Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Take 6 Tuesday - 6 Reasons Why I LOVE Close To My Heart!

Welcome to my first edition to Take 6 Tuesdays! I love lists, don't you? Each week I will have a new list of 6 things posted for you. You won't want to miss any of my great tips or quirky Dana facts so be sure to check back every Tuesday for a new list.

I'm starting off my first Take 6 Tuesday with my Top 6 Reasons Why I LOVE Close To My Heart. There are so many things to love about Close To My Heart, it is hard to list just 6 but here we go:

6. Studio J. OMG! Have you seen how easy it is to create online layouts? Check it out at my website.

5. Great prices!

4. I love how all of the paper packets, cardstock, inks, accessories, ribbon, etc. match perfectly!

3. Close To My Heart has the best "how to" instructional books. There are currently 4 layout books and 2 cardmaking books available.

2. Our My Acrylic stamps are the best on the market (not to mention we were the first).

And the number one reason I LOVE Close To My Heart is......

I have the BEST customers in the world!

Post what you love about Close To My Heart and I will send you some blog candy!




Wednesday, August 25, 2010

New Exclusive Colors!



I'm so excited that in just 7 days the new Close To My Heart Autumn/Winter idea book will go live! Why all the excitement? Well, among all the other new products, paper packets, card kits, and stamp sets, I also get the privilege of introducing you to 8 New Colors that have been added to our exclusive color palette! How cool is that?

Just yesterday I was out blog surfing and stopped by my friend Karen's blog and saw some beautiful cards. "What's that?" I asked myself! She had made several identical cards using the new colors and did I mention that they were beautiful? I loved this idea so much that I pulled out all my new cardstock and ink pads and got busy creating some cards of my own to share. I was so busy and excited about creating these cards, I even missed my bedtime. LOL

So, did I mention that there are 8 New Colors? They are all so pretty that I can't even pick a favorite! Starting at the top left of my photo, the colors are: Lagoon, Pacifica, Smoothie, Gypsy, Cotton Candy, Sky, Sunset, and Pear. The names even sound yummy!

Only 7 more days to wait before you can shop for the new colors and all the other wonderful new goodies in the Autumn/Winter idea book! But don't forget that you can shop the current book 24/7 at my website.... even in your jammies!

Tell me your favorite new color and I'll send you some blog candy!



Monday, August 2, 2010

Welcome to my blog!

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! I hope that you will come back often and check out what's going on. I'll be honest. I'm completely new to the world of "blogging" so feel free to offer me any comments or suggestions on what you would like to see on my page. I would also love to hear about any topics you would like discussed here.

So, I thought I would kick things off by sharing my favorite room in my house with you... my scrapbook room! People often ask me how I organize and store my stuff so I'll show you. Trust me, organization is not one of by best attributes either!

I'm very fortunate to be able to have an entire room dedicated to my scrapbook business and hobby. After all, I certainly need the space!


Let me start the tour with my table. Yes, it sounds simple but I LOVE my table. A couple years ago, my husband helped me remodel my room and built me a custom made table, cabinet, and desk. Isn't he the greatest? My table has room for two people to scrapbook across from each other with a set of drawers on each side of the table. I keep some of my basic supplies in the top drawer, all of my acrylic blocks in the second drawer, and miscellaneous stuff in the bottom.

Here is a picture of my cabinet where I store most of my paper:

This is a great storage cabinet. I keep a great deal of paper in milk crates. This cabinet was designed so I could pull the milk crate out just as if I were pulling out a drawer but I like the crate concept because when I go to a crop, I just pull the crate out and go. On the right side, I have two crates with all of my cardstock filed by season. On the left side I have a crate of extra paper packets and Stickease that I can take to crops and sell. The center drawers are my opened paper packets that are generally used for my personal scrapbooking or planning clubs and workshops. My wonderful daughter just recently organized them alphabetically and placed dividers to help keep them organized.


While we are on the subject of paper, this picture shows how I store my extras. On the left side of the rack, I have my extra cardstock packets and on the right side I have all of my bulk papers as well as my variety of page protectors.

I also have a cool way to store and organize ribbon. This rack is actually a canned foods rack that can be purchased just about anywhere. I hung it behind the door to my room so it virtually takes up little to no room space. Gotta love that!

Now, what would a scrapbook room be without the STAMPS? And boy, do I have a ton! This picture shows my stacking drawer system to store all of my acrylic stamps. I currently have 6 drawers to hold stamps as well as a few of the My Acrylics Organizers to hold some of my seasonal ones.
You can also see by the shelving unit here that I store a lot of my accessories on this shelve as well as my extra paper trimmers, how to books, ribbon, re-inkers, and more.

That about rounds out the tour of my room. I'll throw in a few more miscellaneous pictures to finish off the tour. I hope you have enjoyed your tour and my first post! See you soon!