Monday, April 30, 2012

May Stamp of the Month Bloghop!

Finally, spring seems to have arrived in the northwest.  Our purple tulips and pink rhododendrons are blooming.  Love flowers!  Hard to believe it's May already - and it's time for the May Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!


If you've arrived here from {Katy's blog}, welcome!  I love the sharing of ideas, and the amazing creativity that happens here.  Have you seen the stamp set, yet?  Here it is!




Sunflowers just shout SUMMERTIME to me.  I have visions of fields of Italian sunflowers in my head...


I was playing with this stamp set, and after I stamped my image on the paper I was going to use, I was getting the extra ink off my stamp by stamping and twisting on a piece of scratch paper.  My friend and team member, Jen, said - HEY, what is that, I like it!  I didn't know what she was talking about, but this is what she saw:




  
She said it looked cool.  I thought it looked like a pencil sketch.  What I was doing was stamping and twisting the stamp to get the extra ink off.  It made a kind of hazy, soft stamped image.  So I randomly stamped a bunch of them on a 12x12 piece of paper.  Be sure to stamp on a scratch paper the first generation of ink.  To make it look sketchy like this, you have to use 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th generation of stamping - plus, twist while you are stamping.  I used the large and small flowers, plus the leaves in the Stamp of the Month.




The tricky part was keeping the paper stationary while I stamped and twisted.  I took 4 pieces of Scotch tape, stuck them on my jeans to put a little lint on them (to make them not so sticky) and then taped the corners of the paper to my table.  That kept the paper still while I was stamping and twisting.


Next I colored with CTMH watercolor pencils.  Sunflower, Autumn Terracotta, and Brown Bag for the flowers.  Olive and Citrus Leaf for the leaves.  Then I took the Blending Pen and smoothed out the color.  




I also sponged Sweet Leaf in between the flowers, and sponged a little Cocoa on the edges.  I like it!  It's soft.  Here's a close-up of one of the flowers.




This is what the flower looks like if you ink in Cocoa and stamp (1st generation) and color with the same watercolor pencils:





The look is really quite different.  


So, I made this cool background paper with this stamp set...now what?  I made a scrapbook page!






I haven't finished embellishing yet, but I wanted to show you the layout.


Supplies Used: 
Friendship Bouquet (Stamp of the Month) $17.95 or $5 with your $50 order
Inks:  Cocoa, Sweet Leaf (sponged between flowers)
Card Stock:  Colonial White, Goldrush, Cocoa
Watercolor Pencils
Blending Pen
Sponge


Here's a card I came up with, inspired by my friend, Carol.


I took the (1st generation stamped) big flower and put it on the Cricut shape.  Stamping it on a circle didn't look right.  The other thing you could do is cut it out by hand (no thanks!)




Look, it opens!  




The ribbon is adhered under the flower, and ties in the back.




Cutting and scoring guide (click to enlarge).  I used a 4"x12" piece of paper.








Side View
Supplies Used:
Friendship Bouquet (Stamp of the Month) $17.95 or $5 with your $50 order
Card Stock:  Colonial White, Cocoa, Goldrush
Stella Paper Pack
Ink:  Cocoa
Watercolor Pencils
Blending Pen
Sponge
Cocoa Organdy Ribbon


Hope you've had fun looking!


If you see something you like, start shopping now -- and don't forget about the National Scrapbooking Month special - Dotty For You - 24 sheets of beautiful papers for just $5 when you place a $35 minimum order, sign up to be a consultant in May or host a $400 party in May.  Email me if you have questions about it!


Now, hop on over to {Traci's blog} to see what creativity she has to show you!  Thanks for stopping by!

8 comments:

mauihumv@gmail.com

Wow, amazing technique and beautiful artwork!

Susan Brooks - The Closet Stamper

OMG Katy! There is so much I need to stamplift from your site this month! Great job!

Annette Green

Well, don't you just love those happy accidents. I love how the hazy flowers look like sketches. So pretty and unique!

Marilyn

Fantastic background paper! That is a creative technique that I will have to try.

Karen Fullam

Great job! I love this new technique!

Lisa Sargent

Thanks everyone! When my friend pointed it out, I didn't even see what she was talking about. I guess we need to open our eyes and look at things differently every now and then. :)

Haley D.

Very cool technique, layout, and card!

Kathleen

What a darling card. Beautiful!