Happy November - Stamp of the Month Blog Hop!

Wow it's November already! I am in shock that there is less than two months until Christmas. Along with the start of November comes a new Stamp of the Month! I love being able to earn stamp sets for reduced prices or even free! If you've arrived here from Jody Gustafson's Blog you're on the right track. If not you can keep going from here because the hop if one long circle.

This months stamp set is called "A Little Thanks". It's a perfect set to add some heartfelt words of thanks on a card or even to a scrapbook layout. I find that I send a large number of Thank You cards each year and this set is a fabulous to help me out with those cards.

I am trying hard to use up scraps and dig into my stash so I can make room for new paper that I "must have". I am so really having fun with the workshop guides that come in the Workshops for each of the new paper packs each new catalog. These kits are a fabulous deal and come with an exclusive stamp set only sold in this workshop, a full embellishment pack of some sort, a level 2 paper pack and a workshop guide. The workshop guide has one how-to exclusive layout and one exclusive card design. I save all of my workshop guide so I can use them with whatever paper I desire. For this month's blog hop I dug through my guides and found one that came with the Grace paper pack I thought would be perfect. I have some Grace scraps left so I went with that paper pack. What I love about the card design is that it's one design that they rotate 90 and 180 degrees to get three different cards! Lots of fun, super easy and all unique!

Now hop over to Traci Godbee's Blog to see what great artwork she's put together this month!

Gettin' Spooky Challenge

The challenge this week at Heart 2 Heart is to create something Halloween inspired. I made a Halloween card last week so I wanted to make something different this week. I decided to have a go at making some hexagon stacking boxes. I found a template online at Evil Mad Scientist and printed it at 90%, 100% and 110% to get the three different sizes.

I made them three different colors and put different decorations on each box. I also used a different technique on each box. The bottom box has 6 different jack-o-lanterns which I "rock and rolled". To do this ink the entire stamp in the lightest color. Before stamping it on the paper "roll" the edges of the stamp in a darker color and then gently huff on the stamp to remoisten and stamp on the paper. Depending on what colors you use it dramatically changes the look. I was going for very subtle so I used Goldrush and Autumn Terracota.

On the middle box I used a technique that I have been wanting to try but haven't done before. I embossed with glitter. This is a great way to get that glitter to really "stick" on your project. Mix 2 parts embossing powder to 1 part glitter. Ink and stamp an image with Versa Mark and sprinkle with the glitter embossing powder. This is so much fun! It's hard to see in the picture but the bats, and cauldrons really sparkle and appear to have lots of color even though they are black. The glitter really add lots of fun sparkle.

On the top box I colored the fun monster from Party Animal with a blending pen and ink pads. This is a great way to mix colors and add highlighting.

I will fill the box with some halloween treats for my son. I thought he would enjoy a special box just for him :)

Inspiring Art Work

I wanted to let everyone know that I've added several more of the great blogs that I follow in my Blogs I Love section. These are some super artists and wonderful writers. When you need some inspiration check out their blogs! Everyone loves it when you leave them comments too so if you have a few minutes let them know how much you like their art work.

I'm working on a piece of Halloween artwork that I'm hoping to post either tomorrow or Thursday so be sure to check back to see that. I am going to try out a new technique on 3D items for display in the house. I'm excited and have been gearing up for this for a couple of days now....now I just need to find a few minutes to get it started and then finished!

Embossing Challenge

This week's challenge is to use embossing on a project. It can be dry embossing or heat embossing. I happen to love embossing so this challenge is right up my alley. I couldn't decide on dry or heat embossing so I figured I just do both :)

I made a halloween card I'm sending to my nieces. I used the "In the Month of October" stamp set, which I love. The month ones are so versital and I find I keep grabbing for them!

I dry embossed on the card background and green accent piece. To do this you place the piece you want embossed on your cutter and using an embossing stylus run it down the cutting groove. Continue moving the paper and embossing until you get the desired patterned. To get even spacing I line up the first embossed line up with a line on my cutter and keep that same dimension all the way across. Once I was done embossing I turned it over and lightly sanded. This reveled the white core of the cardstock on the raised areas.

I heat embossed using versa mark and black embossing powder. I embossed the ghostly greeting circle, black cat, broom, bat and the fence with pumpkins. The heat embossing adds a shiny texture to the paper and mkes the item stand out.

It takes a little extra time but the embossing adds a ton and is so much fun! Try experimenting on your own layouts and cards!

Birthday Bash!

This week was a really fun challenge to make a birthday card at Heart 2 Heart. Who doesn't need more birthday cards?? It's taken me all week to get to making the card but with 1 hour and 40 minutes to spare I made it!

I decided to go with a 5x7 card out of Wishes. I wanted to make a super bright card and do some sewing. I added glitter glue on the outside circles and a Happy Birthday message on the pull out tag.


All supplies CTMH unless noted otherwise.
Cardstock: Smoothie, Cotton Candy, Chocolate
B&T: Hooligans Level 2 paper pack
Stamp Sets: Happy Birthday, Festivities
Inks: Chocolate, Sunset, Pear, Lagoon
Embellishments: Clear buttons, Glitz glitter glue, craft thread (not CTMH)