Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Organizing with Evernote

I love to use Evernote to organize all sorts of things!  I have all of my Close To My Heart stamps organized in this awesome free tool.  I've also started organizing my sewing patterns and I can't wait to finish that project - no more buying the same pattern two (or three) times!  I can also keep notes and pictures of projects I've made using each item.  

I put together a quick little tutorial covering the basics of Evernote and how I put my stamps in it.  I also give you a sneak peek of my sewing pattern organization that is just in the beginning stages.  I hope it helps you and if you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer.


Monday, April 4, 2016

How I Organize My Stamps

Hi!  I've had some questions about how I organize all my stamp sets.  I have a very small space for all my non-sewing crafting and I share the space with my husband so keeping things contained is a must.  The Close To My Heart stamps (which are the majority of my collection) come in a very sturdy plastic envelope that is closed with a snap on the back.  I discard the care card and stamping cushion that come in the envelope and then remove the snap.  I created a video to show you how I do that:


I then store all my stamps in a CTMH Large Organizer (well...I have quite the stamp addiction so I have two organizers) numerically.  I keep an Evernote database of all my stamps by keywords so all I have to do is search for a certain image and Evernote will tell me where to find it.  I've been keeping my stamps like this for over a year and it's working great!

If you have any questions about my process or supplies used, just leave me a comment.  You can purchase the large organizer on my website - link on the sidebar.

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Want a Huge Discount on CTMH?

When I signed up as a consultant with Close To My Heart two years ago it was as a hobbyist.  I love CTMH products and between my personal crafting and making cards for various charities I knew I could easily spend the $300 ($234 after my consultant discount) every three months to keep my consultant status.  And...I was right!  I have no problem spending that amount on the staples I use all the time (cardstock, card bases, envelopes, ink, etc.).  In addition I earn awesome extra rewards called Select Product Credit (SPC) that I can use on anything that you can use hostess rewards to purchase.  Speaking of hostess rewards...I usually save up my quarterly purchases and create a "gathering" with myself as the hostess.  That usually nets me another $40 in free stuff and I can also purchase one item at 50% off.  All told I end up with $345 in product for $234 plus I get 50% off another item -  I usually use that on one of the big ticket items like the Cricut cartridges or a new album.  As a consultant I can also order items one month before they show up in the catalogs and I can purchase the Stamps of The Month at least a couple months in advance which is great because that means I don't have to place a $50 order every month to get those stamps and can instead place one big order so I get the hostess rewards and a larger SPC.

Why am I telling you all these secrets?!?  Well...CTMH has a new consultant kit that just came out yesterday with some really neat features.  This is a much better deal than when I signed up two years ago!  The kit costs $75 and you get all the items shown below plus $50 in SPC credit to spend!

  • Medium Organizer (Z4139, qty 1)
  • My Acrylix® Block 2" × 6½" (Y1010, qty 1)
  • My Acrylix® Block 1” × 3½" (Y1002, qty 1)
  • My Acrylix® Block 2" × 2" (Y1003, qty 1)
  • Non-Stick Microtip Scissors (Z1836, qty 1)
  • My Acrylix® Stamp Scrubber (Z1782, qty 1)
  • My Acrylix® Spritz Cleaner (1778, qty 1)
  • Bonding Memories™ Glue (1512, qty 1)
  • 3-D Foam Tape (Z1151, qty 1)
  • Sponge (Z697, qty 1)
  • Customer Order Forms (W101, qty 1 pack of 25)
  • Annual Inspirations Idea Book (WC1161, qty 5)
  • Seasonal Expressions 2 (WCS1163, qty 5)
  • Cardstock Sampler (W1136, qty 1)
  • Paper Fundamentals Sampler (W1137, qty 1)
  • Annual Inspirations B&T Duos™ Sampler (W1138, qty 1)
  • Seasonal Expressions 2 B&T Duos™ Sampler (W1144, qty 1)
  • Artful Textiles—Petite Perks Incentive Stamp Set (W2034, qty 3)
  • Gathering Invitations (W1129, qty 1 pack of 25)
  • Desk Pad (W1140, qty 1 pack of 50)
I'm really loving the $50 SPC so you can buy what you want rather than getting paper or stamps in your kit that you don't want.  I have to admit that I am still trying to use the paper that came in my consultant kit because it just wasn't my favorite and I think there is one stamp set that came in my kit that I never used.  I would have much rather been able to pick and choose what I wanted.

Another great thing if you sign up in April is if you submit $350 in sales during your first 30 days* you get your choice of either a free Cricut cartridge or an additional $100 in SPC!!  *The 30-day period begins five days after the New Consultant Kit has been shipped. Offer valid April 1, 2016 (9:00 am MDT) – April 30, 2016 (11:59 pm MDT). 

Some other good things to know:

*At $250 in sales you earn 3 FREE exclusive stamp sets not available to order - this is available for new consultants that join any time of the year.
*Shipping is charged on free items, and shipping/tax is added to the kit cost. 
If this interests you, just contact me at the link on the sidebar and I'll give you more information.  I am a hobbyist so you will not get any pressure from me to sell anything.  If you just want to sign up to get the awesome kit and $50 in SPC and then never do anything further as a consultant, I am fine with that.  However, if you want to run this as a business, I can certainly get you networked with some awesome women who are doing awesome things!  You can earn all expense paid vacations for two (this year was a Caribbean cruise and last year they went to Hawaii!), exciting awards, and do it all while making good money and having fun!