Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - August: What a Hoot

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we’re featuring the August set What a Hoot, a set of 17 stamps. 

If you have come here from Haley Dyer’s blog, you’re in the right place! There are more than 60 independent Close to My Heart consultants participating! Click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move through the Hop.

The Blog Hop is a great big circle. Start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here. You can use this list to pick up where you left off.

Off we go!

When I was a kid my aunt loved owls, so every time I see one I think of her. They’re one of those once-popular icons that has come back around again, and I think this stamp set is just so darn cute!

With each new catalog my monthly swap group changes things up a bit. For the next six months each member has to use the same assigned paper packet with that month’s Stamp of the Month set. Our swap leader has given us some really challenging combinations this time. The paper packet for August was Wanderful. It has fun designs featuring travel themes. What? Travel themes with an owl stamp set? That’s right!

The other part of my particular assignment for August was to use a 3-D shape from one of our Cricut cartridges. After giving all of this some thought and perusing the Cricut shape booklets, I decided I wanted to go with a party theme. I used the cake/pie box on Artiste. These are so easy to put together!

I stamped the owl image on both the polka dot paper and the paper with the graph paper design. Then I cut out the area around the eyes and the tummy from the graph paper pattern and glued them down in the appropriate areas on the polka dot pieces. I used one of our new ShinHan Touch Twin Markers to give the eyes a touch of color.

Here is what I used. All products are Close to My Heart:

S1408 What a Hoot stamp set
X7191B Wanderful Paper Packet
44751 Archival Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z1985 Gold Shimmer Trim
Z2459 Pastel Green ShinHan© Touch Twin© Marker
Z1790 Cricut© Artiste Collection

Now “Hop” on over to Michelle Johns' blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant’s site to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Don’t forget, this exclusive stamp set is only available through August 31st! Click here to order yours today!

Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - April: Balloon Talk

Welcome to the Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month we’re featuring the April set Balloon Talk, a set of 24 stamps.

If you have come here from Sheila Bennett’s blog, you’re in the right place! There are more than 50 independent Close to My Heart consultants participating. Click on the link at the end of the post on each blog to move through the Hop.

The Blog Hop is a great big circle. Start here and work your way around. If you get lost along the way you’ll find a complete list of participating consultants here. You can use this list to pick up where you left off.

Off we go!

Part of my inspiration for this card was a challenge I took up for Lent. I did give something up, but not in the traditional sense. What I gave up was hanging on to the dozens and dozens of swap cards I’ve collected over the years. I’ve been sending a card a day to a friend or family member. There is nothing better than sending happy mail!

So how did this inspire me in the creation of this swap card? Well, I really never saw the importance of cards that say “I miss you” until I started sending out these cards. Not all of my friends or family members live near me. How nice it will be to send them a card that tells them I miss them. I miss living near them and being able to do things together. Great inspiration for a card!

I chose the new Lollydoodle paper for its fun and colorful palette. I paired it with the Chevron embossing folder to give the piece of Cotton Candy cardstock some texture. I cut out the bubble for the “hello it’s me” on the Cricut® and hand-cut the other two.

Here is what I used. All products are Close to My Heart:

S1404 Balloon Talk stamp set

X7183B Lollydoodle Paper Packet

1385 White Daisy cardstock

Z2193 Cotton Candy Exclusive Inks stamp pad

Z2165 Juniper Exclusive Inks stamp pad

Z2164 Sorbet Exclusive Inks stamp pad

Z1925 Chevron Embossing Folder

Z1807 Pink Glitter Gems

Z1686 Cricut® ArtisteCollection

Z1151 3-D Foam Tape

9042 Make It from Your Heart Volume 2

Now “Hop” on over to Maria Myers' blog to see her work, and be sure to visit each consultant’s blog to get some great crafting inspiration and other fun ideas! Don’t forget, this exclusive stamp set is only available through April 30th! Click here to order yours today!