CLEARANCE SALE

So you might have thought that I did NOT survive the end of the school year. I am happy to report that I did - In fact I survived the end of the school year, a three-day Create-N-Play weekend, and the first of 2 vacations!! While there were a few tears shed, there were no stitches, surgeries, or trips to the hospital. So far, so good!

Summer is already going by way too fast for me. I woke up this morning and realized that I will be at CTMH's annual Leadership and Convention 4 weeks from today - YEA!! New products, new toys, new ideas!! On the "good news, bad news" side of this, the current catalog is going away at the end of July.

I won't know until I attend convention which of the Spring/Summer CTMH items will be retired. CTMH has announced that only some of the 8 NEW paper packs will continue while all the others will retire. There is no guaranteed for any of the stamp sets or colors either.

SO GET THEM WHILE YOU CAN

Order current catalog items and receive your choice of a level 2 paper pack, You & Me Kit, and/or Stamp of the Month free. The more you buy, the more you get. In fact, if you purchase $150 in new product, you will receive the 6 free items AND another $25 in free products of your choice.
You can help me make space for the great new products available August 1st. Here is how it works -

Purchase $25, get one free item
Purchase $50, get two free items
Purchase $75, get three free items
Purchase $100, get four free items
Purchase $125, get 5 free items
Purchase $150, get 6 free items + $25 free items of your choice

This offer ends June 25th - the day before I leave for my next vacation and convention. If I don't have the items in stock before I leave, I will have them for you after August 17th (when I return). Of course, this is only available through me, not any other consultant and not my website. Have questions? Call me or email me at kellyhammonds@yahoo.com. Don't forget to visit my website too - http://kellyh.myctmh.com.

Class Digital Scrapbook using Studio J

I am the type of person who has always loved the start of the school year - shopping for school supplies, new classes, new friends, etc. It represents new beginnings.

On the other hand, I actually dread the end of the school year. It represents things coming to an end. I look forward to the kids being home for the summer. It is the idea that so much time is spent organizing year end parties and teacher gifts. I do like the end result and LOVE finding ways to capture the past year's memories, but I do not enjoy the loss of sleep.

This past week I worked on my daughter's class gift for the 2 teachers. The class had compiled pictures all year long of various events into an online album, so having plenty of pictures to work with was easy. I uploaded them to Studio J, colorized the embellishments, and added a title. Each student is represented on their own page. Then I did a few collages of the bigger school events. Thirty four pages later, we had a book. Each student drew a picture and wrote a note to face their page in the scrapbook (not shown here). Here are four of the pages...

One of the reasons I like this project is it is so easy to reproduce for the second teacher and any parents who also want a copy. You just order another copy.
By the way, my youngest Abigail (right page above) turns 6 years old today - Happy Birthday Abby!!

Is it Classic Scrapbooking or is it Studio J?

I might be dating myself, but do you remember the old commercial, "Is it Live, or Is it Memorex?" The ad attempted to claim that the sound quality of a audio cassette tape (again, dating myself) was as good as a live action of a glass shattering.

We I think my Studio J (ie., digital) scrapbook page looks as good as my classic scrapbook page. Can you tell the difference?

Both are using the new Lucky Papers.

Did you know that you can purchase a year Studio J membership for only $65 (plus tax) and receive some classic products too? Ask me how, but ask me before the end of the month.

Studio J Has Me Blogging Again!

So last week I was in Salt Lake City to participate in CTMH's first ever (and probably only) Studio J Boot Camp. I wanted to attend to create great scrapbook pages beyond the basics I have mastered and be able to do more advanced work. Of course it helped that attendance was very limited - only 40 consultants company-wide.

What I did not realize until after I was there, was that there is goals and accountability for the next 16 weeks!

So in addition to working on more pages (more on that later), I have revitalized my goal to post to my blog. I am an email-kinda gal, so transitioning to blogging is a challenge. I hope you will visit my blog periodically - at least to hold me accountable to post at least a couple of times a week.

In return, you will get some great Studio J samples and tips, Classic Scrap booking samples and tips, and reminders of all the workshops and crops I hold. So I hope you will not only check back often, but also provide me some feedback every now and then.

Above is one of the 8 layouts I completed last week. What I love about this layout is that this paper does not exist as actual touch-it feel-it paper. I hear many of you out there cringing about not actually playing with the paper - the cutting, the adhering, the unique smell of a new paper pack. The good thing is that Studio J is not an all or nothing style. I do both the classic and the Studio J depending on my mood, my location, and my patience at the moment for printing different sized pictures.

The paper is from the Magnifique Paper Pack which is great blues and browns. Problem is that I wanted it to match my kids' Christmas portraits so I was able to change the color of the paper with a simple mouse click. So easy, so beautiful!

::The Heart Link Network | knowing more about your HLN Area Coordinator

::The Heart Link Network | knowing more about your HLN Area Coordinator

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Felicity Collection

From the National Papercrafting Blog ( http://www.nationalpapercraftingmonth.blogspot.com ):

Papercrafting and Felicity: The Link Between Happiness and Creativity:

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that January is National Papercrafting Month, and that Close To My Heart is celebrating with a fabulous papercrafting kit called the Felicity Collection. You’ve learned that “felicity” is another word for “happiness.” So, papercrafting…happiness…where’s the link?

Scientists have conducted numerous studies on happiness and its ties to creativity. J.R. Minkel wrote in the Scientific American that creativity increases when people feel happy. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied the phenomenon of “flow,” when a person is fully engaged in creative work. He noted that people emerge from such creative absorption “feeling good” and wanting to repeat the experience. And Robert Epstein, a pioneer in research about creativity, wrote, “greater creativity breeds greater happiness. The creative process is itself a source of joy for most people. And with new creative powers we're also better able to solve the little problems that beset us daily.”

So, if creativity is linked to happiness, how do we become creative? Not everyone is a Picasso or a Galileo or a Henry Ford. For those of us who are less self-assured when it comes to creativity, Psychology Today offers this advice: get a hobby. “Hobbyists are amateurs - that is to say, the most intrinsically motivated of lovers. They court their pastime, not for conquest or for gain, but for pure pleasure. Hobbies are, quintessentially, forms of play.” In other words, passing time with your hobby is the same as doing what you love, and doing what you love is what makes for happiness.

Now you can see where we’re going with this: happiness --> creativity --> hobby --> papercrafting --> happiness. No wonder our paper kit is called Felicity!

Want to learn more about Felicity? Check out my website: http://kellyh.myctmh.com. And don't forget that you can register daily to win a free Felicity Collection Paper Pack and Stamp Set at http://www.nationalpapercraftingmonth.blogspot.com. And keep your eye's open for my creativity from the Felicity Collection coming soon!

Welcome to My Blog

Well it's a new year, and I have new resolutions. And since I am quite the procrastinator, my first post is on the 18th and not the 1st of January - LOL. Now I just need to see if I can keep my posts coming regularly.

What is new with CTMH? Well first is the 2010 Spring Catalog. Great new papers, great new embellishments, and as usual - fabulous new stamps.

You can always view the Catalog on line on my web-site, http://kellyh.myctmh.com/ or email me and I will send one out to you.

One of the great new papers is Topstitch with its beautiful colors - heavenly blue, baby pink, chocolate, and vineyard berry. I am teaching a monthly layout class on January 27 at 6:00 pm. We will be making 4 pages with uber-embellishments for only $35. More information about my classes can be seen on my web-site. RSVPs are due soon - this Wednesday, January 20th. Come join the fun.

Thanks for stopping by!