April Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hi!  Thanks for "hopping" by!  If you have just come from Melissa's blog, you are in the right place.  For my creation this month, I wanted to try Color Blocking, and this is just the stamp set to use.  Here's a look at my card:

To make this card, I attached the stamps backward to my blocks--so that the image was stuck to the block, and I was stamping with the flat backside of the stamp.  I went with neutral ink colors--Saddle, Champagne, and Cashmere.  A word of warning, if you try this--don't hate your colors when you first stamp them!  They will dry much lighter.  The leaf stamp is from the Jubilee Workshop on the Go stamp set.  All of these products are available on my secure website HERE.  And here's a look at the stamp set:

Now, hop on over to Kathi's blog and check out what she made.  Leave me some love in the comments, and have fun hopping!

Emboss It Blog Hop

Hi, friends!  Welcome to the Emboss It Blog Hop!  

If you're hopping along with us, you have just come from Brae's blog.  Didn't you love her cute Easter card???!!!  The new CTMH embossing folders are so versatile!  Here's a look at two VERY different ways that I used one embossing folder:

For this adorable birthday card, I used my CTMH stamp pads with the "Dot" embossing folder to create my own background paper.  Just ink up the INSIDE of the FRONT cover of the embossing folder with your CTMH stamp pads (apply ink directly from the pad onto the folder).  Insert white paper and emboss.  The flat part of your paper will pick up the ink, while the embossed dots stay white.  How cool is that???!!!  Next I sprayed my paper with a shimmer mist which doesn't show up very well in photos, but I think you can see it a little better here:

The balloons and banner are from one of the stamp sets in the Cricut Artiste collection.  Cute, huh?  On the next card, I went in a totally different direction and left my embossing stark white:

 It's easy to emboss specific areas of your card.  I just slid the paper in part way--3/4" at the bottom and 3 1/2" at the top, leaving an inch without embossing in between.  Then I used my Score Pal to add a line delineating that space.  The embossing dresses up what would otherwise be a boring white background to make this an elegant and sophisticated card.  I love the stark white with only one additional color.  The stamp sets I used were Trim the Tree (A1149) and Yuletide Greetings (D1553).  Add a little bling (which TOTALLY goes with the sentiment), and you're good to go!  Have you started working on YOUR Christmas cards yet???  You can order your products HERE from my website and be ready for Christmas before Thanksgiving!
Now hop over to Keeley's blog and see what she's been embossing.  But first, leave me some love in the comments if you're so inclined.  Thanks for hopping with us!