August SOM Blog Hop - From Me to You

Welcome to the August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop featuring "From Me to You." You should have come from Michelle's blog. The hop is a circle, so you can start anywhere and keep going. If you get lost along the way, pop over to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants. You can view the full image of this SOM set on my side-bar or by clicking here.

I'll admit it...every time CTMH releases a new catalog, the first place I look is at the Stamp of the Month (SOM) specials because it's usually where I find my favorite stamp sets. Before I became a consultant, I planned which month I would order in based on which SOM I liked the best. And this one was the first set on my list because I love, love, LOVE sets with multiple sentiments. Privately, I call these stamp sets "justifiers." Let me show you why...

Below are two stamp sets with coordinating thin cuts which I absolutely love but would give me limited usefulness when it came to making cards.

Yes, I love the "bloom" sentiments in the watering can set, and the "enjoy each day" from the camper set could be used for cards. But how many of those would I actually send? Not that many. However, if I purchase the stamp sets and then add a $5 Stamp of the Month with lots of great sentiments, suddenly I can make a boatload of cards without adding very much to my overall stamp budget.

To get the shaded effect on my watering can, I swiped Mink ink across my stamp the pressed it down using my MISTI stamp positioner. I then sponged Heather ink around the edges with a Sponge Dauber - a tool I used constantly - and pressed down again. The leaves were stamped in Mint ink then sponged with Sage, and the flowers were stamped in Peach ink. I also stamped the small line of solid hearts in the From Me to You stamp set across the top of the watering can in Ballerina, although you could just as easily use Peach ink.

After cutting out my background paper from the Sweet Girl paper suite with Stitched Rectangle Thin Cuts, I glued it to my card base and then stamped the splotchy thing (yes, that's a technical term)  from the Timeless Textures stamp set in Ballerina ink before gluing  down my die cut watering can.

The sentiment and small swoosh are both from the SOM. I stamped them in Heather and Peach inks respectively. I then cut it out using the Circle Thin Cuts (which are retiring as of August 31, so get them before they sell out).

Okay...how cute is this for a retirement card? I used the exact same supplies except this one features the Oval Thin Cuts (also retiring August 31). I fussy cut the plaid bottom and peach curtains out of leftover paper in Sweet Girl. It doesn't really take that long and it sure ups the cuteness factor. You'll really want Micro-tip Scissors for this.

Now, just for the fun of it, here's the watering can again with various sentiments from this set.

See. Justifiers! But now I need to stop playing with them and actually get back to work. I'm heading to a writer's conference in a couple weeks, and it would be good to have some proposals for books ready to pitch to editors.

Your next stop is Jessica's blog. Again, the hop is a circle so be sure to keep going until you see all the inspiration these amazing consultants have for you.

Until next time,
Becca