February '09 Newsletter

I can't believe it's almost the end of January already! Wow this year is flying by faster than imaginable.

I've been busy busy busy making plans and lists and brainstorming ideas for the upcoming

National Scrapbook Weekend
Crop Around The Clock
May 2nd & 3rd, 2009.

That's only 14 short weeks away! I'll be sending out registration forms this weekend. If you would like one sent to you leave a comment on this post and I will forward one to you when they are available.

*** Put on your thinking cap too ..... I'm still brainstorming ideas and the more input I get the better! ***


My website http://www.kdann.myctmh.com/ has been 'new and improved' and now has some new and improved technical issues and my 2009 calendar pages have been wiped clean. I've entered upcoming crop dates numerous times but they don't want to stay put so for now please don't refer to the calendar on my website for crop info. Below is the information on upcoming crops.


Upcoming Dates to Remember

Crop: Saturday January 31st **that's THIS weekend! 10am to 10pm

Cost: $10 includes a few scrapping goodies, use of my stamps/inks/tools and a quick product demo and stamping technique class featuring a few of my favorite things including one of my new fav tools that I don't know how I ever lived without.

As usual, coffee & snacks are provided. (I'm hoping to have some yummy leftovers from my Epicure party the night before to bring along. Mmmmmm ) Bring your own lunch/supper - there is a full kitchen available.

Who will be this month's Mystery Hostess? All orders placed on or before the day of crop will be entered to receive the hostess rewards for the day. *If you cannot attend but would like to place an order, please contact me by Friday afternoon to be eligible to be the Mystery Hostess.

Can't make it to crop? Be sure to check out my blog next week for an online version of the class.


Mark your calendars for crop dates on:

February 21st - Class info: Scallops are a hot new trend lately and I'll show you some products and tips and tricks for making and using scallops on your layouts and cards.

March 21st - Class info: Extreme Makeover - Chipboard Edition. Come check out what you can do with a few products and tools to make your chipboard alphabets and accents POP!

*Please contact me to let me know you will be attending crops. It makes setting up easier when I know how many people to expect and so I have enough product on hand for everyone.
January Crop Attendance: Christine, Marlene, Hazel, Heather D, Judi, Anita, Heather C, Anne,
(if you aren't on the list and will be joining us please let me know )

Sales, Specials and Other News


Key To My Heart (click to view National Papercrafting Month/Key to My Heart info)

There are just a few days left of National Papercrafting Month. January 31st is your last chance to get the Key To My Heart special. My set arrived a couple days ago and I have to say.....WOW!!!!!
The paper is even more delicious in person and the stamp set leaves me speechless.
More details are also posted here on my blog and I'll be posting some artwork today as well.


Stamp of The Month (click to view past/present/future stamp of the month sets and artwork)

Don't forget the time-limited January Stamp of the Month set available until the 31st This calendar stamp set has limitless potential. What an original way to 'date' the event featured in a layout with a calendar image and the date circled.

February Stamp of the Month (available from Feb 1-28) features Easter egg shapes in a huge variety of patterns and designs. Again the potential of this set is limited only by your imagination.


Celebrate Good Times

Starting February 3rd (which just happens to be my birthday) until the 28th, everyone who purchases MyAcrylics stamp sets totaling $31.25 or more (K-size customized, Stamp of the Month, and any discounted retired sets excluded), will receive a totally cool, custom-designed B-size stamp set, appropriately titled "Good Times." It's a celebration-themed set, with a variety of fun party icons and sentiments like "let's party" and "hip hip hooray" that are oh, so versatile. The reason we are celebrating is that 2009 marks 25 years of business for Jeanette Lynton, founder and CEO of Close To My Heart and that is definitely something to celebrate.

Discontinued Items at a Discount

Any remaining stock of items that were discontinued on December 31st have now been added to my website. You can find these remaining items in the DISCOUNTED section of the shopping cart and are available while supplies last. You will notice there are NO stamp sets listed on this discounted section. Due to the fact that the Good Times special features stamp sets, in order to avoid any confusion, discontinued stamp sets left in stock will not go into the discounted section until after the end of February when the Good times special has ended.



~ Kirsten

Welcome 2009

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

I've never really gotten into making a list of resolutions for the New Year but for some reason I feel like setting a few scrapping related 'goals' for 2009. For the last couple years I've felt less than productive when it comes to my scrapbooking and I've been trying to think of reasons why. In the past I've participated in challenges with some sort of goal-oriented end result and they really forced me to sit down and get to it rather than just think about it.

While reading my latest issue of Creating Keepsakes, I came across an article that really interested me. The idea surrounds the concept of taking at least ONE picture EVERY DAY for the entire year and then scrapping them. The album pages are broken down by week so that at the end of the year you would have 52 pages and a record of the day to day happenings of your life. I've fallen in love with this idea. I may not actually go so far as do make the weekly pages with what happened each day of the week etc but I'm totally into the taking the every-day pictures part. I tend to forget about taking pictures unless there is a specific event going on (and even then I forget too).

There was a time that I used to scrap almost daily even if it was only for 15mins at a time. It was my 'me-time', my time to relax and unwind. To re-spark my creativity and get myself scrapping I'm going to set a goal to make at least one layout (either one or two pages) each week this year - aside from any pages I may make specifically for demonstration purposes and/or pages completed at crop days.

While I'm setting goals for this year, I just thought of another one. PRINTING pictures. Since going digital a few years ago, my computer has filled up with beautiful photos but I rarely take the time to get them printed. I'm making it a goal to have photos printed at least once a month this year. I figure if I'm making at least one scrapbook page a week this year the photo albums I store my pictues in will empty out quickly so I'll need to replace those scrapped photos with a whole new batch of memories waiting to be scrapped.

So, there they are. My 3 scrapping related goals for 2009:

1. Take at least one daily-life picture every day.
2. Make the time to scrap at least one layout each week.
3. Have a batch of pictures printed each month.
and all of those add up to a 4th goal........
4. Have a scrapping good year!

What are your scrapping goals for 2009 ?