Welcome to Skipping Stones Design’s  Blog Hop!

Prepare to be amazed, and inspired.  The stamp tramps, and our guest,  have truly outdone themselves!!!!

We are celebrating  the release of two new stamp  sets.

Holy Carp 4X6 ~illustrated by Jeff Gregory 

This set is just in time for Father’s day.  But you won’t be able to stop using it after Dad’s special day. You’ll want to make funny birthday cards, for every guy (hooker)you know. But the fun doesn’t stop there… Do you  Have a friend who is going through a bad break up????Send her the dumb bass image with the “reminds me of you ex” sentiment.  A combo that is sure to cheer her up a bit!

We hope this set makes you giggle, snort, or even laugh your bass off!

  
Click here to buy “Holy Carp”

Home of the Brave 4X6 ~illustrated by Heather Timmins

Just in time for the 4th of July, and summer!   Great for anyone who has a loved one in the service or wants to express their thanks to a veteran.  Also wonderful for scrapbooker and 4th of July, Patriotic, servicemen / servicewomen themed layouts! The possibilities are endless, you’ll never want to put this stamp set down!!!

Click Here to buy Home of the Brave

Combined with the blog hop today, it’s also Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday which means the Design Team is showcasing another great creation from Jen del Muro.

SSD025

Check out Jen’s Fantastic card on the blog hop 

This week I was so excited about the sketch and the new stamps. I just had to do two cards!!!  I’ve also included some tips that might be of interests to new, and seasoned stampers.

Card #1 “Home of the Brave”

Tip #1: Make the fireworks come alive use tinsel embossing powder (Ranger) on a dark background.  The result is breathtaking!!! OR used the Tinsle , or Holographic embossing powder by Ranger(This is what I used on the example above) on Glossy paper.  Once the fireworks are embossed buff on a darker or lighter colored ink. 

CARD #2 “Reel Glad Your My Dad~”

 Tip #2: I LOVE to color in stamped images, but I don’t always have the time to do so.  Try This: Rather than coloring in a stamped image, buff a little coordinating ink around the edges.  This will tie the image into the colors used on the card. without time consuming coloring.

 We’d love for you to play along with the sketch. Just remember to use the keywords SSD025 if you are uploading to any online galleries or link your card at the Skipping Stones Blog. We’ll be looking soon for Guest Designers so you never know….

Your next stop on the hop is the amazing:

Jen del Muro http://iheart2stamp.com/

Here is the Master List in case their is a broken link along the way!

Happy Hopping!!!

Skipping Stones Design http://skippingstonesdesign.com/

Jen del Muro http://iheart2stamp.com/

Erin Grotegut http://inkysmiles.blogspot.com/

Kandi Phillips http://kraftykandikrafts.blogspot.com/

Deb Felts http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/

Peggy Russell http://beautifulgreetings.blogspot.com//

Michelle Giraud http://twisted-chick.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Ingle http://justjingle.blogspot.com/

Amanda Sewell http://www.inkspirations.blogspot.com/

Angela Thomas http://sparkleandbling.blogspot.com/

Make sure to leave a comment here and along the hop…there is blog candy to be given away!!!!

The silhouette stamps are the perfect accent for any layout. They also make amazing focal points, and breathtaking backgrounds for use on cards, and more.

*At the very end of this blog entry I will go through the steps I tool when creating this background.

Here is the New set “Well Behaved”. 

 However my spell check was not well behaved, and it didn’t pick two words out as misspelled.  SO This is a “Special Edition” of this set. It is being sold for the Special Price of $9.99

- While supplies last of course.  This was a very small run as we do with the newer sets.  Less than 35 of these exist.  So here is the image of the stamps, exactly as they will stamp- mistakes and all:0)

The art work is 90% from Rae Kaiser & the sentiments are some of my favorites of all time!

So did you find the three mistakes????

I have about 30 people proof read my sets before I send them to plant.  None of us saw them either… Here they are:

1.The long swirly line is missing a little bit near the top 

2.contRol Tops

3. sepArates us

Now on to the sketch Challenge! 

We have LOVED having Amy from “Pickle Paper Designs” as a guest this month.  She has provided fantastic sketch’s.  Sadly this is her last sketch as our guest. But she is “going out in style” with this inspiring sketch!

Here is Amy’s Take on it: there are SO many things to Love about this card! 

From the “man Symbol” behind the man stamp, to the great texture created with the sticking, buttons and layering of papers….. Then there is the coordinating inside of the card! WOWZA!

We are going to miss ya Amy! We hope you’ll come back and hop with us soemtime;0) 

Now for the very talented and lovely *“Stamp Tramps”: 

*Stamp Tramp: N :1a: a saucy girl who will do just about anything for stamps. 1b: one, who was born to stamp, but forced to work. See also Stamp Slut

 Mary Giemza used “Well Behaved” to create this rich,elegant and beautifully detailed card.

The black with gold embossing really makes the images pop.  The ribbon on the hat add the perfect finishing touch.

Here is Chelseas Van Wyk card. She used the yummy “Buns and Crunches” set. My favorite quote from that set is “Who wants buns of steel? When you can have buns of Cinnamon??  She used my second favorite sentiment…”the sweetest thing about this card…..is the person holding it.  The raised icing looks good enough to eat! I’m also lovin’ the punches she used!

Michelle Giraud used the “stamp kiss” set and, the textured backgrounds, to create this Birthday card. I love the bright cheerfull colors!

Bright Cheerful colors seem to be “in” lately.  Angela Thomas’s card also paired that cheerful Razzle berry color with Greens.   She used stamps from our”Healing Wings” set.

Amanda Sewell used the Healing Wings set as did Angela. She also used also used vibrant raspberry(pink)  and green combination. I am starting to wonder if these ladies are coordinating on purpose;o)

I Love what Erin wrote on her blog about sketch challenges….She said” The point of a sketch challenge is to stretch the imagination & challenge ourselves to grow.”  She made the fresh & fabulous flower and paired it with one of my favorite quotes from “Well Behaved”.

Kandi used “Well Behaved” to create this fun layered card!!!  I just had to share some cards that Kandi had on her blog that I thought you might enjoy.  They are both using the kissing stamp set “Garden Kiss”~technical dfficulties~ We’ll get them up soon;0)

Now ,as Promised, I will go through the steps I used to create  this watercolor card with “Dandelion Dreams”.

 1. I spritzed the watercolor paper with a mist of fine water. 

2.I stamped the flower and butterfly images with water soluble ink(Tim Holtz distress ink- Walnut) 

3.Next, I went back with a damp sponge to soften some of the images and spread a little more color on the background.

4.  A few of the imges were too distorted for what I wanted. So,  I inked up the stamps (after the paper had dried) and stamped directly over a few of the blurrier images. 

5. Finally I inked the edges with Spiced Marmalade, Marigold and Walnut- all Tim Holtz distress inks- but any water soluble ink will work with this process.

Basically I just experimented and had fun with the process.  I did have two watercolor sheets that I was creating.  For me having two  took off some of the worry factor.  That way I didn’t stress about  ruining the background and not having a card in the end. 

The paper is basic Grey Ambrosia /Citrus. The brown is “Dark Chocolate” from Papertrey.

Thanks so much for visiting!

~Heather

Stamp kissing 101: 4 ways to stamp kiss

Stamp kissing  Beyond the Basics: having some technical difficulties getting this video uploaded.  I should be up soon!

Here are two sample cards made using this set.  can’t wait to get these stamps in the hands of my design team and see what they ome up with!