WHEN YOU PLACE A MINIMUM ORDER OF $50 IN CTMH PRODUCTS IN MAY, you can get the exclusive You & Me scrapbooking kit for the discounted price of just $15 - that's more than half off the retail value! You'll create two fully embellished two-page layouts using the new cardstock-weight B&T Duos papers, D-size stamp set, accessories and instructions. You can also purchase the kit at full retail for $34.95 with no minimum purchase required. Offer valid May 1-31, 2011.
You & Me Scrapbooking Kit includes:
1 - My Acrylix You & Me Stamp Set (D size)
1 - 12" x 12" Colonial White Cardstock
6 - 12" x 12" B&T Duos Papers (New Cardstock weight!)
1- 6" x9" You & Me Irresistibles Chipboard Die Cut Sheet
1 Yard - Chocolate Stripe Ribbon
1 Package - Opaques Mocha Adhesive Gems
1 - Instruction Guide
Featured Colors: Chocolate, Creme Brulee, Olive and Smoothie!
What a special!!!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Mayberry in May Workshop
What can be more fitting then a workshop using our Mayberry paper in May! As leaves are sprouting out on all the trees, we are going to use numerous stamping techniques to embellish our two page layout with beautiful trees in bloom for spring! We are using the stamp "Treetops" on our layout. One stamp with two inks, multiple stamps to assemble trees and layered stamping too! The perfect layout for your summer pictures!
Wait! There's more! We are going to make a very fun little card using two different stamps, 'Present' and the May Stamp of the Month 'Chairs to You'! Both of these stamps have gone to the top of my favorites list! Besides making an adorable little patterned chair we are going to do some 2nd generation stamping embellishing the inside of our cards. Yet another new technique!
When: May 21st Where: My Home Remember we lunch at noon and start working at 1:00. Helen is our hostess this month!
May Specials:
The cost of the workshop is $10 without a CTMH purchase or $5.00 with a $25 CTMH purchase!
Your first time there the workshop is $5.00 and free with a $25.00 CTMH purchase!
Bring a new friend and your workshop is free!
Don't forget .... May is National Scrapbooking Month!
Wait! There's more! We are going to make a very fun little card using two different stamps, 'Present' and the May Stamp of the Month 'Chairs to You'! Both of these stamps have gone to the top of my favorites list! Besides making an adorable little patterned chair we are going to do some 2nd generation stamping embellishing the inside of our cards. Yet another new technique!
When: May 21st Where: My Home Remember we lunch at noon and start working at 1:00. Helen is our hostess this month!
May Specials:
The cost of the workshop is $10 without a CTMH purchase or $5.00 with a $25 CTMH purchase!
Your first time there the workshop is $5.00 and free with a $25.00 CTMH purchase!
Bring a new friend and your workshop is free!
Don't forget .... May is National Scrapbooking Month!
Flip Flap Workshop and a Prayer
In April we had fun with FLIP FLAPS..... Using the Bliss paper we made a beautiful title page that opened up into two full pages across. Our little group that meets each month has had great fun with the fact that we proclaim there are 'no rules'. I have loved watching each strike out on our projects and make little changes to the 'plan' expressing their own creativity. In truth, most of the time, if something is an eighth of an inch off it really does not matter. But when it comes to a flip flap workshop the reality is there are several places where real precision is an absolute requirement. That is not easy when you are in the middle of this project because it really is not until the very end when it all comes together both on the page and in your head! It is at that point where you get to see how it all works together. Did we have fun? Oh yes! Even though no one could turn the page different than the direction intended, nor flip one to a different side, we had fun! And in the end everyone had the floral strip running across the front with the striped strip flowing totally across the inside pages! Beautiful! I think some of us thought it a miracle to be done!
It was just after the close of this workshop that we learned that my sister-in-law, Janet, had suffered a major heart attach and that began the many trips David and I have made to Oklahoma City and back. Many of our scrap sisters have been following her progress and have included her in their prayers. Thank you. I can't even begin to count the wonderful number of prayer chains there are for Janet. And here is where we have seen real miracles. http://prayersforjanet.blogspot.com/
Needless to say I've been negligent on posting but hope to make improvements and get caught up!
It was just after the close of this workshop that we learned that my sister-in-law, Janet, had suffered a major heart attach and that began the many trips David and I have made to Oklahoma City and back. Many of our scrap sisters have been following her progress and have included her in their prayers. Thank you. I can't even begin to count the wonderful number of prayer chains there are for Janet. And here is where we have seen real miracles. http://prayersforjanet.blogspot.com/
Needless to say I've been negligent on posting but hope to make improvements and get caught up!
Monday, March 7, 2011
March Scrap Workshop 2011
On Saturday, March 26th, 1:00 we will gather for our March Scrap Workshop at my home. Check out these beautiful pages and cards we are going to make using the "Lucky" paper selection. We will also be using the 'Enjoy Life' and 'Lucky' stamps. Love that little pull-out journal card!
The Gathering Workshop is $10. My special for you is they are only $5 with a $25 purchase or free if you purchase the Workshop On The Go.
The Gathering Workshop is a great way to work with a new paper selection, try a new scrapbook and card layouts, and learn some new embellishing technique. Love that paper! A big bang for your buck is always found in the Workshops On The Go. "Lucky" includes the stamp, a level two paper packet, wooden designer buttons, natural Hemp and a workshop guide with two more pages and three more cards. Need more ideas? Come visit my website and find yet more pages and cards for these pretty papers. Still looking? Try the newest CTMH book Magic, full of pockets and pull out designs.
Here is a link to the Lucky Workshop On The Go:
https://cindyelliott.myctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=5756
The Gathering Workshop is $10. My special for you is they are only $5 with a $25 purchase or free if you purchase the Workshop On The Go.
The Gathering Workshop is a great way to work with a new paper selection, try a new scrapbook and card layouts, and learn some new embellishing technique. Love that paper! A big bang for your buck is always found in the Workshops On The Go. "Lucky" includes the stamp, a level two paper packet, wooden designer buttons, natural Hemp and a workshop guide with two more pages and three more cards. Need more ideas? Come visit my website and find yet more pages and cards for these pretty papers. Still looking? Try the newest CTMH book Magic, full of pockets and pull out designs.
Here is a link to the Lucky Workshop On The Go:
https://cindyelliott.myctmh.com/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=5756
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Hostess a CTMH Gathering
First I decided I was going to book a party. Besides that I love a great excuse to gather my friends, I was pretty interested in some free stuff! Then I decided to become a CTMH consultant and my party became my "Jump Start Party".
First I sent out notes on FB and almost everyone I asked wanted to come. Then I sent out ez invites that my consultant, now up line, Dalene sent me. What a great system that is! And of course not every one who wanted to come could, but we ended up with 8 spots filled at our table and several who are wanting me to have another one! Oh, we will!
At a "Party Gathering" we learn about products, construct a scrap book page and make a card! At my gathering, friends enjoyed figuring out that they could do this. They had the most fun establishing that there were no rules! That sure makes it easier.
In constructing the page we made a flower, used the new Kraft Color Ready Borders, learned to distress paper, learned random stamping and we learned to do the layout.
Then, we made a beautiful friendship card and learned a use for chip board and yet another way to use a stamp.When I think about it, we really learned a lot!
Every party gathering is different so hostessing or attending more than one party means you may be learning some new techniques at each one!
Hostess a Gathering for friends, fun and free products! At home or online, a Gathering is a great way to celebrate relationships through the art of stamping and scrapbooking. What could be better than sharing products you love with the people you care about? And just as great, when you become a hostess, you can earn valuable Hostess Rewards. Get started with the free product credit, and continue the shopping spree with Hostess Rewards Plus! items at 50% off. It's a great way to get the products you want and need affordable...or even free.
First I sent out notes on FB and almost everyone I asked wanted to come. Then I sent out ez invites that my consultant, now up line, Dalene sent me. What a great system that is! And of course not every one who wanted to come could, but we ended up with 8 spots filled at our table and several who are wanting me to have another one! Oh, we will!
At a "Party Gathering" we learn about products, construct a scrap book page and make a card! At my gathering, friends enjoyed figuring out that they could do this. They had the most fun establishing that there were no rules! That sure makes it easier.
In constructing the page we made a flower, used the new Kraft Color Ready Borders, learned to distress paper, learned random stamping and we learned to do the layout.
Then, we made a beautiful friendship card and learned a use for chip board and yet another way to use a stamp.When I think about it, we really learned a lot!
Every party gathering is different so hostessing or attending more than one party means you may be learning some new techniques at each one!
Hostess a Gathering for friends, fun and free products! At home or online, a Gathering is a great way to celebrate relationships through the art of stamping and scrapbooking. What could be better than sharing products you love with the people you care about? And just as great, when you become a hostess, you can earn valuable Hostess Rewards. Get started with the free product credit, and continue the shopping spree with Hostess Rewards Plus! items at 50% off. It's a great way to get the products you want and need affordable...or even free.
Cake Balls
One of the very fun things I heard about at the last crop weekend I attended were Cake Balls. After a very funny explanation of how to make these from my up line I decided I would try them. Of course I did not remember everything she said so I googled for them and found them. The first part is simple:
Some melt their chocolate in a double boiler, others use the microwave but I found the easiest way was using a Wilton Chocolate pot. Take your half price coupon to Michael's some week and treat yourself to one, it will only be about $12 and it won't take up much space! After several emails of advice from my crop friends I finally got the right combination of ingredients down. I know, how often do we just tell each other how to make such a simple thing :-) I used one bag of white and one bag of dark chocolate chips, use butter Crisco (a tsp or so as you need it) to thin your chocolate and add just a bit of paraffin wax (maybe two tsp) to give them that pretty glossy look.
Remember, the Cake Balls were frozen, making it very easy to use a wood skewer to dip the balls in the melted chocolate and then the sprinkles. Stick the other end of the skewer into a piece of floral foam or something to let them set.
It is pretty simple once you get it the process down. Warning, I found myself wishing I had two chocolate pots because I had the urge for double dipping.
There was some left over chocolate I hated to see go to waste so I pulled out a bag of pretzels and dipped those too! I think you can dip almost anything in chocolate, don't you?
- Bake a cake: any flavor. Being close to Valentines Day I chose Red Velvet, my husband's favorite!
- After cool, crumble up your whole cake into a large bowl. Listen to your husband asking what you are doing to the cake :-)
- Mix a small can of frosting into the cake. My crop friends said a half of a can, the recipe said a whole. I think you could do either.
- Form round balls about an inch in diameter and set on parchment paper. Depending on the size you end up with you will have 40 to 48 Cake Balls.
- Allow these to cool, I found the freezer the very best place!
Some melt their chocolate in a double boiler, others use the microwave but I found the easiest way was using a Wilton Chocolate pot. Take your half price coupon to Michael's some week and treat yourself to one, it will only be about $12 and it won't take up much space! After several emails of advice from my crop friends I finally got the right combination of ingredients down. I know, how often do we just tell each other how to make such a simple thing :-) I used one bag of white and one bag of dark chocolate chips, use butter Crisco (a tsp or so as you need it) to thin your chocolate and add just a bit of paraffin wax (maybe two tsp) to give them that pretty glossy look.
Remember, the Cake Balls were frozen, making it very easy to use a wood skewer to dip the balls in the melted chocolate and then the sprinkles. Stick the other end of the skewer into a piece of floral foam or something to let them set.
It is pretty simple once you get it the process down. Warning, I found myself wishing I had two chocolate pots because I had the urge for double dipping.
There was some left over chocolate I hated to see go to waste so I pulled out a bag of pretzels and dipped those too! I think you can dip almost anything in chocolate, don't you?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
On Journaling
I have two very old albums that are just wonderful to look at. One is from my grandfather's family, the Berglunds. The other is from my grandmother's mother's family, the Odettes. When the Odette album was made there was no journaling. None! Not a word! Occasionally a picture will fall out and a name is revealed. Hooray, a clue! The creator of the Berglund album was kind enough to tell us sometimes where the pictures were taken and the date, like this one September 1916. Here we are almost a hundred years later wondering who is in each picture! But I do love how people would pose for pictures back then. Everyone was really good at it! Sadly, the albums may be dismantled in an attempt to discover who we are looking at. Maybe they will go back together, perhaps they will become something else.
Why do I bring this up? Because in 100 years someone is going to be looking at the scrapbooks we make and they are going to care to know who they are looking at. When you think of journaling in a scrapbook, a true journalistic approach may be the best. Remembering the 5 W's ... Who, What, When, Where and Why ... the very most important would be Who! The other four W's are fun to know but WHO is very important.
This is not so easy as it seems! We make our pages and are captured in the moment. We know who is in that picture but do we remember to include it in our journaling? All too often we tend to think in the present. Remember to take care of the future and make certain your album tells as much of the story as you want to be remembered! Some day your great great grandchildren will be reading about it.
Having plowed through hundreds of pictures and identifying many .... that is a Scrap From My Heart!
Why do I bring this up? Because in 100 years someone is going to be looking at the scrapbooks we make and they are going to care to know who they are looking at. When you think of journaling in a scrapbook, a true journalistic approach may be the best. Remembering the 5 W's ... Who, What, When, Where and Why ... the very most important would be Who! The other four W's are fun to know but WHO is very important.
This is not so easy as it seems! We make our pages and are captured in the moment. We know who is in that picture but do we remember to include it in our journaling? All too often we tend to think in the present. Remember to take care of the future and make certain your album tells as much of the story as you want to be remembered! Some day your great great grandchildren will be reading about it.
Having plowed through hundreds of pictures and identifying many .... that is a Scrap From My Heart!
How Am I Going to Tell This Story?
Somewhere in the early to mid 1990's I had gathered the story of one branch of my family. The McBees. Along with the story I had gathered photos from the mid to late 1800's, identified many of the subjects in them, and was looking for some way to safely keep and display them. (Identifying the subjects in these photos is a story for another day.) Of course frames with UV glass were potentially the safest place but impractical in practice considering the number of photos I had. Boxes of them, boxes and boxes and boxes!
A concern at the time for most genealogists when trying to preserve these pictures was exposing them to light. The concern was so great we were careful not to photograph or copy them. No one even had scanners yet! Even so, all three mediums required a bright flash of light that was believed to cause the photos to fade faster. The practical solution seemed to be a scrap book.
In most craft stores the selection of photo albums was limited to what I have always called sticky pages. Remember those? We all had them and just try taking a photo out of one of those things now. I knew I was not going to put my 100+ year old pictures in one of those! These horrible photo albums were beginning to be on their way out but real scrap booking materials were not easily found, unless you knew someone, which I did not!
It seemed to me these photographs were a work of art which is what led me to a local art store. There I learned that some people were preserving photos and making scrap books. Nothing like what we do today, but I found a source for acid free paper which was huge! I had read about acid free paper some where. Ah, but how to bind the acid free paper? The beautiful embossed leather albums from the early part of the century were no where to be found. But in the art stores I learned that people were making the actual album covers too.
After a nice chat with the sales lady where I obtained loads of information (no they did not have a class for this) I returned home armed with my acid free paper More, I had silk paper and very heavy card board for making the album itself. Did I forget to mention that my instructions also included 'sewing' the binding of my album together?
This was an arduous project and frankly it was a bit of a lonely project. My immediate family understood why it was important to me because they understood the genealogy work I had done. Beyond that small circle I think my friends believed I had slipped a cog. They certainly had no interest in joining me and 'having fun'. . But, once completed it was to me a great accomplishment. One I might attempt again....some time. But not too terribly soon.
The boxes and boxes of pictures remained in their boxes for several years. It is just as well that they did. Today I have no worries about scanning a photo. That is likely the best image that will ever be preserved as long as it is well backed up. Of course new photos are already digital! There are far more beautiful papers, great layouts, ways to embellish and journal. Oh, something else I didn't have back then ... the Internet of course! No email, no Google, no Facebook, no blog. I actually believe a lot of us were facing the same challenges and opportunities alone back then. Well, the rules have changed now!
A concern at the time for most genealogists when trying to preserve these pictures was exposing them to light. The concern was so great we were careful not to photograph or copy them. No one even had scanners yet! Even so, all three mediums required a bright flash of light that was believed to cause the photos to fade faster. The practical solution seemed to be a scrap book.
In most craft stores the selection of photo albums was limited to what I have always called sticky pages. Remember those? We all had them and just try taking a photo out of one of those things now. I knew I was not going to put my 100+ year old pictures in one of those! These horrible photo albums were beginning to be on their way out but real scrap booking materials were not easily found, unless you knew someone, which I did not!
It seemed to me these photographs were a work of art which is what led me to a local art store. There I learned that some people were preserving photos and making scrap books. Nothing like what we do today, but I found a source for acid free paper which was huge! I had read about acid free paper some where. Ah, but how to bind the acid free paper? The beautiful embossed leather albums from the early part of the century were no where to be found. But in the art stores I learned that people were making the actual album covers too.
After a nice chat with the sales lady where I obtained loads of information (no they did not have a class for this) I returned home armed with my acid free paper More, I had silk paper and very heavy card board for making the album itself. Did I forget to mention that my instructions also included 'sewing' the binding of my album together?
This was an arduous project and frankly it was a bit of a lonely project. My immediate family understood why it was important to me because they understood the genealogy work I had done. Beyond that small circle I think my friends believed I had slipped a cog. They certainly had no interest in joining me and 'having fun'. . But, once completed it was to me a great accomplishment. One I might attempt again....some time. But not too terribly soon.
The boxes and boxes of pictures remained in their boxes for several years. It is just as well that they did. Today I have no worries about scanning a photo. That is likely the best image that will ever be preserved as long as it is well backed up. Of course new photos are already digital! There are far more beautiful papers, great layouts, ways to embellish and journal. Oh, something else I didn't have back then ... the Internet of course! No email, no Google, no Facebook, no blog. I actually believe a lot of us were facing the same challenges and opportunities alone back then. Well, the rules have changed now!
Monday, February 7, 2011
A Little About Me
Hi, I'm Cindy Elliott. I love scrap booking. Like many, life has not always allowed me the time to do this as much as I would like....and I still have boxes of projects to do! About a year ago a long time friend invited me to a Close To My Heart party. I had so much fun putting together a scrap booking page, making a birthday card and enjoying the time with others.
Not long after, I was invited to a crop weekend held at a local hotel. I had no idea what to expect. I was told to 'bring my stuff' and I really wasn't entirely sure what they meant by that. How much stuff? Not long after arriving, I realized everyone really did bring 'their stuff'. Everything they could! From Friday through Sunday everyone worked on their projects, shared ideas and tips with each other and had great fun at the crop weekend. The best part, I made new friends who I now look forward to seeing every time I go. I got hooked. This became my outlet; total relaxation and fun! So much more fun then work or any of the things I was involved in.
My scrap booking experience did not start a year ago, as I'll share in the future. But, it has now become a fun and important part of my life. It is like taking time to smell the roses, with purpose! As a young woman I often would sit with my grandmother, and any other family member I could find, and ask about our family. In the early 90's I began a serious genealogy project tracing my family's history; a project I invested years into. This resulted in more boxes than I can count, the oldest of family pictures and oodles of notes and stories. This is not something my children would appreciate in its 'filed' format. I believe that scrapbooks are the ideal way to build and share these stories.
Of course I also have scrapbook projects of my own children and of course one for Jack. Oh, you'll meet Jack. He is our 40 lb lab mix, rescued from terrible circumstance and now living a life of luxury with my husband, David and I. Actually Jack lets us live with him!
I look forward to sharing my scrap booking projects, challenges and opportunities here. As we go through this journey I believe you will understand why some of the projects I work on truly are 'Scraps From My Heart". I know yours are too :-)
Not long after, I was invited to a crop weekend held at a local hotel. I had no idea what to expect. I was told to 'bring my stuff' and I really wasn't entirely sure what they meant by that. How much stuff? Not long after arriving, I realized everyone really did bring 'their stuff'. Everything they could! From Friday through Sunday everyone worked on their projects, shared ideas and tips with each other and had great fun at the crop weekend. The best part, I made new friends who I now look forward to seeing every time I go. I got hooked. This became my outlet; total relaxation and fun! So much more fun then work or any of the things I was involved in.
My scrap booking experience did not start a year ago, as I'll share in the future. But, it has now become a fun and important part of my life. It is like taking time to smell the roses, with purpose! As a young woman I often would sit with my grandmother, and any other family member I could find, and ask about our family. In the early 90's I began a serious genealogy project tracing my family's history; a project I invested years into. This resulted in more boxes than I can count, the oldest of family pictures and oodles of notes and stories. This is not something my children would appreciate in its 'filed' format. I believe that scrapbooks are the ideal way to build and share these stories.
Of course I also have scrapbook projects of my own children and of course one for Jack. Oh, you'll meet Jack. He is our 40 lb lab mix, rescued from terrible circumstance and now living a life of luxury with my husband, David and I. Actually Jack lets us live with him!
I look forward to sharing my scrap booking projects, challenges and opportunities here. As we go through this journey I believe you will understand why some of the projects I work on truly are 'Scraps From My Heart". I know yours are too :-)
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