Krafty, Kool & Kolorful!

Discover new "kraft" possibilities with this inspiring video showing you limitless ideas for our new "Kraft Color-Ready Borders." Stay tuned as I will be adding more artwork soon with tips & techniques showing you even more ways to use the "Kraft Borders" on your pages & cards.

Fresh & exciting new paper pack "Sophia"

Aren't these colors fresh & inspiring! While working with this paper I called my sister & said "You just can't create anything that's not beautiful with this paper!" The name of this paper pack is "Sophia" named after Jeanette Lynton's (CTMH CEO & owner) newest granddaughter.

I even stamped & cut out flowers & birds! I purchased the Sophia WOTG Kit. It includes an exclusive "B" sized stamp set, pink buttons & colonial white waxy flax. It has the most delightful stamp set with a bird designed with florishes in it! (And you all know how I love flourishes!) There's also flowers & vines & a charming bird cage.

Isn't this cupcake card "Cute!" Yes... I actually created a "Cute" card I like! (If you've stamped with me before you know I have a really hard time with "cute!") Our new 2" Scallop Circle Punch makes creating this whimsical card fun & easy.

This is my favorite card. I just love the bird & flowers it all came toghether beautifully.

Check out this new ribbon in our Designer Ribbon Pink Collection. Isn't it to die for! You all know how I love flowers. When I saw this I knew I had to get it right away! Wait until you see how I used on my scrap book pages. The journaling spot (frame) is from our new Sophia Level 2 Journaling Spots. Make sure to check back in a few days for a look at the pages you can create at my next WOTG class on Friday night, March 4th. Call or email to reserve your spot.

What a great weekend! Thanks to all that joined me at the Weekend Retreat. It was very relaxing (except for the fact that I could not get my ipod & new speakers to work!) One of the features I hear a lot is that my croppers love the space they get to use. Everyone gets a 6' foot table to themselves! I also heard a lot of "I'm so glad I came this weekend...I've learned soo much!" There was lots of demoing & teaching happening! I showed how to use pattern papers (some where quite colorful) & how to keep them from overshadowing the photos. We discussed having a focal point on your page & how to create it. Balance also played a big part of how to build pages & keep them pleasing to the eye.

It was a very enjoyable weekend. I even completed a few pages myself! Woo Hoo! Here's a few of them. Jarred's green coat and CTMH's Mistletoe paper pack inspired these layouts.

I Love my new snowflake punch. It sure made a beautiful boarder on these pages. The large snowflakes are one of the chipboard Dimensional Elements shapes in our catalog. I love our Chipboard. It is sooo easy to use. They come white & in lots of shapes & alpha's, they are ink ready. In comparing our chipboard to other companies the biggest feature that makes them easier to use is that the texture is like our white daisy card stock & is very easy to stamp on or add ink to. Most other companies are grey or kraft colored & you have to cover them with paper or if you try to ink them it is difficult to get the color you want. Many are a glossy texture which can be inked but again the color will not be the same. I love that with our chipboard I can easily add the coordinating ink that matches my pattern paper & it always looks great! I used my cricut to cut the other snowflakes. I love to use different dimensions & layers on my pages. The cart. is "Winter Wonderland." When applying the DE (Dimensional Elements/Chipboard) to my page I always use glue dots. Make sure you know where you want the piece to go because once you put it down it is not going to come back up with out ripping your paper. HINT... Use craft tweezers & pick up your piece once you have the glue dots on it, then you came hold it just above the paper & move it around (without your bulky fingers in the way!)to see where you want to put your embellishment & place it accordingly.The picture of Jarred & Alyssa just makes me say "Aaauhhhh! They do love each other!" One would not know that if they were at our house when school got out! These pictures also remind of older photos I have of Jimmy, Nick & Alyssa when they were young standing in front of the snow tunnels they made.

I stamped the snowflakes in New England Ivy onto Colonial White & used a generation stamping technique to make it look like it was snowing with bold snowflakes in the forefront & lighter flakes fading into the background. The "Generation" stamping technique is a simple one... Ink up your stamp & continue to use it without re-inking. The darker the color the more "generations' you with get. Another simple technique that can add to your page is to put your corner piece in an embossing folder & run it through your cuttlebug. Our "white core" cardstock is perfect for this technique. Once you have the texture on your piece sand it & watch the magic appear! The top color will sand off & the white core will show the texture. In this example I used a snowflake template.

Designer Ribbon Pink CollectionDesigner Ribbon Pink Collection

Check out this awesome video showing you a few different ways to use our new Designer Ribbon in Pink. I Love the pink ribbon roses! Enjoy!

February Stamp of the Month

This damask stamp set is so pretty and so easy to use with our clear blocks & stamps it's a breeze to line up! Available until the end of February.

My mind is swirling with ideas for this stamp set. It will make great backgrounds for scrapbook pages as well as cards. So versatile it will work with any theme & in any color. I can't wait to play!

When you place a qualifying order with your Consultant, you an receive this Month's Stamp of the Month Set "Friendship" which retails for $22.95 for FREE or at a discount, based on your purchase total. Here are the details:
* earn it FREE when you spend $100 or more (before shipping and tax)
* earn it for 75% off ($5.74) when you spend $75 or more (before shipping and tax)
* earn it for 50% off ($11.74) when you spend $50 or more (before shipping and tax)
* earn it for 25% off ($17.21) when you spend $25 or more (before shipping and tax)
* purchase it for full retail price ($22.95)

100th Post & $100 FREE!!

100th Post & an opportunity for $100 FREE!!
Free, Free and Fabulous: If you've EVER thought about becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant like me, this THIS is the month. I personally think this is the BEST sign-up special that Close To My Heart has EVER run. In addition to the $100 in free product you can earn when you reach both levels of our Straight to the Top program (CTMH's great 'get started' program), every consultant who joins the company in February 2011 and achieves both levels of Straight to the Top will receive a New Consultant Kit rebate of $129! Free product and Free Kits make February FABULOUS!

What business can you get started in and get a rebate of your initial investment! Wow! Think about it! For $129 out of pocket for the kit (over a $350 value in products), you can get another $100 in product and your $129 back! That's $229 for FREE...and if you count what the kit is worth, it's more like $45o for FREE! To join, just click http://cre8withjolene.myctmh.com/. Or, if you have any questions, feel free to call or email me 616-608-2653.

New Scrapbooking Classes!!

Scrapbook your memories, Faster, Simpler & Easier! Let me show you how!”

Preserving your photos and memories inside a scrapbook doesn’t have to take a lot of time or be difficult to do. In fact, it can be quite easy, especially when you use Close to My Hearts “Workshop on the Go Kits.” Each kit contains a level 2 Paper Pack with 12 B&T Dous (2 each of 6 designs, 2 sided paper & 10 cardstock in 4 colors) an exclusive B-sized stamp set designed for each kit, coordinating accessories & a full color workshop guide. The kits are an amazing value, available to you at a discount off regular price.

WOTG (Workshops on the go) is a fast, easy way to scrapbook a lot of memories—in a very short amount of time. Your finished album will look like you spent a lot of time creating it, but only you will know just how easy it was to create!

Classes will be held at the Lowell Chamber of Commerce, 113 Riverwalk Plaza, Lowell, 49331
Sat. Jan 22 6 – 10 Call ASAP to reserve your spot & product kit!
Fri. Feb 4 6 – 10
Fri. March 4 6 – 10
Fri. April 1 6 – 10

Sat, Jan 22nd will be the introduction to WOTG class will have Special pricing. I will provide you with a kit including paper & embellishments for $10. Or Free with a $30.00 order.

*Please bring a treat to share & your own drink with a lid.
*Bring your tool kit, 12” cutter, adhesives & favorite supplies. (Don’t bring too much as I will provide you with a kit)
*Please donate $1.00 toward use of the building.

Jolene McCormick
616-608-2653 or cre8withjolene@gmail.com
Close To My Heart Independent Consultant

More Gorgeous Artwork with Wings Paper

Our corporate artist are super talented! The pennant altered item is so fun & I love this scrapbook page. Note the details; the bracket, the flowers, the accordion folded ribbon (new this catalog!), the flourish stamped on to the photo by the flower, lots of little details that pull the page together & don't overpower the photo.

Your "Inspiration" for the New Year!

This is an Awesome way to start the New Year! January is full of GREAT specials with Close To My Heart. I'll explain a few:

1. Inspirations Brochure: Close To My Heart has put out a gorgeous brochure for the month of January called "Inspirations." It is full of beautiful papers, stamps and accessories that will take your breath away. AND, on top of that there are several specials that are good during the life of this brochure (Jan 1-31, 2011).
•Buy the Wings Workshop on the Go Kit (pages 2-3 of brochure) and get special pricing on the stamp sets shown in the brochure.
•Get the January Stamp of the Month for less than ever before

2. January Stamp of the Month: I am lovin' it! "It's got "style!" You are going to love it's originality. The butterfly is beautiful! The bird is gorgeous. The font is elegant! What's not to love! The actual size of the stamp carrier sheet is 6" x 6", so that gives you a good idea about the size of the stamps.

When you purchase the new Wings Workshops on the Go™ kit (G1016) for only $29.95 US / $33.50 CAN, it opens the door for you to participate in three exciting promotions. With the purchase of the Wings Workshops on the Go kit you can choose any or all of the following:

My Acrylix® Stamp Set
Discount Price/Full Retail
A Game (A1113)
$5 /$7.95

Rosy Regards (B1369)
$10/$13.95

Take a Picture (C1440)
$15/$18.95

Dreams Come True (D1470)
$18/$22.95

Bohemian Alphabet (E1019)
$25/$34.95

Purchase a Wings Workshops on the Go™ kit AND…Get Stamp of the Month
1 item from the Inspiration brochure
25% off

2 different items from the Inspiration brochure
50% off

3 different items from the Inspiration brochure
75% off

4+ different items from the Inspiration brochure
FREE! (You don't have to spend $100. to get it FREE this month! Is'nt that a great way to save money first thing in the new year!)

You can also mix and match new products from the [insert MyCTMH catalog name here] and products from the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book, and we will automatically calculate the greatest savings between the standard program and this promotion for you to get the best deal possible!

3.Celebrate National Papercrafting Month in January with a My Creations® banner project. Simply purchase a My Creations® Banner (Z1378) and you will be able to make the project with the remaining supplies from the Wings Workshops on the Go™ kit and the E-size Bohemian Alphabet stamp set. The how-to instructions are included with the Wings Workshop kit exclusively through the month of January.

Check out the spectacular artwork created by our CTMH corp. office.

New Technique with my Loveable Cuttle Bug

I love using my Cuttlebug! This technique is so easy & the results are stunning! Run your white paper through your cuttle bug with your favorite folder (make sure it has a busy pattern), Choose a color & ink your rubber brayer up. Make sure to saturate your brayer. Using light pressure run your brayer over top of the cuttlebugged paper. Hint...do not press on your brayer to get a darker color on your paper, re-ink your brayer & apply as many coats as you need to get the color you are happy with. If you put pressure on your brayer you will get ink in between the raised design of your folder. Once again my cuttlebug gives me a new avenue for my creative outlet. Go & check out your CB folders & create a beautiful easy card!