Close To My Heart 2010 Retired List Is Here!
The much anticipated 2010 Retired List is here! It is so hard to say goodbye to so many wonderful products, but we have to make room for the new. Items on the retiring list are available WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! I suggest that if you see something you must have – order it asap! Inventory goes fast once the word is out. Please contact me if you have any questions!
Subscribe to the comments for this postThe Scrapbook Club Pot Belly Pig
Harley’s back! I was so excited to see Harely in scrapbooking i class tonight. Harely is so cute, so sweet, and most importantly, she likes me!!!! Harely is super smart and she won’t just let anybody hold her you know! Becky is always amazed at how well she does with me. That is until the cameras start rolling- take a look:
Board Books- So fun to create!
One of my favorite new products in this idea book are the board books. They are so fun and easy to make. I made this book in less than an hour. Last fall, my husband and I took a trip to France. I have been scrapbooking the trip using Studio J but wanted to make a book of our trip to the Loire Valley. I treasure this mini album. It was made using a Level 1 Kit. Simple, fast, and easy.
Hope you enjoy the art. If you have not tried playing with the board books, I highly encourage you to make one. Fun, fast and simple!
Recipe:
Cocoa Ink
Rub-on’s Love Letters
Veranda- Level 1 Kit
Veranda- Creative Basics
Marks Epoxy Clips
Liquid Glass
Brads
Board Book
Operation Smile Auction
At convention this year, select consultants were asked to donate artwork for a silent auction to benefit our Charity Operation Smile. I was honored to be asked. Last year, I donated an acrylix album for a girl, so this year I did an acrylix album for a boy. This was such a fun project. I have taught this at workshops and sold the books as kits. It has been very, very popular. If you are interested in ordering a kit by mail or setting up a private class, please email me! These albums make such great gifts.
Sneek peek inside!
Quick look at the Dress Album:
It’s Magic… Close To My Heart’s newest “How To” book!
At convention last week, Magic was revealed as our newest “HOW TO” book! 10 lucky ladies won a copy of the book and five Senior Executive Directors were given one as a gift. That means only 15 people went home with this book. YIPPEE SKIPPEE… I am so happy to be one of the 15! I have already made a layout from Magic. It is a layout from the CTMH Gala Awards on Award Night. Take a look…
The Scattered Hearts Team Award Winners
The colors that I used were the CTMH convention colors. They are: Vanilla Creme for the base cardstock, Vineyard Berry (cardstock and ink), Juniper Cardstock and a Veranda Paper pack. I used the exclusive Convention stamp set! Love it, love it, love it!
So… you ask… nice layout, but where is the MAGIC? Let me show you where the magic is hiding….
Wow… look at me… I just popped up!
Another view below. This technique is so fun and so easy!!!!
The thing that I like about Magic is that the layouts are the same format as Imagine and Cherish. But… this book takes it to a new level of scrapbooking. Magic reveals and teaches you to make interactive scrapbooks that will both dazzle and delight you.
The other thing that is so great is that the pages give you step by step illustrations on how to create the magical layouts. Below is a sneek peek!
I am so excited for this book and I know you are too! I can’t wait until I can start selling you this book. You are gonna love it!!!!
My dear Friend Barb… Spirit of Close To My Heart
As many of you know Barb Carrico is my dear, dear friend. We met almost 12 years ago when living in Meridian, Mississippi. I recruited Barb over 10 years ago, when our company was called DOTS . She signed up to be a consultant just to get a discount on CTMH products and to go to convention. Somewhere along the line that changed and she has made CTMH a full time business. I have a large team and Barb helps me out so much. She is known as the “Grandma” of our team. She it the hospitality leader, the swap organizer and the one that helps me in so many ways. I am so happy and so proud that she earned this year’s Spirit of Close To My Heart Award. Watch the video and cry!
Ten Things that I loved about Close To My Heart’s 2010 Convention…
PICTURE THIS…
I just returned home from Convention 2010! I know I promised to update the blog but I did not have a spare moment. I was busy from the time that my plane hit the ground in Washington D.C. until the time I left! I absolutely loved Convention this year. I think this year was my all time favorite. The theme was “Picture This”! I want to share with you ten things that I LOVED about this event… (in no particular order… that would be impossible to decide!)
Number 10- I loved the location of Convention 2010! Washington D.C. is on the East Coast and close to home. We stayed at the Gaylord National and the resort was beautiful! I have a tradition of treating my team members who have have achieved great success during the convention year, to an evening out on the town. The qualifications to attend this VIP night is that they sell $30,000 for the year, earn the CTMH incentive trip or promote to Director. This year our VIP excursion, went on a Photo Safari. A photo Safari is where a professional photographer takes you around the monuments of Washington DC or other domestic and international travel locations, while giving you tips on composition, lighting, and exposure! Oh what fun we had. 18 of us attended this fun class… and we actually learned something. Below are a few photos that I took… not bad, even if I say so myself!
Number 9- I LOVED Team Meeting Night. I have a team of thousands of women. We are called The Scattered Hearts Unit. We are located all over the United States but we are a tight group. On the first day, I had 3 team meetings. One meeting was for first time convention attendees, one was for my first downline and the last meeting was our award ceremony. Some of these girls have become my very best friends! I am so lucky to be so blessed. Our team was the Number 3 unit in the company. I am so proud of them!
The Scattered Hearts- My Amazing Team
A photo of some gifts that I made for my first downline!
Number 8- Leadership Day… I love that the company recognizes leaders and has a special training day just for us! It is so nice to be appreciated and work for a company that wants to watch you succeed!
Number 7- The Art… Close To My Heart has a great foundation for creating art and scrapbook pages. We have the patterns, we have the papers, we have the inks, we have the markers… and it all matches so that everything coordinates! Papercrafting has never been Simpler, Faster and Easier!
Art by Shannon Buck
Number 6- The Directors Dinner- Close To My Heart treated all the Directors and Executive Directors to a dinner cruise on The Odessy! We had so much fun both visiting and networking while seeing Washington DC monuments from the water. It was such a special evening- good company, good food, good scenery, good entertainment- what more could a CTMH Director want? This was the best Director’s dinner yet!
Number 5- The unveiling of MAGIC! That’s right we have a new “HOW-TO” book that is going to be released in September. It is called MAGIC and it is the most beautiful book yet. It is filled with interactive pages. It really is like Magic when you see it for the first time. I love the book so much that I have already started creating out of it. FUN, FUN, FUN!
Number 4- The Entertainment- Close To My Heart hires the best Entertainment for our events. For Convention 2010, Mary Christensen was our guest speaker. She spoke during 3 sessions. I loved her and always get inspired when I listen to her. For Awards night, we had special entertainment by Jon Schmidt. Jon Schmidt’s amazing talent on the piano both energizes and soothes. He has been described as “New Age Classical.”All I know is that I LIKE him!
On Saturday night we had a fast painter-Michael Ostaski, as a guest who painted a beautiful photo of Jeanette in less than 5 minutes. It was amazing. I think that is my new “Why” in this business. I want to earn enough money to have Michael paint a photo of me. I have never seen anything so amazing in all my life. Talk about talent!
I laughed until I cried with Anita Renfroe. She is known for her “William Tell Momsense” song and can now be found on “Good Morning America” or on the road doing her comedy tour! Her humor centers on her unique blend of sassy, edgy, and slightly offbeat takes on all things female. She is one Funny Lady!
Number 3- The new PRODUCTS! Oh my gosh… CTMH has some amazing products we will release in August. Our new idea book is jammed pack with fun things. I would love to tell you what they are… but that would ruin the fun wouldn’t it? If you want to see our new idea book early…join my team and you can find out before September. Hehehe… I know that is Evil! Good things come to those who wait 
!
Number 2- Jeanette and her corporate Staff! We have the best corporate staff in the world. They listen, they care, they train and they do EVERYTHING in their power to make our jobs easy and fun! Close To My Heart’s corporate staff is very “hands on” and work so hard to make events like Convention great for the consultants. We are truly blessed to work for such an amazing company. I am so excited… they announced a new program called Leadershare. They have chosen 5 top consultants across the United States to visit and help do a team meeting! Guess what… I am one of the Five. Close To My Heart will come and help me do a unit meeting with my team on April 2, 2011! I am so lucky and so excited. FUN, FUN, FUN!
Number 1- The Awards Ceremony... You know me, I love ribbons and awards, and I love CELEBRATING my team members accomplishments. This year, our team rocked!!! Congratulations to the following team members who earned National Awards:
Tonya Sheridan- Centenial Club
Antoinette Herrin- Number 10 Recruiter
Lisa Moselly- Number 2 Recruiter
Amy Muse- Rising Star- $1000 cash
Kara Hileman- Rising Star- $1,000 cash
Barb Carrico- SPIRIT OF CLOSE TO MY HEART- $5,000 cash
My Awards:
Centennial Club
Number 5 Team Builder (recruiting)
Number 2 in sales
Number 1 in MYCTMH website sales
Number 3 in Unit Sales
Needless to say… Friday night was a GOOD, GOOD night. My team and myself did a lot of celebrating!!!!
That is all I have for now… off to create some MAGIC…
Close To My Heart Convention 2010
Today is the day! I am in Washington D.C., anxiously awaiting the beginning of CTMH’s 2010 Annual Convention. I am so excited. 3000 consultants will meet here to share our love and passion for the wonderful company that I work for.
I have team members from all over the world arriving today and tomorrow. One special downline is coming all the way from Spain (WOOHOO Kara) and a few from Puerto Rico. I am so darn excited.
Tonight, 18 of my top team members (Executive Directors, Directors, Cruise Achievers, and top sellers) will meet for our annual VIP night. We are going to take a photography class from a professional photographer who has studied in Paris. I am so darn excited! I can’t wait to post those photos!
I will update the blog as much as possible. I will have lots of news and information to share with you over the next few days. WOOHOOO…. let the party begin!
Happy creating…
A New Beginning….
As most of you know I have had a challenge with my parent’s health this past year. In February, Mom, fell and broke her ankle. During her recovery, my Dad got very sick and we came very close to losing him several times. However, Jay Carraway is a survivor! (In fact, he is even a Pearl Harbor Survivor.) He beat the odds of his illness and was able to get released from the hospital this week. Our family is estatic that he is doing so well and we have more time with him.
However, Mom and Dad realize it is time for change. I was able to convenience them to move to an Assisted Living Home, down the road, only 5 miles away. The new place is beautiful and known for their wonderful food. They moved in on Friday and are loving every minute of it! It is going to be so nice to be able to see them every day!
Today is the Fourth of July and I am so fortunate to have been able to spend the day with them. This morning, I brought Daisy and Dixie over for a visit. I thought Daisy was going to DIE! Her favorite person on this earth is Grandpa Jay. She has not seen him in almost 3 months! When she saw him, she cried and cried. (almost for a half hour). Then when she finally settled down, she jumped up in his lap for about an hour. It was priceless! See the precious photo below!
After Daisy had her visit, we went down to the dining room for a Fourth Of July cookout. The dining room was packed with residents and guests. About half way through the meal, one table started singing – America the Beautiful. Soon after they started the entire dining room was singing. It was such an emotional and sentimental moment. There was no other place that I would have wanted to be at that moment. I was surrounded by elderly people who were so happyand so proud of their country! Truly this was the best Fourth of July I have ever had.
To all of the men and women who serve or have served our country… Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Because of your sacrifices, I am able to live a life of freedom!
Chillaxin’ with Friends…
My cool friend Cherie Lynn is a flight attendant for United Airlines. She called me early Tuesday morning and said that she had a layover in Honolulu! Kent and I jumped into the convertable and raced to pick her up for an exciting adventure on the North Shore. Hawaii is the perfect place for Chillaxin’ with friends.
The day started with a quick trip to Hanauma Bay! Snorkeling conditions were bad so after a few minutes in the water we packed it up and headed towards the North Shore. We stopped for shaved ice, then off for snorkeling. After about 5 minutes in the water… our friends showed up. First there was one, then there was two, then three and at last four! We hung with them for about two hours. PRICELESS!
After our turtle adventure, we took Cherie Lynn back to Waikki! But… we had one pit stop to make. That was at Leonards Bakery. Yum!
Kent and I ended the day with dinner at Dukes and Hula Pie!
Perfect ending to a perfect day!
