April SOTM Blog Hop featuring Flock Together!

THANK YOU for stopping by to enjoy our

April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

featuring this month's SOTM:

Flock Together S1704

If you've just arrived here from

GINA's BLOG

then you are on the correct path.

If you get lost along the way, you can find
a complete list of all of the participating
consultant blogs here on MELINDA's BLOG.

For today's blog hop, I've created these two standard-size cards (above)! The colors I used include Cranberry and Pacifica cardstock along with a few scraps of the Uptown Fundamentals paper (Z3263). I also used the Black memento ink pad, Cranberry ink (2nd generation for the hearts), and Glacier and Pacifica ink pads. The marker colors I used include Cherry Pink, Marine Blue, Pastel Peach, and Turquoise Blue.

One exciting discovery I made while creating with this stamp set was that the smallest die included in the Thin Cuts - Basic Circles set (Z3318) is the perfect size to cut paper to stamp the "Love this" stamp on. I also used the smallest two heart dies from the Thin Cuts - Basic Hearts set (Z3317) to cut out the black hearts on my cards (above) as well.

Lastly, here are two more cards (above) that I created with

this stamp set and already shared on my blog previously.

You can find and read more details about these cards in

my previous blog posting found at this link HERE.

Now you can continue on with the hop,
and be inspired by more creativity
using this stamp set by visiting
CORINNA's BLOG next!

Enjoy the hop!!

Background Stamping with the April Stamp of the Month!

Today I'm "So Happy" to share these two standard-size cards that I created for the weekly Heart 2 Heart Blog Challenge! The challenge this week was to create something using background stamping (also, sometimes known as random stamping),
and this was my final result!

I used the upcoming April Stamp of the Month, Flock Together (S1704) from Close to my Heart, to stamp these fun rainbow backgrounds (above). The ink colors I used (in order from bottom to top) are Pansy, Pacifica, Willow, Lemon, Goldrush, and Cranberry. I simply started at the bottom of each piece of 4" x 5.25" white daisy cardstock and stamped the trio of hearts close together from left to right, then started each new row with a new color (and there's not much that's "random" about that, lol). It really is amazing what can be done with just one little stamp! I hope you're inspired by my cards and will have fun doing some background stamping of your own!

Valentine's Day Countdown - Day 2

For Day 2 of our Valentine's Day Countdown blog hop, I'm sharing this simple standard-size card! This is just one of the cards we'll be making this Saturday, February 5th (join us at 6pm or 7pm) at my $5 Creative Class! I still have room for a few more guests, so please contact me to RSVP soon before it fills up! What I love most about this card is that it is so very versatile and could be used for any number of occasions - Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Anniversaries, Weddings, or even as a Thank You or Thinking of You card (you decide what sentiment you want to stamp or write inside). This card could also be re-created and/or mass-produced easily using any variety of different color combinations that you'd like! This standard-size card uses the February Stamp of the Month -Friendship D1453 with Black and Tulip inks and a small piece of b&t paper from the Sweetheart X7134B paper pack. I've used the flourish-type stamps with the stamp-rolling technique to create the interesting background. The flower was created using our NEW 2" scallop circle punch - and it was so easy! You simply punch a scalloped circle from a piece of cardstock (I used Tulip cardstock here), then punch a small hole in the center with a piercing tool, then use micro-tipped scissors to cut towards the center (stopping 1/4 or 1/8" from center) to create the petals. I also put the two prongs of a black button brad through the two holes in this shimmery pink button to make the center of my flower. The prongs of the brad are put through the center of the flower and spread flat on the back. Then I adhered the flower using a square of 3D mounting tape over the top of my black grosgrain ribbon piece. I didn't do this on my flower shown here, but you could also use your piercing tool handle or a pencil (anything tubular) to wrap the cardstock petals around to curl them and give them some shape.

The H2H8 "background stamping" challenge resulted in a NEW Blog Topper for me (yaay!)

This card also helped me make the top 5 this week (6/4/2010):

This weeks Heart 2 Heart challenge was to create something using stamps for your background. I was inspired by Helen O's card and knew that I wanted to use the fun "argyle" looking stamp from the upcoming June SOTM - D1422 Wonderful Friend. This is my standard size card that resulted, also inspired by Wishes - Lucky Layers (p. 27). I used the "stamp-rolling" technique to give my argyle background a two-tone effect (garden green ink, rolled with cocoa ink at the top and bottom of the image). I also added a folded paper ruffle that I've been wanting to try making for so long now using B&T from the Veranda paper packet (I sanded the B&T ruffle with sandpaper to give it that "well-worn" look). Well, it turns out that I like my card enough that I decided to use it as the NEW topper for my blog (yaay!! It's about time, right?!) I hope you like the change as much as I do, as I was getting tired of seeing the same card there for so long - since last Summer (you can see my old blog topper in the post before this one if you want to remember it fondly with me, lol). Out with the old and in with the NEW!!

**Update: I was thrilled to discover this morning (6/4) that this card was chosen as one of the Friday top 5 on the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog!! You can see that post by clicking here! Yaay - I am so excited - thank you for the honor ladies that chose me!!