Sunday, March 31, 2013

April Stamp of the Month & Blog Hop

Hello everyone! 
Can you believe it’s time for April?  March blew through too fast in my opinion!  Welcome to this month’s Stamp of the Month blog hop!  A hop goes in a big loop so once you see our 60+ participants, you’ll be right back here.  If you’ve come from Michelle’s blog welcome!
This month’s stamp of the month is “My Sunshine.”  It features 8 stamps, of which 6 are compatible with the Artiste Cricut Collection.  Yes, I’m counting the circle as Cricut Compatible even though there’s no line around it.  I did create two cards. One is a swing card and the other is based on one of the card sketches in the Make It From Your Heart book. I’m now loving that book and use it as often as I can to base my cards on.
The first card came to me as soon as I started playing with the stamp set. The sun looked like it could fit right around the circle on a 5 1/2” swing card. And it does! Then I had to add some cute little clouds. I love this Artiste bundle. One button has a theme. In this case, the sun, hot air balloon and the clouds happen to be on the same button! That is so helpful. A sign of a great stamp set is one that compliments the other sets in your collection. I couldn't resist grabbing my Card Chatter Sympathy set and adding the sentiment, “Just a note to brighten your day… and chase the clouds away.”

card April SOTM note to brighten your day exterior
I cut the sun in Buttercup cardstock two times, inked the stamp fully with Honey ink and rock and rolled the edges of the stamp through Sunset. It’s a bit tricky since we don’t have a block that just fits this stamp. Instead of lining up the stamp with the edge of the block, I used the edge of the inkpad so I wouldn't get too much Sunset ink.
card made using Swing Card Feature on Artiste Cartridge & CTMH April SOTM
My favorite part of this set is the “You’re tweet” sentiment.  I’m not a big Twitter fan, I just like it when birdies tweet! So I had to make a second card using that sentiment. 
S1304-MySunshine


My second card is based on a pattern from the Make It From Your Heart.  I wanted clean and simple and it worked!  Using the For Always black and white, I simply used black ink and stamped away.  I have to say that I didn’t like the bird until I added an eye.  He looked a little odd without it. 
Card April SOTM You're Tweet
HELPFUL TIP OF THE DAY: when making a nice clean card like this.  Stamp the images.  Go WASH your hands.  THEN assemble the card.  The ink will be dry and your hands will be smudge free!  I test-dove the layout of this card on a different card base.  One that wasn’t as fortunate because I didn’t wash up between stamping and assembling.  (And yeah, my hands look like I dyed Easter Eggs right now.  No, I’ve just been stamping.  LOL.)
Next up on the blog hop is Hayley Dyer.

This stamp set is available for $5 with a $50 purchase!  Or if you sign up to be a consultant in the month of April, you’ll receive it and the May, June, & July stamp of the month in your starter kit!  It’s only available 4/1-30.  That’s a fabulous deal and a wonderful way to kick-start your business!

12 comments:

  1. Great cards, and I especially love the sunshine card, it's super cute.

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  2. Love love love the sunshine card!

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  3. I am next! Going to card lift for my workshop tomorrow! My ladies love the swing cards!

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  4. I love the B&W card and the layering you did on the page.

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  5. These are both such lovely cards! The swing is my favorite!

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  6. How clever are you?! Love the swing card!

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  7. Great swing card. The clouds hanging off of it are so creative.

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  8. Great cards! Love them both!

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  9. Is the swing card on the Artiste cartridge?

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    1. Yes, it's on Artiste. It's on the page with the letter "s"

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