Sad day for our Team!

It is a sad day for our team! I just found out that Rachel Abbott (for those of you who know her) just lost her baby a few days ago. She was 18 weeks along in her pregnancy. But even worse is that this is the second time it has happened this year. She lost another baby in April. Please think about Rachel and her family. If any of you (whether you know her or not) would like to send her an email, her email address is: raeofsunshine.rachel@gmail.com. Or, her mailing address is: 156 E 850 S., Orem, UT 84058. I'm sure that cards and well-wishes would be appreciated as she is facing a long recovery time due to complications.

Rachel we care about you!

November Stamp of the Month

I thought you might like to see a few ideas for the November stamp of the month! These cute, cute cards were made by my friend Karen Pedersen...isn't she just so talented? It's a fun stamp of the month! I'd love to see what projects you have made with this stamp set!!! Post a card on the blog (or email it to me and I'll post it for you) and I'll send a little surprise in the mail for sharing your artwork with all of us! Can't wait to see your creations!

Psyched about Stampaganza!!

Hi Everyone! Are you as psyched about Stampaganza as I am? Woohoo!!! I LOVE this promotion and it is coming at a great time of year! Hopefully all my customers will take advantage of it not only for themselves but for Christmas presents too! :)

What are you guys all doing to get the word out there about this promotion? Anything you are doing to promote the special? I'm thinking about having a drawing for a free something (maybe a couple of blocks and ink pads) at the end of the month and everyone who takes advantage of the special gets a ticket in the drawing. Do it twice and you get 3 tickets...or some other bonus like that. I'd LOVE to hear what everyone else is doing, so post a comment! Let's hear it! :)

National Stamping Month Idea

I just wanted to share with all of you an idea for National Stamping Month. I LOVE the card kit! It is stinkin' cute and one of the best! I really want to build up some great sales with it. I am offering a workshop time for any customer who purchases the kit where they can come over and assemble their cards. Plus, everyone who orders will get a free little card keeper that I am giving them! It's really easy and inexpensive. I hope it will be that extra little incentive to anyone who is interested in getting the kit.

It's really easy to make. Just take an 8 1/2x11 sheet of cardstock. Score, fold, cut out a small notch. Tie ribbon through to keep it closed and put cards inside! This one is big enough to keep 1/2 of the cards from the promotional kit, plus their envelopes. I decorated the cover with cardstock and used the stamps to embellish. I will email out a word file that shows the dimensions and cutting diagrams. Hope you like it! My second upline Diana created it, so I can't take the credit for designing it.

Congrats on 10 years with CTMH!

Congrats to Jen Collins for being with 10 years at CTMH! WOOHOO!!! Here is a little video of her being recognized on stage and giving Jeanette a big hug! You rock, Jen!

Leadership Buzz!!

Hi Everyone!
Leadership was a blast! I really wish you all could have been there! We got to play with a ton of the fabulous new products and I was so very excited to teach our class on Studio J!! I can't tell you how fabulous a product Studio J is and is really going to open up a whole new group of customers! It goes side by side with our classic scrapbooking and I know we will have customers who will love both. :) I'd be happy to answer any questions you all have about it, so fire away! And I'll post more about leadership updates over the next few days. I hope you all start planning for Convention 2010 right now! And with the Dollars for DC program we can all budget and plan! Love it!

Hugs,
Tracy

Deal-a-Day...SAVED the day!

Okay, so here's my story with Deal-a-Day...At the beginning of the month I was freaking out trying to figure out how to earn the points I needed to finish up the New Zealand Incentive Trip points. Summer months have historically been low for me and so I knew I was going to need a miracle to earn those points!

I must admit that I wasn't sure how well this sale would go over with my clients, but I just promoted it as the "freebie" deal that it was and WOW did they ever eat it up!

I am proud to say that I have had 34 sales on my site this month - 2 of my clients bought EVERY single goodie box we had and today I have had 7 gals buy the "BIG" box! WOOHOO! This has bumped my sales up over $2k more than they would have been and have taken a HUGE load off my shoulders for the summer months. Not that I won't keep working hard this summer but now I know that it is doable - I WILL be on the next trip to New Zealand and it's because Deal-a-Day saved the day!

Last Deal-a-Day special is WOW!

WOW! Have all of you guys seen the last deal-a-day special? A goodie box worth $300 for only $125! That's better than half off. I'm really excited! I hope that my customers love it too. :) What have all of you guys thought about the Deal-a-Day specials? Have your customers enjoyed them or not? What would you like to see different? Would you like them to do a similar series of specials in the future? I'd really love to hear all of your feedback!

I want to tell you about one experience I've had with this special. Last Friday night was my scrapbook club. Earlier that day I was putting the finishing touches on my layouts for next month (I always show them the following month's layouts). They are the Bella layouts and I realized as I was accessorizing them, that they use the Autumn mini-medley's pack. My customers could supersize their kits and get that mini-medley pack if they want. Well, guess what was the Deal-a-Day special for that day? That very same Autumn Garden Mini-medley pack! I told my customers that night and I had 3 gals hop online and take advantage of the special to get theirs free! I even pulled out my laptop and helped 2 of the gals place their orders right then and there! Of course they ended up buying D size sets instead of just A size! LOL! It was a win-win because they got a great freebie for ordering (it's worth $7.95 so it was a nice one!) and I got additional sales! Even better than if they had just super-sized their kits! It was fabulous!

If you have any experiences with the Deal-A-Day special, post them on the blog! We'd love to hear them!

Smiles,
Tracy

Constant Change

I am finishing up a couple of classes for my Master's Degree with the CTMH Training Academy and I came across this class this morning (at 4am because I couldn't sleep due to my jet lag that isn't going away yet!! LOL!) It's called Making Change Work for You (in the professional development section of the Master's Degree classes). It was great! Change is so constant in our lives...whether it's in our businesses or in our personal lives...we always find change around every corner. Maybe your kids are growing up and the time you can spend with Close to My Heart is changing (either increasing or decreasing). Maybe you are dealing with moving to a different state or country. Maybe you having changes in your health. Maybe Close to My Heart changes something about a product that is different for you and your customers. There are many different types of changes we have to deal with. This class by Sue Laufer gives some great personal examples about how she has dealt with change (both personal and business). I challenge you all to go take this class sometime this week (it's only 13 minutes long! Come on...you have 13 minutes somewhere!) and post what you think or how you have handled business or personal changes in your lives! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Tender Tags

I thought you all might like to see a couple of cards using the June Stamp of the Month - Tender Tags. I have to admit that the stamp set didn't grab me at first glance, but after playing with it I really liked it! I made one of the Bella cards, and the other cards came from a swap with my second upline, Diana. Love them!

Wishes!

I just love the new card layout book, Wishes! Have any of you bought yours yet? The cards are really stinkin' cute! I opened it up and immediately decided to try some circle cards. Easy! These are all made from 1 card layout (Box it Off on page 93). I just traded around different paper combinations and rotated the design (long piece on the top or on the left side?) and voila! Eight very different cards!

So, here is your first artwork challenge for a "virtual" swap:

Create one card from the new book Wishes, using any CTMH inks, papers, and stamps that you would like. Post the card to the blog (or email it to me and I will post it for you) by next Tuesday, May 26th. Include the name of the pattern you used and a suppy list. Don't have the book Wishes yet? No worries! There are 3 free downloadable layouts from the Wishes book on the corporate website! Just go to the corporate website and under "Marketing Your Business" click on "Flyers" and you will see not only patterns that you can copy from Wishes, but from our other idea books as well. This is a great way to hook your customers on using our books. Print them out one of the approved patterns and show they how it works! They will love it.

On your mark, get set....CREATE!

Smiles,
Tracy

I have a Bachelor's of Close to My Heart Business Degree!

I'm so excited! I finally earned my Bachelor's degree with the Training Academy! Woohoo!! When the program started, I had some computer issues that wouldn't let me access the Training Academy, but now it works and I have my degree!

Now I'm moving on to my Master's Degree! I hope you join me and try out the training academy too! I have a challenge for all of you! Sometime in the next week, I challenge you to take this Training Academy class: "Making Workshops Work for You" (business 201 class). Post a comment on our blog about what your thoughts on the class are by next Wednesday, May 20th and I'll send you a little surprise! :) It's only a 19 minute class...you can do it! If you have already taken the class then either review it, or choose another one you haven't done yet. Come on, take the class and let's chat about it!

WOW Workshops On the Go!

Sheila is having fabulous success with the Workshops on the Go program and rotating hostesses, so she graciously wrote up some notes about what is working for her to share with all of us. Workshops on the Go really is a fabulous program that has made my business so much easier so I whole heartedly agree with Sheila on the program. If you haven't given it a try, you NEED to! :) Thank you, thank you Sheila for sharing!

WOTG with Rotating Hostesses
Sheila Cantowine

I am SO excited about the new Workshop on the Go (WOTG) program with rotating hostesses. I was a little skeptical at first but once my customers started seeing the completed layouts, they fell in love with them. Here are all the ways it’s been great for me and my customers.

• CTMH has the pricing of the kits all figured out for you! With the basic, better, and best kits, my customers know exactly what they need to complete the gorgeous layouts and they pick what fits best for their budget. Some of them even order the tools too! My club sales have increased from $25/person to $45/person and I never have to wait for club members to pick what they want from the Idea Book.
• Bigger orders mean more hostess rewards and more hostesses. I divide the hostess rewards among multiple people so if I have a $350 order with $60 in hostess rewards then I have 3 hostesses who all receive $20 in FREE product. With the old $25/6 club they used to be the hostess once every 6 months and now they’re the hostess every 2 months!
• Great techniques in the WOTG. I have been so impressed with all the techniques in the WOTG projects. I have a hard time thinking of new techniques for my experienced scrappers but these projects always have new techniques that my club members just love.
• Less designing and planning. I used to design and precut all the projects for my club. I save hours of time each month now that they layouts are already designed for me and my ladies cut their own papers. They were a little hesitant at first but now they love it.
• No commitment. I let my customers come and go with the club and there’s no 6 month commitment. If they skip a month then their name drops to the list but I don’t have to make up the difference myself like I used to. With the economy the way it is, they appreciate being able to skip a month.
• Flexible number of people. With the traditional $25/6 club, you had to have 6 ladies in the club, no more, no less. With the new club, I can have as many as I want. The new ladies just get added to the bottom of the hostess list and they start rotating upwards when they start placing orders. I have been able to add 1-2 new people each month without having to tell them to wait for a new club to start.
• Members keep all the scraps. We typically have 6-8 pieces of paper left over as well as lots of embellishments. My customers love being able to take that home with them. It’s such a great value when they have 2-6 completed pages AND leftover papers and embellishments.
• Fabulous instruction booklet. I love the instruction booklet! Everything is very detailed and easy to follow. I’m more of a visual learner so I usually work off the pictures of the finished pages but some of my ladies find it helpful to read through all the instructions like a recipe. The patterns are so versatile so they love that they can use them again and again with future layouts.
• They don’t have to attend the club. If they can’t make it that night then you just give them their kit with the complete instructions and they’re all set. You don’t have to make anything for them and this allows you to even have club members who live out of town.
• Hostess rewards are based on how frequently you attend the club, not on how much you order. I have a few customers who can only afford $15-$20/month so they still get the same rewards as everyone else as long as they’re participating in the club.
• More completed pages for me! I used to have a hard time keeping up with my own personal scrapbooking and it seemed like I was always behind. With the new WOTG, I complete at least 6 pages every month which adds up to 72 completed pages/year. I’ll be caught up in no time at all!

I just love everything about he new club. There were a lot of drawbacks to the old $25/6 club but I have found very few with the new club. I spend less time as a consultant, offer better projects which my customers love, and my sales have been much higher. It’s a great program for consultants and my customers love it too!

Birthday Card Workshop

Here are some of the cards I have available for my upcoming Card Workshop. The green one is a copy of a card Kim made. The one using Perfect Day is a copy of a card by Amanda Desjardins. The other 2 are my own idea I swear!

As you can tell this workshop is going to use up a lot of extra paper and accents I have taking up space!

Whoooo Loves You?

Here's a simple card I did in my technique club this month using the masking technique. Pretty simple technique really but fun to do. Take your image and stamp it on a scrap piece of paper (like copy paper), and cut it out. This will be your mask. I like to use our Hermafix adhesive, which is temporary, to hold the mask in place as I work. You can cut a mask of the whole image which would allow you to give depth to your project - because you can put something in front or behind or you can cut specific areas out of your piece like I did here - I cut the chest part out and the feet so that I could have different colors on the body of the owl and then put the branch under the feet. Post a card you've done using the masking technique!

A few cards

Here are a few card that I have done lately. A few I have received inspirations from fellow CTMH consultants on their blogs. Sorry my pictures are not very good. My scanner won't work with my new computer.

Wednesday Wisdom - Tickled Pink!

Hi Stampers and Scrappers!

What is so special about today? Our Tickled Pink promotion starts today! I'm so excited! And to kick off the excitement and get everyone ready and going to share this fun promotion, we are going to have a little quiz!! The first 5 team members who answer these questions about the Tickled Pink promotion correctly will get a fun surprise from me! :) Are you ready? Here we go!

Tickled Pink Quiz:

1. What are the 5 featured colors in the Tickled Pink kit?

2. What is the web address for Close to My Heart's special National Scrapbooking contest site?

3. When can new recruits receive a free Tickled Pink set with their consultant kit?

4. How many sheets of Glitter paper are included in the Tickled Pink kit?

5. What is the minimum in sales a gathering must be in order for the hostess to receive a free Tickled Pink kit?

6. Do you have to use the Tickled Pink papers to enter Close to My Heart's Scrap and Share contest?

7. Is tax charged on the kit? If so, what cost is the tax based on?

8. Who was the first person to post a layout on the Scrap and Share blog?

9. What size is the stamp set included in the Tickled Pink kit?

10. Will you share a layout or card on our team blog? If yes, then do it now! :)

Just a reminder...the first 5 people to email me the correct answers to this quiz will receive a prize from me, so....on your mark, get set, GO!

Smiles,
Tracy

New Summer Catalog! WOOHOO!!!

Has everyone received their free copy of the new Summer Idea Book yet? Or at least looked at it online?? WOW! I love it! I love every single paper packet and there are so many to die for stamps! I finally got a chance to sit and look at mine this weekend and I can't wait! I'd love to hear about what your favorite things are, so everyone hop onto the blog and post your favorite new products and what you like!!! Can't wait to hear!

Smiles,
Tracy

Weekly Wisdom

Hi Everyone!
It's little late this week, but here is our "weekly" wisdom this time instead of our "Wednesday's" Wisdom! :)

CONSULTANT LOCATOR
The brand new consultant locator went live this week! Woohoo!! It's so much nicer than the old one and I'm excited that new customers can find us easier now. Everyone who is a supervisor and above is automatically added to the locator system. If you are not a supervisor, you have to opt-in and choose to be in the system. DO IT!!! It can only help your business. Here's how to opt-in (or opt out if you are a supervisor and above and don't want referrals): log in to the corporate website and click on Managing Your Business > Personal Business Assistant. Below your main and shipping addresses in the Contact Information section is a checkbox for Consultant Locator visibility.

LEADERSHIP REGISTRATION
Registration for Leadership conference starts on Monday for everyone who is a manager and above (Supervisors can register on Monday, April 20, space permitting). I can't tell you how excited I am about the new products and programs that will be released at Leadership! It is going to be fabulous and I promise you are going to want to be there! I wish I could tell you all the reasons why. :) But trust, me....you want to be there! Only 300 people can go, so register right away. There are still hotel rooms available at the Marriott right next door to the convention hotel and if you are looking for roommates, post it to the blog and we can coordinate. :) You need to come to leadership!!

Wednesday Wisdom - Open Clubs

Open Clubs - A New Idea!

At Regional Celebration in Phoenix, Kristine Widtfelt talked about doing "open clubs" without any minimums. I've been doing that with one of my groups for a few months now and it works great! Especially in these economic times when people are worried about $$ and committing to a club, this is a nice solution that helps your clubs stay alive, but gives your customers peace of mind. Here are the details so you know what I mean:

There are no contracts or commitments that may make a gal reluctant to "join". Gals come as they are able to financially and schedule-wise. Whether you have 10 gals or 100, you place one order for all (usually). It doesn't matter what the club total is each month. All a hostess gets is $25 in FREE product whenever it is her turn to be hostess. All attendees are on a list 1-10, 1-100, or whatever. When you are at the top of the list, it is your turn to be hostess. Here's the catch....there may be one or 20 hostesses in any given month, or 50 for that matter. Here are some examples:

Example 1) Total club order is $200 for the month, the hostess rewards are only $25, so person #1 would be the only hostess.
Example 2) Club total is $300, hostess rewards are $40, but wait! Split your order into 2 $150 orders and then 2 gals each get $25 in hostess rewards. Person #1 and Person #2 each get $25 FREE.
Example 3) Club total is $350. Two gals each get $25 in hostess rewards and YOU as the consultant get the remaining $10 FREE AND the 50% off item. You can choose to do what you wish with this benefit. It could be used to invest back into your business, given to a special customer who placed an extra large order, or used to purchase a special gift for a customer in the future for example.
Example 4) Club total is $2000 because you no longer have 4 separate clubs, but one large combined one. Woo Hoo! Lots of 50% off items that you as the consultant can use to grow your business in many creative ways! I know many consultants have 2 rotating lists...one for the $25 in hostess gifts, and one for the 50% off item. One person could potentially earn both in one month, but more than likely, they are staggered...so the guest feels like she is earning gifts and discounts a LOT more frequently!

Pros to Open Clubs:
1. Customers may have to get used to only getting $25 in gifts each time, but it will be MORE OFTEN! No longer does each gal have to wait 6 months to be the hostess again, it may be every 2-3 months with this new system!

2. We as consultants don't have to worry about that dreaded "Not Quite Full Club" It's always hard to deal with the club that just can't quite stay full. I've been struggling with that right now! I always seem to have just shy of a full club and have to supplement the hostess rewards. With this new structure, hostess rewards are given as they are earned by those who participate. After a gal is hostess, she moves to the bottom of the list and moves up as long as she participates. Participation isn't necessarily attendance, she need only make her minimum purchase if she is not able to attend one month and she stays on the escalator moving up as it were. If someone finds them self unable to participate due to financial constraints or personal choice, NO PROBLEM, they just move to the bottom of the list that month regardless of where they were at the time. If they do not return the following month, they are taken off the list until they return. Once they return, they are put back on the list at the bottom and begin moving up again. Gals can come and go as they desire without ruining the club. Those that stay and return every month are rewarded the most. Those that only come once in a while may never receive hostess benefits, but get to come and "PLAY" as they are able without hurting the rewards of others, or causing the consultant grief.

3. Using the rotating hostess list, gives you some flexibility as the consultant! A couple of examples of this are ...when a customer really wants something at 50% off NOW and she’s not quite at the top of the list, you can decide if it’s to your advantage business wise to put her at the top and no one would be the wiser since I don’t publish the rotation list to all my customers. OR If a customer wants to do an additional gathering to get more than $25 you can manipulate it so that her name is at the top the month she want to do the gathering. For this you first add up all club orders and divide out the hostess rewards as usual giving her $25. Then, you add in all of HER gathering and outside orders and she will get all the extra hostess credit and 50% items that she bumps it up to. Or, sometimes it's hard for customers to stay in the $25, or I don't charge them the shipping and tax on their $25. So, sometimes I’ll leave one $25 unclaimed and use it to “take care” of overages which my customers really appreciate. But they don’t really know how I’m taking care of it...I just tell them, “no worries, I’ll take care of it this time as my gift to you.” They love it and are tickled pink!

Anyway, I hope that this concept gives everyone something to think about! Post questions if you have them and we can have a discussion about it on the blog! :)

Wednesday Wisdom

Hi Everyone!
I have a short and sweet Wednesday Wisdom for you. How many of you know what Close to My Heart's mission statement is? Anyone? :) Here it is:

We show you how to celebrate relationships through the art of scrapbooking and stamping. Faster. Simpler. Easier.

It is so true! Let me share a story. My grandmother passed away last week. She was 103! Can you believe it? She was a sweetheart and we love her a lot. She didn't have a lot of possessions left, and had already given away many of her belongings when she moved into a nursing home. But do you know what she kept close to her? Photos of her loved ones and a scrapbook that our family had made for her years ago. All of the families and grandchildren had made simple scrapbook layouts (many of them are not scrapbookers) and put them together in an album. And it was one of her dearest possessions. That scrapbook celebrated her relationship with her family. When we teach customers about scrapbooking we are not just selling product to them. We are helping them commemorate dear relationships and memories that they will treasure. So, don't be shy to share what you do with others because you feel like you may be "pushy." You are really helping them celebrate what is most precious to them!

Wednesday Wisdom 3-11-09

I've been reading over the new Start with Heart newsletters...have y'all seen them? They are fabulous! I know I've been a consultant for 10 years now, but there is always something new I can learn. Here is a tip I read this morning from Start with Heart issue #3 about the power of reminder calls.

One of the most important things you can do in preparation for a Gathering is to make reminder phone calls. Simply call each guest you invited, remind them of the date and time, and ask if they’ll be attending. There are two reasons this is so important:

1. You need a head count so you can prepare enough materials.
2. Your guests will know this is important to you and will be more likely to attend.

Use the reminder call as an opportunity to let each guest know it’s not too late to bring a friend, and that you’ll have a few extra projects on hand just in case. If you choose, you may even want to offer a small gift to guests who bring a friend; a stamp from the incentive set is an excellent idea. Here’s a sample of what you might say:

“Hello, Jane, this is Nancy calling. (Pause for her response.)

“I’m really excited about my Home Gathering on Thursday, and I’m busy making final preparations. We will be making a small project and I need to know how many guests to plan for. Will you be coming?” (Pause and wait for an answer.)

(If she says “yes,” say:) “Great! Are you planning to bring a friend?” (pause) “Great! See you Thursday at 7 p.m. It’s going to be so much fun!”

(If she says “no,” say:) “We’ll miss you. Would it work for you if I dropped off an Idea Book tomorrow for you to look at? Then I’ll call you on Friday to see what products you’re interested in, and to answer any questions you may have.”

I encourage everyone to go to the consultant website and click on "For New Consultants" under "Consultant Training" and check it out!

Wednesday Wisdom

Each Wednesday I will post a helpful hint, creative idea, or fun tip that might be useful! I encourage you all to add your own too. :) Here is this week's Wednesday Wisdom.

At the Regional Celebration this past week in Phoenix (I wish you all were there because it was fabulous!) there was a class about themes and there was a great list of Unofficial Holidays that you can use to make workshops or gatherings for fun! For example, May 15 is National Chocolate Chip Day. Wouldn't it be fun to have a workshop where you each Chocolate Chip Cookies, use Chocolate ink and Chocolate cardstock in all of your projects etc? Or if April 13 is National Scrabble Piece, you could play a game at the party where you hand every guest a scrabble piece as they come and then draw a letter along the way for little prizes and if that's their letter they win! Of course you could show off our alphabet stamp sets on the projects. There are so many fun things you can do with your teams and customers with these wacky unofficial holidays! Here's the list that I have and I'm sure there are more fun themes out there. I'd love to hear what anyone has done with fun themes like these!

Little Known Unofficial Holidays

January 4 Trivia Day
January 8 English Toffee Day
January 20 Penguin Awareness Day
January 21 National Hugging Day
January 28 Kazoo Day
February 6 Wear Red Day
February 9 Clean Out Your Computer Day
February 10 Umbrella Day
February 15 Gumdrop Day
February 16 Do a Grouch a Favor Day
February 24 Tortilla Chip Day
March 2 Old Stuff Day
March 6 Dentist’s Day
March 12 Plant a Flower Day
March 26 Make Your Own Holiday day
April 2 Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
April 12 Licorice Day
April 13 Scrabble Day
April 24 National DNA Day
April 26 Hug an Australian Day
April 30 Hairstyle Appreciation Day
May 5 Hoagie Day
May 6 No-Diet Day
May 8 No Socks Day
May 11 Eat-What-You-Want Day
May 12 National Nutty Fudge Day
May 13 Leprachaun Day
May 15 National Chocolate Chip Day
May 20 Pick Some Strawberries Day
June 4 Hug Your Cat Day
June 6 Yo-Yo Day
June 7 Chocolate Ice Cream Day, Accordion Lover’s Day
June 17 Each Your Vegetables Day
June 24 Swim a Lap Day
June 26 Take Your Dog to Work Day
July 7 Strawberry Sundae Day
July 17 Pecan Pie Day
July 31 Mutts’ Day
August 2 National Mustard Day
August 3 Watermelon Day
August 10 S’Mores Day
August 12 Middle Child’s Day
August 13 Left-Handers’ Day
August 19 National Aviation Day
August 22 Daffodil Day
Sept 5 Cheese Pizza Day
Sept 16 Collect Rocks Day
Sept 18 Cheeseburger Day
Sept 19 Talk Like a Pirate Day
Sept 24 Cherries Jubilee Day
Sept 26 Hug a Vegetarian Day
October 5 Do Something Nice Day
October 10 Angel Food Cake Day
October 12 Egg Day
October 16 Dictionary Day
October 25 Make a Difference Day
October 30 Candy Corn Day
Nov 3 Sandwich Day
Nov 6 Marooned without a compass Day
Nov 7 Tongue Twister Day
Nov 8 Dunce Day
Nov 23 Cashew Day
Nov 27 Dental Floss Day
Dec 4 Wear Brown Shoes Day
Dec 7 Cotton Candy Day
Dec 13 Ice Cream & Violins Day
Dec 26 Candy Cane Day
Dec 28 Card-Playing Day

Stardust Cards

Hi Everyone! Just thought I would share the cards my groups are making in March. We are using the Stardust papers and they will be making 8 - 4 3/4x 3 1/2 cards. I've started doing my card clubs kind of like the scrapbook workshop on the go ones, where they get a kit of product and we use that to make the projects. It's a great easy way of doing a club! I love it! In March they will get a Stardust paper packet and Chocolate Designer Ribbon. They can supersize their kit by getting envelope flaps and the Wishing Star Stamp set. Anyway, here are pictures of the cards!

Good Times!

Do you guys just love the Good Times stamp set as much as I do? It's so stinkin' cute! And I think it's awesome that we can offer this set free to our customers! It's not like other specials where they have to buy a ton to get something at a discount. But I love it that for buying only $25 in stamps they can get this set free! Woohoo!!! I'm hoping for a great month!

Anyway, I wanted to share some artwork that my friend Karen Pederson made...it's fabulous! She always has cute ideas. I hope it might inspire you. :) I'd love to see everyone share the projects they have made too! Let's share! :)

Sheila is Famous!

Did everyone see the last corporate update yesterday? Sheila Cantowine was quoted in the training academy spotlight! Woohoo!!! You are famous Sheila! We're so happy to have you on our team!

Smiles,
Tracy

That's Amore cube

I just wanted to share one of our new photo cubes that I made with the That's Amore paper. I really like that paper! Here is a supply list, plus a list of the cutting measurements so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. :)

Paper:
Blush CS 5x5 (2 pieces)
Garden Green CS 5x5 (2)
Blush CS 5x5 (2)
4 ½ x 3 ½ (1)
Chocolate CS 4 ½ x 3 ½ (1)
4 x 3 ½ (1)
4 x 3 (2)
Tulip CS 1x5 (1)
5/8 x 5/8 (2)
2 x 5/8 (1)
B&T Papers (or use whichever combinations you would like)
1 ¾ x 1 ¾ (linen)
1 ½ x 2 ½ (linen)
5 x 3 ½ (chocolate floral)
2 ½ x 4 ½ (Tulip floral)
2 ¾ x 5 (large stripe)
3 x 5 (Blush linen floral)
4 ½ x 3 (small stripe)

Supplies:
September Word Puzzle
Damask Tiles
Tulip & Chocolate ink pads
Sponge
Chocolate Waxy flax
Foundry Bookplates
Chocolate Designer Ribbon
Window charms (optional)
1/8 Hole punch

Phoenix Regional Celebration Anyone?

Is anyone out there planning on going to Phoenix Regional Celebration? I'm teaching! Woohoo!!! Well...it sounds fun now, but I know I'll be throwing up about 10 minutes before the class starts! LOL! Anyway, who else is going to Phoenix? I'd really LOVE to see some of you guys there! Come on....get away from the snow and come and join me in Phoenix!!!

KTMH stuff

Okay, I finally had a second to play with my kit after getting Christmas mostly put away.

Here is a quick - I mean really quick layout of my little guy from almost 2 months ago....






And here is a 5 x 7 card - I used a reflections layout, but I can't remember what it is called at the moment. I had to make the layout first so I had some "scraps" that I could use for a card. I don't like cutting up a full sheet for a card. You can't really tell from this picture, but the I used some pop-dots behind the "t".


I also used the November word puzzle (thanks) and solo "t". I really liked how this turned out and have yet to send it to my Aunt, as I am not sure she will appreciate it enough - I may have to make another one so I can keep one. :)

Leslie's recent work

Christmas Thank you card - Evensong (Bulk paper), NE Ivy Cardstock, For Every Occasion Stamp Set

Another Christmas Thank You Card using the same products

This year between me, my mom, my sister, and a friend I made over 270 Christmas cards. These are the three that I did. The Joy one is off the boards from Lisa Stenz, Peace on Earth is based on Tiscia's and the Festive Frills one I came up with one my own.

I know it is a little late to be posting these, but maybe they will help you for next year. I know that Sparkle is having a challenge on her blog to make 2 Christmas cards every week so by Christmas you are done.

If anyone has already done a project with these papers, please post. I'm looking for something fun and different to do with the rest of my paper!