Cutie Pie - Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to the December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! If you came here from the fabulous Pamela Ellison's blog, or if you are just starting out, you are in the right place. If you get lost anywhere along the way, I have a complete list of participants posted right here.

This month's stamp set is Cutie Pie, a set of 11 stamps that I have completely fallen in love with! These images and sentiments would make great cards for all ages, would look sweet on some boxes from Artiste, and of course make awesome scrapbook pages. I chose to use them this month to make a single page layout.

I'm behind enough on "regular" pictures, so I certainly haven't done anything with the school portraits that have been layered behind each other in frames all these years. But this sweet little kindergartener is going to graduate 8th grade this year, so it's high time to get some of them back out of hiding again. (I'm also convinced the sweet faces will help me survive the teenage years.)

I created that snazzy patterned paper by stamping all four cupcakes repeatedly with Pixie ink on Pixie cardstock. I filled in any larger spaces left with the little heart stamp. I used the heart stamp again on a scrap and cut out a few hearts to scatter on the layout with some adhesive gold sequins. The banner sentiments are also from the stamp set, and I used Pixie and Flaxen inks to stamp them. Simple banner shapes are an easy way to add a little interest to the otherwise fairly simple design of this layout from Reflections, our original How-To pattern book.

I had planned to use our Bronze Shimmer Trim next, but I had used it so often, that I didn't have enough left. So what you see here is the wider (5/8") American Crafts glitter tape instead. Same color. I used the Flaxen paper from the Paper Fundamentals Whimsy Assortment next - the glossy pattern side in the smaller strip, then the color/white pattern for the rest of the page background. Of course, as usual, I inked the edges of all of my papers.

Finally, to add a little balance, I added another heart and a few more gold sequins to the opposite corner of the layout.

I hope you like my take on this month's stamp set; I'd love to hear what you think. If you'd like to shop before we hop along, the links below will open in a new window so you don't lose your place. Now, I can't wait to head off to our next hop stop and see what the talented Dana Kessler has made for us this month. 

Cutie Pie - December SOTM

Paper Fundamentals - Whimsy

Cardstock - Pixie and White Daisy

Ink Pads - Flaxen and Pixie

Non-Stick Micro-tip Scissors

Bronze Shimmer Trim

Sequins - Gold Assortment

Bonding Memories Glue Pen

Sponge Daubers

Reflections How-To Program

Time to Create Again

If you have not yet seen the beautiful digital magazine Create, where the heck have you been?! Seriously, I just love this thing... it focuses on sketches for layouts, cards, and tags (and we all know sketches are my favorite). And since it's published by an actual scrapbook store, each issue they pair up with one of their manufacturers, whose design teams match up their products with one or more of the sketches featured in the issue.  My favorite part? They feature US, the readers!

Every issue has a Readers Gallery, featuring projects submitted using sketches from a previous issue. And this month, they've started a "seasonal" section featuring ANY project that fits the theme(s) for the month. This month, they have both a Halloween and an Autumn section.

Somehow, I managed to have four projects in this month's issue, and I'd like to share them in a little more detail here. Today I'll start with my one-page layout, featured on page 181 of the October issue.

I almost never use white as a page base anymore (CM overload from back in the day I think, lol) but it was absolutely perfect for this layout! I loved the sketch, with all of the strips on the background. I opted to use washi tape for all of my strips, except the skinny ones, making it super fast & easy to  make. I did layer the blue lacy tape on white CS first, just for extra contrast against the similar color background. Easy and AWESOME!

I also want to point out my page title, as this was my first time using an SVG file from Miss Kate's Cuttables. If you are an SVG user, you should totally check them out! It was super easy to layout, cut, and assemble, and I will absolutely be returning for more.

Finally, I want to note that most of the pattern papers I used are from Close To My Heart's Chalk It Up line. Yes, it is absolutely a "school" theme if you look at the sample artwork in the catalog, but that doesn't mean you can't use it for other stuff. The pastel colors are perfect for Spring & Summer projects, and the circle pattern paper I used absolutely reminds me of water.

Here's a list of everything I used:

Bazzill: cardstock
Close To My Heart: Chalk It Up paper pack, Scaredy Cat paper pack ("L" in POOL), ink, adhesive sequins, washi tape (gold dot, gray dot, orange chevron), Dream Pop paper pack (gold dot vellum, retired)
Love My Tapes: Washi tape (blue lace, black swirl)
Miss Kate's Cuttables: Pool Party Title cut file
Scrapbook Customs: South Dakota dimensional sticker

Be sure to check out this month's Create magazine for yourself, and maybe try your hand at one of the sketches for the January issue.