Studio J®: Personalize Your Layouts

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Studio J®: Photo Editing Tool

If you haven't tried Studio J yet, why not? It's free to just play with it, try it today!

Rainy Day Titles

Since it's raining here in Stevensville, it put me in a mood to come up with a bunch of rainy day titles for your scrapbook pages. As you know, I love using song titles on my layouts so these are all songs! If you are on twitter, I throw out a lot of titles there too so feel free to follow me.

Rain, rain, go away, come again another day

Raindrops keep falling on my head

Ain't No Sunshine

Here Comes that Rainy Day Feeling Again

Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down

It's Raining Men

Laughter in the rain

Pennies from heaven

Don't Rain on my Parade

Rhythm of the Rain

Singing in the Rain

I Can See Clearly Now

Kentucky Rain

Pennies From Heaven

Stormy Weather

Purple Rain

Here Comes the Rain Again

Studio J for just $65?

If you love Studio J like I do, you're going to love this offer. Sign up to be a consultant for Close to my Heart in the month of May and your year's membership with Studio J will be just $65 (plus shipping and tax). Along with that you also get to choose two other packages of Close to my Heart brand new products!! Studio J is amazing. I took my Easter pictures yesterday and I can sit down today and have them scrapbooked in less than an hour. As a consultant you'd be able to get them for $2.50 per page! This does not require you to go out and do parties or workshops either. Contact me and I can show you how to tailor Close to my Heart to work for you!

Happy Easter!

I found a great article on how to take your Easter photos tomorrow! Check it out!

How To Take Great Easter Photos - The Fun Times Guide

Close to my Heart has a facebook page!

Have you checked out Close to my Heart's facebook page? They have lots of contests there for giveaways plus consultants show off their artwork. Make sure to "like" the page and if you haven't, "like" my Scrapping with Heart page too.

Do you want a place to talk about scrapbooking and stamping?

I know just the place, my facebook page. Now don't worry, this isn't the page where you see what people ate for lunch of where they are going on their vacation. We talk about scrapbooking and stamping here and that's basically it. There are 123 people there already, we want you to join us. Just click on the link below and click on Like at the top of the page and you're in!

Scrapping With Heart

Too good to keep quiet

Here's the link to my newsletter from Tuesday. I normally don't post it but it's too good to keep just for my newsletter subscribers.

You Won't Believe How Good This Is!

My Acrylix® On This Day Inspiration & Tutorial

How to make a simple layout

The Imagine, Cherish, Reflections and Magic How To books are really incredible. If you haven't picked up copies for yourself by now, you're really missing out. I did this page from a pattern in the Imagine book, it's simple, fast and easy to put together.

I used Lucky paper, my current favorite along with the Enjoy Life stamp set. The first thing I did was use some kraft paper as the base pages for this layout. It's one of our brand new products and this is actually the first time I tried it out and I love it. I dry embossed lines into the papers and instead of sanding them, ran my desert sand ink pad over the lines which made them pop out and look really distressed. Try it, it's so much fun!

I added a piece of the pattern paper to the left page at the top which measured 4 x 12 and one to the top of the second page which measured 3 x 12. Don't forget to distress those too and keep them flush with the top of the page.

Cut five sunset cardstock pieces 3 x 3 and add four directly under the pattern paper on the left page and one all the way to the left under the pattern paper on the right hand page. Cut a strip of sunset paper that measures 1/2 by 9 and glue it under the pattern paper flush with the right hand side.

Make a title out of your favorite letter stamps (I used Baroque) and glue onto a mat (size varies depending on your title). Attach at the bottom of the page where desired. On the right hand page add a journaling block measuring 3 x 5 and a mat measuring 4 x 3 and place as shown. Don't forget to distress all. I added some dry embossed lines to the journaling block to write on.

Stamp the "Life" sentiment on the third square over using outdoor denim ink. Stamp the bicyclist in sunset ink on a circle you've cut out with our scallop punch out of colonial white and outdoor denim cardstocks, layer over each other and glue towards the bottom right of the same square. Stamp the clock in outdoor denim on another colonial white circle. Glue a blue ribbon coming down from the top of the page and attach the circle over it.

Add more ribbon across the four sunset cardstock mats and three buttons with waxy flax to the right of the mat on the right hand page. Attach two brads just under the first sunset cardstock mat on the left page and you're done. Easy and fast!! If you love what you see, buy it HERE.

Whoops!

Okay, it's a rare event but I made a mistake! (Okay, maybe not that rare). When I went back to add up the total free and discounted products for this box of goodies I realized that I messed up and the entire box didn't cost me $79.95, it was $149.82. Not quite as good as what I originally posted but still a great deal, so I hope you'll forgive me for getting it wrong.

Still, we have a winner!!!!! Both Samantha and Cheryl were right so Samantha wins since she's the non-consultant. Congratulations to Samantha!

Here's how I did it. This is something that either a hostess or a consultant can do except that a hostess won't get the consultant discount.

It's called EZinvite. I set a date for an ONLINE GATHERING last month and sent out an EZinvite. An EZinvite is an invitation to my party by email. I started sending out invitations on March 2nd and kept calling people and getting orders all month. Some of you know I had an online crop, I had orders from that, I had orders from plenty of other people throughout the month BECAUSE I kept calling, kept reminding them, kept letting them know when the clearance items came up for sale and about the Level One kits going for free with a $100 order. It takes work but less than cleaning your house and making up a snack for a regular party.

As a consultant I can bring in more orders than the average hostess' party but still, with some effort, any hostess can have her own online through her consultant (me!!) and never have to leave the house to get herself a big bunch of free products.

On April 1st, I closed out the order which ended up being just over $850 which gave me.....$160 in free select product and 4 items at 50% off! I also took my consultant discount of $17.55 (that's just on this order only, I also earned commission earlier on every single order that resulted from this EZinvite - over $200).

All the cardstock was then free, so were the ink pads. Both of the distressing kits were 1/2 off and so was the Say it in Style stamp set and the Circle Around stamp set. That resulted in a SAVINGS of $54.42 just in the discounted items! Added together that's $214.42 that I DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY, not including my commission which I also didn't have to pay. That's more than what I did end up paying and look at everything I received!!!

You can do this too! Have a party with me, we can make it a month long and you can call, email and invite all your friends to your "online" party, no muss, no fuss. You can collect orders all month long while they peruse either the online catalog or a real one (I'll give you some to pass out). People from all over the United States can then participate in your party so you won't even need to keep it local! The EZinvite orders ship directly to the buyer's house!! That saves you or me from having to deliver their products, another bonus! Once your gathering date has passed you'll have 90 days to close out your party with me and choose all of your free and discounted products. Remember that you still have to pay postage and tax on some of the items but still, it will be cheap!! Call or email me (all numbers in the title block at the top of this page) to book your online party with me!

If you are ready to sign up to be a consultant and make this whole thing even better by earning a commission too, listen to this. In the month of May our new consultant sign up kit is going to be

HALF PRICE!!!! Yes, you read that right, half price!!!

Starting May 1st you can join my team and I'll show you how to get free products, earn money for those dreams I know you have and have an incredible time making friends with other consultants and a whole slew of new customer friends! It's changed my life and I know it can change yours!! So, if you are ready to sign up, contact me so we can get you your half priced kit on May 1st!!!

In the meantime, remember, these are the kinds of deals you'll be able to get for yourself with the EZinvite. Wow!

16 packs of 12 x 12 cardstock

A Fanfare Workshop on the go

A Bliss Workshop on the go

3 stamp sets, Say It In Style, Circle Together and the Hope for Japan stamp set

A package of clear cards

A package of waxy Flax

2 distressing tool kits

2 ink pads

A package of resealable bags to hold paper

Movie Titles Make Great Scrapbook Page Titles

Try out a few of these...

Back to the Future

An American in Paris

Places in the Heart

A League of their Own

The Angry Silence

It's a Wonderful Life

The Awful Truth

Coming Home

Dressed to Kill

Beauty and the Beast

Much Ado About Nothing

Days of Heaven

The Big Chill

The Graduate

A Hard's Day Night

Born Yesterday

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Singing in the Rain

The Crying Game

The Breakfast Club

That's Life!

Dead Ringers

Now go do some scrapbooking!

Boyne Highlands Girls Just Wanna Crop!

For those of you who are attending the Boyne Highlands Girls Just Wanna Crop Event at the end of this month, here's our final newsletter from Close to my Heart. Get your pre-orders in now:

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Last-Chance-to-Pre-Order-for-Boyne.html?soid=1102102919059&aid=EZGto14qyjc

Top Ten Supplies every new scrapbooker needs!

1. Trimmer - don't try to cut those photos or paper with scissors, you'll have get it straight.

2. Adhesive - you need one that will hold heavy paper but won't be so sticky that you can't change your mind and move it.

3. Adhesive - you also need one that is super sticky and will hold buttons and the thickest of paper.

4. Cardstock - if you buy no other paper you can make beautiful scrapbook pages with cardstock alone, it also makes an excellent base for your pattern paper.

5. Scissors - you will need them for smaller cuts, to cut embellishments, ribbons, flax, etc. Tip: Have a separate pair that you tie a bow on that you ONLY USE for ribbons, they'll stay super sharp.

6. Idea Book - it's easy to feel overwhelmed when you are first starting out. Why not give yourself a head start and have a book which tells you step by step how to put together beautiful layouts.

7. Pattern paper - although you can do a layout completely with cardstock, you don't have to! Pattern paper adds so much to your layout that it alone can be your decoration.

8. Distressing tool - I use a foam tool with has a handle, distressing is a great way to make your pattern papers pop off the page and also not blend in together or look too busy.

9. Ink - Dark brown is the most versatile ink for distressing but it doesn't hurt to have some black and a few other colors too.

10. Album - You need some place to display all those fun pages you are going to make!

So, that's it. Now if you are saying that you have all these supplies but still need help, call me or email me and let me see how I can help you. The info is all at the top of my blog!

If you don't have all these supplies and are excited and ready to go, click on the links and check out my online store to see what you have to have. If you're still nervous, go play with Studio J for free and practice scrapbooking VIRTUALLY! You may fall in love with digital scrapbooking instead.

If you want everything above but don't have unlimited money, how about becoming a consultant instead and get a lot of that for discounted prices or even FREE! Sign up right here and I'll be your number one supporter in your new business. Now go start scrapping!

An Elephant Never Forgets and Neither Do Scrapbooks

Your history is important. The history of your family is important. If you are a scrapbooker you are THE historian for your family. Over this past month my family have been watching the HBO miniseries on John Adams. As direct descendants of his we were especially thrilled to see how he and the other founding fathers started this great country. It made me appreciate history even more and wish that someone had made scrapbooks going all the way back to the beginnings of our country. I sure would have loved to see the lives of each generation of the Adams family laid out in a scrapbook of photos and journaling.

We are lucky because now we can write down that history for our descendants in not only an accurate way but also using our creativity to make it beautiful too. Don't ever estimate the importance of scrapbooking. Preserving the memories of your family is one of the best gifts you'll ever give them. Don't worry if you are "behind" or if your pages aren't quite perfect. Don't be concerned about not having the right embellishment or that you can't remember the exact date the photo was taken. Those trivial items won't even be noticed by the generations after you. What they will notice is that you took the time to share your life and the lives of your family members in a way that would last for years. They'll notice that you cared enough to make sure that they would know who you and your family were, how you lived, what you ate, how you played.

No matter how much or how few pages you've done so far, pat yourself on the back and KNOW that it' so much more than a hobby, you are truly capturing memories.

Team Crop Crafting

I had a wonderful team crop with my Can't Stop Dreaming team members. Besides scrapbooking and cardmaking three of the girls taught the rest of us some cute crafts and techniques. I'd like to welcome our newest team member, Christi Lavengood, after meeting her yesterday I know she's going to be amazing!

Here are the chicks and bunnies Pam Squires showed us how to make for Easter.


Rhonda Cermak taught us how to experiment with wet embossing to make our own backgrounds.

Connie Hagood took us step by step through this tea bag holder. Thanks to all of my team members for taking time out to teach us something new. If you'd like to be a part of this fantastic group of ladies, you can sign up to my team RIGHT HERE.

My Team

I'm off to scrapbook the day away with my Can't Stop Dreaming team. This is the team I've been gathering since signing on with Close to my Heart three years ago. I have all kinds of consultants on my team, some who are in Close to my Heart because they get such a great discount, consultants who hold workshops in their homes only, real go-getters who want to move up in the company fast and start making a good living and junior consultants who are just into the social aspect of being part of a community of crafters. It makes for an eclectic and fun group of people. We love our team meetings but sometimes we just get together just to be together like today. If this sounds like a group you'd like to join, all you have to do is go HERE and join us today!! We'd love to have you.

My Acrylix® On This Day Inspiration & Tutorial

Another fantastic video from Close to my Heart!

Jeanette Lynton's Site

I'm not feeling too well this morning so I'm going to make this short and sweet. Have you checked out Jeanette Lynton's website lately? She does a website like noone else, beautiful artwork with instructions. She is the CEO and founder of Close to my Heart and certainly leads by example.

Make sure you take a few minutes today to see her latest posts.

Jeanette's Page

Four layouts, one sketch

My absolute favorite products from Close to my Heart are the "how-to" or idea books for scrapbooking or cardmaking. The books give you step by step instructions on how to put together either a layout or a card. The layout books are Reflections, Cherish, Imagine and Magic! Below is the sketch I used from the Imagine book along with 4 examples of pages made from that exact sketch. If you just love this, you can get these books RIGHT HERE. While you're there, check out the new clearance items too.

Lovin' Level 1 Giveaway!

Close to my Heart has several wonderful promotions going on right now that I want to tell you about. First, there are a bunch of new clearance items up on my website under the "While Supplies Last" tab in the shopping area. Take a look at items up to 90% off! Secondly this is the month where you can spend $100 and get to choose from several Level 1 page kits. Now these are retiring so these are going to be gone soon, never to return so you might as well get one for FREE! Since you'll be spending that $100 to get your Level 1 kit that means you'll automatically get the stamp of the month too! Let's add this up then, spend $100 and get $32.90 in FREE products!! And that's not including any discounted items! Also, don't forget that the Hope For Japan stamp set is just $5.00 and all the money goes towards relief from the tragedy in Japan.

This is the time to buy and if you agree, you can start shopping RIGHT HERE!

Springin' Up Flowers

Don't you just love videos that teach you something? Me too! Here's a link to the Spring Up stamp set demonstrated in the video. While you're on my website, don't forget to check out the great clearance items and remember, if you spend $100 you get a Level One page kit for free!

Thanks to everyone who attended my virtual crop!

Friday night I held a virtual crop on my business Facebook page, Scrapping with Heart. We all scrapbooked in our own homes but together virtually! Just like a real crop there were challenges, prizes, giveaways, and sales. We even had clearance items and instructional videos! I even put up a couple of sneak peeks of new upcoming products from Close to my Heart. If you missed out, there will be other chances as I've decided to do another virtual crop sometime in May. I'll let you know of the date once I have talked to my Facebook followers.

My Scrapping with Heart page is fun! I love getting up every morning and talking to the followers have started become true friends. Every Monday we have a question of the day and every Monday I offer up a challenge with prizes! I also offer up giveaways and special sales often too. Our main topics of conversation are scrapbooking, cardmaking, stamping and papercrafting so if you are looking for a place to discuss these that doesn't get too overwhelming (like of the popular bulletin boards can be), why not come and join us at Scrapping With Heart. We would love to have you. Simply click on this LINK and hit the "like" button.

National Scrapbooking Month Promotion Sneak Peek

Studio J®: Step-by-Step Basics

Here you go, step by step instructions for Studio J. Remember it's free to play, only pay once you decide you want Close to my Heart to print the layouts for you!