4 Easy Tips for Taking Better Photos

I love taking photos but I'm certainly no expert. Here are four great tips to taking better photos with whatever camera you have -- iPhone, DSLR, or point and shoot.



Wendy Whitacre from Blue Lily photography shares tips for taking better photos for your scrapbooks. For more information about Close To My Heart, visit closetomyheart.com to find a Consultant in your area. To learn more about Wendy, visit www.bluelilyphotography.com.

If you are receiving this post via email and don't see the video please click on the post title to view.

Have a beautiful day!

~Michelle Battitori

Last Days for Stampaganza

There are only a couple more days to take advantage of Stampaganza! 

Buy any two My Acrylix® stamp sets (M-, A-, B-, C-, D-, or E-size) at full retail price and get a third stamp set of equal or lesser value FREE! That is a savings of up to $29.95! Just a reminder: If you purchase multiple stamps in sets of three (six, nine, twelve, etc.), you will earn the lowest-priced stamp sets on your entire order for free. For example, if you order nine total stamp sets, the three lowest priced stamp sets will be free.

THE LOWEST-PRICED SET IS…	CHOOSE THIS SIZE OF STAMP SET TO RECEIVE FOR FREE!
M-size	M-size
A-size	M- or A-size
B-size	M-, A-, or B-size
C-size	M-, A-, B-, or C-size
D-size	M-, A-, B-, C-, or D-size
E-size	M-, A-, B-, C-, D-, or E-size

To view stamp sets please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website { HERE }!

Calling all Cruise & Vacation Fans!

You already know about the awesome Stampganza special CTMH is offering this month (if not check out { THIS } post). Well, CTMH has made it even sweeter by offering the exclusive Hello Paradise stamp set to the mix!

It's only available now through the end of March. Take advantage of this month's Stampganza promotion to earn a free stamp set when you buy two at regular price-that means that this beautiful set could be yours for FREE when you choose two other stamp sets!

Get your order in now and stamp your way to paradise! Please contact your CTMH consultant or visit my webstore { HERE }.

Happy Stamping!
Michelle

P.S. I'm also offering Mystery Hostess Rewards this month! Every $35 order earns you a ticket for at least $25 in FREE CTMH products! The winner(s) will be announced 4/1/16...no kidding!

Watercolor Blog Hop

Welcome to the Watercolor Blog Hop! Today approximately 30 CTMH consultants will be showcasing different ways to use watercolor paints and pencils in their projects. If you've arrived from  { Helen Gullett's } blog you are on the right track. For a complete list of hoppers please visit Melinda's post { HERE }

I love how bold watercolors can look on a scrapbook layout so today I made one featuring my daughter and me. Her love of rainbows and bright colors was the inspiration for the focal piece of the layout! 

To create it I started out with an 8.5" x 8.5" piece of watercolor paper and lightly drew diagonal lines from the right side of the page 3" from the bottom. I wasn't too careful to stay within the lines and overlapped the colors adding more water here and there to lighten and blend between shades. That's kind of the beauty of watercoloring...it can be as fine and soft or bold and graphic. I think this layout fits somewhere in between!


Thanks for checking out my project! Please continue on to { Vickie ODell's } blog to see what she's created. To purchase any of the products used on this layout please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my webpage, www.michellebattitori.ctmh.com.


Project Recipe (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Watercolor Paper (Z3146), White Daisy Cardstock (1385), Paper Fundamentals-Enchantment (Z3126)
Stamps: none
Ink: none
Other: Watercolor Paints (Z3132), Paintbrush Set (Z3188), Diagonal Striped Ribbon (Z1989), Purple Glitter Gems (Z1936), Fundamental Stickers-Enchantment (Z3164)

Stampganza Is Back & So Is Mystery Hostess Rewards

If you've been waiting to purchase your favorite stamp sets you're in luck!

It's Stampganza time!!! Buy any two stamp sets at full retail price and get a 3rd one for FREE! That's a savings of up to $29.95. There are no limits to the number of free sets you can earn!* 

To order, simply visit my website, www.michellebattitori.ctmh.com, and either search for stamp sets using the search bar and keywords of interest, or enter the item number of the stamp set. As you add stamps to your cart the system will automatically calculate your free stamp sets! 

<< Mystery Hostess Special >>

As an added bonus I'm offering $25 of having a Mystery Hostess party. For every $35 in orders placed on my website (or directly with me) you'll automatically be entered to earn an additional $25 in FREE products! Use it for more stamp sets, paper, inks, complements, markers, or blocks! I will announce the winner on April 1...no kidding!!

The Mystery  Hostess special is not sponsored through CTMH and is only available through me, Michelle Battitori, your CTMH Independent Consultant. I reserve the right to add multiple hostess rewards at my discretion :) 

*Stamp of the Month, Hostess reward Stamp Sets and Operation Smile stamp stamps are not eligible as free items for this special. However, stamps purchased at full retail value will count towards earning the SOTM for $5.

Happy stamping my creative friends!
~Michelle

March SOTM - Sunshine Birdies

Welcome to the March SOTM Blog Hop! Today, approximately 39 CTMH consultants will be showcasing different uses for the Stamp of the Month, Sunshine Birdies. Sunshine Birdies is a set of 11 adorable stamps and is only available for the month of March.

If you've arrived from  { Michelle Loncar's blog } you are on the right track! This blog hop is a great big circle. At the end of this post simply click on the "next blog" link to be taken to the next participant. If you would like a complete list of hoppers please visit Melinda Everitt's blog{ HERE }.

The sentiments on this set are near and dear to me. It's the song I used to sing to my first born every day when he was a little baby. Now I have three beautiful "sunshines" so I created a layout showcasing all three of them!

The layout is about the first day of school and uses the Georgie paper line and coordinating Georgie Compliments to accessorize. To create the "You are My Sunshine" title I carefully cut my stamp (yes, you can do that) to fit on the die cut shape. If you don't want to cut your stamp you could also mask it with scrap paper or post-it notes.

For the music note circles I cut a circle out of scrap paper and traced it on my paper with a pencil. Then, I simply stamped the notes around the circle.

All the birds and tree branches were stamped on White Daisy Cardstock using Archival Black Ink. Each accent was colored with our ShinHan Touch Markers. I fussy cut each one and popped up using Thin 3D Foam Tape around the page.

I hope this inspires you to try something new with your stamp set! As a reminder, this set is only available until March 31. To purchase it, or any of the products used on this layout, please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website, www.michellebattitori.ctmh.com. 

Please hop to  { Jean McNulty's blog } to see what she's created!

Layout Recipe (all CTMH unless otherwise noted):

Paper: Slate Cardstock (X5930), Georgie Paper (X7203B), White Daisy Cardstock (1385)

Stamp: Sunshine Birdies (S1606)

Ink: Archival Black (44751), Slate (Z2173), Poppy (Z2652)

ShinHan Touch Markers: Marigold (Z2457), Cerulean Blue (Z2449), Tender Pink (Z2464), Leaf Green (Z2454), Golden Yellow (Z2452), Barely Beige (Z2445), Cherry Pink (Z2450)

Other: Georgie Compliments (X7203C) , Grey Enamel Gems (Z3089), Journaling Pen (Z1979), Thin 3D Foam Tape (Z2060), Coral Shimmer Trim (Z3088), Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge,