End of quarter reminder!

Just wanted to remind my cupcakes that not only is it the end of the month, but it's also the end of 3rd quarter. Check your stats online to be sure that you have your minimums done :o)
You really don't want to go Junior! There are so many great things coming your way, like Studio J!







This was my raisin bagel in tahoe-lookie-a heart!

heARTfelt Die Cuts! Punch yours out!

You must go to the art board to see the entire post. (Can't link it from here-you need to sign in) A big shout out Thank you to Tresa Black for posting the pics of our new felt! Look at all you get!

Cathy shares success "You never know!"

Our own Cathy Gill shares her success story!

I have a neighbor that has lived here all her life. She had taken one catalog from me over a year ago, she usually declines ~ big into jewelry making. She calls tonite and asks if I will meet her 1/2 way with a catalog, I do. She says, "My Aunt and cousin are over, could you bring a few things to show us? We started scrapbooking today!" I was totally surprised and said, "Sure, give me a couple of minutes."
I take a few things, she shows me her first pages, booked an October gathering, AND, before I left, she had a list of $150 that she alone wants!!
This truly shows we never know.
Cathy

Jingle Gift Box

Hello Cupcakes! Just back from a lovely Lake Tahoe trip. My good friend, Sue Laufer has been organizing this Directors retreat for 8 years now! There were 10 of us and we had a total of 127 years of Close To My Heart experience! Wow! We networked, inspired eachother with create n' takes, brainstormed, and had fun secret sister gifting. We ate lots of treats we usually refrain from and had a wonderful time together. I will be sharing some of our goodies over the next few days. This is smiling Sue...

















This clever box was designed by our own Kay Pekin.
























We glued two thin boxes together (these are from clearbags.com-also a great resource for clear envelopes)

Then we made a box lid that slides over the top. You can replicate this idea using any box. Just measure the box and add 1/8" to the width and length. Our top was 3" down from the top. Embellished with Jingle papers (gift cut out from the paper), Glitter brads and ribbon. Cute!!! Thanks Kay!
Here are Kay's directions:
HOLIDAY GOODIE BOX.
*take 2 card boxes and tape them togehter,
Measure the top and add 1/8th inch to measurements to create the top box. You also want to decide how far down to make your cover. Ex: the top was 4 1/2 x 1 so I added 1/8th to each measurement. Then I decided to make it 3 inches down. So 3 +3 (sides) + 1 1/8 X 4 1/2 + 1/8 +3+3. SCORE ALL EDGES 3 inches.

Sermon Sunday

"A champion is someone who surpasses personal limits. You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make them come true." Richard Bach, US Olympics

☮Day of Peace ☮

Happy International Day of Peace everybody!

According to the website:
"Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples…This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace."


☮Peace was on my mind all day today. For me it was about inner Peace. How can we have world Peace without inner Peace?

Sermon Sunday

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an Optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Sir Winston Churchill

Do you see your cup have empty or half full?
It's your choice!

CTMH TV~Crossing Boarders!

I hope you have watched all the webisodes of this great platform from Jeanette Lynton and our Close To My Heart friends!

New webisode posted!
Nice nails Monica! Your "not so little" Serina is adorable!

Sermon Sunday

"Excellence can be attained if you: Care more than others think is wise. Risk more than others think is safe. Dream more than others think is practical. Expect more than others think is possible." Jim Gentil

And the winner is Karen!

Congratulations to Karen Barber, the winner of the "Blog Candy"!
I will send out the goodies on Monday!

Faux Chocolate Liquid Glass

This is a post I put on
The Inspiration Institute blog... a while ago, but worth repeating for those that didn't see it. You can make chocolate with your liquid glass! This was a past Easter Egg set, but I turned the eggs into strawberries! I'm going to try making a cupcake using this technique soon!





I mixed Liquid Glass & Delta Ceramcoat Magnolia White Paint together for “White Chocolate”



You can add a few drops of reinker to the original batch of white paint and liquid glass…I mixed chocolate and cocoa reinker for these…

Daily Challenge

You're assignment, if you choose to take it. Watch this clip, then eat all the chocolate in your house.
Just kidding, I just wanted you to take a moment from your busy life to laugh! The REAL challenge, which would be for tomorrow, because today is almost over...In your scrappy area, get everything off the floor that doesn't belong! No pieces of paper circles, tape, or fluff. Boxes, papers...you heard me, take the challenge and clean up the place! That goes for me too. Your reward? Go get yourself some chocolate! Laughter is good medicine! Enjoy it!
Speaking of chocolate, I will post something about making paper chocolate tomorrow!

Your "Presentation Album"

We ALL need to have a "Presentation Album" to show our customers at crops, workshops & gatherings. AND, we need to keep them updated. Although my papers are still current, I am thinking about giving my album a facelift by the new year. Here are a few pictures to get you started on yours! This is your new Challenge! Send me pics of your finished album for a little surpise in YOUR mailbox!














Anyone taking the challenge??? Anyone?

Sermon Sunday

Charles Schultz Philosophy
(Shared by Sue Laufer)

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, creator of the Peanuts' comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions, just read straight through, you'll get the point.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners .

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with .

Easier?

The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care

On Sundays, I will be posting a quote, poem or inspiration to ponder. I hope they speak to you!

Mini Pizza Box Gifty

Make a mini pizza box to hold a set of petite perks stamps!



Cut a piece of CS 6" x 11"
On the short end score at 1" and 5"
On the long end score at 1", 5", 6", and 10"
Cut at all four intersections on both sides of the long side 1" in.
Fold all scored lines.
Glue ends in on top and bottom.
Decorate, fill with frizzle and tie with a ribbon!
Tutorial from Splitcoast here!

Decorate Your Containers

I'm on a flower kick! I love mixing our papers. Here I took something plain and boring and turned it into something super cute and inspirational! I have several of these for workshops. Another $1 tree bargain that I've had for a while. Get out those containers and add some fofi-lala!

Grace Swap Ideas

Bren's checkbook cover










Dawns cool random stamped card



















Pnina's Post-It Note holder


















Patty's delightful card












Swaps from left to right:
Patty Smith, Pnina Zaid-Cloughley, Dawn Heuft and Bren Yule

Love these!!!

Specials & Flyers Folder

Our CTMH conslutant website has so many resources right at our finget tips. Patty Smith shared her extra notebook that she takes to gatherings. Not only are there campaign specials and Stamps of the Months, but so many other things which include our how-to books and our workshops-on-the-go flyers! Keep a current binder to share with your customers too!

File your Papers!

We all have different filing systems for our papers. What works for Linda Case are these 12 x 12 files. She sticks a 6 x 6 sheet protector to the front with a list of the names of the papers and has several of these. I use large bins in a cabinet so they are portable. I used to have the rack system, but with running crops, I needed to be able to load and go.

Now I am re-thinking this and my back will thank me!

Inventory your Stamps!

Linda Case keeps an inventory of her stamps in binders where she has made color copies of the colored fronts for catagories, then she just scanned the actual stamps and put them in a binder for reference!

Make a mini album from a level 1 kit!

Here Alisse Stephens makes a cute album from a level 1 kit inspired from the CTMH art board!

Meeting recaps

We had a blast last night and I want to share with you all…I brought Cupcakes of course to commemorate the official beginning of the “Paper Cupcakes” team. Thanks to all who supplied all the other yummys! My two new recruits, Darcy and Rosie came to their first meeting, welcome ladies! I hope we didn’t overwhelm you!
So I will be posting all this info in pieces. We talked about organization! Gail shared about the new workshops on the go! And had her project binder full of goodies (from what I understand they are pulling those due to heat and shrink issues, bummer)
She shared how her club members were very excited about the workshops on the go and committed to 4 months of projects for guaranteed sales throughout the year! Dawn and Gail put their heads together on additional projects with the left over scraps, available for their club members only!
Awesome!

Wahoo Dawn!

Way to go Dawn!

Thank You Dawn for sharing with us how to take a photo. Dawn uses a white photo tent, for larger items, she uses the tent as a back prop and drapes a white table cloth on top and out to create a smooth background. She also uses a flexible tripod for hard to get to shots! I found this flexipod for only $5.24!
http://www.amazon.com/SunPak-620-FLEXPOD-Flexpod-Flexible-Tripod/dp/B000JC8WYA

If you missed it, go to the consultant website under To Know/Company Updates:
Our own Dawn Heuft sent in her positive experience with the NEW Workshops on the Go!
She is in this weeks weekly updates. Read on here...

9. Workshops On The Go™—Give It a Try!
“Thank you corporate!
“I was nervous about the new Workshops in the Go™ program, but bought Twitterpated to try it out. I loved doing the projects and decided to offer it to my customers. I gave my customers several options to appeal to all budget levels.
“I have a few people that like to place orders and take advantage of the specials, but I have several that just come and create their layouts each month. Imagine my surprise when every single one ordered the Workshop on the Go kit and joined the club; but not only that, another person referred a friend, and she joined the club yesterday! A couple more ordered the September Constant Campaign and two others bumped their orders up to $100 US to get the Stamp of the Month too!
“It just goes to show that sometimes we just need to have faith and be willing to try something new.”
Dawn Heuft, Supervisor, Lakeside, California.

BLoG CaNdY! entry time is over...

And the winner of the Blog Candy is Karen Barber!!!


Did you all see the stamples below that I made with the NEW Jingle Creative Basics? Well guess what? Post a comment here, and I will pick a lucky Cupcake winner to receive all of these "stamples" in your mailbox! You must be a 1st through 5th downline in my "Paper Cupcakes" team. And you must post a comment to this blog candy email telling me how you like this forum and what you'd like to see posted here to help you with your Close To My Heart business! I will use RANDOM.org to select the lucky cupcake. The deadline for this Blog Candy is September 12th (My son, Nathan's Birthday!) at 11:59pm pacific time. Sweet Dreams, the Cupcake Momma
PS Please spread this info to your team and tell me how you are in my team family tree!