Artbooking Convention Book

Isn't this mini book too fun?  Besides being a mini book, it was created for a unique purpose!  My Mom made these gifts for her Convention roommates for our Close To My Heart Annual Convention that was held in June.  Thankfully I was one of her roomies so I got one too!  :)

She cut the book, using some of our retired paper, using our exclusive Cricut Artbooking Cartridge.  She printed our Convention logo for the front and then made pages to follow to hold our Convention receipts.  Did you know we can write off our business expenses?  So...YES...I can spend money on scrapbooking products, create with them, show them off at my business events and write them off at the end of the year.  Too awesome, right?!

You can see the way the inside pockets are created and then the cute labels.  Yes, I love this!

For some reason this photo keeps coming in sideways and I can't figure out why.

The Artbooking Cricut Cartridge is perfect for making these kind of mini albums and they are super easy to assemble.  Let me know if you would like to order one!

Thanks for stopping by!

Aren't We a Cute Couple?!

And you thought it was going to be a picture of me and my hubby!  LOL  This FUN photo was taken by a photographer at Convention and I received it in my email.  (Gotta love fun mail!)  Before the Directors dinner, we were provided with a special photo opportunity to meet Mickey Mouse!

Our Director's Dinner was held outside of the Disneyland Hotel, in the Rose Garden.  We were served delightful food and out of this world desserts!  (I made sure to try one of each of them!)

 It was fun to see these two ladies, Etta and Shirley, become Directors this year.  WAY TO GO!

I shared dinner with these four ladies, Christina, Doris and Shari.  After dinner we headed to the Magic Kingdom, watched Fantasia, and enjoyed a few rides.

 It was fun sharing the Director's events with these fine ladies.  I love being a Close To My Heart Director!

Until next year, Mickey... (Convention 2015 will be held at the Disneyland Hotel.  I would love for you to join in the fun!)

Create Your Own Patterned Paper

As you know, our National Close To My Heart Convention was held at the Disneyland Hotel just a couple of weeks ago.  One of the fun traditions of the event is creating gifts for team members.  It is not always the easiest to decide on what to make since there are so many ideas swirling out there.  Over the past few years, I have created a layout, perfect for preserving our fun memories of our time together.

I was not sure how I was going to accomplish the Disney theme with our current product line and woke up one morning with a fabulous idea:  Why not create my own patterned paper?  So...I did...

In order not to infringe on any copyright policies, I designed the Mickey image out of three circles and then copy and pasted them all over a Word document.  I cut my Cranberry cardstock to 8 1/2" x 11", put it through the printer and this was the result!   I used a layout out of our Imagine How-To book and chopped up my papers to create these two pages!

The Convention title was cut using the Cricut and our Artiste cartridge.  I stamped 2014 using our White Daisy Exclusive Ink Pad - making sure to give it plenty of time to dry - and added some Red Glimmer Trim for a finishing touch.

They seemed to have been well-received and I enjoyed making them!

Awaiting the rain in southwest New Mexico and going to create the night away!

Had a Fabulous Time in California!

I returned late last night from our 2014 National Convention for Close To My Heart and boy was it phenomenal!  Every year is GREAT but this year was FANTASTIC, for so many reasons.  I had fabulous roomies to include my Mom, and my two friends whose names are both Debi.  (That threw the guy at the hotel registration desk for a loop.  LOL  I think he thought I was seeing things in doubles.)

The first full day at Disney was our Leadership Day where leaders in the company, Managers and above, are provided FREE business and creative trainings.  (I'll post photos of those creations later.)  It is also the evening where we attend team events.

Here we are - me and the two Debsters - chillin' in front of an outdoor fireplace.  Okay, it wasn't real but it still gave off some heat as we relaxed outside at the Disneyland Hotel.

Debi McBain and my Mom are getting ready for the "Stampers' with an Attitude" team event.

My second upline, Kimberly Moss, and I who was in charge of the event.  I just assisted a little bit.

And then...our meetings lasted until 9 p.m. and we had not had dinner so we all had a yummmmmmmmy pizza in Downtown Disney for a late night snack.  It is okay to do that when you are on a business vacation having fun!  It sure was tasty.

Can't you just tell how scrumptious it is based on the photo?  It was yummy!

This was a fabulous way to get started and it only got better from there.  I hope you have enjoyed what you have experienced of Monday.  Only two more days until I am off for four!  I can handle that!