Final Share the Joy Card with a Sneak Peek at the August SOM

July is coming to a close and August is upon us. Today I want to share two cards - both with the same saying, the same floral theme, and using the same color scheme - but which look entirely different. Here's card #1 using the Share the Joy special that expires at the end of the day tomorrow:

I white embossed the large floral background from a Hostess Only Rewards stamp set called "She's a Wildflower." I then used a sponge to add Pomegranate Ink over top, mindful to allow for varying levels of concentration. I die cut it using the Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, then stamped the sentiment on the banner (both a part of the Share the Joy special) and mounted them over a card base. Easy peasy!

Here's card #2 using the August SOM "From Me to You."

I die cut the flower out of a panel which had already been cut with the Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts. I then used the leftover ink on my sponge from card #1 to color it. The sentiment is from the August SOM which I stamped in Pewter ink over both the white panel and the flower which insets directly back into it, then stamped again in Pomegranate to get the two-tone look. I accented the flower center with a Clear Shimmer Brush.

Also easy peasy!!

These cards are going to author friends, both of whom won awards in the past couple of weeks. The inside will say, "And you have the award to prove it!"

Until next time,
Becca

Sunflower Card with Share the Joy Background Die Cut

Today's card uses both retired and current products but, as promised, features the Share the Joy special promotion running through the end of this month. I used the cover die with all the circles and took advantage of the two-tone cardstock sold by CTMH for the background.

I love sunflowers. Love them! Whenever we move, there are a few stamp sets which travel with me in case the movers lose all of our household belongings. This retired sunflower set is one of them. I stamped the flower in Goldrush ink, colored with markers, stamped it again to crisp up the lines then decided I needed some extra depth in the center so I used a Sponge Dauber to dab Espresso ink there, fading out as I got farther away from the center. The leaves were stamped in New England Ivy. I fussy cut all the images with Micro-tip Scissors. Before mounting the flowers onto the Goldrush Cardstock background, I added some splotches from the Timeless Textures stamp set. The sentiment comes from the Happy Trails stamp set (the feature image being a RV camper). I stamped it in Espresso ink and trimmed it almost to the very edge with my Micro-tip Scissors. I added it last using the thinnest 3D Foam Tape.

For the sake of artistic effect, I didn't fill the sunflower or leaves with color. I left quite a bit of white space. Not only does it look great, it's easier to color. Win, win!

Now I'm going to give you a little hint...  I got a sneak peek at some of the new products showing up in September. If you really wish you had a beautiful sunflower, you're in luck. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Until next time,
Becca

Share the Joy Card #4

I've been having lots of fun with the Share the Joy special running this month. It features a die cut and two stamp sets. One is birthday themed; the other is summertime. Here's a birthday one that was lots of fun to color.

I began by stamping the center image then used Washi tape to place an oval die cut (the largest one from this set) around the sentiment as a placement guide. I then stamped image by image, rotating them to create a random pattern. I colored them with prismacolor pencils, but markers or water coloring would work just as well. After running it through the largest Stitched Rectangular Thin Cuts, I used 3D Foam Tape to adhere it to a card base. This was a little time-consuming, but I did it while watching TV, which was both relaxing and made me feel like I was accomplishing something while vegetating.

We're having company for dinner tonight, so I guess I'd better go do some grocery shopping.

Until next time,
Becca

Share the Joy - Card #3

For today's card, I've combined the large die cut panel from the Share the Joy special with a number of other products to create this...

I love texture on texture, so I cut the cover die from the same cardstock as my card base and glued them together. Then I decorated a tag and the smallest flower from Stitched Flower Thin Cuts (also featured in this post) with stamps from Share the Joy. My ink colors are Sapphire, Willow, Lemon, and Nectarine. I sponged the edges of the flower and flower center in Lemon and Nectarine respectively just to give a little more interest. Next time I make this card, I'll cut the flower from the light side of Lemon paper before stamping and sponging. To ground the flower a bit more, I added So Much Happy Washi Tape. The finishing touch was Sapphire Crochet Thread.

There's a great deal of "finishing" work to do on the new house - pictures on the walls, curtains up, etc. - but I have a feeling it's going to be put off in favor of more play time for both my husband and me. I need to have company over to spur that final push. Anyone want to come?

Until next time,
Becca

More Cards with Share the Joy from CTMH

I did it. I spent the entire afternoon playing in my craft room using the Share the Joy promotion from Close To My Heart. And, as with yesterday's post, I didn't use it as designed...or at least as the artists at CTMH did (click here to see their work and a picture of the Share the Joy special).

The color choices here were determined by the leftovers sitting on my desk and Heart to Heart's current color challenge: Candy Apple. I simply cut the banner five times, twice in Candy Apple Cardstock but using the two-tone feature so the top one is slightly lighter than the lower one and twice with paper from Into the Wild. And aren't you impressed with how well I fit the individual letters on the banners?

Yeah...total luck. I had the banners already stapled to the background panel (cut with Stitched Square Thin Cuts) before I decided to stamp on them. I also had them stapled down before I decided to stamp the balloons in White Daisy ink on the top one so I had pattern-plain-pattern-plain-pattern going on with the layers. I added shading very, very carefully with a red marker so I didn't end up getting white pigment ink on it.

But hey, with as many cards as I make, I'll take a little good luck once in a while.

Okay, now I really do need to buckle down and get some "day job" work done. My publisher just put two of my novella's up on Kindle Unlimited, so I need to get that info out to the subscribers on my author newsletter.

Until next time (which will be tomorrow because I have at least three more cards to share with you using this same promotional set),
Becca

Two Variations of CTMH's Share the Joy Promotion.

Well...the last part of my craft room is now unpacked: the light box for photographing my cards. And the best part??? I don't have to lie on the floor to take the shot. Whew!! I'm getting just a little old for that action.

Today's card uses one of this month's Close To My Heart promotions - Share the Joy. This promo comes with multiple options. I purchased the full set with the die cut (shown below), but you can purchase each part individually.

Here's a picture of some artwork made by the talented artists at CTMH. As you can see, the images are designed to fill the circle cut outs in the die cut.

But I - as per usual - wanted to use the die cut and stamp images differently to show you other options.

I started by die cutting the background, flowers, and leaves from paper in the Into the Wild paper suite with the flower centers cut from Sugarplum. I love how the cardstock now comes in two tones. The flowers were cut with the Stitched Flowers Thin Cuts. I held off purchasing these but have seen way, way, WAY too many adorable projects (both cards and scrapbook pages) to keep them out of my last shopping cart. I love how they coordinate perfectly with the sentiment from the Share the Joy stamp set.

Because I wanted to mount my background with foam tape, I cut a second one with plain White Daisy cardstock and glued it to the back of the gray patterned paper for added strength. Then I used a leftover circle from that second cut for this card...

I have an entire file of card ideas using small stamps. Just because they fit in the circles from the die cut in this set doesn't mean they have to be used that way. You can, as I did with the sentiment, or you can trim them out and cluster them together, as I did with the little envelopes and hearts. And trust me, you really want Micro-tip Scissors for this work. It makes getting into the tiniest places easy.

The background square of paper is also from the Into the Wild paper suite, but here I paired it with Candy Apple. I finished off the card with Sapphire Crochet Thread.

My house is almost put together. We still have to decide which paintings are going on the walls and which are going back into boxes to save for possible use in the next house. Yes...I know. We just got here and I'm already planning the next move. That's army wife life for ya. But today? Today I'm going to spend the entire afternoon in my newly re-assembled craft area playing like I haven't touched paper, stamps, and ink for a month...because I haven't.

Until next time,
Becca

CTMH July Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Bear Hugs

Welcome to my stop on the July SOM Blog Hop. You should have come from Kathy Burrows' blog, but if you've started here don't worry. The hop is a circle, and you can find a complete list of participants on Melinda Everitt's blog.

I loved the idea of turning this into a baby card, so I combined it with the Sweet Girl-Cardmaking stamp set and coordinating paper suite for this...

I stamped the bear in Linen ink then used markers to add some shading and the peach accents to the feet and cheeks. To soften the "Welcome," I used second-generation in Sapphire. The rest of the sentiment is stamped in Heather. I accented the hearts with the Clear Shimmer Brush.

In personal news, it's great to be moved. We're still unpacking boxes and awaiting the guys who will be coming to put my craft cabinet together...oh, and the furniture we bought which we're waiting to have delivered until after we get new carpet. It's going to take a while to turn this into home, but at least I'm sleeping in my own bed. As an author of historical books, I'm well aware that the rich and powerful of yesteryear used to cart their own mattresses with them when they traveled. I get it now. Too bad I don't have a bevy of servants to do take care of that for me. LOL!

Anyway, now you're off to Haley Dyer's blog. Enjoy the hop!

Until next time (which will be sooner than a month, I promise),
Becca