September Specials with Close To My Heart, Alcohol Marker Tips and Two Guest Artists

September is here! What does that mean to you?  To me, it means FOOTBALL (one of my favorite things in the whole world), looking up at the mountains and seeing a few gorgeous yellow and orange trees poking out among the green, the nip of a tiny taste of Fall in the air in the mornings and evenings, the grind of getting back into the nagging homework mother (this is the only bad thing about September in my book), and getting excited about pulling out my Autumn wardrobe. I start burning my pumpkin and cinnamon smelling Scentsy smells and it just makes me feel so happy!

September also means this:  NATIONAL STAMPING MONTH! As you probably already noticed, CTMH began celebrating a little early...on August 15, but the celebration continues throughout September. In addition to that awesome special (more details below) there is a wonderful Stamp of the Month ("Fall Favorites") that is very "Fall-ish" and PERFECT for trying out our new alchohol based markers on.  Keep reading for more details and some marker tips.

I am sharing some artwork today from two of my very talented CTMH friends Dana Kessler and Brenda Rose. Thank you, ladies for being guest artists on my blog!

Here's what you'll find in today's post:
1.  National Stamping Month Special (including the awesome artwork by Dana Kessler you see above)
2.  September Stamp of the Month Special (including the awesome artwork you see by Brenda Rose below)
3.  New Alcohol Markers Information and Tips

Read on....
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1.  National Stamping Month: To celebrate National Stamping Month in September, we are offering a double stamp set promotion! You can get the exclusive, new My Acrylix^® It’s Your Day double stamp set for just $5 when you place a minimum order of $35 in full retail products from August 15 through September 30, 2012. You’ll love this double set—two D-size sets in one envelope—which includes nearly 50 trendy images that makes it easy to capture the everyday moments in your life. The double set has a retail value of $35.90, which drastically increases the value of your qualifying purchase! Have twice the fun stamping during National Stamping Month with our new, exclusive It’s Your Day double stamp set!

Here is the set:

I just HAD to share some arwork using this set today from my friend, Dana Kessler.  I LOVED the cards she shared with me using this set and with her permission am sharing them with you today.  Girlfriends (and guyfriends!), isn't she something? These cards are FAB-U-LOUS!

2.  September Stamp of the Month:  I love this little scarecrow dude.  I have had fun coloring him with colored pencils and our new markers.  This wonderful card was created by the stupendous Brenda Rose and I am sharing it with her permission:

September Stamp of the Month card by Brenda Rose

As always, the Stamp of the Month is a set valued at $17.95 and is only $5 with a $50 order.

So, let's do the math:  spend $50 and you'll get BOTH the "It's Your Day" National Stamping Month set ($35.90 value) and the September Stamp of the Month ($17.95 value) for only $5 each. That's spending $60 and getting $103.85.  You can shop on my website 24/7 (even in your jammies!) and you'll be prompted to add both sets as you are checking out.

3.  New Alcohol Markers Information and Tips:  Now, on to our new alcohol based markers. As you can see by Brenda's beautiful card, they color BEAUTIFULLY.  Here are a few things to know about them (thanks to Sarah Paige-Gruber and her wonderful downline for compiling this information):

1.  They come in all 40 of our color shades

o   Each marker comes dual tipped – one end is a brush marker, the other end is a bullet/fine tip

o   Markers come in a 2 pack and retail for $5.95.  One marker is the true color of the set name and the 2nd marker is a shade darker or lighter than the true color to use for shading and blending.

2.  Always store your markers horizontally and shake well before using

3.  Alcohol inks are waterproof and can be layered and blended on surfaces other than paper

4.  There is bleed-through when using alcohol ink markers.  Be sure to use clean scratch paper to protect your surfaces and clean fingers when coloring.  Also, plan on layering your colored images on your project if working on paper.

5.  To prevent a ‘streaky’ looking image, evenly soak the paper.  You have successfully and evenly colored your image if you turn over your paper and it is not blotchy looking

6.  Blending Pen with Alcohol markers: The blending pen picks up and moves colors, it is more like an eraser than a ‘blending’ pen.  You can use it to create highlights, ‘fade to white’ and fix minor mistakes.  The blending pen also ‘pushes’ color away from it.

7.   It is highly recommended that you use our new Pigment Ink pads and heat set your image prior to coloring.  

Here are a few usage tips:

Marker Blending on Paper – your basic ‘go to’ technique

Please use the paper stamped with circles for this portion of the demonstration

1.     Color evenly with your lightest color, smoothly soaking the paper and coloring in circles to avoid streaks.

2.     While base color is still wet, add darker color to one side, lift up at the end of the stroke, leaving more ink in the area you want shaded

3.     Go back over the darker color with your original shade to blend the two and create a smoother look

4.     Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you achieve the shading look that you wanted

Feather Blending – this technique works best with long narrow images such as petals.

Please use the paper stamped with rectangles for this portion of the demonstration

1.     Layer first color in one direction, press more firmly at the beginning of your stroke and lift as you go – fill in approx. ¾ of your image with this technique.  The ink may only soak through where you have pressed the marker at the darkest part of the image.

2.     Starting on the other side, use the same technique with the opposite color you have chosen.

3.     Repeat layers until you have smoothly transitioned and blended your colors in the middle of the stamped image.

o   Tips for this technique:

§  Use the side of the brush not the tip

§  Lots of light layers work best for this technique

§  OVERLAP your colors – don’t stop where the colors meet

Fixing Minor mistakes with a Blending Pen

1.  The blending pen ‘pushes’ ink away from it – if your ink bleeds outside of the stamped image, you can color with the blending pen to ‘push’ the ink back inside the line.

o   This works BEST with lighter colors and for small imperfections.

Have a wonderful day!