12/13/2015

December's SWAA Kaleidoscope Blog Hop


Welcome to December's Stampers with an Attitude Blog Hop.    Who are the Stampers with an Attitude?  It is the Close to My Heart team lead by my fabulous upline, Kimberly Moss. This month I am following  {Sheila Bennett.}  

This month we are featuring the Kaleidoscope paper pack.  Our blog hop is a circular hop.  You just click on the link to the next blog at the bottom of this post and go visit the next blog.  If you get lost, I have all of the participating blogs listed at the bottom of my post.  Hope you enjoy seeing what our team has made for you.

We are celebrating my granddaughter's 10th birthday today.  I have been itching to ink up the Safari Ballet stamp set.  Isn't that hippo in a tu tu adorable?

My hippo is watercolored.  After numerous unsatisfactory attempts at watercoloring my hippo, I decided to "cheat".  I took a small piece of watercolor paper and watercolored the entire sheet of paper a light gray.  I used a little paint and a lot of water to lighten the gray for the hippo.  After the paint dried, I stamped the hippo with Memento Ink and then added color with our ShinHan markers. And then I fussy cut my hippo so that I could pop her up and give her some dimension.

The silver frame behind the Bokeh patterned paper was made using our Silver Foil tape and then I made a frame using strips from another one of the Kaleidoscope patterned papers.
I want to thank you for visiting my blog.  The next very talented artist for you to visit on our blog hop is {Catherine Nowak}. 

Here is the December's Stampers with an Attitude Blog Hop Kaleidoscope Artwork Blog Hop List.
 1. Catherine Nowak ~ http://catscrapbooking.com
 2. Sheila Bennett ~ http://sheila-bennett.blogspot.com

 3. Melinda Everitt ~ http://ifyoublingit.blogspot.com
    You can purchase any of the supplies listed below on my website.  


    Supplies Used


    12/06/2015

    Focus on Stamping Techniques Blog Hop



    Welcome to the Close to My Heart Focus on Stamping Techniques Blog Hop.  This hop I am following {Melissa Robinson's Blog.}   We have 18 Close to My Heart Consultants participating in our Close to My Heart Focus on Stamping Techniques Blog Hop.   If you lose your place while traveling through our blog hop, the complete list of participants can be found here.    Thank you for hopping through our Blog Hop.

    I have used a couple of different stamping techniques to make a one layer Christmas Card.  I wanted to feature the emboss resist technique.

    I measured the stamp I wanted to use for my card and my stamp measured 3 inches tall.  The height of my card is 5.5", so I decided to mask off 1 inch on the top and the bottom of the card using Eclipse tape.  This is easy to do using the grid on my Close to My Heart Versamat.  



    I loaded up the big Pine Tree from the Always Grateful Stamp Set (C1559) with Versamark Watermark Ink.  I stamped the tree at different heights, inking up the stamp each time with the Versamark ink.

    Then I sprinkled on our Clear Detail Embossing Powder and heat embossed the trees.


    I took a piece of Eclipse Tape and punched a 1.5" circle out and placed it at the top right corner.


    Then I sponged on Champagne Ink followed by Canary Ink.  Once I sponged on my moon, I removed the Eclipse tape.


    I placed the circle I punched out from the Eclipse tape over my moon to "protect" it from the other ink and sponged on Glacier ink and then Crystal Blue Ink.  To get a more authentic look when you are sponging backgrounds, you should always use at least 3 different colors.


    Now I sponge on Sapphire ink and the trees I stamped and embossed appear.  When I use the sponging technique, I start the sponging on the scrap paper that is beneath my artwork and then, using a circular motion, move onto the artwork.  That way the color is less splotchy.  I add more ink until I am happy with the look.  To frame my artwork, the outsides are darker.


    Now I pick up my tree stamp and ink it up with New England Ivy ink.  I add some black ink to the stamp using a sponge and pouncing it onto the stamp.  Then I stamp the tree onto my card among the white emboss resist trees.


    What do you think?  It is taking shape.

    I take a paper towel and carefully wipe off the ink on the white emboss resist trees.


    And here is the part I like best.  I add Santa and his reindeer from the Believe in Christmas (D1666) over my moon with Black Archival ink.


    Off comes my masks.


    A cute sentiment.


    And here is my card!  A one layer Christmas Card with a lot of dimension.


    Thank you for visiting my blog.

    By the way, I would love for you to leave me a comment and then please go to our next artist, {Catherine Nowak's Blog.}

    You can purchase any of the supplies listed below at www.melindaeveritt.ctmh.com.  


    Supplies Used

    12/01/2015

    Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Candlelight Garden

    Welcome to the December Stamp of the Month 
    Blog Hop! 



                                                      
    This month I am following {Katie Skiff's Blog.}   We have 32 Close to My Heart Consultants participating in this month’s Stamp of the Month Blog Hop.   If you lose your place while traveling through our blog hop, the complete list of participants can be found here.      

    The December Stamp of the Month is entitled Candlelight Garden (S1512) (Set of 10).   Here is a picture of this stamp set:






    Isn't this a fun stamp set?  I cannot wait to work with the flowers.  My husband and I married 15 years ago.  I really wanted to make him a special card but one that wasn't super feminine.  So I picked up the Urban Paper Pack and made my husband a card.

    Here is my card.



    The images are colored with our ShinHan markers after stamping the image with Memento Black Ink.  I colored the jar cap with Silver Metallic Ink and then stamped back over it with the Memento Ink.  I popped up the hearts, the cap, and the pennant with our thin 3D foam tape.  The sentiment needed to be changed a bit.  I needed to leave off the Friend at the beginning of the sentiment.  I used Washi tape to cover Friend while I inked the stamp up, and then removed the Washi tape before stamping.  

    The Candelight Garden Stamp of the Month Stamp Set can be purchased for $17.95 or if you purchase $50 in CTMH products, you can add this stamp set to your order for an additional $5.  This stamp set is only available between December 1 – December 31, 2015. 

    Thank you for visiting my blog.  I would love for you to show me a little love by leaving me a comment and then please go to our next artist, {Michelle Stewart's Blog} and see what she has made with this adorable stamp set.

    You can purchase this stamp set as well as any of the supplies listed below on my website. 


    Supplies Used