August Stamp of the Month Blog Hop: Purr-fect Halloween

Even though the temperatures continue to soar (and school is starting back), in the crafting (and retail!) world, our thoughts are always working ahead to upcoming holidays and events.  That's why Close To My Heart is introducing the Purr-fect Halloween stamp of the month set in August.  Along this month's blog hop, you'll see lots of creative ways to use this set (and not just for Halloween!).  {If you're already hopping, then you've probably arrived from Michelle R.'s blog.  You will visit Michelle L. next.}

Isn't this cat cute?!?  I had fun making this card with a sketch from Make It From Your Heart, Vol. 2 and the Sangria paper pack collection.  I used several techniques on this card.  You'll recognize the paper piecing on the hat and on the little banner.  (I stamped the banner on the card front with Cocoa ink and then stamped the pennant 3 times on scrap Colonial White card stock in Poppy, Pomegranate, and Eggplant then cut & attached the little pennants.)

One thing I am really excited about is having waterbrushes again for painting with our exclusive inks!  (In fact, we have 3 different sizes that you can see HERE.)  I knew that I wanted to color the cute cat with a waterbrush and Champagne ink.  You can read on for the technique, or you can skip directly to Michelle L.'s blog for the next project if you'd rather.  I stamped the cat in Cocoa so that it would have a nice dark outline.  Now for directions:

Step 1: Grab the waterbrush you prefer and your ink pad of choice.

Step 2: Squeeze the closed lid of the ink pad into itself to smoosh ink onto the inside of the lid to create your paint palette.

Step 3: Add a little water to your ink lid with the waterbrush.  (The cat is upside down because as I paint from the actual top of the paper/cat's feet to the bottom/cat's head, the ink will lighten.  I wanted the bottom of the cat to be darker than the top.)

Step 4: Begin painting!  Your paint will fade as you go, so you will need to repeat the first steps to get more ink.

Here you can see how I worked from top to bottom and left to right on the cat's body.

The finished painted cat.  (After it dried I stamped the eyes.)

Thanks for letting me share!  I hope you'll try painting with a waterbrush.  You'll have as many paint colors as ink colors, that all match perfectly.  Now go see Michelle L. next!

Click HERE for all the hop participants and their blogs.