Family Photography Cache Valley

 I had the opportunity to take family pictures of one of my dearest friends. Cindy and I scrapbook together almost every week and could spend days talking and laughing together. She helps to keep me sane. Everyone needs a friend like Cindy!

CTMH Holiday Wishes Promotions almost over

Cards inspired by Karen Haugland and Karen Day

  Two more days to order your Holiday Wishes stamp set! When you place a minimum order of only $25 in My Acrylix stamp sets between now and November 30, you can add a new D-size Holiday Wishes stamp set for only $5! That’s a significant savings of $12.95. You may buy one Holiday Wishes stamp set for every $25 in qualifying stamp sets you purchase. As a creative bonus, many of the images in the set coordinate with our Cricut® Art Philosophy cartridge for added cutting and stamping fun!  Pick up a set for you and for a friend! You can purchase it on my website or by contacting me directly.
  Place a $50 order and you can add the November stamp of the month for just $5. The $5 you paid for the Holiday Wishes set counts towards your $50 order. That is a deal to get excited about. 

Easy Yummy Granola

  I have to tell you this is the yummiest, easiest granola you will ever make. I love this stuff! It makes me look forward to breakfast in the morning! Here is the recipe.

Granola
14 cups lightly toasted oatmeal
1 cube butter
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup light karol
1 cup walnuts or pecans
1 cup almond slivers
2 cups sunflower seeds (optional - I never have these on hand)
1 cup coconut
2-4 cups freeze dried fruits

Toast the oatmeal - put 4 cups at a time on a cookie sheet under the broiler until toasted. It starts to brown and you can smell it.

In a big bowl mix the walnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, coconut and toasted oatmeal. Boil butter, brown sugar, molasses and light Karol. Bring it to a soft ball stage. Stir regularly while it is boiling. Pour over the oatmeal and nut mix. Stir really well. Spread onto 2 cookie sheets and bake at 200 degrees for 30 minutes. I put both cookie sheets in the oven at the same time (one on the top rack other bottom). Pull the pans out, stir and break up the chunks. Return to the oven swapping which pan was on the bottom and top and bake for another 30 minutes. Let cool.

Mix in your fruit.  I add 2 different kinds about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of each. I prefer the Thrive freeze dried fruits from Shelf Reliance. They have raspberries, blueberries, apricots, peach slices, strawberries, pineapple, pears, mangoes, mandarin oranges, blackberries, apples and bananas. This recipe makes about 1 1/2 gallons. There are only about 146 calories per 1/3 cup serving.  Enjoy!

  You can get your Thrive fruit from my friend Marci Pratt who is an Independent Consultant for Shelf Reliance. You can call her at 435.770.5548. Also check out her blog thriveing.blogspot.com.  She has great recipes and information about using their products and eating healthy.  


  Now that my tummy is satisfied lets get back to some scrapbooking! Did you see the Christmas card class? Tuesday is the last day to sign up. Give me a call (435.787.0125) or drop me an email to order your kit.

Christmas Card Class - CTMH

Christmas Card Class: I will be offering 3 different Christmas Card kits this year. Pick one or make all 3 it is up to you. The Christmas Card class will be on Tuesday, November 29th at 7:00 pm or Wednesday, November 30th at 7:00 pm. The classes will be held at my home (121 W 100 S Millville, UT 84328). I also can mail you a kit for $5.00 no matter how many kits you order. Orders due by Tuesday, November 22.

Cards inspired by Vicki Wizniuk

 Believe Card Kit: This kit comes with 8 cards (2 each of 4 designs). You have 3 options to choose from. 

1. Basic Kit: Everything you need to create the 8 cards including the ribbon, buttons, paper, and glitz glitter. You will stamp and assemble the cards at my house.  I will also precut your pieces for you ;) - $10.00
2. Better Kit: Basic Kit plus the stamp set Christmas Love (pg 101 of the Autumn/Winter idea book) - $30.00
3. Best Kit: Better kit plus the Cricut Art philosophy cartridge. Only $134.00 You get the Basic Kit for FREE!! You can add the November Stamp of the Month for just $5.00

Cards inspired by Karen Haugland and Karen Day

 Wonderland Card Kit featuring the Holiday Wishes promotional stamp set: This kit comes with 8 cards (2 each of 4 designs) You have 3 options to choose from.

1. Basic Kit: Everything you need to create the 8 cards including the ribbon, buttons, paper, and a package of bitty sparkles. You will stamp and assemble the cards at my house.  I will also precut your pieces for you ;) - $10.00
2. Better Kit: Order $25 in stamps and get the Holiday Wishes stamp set (stamp set shown to the right) for $5.00 -  Varies ($10 for basic kit + stamp sets =/> $25 + $5 holiday wishes + shipping and tax = total)
3. Best Kit: Better kit plus the Cricut Art philosophy cartridge. Order the better kit and you get the Basic Kit for FREE!! You can add the November Stamp of the Month for just $5.00

Cards inspired by page 76 of the Autumn/Winter CTMH idea book & Karen Pedersen

Happy Holiday Card Kit: This kit comes with 20 cards (10 each of 2 designs). You have 3 options to choose from.

1. Basic Kit: Includes 2 packages of die cut cards and envelopes, package of bitty sparkles, Red collection of Designer ribbon and cardstock - $27.00
2. Better Kit: Basic kit plus Holiday Cheer stamp set and A Holiday stamp set  (pg 76 of the Autumn/Winter idea book) - $47.00
3. Best Kit: Better Kit plus the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge. Order this kit and get your basic kit at a discount! - $149.00

CTMH Studio J Love Your Layout: November 2011

It is time for another Love Your Layout video tutorial! These short videos are great. They always highlight a fun new technique or tip, have fabulous color combinations and can get those studio J creative juices flowing. If you would like a one on one Studio J coaching session give me a call or drop me an email. We will set up a time for either an in person or online session.

Now sit back and enjoy the video and when you are done head on over to Studio J and create your own layout. You can get there through my website. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help creating your Studio J layout.

 

Close To My Heart: Team Retreat

I have mentioned a few times in previous posts that I went to a Team retreat the last week of October. I wanted to share a few pictures of the crazy ladies I hung out with for 3 days.

This is my dear sister Lynette. Aren't we cute together. We sure know how to have a great time, stay up late and laugh until our sides hurt. She is one of my very favorite people in the whole wide world.

The best thing about Close to My Heart is the new people you meet.  This was my table neighbor. She wasn't a very good neighbor because she took up all of my space pretty much the WHOLE retreat. ;) I finally moved around the table so I had some space. Lol. 

This is Sharon. I love Sharon. She always has a great smile and is full of life.

Sometimes the Cricut machine can bring a girl to tears. Yes those are real tears streaming down my face.  I was trying out the Cricut Expressions 2 so I could decide which one I wanted to get. I had just entered a whole list of images I wanted cut, the sizes I wanted to cut them at and was ready to go. I had accidently added an image I didn't want and when I tried to delete it I deleted the WHOLE LIST of images I wanted to cut and had to reenter all of them again. I was crying and laughing at the same time. 

This last picture is of Karen Pedersen hard at work. She made a gazillion of these cute advent boxes. As the night wore on she got a little loopy. You had to be there. ;) I think ink and paper just bring out the best in people don't you?

As you can see we just have an all around good time when we get together. If you would like to be a part of an amazing team, get to know new people and even make some extra money on the side join my Close To My Heart family. You can check out the details on my website or better yet give me a call I would love to talk to you about the opportunities. 

Cache Valley Photography - Couple

Back in October my Mom asked me to take pictures of her and my Dad.  What a real treat to be able to capture my parents relationship.  These are two people that have had an enormous impact on who I am today. They continue to have an influence on my children's lives.

I have to say I have never seen so many pictures of my Dad smiling in ALL MY LIFE! 

Wedding Card: CTMH November Stamp of the Month

Pin It

  Isn't this one of the most beautiful cards you have ever seen! The amazingly talented Kris Keys is a friend and fellow consultant. (Can I just say that I love being a consultant for Close To My Heart because of all the amazing people I have met!!!)  Ok, back to the card. Anyways Kris made this card for the stamp of the month swap that we did at that team retreat last month. She was so cute and asked me if I thought it was ok. Um YEAH! Kris it is GORGEOUS!  Well you can create this card with the November stamp of the month. (see the picture to the right). I love that each of the months are represented and include a little bubble to stamp a date in!  Each month stamp coordinates beautifully with the ticket image on the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Collection too!

  Above is another great piece of artwork created by the seriously artistic Susann Eaton.  This girl has some serious artistic skills. I love the subway art feel she created.  Wouldn't it make a cool background and texture paper.  


You can get this stamp set in one of two ways:

• you can get one for $5 for every $50 you spend (before shipping and tax. You'll be prompted to add it at the end of your order if you are ordering on my website. )
• you can purchase it for it's full retail price of $17.95 (use order #S1111)

  Also, don't forget about the other November promotion.  Do you see those red lines around the stamp images? That means that there is a image on the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Collection that when cut out works perfect with that stamp!

  So how do you get your own Holiday Wishes set? With your $25 stamp order you can pick it up for just $5.  Do you want to maximize both promotions? Well with a $50 order $25 of which is acrylix stamp sets you can get both sets for $10 ($5 each).  The value of the 2 sets? $35.90!!! SWEET!  Just head on over to my website to order anytime or drop me an email. 

Family Photography in Cache Valley

Three times a week (ok I don't make it 3 times every week but I should) I get together with a fabulous group of women to exercise together while our kids play.  We talk parenting, nutrition, life, and whatever other random topic comes up as we are huffing and puffing.
  One of the amazing people I workout with asked me to take their family pictures.  We headed up the canyon and had a great time playing with leaves enjoying the perfect fall weather and capturing this family's playful spirits. Seriously when you check out the individual shots of these kids you will have to agree that they are adorable! That little man had the greatest personality and it showed all over his face. The cute little red head was a curious little lady who takes her ques from her little brother. Thanks for the opportunity to photograph your family T!
  It isn't too late to get your family photos. If you are in the Cache Valley area please contact me for your family, individual, senior or newborn photos.

Digital Scrapbooking Studio J: Back to School

   School is a great milestone in every child's life. It is a great time to take pictures. The shoes are shiny, the cloths have never been washed and if you are like me you make sure their hair is styled and cute (give it a few months or even weeks and you are just glad they made it to school with it brushed out and in a pony tail). Now among all the busy new responsibilities like homework, fall soccer and piano lessons those pictures could sit on your computer and/or memory card for months even years before you get to printing them. OR you could upload them to Studio J and quickly create beautiful layouts that will be in their albums before they have grown out of those new shoes and cloths!  I like option B.

 To help you out I have even created step by step instructions to walk you through recreating the 3rd layout I made for Mikele's back to school pictures. Just save and print the images below (with the instructions), hop on to Studio J and get your back to school pictures scrapbooked in hardly anytime at all.

Don't have a Studio J account yet? No worries...it's EASY! To create an account and make layouts is absolutely free. There are a few cost options to order your layouts.

• You can purchase a membership. There are two memberships available to choose from: a 3-month membership or a 1-year membership. In my opinion, becoming a member is the way to go! It allows you free shipping on one order per month (between 4 and 20 2-page layouts)! That's a $7.95 value! You also get a GREAT savings on the price per layout than if you were to purchase them without a membership. Finally, memberships give you access to "Members Only" layout patterns and paper kits. WOO HOO!
• You can purchase a 5-pack. This is five 2-page layouts as well as the shipping for them included (all 5 must be ordered at once).
• You can pay for your layouts one at a time. I don't recommend this one. In the long run you are paying much more per layout and don't get the perks of "Members Only" kits and patterns, nor do you get one free shipment per month. But, just to let you know, this is an option. LOL.

For more details, to try it out for FREE, and to see answers to Frequently Asked Questions, click here.

Family Photography in Cache Valley

  A couple of weeks ago I had the privileged of photographing my Brother's family.  We had a great time and I love the personality I captured in each of their individual shots. Autumn is such a pretty time to take family photos.

This family is very techy!

November Stamp of the Month:  As always, CTMH has created a wonderful stamp set for their Stamp of the Month program.  I love this one for so many reasons. It's great for birthday cards, anniversary cards, scrapbook layouts, and so much more.  At my recent team retreat I participated in a swap featuring the next 3 stamp of the months so I have some great artwork to share with you throughout the next 3 months.  The card at the top of the post was created by Kimberly Deines.  I loved getting to know Kimberly better at the retreat. She is amazing. The layout you see at the bottom of this post was created by Karen Pedersen. You know I love anything Karen.  As always, you can click on the photo to see it larger and in more detail.

I've included a little photo of the stamp set for you.  The actual size of the carrier sheet is 6" x 6". 

I love that each of the months are represented and include a little bubble to stamp a date in!  Each month stamp coordinates beautifully with the ticket image on the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Collection too!



You can get this stamp set in one of two ways:

• you can get one for $5 for every $50 you spend (before shipping and tax. You'll be prompted to add it at the end of your order if you are ordering on my website. )
• you can purchase it for it's full retail price of $17.95 (use order #S1111)

CTMH Supplies used on the layout:   November Stamp of the Month, Roxi Level 2 Paper Pack, Roxi MyStickease, Cork Color-Ready Letters,Licorice Opaques, Milepost Shapes, Spray Pen, Black Reinker (mixed with water in spray pen to color milepost shapes black), Black Stamp Pad, Corner Rounder, 3D Foam Tape.