WHAT A TREASURE

WOW - we just had to post this stunning layout sent in by Kim Kachmarski - we so, so loved it. Kim owns a store called Scrapbook Lounge in Canada and tells us her customers have loved the Ruby Rock-it lines she ordered in. You must check her blog out at: http://scrapbooklounge.blogspot.com/ and don't forget to send us in your fab layouts so we can feature your work here as well. We love the way the papers work so beautifully with the flowers and of course we can't get enough of the kraft chip alphas - they rock!

It's been a big week settling back into the "office" groove after being away in Arizona. No day long scrap sessions or hot, hot sunshine (my Pepsi intake has decreased dramatically). The passion for scrappin has not abated since I returned however. I have big dark circles from sitting up nights and DH wonders if his wife is actually back or not! Must finish those CE projects, then there's Xmas cards to think about and I need to increase my stash of everyday cards for sending and then there's those photos of the littlies from last month and ... well you know how it is. The never ending story/journey of a scrapbooker. Have a great week scrapping!

MIRROR MIRROR

Just another post or two about CE before we move onto some other things. One really cool display they have each year is a BTP item that is selected for various scrapbook artists to embellish. Last year it was lamps and this year it was mirrors in keeping with the theme of the event which was Reflections. I have posted my two favourites out of the large number of mirrors that were donated. Three were auctioned and the rest could be won with raffle tickets. I loved Jessica Guthrie's mirror and could see this sitting on a vintage dressing table no problem at all. I could see this in my bathroom too - love it, love it, love it. The other mirror was Heidi's and it sold for US$5,000 - unreal but great funds for the cancer charity that was benefitting. And I think she may have a fan because the gal that bid for this mirror successfully also bid for her lamp last year so now she has a set!

Just looking at these beautiful altered mirrors made me think again about stuff I have lying around the house that is looking a bit dowdy right now. It's so getting a lick of paint and some paper in the very near future (right after I finish the other CE projects I brought back).

Have a great weekend!

Heidi's Class

As usual Heidi's class did not disappoint and reflected her shabby chic style with this cute hanging easel. I haven't attached the crown on top as I want to pack it flat to take home but you get the overall idea of how this looks here. I loved making the fabric flowers attached on the right hand side. We did this in Technique Boutique on Thursday and of course it wouldn't be a Heidi project without a little glimmer mist.

Heidi's message in her class was there is beauty in all things if you just know where to find it. Sometimes it's hard in our everyday life to find it right? When we're a bit stressed, the kids are sick, our husband just lost his job, we missed our flight or a meeting or everything just seems out of sorts and chaotic. Sometimes this can go on for days or we have a month of nothing going right. It's hard to get back into the groove when we have stuff like this going on. Scrapbooking is about turning the ordinary into the extraordinary, turning everyday life into something beautiful. So when life gets a little rough and you can't find your creative spirit:

Seek, Find, Enjoy, Capture, Learn, Grown, Remember, Celebrate and of all things Be Grateful - there is beauty in all things!

To see more from Creative Escape check out the live webshow that was recorded last Friday night with Heidi and the girls from the House of 3 - www.ustream.tv/recorded/9195302

More when I get back to Australia - heading home today.

CREATIVE ESCAPE AZ

I'm going to showcase some of the projects and teachers from CE on the blog over the next week. This year's event organised by Bazzill and Heidi Swapp has been awesome. We've been challenged, caught up with old friends and scrapped ourselves silly. Biggest challenge tonight - trying to squeeze stuff into bags that are already bulging and trying to calm the brain overload so I can get a good night's sleep before I head back to Australia.

The work showcased above was at the trunk show which introduces all the teachers to the attendees before the classes start. These photos showcase the work of Pam Black who has been teaching and working for Bazzill for a long time. Her work is amazing and her no nonsense approach to getting the job done was just the ticket. I'm often overwhelmed with the level of layers in this scrapbooking style but Pam's sense of colour and composition made the class easy. I couldn't wait to get the project back to my room to finish it - will post the pic of the finished desktop style album tomorow.

I love listening to the stories of ordinary people who teach and live the "creative" life where they actively seek out the beauty in everything. As we were told tonight: Scrapbookers see beauty in ordinary things - appreciate the gift. How true is this - cherish your gift and scrap something today - more on this great event tomorrow.

WOO HOO - OFF TO CE

WOW just seen some of the comments from you guys up there in the USA regarding our product on Pinky's blog http://blueyecicle.blogspot.com - thrilled to know our product is filtering out across the land and that some of you have been able to get your hands on it already. You can also check out our website: http://www.rubyrock-it.com/ for some downloadable project sheets and pics of some work we've been doing downunder with the two collections: The Summerhouse and Upstairs Downstairs. There is also a listing of stores stocking us in the USA so check that out.

So who is Ruby Rock-it I hear you all ask? Well my husband and I own Fynmark a company in Sydney, Australia. We design and manufacture scrapbooking product for the Australian and NZ markets. We're good friends of another manufacturer you've probably heard of Kaisercraft. Between the two of us we supply heaps of great product to dedicated papercrafters in this part of the world. In Australia our main brand is BELLA! and we sell this to the equivalent of your Michaels stores - a chain called Spotlight. Ruby Rock-it is my indulgence - it's the brand that I developed to showcase my passion for all things olde-worlde and where we can design to suit ourselves - the things we love. So I hope you grow to love it as much as we do! We're just starting out in the USA but we'll be at CHA again in January and I'm about to head to CE where we are sponsoring a group of women this year. So if you're at CE make sure you say Hi and check back next week for lots of goss and pics about this great event - have a great week scrapping!

A LITTLE CARDMAKING

This week we have launched our Fundamentals cardmaking line in the USA. We have been selling this range of product in Australia now for the last 9 months and it has been soooo popular we have had to delay our launch date in the USA. The line has over 100 items of cardstock, rub-ons, die-cuts,chipboard alphabets, trims, transparencies, chipboard accents, felt icons and petite alphabet stickers in 8 colours: pink, blue, white, black, silver, chocolate, gold, silver and kraft.

We've become a little obsessive about cardmaking since its launch last year and have created some beautiful cards such as this one on the left. Over the next few weeks we will showcase some more of this line to inspire and delight you! In the meantime see below for instructions on how to make this:

Required: Fundamentals silver cardstock – 148x210mm, black and light blue cardstock, silver chipboard accents, silver deluxe die-cuts, black chipboard accents, black trims, white rub-ons (flourish)

Also needed: black ink, Cuttlebug or Letterpress embossing template

Step 1: Cut a 14.5 x 10cm piece of card out of the blue cardstock. Cut a slightly larger piece out of the black cardstock.

Step 2: Use embossing template to emboss the blue card if desired.

Step 3: Ink, using the black ink pad, around the edges of the card.

Step 4: Cut and tear a 9 x 8cm shaped heart from your blue embossed cardstock and place a photo under it as shown.

Step 5: Glue the blue card, with photo, onto the black card.

Step 6: Cut a piece of black ribbon and glue at the bottom of the blue/black card ensemble.

Step 7: Place a silver die cut shape to the left hand side with some black ribbon placed underneath as desired.

Step 8: Place an accent tag on top of the die cut.

Step 9: Place a silver die cut flower on top of the tag followed by a black accent butterfly.

Step 10: Rub white rub-ons around the heart as shown.

MIX IT UP

We've been having fun mixing up the ranges we have in stock at Ruby Rock-it and have created this cute family mini album with the Summerhouse range, some Kraft embellishments from our Fundamentals range and some brightly coloured cardstock. We'll be uploading this album project onto our website next week rubyrock-it.com It's quite a challenging project as it uses the Scor-pal and incorporates some fancy iris folding. However patience is always rewarded (in papercraft anyway) with something beautiful to behold and you won't be disappointed with this project - more next week. In the meantime for some stunning layouts and beyond the page projects check out our Ideas Gallery on the website for downloadable project sheets.

We're counting down the days now until we get into the hot sunshine of Arizona for Creative Escape. We cannot wait to be refreshed and inspired with this great event. I believe there are still some spots available so check out their website. If you're looking for a bit of a break or a treat for yourself (go on - you deserve it) - this really is the ultimate scrapbooking escape - only 65 more sleeps!

Also woohoo - we're excited Bazzill has taken all the guess work out of matching cardstock to our new patterned papers. You can now colour match our new lines of paper by visiting the Bazzill website at www.bazzillbasics.com/matchmaker. We think you’ll be pretty impressed with the results – thank you Mr Bazzill!!

LAYOUT PROJECT

Oooh this photo is just sooo cute! This is one of those layouts where you don't want to detract too much away from the photo because it's so great. We've used the Summerhouse line with this photo as the colours just work beautifully with the colour of the water. We're adding more layouts and instructions that you can download on our website: www.rubyrock-it.com so check it out too for some clever ways to use the new paper collections.

And now for the instructions (or as we like to call them "destructions"):

Required:
· Summerhouse Lime die-cut cardstock
· Summerhouse Soiree cardstock
· Summerhouse Sultry cardstock
· Summerhouse Flutterbies
· Summerhouse Florets
· Black Chipboard Alphabet
· Icons rub-on
· Summerhouse photo corners

Also needed:
· 1 5X7inch colour photo, wet and dry adhesive, midnight blue ink and 2” circle punch

Step 1: Trim your Soiree paper to use as your base. Ink around the outside with blue ink.
Step 2: Cut 5 flowers out from your Sultry cardstock. Reserve a 8 inch long x 1 1/2 inch wide piece of the reverse side for later. Tear down one 8 inch side so it has a torn edge.
Step 3: Cut your lime cardstock in half. Cut again at 9 inches – ensure the lines run horizontally before you cut. Punch a circle from the remaining cardstock.
Step 4: Put a blue photo corner onto the left-hand side or your 5X7” photo and then place your photo onto your lime green cardstock as shown. Trim the cardstock along the bottom edge if necessary.
Step 5: Attach your torn reverse from the Sultry cardstock to the left lime cardstock edge and adhere all down onto your Soiree cardstock as shown.
Step 6: Embellish around the bottom left and right side of your photograph with your Sultry flowers, Summerhouse flutterbies and florets and cardstock circle punched earlier.
Step 7: Complete with chipboard alphabet title and rub-ons.

Have a great week scrapping!

UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS LAYOUT

As Mother's Day has just been celebrated we thought this layout was worthy of a showcase this week - a gorgeous photo of one of our clever girls and her children. This layout uses the Emily and Master cardstock designs from this line and steps it up with some fancy chipboard and other Upstairs Downstairs embellishments. Check out our metal appliques on the right hand side. We're in love with our bitty buttons. Don't you love it when it all just fits together - aaaahhhh so good!

Stock is heading out to stores now so check out our website www.rubyrock-it.com to see if you have a store stocking our lines near you. We have more stores stocking us this year so hopefully you'll find one near you.

So excited to be at Creative Escape again this year. Last year we worked with another Aussie gal and had our Wall Art kit used in the Delish Designs class. This year we're sponsoring a whole group of gals - woohoo!!!! And we're attending again - oh so can't wait for that hot hot hot Arizona weather and the classes to die for. Our logo is up on the website www.creativeescapeaz.com and we are very proud to be associated with this great event.

So next post a "How to" project with our new lines that you'll be shopping in your local stores. Have a great weekend!

THE EAGLE (STOCK) HAS LANDED

We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel as we head towards 'despatch' time in the USA. Stock also lands in Sydney this week so we can all go PHEW we made it! We've had some frustrations with delivery times as our fancy embellies have provided a few challenges to the factories we use to manufacture our product. We only want the best so we've had to wait until everything was just right before we ship out to you all.

This week's layout showcases our Summerhouse line and we just love the colours of this paper collection. Blue green colour washes through the range and it is accented with chocolate and orange for
maximum effect. Felt frames, vintage trims, bitty buttons, metal appliques, flutterbies, florets and crochet flowers are just some of the coordinating elements that match the paper. Over the next few weeks we're going to show you how to get the most out of these collections with some fabulous layouts and cards. In the meantime if you are a store and you'd like to place an order for the collections or you'd like to find out more information about us check out our website at www.rubyrock-it.com

UPCOMING RELEASE

We love patterned paper so much here at Ruby Rock-it that we are always looking at new ways to use it other than on our layouts. Just recently we've finished projects using our patterned paper on everyday items we'd use around the house - in particular boxes and door hangers. You can find some great paper machie and wooden boxes, flower pots and all manner of things that lend themselves to embellishment at your local craft store. Over Xmas we also collected a few boxes. We've been able to give them a whole new life with a bit of paper and ribbon.

Our RR lines are perfect for BTP as the colours and designs work with vintage or contemporary decor. The Summerhouse line is bright and cheerful - think lime green, orange, blue and chocolate while Upstairs Downstairs has deep reds, blue, cream and black - stunning! We can't wait for you to check them out next month when they begin to appear in stores.

In the meantime as the weather turns warmer in the Northern Hemisphere we are enjoying a late Indian summer here in Sydney. A little too hot to spend all weekend indoors scrapping but we can feel the change in the mornings for sure. Have a great week scrapping! x

4 WEEKS TO GO

We simply cannot wait to have our new lines shipping out to stores next month - we have had so much positive response to the vintage inspired Summerhouse and Upstairs Downstairs lines and we have absolutely loved scrapping with the samples here in the office.

I really love using some of the Dreamweaver stencils for painting on occasion. Here I've painted the back of our die-cut red cardstock and then created a simple layout on top. It all just came together beautifully once the paint dried!

Photos in black and white always work beautifully with vintage inspired papers and embellishments. This is a photo of my Mum and her brother over 50 years ago. How cute are they!! The rest of the layout is a few punched circles, a strip of ribbon, some punch-outs from our new release ATC cards and as we say down here in Australia BOB'S YOUR UNCLE (apparently Miley Cyrus loves it when her new Aussie bloke says this).

Promise more regular updates as we get closer to our shipping dates - looking forward to seeing some of your great works of art with our new lines - drop us an email at info@fynmark.com.au or check out our website www.rubyrock-it.com if you're wanting to find out how to order from us (if you're a store) or where to buy (in your local area).

THE SUMMERHOUSE

I often scrap black and white photos with more subdued tones but I just had to show you how well our Summerhouse line works with black and white photos. I have collected a lot of these old photos as grandparents have passed away and I treasure every one of them. They showcase a time when I was (as my mother always used to say) "a twinkle in your father's eye". The Summerhouse colour palette - bright lime, orange and blue with a bit of chocolate thrown in for good measure - works beautifully with summertime photos and wonderfully with these photos taken in the 1960s - yeah baby! I'm now on a mission to create a whole album of Num and Dad using these papers - so much scrapping to do, so little time! Check out our website www.rubyrock-it.com for more on the Summerhouse line - we're counting down to our release date in April 2010.

FUNDAMENTALS CARDMAKING

Well we're back home in the humidity leaving behind the cooler weather in Anaheim. We had a blast at CHA catching up with our retailers, reps and other manufacturing friends.We loved the new stencils our friends at Crafters Workshop released. It was so great to catch up with Rachel from Thermoweb who we last saw in Arizona - see her blog: www.lostintheattic.typepad.com - such a talented gal and we loved meeting Lisa Kettell who does some really interesting things with paper - http://www.faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/

But (sigh) it's back to reality and we have lots to do to get some of our new lines up to Chicago and out to stores in April 2010. This year at CHA we also launched our new Fundamentals range of cardmaking products. In this pic we showcase some of the elements you can find in the line - chipboard accents, flocked diecuts and great cardstock. We also have a range of fancies (focked and foiled transparencies), teeny tiny rub-ons, petite alphabets and lots of other stuff you can see on our website: www.rubyrock-it.com

Cardmaking has taken off dowunder in recent months and judging from the interest we had at CHA you guys are embracing it too. I have to say there is nothing better than receiving a handmade card on a birthday or other special occasion. Years ago I worked for American Greetings and loved merchandising new card lines. I cannot remember the last time I actually bought a card now though as I have turned my hand to cardmaking in a big way over the last few months. This is a little stressful at Xmas time when 30 cards have to be made and I have 2 days to do it but I'm always glad I made the effort when they're all finished! We have some great project sheets for stores to get them started with this new line so drop us an email if you'd like some more info on this: info@fynmark.com.au

Have a great week scrappin!

CHA 2010

CHA finally and boy are we glad to be here. We love catching up with all our friends and making new ones at the Show. Totally loving all the new stuff on display and the creative vibe. Yet to get to EK to ice a cupcake but the creations they're making over there look fabulous - much too good to eat!

We have been really busy catching up with stores that ran our lines in 2009 ordering our new lines and talking to lots of new stores about running our lines in 2010. We're sure you guys will find it much easier to get hold of our lines this year. Our www.rubyrock-it.com website lists those stores who already stock us and we'll be updating this once we get back to Australia to let you know who will be carrying our new lines this year. In the meantime we've posted some pics of our booth here - if you're at CHA stop by and say G'day at Booth #2681 xx

FUNDAMENTALS CARDMAKING

A little showcase of the kraft palette in our new Fundamentals cardmaking range. 6 cardstock colours (white, silver, black, chocolate, gold and kraft), matching envelopes, vellum and heaps of embellishments make up this range. The line makes cardmaking fun and easy again. Glitter alphabets, teeny tiny rub-ons, flocked and foiled fancies, chipboard accents, cardstock die-cuts - you're going to love it. Check out our gallery for more ideas at www.rubyrock-it.com - project sheets will be available on our return from CHA 2010. Next pics from the event itself - see you all soon!

CHA 2010

Well it's been awhile since I updated this blog. We've been really busy finalising a website for CHA 2010 and you can now get a sneak peak of our new lines at http://www.rubyrock-it.com/ - we still have to get our gallery up in the next few days but it's going to keep you guys really up-to-date with what we're up to.

We have two new lines to show off at CHA about 5 days - The Summerhouse and Upstairs Downstairs - both have a really vintage feel and we're particulary thrilled with our crochet flowers and metal appliques - there's one in the middle of the flower in the blue layout of my grandparents. We're loving ourselves sick with these.

So make sure you stop by and say "GIDDAY" if you're visiting CHA over the next week and if you're not drop us an email at info@fynmark.com.au - all new product shipping out of Chicago 1 April 2010 - and exciting new cardmaking range - more on this tomorrow!