Merry Christmas!

This was our hostess club layout for November, showing how much you can do with rub-ons. No stamping, no stickers; just a nice layout from our booklet, pretty paper (Pear & Partridge), and coordinating rub-ons.

My kids

This isn't necessarily scrapbooking-related. Or maybe it is. When I began scrapping 8 years ago, I began with my ultrasound pics from when I was carrying my son. At the time we began scrapping, he was a toddler. Right before that, I had his photo taken with Santa; I still have it on an early scrap page. In between, it's been hard to get those. He doesn't like to have his photo taken much, and when he did, my daughter was going through phases of incredible shyness. I don't think I have had a decent shot of the 2 of them with Santa since. Until today. The stars were aligned, and this happened.

But every time I see it, I marvel at how my son has grown. He'll be a teenager before I know it. Look at him, he's almost too big to sit on Santa's lap! When did this happen? How much longer will my little guy believe he is actually on the real Santa's lap?

I had to blog the photo, because it made me think of how I value my scrapbooks. It is a way of freezing time, albeit only in that book, so I can always look back on my pages and see the baby he used to be, when he is growing into a man before me.

Organize All the Things!

We have new organizers, and mine arrived yesterday. I love them! The small one is perfect for holding large, flat items like our color ready or felt alphabets, rub-ons, and Sparkles Flourishes. It stacks nicely atop the medium one, which I have not quite filled with bulk ribbons, ribbon rounds, paper flowers, mini medley assortments, and more. I love all the little dividers, but they're removable if you need more room in one spot. To make packing easier, I was able to fit both into a large tote from Thirty-One; I don't remember its name but it is the one you can receive as a hostess. With both bins in it I could zip the bag completely, but I will probably forego that in order to be able to add a few more things, like my CTMH stapler, our old embellishment case with all the craft jars, and our zippered accessories cases. Here are a couple of photos, including one with our black accessories case for scale. Contact me if you would like to order these or anything else!

Do you remember...

When you began scrapping? My 5 year old daughter is ready. She is very artistic, and I finally realized she is old enough to learn the basics. I'm excited, as you can tell: I just went a little crazy in the clearance section! I even got her a page kit! 

I'm a little nervous too. It's such a big part of my life, I hope she enjoys it as much as I do. I hope I'm patient with her. I hope she doesn't get better than me too quickly. :)

But it brought me back to my early days when I went on sticker and page kit binges. It was fun to do that again! Let's see what she creates!

'Tis The Season...

...to plan your holiday cards! This is what I did today: 5 each of 3 beautiful designs from our Pear & Partridge Workshop on the Go kit. $29.95 plus shipping etc. gets you all the papers and embellishments you need, plus card bases and envelopes, a cute stamp set, and instructions. I will be offering this as a workshop at my house in October and November, so check back or be sure you are on my email list for details!

Happy National Stamping Month!

OK, so it's tomorrow. Made anything lately? I only JUST received my copy of the September Constant Campaign, so my projects will have to wait. But, I also received the newest CTMH Cricut cartridge, Artiste, which comes with some adorable birthday stamps (among others). I can't wait to sit down and make a few more cards to keep on hand.



Make some time this month to have a few cards ready to go. We have a new Avonlea kit that makes it easy, but you can also take some blank card bases, pretty scraps in various sizes, and use your creativity to put some together. It beats rushing around at the last minute before work to find a colleague that perfect card, or before a child's birthday party to create something unique. Do it ahead of time, and have a box of cards all ready to sign!

We have so much going on in August!

If you're landing here from my newsletter, welcome! Here you can find photos of the lovely products you can get this month:

Tues August 14th: stop by my place for an Open House, anywhere from 6-10 pm. Come over after work, after dinner, or after the kids are in bed for an in-person preview of the new papers, some new stamps, new colors, and embellishments! And you can pick up your copy of the new Idea Book, if you haven't done so already. We'll have treats, drinks, a make and take, and a raffle, just for stopping by. You can earn extra raffle tickets by bringing someone who is not on my (or my co-host, Connie's) e-mail list, or by bringing an old papercrafting item you have never gotten around to using. I hope to see you!

Wed August 15th: our celebration of National Stamping Month in September begins a little early with the "It's Your Day" DOUBLE D-size stamp set! You can get this set for just $5 with a $35 purchase, and includes all these images:

This runs through the end of September, and is good on any purchases placed online, at my Open House, a hostess club/workshop get-together, in-person Gatherings and catalog parties. If you'd like to host a Gathering or catalog party, just let me know! It's an easy way to earn free products, and if your sales reach $250 you can even earn our brand-new Cricut Artiste Collection for 50% off (or any of the hostess bundles, or any single item in the catalog, of course!)

Thursday August 16th: if you can't make Open House tomorrow, stop by my open Hostess Club/Workshop night. Take home a 2-page layout, learn a new technique, all for just placing a $25 order from the new catalog. For this event, just e-mail or call me by Thursday morning to let me know you're coming.

Through the end of August: you can still earn the beautiful damask tote by signing up as a Consultant this month. 

***And a quick note: if you were previously on the Crop N Time website or newsletter, please note they have recently changed their website to www.cropntime.NET, and they're asking you to please re-enroll in the monthly newsletter so you can keep up to date on all their upcoming events! The next one: September 22nd. I'll be there, will you?

That's all until September 1st; I hope to see you or hear from you in the meantime! Please don't hesitate to call, text, e-mail, or stop by my blog for more information about anything I've mentioned here.

Happy Scrapping!

--
Kerrie Conwell-Strong

Close To My Heart