The WHY....

Hi All! Welcome to our mid-month Rose Blossom Blog Hop featuring layouts about our experience with Close To My Heart. If you just hopped over from the amazing blog of Barbara Smith, you're in the right spot! This month, CTMH is running special offer to folks wanting to join up as consultants. Not only do you receive one of these incredible consultant kits (full of yet to be released product, I might add).....

Cardmakers Consultant Kit

Scrapbookers Consultant Kit

But you also will receive the new CTMH tote bag...

AND have an opportunity to earn the rolling tote when you sell $300 worth of product in your first 40 days of becoming a consultant!

So let's talk WHY. In business (and in life really) it is very important to articulate your purpose, or to use the short-hand, your "why." A few months ago, I blogged about some the benefits of being a CTMH consultant. (You can read that post here.) Today, I wanted to showcase my absolute number one reason for being a consultant. My WHY....

I made my life easier on this project by using our Studio J program to create a fun two-page layout. (I love Hopscotch and I have used up almost all of my Hopscotch stickers and what-not, so I went digital...never runs out, never wears out! Plus, this layout took me about 15 minutes to put together...the journalling took a bit longer with all my perfectionist tweaking....)

Here's a look at each page (you should be able to read them if you zoom in just a bit):

At the end of the day, I'm a Close To My Heart consultant because of the relationships. I'm part of three fabulous teams (the Kraft-y Hearts, Rose Blossoms, and my own Kraft, Paper, Scissors YOU). We are teams of business owners, yes, but we are first and foremost friends. We enjoy hanging out with each other online and in person. We share who we are and what we're doing (right and wrong) in our businesses, and we help each other out. There's no sense of competition among team members, just a sense of camaraderie that lets us enjoy everyone's successes and encourage each other when we fail. It truly is inspiring both creatively and personally. I've met fantastic women in this organization and particularly on these teams who I aspire to be like in many ways.

So if the tote bags and gorgeous products aren't enough to entice you to become a CTMH consultant, let me add a little extra incentive: join for the people and community. I promise, you will not regret it whether you're a hobbyist or want a part- or full-time business! If you want to chat with me about it or need more information, just shoot me an email and I'll be happy to answer questions and/or sign you up!

Now hop on over to see what the awesomely creative Cathy Arbuckle has to share with you.

Oh Happy Day!

Hi All! There's just so much to be excited about today!

First of all, it's my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday, Kris! I hope your day is full of fabulous things. You are an awesome, wonderful person. (And I promise, your birthday goodies will be there soon!)

Second, it's Friday!!! WOO HOO!!!!

And, finally, in honor of my sister's birthday (okay, not really, but it should be) the new Close To My Heart Spring/Summer Idea book is available to you TODAY! (Go ahead and do your happy dance, I'll wait....) Done? Okay. There's more...

This month, CTMH is running a special on Studio J layouts. That's right. This month you can purchase Studio J layouts for just $5 per 2-page spread. If you haven't yet discovered the beauty of the digital layout, this month's special gives you even more incentive to try it out. If you already know the joys of Studio J, this is your month to go wild in you creativity! All of the new patterned papers are available in Studio J, along with dozens of others from past Idea Books. Whether you do your layouts from start to finish on the computer or like to add a little traditional elements to the page when it comes to your door, Studio J has you covered!

To give Studio J a try, click here!

To peruse the new Idea Book or shop for all things Close To My Heart, click here!

And by way of a heads up: This month Violets & Sunshine will be participating in the Rose Blossoms Blog Hop on 15 February and in the Kraft-y Heart's Stamp Of The Month Blog Share. Look for more coming on both of those AWESOME events!

Happy Friday!