Christmas in July Blog Hop! #Cards4Love

 It's Christmas in July Blog Hop!   Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you got here from Crafts by Two, but in case you didn't, the entire blog hop list is at the end of this post.  Make sure you check out all the blog hop posts, there's some super talented, super creative crafters along the way!

 For this blog hop we are asking you, the viewers, to send a card for the Troops (US Army) or a Card for the kids in St. Judes Research Hospital to Crafts by 2 and they will see that they get delivered accordingly.  The best part is not only are you helping to put a smile on the troops and children's faces, you get an entry to win a grand prize for every card you send!  How easy is that?!?!?  Post your cards on Social Media using hashtag #cardsforlove.   We would love to see what you're making!

You can even send card kits, so the kids can make their own cards.  You will receive an entry for every card they can make with the kit.  You can send as many cards as you like and each card is ANOTHER entry!  Check out Crafts by Two for all the prize information.

Now.. where to send the cards.  Simply put your card(s) in blank envelopes and then put those into another envelope addressed to:

Here's a quick video of my card entries.

OK... now on to the blog hop!  Next stop... Rose at Crafting on the Dollar!   Here's the entire list in case you missed any:



George & Ken of Crafts By Two - www.CraftsByTwo.com/Blog
Melody of Melody Lane Designs - Youtube.com/MelodyLane
MayMay of MayMay Made It - www.youtube.com/maymaymadeit
Lorrie of Lorrie’s Story - lorriesstory.com
Nanny Rose of Crafting on the Dollar - https://www.youtube.com/user/CraftingOnTheDollar
Ken Hess of Ken's Kreations - www.youtube.com/user/hesskr
Cindy of MiMi's Mixed Bag - www.youtube.com/channel/UCK0VRdBpYhWUmFkw02YMHjw
Lisa of L.J. Creations - www.youtube.com/channel/UCO_zad8-5Vfqu3Vb5JnwYPg
Miki of Minis By Mini- www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaTGog86ndA
Gabrielle of Papercrafting by G - www.papercraftingbyg.com
Tracey of Gift Basket Appeal - www.youtube.com/user/giftbasketappeal
Karin of Scrappy DIVA - www.youtube.com/user/homevidka
Jennifer of Jen’s Little Place - www.youtube.com/channel/UC2f_Yy603Keztxzm6RakDPA
Cindy of CLB Craft Creations - www.youtube.com/channel/UCZH2bXT8JNJFg2At0M_ZQFw
Kaylin of Krafty Kaylin - kraftykaylin.wordpress.com
Sheila of She's a Sassy Lady - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ3g6-J4ZMTFx4FGoIXl2ow
Christopher of Create With Christopher - createwithchristopher.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for playing along!!!!

Here's another card featuring Oak Tree Stamps.  This one is the Now and Forever stamp set.  I colored this with the Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers which I am loving at the moment!  Thanks to Ken Hess for sending me these fun stamps to play with.

Below I've listed a process video of the making of this card.

Bird Crazy Birthday Card with Zig Clean Color Brush Markers

I broke down and ordered the Zig Clean Color Brush Markers.  I had to.  I kept seeing so many wonderful projects and excitement over them, I just had to do it.  So I did!  Que the angels singing, bright lights.... I LOVE THEM! 

A couple of pointers.  Use Bristol paper.  I tried traditional watercolor paper by Canson my first time experimenting and I could not get the colors to move like I had seen everyone else doing.  The paper makes all the difference.   Be sure and dry your stamped image before you begin to color.  Yes, I know you seasoned stampers are probably keenly aware of that little fact, but I was not.  My last bit of advise.... PLAY!  this is so fun!  

The Tim Holtz bird crazy stamps are so much fun to color!  When I first laid eyes on this set, I thought they were strange birds, but the more I looked at them, the more I knew I NEEDED them.  They are so incredibly adorable!

Outgoing Pocket Letters

I think so far this has been my favorite pocket letter to make.  The theme was "Shiny and Bright" and was to feature the Metallic Trend.  This was a swap we created in our Pocket Letter Inspiration and Ideas Facebook group.

 It's a little difficult to catch the metallic elements on camera.

 I stayed with a gold and white theme on this letter and no particular brand.  If it was gold/white - I threw it in.

 

This next pocket letter was yet another Heidi Swapp Theme.  I think I've been involved in about 8 Heidi Swapp Themed letters now.

 I chose to use Heidi's Dreamy collection for this letter, mixed with a few foils and vintage Heidi.

 and yet another Heidi Swapp theme letter.  This one features mostly September Skies collection with a bit of vintage Heidi thrown in as well.

 

Dance Like No One's Watching Card

 This is another card from the Oak Tree Stamp line.   I'm still learning coloring, but I just adore this little ballerina.

The stamp set comes with lots of versions of this sweetie pie and a few different sentiments.
You can check out this stamp set as well as many others at Oak Tree Stamps. 

Bear Hugs Stamp Set by Oak Tree Stamps

I had so much fun creating this card with the Bear Hugs Stamp Set by Oak Tree Stamps.  The awesome part about their stamps is that they also come with matching SVG, PNG files, which makes it super easy to make cutting files using your Cricut Explore, Silhouette or any digital die cutting machine.  They have offered a 20% discount to my followers.  Use coupon code OAKTREEJULY now through July 10th and receive 20% off your order!  Great deal!

To make the background I used Tim Holtz Distress inks and blended the night sky.  I topped that with some gold embossing paste using a star stencil.  I colored the stamped images with copic markers and added a special touch to the nose and eyes using glossy accents.