One of our all-time favorite humans is celebrating her birthday this month, and we simply cannot let the occasion pass without inviting you to celebrate her along with us! We are talking about none other than our dear founder, CEO, and, most especially, lovely friend Jeanette Lynton!

Through her exemplary work and dedication for over 35 years, Jeanette has taught us the importance of memory keeping, where we celebrate our lives and relationships through beautiful papers and inks.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that memory keeping is at the heart of everything we do. We’ve made it our mission to help others realize the importance of preserving memories and celebrating relationships—and to show them how to do it in a fun and fulfilling way!

The Party Time paper collection in our current Core Products Catalog, featuring bright and festive colors and designs, helps us do just that! And, because it is Jeanette’s birthday, we are keeping the party going by giving some of it away!

We are giving away five bundles of product here on the blog, another five on our Facebook page, and another five on Instagram! (Follow us on those other platforms to learn how to increase your chances to win!)

Each bundle will include one Party Time Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet, one Party Time Coordinating Cardstock, one My Acrylix® Par-tay stamp set, and one set of our limited-time offer Party Time Picture My Life™ Cards that are available for just one more week!

To qualify for the drawing on the blog, it’s an easy two-step entry. First, make sure you are subscribed to CTMH'S BLOG! If you are not, simply push the blue “Subscribe to list” button found on the sidebar, if you’re on a computer, or at the very bottom of this post, if you’re on a phone or tablet. Second, and this is a must and just as important, leave a comment ON CTMH'S BLOG POST with a birthday message for Jeanette. That’s it! All entries must be submitted by 5 p.m. tomorrow, March 25, MDT (that’s 10:00 a.m., 26 March, AEDT for our Aussie friends). Blog winners will be notified via the e-mail address connected to their subscriptions.

All of you that are part of our crafting community, you mean so much to us and especially to Jeanette. We are so grateful for the years of friendship we’ve all shared and the many years of friendship to come, and we love celebrating our relationship! Today, please join us in celebrating Jeanette and leave her a birthday message below!

REMEMBER TO LEAVE A COMMENT ON CTMH'S BLOG POST before 5pm (MDT) on March 25th to be entered to win!

Are you the kind of person who loves taking photos? If you already know that you have more photos than you know what to do with for a traditional scrapbook layout (most of us are this person), take a look at these surprisingly easy ways to include all of them in your albums and tell your whole story!

Sometimes we have too many photos for one particular layout but, for whatever the reason—not enough time, not enough variety, not enough paper (heaven forbid!)—we can’t make a second layout from what we do have. If you’re anything like many of us, the thought of tossing any of these “extra” photos makes you cringe—! This is where we can help!

Have you ever given Pocket Plus™ Memory Protectors™ a try? Wondering what we’re even talking about?

Pocket Plus protectors are exactly what they sound like—additional pockets to add to a layout, creating space for more photos, journaling, mementos, etc. You fill the pockets of these protectors with your memories, then slip them right into your layouts!

They’re fast and simple and add a fun interactive element to your layouts!

Pocket Plus is a great solution for adding those stowed away photos to your already existing albums. If you’re planning ahead, however, you can take your designing a step further and purposefully create your layouts so that the Pocket Plus protectors lay on top of the 12″ x 12″ pages in such a way that titles, photos, or other elements of the page aren’t partially covered.

Pocket Plus Memory Protectors come in two widths, 6″ and 4″. So, for instance, if you are planning on using a 6″ wide protector on top of your 12″ x 12″ page, design your base page with this in mind. Create a visual line at the 6″ mark that none of your photos, sentiments, journaling, or titles can straddle.

If you are planning on using a 4″ wide protector on top of your 12″ x 12″ page, design the base page with a visual line at 4″ from the inside margin.

This way, your Pocket Plus is working with the visual elements of your layout rather than interrupting them.

If you’ve only got a few additional photos or need just a small amount of extra room for some journaling, or whatever, then Flip Flaps™ are the way to go!

Flip Flaps are individual protective pockets that you attach to a page and flip to reveal additional photos, sentiments, or designs—and they’re something you can only get with Close To My Heart! Available in eight different size options, Flip Flaps can be attached to pretty much any size or style of scrapbook page!

If you haven’t already, today is also a good day to discover the simplicity of scrapbooking in pockets. Using Memory Protectors with multiple pockets is another great way to display all of those photos you have of that one birthday party, camping trip, or girls’ night out in a trendy blocked style. (See all of our different style and size options, here.)

Looking to fill those none-photo pockets? Picture My Life™ pocket cards are beautifully and purposefully designed for you to use for exactly that, and they effortlessly coordinate with our paper collections and products.

We are especially excited about two brand-new sets of Picture My Life pocket cards, Lovely and Party Time. These two sets were recently designed to coordinate with the Lovely and Party Time paper collections in our 2020–2021 Core Products Catalog, and are only available until March 31, while supplies last. (Snag these gorgeous cards for yourself, while you still can!)

With a wide assortment of pocket protectors and pocket cards at your disposal, you always have that extra space for all of your photos, journaling, and memories! Do you use any of these types of pockets in your scrapbooking? If so, please share with us how you do in the comments below!