Crushing on you!

What is a Smash Book?

A Smash Book is a journal/old school scrapbook. It is intended for prople to write down things they are doing and enjoying currently and put in things like movie tickets or randome things they find. The first page of a Smash Book says: "Its okay to just smash it in. There is always room, just like the junk drawer. Nothings right, nothings wrong. It's all yours..." [wiki answers]

 I had never even heard of smash books until I became part of Close to my Heart. Apparently they are HUGE over in the States, but either I've been living under a rock, or they haven't quite taken off in Australia yet (YET!). The concept is cool - it's not a full-on scrapbook with layouts etc. It's more of a memory book journal - small enough to carry with you, but robust enough to fit pretty much whatever you want to put inside.

Close to my Heart call them Crush Books. I got one (Modville) in my kit - my first look at a Crush Book. And I went from mildly intrigued to 'oh my goodness I need them all!'

I have fallen head over heels for Crush Books! They are the funkiest thing I've come across in a long time. Here's just some of the feature that make me smile:

• Solid, strong covers that won't bend or tear, and will protect the contents;
• Strong pages, with solid ring binding - won't weaken and fall out;
• Funky designs on every page - keeps it interesting! And if you don't like the design you can just stick something over it. Easy!
• Thick pages means you can use ink and it won't soak through :)
• Coordinating accents available for each design - pockets and journalling tags and stickers to bring your pages to life!
• Small enough to fit in your handbag!

In mid-August I attended the Close to my Heart Creative Kickoff in Melbourne, and my Crush Book is now a memory book celebrating that event - filled with photos and memorabilia, boarding passes, postcards, menu extracts, journalling, autographs, and a bit of stamping! It was a HUGE event, but thankfully my book has a HUGE number of pages, so I filled it up easily without having to skip anything. Steph likes this :)

Just a few of my pages...

My next Crush Book (Bluebird) is on order, currently in transit somewhere between Compton USA and Adelaide SA. What will this one feature? You'll just have to wait and see!

At just $20 each, Crush Books are amazing value for an instant convenient scrapbook - check them out, you won't regret it :) Have a look at the below YouTube vid, and remember you can order through my website here...

Happy scrapping!
Steph :)

Because it's Close to my Heart...

Hello! My name is Steph and I'm based in the southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. I'm happy that you've found my blog, and I hope you decide to stick around as I will have plenty to share!

I'm a busy working mum - I'm sure many of you can relate! I'm blessed to be married to my wonderful (but very NON crafty) husband Kym, and we have a precious one-year-old daughter, Alyssa. Both Kym and I work full-time, so you can imagine the day-to-day juggle with work, child care, and trying to maintain our house in some kind of presentable condition (that last one usually doesn't last long...). But I also think it is so important to give yourself some down time. And that is why I scrap. Even if it is just for 30 minutes after work once Alyssa is in bed!

I stumbled upon scrapbooking when I was in my mid-20's and I thought it looked like my kind of hobby - how right I was! Unfortunately I fell into that trap of always making excuses about getting started - I didn't have the time, or the space, or I hadn't printed the right photos in the right sizes yet... But eventually I bit the bullet, made the space, made the time, and printed the photos - and the rest is history! I got addicted and wondered why on earth it had taken me so long!

Of course, back then, I had no idea just how diverse my new hobby could be! It is so much more than just 'scrapbooking'. It is card-making, it is stamping, it is papercrafting, it is crush books (I LOVE these!), and it is digital! There is so much to choose from, and so much to play with - I will never get bored with this! So it was really just natural progression that my hobby led me to becoming a Close to my Heart consultant. Close to my Heart launched in Australia on 1 July 2013, and I signed up that very day. First and foremost, I signed up to get my own products at consultant price - 22% discount on all my stuff, yes please, don't mind if I do! Honestly, the cardstock colour range alone was enough to bring me to my knees (my favourite is SweetLeaf, in case you are wondering). Forty-two different colours - yes, you read that correctly! Then add in matching ink pads and markers in all of those colours, plus a spectacular paper range, and more stamps than you could ever wish for (and I adore the stamps too - the MyAcrylix blocks make it so much easier to see exactly where your stamp is positioned on the page - I could never go back to wooden block stamps now!).

The other reason why I signed up was because I love these products so much, I wanted to share them with others. I have so many friends who scrap, and so many friends who make cards - and I just felt so strongly that they would love Close to my Heart as much as I do. Looks like I was right - I've already signed up five new consultants in less than two months! But it wasn't really 'me' - it was the products. They sell themselves. And $99 for a consultant kit worth over $300 was a pretty amazing start-up offer!

So here I am - two months into my Close to my Heart business! Every day I am learning more about the company and the products, and every day I fall a little more in love with them! Yes I'm busy and tired - my life is hectic and I don't get a lot of time just for 'me'. But my scrapbooking passion and my Close to my Heart business keep me balanced. I love to share my passion and create beautiful things. That's why I've created this blog! It is just another way for me to share my passion with you all, and fill you in on all the things in my world that are 'Close to my Heart'. I'd love for you to follow me!

 Keep smiling!

Steph :)

This is me (left) with the beautiful Monica Wihongi (right)
from Close to my Heart Home Office USA!
16 August 2013