In All Sassiness

31 Studio J's in 31 days - day 31

2012-01-31T10:24:00.000-05:00

Today is the last of my 31 Studio J's in 31 days challenge to myself. I hope that my artwork has inspired you to try your own hand at Studio J. I have to admit that I look at studio scrapbooking from a different view now! The possibilities are endless...and the creativity is there just waiting for your click on the mouse. My journey will not end here, and I plan to continue with studio scrapbooking...just maybe not everyday. lol.

If you are intrigued, guess what? Close To My Heart has a great special for you in February! When you purchase a Studio J five pack (retails for $55), you will receive a second Studio J five pack for free! The possibilities are all yours...use them, gift them, whatever you would like.

So what is a Studio J 5 pack? The 5-pack includes 5 digital layouts (2 pages spreads) with page protectors, and shipping. This is why they are so great for gifts! Think of upcoming gifts you might need...gifts for events that are memory makers...Graduation, New Arrivals, Weddings and so forth. The Studio J 5 packs do not expire and there is no additional cost to the recipient for processing, shipping etc. And here is one more perk, the Studio J 5 packs can be used to gather hostess rewards! And if you place a $150 order, or host a show and collect $150 in orders, you can also start earning your own hostess rewards! Want more details? E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com and let's talk!

This layout was created with the You Rock paper collection. The layout design is Treasure Tags. To create this layout, I used the My Stickease to create the title Wild and Free. The My Stickease is actually positioned twice and minimized to show only the top or bottom of the My Stickease. The Star is also a My Stickease and the "oh, so" was created using the regular font and changed to white. I also distressed all of the cardstock pieces and added single stitches to embellish many of the squares. I kept the toggle accents and changed them all to Cranberry. Speaking of Cranberry...the You Rock paper collection does not include the color Cranberry: instead it focuses on Oranges, greens, yellows and blues. I however added the Cranberry to coordinate with my photographs. I must say that I think this combination would work great for an Americana layout.

31 Studio J's in 31 days - day 30

2012-01-30T19:36:00.000-05:00

Today's layout is using the Wonderland Paper collection. The layout design is Click, Click, Click and is a Studio J Members exclusive design. This layout is for my son Nicholas and captures a snow storm that we had a few years ago. When working with the pictures, I found that the Grey Flannel worked well with the shades of the snow...and wasn't overpowering as say the Grey Wool or the darker shades of the coordinating colors Twilight and Crystal Blue. To point out one of the details I was able to add...see the snowflake cluster in the bottom of the right layout? Once these were positioned, I added a button My Stickease to the center of the snowflake creating my own unique look.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

Love Your Layout: June 2011

2012-01-29T01:11:00.001-05:00

How to make a ribbon flower.

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 29

2012-01-29T01:07:00.000-05:00

Such a cute little baby isn't he? Although, he is definitely not a baby anymore. My little Gabey-Luke, as we fondly called him when he was little, is now a big 5.0 and in Kindergarten...where on earth does the time go? These pictures are some of my very favorites from when Gabriel was an infant, so I decided to scrapbook them with the Miracle paper collection (which I can just never seem to get enough of) using the Level 1 that was featured back in June. CTMH has a great tutorial that teaches you how to create that sassy little ribbon flower that is in the bottom right hand corner of the layout. The layout design is Card Trick which is Studio J Members exclusive design. Want to try to create this layout yourself? Watch the video and you will be ready to create! And if you need a little help along the way, send me an e-mail and I will be happy to help you along the way.

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click on the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

Love Your Layout: May 2011

2012-01-28T01:36:00.001-05:00

Lucky Level One - the how to's

31 Studio J's in 31 days - day 28

2012-01-28T01:31:00.001-05:00

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click the layout.

This layout was a lot of fun to create! I watched the tutorial video, hosted by my friend Christine, on how to create the Lucky Level 1 layout featured in the Fall Winter Idea Book and while doing so I learned lots of new techniques to try in Studio J. This layout using cross sanding, My Stickease clustering, pushing to the back and front, and layering. Love, love, love it! I have been waiting to scrapbook these pictures of Nicholas for awhile and this configuration was perfect. The layout design is Glimpses a Studio J members exclusive design.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - day 27

2012-01-27T23:42:00.000-05:00

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click on the layout.

Tonight's layout is of my son Gabriel when he took his first steps. I was able to catch some of his balancing in the photographs and wanted to use them in the layout. This particular layout had multiple photo wells for doing just that. The paper collection is Grins & Giggles (an oldie but goodie) and the layout design is Zoom In.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 Days - Day 26

2012-01-26T15:49:00.000-05:00

Today I have two layouts to share instead of just one because they go hand in hand. The layouts are from my son's 6th birthday party. The party theme was Spiderman and I wanted to find a layout that showed the theme of the party off. Since CTMH doesn't have Spiderman paper specifically, I had to create my own. To do so, I used the Boo paper collection which is a Studio J Members exclusive paper collection. The paper collection features the classic Halloween colors...purple, oranges blacks and greens, but of course, no one said you had to keep those colors when creating your layout. What I did was take the patterned web paper and toned it to black then changed the other patterns to the solid colors of Pacificia, Red and Black and ta-da: a layout was created with a Spiderman theme. To accent the layout, I changed the toggle buttons to red with black stitching, the toggle brads to black, and the toggle ribbon to red. Because I took a great deal of time on the feature layout (all of those letters on the curve had to be added, colored, sized and rotated to fit the curvature of the circle), I created a simple companion layout that had complimenting photos for the 2nd layout. The Fab Fifteen layout is perfect for lots of photos--which are great for events like birthday parties where there are sooooo many pictures.

This layout design is Picture Perfect.

To see an enlarged view, click the layout.

This layout design is Fab Fifteen.

To see an enlarged view, click the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

Love Your Layout: December 2011

2012-01-26T00:06:00.000-05:00

Here is the layout video tutorial for the Wonderland Level One Layout. Enjoy!

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 25

2012-01-25T23:54:00.001-05:00

To see an enlaged image click the image.

One of the exciting, and ground-breaking features about using Studio J is the hands on and step-by-step videos that are available to help you not only learn digital techniques, but create beautiful layouts. The layouts are featured in the current Idea Books and can be found by looking for the Level One layouts. For today's layout, I watched the Wonderland Studio J video, and then used the steps learned to create my own layout. This particular video and tutorial teaches how to make your own border with the My Stickease elements. The layout design is Performance which is a Studio J members exclusive.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 24

2012-01-24T17:10:00.000-05:00

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click on the layout.

My Studio J layout for today showcases some of the scenic views from our trip to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. I used little in the means of embellishments or bells and whistles as to not take away from the photographs and instead of using traditional journaling, I chose to use select phrases as bullet points. Simple and to the point. The paper collection is again Mayberry and I chose to pull out the colors of Smoothie (pink), Desert Sand, Bamboo and Garden Green. The layout design is: Front & Center-In the Middle and Sidebar-Main Frame: both from Reflections.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 23

2012-01-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

(Catching up a little from yesterday, my computer went down last night.)

So yesterday's post was actually inspired by some friends who are also working on a Cruise album. They did a layout with the pictures of the towel art and I thought that was such a cool idea. I decided to create one and to include in my Epic album as well. When creating the layout, I really wanted to towels to be the focal point so I used a very neutral palette of Garden Green and Desert Sand. The layout design is: Backstage and is a Studio J Members exclusive layout.

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 Days - Day 22

2012-01-22T22:08:00.000-05:00

To see an enlarged view of the the layout, click on the layout.

Day 22 brought a challenge...as I have shared, I am working on my Epic Cruise album, and I am creating the book with the Mayberry collection. I love the Mayberry collection, but the colors just didn't work with my Cirque Dreams pictures. And the color combinations were all around challenging. So, after trying the Sky blue (way too bright), the Smoothie (clashed against the red lights and curtains) and Gypsy (just didn't look the way I had hoped), I concluded to use the Desert Sand and Cranberry. The Cranberry might look a little out of place, but I am counting on the Desert Sand carrying the papers through. The layout design is Birds Eye View.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 21

2012-01-21T23:57:00.001-05:00

The layout that I am sharing for today's Studio J challenge, was totally created for my husband, although I must admit (secretly), that it was fun trying to remember (and then resolving to Google for the accuracy) the quirky things that Yoda has said. While on our Epic Cruise, Jay discovered that the guy that created Yoda had a museum on St. Maartens Island, so all other tropical things aside, we had to find "That Yoda Guy"'s place. I wanted to create a layout that Jay could look back and love. I tried many color combinations, but decided to stick with the shades of Olive and Garden Green so I could really bring out the essence of Yoda "I did". In each of the accent blocks I added one of Yoda's infamous quotes. The layout design is Dramatic Fashion.

To see an enlarged view, click the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 20

2012-01-20T00:33:00.000-05:00

To see a enlarged view of this layout, simply click the layout.

Tonight I will share one more layout from our cruise. This layout is from one of our dinners at a Brasilian Steakhouse. I chose to use the Mayberry Paper Collection because this is the paper collection that Close To My Heart chose for our Cruise Albums Create and takes. Because these pictures were a little more formal than many others, I decided to stay with the brown colors. The Honey shades in the ribbons and embellishments worked well to compliment the woodwork in the ceilings. The layout design is Stars Above.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 19

2012-01-19T23:59:00.001-05:00

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click on the layout.

While on a Close To My Heart cruise, my husband and I had the privilege of seeing the Blue Man Group Headline. With both of us having a love for music and theatre, this was an amazing experience. I am not sure exactly what I expected, but it was electric! During the entire performance, I was wishing we had my two nephews with us as they are both drummers, and I am certain they would have loved every minute of it.

This being said, how do you create a layout that makes the same electric impact as the experience? I don't think it is possible, but with Studio J, I was able to create a layout that I loved. I was able to join pictures of the group itself with candid shots of my friends with the group. Sadly, I wasn't able to get close enough to get a shot with Jay or I before the men left the "greetings", but I am glad to have the pictures of my friends with the men. For the colors, I used the Lucky paper pack and changed the tones of the patterened papers to Black and Pacificia. I chose to use black for the mats to enhance the photographs.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 Days - Day 18

2012-01-18T23:12:00.000-05:00

For today's layout, I wanted to find a layout design that worked well with a sequence...my particular sequence...Santa Claus coming down the chimney...first you see his boots, then his arm, then he is climbing out of the chimney, and then talking to the children. This layout design worked great as it allowed the pictures to be read from left to right as you would read a story. I matted each picture so you could see more easily go from frame to frame. The colors of White Daisy, Cranberry, and Chocolate seemed to work best. I decided against using the green as Ponderosa Pine would have been the best choice and it would not compliment the other layouts that will follow. Visiting with the Legendary Santa is a big deal in our family, and I was thrilled that my mom and I were able to get such great pictures of Santa coming out of the chimney this year. I wanted to do a complete layout on just that element for my kids so they would have it in the years to come to look back on. And there was also something about this year's visit that just seemed more magical than previous years!

To see an enlarged view of the layout, simply click on the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 17

2012-01-17T00:14:00.000-05:00

Candy Cane Princess! Indeed. I adore these little jammies that Abby got for Christmas! (Well, we gave them to her a little early so she could wear them during Christmas. She thought she was such cute stuff with her jammies and her hat on...and of course, she knows she has Daddy wrapped around her little finger!

This layout was actually created with the Believe paper collection. Yes, I know...no Santa's here. But if you look closely at the patterned paper (that I toned Baby Pink) you will see the design of one of the Background and Textured papers. I toned it Baby Pink to match Abby's jammies and then changed the red from Holiday Red to Tulip. The Tulip looked so much better with Abby's hat and Daddy's tie. Finally, I changed the base paper to White Daisy. I intertwined the three colors in the accents as well. In my opinion, this layout would be perfect as a Valentine's Day layout...might just need to tweak the shades of pinks and reds to coordinate with your pictures! Stay tuned, and I will post the step-by-step directions on how to create this layout tomorrow.

The layout design is Sweet Symphony.

To see an enlarged view of the layout, click on the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 Days - Day 16

2012-01-16T23:59:00.002-05:00

This layout is the last one of my children's Christmas Portraits: it is a layout filled with pictures of the three of them together. One of the awesome things about Studio J, for a mother of three, is that if I do a layout that I would like all three of them to have (and maybe one for Mommy's book too), I can design the layout once and print it four times. Simple and easy. And with that, I can print it once from Studio J, and print the other copies at Costco, or print all four from Studio J...the choice is up to me. Love, love, love it! The layout design is Out of the Hat: a Studio J members exclusive.

To see a larger view of the layout, simply click the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 15

2012-01-15T22:59:00.000-05:00

Such a handsome little man! Okay, so, I am a little biased! And likewise, I am a little biased about this layout. I love how it turned out. As with the other two children, I chose to use the solid papers for a more formal look. For Nicholas' I also added buttons, brads, and ribbons to compliment the look. His white shirt really popped with the White Daisy backgrounds. Layout designs are: Front & Center in the Middle; Sidebar Mainframe from Reflections.

Roxy Cards!

2012-01-15T22:35:00.001-05:00

These cards were made with the Roxy paper collection for my January Card Club. I have a son who loves Zebras so I am somewhat partial to the Zebra prints. I designed the cards so they could be used just to say "I Love You", "I adore you", or for upcoming Valentine's Day. The finished card size is 5" x 7". I used the Mad About You Stamp Set, the Adore Stamp Set, Bling Assortment, Black Floss & Hemp, and 3-d foam. The featured colors are: Desert Sand, Black, Smoothie, and Tulip.

Card Design: Message Enclosure from Originals

Wild about you card, with inside flap

Inside of Wild About You Card

Card Design: Peek-a-boo from Originals

Card design is an original design.

Card Design is: Heart Strings from Originals.

inside of card.

My Ultimate Scrapping Challenge: Yes, I am still working on and off with this challenge; I had not previously used the Message Enclose or the Peek-a-boo designs so, 171 card designs completed; 37 more to complete.

A kitty cat taking retreat in style?

2012-01-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

To preface: My hubby was on his own with the kids last night and most of today while I worked and in my absence, HE decided to let the kids watch the Star Wars movies...from start to finish. They have been asking and asking to watch them since they sparked this interest in the characters back in the fall, and even more so since they had a very Star Wars Christmas. Fast forward to dinner. The kids talked NON-STOPPED about Star Wars..."mommy, did you know Luke and Leah are twins?", "mommy, did you know...Jabba is a bad guy?"..."Mommy...Annakin is really Darth Vader" and it went on and on. After dinner, I decided to lay down awhile as I haven't been feeling very good the past few days and they were all going a mile a minute and all Star Wars!! I went to climb into bed, and my duffel bag felt heavy. It seemed odd as I remembered emptying it before leaving for work this am. And what popped out and surprised me? My cat, Ellie. I think she must have been tired of all the Star Wars excitement too and found a quiet place to hide. At least is was a stylish place!

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 14

2012-01-14T01:04:00.000-05:00

Tonight I am contiuing with my children's Christmas portraits. This layout is Gabriel's layout. Gabriel was somewhat pouty on the day we had their portraits taken so I did not have as many individual shots. Some of my favorite images of him were actually in the group shots so I cropped those images to just the images of Gabriel's. With Gabriel's layout, I also included the color Desert Sand. The layout design is Close Up which is a members exclusive design. To the left of the two small photos there originally a bracket shape, but it didn't look right with my pictures. The solution: create a text box, shade it chocolate and place it on top of the bracket. Problem solved.

To see a larger view of the layout, simply click the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

Hearts all a Flutter

2012-01-14T00:40:00.000-05:00

Hearts are a flutter... that is the theme of my January Card Club. This month we will be making cards that are all about the hearts, and the love! Whether they be used for Valentine's Day (which is almost upon us), Anniversaries, or just to say "I adore" they are perfect for anyone you share your heart with.

The first card is a window card with a finished card size of 5" x 7". CTMH's double sided Background and Textured paper work great for the window cards because you can use one side is always more muted than the other perfect for writing a sentiment on. Less work, less mess, less fess and it helps to keep the cost of shipping down. Love, love, love it.

Materials used: Roxy Paper Collection, Mad About You Stamp Set, Bling Assortment, Black Embroidery Floss, CTMH Ruler, 3-d foam tape, and Adore Stamp Set.

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 13

2012-01-14T00:07:00.000-05:00

To see an enlarged image, click on the layout.

Today's layout is something new for me! I created the layout with just solid cardstocks: no Background and Textured papers. I wanted a layout that captured the formal-ness of the photographs. I love the incorporation that the White adds to the layout as well. I kept the layout very simple as to not take away from the pictures themselves. The layout design is Understudy. The featured colors are Cranberry, Chocolate and White Daisy. The photographs were taken by The Picture People.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J members who purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 3 days - Day 12

2012-01-12T21:03:00.000-05:00

Today's layout is currently one of my favorites. It is a layout of Gabriel climbing a rock wall. Surprisingly (and delightfully so), the rock wall blended great with Gabe's sweatshirt...and no John, that was actually just luck! My first thought was to use the Lucky papers but the greens didn't seem to work as hoped; so I kept the Background and Textured paper, but toned it to Grey Flannel. If you enlarge the layout (by clicking on the layout itself) you will see that I first placed one of the My Stickease designs (the flourish), then added text that followed the curves of the flourish. I loved the finished layout as did Gabriel....when he saw it, he exclaimed..."I really did that...I did".

To see an enlarged view, click on the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Studio J Members: Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 11

2012-01-11T17:58:00.001-05:00

To see a larger view, click the image.

Switching gears, I thought I would share a fall layout today. This is one that I created with the Dreamin' Paper collection. I love the the fall colors! My real struggle with using this patten with these particular pictures were the pink and yellows in Abby's dress. They both looked adorable on the dress but somewhat clashed the colors in the paper pack making the accent colors of cardstock out of the question. How I decided to resolve this obstacle was to take the B&T paper and tone it to Chocolate creating a more neutral pattern and it worked perfectly. I was still able to use the pattern paper I chose and a coordinating paper that didn't clash with the dress. The second obstacle, I love the picture of Abby laying in the leaves but didn't want to crop it down to fit the smaller horizontal picture spaces; so, what I did here was convert the original text box in the upper right corner of the right page into a photo box and the original space was perfect for my picture. I then colored the embellishments in a bright orange/yellow to pull out the colors in the dress. The layout design is: Understudy.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 10

2012-01-10T17:00:00.001-05:00

This is my last layout from my Grandmother's Christmas Celebration. It is filled with pictures from our cousins Photo Shoot. Six kids, one teen and lots of wiggling! Quite the challenge let me assure you...and Nicholas was pouty which made getting a picture with everyone cooperating, smiling, and looking in the same general direction, complicated. That being said, it was fun and one the adults with look back at as memory making. They are quite the bunch let me tell you! I chose this layout design because it let me showcase the one large group picture, had spaces for smaller pictures and a spot for journaling (the vellum). I used the text box took to create my own additional text box under the group picture so I could add the children's names and ages for my Grandmother...as with so many Great Grandchildren, it is hard for her to remember all of their ages etc. The layout design is: Designer's Eye, a Members exclusive design. The paper collection is Believe.

To see an enlarged view, click the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days - Day 9

2012-01-09T20:30:00.001-05:00

To see an enlarged view, click the layout.

"Simple Happiness: Sometimes, layouts are just that. Simple. What you can't see on this layout is that the bases are White Daisy. I love this layout because it is indeed simplistic--in fact, this layout took me about 15 minutes to create. There really are no bells and whistles, but I think it does a great job in showcasing the photographs.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

A Sloth of Polar Bears...

2012-01-09T00:09:00.000-05:00

I had to do my research for this post! Indeed, Polar Bears do not usually travel in groups so there wasn't much terminology about what a group of Polar Bears is actually called. But, I did find that a group of bears is called a Sloth. So there it is! And why do I need to know what a group of Polar Bears is called? Well, if you know my son, you know that he is very passionate about his Polar Bears and we have a "Sloth" of them living at our house. Yes, really. Ask Gabriel if he has a favorite, and you will get the answer "all of them" and sadly I do believe that is the truth because when he has a bad dream or trouble sleeping, he and his "sloth" creep into MY side of the bed. It is nothing for me to go and change our sheets and find a small bear that has been missing under the sheets. I can only smile though...because his passion has become an arctic lesson or adventure for all of us and I know that one day I will look back and miss his excitement. For now, we follow The International Polar Bear Organization, zoo cams all over the world, and find interest in Polar Bear documentaries and books galore!

31 Studio J's in 31 days! - Day 8

2012-01-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

Click the layout to see an enlarged view.

Still sharing layouts from my Grandmother's Christmas celebration! After creating layouts for my children and my niece, I decided to create several layouts for my Grandmother. This is one of the layouts that I created for her. I created a total of four and wanted to try to include pictures of not only everyone that was there, but also some of the traditions that we share. In this layout I used several group shots and focused on the meal, and the prayer. The prayer is my favorite part of our family gatherings. My brother gives the prayers and they are always so heartfelt and touching. I find tears in my eyes just thinking about it. He does such a wonderful job. This being said, the photograph of Chad given the prayer wasn't the clearest because the window caught the flash, but I felt my Grandmother would want it included.

Design wise, take a look at the bottom left side of the layout. The banner pieces were placed one by one with the drag tool, reduced to the chosen size, rotated, and then the letters were added inside of the banners. I then added brads in between each to look like the banner was hanging from the brads. The text on the bottom was also added and the brads separating them.

Retiring Items will soon be no longer...

2012-01-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

So, check the list, make sure you check it twice, and it you see something you'd like, you will want to order it quickly! You only have until January 31st to place your order, BUT the items are on a while supplies last listing...so when they are gone, they are gone! To place your order, you can do one of two things:

Shop my website at: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan or e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com.

ITEM NUMBER -- STAMP SETS -- SPRING/SUMMER 2011 PAGE:

A1098 Adoption 87

A1101 Always in My Heart 54

A1102 A Posy 56

A1103 A Love 47

A1105 A Paisley 53

A1112 A Hop 51

B1309 Fun Times 70

B1322 Believe in Your Dreams 78

B1323 Just the Ticket 98

B1324 Bunny Love 52

B1343 Beloved 52

B1350 Family Ties-Pets 77

B1351 You’re Sweet 60

B1352 Ms. Scrapbook 78

B1353 A Little Buzz 49

B1354 Boom! 98

B1364 Take Luck 51

B1368 Baby Love 87

B1372 Circle Together 90

B1373 Beautiful Butterflies 50

B1375 Summer Days 29

C1305 Family 77

C1337 Just for Girls 90

C1338 Just for Boys 90

C1339 Kanji Phrases 97

C1345 Family Ties--Children 76

C1346 Family Ties 76

C1349 Ambiance 50

C1351 You Did It 87

C1355 Let's Go Camping 66

C1356 Extreme Happiness 56

C1359 Sweet Baby 86

C1360 It’s a Zoo 70

C1363 Beary Best 68

C1364 TLC 101

C1365 Makin' Waves 62

C1368 Treetops 65

C1385 Charmed 54

C1390 So Lucky 47

C1395 Enjoy Every Moment 52

C1396 Love Birds 71

C1397 Smiles 58

C1399 On the Edge 92

C1403 In the Month of February 102

C1404 In the Month of March 102

C1405 In the Month of April 102

C1407 Hot Diggity 70

C1409 Beary Busy 68

C1411 Birthday Boy 83

C1414 Little Princess 82

C1415 In the Month of May 103

C1416 In the Month of June 103

C1417 In the Month of July 103

C1422 Unity 91

C1436 Birthday Blast 83

C1437 Happy Moments 58

C1438 Tea Time 82

C1443 From the Heart 47

C1444 Precious Love 88

C1445 Bless This Nest 49

C1446 Retro Tech 74

C1447 Carefree 53

C1448 Magic Tabs 89

C1449 Blooming Layers 56

C1451 Down by the Sea 63

C1453 Summer Breeze 64

C1454 Horizon 72

C1460 His and Hers 59

C1461 Salutation Seals 98

D1187 For Every Occasion 99

D1191 Friendship Blessings 57

D1254 Soul Mates 48

D1297 Daydream 62

D1298 Beautiful Things 67

D1300 Circle Around 94

D1320 Shining Star 84

D1322 Adorning Corners 95

D1330 Connections 95

D1336 Cupcake Sprinkles 85

D1337 Love Always 88

D1346 You Rock 79

D1348 Priceless Love Word Puzzle 97

D1353 Campin' Fever 67

D1357 Post Card-Travel Series 72

D1361 Thank You 100

D1364 Recipe Box 61

D1365 True Happiness 64

D1367 Bon Apetite 61

D1377 Around the Block 75

D1378 Notice the Details 104

D1392 Thank You--French 100

D1396 Thank You--Spanish 100

D1399 Dream Big 105

D1402 Togetherness 54

D1403 Star Power 81

D1404 Ms. Chillin' 78

D1407 Piece of Cake 85

D1408 A Little Everything 99

D1409 Flower Pot 57

D1410 One of a Kind 55

D1413 Cherished Flourishes 91

D1414 Paisley Praise 86

D1415 Springtime 51

D1425 Thrill Ride 73

D1426 Over the Rainbow 71

D1427 Tasty Treats 60

D1431 Happy Holidays 105

D1432 X-treme 80

D1434 You're Great 69

D1435 Howdy 69

D1438 Circle of Love 48

D1441 Royal Birth 84

D1451 Trellis 13

D1460 Love Ya! 46

D1461 Ciao 73

D1463 Backgrounds & Borders 17

D1465 Fill in the Blank 96

D1466 Catching Waves 80

D1468 On This Day 104

D1470 Dreams Come True 25

D1471 Cruisin' 63

D1473 Two-Step Backgrounds 92

D1474 Hero 81

ITEM NUMBER -- PAPER PACKETS -- SPRING/SUMMER 2011 PAGE -- AUTUMN/WINTER 2011 PAGE:

X7131B Sophia Level 2 Paper Packet 8 -- 62

X7131C Sophia Level 2 My Stickease Assortment 8 -- 62

X7136B Mayberry Level 2 Paper Packet 28 -- 62

X7136C Mayberry Level 2 My Stickease Assortment 28 -- 62

X7137B Lucky Level 2 Paper Packet 32 -- 63

X7137C Lucky Level 2 My Stickease Assortment 32 -- 63

Z1356 Lucky Level 2 Assortment 116 -- 128

Z1359 Lucky Level 2 Journaling Spots 116 -- 128

X7138B Fanfare Level 2 Paper Packet 36 -- 63

X7138C Fanfare Level 2 My Stickease Assortment 36 -- 63

Z1400 Fanfare Level 2 Assortment 117 -- 128

X7142B Dreamin' Level 2 Paper Packet NA -- 34

X7142C Dreamin' Level 2 My Stickease Assortment NA -- 34

Z1633 Harvest Charms NA -- 128

X7144B Mischief Level 2 Paper Packet NA -- 46

X7144C Mischief Complements Rub-Ons NA -- 46

Z1462 Midnight Felt Shapes NA -- 128

X7145B Believe Level 2 Paper Packet NA -- 52

X7145C Believe Level 2 My Stickease Assortment NA -- 52

Z1486 Holiday Pockets NA -- 128

X7146B Wonderland Level 2 Paper Packet NA -- 58

X7146C Wonderland Level 2 My Stickease NA -- 58

Z1468 Top Coats Icing Overlays NA -- 128

ITEM NUMBER -- WORKSHOP ON THE GO KITS -- AUTUMN/WINTER 2011 PAGE:

G1024 Workshops on the Go Typeset Kit 19

G1025 Workshops on the Go Roxie Kit 25

G1026 Workshops on the Go Elemental Kit 31

G1027 Workshops on the Go Dreamin' Kit 37

G1028 Workshops on the Go Sonoma Kit 43

G1029 Workshops on the Go Mischief Kit 49

G1030 Workshops on the Go Believe Kit 55

G1031 Workshops on the Go Wonderland Kit 61

ITEM NUMBER: EMBELLISHMENTS -- SPRING/SUMMER 2011 PAGE -- AUTUMN/WINTER 2011 PAGE:

Z1126 Colonial White Ribbon Collection 115 -- 124

Z1103 Cranberry Grosgrain 115 -- 124

Z1100 Cocoa Grosgrain 115 -- 124

Z1102 Colonial White Grosgrain 115 -- 124

Z270 White Grosgrain 115 -- 124

Z1398 Wings Level 2 Pleated Ribbon 117 -- 124

Z1092 Red & Pink Embroidery Floss Assortment 114 -- 125

Z1094 Green Embroidery Floss Assortment 114 -- 125

Z1093 Blue & Purple Embroidery Floss Assortment 114 -- 125

Z1086 Cranberry Waxy Flax 114 -- 125

Z1249 Sorbet Waxy Flax 114 -- 125

Z1248 Juniper Waxy Flax 114 -- 125

Z1247 Crystal Blue Waxy Flax 114 -- 125

Z1274 Colonial White Designer Brads 116 -- 126

Z1146 Pewter Designer Brads 116 -- 126

Z1275 Antiqued Copper Mini-Medley Accents 117 -- 127

Z1276 Colonial White Mini-Medley My Accents 117 -- 127

Z1147 Foundry Metal Bookplates 117 -- 127

Z1228 Soft Eyelets Black & White Daisy 118 -- 127

Z1229 Soft Eyelets Chocolate & Colonial White 118 -- 127

Z1355 Bliss Level 2 Assortment 117 -- 128

Z1386 Sweetheart Level 2 Assortment 117 --128

Z1266 Spring Blossom Just Blooms Paper Flowers 116 -- 128

Z1300 White Daisy Just Blooms Variety Pack Paper Flowers 116 -- 128

X1412 Black 8 1/2" x 11" Cardstock 120 -- 129

X1411 Colonial White 8 1/2" x 11" Cardstock 120 -- 129

X5749 Color Ready Alphas-Oxford 119 -- 129

X1406 Color Ready Alphas-Hodge Podge 119 -- 129

Z1226 On Target Dimensional Elements 119 -- 130

Z1225 Flurry Dimensional Elements 119 -- 130

Z1310 My Creations Board Book 120 -- 131

Z1268 My Creations Journal 120 -- 131

Z1198 My Creations 9x9 Memory Showcase 120 -- 131

Z616 Rubber Brayer 120 -- 132

Z1208 Soft Set Eyelet Tool 122 -- 133

Z1245 Soft Set Eyelet Tool Replacement Punches 122 -- 133

Blog Clearance Sale - Going on Now!

2012-01-08T19:38:00.001-05:00

I am introducing a new feature on my blog: an on-going Clearance sale. This is a place where I will be posting Clearance items periodically and also a place where I can showcase and sell my Class Kits. To visit my blog sale, simply click here, or click on the Clearance Tab in the tool bar of my blog. Happy Shopping!

Special promotion:

If you would like to have free shipping on items from my Blog Clearance, they can be shipped for free with any $25 Close To My Heart order that is placed through myself directly. Orders placed on my CTMH website are not eligible. I will also include a new Spring/Summer 2012 Idea Book in with your order.

Be it a book, be it a nook...

2012-01-08T00:00:00.001-05:00

A post of a different color for me tonight...

So, my dad has been addicted to NCIS for quite a few years, and last year Jay and I also sadly got hooked as well. Not just the new episodes, but all the syndication on USA. Great to have something we enjoy watching together, but bad in that we can't watch it when the kids are around, and find ourselves staying up late to watch a re-run. I think we have just about watched all of episodes and love the show. Of course, we always find more fun in it when we recognize places that the team is investigating in VA, as that is where we live. So as this story goes, in the fall, USA starting promoting a movie on their network, Certain Prey, that starred the main actor from NCIS, Mark Harman. Let's just say we all were interested to see the movie, and USA definitely did their job by advertising the movie 24/7. We saw the movie, and thought the main character was much like Mark Harman's character Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. A few days later, my dad commented he wouldn't mind reading the book that the movie was based on by John Sanford. Since my father has never asked for a book that I can recall, and I am really tired of buying him golf balls EVERY Christmas (I mean, really how impersonal is that?), I jumped on the comment. When we went to Barnes and Nobel to purchase the book, I discovered that this book was something like the 9th book in a series of 15. So, being the deviant, and oh so sweet daughter that I am, I got my dad the book he requested, and also the first in the series with hopes that he would read the first then want to read all of the books. And that would be it. I would have finally have found a unique gift for my dad. As it happened, I read the back of the book and it sounded interesting. After all, we had enjoyed the movie too, and I love Mark Harman. So, I ordered the first book, Rules of Prey, on Jay's Nook, started reading it and was hooked. I have since read the second book and am now on the third. And it has been contagious. Dad read the first book, then Certain Prey, and has now gotten the second book from the Library. Not to mention my mom is following a book behind him and my husband two behind me. Who knew? We have our own little family book club! The funny thing was I finished the second book late last night (about 3am) and so wanted to talk to my dad about it...because the other two weren't as far along. But since he was out of town, and was about 50 pages behind me I will have to wait a day or two to talk about it. Until then, it's been fun!

Be it a book, be it a nook, or even a Kindle, it's been a great read.

31 Studio J's in 31 Days- Day 7

2012-01-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

Click the layout to see an enlarged view.

Love, love, love this layout design, and to be honest, it is one I would never try traditionally! I like to "eye-ball" everything, even though I think it annoys my clubbers, and I would never be able to eye-ball the honeycomb effect. BUT, on Studio J, it was already done for me! Super easy, and super cute. Almost as cute as my little niece smiling so big (3rd picture from the left). This design jumped off the page with the White Daisy as the background. The layout design is called Honeycomb and is a member-exclusive.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days! Day 6

2012-01-06T14:38:00.000-05:00

Today's layout needs clicking (to see the enlarged view that is), because it is a lot of fun to attempt, and comes out with great results. For starters, this is Nicholas' layout from Mama Hill's Christmas celebration, and the layout design is called Thumbnails. I added a few of the My Stickeases -- note the title and the little arrows pointing at the main focal picture. But the fun part, is the photograph in the center 6 squares of the top right page. This is all one photograph broken into 6 squares. To accomplish this, you drop the same photograph into each of the squares, enlarge the pictures to the same size, then move the picture into position. So for i.e. the upper left square, the picture was in the uppermost left hand corner. The bottom left square, the picture in the in lower far left corner etc. This picture was great to do this with as it had lots of people and movement and because it was taken from a distance I didn't really have to worry about cutting between someones eyes etc. If you would like to try this one on one, send me an e-mail at: inallsassiness@juno.com ! I would love to talk you through the steps more completely.

For a larger view, click on the layout.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

Rock the Block Promotion

2012-01-05T18:29:00.001-05:00

Watch this clip for great information about our Rock the Block Promotion!

31 Studio J's in 31 Days - Day 5

2012-01-05T10:26:00.000-05:00

For today's layout, I am sharing Abby's version of Christmas at Mama Hill's. In this layout, the title "believe" is actually a My Stickease that I dropped into the layout. And when I say dropped, that is preciously what I did. To accomplish adding the My Stickease, you double click on the My Stickease of choice, drag it to the choice destination, and then drop it. The awesome difference in Studio J verses using the traditional My Stickease is this: once the image is dropped, you can enlarge or shrink the size of the My Stickease as desired: which makes for great possibilities! Once I added the My Stickease, I added brads in Holiday Red on either side to give a more completed look. This layout design, Birds Eye View is a Studio J Member Exclusive.

click the layout to see an enlarged view.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at:mailto:inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 days! Day 4

2012-01-04T17:18:00.001-05:00

To see a view a larger image of the layout, click on the layout.

Today's layout is of the same event as yesterday, but I tailored it for my niece, Addison. One of the unique things about using Studio J is that you can add text right on top of the pictures: either directly or with vellum. Typically, I prefer to add the text directly to the picture, but here I wanted continuity within the pictures so I used the vellum. By doing this it allows the picture to show through but still allowing the text to be seen. I also added two brads to the sides of each piece of vellum. The layout design is Defining Moments: a Member-exclusive layout.

The journaling reads: "On the 23rd day of December, at Mama Hill's we found:
-seven spirited children
-three cuddling a plenty
-one silly daddy
-four grateful relatives
-2 cousins with glee
-one cheery mommy
-and a room full of delightful chaos"

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

Introducing our new SPRING consultant kit!

2012-01-03T22:44:00.000-05:00

Available now! Yes, you read that correctly! When you sign up today to be a CTMH consultant, you will get to see, and have in your hands, our new Spring product even before it goes live to customers! Look at this what is included! All for just $99. Would you like more information on joining my team, and Close To My Heart? Click here for more details!

31 Studio J's in 31 Days! Day 3

2012-01-03T06:32:00.000-05:00

For today's Studio J layout (and the next 7 days coming), I wanted to illustrate how easy Studio J can make life! I am referring to creating multiple layouts with multiple purposes using the same photographs. On New Year's Day, I sat down while my kids were building with Lego's and doing other things, and throughout the day created 8 layouts with one series of pictures. The pictures were from my grandmother's Christmas celebration. I initially planned to create one layout for each of my three children and one for my niece as I didn't remember my brother having his camera at the celebration. But, once I began, I thought how easy would this be to build upon what I had previously created and create some pages for my Grandmother. So, that is just what I did. I took the pictures I had already uploaded and added a few more family pictures and got to work. Easy peasey! So how is this accomplished? When you log into Studio J, you select to work on a project. You are able to upload all of the pictures you intend, or might use, relative to that project. Then you select a paper collection, and start to work with a layout design. Once you finish the layout design, you simply stay in the same project and start another page. All of the related layouts stay in the current project so you can tailor to each page and not have to reload the images. This was of great advantage when I wanted to personalize each layout to each child.

click the layout to see an enlarged view.

This layout is Gabriel's layout. It is members exclusive design entitled "Zoom In" and I love it! Love the addition of the bracket and the rick colors. I also liked that it had multiple picture spaces as I ended up with some great pictures of Gabriel. I felt like the buttons with the brown stitching added a nice "masculine" touch to the layout itself.

So what do I mean by members exclusive? Anyone can go in, create a Studio J layout and then purchase it, however Studio J members are given designs and paper collections that come exclusive with the membership. There is also free shipping on one qualifying a month, and other perks. Want to know more? E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com and I would love to share the details with you.

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This month, Studio J is a Perfect Ten!

Purchase 9 layouts and receive the 10th for free!

Not a member, join with a year membership and receive a Legacy Album of your choice for free and possibly qualify for even more perks! E-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com for details!

or to jump right in, go to: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

31 Studio J's in 31 Days - Day 2

2012-01-02T01:01:00.000-05:00

One of the great, and as a mother of three children I stress the word great, things about Studio J is the ability to make multiple copies of a layout without multiplying the cost. Such is the case with my second layout in my challenge: "Meet Simon, Our family's elf". Many of you have seen the pictures of Simon's adventures here on my Blog, but I wanted to capture those memories for my children as well. So, I created a layout in Studio J that showed some of Simon's best. I wrote the journaling so that it worked for all three children. And when I purchased the layout and J-Peg, I ordered four copies...one for each child, and one for myself.

Now, here are the pennies saved...the layouts are $6.50 each with a membership for a total of $26. Because of the number of pictures I used, and the 8" x 10" photo, I would have spent close to that on just the processing of the photos and even then, the pictures might not have worked for the sizes. And to have the needed papers to complete the layouts I would have needed 4 packs of paper at $11.27 each and at least one package of brads. Now, mind you, I would have left over papers and materials, but by doing it the Studio J way, I could create multiple copies at a fraction of the cost! Love, love, love it!

click on the layout for an enlarged view.

A few facts about this layout: the paper collection is Believe and the layout design is from Reflections. Love how the paper works so well with the pictures! and of course the flowers...which my friend John would say were purchased just to create this layout! But, he would be wrong, tulips just so happen to be my favorite flowers and it is rare to find them in VA in December. They do add to the layout quite well though!

New Year's Challenge...31 Studio J's in 31 Days!

2012-01-02T00:45:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year's to all of my followers! I hope each of you has had a wonderful New Year's celebration! Or family had a much needed relaxing day at home, and I was able to catch up on some Studio J layouts. Which got me to thinking...I was still in need of a CTMH resolution for 2012. So, I decided that my first resolution would be to create, and post, 31 Studio J layouts in 31 days...in other words, one Studio J posted each day this month. Why this challenge, and why now? That part is easy. I spent the last 4 months giving the majority of my creative attention and time to my card making and Operation Christmas Cards and have fallen way behind on my scrapbooking. In fact, I have been itching to get back into scrapbooking. And why now? Well, that one is easy too! Because, in the month of January, Studio J Members are receiving a Perfect 10 promotion: purchase 9 Studio J Layouts and receive the 10th for free. This offer is completely repeatable as many times as desired. Very exciting! So, my challenge is on.

Want to join me? even at half the pace? Members, create away! Non-members, this is the perfect time to join! And throughout the month of January, if you purchase a Studio Year membership, I will give you a Legacy Album free! That is a $24.95 value. Want to know more? Simply e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com and I will fill you in on all of the details.

click on the layout to see an enlarged view.

Layout 1:

So, let me tell you about this Studio J layout. I actually started it last spring and then abandoned it. When I was looking through my Studio J notes, I came across it and decided to finish it. It is simplistic, but I love the way the colors of the Fanfare collection work with the colors of Dr. Seuss! The boys loved making cupcakes and wearing the silly hats! What a fun day it was. I love the paper tearing element of the layout. I for one am not that precise/consistent with paper tearing but Studio J makes me look like a pro! Love, love, love it! The layout design is Elegant Context from Cherish which helps me complete a layout from and older challenge I am still chipping away at: My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge. 74 1/2 layouts completed and 75 1/2 to go.

My mom's Studio J Birthday book

2011-12-31T08:35:00.000-05:00

Now that Christmas has passed, I can begin to share some of the gifts that I created, and gave, for gifts this year. These layouts were far past due as they were of my mom's surprise 60th birthday party from last December. I created 8 layouts from the party itself. I am still putting together a walk through her life, to add to the album...but that might have to be next Christmas' gift.

These layouts were all created in Close To My Heart's Studio J using the Magnifique collection...which is still by far, one of my very favorites! Studio J is the perfect way to scrapbook a lot of pictures in a short time frame. Perfect for events like Christmas where you have a lot of pictures. And in January, Close To My Heart will make it even easier: all Studio J Members will receive a free layout with every 9 purchased. So grab your laptop and create away! Not a member? We can fix that too! E-mail me today at: inallsassiness@gmail.com on becoming a member and reaping the benefits. And what's more, when you purchase a Studio J membership in January, you may choose a FREE My Legacy Album in the color of your choice! That is an added $24.95 value. Let's talk!

Layout Design is Photo Booth from Magic. (A Studio J members exclusive)

Layout Design is Understudy from Imagine.

Layout Design: Super Star from Magic. (A Studio J Members exclusive)

Layout Design: Through the Lens from Magic.

(A Studio J Members exclusive)

Layout Design: Front and Center in the Middle & Sidebar-Mainframe from Reflections.

Layout Design is Backstage from Magic. (A Studio J members only design).

Layout Design: Ensemble Piece from Imagine.

Layout Design is Fab Fifteen from Cherish.

In a galaxy far, far away...

2011-12-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight we had Nicholas' "Darth Vader" Birthday party for his classmates. There were a few change of plans, but I thought the cupcakes turned out quite cute. We found Stormtroopers and Darth Vader rings at a Star Wars store, and used them to decorate the cupcakes with. The kids then put the little rings in baggies to take home and wash so they could then use them as rings. The kids also had little light sabers in their treat bags. I didn't get any photos of Nicholas without his little buddy and I didn't want to post them due to privacy respects with the other child, but here are a few shots of our family that I wanted to share!

Abby with her Yoda treat!

Mommy and Abby.

Still need a midnight treat for Santa?

2011-12-24T16:36:00.001-05:00

If so, try this one out! I made these cupcakes for Nicholas' Class Treats and for some of our loved ones as well. They were super simple and quite festive!

To make the North Pole Cupcakes:
1. Bake WHITE cupcakes. Don't forget to NOT use the egg yolks.
2. Ice cupcakes with White Icing.
3. Break a candy cane "pole" and insert at an angle into the cupcake. The pole can be higher if desired but then might not fit in a box.
4. Add coconut flakes to look like snow.
5. Type a "north Pole" sign and cut out. lean up against the pole.
Thanks to my cousin Candi for taking a picture of these for me! As I forgot to do so!

A nap in before his long trip...

2011-12-24T16:25:00.001-05:00

To the North Pole. The kids awoke this morning to find Simon, our family's elf, taking a nap with a pillow and blanket of tissues. I found it rather ironic that they searched for and found Simon, but did not even notice that he was "sleeping" on a new kid sized stool for our bathroom! Santa must have thought they needed one present just a little early (aka...to use to help bake and decorate the cookies with). That Santa is a pretty smart cookie huh?

Recent findings of Simon...

Reading a Christmas story behind the couch...

Keeping track of time...

Riding a reindeer? Seriously?

I think Simon is having himself quite the party while we are sleeping!

Tornado touching down in Burkeville? Did you know?

2011-12-24T15:56:00.000-05:00

Yesterday around 6ish that is! Ok, well not a real tornado but when you have seven kids, and even more adults and presents stacked high...a tornado hitting is sure what the family room of my grandma's house looked like last night. I opted to use my mom's camera so I don't have many pictures just yet but you will just have to believe me! Complete craziness...but joyful craziness. Loved every moment of it. We are so blessed that the children love each other so, and despite their age differences (ages 18 months to 14 years) have a great time together.

Final Christmas countdown...

2011-12-24T15:26:00.000-05:00

Well, tis the day before Christmas and I have one final Countdown special for you...I had hoped to post more frequently over the past two weeks, but I stayed super busy with my kids classes, etc. So here goes,

On the day before Christmas, my consultant offered me...

With any $20 purchase, you may pick any item in the current Idea Book (with the exception of the Art Philosophy Cricut collection) for 50% off! To take advantage of this offer, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. And because I know we all have crazy schedules over the next few days, the offer is valid from today, December 24th through Monday December 26th.

2011-12-22T18:06:00.002-05:00

Here is a little sweet treat that I made yesterday for my son's Christmas treats. Then, they turned out so cute, that I made them again yesterday afternoon for some dear friends. Perfect for the little and not-so-little person in your family!

To create:
1. Spread white icing on the top of a small brownie. You can make these and use a circle cookie cutter, or purchase them at most grocery stores. I used the store bought ones at Wal-mart.
2. Cut the top of the strawberry off so that it has a flat bottom. Set on a paper towel to soak up the juices on the bottom. Remove from the paper towel and place on icing.
3. Use a decorating tip and bag and carefully add the "trim" to the hat. Rotate the strawberry until the trim goes completely around the strawberry. Add a little icing to the top of the hat.
4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

So here are a few tips that I learned. Regular icing (Betty Crocker/Duncan Hines etc.) does not work. It is too soft and after a few minutes the icing mixed with the juice from the strawberry causes the strawberry to slide off. I used the Wilton decorating icing. Second, these do not travel well. They slid around and one or two were top heavy so the slightest bump and they topped off. BUT, the happy about it: they are super simple to make so could be made and set out right before a party. You can also substitute mini cupcakes for the brownies although they don't hold the weight as well. My friend can't do chocolate so I opted to do the fun-fetti cake as well. They still turned out cute.

Add a little Icing to your Christmas!

2011-12-22T17:45:00.000-05:00

On the 4th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me:

Wonderland Icing Overlays for $1.00 off each. This makes them $3.95 each plus the cost of shipping and tax. These beautiful acetate snowflakes will be retiring in January (so very sad about this) so it is a great time to stock up. Special is valid Thursday, December 22nd through Friday, December 23rd. To order, e-mail me at inallsassiness@gmail.com. Payment is due within the order date time frame and may be made by cash, check or PayPal.

There are so many creative uses for these snowflakes! Here are just a few non-traditional ways we have used them in our home over the past few weeks:

My daughter has expressed concern that Santa can not come if there is not snow on the ground...and she is so determined that she is correct on this one. So after many attempts to persuade her otherwise, I finally suggested we put snowflakes on the window and then it will "look" like it is snowing. So that is what we did. We attached a small piece of clear tape to the center of the snowflake and adhered it to her window. She was sooooo excited it made me laugh. What we do to hold onto their beliefs!

This year, I let my children decorate their own trees the way they wanted to. Because of this, Abby is CONSTANTLY re-decorating her tree! She has blue and silver balls and Raggedy Ann and Andy ornaments...and they have been moved so many times! We took about 10 of the snowflake "icings", removed the film, punched a whole though the acetate and hung the snowflakes with a small piece of ribbon from her tree. They look adorable even though my camera wouldn't capture it very well.

Write on the Snowflake with a sharpie and use as a tag, gift certificate, or delight someone you know with "I love you" coupons. Note: If the snowflake is for a scrapper, try this fun variation. Do not pull off the film. Write on the film side of the snowflake. Then once the scapper has enjoyed the tag/certificate etc. they can pull off the written film and use the snowflake in their scrappin'!

Here is a sampling of the overlays included.

Christmas a little early this year!

2011-12-21T08:21:00.001-05:00

On the 6th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me:

A free Cricut Compatible Stamp set of my choice free when I purchase the new Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge! What a deal. Need more enticing? what about free shipping...how about that icing (on the cake!). To order your cartridge, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com and type Cricut in the subject line. Offer is valid from December 21-27th. If this is a gift, please let me know and I will send you a certificate you can print out and wrap to put under the tree.

On the 5th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me:

All CTMH exclusive markers, buy 2 get one free! E-mail your order to me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Offer Valid from December 21-December 22nd.

On the 4th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me:

All CTMH Exclusive Ink Pads, buy 2 get 1 free. E-mail your order to me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Offer valid from December 21-December 22nd.

Rocking the Block in 2012!

2011-12-19T21:25:00.000-05:00

E sized exclusive stamp set.

Join the craze! When you place a minimum order of $25 from the Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book, you can get two new products for just $15: the My Creations® Collage Cubes (a Spring/Summer 2012 sneak-peek product!) and the exclusive My Acrylix® Rock the Block E-size stamp set. That’s a retail savings of almost $30! You're going to love the Collage Cubes and the Rock the Block stamp set, which work together for interactive, 3-D fun.

Very exciting! You will want to order your set today! What a fun way to spend the day...creating this cube set! So, that being said,

On the 6th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me...

Purchase the Rock the Block set and receive a free A or B sized stamp set from the NEW SPRING 2012 IDEA BOOK free! You may choose your new stamp set once the Idea Book goes live! What a reward for yourself after all the christmasing you have done this season! Offer valid on Monday, December 19th, Tuesday, December 20th and Wednesday, December 21st. To place your order e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. I will calculate your total and send it to you then you can pay via PayPal, personal check or cash.

...and eight tiny reindeer

2011-12-19T18:28:00.002-05:00

I found this recipe on-line and thought it would be cute to try for my daughter's Class Christmas party. She wanted the "antlers" off to the sides, but they also look cute touching the cookie.

They were super easy to make!

1. Bake chocolate cupcakes.

2. Ice the cupcakes with chocolate icing.

3. Attach a Nilla Wafer to the bottom of the cupcake.

4. Dip a M&M (I used the Cherry Cordial -- thanks Juanita for introducing us to these!) in frosting and position at the bottom of the cookie.

5. Position the pretzels for antlers.

6. Add eyes. I used Wilton candy eyes for ease, but you could use White M&Ms with a dab of chocolate for the eye balls.

And that is all there is to it! Now off to find an equally cute treat for the boys classes! lol.

Chirstmas Countdown with Sass - days 8 and 7

2011-12-18T12:14:00.001-05:00

On the 8th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me...

Envelopes buy 3 get 1 free! The least expensive set is the one that will be free. To order, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com the quantities and the sizes and I will e-mail you back a total. Offer may be repeated as many times as desired. Payment is preferred through PayPal but may also be made by cash or check. Offer vaild Sunday, December 18th and Monday, December 19th only.

On the 7th day before Christmas , my consultant offered me...

Any stamp set that you want...receive the tax and shipping free. You may repeat this offer for as many stamps ets as you wish. To order, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Or you may make a direct PayPal payment to: inallsassiness@juno.com for the amount of the stamp set. Please type stamp special and the names of the stamps in the memo line. Offer valid Sunday, December 18th and Monday, December 19th only.

Happy shopping!

Tonya

Notes of Sophia

2011-12-18T01:12:00.000-05:00

Outside cover.

Inside of holder.

I wanted to share a Note Holder that I created for a few upcoming gifts. The case was just a white, glossy cd case that I added paper and My Stickease to from the Sophia collection. The glossy finish was the perfect medium to stick the post it notes because they will not tear when repositioned or used. The finished size is 5 1/2" x 5 1/2". We are using some of these as teacher gifts. They were super simple to created and are a unique gift that is sure to be remembered. These folders came from Scrappin' Sports & More but I am sure they can be found at other craft retailers as well. I will be posting a few other versions in the coming weeks.

What our elf Simon has been up to!

2011-12-18T01:04:00.000-05:00

In the Poinsettia.

In the media cubby of the van when we went to Richmond.

Playing Wii.

Our little elf has become a part of our family. To hear the children talk about him, you would laugh!

Looking for Simon was the first thing Gabriel did this am before getting sidetracked with the Wii. And when Nicholas came downstairs that was the first thing he asked Gabriel...did you find Simon this morning? Abby too! It has been fun watching them running around in the house (or van) each morning looking for Simon. They are even keeping tabs on who has found him first the most times. Lol. Love their excitement!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!

2011-12-18T00:05:00.001-05:00

My very favorite Christmas movie of all times is Miracle on 34th Street (the remake) and I adore the timeless outfits the little girl wears; but most loved is her little red coat. Since I first saw the movie I have always hoped that I would one day find a coat like hers for my own daughter. Elegant and timeless. I found such a coat for Abby this year. And, she too looks adorable! Everywhere she has worn it, heads have turned and commented.

The boys had coordinating outfits for Christmas and they too, looked so handsome: so grown up! Usually I struggle to find dress clothes for them but this year I was so pleasantly surprised that I found outftts that worked for their different sizes and "styles". Nicholas insisted on having a tie...like Daddy but Gabriel preferred not having a tie. So funny.

A few of their group shots! They definitely are a trio!

December 2011.

The most blessed mommy of all mommies!

We oh so Believe!

2011-12-15T23:55:00.001-05:00

Today we made our traditional trip to Richmond to see the Legendary Santa and what a fun day it was! I opted to take the kids to a special offering "Sunrise with Santa" which was so worth it!! We arrived at the Children's Museum at about 7:20 and I waited in line while the kids and my mom waited in the warm car. They came and hopped in line at 7:45 when the doors opened and we were the second family in line. My munchkins, and the other children, watched in awe from the moment we heard the sleigh bells ring, and saw Santa's boots slowly coming down the chimney. He climbed out of the chimney with a burst of energy and excitement and one has never seen such glee from a small group of children! Santa spoke to all of the children for a few minutes before getting down to business. My kids were so exited when Santa turned around in his chair and called them by name to sit in his lap. They energetically told him about their elf Simon to which Santa engaged in a conversation with them about Simon's role in our family. Gabe in particular shone with cheeriness as Santa asked about what they wanted for Christmas and so forth. He even commented to his elf to make sure she saw Abby's "oh-so cute" purse. The visit was entirely enchanting and magical.

Santa, I know you will be reading this at some point, and I just want to thank you for keeping the believers in our family. We were blessed to again share this day, and this tradition with you.

Christmas Countdown with Sass - Day 11, 10, AND 9.

2011-12-15T23:26:00.000-05:00

I am a little behind on my countdown as we have been having technical problems with our computer and it has been a challenge to get on line. lol. Have I ever mentioned that technology and I don't always get along! So I am going to offer day 11, 10 and 9 all at once and for 48 hours!

So, here goes:
On the 11 day before Christmas, my Consultant offered me...

Three sets of craft jars all for just $11.00 (a savings of $2.59).

To order, e-mail me directly at inallsassiness@gmail.com or you can send a PayPal payment directly to me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Please indicate "day 11 - Craft Jar special" in the memo.

On the 10th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me...

Three sets of sponge daubers all for just $11.00 (again, a savings of $2.59).

To order, e-mail me directly at: inallsassiness@gmail.com or you can send a PayPal payment directly to me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Please indicate "day 10 - Dauber special" in the memo.

On the 9th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me...

Make a $20 Select Christmas purchase and receive a pack of Mistletoe Flower Assortment Free! ($5 value). Items include: Believe Paper Pack, Believe My Stickease, Believe pockets, Wonderland Level 2 Paper Pack, Wonderland My Stickease, Icing Overlays, and all Christmas Stamp Sets. This offer can be repeated for every $20 of the above items purchased. For this one, you will have to e-mail me your order directly and I will get your final order back to you.

As soon as I return home tomorrow, I will be posting artwork! Very cute stuff!

And if you just need some scrapbooking shopping therapy...visit the while supplies last section on my website! Awesome price reductions!! Have fun shopping!

Simon the elf...on our shelf.

2011-12-14T11:31:00.000-05:00

When I was a little girl, these little elves were always apart of our Christmas decorations: dangling around door knobs or resting in a stocking...in fact I think they were my mom's from when she was little. lol. I started seeing the book "The Elf on the Shelf" in stores this year and didn't think much about it because we still had our little elves and the kids never really paid any attention to them. But recently, my cousin Dana posted on Facebook that she had purchased the book and their elf on their shelf was raising much excitement with her twins...in fact if I remember correctly, her "big boys" were also in on the fun. SO, I did my research and thought my kids might also enjoy having an Elf in our home. I spoke with Santa and he delivered a special package to our house yesterday. We read the story (beautifully illustrated by the way)and my children named our family's elf Simon. We explained that they couldn't touch Simon or he would lose his magic and that each night Simon would return to Santa to report on their behavior then return to us in a new place in our home and it was their job to find him each morning. Everyone went to bed. And this morning we discovered that miraculously Simon had indeed jumped out of his box and the kids found him hiding in our Christmas tree! But rewind a moment...Gabriel who has had some doubts this year, was up at 4AM looking all around the family room for Simon! He had to be lured back to bed until at least the alarm went off! Mommy is hoping Simon might save our beliefs this year after all!

Eleven Days until Christmas!

Our Christmas Celebration at church

2011-12-13T16:42:00.000-05:00

Undoubtedly, my daughter was the little star of the Christmas program at our church. It wasn't designed that way, nor planned, but those who know Abby, know that she has an adorable smile, matching personality, and is so full of herself! She knew how to sweet-talk the congregation and had us smiling and laughing during the majority of the program.

Santa was exclaiming to Nicholas that maybe he should bring Nicholas his two front teeth for Christmas!

My trio! Santa is watching!!

Christmas Countdown with Sass - day 12

2011-12-13T14:08:00.001-05:00

On the twelfth day before Christmas my consultant offered me...

My Acrylix Stamp Cases at the great price of buy 2 get 1 for just $5!

For a total cost of 3 for $34.32 which is a savings of $9.66!

To order your trio of stamp cases, e-mail me directly at inallsassiness@gmail.com or you can simply make a payment of $34.32 to my Pay Pal address of: inallsassiness@juno.com (note the difference) and write 12th day special in the subject line. Offer valid December 13th & 14th.

Click here to see what the box looks like!

Here are some creative uses for the Stamp Cases:

Great art box for kids! Neatly protects markers and crayons, and your house from the marks of those art tools!

Great for loose embellishments!

Great place to store your daubers! Mine are each in a small baggie marked with the color then in a case.

Over sized Recipe Box!

Prize box & or candy Box.

Card box to hold your handmade cards.

The possibilities are endless!

A fantastic gift for teachers!

Christmas Countdown with Sass - 13 days left

2011-12-12T10:09:00.001-05:00

On the thirteenth day before Christmas, my consultant offered me…

My Stickease at buy 2 get 1 free!

Take this chance to stock up on the My Stickease that are being retired next month: Lucky, Mayberry, Sophia, Fanfare, Believe, Wonderland and Dreamin’. Shipping and Handling fees still apply. To take advantage of this special, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Offer valid December 12 and 13th only. Payment by PayPal is preferred, but may be made by check or cash as well.

Stay tuned later today for some fun artwork that I created with the Sophia (oh, so my current favorite!) My Stickease! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Countdown with Sass!

2011-12-11T15:48:00.001-05:00

Can you believe there are only 14 days until Christmas? Goodness, this season has flown by! I know many of you are need of last minute creative ideas and shopping ideas so I thought I would do something fun this season and post a countdown each day. Each countdown will include an exclusive sale that is through myself (available for 48 hours) and a creative idea for the day. Feel free to forward them along to your Santa! The countdown down will be right here on my blog. To order the specials, e-mail me directly at inallsassiness@gmail.com (note my new e-mail address). You will also receive Valentine-dollars in specified amounts that you can then re-deem in February when our new Idea Book comes out! Payment through PayPal is preferred, but may also be made by check or cash.

On the 14th day before Christmas, my consultant offered me,

Workshop to Go's and E sized stamps for $5 off! Making both $29.00 after shipping and tax! What a great price point for a gift for the scrapbooker on your list, a guilt-free gift for yourself! To order, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com. Offer valid for 48 hours only: December 11 and 12th. Earn $3 Valentine-dollars with each stamp set/wtg kit.

Featured artwork is my interpretation of the Believe Workshop To Go with the title stamped in the E-sized stamp set "Friendship". Love the versatility of the workshop to go's! You can completely "tweak" it as I did to fit your style, pictures, and journaling. Each workshop to go retails for $29.95 ($33.94 with shipping and tax) and includes a full paper pack, an exclusive stamp set that can only be purchased as a part of the Workshop to go's, 1-2 embellishment packs, and an exclusive guide with the directions and full color pictures of the layout. The workshop kits can be created on your own however if you would like to do them as a class with the use of my inks, etc. here are the next two dates:

Sonoma - Monday, January 2nd 6-9PM at the Hill's in Broadway

Wonderland - Friday, January 27th 6-9PM at Timberville Church of the Brethren (pending final approval).

Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody) Lightsaber Duel - Steven Sharp Nelson

2011-12-10T23:34:00.000-05:00

Love this! We saw him perform at our CTMH DC Convention two summers ago!

Kraft Cards that compliment!

2011-12-05T00:49:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share the cards that I will be teaching as a part of my Monthly Card Workshop. These were created with the Elemental Paper Collection, the Hooray Bouquet Stamp Set and the new Kraft 6x6 Card sets. I was very pleased with how well Elemental cards complimented the Kraft Cards...just like they were made for each other! Not signed up for the class yet? There is still time! The class will meet on Tuesday at 6PM at the Hill's in Broadway. We would love to have you join us! Included in the class are the materials needed for the class and of course a few extras. The colors being used are: Sorbet and Desert Sand. We will also be making a cute little bag that the cards can be placed in for gift giving. To register, or for more details, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@gmail.com.

Whooo turned 7?

2011-11-29T19:45:00.001-05:00

OK, so I know I am a little behind on my posts, but I am trying to get caught up! lol. These adorable little owls were Nicholas' birthday treats for his class a few weeks ago. I found the information thru my cousin Dana on Facebook (gotta love that social networking thing!) and followed the links to the Living Lucorto Blog. Ours were a little more "rugged" looking, but they were a family effort...yes, even Daddy helped melt the chocolate. For Nicholas, the owls were a "hoot" with his class. Of course, now we have started the domino effect as Abby wants to take them into her class now. lol.

Believe Kid's (or adults) card kits!

2011-11-28T16:41:00.001-05:00

Need a weekend project to do with your kids? If so, try this fun card idea! Create a basic card base for a card (in this case, the cards are for Christmas). Stamp a lined image onto white paper. Let the kids color the image then attach it to the card. A great way for them to help in your Christmas card making! This card was designed using the Believe paper pack, and the exclusive stamp set from the Believe Workshop To Go. I put 6 cards, the envelopes and a few crayons in a clear box for cute little gift sets for kids.

Typeset and Art Philosophy meet.

2011-11-28T08:49:00.001-05:00

My finished Typeset wtg.

Close To My Heart's Typeset wtg.

I want to share one of the recent Workshop To Go's that I did with my club: Typeset. I tweaked the original layout to work with the colors I desired and tweaked a few of the other elements as well, but that is the freedom of the workshop to go program: the program gives you the how-to knowledge, the tools, measurements etc. and then you can alter the layout to fit your style or photo-needs. Perfectly! When we add in the Art Philosophy cartridge, there is even more of a wow-factor to be found.

Here, we used the Art Philosophy cartridge to cut out the stars (then used a cool new technique to 3-d them that was featured in the wtg guide), we also used the cartridge to simplify things and cut the circles for the title and finally, we used the cartridge to cut the awesome bracket shape (which is layered if you haven't noticed) that the focal point picture is in. Love, love, love the possibilities that this brings to my scrapbooking. And if you missed out on the class, no fears: you can still purchase the Typeset WTG through me or on my website.

Don't have your own Art Philosophy Cartridge yet? There is still time to take advantage of my Small Business Saturday special. This is a promotion that I am offering, not Close To My Heart, so if you aren't on my mailing list, and didn't receive the details, send me an e-mail at: inallsassiness@gmail.com I will send your the info! Also, remember that the Company specials will end on Wednesday! So time is running out to purchase the Cherish the Day, November Stamp of the Month ($5 with a $50 purchase) and the Holiday Wishes Stamp Special ($5 with a $25 stamp purchase.

A riddle...

2011-11-25T22:59:00.001-05:00

What's round on the ends and HI in the middle?

Tell me if you know.

Don't you think it's a cute little riddle?

Round on the ends and HI in the middle?

You can find it on a map if you look high and low.

The O's are round, it's HI in the middle...O-H-I-O that's the riddle.

Round on the ends and HI in the middle.

O-H-I-O!

Go Buckeyes! Beat Michigan!

Oh, how i have been blessed.

2011-11-24T21:51:00.001-05:00

The talk of turkeys and thanksgiving break has been non-stop at our house for almost two weeks! The children brought home head dresses and Pilgrim hats and have been so excited for their Thanksgiving festivities. Because waiting for family to arrive is sometimes difficult, and having some play time with my little niece was a bonus, my kids and I decided it would be fun to make turkeys before dinner...I pondered how we could do this for all four kids: something that Addie could do and that would still interest Nicholas. And then I found these adorable little turkeys that are 3-d. PERFECT! The kids colored away! What fun we had. Gobble, gobble!

Since my brothers and their families were both present, we also had belated Birthday Celebration for Nicholas. What a little turkey!

And a few moments to snag a family picture.

What am I the most thankful for this year? Certainly that I have been so very blessed to have three healthy and happy children, a precious niece and a family that is absolutely amazing. I thank the Lord each day for such a blessing. They have all been incredibly supportive of me this year with my personal endeavors and I love them dearly. I am thankful that we had this time together to share. I hope you and your families had a blessed Thanksgiving as well.

So many coordinating stamp sets.

2011-11-23T22:17:00.001-05:00

Only a few days left to take advantage of the awesome Holiday Wishes stamps set. This set beautifully coordinates with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge and may be purchase for just $5 with a $25 stamp purchase. Love how the stamp sets coordinate with our Art Philosophy cartridge? Here is a list of the compatible ones.

Close To My Heart Acrylix Stamp Sets that coordinate with the Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge
-Compiled by Tina Sutton

Stamp Set / Name / Item Number / Page Number

A Holiday A1115 76

All Hallows Eve C1462 48

Backdrop - Charmed D1490 47

Blue Ribbon C1464 17

Cherish the Day - Nov SOTM S1111 142

Christmas Cheer D1494 53

Countdown B1390 54

December 25th C1469 102

Fill in the Blanks - Holiday D1493 79

Harvest Happiness C1463 35

Holiday Cheer B1381 76

Holiday Magic - Oct SOTM S1110 141

Hooray Bouquet D1491 86

Key Moments B1392 42

Limited Edition - Sept SOTM S1109 140

Little Reminder - Jan SOTM S1201 144

Love Life D1482 29

Mad About You - Dec SOTM S1112 143

Party Pennants C1429 91

Snowflakes D1480 59

Sweet Moments C1467 41

Tag the Occasion B1362 92

Unscripted C1465 36

Vintage Tye D1481 18

Zoology B1391 30

Collegiate Bands. United.

2011-11-19T19:44:00.001-05:00

Every once in awhile, comes a story that is so incredibly heart warming that it must be shared; and for me this is one of those stories. I recently found a link to the story Life's Too Short on TourTheTen.com's Facebook page. Currently there is so much negativity and as the author described "poor sportsmanship" surrounding Collegiate sports...and that is often all we see. But this article truly illustrates the brotherhood and sisterhood that band members share across the field, across the conference, and across the country despite that negativity. My heart goes out to the members of the Michigan Marching Band-you are in our thoughts and prayers and I take my hat off to all of those students in their rivaling University's for their amazing compassion.

All Decked out for the Troops.

2011-11-16T11:39:00.001-05:00

Today I volunteered in my daughter's preschool class where we made Christmas Cards for Operation Christmas Cards. It was such a delight to spend time in her classroom: to see her interacting with her friends and to share my passion of making cards with the boys and girls. Abby's teachers, and principal, were incredibly supportive of my project. Because of the size of the class, and the limited amount of time we would have for the project, I pre-stamped the snowman for the children, matted and adhered them to the card bases. I talked with the children about how we make snowmen...and let them walk with me through the process. They were so creative in their answers about the snowmen they had made before! So, after we used those teachable moments, they created their own snowmen creatively on paper. I think they turned out great! I have no doubt that they little snowmen will bring smiles to our servicemen and women's faces.

This is what we started with.

And here are a few of the children's cards.

The stamp set that we used was "All Decked Out" that is pictured here.

I adore this stamp set. It worked great for this project, and is truly one of my favorites!

You can get your own "All Decked Out" here! And don't forget, in the month of November, when you make a $25 stamp purchase, you can add the Holiday Wishes stamp set for just $5. With a $50 purchase you also qualify to purchase our November stamp of the month for $5. That will warm up your winter!

Holiday Wishes: All Cricut Compatible

November Stamp of the Month: Cherish the Day

To add these fantastic stamp sets to your collection, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com or shop my website at: http://www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan.

Operation Christmas Card...still going strong

2011-11-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

I must tell my followers, that participating in Operation Christmas card has been incredible rewarding--much more than I ever thought possible. For me, it started out as a project at Michael's that the paper ed instructors were to organize and participate in. I remember thinking this is such a cool idea...so I decided to challenge myself to make and collect them as well. My original goal was 500 cards, and at this point, I have tripled that number! I have made cards until my fingers were inky and numb. And I have been truly honored by the support that I have received from my scrapbookers! My non-card makers ("I will never make a card....") and card makers a like. Several of my CTMH customers have religiously cropped and made or signed cards with me both at Michaels and at my own events and I am so appreciative.

Even more than that, I have seen this project put sparkles in my children's eyes! As many of you know, Nicholas and I have made cards for Send Love Today for several years and I have witnessed this project help him grow in his writing and his literacy skills. But this project has been different. All three of my kids have been Gun-ho on making cards. As Nicholas told my mom tonight, "we have a lot, I mean a really lot of cards to make...because there are a lot of soliders!" Their hearts are so completely into this cause that it truly warms my heart. They are helping others, and learning while they are doing it. Abigail is learning to write her whole name instead of just Abby, and is FINALLY learning to enjoy coloring; and Gabriel has amazed me with his developing writing skills...he has learned to write his last name because of this project. Nicholas learned to spell the word "Christmas" tonight which I think is pretty great for a first grader. This commitment, and cause, has truly put the meaning of Christmas back into Christmas for me!

To our many servicemen, and women, that might be reading this...our family thanks each of you for your sacrifices that you have made for us, and we honor and pray for you each night. And in Abby's words, "I love you Mr. Soliders. Merry Christmas."

CROP and Scrapbooking Yard Sale: Sat. Nov.12, 2011

2011-11-08T07:44:00.001-05:00

Yes, it is THIS Saturday! How fast has time flown??

If you are in town, make sure you join me for my monthly crop Sat. from 9am-8PM at the Plains Community Center. This crop is partnering with the Scrappers for A Cause Crop Group and the proceeds from the crop will be donated to FUN FOR EVERYONE: a playground project to make a local playground handicap accessible. The crop fee is $20 and includes meals, snacks, your very own 6 foot table, prizes, goodies, and a make and take. The day promises to be a great time! Bonus: bring a new friend to our group to crop in November and you each will receive a $5 CTMH gift certificate to shop with! Exciting! To register, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com or RSVP on my meet-up group. The crop fee can be paid via PayPal to inallsassiness@juno.com. If you do not have a PayPal account, I can also send you a secure invoice. Hope to see you there!

Can't spend the day cropping? Feel free to stop by and still shop! Shop the scrapbooking yard sale, my Close to My Heart clearance items--including a large selection of $5 stamps, and my regular Close to My Heart Boutique.

Sassfully Chirping moment...

2011-11-06T08:39:00.000-05:00

Several weeks ago, before I ended up getting run-down and sick, I volunteered to make little treat bags for the Halloween party at my church. My plan was to use the Art Philosophy cartridge and make them absolutely adorable. And then I got sick. So, at the last minute I was trying to cut out the 50 little bags and cute-en them up. I used a pad of Halloween paper that I had left over from a previous projects and Jay and I cut away. Once the bags were put together, I went back and added some little accents that complimented my paper and my parents helped me fill them an hour before the party. Talk about wheew! My one lesson that I learned was to make sure and use very strong adhesive so that when stuffed to capacity (which we did...lol) the bags don't pop at the seams. This ended up being a great way to use up some extra supplies that were in my studio that I might not have otherwise used. And, I am happy to report, they were a huge success at the party! For Art Philosophy users: I cut the bag at 5 1/2" so that I could successfully get two from each piece of paper.

Glory To God cards

2011-11-06T08:26:00.000-05:00

These are the cards from this month's Christmas card club. Three of the four feature the Glory to God stamp set which I absolutely love. The town of Bethlehem is my absolute favorite stamp on the set! Everything was embossed with Silver embossing powder which made it a little tricky to photograph, but I think you can get the idea of what the cards looked like.

Card Design is: Centered Squares from Originals.

On this card we decided in class that the little squares would needed a little more bling. You can see on the left side what the card would look like without bling and on the right side what it looks like with bling. I definitely like the bling side better! Also note, that inside of the star in the upper right hand corner is one of our new rhinestone brads. Card Design is: Mosaic Borders (rotated) from Originals.

Card is an original design.

My favorite of this card set! Love the colors and the simplicity of this card!!! Card design is: Always right from Originals.

Supplies used: Wonderland B&T paper, Crystal Blue, Chocolate and Twilight Cardstock, Silver Embossing Powder, VersaMark, Glory to God & Angel Sent stamp sets. The ribbon is from Michaels.

Creativity with Punches

2011-11-06T00:17:00.000-04:00

My friend Jennifer and I had a lot of fun experimenting with, and creating with, Martha Stewart's Punch around the page punches last Saturday at an Operation Christmas Card crop at Michaels. I wanted to share the cute cards that we created! The sentiments are "Season Defined" and "Always" from Close To My Heart. Word of warning...they ARE addicting! Once you start punching it is hard to stop!

Fall beauty!

2011-11-03T21:32:00.000-04:00

So, I am a little behind on posting, but these pictures just had to be shared. This past weekend we had SNOW in Virginia! An early, unexpected, very wet snow! And on the Saturday of Halloween weekend so many of the Halloween festivities were cancelled. Many of the roads were a little tricky because the wetness of the snow, and I am guessing the weight of the leaves that were still on the limbs, BUT the snow made for some beautiful pictures!

Our tree still filled with leaves with a blanket of snow surrounding it.

Coming down the mountain.

Take note of the trees...there color is trying to shine through.

Sadly many of these trees were damaged by the end of the snow.

Operation Christmas Cards pouring in!

2011-11-03T21:09:00.000-04:00

My many thanks for all of you who have supported me in making, signing, and collecting Christmas cards for our troops! If you would still like to participate, you can e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com. I have until the 17th to collect as many cards as possible! If you have a group that might be interested (Bible Study, children's/youth group, or even just your family) I can even help you with some ideas or prep work! Just let me know! In the spirit of my collection, thought I would share a few of the cards I have collected over the course of the next few weeks!

This stamp was created with White embossing powder.

Stamp set used: Captured Moments.

Stamp set used: Tannenbaum.

Stamp set used: Holiday Magic. (October Stamp of the Month).

Note: If you are interested in this stamp set, I have a few extras! Just e-mail me!

Gone Batty!

2011-11-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

Batty? Yes, that is what I would call this little idea of mine! A fellow consultant posted this adorable bat box on our boards, and I thought...oh how cute! They looked super simple so I told my son we could make them for his class for Halloween treats! I tweaked the design a little but they seemed to take forever to make...I was dreaming of bats. But in the end, Gabriel was super excited to share them with his friends at school and oh, so, proud of them... which of course made the efforts worth it!

So, how were they made? I used the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge to cut the french fry box. My mom free-handed a pattern for the wings which I traced onto Black Cardstock and cut out. The eyes are google-eyes and the mouth was drawn with a white paint pen. Because I knew these were going to be handled and loved by 5 year olds and had to make it home on the buses, I used a red-lined tape which is incredibly strong. I applied the tape for both seams of the boxes and then to attach the wings to the back of the container. For the final touch, I added candy in the bags and tied a bow.

Want to create your own little treat boxes? Click here to order your very own Art Philosophy cartridge!

Stampers & Cricut Lovers Unite!

2011-11-03T10:35:00.000-04:00

November is full of awesomeness with Close To My Heart this year! There is so much Cricuting and stamping to be done! For starters, the Stamp of the month is called "Cherish the Day" and it is totally Cricut Compatible! Love, love, love it! There is a stamp for each month of the year, and a stamp for each day of the year...mix the two together and you have an awesome number of possibilities! This is the perfect way to add a date to your layout or recognize a special date on a card: be it birthday, anniversary or whatever the special date! And the best part, is you can cut the Cricut image to fit the stamp! This stamp can be yours for $5 when you make a $50 purchase in November.

Need more Cricut compatiability? There is more! From now until the end of the November, when you make a qualifying stamp purchase of $25 you can also purchase the adorable D sized Holiday Wishes stamp set below for just $5. This is a savings of $12.95! This stamp was also designed to partner with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge for perfect Christmas card, and layout creatibility!

Don't have an Art Philosophy cartridge yet? Now is the best time! Or, make sure to let Santa know! Either you or Santa can contact me at: inallsassiness@juno.com and we will get you set up!

To order Cherish the Day, Holiday Wishes, the Art Philosophy cartridge, or other fantastic Close To My Heart products, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com or you can order directly on my website at:

http://ctmh.com/tonyasheridan

May the force be with you...this halloween!

2011-11-02T03:32:00.000-04:00

Had to share some pre-Halloween pictures of my Star Wars Clan. After some panic (my kids are all really short - go figure) because everyone's costume swallowed them, my mom saved the day and altered, hemmed, and even had to re-structure the costumes to fit the munchkins. The kids were galactially excited for all the Halloween festivities!

May the Force Be With You!

You wouldn't see this pose in the Trilogies!

So sincere.

Our family.

Just had to have a photograph of those buns!

In serious battle.

Chubacca?? nope, it's Cali!

But Mommy,

2011-10-25T21:49:00.001-04:00

So, I haven't been feel the best lately and I gave in to Abby tonight and let her watch a movie tonight...in hopes that I could catch up on some rest. But, really, how many times can a person watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and not fall asleep. I fell asleep and when I awoke, this was the little angelic or rather devilish smile was looking up at me. Her explanation..."but Mommy, I wanted my mouth to look beautiful".

Lil' Pumpkin Card Workshop

2011-10-13T10:13:00.000-04:00

Lil' Pumpkin Kid's Card Workshop

Not just for kids, but also for kids at heart!

To be held at the Timberville Church of the Brethren Fellowship Hall

Sunday, October 16th from 1-3:30.

Workshop Cost is $20 per parent/child team. $5 from each set will be donated to the

Morning With My Friends Preschool Program.

Class includes:

So Grateful Stamp Set, 3" x 3" Acrylix Block, Sunset & Desert Sand Ink Cubes, Adhesive, Bulk Ribbon and embellishments, 6 round cards and coordinating envelopes. A light snack will also be provided.

To register, e-mail Tonya at: inallsassiness@juno.com.

Additional So Grateful Artwork

2011-10-13T10:02:00.002-04:00

Card Design is Lower Layers from Wishes.

Finished card size is: 8" x 3 12".

Card Design is Left Eclipse from Wishes.

Finished card size: 2 1/2" x 3 1/2".

Card Design is Classic Closure from Wishes.

Finished card size: 3 1/2" x 8".

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: I have used the left eclipse design before but the other two are new to me! So, for my Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge, I have now completed 169 card designs and have just 39 to go! In the long stretch now! Thanks for following along. And I absolutely love this stamp set so I am sure you will see more designs with it in the future!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

2011-10-01T20:32:00.000-04:00

I can't help it, I love that expression! The somewhat lost Southern Belle in me maybe? lol! I am not sure about where you are right now, but here in VA it was definitely a chilly fall day! And I am guessing Nicholas was trying to tell me I shouldn't be wearing flip-flops in the icky weather as he broke them today. Seriously? Wear do I find flip flops in October...Christmas stockings maybe, but not flip flops! Good thing I am going to the beach next weekend for the Crop Circles Weekend Crop! Can't wait!

So, now that it IS October, I just had to share the adorable Stamp of the Month: Holiday Magic! My mind is spinning with it;s possibilities!!

With a $50 purchase, you too can have this magical stamp set for just $5! To order, visit my website at: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan or e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com.

You're In My thoughts...

2011-09-30T10:42:00.003-04:00

...card set! Created with the Sonoma paper & My Stickease Collection. These cards were created for my Scrap Purple Crop this evening. I am really happy with how they turned out! I used the supplies that are included with the cost of the crop, and just a few other extras...2 pieces of Bamboo cardstock, a little Cocoa Ribbon and a few brads. The cards were created with the Celebration Card Workshop found in Wishes which is a perfect card workshop for the size of our Level 2 Paper packs: they use 2 pieces of pattered paper, plus 2 pieces of cardstock for the accent pieces than an additional 6 pieces of cardstock for the card bases. And since all of the cardstock in the paper pack coordinate regardless of which way you combine the bases, the cards look great! These cards also feature the Card Chatter-Sympathy stamp set and the colors are: Smokey Plum, Cocoa, Bamboo and Olive. Kits are available for those who can not attend. Shipping charges may apply.

Pair-a-phrase artwork...if only it was a bicycle built for two!

2011-09-29T13:11:00.000-04:00

As tomorrow is the last day to earn our exclusive Pair-a-Phrase stamp set for free, I thought I would share one of my favorite pieces of artwork that I created with this multi-functional stamp set.

Here's a quick how-to-create this card!

1. The card foundation is a Colonial White Circle base.

2. Cut out a 4" circle using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Sorbet cardstock. Cut a second 4" circle out of the Elemental B&T paper- Sorbet pattern.

3. Using a paper trimmer, cut the circles in 3". This is the fun part--with these two circle pieces, you can create two cards. The first card will be created as above with the larger circle in the Sorbet print and the smaller circle with the solid. The second card will be created in the opposite way: the larger circle piece will Sorbet cardstock and the Sorbet print will be the smaller print.

4. Adhere the circle pieces to the card base. Trim the top portion to match the fold edge.

5. Ink all of the edges with Desert Sand ink.

6. Attach chocolate ribbon (on the Clearance section of my website) to the seam of the where the two 1/2 circles meet. Trim ends flush with card.

7. Stamp the bicycle and sentiment in chocolate ink onto a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" Colonial White Square. Color in with markers or watercolor pencils if and as desired. I used Sorbet, Desert Sand and Sweet Leaf for my image. Ink edges with Desert sand ink.

8. Center and adhere the stamped image to a 2 3/4" x 2 3/4" Sorbet Cardstock square. Ink edges with Desert Sand ink.

9. Center and adhere the Sorbet CS square onto 2 7/8" x 2 7/8" Desert Sand CS square. Ink edges with Desert Sand ink.

10. Adhere the Desert Sand square to the card front with 3-d foam tape.

I love it! Makes me want to go on a carefree bicycle!

Order your own Pair-A-Phrase stamp set!

Supplies used: Chocolate, Sweet Leaf & Sorbet Markers; Elemental Level 2; Chocolate exclusive ink pad; Chocolate Ribbon Assortment; 3-d Foam tape; Pair-a-Phrase stamp set.

October is a fantastic time to join Close To My Heart!

2011-09-29T10:50:00.002-04:00

October is a fantastic time to become a consultant with Close To My Heart! Why you might ask? Because, this month they have a phenomenal promotion that will not only help you jump start your business in a big way, but give you extra (free!) materials to work with! And, it is also the start of a new incentive trip earning period! You can hit the ground running, and earn your way to our next Cruise! Very exciting! Read below for the details!

New Consultants who enroll for $99 (a $280 value) with Close To My Heart between October 1-31, 2011, will receive one FREE* New Consultant Kit add-on collection!

Each of our three add-on collections is priced at $40 and has a retail value of $80-$130, so this is an incredible deal! *Shipping/handling is free on add-on collections. Tax will be charged on the retail price of $40.

Roxie Add on Collection.

Elemental Add on Collection.

Studio J Add on Collection.

Want another add-on collection? You can easily purchase one for just $40 each or order the materials once you are a consultant and reap even more benefits!Not sure if Close To My Heart is right for you? There are many "types" of consultants! Read below to see which one best describes you!

•Hobbyists - Like getting scrapbooking, stamping and card making products at a discount? Simply submit the minimum $300/quarter to maintain consultant status and receive the consultant discount of 22%.

•Club Leader - You organize a monthly get-together to teach a project. Club members agree to purchase at least $150 in product over a period of time. Each month, you select a hostess who's eligible to receive hostess rewards and extra product. You rotate the hostess each month so that everyone can take advantage of hostess rewards. You can have as many clubs going per month as you like- a layout club, card club, Cricut club or Studio J club or even an open club where each customer is their own on-going hostess.

•Studio J Consultant - Not a paper scrapbooker? Maybe you'd like to set up a Studio J business based on CTMH's online scrapbooking software. Your customers would be those who are interested in making layouts fast, getting them professionally printed by CTMH, and having the option of sharing their layouts digitally with family and friends.

•Business Builder - As a business builder, you will hold workshops or gatherings on a regular basis and recruit others to become a part of your team. If you're interested in making additional income and leading a team, running a CTMH business is an excellent opportunity for you.

And, beginning in October, CTMH has a new and improved compensation plan that includes even more incentives and rewards for you!

How you choose to set up, and work your business is up to you! And you can adapt your business based on your personal needs and aspirations. I started with the company when I moved to VA as I was going thru what I reflect back and call a scrapbooking withdrawal! I had worked at a scrapbook store in Ohio and when we relocated there were not any scrapbook stores even remotely close to me. I joined CTMH so that I could have access to quality materials that I already adored. At that point in my life, it was just what I needed. Over time, my children are a little bit older, and I have graduated to a business builder consultant. I hold workshops and crops, actively do fundraising (which has always been a passion of mine), travel to expos and am continuously looking to strengthen my business. I have earned two National Awards at our Annual Convention (Top 10 in Sales & Centennial Club Recipient), been a guest speaker at a regional event and as of this week, have earned two Cruises...The Epic last year, and a Hawaiian cruise in March of 2012. My confidence as an artist, a business-woman, a peer, and a leader have all been fostered by by consultantship with Close To My Heart. And while I love the business and creative opportunities and successes I have had, I have developed relationships and friendships with my sister consultants, down-line and most of all my clients, that have been the biggest blessing to my life! I love being a consultant and would love to share this passion with you.

Join my team, Hearts with Sass, and I will be there to encourage, train and support you. This business can be all that YOU want it to be!!!! Are you ready to sign up? If so, click here and this will take you to the consultant application. Remember, the special does not start until October 1st.

Once you are official, I will be sending your "Welcome to the Team" Kit! Questions? Email me or call me!

Wonderland...meets Art Philosophy & icing on top!

2011-09-26T22:01:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned how very much I love my Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge?? It has taken my layouts to the next level without the addition of more precious time! And everything so perfectly compliments one another! This layout was created using the Wonderland Paper Collection, the Wonderland Icing Overlays, and of course my Art Philosophy cartridge!

Layout Design is Main Frame - Perfect Square.

Layout Design is Triple Play - Foundation.

The journaling reads: "Wonderful you … that is definitely how I feel about you! During our “little” blizzard the snow was up to your knees in a low spot and falling so very hard! You loved it! I will never forget how happy you looked as you watched the snow falling…you were covered with flakes…and a few even caught your eyelashes! You laughed and laughed. What a wonderful smile! You even tried to catch a few flakes on your tongue! I loved how you put up with Mommy trying to capture the picturesque moment for our family Christmas card…you were such a wonderful little trooper…and when Mommy got her perfect picture, you wanted to me to keep taking your picture! When we returned inside, we sealed the day with hot cocoa and marshmallows! These are the moments I will always treasure! December 2009."

Want to create this layout for yourself? Join me tomorrow night at the Hill's in Broadway at 6PM. I do have extra kits available! For quicker completion, please bring your Cricut mat! Just e-mail me to register! I can also teach this layout as a private workshop for you and your friends!

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 73 1/2 completed. 76 1/2 to go.

Happy Holiday Card Set: Project Inspiration Autumn/Winter 2011 Idea Book

2011-09-23T11:23:00.001-04:00

Check out this exciting video on how to create the Happy Holiday Card Set found on page 76 of the Autumn/Winter Idea Book! Ready to create for yourself, join me for my October Christmas Card Club on Tuesday, October 4th when we will be creating a set of these cards ourselves!

Need a pair-a-phrase?

2011-09-23T10:11:00.003-04:00

Sadly, it is almost time for this fun campaign to end. Have you gotten your Pair-a-Phrase stamp sets yet? If not, you still have just one week left to order yours! And how might you do so? Simply place a $75 product order and you will receive this exclusive double stamp set free! Couldn't be easier? The set is oh so adorable and oh so affordable! The little snowman makes the stamp set a must-have in himself! I love his/her! And although I cannot take credit for it, I have seen several consultants post artwork using this stamp set for creating calendars--and they are right--there is at least one image that perfectly coordinates with the stamp set! If time permits, I hope to create a fun calendar with this set, but we will see how that works! Another thought, this is a perfect stamp set for a gift! Create a card set for the recipient and then add a Pair-a-phrase stamp set to go with it! Fun right? To order your set, or sets, you can place an order on my website, or e-mail directly at: inallsassiness@juno.cominallsassiness@juno.com!

Halloween Treats anyone?

2011-09-22T10:33:00.000-04:00

A cauldron full of treats? Being a scrapbooker, I am more enticed by the adorable pillow boxes, but I can see where most would be intrigued with what is inside the pillow boxes! Each is filled with Halloween candy (Milky Way, Snickers, Twix and Starburst)! With the help of my hubby (who is quickly becoming a master of the cricut!) and my mom, we cut out, filled, and decorated these little treat boxes to fill the witch's cauldron! It is perfect to sit on your porch for trick-or-treaters or to take into the office for Halloween treats for colleagues! How can you get you hands on such cuteness? There are three ways...you can purchase the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge and cut out your own boxes (takes about 60 to fill) and have treats that are the talk of the town, come to Scrap Purple and purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win this cauldron! Not sure you want to take your chances? You may have your own Cauldron for a $50 donation to Team Awesome --please allow 1 week for creation! For more details, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com. The boxes are filled with Snickers, Milky Ways, Twix and Starburst.

Quick Pic with a flair of style!

2011-09-22T10:17:00.001-04:00

This fall, Close To My Heart introduced a new small album called the Quick Pic album! These adorable albums are made from a sturdy chipboard with a unique design embossed on the cover itself. The albums are pre-assembled and have 16 page protectors and available in the perfect fall colors: Olive & Pansy Purple (shown below). For Scrap Purple, I decided to create a mini-album of my weekend in Chicago with Team in Training. Love, love, love it! Here are the first and last pages of the album. I will share more of the pages in the days to come! This entire book was made from one package of Sonoma Paper and the coordinating My Stickease and a few extras. You too can create this adorable album in a few hours time. Join me at Scrap Purple on Friday, September 30th from 6-10PM at the Timberville Church of the Brethren and start creating your album with flair! (album is not included in cost of workshop, but will be available for cash and carry at the great price of $7.95 each!

The perfect size for a special event, brag album, or just because album!

Front page: Layout design: Bottom Border - Tucked In from Reflections.

Last page: Layout design is: Main Frame - Four Square from Reflections.
Stayed tuned this week as I post more pages from the book!

My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 73 layouts completed. 77 to go.

Scrap Purple - efforts for hope!

2011-09-22T09:37:00.000-04:00

On Friday, September 30th, 2011, my Relay for Life team, Team Awesome, will be hosting a Scrap Purple Crop to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. The event will be held at the Timberville Church of the Brethren from 6-10PM in the fellowship hall. This crop is open to the public. For attendees who wish to work on projects, there is a $15 crop fee which includes a Level 2 Sonoma paper pack & My Stickease set. You will be able to use your Sonoma supplies to create one of several projects including this layout below, a second layout option, a 6" x 6" card set, a Quick Pix Mini-Album, or you can come up with your own use for the materials. Additional cash & carry complimenting items will be available to add to your layout/projects. We will also have a raffle, baked items, and handmade paper crafts available for purchase and donation. For more information, or to RSVP, e-mail me at: inallsassiness@juno.com. Kits of projects are also available for those interested but cannot attend. Shipping charges may apply.
For all papercrafters who would like to make a Close To My Heart purchase to benefit this cause, reference the code: TeamAwesome9302011 and 20% of the sales generated on their order placed between September 6th-20th will be donated. All orderees names will be placed in a drawing for a $50 Scrapbooking Gift Certificate at the end of the event.

For more details, order specials, or to register, contact Tonya Sheridan by e-mail at: inallsassiness@juno.com, by phone at: 540-860-0528 or visit: www.ctmh.com/tonyasheridan. Images of the projects can be found on my blog at: inallsassiness.com.

This is one of the layout options that can be created at the crop. I have used the layout to showcase pictures from a few years ago when my best friend, her husband, and myself completed the Chicago 1/2 Marathon with Team In Training. I have been searching out the perfect papers to scrapbook this amazing weekend, and just couldn't find the right compliment...until now! Sonoma worked perfectly!

Layout with left flap closed (using the Flip Flaps!)

Layout with the left flap open.

Left side with flap closed.

Front of Flap

Inside of flap.

Inside of left page.

Right side of layout.

My journaling reads: "Rocking Chicago 1 mile at a time...

…for 13.1 miles! Training for, fundraising for, and running with Team in Training in the Chicago Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon, has by far been one of the best experiences in my adult life. Words will never be able to express what it has meant to me, or the impact it has had, on my life. I began this adventure because of the love that I have for a friend who has been a major influence to me --she has been there for every major milestone that I have had since high school. Karen, is my best friend's mom, and has had Lymphoma. I began this in honor of Karen, and in the process of this endeavor, I was touched by the support of many and personal stories that warmed my heart...Nathan, Geri's sister and many others who have fought this terrible disease.

I decided to run in the Chicago Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon with Karen's daughter Heather & her Husband Paul with Team in Training. Being in Virginia, I wasn't able to train weekly with the Team in Training team, however, you would not have known it! The support I received during the race was absolutely amazing. TNT requested that we add our names to the front of our shirts, and so we did. And to my surprise, all through the race, I heard shouts from the crowds "Go Team" and other encouragements attached with my name! It was empowering & inspiring! And at any point when I passed by a coach or mentor, they would jump in the race, and run side by side with me for a little ways. They didn't know me at all, but it made such a difference!

If you are ever looking for purpose, or to make a difference in the life of others, I highly recommend participating in a Team in Training event. You don't have to be a super star, or fast runner, just an individual with steadfast determination! And you will find that regardless of your finishing time, you are a winner.

Thank you to all who aided in my efforts! Together, you helped me raise over $1700.00 to fight blood cancers! –my blog entry 8/3/09."

Supplies used: Sonoma Level 2 Paper Pack, Sonoma My Stickease, Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, Edge Anchors, Liquid Glass, 3-d Foam and 12" Flip Flap Assortment. Featured colors: Bamboo, Smokey Plum, Cocoa and Olive.

Layout Design is Mixing Elements from Cherish. My Ultimate Scrapbooking Challenge: 72 layouts completed. 78 to go.

2011-09-15T22:28:00.000-04:00

Need a little inspiration? Watch this clip "Guided by Music: The story behind the Ohio State School for the Blind Marching Panthers" as featured on ESPN video. Makes your heart sing, or rather play!

Operation Christmas Card!

2011-09-15T16:06:00.004-04:00

This fall I have decided to use my talents to create cards for our troops who will spending the holidays over seas defending our country and away from their families. The organization, or cause, is called Operation Christmas Cards and began in 2009. In that year, Operation Christmas Cards sent out over 87,000 Christmas Cards to those who were deployed and last year, they sent out 140,000 cards. Their efforts are amazing and many of the card makers are just like me...individuals who love making cards and hoping their cards will be the cause of a smile. The mission of the group is simple: "To love our troops one card at a time" and the vision clear "to put a card into the hands of all those deployed during the holidays, boosting their morale and spirit".

Operation Christmas Cards has shared that: "Many of these service members go without receiving a single piece of mail, and often times it is the kinds words of appreciation, support and love from total strangers that give them the very strength and motivation to carry on with their missions at hand.

We all have left over holiday cards every year, so why not put them to good use and send a note to someone fighting for us to enjoy our holidays with family and loved ones.

Participation is very easy and we encourage everyone to help. Get your friends, families, communities, school, churches, etc. involved."

Do's and Dont's:
-do NOT seal the envelopes
-only write supportive notes
-you may include email or mailing address
-envelopes may be decorated

Many people ask about postage. We mail the cards in bulk to the troops, so you do not need to include stamps on the cards. However, we operate strictly upon your donations and shipping costs are not cheap. Each box of cards costs $12.50 per box and contains roughly 300-700 cards depending on the size of the cards. For the 2011 season we estimate that 350+ boxes of cards will be shipped out. At $12.50 per box that puts just shipping at $4375 not including administrative costs to print the labels and run the mailing database and supplies such as packing tape. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated and put directly toward Operation Christmas Cards. They can be made as a tax deductible gift to "Liberty Churches" and be sure to note that they are for Operation Christmas Cards. We want to thank each and every one of you for your continued support of this program and most importantly your support for our troops! "

You can find more information on Facebook: Type Operation Christmas Card as the cause.

If you like local to me, I have decided that I want to try to make, and or collect, a box full of cards and am aiming for 500. I will take on the responsibility of mailing the cards if you would like to arrange to get them to me.

And for my Close To My Heart customers, and friends, I have an incentive to motivate us! I know that supporting our troops is a big enough incentive, but I thought I would make it fun too! So, here goes! I will have a drawing for a $25 CTMH gift certificate on November 1st. For each card donated to me by that date, your name will go in a drawing. But, it gets better! With each 25 cards collected, I will add a prize to the drawing so the more we make and collect, the better your chances for winning a prize. I know I personally have a lot of scraps that I need to use up anyway so what better way to use them! I will keep you posted on my collection efforts On the right sidebar of my blog! Happy Card Making!