Last Call for Stampaganza & Mystery Hostess Rewards!

Can you believe that we only have a week left in June?  Seriously!  I just got out of school, how is it that summer is 1/3 over?

When June ends, Stampaganza ends, as well.  I don't want you to miss out on your chance to load up on FREE stamp sets!  So, I'm hosting an online gathering and everyone who places an order will be in the running for Mystery Hostess!  If your name is drawn, you will earn $25+ in FREE hostess rewards.  To make sure you are entered into the drawing, watch this quick tip video:

As you browse the online Idea Book or my online store, keep in mind that the stamps from the previous Idea Book that aren't in the current book are fair game for retirement.  Since this is Stampaganza (buy 2, get 1 free), I would make sure you get any of these that you absolutely love since they may go away on August 1st:

A Flitter A1108
A Game A1113
A Holiday A1115
A Little Thanks D1444 <== I love this set and hope it doesn't retire!
A Sip A1109
A Timber A1110
A Twinkle A1107
Adorn-able D1446
All Decked Out D1308
All Hallows Eve C1462
Always Remember A1095
Angel Sent A1099
Authentic D1401
Backdrop - Charmed D1490
Baroque Alphabet E1006
Bundled Buddies C1472
Captured Moments C1423
Card Chatter - Christmas D1388
Childhood Portrait D1373
Christmas Cheer D1494
Christmas Love D1492
Countdown B1390
December 25th C1469
Everlasting Life D1440
Father Chrismaas D1449
Fill in the Blank - Holiday D1493
Friendship Alphabet Large E1016
Friendship Alphabet Small C1401
Fright Night B1359
Giggle Caps D1136
Giggle Lowercase D1137
Glory to God D1483
Gnome Garden C1470
Happy Clusters C1471
Harvest Happiness C1463
Harvest Home C1419
Headline Alphabet Large E1011
Holiday Cheer B1381
Holiday Commentary C1379
Holiday Commentary - French C1383
Holiday Commentary - Spanish C1382
I Believe C1427
Instant Memories C1466
John 3:16 B1394
Joyful Jar B1393
Live Inspired C1408
Live Your Style D1499
Made With Love D1387
Month by Month C1425
Nature's Gift C1424
Party Animal D1437
Party Pennants C1429
Rustic Alphabet E1002
Rustic Numbers D1267
Save the Date D1386
Save the Date - French D1397
Save the Date - Spanish D1398
Say it in Style D1283 <== I use this set all the time and hope it doesn't retire!
School Rocks B1396
Snow Days C1420
Snow Flurries D1384
Snowflakes D1480
So Grateful B1395
St. Nick B1356
Sweet Moments C1467
Tag the Occasion B1362
Tannenbaum B1361
Thanksgiving C1426
The Present D1436
Treasure Life D1306
Unscripted C1465
Winter Joy C1468

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Create Pleated Ribbon in Studio J

I finally finished my Studio J layouts for convention yesterday.  I love that CTMH provides us with instructions but then encourages us to do our own thing.  I definitely did my own thing on this layout.  Yet, what I learned from the instructions is fantastic!

Take a look at the pleated ribbon at the top of the page.  This is created by overlapping ribbon tabs rotated 90 degrees.  Every other tab is brought forward to make it look like pleated ribbon.  How cute is that?!  I thought it was the perfect anchor for my photo pennants.

I created the photo pennants in Photoshop and will upload them to my freebie page if there is any interest.  Leave a comment to let me know.

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Remembering & Grab Bag Giveaway

Memorial Day reminds us to take pause and give thanks for the men and women who serve our country.  Many of my family members have served and are still serving today.  This layout commemorates my most recent visit to my father's grave in Arlington National Cemetery.  

I'm spending my day scrapbooking the memories that matter most, and I want to share this amazing hobby with you.  Starting today through the 31st, if you place an order on my website, you will receive a grab bag of CTMH goodies from me! 

• Spend $10-24.99 and earn a $5 grab bag of embellishments.
• Spend $25-49.99 and earn a $10 grab bag of embellishments.
• Spend $50+ and earn a $50 grab bag of embellishments, papers, and stamps!

I'm cleaning up the craft room and making way for new product, so this is good news for you!  Also, don't forget that when you spend $35 from the current Idea Book, you may purchase the Dotty for You kit for $5.  Spend $50 and purchase the SOTM for $5.

This Memorial Day Grab Bag Giveaway will end at 11:59pm MST on May 31st, so visit my website today! I'll send your grab bag goodies on June 1st.

Speaking of June 1st, that is the start of the CTMH Stampaganza...buy 2 stamps and get 1 FREE!  I suggest you purchase paper, inks, embellishments, albums, page protectors, tools, Etc. this month and wait to purchase your stamps next month for the special deal!

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CTMH Anniversary & Contest

I received a congratulatory email today for celebrating my 5th anniversary with Close To My Heart!  Like most consultants, I started selling CTMH because I love the products and wanted more.  After a couple years as a customer, I realized the discount of being a consultant was too good to pass up.  Five years later...I could probably scrapbook the rest of my life without buying anything other than adhesive...LOL!

What drives me now is the joy of teaching scrapbooking, stamping, and Studio J techniques to people who really want to learn from me.  As a public school teacher, I'm constantly bombarded with negativity, so the positive response I've received as a CTMH consultant is such a blessing.  I love inspiring other memory keepers and I never want to stop.  

Yet, what I love most about being a consultant are corporate sponsored events.  I've met so many wonderful people and learned so much about the art of memory keeping at these events:

9/2007      Regional Celebration; Seattle, WA

7/2008       Convention; Orlando, FL

1/2009       Album Retreat; Salt Lake City, UT

7/2009       Leadership Conference; Long Beach, CA

11/2009     Regional Celebration; Portland, OR

7/2010       Convention; Washington, DC

11/2010     Leadershare; Seattle, WA

3/2011       Leadershare; Las Vegas, NV

5/2011       Studio J Boot Camp; Salt Lake City, UT
                  Taught a layout during Boot Camp!

9/2011       Regional Celebration; Vancouver, BC

7/2012       Convention; Dallas, TX
                  Have been invited to teach at Extravaganza!

Clearly, I love going to these events, and now I have a chance to bring a corporate sponsored workshop to you!  CTMH recently announced a contest for convention goers.  If we sell 100 Stamps of the Month and/or Dotty for You kits during the qualifying period (4/17-5/31), our names will be entered into a drawing for a FREE 20 person workshop provided and taught by a CTMH VP!  

Now, I'm not going to lie, this is a tough challenge, but knowing that 20 of my friends and downline could experience this workshop makes me want to work extra hard to make it happen.  Here are some ways that you can help:

1)  Purchase the May SOTM on my website (makes a great gift if you aren't a stamper).

2)  Purchase a Dotty for You kit for $5 with every purchase of $35 from the current Idea Book (again, this is a super generous gift for the papercrafter in your life.  I can also help you pick out coordinating products for the Dotty kit).

3)  Host a party to get the word out to all your friends.  In addition to helping me, you will be helping yourself earn FREE hostess rewards!

4)  Forward the link to my newsletter, Facebook, or Twitter accounts to all your friends and remind them what an awesome gift they could purchase for the memory keepers in their lives.  

So, what will you get...other than my undying gratitude?

1)  All participants will receive a thank you gift from me.

2)  If I win the workshop, the following spots are reserved for the people who help the most.

• 1 spot for the person who purchases the most product.
• 1 spot for the person who helps me sell the most SOTM and/or Dotty kits.
• 3 spots to my downline who sell the most during the qualifying period.
• 3 spots drawn from party hostesses (must be a qualifying party in person or online)--Hostesses who sell 10 or more at their gathering will receive 5 entries into the drawing!
• 12 spots drawn from customers who purchased the SOTM or Dotty kit (you receive one entry for every purchase; remaining tickets from the hostess drawings will be added to this drawing; you may only win one spot in the workshop).

Okay, I know this is a long shot, but it doesn't hurt to try.  Someone has to win, right?!

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Expand the Possibilities in Studio J

From the very beginning of my love affair with Studio J, I knew I was getting a screaming deal on photo enlargements.  I very rarely made enlargements in my classic scrapbooking due to the need to pre-plan my layouts and the time/money involved in actually obtaining the enlargements.  Studio J makes it so easy to really showcase my favorite photos.  I simply drop the photo into a well and it automatically resizes; it seriously doesn't get easier than that!  I can even rotate the page and the photo will automatically rotate along with it.  That in and of itself gives me so many layout options.  Yet,  Studio J allows me to expand the possibilities even more by dropping one photo into multiple wells to create super sized photos.  I wrote about it in my Why I'm Thankful for Studio J #28 post and added photos, but I think this video tutorial does much more justice to this awesome technique.

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Celebrate March with Buy 2 Get 1 FREE!

In addition to launching my new website, I’ve added some fabulous members to my team this month, so I am in a celebratory mood.  I want to celebrate March by offering you a special found only on my website.  Buy 2 stamp sets using this link, and I will send you another stamp set of equal or lesser value for FREE! 

You only have a week to take advantage of this special, so don't delay.  You must also follow these instructions to receive your FREE stamp sets directly from me:

1)  Place an order on my website for 2 or more stamp sets.  No Limits!  For every 2 stamps you order, you will qualify to receive 1 free from me!

2)  Email me to let me know which stamp set(s) you would like for FREE.  They must be of equal or lesser value than the stamps you purchased on my website.  Do not place the free set in your cart or you will be charged for it and I can't alter your order once it is placed on my website.

3)  I will send you your free stamp set(s) in a separate order!  Please remember that this offer is only available through Amy Ulen and is not a Close To My Heart corporate special.  This is just me sending my love back out to all you awesome crafters!

Now, a free stamp set is nice, but a FREE Art Philosophy Cricut Collection is even better!  When you sign up to become a consultant before March 31st, CTMH will give you the added bonus of a FREE Art Philosophy Collection or a $100 shopping spree!  There has never been a better time to join my Studio Scrapping team.

Just think, you could buy a full year membership to Studio J with that $100 shopping spree!

Both of these deals expire at 11:59pm MT on March 31st, so act fast!

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What I learned from Stacy Julian today.

When signing up for Stacy Julian’s Twelve at Big Picture Classes, I was excited and apprehensive about the prospect of taking 12 photos on the 12^th of each month during the year 2012.  My doubt stemmed from the fact that my life is really boring.  Trust me, this is not a complaint…I love my life!  The problem is that I’m a homebody; other than work, I don’t get out much.  So, I simply couldn’t imagine that my 12 photos were going to be very interesting.  Yet, amazingly, each day has given me memories I’m looking forward to recording.  For instance, school was released at 10am today because we didn’t have power after the wind storms last night.  That meant that I was free to attend Stacy’s chat this afternoon!

During the chat, one of my classmates asked a question regarding the use of templates or sketches.  The text moved by too quickly, so I didn’t read the entire thing, but it sounded like she may feel a little guilty about using these tools.  Stacy and several of the other participants chimed in with some great analogies.

Stacy likened the use of sketches to using sheet music.  Sheet music provides musicians with the foundation they need until they can compose their own music.  Some musicians never get to that point, and that is okay, too.  The other analogy was that of a cook.  We don’t criticize or look down on cooks for using recipes.  We certainly don’t expect them to become accomplished chefs that can create a delicious meal without a recipe.  So, why do we put so much pressure on ourselves as scrapbookers?

This is one of the things that I love best about Close To MyHeart.  Jeanette’s How-To Books lay out the patterns and tell me how to cut my papers.  She gives us helpful tips along the way and beautiful art that I can scraplift or modify as needed to tell my story.  None of my family members are going to care that I scraplifted the page; in fact, they probably won’t ever know unless I tell them.  It simply isn’t an issue for them.

Now, the one sad thing is that CTMH is discontinuing the How-To Program, and once the books are sold out, they are gone.  If you haven’t picked up your copies, I wouldn’t hesitate.  One of our last updates said that some of the books may be sold out as early as this month.  L

I am a proud scraplifter and embrace that it is part of my process.  Scraplifting and using sketches helps me complete pages because I don’t have to think too much.  It also teaches me new techniques that I can apply to my other projects.  In case you missed it the first time, I’m posting my Confessions of a Scraplifter tutorial.  

   

After I first posted this, I received a long note from a gal who was trying to build me up and tell me how creative I am.  I do appreciate her kindness, but I think she missed the point.  So many people use the excuse of “I’m not creative enough” as the reason why they don’t scrapbook.  Our great How-To Programs and Studio J have creativity built into them.  I never stress about it.  Instead, I get to focus on preserving my favorite memories and photos!

Now, if you asked me to cook or play an instrument…that would stress me out!

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