BZHolidays!!

Boy the last month has been a whirlwind. Had a busy November... thanks so much to all my hostesses and their guests! Gonna have an even busier December... Christmas shopping, Corey will be home, my parents will be here soon. I'm tired just thinking about it. Still working on my Christmas cards. Have sent a few, but I'm waiting to take our picture to send with a lot of them... hopefully this weekend. Here is another card I made out of old workshop kits. Oh.. and checkout our great web special for this month. Free stamp set with as little as a $20 purchase! And just wait for January... it's a sneak peak month at some of the new products in the Spring Idea Book coming out in February. Beautiful!!

Start of the Holiday Season

Started my Christmas shopping last weekend and my Christmas cards. Here is one of the cards I made. If you're attending one of my workshops this month, this guy could be making an appearance!

Digital Scrapbooking!?

Ok... I've done it... I've used it. I wanted to get familiar with our new Studio J digital product so I could answer questions about it. It's great! Don't get me wrong...it will not replace traditional scrapbooking for me. I love the process of cutting, pasting, remembering... the feel of the paper.. and visiting with friends while we create. But! What a great, fast alternative! I decided for my last couple trips, and maybe all of them, my formula for each "chapter" will be: One Title Page done digitally, 1-3 pages scrapped by hand, and the rest in photo pocket pages. I take A LOT of pictures and this way I don't have to feel overwhelmed to scrap all of them; all my pics are in one place; and i still get to be really creative with a few pages and let the artwork flow. Here are pics of a few of my title pages I've done for last Spring's trip to Arizona.

It Just Can't Be Over Yet!

I cannot believe the end of August is approaching so quickly. I can't complain though because we've done an awful lot this summer. The weather has been so cooperative... Arizona in May, Outerbanks in June, and July and August have been full of so many activities like the Fair, picnics, pat's volleyball at the beach, great evenings on the deck with great friends, lots of miles with the dogs, trips to Dairy Queen. Definitely has been one for the scrapbook... now to get going and actually get those pages started!

While we were in the Outerbanks my niece Emily and I searched for shells every day. I had to keep reminding myself to look up...lol... but I must have done it quite a bit because I have 400 pictures to show for it. We both made frames with some of the shells we brought home.. the perfect momento of our trip and in it we put pics from the trip. Mine is above.

Love My Family

With so much going on in the world it is so comforting to know I have a loving family that loves to be together!

Fun With My Cuttlebug

Here is a card I made finally using the cuttlebug I got for Christmas last year... I LOVE it! This card uses Close to My Heart's Veranda papers and Butterfly Kiss and Fringed Phrases stamp sets

Fantastic Summer

What a great summer this has been so far. The weather here has been great for Western New York. Another HOT day tomorrow. Just got back recently from a family vacation to the Outerbanks. Wonderful, wonderful vacation. Oh so relaxing.

Some great changes are happening with Close to My Heart. Fall will bring some fantastic new products. With a strong commitment to the traditional scrapbooking products our online product Studio J is also expanding. Great changes for consultants are coming too. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, enjoy!

Fantastic Online Shopping Specials in June

This month's promotion promises to be a lot of fun! Check my website daily (http://bzscrapper.myctmh.com); click on Shop Online and then Jackpot June to see what the special is each day. Discounted shipping charges are in effect for these sale items. If you have any questions, contact me by phone or e-mail.

On Jackpot days, there will be sale items and then you can earn the free jackpot product if you happen to purchase the Jackpot June item. There will also be special Grab Box days where you can purchase a box of items at half of their value!

Sales begin at 9am Mountain Time and run thru 8am Mountain Time the next day.

Contact me for clarification of anything.

Wonderful Vacation

Just got back (well, a week ago) from a fantastic vacation visiting my mom, dad and brother in Arizona with my bff Patti. What a GREAT vacation... equal parts relaxation and activity. We hiked Camelback, drove along the Apache Trail (equally as beautiful as the Grand Canyon), explored Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, and got plenty of pool, sun, and hot tub time machine! Celebrated Mother's and Father's day with my parents... and we were greeted by a Luau in the back yard! Felt like we were there for much more than a week.

I came back feeling refreshed (and cold). But the sun is out today and I'm going to take advantage of it. Walk my two co-horts and then do some landscaping. Trying to catch up this morning with most of my business.

On that note, new Idea Books are out along with fantastic new products. Check it out on my website! Can't wait to use some of them to scrap my previously mentioned vacation.

My Little Brother Turned 40 Yesterday

My brother David's 40th birthday was yesterday. I couldn't be there to celebrate with him, but my husband went out to visit and was there and took with him his gifts. I made him a desktop display album with pics of all of his important people. We made him a DVD here of a "Birthday Party" which made him laugh (we each took turns wearing David masks) and a tee which touted his cute cheeks..lol. There were getting old jokes and all the stuff that makes up a 40th birthday. I miss him. Can't wait to get out there and see him and my mom and dad next month. David has been such an important part of our lives. He is a great uncle.. the kids love him. He ALWAYS makes time for them and is so patient. Love you, David! Happy Birthday! (Couldn't post it yesterday since his party was a surprise, but it's ok because in my world everyone gets a Birthday Week)

Valentines Cards

Here are some Valentines cards I've been working on lately. Love the Grown With Love Set and A Tweet... my two favorite sets these days:

New Year-New Ideas

Close to My Heart added this fantastic journal to the product line and I knew right away it was something I would use over and over. Here I decided to make a quote book. Right now all my favorite quotes are in an ugly lined notebook. They will all be transferred into this great journal organized by topic and loaded with artwork. I added quotes that I have on stamp sets and then I'm adding the stamp set number and name so I can find it easily if I need to. This one will be so much fun and is going to be a work in progress for a while.

So many things could be done with this journal... I'd love to hear some of your ideas!

Best Wishes for a Wonderful New Year

I hope everyone's holidays were special. Mine were. What awesome times we had from a visit from my parents a couple weeks before Christmas to Christmas Day with my brother and his family and New Years Day tubing with wonderful friends. This has to be one of the best ever!