Check out my Close to My Heart Blog...ABCHearts

I have posted lots of stuff from convention about retiring products and new stuff and will be adding more, so if you're interested, please check it out. Be sure to follow me on both so you continue to get the updates, as I'm really going to work at being better about keeping them both up to date!

Thanks and have a Great Day!

Blessings,
Jenny-May

Where Has the Time Gone?

So, life seems to have taken over for the last year plus! Now that life after the Army is nearly a reality, hopefully I will be a little better about keeping things updated. As for what has been going on for the past 15 months or so...

I was finishing up life as I've known it for the past 20 years. The Army has been just that for me...my life. It was my job, my career, my family, my friends...it was everything to me. It has been a great ride and I have some wonderful memories that I will treasure for a lifetime! I have some amazing friendships that I will carry with me into my next chapter and hope to continue to strengthen for many more years to come. While I am closing the door on that life and ending that chapter, it will always be a part of me and who I am, as will all of the people who helped me through those times.

May 26th was a very difficult day for me, as that was the day of my Retirement Ceremony. I was blessed to have many people from throughout my career able to be here in San Antonio to share that special day with me. From former 1SGs to former Soldiers who were students when I instructed or trainees when I was a Drill Sergeant, former Soldiers who worked for or with me and many peers from throughout my career. I was honored to have one of the best friends anyone could have and one of the best Soldiers the Army has ever known as my Guest Speaker to make the day even more special. Last but not least, I was blessed, honored, and very proud to have nearly all of my family here to celebrate the day with me, as well.

I have tons of photos of the occasion up on my Facebook page, so feel free to go and check them out. It truly was a wonderful day and I am really glad that someone convinced me to do it, since I originally didn't want to have a ceremony. Thank you Dennis for everything, most of all for your service to this great country...and secondly for your friendship!!!

Now I am trying to figure out what I really want to be when I grow up. My dream job would be working in the Education and Training Department at Sea World...I mean doing what I love at my happy place - does it get any better than that?!?! :-) LOL I am currently working to get my Close to My Heart business going again, as well. So, for any of you who are interested in Scrapbooking and Stamping and preserving your memories and sharing them with loved ones or exploring your creativity, let me know and I'd love to help you with that!

I'm also trying to reconnect with "Jenny-May", as "Sergeant Olson" is who I've been for 18 years now and that's going to take some adjustments and getting used to, I think. I'm ready, though, for the next chapter and what life has in store and where God leads me next. I hope you'll all come along for the ride! Let the journey begin!

God Bless America! God Bless the US Army! God Bless you all!

Blessings,
Jenny-May

Studio J™ goes LIVE FOR CUSTOMERS on 27 April!!!

I'm SOOOOOO excited to announce that Close to My Heart's FABULOUS Studio Scrapbooking, Studio J™, is FINALLY available to customers tomorrow, April 27th at 8 AM MDT! So, now y'all can have as much fun playing with this AMAZING product as I have! Here is some info to help you get started! ENJOY and let me know if you have any questions!

TUESDAY, APRIL 27, 2010. 8 AM MDT. You can go to my websitehttp://ABCHearts.MyCTMH.com and there will be a tab added that day for Studio J. Click there and you can begin playing...for FREE! You pay NOTHING unless you order some layouts. Putting them together is TOTALLY FREE! Doesn't everyone love free! In the meantime, if you haven't watched the Studio J introductory video yet, go to www.studioj.com and watch it!

If you LOVE classic scrapbooking, Studio J™ won't take away from that - it will make it that much better! There is absolutely room for both in your life. I love them both for totally different reasons. I love the therapy I get when I'm sitting surrounded by paper and embellishments creating wonderful pages. I also love the speed of Studio J™. If you're like me, you're behind and feel like you'll never get caught up on your scrapbooking. Studio J™ makes it easier to do just that! Plus, you can always order Studio J™ layouts and then once you receive the layout at home, you can add some dimension and texture to it by adding embellishments for the hybrid effect. This way it really ties in with your classic scrapbooking!

If you are someone who has never really gotten into classic scrapbooking but are a fan of "digital" scrapbooking, Studio J™ will quickly become a favorite! I have tried several different digital products out there, and in my opinion, NOTHING can compete with Studio J™ in quality, concept, cost or beauty! It truly is the only one of it's kind and the WONDERFUL thing about it is that it's FREE to use with nothing to download onto your computer! You can play with it and try it out before purchasing your first layouts!

There is NO COST to use the program. Unless you make a layout (defined as a two page 12 x 12 layout) and decide to purchase it, there is absolutely no cost. Once you decide to purchase, each 2 page layout is introductory priced at $12.95. That is WAY below the industry average! And, if you purchase 5-9 two-page layouts at a time, CTMH will throw in 5 free page protectors. 10 or more and you get FREE SHIPPING, as well as a package of 5 page protectors for every 5 layouts in the order. Once ordered, Close To My Heart prints your layouts on high quality photo paper and sends them to you. Mine shipped the day after I ordered them and arrived within days!

If you have any questions, I am MORE than happy to answer them. Email me at ABCHearts@gmail.com. If you have lots of friends who love studio, you might even want to consider signing up to be a Close To My Heart Consultant with your own website so that you can make some extra money while they fall in love with Studio J™! You can do that right now while you are waiting! Just click here, then on "Your Opportunities" and then follow the prompts. You can become a Close To My Heart Consultant for as little as $99! Don't hesitate to drop me a line if you have any questions!

Happy scrappin' and stampin',
Jenny-May

Cool little buddy...

Go to Shadow Buddy and get a cool little buddy or donate one to a hospital - pretty cool!

Love and hugs,
J-M

Coming home...

So, I changed my flight and should arrive at 4:53pm instead of 11:13pm tomorrow night! Pray for safe travels and not weather issues causing delays!

Love and Hugs,

Jenny-May

Lovin' CTMH's new Studio J™

I made these layouts using the new online Studio J™ from Close to My Heart. It will be available for customers to use sometime in March. Consultants are getting a sneak peek and I am absolutely lovin' it at this point! I might finally get some stuff done. Here are some layouts from my trip to the Med last year and some other pages I wanted to try out.

Enjoy!

CTMH Med Cruise

Random Pages with photos of some of my favorite people in the world!!!














This is going to be addicting, I see already! Glad I can do these pages and get a discount! lol

Love and Hugs,
Jenny-May

National Papercrafting Month

CELEBRATE PAPERCRAFTING WITH THE STUNNING FELICITY Collection!

The collection features decorative die-cut paper, three gorgeous color schemes, and a D-size stamp set that include flowers, flourishes, argyle patterns, birds, and an entire alphabet! Your papercrafting possibilities are endless!

There are three ways to get the Felicity collection:
• Purchase it at full retail price for $34.95.
• Place an order of $60 or more in full-retail priced stamp sets (A, B, C, D, and E-size) and receive one collection FREE! Excludes: Stamp of the Month, Art & Soul,® Workshop on the Go,™ and customizable (K) stamp sets.
• Place an order of $125 or more in full-retail priced Close To My Heart products and receive one collection FREE!

The campaign also has enticing opportunities for hostesses and new Consultants. Hostesses get the collection FREE with a Home Gathering sales total of $400 or more (which includes catalog shows), and new Consultants who join Close To My Heart between January 1–31 will receive the collection FREE in their New Consultant Kit.

Celebrate with the Felicity Collection today!
Campaign Dates:
Customers and Hostesses: December 15, 2009—January 31, 2010
New Consultants: January 1–31, 2010

Last chance for Holiday Heyday tomorrow!

The 50-80% off sale on select CTMH products ends tomorrow! Visit my website if you're interested in getting in on this great special! Feel free to pass this along to your friends, too! lol

Love and hugs,
Jenny-May

No longer in a cast...

Finally, I am out of the cast! YAY!!! Still not walking, but on my way. I can start adding weight little by little in 7 more days! Looks like Christmas will be touch, but at least I'll be home. Then Baylee and Daddy are coming to San Antonio with me for a week. That will be nice to have them here. Hopefully my foot will be feeling OK and I'll be up to exploring San Antonio at Christmas, and the surrounding area. There are tons of things to do, so I'm hoping that I'm feeling up to seeing them all! lol

I go back to the doc on 5 Jan and then will hopefully start physical therapy shortly thereafter so I can get this healing process under way. So far the foot is still pretty stiff - will just take some time to get the movement back, so I guess I have to be patient. Uh-oh, not my strong point! lol Wish me luck!

Love and hugs,
Jenny-May

I'll Be Home for Christmas!

So, I FINALLY got my tickets for Christmas. I'll be arriving LATE (I might even see Santa in the air!) on Christmas Eve and then Baylee and I and Daddy are coming back to San Antonio on Monday, the 28th. Will be a short trip home, but at least I'll be there for Christmas!

Love and Hugs,
Jenny-May

Holiday Heyday sale, CTMH style!

Wanted to let you all know about this awesome sale, too!

Tomorrow starts Close to My Heart's Holiday Heyday ONLINE CLEARANCE SALE! Items are 50%- 80% OFF! Just in time for holiday shopping! The sale starts TOMORROW- Wednesday, December 2nd, at 9 a.m. (MDT) and continues through Thursday, December 17th OR WHILE SUPPLIES LAST. Often times these items go fast, so plan on shopping early.

Go to my website- http://ABCHearts.MyCTMH.com and click SHOP ONLINE. Look for the link that reads Holiday Heyday Clearance sale.

Shop from home in your PJs 24/7!

Love and Hugs,
Jenny-May

Last day of STAMPAGANZA - buy 2 get 1 free

Today is the last day of buy 2 get 1 FREE for the stamps! Don't let it pass you buy if you're a stamper! Visit my website for details!

Hugs,
Jenny-May

Just wanted to share with ya'll, too...

I'm offering a "Cyber Monday" special for all Close to My Heart orders placed on my website tomorrow. All orders placed on my website on Monday, 30 Nov, will receive one of the new Spring 2010 Idea Books FREE, along with another thank you from me. You must submit your order on my MyCTMH site on Monday, 30 Nov. All orders will then receive their free idea book and thank you in the mail from me. The website is http://ABCHearts.MyCTMH.com if you're not seeing the links in this message.

Love and Hugs to ya'll,
Jenny-May

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

So, I'm a little late, but FB was up to date! lol I hope this finds you all well and enjoying some down time with family and friends. I hope you all had a terrific Thanksgiving and took some time to reflect on what you're truly thankful for this year. I know I have a lot to be thankful for - I have an amazing family, wonderful friends, a roof over my head, food on my table and shoes on my feet. Those of us who can say that are richer than a great part of world. Be thankful and do what you can to help someone who might not have all that you do.

Love and Hugs,
Jenny-May

Updates from San Antonio...

sort of, anyway. Not much new going on, unfortunately. Still crutchin' or rollin' around with my cast. Counting the days til 8 Dec when I go back in and will hopefully get it off, at least for the exam and stuff. Not sure what will happen then if they'll put on another or that will be it and I'll start the physical therapy portion.Once that starts, I'm probably looking at 6 months to a year before I'm fully healed and recovered and back on the court. I hope I'm back on the court, anyway!

I know I'm certainly getting very tired of dealing with this stupid cast! More than tired of bumming rides from people, too! I want my independence back! lol

Well, off for now, but wanted to give a quick update! Enjoy the rest of your week!

Love and Hugs to all,
Jenny-May