Do You Believe in Magic?

I do... and so will you on September 1st! We have a brand new 'Scrapbook How-To Program' coming out and I'm so excited to share it with you! Close to My Heart Consultants have a one-month preview period before each new catalog to order and get familiar with the new products we have coming out. I used our new 'How-To Program' this week with my leftover paper from the Splendor Scrapbook Kit and created a layout to share with you! The pattern that I used is called 'Showtime'. I hope you like it!

If you would like to pre-order your new 'how-to' book, email me at cindy@myctmh.com and put 'Magic' in the subject line!

Look what I got this week! A wonderful email from Close to My Heart's Founder and CEO, Jeanette Lynton and a photo of us together after the Awards Gala at our Convention in Washington D.C.!  So fun! I love my job!

Dear Cindy,

Congratulations on your well-deserved award at Convention recognizing your incredible accomplishments of the past year. It was a pleasure to meet with you at the award recipients' reception and, as promised, I have attached the photo which was taken of us. It's a great reminder of the wonderful time we had and how hard work truly pays off in so many ways. May your achievements continue this next year as you help others preserve their memories and celebrate their relationships.

Make it from your heart,

Here is one more photo that was sent to me of myself and Jeanette with two of my team members who were also award recipients this year! Congratulations to Etta Langford and Stacy Park!!! Great job this year girls!

My Top 5 Favorite Memories of Convention!

I had such a wonderful time last week at the Close to My Heart Annual Convention in Washington D.C.! Looking at my photos I find it hard to believe how much we were able to fit into one week's time! I created so many memories and took so many photos, that I'm sure I'll have an entire scrapbook just for this one convention! It was A-MA-ZING! Close to My Heart really knows how to plan an event and every year it gets better and better!

I took over 350 photos, so I thought I'd narrow it down and share my Top 5 Favorite Memories from Convention, so you can see just a few of the fun things we get to do as Close to My Heart Consultants!

#5. The 4th of July Celebration! My friend and fellow Director Melissa Robinson and I got a spot on the grassy hillside in front of the Gaylord National Hotel at 4 pm when the gates opened and parked ourselves there to wait for the 4th of July Fireworks. It was 100+ degrees and so humid, but we are determined gals and we 'held down the fort' while we watched a Beach Boys Tribute Band and then an Eagles Tribute Band. We used sunscreen, but still managed to get a little sunburned. LOL!

Sheila Wilkerson and I trying to cool off with a cold drink. 

Melissa Robinson and I on the 4th of July.

Amazing fireworks display in the Nation's Capitol! 

#4. Getting to see so many of the monuments and historical sites for the first time! It was my first trip to Washington D.C. and I was able to see so many things that I've only read about! So much amazing history! I loved it! 

A photo in front of the White House after getting to take a tour inside! Incredible!

Standing outside the gates of the White House after our tour. 

The changing of the guards at 'The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier'. 

Arlington National Cemetery. 

#3. Connecting with the consultants on my team! I have such a great team and really enjoy getting to spend time with them! We may only see each other once or twice a year, but we LOVE being together!

My Leadership Dinner. Pictured from left to right: Teri Baxter, Melissa Robinson, 

Carol Harris, Carrie Burdette, me, Rita Mefford and Heather Snow. 

The Directors on my Team - Teri Baxter, Stacy Park, myself and Carol Harris. 

#2. Director's Dinner! Close to My Heart whisks all the Directors in the company off to dinner one night at Convention to an undisclosed location. It is always SO MUCH FUN and they treat us like royalty! This year they took us on a dinner cruise on the Odyssey. We had a wonderful dinner, beautiful view of the monuments lit up at night along the Potomac River and great fellowship! We had a wonderful evening! Thank you Close to My Heart! 

Me, Melissa Robinson and Teri Baxter before the Director's Dinner.

Team Directors - Me, Michelle Snyder (my 2nd upline), Teri Baxter, 

Stacy Park, Janene Wawro (my first upline) and Carol Harris. 

#1. Awards Gala! I have always love awards night, but this year it was even better! Several of my team members were recognized and received awards and it was AWESOME to be able to share that with them! I am so proud of their accomplishments! 

Etta Langford, Stacy Park and I on Awards Night. We had special 

seating in the front row for Award Recipients. 

Etta received THREE awards this year and it 

was her very first convention! WOW! She was the Top New 

Consultant in the company based on sales! She also got #9 in 

sales in the entire company for the year and was a Rising Star 

Award Recipient this year! Congratulations Etta! 

Stacy is a brand new Director on my team 

this year and received an award for being the #4 

Recruiter in the company for 2009-2010! 

Way to go Stacy! 

I was recognized for being #3 in sales in the U.S. this year and 

for earning the Centennial Club Award! This photo was taken 

at a special Awards Reception following the Awards Gala. We had 

professional photos taken with Jeanette Lynton, our founder and CEO. 

Pictured with me here are Lynn Como, #1 in Sales for 2009-2010 and Brian Holman, 

our V.P of I.T. Congratulations Lynn! 

I have SO many more fun memories of Convention 2010! I can't wait to get 

started on my scrapbook! I absolutely love that I get paid to scrapbook my memories! 

If Convention sounds like something you'd enjoy doing, contact me with any questions 

you might have! I'm always looking for fun, positive, hard-working new people to join my team! 

They announced at our final banquet that we will be traveling to Anaheim, California next summer for Convention and staying in the newly renovated Disneyland Hotel! I can't wait! 

Join me, won't you? 

Great Time - Great Food - Great Friends!

I had such a great time at my scrapbook retreat last weekend at The Covered Bridge Inn in Weatherford. I have hosted retreats there 3-4 times a year since 2006 and have dates booked through 2011! It's a great place for a retreat. The next retreat is October 7-10, 2010. A $50 deposit will secure your spot.  Contact me today to register! I'd love to have you join me.

I invited two of my best girlfriends to join me last weekend along with lots of my customers and a few team members. We got lots of scrappin' done, ate lots of delicious homemade food and I even managed to squeeze in an hour massage and an evening in the hot tub!

Here are a few photos from our weekend:

The Covered Bridge Inn

Me with Melissa Robinson 

 Me and Pamela O'Connor

Pamela, Melissa and I relaxing in the hot tub. 

Everyone busy scrappin' in the crop room. 

My Cruise Scrapbook is almost complete!

I've been diligently working on my cruise scrapbook from our recent Close to My Heart Cruise to the Western Caribbean. I just have a few more layouts to do and I think I will call it complete! SO excited!

I wanted to share a couple more layouts that I've completed with you. I hope you like them! (All layouts completed with Close to My Heart products, including the Caboodle My Reflections paper pack.)

Close to My Heart is Simply The Best!

I just read on our CEO and founder's blog, that she and our company received three prestigious awards this past weekend! If you haven't read her blog before, you should definitely check it out! It is amazing! She posts wonderful artwork and lots of fun and interesting information about herself, her family and our company. Go take a look here and let me know what you think!

Hit the Jackpot in June!

 Jackpot June – Daily Deals Online Start Today!

June is the time to stock up on all your creative supplies for scrapbooking, stamping, and cardmaking with our Jackpot June Special.

In June, take advantage of a different deal each day only on MyCTMH® website. Click on the Jackpot June link to see each day's deal. Each day will either be a Jackpot day or a Goodie Box day. Deals will run for 23 hours: from 9:00 am (MDT) to 8:00 am (MDT) the following day, while supplies last. (The hour between 8:00 am and 9:00 am will be used to finalize all pending transactions, clear the queue, and launch the next deal.)

On Jackpot days, 5 products will be offered for sale at special discounted prices. On each Jackpot day, we've selected one of the 5 products to be the Jackpot item for that day, but you won't know which one it is (isn't it exciting!). If you happen to order the Jackpot item, lucky you! We'll reward you with a fabulous Close To My Heart jackpot, which may be one FREE product or a bundle of several FREE products! For those of you who aren't risk-takers, you'll want to purchase all 5 items to guarantee you'll hit the Jackpot!

If you purchase multiple quantities of the Jackpot item, you'll receive multiple products FREE. So, buy as many as you'd like of each item—there's no limit—and you could be a big winner!
The free items will be featured on the Jackpot June shopping page, alongside the 5 discounted products. We'll send your FREE items with the products you've ordered—and we'll pay the shipping/handling for your free items!

Special shipping is offered on the discounted products you purchase: just $0.99 US for each item.

So, how do you know if you've hit the Jackpot? Each day we'll announce what the Jackpot item was for the previous day on www.facebook.com/closetomyheart and at www.closetomyheart.com.

On Goodie Box days, you will be able to purchase a Goodie Box filled with wonderful Close To My Heart products at 50% or more off retail value. The Goodie Box contents will vary by day (we're not revealing specifics but you'll be thrilled!) and will include favorite current and retired stamp sets, paper packets, embellishments, and other great scrapbooking, stamping, and cardmaking items.

We have made every effort to differentiate the Goodie Box offerings by date so you can purchase boxes on different dates and receive a wide variety of products. The prices of the boxes will vary but each will be at least 50% off retail value. The higher the box price, the greater your savings from the original retail value.

These special offers include discounted shipping/handling and are only available on MyCTMH® website. Check back every day for the latest offer.

Let me know what kind of deals you get! I'm excited to hear what everyone gets! 

I promised to share more of my Caribbean Cruise Layouts over the next week or so. So, today I'm sharing two more with you. These are all completed with the Caboodle Paper Pack. Enjoy!

I've Been Busy Creating!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted - time just seems to fly by faster and faster, doesn't it? It's been a busy month with the first live month of our New Summer Idea Book and Catalog! I've loved meeting with all of my scrapbook groups this month and sharing the new catalog! I love seeing my club members each month and catching up on their lives and seeing how they completed their class pages from the month before! I have the best job ever!

I've also been busy with some personal scrapbooking this month! I was inspired to scrapbook our photos from our most recent CTMH Incentive Trip, a Western Caribbean Cruise we took in March. Close to My Heart sent us a great goodie box before the cruise with all of the paper and embellishments to complete six layouts for our cruise album. They also sent us a fun exclusive cruise stamp set and an album to put it in! They are SO good to us! I completed those six layouts and loved them so much, that I've just kept going! I'm determined to finish this album before I move on to my next project this time. (All of the layouts are done with the 'Caboodle' My Reflections Paper Packet.)

I will share some of the layouts that I've completed over the next week or so. I hope you like them and that it inspires you to spend some time scrapbooking!

Let me know if you have any questions! I'm always happy to help!

Cindy

Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! We took my mom out to lunch and got her a new lawn mower! She was really needing a new one! So, my sweet hubby got it put together and oiled and gassed up for her and then mowed her backyard for her. What a great son-in-law! LOL!

Here are a few photos from the day!

My mom and I in her yard. 

Me with my two boys, Colter and Dakota. 

Colter and Dakota with Gran.

Ronnie putting the new lawnmower together.

Gran with her new mower.

Sneak Peek of the New Summer Idea Book!

I am so excited about our NEW Summer 2010 Idea Book! I think it's the most beautiful catalog cover we've had to date! Of course, if you know me, you know I love all things RED, so what's not to love!? All of the new products inside are just as beautiful! I know you are going to love it! 

This new Idea Book goes 'live' on May 1st, which means you can place your orders beginning Saturday. Just go to my website and click on online shopping and your order will be delivered right to your doorstep. You will also be able to view the entire catalog online at that time. All of my club members will be receiving a FREE copy at their May Scrapbook Classes. If you are not a member of my scrapbook clubs, and you'd like to get a copy of your own, please contact me via email at cindy@myctmh.com.

Here is that sneak peek that I promised you - isn't the cover gorgeous??? Love it!!!

Studio J is HERE!!!

I am SO excited to announce the customer release date of our brand new AMAZING online scrapbooking program! STUDIO J! Trust me, you're going to LOVE this! 

Our tagline is: Real life. Real scrapbooks. Real time.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 27th at 8 am MST. 

Just go to my website to get started! 

There will be a tab added that day for Studio J. Click there and you can begin playing...for FREE! You pay NOTHING unless you order some layouts. Putting them together is TOTALLY FREE! I love free! In the meantime, if you haven't watched the Studio J introductory video yet, click here to do it!

Here are the answers to a few questions you might have about Studio J:

Q: I LOVE traditional scrapbooking. Will Studio J take away from that? 
A: Absolutely NOT! There is room for both in your life. I am living proof. I love them both for totally different reasons. I love the artistic feel of hands on paper and embellishments. I love the speed and ease and professional look of Studio J. Plus, you can always order Studio layouts and then add a few embellishments of your own once they come if you have a serious need to do the tactile thing.


Q: I am not a traditional kind of scrapbooker. I have been scrapbooking digitally for years. Is Studio J something that I will like?
A: No doubt about it! I have looked at several different digital offerings out there, and in my opinion, NOTHING can compete with Studio J in quality, concept, cost or beauty!


Q: So seriously, how much does it cost?
A: There is NO COST to use the program. You have no software or hardware to purchase or download. Unless you make a layout (defined as a two page 12 x 12 layout) and decide to purchase it, there is absolutely no cost. Once you decide to purchase, each 2 page layout is introductory priced at $12.95. That is WAY below the industry average! And, if you purchase 5-9 two-page layouts at a time, CTMH will throw in 5 free page protectors. 10 or more and you get FREE SHIPPING, as well as a package of 5 page protectors for every 5 layouts in the order. Cool! Once ordered, Close To My Heart prints your layouts on high quality photo paper and sends them to you. Mine arrived within days of when I ordered them.


Q: What if I make a layout and want to save it and purchase it with a group of layouts at a later date?
A: No worries! That is actually the smart way to do it anyway. CTMH will save your projects for 90 days. And, every time you make a purchase your 90 days start over. So, say you make several layouts and then purchase them on day 80. Your 9o day clock starts over. They are saved again. Totally awesome! On top of all of that, CTMH even emails you periodically to remind you where your project clock is.


Q: In a nutshell, how does this "Studio J" thing work?
A: In a nutshell, these are the five steps to creating an amazing 2 page layout:

• upload some of your favorite photos
• choose from one of the 54 awesome kits (including most of your faves from our Idea Books plus some that are exclusive to Studio J).
• choose a layout pattern. There are MANY to choose from. They are like the patterns you'll find in our wonderful "how to" books like Cherish, Imagine, Reflections. The possibilities are endless because all the patterns you can choose from can be rotated 3 ways and flip-flopped.
• now personalize! You get to drop your photos in, add text, choose cardstock and background and texture papers from the kit, add accessories (just about every accessory item you can imagine!), distressing, titling, MyStickease, and so much more.
• save and/or buy your layout(s).

Q: If I'm not the techiest of techies, or even techie at all, will I be able to do this?
A: YES! This program is great for techies and non-techies alike. The program is VERY intuitive. 

I am SO EXCITED about this program. I know you are going to love it. So, take a red pen and mark Tuesday, April 27 at 8 am MDT on the calendar. You won't want to miss it!

If you have any questions, I am MORE than happy to answer them. Email me at cindy@myctmh.com.  If you have lots of friends who love digital scrapbooking, you might even want to consider signing up to be a Close To My Heart Consultant with your own website so that you can make money (cha-ching) while they fall in love with Studio J! You can do that right now while you are waiting for Tuesday. Just click here, then on "Your Opportunities" and then follow the prompts. You can become a Close To My Heart Consultant for as little as $99!

I can't wait to hear what you think about Studio J and your studio layouts! 

Cindy

Another Miracle!

Since Ronnie and I went out on Saturday night to celebrate my birthday, we stayed home yesterday and had a nice quiet day here at the house. We have had rain here in Texas all weekend, so I stayed inside and scrapbooked all afternoon. Ronnie grilled steaks and made salad and baked potatoes for supper and then we watched the CMA's (Country Music Awards). It was a really nice relaxing day.

I still had the scraps from the Miracle Kit laying on my scrapbook table and I had a few Bluebonnet pics left over that I had printed out, so I decided to see if I could do another layout and use up the rest of that beautiful paper. I didn't have alot of the paper left so I added some cardstock to make it go  a little further. I found a layout in Cherish that worked with the number of photos I had and that didn't require alot of B&T paper. I chose the concept called 'Easy Inspiration' on page 106 in my Cherish Book. I think it worked well with my photos and I was able to use up all of my scraps! I am happy with the way it turned out and hope you like it, too!

Left page

Right page

I used the Irresistibles 'Lots of Dot's Z1261 for my title and sponged them with Spring Iris. 

I ended up pulling some of the fun accents from a second Miracle Kit to add to my pages, so that they would tie in with the other layouts. 

A Fun Night Out!

I had a wonderful night out for my birthday! My hubby surprised me Saturday night and got tickets to Granbury Live! Granbury Live is an old-time theater on the Granbury Town Square that does live music concerts every weekend. If you live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and enjoy music, you definitely need to go sometime! Last year, I surprised my husband for Christmas and got him season tickets, so we had date night every month all year long at Granbury Live! So much fun! Last night's concert was 'All American Country' and if you know anything about me, you know I LOVE country music! LOL! I got to hear lots of favorites - including my all-time favorite song 'Cowboy Sweetheart', performed by Lani Stacy. She did an amazing job and she can yodel like nobody's business!

One of my customers, Alecia Echols,  is a vocalist at Granbury Live and her husband Mike is an amazing fiddle player. My favorite part of every show at Granbury Live is when they perform 'Amazing Grace' together. It's just beautiful and always brings tears to my eyes. Love you Alecia! You are SO very talented!

Another one of my customers, Kathy Carlson, and her husband Pete, are frequent visitors to Granbury Live and we ran in to them last night and were seated just two seats apart in the same row! Too fun!

Thanks to everyone at Granbury Live for a great birthday and to my sweet hubby for being so thoughtful and knowing me so well. Also, thanks to everyone for all of the cards, emails, flowers, calls, texts and facebook posts! I appreciate your thoughtfulness and your friendship more than you could know!

Here are some photos from my night out on the town:

Ronnie and I in front of the house before we headed out. 

Ronnie and I in front of Granbury Live. Can you tell it had been pouring down rain? LOL! 

Mike Echols burning up the fiddle!

Cindy with Alecia and Mike Echols

Cindy with Alecia Echols and Kathy Carlson at Granbury Live.