Author Archives: Brae Montgomery

Free to be Me Layout

free to be layout

Did you see the gorgeous May National Scrapbooking Month paper we have released??  Free to be Me is so pretty and full of bright colours perfect for many occasions! You receive patterned paper, cardstock with an embossed pattern side and a plain side AND two sheets of vellum paper (one is gold polka dot and the other has feathers on it!)

How do you get this?

Spend $50 this month on my website and you will be able to receive this paper for only $5!!! You will ALSO be eligible to purchase the May Stamp of the Month (featured in my card from May 1st) for $5- take both and save over $15 on your purchase!!

Better yet…. when you purchase the Free to be Paper from me this month I will send you a PDF workshop file that details two layouts and a series of cards that you can make with your papers!! FREE!

free to be layout close up

Don’t miss out!

SHOP here!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


And MORE from April!

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Earlier in April I posted about all the FUN I was having in what is easily one of the busiest month’s of my year- and of course it didn’t end at that post! I still had one more BIG show- Creativ Fest in Toronto and had so much fun hanging with my team members- Cheryl, Sheri, Cindy and Carol!

We took TWO car loads FULL to the show and this is my car only returning home- a success inmy books!

IMG_1566 Then this happened……..

 

Screen Shot 2014-05-02 at 7.39.16 PM Can you tell what that is?? I just earned my THIRD trip with Close to my Heart and I have LOTS of time to spare!! I cannot wait to take my husband and two kids to the Disney Aulani Resort in Hawaii next year!!!

and to top it all off it was my 9th anniversary with CTMH in April- I have been given so much from this company and have earned lots too! I am now a proud Senior Executive Director of the LARGEST team in Canada- 9 years ago I would never have expected this but now here I sit- proof that a choice to be part of this company CAN really lead to big things!!!

 

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Until we craft again, The Brae-er


You’ve Got a Friend in Me – May Blog Hop

I think we are all familiar with the song from Toy Story that you are probably singing in your head right now…. and if you weren’t I likely just changed that- you are welcome!  I also welcome you to our May blog hop which will feature our stamp set of the same name and LOTS of ideas for how you can use it!   If you have come from Melinda’s Blog then you are on the right path and all you need to do is read on and click the link at the bottom of my page.you're the best free to be card

For my card I used the National Scrapbooking month paper ‘Free to be Me’.  I added some gold shimmer trim (left over from a past project) and a green sparkle for accessories.  My centre shape was cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy.  The feathers added are from the ‘Feathers’ stamp set.

Here is a similar card but more simplified- it is what my party guests will be making this month.  The biggest difference with this one is the use of the gold polka dot washi tape to adorn the card.

friend in me free to be card

 

Now hop on over to Jen’s blog to see what she has in store for you!

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


April is AWESOME with CTMH

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These are a series of pictures just from the first half of April! April is AWESOME with CTMH and this is my photographic proof!

Always the busiest month (and September/October as well) but a month that inspires and motivates! It starts wit Scrapfest in Kitchener with my downline Lucy and our friend Lynn (she won’t become a consultant but man can she sell!).  We had a great time and welcomed many new ladies to our team and shared our passion and product with the masses!

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April is also the month that I have ALMOST earned the next Close to my Heart incentive trip to Disney Aulani in Hawaii!!!! I have many months to go so it is ‘in the bag’ so to speak.  I LOVE watching my points creep closer and closer to the 32,000- maybe by the end of this month! My loyal customers and my hard working team are the reason my family and I will be able to enjoy this exclusive resort next winter (and after this winter I think we need it).

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Add to all that my team Winning (or actually EARNING cause there was a lot of work to do to be in the running for this) a Thrive incentive! This summer we will be treated to one of the corporate VPs come to us and giving us a free team training! I cannot wait – it will be quite the event!

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What will the rest of the month hold??

You will have to check back to find out- there is so much! My team has welcomed over 80 new consultants- we are working on a goal of 100!

Why all the action? check out the ‘Montly Special‘ to see

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Technique Tuesday: Edge Distresser

Welcome back to Technique Tuesday- I apologize that I have missed a few weeks but we are in the process of selling our home and a messy craft room is just not allowed. Add that to all the time spent out of my home and my artwork creation has gone down- hopefully we sell soon and I can get back on track!

This tuesday I would like to show you how to use an edge distresser- this is a very simple tool to use and super cheap- ours is only $2.50 and will last you a LONG time!

To use just pick it up and start by gently rubbing one of the blades along the edge of your paper.  If you want more of a distressed look then keep going and add some pressure- you can always add more but you can never take it away once there. I LOVE this look – our paper contains a white core and this really helps to frame an image and add some interest.

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Here is a close up on the sides of a card I was working on using this technique.

edge distress after

 

edge distressed finished cardAnd here is the finished card! I used one of our Picture my Life cards from out pocket scrapbooking for the main image AND another one I cut up for the butterfly.

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Another Advisory Board Layout using Ariana

Another layout today using Ariana and featuring some of my Advisory Board photos- this one is a single page layout with my photo from the photo shoot! I used a layout that I saw on Pinterest for my inspiration (if you follow me on Pinterest you will see that I keep one board FULL of layout inspiration).
AB single layout

Ariana paper, complements, and one of the CUTEST stamp sets we have this idea book! All together made a really sweet one page layout!

Here is a close up of the kite- I used the blending pen to colour in the image (did you see my Technique Tuesday featuring it? If not find it here)

AB single layout close up

Here are some of the items I have been featuring the past few posts:

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Until we craft again, The Brae-er


Advisory Board Layout using Ariana

Here is another layout featuring the Ariana paper- I really like the different blue papers that are featured in this kit! I also used some of the complements from the die-cuts that you can purchase seperately AND if you have been following my blog (and if not what are you waiting for! Sign up on my sidebar!) you know the spray pen technique I used.

These photos were taken last fall at our Advisory Board retreat- the Advisory Board is a group of consultants with Close to my Heart who are chosen to give advice on tops throughout the year.  Being picked to be an AB member is a huge complement and I am happy and proud to be part this year! We had a lot of fun with our photos- and used the fact that our group had the first male AB member! Phil was our ‘Charlie’ in one photo and the reason to be shocked in others- what a great memory!
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My term ends this summer and I will definitely miss all that this opportunity has brought to me.

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


“My Favourite Things” Team Blog Hop

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Welcome to my team blog hop featuring …. you guessed it… A Few of My Favourite things ( I am Canadian so my spelling in my post will include the letter U – LOL).

My team and I are featuring some of our favourite product and memories and likely a whole bunch of other things on this blog hop- I hope you enjoy it and please leave a little love on the blogs you visit.

I have MANY favourite things- product wise, memories wise and so much more! One of my MOST favourite things in my team- some who you will visit today! They are a hardworking bunch that love the product as much as me and share it with all they see.  Did you know this month through their hard efforts they have welcomed more than 70 people to our team! That is awesome and just shows their dedication and passion!

I did find some artwork though to show you other favourite things- a layout I created to feature my daughters 2nd birthday.  This features my first favourite paper pack from this idea book (Balloon Ride), my daughter (who of course is a fav of mine as well), and her party- I LOVE,  LOVE, LOVE to throw a big, fun, themed birthday party for my kids! She may not remember it but I sure will and this one was a lot of fun- even if we were rained out and everyone had to squeeze inside my little house. I used a mix of hexagons on this layout- some from our Dimensional Elements shapes and some cut on our Cricut cartridge- another FAV!! How can you not love them?? Then I mixed in some sparkles and flowers and voila- a layout fit for a birthday princess!

honeycomb layouthoneycomb layout close

Now you can hop on over to visit some more fun blogs to share in favourite things… before you do though I would love to hear from you – what is your favourite CTMH product currently? Let me know in the comments below.

Now hop on over to Michelle Stewart’s blog.

If you happen to get lost along the way please come back here for our full list of participants:

1. Brae Montgomery- you are here!

2. Michelle Stewart – http://mycreationswithmichelle.blogspot.ca/2014/04/my-favourite-things-blog-hop.html

3. Lucy Imrie  http://www.lucyscreativeexpressions.blogspot.ca/2014/04/my-favourite-things-brae-ers-monthly.html

4. Tamara Lisowski  https://geermara.blogspot.com/2014/04/ctmh-these-are-few-of-my-favourite.html

5. Sheri Ballantyne — http://sherisays-justscrapit.blogspot.ca/2014/04/brae-ers-blog-hop-my-favourite-things.html

6. Michelle Hughes – http://therighthugh.blogspot.ca/2014/04/these-are-few-of-my-favourite-things_15.html

7. Kimberly Clark – cricut! – http://leokc34.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-few-of-my-favorite-things.html

8. Alyson Mayo –  http://createwithalyson.blogspot.com/2014/04/brae-ers-unit-blog-hop-my-favourite.html

9. Heather Steeves – http://paperplayroom.blogspot.ca/2014/04/my-favourite-things-april-team-blog-hop.html

Until we craft again, The Brae-er


This and That- Ariana Layout

I am trying very hard to show you things beyond my favourite paper pack- I love them all but tend to gravitate toward the Skylark paper.  HERE is a layout done with the Ariana paper which is so pretty and also very versatile.  I especially LOVE the complement die cuts that you can purchase to go with this paper (that is where most of my embellishments for this layout come from).

this and that ariana layout

 

I used my spray pen and re-inker to create the background spritz.  The layout itself was from a magazine challenge (that I created and forgot to send in LOL!). I like how it all turned out and worked so well with my pics- and the very serious expression that my daughter had that day 🙂

Until we craft again, The Brae-er