Newsprint Rub-Ons from Close To My Heart

Find out what makes Newsprint rub-ons so easy to apply and fun to use, and then watch as we show you how to create stunning artwork using these rub-ons!

Debbi's Paper Flower Tutorial!

I held a Cherry-O recipe/card box workshop on Saturday, June 12th, and since then I've had a lot of people who couldn't attend asking me how I made the paper flower that decorates the front of the box (Thanks for attending Debbie, Donna, and Karyn - we had so much fun - and I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to show you how to make these already)!!

So I finally got around to taking some photos to post a flower tutorial for everyone - yaay! Let me first say, that all credit for these flowers should go to my very talented 5th upline and Executive Director with CTMH, Debbi Fournier of LaVerne, California. She is the one who shared and taught us how to create these awesome flowers at a consultant team meeting I attended recently in May. First, you will need to punch out some B&T paper with a punch (or use a die-cut or your cricut) to make FOUR 2-inch scalloped circles (my photo above shows you a few of these punched out, so I could show you the step-by-step progression of how to fold each of these pieces, all in one photo). You will fold your punched circle in half, and then in half again so it looks like the one labeled step #3 above. Then you will fold it in half one more time (because it will be so thick by now, it is easiest to just fold one flap forward and one flap the other way). Use your bone folder to crease your folds well, then open it up all the way and cut it in half on the first folded crease-line you made (as shown in step #5).
Next you will re-fold each half of the punched and creased circle pieces accordian-style (some may call it a fan fold; one piece forward, one back, one forward, and so on). Because you have made 4 scalloped circles cut in half, you should end up with 8 fan-folded pieces. You will also want to punch a cardstock circle using our 1.25" circle punch to use as the base to add your flower petals to. Fold the circle in half twice to create creases and help you find the exact center of the flower (I have marked my center with an x to help you see it more easily).
Next, cover your base cardstock circle with Tombow (or any permanent tape-runner adhesive) and begin adding the folded flower petals. Make sure that the top flap of the fan-folded part opens up facing the same direction as you are adding them all the way around.
Then insert a brad or button in the center of your flower
(I used a colonial white designer brad on mine Z1274).
Finally, I sponged the petals with a sponge dauber and chocolate ink and added a self-adhesive red Sparkle to the center of the brad. You can crinkle and wrinkle up your petals if you want to or just fluff them up with your fingers if you want them to stand up a little more. I adhered the flower to my box with glue dots on top of some crimped hand-cut paper leaves that I sponge-distressed with chocolate ink also. Here is the final view of the recipe/photo/greeting card box I decorated with Debbi's beautiful flower (below):
I hope you will enjoy making some of these simple but "wowie" flowers as much as I do. Have fun getting creative with them!

Special THANKS goes out to Debbi Fournier for sharing her lovely flower with us!

"Crescent Moon Paper Flower" tutorial!

Today was a good day (exhausting, but good). I got up early to drive out of town to attend a CTMH consultant team meeting most of the day at my 3rd upline Cindy Baker's house in Menifee (about a 2 hour drive for me). The "creative" theme for the day was learning how to make all the different kinds of paper flowers that are so popular right now! Several different consultants shared and taught us how to make different varieties of flowers. It was so fun and I learned a whole lot!! You can bet I'll be sharing more flower ideas with you in future blog postings, but I learned way too much to share it all at once. The 4x4 criss-card (shown above) is the little project that I provided and taught everyone how to make! The "crescent moon paper flower" I taught is created with our NEW 1.25" circle punch that I have enjoyed using so much recently! These flowers are much simpler to make than they appear (I'm all about faster, simpler, and easier lately!!) Please enjoy this photo tutorial on how to make them! Using Splendor B&T paper that is pre-cut to 2.75" x 4.25", punch out 6-1.25" circles. Because the backside of the Topiary leaf B&T paper I used is Goldrush, you can use both sides of the B&T paper and you will be able to use your scraps that you punch from each circle as the leaves (how economical of me, lol)!
Punch a "leaf shape" into each circle (I like to stack them and punch three circles at a time so it only takes me two separate punches). It also helps to insert your circle just far enough into the punch that none of it is visible sticking out on the outer-side of the punch. This will just help you in measuring and keeping each of your punched pieces approximately the same size.
Next you will use a sponge dauber with Chocolate ink to sponge the edges of all 6 of the crescent moon shapes and 3 of your leaf scraps. You will also want to punch another circle from Goldrush cardstock to use as the base for your flower.
Now use the handle of your piercing tool to wrap the cresent moon petals around and curl them to give them a little bit of shape. As you adhere the petals to your base, it is okay if they flatten a little, you can just plump them back up with your fingers again when your flower is finished. Cover your Goldrush cardstock circle with tombow adhesive and adhere two of your curled petals just as shown.
Next you will adhere two more petals going the opposite direction so that you will see a little square or rectangle of Goldrush cardstock peeking out in the middle.
Finally adhere your last two petals diagonally from the other four petals, covering the Goldrush cardstock that was peeking out in the middle. Now you can adhere your three leaves to the back side of the flower as well.

Now you can reward yourself with a pretty brad or button in the center of your flower. I used one of our new Z1317 Splendor Designer Brads (below). You can use any brad or button that you want, but I really LOVE how much fancier it looks with the designer brads!

If you enjoy making these paper flowers and have any success using them on your artwork, please feel free to let me know, as I would love to see what you've created!!

March SOTM Blog Hop!!

WELCOME to my blog and THANKS for joining us for our March Stamp of the Month BLOG HOP featuring the March SOTM - D1408 A Little Everything!! The first creation I have to share with you is a standard size card that features this versatile SOTM set as well as the X7110B Back Country papers and two additional stamp sets - B1309 Fun Times and D1283 Say It in Style (for the "with love" sentiment). Masculine cards are sometimes hard for me to feel inspired about designing, so I was really pleased to come up with this one - masculine and fun! You can also see a few more cards below that I created for the standing SOTM swap I host and participate in with a group of very creative consultants each month. All of my swap cards below are created using the X7122B You Rock papers.

I hope you enjoy them!

Finally, the card just above was created using my Spellbinder Nestabilities circles and scalloped circles to cut out the scalloped card base and circle of smokey plum B&T paper with my Cuttlebug (I just love these new tools I've started using more recently). I also used the "masking technique" to stamp my sentiment. I'm including a brief photo tutorial below so you can see exactly how I did it in case the masking techniqe is new to you. Masking is much simpler than it sounds and it sure does allow for some amazing possiblities when you are trying to get extra creative with your stamping!

Now you can HOP on over to KATHLEEN'S BLOG to see the

beautiful artwork she has to share with us next!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

These are the easy little Valentine's Day goodies I made with my consultant team at our team meeting in January and my customers also created these items with me at my First Friday Creative Class earlier this month. I hope you enjoy seeing them here and I'm even including my instructions for you also in case you'd like to try making something similar yourself some time!

Treat Bag Topper Instructions
(stuff the clear bag with any fun treats you’d like!)
The clear bag we’re using is intended to hold a 3x6 card and comes from clearbags.com (B3X6S - $5 for 100). The cardstock used to make the topper measures 3.5” x 7 inches (before it is folded in half). I really like this size of bag and topper simply because you can use any 3x3 card design from Originals or Wishes to inspire your creativity, and then your 3x3 design can be centered and attached to the topper base (fits perfectly!) You can use brads, eyelets, staples, punched holes tied with ribbon, or hand-stitching to hold your topper on to the top of the bag. Just remember there’s no need to waste a lot of adhesive on it as you don’t want it to be too difficult for the receiver to open (yes, as cute as it is, it is likely be opened – especially if given to a child – lol).

Here is a list of the item numbers for the different sizes of clear bags I prefer to use (from http://www.clearbags.com/) for all the different sizes of cards I like to make. You can use any of these sizes of bags to make treat bags with toppers, you will just need to measure them and cut your cardstock for the topper just slightly wider than the width of the bag.
6 x 6 card or scrapbook page (B66 – $6 for 100)
5 x 7 card (B75 - $4.90 for 100)
8 x 3.5 card (B83- $6 for 100)
4¼ x 5½ standard size card (B45 - $5 for 100)
3 x 6 card (B3X6S - $5 for 100)
4½“ circle or square card (B44XL - $5 for 100)
3 x 3 card (B33 - $4 for 100)
2½ x 3½ card (B2X4 - $3.50 for 100)
4¾ x 3 card (B3 - $4 for 100)

Lollipop/Sucker Covers
You can see some amazingly beautiful covers created by Jeanette Lynton on her blog (http://www.jeanettelynton.com/)!! She shared them last year on February 6th, 2009, so you will need to click on the “previous posts” link on the left to find them, but her lollipop covers are spectacular so I hope you will check them out!
These instructions come directly from Jeanette Lynton herself:
1). Each “lollipop caddy” measures 2 ½” x 2 ½” finished.
2). For each caddy cut a cardstock piece 2 ½” x 5 ¼.”
3). Score the middle of each cardstock two times. Measure 2 ½” from each end. This creates ¼” gusset at the top of your caddy for the thickness of your lollipop.
4). Then, decorate the two sides of the caddy any way you wish. Remember to add “to” and “from” on the back.
5). Punch two holes, one on either side of the lollipop and string with ribbon.
6). Slide the lollipop inside the caddy, and then secure the caddy closed by tying the ribbon in a bow or knot—and presto! You have an adorable, unique, fast valentine that says, “You’re Sweet” in more ways than one.

Altered Embellishment Tubes
Dress up your left-over empty clear tubes that come with the Ribbon Rounds, Photo Hangers, and Hinges from CTMH!
(You can also find tubes of mini M&M’s or other candies at the store that you could decorate in a similar way as well).
Stuff a clean tube with chocolates or any treat you wish to use. Adhere two or more layers of B&T duos together to wrap around your clear tube. For our project (using the You Rock papers) the outside layer (outdoor denim dots B&T) measures 2.25” by 6 inches. The middle layer (smokey plum star B&T) measures 1.75” by 6 inches. This will allow you a little extra paper on the 6” end to overlap a little as you wrap it around the tube and adhere it near the center of the tube. Then wrap a piece of grosgrain ribbon around the middle and tie a knot. For our project we will stamp a star and the sentiment “for you” and then cut it out and attach it to the knot with a safety pin. The B&T paper used to cover the top (lid) is a 1.5” circle that can be cut with a circle cutter or punch (I still like to use my discontinued Coluzzle). Then add a crocheted flower with a brad in the center using a glue dot to top it off! The many possibilities for ways to do this project are endless!