Balance

When I was teaching, I use to have a poster on the wall of my classroom that showed an elephant balancing on a beach with the caption “The key to life is balance!” I’ve found this quote to hold quite a bit of truth for me as long as I also remembered that life requires me to re-evaluate all I am trying to balance on a pretty regular basis because life is constantly changing.

My biggest change recently is that Brian and I traded places. He’s home with the boys teaching them manly things like the art of spitting and the perfect head noogie. And I’ve gone back to working outside of the home. As you can imagine, this has taken some adjusting on everyone’s part. Some days I feel like a tight rope walker worthy of the circus and other days I feel like I’m sprawled on the floor where I’ve crash landed.

But we’ve been practicing for a couple of months now and I feel like we’ve regained our balance to a certain extent. I’ve begun to find more time to craft and I am looking forward to sharing with you again. I’m also putting together some classes and fun crafting get togethers. I’ll post all the details soon.

But for now, I’ll leave you with a picture of a card I made last night, using CTMH’s gorgeous Bliss paper and silver flower.


I've used this paper for a mother's day card, an engagement card, and this card. I also used it to make a picture frame for my niece when she graduated. I've loved how they have all turned out. To see the entire paper collection, click here.

Have a "Bliss"ful day!
Jenna

Eye-popping Embossing!

The founder of Close to my Heart, Jeanette Lynton, started a new series of posts at the beginning of this year on her webiste. Each week she shows amazing artwork using a different stamping technique along with detailed instructions on how to create that week's techenique. This week she showed how to take your stamping an amazing step further by using embossing to highlight a stamped image. Check out this amazing card she created.



Click here to go to her website for the easy directions. Go to jennachere.myctmh.com to find all the supplies you need. Did you know the CTMH sells over 15 different embossing powders? Click here to see our incredible selection in our exclusive color palettes. Feel free to email me if you have any questions on products.

I'd love to see what you are inspired to create.

January Stamp of the Month - Find Your Style

Look at how stunning this month's SOTM is!!!




I can NOT wait to play with it, but I have a few more days yet. With the boys' birthday also being in December, I was tapped out until today. I just placed a big order full of all kinds of yumminess from our Inspirations catalong. Go to www.jennachere.myctmh.com to look at the fantastic products in Inspirations and get all the info on the amazing discounts CTMH is offering this month, including how you qualify for the Stamp of the Month.

This month's Workshop on the Go - Wings is highlighted in Inspirations. It's gorgeous. I'll post later in the week workshop dates. But for now, I wanted to show you some art work using Find Your Style.



And to view what other consultants have created with this stamp, you can start on the blog hop at Melissa's blog.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

I must admit I'm not much of a New Year Eve girl. It might be the knowledge that my two little monkeys will still be getting up at the crack of dawn that keeps me from getting excite about partying until after midnight. But I do find New Year Day to be exciting. It feels shiny and fresh and that anything is possible. And my Virgo self gets all tingly at the prospect of planning all kinds of fun for the new year.

Close To My Heart has all kinds of fun things planned for us as well in 2011. I can't unveil pictures of them just yet, but let me just say I am so excited with all the great things we will get to play with. New alphas, six new paper collections, buttons and banners! Woohoo!

My crafting plans for January are to create a baby book for my little niece Ava that is due to arrive in March, get caught up on the boys books and play with those banners.

What about you? What projects are you planning to work on? Leave me a comment and I'll randomly pick a name and send you a goodie from our new products to help with your project.

Happy Crafting!

Fun with Triple Play

There is only a few more days to get your hands on Triple Play - CTMH's celebration of National Stamping Month. Click here for all the details on how to order yours.

I love how with the Triple Play kit you receive enough goodies to create three adorable mini albums. Here are a few pictures of the one I created.




And here is a picture of the mini album opened all the way.



I wanted to also show you what else you could do with Triple Play if you didn't want three mini albums. Here is a 2 page layout I created by cutting up the paper and using all the same stamps and punch outs that come with your kit.





And then here are some of the cards I created with the other papers.



Your options are limitless. I love options. Don't you?

CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop

Hello, and welcome to September's CTMH Product Spotlight Blog Hop. This month's spotlighted product is our great Dimensional Elements. If you are joining me from Traci's blog, then you are on the right track. If you are just joining in, then you can start from here and just follow the link at the bottom to begin the Blog Hop.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp air, the color of the turning leaves, the hayrides, pumpkin patches, and apple pie. So I created a wall hanging to celebrate the season using our new Mix-n-mingles, our new Olivia paper and our Alpha Dimensional Elements. I love how you can ink up our dimensionals elements to any color you need to match your project perfectly. I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I've hung it in my office and it makes me smile every time I see it.



Double click on the image for a larger view of the whole.




If you interested in creating one of your own wall hangings, shoot me an email and I'll get you the information.

Now to continue on, check out the great things that Chris created.

Happy Hopping!

Hooligans Workshops

How about some more Halloween fun? During September, I will be offering two different workshops using the new super cute Hooligans paper. One of the great things about this paper is that it doesn’t necessarily have to be used for Halloween pictures because it uses other colors besides the traditional orange and black of Halloween. I love versatile paper packs, don’t you? As you can see in the pictures below for the Fast and Fancy Hooligans Workshop, I didn’t use Halloween pictures at all. So feel free use whatever pictures you want for these workshops.

Fast and Fancy Hooligans Workshop
Tuesday, September 21st @ 7 pm
Cost $24

We will create three 2 page layouts using the Hooligans Level 1 paper and Mini Medley Accents and a few additional goodies from me. Here are a few of the layouts I created.




Please RSVP here by Tuesday, September 14th to ensure supplies arrive in time for class.


Karen Pedersen, click here to visit her website, is one of my creative heros. She is BRILLIANT. And generous. She created this Flip Flap workshop and shared it with her fellow consultants. And I have to share it with you because it is just too stinkin’ cool. This is what the layouts look like with the Flip Flaps closed.


The left page with the Flip Flaps open.



Right page with Flip Flaps open.


Fun with Flip Flaps Hooligans Workshop
Tuesday, September 28th @ 7 pm
Cost:
Basic Package includes:
X7129B Hooligans Level 2 paper $12.95
X7129C Stickease $4.95
Z1325 Flip Flaps $3.95
X5750 Color Ready Alphas-Bold $2.95
Z1312 Star Dimensionals $3.25

Total: $28.05 before tax and shipping.

Better Package includes the Basic Package and adding on any or all of the following items.

Z1034 Designer Ribbon Rounds-Black $ 7.95
Z1332 Holligans L2 Felt Monsters $ 4.95
Z1339 Pear Mini-Medley Collection $ 4.95
Z697 Round Sponge $ 1.25
Z2105 Black Stamp Pad $ 5.25
Z2305 Black Marker $ 2.95
Z2391 Sunset Marker $ 2.95
Z891 Versamark Pad $ 9.95
Z673 White Daisy Embossing Powder $ 3.95
E1014 Posterboard Alphabet $34.95
D1300 Circle Around $22.95
Z4115 Memory Protectors (10 pack) $5.95


Please RSVP here for this workshop by Tuesday, September 21st to ensure supplies arrive in time.

**If you are not local or aren’t available these evening, let me know and I can put together a kit for you and pop it into the mail.

***Also remember that your purchases qualify you to receive the Stamp of the Month at a discount or for FREE! Click here for more details.