Sale Issues...........

For those of you out there trying to shop the discounted items on my site www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com please be patient, they are having a few issues that they are working on. Keep trying, and in the meantime take a look at the items. This way, when they have the "kinks" worked out, you will know exactly what you want to buy!

40% Off Close To My Heart Retired Items!!

40% OFF Close to My Heart Retired Items!
Starts Monday, January 26 9am Central (10am Eastern/8am Mountain)!

Every year Close to My Heart retires a selection of products. Then, at the end of January, what is left in inventory is put up for sale, and is only available on a MyCTMH website. These items are 40% off. Paper packs, embellishments, stamp sets, accessories, etc.

If you are interested in checking this out, here's what you may want to do beforehand:

1) Go to my website (www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com) and check out the retired items list. You can click on my Calendar and you'll see the Clearance Sale listed on the 26th of January and I've added the Retired List. This shows what was retired in 2008 and these items MAY be available at the sale. Make note of the products you are most interested in. There aren't pictures with the list, but you can reference past Idea Books by clicking on "Products".

2) Before Monday morning, go to www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com, click Shop Online and select Create a New Online Account. This will create a customer profile for you and will make your check-out that much quicker each time you shop online. This isn't required, but will make it easier/quicker for you on Monday morning.

3) Then, go to back to www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com on Monday morning at 9am Central (10 am Eastern/8am Mountain) and begin shopping.

Please be patient if the server is a little slow...imagine if your favorite scrapbook store announced that everything was 40% off. You'd expect it to be crowded, with a wait to check out. Also note, CTMH has made improvements in the online shopping experience...so I know you will love the great savings and the ease of shopping online!

Again, this sale is only available when you Shop Online, and the products will be shipped directly to you. Please note it is ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, so be sure to shop right away!
If you have any questions, please contact me.

Happy Shopping!
Tammy Pinchard, Independent Close to My Heart Consultant
www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com
tammypinchard@myctmh.com
(414) 640-0412

Git 'R Done..............

As you may have read in my past posts, Noreen Petty and I were scrapping buddies both before retreat began and after it ended.

Well, I STILL hadn't gotten everything done that we worked on at retreat. Here I am at the Denver, CO airport trying to pass the time during my 4 hour layover before heading back to Milwaukee, WI. Unfortunately, I was VERY limited with what I could have in my carry ons (almost lost my files that Denise gave as part of our downline gifts) so I wasn't able to accomplish much. A lady in the airport was a scrapbooker and thought it was hilarious that I was working on my pages right there!

She was kind enough to take a picture for me! There was a fellow consultant that also took pictures of Noreen & me scrapping in the business center at the hotel. She took my card and said she would email me the picture. When she does I will be making a page entitled "Git 'R Done"! I think it will be adorable! And since I am STILL working on the pages putting in pictures and the finishing touches, I may have my boys or husband take pictures of me too!

Matching Retreat Bags & T-shirts!

This is the awesome bag that we got at Album Retreat with a matching T-shirt. I was so thrilled because since I re-organized my scrapping area and hubby put up shelves for me, I have been wanting to put some vinyl words up there.

My plan was for it to read "Mom's Happy Place", so needless to say I was VERY excited to the the Album Retreat "moto". Sooner or later I will have someone take a picture of me in my t-shirt too. I always seem to be BEHIND the camera lens! LOL

A couple more retreat pages (YES, we were busy!)

This layout, "Be You" was AWESOME to make. Each of the tags you see with the Stardust Flexi Labels are journaling tags that slide in and out! I loved making this layout and look forward to getting pictures on it soon!

Then we have "Gratitude". I think this was my FAVORITE layout although it was very tedious to make. The branch in the upper left corner is a rub on, and the "leaves" are stamped hearts that were individually cut out, then placed to look like leaves on the branch. This color combination is unbelievable, and so elegant. May have to do a workshop on this one, allowing PLENTY of time of course!

I hope you all are enjoying this sharing of the album retreat arwork! I can't say enough positive things about being able to attend!

Some More Album Retreat Artwork!

This first layout is "Our Love" and it is beautiful! I love using the dimensional elements frame and sponging it with a coordinating color. These pages will be reserved for pictures of Lane and I together! It is adorable.

Next we have "Friends". As you can see, I have started to put pictures in this one. This will be dedicated to all the new friends I made at the Album Retreat. I will repost all of these pages on my website after all pictures and final embellishments are in place!

Hangin' Out With The Girls!

Yet another picture from Album Retreat. These girls were such a BLAST to be around, I can't even begin to tell you. I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to not only meet these girls in person, but to be able to spend the amount of time with them, getting to know them on more of a personal level that I did.



In the first picture we have Nichole Lewno, Noreen Petty, Denise Anderson-Turley, and I am in the back. I caught up with Noreen & Denise on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel, and we ended up rooming across the hall from each other.



Next is Alex Gaud & I. Alex also ended up on the shuttle with us, and roomed next door to Noreen & Denise (across the hall from me). So, we were the four musketeers pretty much the whole time we were there. What a fun, fun group of women! We shopped together, scrapped together, and just hung out.

If any of you are reading this, THANK YOU for a WONDERFUL time. You made my trip so much worthwhile by allowing me to spend time with each and every one of you!

Noreen, thanks for being my scrapping buddy too! I really enjoyed our one on one time together. You are an incredibly uplifting, inspiring person and yet still down to earth. I hope you know that!

I hope to see you all at Leadership, so I better get my butt busy recruiting!

Well, back to work. I have lots to catch up on at our auto repair shop having been gone three days of last work week.

Ready for more GORGEOUS artwork?

Well, here I sit at the Denver, CO airport using up three hours until my next flight, and I promised I would post more pictures. I have to tell you that through the Album Retreat we did the opening Album page, and TEN two page layouts. I was not disappointed with a single one!

I will post a few more now, but I do not yet have pictures of them all.





This was just an amazing trip. I am so happy I was able to make it, and I look forward to more. I'm off to check into the regionals information! Hope you all are enjoying the artwork!

Still Creating............

Wow, I'm almost exhausted from the fast pace, but I'm LOVING it! What a great time this has been and continues to be. I am just going to post a couple of pages we did, and then I am off to start ANOTHER day of creating! And I am telling you, if you have had any doubts about whether or not it is worth it, don't doubt! Not only is the creative part incredible, but being able to meet so many CTMH family members in person is unbelievable!

So, here is the page that Jeanette taught yesterday morning. It will be the opening page in our albums. Keep in mind, these are not completed as I have no pictures with me, and the pictures need to be put in before some of the final embellishments are put on. Enjoy!

Then there are the next two pages............

And the last two I am posting before I get some Starbucks:

Oh, and if you wish to share these, please be so kind as to refer people to my blog! I would appreciate it. After all, I'm watching the numbers and there could be some blog candy coming! Not to mention, we did three more two page layouts yesterday besides what I have posted and will be doing five more two page layouts today, so be sure to keep visiting! Off to get some coffee!

Sneak Peek!

Okay, Okay!!! (LOL, Lisa, here you are girlfriend, and by the way I have been up since 6:30 am!) I'm warning you, this is NOWHERE near done! The first picture is the front cover which will eventually read "10 Things I Love About YOU". This is a new item that will be released on our summer 2009 Idea Book, but we have not yet heard a price point on it.

It is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! This is the My Creations Mini Binder! For those of you that know the CTMH products, this is a new addition to our awesome My Creations alterable items. It is extremely cute, very durable, and will make many, many cute albums.

Nona also showed us one with the new Stardust paper packet, and it was adorable also. I am hoping to finish this project (minus pictures) at our open crop tonight. I hope you all enjoy the sneak peek. Now I'm off to get a cup of Starbucks coffee, have a light breakfast supplied by corp, and get busy doing some more creating! Our first pages are being taught my Jeanette!

See you all later!

Whew! That was a BLAST!

Okay everyone, it is about 10:25 pm here in Salt Lake City and I just returned to my room after working on our "mini album" (shhhhhh). I was hoping to post some new pictures to my blog of what we worked on, however, we tried squeezing a 4 hour project into a two hour time slot...............ummmmm, yah, NO! LOL


I can tell you that the project we started on was designed by none other than Mrs. Nona Davenport!! So, for those of you who know her artwork, it is FABULOUS! Also, the project includes a "new to be released" product in this upcoming summer Idea Book, so be sure to keep watching the blog for photos. You are going to LOVE this!


I promise to post this when it is more presentable, it just is not right now. You would totally not get the full effect! I think I may take a little time to work on it yet tonight, but then I need to get some shut eye as this is VERY fast paced and I will need all the rest I can get after all the walking and shopping we did!

We will be starting off tomorrow with pages taught by Mrs. Jeanette Lynton! I so can't wait. Oh, and I almost forgot. I have seen Monica from afar at the Convention in Florida, but today I was able to introduce myself and give her a big hug! She is so incredibly sweet! Actually, all of the corporate staff are awesome, and I'm so blessed to get to meet them in person.


See you all tomorrow!

Shopping in Salt Lake City

LOL, look @ me! I had Noreen Petty take this picture so that people could see the wonderful scenery that we are looking at here. I am just laughing at myself because see how I am leaning to one side? Well, I am KNEELING on this round cement thing next to the road, and remember that fall I took yesterday morning on my way out?? YEP, my right knee is killing me and there was NO way I was going to be able to put pressure on it for the picture. Oh well, the mountains is what I love looking at.

Had a GREAT day so far, got lots of work done this morning on my website and my accounting software, then went out shopping with the girls! All I wanted to find was some doggone ADHESIVE! LOL, remember, I brought 12 refills with me and NO dispenser. Well, the LAST thing we found was my adhesive, but we had fun all afternoon. I did manage to find some Office Depot tape runners and they were 40% off since they are going out of business. So, I got them for a steal AND my tombo refills fit in them! How cool is that? OH, and we rode the trolley to and from the mall! It was really fun, all of us girls are like a bunch of, well, little girls! LOL What fun, what fun.............

Well, I am all checked in, have my cute little name tag on, and just waiting for our mini album class to start at 7:00 pm. I'll be sure to post pictures tonight whenever I get back to my room. For now I am putting my leg up for a bit! See you all later!

Creating before THE Creating.........

After getting some dinner at Olive Garden with Denise and Noreen, Noreen and I decided we were going to take over the large square table in the business center so we could feel productive! I wanted to get some samples done of the National Paper Crafting Month Promotion package, and let me tell you, I am SO in love! These color combinations and patterns are just AWESOME.

While NONE of these creations are completed (had to limit the supplies I brought along with all the limitations and extra charges with the airlines these days) I did want to share them. The pages are from the Key To My Heart promotion for this month. If you are interested in finding out more, you can view previous posts. I made the pages from the Imagine How-To program. This layout is Serenade found on pages 36 & 37. This How-To program is SO easy to follow that I have vowed that I will start using my Cherish, Imagine, Reflections and Originals programs MUCH MORE!

The card is just something I put together because I have a customer with an upcoming birthday, and I want to get it mailed out while I am here in Salt Lake City since I will not be home in time to mail it from home.

I also had the GREAT PLEASURE of meeting Shannon Buck last night! I follow Shannon's Blog, an it was so awesome to meet her in person. She is such a positive woman and is so upbeat, that I hope I get to spend more time with her through this trip!

Well, I better get going since I need to get in some shopping. What kind of scrapbooker brings 12 refills and NO dispenser? MEEEEEEE! That's right, I'm guilty! So, I need to visit Zim's (a local craft store) in hopes of finding a Tombo dispenser or two before the intense creating begins later today!

And can you believe that while my family is back home freezing, that the boys have off of school today because of the intense wind chills? And lucky me is here in Utah where it will be around 40-45 degrees throughout the trip. I plan on walking to try to keep ahead of the eating I'm sure I will be doing. Gotta stay on that WW plan as best I can while I am away. Would love to return home to my scale to find out I lost rather than gained! Wish me luck!

Be sure to check in often as I fully intend to post throughout the trip. See you all soon! I'm off to see if Noreen is up since we will be doing our shopping together today. Be back later!

View from my room

Okay, so the construction isn't so pretty, but the mountains in the background are gorgeous. There are trolleys running around downtown, which is really neat to see. The rooms are okay, but nothing too fancy, which is fine also. Well, off to take some pictures of my creations from last night. Be back soon!

Salt Lake City, Utah HERE I AM!!

Yeah! I FINALLY made it to Salt Lake City, Utah for the Close To My Heart Album Retreat! This is the view I had after getting off of the plane and looking out the terminal at the airport. Is this BEAUTIFUL or what?!

Now, let me tell you about my adventure to get here. I almost didn't make it on this trip because one of our main technicians at our auto repair shop gave us less than two weeks notice and his last day to work for us was last week Thursday. So, Lane was not sure he and the remaining guys could handle things without me.

Well, my dear husband decided he would try to handle things so that I didn't have to lose out on the money I had paid for my flights (bless his heart!). I didn't get to pack until after 10:00 pm last night, I got to bed after midnight and of course could NOT fall asleep because I was so excited. I had to get up at 3:00 am to shower and get to the airport.

On my way out, I fell on the ice in our driveway! Yep, me and ice do NOT get along at all....but I picked myself up in pain, and went on my merry way. The thermometer on my Montero said 13 BELOW! Oh my goodness, it was cold out there!

The flight from Milwaukee, WI got a late start because they had to de-ice the plane before we headed out. Well, of course, that made me late arriving in Denver, Colorado. I got to the gate where I was suppose to catch my connecting flight (of course it was at the other end of the airport, so I limped along my way, but very quickly) and they were pulling the tarmack (sp) away from the plane. The lady informed me I had missed the flight! "Please go to the customer service desk between gates 36 & 38 (that was back the way I came from!) and they will reschedule you on a flight".

Yeah, so I was informed that I now have FOUR HOURS to burn before my new flight will even begin to board. I made use of my time by working on my website, grabbing a light bite to eat (hadn't done that yet and it was around 8:50 am), made a few new contacts with fellow travelers at the airport, and waited it out.

The flight from Denver, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah was pretty much non-eventful and when I went to claim my luggage it was sitting nicely in the airline office patiently waiting for me to arrive because it got there before I did! (much better than it getting lost at least).

I asked an airport worker how I went about getting a ride to my hotel and he said that they run free shuttles, I just needed to sit and wait for my hotel shuttle to come by. I must say, I didn't mind waiting since it was nice & sunny and probably more like 45 degrees here. That was a heatwave compared to what I left behind. After waiting for probably about 20 minutes, I called the hotel to find out how often their shuttles ran. Evidently, they don't HAVE A SHUTTLE! But, the nice lady referred me to a shuttle service, I went back inside and made shuttle arrangements. Luckily, there was one leaving right at that moment and the girl behind the desk held it up for myself and an elderly gentleman.

When I got intothe shuttle to get to the hotel, lo and behold, here is Denise Anderson-Turley and Noreen Petty! Denise is my up, up, up, upline (something like that) and Noreen is just awesome (actually they both are). I had the opportunity to meet Denise in person when I traveled to Florida this past summer for the CTMH Convention. And I was able to be in a couple of business classes run my Noreen. These ladies are SO inspirational. I am truly blessed to be in their presence. We bent the ears of the other passengers, and the elderly gentleman next to me told us to have a great time, and that by all the enthusiasm he was hearing from us, he was sure we would!

So, I am in my room waiting for a couple more consultants to get here, and then we are all walking to the Olive Garden for dinner (and boy am I hungry)! Noreen and Denise are right across the hall from me, so I am sure we will have a GREAT time while we are here!

I suggest you be sure to stay posted since I will be posting more updates throughout my stay. I will be here through Sunday morning!

Kewaskum Local Crops!

Our local scrapbooking store (The Scrap Nook) is offering a couple of all day crops! Here is the information:



When: Saturday, February 28, 2009
Where: Kewaskum Annex, just north of Hwy 45 & Hwy 28 in the center of Kewaskum
Time: 9:00 am - ???

Cost: $25.00 (Includes Lunch)

Details: Lunch will be provided. For those that wish to stay into the evening hours, we will be taking a collection for a delivery to be brought in. Beverages are on your own. ALL attendees will receive a thank you gift, including a 1-day coupon to The Scrap Nook.

There is a special prize for the first 15 to sign up.

The second crop is for:

When: Saturday, April 4, 2009
Where: Kewaskum Annex
When : 9:00 am - ???

Cost: $15.00

This is a "no frills" crop. Bring a snack/dish to share with the group. Meals and your beverages are on your own.

All attendees will receive a thank you gift, including a 1-day coupon to The Scrap Nook.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ SAVE MONEY $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Looking to save money? Pay only $10.00 for the April 4th crop when reserving your spot and paying for both at once!

You must contact Linda at The Scrap Nook to reserve and pay for your spot. (262) 477-1033

National Paper Crafting Month Promotion!

Don't forget about this AWESOME PROMOTION: Running through Jan 31st, we are celebrating National Paper Crafting Month. Check out the details:

The gorgeous new Key to My Heart Level 2 paper packet features all of our fabulous new exclusive colors: Tulip, Juniper, Sorbet, and Crème Brulee. The packet is accompanied by the attractive new E-size My Acrylix® Key to My Heart stamp set brimming with elegant, charming designs. It’s a great combo with a retail value of $47.90—and can be yours at substantial savings, or even FREE!

-Spend $130 and receive the whole package FREE!
-OR- Spend $75 and purchase the kit for just $20
-OR - Buy the kit outright for $47.90

You can also earn the kit for FREE by signing up to be a consultant
- OR - Hosting a gathering of $400 or more before January 31st (catalog gatherings okay too)

You can shop online at www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com if you choose to, or contact me to schedule a home gathering or "Idea Book" gathering!

You may also want to visit my "Training and Events" area where you can view all of the workshops I have scheduled, January is filling up fast!

Aren't these colors just GORGEOUS?! They are even more so in person, this picture does not do them justice!

Spring 2009 CTMH Idea Book Revealed!

Well, this is my first post of the new year (sorry about that, it's been hectic!), and I am teasing you all with the cover of the BRAND NEW Spring 2009 Close To My Heart Idea Book! Do you see all those wonderful products and the coordinating papers! Gosh, I just LOVE our products.

I had my Idea Book Revealing party on Saturday, January 3rd, and it went well! The ladies that were there have fun playing the left/right game and getting door prizes. All in all, I had a great time and I believe the ladies did too!

Now, I have LOTS of workshops coming up, and January has ONLY 1 workshop left open, so if you are interested, be sure to visit my NEW and UPDATED website at http://www.tammypinchard.myctmh.com/ ! I absolutely love all the updates, the calendar is so much easier to read!

You can now even create your own secure account to shop online! How cool is that! After all, my website is available for shopping 24/7! You can save things in your cart if you wish to, as well as many other updates. Be sure to check the new site out.

One thing..........if you had my site bookmarked in your browser, you will have to manually enter it one more time and the resave it as the computer mumble jumble to get you there has changed! LOL (Real technical talk there, hey?)

Well, you can either contact me to view the inside pages of the new Idea Book, OR you can view it online. Seriously, check out how Close To My Heart makes Scrapbooking, Stamping, Cardmaking AND Paper Crafting "Faster, Simpler, Easier" with all the awesome coordinating base pages, paper packets and embellishments! Did I already say I LOVE our products?