Love is in the Air -- with Close to My Heart!

Today is the day! The new Spring/Summer 2013 Idea Book goes live! SO exciting. SO many new beautiful papers, and stamps, and embellishments . . . . I am in L.O.V.E.!

Want a closer look? Visit my website, and browse the yumminess page by page. Want one of your very own? Email me, and I'm happy to give you one, FREE! If you're local, we can arrange a pickup. If you're not, you simply pay for the cost of postage to you, and I'll give you a coupon in that amount to use on your first order. Easy peasy! Of course, a new month means a new Stamp of the Month! February's is entitled "Home Sweet Home:" 

As always, the SOTM is available for only $5 (a $17.95 value!) with a qualifying $50 purchase (before tax and shipping). If you're shopping on my website, you'll be prompted to add the stamp when you place your order! But wait! There's MORE! Yes! We have a new Constant Campaign this month, featuring our awesome Studio J digital scrapbooking website. 

February is sure to be a month of digital delights because you can purchase any Studio J® layout for only $5—that’s a savings of $1.95 per layout! This is a great opportunity to try Studio J for the first time. Create adorable baby layouts with the Wishes and Fishes kit (shown above), or use the new Express Collections with collections of 10 ready-made layouts plus a front and back cover that are easy to use and professionally designed. If you are already a Studio J lover, then you'll be thrilled with your savings this month. If not, NOW is the perfect time to try it. To give it a try for FREE (there is no charge unless you decide to purchase any layouts you have built), go to my website to get started.

I'm so glad you stopped by! Until next time,

 

A Perfect 10!! Studio-J Members Only Constant Campaign

January is free layout month for Studio J® members! For every 9 custom-printed Studio J layouts you buy, you’ll receive the 10th layout free. To receive the discount, just add 10 or more layouts to your cart. You’ll see a discount reflected in your order total. And you can totally take advantage of this promotion by ordering in multiples of 10. Buy 9, get 1 free. Buy 18, get 2 free. Buy 27, get 3 free. And so on! If you’re not a member yet, now’s a great time to join! With Studio J, you create digital scrapbook pages that are then printed and delivered to your door, ready to slip into your classic 12" × 12" scrapbook albums.  Plus, it's easy to make them into hybrid layouts, if you love embellishments and that "touchy-feely" look. 

Studio J Members get:

• 50% off layouts
• Free monthly shipment
• Members-Only Templates and Kits
• Free JPEG files
• Free Page Protectors
• Special Members-Only promotions like this one

 

Give Studio J a try—there’s no cost until you place your order. Upload some of your digital photos and find out how quickly and easily you can create a finished scrapbook layout, preserving not only your pictures but the all-important stories behind them! If you like it, you can either order your layouts at full price or purchase a Membership for 3 months or 1 year, or purchase a 5 pack that includes 5 layouts, shipping, and page protectors.

 

 

Above is a layout I created last year.  Stay tuned for new layouts with the new paper packets!  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!  Until next time,

 

Habits, not Resolutions!

Ah, welcome, my friends, to 2012!!  I hope that you all had a blessed Christmas and a fun and happy New Year celebration!  I've been somewhat MIA on my blog, as I started the Christmas week with strep, which quickly moved into a rather nasty sinus infection.  We postponed our trip for Christmas by one day, and so have just arrived back home and are getting settled back in.  Our "girls," who were at the doggie spa for a week, were happy to see us, and have needed a little extra attention these past few days as they felt neglected over the holidays!

So, it seems that the blog topic for the week is New Years Resolutions.  Do you make them?  I have for years, and have just as consistently failed at most of them!!  Anyone know what I mean?  I resolve to lose weight.  Mmmmm, not so successful.  I resolve to exercise more.  Does shopping count?  I resolve to quit (fill in the blank.)  I'll say "chewing my nails."  (Nervous habit I've had since I was young.)  Never happened.  And each year, I feel a little worse about myself.  Anyone else feel this way?  Ever?  Well, I've decided to change my thinking this year, and do things a little differently.  Instead of making resolutions, I'm going to change habits.  Yep.  You heard me.  Big difference.

For one thing, when you set resolutions, they are often arbitrary, and so you are spending all your effort working towards something that is (basically) meaningless -- IE. "I'm going to 'get fit' in 2012." And then if you don’t achieve it, you feel like you failed, even though you didn't define what "get fit" meant.  Did it mean exercising more?  Eating better?  Changing habits is different, if you approach it with an attitude of “this is one little change I can make and I will enjoy the change as I do it."  Another thing we do to set ourselves up for New Year's failure is trying to do too much at once.  Ten resolutions.  I'm going to eat better, exercise more, get up an hour earlier, blah blah blah.  And when we fall off the wagon with one, more often than not we fall of the entire track, because why bother?  You can make a list of habits you want to change.  That's fine.  But don't change more than one habit at once.  Why?  Because it takes about 30 days to create a new habit.  So, if you plan just one little change a month, in a year you'll have formed 12 new habits!  

To start myself off for 2012, the habit I want to change is how often I post to my blog.  So I've created the following schedule to follow, to make myself accountable, and to hopefully keep you all coming back for more!

Blog planner 2012:

Weekly:

• Project Life – Weekly on Tuesday
• 52 Photos – Weekly on Wednesday
• Gratitude Journal – Weekly on Saturday
• Sunday Scriptures – Weekly on Sunday

Monthly: 

• One Little Word – Monthly on the 2^nd Monday
• Scrapbook*Life* Journal Class – monthly on the 2^nd Thursday 
• Close to My Heart 
• Layout/Playgroup – Monthly on the 4^th Monday 
• Stamp of the Month Card – Monthly on the 4^th Thursday 
• Studio J Layout – Monthly on the 4^th Friday

As needed:

·         CTMH Special Projects

·         CTMH Constant Campaigns

·         Art Journaling & Sketching

There may be a few things added or taken off of this list as I fine tune my year, but I hope that you'll follow the posts that interest you, and encourage your friends to, as well.  

I'll be back tomorrow with a NEW Close to My Heart Special, and later this week with a "Special Project" that relates to my "changing habits" goal for 2012.  Check back soon!  You won't want to miss it!  Until next time,

FanTABulous August!

Yes, ladies and gents, it's HERE!!!  The much-anticipated, gorgeous, amazing NEW Close to My Heart Fall/Winter 2011 Idea Book.  We're talking 144 pages of pure yumminess!! 

Click on this link in the left-hand sidebar to view the idea book page by page!

Let me tell you about a few of the fantastic deals you'll find in the new book:

• Chirp, chirp…Check out our new, exclusive CRICUT cartridge! The Cricut Art Philosophy Collection comes with a cartridge containing 700 images (font, shapes & 3-D items), 3 stamp sets, and 3 sets of Dimensional Elements that coordinate beautifully with the Cricut cartridge! – page 13 

• EIGHT gorgeous My Reflections Scrapbooking Kits…you’ll love the new look and feel of our kits as all of our B&T papers are now cardstock weight with two different prints on each sheet! That’s right, the paper has been beefed up, but…the price has slimmed down! -- pages 16-61

•  Over FORTY fun, new My Acrylix stamp sets! You’ll notice a few exciting changes:
• LOWER PRICES on ALL stamp sets!
• All sets are now shown at 100%!
• Stamp Sets outlined in RED coordinate with the NEW Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge!
• Our NEW Stamp of the Month program makes it even easier to earn your SOTM!

• Our new Complements line provides the perfect coordinates for some of our new My Reflections Kits…Canvas Shapes, Rub-Ons, and Dimensional Elements – pages 16, 28, & 46 (offered as an upgrade to the My Stickease.  Now, each kit offers something new!)

• Can’t get enough Embellishments? Neither can we, so we’ve added lots of new offerings – felt shapes, charms, corrugated shapes, jewels, bling, overlays, journaling spots, and more! Page 128

• Add a little dimension to your projects with several new Dimensional Elements sets, many of which coordinate with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge! You’ll also love our redesigned Dimensional Elements Monograms featuring 6 brand new fonts! – page 130

• Studio J is better than ever! Be sure to catch all the details on all the benefits of Studio J Membership – page 11

• Our New Consultant Kit has been revamped and is not more affordable than ever at only $99! - pages 4-5

And, during the month of August, you can earn a cute alphabet stamp set, entirely free!!

So, as you can see, August is a great month to order!!  Click on the "shop with me" link in the left hand sidebar to go to my website today!  

Studio J -- Free for All!

So, you've heard, or rather, read, about me promoting our online scrapbooking program, Studio J.  And you've seen some of the layouts I've done, as well.  (If you haven't, click on "Studio J" under labels and it will take you right to them!) And I'll share another couple, right here!

 And now, during the month of June, you get to try it.  FREE.  NO STRINGS ATTACHED.  Actually, you get to MORE than try it.  During our Studio J^® Free-for-All in June, we're giving everyone a FREE Studio J^® JPG file—no purchase required! Simply log on to Studio J^®, create a layout, then order one JPG file of your layout. It's as easy as that! Download and save your file so you can post your layout online, email it to family and friends, or print them. If you don't have an account, creating one is easy. You can access Studio J^® through my website or at studioj.com. 

What are you waiting for??  Try it today!  Not sure where to start?  Check out Close to My Heart's Studio J Tutorial:

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me directly!  I'd love to sit down with you and help you out!

Studio J -- The Why and the How!

After my many posts lately about Studio J and its amazing benefits, I wanted to share a video clip that a fellow consultant and amazing lady, Tresa Black, created to promote Studio J.  I have to be honest, it made me cry.

You can visit Tresa's Blog here -- stop by and give her kudos for a job so VERY well done!  (She is an AMAZING artist.  I consistently drool over her creations and ideas!) 

Another amazing video about Studio J was created by CTMH themselves, titled Studio J - Start to Finish.

This is a step by step guide to how to create a layout using our amazing digital software.  I tell you, I'm getting hooked!  I simply can't wait to take the layouts I've done for my nephew and niece home at Easter and see what they think!  I hope they love them.  Here is a peek at another of the layouts I created for their album:

Remember, once you've watched these videos, you can try Studio J for FREE simply by visiting my website and clicking on the Studio J link on the left hand side.  Let me know what you think.  If you find you love it, we have several options available to make your layouts even MORE affordable that I would love to tell you about!

Stylin' with Studio J!

So, I really have discovered that our digital scrapbooking program, Studio J, is an amazing and quick way to get a lot of layouts done in a short amount of time!  Added bonus -- they look just as classy and creative as our "hands-on" layouts!!  Take this one for example:

Our niece, Tyler, has always been a little fashion diva!  Whenever Grandma would take pictures, they were never just "pictures."  She always had to pose!!  And new outfits were ALWAYS a reason to pose!  :)

This one is a sneak peak of one I created for my niece and nephew, of when he proposed.  She had asked me to do a few album pages for her of their wedding, pregnancy, and birth of their first child, but don't think she even thought about the engagement photos.  I'm excited for her to see this one:

If I had to choose (thankfully, I don't!)  I still think I like the hands on scrapbooking better.  It just satisfies my creative side a little more.  But it is so nice to be able to do pages, "faster, simpler, and easier,"  as the Close to My Heart logo says, and still have them be beautiful creations that you're proud to show off. 

For more information on Studio J, visit the website, www.studioj.com where you can actually try it out for free -- create a page and see what you think!  Then, if you're sold on the idea, visit MY website here to sign up!