It’s almost Thanksgiving!

Our Second Saturday Scrappers had such a good time making Thanksgiving cards last year that we’re going to do it again!  Saturday, October 10, we will have a card workshop featuring the Fallen Leaves card from Close To My Heart’s Annual Inspirations 2015-2016 Idea Book.  Come make 10 cards (5 each of two designs) to let your family and friends know how special they are.

The Fallen Leaves card is in Desert Sand, Fern, and Saffron inks on Glacier paper…perfect for crisp Thanksgiving weather!

The basic kit is $13.50, and includes enough supplies to make 10 cards using my ink and stamps.  5 sheets Desert Sand card stock, 5 sheets White Daisy card stock, 1 sheet Glacier card stock, 1 sheet Fern card stock, Fern Thick Twine, and 10 White Daisy Envelopes.

The enhanced kit is $27.50, and adds the Fallen Leaves and Always Grateful MyAcrylix Stamp Sets to the Basic Kit.

Fallen Leaves MyAcrylix Stamp Set

Always Grateful MyAcrylix Stamp Set

The deluxe kit is $48.00, and adds the Fern, Saffron, and Slate Exclusive Inks.  You won’t need to borrow anything, and you will add to your stamping supplies!

To save your spot in the workshop, RSVP by September 30 via FaceBook at PhotofunwithFawn or by email to fcarriker@gmail.com.  Kits must be ordered in advance…I will contact you for payment with credit/debit card or PayPal when I receive your RSVP.

For Second Saturday Scrap details (location, times, etc.) head over here.

Craft challenged

I am totally “craft challenged”.  Even though I still do fairly “naked” scrapbook pages, I am still the slowest dancer at the party.  If I were being paid by the hour for my crafting, I would most likely starve.  But I craft anyway, and I like to think I am getting better!

I am the proud owner of a Cricut Expressions2 that I have had for at least five years and have plugged in twice.  I have every intention of learning to use it, and haul it with me on a regular basis when I scrapbook.  Perhaps I will actually use it this weekend at our School of Rock Retreat.

All that being said, I yearn for a dedicated papercrafting/scrapbooking space.  I buy every issue of “Where Women Create” when it hits the news stand, and pore over the beautiful photos of studios and “open concept” rooms, lusting after stacks and stacks of coordinated boxes, bins, and shelves of products.

Right now my newly-created crafting space is a 2’X3′ folding table smack dab in the middle of my bedroom.  By turning my body slightly to the left I can move from my computer to the table without leaving my chair. And two steps farther puts me in bed.

The beauty of this space is that I am actually using it for creating.  I’m hard at work making treat boxes/place cards for this weekend’s retreat, times 24.  Then will come cutting and preparing kits for my card-making workshop.  And then pricing product to take for sale.  This small space will be a hubbub of activity this week.

The point of this is to say, “Don’t be discouraged if you have a tiny space, or even a kitchen table you must borrow and clean off daily.”  There is room in your life for crafting if you want to do it.  So craft away, and dream of an airy, sun filled workspace “someday”.

My tiny crafting space…yes, the blob of pink is my bedspread…right next to the work table.

You’re crafty!

Just in case you thought Close To My Heart products were only used for scrapbooking!

triggershorse

There comes that moment when your boss looks at you and says, “You’re crafty!” and you know you should probably run away, but that is not an option.  Then you are handed a to-go bucket for soup and asked to decorate it to hold the tickets in a contest.  Of course, being a good employee, and at least a moderately crafty person, you rise to the challenge and take said bucket home with you.

Then you sit and think.  You get out your scrapbooking supplies and tools, dragging them all over the  kitchen table.  Then you do anything BUT decorate the bucket for the next 36 hours or so.

Finally you are out of time.  You have two hours to deliver said bucket, pleasantly decorated, so you have to stop thinking and DO SOMETHING!

The initial plan was for the bucket to be covered with wine-colored card stock, which I…

View original post 207 more words

Make it From Your Heart…Day #4

Thanks to amazingly spotty internet service at the Disneyland Hotel, even getting online has been well nigh impossible, so blogging just hasn’t happened.  This week has been absolutely amazing, and once I get home to reliable service I will be posting pictures, as promised.

This morning was our 5K run to benefit Operation Smile…and I must say it was definitely easier this year than last, thanks in part, I’m sure, to me being twenty pounds lighter than last year.  I had great walking partners, too, which made it lots of fun.  And the Disneyland and California Adventure employees who lined our route and cheered us on were delightful!  I find it amazing that it is 8:15 in the morning and I have already walked three and a half miles, changed clothes, and had breakfast…with Extravaganza awaiting at 9:00 a.m.!

This is our last official Convention day, and tomorrow I will explore California Adventure for the first time.  Monday will be spent on the train going home.  The seven hour plus trip will give me plenty of “quiet time” to review my notes from this week and design a game-plan for the upcoming year.

More later.

Convention, here I come!

I will be cross-posting things all week from the Close To My Heart Convention 2015 in Anaheim…stay tuned for further adventures!

triggershorse

This is Day #1 of my 2015 Close To My Heart adventure.  My bags are packed and ready to go (but not by jet plane).  After work this afternoon I’ll be off to the Coast for an overnight stay with my dad and brother, and tomorrow’s meeting with the Cuesta Doll ladies.

And then the fun really begins…my first trip by train alone, cruising along the ocean through Santa Barbara via the Pacific Surfliner, ending up in Anaheim — a mere 1.5 miles from Disneyland!

I will be posting pictures and updates from the Disneyland Hotel and the surrounding territory all week, and of our 5K run/walk on Saturday benefiting Operation Smile.

Last year was such an amazing adventure, an “Artistic Adventure”.  This year’s theme is “Make it From Your Heart”, which is how our founder, Jeannette Lynton, ends all her correspondence to us.

See you later.

View original post

Second Saturday in June

It is Second Saturday Scrapping time again this weekend.  We will be changing our start time a bit because of my work schedule, but I will be there by 10:30 a.m., and we can stay as late as we want because I won’t be working Saturday night.  Please come join us at The Little House (939 South Chinowth Street, Visalia, CA).  Bring your current project or pictures that need sorting…I will have the June Stamp of the Month to show and a limited amount of papers, inks, etc. for sale.

This adorable card was made from the June Stamp of the Month, “Ice Cream Dream”.

The Stamp of the Month can be yours for $5.00 with a $50 purchase in the month of June (a $17.95 retail value).

Another fun idea for “Ice Cream Dreams”…this 12 X 12 scrapbook layout.

To see our entire line of beautiful Close To My Heart products, visit my online business address.

School of Rock Scrapbooking Retreat

The Roxybonds Scrappers Present:
A Weekend Scrapbooking Retreat
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
August 28-­‐30, 2015
Check in: Friday, 4:00 pm
Room Checkout: Sunday, 9:00 am
Scrapbook Check out: 2:00 pm
ECCO (Evergreen Conference Center)
in Oakhurst, CA

You are invited to join us for a fabulous weekend away where you can scrapbook all
you want! Just think about how many projects you could get done without any of the
interruptions of home life. Spend the weekend with great friends! The weekend
includes:
2 nights lodging (2 people per room)
5 meals (Friday Dinner through Sunday Breakfast)
6 ft. scrapbooking table space
Round the clock scrapping time
Goodie bag, table gifts, Make & Take project & prizes!
All for only $220!!
*Close To My Heart store with supplies, scrapbook kits & card kits on site.
*Classes offered for an additional cost. Details announced by August 1st.
Registration opens May 20th, space is limited and will fill fast.
Save your space by sending in your registration form and $50 non-­‐refundable
deposit ASAP. Balance is due no later than August 10, 2015.
Spaces will be filled in the order that registrations are received.

*****************************************************

The Roxybonds Scrappers Present:
A Weekend Scrapbooking Retreat
Friday, Saturday & Sunday, August 28 – 30, 2015

Registration info:
Minimum $50 deposit due with Registration, balance ($170) due no later than August 10, 2015
OR pay in full now $220. Pay in full by June 15-­ get a BONUS GIFT

Name:_____________________________________________________________
Email:_____________________________________________________________
Phone:____________________________________________________________
Roommate
Preference:__________________________________________
Tablemate
Preference:__________________________________________
*Print this form and return to:
Jen Patrick
1603 E. Cromwell Ave
Fresno, CA 93720
*Payment: check made out to Jen Patrick OR via paypal to roxybonds@gmail.com
Questions??
Contact Jen Patrick-­‐ 559-­‐824-­‐4838 or
Fawn Carriker–559-786-5068

*or email Fawn at fcarriker@gmail.com and I will email you a registration form.

National Scrapbook Month

We skipped our Second Saturday Scrap this month because I had a major scheduling conflict, but I can’t bear to miss out on National Scrapbook Month scrapbooking with my friends. So we have scheduled a special scrapping time for this coming Saturday, May 16, from 9:00 – 3:30 at The Little House (our usual location, 939 N. Chinowth Street, Visalia CA). Bring whatever spring projects you need to work on, along with a snack to share if you can. We will have a low-key day, and enjoy the pleasure of each others’ company. RSVP by commenting here or calling me at 559-786-5068.

To sweeten the pot a little, Close To My Heart is offering two wonderful specials for May…the Taste of Summer paper pack ($8.95) and the special D-sized Stamp Set for National Scrapbook Month ($17.95). You can find both, as well as inspiration for your summer projects, at my Online Business Address.

Celebrate National Scrapbook Month with these Taste of Summer papers for $8.95

Taste of Summer Stamp Set for $17.95.

#ctmhmakingconnections

Yesterday’s Making Connections event in Sacramento was truly wonderful! There is something so charming about being part of a team that expands a corporate training event to include a daytime “play date”. I love the total rush that comes from spending quality time with authentic, caring women. They truly are Close To MY Heart!

On our way from our play date to dinner…the best is yet to come!

Monica Wihongi, Vice President of Marketing, was our speaker for the evening, and inspired us with her enthusiasm, wisdom, and joy. She shared insights and tidbits from Shawn Achor’s books, The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness, as well as stories about her journey as a wife, mother of 7 children and two new furbabies, and her life with Close To My Heart.

The thing I love most about Monica is her accessibility. She doesn’t just go through the motions with “meet and greets”; she gets in close with the selfie camera and makes friends. She reminded us about Close To My Heart’s Motto:

[At Close To My Heart] We show you how to celebrate relationships through discovering your creativity to preserve and share the memories that matter most.

Monica Wihongi is an absolute powerhouse!

I really needed the boost that this Saturday supplied…I have missed blogging here, and am ready to get back on a regular schedule.

Happy Sunday – Fawn

T is for “travel”

Since I talked about my Close To My Heart business, it seemed logical to reblog this post here at Photo Fun With Fawn.

triggershorse

According to Dictionary.com, “travel” means “to go from one place to another, as by car, train, plane, or ship; take a trip; journey”.

One of the benefits of my Close To My Heart business is that I get to travel to see my customers, to attend corporate trainings, to get away to scrapbooking retreats, and (best of all so far) to the annual Close To My Heart Convention.

Last weekend my up-line Jen and I traveled to Three Rivers to explore the site for our Winter Wonderland Retreat, to be held next January. Next weekend we are headed to Sacramento for an all-day scrapbooking play date with many of our colleagues, and then a Corporate-sponsored Making Connections event that night. There are four of us going together, which will be great fun — and there is sure to be someone who can keep Jen awake on the drive home at…

View original post 122 more words