Chantilly Thank You Card

I am incredibly blessed to have several people in my life whose generosity towards my family is staggering and greatly appreciated.  And while I can never repay them for all they have done for us, I can show my gratitude.  Here is a Thank You card I recently created using the Chantilly paper pack. 

I love the bright, cheery colors of Chantilly.  They make me smile.  And I really love the Frame Flair stamp set, not only because of the gorgeous images, but also because with the Art Philosophy Circut cartridge, I can quickly cut paper that coordinates perfectly with the stamps.  I find myself reaching for this stamp set constantly.  I am also having a love affair with this Color Ready Ribbon.  It comes in white, but using any of the CTMH ink pads, you can color match the ribbon to any of the paper packs.  Yippee! 

Happy Crafting!

Jenna

Thank Goodness for Inspiration

Some days I have creativity coming out of my ears.  Other days, not so much.  Some days I know immediately what I want to work on or how I want a project to turn out.  Other days, I got nothing.  On those type of days, I am very grateful for inspiration.  On my "stuck" days, I'll look through Pinterest, blogs, magazines, and CTMH books.  I almost always find something to get me started.  Thank Goodness!  Here are two layouts I just did where I used the CTMH Sidebar- Quartet layout in "Reflections" for inspiration. 

I always get a thrill to see how changing the paper and embellishments can change the look of a layout.  And I most definitely get a thrill when I create two great pages on a "stuck" day.  Thank Goodness for Inspiration!!

So where have you been getting your inspiration from lately?

Happy Crafting,
Jenna

Christmas in July

Not to be a whiner or anything, but this is my least favorite part of the year.  The part of the year where each day is just hotter than the last and you are already sweating at 8 o'clock in the morning.  UGH. 

So to keep my mind off the heat, I am celebrating Christmas in July.  I am dreaming of snow and cold weather.  Today, I am playing with paper with snowflakes and snowman.  I can't wait to show you the new "Frosted" paper that is debuting on August 1st.  But for now here are a couple of Christmas pages and cards I created recently. 

If you'd like to join me in playing with Christmas in July, check out the workshop info under the Workshop tab.

How are you staying cool on this scorcher of a day?

Jenna

Ways Moms Excel

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  Mine was busy, busy, busy.  But nice.  Doesn't it seem like we are all always so busy?

I wasn't sure I was going to get any crafting time in but as I sat down to watch the game with the Hubs, I decided I'd do something Moms excel at - multitask.  So I grabbed my laptop, snuggled down on the couch, and pulled up Studio J. In between yelling at umps and cheering my boys on, I created these two pages. 

 

If you have never played with digital scrapbooking, it is amazingly easy, fun and QUICK.  I was nervous the first time, but the site is so easy to navigate.  Studio J is different from other digital scrapbooking because there is no software to order or download.  You simply go to the Studio J website, follow the directions to create your pages, and then CTMH prints them and mails them to you.  There are dozens of kits and layouts to choose from and they even have 10 layouts in the Express Collection which has everything already laid out for you.  All you have to do is drop in your photos, write your title and journaling and then, ta da, your page is down in minutes.

Instead of having to purchase every paper pack and every font and embellishment that you fancy, everything is available to play with on Studio J.  You can experiment with a different kits with a click of a button.  You only pay for the pages you purchase which comes out to about $3.50 per page.  Amazing, right?  And in addition to your printed pages, you also receive JPG files of your layout. 

One of my favorite parts of Studio J is the ability to print the same page multiple times with a clink of the button.  With three kids who each has their own albums, I have often wanted the same page for each album.  But instead of having to physically create the same page three time which would get tedious, I can create the page once and print three times.  That is what I call efficient.  Which is another one of those things that busy Mom excel at - being efficient.  

So despite your busy schedule, take a few minutes to click here and explore Studio J.  You will be so glad you did.  Trust me.  I'm a Mom.  And according to my kids, I know everything.  ; )

Happy Crafting!
Jenna

Happy Birthday Serena!

Today we are off to the lake to celebrate our niece Serena's 10th birthday.  She loves all things water related, so I made her a name sign for either her bedroom or her door.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.  Hopefully, she will like it too.

 

I had made some for the boys' room and loved them. They definitely needed new signs to go with their new big boy beds and big boy room. They are a big hit with my little guys and I was able to find paper that matched their bread spreads.  Score.

 
Since they were so easy to create and I had so much fun creating them, I decided they were a must for Kids Craft Club, so we will be creating them on Monday, July 29th.  For more information, please click on the KCC tab at the top of the page. 

Hope you have a wonderful Saturday!

Happy Crafting,
Jenna

Beat the Heat with July Fun

Man, it has been hot out there lately.  But that's okay!  I've been inside the nice cool AC playing and creating away.  Here are a few things I have been getting ready for upcoming Workshops.

This Dotty For You paper is so much fun.  Versatile and playful polka dots.  We will be playing with this paper next week:  Kids Craft Club - Monday, July 15th 6:30 to 7:30 and Adult times - Tuesday, July 16th at 6:30 and Saturday, July 20th at 10:00.

Kids Craft Club will be creating 1 one page layout (their choice).  Adults will be creating all 4 one page layouts.

For other July Workshops and Kids Craft Club information, click on the corresponding tab at the top of this page for all information.

Starting this month, I am excited to announce the beginning of Last Friday of the Month Crop!  Woohoo!  For all the information on this, click on that tab at the top of the page.

July's Stamp of the Month is Sweet Life.  Here is some lovely artwork that the CTMH Art department created.  Below is a picture of the stamp set itself.

If you are interested in owning this lovely set, click here.  You can purchase it for $17.95 plus tax and shipping or if you order $50 worth of product, you qualify to purchase it at the sale pice of only $5.  Woot.  But only for the month of July, so if you are interested, don't wait.

Sale, Sale, Sale--who doesn't love a sale.  And 50% off too.  Oh yeah, baby.  For the rest of July, this super trendy Canvas Artwork Workshop is only $19.95 plus s & t.  You can either purchase the kit and complete it at home by clicking here or I am offering Workshops the last week of July.  For dates and times, check the Workshop tab.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful July!

Happy Crafting,
Jenna

Back in Business

I am so excited to announce that I am back in business.  Yippee!  Now that we have gotten settled here in Missouri and I am back home with the  boys, I have the time and space to get into some crafting fun. Yippee ! 

I am really looking forward to making new scrapping friends and reconnecting with old ones.  Not to mention getting to play with all the great Close To My Heart goodies.  Woohoo.

I have made quite a few changes to the blog, so please take some time to poke around.  I have new tabs with information on Workshops, Kids Craft Club, Crops, Parties and Shopping.  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call at 417-554-0742 or shoot me an email at jenna_chere@yahoo.com. 

In addition, I will resume sending out monthly newsletters with information on that month's Workshops, Stamp of the Month, and any upcoming sales.  If you'd like to receive the newsletter, just send me an email from the email address you would like to receive the newsletter.  

Also, if you would like me to mail you the new CTMH Fall/Winter catalog, just let me know where you'd like me to send it.  It goes live on www.closetomyheart.com on August 1st.  As always, this cattie is jammed packed with amazing product--wonderful paper, tons of stamps and the latest Cricut cartridge that corresponds with so many of the new stamp sets and so much more.

Products from the Spring/Summer catalog are available for purchase through the end of July.  You can view the current idea book at www.closetomyheart.com  To place an order for this awesome products, you can do so online at  www.jennachere.ctmh.com  and they will ship your order straight to you door or you call if me a call and I can add it to my next order.  If you like quite a few items and would like to receive some product for FREE through our Hostess program, contact me to schedule a party.  Or if you are in love with it all, join Close To My Heart as a consultant for just $49 and receive a starter kit with over $130 in product.  In addition, you will get your consultant discount on all other purchases.  For information, please feel free to contact me.

Happy Crafting,
Jenna