Krista's Crafty Corner: Sunshine Birdies

Welcome to our MONTHLY Stamp of the Month (SOTM) Blog Hop!!

If you have come here from

you are on the right track!!

This month, we will be featuring the EXCLUSIVE March SOTM stamp set called “Sunshine Birdies”.

This blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here & work your way around to the many consultants on this "hop"!

If you get lost along the way, you’ll find a complete list of PARTICIPATING CONSULTANTS by clicking HERE…

This month we have 39 Close To My Heart Consultants that will be sharing items they have created using this month’s stamp set! So, sit back & enjoy your tour as you click on the link at the end of the post to see what EACH consultant has created!!

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Take a peek at this FUN, exclusive Stamp set only available during March 2016!!!J

As I look at this stamp set, I know SPRING will be on it's way shortly - here in the eastern USA. Are these guys ADORABLE or what? What a cute stamp set!! J

Spring, in my mind, equals bright colors...and this led me to use our Penelope paper collection to create this month's card.

Take a look...

The pattern for this card is found in CTMH's How-to book, Make it From Your Heart, volume 2.J

I decided since this stamp set made me "happy"....why not pull out the word happy from the stamped images included in this stamp set. J

How did I ONLY ink up the word "happy"?
Prior to inking the "You make me happy" image, I stuck a post-it note on the word me (right above happy). Then I inked up the stamp (trying to just get the word happy in ink)....took OFF the post it note, and ta-da....only the word "happy" had black ink on it!! (because the rest of the ink went on my post-it note) I LOVE my post-it notes J

To color in the sun, I used our ShinHan alcohol marker. I wanted my sunshine to be bright & happy.

But then for the butterfly, I wanted a softer look - so I used our Watercolor Pencils & the Blending Pen. Ooooo, it had been a while since I used the blending pen, and it was so EXCITING to watch the blending pen "smooth out the pencil lines" as I colored over it.

I also used one of my FAVORITE techniques on this card - dry embossing!! I ADORE the TEXTURE this brings to any piece of artwork! By using CTMH's, larger than most, 5x7 embossing folders & my Cuttlebug machine...I was able to get a perfect imprint every time!!

Take a look at the picture below for some of the detail....

I used our dots 5x7 Embossing folder, and embossed dots directly on top of an already PRE-PATTERNED paper!!! Then to make the dots stand out a bit more, I sanded them lightly. An added "twist" to embossing!! I did the same technique on the right side of the card....but instead of dots, I used the vine embossing folder.

As you take a look at this card again, you will also notice the PURPLE glitter paper that I used across the bottom.

The strip of flowers across the glitter paper is actually a ZIP STRIP that is cut in half, that came from the Penelope paper pack!!! What a treat, to have those extra zip strips as part of EACH of our paper packs at Close To My Heart!!

I hope you are enjoying this blog hop & are getting LOTS of ideas for when you have your OWN March Stamp of the Month (SOTM) stamp set in hand!
Happy Crafting to EACH of you! J

Now its time to head over to Krista Ritskes' Blog to see what FABULOUS item she has created using this stamp set! J

Be sure to visit ALL the Consultants at their Blogs to get some great crafting ideas and other fun ideas! We always love to hear any feedback you’d like to share as well, so feel free to leave a comment. J