Scrapbooking a Conversation

If you've read the page title you may be wondering why a kid in a towel is the "Best Day of My Life." Well, it's not about me. It's a quote from my dear sweet little boy!

About a week ago my 5 year old (now 6 year old) decided it was time to take on big boy tasks and start taking his own showers. If you know my boy you'd know he HATES getting his head wet. No pool. No bath. Must have washcloth covering his entire face if water comes near him kind of hate. So when he declared it was time to shower on his own we were a little skeptical.

Title Details

My husband stayed in the bathroom to supervise. While he was standing under the water sans washcloth he shouted, "Daddy, this is the BEST thing that's EVER happened to me in my whole life!" I'm pretty sure he didn't mean the act of showering was awesome but who knows. To a 5 year old maybe that's the truth. I'd like to think it's more about conquering his fear and figuring out that standing under a gentle flow of warm water is a pretty awesome feeling...especially when your mom and dad aren't watching and moving your body parts around to wash!

Stamping Details

Whatever the case it made me smile and still makes me smile when I think about it. It's a story I always want to remember and one I'm sure my little guy will deny ever happened. But, now that's it's documented in this scrapbook page it will never be forgotten!

The point of this very long, wordy post is a reminder to document the conversation! Whether it's funny, sweet or serious document it! Sadly one day you will forget. We are all busy and something that made you smile today will be replaced with something else that has to be remembered tomorrow.

Journaling

So what if you don't have photos of the event? Who cares! Pick a photo of the person you are writing about. Or find a photo on the internet of something that is key to the conversation. The photo really doesn't matter when you are focusing on the conversation. These photos weren't taken the day of the event. It was two days ago when it was my turn to supervise the shower. I wrote the story down on a post it and stuck it in my planner as a reminder. And today I felt inclined to scrap about it.

Close to my  Heart made documenting a conversation a journaling prompt last week and today I'm encouraging you to do the same. Turn it into a scrapbook page or just write it down in a journal. Either way cherish it because memory keeping matters!

Project Recipe
all from Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted. To order products please visit my website HERE.

Penelope Paper Packet (X7207B), Sweet Leaf Cardstock (X5639), Woodland Romance Stamp Set (D1683), Playful Puffies (Z3205), Limeade Washi Pack (Z3198), Fundamentals Enchantment Pack Stickers (Z3164),Mini Pigment Pad Ink Set-Basic (Z2503), Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder (Z2088), Craft Heater (Z555), Slate Ink (Z2173), Whisper Ink (Z2172), Pear Ink (Z2197), Pixie Ink (Z2644), Thistle Ink (Z2640), Think 3D Foam Tape (Z2060), layout sketch based on Scrapbook Generations free sketch

3 Scrapbook Layouts + 9 Card Workshop!

Do you want to start scrapbooking or cardmaking but not sure where to start? Have you ever felt like you were behind in getting your photos scrapbooked and into albums? Do you feel like you are a collector of supplies?

 

 If you answered yes to any of these questions then I invite you to attend the Charolotte Workshop Your Way event on February 21 from 1-4 pm! Cost of this workshop is $45 and includes all the things you need to make 3 double page layouts, a double page picture my life layout and 9 cards*!!

• (1) Paper Packet - 12 sheets of background and texture paper (B&T), 2 each of 6 designs
• (1) Coordinating Complements
• (1) Pack of Embellishments
• (1) Pack of Trim
• (9) Card bases & envelopes
• (2) Picture My Life Memory Protectors
• Instruction Sheet

Workshop attendees will have use of my inks, stamps, and thin cuts to complete your cards. Basic crafting supplies are needed (adhesive, paper trimmer, etc). Pre-payment is required at time of RSVP as I will I need to order and prepare the kits. If you are in Northern VA and would like to partipacte please RSVP at my meetup group HERE or on my Facebook event page HERE.

You do not have to be local to me to participate! Take home kits are available for purchase. For more information or to order your kit please contact me via email handmadefromtheheart @ gmail . com (no spaces). 

~Michelle

Random Stamped Floral Background

This months creative technique is all about random stamping and this is one of the cards my monthly club will be making in February (more details to come)! Aren't the flowers beautiful? It's from January's Stamp of the Month, Beloved Bouquet. The set is gorgeous but only available until 1/31. More info can be found HERE.

The card design is based on Freshly Made Sketch #219. I took a few liberties with this sketch but that's the beauty of interpretation! It's hard to tell in the photo but the top portion is dry embossed in a stripe pattern.

Thanks for looking!

~Michelle

January Specials & Hostess Rewards Giveaway!!

Happy January my friends! I hope you've had an opportunity to check out the beautiful new Seasonal Expressions Idea Book! If you haven't why not?? You can check it out on my website and download it to your computer for free. Or, if you are like me and prefer a hard copy, you can place an order on my website and automatically be prompted to add a free book to your cart!

Speaking of free how does $25 in hostess rewards sound? That's right. To kick off the new Seasonal Expressions I'm offering the chance to win $25 in hostess rewards! You'll automatically be entered with every $25 of orders placed in January! You can shop my website or email me and I'll place it for you. Either way works.  I'll be picking a winner on 2/1. Good luck!! If I get enough orders I'll open it up to two winners of $25 each :)

There are lots of great specials this month including the beautiful new Stamp of the Month, Beloved Bouquet! It's so elegant and would be the perfect addition to your stamp collection for Valentine's, Love, Wedding, Sypmathy, or even friendship cards. Make sure to check it out below.

Speaking of Beloved Bouquet, mark your calendar for February's Creative Club. We will be using this stamp set to create unique background paper as we create two love themed cards! Details are below.

Upcoming Events:

1. Friday, February 12 @ 7 pm - Creative Club - featuring background stamping and Valentine's/Love themed cards
2. Sunday, February 21 @ 1pm - Workshop Your Way Charlotte (more info to come shortly)

I hope to see you at an upcoming event this year! Or, consider hosting a CTMH party! I have lots of options to pick from including Facebook and Catalog parties to in-home demos and private club nights!

January Specials

	View this email in your browser.
	January 2016 Beautiful New Products for the New Year Kick off a new year of crafting with our newest products! » Available this month only, the Picture My Life™ Live Your Day scrapbooking program fits right in with your Everyday Life™ 2016 planner pages. Don't have the planner pages yet? Get them now at a 50% discount! » A Match Made in Heaven The base and shade images on January's Stamp of the Month set make it easy to get beautifully textured images. Here's how: stamp the solid base in a light color of ink and the matching detail image in a darker color directly over it. The My Acrylix® Beloved Bouquet set is only available during January—get it at a discount with your qualifying order! » Thank you for reading! If you have any questions about anything in this email, feel free to contact your Consultant: Stay warm my friends, Michelle Battitori Close To My Heart Independent Consultant Close To My Heart 1199 W 700 S, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062 © 2016 CTMH Co. All rights reserved.

National Papercrafting Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the National Papercrafting Month Blog Hop! Today, CTMH consultants will be showcasing artwork featuring the Picture My Life (PML), Live Your Day Scrapbooking program. If you've arrived from Gina's blog you are on the right track. For a complete list of hoppers please visit Melinda's blog HERE.

The Live Your Day collection is designed to coordinate perfectly with the new Everyday Life 2016 Planner pages and My Crush Everyday Life Pages, so you can seamlessly integrate pocket scrapbooking into your 2016 planner.

I love how empowering the quotes are on the 4x6 cards so I decided to step out of the box a bit and create a two-page scrapbook layout of my daughter meeting and training with Shannon Boxx, a former USA national Soccer player!

The layout was first designed in Cricut Design Space and uses elements of the Artbooking Cartridge. Here's a link to the file* if you'd like to recreate it: https://us.cricut.com/design/#/canvas/35156337

*To cut you will need the CTMH Artbooking Cartridge. 

Thank you for checking out my project! I hope it inspired you to think a little outside the box and try something new with the Live Your Day PML cards! The set is only $8.95 and a terrific value with a ton of possibilities! To order yours please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my websit { HERE } 

Now it's time to check out Jacquelin's blog to see what she's created.

Project Recipe
CC1058 PML Live Your Day, 1246 Hollyhock Cardstock, X5762 Lagoon Cardstock, Z13128 Paper Fundamentals Basic, Z3127 Paper  Fundamentals Whimsy, X5929 Whisper Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z1990 Diagonal Striped Ribbon Thistle, Z1151 3D Foam Tape, Z1912 Corner Rounder, Z1979 Journaling Pen, Z3169 Cricut Artbooking

Beloved Bouquet SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! Today CTMH Consultants will be shocasing the January Stamp of the Month set, Beloved Bouquet, a set of 14 stamps. If you've arrived from Michele Rowley's blog you are on the right track! If you find you are lost along the hop please visit Melinda's blog for a list of all participating consultants.

The layout is based on the Main Frame - Quilt Blocks sketch in the Reflections How-To Book, one of my favorite scrabooking resources! The blocks are a great way to use some of the small embellishments from your stash.

The flowers and leaves were heat embossed with gold embossing powder and then colored with watercolor pencils. I combined several colors on a piece of scratch paper and blended them with our watercolor brush to create a unique color palette that coordinates with the Sangria paper pack.

The rest of the embellishments (arrows, puffy hearts, foil chipboard pieces) are from the new Seasonal Expressions Charlotte line. It always amazes me how CTMH is able to coordinate all it's products making it really easy to mix and match product lines and still have one cohesive project!

Thank you for checking out my project. I hope you've enjoyed it! Now please hop to Maureen's blog to see what she's created with this beautiful stamp set.

The Beloved Bouquet stamp set is only available until January 31, 2016. If you like to purchase it (or any of the other products used in this layout) please contact your CTMH Consultant or visit my website  { HERE }.

12x12 Scrapbook Layout Recipe:
S1601 Beloved Bouquet SOTM, Z2114 Cocoa Ink, Z891 Versamark Ink Pad, Z2066 Ranger Gold Embossing Powder, Z555 Craft Heater, X7199B My Reflections Sangria Kit, 1388 Colonial White Cardstock, X5642 Cocoa Cardstock, 9037 Reflections How-To, 3505 Watercolor Pencils, X7205C Charlotte Complements, Z3203 Treasured Puffies, Z3167 Artistry Cricut Cartridge, Z1151 3D Foam Tape