Tom "T-bone" Wolk 1951-2010

"And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

Hurray for Oscar! Time for blog candy!

As a movie lover, this is one of my favorite days. I am excited about watching the Oscars tonight and seeing my favorites compete for the golden statue. In honor of that, I'm having my only little Oscar contest with scrapbooking and cardmaking blog candy as the prize. I'm going to put together a little prize package for the person who guesses the most winners correctly. And sorry, but no Close to my Heart consultants can win although you are free to comment and guess.

To play, comment about your guesses for best actors, supporting actors and best picture in the comments section under this post. You must put your first and last name in your comments so that I know who to contact when you win!!! Here are the choices:

Best Picture nominees

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The Kids are All Right

The King's Speech

The Social Network

127 Hours

Toy Story 3

True Grit

Winter's Bone

Best Actor Nominees

Javier Bardem

Jeff Bridges

Jesse Eisenberg

Colin Firth

James Franco

Best Actress Nominees

Annette Bening

Nicole Kidman

Jennifer Lawrence

Natalie Portman

Michelle Williams

Best Supporting Actor

Christian Bale

John Hawkes

Jeremy Renner

Mark Ruffalo

Geoffrey Rush

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams

Helena Bonham Carter

Melissa Leo

Jackie Weaver

Hailee Steinfeld

National For Pete's Sake Day

Yes it truly is National For Pete's Sake Day today! That little fact got me thinking about what other idioms there are out there and which ones would make great scrapbook page titles! Here's a few of my favorites:

Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Rather the devil you know.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

The more the merrier.

A picture paints a thousand words.

When the cat's away, the mice will play.

His bark is worse than his bite.

Between a rock and a hard place.

Back to square one.

Barking up the wrong tree.

Actions speak louder than words.

Close but no cigar.

Curiousity killed the cat.

Dog days of summer.

Down to the wire.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Everything but the kitchen sink.

Go out on a limb.

From rags to riches.

Finger lickin' good.

Head over heels.

Icing on the cake.

It takes two to tango.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

Method to my madness.

Knock on wood.

New kid on the block.

On pins and needles.

Out of the blue.

Pedal to the metal.

Rise and shine.

Practice makes perfect.

Starting from scratch.

The best of both worlds.

To make a long story short.

Three times the charm.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

You are what you eat.

You can't take it with you.

Variety is the spice of life.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Now go out and use one of these on your pages this weekend!

Still looking for a 100 people!

My new Facebook Business page is a fun place to be. When I hit 100 followers I'm giving away a gift package of Close to my Heart products to one lucky follower. Your chances you up to 1 in a 100 if you sign up to follow me there. Just hit the "like" button and join in with us.

Scrapping With Heart on Facebook

Why do you like to scrapbook?

I posed this question to my Scrapping With Heart Facebook page and here are some of the comments I received. I would love to hear your answer. Post it in the comments! If you aren't a part of the fun group of scrapbookers and stampers who gather at my Facebook page, here's the link. Scrapping With Heart

I scrapbook because I love having the memories to share and the friendships and fellowship it brings into my life. - Mickey

I scrapbook because I want my family to enjoy and know about the wonderful memories I have. Its very relaxing to me and yet a challenge of my creativity! The friends I have made makes my life even more full. - Annette

Scrapbooking is a great stress reliever for me. It is also a a great way to preserve memories for my kids. They love looking at my scrapbook pages and saying "I remember this!" - Amy

What types of classes would you like to attend? Vote for as many as you like. Feel free to comment about your choices too.

Paper Lantern 3 x 3 cards

Now this is a cute set, it's called Paper Lantern. I've started to make 3 x 3 cards a lot since I had some 3 x 3 clear envelopes. They show the cards off so well. The cool thing about 3 x 3 cards are that they are simple to make and you can make a lot really fast. The paper set on this is Fanfare and the colors are cranberry, sky, pacifica and sunny yellow. You might see these show up as a little treat at my crop on the 26th!!

What is your favorite new CTMH paper pack?

Free Hostess Products without a Party!

Do you want Close to my Heart products for free with as little work as possible?

What if you don't have time for a Close to my Heart party right now but would sure like the hostess rewards? How does it sound to get them without cleaning the house, making a snack or even sending invitations? And what if you would be guaranteed to receive either $47.95 in free products OR any 1 item in the catalog at 50% off and a $22.95 stamp set? Well, here's my plan:

I need ten people who are willing to put in a $100 order with me (not on my website but directly with me). I already have seven people signed up so I need just three more. Here's what those 10 people get if they can gather or just spend $100 in orders themselves.

Four people will get the March stamp of the month (see above, cute bunnies) AND and one item in the whole catalog for 50% off.

Six people will earn $25 in free select products that you choose from (stamps, My Reflections paper kits, cardstock, blocks, inks, stickease, reinkers or markers) AND the March stamp of the month.

The people who get the 50% item and the people who get the $25 in free product will be determined by a random drawing.

Normally you would have to have a $150 party AND spend $100 yourself to get the Stamp of the month for free and $25 in products but this time you can get both for a $100 order.

There's one more thing! I'm going to have a drawing at the end of this and ONE of the 10 people will ALSO RECEIVE another $50 in select product on top of what they already earned!!

So think about it, the easy way to party!! I need orders by February 27th so I can put the orders in on March 1st to guarantee that you'll get the March stamp of the month. Contact me by email or by phone to let me know you're in!! Remember, you can ask your friends for their orders and if you want to take TWO SPOTS and put in an order for $200 you will get TWO CHANCES at the extra $50 in products!!*

Here's the link to the catalog online.

**Fine print....This order must be separate from a party or workshop you are attending or hostessing already. Tax will be charged on the free items (sorry but the state of Michigan wants it's due).

Some new Studio J layouts

One of the services I offer is to show you how to use Studio J. A lot of people are intimidated by digital scrapbooking but I assure you that I can walk you through one layout and you'll be off and running! If you don't live close by I can talk you through your first Studio J layout over the phone. Being interested in Studio J doesn't mean you want to give up your traditional scrapbooking so don't think that you can't do both. I use Studio J for any photos I don't have time to scrapbook the traditional way or for ones that I don't particularly like to scrapbook the traditional way like Christmas photos year after year. If you just want to try it out for yourself, you can do that too. Click on this link and get started, remember it doesn't cost you anything to just play around with the layouts.

Embossing Spray Resist - Close To My Heart

My upline, the person I signed up with, Michelle Nist made a great video about using our new spray pens to create a resist technique. Check it out!

Designer Ribbon Pink Collection

How about a look at our new ribbons!!

Happy Valentine's Day & a Giveaway

I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day. I am happy to announce that I have a Facebook business page now. It's dedicated to scrapbooking, stamping and papercrafting discussions and yes, there will be giveaways. For instance, when I hit 100 "followers" I will be giving away a sanding kit to one of them picked randomly. To follow my Facebook page, click HERE and then hit the LIKE button! I'm already at 58 followers so it won't be long. There will be giveaways, specials and information on my Facebook business page that you will not find here so sign up today!!

Valentine's Thoughts from Winnie the Pooh

Pooh sure knew his stuff....

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together...there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart...I'll always be with you."

"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.”

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever”

“Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would I'd never leave.”

“Piglet: "Pooh, how do you spell love?" Pooh: "You don't spell it, you feel it."

Director bag

A cool thing happened the other day. An unexpected package showed up on my front porch. Inside was a beautiful scrapbooking over the shoulder bag, a set of heart shaped measuring spoons and a certificate congratulating me on becoming a director last May. The gifts were delayed but I was so happy to see them! I'm currently a senior executive manager having had a few of my girls fall to junior consultant but I'll be back up to director by July for sure!!! If you'd like to join my team and start your own journey to director, you can start by looking at the enrollment form RIGHT HERE!

Studio J Special

Cool special for February! For those of you who have tried out (remember it's free to try) Studio J, you're going to love this one. Buy 9 Studio J layouts in February and get one FREE!

For those of you who already are joining memberships, that means your saving are even BIGGER! For those of you who just want to get your feet yet, why not do it during a special?

You can see what Studio J is all about RIGHT HERE!

Krafty, Kool & Kolorful!

Our new Kraft Ready-Color Borders are awesome! Check out this video to see the cool things you can do with them. When you are finished, buy them HERE!

Tic Tac Toe card

I really like this new A Game stamp set from Close to my Heart. It's simple and sweet and I always love any set with lots of little stamps in it because you know I am a big random stamping fan! No random stamping on this card though, just a simple card with some dry embossing added. Cut out your paper as follows:

Cotton candy cardstock: 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches
White cardstock: 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches, folded in half for card base
White cardstock: 2 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches
Hollyhock cardstock: 3 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches
Pear cardstock: Cut 3 of them, 3/4 by 3/4 inches
Pear cardstock: 1/2 by 4 1/4 inches

Distress all pieces with hollyhock ink.

Take your dry embossing tool and your trimmer and make linese on your cotton candy cardstock 1/2 inch apart then sand with sandpaper to reveal the white core.

Dry emboss the hollyhock piece but this time do it more randomly, don't go all the way to the end of the cardstock on every groove, also no measuring on this one, keep it random. Sand and blue about 1 1/2 inches from bottom of card front.

Add pear cardstock strip just below the hollyhock piece.


Stamp the tic tac toe lines in pear ink on the white cardstock square. Stamp the hearts as shown using cotton candy ink and the tic tac toe words in hollyhock ink. Cross those hearts with pear ink and the line stamp. Glue to card about 1 inch from bottom and 1/2 inch from left side.

Add two buttons which you have threaded with waxy flax to the upper left of the card about a 1/2 inch from the left, one inch from the top. Use glue dots to hold them securely. Take the three squares you cut and add two to the upper right of the card about an inch down from the top, 1/4 inch from the right hand side and the last one centered and just slightly overlapping the tic tac toe image. That's it, easy and pretty!!!

Layout Contest at Shipshewana Crop

Another activity we had at our Shipshewana crop was a layout contest (we had a card contest too) and here are the results. We gave the ladies each a pattern from the Imagine Idea book and cutting guide and they went to town. Can you believe that all these layouts are based on the same pattern?

Third place winner!

Second place winner!

First place winner!

Shipshewana Crop - Lots of fun!

We had lots of fun at our Shipshewana crop in lots of other ways too. First of all, there was the food! Four meals, including two breakfasts, a lunch and a dinner were provided by the hotel as part of the weekend's fee but the scrapbookers also brought LOTS of snacks, so many that we had to move some in the kitchen so what you are seeing here isn't even everything!

Drinks were plentiful too, bottles and bottles of pop came in and it's definite that noone went away hungry or thirsty.

All throughout the weekend the scrappers collected tickets for various tasks, finishing a page, winning a contest, turning in their deposit on time, etc. They then brought their tickets to the prize table where they could try to win various prize packages. One name was drawn on Sunday morning for each prize.

Two people won our snowflake board and were able to spend $150 in our brand new Close to my Heart catalog! Others took out time from scrapbooking to make a card or two. All monies from the cards went to one of our missing participants who is ill in the hospital.

What's a crop without some shopping? Our team brought in some of the brand new products to sell to the scrapbookers so they didn't have to go far for supplies.

Display boards were plentiful for great ideas and as examples of our upcoming workshops!





Does this all look like fun? It is! It was just as fun for the consultants on my team who ran the crop. Would you like to be one of them in August? We're signing up new members every day and we'd love to have you on our team. Click on this link to sign up today!!! SIGN ME UP!