Cloud Nine Blog Hop

Happy New Year everyone! Almost everyone makes resolutions to start the New Year and mine is to build up my assortment of cards. The Cloud Nine Cardmaking Kit is a perfect way to kick start my goal.

There are many talented consultants participating in the hop; I think I follow all of their blogs there is so much inspiration on them. If you have been hopping with us, then you have come from Melinda Everitt's blog, If You Bling It. I find many wonderful projects on Melinda's blog to CASE, don't you?

I created one of each of the cards exactly as described in the workshop brochure (you will find a photo of those cards below). Then I decided to create variations for a few of the cards. The cards created following the instructions are on the left and on the right I made a minor change - how I inked the stamp. I used daubers to ink the stamps, one color on the inside and another for the edge, then I "huffed" the stamps to re-moisten the ink. The end result is the color is a little softer and the image looks a little more distressed, but I am quite happy with all of the cards. (Clicking on any of the photos will open my Flickr page in a new tab where you can see larger images; just close that window/tab so you can easily visit the next stop on the Cloud Nine Blog Hop.)

When I finished using the die-cuts in the kit, I cut some more with my Cricut® and the Artiste cartridge. While I still had some of the Cloud Nine B&T Duos™ Paper remaining, I decided to save that piece and create my own paper from cardstock using a stamp from Geometric Backgrounds (D1559) and Lagoon ink. I used Honey ink rather than Sunset to color my hearts. I rubbed the stamp pad directly on the small hearts to get a deep color and used a sponge on the larger heart for a softer effect. When I stamped the image I used the swipe technique to create more texture.

Here's a closeup of the image and paper I created with the background stamp.

This is the photo I mentioned that shows the cards I created following the instructions as they appear in the brochure.



I am sorry to say that is it time for you to head to your next stop, Joy McHargue's blog. I am certain that you will find much inspiration along the way. If you get lost at any point Melinda keeps a list of all of the stops here.

Thank you for visiting.