CTMH Convention Recap–Day 1

It’s hard to believe that the Close To My Heart 2012 Convention has come and gone, especially after all the preparation this year with teaching. It was a wonderfully amazing week and I want to share with you all the fun we had before, during & after!

This year I was chosen as an Extravaganza presenter, so I have been preparing for this convention for some time. What’s so cool about being a presenter is that you get all new products to play & create with prior to attending convention. This year I was chosen to use CTMH’s new Christmas collection called ‘Pear & Partridge’ and the new Circuit Artiste collection!

Here are a few pictures of my work in progress…

Our trip to Dallas, Texas actually began on Tuesday, July 10th which just so happened to be my friend and downline, Debbie Hamilton’s birthday! We arrived at the beautiful Hilton Anatole mid-afternoon, got settled in and then headed out for a special birthday dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I thoroughly enjoyed my slice of Cocoa Kahlua Coffee cheesecake!

I’ll be back tomorrow with details of day 2 in which I attended Leadership Day and learned about the wonderful new consultant kit, fabulous changes to Studio J and more!

Until then, don’t forget I’m taking pre-orders for the new Cricut Artiste collection  (only $99 – includes cartridge with 700 images, 3 My Acrylix stamp sets & 3 sheets of Dimensional Elements) which begins shipping August 1st. Email me at pamela@reflectionsofmyartandsoul.com to place your order today.

You will also not want to miss out on all the wonderful products retiring on July 31st! Check out THIS POST for a list of products retiring and get your order in ASAP before it’s gone forever!

Have a blessed day,

Farewell & God Bless…

…to the Hurt Family

This past Sunday, we gathered together at my church to bid farewell to our Pastor Doug Hurt & his family, Lori, JT & Taylor. They had to make the difficult decision to move back to their home town to take care of elderly parents.

I am especially heart broken because this is the one & only church I’ve been a member of (I became a Christian in 2003 & joined the church in 2004) and Doug baptized me into God’s Family. I also had the honor of being our Pastor’s secretary for several years and I have become extremely close with both Doug & Lori.

We have shared so many memories these past 8 years…many joyous, but some extremely difficult. My family & I have truly been blessed to have them in our lives.

To honor their time with us, we hosted a Farewell Gathering & Lunch Reception and I put together a few special tributes for them. This is the bulletin board that I decorated for the annex where we had our lunch…

I created the three large daisies & letters using my fabulous Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge!

Here is a close up of the picture frame that I made…

Sorry the pictures are not that good of quality. I took them around 5a with my camera phone.

I cut the tags & flowers using my Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge too! I bought an open frame from Michael’s and attached some wire to the back of the frame to hang the tags on.

I also put together a slideshow of photos from the last 8 years. They have actually been with us since 2000, but I wasn’t attending then & didn’t have any digital photos before 2004. I used the song Friends by Michael W. Smith. I love surprising my friends with fun things like these!

I will share the slideshow if I’m ever able to get it uploaded.

Well, I’m really sad to see them go, but I thank God that they are only moving two hours away and that we can keep up with one another through Facebook! =)

Thanks for the memories!

Sweet Treats using CTMH’s Lucy Collection

This past weekend, we hosted our first women’s retreat for our church’s women’s ministry. I was honored to be able to create these goodies for all the ladies in attendance. What a blessing it was to combine my love for God, my sisters in Christ & my love of paper crafting!

Inside each goodie bag was a decorated notebook & pen, french fry box & water bottle. I included a bookmark tag to hang on the outside to identify each guest.

I created the french fry box, tag & initials using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. Using the Cricut Craft Room, I was able to fit two french fry boxes onto one sheet of cardstock, which saved a ton of paper!

To create the accordion flowers, I cut strips of cardstock and B&T Duos paper into 1” strips and then scored each strip at 1/4” increments. I adhered one strips ends together to form a circle and then pressed one edge into itself to form the flower. I adhered the flower to a 2” scallop punched flower with Liquid Glass on one side and then decorated the other side as desired.

For the decorated notebook, I came across a project using a file folder and with a little creative ingenuity, I figured out how to create a similar project using an 11” x 12” piece of cardstock. Here’s how…

Score a 11” x 12” piece of cardstock according to the diagram above. Cut out the piece shown. Round all the corners with a corner rounder.

Fold all the score lines and turn up the bottom flap to create a pocket on the inside. Adhere the left edge & right edge…no need to glue the center score line. Adhere a 5-1/2” x 8” lined notepad to the inside right panel with the flap closure on the right.

Decorate the cover as desired. I used the upcoming Dotty for You paper packet here…available 4/17 for only $5 with a $35 purchase of products from the Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book. Place a velcro dot on the flap closure to secure shut…and Viola!

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me.

I hope you have enjoyed this project! To keep up-to-date on my latest projects, classes & promotions, click here to visit my Facebook Page and ‘Like’ me!

Have a blessed day & make it from your heART!

…Dance in the Rain

I promised I would share my completed gift bag for my sweet friend once I was able to give it to her. She has been gone the last week…taking care of her mom {who had a total knee replacement} and her dad {who had kidney stone removal surgery}.

Yesterday we were able to connect and I presented her with this goodie bag.

It included the decorated notepad & pen I made plus a block with her ‘life quote’ on it…’Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain’.

I hope that it brought a little sunshine to her day!

You can see my post about the decorated notepad, pen & card HERE.

CTMH ‘When You Wish’ Celebration & Crop Recap

We had a fabulous time this past Saturday at my ‘When You Wish’ Celebration & Crop. There was lots of wonderful fellowship, food & fun…and lots of time to create!

Upon arrival, everyone that RSVP’d was presented with a new Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book and a special gift from me.

For my special gift, I made mini gift bags using the new exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy collection and a darling exclusive My Acrylix stamp set that all attendees received at the Awards Banquet at Convention…I had so much fun playing with my new exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy collection!!!

 

The ladies that arrived by 10 a.m. put a ticket (cut and stamped with the exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy collection) with their name into my on-time drawing bowl and the winner received this adorable card gift set that was inspired by the fabulous Lisa Stenz…

Congratulations to Sarah for being on time and winning!

Everyone in attendance also got the opportunity to see how the new exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy collection worked and they all made a cute little pillow box that was just the right size for a gift card.

Almost everything for the pillow box was cut using the new exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy collection. The only piece I had to cut with my Euro Personal Paper Trimmer was the 3/4” Dreamin’ B&T Duos® Paper!

Yes, even the sentiment and flower were cut using the exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy Cartridge.

Here’s a little tip and a look at just ONE KEY on the pad…

See the red arrow? I learned that it’s helpful to label the rows of your key pad (A,B,C,D,E) and then the columns (1-10)…not literally on the key pad, but in the booklet that comes with your cartridge. This is especially helpful if you have a hard time seeing the little picture of the key pad and the red button that is below the main images in the green box.

Well, I think that about wraps up my recap! I had a wonderful time sharing about my convention adventures and all the amazing new products Close To My Heart has for this Autumn/Winter.

If you’d like to get your hands on any of the new products, shop MyCTMH Website or contact me to place an order. If you find your wish list growing like mine has…contact me about hosting a home gathering if you are in the San Angelo area or if you are not local, you can also host an online gathering with friends & family across the country and their products will ship directly to them! It’s a fabulous way to get your favorite products free or at a 50% discount (like the exclusive Close To My Heart Cricut® Art Philosophy collection) with a qualifying gathering.

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day,

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes…

Seriously!?! I have only FOUR sleeps until I leave on an airplane for CLOSE TO MY HEART’S Annual 2011 Convention in DISNEYLAND!!!

This is going to be the BEST Convention ever! I can’t wait to see what all Close To My Heart unveils when they get ready to present us with the NEW 2011 Autumn/Winter Idea Book next Thursday! The anticipation is driving me crazy…

Here are just a few of the wonderful things I will be dreaming about the next few nights…

Meeting up with old & new friends from all over the US & Canada

Sitting in Director’s Row with my upline, Kim, for the first time ever

Being spoiled rotten as a 1st-Time Director

Learning about new & exciting programs & products at Thursday’s general session

Attending Extravaganza to view all the exquisite artwork using new products and to learn from the BEST consultants in the company

Attending my 1ST Director’s Dinner Thursday evening with all the women I have admired over the years

Creating new pieces of art using new products

Playing at Disneyland with my friend & roomie, Jennifer, on Sunday

and I know Close To My Heart will have many more surprises awaiting us!

***

If you’d like to stay up-to-date on the latest news, be sure to ‘Like’ my Business Facebook Page at…

https://www.facebook.com/PamelaOConnorCTMHIndependentConsultant

Top 10 Countdown – Why I Love CTMH – Reasons #8 & #7

Now through May 31st, I will be counting down the top 10 reasons why becoming a Close To My Heart consultant over 12 years ago was one of the best decisions I ever made. I hope that over the next 10 days something that I share will resonate with you and you will see why becoming a Close To My Heart consultant in May could be one of the best decisions you ever make!

Let’s get to it…

#8 – People

Can I tell you just how blessed I’ve been over the past 12 years!?! I have met so many wonderful women (and a few gentlemen…hi Dr. Phil) all because of my Close To My Heart business. A lot of these women have become some of my very best friends and many of them don’t even live in the same state that I do!

First, are my customers. They are the best and they always come through for me when I’m trying to meet a goal…like making Director this month…only a few more days to sign up…CLICK HERE if you haven’t done so yet! =)

Then there is my wonderful team of consultants…the Stampers from the Heart Team. I love these women so much because we have a common interest in what we do with Close To My Heart and we have become like a little extended family over the years. I know many of us continue working our businesses just so we can maintain our minimums so we can remain a part of the ‘family’.

I can’t forget my wonderful uplines, Kimberly and her team the Stamper’s with an Attitude and Karen and her team the Dream Team! We have so much fun when we get together…like this past February when I traveled to Las Vegas for Kim’s Winter Stamp Camp! 

And last but not least…all the wonderful consultants all across the country & the corporate staff…they are incredible! 

#7 – Convention

There are not words to express how amazing it is to attend Close To My Heart’s annual convention! This year is going to be especially exciting as it’s going to be at…DISNEYLAND!!!

I look so forward to attending convention each year to meet up with a lot of the friends that I mentioned above and to find out what new & innovating products & programs Close To My Heart has come up with to WOW us…which they do on a regular basis! It’s also a wonderful time to learn new business tips and creative techniques.

In the past I have enjoyed traveling to Portland, Oregon all the way to Orlando, Florida…and in between! It’s always fun to find out where we are going next.

This video will give you a pretty good idea of why I love convention so much…

 

Have I convinced you yet why I love Close To My Heart and why I know you will too when you become a Close To My Heart consultant today!?!

If you’d like to be a part of the fun…don’t delay…click here today!

Happy Easter from Our Family to Yours

Happy Easter!

What a glorious day it has been already! The whole family was up before dawn so that we could attend our church’s Easter Sunrise Service this morning at 7 a.m.

What an AMAZING SONrise it was!

Here are a few pictures from this morning’s service…

 

 

When we got home, we found that The Easter Bunny had hopped by our house and left the kids some goodies!

 

Bevyn got the princess mirror she had been talking about all week long. However, The Easter Bunny forgot about the princess tap shoes she told me she wanted this morning…

 

Now I’m off to finish prepping the house and lunch for our extended family that will be arriving in about an hour…wishing I could sneak a nap in! I pray that each of you has a wonderful Easter Sunday celebrating our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

God Bless,

Some Pursue Happiness, Some Create It.

I absolutely LOVE the quote in my blog title post from one of the My Stickease that I used on my finished Studio J layouts that I created last night of my scrapbook retreat this past weekend. Yes!!! I have already scrapbooked my scrapbook retreat pictures that I shared with you yesterday in just 5 easy steps using…

Check them out…

(You can click on each one to view them in detail.)

One of the things I love about being a Studio J Member is that I can purchase just the JPEGs for only $3 per layout so that I can share them online ASAP. I received the JPEGs in high-resolution to print and web-resolution to email or post online. Love it!

I have a few more Studio J layouts that I’m working on this month so I can take advantage of this month’s Studio J promotion. When I purchase a minimum of 10 Studio J layouts, CTMH will send me FREE Sparkles & Opaque Gems with my order.

Click HERE to Become a Studio J Member TODAY to get your printed Studio J layouts at 50% off and so much more.

Learn more about becoming a Studio J Member HERE…