In Case You Missed Convention!

I wanted to post the link to the Picture This! Convention site in case you missed it and wondered what Convention is all about. Click Here, or the picture, or the title of this post for that matter! Plan on going next year to Disneyland in July 2011!

Magnifique Sneek Peek

Have you ever received a clear card? I love to be original when it comes to making cards, and with the new clear cards from Close To My Heart, the desire to make original and elegant cards has been taken to all new heights! Whoo Hoo! So here is a sneak peek for all of you girlies wanting to see the newest products that will be revealed in the Autumn/Winter Idea Book!

These papers and stamps are from the Magnifique product line. They are vibrant and elegant and use three of the newest colors Lagoon, Pacifica and Sky! Not only that, but with a whole lotta new bling to choose from, I am SO EXCITED to get creating! This girlie has to have her bling, and I am SO HAPPY that Close To My Heart is feeding my desires this Fall! Yippee! 

What do you think of my paper flowers using Magnifique? I only had a little paper left from Convention, as this paper line was not included in a bundle to purchase. I am showcasing Magnifique at my Connections Club Appreciation Night and Idea Book Release Party on Wednesday, September 1st for all of the Alpha Phi Scrappa Sisters and Connections Club Members. This party is going to be a fabulous "Red Carpet" event just for you! This will be the only Connections Club Appreciation Night and Idea Book Release this year and it will only be a  bi-annual Event in 2011. It is by invitation only.

How can you get your invite? Join the Alpha Phi Scrappa Team or Connections Club by placing an order and requesting your free membership. Fun, fun, fun! Contact me for more information! Don't be shy. *wink**wink* Celebrate your love of all things scrappy with friends both old and new.

It Is Fun To Win Ribbons!

Have you ever belonged to the Girl Scouts, Future Homemakersers of America (FHA), or Future Farmers of America (FFA)? Do you remember getting ribbons at the County Fair for exhibits you entered? Well, I recently noticed an Open Art Exhibit was looking for entries at my County Fair, so I figured, "What the Hey!" So I entered the pieces in the photo above and I won three 1st Place Ribbons and one 2nd Place Ribbons! Yippee! I was immediately brought back to fond memories of winning drawing contests, art contests, essay contests, and even many Girl Scout contests, badges, and patches. How fun and what nice memories to be reminded of! So, it just goes to show you that even the little things can mean so much more in your heart of hearts! Happy Scrappin'! 

Frame Remodel the Miss Scrappy Britches Way!

I often times see art projects in the strangest places. What some people see as junk, I usually see a project in the making. I have several bland and banged up picture frames, old tin cans in interesting shapes, glass of every size, shape, and color, and many other things that I would not admit to until the project is finished. When I saw these plain white frames at a local craft store for 50% off, I totally knew why. They were so stinkin' boring and plain. They would have been suitable for a kids nursery I suppose, but of course, I saw something totally different. Oh La La! Look at them now!

I just loved using Cherry-O paper to cover every square inch of these bland picture frames. The next time I make them, I won't use the white acrylic paint. I mean it looks okay dyed with re-inker and mixed with a bit of our pearlescent paint, but not as clean looking as I would have liked. Still, I had lots of fun just playing with product and mixing and matching these coordinating products. I did use my Cricut Expressions to die-cut the cupcake and used some pearls from another company, but all in all, this project was almost entirely Close To My Heart.

I just wanted to share quick. I am going to have these frames displayed at the Riley County Fair for the all county art contest thingy. I am not even really sure what it is all about, but I really want to give Close To My Heart some exposure locally. It seems most people an my area don't even know that Close To My Heart is simply fabulous and I am working hard to change that! Any who! Hope you like my Scrappaluscious version of these boring frames! (The Cricut Cartridge that has the cupcake is called Home Decor. Have you seen the new "lite" cartridges? Adorable!!).

August Club Information

WHEEEE!!! Okay, Seriously! I am so EXCITED I am starting my famous scrapbook clubs in August! I just LOVE getting together with my fellow croppers and just scrapping the day away and really getting to know one another! How fun! I also have some more exciting news! I am starting my Basic, Better, Best Workshop Kits again! I know, many of you were disappointed when Close To My Heart went to just one kit, but I have found a way to make my Kits even better than before! Whoa! I know you are shocked.

So, check it out! Your Basic Kit will now only be $15.00. Yes! "What do you get?", you may ask. Well, you are going to get a Level 2 Half-Pack, a full-sized package of Level 2 My Stickease Assortment, and a special goodie bag of all the little extras you need to bling up your pages. Many of you are going to LOVE the Basic Kit, because you are not really into stamping. But I am here to tell you, you can still have cute pages using My Stickease cardstock grade stickers. They are wonderful to bling up, chalk, distress, ink, and basically make uber cute! And don't forget, you still get the full color project guides for full instructions on the scrapbook layout, the six cards, and additional scrapbook and card suggestions!

So, now you may ask, "What's the Better Kit, Amy?" The Better Kit is what you have grown to love. It is the Workshop on the Go Kit. This Kit has a stamp set exclusively designed by Jeanette Lynton, the founder of Close To My Heart, a full Level 2 Paper Pack, a full package of coordinating embellishments so you will have plenty left to play with, and the full color project guide for both scrapbook layout, cards, and additional project suggestions. This Kit has a reduced price of $29.95. If you just can't live without the My Stickease Assortment and already have the tools in the Best Kit, just add $4.95 to the Better Kit price of $29.95. That is still $5.00 to $10.00 less than my previous Better Kit!

So, "Dang Amy! What could possibly out-do the Better Kit with a My Stickease add-on?!" Well, the Best Kit has it all! It has full packages of Level 2 Paper Packs and My Stickease Assortment. It has all of the items in the Better Kit...you know, the stamp set and package of coordinating embellishments. The Best Kit also has a featured tool or two, or more coordinating embellishments and who ca live with out sparkles! This Kit is discounted at $60.00. What a deal!

How do you like these two scrapbook pages I included in this post? Cute, huh? Get ready, because to celebrate the return of my Basic, Better, and Best Kits in August, I am giving anyone who RSVPs and pays for their Splendor Basic, Better, or Best Kit by August 18th this layout with my gratitude! Everything will be cut for you and ready to assemble. Just add the embellishments from one of your Kits to finish off this project in no time flat! You will need a 5" x 7" photo we will cut into a circle, two-3" x 4" photos and two- 4" x 6" photos. All of your photos will need to be portrait orientated, except your 3" x 4" photos could be landscape oriented if you print them 4" x 6". Anyway, we will be cropping photos to have them fit.

So when are my clubs?

The Girls Night Out Scrapbook Club is Friday, August 27 from 7pm to 10pm. Click here to find out more!

The Crop and Shop Club is Saturday, August 28 from 10am to 4pm. Click here to find out more!

If these dates do not work well for you and you can get together a minimum of five friend who pre-order Kits by Wednesday, August 18th, I will come to you. I can this a traveling Workshop. When you plan a traveling Workshop, you also get all the perks and freebies of being a Hostess!

And the best part is, your orders are already pre-paid for the Kits, so any other orders put in for your traveling Workshop will go towards earning even more free or deeply discounted products. Check it out by clicking here! Let me know if you are interested in my fun traveling Workshops!

I hope everyone is as EXCITED about the return of my Basic, Better, and Best Kits as I am. I would love to add you to my monthly clubs. Space is limited to 10 croppers currently, unless we move to an alternate location, such as Varneys in Aggieville or the Chamber Conference Room or I can reserve a place at the Manhattan Country Club. Let me know if you are interested in attending one of my August Clubs.

I would love to start offering these Workshops in Wamego as I have the perfect spot offered to me to be able to provide crops. I must have five ladies and charge an additional $5.00 to the Kit price to offset the cost of the room. Still, if you are in Wamego and want to crop, let me know if you have five ladies that would like to pre-order Kits by August 18th.

Convention Excitement

Yippee! I finally got this clip loaded! I made it almost as soon as I got home from Convention on Sunday, July 11th. I was so stinkin' tired, excited, enthusiastic, supercharged, oh, did I mention tired! HA! I am even slurring my words, because I was so stinkin' tired. None the less, this is just some tips and some things I really wanted to share. I will try to post similar ideas monthly at the very least.

One of my favorite parts about this clip is that I am sitting on a Bowflex in the corner of an ugly storage room that I am having renovated into my Alpha Phi Scrappa Scrapbook Sorority Team Clubhouse! I am SO EXCITED to make this leap! YIPPEE!! So now, Alpha Phi Scrappa Sisters in Iraq supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, know that I am thinking of you and I am so excited you will be home in the next couple weeks. GOD SPEED!

Live Each Moment Like Your Last

So, this is kind of a teaser for my nest Picture This scrapbook layout! HA! I am only going to publish the left side of this layout right now, and I will post what I did with the right side later. I really LOVED how this page turned out. The assignment for this particular layout was to demonstrate perspective through photography. I had to "Google" what that meant and basically, I think the word depth is much easier to understand.

So when I was thinking about perspective and how I could really convey my feelings about the photos I wanted to use, I kept going back to this Colonial White monochromatic vision. Almost like purity and cleanliness in such a dirty and rotten place. I also think about how strange it is that civilization basically started in this area of the world. There are shepards herding sheep, and the man dresses paired with sandals...I mean sometimes, it reminds me of watching people living in Biblical times!

So I decided to pull Colonial White products, or make products Colonial White with our products. For the stitching, I actually used the Flourishes Stamp Set and stamped on the back of the page with a Bamboo stamp pad. The I took my trusty Paper Piercer and poked holes every quarter of an inch or so. Then I just used Colonial White Embroidery Floss to stitch the pattern. Of course, this is my new favorite flower techniques layering white daisy paper flowers on top of one another in descending sizes.This was just such a fun page to put together and really play with your products!

Leave Your Fears Behind

I loved creating this scrapbook layout when I was in Iraq. I had really been avoiding scrapping my first deployment for SO MANY reasons. I didn't realize how many emotions, blame, guilt, and anger I had been harboring for nearly three years. The photos in these pages were taken at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California. The Army has spent millions of dollars making our training prior to deployment as realistic as possible.

The first time our PA, medics, and myself went through this trauma lane, I was in charge of triage and getting the casualties loaded and prepared to be taken to the Landing Zone. Once everyone was loaded, strapped, and vital signs taken, I started throwing in IVs. A feeling of doom washed over me and tears streamed down my face as I cared for my patients. The person that kept coming to mind was a fellow senior medic in my unit that was Medically Evacuated after an intense attack near Mosul. He is now a paraplegic and this is what my journaling discusses.

Scrapbooking these events has been absolutely therapeutic! Just think of all the money I am saving by scrapping it out rather than sitting a chair across from a psychiatrist! HA! So when you think you don't have time to scrapbook some of the important events in your life, make it a priority. You may just find yourself becoming a better person for it and save allot of money in doctors bills in the process!

This is a scan of the title page for my Picture This scrapbook contest. I was pretty disappointed when I didn't place in the top ten at Convention. A girl can't win them all I suppose. I really put my heart into this project. It is pretty funny, because I have been avoiding scrapbooking my first tour in Iraq for nearly three years. Then I had all these events happen this tour in Iraq totally unrelated, none the less this tour seemed to take its toll on me. I guess it is easier to be too busy and fearful of losing your life, than it is to be bored and hopeless! Ha!

Anyway, I based the whole scrapbook around the different ups and downs I sometimes face. There is a song by Nickleback called "If Today Was Your Last Day" and this song really keeps me going through the difficult times and really helps push me to be a better person. Every title for my scrapbook layouts is in this song. This particuliar page talks about the Soldiers in my unit calling me Momma Muse, which I hate, because I am pretty much in denial about my age!

Many of us wear various different "hats" throughout our lives and "play" roles and conduct ourselves in such a manner to succeed at accomplishing our various endevours. Many times, I find myself not liking the person I have to be in my Army J.O.B. When I was in my 20s and full of spit fire and vinegar, the Army Sergeant was a very good ultra ego, or type a personna I really enjoyed and relished the challenge. Nowadays, I rather help my fellow man and make a difference in some way big or small and just contribute to someone's life, rather than be the diciplinarian and authority figure. I really like Miss Scrappy Britches better! LOL!

So in many ways this scrapbook was a process to work out some of the feelings I had tucked away for the last few years. After all, when you are bored and living out of a vehicle for two weeks, it is kind of easy to breathe and find you never really processed some things in life. Then you turn around and realize you have been so busy playing these roles and working for everyone but yourself, you have no friends and no real shoulder to cry on! Yikes!

So, since I put my tears and sweat into this scrapbook, I decided to start posting my pages to share. In this particular page, I died my crochet flowers with Juniper Re-Inker and rubbing alcohol, plus I used rub-ons and my favorite "Patina" technique which was named by Sarita, but invented by me and posted earlier this year. Hope you pop by every once in a while to give me some feedback. Look out Convention 2011 for another fabulous scrapbook entry from me!

Lovely Level 1 Kits Make Fabulous Cards

I have been playing SO MUCH with Level 1 kits as of late! I just love how versatile these kits are and I am always amazed at how under utilized they are! I just cut the four 12" by 12" pages in half to make eight cards, (6" by 6" because it is a 12" by 6" piece of paper folded in half). Yes, in this slide show I just halved the pages for these 8 cards and folded the sheet in half again to make a 6" by 6" card, then I just used the Stickease Adhesives included in the Level 1 Kit to decorate. Of course I also used some stamps I already had and make some embellishments from the extra paper in the kit. Cool! And very EASY!

My Mantra Song Right Now

This song TOTALLY speaks to me! Actually, Fancesca Battistelli is like my ultimate favorite artist right now. I just love the mellow, comforting melodies that champion me on through my day. I hope you check her out and she speaks to your heart and soothes your soul!

2010 Close To My Heart Rising Star: Amy Muse