A retreat to remember

Kristine here, with a deep thought: I've never understood the word "retreat," as is "Album Retreat." To me, the word has often meant to fall back, but every time I've attended a Close To My Heart Album Retreat, it feels like a giant step FORWARD. That's because when we retreat, we make great progress—creatively, and in our friendships, and yes, even in our purpose and goals for our future. Honestly!

Last weekend, the Close To My Heart Album Retreat brought together 200 friends to Salt Lake who immersed themselves in creative education, fabulous camaraderie, late-night adventures, soul-searching insights with presenter Stacy Julian, terrific food, and an all-around good time. And we all completed a gorgeous Artbooking-centric scrapbook album and mini-book to boot.

Here are a few photos from the event, from the ballroom full of happy scrappers, to the corporate staff, to the beautiful mini-album made by Tamra Pope that garnered first-place in our contest. It was such an extraordinary labor of love—right down to the cemetery and spooky tree—that we thought everyone might like to have a closer look at this terrific craftsmanship.

And while we don't have another Album Retreat in the upcoming schedule, there are SO many ways to "rediscover" your creative passion with Close To My Heart—the Holiday Gift Guide is in full swing, National Papercrafting Month is just around the corner in January, and of course, there's a brand new Idea Book coming in February. Lots of reasons to "retreat" into your craft room or with friends and make great progress on what brings you joy!

Wonderful Waffles for Wonderful Workers!

Every year, we celebrate our employees' amazing efforts and service with an appreciation breakfast. This year, we decided to try something a little different from our traditional pancake breakfast—we did batter one better!

 

We had a local craze, Waffle Love, provide their signature food truck and incredible liege waffles to all. What a delicious feast! There was fruit and cream piled high atop chocolate or toffee spreads and the most addicting, sinful crispy waffles you've ever tasted. A side note: to call these mere "waffles" is an understatement. They aren't even made from batter, but from DOUGH and bedazzled in sugar. Breakfast will never be the same again and neither will we!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, thank you, to the Close To My Heart employees who work so hard every single day to make this company singular and great. I am truly grateful for each of you and your willingness to share your unique talents with us. I hope you enjoyed every bite (and readers, I hope you enjoy every photo of them enjoying every bite. Delectable!)

Album Retreat: Scrapbooking Spring Fling

KRISTINE
Album Retreat was a blast! We each created an amazing album, listened to Stacy Julian (she is such a fantastic presenter!), and had fun with friends too. Plus, there were a few exciting announcements made that are going to knock your socks off!

The album was themed “All Things Close To My Heart” and included layouts about the important people, places, music, sights, and objects in each of our lives. The layouts that were created are absolutely stunning!

 

 

 

One of the best things about Album Retreat is that you get to meet up with friends. It’s not only a crafter’s heaven, but we got to rekindle old friendships and make new ones too.

The highlight of the retreat was Stacy Julian’s presentation. Her insights on creativity were so inspiring! I learned that creativity can be found in a variety of different activities, from an organized pantry to a papercrafting project.

And now time for the big announcements! Two exciting announcements were made at the retreat.  First—Close To My Heart will be holding a fall 2013 Album Retreat! If you missed the amazing experiences of this spring Album Retreat, you still have the opportunity to attend this new fall Album Retreat. It will be held in Salt Lake City and will focus on a ground-breaking new product line that will be unveiled at Convention. This Album Retreat isn’t just for creative enthusiasts either; it’s for business-builders too! This Album Retreat will focus on business education and sales knowledge as well as creating a beautifully designed album. It will be a pinnacle of innovative artwork and on-trend techniques in a fusion of business, product, and creativity. You won’t want to miss it!

The second announcement is that three Consultants will get the chance to win registration, airfare, and hotel accommodation for the fall Album Retreat! Winners will be chosen using the following criteria:

Winner 1: Top recruiter May 1-31.

Winner 2: Most "Dream Pop" paper packs ordered May 1-31 (combined total of customer orders, hostesses rewarded, and new Consultants enrolled).
Winner 3: Drawn randomly from all active Consultants with sales of $2,000 or higher from May 1-31.

Album Retreat attendees got a “sneak peak” of the Dream Pop paper packet in celebration of National Scrapbooking month and they “ooo’d” and “ahh’d” over the flavorful colors of the B&T papers and glossy-patterned cardstocks. Selling the most Dream Pop paper packets is one way that you can win the free trip to Album Retreat!

I hope you are excited about these thrilling announcements—I know I am! Spring Album Retreat was a huge hit and I can’t wait for fall Album Retreat. Thanks to all of the wonderful Consultants for making these events such a treat!

Take Me Home To The Place I Belong

John Denver definitely had it right: West Virginia feels like home (thanks to Consultant Christine Adams and her amazing Hearts in the Hills Team)! Traveler Kristine here, checking in again after a terrific weekend in wonderful, wild West Virginia. Christine was another winner of our "Win A Workshop" contest and I just about squealed with glee when I pulled her name from the stetson onstage at Convention.

Christine is not only an incredibly talented artist, she is an energetic leader, a pretty amazing marketing strategist, and a class act through and through. She has a sanctuary of a craft room I got to visit and it is no wonder her team members and customers alike love working with her. (Hall of fame-level artwork! Here a a few shots from her studio)

I couldn't wait to spend a weekend in Christine's home town of Cross Lanes, West Virginia, and share a great daylong workshop with her team members—many of whom had traveled long and sacrificed much to join us. Thank you to each and every one of you!

Friday afternoon, we set up and decorated the venue and got the projects ready. Here's a photo of Tina posing with all the great products each guest received for creating—more than $100 in stamp sets, ribbons and trim, and beautiful new embellishments and accessories. After setup, we strolled an outdoor marketplace bursting with a perfect country harvest: pumpkins, apples, tomatoes and more. Christine led me to a stand where we harvested a box of handcrafted chocolates. A very yummy crop indeed!

Friday night held a fun meet-and-greet session with team members where we talked product suggestions, who's caught up with scrapbooking, and Jeanette's vision for the future of this great company. Everyone made me feel so welcome, we just chatted and laughed until bedtime.

Then on Saturday—the big day—we converged on a great church activities center where we had music, food, darling décor, wonderful projects, and of course, lots of new friendships. I felt so humbled and appreciative to meet these wonderful ladies. I dare not try to name them all for fear of missing someone, but you made me LAUGH all day. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. (I especially loved it when a few of you broke out in the chicken dance!)

We had giveaways galore and they treated me just like I was at home. I even have the West Virginia Moutaineers t-shirt to prove it (thank you, Nicole!). Honestly, the generosity of spirit just blew me away and once again reminded me why Close To My Heart Consultants are the finest folks on earth.

Christine also organized an Operation Smile fundraiser, with beautiful artwork donated by several different top artists around the country. She held bidding at her blog before the event, and attendees got a last chance at getting a winning bid. Thanks to everyone's generosity we raised over the amount needed for one child to receive life-changing facial surgery. Woo-hoo!

And for those of you curious about the projects each person received and completed at our workshops thus far, I snapped a few pics: we finished four two-page layouts, 6 darling cards with lots of Cricut Artiste cartridge extras, and 2 Cricut gift boxes.

Although Christine was always busy making sure everyone else was having a great time, she did manage to heed my commands occasionally to "Sit! Create!" and I think she even finished a few goodies.

I was there to provide her the royal treatment, but as usual, she made me feel like a queen—right down to the thank you card with the bling on it. The crowning point of a wonderful day. Hugs to the great ladies of West Virginia…country roads, take me home!