit of Delaney…

I had no idea how much this beautiful little girl would change my life when my cousin married her Mom in 2007 or how much she would change the lives of everyone she met. My heart still hurts from the loss of such an incredible little girl.

Delaney Janea Clements
August 5, 2002 – March 21, 2016
The most beautiful fabulous dancing queen!
While she is no longer with us, Delaney is a bright shining light in the world that will outlast all of us. Her short time here on this Earth cannot be measured in years, although we all feel 13 was not nearly enough.
Delaney had no fear, she spent most of her energy making sure we were all okay and hiding her own pain with her brilliant smile.
That smile. It will be forever etched on our brains.
She became an emotional caregiver for other children hospitalized for treatment as well as a worldwide spokesperson for childhood cancer awareness. She would not be ignored! She invited all of us into her battle and allowed us into her most intimate moments, in the hope that things would change for other children. She was heard.
Delaney was a fashionista beyond the norm for a teenager. Even during her most trying times, you weren’t going to catch her looking anything but fabulous. She had the most adventurous spirit, every day could be an exciting new experience with Delaney when you let her take the reins. She never said no at the idea of doing something new, it didn’t matter if it was a simple task or even an errand, she made it fun. This was a trait directly inherited from her mother.
She was a dancer: any time, any place, she danced. Sometimes it was goofy and just for fun, but mostly she loved to choreograph and teach her friends and little sister, Emma Jo, the moves.
She taught us all a lot: how to love, how to laugh, how to open our hearts and mostly how to live every moment of our lives to the limit. She will never be forgotten, she made sure that was not a possibility, and therefore she will never truly be gone.
“There’s always time for living
Can we just do it again?
One more time like it once was…
Way back when”
-Delaney’s favorite song from “Mr. Peabody and Sherman”
Delaney is survived by her mother, Wendy (Brandon) Reece; father, Patrick Clements, and Brittan Campbell; her siblings, Keenan Clements and Emma Jo Campbell, and thousands of people across the globe who are forever changed for having known her.

Everybody deserves to have a little bit of Delaney in their lives. In her thirteen short years of life, she did a whole lot of living. She had adventures that some only dream of, but she also suffered more than anyone should ever have to. As a Paper Crafting Instructor, I realized that someone should be saving her adventures  not only for her to enjoy, but as a way for her parents to look back when she was gone.

So, I set to work and my first step was to reach out to the Close To My Heart paper crafting community. I knew that her time on earth was growing shorter and so I asked for donations of scrapbooking supplies, as well as ready made layouts, albums and memory protectors. I was delighted by the turnout of gals willing to help me out with this project.

As I began collecting photos and copying down the hundreds of messages, I got an even greater glimpse into the lives of those she’d touched and how she was changing her community as they banded around their tiny hero. In fact, I couldn’t keep up with the daily stream of messages placed by people from all across the United States.

As I began pulling together photos, deciding where each one fit on the ready made layouts and Delaney’s beautiful life spread out before me. How could one little girl’s whole life span a handful of pages?

I made sure to leave some spots for journaling, so that Delaney, her mom or her dad could add thoughts or memories to the pages. Giving them a chance to make the pages their own. Recording specific memories of those precious days with their little girl.

 

 

These photos are of the layouts for the album that I made for Delaney and her mom. I used the same photos but placed them on different pages for the album for Delaney and her Dad, Brittan. So that he could hold onto his memories of his little girl.

 

I made a trip to Colorado back in February for my Grandfather’s funeral and took the opportunity to hand deliver the first album to Delaney & her Mom, Wendy. It was amazing and so much more for me to deliver it to her myself. She’d had a pamper day that day, which had completely worn her out, which broke my heart because a thirteen year old shouldn’t suffer so much. Even though she was tired, she glanced at the pages as I showed her what I had done. I left a cute box with her own journaling pen and some glue, plus a few more photos and PML cards.

I am grateful that I was able to make this beautiful gift for Delaney and her family. It may not bring her back, but it will help them remember the good times with her. Its why it’s so important to find ways to preserve your family’s memories. It can be done simply or more complex, either way they are saved for others to enjoy.

Want to start preserving your memories? Check out my Shoppe and see what fun you can have. Want to help donate to find a Cure to Children’s Cancer, donate to Truth 365 today.

A Planner With a Plan

 

Or rather a woman with a planner. As a college student with a pretty hefty schedule, as well as running my own business and being the mother of four kids with very different schedules, I found it necessary last year to invest in a planner. It was a nice-ish planner that we’d picked up from Walmart as a spur of the moment thought one day. In the beginning I did pretty good at writing down our schedules and carried it around, I guess more cause it made me look somehow cooler, maybe even more professional. Then as the months went by, my updates inside became more spaced out and less-is-more kind of a way. Until there was an entry maybe once a month, if I even remembered that.

When I’d skim through looking for information such as previous Dr’s appointments or looking for future ones, I’d feel disappointed in myself and even a bit frustrated. It became a regular thing that I couldn’t remember when I’d set up appointments for myself, let alone my kids. I’d mentally kick myself, as this was the whole reason to have a planner. It was all about maintaining some measure of balance and being ahead of the game vs. behind.

When we got the word that Close To My Heart was going to start selling planners, I was actually excited. I felt it was going to be that extra incentive to use a planner, because not only was it going to help keep me organized and planning ahead. It was going to help me show the planner in use. I ordered as soon as they became available and then there was that wait. Of course, everyone was ordering planners like crazy the moment they became available to order on December 1st. Who knew if things would ship out quickly or not, since if they were bombarded by orders it could really slow their process.

It was absolutely impressed by how quickly it arrived (it does pay to live in Utah since CTMH’s Headquarters is in Pleasant Grove, Utah) and couldn’t wait to tear into the box, and see what treasures awaited. Now, my previous planner was a Family one that had spaces for more individual schedules each day, plus a weekly menu spot and cards for grocery lists. Pretty handy for my bustling family, but with my new planner I wasn’t really sure what would all be available.

What adventures await me behind this beautiful cover?

So on the day my box arrived and rushed to open it. I needed to get started right away. I wanted to start planning ahead not only on family oriented events or even school events, but I also was looking to being more organized and being certain to schedule time for work (which really isn’t work at all when one crafts for a living). Which was particularly important with Spring semester looming in the distance.

When I ordered my planner, it was during December’s Constant Campaign which gave you the option to order the planner album, the planner calendar inserts, the sticker sheets and the stamp for about $35. Can I tell you what a steal that was? I also order another package of inserts, which were more for adding the scrapbooking element into my planner. I felt I was in the best place to start putting my planner together and making it my own.

How do I make it my own? What do I want to be able to keep track of within its pages? What do I want my planner to say about me? A million questions rolled around in my head and while I immediately placed all the pages I had purchased inside it, I was stuck on what to do next. I mean it was easy enough to note birthdays, holidays, etc, but how was I going to use it best? I really had no idea.

When I joined Close To My Heart I became apart of the whole CTMH family, but I also became apart of the Damask Divas headed up by Mandy Leahy (who is super awesome) and  apart of Been There, Blinged That run by my fabulous direct upline, Amie Kiger. I could’t be happier than to have joined the ranks with a lot of fabulously talented and incredibly supportive ladies & gentlemen. You are probably wondering where I am going with this and I do promise it has a point & purpose. Each month the Divas host a blog hop that features one of our paper packs, showcasing the beautiful papers that CTMH gives us to work with and share fun new ideas & techniques to use with them. I

t was decided that this month’s blog hop would actually feature our new planners.

What a great way to share how we each use our planners differently, because obviously no two people create and think the same. I was excited to participate, but as I found the days in December dwindling down, I began to panic. I hadn’t done anything more with it beyond adding a few dates here and there: first day of Spring semester, our 10th wedding anniversary, my kids birthdays, etc. This was all basic and not particularly exciting or creative. I knew one thing: I needed to make this planner mine and therefore unique to me.

My month at a glance

I’ve recently started pinning inspirational quotes on Pinterest. Not only because its the thing to do, but I’ve felt that I’ve need a bit more encouragement not only as I work towards my college graduation this Spring or even to help keep me motivated with my business. I needed this for me. I have days I needed reminding why I’m going to get up and do things, even when my body is screaming in pain and the exhaustion is so bad, I feel it holding me hostage. I need to remind myself that its not always easy, but there is always a reason to get back up on my ‘horse.’

So, it seemed natural that I should want to have inspirational quotes all over the place in my planner. I started with a quote at the top of my January calendar, “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” (John Wayne) From there I felt inspired as I searched for hours (literally) seeking out each quote that felt like it was speaking to my soul. I found it was a bit sporadic, some weeks I wrote one at the start of the week only. Other weeks have a quote each day, given a bit of ‘food for thought’ each day.

Suddenly my planner was taking on something of me and becoming mine. From there I felt inspired one day last week, to create a page to insert inside that was me. Not just any version of me, but the Me that is stronger, more confident, happy all because of my time with Close To My Heart and the truly beautiful people it has brought into my life.

This photo represents everything I’ve overcome. Every step forward and every step backwards. I’ve become the Me I’ve always wanted to be and I felt my planner wasn’t complete without showing this new and wonderful person I’ve become.

As each day has come and gone, I’ve found myself more determined to use my planner and to continue adding to it, continuing to create something that reflects me. I’ve since added my business goals for January right up front where I can see them when I open my planner. I’ve added a meal tracker, an extra daily to do sheet, addresses of course and several different sheets to help me keep track of my daily, weekly and monthly blogging. I’m sure I’ll continue to add things, I’ll find what works for me and even what doesn’t. I’m hoping to see more packs for planner inserts from CTMH and as of yet, they haven’t disappointed me yet.

I’m glad you all came to join us with the Damask Divas’ January Blog Hop. If you’ve come from Craftin and Stampin with amazing Jessica, your next stop will be Jen’s Messy Studio with the very talented Jennifer! If not, then be sure to head over to the Damask Divas Blog for the list of all the incredibly talented ladies participating in this Blog Hop!

Do you use a planner? What do you like to keep track of in your planner? What things to wish your planner had? I’d love to hear from each of you about what works for you, what doesn’t and how you’ve made your planner your own. I hope you’ve been inspired to better maintain your planner or start using one if you don’t. Want to get your own CTMH planner? Head to My Shop and snag yours today! Don’t forget-Get Crafty!

 

 

Materials Used

Everyday Life Album-Z3208

Everyday Life 2016 Planner Pages-Z3209

My Crush Everyday Life Pages-Z3210

Everyday Life Perfect Plan Roller Stamp-Z3212

Watercolor Paper-Z3146

Watercolor Paints-Z3132

Paintbrush Set-Z3188

Picture My Life: Father’s Day Album

I can hardly believe we are already thirteen days into August already. Where has the summer gone? It feels like my summer has been jam-packed with things but the two biggest events have been my Close To My Heart Convention in July and house hunting in July & August. We are now in the process of closing on a house (Wahoo!) Can I just say how ecstatic I am to have a place that’s our very own and be able to make the changes we want to it? So it may not seem like a lot but it’s kept us hoping. Now we are in the final week & a half till school starts for all six of us. Add in moving and you’ve just met my crazy remainder of the year. LOL! So, with that being said, I can definitely say I’m behind in project sharing! I’ve worked on a few projects throughout the summer, perhaps not as many as I’d have liked to. Some crafting is better than none, that’s for sure.

Here we are in August and I’m going to share a very fun & simple project that I created for my Husband’s Father’s Day gift! Yep, we are jumping back to June, but trust me you are in for a treat!

I decided that I wanted to think outside of the box for my Hubby’s gift and I really love the patterns available with our Picture My Life cards. It was the perfect way to put together a cute and simple mini album
, but gives the look of something much more complicated. I used the large journal card size, 4×6, to be the base size for the album. This allowed me to use both sides of the cards if I wanted to or to glue a different patterned Cardstock to one side.

On a couple of pages, I glued the smaller cards on and used them as pockets for photos or other PML cards. I mismatched the cards from different PML sets, which gave it a really unique feel and while they are different they seem to pull together nicely. So don’t be afraid to use some from this set or that set together.

I also made sure to use some 3-D embellishments, so that it had some dimension to it. I used ribbon, washi tape, acrylic flowers and zipper lace. Once I had tied all the pages together with some of our thick flaxen twine, that’s when I went hunting for photos and began to write inside. I had so much fun and even had my kids help decide on pictures & made sure to put messages from each of them in there.     The best part of the whole thing was that my husband adored it. I worked on it while he was gone with the military and we got to give it to him at his graduation. It was something very unique and something that he can enjoy for years to come. So, if you find yourself stuck on a project or even without one, think outside the box and see what fun & creative things you can come up with. Remember Get Crafty!

Product Used

 Blue Shimmer Trim     PML: Balloon Ride (Retiring, Available until Aug. 31st)

 PML: Heartstrings (Retiring, Available until Aug. 31st)   Bitty Sparkles

 Flaxen Extra Thick Twine   Memory Bond Glue

 Teal Acrylic Flowers (located in the While Supplies last category)

PML: Avonlea (Retired)

Rosette Ribbon (Retired)

Skylark Paper Pack (Retired)

Lagoon Zipper Lace (Retired)

Want to order your own supplies for a mini album from Picture My Life Cards, head to my Shop: http://www.craftywithpixiestedding.ctmh.com

CTMH Making Connections Event 2015

Ugh, things have been so crazy this year and amongst the craziness I had the chance to attend Close To My Heart’s Making Connections Event in Salt Lake City. It was an absolutely fabulous way for me to unwind in the middle of my school semester. As this was my first Making Connections event, I honestly had no idea what to expect. I wasn’t sure if I would know anyone or if any of the Damask Divas would be there. It made me a little nervous (remember I am still working on stepping out of my shell). I watched as consultants began to trickle in and I made it a point to sit closer to the front. The room quickly filled up and then the “Party” got started.

The evening was split into two parts: a business class, followed by a creative session (yes!). They showed how many consultants, supervisors, managers and up were present that night. I found it really interesting to see and then they gave prizes to the top sellers and top recruiters of the last quarter. I loved that. Although I wasn’t one, it was like this additional incentive to get out there and make things happen. Brian Holman opened up by talking about the idea of “preach the Close To My Heart Message,” or rather share what CTMH is and its purpose. (I know it might sound silly, but really it’s what we do. We talk about the products and what we are able to do & share.)

He talked about life’s “squirrel” moments and how we needed to really evaluate how we are approaching our business. To find better ways of approach and avoiding our own personal “squirrel” moments. The key is to Start, Stop and Continue. We need to look at what we are doing, list what’s not working and quit doing it. Then list what would most benefit our business and start that, and finally list what we are currently doing that works and keep doing it. This allows you to keep your business progressing. You’ll keep re-evaluating and going through the three steps over and over again. All the while improving not only your business, but yourself too.

He also talked about having an affirmation. Creating our own affirmation will help give yourself the power and confidence to keep on, keeping on. When something goes wrong (as we know not everything goes according to plan) or we feel “stuck,” say your affirmation and feel the strength it lends.

Being social in this business is huge! You can’t share what CTMH (or any other business) has to offer if you aren’t being social.  We need to utilize all the resources available to us and use them to our advantage. I don’t know about any of you, but stepping out of my comfort zone and being social, talking to new people, is a huge trial for me. In the last two years, I have come a long way in being social. Its gotten just a bit easier meeting new people. It helps having a strong support system at home (my hubby & kids), but my CTMH Family as well. Create a support system at home and in your business, have those you can talk ideas through with and go to when you need encouragement.

The last portion of than class talked about our customers feeling overwhelmed by the hundreds of products we sell and needing to take the time to ‘spoon feed’ them, but not in a negative way. Point out the a few things, maybe its things they might like or even just what things you love. In order to do this we need to know the ‘whole menu,’ so we can guide our customers and give them better & less overwhelming experience.

It really was an incredible class. I was feeling that burning desire to be ‘on fire,’ to share why I love CTMH and all it has to offer. I felt that strong sense of power, knowing I could do this and succeed. I need to share!

Monica Wihongi told us all briefly about her experience in Mexico with Operation Smile. Operation Smile provides cleft palate surgeries for kids in countries like Mexico who need them and their families can’t afford it. I’ve wanted to donate since I signed up, but I didn’t feel a strong connection with it, so I never did. But hearing how out of 200 kids needing the surgery performed that only 100 of them would be able to get it. The rest would have to make the long trek home knowing their journey had been in vain. Fathers who lost out on a days worth of wages to try to get the help their child needed.

My thought was “how could you bear to turn those families away?” That’s when it clicked for me. I need to make a better and bigger effort to earn money for Operation Smile. In fact I bought two sheets of their exclusive Base & Bling sticker sheets that they were selling that night. All of the money from their sales would go straight to Operation Smile. I know it was only $10, but that’s $10 more toward some child’s operation. I think in all that night we made enough to perform 1 and a half surgeries. Which is awesome! I have plans in the works for getting more customers and people involved.

The Creative Session showed a really neat and unique way to use our His and Her My Crush books. We made a 2-page layout  and a few cards. All out of these books, I mean we actually took them apart to use the entire pages. It was tons of fun and time ran out too quickly. Before I knew it, it was time to clean up.

I felt inspired again and encouraged that I can succeed & be on fire! I enjoyed doing projects that require thinking outside the box. Not to mention making a new friend, Michelle Snyder, who told me I could do this and who wants to cheer me on my journey through college as well. See a new part of my support team! Plus selfies with the Selfie Queen herself, Monica

I’m reminded why I love what I do and why I always feel better about me & my business following an event. They want to see us succeed and they give us the tools to do so.

I want to Share this Opportunity with you! If you have questions about hosting a gathering or about becoming apart of my CTMH Family, send me an email: pixiestedding@hotmail.com

Don’t Forget: Get Crafty!

New Annual Idea Book and Retiring Product

 Eek! The last week & a half have been so exhilarating and I can’t wait to share all the fun with you. Thanks to my amazing Hubby, I got to go to Anaheim, California for this year’s Close To My Heart Convention. I even got to be there during my 30th birthday and I got to party at Disneyland with my amazing CTMH Family.

I can’t even begin to tell you about the amazing bond and relationship that I have with the other members of my Team, the Damask Divas. We really are family. We support each other, give encouragement when it’s needed, cheer each other on and share ideas on how to improve our businesses. It’s not a competition and for me that’s a big deal. I have always hate working for companies that feel the need to play their employees against each other, who can be better at this, yada yada. Close To My Heart isn’t like that at all. We are all a team, a family. We are there for each other through everything and even when I’ve met other consultants for the first time, it only takes a short amount of time and you feel like you’ve known each other forever

CTMH has also done amazing things for my confidence and ability to speak to others. I’m pretty shy unless I feel really close to people and in the last two years, I’ve gone from barely being able to teach workshops and hold Gatherings to this year, where I managed to put myself out there to get roommates during Convention. We all came from such varied backgrounds and one of them was even from Australia. Before joining, I would never been able to do that and I love seeing the progress. So obviously, this has been the best decision for me! Not to mention I just straight up love what I do. I feel its important that you love what you do and for me getting pad to do my hobby is awesome.

So I know not everyone has been to a business convention before and even if you have, it maybe very different from how CTMH does it. It’s a time to see new, upcoming products, even get a chance to play with new papers, colors, etc. There are also business classes and classes to show the variety of ways that our product can be used. There’s prizes, fun programs, a fancy banquet and award recognitions. It’s a wonderful opportunity to meet other consultants and create friends & support networks. This year we were challenged to be bold and step out of our comfort zones, to share this amazing opportunity with others. It was very invigorating and I love how excited I feel when I leave Convention. I’m also sad that it seems to go by so fast, but I feel like all my time is so well spent and I’ve gained all kinds of new information & insight.

I cannot wait to share all the fun new products that will be coming out in the new Annual Idea Book. I am positive that you will love all of it and will feel like I do, that you need it all. Haha, why can’t money grow on trees, I mean really? I can’t share any photos just yet, darn right? But we do have a brand new Cricut cartridge that will be available to you as of August 1st. Exciting, right? I can’t wait to share its awesomeness with you. Watch for more about it in the next couple of weeks.

I’m including the list of all of the retiring product and they are only guaranteed until September 1st. So, grab your favorite products before they are gone for good.

2014-2015 Retiring Product List