Friday, March 31, 2017

Tea-rrific Stamp of the Month Cards!


Today I'm participating in the most recent and very last  
Heart 2 Heart Blog Challenge for the month of March! This week the challenge is titled, "Tea Time," and I've used the March Stamp of the Month (S1703) "Tea-rrific" to create this card (above). As you can see, the card design is inspired by one of the cards that is part of the Workshops Your Way Some Kinda Wonderful Scrapbooking Kit (G1120). I love the beautiful designs our CTMH art department comes up with for our workshop kits, and I find myself inspired by them quite often. A few little changes or tweaks of my own, and "bam!" I've now got another new card that I can use.

...and here's another card I made using this same stamp set (below) and have shared on my blog previously, using the Uptown Fundamentals papers (Z3263). Colored with Carmine, Warm Grey 4, Peacock Green, and Turquoise Blue markers.

This has probably been one of my most favorite 
friendship-themed Stamp of the Month sets that I can
remember in recent years! Today is the last day it's available
for purchase from CTMH and I'll be so sad to see it go! I do
still have a few more of these stamp sets on hand in my
inventory, so please feel free to contact me now if you 
still want/need a set of your own!


Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Essential Micro-tip Scissors!

I'm determined to complete all of the weekly challenges issued this month on the Heart 2 Heart Blog, so today I'm sharing a card I created using my most frequently-used "Favorite" tool for the "Tool Time" challenge. As much as I absolutely LOVE how Close to my Heart is now offering such a variety of thin-cuts dies to coordinate with our stamp sets, I still find myself wanting and needing to get out my most reliable Micro-tip Scissors (Z534) to do some detailed cutting occasionally. These are no ordinary scissors!! If you like to cut out small things, having these Micro-tips really does make all the difference! I've had new customers tell me many times that they're "just not very good at cutting," but then I love watching them discover that with the right pair of scissors, they really can and do cut so much more effectively!

So here's a "fussy cut" standard-size card (below) that I created recently using the stamp set from the Workshops your Way® "Here For You" Cardmaking Kit (G1124):


...and here are the instructions (below) that I made up to
help my customers figure out how to put the card together!

(ink colors used are Black, Cranberry, and Fern)
Sometimes, if/when I have a large group of guests attending a class, and I know it will be harder to get around to explain each card to every guest in full detail, I'll make up a page like this (elements adhered on 12x12 cardstock and kept in a clear memory protector), that they can pass around and refer to, to help them make sure they don't miss any steps when the stamping and assembly of a particular card is more involved. I hope it is helpful to you also by helping you to see and understand how this card was put together. Enjoy!!


Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Dreamin' Big Dragonfly Card!

Today I'm excited to share this standard-size card that I created for the weekly 
Heart 2 Heart Blog Challenge! The challenge a few weeks ago was to create something using the Dreamin' Big paper collection or to create anything inspired by the idea that it's "time to dream!" So this is the card I came up with using leftover paper scraps and embellishments from my Workshops Your Way® Dreamin' Big Scrapbooking Kit (G1121) and the Dreamin' Big - Cardmaking stamp set (C1674). I also added some thin strips of white shimmer trim for a little extra sparkle. The dragonfly was inked using "Stamp Rolling" technique with Whisper and Juniper inks.

I hope you've enjoyed and are inspired by my artwork.
Thanks for stopping by!

(The Dreamin' Big collection, shown above).

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Background Stamping with the April Stamp of the Month!


Today I'm "So Happy" to share these two standard-size cards that I created for the weekly Heart 2 Heart Blog Challenge! The challenge this week was to create something using background stamping (also, sometimes known as random stamping),
and this was my final result!

I used the upcoming April Stamp of the Month, Flock Together (S1704) from Close to my Heart, to stamp these fun rainbow backgrounds (above). The ink colors I used (in order from bottom to top) are Pansy, Pacifica, Willow, Lemon, Goldrush, and Cranberry. I simply started at the bottom of each piece of 4" x 5.25" white daisy cardstock and stamped the trio of hearts close together from left to right, then started each new row with a new color (and there's not much that's "random" about that, lol). It really is amazing what can be done with just one little stamp! I hope you're inspired by my cards and will have fun doing some background stamping of your own!

Friday, March 17, 2017

The Big March 18th Workshop - final details!!

The big day is finally almost here!!

"Triple Treat" Creative Day Retreat!
(a multi-consultant event we will host 3 times a year!)

Saturday, March 18th, 2017
(10:00 am – 4:00 pm)
at Rosita’s Restaurant (in Barstow, CA)

Each guest should plan to PLEASE BRING
your own basic tool kit that includes:
Tape-runner adhesive (and refills)
Mini glue dots and/or glue dots
3d foam tape
Liquid glass or a fine-tip glue pen
Micro-tipped scissors* 
(*very important!! Don't forget these
so you don't have to share/wait on others!)

We also recommend you bring a light sweater
(in case the room is cool) and your camera 
(of course!) to take lots of photos 
with your old and new creative friends!
(we're expecting approximately 25 guests!!)

We will have plenty of adhesives and other 
CTMH products available for purchase at the event,
so remember to bring your checkbook, cash, or your
debit/credit card if you plan to shop.

Rosita's will also have the bar and kitchen open to us, 
so you can purchase your own drinks if you want to 
(I've heard that they have amazing margarita's!) 
or even order a full meal if you're really hungry.

Buffet-style appetizers will be served 
and unlimited refills of ice water and ice tea
will also be available for all paid guests!

Photos of all the layouts and cards we're making are shown
below and I am also including a list of the suggested photo
sizes here in case you want to bring your photos to finish up
your pages completely on this day. You also have the option add
your photos at home later if you'd prefer...it's totally up to you.

Layout #1
1-5x7” tall photo
2-4x6” wide photos

Layout #2
4-4x6” tall photos

Layout #3
1-4x6” tall photo
1-4x6” wide photo
2-4x5” tall photos
1-3x4” tall photo

Layout #4
1-4x4” photo
4-4x6” wide photos
1-3x4” tall photo

I'm so looking forward to seeing all of our
guests on Saturday morning at 10am!! 
If you need to be late, that's okay too, as we'll have up to 
6 full hours to snack, socialize, and create the day away!!

...and don't forget about the random door prize
drawings we'll be doing throughout the day also!!
(one prize will be given away every hour!)
I can't wait to see all of you very soon!!

Jen Rubio
760-220-0683







 Lastly, if you're really disappointed that you had to miss this event and are interested in making these cards and 12x12 pages, please let me know!! I'm still able to order and prepare more of these kits for anyone who'd like to make everything seen here, either during any of my regularly scheduled CREATE DATES at my home during April, OR... for any of my online/non-local customers,
I'm happy to begin mailing "Kits-to-Go" starting April 1st!!
Please contact me now to ask about my special pricing.