*Floral Celebration* Blog Hop!

THANK YOU for stopping by to enjoy our

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

featuring this month's SOTM:

Floral Celebration S2008

If you've just arrived here from

KRISTA's BLOG

then you are on the correct path.

Today I'm sharing this standard-size card I created using

the NEW-for-July/August Mix-in Paper Packet (X9017)

that includes three of the colors shown here, New England Ivy, Smoothie, and Toffee. My stamping was done with Archival Black, Smoothie, and Toffee ink pads, then I colored the flowers with Citrus and Gold Brown TriBlend markers. Flowers and leaves are all fussy-cut. Embellished with Silver glitter gems, Silver shimmer trim, and Lemonade acrylic hearts from the 

Summer Vibes acrylic shapes collection.

Now you can continue on with the blog hop

to be inspired by more creativity using this 

stamp set by visiting KATY's BLOG next!

 

5 Cards featuring the "Seas the Day" papers!

Today I’m sharing 5 more of the 10 card-designs we were
supposed to be creating at our March 21st Triple Treat Workshop, 
BUT since it had to be canceled, many of my
 creative friends will be picking up their kits from
me and making these cards from home!

These cards feature the “Seas the Day” paper collection
and were designed by Addie Ebersohl! Card-makers who have 
purchased this kit from me will be making 20 cards
(2 each of 10 designs). I should still have a few of these 
kits left-over (20 cards for $40), so if you'd like to 
purchase a kit "to go" please feel welcome to contact me.

*Cherishing Her* Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

THANK YOU for stopping by to enjoy our

February Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

featuring this month's SOTM:
Cherishing Her S2002

If you've just arrived here from

Darlys' BLOG

then you are on the correct path.

Today I'm sharing a standard-size card I created

using the SOTM and the Julep "Mix-in" patterned
paper that can be seen using this link.

My featured technique today is:
Partial Scene Masking with Dies
You can easily find a variety of instructional videos
that show how to do this technique on YouTube,
just do a quick search for"partial scene masking."

Ink pad colors I used here include:
Intense Black, Ballerina, Pixie, and Raspberry.
The thin-cut I used was the largest frame from
our new Stitched Bracket Thin Cuts Z3631.
The mask was cut from an address sticker label
backing I had saved. The thin waxy paper holds
up nicely as you blend your ink inward from the 
edges and can then be re-used multiple times.

It required a little practice to get my ink to blend
perfectly, but I used three round make-up sponges 
(that's just what I happened to have on hand),
and it worked just fine. No special tools required!

I hope my card inspires you to try this beautiful technique!
Now you can continue on with the blog hop

and be inspired by more creativity using this 

stamp set by visiting Ramona's BLOG next!

*Random Acts of Cardness* Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

THANK YOU for stopping by to enjoy our

September Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

featuring this month's SOTM:

Random Acts of Cardness S1909

If you've just arrived here from

TERRY's BLOG

then you are on the correct path.

Today I'm sharing two standard-size cards I created

using the SOTM and paper from the brand-new
EVERY LITTLE THING collection (See it here!)

Notice that I used some parts/pieces from 
the Picture My Life card pack (x7248E), as well as, 
patterns from the regular paper packet.
I've also used the vellum die-cuts (z3521)
and colored them with a Mint Shimmer Brush (z4225),
although I'm sure that any color, especially the NEW 
Julep (color of the year!) Shimmer Brush would
work beautifully as well! If you've never tried
making "splatters" by flicking your shimmer brush
at your artwork, then you really should TRY IT!
It's so much fun and very addictive!
I pretty much want to splatter on everything lately! lol.

Now you can continue on with the blog hop

and be inspired by more creativity using this 

stamp set by visiting KRISTA's BLOG next!

July 2019 Artwork (featuring Into the Wild!)

June 2019 Artwork (featuring True Love!)

Last Chance to RSVP for May 11th Triple Treat Workshop!

Wednesday, May 1st is the LAST DAY to get your pre-paid RSVP to me for the May 11th TRIPLE TREAT Creative Workshop Day! (A Close to my Heart multi-consultant scrapbooking and card-making event held three times a year!!!)

Featuring YOUR CHOICE OF:

“The World is Yours” scrapbooking pages

FIVE LAYOUTS! (which is TEN 12x12 pages)!

OR 

A variety of 20 standard-size greeting cards
(10 masculine and 10 feminine). Every card is unique
(no duplicates!) and the stamping will be simple and 
minimal enough that they can be finished more quickly
and easily than ever before!

As usual, additional/optional pre-stamped cards will be available from our "CARD BUFFET” for just $2 each. Make only as many as you want, and only the designs/occasions and sentiments you choose!

The event will include lunch (we’re still determining the
exact menu), snacks, bottled water, iced tea, and/or coffee. 

Materials will be pre-cut and sorted by me, so they will be ready to stamp, color, and assemble. Plus, enjoy an ice-breaker game, photo ops, prize giveaways, current and
retired CTMH products for sale (including Jen’s used 
stamp sets discounted to 50% off or more!) and plenty of table space to spread out on while you create amongst familiar friends and new friends!

Workshop fee is $60 per guest.
Each guest will get $40 worth of CTMH product,
and $20 will go to cover the costs of the food, hotel room rental, and give-always.

$60 reservation fee needs

to be PRE-PAID to me

NO LATER THAN MAY 1st!

Payments can be sent online

through PayPal dot com using

the "friends and family" option
 to: [email protected].

I also accept Venmo now!!

@Jennifer-SluderRubio

OR contact me NOW 

to arrange your payment by

cash, check, or debit/credit

card). Call or text me at:

760-220-0683

This event will be held from 10am-4pm
on Saturday, May 11th at the Holiday Inn Express
& Suites (2700 Lenwood Rd. Barstow, CA 92311).

For the Love of Crafting Blog Hop (August SOTM!)

THANK YOU for stopping by to enjoy our

August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

featuring this month's SOTM:

For the Love of Crafting S1808

If you've just arrived here from
my friend KATY's BLOG

then you are on the correct path.
If you get lost along the way, you can find
a complete list of all of the participating
consultant blogs here on MELINDA's BLOG.

Today I'm sharing a standard-size card I created
using our beautifully vibrant watercolor paints!
(on cold press watercolor paper 140lb. 300gsm).

If you want to attempt to create a similar card,
you will want to make sure the watercolor paint
and paper is completely dry before you stamp on
it with archival black ink, as I have done here.
I also stamped the sentiment stamp with archival
black ink on a smaller scrap of the same watercolor
paper and then cut it out (cut my heart just inside 
the edge of all of the little black dots). Then I added
the cut-out heart element on to the card using 
3d foam mounting tape to give it some dimension.

The trick to achieving this look is to use lots of water,
and create puddles of color on your paper by tapping,
dabbing, and swirling the color on with your water brush
(do not swipe, smear, rub, or blend it in too much).
Let the puddles of color sit on top of your paper and absorb
slowly (the less you brush it the better). While it is drying,
you can also use a heat embossing tool (or blow air on it
using a straw) to spread the puddles of color from the 
inside to the outermost edges of your paper like I did 
here. When it was mostly dry, I then flicked splatters 
of color along the outside edges using a waterbrush
that I loaded with lots of water and color.

I am working on creating my first quick 
video tutorial, so you can see exactly how to do it!
I will be sharing it on Facebook later next week, 
so if you'd like to see that, please go visit and 
"LIKE" and follow my Facebook business page now!
(Jen Rubio - Close to my Heart Consultant)

Since I only used one of the images in this stamp set
this time, here's a look at ALL of the fun images included:

Now you can continue on with the blog hop
and be inspired by more creativity using this
set of stamps by visiting KIMBERLY's BLOG next!

Scrapbooking with Central Park (in July and August)!

The month of July sure has flown by!

However, there's still time for local customers 

to come and create these scrapbook pages 

and/or cards with me in the next few weeks!

PLEASE RSVP at least one week in advance if

you plan to purchase a pre-cut scrapbooking kit

($32 for the 4 layouts shown) or last minute RSVP's

are welcome for card-making ($2 per card,

all card designs are first come, first serve,

while my supply lasts).

The upcoming CREATE DATES

you have to choose from are:

Friday 7/27 (6pm-10pm)

Saturday 7/28 (9am-1pm)

Monday 7/30 (9am-1pm)

Monday 8/6 (9am-1pm)

Monday 8/13 (9am-1pm)

Friday 8/17 (6pm-10pm)

Saturday 8/18 (9am-1pm)

Last of all, if you haven't done so already,

please SAVE THIS DATE and plan to

JOIN US for our next BIG EVENT...

(pre-paid reservations are due by 8/5

so more reminders are coming soon!)

Get your choice of either scrapbook pages OR cards!!

(photos of the 20 cards the card-makers 

will be creating at this event are coming soon!)

June Scrapbooking and Cardmaking...with Fresh Air!

June is here and these are the
the scrapbook pages and cards we're
making this month using the
"Fresh Air" paper collection!

First, let's talk about the "create dates"
I'm offering this month! As many of you
know, my oldest daughter is getting married
on June 15th. In addition to all the wedding
preparations and family we'll have staying with us,
I'm also busy preparing to be a creative presenter
at the Close to my Heart Convention (for consultants)
in Las Vegas from June 28-30. I'm so thrilled about
this opportunity and have A LOT of artwork to 
design/create using "top-secret" NEW
not-yet-released products that I need to keep
under wraps until the next catalogs are revealed
in August and September.

It's all a tad overwhelming, so I've decided
that I very much need to cut back on the
number of "create dates" I'm able to offer to my
customers in my home (this month only). If you
are also busy and/or vacationing this month and 
are unable to attend the following dates in June,
please know that you can still pre-order and
plan to make these projects with me during
July and/or August also!

The June "Create Dates" will be:
Friday, June 8th (6pm-10pm)
Saturday, June 9th (9am-1pm)
Monday, June 25th (9am-1pm)

Let's take a look at this month's pages!
If you compare my layouts to the originals designed by CTMH, you might notice some differences. This is because I frequently like to "change up" the pages to include more space for larger (mostly 4x6) photos, because that's usually my preference. Our workshop kits/pages are more versatile than you might think, and I can show you how to make them work for you, even if the photos you have to use on them are not the exact sizes and orientations shown. You are welcome to create your pages exactly like these ones below, or you can use your own creativity to change them up however you want!

These last two pages (above) are ones that I designed

using "Make It From Your Heart, Volume III"

as my inspiration (pattern #14 on page 32).
Layout #4 is a free BONUS layout, that I like to
design and add-on to your kit for you every month!

If you're considering joining my monthly scrapbooking

club, we'd love to have you join us now! Here's how...

It's really quite simple. Just plan to purchase and use

the featured scrapbooking kit I offer each month,

and by the end of the year, you can have as many as

96 pages done (that's enough to fill TWO full albums!)

Each monthly kit is $32 (when purchased in-person),

pre-cut for you (by me) and ready for you to use to 

assemble 4-12x12 layouts (that's 8 pages!) every month.

As an extra incentive from me, I also offer what

I call "DONE DOLLARS!" For every two-page layout you

complete (with photos and journaling!) by the end of the

following month, I will give you a credit of $1.00. If you

complete all 4 layouts from the monthly kit, then you will

have earned a $4 credit to spend with me however

you'd like. In addition to this extra motivation to 

complete your layouts, I also reward you for your

consistent participation! When you buy any 6 of our

scrapbooking workshop kits, your 7th kit is FREE!

*There are additional shipping costs for customers who wish

to order online, and non-local customers will need to cut

their own paper (all kits include a detailed cutting guide to

make it easy!), but I do like to reward my online 

customers also with these extra perks from me.

Now, let's talk about Card-making!!
All cards are $2 each (bring and use your own adhesives).
You get to choose how many of each you want to make
from my "card buffet," whether it be just a few or a lot.
Any customer who has purchased a scrapbooking
workshop kit or who makes a $30 or more purchase,
qualifies for the discounted "club member" price 
of just $1 per card!

The cards this month are quite simple,
but FUN none-the-less!!