Motherhood in Bloom

With Mother’s Day on the horizon, I love to “think pink” in celebration of the most important women in our lives. Today’s color combination features Blush, Hollyhock, Vanilla Cream, and Olive, with plenty of feminine trims and dainty details in the artwork. I’ve chosen some of my favorite photos from one of my favorite families—the Wihongi clan! The added ruffles, scallops, and stitching on the layout really complete the tribute mom, in this case, my dear friend Monica.

Perhaps one of my favorite “dainty details” is the rosette on my Mother’s Day card. Follow these simple steps to make these beautiful flowers:

1. Draw a squiggly circle on paper, spiraling in until there is about a ¾” space in the center. This is the base the flower will be glued to.

2. Cut the paper along the line.

3. Wrap tightly starting from the outside towards the middle.

4. Let Layers loosen.

5. Spread Liquid Glass on the center space hold flower in place until the Liquid Glass is dry.

6. Sponge the edges as desired.

It’s best done unevenly, by hand rather than with scalloped scissors or a cutter. A most beautiful bud for your beautiful mother!

Celebrating Relationships… Around the Dinner Table

I love my work at Close To My Heart because it’s all about celebrating relationships. And I love my work at home, because celebrating relationships is also my job as a mom. This week, I gave a presentation in my women’s church group about the importance of dinnertime as family time.

I’ve learned through the years that family dinner is about more than food—it’s about each other. No matter how simple the meal, I truly believe that preparing it and eating it together shows our children how much we love them. At the dinner table, we can provide an example of prayer and gratitude for the food. We listen, communicate, and encourage each other to share what’s on our minds.

In my presentation, I shared some ideas to promote fun and communication at the dinner table—they’re surprisingly fun and easy. For example:

•Try creating a “What’s On Your Mind” jar containing a list of simple questions you can pull out and answer in turns. Choose age-appropriate questions for your family members, such as “What’s your favorite thing to do on a Saturday?” or “What is your favorite season and why?” or “What qualities do you admire most in other people?”

•Fill a “Shout Out” box with compliments during the week and read them at dinnertime. Family members can add a shout out whenever they see someone exhibiting kindness, hard work, or going the extra mile.

•Play a “Guess Who” game. Each family member writes down something personal about themselves but omits their name. During dinner, pull out slips and guess who the statement belongs to.

•Discuss everyone’s “High/Low.” Get people talking by asking what the best and worst parts of your day. “Highs” are great opportunities for praise, and “lows” are great opportunities for support.

As part of the program, several other women shared ideas to make meal time more special and easy, including some fun recipe ideas. One of my favorites was Kelly’s incredible homemade granola. She whipped up a batch in minutes right in front of us and shared the results. It was so tasty, I made some at home. You’ll want to, too—and gather the whole family to share it!

Here’s the recipe:

Kelly’s Homemade Granola

(blend the following in a Bosch or similar mixer)
7 C. rolled oats
2½ C. whole wheat flour
½ C. sesame seeds
1 C. sunflower seeds
1 C. chopped dates
1 C. raisins
1 C. flaked coconut
1 C. chopped almonds
1 C. non-fat dry milk

In a blender, liquefy the following:
1 C. oil
1 T. salt
1 C. brown sugar
½ C. honey
½ C. water
1½ t. vanilla
1½ t. maple syrup

Add to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Divide mixture between two cookie sheets. Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring 2-3 times. Mixture is still soft and moist when removed from oven. Cool. When dry and crisp, place in plastic container.

Isn’t She Lovely?

The Stevie Wonder song came to my mind again and again as my daughter Rachel prepared for her prom recently. She was so excited to be asked to the big dance… and even better, by a boy she really likes. We searched forever for the perfect dress and found one online (it came all the way from a shop in Europe). Rachel typically borrows dress money from David and pays it back with summer work. I have a feeling this particular dress will keep her working plenty of hours this summer!

Ashley helped with hair and makeup and Rachel looked positively radiant by the time her date picked her up—along with the 22 others going on this huge group excursion! They danced in the Capitol Rotunda, ate dinner in downtown Salt Lake at the Roof restaurant (one of our favorites), and simply had an overall grand time. What you may not be able to tell in these photos—but it certainly is true—is that Rachel is just as lovely on the inside as she is outside. What a fun evening!

Confessions and Contests!

Congrats to EVERYONE who posted a comment confessing a favorite embarrassing goof. I have literally laughed out loud reading them--from the slips, falls, malaprops, mistaken mothers, and missed footing, each story has provided hilarious entertainment and a singular lesson: we can turn "mishap" into "happy" when we learn to forgive ourselves and laugh. I thank you for making me laugh this week. It's been a real delight.

I want to give a special shout-out to Jennifer Perry, a Consultant whose comment really touched me. Jennifer, your comment made my fall onstage at Convention completely worth it! Knowing that there was someone in the audience that day who took courage or strength from my goof gives me great peace. I'm going to make sure that you receive a Zippidee Workshop on the Go Kit as my thanks.

And, as my thanks for EVERYONE'S wonderful stories, I've randomly drawn 10 other names to win our fabulous new "Zippidee" Workshop On The Go kit--it's a perfect way to capture the happy haps and mishaps of life! If you're one of our winners (you too, Jennifer), please send an e-mail with your contact information to me@jeanettelynton.com and I'll mail your kit off right away!

-Jennifer Perry - April 14, 2010 @ 9:35PM
-Lois Lane - April 14, 2010 @ 3:56PM
-Paperpickles - April 14, 2010 @ 6:25PM
-Kara - April 15, 2010 @ 12:30PM
-Mindy Kamholz - April 15, 2010 @ 12:53AM
-lollybgirl - April 16, 2010 @ 10:34AM
-Hanna Ahn - April 17, 2010 @ 11:08PM
-Kate Charvez - April 17, 2010 @ 8:35AM
-Laraine - April 18, 2010 @ 2:31PM
-Anonymous-Karen Parker - April 19, 2010 @ 9:33PM
-Stamp You Art Out - April 19, 2010 @ 3:31PM

A Little Birdie Told Me

In today’s post, I wanted to give all you fellow spring-lovers something to chirp about (or tweet, for you online birds!). It’s a soft homage to this beautiful season, done up in the hopeful hues of Lilac Mist, Outdoor Denim, Garden Green, and Desert Sand. This color palette isn’t the typical bouquet of color used in floral-focused projects, but it’s ideal for representing another favorite icon of spring—birds!

I love emerging from my front door in April to hear the happy tweets of birds building their nests and to see birds flying about. It’s a sure sign that winter is over, and the cards and projects today definitely carry that soft, springy sign, too! The birdhouse makes a cute gift, a fun candy holder, or an ideal centerpiece or home decoration—and YES, it could even be used as a “real” birdhouse! It was easy to make, using a My Creations Cube as the house base and two pages from the All-Sorts Album for the roof. The base/roof is simply covered in strips of scallop-edged cardstock, and I used the stamp set Noted Backgrounds (D1412) for the primary background stamping, as well as Spellbound (C1374) and Welcome Home (D1370) to finish off the look. It’s a project that’s definitely for the birds!

Miracles Never Cease

We have an amazing product design team at Close To My Heart. And they pull off some pretty incredible feats—inspiring stamp sets, breathtaking paper kits, luscious colors… but for National Scrapbooking Month, what they’ve done is nothing short of a Miracle. In fact, that’s even the name of our exclusive promo kit: “Miracle,” and it’s available starting today!

Even as we were putting together the designs for this kit, I knew it would be something special. I love plenty about it, but if I had to narrow the list to three things, here’s what it would include:

1. Flip Flaps. The kit features our fabulous Flip Flaps and shows you how to use them on your layouts for more than doubling the number of photos per layout without doubling the space. I love these dynamic interactive elements!

2. Die-cuts to die for. Scallops, brackets, borders, and frames are all the rage. The kit includes two pre-cut, easy-to-place die cuts that add fast sass and undoubted class to your pages.

3. Color wonder. Here’s the real Miracle of the kit—it works with virtually ANY color you want to highlight. Really! We created the kit in flexible hues of soft blue, green and brown, then we added our Dimensional Elements Irresistibles. These are white chipboard with an embossed design that you can ink with any color of your choice to define your color combo. Check out the photos to see what I mean: In this layout (featuring Monica’s darling daughter Ariana), Ariana is wearing a bright Sorbet shirt. Even though that isn’t one of the kit colors, by inking the chipboard elements in Sorbet, it ties the papers and embellishments beautifully to the photo.

Ta da! A true Miracle! Ink the chipboard any color prominent in your photos—from Smokey Plum to Hollyhock to Outdoor Denim—and you can experiment with the miracle of color for yourself. It’s a great way to start your National Scrapbooking Month celebrations a little early!

Goofs, and Flubs!

Have you ever made a spectacular spectacle of yourself? Ever had a moment of total embarrassment? I have, and I’ve lived to tell the tale. The other night, I was thinking about a doozy of such an embarrassing moment, which I feel brave enough to share:

Many years ago, when I had just started my business, I wasn’t only the CEO of the company—I was also a consultant. One night, I was demonstrating a brand new and exciting product, embossing powder! Because we didn’t have craft heat tools back then I usually showed how to set embossing powder on the hostess’s stove—but this particular night the stove was not the usual electric stove that I was used to working on; the stove was a gas one! I had never practiced embossing powder on a gas stove! Yup, you can guess what happened next: as the embossing powder began to melt and glaze, suddenly, the paper and powder burst into flames right there in my hand. I shrieked and burst into laughter at the craziness of it all.

The entire roomful of customers was stunned and silent, giving each other uncertain glances as I patted out the fire and tried to wave away the smoke. What can I say—I didn’t sell a whole lot of embossing powder that night. They told me they were scared of the stuff. But what might have been a mortifying moment then has become a fond and funny remembrance of the beginning of my business journey. Grateful I am that I was and am able to laugh at myself.

Something similar happened just two years ago, when my shoe slipped away from my foot as I walked onstage at our 2008 Convention—and I fell COMPLETELY ON THE FLOOR on all fours in front of hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of people! I tell you, after the shock, I had never jumped up so fast in my entire life. I could even hear on a stagehand’s earpiece, our show producer hollering unmentionables. In the wings, the entire CTMH staff had leapt to their feet, and everyone in the audience gasped. I just wiggled my shoe back onto my foot, went out on stage and made a joke, and on went the show.

These stand-out goofs have reminded me that we are ALL human. We all flub up sometimes. When we laugh about it and go forward we become better people and those who know and love us rally in support … and provide a little gentle teasing, too!
So… what’s your “wonderful whoops,” you’ll always remember? Dare to share your story (and what you learned from it!) before Tuesday, April 20, when I’ll be drawing 10 confessors—er, commenters—at random to receive the brand new Zippidee Workshop on the Go kit from our Summer Idea Book collection. It includes the Zippidee level 2 paper pack, an exclusive new coordinating stamp set, dimensional elements, and new patterns for scrapbook pages and cards. You’ll get this kit even before you can buy it, and with a name like “Zippidee” you know using the kit will be as fun as sharing your fabulous flub!

Love Your Mother (Earth)

With Earth Day coming up later this month, I decided to share an earth-friendly color combination, pulling some rich tones together from grass, soil, and sky: Garnet, Ponderosa Pine, Bamboo, and Twilight. I love the results! The cards are airy and welcoming, and our Memory Keeper box makes an ideal scrap container.

A hint for making this or other scrap-centric projects: store your paper scraps by color, rather than by kit. That way, you’ll have a great, eclectic mix of designs that are always at your fingertips and that coordinate perfectly. Believe it or not, all the Bamboo papers on this project came together from completely different paper packets, including Grace, Silhouette, Moondoggie, and Notebook. Talk about “reduce, reuse, recycle”!

To make this box, just tear your scraps at odd angles and strips, and layer them over each other, adhering as you go. Tie the torn paper together (and the whole look together) by adding inked elements like stamped titles, Dimensional Elements, or solid-color embellishments like felt. You can choose to modge-podge for a smooth finish or leave it rough hewn, like mine. This is the month to celebrate the “scrap” in scrapbooking and recycle your favorite looks into something fashionable and new!

Celebrations

Wow—this really has been the week of celebrations. I celebrated my birthday, we celebrated our employees with our appreciation breakfast, and the very next day, we held another CTMH tradition, the leadership team “birthday lunch.” Each of us has our own birthdate, but we celebrate collectively with a lunch at Cheesecake Factory.

We even sing “happy birthday to you” and use our own names in the song! It’s so much fun to relax and enjoy the conversations and the cheesecake together. The food is always delicious and gorgeous—I even snapped a few pictures of people’s selections, which were as varied as their personalities, from no-dressing salads to juicy cheeseburgers. Thanks to all Close To My Heart employees for giving me so many reasons to celebrate!

Thanks To The Best Employees Ever!

Each March, Close To My Heart holds a very special celebration that is one of my favorite activities of the year. It’s our annual employee appreciation breakfast, where our leadership team flips pancakes, fries bacon, and slices strawberries (with whipped cream, of course!), and serves everything fresh and delicious to every employee at the company. We held our breakfast last week and I was reminded of two things: 1) we have the best employees in the world. I am so happy to work with them and grateful for their loyalty, passion, and amazing talents, and 2) the smell of cooking bacon will stay in your clothes ALL DAY!

Seriously, though, it was a great morning. We had music playing, festive decorations, and plenty of food for everyone. Each employee also received a product goodie bag and a gift card as thanks for all they do, and our leadership team had a great experience being cooks and servers. As usual, David manned the grill and flipped more than 300 pancakes. And you have to admit, our leaders look great in aprons!