CTMH September Specials End Soon!

It is the last week of September which means October (my absolute favorite month of the year) is right around the corner!  But it also means that it is the last week to get your hands on some great CTMH stamp sets before they disappear!

The September Stamp of the Month Fall Favorites is an 11 piece stamp set.  It is available for $17.95 or just $5 with any $50 order.

Plus - it is the absolute last week to pick up this beauty!  A double stamp set exclusively made for National Stamping Month.  This set is so perfect for documenting the everyday but would also be perfect for anyone documenting their lives through Project Life!  This exclusive double stamp set is yours for just $5 when you place an order of $35 or more.

 

Both sets can be ordered through any CTMH consultant and if you don't have one...I would love to help you out and give you a chance to win $25 in free product as well!  Head on over to my CTMH shopping site www.tracyoleksak.ctmh.com and click on the JOIN button next to September Mystery Hostess underneath Tracy's Gatherings (bottom half of homepage).  Simply place your order and your name will be entered into a drawing to win $25 worth of free product at the end of the month.   



National Stamping Month: It's Your Day Double Stamp Set

As many of you may know (or not), I am a CTMH Consultant, well, actually more of a hobbyist and my own best customer.  I don't always promote CTMH on my blog (except for the link to the Idea Book) but once in awhile, a special comes along that I have to share with you!  This month's special qualifies...especially for all you Project Life fans!


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 Celebrate National Stamping Month now with CTMH's It's Your Day Double Stamp Set.  You’ll love this double set — two D-size sets in one envelope — which includes nearly 50 trendy images that makes it easy to capture the everyday moments in your life. This set is perfect for Project Life!  With a retail value of $35.90, this set drastically increases the value of your qualifying purchase. Have twice the fun stamping during National Stamping Month with our new It’s Your Day double stamp set!

The set is yours for only $5 when you spend $35.  How great is that? 

The Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book just went live on August 1st, so now is a great time to purchase items to adorn your layouts or cards for the upcoming season.

The It's Your Day Stamp Set is available until the end of September BUT if you place your order online between now and August 31, please be sure to join my online Mystery Hostess party for your chance to win $25 in free CTMH product!  The link is located on the bottom right hand side of my home page.

And to enter my enabler mode...here are a few of my favorite current CTMH products for Project Life:

Memo Assortment $4.95
Approved Stamp Set $13.95
Dimensional Elements Quotes $4.95
Memory Protector Flip Flaps $3.95 / $4.95
Milepost Shapes $3.95
Posh Journaling Spots $5.95
Decor Journaling Spots $5.95

Weekly top 5 list: progress and reality

Last week I posted about how I needed to focus on getting things done during the week and limiting my "to do" list to five items per week.  Well, I made progress but I also decided that it might be easier for me to make a list of 10 - 12 items I would like to accomplish during the month and pick and choose what I can accomplish at any given time.  In reality, I would have loved to sit down and accomplish each item on my list before moving on to the next, but that just isn't going to happen...I love my sleep too much and that seems like the only time I can get things done lately.

Here was last week's list:

1) Start catching up on Project Life 2012 - In progress.  I have completed eight half done weeks this past week so I am up to week 13 completed.  Now I am moving on to choosing and printing pics for week 14 to current (or maybe break it into smaller chunks).  So happy with what I have so far and I will post as soon as I free up room on the computer.


2) Pictures from 2009 - not started
3) Pictures from 2008 - in progress.  Almost done purging/renaming and ready for transfer to disc.


4) Finish The 19th Wife and start a new book - Completed and moved on to Fall of Giants by Ken Follet.

5) Clean the Craft Room/Office - In progress (but far from done).  I filled up 2 large trash bags and started purging my craft supplies.  I have a very large box full of CTMH stamp sets that I will be posting for sale soon.  I still need to go through my paper and my Unity Stamps.  Most of my old CTMH paper I will be donating but as I start scrapbooking more (because I have the space) I will be selling grab bags of current paper/items that I just won't be using.

So I have made progress but haven't really checked anything off the list.  So I made a list of 13 items to accomplish in August (and since we are already going into week 2...I know some of these will end up in September too...but at least I am planing ahead).

1)  Project Life 2012 - become current
2)  Pictures 2008 - complete
3)  Pictures 2009 - Complete
4)  Clean/purge office
5)  Box Tops - I am the school coordinator and I have a huge box that I need to review and submit
6)  Box Tops Bulletin Board - I also maintain the school progress board
7)  Kelsey's room - finish redecorating
8)  Master Bedroom & Hallway - paint trim
9)  the great magazine purge
10) organize recipes
11)  scrapbook more - use up 3 kits (?)
12)  Read...Fall of Giants, Insurgent, Discovery of Witches (I have a week at the beach coming up so this will be done!)
13)  remember to breath, relax, smile and be happy!

I might update along the way with pictures of Project Life, or layouts or hopefully Kelsey's big bedroom makeover reveal, but I really want to focus on accomplishing at least half of my list before the end of the month so I can add more items from the master list for September. 

What is on your "to do" list this month?

August CTMH Mystery Hostess Party: Win free CTMH product

The Close to My Heart Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book went live yesterday and I am giving my customers the chance to win free product all month long by hosting a Mystery Hostess Online Party.

 

For every $150 in total orders that are placed this month I will draw a mystery hostess who will be able to choose $25 worth of free product!* Every order counts no matter how big or small and the best part is they are delivered directly to your door approximately 2 weeks after the order is placed (often much quicker too!) When shopping online, you are able to take advantage of the stamp of the month, CTMH specials and you can shop from the While Supplies Last section which offers huge discounts on several retired items....plus new items are always being added.

Ready to get started? 

• Head on over to www.tracyoleksak.ctmh.com
• On the bottom right hand half of the home page you will see a tan box that says "Join one of Tracy's Gatherings"
• Click the "Join" button that appears after August Mystery Hostess Party
• You will then be brought to the shopping page where you can browse and start filling up your cart
• If you have not created a shopping account on my site before, you will be prompted to do so. If you have, you will be asked to log in.
• Once you are done, click checkout, enter your payment and that is it.

I will draw a winner(s) on September 1. Good luck!

 

*In order to offer $25 in free product, $150 in sales must be reached from the combined total of all orders placed during the month. One prize of $25 will be awarded for every $150 in sales reached.

Menu Plan Monday

I have been making weekly dinner menus for my family for as long as I can remember.  It used to be (& still is to a point) a running joke with my brother in laws and myself....everytime they would come to the house the first question would always be "what's on the menu this week?"  It always just seemed logical to me to plan out what we were having and shop for those items...I had neither the time nor patience to be running to the store to pick up items I needed for a recipe.  Plus, with a picky husband, kids with different tastes and myself who is very strict on low carbs/low sugar, knowing I have something on the menu each night that everyone will eat, and fits into our schedule, was genius!  If you popped over here from Org Junkie...you must be a genius too...and my BIL's cave dwellers...

I must admit though, meal planning isn't my all time favorite activity.  It takes me HOURS sometimes, leaving me frustrated and ready to throw in the towel.  Perhaps it is because the varied tastes of my family, although I have learned to overcome that...the main reason is I am so overwhelmed by the amount of recipes I have already and the amount that I keep finding on Pinterest or the Internet.  I am on a never ending mission to get myself organized and as I write this post I think I need to move the huge job of tackling cookbooks, magazines and clipped recipes up to the forefront...to save my weekly sanity.

One thing I did do this week, which I wish I had thought of earlier, was to assign each night a theme.  It made it so much easier when looking at my recipes and our schedule to pick out that night's meal.  I wish I had thought of it after racking my brain for 2 hours thought...here is what a week might look like:

Monday - Mexican/Tex Mex
Tuesday - Asian
Wednesday - Italian
Thursday - Leftovers (with the exception of the summer months, I shop on Friday morning)
Friday - Pizza
Saturday & Sunday - Pork, beef or chicken recipes that don't fall into one of the above categories

During the summer, my menu runs Saturday to Friday (Friday to Thursday during the rest of the year) only because of when I shop.  Here is what is on the menu this week:

Saturday - Pizza (pepperoni and cheese for the kids, BBQ Chicken for the hubby) and mushroom and cheese using this gluten free / low carb crust for me. 

Sunday -  Lemon BBQ pork chops, green beans, baked potato

Monday  - Mexican Chicken, corn, hashbrown potatoes

Tuesday - Spicy Basil Chicken, white rice, snowpeas and carrots, mandarin oranges

Wednesday - Spaghetti & Meatballs with homemade sauce, bread machine bread

Thursday - Key West grilled chicken, salad, baked potatoes

Friday - Leftovers or sandwiches

I hope something on my menu inspires you this week! Want more menu planning inspiration?  Head on over to Org Junkie to see what others are cooking up this week.

What is on your menu this week?

I Suffer from Disorganizationitis

Ok, so I know that disorganizationistis isn't a real disorder (or is it?) but if it was I really would suffer from it.  I am always getting down on myself because it seems like I have a never ending to do list that never gets done (sound familiar).  It is a never ending circle...I can't seem to accomplish anything because I always feel like my house is a mess and my house is always a mess because I can't get anything done.  I think one of my main problems though is that I don't finish what I start.  I jump from project to project, task to task without really finishing anything.  I am a keeper of the never ending to do list but what I crave is the ability to cross things off.

Since August is right around the corner (yikes!) I have decided to start the month fresh and try to focus on five tasks/projects a week.  Some will be bigger than others and I am sure that some will get moved into the following week but if I can prioritize five things to focus on (along with my other daily duties and of course my creative detours) I might just be able to start checking them off.

I have decided to post my five weekly tasks/projects each Sunday and update my progress each week.   This way, I am being held accountable for putting it out there. 

So here is my weekly top 5:

1)  Start catching up on Project Life 2012 - I won't even mention how far behind I am as that is another post in itself.  I do want to mention though that as I look at the weeks that I have completed I love the outcome and really, truely do not want to give up on this project.  I have some work ahead of me but I will push through and conquer. (Watch for my epic PL catch up plan post coming soon)

2) Pictures from 2009 - My computer is ancient and running out of space.  It is so bad that I can't download any of my new pics from my camera because there is no room!  I need to tackle moving old pictures from the computer onto a external hard drive and DVD (plus print them...yikes!).  I have a huge post in the works on my process for this but first I need to free up some space.

3)  Pictures from 2008

4)  Finish The 19th Wife  and start a new book - I probably should finish due to the fact that it is already 2 weeks overdue.

5)  Clean the Craft Room/Office - this one gets a task all to itself as opposed to cleaning every other room in my house because this room is out.of.control.  There really is no excuse....except the mess is a good excuse as to why my PL is so far behind...I cannot function in chaos!  I would post a before picture now but I there is no room on my computer!