Stepping Up Your Stamping

Discover new ways to use the stamps set included in the Workshops on the Go^® La Belle Vie, Dakota, and Moonlight kits.

 

5 Tips For Getting Better Photos

By Kim Jepperson

Get closer, closer, closer! Step in closer to get the shot, rather than stepping back.  Fill the entire frame with your subject.  If you have a zoom, zoom in all the way. Avoid unimportant background clutter. A vertical shot will do this best.

Pay attention to lighting. Watch the direction of light on your scene.  Bright sunlight tends to make people squint, and can cast dark shadows on your subjects.  Bright, overcast days are the best lighting conditions for pictures as is right after sunrise and right before sunset.  Also, play with your flash.  Turn it on outside to eliminate shadows in snow and shade.  Turn it off inside and place your subject next to a window for natural lighting.  Best times of day for photos:  Early morning and early evening.  Best time of year for photos: Spring and Fall.  Best makeshift photography studio: The GARAGE!

Remember the rule of thirds. Dead center can be boring.  Move your object to the “thirds rule.”  When looking through the frame, is it in the thirds section?  If you had a graph in front of  you, it would have to lines horizontally and two lines vertically, spaced out evenly.  Now, you would be able to see your thirds, rather than a dead center photo.

*Angle means everything: Shoot from above to make people look young, innocent, vulnerable. Shoot from below to make people look powerful and strong.

Enlarge and crop those special photos to get a desired effect. Don’t expect every shot to be a sure shot. Even pros take an entire roll of film to get one great shot. Take lots of photos horizontally as well as vertically.

Remember the details! Rather than always posing people, engage them in a natural activity to take their eyes off you and the camera. Have them cuddle or hug. Whispering a secret is especially effective for little girls! Make them laugh. Give them food! Give them something to look at. Take pictures of different expressions and moods. One of my favorite photos is of my two year old picking his nose! Get hands and feet, body parts, shoes, etc. (remember this for vacation photos.)

Operation Smile®

Learn more about Operation Smile^®

www.operationsmile.org

Close To My Heart is partnered with Operation Smile^®, an organization that provides free, life-changing surgery that repairs smiles and reshapes lives, one child at a time. Since 2008, Close To My Heart has provided support to change the lives of over 1,500 children and their families. Buy with pride. Your business with Close To My Heart makes a big difference in the life of a child.

 

Ming, 6 years old

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

By chance, Ming’s mother found an Operation Smile^® flyer advertising the November 2007 mission in Cambodia. Ming and his grandmother traveled five hours in an overcrowded taxi from Odong Mein Chey province to the Khmer-Soviet Hospital in Phnom Penh to be considered for surgery. Before his operation, Ming didn’t want to go to school because the neighborhood children were scared of him and would not let him play with them. Now that his mouth and nose are corrected, Ming looks forward to school. With these amazing results, he is now a lively and confident kid.

Close To My Heart donates a portion of every stamp sale to this cause.  You can also help by either donating a set amount with each order or rounding up your purchase to the next dollar.  Every little bit helps.

This year at Convention, over $17,000 was raised in donations and 2 auctions.  That was from about 1,200  consultants.  I urge you to put a smile on the face of a child.

Say Goodbye To These Colors

Every couple of years or so, Close To My Heart cleans its closets and retires, revamps colors.  This is that year.  Here is a list of colors that will not be available after July 31 so if any of them are your "must haves", grab them up before they are no longer available.

Grey Wool                      Grey Flannel                Vanilla Cream          Parchment
Brown Bag                      Baby Pink                      Taffy                           Sunkist Yellow
Key Lime                        Heavenly Blue              Lilac Mist                  Amethyst
Holiday Red                  Sunflower                      Sunny Yellow           Dutch Blue     
Moonstruck                   Vineyard Berry           Tulip                           Garden Green
Juniper                            Spring Iris                    Petal                             Garnet
Pansy Purple

Additionally, all paper packs WITH THE EXCEPTION OF Victory, Stella, Pemberly and Florentine are being retired and will not be available after July 31.  

The revamping of colors is actually a good thing.  Close To My Heart will have a core 40 color base plus White Daisy and Colonial White.   Each of the new paper packs will contain colors that are exclusive to the pack and only available by purchasing the respective paper pack.  Once the next Idea Book debuts, the exclusive papers within those packs goes away as well.  This is a way to keep the core colors that everyone loves and keeps in their arsenal and introduce new colors with each Idea Book.  It is the best of both worlds.

So take a look at your stash and if any of these colors are your favorites,  email me to get them before they are gone.

Have a wonderful day!

My Adventure At Convention

First of all, anyone who says scrapbookers are boring has never been to a Close To My Heart Convention.  Let me tell you! Cropping, dancing, more cropping. I got home Monday morning and promptly slept for 5 HOURS!  Those Ladies can party!

I hope that you are all EXCITED about the upcoming Fall/Winter Idea Book.  There are some fabulous new products coming out.  And, yes, there is a new Cricut Cartridge Bundle coming out.  How exciting is that?!  I'm not going to tell you much about it because I'll be debuting it at my upcoming workshop.  To see the cartridge first-hand, sign up for my workshop.  I have 4 spots left for the July 28/August 4 workshop and 1 spot left for the August 25/September 1 workshop.  So hurry and sign up.  Be one of the first in the Four Corners to see this new, exciting cartridge.  Contact me for more information.

I'm going to give you a sneak peek at the front cover of the Idea Book.  None of the new product is available until August 1 and you cannot see the Idea Book online until then either.  Here is a picture of the Fall/Winter Idea Book.

 

Isn't that beautiful?  Just wait until you see the inside.  It is once again filled with examples of layouts, cards, technique tips and so much more.  The new paper packs are absolutely gorgeous.  And they are very versatile.  For example, you can use the Halloween paper for autumn leave photos.  And the Christmas paper for winter photos rather than just Christmas photos.

If you would like a copy of the new Idea Book, please email me with your name and address and I will get it out in the mail.

One of the most exciting things to come out of Convention is the new, lower price for a New Consultant Kit.  There are 2 kits to choose from but both give you what you need to get your business started.  The first level is ONLY $49.  You read that right - $49.  This option gives you $130 worth of product and business essentials as well as access to the online Consultant site.  Additionally, during the month of August only, you will receive the same backpack that we received at Convention absolutely free.  Here is a picture of what you can expect.

This is what 1,200 ladies were carrying around the Hilton Anatole in Dallas this past weekend.  They are great.  You can only get these one of 2 ways, the first of which was attending Convention.  The second way is to join Close To My Heart during the month of August.  Wouldn't you just LOVE one of these bags?  Contact me for more details.

For those of you who have been wanting to join our Family, August is certainly the month to do it.  It would also give you the opportunity to attend 2013 Convention at WALT DISNEY WORLD!  Can't wait for that!  Think of it, you can combine a family vacation with 3 exciting days of crafting.  I already have my hotel reservations for this one!

For my international customers, I have the news we have all been waiting for.  Close To My Heart is expanding to Australia and the UK.  I don't have details as to when just that it is in the works.  We are all excited to have you join our CTMH Family.

Well ladies, that is all I am going to share with you for now.  To get more sneak peeks, you will just have to attend one of my workshops!

Until next time!

Perfect Pairs

I'm so excited to tell you about the July special - Perfect Pairs.  Place an online order of $75 or more during July and receive a paper packet and coordinating embellishment FREE—it’s a Perfect Pair!  This is a "while supplies last" promotion so don't delay during the week your paper pack appears. 

The schedule for Perfect Pair is as follows:

Order Dates	Perfect Pair	Original Retail Value
July 1–5	Mischief Paper Packet (X7144B) and Midnight Felt Shapes (Z1462)	$15.90
July 6–10	Dreamin’ Paper Packet (X7142B) and Harvest Charms (Z1633)	$14.90
July 11–15	Fanfare Paper Packet (X7138B) and Fanfare Level 2 Assortment (Z1400)	$17.90
July 16–20	Lucky Paper Packet (X7137B) and Lucky My Stickease® Assortment (X7137C)	$17.90
July 21–25	Mayberry Paper Packet (X7136B) and Mayberry My Stickease® Assortment (X7136C)	$17.90
July 26–29	Sophia Paper Packet (X7131B) and Sophia My Stickease® Assortment (X7131C)	$17.90
July 30–31	Believe Paper Packet (X7145B) and Holiday Pockets (Z1486) OR Wonderland Paper Packet (X7146B) and Wonderland My Stickease® Assortment (X7146C)

All orders must be placed on my website to qualify.  If you have any questions, please email me.