2010 List of Retiring Product

There are lots of great products retiring at the end of the year. Contact me today to host a gathering or visit my website to place an order (http://mariawoodworth.myctmh.com/). Here is a link to the list of the products that will be retiring at the end of the year. You will need to hit the blue box and download the file. A membership to this site is not required. http://www.4shared.com/document/zLMSkkBD/RetiredList2011.html

On-Line Stamp Set Sale

I have noticed that I have a bit of a hoarding issue when it comes to my paper and stamp sets. So, help me out!!

I have decided to post the stamp sets that I have for sale here. If you see one that you want, just let me know (email me - maria_woodworth@yahoo.com). I can take paypal, check, cash or credit card :) You can find the pictures, stamp set names and prices in the slideshow. I will be shipping them to you (unless you are able to pick them up). Shipping costs are as follows: $1.50 for 1st set, .75 for each additional set. OR buy 10+ and I will pay to have them shipped.

http://s250.photobucket.com/albums/gg247/maria_woodworth/Stamp%20Set%20Sale/?albumview=slideshow

More to Come August 2nd!!

I haven't been blogging the past week, because I have been busy creating!! I am working on the Mini-Convention that I will be hosting at my house this week for My Close to My Heart Club members. This is a club member ONLY event! Just another great reason to join the club!

After convention, I came back refreshed, excited and ready to share all the new projects, techniques and ideas that I gained! So, the idea of the mini convention was born. I will be sharing Art Boards, a post convention wrap up presentation, what's trendy workshop, a game with FABULOUS prizes and a new product sneek peek!!!

After the mini-convention on Sunday, I will be posting pics to my blog of various items I share with these lovely ladies. So, you will want to check back. There will be technique tutorials, artwork, and fall/winter product sneek peeks. Ok.. enough chit chat, I gotta get back to work. See you in a few days!!

Just Blooms Wire Bouquet

While at Convention, I attended something called extravaganza. It was 8 mini classes that lasted 30 minutes each. During one of the classes, I met an amazing papercraft artist... Tracey Mason. I learned so much from her in that 30 minutes. One of my favorite things that I took away from the class was how to create wire flowers from the Just Blooms flowers Close to My Heart sells.

This past Saturday, I went to project day at the church. This gave me a kid free zone to recreate from memory Tracey's Mason Jar of flowers. It took me about 30 minutes to complete this project. I can't take the creative credit for this because it is completely scraplifted. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it :) Have a great Monday!

My 5 Goals after the 2010 Close to My Heart Convention

Wow!! One word can't really begin to capture how much fun and creative genius that I was exposed to at the Close to My Heart Convention this year!

The theme this year was "Picture This". For me, this really hit home. While at convention, I began to look at my artwork, pictures and business in a whole new light. I decided that I had to come home and change a few things. I am giving myself 5 goals to shoot for this upcoming year.

So, first things first... I am resolving to keep up this blog. I will be adding artwork, family stories, papercrafting techniques and many other ramblings along the way. I think this will be a great way for you to get to know me a little better, and for me to share things that I learn along the way. I hope you are able to find some inspiration and motivation when you visit this blog.

Next, I have resolved to stay current with papercrafting trends. NOW in my defense, let me say, I try to stay pretty current with learning new techniques. However, I realized that there were sooo many things that I could add to my artwork that are current and fresh.... banners, paper ribbon folds and paper flowers just to name a few. This is a picture of a card that was on display at convention. It was created by Tracey Mason. Isn't it FABULOUS!! She is an amazing artist. Ohhh... what I would give to have a dropper full of her creativity.

The third thing that I will be doing now that I am home from convention is to take advantage of all of the training academy classes that Close to My Heart has to offer. I will be working through a Bachelors, Masters and eventually PHD in papercrafting. Now, I just hope that my kids get the memo and allow me a little time to do this :)

Fourth goal is to produce more!! I have all of these ideas swirling in my head. However, I need to get the picture to the page, card, altered item, etc. So, I will be working to catch up on more pages, cards, etc. I am looking to Studio J to help me with this. When Close to My Heart first introduced digital scrapbooking, I thought, NAH! Not for me. However, I must tell you. I think they have brought me to the dark side a little. Don't, don't move, don't cover your ears... listen to me. I am still a classic scrapbooker at heart and always will be. I love the feel of the paper and stamps in my hands. I like the smell of the My Acrylix stamps and getting inky! However, let's be honest... how many of us could stand to get caught up a little more? AM I right? OF COURSE! So, I will be using Studio J to help me catch up on all of those layouts that I can't seem to get to while I am busy classically scrapbooking the others!

The final thing that I will be doing is investing more time and effort into my business. I am looking to do more craft shows, kits of the month specials, fun technique workshops, etc. I am just sooo excited about all of the things that I learned at Convention, and I am ready to share the WOW! factor with someone else. I want you to learn all of the great things that I learned during my time in DC!! So, I hope you stop back by again. I promise, there will be sooo much more to see!