Sign Up and Celebrate!

Join My Team for just $49 in April and get $220 of product!

Are you looking for a way to get great crafting products at a discount?
Are you looking for a way to build relationships with others who share your passion of papercrafting?
Are you looking for a rewarding business where you have the flexibility to set your schedule to fit your season of life?
Wouldn't you love to be paid for doing what you love... sharing the art of scrapbooking and stamping?

If you answered yes to any or all of these statements, then you owe it to yourself to find out more.  Contact me today (503-708-6889 or jwilson@bctonline.com) and I will gladly answer any questions, you might have about Close To My Heart.

If you know you are ready to sign up, I would love for you to join my team. Click here to fill out the application today!  I offer as much support as you need as you grow your business.  CTMH really is like a family and I look forward to sharing the experience with you.

This deal couldn't be any sweeter.   The kit has been modified to include everything you will need to get started without the large quantity of business supplies.  It is designed for the person who might just be looking for the discount and is not sure about pursuing it as a business.  The kit includes the Chantilly Workshop on the Go, Chantilly Compliments Dimensional Elements, 3 Idea Books, 5pks of order forms and hostess rewards forms, petite perks stamp set, Reflections Scrapbook Program, Originals Card Confidence Program, Buttercup Exclusive Ink Pad, Cotton Candy Exclusive Ink Pad, Wheel of Life Stamp set, spinner, For a Friend Stamp set, and a 4x5 block.  Total cost will be $49 plus $10 shipping.  Retail value is $155.

Now if you know you want to try your hand at the business end of this like me, then you want the Master Kit which inlcuded all of the above and additional tools and business materials.  Cost is $99.  Retail value is $335.

But wait for the month of April the deal gets even sweeter.  When you join my team in April you will also get the April, May, June, and July Stamp of the Month stamp sets for free! Now that’s a reason to celebrate!

These stamp sets are D - size and retail for $17.95 each.  That is $72.80 for all 4 stamp sets.

*No additional shipping/handling or tax will be applied for the free stamp sets. Only new Consultants who sign up during the month of April will qualify for the free stamp sets. Offer valid April 1–30, 2013.

Offer valid April 1–30, 2013.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

Making your own baking powder at home

Many of you might not know that it is so simple to make your own baking powder using common household kitchen ingredients. To keep it from clumping just add 1 teaspoon of corn starch or Potato starch if you can not have corn, to your mixture.

• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon potato starch or corn starch

I found this information while searching food storage solutions and thought I would pass it on to those of you who can not use regular baking powder.

Why Do We Use Baking Powder?

Posted on December 21, 2012 by admin

What is Baking powder?

Many of us use baking powder all the time but never really consider what it is. All we know is that is needed in this recipe.

The dirty quick definition is that baking powder is a combination of an acid and an alkali
with starch added to keep the other two ingredients stable and dry. Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods.

How does baking powder work?

Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. The powder reacts with liquid by foaming and the resulting bubbles of carbon dioxide can aerate and raise dough. Almost all baking powder now on the market is double acting, meaning it has one acid that bubbles at room temperature and another acid which only reacts at oven temperatures.

Single Acting

It is called single action because it only contains one acid. Single acting baking powder reacts when the acid reacts to a liquid at room temperature. This means the bulk of the leavening action occurs as soon as the batter is mixed. If there is a delay between mixing an baking, some of the gas may escape and cause deflation.

Double Acting

Baking powders that contain both fast and slow acting acids are called double acting. Double acting baking powders work in two phases; once at room temperature, and once when heat is added, like cooking the oven. By providing a second rise in the oven, double acting baking powders increase the reliability of baked goods by rendering the time elapsed between mixing and baking less critical, and this is the type most widely available to consumers today.

Why do we use baking powder?

We use baking powder as a yeast subsitute for end-products where fermentation flavors would be undesirable or where the batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than a few minutes. Because carbon dioxide is released at a faster rate through the acid-base reaction than through fermentation, breads made by chemical leavening are called quick breads.

What is baking powder made up of?

Most commercially available baking powders are made up of an alkaline component (typically sodium bicarbonate, also known as baking soda), one or more acid salts (like Tartaric Acid), and an inert starch; either cornstarch or potato starch are the most commonly used. Baking soda is the source of the carbon dioxide, and the acid-base reaction can be generically represented as NaHCO₃ + H⁺ → Na⁺ + CO₂ + H₂O, for us non scientific people all that looks like is a bunch of letters and numbers.

The inert starch serves several functions in baking powder. The main function is to absorb moisture, to prolong the shelf life by keeping the powder’s alkaline and acidic components from reacting prematurely. A dry powder also flows and mixes more easily and the bulkiness helps for accurate measurements.

What is the difference between fast acting & slow acting?

Fast Acting

A fast-acting acid reacts in a wet mixture with baking soda at room temperature, common low-temperature acid salts include cream of tartar and monocalcium phosphate (also called calcium acid phosphate).

Slow Acting

A slow acting acids will not react until heated in an oven. High-temperature acid salts include sodium aluminum sulfate, sodium aluminum phosphate and sodium acid pyrophosphate.

Dos and Don’ts for baking powder

Don’t expose baking powder to steam, humid air, wet spoons, or other moisture.

Do store your baking powder in a air tight container for no more than a year. Even when kept dry it will eventually loses its potency. To test its strength, measure 1 tsp powder into 1/3 cup hot water. The mixture should fizz and bubble furiously. If it doesn’t, throw it out.

Clearly The Best; Behind the Scenes.

This video shows how to use first generation and second generation stamping techniques to create a  beautiful background for your projects.

Hope you found this video helpful.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

20,000 hits!!!

Well my Blog finally has 20,000 hits.  That came a lot faster than I thought it would.  Only one problem, no comments.   I was giving away this new CTMH Surf's Up paper pack 

to someone who left me a comment, and no one left me a comment.  Now what should I do?  Who should I give this paper pack to?  Do I need to sweeten the deal, add some more stuff? 

Here are some ideas on how to use this beautiful paper pack.  Now go leave me some love.

 Happy Scrappin',


Janice

Squash Book Class on March 23rd.

Here is the Squash book that we will be making next Saturday.  I decided to use Close To My Heart's Buzz and Bumble paper pack X7164B and the stamp set from the Workshop On The Go kit G1054, Burlap ribbon Z1760 and Twill ribbon which is retired, sorry.  I used Heavy cardboard to start with and tore the corners to make that tattered vintage look. I added some Martha Stewart Microbeads - clear to the centers of the flowers.  I think I need to add some leaves and a little color to the word Seeds.

Here is a closeup of the embellishments.

 This is the inside, now I just have to add pictures.  If you enlarge the pic you can see that the yellow pieces are different, they are the newsprint paper front and back.  

 This is the back side of the book.  You can embellish this side if you are leaving it out for people to look at, or leave it blank, it is up to you.

I will post more pics later.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

Miss Teen Portland - March 24, 2013

I had a wonderful opportunity to spend some much need time with my Sister, my Niece and 3 Great Nieces on Sunday March 24, 2013.

My Niece Jennifer asked me to go with them to the Glencoe High School in Hillsboro, OR to be a helper for her 3 girls, who were all in the pageant.  They came down from The Dalles for part of the processing on Saturday and stayed the night with me.  We did their nails and got up early and got there on time for the pageant to start on Sunday morning.  This pageant started out with 400 girls and my Great Nieces were in the final 170 girls.  I think this in itself was quite an accomplishment.

This was the rehearsal part of the pageant, Miss Aurora was in the Miss Pre-Teen Division

Amber and Crysta were in the Miss Jr. Teen Dividision and wore number 108 & 109.  

Sorry my pics are kinda blurry.

This is the band room where we were getting dressed between rehearsal and Casual wear and Formal wear competitions.  Jennifer was putting on Crysta's and Aurora's makeup. I helped with their hair.

I think Amber should get an award for most talented at putting on her own makeup.  There were no places to put a mirror so that you could see what you were doing so Amber just used her toes to hold the mirror.
I had to sneak to get this picture.  

Nanna (my Sis) asking permission to take Amber's pic.

 Just look at these beautiful faces.

This was the Casual part of the competition.

Here is the Formal wear part of the competition.

They didn't get into the top 10, but they learned a lot.  What they learned will last them a life time. They were so patient with each other they helped each other and they made sure that none of them were late for their walk.  These girls tried their best to be themselves and do what was expected of them.  I am so proud of them and so glad I got the opportunity to spend the day with them and share something so very important to all of them.  I don't get to spend as much time with them as I would like so this was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.  

 I am so proud of all of you.

Yes, I'm sure there will be a scrapbook about this event. 

Happy Scrappin',

Jancie

Don't forget about the blog candy giveaway.

Once my blog gets 20,000 hits I will give away the new CTMH Surf's Up paper pack.

You will get:
6 - 12" X 12" B&T Duos (2 each of 3 double-sided designs)
6 - 12" X 12" Cardstock Sheets
2 - Sorbet
2- Surf's Up Teal
1 - Chocolate
1 Surf's Up Gold

So here are your options to enter the drawing for the Surf's Up paper pack.  

1. Follow my blog.
2. Follow me by E-mail.
3. Leave a comment for me on Facebook.
4. Re-pin on of my pins on Pinterest

And leave a comment on my blog to let me know what you did to enter the drawing.

Ok, never mind the stuff above, just leave me a comment.

Once my blog visitor counter hits 20,000 hits, I will draw the Winner's name and post it here and on Facebook.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

Squash Book

I had several people asking about a class to make a Squash Book like the one Jean made for Stacy. So I worked on one the other night and this is what I came up with.  I used the new Chantilly papers and cardboard.  I covered the cardboard unlike the one Jean made.

I used pics of Miss Hailey from 2008.  She was having a giggle attack.  She is still the happiest girl I know.

Front inside

Back side

Back cover

Opening before pics were added

Back side 

both ends open, center closed

This is the one Jean made for Stacy, I like it way better than the one I just made.  

I guess I'll have to make another one. lol

I will post a tutorial soon.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

Jump For Joy!!!

Jump for Joy in March! Jump to the Next Level of Hostess Rewards During the month of March, hostesses “jump” to the next level of Hostess Rewards when a Gathering reaches $250 or more!* More discounts and free product for hostesses. Now that’s a reason to jump for joy! *Shipping/handling and tax applies. Only Gatherings with a total of $250 or more will qualify for the jump in Hostess Rewards or Hostess Rewards Plus! Qualifying hostesses will receive Hostess Rewards from one level only—the level that is one higher than their sales total. Offer valid March 1–31, 2013. There are many ways you can do this,   1.  You can have a home Gathering and invite all your friends to come.  Call me to set up a date and time 503-708-6889. 2.  You can have a Book Party, where you pass around a book to all your friends and gather their orders. Let them know that the Idea book is online so they can look even if you don't have a book to put in their hands.  Call me with your orders.  3.  You can host an Online Party and invite everyone you know, they don't even have to be local.  The idea book is online, so you don't even have to pass it around.  Call me to set up an Ez-invite online gathering, email me a list of email addresses of everyone you know and I will invite them to join your gathering and place orders online.  The orders will ship directly to them and you get the benefits of having a party.  Call me with your order and the items you would like to get for free and I will give you a total of you Online gathering and let you know if you qualify to Jump for Joy. Here is the link to the Idea Book Online; http://janicewilson.ctmh.com/CTMH/Content.aspx?id=%2fen%2fsitecore%2fcontent%2fOBA%2fProducts%2fOnline_Idea_Book.aspx Don't forget about my Open Club, all of your orders add to the open club totals. Happy Scrappin', Janice

Claire Scrapbook Layout for Girls

Dawn took the same pattern and papers as I used for the Boys Layout last week and turned it into a Girls page.  She added pearls where the black circles were and flipped the B&T paper over to show the floral side.

Here's the Boys page again.

Just wanted to share how you can use the same papers and layout and make it a boys or girls page depending on the B&T papers and embellishments used.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice

Baby Shower party favors and decorations

This has been really hard for me, because I couldn't post anything until the party, so I didn't ruin the surprise.  I have been busy making party favors and decorations for a lady who is in our Portland Friends Scrap Meetup Group.  She is due in April with her 2nd little Boy.  She and her family recently moved here from Colorado and they only know a few people, so I wanted to throw her a shower and let her know she has Family here too.

Her friend Jenna, told me that her colors were Chocolate brown, Blue and dark Maroon.  

Here is the banner that I made for the shower.  She said it was perfect and she loved it.  Yeah.  She said she was putting it in Alan's book.

 The little shirt on the left says If you (mustache) I am a Boob man.

and the one on the right says If you (mustache) I am a Momma's Boy.  I found a free cut file for the onesie on the internet and I can't remember where and I can't find it again to give credit, sorry. 

Here is the Sleeping Baby Diaper Cake. Tarina put it together for me.

I bought a complete outfit, sleeper, hat, bib and socks. I also purchased Clothe diapers, wash clothes, pacifiers and receiving blankets to use as fillers and to complete the diaper cake.  Everyone loved this adorable cake.  Thank you so much Tarina for saving me again. 

 Here are some of the treat boxes that I made using a cut file that I purchased from myscrapchick.com I made a cut file of my Sizzix die Paper doll boys hair and made it fit the baby cut file.  I also made a cut file that goes behind the head for the hair also.  I gave some babies mustaches and some are looking up so all you can see is a wide open mouth smile.  I think they turned out very cute.

 Here is a close up so you can see the details on the hands and feet.

 Shannon doesn't do boys so here is the one girl treat box that I made.  

I painted her finger and toe nails and added a "y" near the bottom middle of the box, for a but crack. I had so much fun playing with these.  I can see so many more things you can do for a little girls baby shower too.  

I made 26 of these little Baby treat boxes and filled them with candy. 

They are going to be part of the games.  

I gave small prizes for the people who chose Red headed babies and ones with Mustaches.

I always like to give a gift to the Big Brother so I decorated up a bag and put my gift in and there is plenty of room for others to add to it if the wish too.

I used the Latr Sk8r paper pack to decorate the bag. I also used the CTMH Artiste Cricut Cartridge to cut out the gears and borders along with the medallions and the tags.  

I used the In Gear stamp set to stamp on the tag.

I found lots of games to play, on the internet.  I decided we will play The Price is Right game. 

 I will have 6 items laying out on a table and 3 x 5 cards with the correct prices on them laying randomly in front of the items.  I have the 6 Baby items labeled A, B, C, D, E and F.  I will give all the guests a 3 x 5 card that has the Items listed next to their letter and a blank spot for them to write in the correct price.  The person who gets them all right or at least most of them right gets a prize and Stacy gets to take all 6 items home with her.  We had 4 winners and everyone was disappointed that I didn't bring my wheel in for them to spin.  

I have tiny safety pins that I put into a bowl of uncooked rice and they have to see how many pins they can pull out of the rice in 1 minute.  The one who pulls out the most pins will get a prize.

We will all be wearing safety pins on our lapels and if anyone is caught saying Baby then the person that caught them will get to take their pins and add them to theirs.  The person with the most pins at the end of the night will get a gift.

Ok, here is "Mom to Be" Stacy walking in early to her Surprise Baby Shower and doesn't have a clue what is going on yet.  Being Miss congeniality as usual.   

She was visiting with Dawn and I and turned to see 2 life like baby dolls laying on the table in front of Dawn and then took a quick look around the room to see all of the stuff we had set up.

I made 2 kinds of Garbage bread, the Chicken Broccoli one and a
Mediterranean one.  It is to the left on the top picture and on the right on the bottom pic.

 She then saw the sign and realized we had planned a surprise party for her.

 Here are her favorite Chocolate Chip Red Velvet Cupcakes with real Cream Cheese frosting.

Here Stacy is trying to find the tiny safety pins in the rice.

 Glenda trying to find them.

Kathleen trying.

 Jenna trying,

 Tina found 3.

 Abby found 2.

 Stacy getting ready to open her gifts.

 This was the cutest little Squash book, Jean Pilch made it using Cardboard, B&T paper and
The Wizard of Oz Stickers.

Here the squash book is open so you can see the 3 different papers.

Dawn and I had to leave early and Stacy insisted on helping us load up the car. These are the 2 life like baby dolls that were laying on the table, (Gabriel and Charlie) that we were going to dress them blindfolded but ran out of time to work it in.  Doesn't she look like a natural? 

We had so much fun playing all the games,  I hope they were able to get a lot of scrapping done after we left.

Happy Scrappin',

Janice