March 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the October 2010 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring Sensational Season, a set of 10 Stamps.  If you've just bounced here from {Brae's} blog, you are on the right track.  If you are just starting here, just jump in and enjoy our circular hop, which has over 60 participants this month.  When you reach the end of a post, click on the link at the end to hop to the next post.

I couldn't resist all of the hoppy references with the cute little rabbits in this stamp set!  I also decided to bend the rules a bit and made a birthday card instead of an Easter card.  I made this card following Mojo Monday sketch 179.  The adorable little hare was colored using Copics, and I paper-pieced his jacket.  Since I'd stamped him on White Daisy paper to color him, and WD was too bright to look good with the other colors, I sponged around him to make it blend better.  I used Nestabilities Classic Oval Large for the oval.  Martha Stewart punch was used for the lacy border, which was then DTP distressed with Twilight ink.  3D Mounting Foam was used to mount the square, Xyron Create-a-Sticker was used for the ribbon, and glue dots were used for the buttons.  The paper pack is Felicity, which was a promotional paper pack last year.

And hare's a close-up of the bunny (before sponging).

Now hop on over to {Tammy Lea's} blog to see her sensational work.  Remember, Sensational Season is only available March 1-31, 2011.  Contact your CTMH consultant, or click here, to find out how to get yours for a discount or even for FREE!

If you find any broken links along the way, Helen has the complete list of participants {here}.

CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop Featuring Color Combos

Welcome to the February 2011 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop featuring color combos.  If you've just arrive from {Adeline's} blog, you're on the right path.  If you are just starting here, you are in for a treat.  Our hop is a circular hop, so just click on the link at the end of each post to take you to the next stop on the hop.

The CTMH Idea Books are much more than just a catalog.  They are full of great layouts, cards, and projects that you can look back on for inspiration.  I have all of my Idea Books going back to the first CTMH gathering I attended in 2006.  One of the great inspirations to be found in our Idea Books are the color combos.  I always love getting to the My Acrylix stamp section to see the artwork created using interesting color combos.  The color combo I'm using comes from the Autumn/Winter 2007 IB and features three colors that debuted in my first IB (A/W 2006).  The colors are Cocoa, Honey, Petal, and Twilight.  And since (with the exception of Cocoa) I'm pretty sure none of those colors has been with another in any CTMH paper pack, that left me to my cardstock and embellishments.  But never fear!!!  CTMH colors are easy to match with our Exclusive Inks and Re-Inkers.

This is just a "Fat Lil' Notebook" that I'm embellishing so there is no confusion as to whom it belongs.  First I took out the spiral, and then covered the front and back cover with cardstock.  One thing I love doing with my cardstock is ink distressing with the matching ink.  That gives the oomph of the technique without making it too busy.

But then I realized that there is no ribbon in Twilight, Honey, or Petal.  Never fear, there are several ways to get a perfectly-matched ribbon.  For the Twilight organza ribbon, I cut a length of White Daisy organza and put it in a sandwich bag (the zipper type), making sure to push it toward the bottom.  With the bag lying on its side, I dripped about 15 drops of Twilight Re-Inker into the bag near the top.  Then I carefully closed and zipped the bag, and smooshed the Re-Inker across the width of the bag.  After it seemed to be fairly evenly distributed, I pushed the ribbon up into the ink and rubbed the bag around.  Once it appeared to have good coverage, I unzipped the bag and pulled the ribbon out to dry.  There were a few spots with too much ink, so I patted the ribbon with a paper towel.  And since I did this inside a zipped baggie, no inky smudges on my fingers (I removed the ribbon from the baggie using tweezers to keep my fingers clean)!

The Honey ricrac was colored in a different way, since I don't own Honey Re-Inker.  I simply opened up my Honey ink pad and set it on a plastic grocery bag.  Next, I took my length of ribbon, and starting at one end laid it on the surface of the ink pad. Then I used an edge of the plastic bag around my fingers while I pressed the ribbon into the ink pad, making sure to get both sides of the ribbon.  After the first pass, there was a pretty cool pattern showing white through the Honey, but I decided to go for a solid color.  So, second pass entailed pressing the ribbon into the surface of the ink pad while pulling it through for full coverage.  A few spots looked a bit more color-saturated than the rest, so I blotted them with a paper towel.  Voila!  MORE perfectly-matched ribbon!!!

So, I challenge you to find some color inspiration, and don't let your options be limited by how things are.  Use inks, Re-Inkers, and markers to get things just the color you want!

Now hop on over to {Wendy's} blog for some more color inspiration!