new Cricut Cartridge from Close To My Heart!!!

Here it is...the cream of the crop from our 2013 CTMH Convention.....a new Cricut Cartridge from Close to My Heart called Artbooking!!! 

You will be amazed when you see all the possibilities with this collection. Why Artbooking?…because between mini-albums, fully designed scrapbook layouts, cards, paper crafting projects and more you will be creating Art!!!

As you can see, our newest Cricut cartridge will come packaged with three sheets of 12" x 9" Dimensional Elements in coordinating shapes and three coordinating exclusive myAcrylix D-size stamp sets! all for $99 ( a retail value of nearly $125)

Just like the Art Philosophy and Artiste collections, this new cartridge features over 700 images to help make you  memory keeping easy and interesting...the different possibilities are endless!

Now I'm not going to tell you there are so many wonderful surprises in this new cartridge and not show you the images too! Before you start drooling over all these images, I will be offering a special to all my customers who pre-order this new Artbooking cartridge...more details to follow in the coming days ;)

Now keep on scrolling to see all the awesomeness coming August 1st !!! 

Can't wait for August 1st to order and play with this fantastic new Cricut cartridge??? Then join my team today and you can order it from yourself with a 22% discount!!! I'm the first to admit that I am my own best customer and I do enjoy getting all of Close To My Heart's fantastic products at a discount...that and getting everything early!

Click on my 'join my team' tab at the top of my Blog to read through my FAQs about becoming a Close To My Heart Consultant and contact me if you have any further questions. 

Scrapbook Challenges sketch#348

I'm late! This is Sketch#348 from Scrapbook Challenges...I got it completed in time for reveal but with the distress of the past several weeks, I forgot to post it here too! Better late than never is an expression that I live by!

I created a quick layout using a fun photo from my daughter's Spring Break trip to Thailand! Imagine walking in the river while riding an elephant! I'm quite sure I won't be travelling that way anytime soon...lucky girl !

love that I was able to dig into my stash for these flowers and jewel bits!

I stuck true to the sketch and loved adding the machine stitching and ink blobs

This Basic Grey background paper was perfect because it already had some great distress to it! 

I picked up the hexagon Spellbinder die and these hexagons were super fast and easy :)

Now's here's the sketch! I hope you whip this one up, cause it took me longer to stitch with the machine then put it together...super fast but super fantastic too!

Make sure you head on over to Scrapbook Challenges Blog to see what some of the other Design Team ladies cooked up with this sketch!

Thanks so much for stoppin' by, I hope you have a fabulous day :)

When it rains...it pours...

Hello !

I started this month out with grand plans...then as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours...

Unfortunately this month our family lost a beloved man, father and grandfather. My husband's father passed away on the 15th of June after a long battled with Cancer. I'm sure there are some of you out there that have been affected by the dreaded 'C' so you will know what our household has been like since my last post !

Like I said, I had great plans for the month, but real life has directed my attention elsewhere over the past several weeks :(

I am looking forward to a more relaxing July to say the least but I also wanted to share with you some exciting promotions that Close To My Heart have on currently and what is yet to come in the month of July!

Relief for Oklahoma Campaign

Close To My Heart is making a new Autumn/Winter 2013 stamp set, A True Thank You, available immediately and will donate 100% of the profits from sales of the set from May 23 through June 30 to the American Red Cross to aid the Oklahoma victims. Help us provide relief to those affected by the devastating Oklahoma tornado by purchasing A True Thank You stamp set for $2.95 (M1029) today!

*Offer valid May 23–June 30, 2013. No limit per order.

June 2013 Constant Campaign

Receive two free My Creations® milk cartons (Z1739) in June! Simply place a $25 order that includes a stamp set to receive two milk cartons. The milk cartons are 5½" x 3" × 3" and include closure clips. Perfect for gift giving this summer!

Dates: Offer valid June 1–30, 2013.












Let’s Get Patriotic!
June–July 2013 Constant Campaign

Celebrate military service and promote patriotism with our new patriotic stamp sets—available only from June 1 to July 31, 2013. Three dollars from each B-size My Acrylix®Courage stamp set and $5 from each D-size My Acrylix® Strong and Free stamp set will be donated to the Canadian Hero Fund to support spouses and children of fallen Canadian military troops by providing post-secondary education. Show your support with your own patriotic stamp set!




Dates: Offer valid June 1–July 31, 2013.













Work the Workshop

July 2013 Constant Campaign
Get the discounted Workshops on the Go® canvas art kit in July—no qualifying purchase required! From July 1 to July 31 you can get this trendy kit to create your own canvas art to hang in your home, regularly priced at $39.95, now discounted to $19.95—more than 50% off! Take papercrafting to the next level with this adorable home décor piece that you can display for all to see.

Dates: Offer valid July 1–July 31, 2013.











I think that I've got enough great campaigns here to get you excited! Let me know if I can answer any questions you may have about all or any of them ;)

Thanks so much for stoppin' by today!

 

My baby girl turns 17!!!

Oh my, does time ever fly!

It makes me sad to think that seventeen years ago we welcomed our second daughter into the world...where has the time gone...one more year of High School...University...getting married...STOP ! 

I think I'll just enjoy the yesterday's and today's for now :)

She has grown into a smart, funny, creative and beautiful young lady and we are so proud of her...I look forward to the future and seeing what it has in store for her!

Happy Birthday Marissa Danielle !

Dream Pop!

Let's Talk Close To My Heart and National Scrapbooking Month!!!

May is the time we like to celebrate Scrapbooking and so CTMH is offering a fantastic paper collection called 'Dream Pop'...in it you will find 12 Cardstock sheets with a very unique glossy resist pattern on them AND 12 B&T Duos papers (background and texture for those that are wondering what B&T means) This paper pack is a wonderful collection of Spring and Summer colours that you are sure to love playing with!

How can you get one for yourself you ask?

Well with each $35 order you can purchase this pack for only $10 ! Unbelievable deal for 24 sheets of paper if you ask me! Hostesses can get it for free with any Gathering of $400 or more. New Consultants will have this pack added to their New Consultant kits during the month of May!

Here's some more Artwork featuring this fantastic 'Dream Pop' paper:

Don't forget that every order of $50 during the month of May you can also get our Stamp of the Month for $5...May's 'Pinwheel' stamp set will be the perfect compliment to our special 'Dream Pop' paper...we've even got fabulous Workshop instructions available for you to make all the Artwork you've seen above!

Contact me for more information on May's specials and to get your 'Dream Pop' paper before we run out!!!

Snapchats ;)

Good Morning! Well, I always seem to say 'Good Morning' because that's when I post! I probably should say 'Good Day' because we all BlogHop during the time we can...enough of my carrying on already...no matter what time of day it is there for you I'm still so glad you dropped by for today's Scrapbook Challenges Sketch #345 !!!

It's been several weeks now that my DD, Marissa, has returned from her adventures in Thailand! She experienced some amazing things, some of which were captured in photos...but I had just the snapshots she sent me through Snapchat as my main source of communication for the two weeks she was away!

It was a bit scary for me to send her off on this trip as it was the first trip she's taken without her parents...travelling to Thailand meant many hours of little to no communication home, which was stressful for me!

Now I'm not sure if you are familiar with 'Snapchat' but it's an APP the kids use on their iPhones and Androids to send photos like they do text messages...they can add a little bit of journaling or do some drawing on their photos and then send them off like a text message...needless to say, I certainly did look forward to getting Snapchats as they were easier for Marissa to send to me than it was for her to phone me...for some reason her text feature wasn't working there and she isn't a regular Facebook user anymore.

Even though the picture quality isn't great, I LOVE these photos, they illustrate Marissa's silly personality very well and this sketch was perfect for these 3x4 photos...I even used my Basic Grey Marrakech papers! I've been holding onto those for years now ;)

This layout came together super fast, especially seeing as I used the sticker sheet and only a couple of pieces of patterned papers!

Make sure you pop over to the Scrapbook Challenges Blog to see some more inspiration from our Design Team with this week's sketch...thanks for stoppin' by!

Where have I been!!!?????

Hello my Lovlies! I am so sorry for being SO absent this past month :( If you read my previous post you would have seen that we have been dealing with a tragic death, well primarily my daughter and I...but because of this...my Mojo took a leave of absence too! I don't know about you but when I'm struggling with issues, I just don't seem to function at 100% so my Blog definitely took the brunt of it!

However, I do have loads of happenings and news to share from the past month... you might want to grab a coffee... just sayin'....

First off, I've decided to take a break on the Design Team over at Let's Scrap...I still love their sketches and challenges AND LOVE all the sweet ladies there, but after three terms in a row, I need a breather! So hopefully I will still get to posting some of their sketches and my takes on them here, just not weekly anymore!

Secondly, I had a wonderful FOUR days away at the Ultimate Scrapbook Retreat at Loon Lake...this is my all time favourite place to scrapbook and socialize with all my crafty peeps and this April's retreat was no exception!

Have I mentioned the food is devine !???

Here's the view from my room !!!

The third big event, I flew up to Prince George the day after I returned from the retreat to help pack up my DD, Olivia, from University...luckily she had most of it done already, but we loaded the U-Haul trailer and drove straight home!!! I was considering picking a spot to sleep along the way but we weren't tired and we were excited to sleep in our own beds :)

GoodBye UNBC...Olivia is going to miss you !!!

Now throw in there, unpacking ALL of Olivia's things from Uni, trying to find a place for it all and settling her into her room once again! If that wasn't enough...I finished off the remaining bit of yard work and went out to purchase annuals for the gardens, pots and hanging baskets...all that is planted so now I can head off for a couple days in Burnaby...

Why? you ask...well the wonderful ladies at Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine were hosting a fabulous event, Crop and Create, where peeps like you and me can scrapbook at the open crop AND take some AWESOME classes with some super talented chickies...just to drop a couple names...Vicki Boutin, Kelly Goree, Margie Aslett and Summer Fullerton...just sayin'

These chicks ROCK !
It was so much fun getting to know them this weekend !!!

Here's me being silly with the polaroid frame at the photo booth !!!

Oh and lastly, my DD Marissa has left her mark on my Tahoe...

NICE ! HUH ???!!!!! yes, that's the rear left side of my bumper !

Now that pretty much brings us up to date! I do have some layouts to share with all of you from the past month as I did get some done...the latest sketch from Scrapbook Challenges will be posted Monday morning...it's an easy peasy one you'll love to play with so come on back Monday...or you could subscribe to my Blog by email and have my post delivered directly to your Inbox...or you can join Bloglovin' to have all of your favourite blog posts come to your Inbox in one daily email (depending on how regularly your favourite Blogs' post) 

Thanks for taking the time to visit me today, I love having you!

April News and April Showers...

Hello and Happy April Showers...not sure where you are but in my neck of the woods we've been blessed with glorious warm sunshine, spring flowers blooming and of course April rain showers...while you have to be someone who loves or at least tolerates some rain to live on the WestCoast in British Columbia...I do love it! Strange I'm sure you're thinking but with rain comes the smell of wet pavement, green grass, brightened yard colours and packed down mulch! Yup! I've been busy cleaning my yard of leaves and trimming/edging the grass along the flower beds, lightly pruning old growth off my shrubs...AND spreading half a dump truck load of Organic Bark Mulch!!! Fun stuff...sore back, but the yard is starting to look great :)

Last week was also a terribly sad week. One of my daughter Marissa's close friends decided to end her own life...just tragic. My heart has been heavy for many days and Marissa was away on her school trip to Thailand when she found out, so I was also sad to not be able to be there with her when she found out...dealing with death is very hard...dealing with the death of a young person is very hard...dealing with teen suicide is terrible...as a parent, trying to talk to your own children about this is difficult and it's also hard not to be angry. I've been feeling it all over the past couple of weeks but last weekend was the memorial service for Marissa's friend and to say that was tough would be an understatement. I was very proud of Marissa though as she was able to go infront of everyone and read a speech she wrote about her friend.  I am glad she was able to share her special moments, I'm sure it is a way of coping and dealing with the loss of a precious friend.

Marissa giving her friend a ride! One of her favourite photos even though its blurry and taken with her phone.

Now...lets move on as we all need to...right?!

With the current April showers here I have been kicked out of the backyard and I'm into the house! Which for those of you that know me means Scrapbooking!!!

I've created a 'numbers' challenge over at Scrapbook Challenges for this month. April is all about 'everyday moments' at SBC and with the coming of the fourth month I thought I'd challenge all of you to work with the number FOUR :) Head on over to my Blog post there to see what's involved and hopefully you'll have a moment to play along with any one of the great challenges we'll be featuring this month!

This is my challenge layout featuring FOUR photos, FOUR patterned papers, at least FOUR embellies and a couple sheets of cardstock, easy peasy right?!! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!