Hoppy Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop!

I’m so happy (or should I say "hoppy"?!!) that you are joining us for the very first Scrappy Birthday Blog Hop celebrating my friend April’s favorite color - GREEN!

If you are coming from Cherie's blog you’re on the right track. If you just joined us, you can go back to the beginning (April's blog HERE) to enjoy the entire hop along with us. We’ve had so much fun doing this hop, and we have a wonderful line up with some oh-so-talented creators. You will see some lovely projects and have a chance to win some blog candy along the way, including a fun grand prize for this hop from April.

This hop runs all day on April 30th, so you have plenty of time today to check out each project!

1. April Nourse http://curlsngrins.blogspot.com/
2. Mandie Wade http://mandiesscrappin.blogspot.com/
3. Jennifer Blue Hawkins http://scrapaholicjen.blogspot.com/
4. Emily Lahham http://www.createserendipity.net/
5. Deborah Foti http://www.scrappingmamma.net/
6. Corrine Paul http://celebratingordinarymoments.blogspot.com/
7. Lisa Tehonica Pontious http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/
8. Stephanie Jones http://missprissygraceann.blogspot.com/
9. Lucy Kelleher http://love2createitall.blogspot.com/
10. Theresa White http://treasures4lifeby-t.blogspot.com/
11. Martha Galvez http://pattisscrapingtime.blogspot.com/
12. Lisa Norris http://prettypaperprettyribbons.blogspot.com/
13. Cherie Pemberton http://www.gracefulcardmakers.blogspot.com/
14. Jen Rubio http://www.jenrubio.blogspot.com/
15. Lisa Peters http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/

What would a birthday be without gifts? This gift could be yours because there is also an overall grand prize just for hopping with us! The grand prize is sponsored by April from Curls & Grins Creations (the first blog on the hop). In order to be eligible for the grand prize you must leave a comment on every blog in the hop and become a follower of April’s blog.

Your next blog to visit on the hop is Lisa's blog at
http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/.
Happy hopping!

Finally, before you go, here are some details about my hand-stamped card (shown above): It's a 6x6 card that uses b&t paper from both the Sophia X7131 and Bliss X7132B paper packs. The stamp sets I used include A Little Everything D1408, Fun Times B1309, and Soul Mates D1254. As I came up with my design for this card, I was careful to also meet the requirements listed below so that I could also use this same card design for the "Humble Artists Swap" that I am a participant in. So I ended up duplicating this card 4 more times to mail them out to my HAS friends in February as well (I hope you enjoyed them ladies)! The challenge for the HAS this time was to create a card that meets all of these requirements:
Must be square and at least 5x5"
Must depict an animal
Must be LOVE themed
Must use only neutral colors with only one other color
(excluding all shades of red!)
Must have 7 layers of paper, stacked and countable, all in one place
Use at least 3 embellishments
And...just for the fun of it...let's add some liquid glass!

March SOTM Blog Hop!!

WELCOME to my blog and THANKS for joining us for our March Stamp of the Month BLOG HOP featuring the March SOTM - D1408 A Little Everything!! The first creation I have to share with you is a standard size card that features this versatile SOTM set as well as the X7110B Back Country papers and two additional stamp sets - B1309 Fun Times and D1283 Say It in Style (for the "with love" sentiment). Masculine cards are sometimes hard for me to feel inspired about designing, so I was really pleased to come up with this one - masculine and fun! You can also see a few more cards below that I created for the standing SOTM swap I host and participate in with a group of very creative consultants each month. All of my swap cards below are created using the X7122B You Rock papers.

I hope you enjoy them!

Finally, the card just above was created using my Spellbinder Nestabilities circles and scalloped circles to cut out the scalloped card base and circle of smokey plum B&T paper with my Cuttlebug (I just love these new tools I've started using more recently). I also used the "masking technique" to stamp my sentiment. I'm including a brief photo tutorial below so you can see exactly how I did it in case the masking techniqe is new to you. Masking is much simpler than it sounds and it sure does allow for some amazing possiblities when you are trying to get extra creative with your stamping!

Now you can HOP on over to KATHLEEN'S BLOG to see the

beautiful artwork she has to share with us next!