November Stamp of the Month Blog Hop

Close To My Heart's November SOTM is a very interesting stamp set. "A Little Thanks" has 16 different images including so many ways to say Thank You that the creative possibilities are endless. In today's fast paced world, we need to remember to say "Thank You" to those who have taken time out of their busy days to pay us a kindness. This set helps us to remember to do just that.

As always, this month there are many many talented CTMH Consultants participating in the hop. If you have gotten here from Melissa's Blog you are on the right track.

This month, I wanted to explore ways that a stamp set can be used that doesn't always fit the intended purpose....I found a great "branch" image included in the set and used "Masking" techniques to turn the branch into a Christmas Wreath.

Here is how I created the wreath....
I started with a piece of Colonial White card stock that measured 3 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches and a scrap circle cut approximately 3 inches in diameter.

Using repositionable adhesive, I attached the circle in the center of the square and began to randomly stamp the branch image using New England Ivy ink. This begins to form the outer shape of the wreath.

Once I stamped all the way around the circle, it can be removed and you see the outer edges of the wreath are formed.

I then positioned a 1 1/4 inch scrap circle in the center of the already stamped circle and began the process again. This will form the center of the wreath.

Once I stamped all the way around that circle, it was removed and I began a different "masking technique. I didn't want the stem of the branch to effect the texture of the wreath by creating lines. I covered the bottom portion of the stamp with a sticky note each time I inked the stamp. This way only the ends of the branches were used. Remember to remove the sticky note before you stamp and also remember to change your sticky note often. At this stage, I randomly stamped with both Garden Green and New England Ivy to give the wreath a more natural appearance.

I repeated this process until the center of the wreath was filled in. I made sure to stamp a few branch ends into the center to give a more natural appearance.

Then I sponged the center lightly to fill in the areas not covered.

I cut the image out including the center portion.
I applied ink to the edges and used a "Q-Tip" to get ink on the center edges of the wreath. The wreath is now done to embellish as you wish. In this case, I anchored the Cranberry ribbon using 2 eyelets and added Jingle Brads and Sparkles. Here is the finished card once again...
To finish the card, I used Cranberry card stock that was embossed using my Cuttlebug. The pattern paper is from Mistletoe and the sentiment is one of the wonderful "thank you" thoughts contained in this month's STOM.

So many times, people go out of their way to do an act of kindness during the Holidays and I thought this card would be a perfect way to show how much RAK's are appreciated. It's time to hop on over to Susan's Blog and see what she has created. Thanks for hopping by. For Now, Happy Crafting!