Connected Hearts: 05/01/2013

Thursday, May 23, 2013

One of the great perks of leadership is getting a hand stamped birthday card from CTMH. Last week, I received this gorgeous card from CTMH!

One of the tasks I had on my "to do" list this week, was to mock up my samples for my June card classes so I can get them photographed and put on my June CTMH customer newsletter. Yesterday was the day I set aside to stamp.....well, I don't know about you, but sometimes my creativity just can't be forced and I ended up with a bad case of stampers block. I finally resorted to outright stamp lifting, tweaking and otherwise putting my own spin on the creativity of others. At the end of a long evening I ended up with this huge mess that I have yet to clean up. Look carefully and you can see that small piece of colored cardstock - that was my stamping area! What you can't see is the mess on the floor too. It can be a real challenge to come up with projects that are teachable in a group setting. Can't be too time consuming, I have to have paper and accessories in bulk, can use a stamp in just one color and for one project etc etc. Below are a couple of the cards I'm teaching. By the way, I did finish all my samples that night.

This card came from Jeannette's blog. The original artwork was created by Leanne Garner
I added Glitz Glitter to the wings of the bees and used C1549 Buzz and Bumble Scrapbooking workshop and C1459 Stitched Together for the "fly lines" curving them when I put them on the blocks. I also cut the card base to 4 x 51/2 so can get 6 of the B&T pieces from 1 sheet and omitted the stitching.

This card is my tweak of a card by Jean Johnson using the June Stamp of the Month and a bit of For Always B&T. I used Topiary cardstock for the leaves and stamped with Olive. I also cut the large flowers from white and black - stamped the black one with White Daisy Ink and added LOTS of bling. I also added Topiary tendrils which come from C1508 Paisley Flair

When I teach this card, I will pre stamp the white flower with black Stazon Ink so they can color it with the alcohol markers. This way I don't need 2 stamp sets.

It's THAT time of year!

When I re-started my blog/team newsletter back in January, I shared with you my struggles with priorities. Well.....it's time to test my strategy for not procrastinating and getting it ALL done without dropping one of the many balls I keep in the air!

Now is the BEST time....and Convention TEAM PARTY!

I'd like to wish all you Moms a Happy Mother's Day! The day is still bitter sweet for me as I lost my amazing Mom 3 years ago. I treasure her memory and the legacy she left through her scrapbooks. It reminds me of the importance of what we do and offer our customers. I hope you share your passion for memory keeping and paper crafting with those in your life!

Here is a fun find at Michael's for $6.49 they are 50% off this week - it's a 6x6 scrapbook page holder. I thought it would be great to display cards or samples of our B&T's or embellishments. Unfortunately our old 6x6 page protectors don't fit - the hole don't line up. There are also 12x12 and 8x8 holders in a slightly different format. The 8x8 is an easel style

I've been busy with preparations for our Team Party at convention. I'm making special gifts for my 1st downline attendees so I don't have any of my own new artwork to share this week. I thought I'd share some of my favorite artwork from other members of the team that are unique ways to use the Dream Pop paper packet.

This first one is from Michele Rowley from here in Washington. She just returned from a trip to Japan where she found inspiration for this cute card.

Card by Michele Rowley

The two photos below were shared by Debi Squires on the CTMH Artwork board. She used the resist technique by sponging the cardstock, she completely changed the character of the paper! You will want to use a color that is darker than the cardstock and blends well - are next to each other on the color wheel.