The Crafty Lady Dream Pop Workshop

Dream Pop is the CTMH  National Scrapbooking Month special that you can ONLY get in the month of May.  You can add it for $10 with an additional $35 purchase.


After FINALLY finishing our Dotty 4 You - Year In Review, that group of Crafty Lady's has asked that we "do it again" with Dream Pop.

Well I've been rather lazy and failed to pre-order Dream Pop but have worked out a plan.  First things first, everyone that thinks they even MIGHT want to participate needs to get Dream Pop in their hands (I won't be able to order extras and once they are gone they are gone - that means get your order in EARLY!!! don't wait till the end of May or you might be out of luck.)
You can start ordering through my website on May 1, for you local ladies call, text or email me with your orders NOW :-)

The Crafty Lady Dream Pop Workshop*

• you are going to need 2 packs to complete the year in review project I have in mind.**
• spend $70 in May + add on 2 Dream Pops @ $10 each***(YES that order WILL qualify you for the May SOTM)
• everyone that buys Dream Pop from me in the month of May will get added to a special mailing/email list
• begining in August you will get a monthly email from me with the cutting instructions for at least one layout.
• Each month I will offer for sale an embellie/die cut pack (if you have a cricut, Artiste & Art Philosophy, and want to use embellishments from your stash that is OK ;-)****

*The Crafty Lady Dream Pop Workshop will consist of 12 double page layouts PLUS a front and a back page for a total of 26 pages!!!

**if you choose to only purchase 1 Dream Pop you will not be able to complete the project as planned and it will be up to you to make any necessary adjustments

***your $70 purchase must be of current regular priced items.  no bulk items and no "while supplies last" (although this is a WONDERFUL WAY to add to your embellishment stash)

**** you will purchase your embellie/die cut packs through my pay pal account.  I WILL be offering embellie/die cut packs for sale which include directions

Are you In  LOVE with Dream Pop and think you might need MORE?
ORDER 3 - one to play with and two for the workshop

$35 order + $10 dream pop = $45
PLUS
$35 order + $10 dream pop + $5 SOTM = $95
PLUS
$35 order + $10 dream pop = $140
YOU ARE ONLY $10 AWAY FROM THIS ORDER BEING A "PARTY"
At $150 YOU get $25 in FREE items!!! 
If you choose to do this DON'T DO IT ONLINE....CALL ME....I HAVE TO PLACE THIS ORDER TO GET YOUR FREE ITEMS!!!!

Dotty 4 You - Year In Review

WOW!  I can't believe an entire year has slipped away.  It really is true that the older you get the faster time goes by....Ahhh for those school days when I thought "summer/prom/graduation etc... will NEVER get here"!

This time last year

•  I was still working as a car salesman...well kinda (I was working in the internet department due to the injuries.)
• I was VERY MUCH "just a CTMH hobbyist"
• I was excitedly getting ready for my first CTMH convention (in Dallas)
• I was determined that I would get my CTMH Phd pin BEFORE convention
• The "Dotty 4 You" National Scrapbooking Campaign had just been announced

While working my way through the soon to be extinct CTMH Phd classes (hopefully they will come up with something even better). Something caught my attention, it said "You never know....just SHOW your CTMH idea book to someone, they MIGHT be more interested than you could ever imagine".  I had been working with all men at the dealership for so long (and they generally just rolled their eyes at "The Car Lady and her little hobby").  

Well, the "next door" in my life opened just a crack the next day when I took an idea book to work to show the internet ladies.  These ladies were just as smitten as I was with "Dotty 4 You".  They all placed enough orders to get at least 3 or 4 packs EACH!  

That is when the idea for a 26 page Year In Review album began to develop.  It wasn't the first time I had attempted something on this scale but this time I was committing to taking SIX ladies along with me, and THREE of them were so new at scrapping they didn't even know how to use a paper trimmer!!! 

YIKES!  what a year.....now this year....

• I no longer work at the dealership (still dealing daily with mobility issues & pain from the injuries)
• That group of  non-scrappers have become my friends (and my very first group of "Crafty Ladies") 
• We are getting VERY close to ALL having FINISHED "Dotty 4 You - Year In Review" albums
• I am excitedly getting ready for my 2nd CTMH convention (in Florida)
• The "Dream Pop" National Scrapbooking Campaign has just been announced
• My "Crafty Ladies" have requested that we do ANOTHER big project with "Dream Pop"

To See what I have cooked up for "Dream Pop" CLICK HERE

This is the cover page  - To see more of our "Dotty 4 You - Year In Review" album CLICK HERE

A Little Fairy Dust

  Debbie (my upline) took this picture of me last year at the CTMH convention in Dallas.  Unbeknownst to me Tink was already sprinkling her magic dust of  "going to Disney" hope.

Yes, Tink....wishes DO come true  

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Paper Crafting Tuesday Linky Party

After discovering "linky parties" recently I started my search for a party that was themed for scrapbookers, well ....

Angel @ Sew Crafty Angel is having her first ever 

Paper Crafting Tuesday Linky Party

I'm playing along - won't you join us?

just click on her thumbnail to go to her site

I'm GOING to CTMH Convention 2013!!!!!!!

This year's convention is at  Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Florida and

I'M GOING TO CONVENTION 2013

Last year was my first time to attend a CTMH convention....it was in Dallas so getting the "thumbs up" from the hubby wasn't a problem.  When they announced at the Dallas closing ceremonies that the 2013 convention would be in Florida I immediately thought "hmmm....this is going to be a tough one to get past him"...but I had hope....

Then LIFE HAPPENED in 2012.  With my being out of work since last August, and STILL dealing with health/mobility issues, I had ABSOLUTELY NO plans or even dreams of getting to go this year.  I was making my plans to grab a cup of coffee (or 2), get comfy on the couch, and follow the excitement via blog & twitter feeds (yep I was going to figure out the whole twitter thing).

Then last Sunday I went to my upline's house for a consultant meeting.  I was more or less tuning out the excited conversations about planning for convention.....

WAIT!!!....driving??? Did I just hear that y'all are DRIVING?????

Debbie (my upline) laughed and said something like "I was hoping that MIGHT change things for you".

Now....it was STILL not an "easy sell" on the home front.  I took a LOT of flak from the hubby and my 2 teenage girls....

• Them:  "You're going to DISNEY without us????"
• Me:  "I'm NOT going to Disney, just to a hotel NEAR Disney"

• Them:  "You're going on vacation without us?"
• Me:  "No, it's a business convention"
• Them:  "Yeah, RIGHT!"
• Me:  silence (I OCCASIONALLY know when to keep my mouth SHUT) 
• Hubby:  "It's a WEEK doing what you love most AT a LUXURY hotel....it's a vacation"
• Me:  silence (while come-backs like "YOU get to do what you love most ~golf~  EVERYDAY) flitted in and out of my mind....but I kept my mouth SHUT :-)

• Them:  "Fine, if you leave us you shall be SHUNNED!  They name shall be "Shunnie"
• Me:  "I can live with that"
• Hubby:  "Shunnie, Shunnie, Shunnie" in a fun sing-song way (He's cute like that)
• Me:  "I love you too Honey!"
• Girls:  "Shunnie, Shunnie, Shunnie" in a not so fun or sweet way
• Me:  "Fine, I'll just go cry on Mickey's shoulder"  yep....should have continued to keep my mouth shut!

Guess What?

I'm Going to CTMH Convention 2013 IN FLORIDA!!!!!

It's not too late for you to join me AKA "Shunnie", "Honey", "Atilla The Mom" (the 14 yr old let that one fly), "Carolyn", "The Crafty Lady".

If you sign up as a consultant NOW you get to take advantage of the  $49 CTMH Consultant Sign Up Special (and get FOUR FREE Stamp sets) deadline 4/31/2013

 AND you can sign up to go to the 2013 convention!!! deadline 5/1/2013

For all of you can't join me but want to follow along with the exciting happenings in Florida

I will be doing a daily recap here on this blog (and of course everything leading UP TO the big event)

What do YOU think?  Would you rather get up to the second updates via twitter, nightly blog updates or BOTH? 

PLEASE leave me a comment with YOUR choice!

Just WHAT is a "Linky Party"

While discovering the amazing talent of Anna Stillwell one Sunday afternoon I was introduced to the idea of "Linky Parties".

I had heard of and done several blog hops but had never quite figured out how to be a part of one.  Joining the "Linky Party" was just SOOO easy....literally just link your site/post to the party and then go visit others that have linked in.

Just like that I was off in bloggy world getting inspired to

• be more crafty
• to get organized
• to be a better blogger
• to be a better more inspired cook, filling my pinterest recipe board  

I quickly discovered that by leaving "some love" (commenting) on the blogs I was visiting THEY WOULD VISIT ME BACK! (AND they would often let you know they had been to visit by "leaving you some love" back (commenting).

These are the "parties" I have participated in....so far (I am SURE there will be more to come). I have created a "Linky Party" page where I will put clickable links to the "parties" I have discovered and would LOVE it if you come play along!

Creating A Watermark Using PicMonkey

 I firmly believe that ALL of us who create 

should be doing two things

1. Watermarking our artwork
2. giving credit to the original artist when at all possible  

Let me start today's ramblings by stating:

• I am ALL for "scraplifting" and "CASEing" (copy and steal everything).  
• I think imitation IS the greatest form of flattery.  
• I often use someone else's artwork as a jumping off point.  Heck, I even think it is ok to just flat out COPY and recreate FOR MY OWN PERSONAL USE.  

What  I do not believe is right is to post, pin, or present (in anyway, someone else's artwork as mine.  

While browsing around on pinterest and facebook getting inspired by the artwork of others the other day I saw a post by a CTMH sister consultant that got me all fired up.  Someone had cropped her name and info off the bottom of her layout and posted it on the internet.....WAY WAY NOT COOL!  

It is one thing to re-pin something and not be aware of the original source (although this is something I am working on) but that "someone" had to go out of their way to download, crop, edit, and THEN repost her artwork.  On the spot I replied to her fb post and offered to teach her how to make a true watermark.  Their have since been several  responses showing interest in how to do this, someone even suggested I make a you tube video.....

Ok, well here it goes.  Today I have learned:

1. I am NOT prepared to enter into the you tube video making business/hobby....yet
2. The guys at picmonkey.com are awesome

This is my watermark.  My name and my website, simple but to the point.  I created this watermark a couple of months ago using picmonkey.  You can't see it in the first picture but it was created on a CLEAR background and then saved in my "for my blog" folder so that I can layer it on top of any picture that I am planning to put on the internet.

 

This is a sample of what my watermark looks like on a layout that I have posted.  Notice how it looks "faded" while the original did not?  Well the beauty of using picmonkey is that once I layer the watermark over the picture I can change the color so that it shows up no matter what color the underlying picture is...and then....I can use a slider bar to "fade out" the lettering.....EASY PEASY!!!!

This is where my statement "The guys at picmonkey are awesome" comes in.  While attempting to create a tutorial or a video (EEK!).  It suddenly occurred to me...."WHY are you trying to reinvent the wheel here"?  I contacted picmonkey to try and get permission (YES, I believe in asking permission & giving credit where credit is due) to re-post their entire, AMAZING watermarking tutorial onto my blog.  I was quickly contacted back and was told that re-posting would "make the monkey sad" and suggested that I instead create a post showing examples of MY watermark, saying "a few kind words about picmonkey" and then linking you to their tutorial.

Well DUHH!!!
It's a classic case of "CASEing" at it's best.

Click on the link below to go directly to the tutorial.

Claim Your Artistry by Adding a Watermark

If I manged to do it....so can you!  And just think how much easier it will be for ALL of us if every picture out there had a name and website watermarked on it......

(oh by the way....I made my signature box in picmonkey too!)

Announcing The Official Launch of "Kits By Carolyn"

Kits By Carolyn

Well, this is it!  I am very excited to now have kits in stock "ready to ship".   I plan on putting my available kits here (on my blog), on my facebook page, on pinterest, and possibly sometime soon on ebay.  If you see a kit you want GET IT NOW!  I WILL combine shipping so check the details.

When you click on the "Kits By Carolyn" tab on this page you will be on a landing page with a few housekeeping items such as ordering, shipping, & payment details.  This page will also be an inventory list of kits in  stock and expected ship times for each kit.

These are the first two layouts that I have ready to go.  I am so excited that on "Easter Chick" I have gotten permission to share the artwork of the amazingly talented and generous Anna Stillwell of Cuddlebug Cuties.  I highly recommend you go visit her blog for coloring inspiration and to see her entire collection of "Cuties".

APRIL Mystery Hostess

Earn $25 in CTMH Goodies

FOR FREE!!!!

Place your April CTMH order by shopping  HERE

Make sure you click on 

 April Mystery Hostess "Join"

(it is dated for May 3 to give me time to finish out the orders)

If the "party" (meaning all the orders I get that are outside of a traditional gathering) are $150 or more then I will draw a name.  That lucky scrapper will be contacted by me and asked

 "Which CTMH items would YOU like for FREE?" 

If for any reason you can't/don't want to place your order online then call text or email me with your order.  We will make payment & delivery arrangements and I will place your order for you.

AWESOME April Special

Join My Team during the month of APRIL and you'll get an awesome deal.  Not only do you get the Essentials Consultant Kit with a retail value of $155, during the month of April you also get 4 FREE SOTM (Stamp of the Month) Stamp Sets (each with a value of $17.95).  That is a shopping $226 value!!!  So, how's that for AWESOME?

Click on the picture to see a full list of contents

That's a ton of stuff, right?  
But WAIT....That's not all folks....
If you sign up in April you also get these 4 SOTM stamps sets for FREE!

April: My Sunshine My Acrylix Stamp Set
May: Pinwheels My Acrylix Stamp Set
June: A Flowering Bunch My Acrylix Stamp Set
July: Sweet Life My Acrylix Stamp Set

There is more info HERE and FAQ's HERE about being a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant 

Just a little FYI,  several years ago I met Debbie Sims at a retreat.  Debbie introduced me to CTMH products.   I loved how everything MATCHED, and quickly became a huge fan of both CTMH & Debbie.  But I insisted that I would NEVER STAMP ANYTHING!   That evolved into "Well, I will stamp....but only under Debbie's supervision".   Today I can rarely be found without ink-stained fingers! 

After 2 years of being one of Debbie's best customers the "car salesman" in me decided that it made more $ense to sign up as a consultant.  My plans went no farther than being a hobbyist and using my discount to buy EVEN MORE of the products that I loved (I was after all working 12+ hours a day in car sales at that time). I let Debbie know this right off the bat, and she continued to welcome me to any and all of her workshops, groups and retreats.   During this time I became more aware of Debbie's growing team and business as I watched and cheered her on as she earned and went on her first CTMH cruise & was wined and dined on leadership day at the 2011 CTMH convention in Washington D.C.  When they announced that 2012 CTMH convention was going to be in DALLAS!!!  I was all in.

  

As the excitement built leading up to the Dallas convention I decided that I should have my CTMH PhD (ok, I really wanted the shiny PhD Certified Pin) .  I started watching the training videos as if I were a brand new recruit.  I quickly made my way through them, at first barely paying attention (I had already been with CTMH for 3 years AND the sales videos were nothing new to me having been in car sales for 7 years).  BUT....now, keep in mind that at this point I was my ONLY CUSTOMER....Something clicked during one of those videos about "how to get customers" it said to not worry about "how expensive it is, or trying to get them to have a party,or anything...." simply hand someone an idea book and say "You know I scrapbook, well THIS is CTMH, I love their stuff so much that I signed up to sell it".  Well, I did that the very next day.  The 2 ladies that were sharing my one book asked if they could keep it overnight......by the next day they had both handed me orders and wanted to form a hostess group!

As many of you know, I lost my job in car sales this past August due to an injury.  Scrapbooking has always been a much loved hobby for me but the idea that I MIGHT be able to make a living doing it has a strong appeal indeed. 

 I am excited to invite YOU to join MY CTMH team . 

I am happy to say that "MY TEAM" ("we" don't have a name YET) will be part of an awesome legacy of CTMH teams.   

• Debbie Sims - Texas Bluebonnet Scrappers (my direct upline, will be your "grandmother")
• Tina Sutton - Scattered Hearts (Debbie's upline, will be your "great-grandmother")
• Bren Yule - Paper Cupcakes (Tina's upline, will be your "great-great-grandmother')

I know these amazing women will be there every step of the way as I strive to attain my new goals.

Just know there are no obligations to sell. So if you want to just get an awesome deal on products for yourself and then get a discount on all your CTMH purchases... that is totally fine. Or if you want to be a business builder, have parties/workshops, sell online, have the opportunity to earn all expense paid trips... that is awesome too.  I'd LOVE to have you join my team!  Either way, I will be readily available to help out with any questions you might have, everything from understanding commissions to placing an order.

So, are you ready to take advantage of this awesome offer?  Starting Monday, April 1st you can CLICK HERE to join my team!

.

Joining My Team FAQ's

FAQ's About Joining My Close To My Heart Team