August SOTM Blog Hop!!

Welcome to this month's blog hop - featuring the August Stamp of the Month - It's Your Day! I just love these fun and festive bold stamp designs - perfect to create cards, gifts, gift wrapping, decorations, and scrapbook pages for any birthday party or celebration!

I have had so much fun creating a few things with this stamp set recently - The first two cards are featuring our Animal Cookies papers (X7112B). I think the bright basic colors of this paper packet work perfectly with this stamp set. The first card is a standard size (4.25 x 5.5") inspired by Wishes - Stay Left (p. 55) and the next card is a 3x6 card inspired by Wishes - Long Layers (p. 81).

The last two cards were inspired by my friend and downline consultant Starr Nelson. Starr and her teaching partner, Sharryl Hales, taught an Art of Business class for consultants at the CTMH Convention last Summer (July 2008). Starr's class was titled "From Kit to Cash" and she shared some easy ways new consultants can be profitable utilizing just the items in their new consultant kit. So if you are a consultant who attended Convention you may have been lucky enough to attend this class or if you purchased the Convention CD, you can look up her class notes and handouts there also. The 3x6 and 4x4 cards I've shared (above) using the Bella papers were created using the simple sketch and pattern Starr taught as part of her Convention class. I'm even including a copy of the card sketches and cutting diagrams here in case it inspires you also (you can click on it to see a larger view if you need to). The cool thing about this pattern is that it allows you to create 8 cards of two different designs from just a few sheets of 12x12 paper which can really help a new consultant utilize limited supplies in a cost-effective way. I'm thinking that these are the cards I will be creating with my customers at all of my home gatherings in August, and if they inspire you, you are welcome to use them too! They are simple to create but do use a few basic techniques that I always enjoy teaching new stampers - 2nd generation stamping, distressing with a sponge dauber and desert sand ink, and distressing our cardstock with sandpaper - so fun!

To continue on in the hop and see even more excellent artwork using this must-have stamp set, please enjoy visiting Misty's blog next!

Here is a list of all of the participating CTMH consultants, so if a link doesn't work or you get lost along the way, you can always return here and click on any of these names to continue on in the hop! Now please go enjoy all of these wonderful blogs and more August SOTM ideas!!
Jena DeVries

Kristie Horness-Herdener

Carla Ironside

Deb Young
Alanna Moses
Paige Dolecki
Wendy Kessler
Heather Painchaud
Helen Onulak

Barbra Otten
Haley Dyer
Nona Davenport
Michelle Robinson
Cindy Leek
Melissa Laverty
Katy Donaldson
Amy McVey
Tammy Lea Pinchard
Leslie Markland
Judy Burger
Laurie R Newton
Kami Welter
Tracy Oleksak
Karen Norman
Chris Shouse
Cibele Glazer
Debra Van Patten
Terrie Dodd
Jamia Bankhead
Anne Beck
Jennifer Patrick
Laurie Levnik
Lori Miller
Brae Montgomery
Dawn Ross
Dawn Slipcevic
Barbara Harris
Carol Taggio
Jill Lucas
Chris Green
Nancy Ball
Dawn Heuft
Kelly Triggs
Beth Naumann
Antoinette Herrin
Jessica Booth
Jen Rubio
Misty Jackson
Adeline E. Brill
Lori Leng
Pam Klassen
Pamela OConnor
Jennifer Royal
Caren Goldstein
Shannon Pelletier
Sherry Thompson
Maricar Harris
Traci Godbee
Laura Dame
Miranda Kurz
Leisa Hubley

Julia Menssen

Jan Moxey

Jody Gustafson