September SOM Blog Hop

Welcome to the September Stamp of the Month (SOM) Blog Hop. You should have come from Haley's blog, but if you started here don't worry. The hop is a circle so you can start anywhere and just keep going until you get back to your first stop. There are a bunch of consultants participating this month, so if you get lost, head over to Melinda's blog for a full list of participants. I'll post the link for your next stop at the end of this post.

I absolutely ADORE this stamp set. I've always wanted something that has a "just because I felt like making you a card" sentiment, so the Random Act of Cardness is perfect. However, I also really love that "hello." The font is so elegant. I decided to do a little...are you ready for it...cutting of my stamps. I get so much more use out of them by snipping out bits and pieces, but I always cut using curves or notches so I can easily fit everything back together.

My other rules about cutting stamps apart are: 1) to only do it when I will often use the part I'm cutting out alone, and 2) to only do it if masking off part of the stamp is difficult. For example, I will likely use "random act of cardness" on it's own lots of times, but because the "R.A.C." is on a straight line above it, I can easily tape that off before inking or just avoid that part of the stamp with my ink pad. On this card, I used just "handmade" from the bottom right sentiment by avoiding inking "100%" and the cut apart "A little hello..."

I started by stamping hello in Mint ink, stamped handmade in black over the top, then let both dry before running my anti-static pouch over it and stamping hello again with Versamark ink. I used clear embossing powder to give the hello a shiny, raised appearance. I would not have been able to get the crisp image of handmade if I'd tried to do my embossing first and then stamped in black over top later. I cut the oval with the now-retired Oval Thin Cuts. I don't have the Stitched ones (yet...and they would have been perfect for this), so I hand-drew a black border to frame my sentiment.

For the background, I started out using the Multi-circle Frame Thin Cut but decided to use just the interior circles. I used the full cut image as a guide to add the base circles, then used the smallest circle from Stitched Circle Thin Cuts with black, white, and the lighter side of mint cardstocks. After gluing them in place, I added the sentiment oval with 3D Foam Tape then accented with Black and White Enamel Dots. I liked how the card looked without the addition of the enamel dots, but I LOVE how it looks with them. The shine on the dots is echoed in the shine on my sentiment. It's almost like I planned it. LOL!

Here's a complete list of the supplies I used with links for your shopping convenience. Please be sure to use your personal consultant, if you have one, to do your shopping.

• Random Act of Cardness ($5 with a $50 purchase)
• Multi-Circle Windows Thin Cut
• Stitched Circles Thin Cuts
• Stitched Oval Thin Cuts (link provided in lieu of plain Oval Thin Cuts)
• Mint Cardstock
• White Daisy Cardstock
• Black Cardstock
• Mint Ink
• Black Ink
• Versamark Ink
• Anti-static Pouch 
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Embossing Heat Tool
• 3D Foam Tape
• Black .03 Journaling Pen
• Black and White Enamel Dots

While your shopping, be sure to check out all the new, wonderful products which released today. Well be doing another blog hop in a few days to featuring them, so be sure to come back.

This card will be going in the mail along with an Advance Reader Copy of The Telegraph Proposal. The publisher sent me five copies so I'm mailing them out to fellow authors and influencers to garner some reviews before the book releases in November. Only two months now! I want to include a card with each packet as a way to say thank you for agreeing to read and review the story.

Now you're off to Gina's blog. Again, there are quite a few participants in this month's hop so be sure to keep clicking until you see all the inspiration.

Until next time,
Becca