Colouring with Shain Han Markers

Welcome to our April Blog Hop featuring the ShinHan Alcohol Markers. We have 24 colours available, plus a blending marker.

We have an amazing group of talented ladies all across Canada, and they sure would love to hear from you, so before hopping onto the next person, take a moment and leave a comment about what you loved.

If you've arrived from Crafty Carol's Blog then you are in the right place! If you would like to start at the beginning of the hop, and continue from East Coast to West Coast, you can start here with Creations with Michelle.

Here is a card I made using the Dreamin' Big paper suite, Thoughtful Flowers S1612 which was the December 2016 Stamp of the Month and the fabulous Shin Han Touch Twin Markers. 

Throughout the Christmas holidays I made some time to play with the markers and just couldn't stop. These pages are in the planner bundle available on my website. It was so relaxing that I lost track of time. Here are some of the pages I have coloured with the markers.

Aren't these pages fun?! Which is your favourite? 

To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Jan's Work of Heart.

If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle S Blog, Creations with Michelle, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring creations using our favorite NEW paper collection, yes that is right, we have new paper collections coming. So mark May 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Determination and Perseverance

For the last 12 months I have been working my home based scrapbooking, card making & paper crafting business with a goal in mind. As an Independent Consultant with Close To My Heart in Canada, I needed to earn 31,000 points to earn a trip for two to Puerto Vallarta.

My family and I live in a village of 30 people in Southern Manitoba, just 5 miles north of the North Dakota, USA border. I am challenged with the fact that come Summer in our farming community, anything other than farming & gardening takes a backseat for 3 months which mean little to no sales. The image below shows a white semi circle which represents the area in which I permitted to work while the pink shaded area represents the area in which I am prohibited to work. I am limited to assisting customers and team members only within Canada. Am I going to let that detour me?

No I will find a way to make my business work. If I can do it, so can you~ No excuses.
 
I am coming upon my 10th year as a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant. 

When I joined CTMH 10 years ago, building a business was not my goal. My "WHY" at that time was since we moved from Alberta to Manitoba, I wanted to meet some new friends with common interests and get a discount on my crafting products. Once my maternity leave was over, I was to return to work as a dental office manager. My pay would only yield me $300 a month after paying for childcare care, fuel and expenses. So then my "WHY" changed to earning some money. If I could sell just $1,000 a month in products, I would earn the $300 and get to work from home and raise my own kids. 

An added blessing for me is that I am able to make my own work schedule around that of my family. I am able to go on the school field trips, I can volunteer for cooking hot lunches and I can put my kids after school activities and sports. 

Four years ago, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. If I had to work for someone else, I don't know that I could keep hold of a job. With CTMH, when I am having bad days, I can work from my bed. Last week my back went out & I worked from my hospital bed. This JOB offers me the flexibility I need. For that I am so blessed. My "WHY" now includes making money to pay for my children's activities while being able to fully participate in the school events and work as little or as much as my health permits.

Many of you asked me a question the other day. "How did you earn 8,195 incentive trip points in just a month?" So the other night when I went to bed I gave the question a lot of thought. Before I fell asleep I still didn't have the answer but the next morning when I woke up it came to me. It wasn't just ME who earned this trip. It was every single one of YOU who earned it with me. YOU made it happen. So I thought about why would you all want to do this for me. So my final answer is BUILDING LASTING RELATIONSHIPS and NEVER GIVING UP. That is how I earned this trip. Over the last 10 years that I have been with CTMH I have made life long friends with customers, fellow consultants and team members. YOU all wanted to see me succeed so that is why I earned this trip. You all went above and beyond to lift me up because you felt that I deserved this. 

When people would ask if I thought I would earn this trip I would reply, "No, I don't think I will but I'm not going to give up on trying." A few days before the cut off date to earn the points, I had officially earned this trip. I will be taking my 12 year old son, Chase with me to Puerto Vallarta. 

I thank you all so very much for believing in me and helping me reach my goals. If you would like to join my growing CTMH Team, I would be more than happy to help you get started. Simply click the following link to my website to get started. 

http://brandy.closetomyheart.ca/ctmh/what-we-do/be-a-consultant.aspx

Artistry Cricut Collection Blog Hop

Welcome to our October Blog Hop featuring CTMH’s newest Cricut Collection, Artistry.  To purchase any of the items seen in our blog hop today, contact your local consultant to place an order.

We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do....by leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you… now on to our hop! 

If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at My Creations With Michelle. If you came from Jessica's Create By The Lake then you are in the right place!

At the Close To My Heart Convention 2015, we made a great layout with the theme "Up" from the movie Up. 

I wanted to be able to recreate it for a class and have it easy to duplicate. With the new Artistry Bundle, it was a piece of cake to make the balloons, house, banners, arrow and gold glitter bow.

There are some new cardstock colours in the Enchantment Colour Palette. The base pages are Peacock & Eggplant. The white paper is the new Watercolour Paper and painted with the new Watercolour Paints.

I had a lot of fun using the Fundamentals Paper which are double-sided with the same design on both sides, one side with a glossy pattern.

I hope to see you at an upcoming class~

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Jan's Works Of Heart. If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's Blog, My Creations With Michelle, as she has the complete blog list.

Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be feature Preparing for Christmas. Mark November 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.

Fabulous New Paper Pack~

Welcome to our September Blog Hop featuring our favourite paper collection. We hope that you will take the time to leave comments on our posts, as we love to get feedback from our viewers ....whether it was something that you really liked or some new technique that was used that you would like to learn how to do. By leaving us comments, we get to hear what you like, and what you want to see. Thank you and now on to our hop! 


If you have just hopped onto my blog, you can start here as this is a circular hop, but if you want to follow us across Canada then please start at the beginning and join Michelle at My Creations with Michelle. If you came from Jessica's blog, Create by the Lake then you are in the right place!

I was so inspired by a card that the Art Department at Close To My Heart made, I had to give it a try. 

What do you think...did I get close? I hope you are inspired to give it a try too.

This is a 5 x 7 card the features the new La Vie En Rose Paper Collection.

I used the September Stamp of the Month, Paper Garden and inked the image with Whisper Ink and the painted with our new  Watercolour Paints.  
I used silver shimmer trim, grey enamel gems and whisper thick twine.

These are so simple to and a ton of fun too!

I love just how versatile these papers are & can be used for so many different occasions. Each collection retails for $11.75CDN and you get 2 sheets of 3 designed double sided papers plus 6 sheets of coordinating cardstock, that's 12 sheets of paper that are all coordinated for you for just $11.75!!

Your next stop on the Cross Canada Hop is Jan's Work of Heart.
If you get lost along the way, you can head to Michelle's Blog, My Creations with Michelle, as she has the complete blog list. 


Thanks for hopping along with us - we hope we were able to inspire you to get creative using some of the designs, products and techniques seen along the way. We hope you will join us again next month when we will be featuring our newest Cricut Cartridge, Artistry. So mark October 15th on your calendars and hop along with us.