Sunday, January 21, 2018

Ellen Hutson Blog Hop


Hi Folks! Welcome to the blog hop celebrating the latest United We Flourish set, Better Together by Hero Arts! You may have just come from the one-and-only Julie Ebersole, but if not feel free to start at the beginning in The CLASSroom.


The latest in the United We Flourish campaign, this stamp and coordinating die set is all about friendship, and, well, being "Better Together" ... how can you argue with that? 


I knew I wanted to feature these birds in a heart, since I was going with the punny "you're a tweet heart" sentiment. So I cut a heart from cardstock (like old-school, freehand...gasp!) and used that to stamp the adorable bird images on. The birds are colored with Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers.


The heart is mounted on some silver thread wrapped around the charcoal panel. I drew a couple outlines around the heart and colored the margin.


Originally, I stamped several birds in the heart, but after I colored them I realized that wasn't the direction I was going. In the past I would put the unused heart in a drawer I have for scraps to "save for later" ... ha! Ask me how that's been going, as I struggle to close it. Not so good. Somehow, "later" never shows up. So, in the spirit of New Year's resolutions, I've resolved NOT to add anything to my drawer. I either 1) use it or 2) lose it. In this case, I spent too much time coloring to lose it, and there were no giant ink blobs or other issues with it, so I made it into a second card. Spent about 5 minutes getting the card base ready, wrapped more of the silver thread that was already out, and stamped a new sentiment. DONE. This made me feel very productive!


One more thing to mention...no need to feel constrained by how a stamp is laid out. On my original card I ended up cutting the words of the sentiment apart (after they were stamped, I don't usually cut my actual stamp unless I want it to be a permanent change) so they could be read vertically. I also wanted the black to add more weigh down the middle of the card. My "extra" card was all about speed so I left the sentiment as-is. You always have options!

PRIZES
To celebrate, two randomly selected commenters will win a $30 gift certificate to the Ellen Hutson shop! To enter just leave a comment on the Ellen Hutson Classroom blog by 11:59 PST on January 28th.

Your next stop on this hop is the wonderful Kittie Caracciolo!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Kelly

27 comments:

  1. Oh, no!!! I am addicted to bird stamps....don't make my buy another stamp set....you temptress!

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  2. I really like the look of the wrapped string here. It looks like telephone wires for the birds.

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  3. Such a sweet valentine those birds make.

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  4. Wonderful coloring & great design! Love those birds!

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  5. So glad you didn't lose it, although it wasn't the right start both your cards are so pretty how you've coloured them. Do love the silver thread behind your love birds, I know they are not love birds but birds in love x

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  6. These are adorable! LOVE those darling birds ♥

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  7. Cute cards! I like the idea of "use it or lose it", that would definitely free up a lot of my storage space, haha!

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  8. Cute cards! I love how you used the extra birds anyway!

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  9. Both are super fun Kelly! You go girl! TFS

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  10. Both cards are wonderful, Kelly! Love that you used the extra heart & made another card right away. I, too, have a ton of " too good to throw away" parts that I forget to use. Am going to try making one card from the leftovers every time I make a new card. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  11. Love the United We Flourish stamp set BETTER TOGETHER! Great card, I love the criss crossed string, it makes me think of telephone wires.

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  12. So cute with the heart and the silver thread.

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  13. These are really great Kelly, I am especially impressed with your "old school" heart and the fact that you are resolved to use what you already have piling up. Ask ME how I KNOW what you are talking about...LOL
    Very nice cards, indeed.

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  14. These both are adorable! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the use of the silver thread---adds the perfect touch!

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  15. Loving this sweet Valentine's card! Darling birds they did a great job picking this set together

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  16. OOoooo beautiful! Sounds so easy "just drew a couple lines" around an image but yours turned out so sweet. That is how I truly mess up project LOL (save me from myself). ♥

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  17. I'd forgotten about your silver and gold thread, Kelly. It looks wonderful wrapped behind those darling love birds. Opposites attract you know. The other card looks like they're looking for a mate on tweet harmony. ;)

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  18. So glad you didn't "lose" the heart with all the birds - that card is wonderful. Love both of your cards.

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  19. I like your New Year's resolution these cards turned out wonderfully. I especially like the use of the Silver Thread and these cute images!

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  20. Love them both, great you redesigned the first one and used the stamped heart.

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  21. This is such a lovely and beautiful combo of cards ! And the color combo is great !
    [margessw(at)icloud(dot)com]

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  22. Awesome use of those birds Kelly!

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  23. So cute - I love that these different birds are in love! :)

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  24. Kelly! Your cards are FABulous!

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  25. These are BOTH too much fun Kelly and super cute!

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I absolutely love reading comments. Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave one! - Kelly