Sunday 18 February 2018

"Who Tells Your Story?™"

"Who Tells Your Story?"

As we all live our daily lives, we take photos of the events that are important to us, of our family and friends and things in general that we feel need to be snapped for us to look back at and share. We capture these special moments on our cameras, phones, tablets and other mediums, but what happens to them at the end of the day? Do you download these photos to your laptop or computer, do you have them printed? No?

I have read many times on social media of people in search of a lost or stolen phone/camera. Sadly these posts mentioned they wanted to retrieve the precious photos on the camera/phone, memories of events or loved ones, that these photos were the only ones that existed. The stories told of photos taken at the birth of a child that passed away on the same day, of a father, sister, friend or a grandparent who had enjoyed their last hours with cherished family before they too passed on, or even of wedding or christening photos that were irreplaceable.

Don't let this happen to you! Our photos are precious to us, they tell a story, and this is the story that needs to be told!

"Close To My Heart is the “Let Me Show You How™” company. From easy-to-follow patterns in our how-to books to coordinated embellishments for fast and gorgeous pages, we can show you how to discover your creativity and celebrate relationships—with handmade projects from the heart!"

Friday 21 April 2017

Hi everyone,

As some of you are aware, I have been working hard, prepping for the April Gift & Craft Market which is on 28th  – 30th  April in the Duncan Gallery (located between the Goyder and Jubilee Pavilions) at the Adelaide Showgrounds. We will be at showcasing our fantastic Close To My Heart products at Stand 12 on Sunday 30th April. Check out the Market website: http://www.kjex.com.au/April%20Craft.html for more info.

The Market is FREE yes you read that correctly it is FREE admission, but there will be lots of products and gift ideas for purchase, I hope you will drop by to have a chat and check out the lovely Scrapbooking Layouts and cards and off the page items that will be on display and for sale. You will also be able to make a small card to take away with you.

And while you are there at our CTMH stall, book in early for any (or ALL) of our upcoming MAY Card or scrapbooking workshops, for those of you that love to do both or would love to learn either book into more than one or simply ask me for more information on these May Workshops.

But don’t worry I haven’t forgotten you (my wonderful friends & customers), why not book and pay now to ensure that you will have a seat reserved for you at any of these workshops in April and  MAY, the dates are as follows:
Example only, cards will be different to those pictured
April Card Workshops (this will be the last one for the month):
Cost:  $15.00
Includes: 3 Cards
For an Extra: $5.00 you can make a 5” x 2” Gift Box

Saturday, 22nd April – Featuring ‘Some Kinda Wonderful’ Paper pack
Location:  St Agnes
2.30 pm - 5 pm

May Card Workshops:                                                                                                 
Cost:  $15.00 (unless marked otherwise)                                                            
Includes: 3 Cards   

Wednesday, 3rd May   - Featuring ‘Live Beautifully’ Paper
Location: St Agnes          
10 am - 12 pm                                                                 
1 pm   -   3 pm                                                                  

Monday, 8th May   - Featuring ‘Live Beautifully’ Paper           
Location: St Agnes
10 am  - 12 pm                                                                  
1 pm    -   3 pm                                                                  
7 pm    -   9 pm                                                                 

Wednesday, 17th May - Featuring ‘Lil Dreamer’ Paper
Location: Highbury
1 pm  -  3 pm
7 pm  -  9 pm 

Wednesday, 31st May - Featuring ‘Lil Dreamer’ Paper
Location: St Agnes
10 am  - 12 pm                                                                  
1 pm    -   3 pm                                                                  
7 pm    -   9 pm 

NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING MONTH
Cost:  $35.00 (covers Hall hire, morning/afternoon Tea/Coffee  
Includes:  2 x Double Page layouts plus 1 x Card 
Spend the remainder of the day Scrapping or card making 
    
Saturday, 13th May
Location:  Wynn Vale
10 am - 4 pm    

May Scrapbooking Workshops                              
Cost:  $15.00 (unless marked otherwise) 
Includes: 2 x Double Page layouts to make and take

4th May - Featuring ‘Live Beautifully’ papers
Location: St Agnes
10 am - 12 pm

18th May - Featuring 'Lil Dreamer' paper     
Location: Highbury
1 pm - 3 pm
7 pm - 9 pm

26th May - Featuring ‘Live Beautifully’ Cut Above Kit
Location:  Highbury 
Cost:  $25.00
7 pm - 9 pm 

27th May - Featuring ‘Live Beautifully’ Cut Above Kit
Location:  Highbury 
Cost:  $25.00
2 pm - 4 pm
                                                                                                 
If you would like to attend any of this workshops please contact me asap for further details: 


The April workshop is tomorrow but please call me if you would like to attend (I will accept your payment at the beginning of the class) as I will need to prepare the card kits for you, let me know if you also want to make the gift box as well.

I hope to see you all at some of these workshops as I have some wonderful new products and ideas to share with you.

And if you would like to HOST a Gathering and earn some FREE CTMH product contact me asap.

See you soon!


Sunday 19 March 2017

'Relaxing Saturday Big Dreams Card Workshop'

Allison Bunt and I hosted a Card workshop on Saturday 18th March, featuring 'Dreamin Big' paper pack from CTMH.

I demonstrated a card using an idea from the Seasonal Expressions 1 Jan to Apr 2017 book with the March Stamp of the Month (SOTM): Tea-rrifficit is a Mothers Day card using 'Sugar Rush' but I chose to step outside my comfort zone and used 'Dreamin Big' Paper pack instead (mine is on the right and Allisons' is on the left and of course no real cup of tea can be made without the Teapot). Inside, we stamped a sentiment from the SOTM and the flower in the corner.







Allison put together a number of cards, 2 of which she demonstrated - she used the 'Dreamin Big' stamp set and papers, of course I altered my card slightly by using the insect side of the paper and    Allison used the flower side. 

 Dreamin' Big - Cardmaking Stamp set: C1674 & Paper pack: X7218B

Just goes to show how different a card can look using the same layout but with different people putting their spin on it.


I also made a Happy Birthday card using the the Swirly Seashells stamp set C1664 and matching thin cuts CC1155, I also got to use the CTMH Water Colour Paints Z3132, and I must say the shells look beautiful.

Thanks Allison Bunt for your hard work.

HOPE to see more of you lovely ladies at our next workshop on 1st April 2017 at Wynn Vale and will feature the 'Some Kind of Wonderful' Paper Pack and the April SOTM: Flock Together.

If you can't make this one stay tuned for a list of our next classes/workshops for APRIL/MAY 2017!!

Tuesday 10 January 2017

New Year with New Products from CTMH


What better way to start the new year than have a whole NEW range of Close To My Heart products available in the new January 2017 Seasonal Expressions Idea book!

I am so excited, on Thursday night (5th January 2017) I attended our first consultant training for 2017, with my CTMH sisters at Hearts SA (yes I know, what a wonderful name for our group as it's all about the Heart and the Love that we share at Close To My Heart). I had my first 'up close and personal' experience with our new papers and products that are available NOW for purchase. I was amazed by all the gorgeous scrap booking layouts, cards, gift boxes, wreaths and many more items that my 'Sisters' have lovingly designed or replicated using 'Sugar Rush', one of the new papers that is available for a limited time from January through to April 2017.

The are so many new products that I love, but here a few of my favourites:

Beginner Scrapbooking Kits

We now have two new Scrapbooking kits for BEGINNERS,  the  new Cut Above™ layout kits have been designed to make it easier for those who are new to scrapbooking to start their memory keeping journey  with ease

http://cherylthomas.closetomyheart.com.au/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=9818&ci=7921
Cut Above™ Layout Kit—Forever & Always
Item Number: Z3319

For those of you who like to get down and 'Funky' putting together your own 'Traditional' scrapbooking layouts, you will have the materials to make a 2-page layout, including numerous stickers, die-cuts, photo placeholders and Memory Protectors™!






Also included in these wonderful kits are a coordinating pocket scrapbooking layout which includes 12 coordinating pocket cards and 2 divided Memory Protectors™ for adding more photos to your very own scrapbooking layout.
http://cherylthomas.closetomyheart.com.au/Retail/Product.aspx?ItemID=9819&ci=7922
Cut Above™ Layout Kit—Little One
Item Number: Z3320










Each kit contains pre-cut pieces and all you have to do is follow the instructions and attach the pieces as shown (or add a your own unique designing  touches)! 










Why stop there? Want to add some more bling check out the Complements packs:
http://cherylthomas.closetomyheart.com.au/retail/product.aspx?itemid=9383
Baby Boy ComplementItem Number: Z3273
with coordinating stickers, silver glitter and
vellum die-cuts with silver or white foil accents

 http://cherylthomas.closetomyheart.com.au/Retail/product.aspx?itemid=9382
Baby Girl Complements Item Number: Z327,
 this set includes 
coordinating stickers, gold glitter die-cuts,
 and vellum die-cuts with gold or white foil accents
I could continue on and on, but there are so many wonderful items available in the January 2017 Seasonal Expressions Idea Book. That I will leave this pleasure to you.

Until next time.


Cheryl


Sunday 1 January 2017

Christmas Markets and Workshops

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.

I hope everyone had a fantastic time over Christmas and New Years Eve!

The past 22 months have held some very serious health issues for me but now that I am recovering from my numerous operations and am in remission, I am starting to build my CTMH business and just can't wait to get out there and share, share, share.

I had the most amazing time leading up to Christmas. My BFF and fellow Close To My Heart Consultant Allison Bunt and I attended and shared a number of Christmas Markets, where we set up our CTMH stall and showcased some of our wonderful CTMH products and the items that we had handmade/designed for sale.

December was so.o.o.ooo..... busy, first there was the Pop-up Sisters Market (normally held at Goodwood SA) at the Arabesque Belly Dancing Studio at College Park in Adelaide SA, TTG Gymsports, 2 day/night markets in Lobethal SA for the LOBETHAL LIGHTs and lastly the SA Earthwellness Market at Blackwood SA (this one I found and booked all myself - so I am very pleased).

Our first night at the 'Lobethal Lights' markets - after setting up our stall of gorgeous items we were so pleased with how good the tables looked we just had to snap some photos, what do you think?

Table 2
Both Allison and I worked for many hours over a number of weeks to ensure that we had plenty of items of various types, categories and prices to suit many needs as we also had to have abundant goodies for the 5 or so markets that we were displaying and selling our CTMH items at. We had Christmas cards of all types, including several 'Shaker' cards (a Snowman scene and A Woodland Wonderland forest scene), test tubes filled with green & red jelly beans, stocking fillers such as 'Santa coin gifts, gist pack with fancy soaps, bath salts and bath bombs, Christmas Bon Bons (Crackers), Nativity Scenes in a hanging jar (made by Allison) and picture frames. Oh and mustn't forget the wonderful CTMH products such as stamp sets (Stamp of the month) ink pads, shimmer trim, Shimmer brushes, water colour paints, paper and much much more.

   Table 1

Of course I had to take some close ups of my 'Snowflake' Page Layouts (taken when my daughter went to Germany in 2013 for her Year 11 German Exchange and was lucky that her host family also took her to their house in Samnaun, Switzerland) at the back & items for sale in front, including  a delightful 'Exploding Box ' cards which are very popular.

Coming up in January and February we have several workshops, they are for the full day but you get to make two page layout for scrap booking some of your photos and then onto assembling a beautiful card using the current 'Stamp of the Month', the rest of the day can be spent in designing your own layouts, making cards and crafting, crafting and more crafting.

If you would like to join me at a Workshop, they will be held at the following locations in Jan/Feb 2017,  please contact me for further details/bookings:

21 January, 2017       Saturday Summer Workshop
                                                $35.00 Booking fee (payment Essential)
                                                Fellowship Centre
                                                Sunnybrook Drive
            Wynn Vale

RSVP:  05 January 2017
Pymt:   07 January 2017

26 February, 2017      Sunday CTMH Customer Fun Day
                                                $30.00 Booking fee (payment Essential)
                                                The Stables Ballroom
                                                The Junction Hotel
                                                470Anzac Hwy
            Camden Pk

RSVP:  12 January 2017
Pymt:   14 January 2017

N.B. Booking and payment is essential to ensure your seat is arranged and your paper pack is ordered and delivered for these workshops.

In mid February I will be having a Workshop to make an 'Exploding Box card', details are yet to be refined but I will post asap. Here are some of the cards I have made and are an example of what we will make on the day:


At first the box looks like a beautiful present, however when opened it 'explodes' and the sides spring open displaying wonderful little surprises. In this card I was telling a story about 'Rudolph and the missing Reindeer'. I was extremely pleased how it turned out.


This was my first Christmas Box card, using a different layout to ones I has previously made and I was lucky enough to attend my first CTMH Convention last year which was held in Adelaide in October 2016 where I presented the above card along with other designs and page layouts at our Showcase.

And of course I couldn't stop at one, I then went on to make others (below), but had to make them all different of course.

This beautiful 'Exploding Box'Card was made for my wonderful friend Allison for her birthday in August last year. Allison has a passion for her garden and everything POPPY, so of course I had to make a special card that used our gorgeous Close To My Heart papers, ribbons and stamps.

I was so pleased that she loved it and now makes her own box cards to sell at markets.

I have enjoyed sharing my first Blog with you all and hope that you enjoyed it too. I am new to blogging so I know that I will get better as time passes and I post more blogs. Keep reading and sharing with other and I would love followers.

Well I am signing off now but I will be back soon to share some more exciting news!

                                               Cheryl