Fun Easter Idea

Jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, colored eggs, and bonnets all remind us that Easter is just around the corner. I came across this fun idea of making candy necklaces out of jelly beans! I thought it sounded so fun, that I am including jelly bean necklaces in my team members' goodie bags for our team meeting Saturday! This would be a great project to do with your own kids, or at a Mommy and Me Workshop!

Preparation:

• your favorite jelly beans
• paper Piercing Tool Kit (Z1114 $5.95)
• Waxy Flax or Hemp of your choice
• assorted spiral clips, tags, photo clips, or Clear Inspirations Acrylic Accents to decorate

Assembly:

1. Pierce through each jelly bean with your Piercing Tool Kit

2. Ensure you have a long enough piece of Waxy Flax or Hemp to tie the necklace once you are finished stringing the jelly beans and decorations

3. Thread sewing needle with desired Waxy Flax or Hemp

4. String desired jelly beans and decorations

5. Make sure small children do not eat decorations, or do not string decorations on necklaces for young children as they would pose a choking hazard!

6. Tie the necklace in a bow, wear, and enjoy!

Glad To Be Back from the Syrian Border!

I am so excited and relieved to be back to may to my big, safe, heavily guarded Army camp and little aid station! I knew I would be out in the middle of no where Iraq in austere conditions, but I was not entirely prepared for the living conditions. I haven't slept out of a military vehicle in years and I have become quite accustomed to having a shower and clean clothes at least every few days! There wasn't a Port-a-Jane in sight!

But as you can see, I was able to keep my spirits high and I almost filled a 50-page notebook with notes, poetry, and journaling! I also read two books and listened to ten pod casts, which I am rarely able to do any other time. I really, really missed having some type of communication and I never realized how heavily I rely on the Internet these days!

Missions like these really make me realize how lucky I am to have my health and how blessed I am to be able to serve me country regardless of the sacrifices my husband and I make daily. Sometimes, I feel like such an trailblazer and adventurer. I mean, how many women are able to tell their children and grandchildren about the time they earned their Combat Action Badge during a mortar attack, or how worried you were when the dust storms were so bad that helicopters couldn't fly, or ground convoys could not get you supplies for three days because it was too muddy and wet to reach your Assembly Area (AA)?

I am also deeply humbled everyday by the knowledge that many service members and their families have paid the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee America's freedom. It never fails to amaze me how much effort and cost our government has undertaken to make being a Soldier much more safe today then it was just three short years ago. I have witnessed so many improvements to our vehicles, our personal gear, and the life support services we are now so very lucky to enjoy.

Even in the 12 short years I have been a Combat Medic, the advances in Army Field Medicine are astonishing! These advances are quickly making there way into the civilian and private sectors as well, which means my family and yours are able to receive state-of-the-art life saving treatment right at the scene of an accident, just as we Soldiers are able to receive at the point of injury. Amazing indeed.

I apologize to waiting so long to drop a post! I am sure you can tell, I have had alot on my mind lately, and I can't wait to share my ideas and new stories with you soon!

This Scrapbook Guru is INSPIRED!

Inspired! Blessed! Excited! Hopeful! Loved! Appreciated! Missed! Hopeful! Twitterpated! I just want to jump up and celebrate life and my love for living! I snapped this photo after my whirlwind trip to the Regional Celebration in Minnesota last Fall 2009! I felt like such a ROCK STAR and true CTMH Scrapbook Sista!

I must admit, I have had some major disappointments lately that had me throwing a pity party for myself. On the outside, I have been trying to hide it, but on the inside I have been down right devastated! My Scrapbook Retreat was cancelled after I had already signed up 15 Soldiers, finished the schedule of events, and had most of the projects planned and a few displays completed. After I had made up my mind to get some awesome workshops planned, I found out I am going to have to go on a mission near Syria for weeks at a time unexpectedly for the next couple months!

Never fear! None-the-less, I am inspired by all of my fabulous Soldiers, friends, CTMH Sistas, and family to be the best I can be no matter what curve balls life has to throw my way. I have decided to step up my blog and give you some awesome content you can really use! Yes, drooling over project after project is okay and inspiring! Yes, seeing some new techniques and getting some cool tips is groovy, too! I can give you so much more! Scrapbooking is a passion! I am going to try to put more of my passion into my blog posts!

Now, don't get me wrong, I think Close To My Heart offers some tremendous campaigns and remarkable deals that I LOVE to share with you! I like to make sure you see the remarkable artwork for the Workshops on the Go, because I LOVE doing the workshops myself every month. I think it is also great to see what Stamp of the Month you can get for FREE or at a discount. This information I love to keep in the margins with links so you can just click on the pictures and be cyber wisked to more information.

I feel like as a self-professed Scrapaholic and Scrapbook Guru I can give you so much more! I am starting a special series of posts that will be linked to my newsletters. By subscribing to my newsletters, you will get even more articles related to my blog posts, but my newsletters will offer much, much more!

• I will share articles to discuss new trends, inspire creativity, encourage busy scrappers, celebrate paper crafting, and tackle your biggest scrapbook dillemas in the "Miss Scrappy Britches Archives".
  
  
• I will give you CTMH Sistas who are on your journey to Director some fabulous secrets and insider tips and techniques to build your business BIG in the "Put On Your BIG Girl Panties Archives".
  
  
• I will give you tips and techniques to stretch your creativity and build on your current knowledge with step-by-step instructions for fun projects I have created, begged, borrowed, and stolen, (with permission), in the "Build Your Paper Crafters Tool Box Archives".
  
  
• I will give you the latest news and specials straight from the latest Close To My Heart Weekly Updates and keep you informed of the very latest in the "Constant Campaign Archives".
  

Now, I haven't decided if I am going to archive my monthly newsletters and Whoo-Hoo reports that I send my current subscribers and team members, but I know you won't want to miss ANY of my articles! I am SO EXCITED and I can't wait to hear how you like my new idea! Leave me some sugar to let me know how you like the articles! Subscribe to my newsletter if you LOVE it! Follow this Blog to get the latest posts! Follow this Blog on Facebook Network to spread the word that papercrafting with CTMH ROCKS!

Hearts For Haiti Campaign with Close To My Heart

Throughout the month of February, purchase a pack of textured cardstock and get one FREE! Close To My Heart will also donate a portion of your purchase to Operation Smile Haiti. Though this may seem like a nominal approach considering the devastation in Haiti, consider these facts gathered by my friend, Amy...

» Collapsible water containers ($2 per container): Each container holds 10 liters amount of water and is especially useful for kids carrying water for long distances to ensure that all their water doesn't spill en route from their water supply. It is also very useful for storing clean, safe water for everyday use.

» Water purification tablets (60 cents for 50 tablets): Each tablet is able to turn 4-5 liters of dirty water into water suitable for drinking. Every day, 4,000 children worldwide die because they do not have access to clean water, according to UNICEF.

» High energy/protein biscuits ($1 per pack): These contain minerals and vitamins and have been developed for malnourished children during emergencies.

» Oral rehydration salts (7 cents for one package): This solution, containing sugar and salt, treats children suffering from dehydration caused by diarrhea. Approximately 3,500 children die each day from dehydration caused by acute diarrhea, according to UNICE.


If you would like to learn more, please visit http://operationsmile.org/haiti. So remember your scrappy friends during February and pick them up some textured cardstock, too!
To order directly online from the comfort of your home, go to http://amymuse.myctmh.com/ or just click the picture. Round your total up to the nearest dollar to give a little bit more.
Click here to view a related newsletter! http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs087/110250274023/archive/1103011560109.html

Delicious Creations that Look Good Enough to Eat!

Saturday Night Scrapping was so much fun. I decided to try a different color combination for my Valentine's Day projects inspired by the dark chocolate I love and miss so much. Enjoy these creations that look to good to eat. I used the cocoa spotted patterned paper from a Veranda paper pack and the "wrong" side of one of the papers in the Emporium Creative Basics kit first featured in the Spring 2009 Idea Book. I paired these patterned papers with cocoa and vineyard berry cardstock.



I just love making cute notebooks using the chipboard My Creations 3-ringed binder! I just have so much fun making my own fabulous divider sheets and just gluing down the scraps left from the Valentine's Day cards I made. The notebook looks like a million bucks and make great gifts for girlfriends young and not so young.

Below is one of the dividers on the inside of the 3-ringed binder. How cute! I used some Dimensional Elements Hearts to make "tabs" for each divider. I inked them using my rubber brayer and some vineyard berry ink, then stamped them with a heart stamp and cocoa ink. The heart stamp I used was from the So Lucky stamp set. I also had fun decorating with chocolate ribbon rounds and colonial white crocheted ribbon and some staples. Too easy!