CTMH Summer Idea Book *SNEAK PEEK* New Product Blog Hop

With all the excitement about Studio J yesterday, you may not have even realized that a new Close To My Heart Idea Book goes live this Saturday! How about a sneak peek at some of the new products available? Then enjoy my post and join me on a blog hop! (If you're already hopping then you should have come from the lovely Antoinette's blog. If you want to keep on hopping, then head to Tanya's blog next. I'll include a link at the bottom because I'd love for you to read my post.)

Both my cards were easy to make because they use the same card pattern ("Sunrise" from the Wishes how-to book) and the same NEW stamp set, You're Great! (It is an adorable set of animal images and cute sayings; click on one of my photos below to see what all's included.)

This monkey card (in honor of my little monkey of a daughter) uses the NEW Passages paper pack. I started with a Brown Bag card stock base and used some of the designer B&T from the kit for the band at the bottom. I thought that the saying "I'm bananas over you" needed some yellow, so I chose to add Sunflower to this paper pack. Stamping the monkey on the half circle with Brown StazOn ink makes it so easy to watercolor the image without the ink running. I used a combination of waterbrush and inks (Bamboo, Brown Bag, Barn Red, Buttercup, and Sunflower) plus my Brown Bag marker to color this funny guy. After embellishing the card with some NEW Cocoa ribbon, I decided it needed a little something else, so I faux stitched on the focal image with my Sunflower marker.

My second card also uses the You're Great stamp set, but this time I couldn't resist using the alligator stamp. I paired it with the NEW Cherry-O Creative Basics paper pack. It is such a steal at only $7.95! I used the back side of the polka dot B&T for my card front because Sweet Leaf is a great choice for this guy! What do you think of the "bite" taken out of the top corner of the card? In keeping with this rough & tough guy, I scissor distressed the plaid pieces and the bottom edge of the card front.

To color this image, I first stamped him in Olive then quickly sprinkled clear embossing powder on it. (I have found that our embossing powder will stick well to our regular inks if you work quickly. You don't have to work at warp speed; just have everything ready before you start.) Then I heat set the image so that my watercoloring wouldn't run. I used Sweet Leaf ink and shaded with a touch of Olive. My final touches include a pewter photo hanger and Sweet Leaf ribbon. (I was afraid the Cranberry velvet ribbon included in the Creative Basics pack was a bit too sweet for this guy.) Finally, I stamped "Later gator!" in Olive.

Thanks for hopping by! Be sure to head to Tanya's blog now for more NEW sneak peeks. Later gator!