July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!!!

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! We are featuring July's SOTM, which is D1423 Happy Forever, a set of 9 stamps.

If you have come here from Lori's Blog, you are on the right path! If this is your first stop, you may want to go back to Kathleen's Blog and start from the beginning!

This month we have close to 70 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their creations using this month's SOTM and other great CTMH products on their blogs. To follow along on the hop - just click on the link at the end of this post to move to the next one! Here we go!

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I was inspired this month by a scrapbook layout that I created for my team’s National Scrapbook Day event this past May. This layout was created for our class called Mix ‘n Match where I taught how to mix ‘n match your paper packets. I don’t believe I ever shared the completed layout because I was hoping to get some photos and journaling on it, but still haven’t managed to do that. So here is my inspiration…

and without further ado, here is my July SOTM creation…

I was a little intimidated at first by these little hedge hogs because I knew I would have to color them in, but then I remembered a cool & fun technique that makes it quite simple to do so.

Here is a mini-tutorial for you on how I put this card together and how to color these little critters in with your markers & blending pens…

First, I perused the Wishes Card Confidence Program for a card concept that would lend well to how I did my scrapbook layout above. I chose a standard size card (4-1/4” x 5-1/2”) called ‘Down the Middle.

Next I cut my card base out of White Daisy cardstock and pulled B&T Duo scraps from my Splendor Paper Packet & my Cherry-O Creative Basics kit and cut my papers according to the paper dimensions listed in the Wishes Card Confidence Program.

By following the written instructions, I adhered my paper to the card front. A great tip is to use a desk pad or Versamat with measurements to get your paper down per the instructions. 

Here is what my card base looks like before I embellished it…

Next I stamped my cute little hedge hog using brown StazOn ink onto White Daisy cardstock. It’s best to use a permanent ink when you plan to color in your image with markers and/or blending pens to keep the details from smearing.

Instead of making a mess inside my ink pad, I grabbed one of My Acrylix blocks to use as a palette. I colored some Chocolate marker directly onto it as shown below.

Then I took my blending pen and picked up some of the color and proceeded to color in my hedge hog image until I got the desired look.

Here’s a close up of the little guy playing with a butterfly on his nose…

Isn’t he just the cutest little thing you ever saw!?!

If you have any questions about this technique, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m happy to answer them for you!

Thank you for stopping by!

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Now "Hop" on over to Jamia's Blog to see her fabulous works of art! Be sure to visit all the Consultants at their blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas!

Remember, the July SOTM is only available until July 31, 2010!  Contact your CTMH Consultant (or click here) to see how you can get this stamp set at a discount or even FREE!

Have a blessed day and make it from your heart!