Convention Day 2 Recap

Wow...what another whirlwind day we had today! It's almost midnight and we have been going since eight o'clock this morning. I am exhausted but I can't go to bed without another blog post!

We started the morning with an inspirational message from Stacy Julian. It was moving and emotional, and so worth it! After lunch, we had a business class about the amazing changes coming to Studio J. The best news is that there will be no more memberships and lower prices for everyone! There are also some great new additions making digital scrapping faster, simpler, and easier. More on that later...

After the business class, my roommate and I came back to our rooms and worked on some projects we didn't get to do yesterday and today because of the business classes. Check out all of the awesome new product we got to play with!

Tonight we had our awards dinner and we were entertained by The Texas Tenors! It was a phenomenal evening and we had an amazing time. We also received an exclusive stamp set only available to those attending this dinner. See the picture below.

Below are some pictures from the day, including two projects that we finished this afternoon.

Convention Day 1 Recap

What a day! Sorry I wasn't able to post sooner, but the wireless here is unreliable at best. Add to that the fact that the is not much time to breathe during the day, and that leaves you all waiting until now when we finally are back in our rooms!

Well...as always, CTMH did not disappoint with the opening session of convention this year. There are tons of amazing new products and beautiful new stamps and paper packs. I'm going to try to give you a recap of some of the highlights from today. Of course, there are so many wonderful things in the catalog, that there's no possible way I can tell you everything. If you want to see it all, you'll have to contact me for a catalog! Here's the big news...

- New alcohol markers! (similar to Copics)
- Six new colors and a revamped color palette
- All cardstock colors are available in bulk packs again
- New pigment ink stacks
- Home decor items in the My Creations line
- New storage containers
- 13 Workshops on the Go!
- Another exclusive Cricut cartridge!

Here are a few pictures of some new product. The last page is a layout we made in our create and take session this afternoon. Come back tomorrow for more amazing information!

Ahhh...so excited!

Only have a minute here but had to tell you that my album I shared was selected for the top ten! That means it is in the running for prizes to be awarded tomorrow night. I can hardly stand it....I'm still shaking!

Convention Roomie Gift

It's a convention tradition to exchange gifts with your roommate. Crystal made me this neat card organizer using my favorite paper pack! The calendars on each page are for listing birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Each page has a pocket for storing cards until they are ready to be mailed or delivered. So cute! Thanks, Crystal!

We are getting ready to head out to our first general session. Can't wait to hear about all of the amazing things CTMH has in store for us. Check back for updates!

Convention Album Submission

As some of you already know, I decided to enter a Scrapbook Album Contest at the CTMH Convention this year. There were two requirements: the album had to center around a star theme and it had to have five two-page layouts. As soon as I heard about the theme, I knew what I wanted to do...

During my first year teaching, I was given a poem called "The Star Polisher." I've always used it as inspiration throughout my teaching career, and the poem has always been displayed in the different classrooms in which I have taught. It represents my thoughts about the students I teach in a profound and eloquent way.

Below are the photos of my album. (Please forgive the sheer volume of pictures....but I want you to see it all at once.) The layouts in which there are multiple photos, show pull-out elements or additional photos on the page. You can click on the photos to get a better look. I won't know anything about the contest results until Friday night, but no matter what happens, this is something that I will treasure forever!

My Creations Collage Cube

A while back, I made this adorable project for my step-daughter, Jessica. It uses our Stella Paper Pack and Paradise Paper Flowers. It was a lot of fun to make, and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I'm going to show pictures of all six sides, so be patient if the photos load slowly.

On another note, we are leaving for Convention in Dallas on Tuesday morning! I am so excited I can hardly wait. Check back often for lots of blog posts!

Studio J Layout #5 of 5

This is the final layout I created with my free Studio J layouts from CTMH. This one features my favorite little guy in the whole entire world!!! Liam is such a happy baby, and every minute we spend with him is pure joy!

I added a few extra flourishes on this page because I thought it needed something to set off the journaling. I just love the way the stickease complement the rest of the page. Stay tuned for more projects to be posted in the next few days.

Also...I promise that I will be posting from CTMH Convention in Dallas on a minimum of a daily basis from July 10th to July 15th. Don't be surprised if there are several posts in a day! I do this as a way to help my customers and fellow consultants hear about all of the wonderful news and new products we hear about while we are there. I hope you join me and follow my posts while I'm away! I expect to have a few more posts between now and then too, so stay tuned!

Studio J Layout #4 of 5

Here is another Studio J layout that I recently created. These pictures are from one of our trips to Animal Kingdom a few years ago. I just love going to that park and seeing all of the animals living in natural habitats.

I really enjoyed learning how to make the green ribbon effect on the top of this page. It was a bit frustrating at first, but once we got it figured it out, it wasn't so bad. The ribbon is created using cardstock and typing a series of slashes (/////) into a journaling box on top of the paper. Just another neat way to do things in Studio J! The yellow scallops on both pages are actually a series of circle stickers hidden behind the photo and cardstock. This layout was a lot of fun to put together.

Studio J Layout #3 of 5

This is the third of five layouts that I was able to create using Studio J online scrapbooking from CTMH. These pictures are old, but they are some of my favorites of Steve and I. They are from our first trip to Disney together back in 2005. The pictures are specifically from our first day in Epcot that week. It was a great day and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

I love all of the extra little additions you can put on these pages! The flourishes, the upper and lower border around the pictures, and the stars are all digital stickers. I think they add so much to the pages and they make them look so real. I hope you agree!

Studio J Layout #2 of 5

As promised, here is my second Studio J Layout that I completed with my five free layouts from CTMH. For this layout, we used an interesting technique. This paper actually features the Mischief paper packet, which is a Halloween pack. The unique thing about using Studio J as opposed to traditional paper, is that you can change the colors to meet your needs. If I hadn't told you, I'm sure you would have never known that this is Halloween paper! We also changed stickease that was a piece of wrapped candy, and with a bit of cropping and rotating, created the cupcake papers. The cherry on top of each cupcake is a brad, with a staple for the stem. So cute!!!

I originally struggled to find pictures to match this layout. I really don't have birthday pictures or pictures of little girls, and I wasn't sure what photos to use. After spending some time looking through pictures from events at school, I came across these photos from our Annual Pie in the Face contest. The students raise money for the American Cancer Society to see a teacher get a Pie in the Face. It's a great way to end our Olympic Day festivities, and the students get so excited to see this happen every year.

Once I get the printed copies of this layout, I plan to frame it and give it to this teacher as a memento from that day. The four girls in the photos with her are her nieces. They had the honor of 'delivering' the pies. What fun!

Studio J Layout #1 of 5

Two weeks from tomorrow, I have the honor of attending CTMH Convention in Dallas, Texas. I am so excited that I can hardly wait to go and spend a few days with some amazing people.

As a benefit of going to Convention, CTMH rewarded us with five free Studio J layouts! I just love being part of a company that takes such good care of it's consultants.

This is the first of five layouts I will be sharing over the next few days. These pictures were taken at Convention 2011 in Anaheim, California. This was the first layout I completed from that event, so I guess I need to get to work on that. I'm a bit behind on my scrapping...luckily, Studio J is a great way to get caught up quickly!

I just love the way the pennants add a fun element to the pages. Please click on the layout to see all of the details and journaling on the page. It's amazing what you can do with digital scrapping these days. I hope you enjoy this layout and come back to see another one tomorrow.