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!

February 2011 Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Welcome to the February 2011 CTMH Stamp of the Month Blog Hop, featuring Friendship, a set of 8 Stamps.  If you've just arrived here from {Kristie's} blog, you are on the right path.   But, if you're just starting here you won't miss a thing.  Our hop is one big circle, so jump right on in and enjoy the artwork!

Well, one of the joys of living in Okinawa is the mail.  Sometimes it arrives, and sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes part of your shipment arrives, and sometimes you have to have things tracked and re-shipped...unfortunately my new Stamps of the Month haven't arrived, so I don't have any new artwork to show just yet.  But I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll show up tomorrow (which would be today now that you're reading this. LOL).  Keep yours crossed too please!  I'm quite bummed out, because as you may have noticed from my blog background and the background in some of my pictures, I really like damask and black and white.  I hope you'll have as much fun with this stamp as I hope to.  In the meantime, here is a picture of the images in this set.

 

Remember, Friendship is only available February 1-28, 2011.  Contact your consultant, or click here, to find out how to get yours for a discount or even for free. 

Now hop on over to {Traci's} blog to see what she's created.

A New Bookmark

My ninja progressed to his most recent belt a few months back.  While I was home at Christmas, he mentioned that he needed a new bookmark (as he was still using his blue belt bookmark).

I definitely need to practice my hair coloring techniques.  I just gave up and went with what I ended up with, rather than start over.  He's a boy, he won't care.  LOL.  You can view the last one I made for him (with much better hair) here. 

Ian's skin was colored with E00 and E02, his pants with 110, hair was E33, Y21, Y06, and Y00 (and who knows what else, I was trying to salvage it after all!!), belt was CTMH Watercolor Pencil and shadowing was Prismacolor Premier Cool Grey 10%.

Papers: CTMH cardstock in Hydrangea and White Daisy
Inks: Brilliance Graphite Black, Copic Markers
Tools and Techniques: CTMH Watercolor Pencils, Basic Grey Small Magnetic Disks, Xyron Lamination, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Large Labels, CTMH Liquid Glass
Stamp Sets: CTMH Tiny Typewriter, TGF Karate Ian (digital)

The magnets are self-adhesive, but I used some Liquid Glass to ensure a good long-term bond.  The lamination will also serve to keep the magnet disks in place.  The lamination wasn't applied until after I took the picture, as it tends to cause a glare and make it a challenge to get a decent shot.

More Studio J

Here's another Studio J layout of our vacation in 2009.  I never bought the Stickease to go with this paper pack, so I love the fact that Studio J includes the matching Stickease for each paper pack!

January 2011 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop

Welcome to the January 2011 CTMH Spotlight Blog Hop!  This month our hop is featuring Valentine's ideas.  If you have just arrived from {Debbie's} blog, you are on the right path.  If you are just beginning here, you won't miss any of the action, as our hop is a full circle.  Just click on the link at the end of each post to take you to the next blog in the hop.

My project is a Valentine's box.  This box actually has multiple uses.  It could be placed on the desk to receive Valentines in, it could be given full of chocolate kisses, or it could even be used to hide a jewelry box.  The box came from the dollar bin at Target, and all other items are CTMH (unless noted).

  

 

Papers: CTMH cardstock in Blush and Garden Green, CTMH That's Amore
Inks: CTMH Chocolate and Tulip, StazOn Timber Brown (to color the Colonial White Bigger Brads), CTMH Re-inker in Blush and Tulip
Tools and Techniques: CTMH ribbon(Cocoa Collection), CTMH Bigger Brads (Colonial White), Sponging (to color the Colonial White Bigger Brad and the cardstock on the flag), White Daisy Crochet Flowers (from Mini Medley Accents Collection), Mod Podge
Stamp Sets: CTMH Amore

Two outside of the ordinary things I did for this project:  I used alcohol mixed with Re-inker to color the crochet flowers, and I coated the completed box with Mod Podge to give it extra durability.

I hope you're inspired to create a fun Valentine project of your own.  Now hop on over to {Vicki's} blog to see her creation.

Happy New Year!!!

I will scrap more in 2011!!!  To get that off to a good start, I made a few Studio J layouts on New Year's Eve.  This is from our family vacation in 2009.

I love Studio J membership!  I get free shipping on one order of layouts each month (minimum and maximums apply, and vary based on shipping location), my layouts are half-price because I'm a member, there are special papers and layouts that are only available to members, I get free page protectors with every order, and I get free .jpgs of my purchased layouts (both high resolution for printing, and lower resolution for posting online).  Want more info on Studio J?  Just check it out on my website by clicking here.