I'M BACK!

So for all of you that have been wondering if I fell off the face of the earth....I have not! The last year has been VERY hectic for me. I am finally divorced! And yes, that is a good thing! I have started a new business and wanted to share with all of you. I am still selling Close to My Heart if anyone is wondering but I have put that on the back burner in the past year. Currently I am selling Thirty-One. It is an awesome company that sells bags, purses, totes, etc. that are so much fun and affordable! Each month there are great customer and hostess specials so go to my website and check it out. www.mythirtyone.com\stacieschultz Most products from Thirty-One can be embroidered to personalize your purchases. SO MUCH FUN! You choose the material for your bag and the color of embroidery. You even choose what your bag will say. I will soon post photos of some of my products but for now...check out my website!

National Scrapbook Day!!!

So May 1st was National Scrapbook Day and I made sure that I set aside some time to actually be crafty that day! I hung out on the Pink Stamper's blog for awhile on Saturday and completed some of her 12 challenges that she had going on. Below are photos of some of the challenges that I did. They are not in any particular order as Blogger is not allowing me to arrange them how I would like at this time...enjoy!

Challenge #7
Challenge #2

Challenge #9

Challenge #8

Challenge #5

Challenge #12

Challenge#1

Easter is almost here!

I cannot believe how fast time has gone by in the past 5 months. It feels like it was just New Year's and now we are sneaking up on Easter. When thinking about Easter I thought what fun it would be to create a few cute Easter baskets for friends, family members, and loved ones. Below is a photo of two of the three Easter baskets that we will be making at my first meetup class on March 28th at 4:00 pm.
If you have not already signed up and would like to attend some of my classes or at least find out when I am offering fun gathers please go to www.meetup.com and search for The Eau Claire Createive Crafters Group. You will find this photo there and more information about this class. The cost is $10.00 and the class is being held in Eau Claire, WI. If you would like to attend the class go to the meetup website and RSVP so I know you are interested and all you have to bring is a basic supply kit that includes things like a scissors, glue or double sided tape, and a fine point black marker if you have one. Not shown in the photo is a sample of the lamb basket that we will make.

A new beginning...

As I had popped on to see my blog off and on in the past 5 months I have needed and wanted to update but just couldn't get to it. Now I am back and after some rough times, I am ready to have a new beginning. I have started a new group called The Eau Claire Creative Crafters Group on www.meetup.com and can't wait for the meetings to start. The first meetup that I have scheduled is March 28th at 3:00 pm and then I have a class scheduled for afterwards at 4:00 pm. If you go to the meetup website and search for my group you can sign up and then get updates when I schedule new meetups. The first class I have scheduled is to make three super cute easter baskets and the cost is $10.00. More details can be found on the website. Watch for another post with photos...coming soon...you can also see a photo on the meetup website!

Many of you already know that things have been rough and I have had some marital problems in the past 5 months. I am ready to get to my blog and keep everyone updated on new fun things. With starting my meetup group I hope to promote Close To My Heart, stamping, scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking through CTMH, paper crafts, Cricut, Gypsy, Design Studio, and handmade gifts. If there is anything else you would be interested in learning or finding more information about feel free to drop me a line as I am always open to what people are looking for.

Close To My Heart Regionals Convention

So as some of you already know, this past weekend I attended my FIRST Close To My Heart Regional Celebration. I had a blast and was definately worth the money!!! We got lots of free products to use and create some fun projects while we were there. I left Eau Claire Thursday evening to head to Minneapolis. I drove...which was a huge accomplishment for me because I am not a cities driver. I got us there in one piece with the help of a little GPS...thank goodness! The convention was all day Friday and went until 5:30 pm on Saturday. There were business classes each day and then creative sessions where we even got to create a journal that isn't even out in the catalog yet! We also got to see a sneak peak of the Jan, Feb, and March stamps of the month sets. It was a fabulous time especially to spend a few days with 300 ladies that have the same hobby and love for a company as I do.

Below is a photo of Jeanette Lynton - the founder and CEO of Close To My Heart!

It was nice to see that Jeanette made it all the way to Minneapolis to share these few days with us!

Below is a photo of my working during the Friday creative session. It was a ton of fun and you will have to check back soon to see a photo of the layout that I am working on in this photo. Friday night I also attended the 5 hour crop that they held. I didn't bring anything extra to work on as I just finished up this layout and talked to all of the fun ladies. As you can also see, I got my hair cut again...love the new shorter hair. Fun, easy, and quick. Gotta Love It!

I am going to be trying to keep up on my blog more consistantly. I hope to be able to post every couple days and I would really like to start some new things such as showing some CTMH products and comparing some supplies that you might not have ever used before. I am also hoping to be able to have a Technique Tuesday or a project a week or something along those lines. The gears in my head have been turning since the first business session and I can't wait to get my CTMH stuff going again. I am going to try very hard to set aside CTMH time and not let my teaching take over my entire life!!

And my last photo for tonight is my precious little JAIDYN! I missed her a lot while I was gone this weekend but it was good to get away. She is so much fun right now and is learning more and more words. Today Jaidyn started saying "nine" (mine) and she now can call me mom instead of "bampa" or whatever else she felt like calling me. I am loving to hear all the words she is learning to say. I am guessing that it won't be long until she will be talking 24 hours a day. :)

Stay tuned for more fun photos from the CTMH Convention...

Photos...finally the photos!

I have finally gotten my act together and gotten the photos of my two duct tape totes that I created. The one below that is red, white, and black (Chippewa School colors of course!!) is a smaller purse size. Really fun size. I took this to the CTMH convention this weekend (that post comes next!!!) and it fit my camera and other little things that I wanted to take with me. Just the right size!

Below is a photo of both of my tote bags. The teal and black one is the first one I made at a class and I ended up adding some velcro at the top to keep it closed. The smaller one sits nicely and is a bit more sturdy. Gotta love the things you can do with duct tape!!!

Just so everyone knows...

I do plan to have a class on making duct tape tote bags. I am thinking that I will leave it open to create a bag of choice. I don't really care what size you want to make and you can even decide when you see my two bags when you get to the class. I was thinking of having the class at Down Memory Lane so it is a public class but then I am also wondering who else is interested because I was also tossing around the idea of just having a class at my house or at one of my schools in Chippewa Falls. Leave a comment here or send me an e-mail if you have interest in a class and that will help me decide where I want to have my class.

Duct Tape Tote Bag

Tonight I attended a class at one of the local scrapbook stores and created my very own duct tape tote bag. It was a ton of fun and fairly easy to put together. I cannot wait to try to create a smaller one or different sizes of them. They could work out for cute little gifts. I made mine teal and black...watch for a photo soon. I am heading to bed for the evening but hope to post a photo sometime tomorrow after school.