3 Confessions of a CTMH Consultant…
If you’ve been around the stamping block for a while, you may already know that I have officially been a CTMH Consultant for 20 years now. Yep, on February 15th, 2001, I decided to join the wonderful world of Close To My Heart and I haven’t looked back. I’ve seen so many trends come and go. The scrapbooking industry ebb and flow. But, one thing that has always remained the same in my world? My passion for playing with pretty paper and building up knowledge in the things I want to know.
But now, after 20 years in the industry, I feel it’s time to come forward and confess a few things I’ve discovered along the way. Are you ready?
CTMH Consultant Confession #1:
As I take a moment to reflect over my career, I am so proud of the things I have accomplished. Things like leadership within the company, earning expense paid trips to fabulous locations across the world, and even having my artwork featured in different company publications and classes taught by other consultants! All this while being a super shy, stay-at-home mom with little to no confidence in myself – Seriously!
One of the things that I’ve discovered along this incredible journey is this…
“The only thing you have to fear is fear itself… and spiders.”
Imagine what our lives would be like if we didn’t have the courage to attempt anything. For example, I didn’t let my huge fear of standing up in front of people to give an in-home product demonstration define me. Instead, I went ahead and signed up to be a Consultant and focused on starting up a blog to display my handmade creations. I also started an online ‘Club’ for those across the country that wanted to create something new each month. Then, I backed it all up with exceptional Customer Service and consistent communication.
Now, the confession that may surprise many Consultants in this industry is this… Home parties were not my jam! The total number of in-home gatherings I’ve done probably amount to 12 in all of my 20 years. Crazy right? Success comes in many forms, and home parties were just never my thing.
Confession #2:
While I have spent numerous hours creating scrapbook pages for workshops and pages for my own personal use… I bet the number of albums that I’ve actually completed in 20 years may surprise you!
Before taking a guess at the answer, here are 5 fun facts to consider…
- I became a CTMH Consultant 240 months ago. (12 months x 20 years)
- The first several years of my business were spent dabbling in card making, not scrapbooking.
- My earliest memory of scrapbooking comes into view around 2006. That’s if you don’t count the couple of pages I created before I ever became a Close To My Heart Consultant.
- On average, I would guesstimate that the total number of pages I create in any given month is probably around 6. That’s 6 pages or 3 layouts.
- My views on what it means to scrapbook have recently shifted… but I’ll explain more about that in confession #3.
Now that you have a little bit of extra information to consider, are you ready to take your guess? If so, go for it!
Now for my answer… Would it surprise you if I said that I have a total of nineteen 12″ x 12″ photo albums sitting on my shelf and approximately 8 in other various sizes? Well the real answer to how many ‘completed’ scrapbooks I have sitting on my shelf boils down to just one – really! I’m not trying to give you the smarty-pants answer of “No scrapbook is ever truly completed” either. I literally only have one book on my shelf that is completed and out of my hands. It’s a book I put together for Rafe and his kids. Sure, the journaling isn’t complete but that’s on him at this point – lol. But seriously, the pages are completely done and the photos have been inserted so I’ve officially done my part. All of the other albums on my shelf are either sitting unopened, half started, or are missing photos/journaling, page arrangement or both! Which brings me to…
Confession #3:
My view on what it means to scrapbook has started to change over the last couple of years. I mean, I’m kind’ve ashamed to admit that I’ve started to question the purpose of it all…
That is until I enrolled in Stacy Julian’s Story 52 and Photo Freedom classes for 2021! Can you say renewed inspiration? Yay me!
All these years I have been approaching the endeavor of scrapbooking from the angle of making eye-pleasing art pages that others may want to make, too. However, 20 years can bring so much wisdom to the forefront, and thanks to Stacy Julian, I am redefining my feelings of how I want to scrapbook from here on out.
I’ve discovered that I love playing with pretty paper so digital scrapbooking isn’t my thing. I’ve also discovered that while “a picture is worth 1000 words” – “no one can tell MY story except for ME.” #truth So turning to storytelling is more in the direction of where I want to go and I’m excited about it! I can’t wait to show you what I mean.
In Conclusion…
I’m excited to see where the next 20 years of creativity as a CTMH Consultant Maker will take me in this wonderful PaperCrafting industry. And, to all my blog readers, friends and followers…thank you so much for supporting me when it comes to all my small business endeavors. My main goal has always been to inspire, and that’s what I continue to want to do. <3
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