Monday, August 31, 2015

The New Idea Book Is HERE!!

Exciting!  It's just past 11:30pm, and in a few short hours, the brand new Close To My Heart Annual Inspirations Idea Book will be live and open for shopping!  Woohoo!  In addition, the seasonal "Holiday Expressions", featuring holiday products for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas/Winter will also be unveiled.  I just LOVE this time of year, and can't wait to share so many new products with you!  :)

A quick note - we do still have the Stamp of the Month program, however, these will no longer be featured in the Annual Inspirations Idea Book.  They will now be shown in the Seasonal Expressions mini publication during the months they are featured.  Here's the schedule:

Holiday Expressions:  Sept - Dec
Seasonal Expressions 1:  Jan - April
Seasonal Expressions 2:  May - August

Guess what?  When you place an order on my website starting September 1st, you'll receive a prompt to add a FREE Holiday Expressions to your order.  You'll also be able to add the big Annual Inspirations to your order as well, and have a new one shipped right to your door with your order.  It's just awesome!

September Specials:

September is National Stamping Month, and you can get THREE exclusive stamp sets with no qualifying order.  There is one for scrapbooking, cardmaking, and pocket scrapbooking, and all three coordinate with cuts from the new Cricut 'Artistry' cartridge, found HERE.  How cute are these stamp sets???  Buy them each individually for just $13.95 each, or buy all three for just $34.95 and save money!  :)  These are super cute C-size sets and they'll be a fun addition to your stamps.  :)




I'm leaving town Tuesday for a family funeral, but will be back Thursday and ready to share more fun things with you!  Be watching, and feel free to go check out all of the new products on my website at www.janene.ctmh.com.   You can also view the Idea Books online page by page by going to my site and then clicking on "Products" and "Idea Books".  Shop anytime - exciting!!!

Janene Wawro
www.janene.ctmh.com
www.createwithjanene.com







Friday, August 21, 2015

Quick & Easy 5-Minute Card!

This is a cute and simple card I recently created.  Add it to your files when you need a cute but quick card, as the card dimensions are right there for you!  Substitute different colors and stamps to make exactly what you want for any occasion, but the instructions below will give you links to these products on my website at www.janene.ctmh.com to see them up close.  Feel free to purchase anything you don't have.  :)


1) I started by using a standard card base (CTMH has an awesome value pack where you get 50 cards and 50 envelopes for just $14.95, or $.30 per card/envelope - wow!).  Click HERE to see the value pack.

2) Next, adhere your black cardstock to the center of the card.  Black cardstock can be found HERE

3) Layer the gray pattern paper in the center of the black cardstock.  This paper comes from the new "Nevermore" paper pack which will be available on September 1st, so search it on the 1st on my website!

4) Add the pink Paper Fundamentals paper next.  This came from the Whimsy pack, which can be found HERE.  This paper is fun because one side has the pattern mixed with white, and the other side is solid with a raised embossed design.  Adorable!

5)  The final step to finish the card is to cut a 1-3/4" circle (I cut it on my Cricut), and sponge Pixie ink (found HERE) all around the edges with a sponge.  Then stamp your saying in Black ink (found HERE).  I used the August 2015 Stamp of the Month (found HERE), but buy it quickly because it's gone after August 31st!  $17.95, or just $5.00 with a $50.00 order - GREAT DEAL!  Add a couple of Bitty Sparkles (found HERE) as your finishing touch.  Since these are REALLY tiny, cute sparkles, I don't try placing them with my finger, but instead, lift them off their carrier sheet with our Piercing Tool (found HERE) and then placing it where I want it.  Great tip and perfect placement every time.  Then adhere it with some foam tape (found HERE) to lift it off your card for nice dimension.

Enjoy your card-making!

Janene  :)

Friday, August 14, 2015

"Seaside" Scrapbook Workshop

I love Close To My Heart's "Seaside" papers and matching products.  The workshop kit is fantastic and I love all of the elements.  :)  These papers would be perfect for any vacation-beach-travel papers, but also for water parties, summertime, and fun in the outdoors.  Jump in and play!  Click HERE to see the Seaside products on my site, and if you like anything, buy it now, as this will be gone on September 1st, 2015, or until supplies run out.  :)

These are all of the projects my scrapbook club members are creating in August.  Here is the first layout we created.  Everything has a mat in 'Desert Sand' or 'Sorbet', both colors from our Exclusive color palette. 


Left layout page 


Right layout page

This is a close-up of the title...it's actually a big sticker from the Seaside Complements pack, and accented with some cute metal starfish from the Seaside Assortment.

This is the second layout my scrapbook club members are creating this month.  My favorite thing about this layout is the ink distressing on everything.  Grab a Chocolate stamp pad and sponge and start swiping all of the edges.  It adds a ton of character and visual interest.  

Left layout page

Right layout page

Close up shot of the title...the saying is stamped from a cute stamp in the Seaside Workshop on the Go kit, and matted with Seaside paper behind.  The ribbons are just 1/2" strips of cardstock, and zip strips from our B&T Duos pattern paper.  Ink distress those as well, and put them behind your title.


I like to use pop dots or foam tape on my layouts to lift things off the page and add dimension.  This accent is cute...just two layered circles, cut from the Cricut, and stamped with another stamp from the Workshop on the Go kit.  More paper ribbon accents below, and really cute adhesive dots to finish it.  So stinkin' adorable.  You'll also notice that 
my layouts are always wide open with lots of room, so that you have lots of flexibility in how and where you put your photos and journaling.


As a bonus, we are making two cute mini cards with leftover papers.  The base of these cards starts with a 3 1/2 x 7" piece of cardstock folded in half to make two 3 1/2" square cards.  Layer B&T pattern paper (distressed in Chocolate, of course) and finish with really cute embellishments.  The stamped frame and sentiment comes from the August Stamp of the Month set, found by clicking HERE.  It's only available in August, so grab it soon before the month ends.  :)

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Brand New Products to PLAY with!

OOOOOH, I love August!  It's the 'Consultant Preview' month for all CTMH Consultants to see all of our new products and order and play with them, in preparation to show them to our friends and customers on September 1st when the NEW annual Idea Book is unveiled.  However - SO COOL - this year, CTMH is giving YOU a sneak-peek at some of our upcoming products and letting you order them early right along with consultants.  So fun!  Check out the flyer showing all of the fun new things you can play with!  (BTW, I'll be teaching with the new "Zoe" products in September!)


This is the August Stamp of the Month.  It's one of my all-time favorites, as it's SO versatile for so many things...holidays, seasons, and sentiments are covered here, and the best part is, they all fit into the three shape stamps included to make perfect frames for your sentiments!  Plus...anytime you see a red outline on any CTMH stamps like those shown, it means that that particular stamp image has a coordinating Cricut cut - so just cut the shape out on your Cricut and stamp the image inside...no cutting needed!  :)  This stamp set coordinates with the NEW Cricut "Artistry" collection (shown on the flyer in this post).  This ONE Cricut cartridge gives you 700, yes...700, different images, plus THREE matching stamp sets, AND a full pack of cardstock - 10 colors, 2 of each color, for a grand total of just $99.  WOW!  What an incredible deal, especially considering your average new cartridge with about 80 images is around $50!  And for the first time, you can also get a digital version of the cartridge for $79 - save $20.


To shop for any of these items in August, simply go to my website at http://janene.ctmh.com/ and click "Join" next to my August Mystery Hostess online event.  Everyone who shops through this link will be entered into a drawing for ALL of the free hostess gifts from everyone who orders.  WOW!  After clicking the link, simply enter order numbers or descriptions into the 'search' box to find them, and add them to your cart.  :)

And finally, have you tried Studio J digital scrapbooking yet?  Wow...am I so hooked!  Remember that I give 1-hour FREE lessons to local friends and customers.  I sit at your computer or mine and help you put together your very first Studio J two-page layout.  By the end of the hour, you'll know all of the basics to using this free program.  Yes, it's FREE!  No membership to pay, no software to buy or download - all you need is an internet connection and your photos.  :)  I love both digital and traditional scrapbooking, but there are some really cool things you can do with digital scrapbooking that you can't do as easily with traditional.  Here's an example - this layout took me about 20 minutes to complete start to finish...I just chose a template and paper, then did a drag-n-drop for my photos and journaling.  You'll love how easy it is!


Notice in this layout how BIG the square picture is on the left!  Do you know how much I'd have to pay to print a large, custom print for my scrapbook?  With Studio J, the only thing you pay for is the printed layout when you decide to buy it.  The price is amazing...just $6.95 for a 2-page layout, so it's less than $3.50 per page.  And there's no supplies needed - no paper, trimmers, adhesives, nothing...just your computer and uploaded photos to create!  Let's talk - I promise you'll love how easy it is to use, totally user-friendly, and your pages come out AMAZING!!!!!